✩✩✩Last time on Magical Dream Princess’s Adventure in Silverburg- Our heroine arrived at the top-secret testing facility of Demiris Defense Systems late at night, where she played several incredibly fun games with some new friends. After tiring them out, she made her way to DDS’s even more top-secret laboratories, unaware that she was being watched by three mysterious figures. Who are they, and what startling secrets will our heroine discover within the labs? Read on to find out!✩✩✩



Shortly before Magical Dream Princess’s arrival…

This late at night, most of the R&D center’s numerous gifted scientists had long since gone home, but deep in the heart of the vast facility, Dr. Nikki Kannis, head researcher of Demiris Defense Systems, was hard at work on her greatest invention. Or, more precisely, was hard at work repairing her greatest invention…

“You really put this thing through the wringer…” she noted as she worked. “Thankfully, the basic functionality’s still intact, so you shouldn’t have lost any pictures you took. What didja say you were fighting again?”

“Slendermen…” Nikki’s friend, Kate Carson, replied with a shudder. “Man, those things were creepy… I was on an assignment from the Arcane Observer, ‘low-to-moderate risk’ they said. Yeah, right…”

“Yeesh… Not something I’d wanna run into, that’s for sure… Welp, it’s all fixed,” Nikki declared, handing what looked like an ordinary camera to her friend. “Try to take a bit better care of it this time, huh?”

“I’ll do my best, but no promises,” Kate replied with a grin.

The next moment, the two girls were startled by the sound of a thunderclap. Whirling around, they saw a smiling girl standing in a swiftly dissipating cloud of smoke.

“Oh my gosh! Nikki!” the girl squealed as she rushed over to glomp the scientist. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“K-Karen?!” Nikki stammered. “W-What are you doing here? Also, couldja not squeeze so tight? I’m kinda getting crushed here…”

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, loosening her grip on the scientist and taking a few steps back. “Sometimes I forget how strong I am… Anyways, darling had some business in town, so I asked if he could drop me off to visit you, and he said yes! Isn’t he the sweetest?!”

“I guess you could say that…” Nikki muttered. Then, noticing Kate’s confused, but also somewhat amused expression, she added, “Here, let me introduce you two. Karen Coleman, meet Kate Carson, freelance photographer, and an old friend of mine. Kate, this is Karen. She’s just your average ditzy tentacle-loving teenage girl. She tagged along with me on an expedition to Antarctica a few years back, got herself married to some lesser eldritch horror or another, and decided to stay down there for the rest of her life. So, yeah, nothing too special.”

“It’s so nice to meet you!” Karen cheered, rushing over to give Kate a hug.

“Y-Yeah, l-likewise…” Kate replied as she struggled to breath.

“So, now that I’m done working, you guys want me to give ya the tour?”

Before they could answer, a blaring alarm drowned out all other sound.

“What the shit?” Nikki swore as she pulled up a holographic display. “Intruder alert? Who the hell could get past all the security? Present company excluded, of course,” she added after a moment.

“She looks really pretty!” Karen observed as the trio watched the frilly intruder cheerfully begin remaking the gray and gloomy primary testing chamber into something far more cute and whimsical. “Oh! And she can do magic too! Let’s go down and say hi!”

“Not yet,” Nikki told her firmly. “This is something completely unprecedented, and it provides an unparalleled opportunity for data collection,” the scientist added as a grin began to spread across her face. “Look! Team Alpha was on security detail. They’re engaging her now. Let’s watch and see what happens…”

And so they did, growing increasingly more awed and/or horrified with each passing second.

“Fascinating…” Nikki breathed once the cute intruder had finished having her “fun” with the members of Team Alpha. “She defeated them all single handedly… Hmm… But now she’s moving on to the labs… We certainly can’t have that… Okay, ladies,” she said with a grin. “I think it’s time we introduced ourselves…”

“Are you serious?” Kate asked, clearly taken aback. “You saw what she just did to those—”

“Those were just my crudest beginnings,” Nikki informed her, “barely more than beta-testing prototypes. They can’t hold a candle to the three of us. At least, not when we’re at our full potential,” she added with a grin.

“Aw, crap. You’re talking about transforming, aren’t you?” Kate asked in a sullen voice.

“Of course I am. We’re certainly not going down there like this.”

“Okay, but… Can I nope out this time? I really don’t need to be transformed to record stuff with this thing,” she said, gesturing to her camera.

“Request denied!” Nikki snapped, while dramatically pointing a finger at the photographer. “Your camera’s data collecting abilities are astronomically increased while you’re transformed. Besides…” she added after a moment. “If that girl is as strong as she seems, we may need you to provide some offensive support.”

“Fine…” Kate said with a weary sigh. “Let’s get this over with…”



Meanwhile, Magical Dream Princess was making her way through the labs’ various rooms. Each was filled with a staggeringly eclectic array of super-scientific paraphernalia, in every style imaginable, from steampunk to cyberpunk. Some of it looked as if it came straight out of Tron, while other items looked like they had been taken off the set of Frankenstein. There were tesla coils, bubbling beakers of every size and shape, neon-covered machinery, dozens of screens, gages and displays, both holographic and physical… and buttons.

LOTS of buttons…

Magical Dream Princess’s eyes lit up at the sight of them. For buttons, after all, existed to be pressed…

“Ooooh… What does this button do~?!” she asked in childish wonderment, as she stood on tiptoes next to a particularly prominent button on a wire and tube covered pedestal.

“Why don’t you press it and find out?” a voice asked.

Whirling to face its source, Magical Dream Princess let out a startled gasp.

“G-Golly wolly! W-Who are you?!”

“I’m Dr. Nikki Kannis, the head researcher here. But you can call me…”



“Nyahahaha!!!” she cackled manically upon making her grand introduction.

“Wowie zowie~!” the ditzy magical girl exclaimed, her eyes glittering with excitement as she darted around Nykannis’s massive form, looking at it from every angle. “Magical Dream Princess thinks you’re, like, so super duper cool looking and stuff~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~! You have so many crazy wazy thingie wingies all over you~! It’s totally wotally like you’re some kinda mad scientist type-persony worsony~! (giggle!)”

“Uh… Yeah… That’s what I just said…”

“Hi! I’m Karen!” the eldritch girl to Nykannis’s right said with disconcerting cheerfulness as she enthusiastically waved one of her tentacles. “No title, though!” she added with a giggle. “It’s really nice to meet you!”

“Kate,” the blushing girl in the extravagant wedding dress to Nykannis’s left deadpanned, while flashing a peace sign. “Ditto on the title thing.”

“Golly wolly~! Like, Magical Dream Princess thinks your dress is, like, so super duper pretty~! (giggle!)”

“Uh… Thanks… I guess…?” Kate replied, clearly uncomfortable with the interest the strange girl was taking in her extraordinarily embarrassing outfit, along with how close she was getting… Still, Kate had never been one to miss an opportunity when one presented itself. “Y-Your outfit’s really pretty, too,” she told the ditzy magical girl. “Say, uh, do you mind if I take a picture?”

“Wowie Zowie~!” the adorable girl squealed. “Magical Dream Princess would, like, totally wotally, super duper wuv to have her picture taken~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl replied, striking her most cutesy of poses, while winking at Kate.

“O-Okay, cool,” the photographer said, happy that the girl had agreed, but slightly taken aback by the sheer intensity of her enthusiasm. Holding up her camera, which appeared far more ornate now that she had transformed, Kate snapped a few quick shots, with Magical Dream Princess switching to a new pose after each one. “Alright, that should do it,” Kate said after she’d finished. “Thanks a lot.”

“You’re, like, totally wotally welcome, Katie Watie~! (giggle!)”

“Nice work,” Nykannis commended the photographer as she and her friend exchanged grins.

“Goody woody~! That was, like, so much fun~! (giggle!) It’s, like, so super duper nice to meet you girls~! (giggle!) Oh~! But, Magical Dream Princess should, like, probably introduce herself, now~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess is—”

“Oh, we all know who you are,” Nykannis said dryly. “What we don’t know is why you decided to break into my lab and START SCREWING WITH THINGS!!!” the mad scientist roared.

“Oh gosh! Magical Dream Princess would, like, totally wotally wuv to tell you, but it’s, like, a super duper special wecial secret~!”

“Don’t wanna tell us, huh? That’s fine,” Nykannis said, her massive technomagical form making the approximation of a shrug. “We’ll just have to beat it out of you… Karen! Now!” she snapped, at which point the eldritch girl surged forward with surprising swiftness to wrap herself around the intruder.

“Wowies~! (giggle!) Your tentacle wentacles are, like, really tickly wickly~!” Magical Dream Princess squealed in delight as Karen tried to hold her squirming body down.

“Oh! Um, thank you!” Karen said, somewhat surprised at the compliment. “Darling really likes them too! In fact, we tickle each other almost every day!”

“Golly wolly~! (giggle!) Tickle wickle sharing is, like, the bestie westiest~! (giggle!) Here~! Magical Dream Princess will tickle wickle you too~! (giggle!)”

Reaching out with her wand, she waved one of its feathery wings back and forth across the underside of Karen’s tentacles, causing the eldritch girl to emit a high-pitched squeal.

“Oh! (giggle!) W-Wow! (giggle!) Y-You’re (giggle!) r-really (giggle!) g-good a-at (giggle!) t-this! (giggle!)” Karen managed between giggling fits, her tentacles writhing so furiously that they loosened their grip on Magical Dream Princess enough for the playful magical girl to escape.

“Damn it Karen…” Nykannis hissed. “WHY DIDN’T YA HOLD HER ARMS DOWN?!!”

“I-I d-didn’t know I was supposed to!” Karen stammered as she twiddled her tentacles nervously. “I-I’m sorry!”

“Ah, forget it…” the Mad Scientist grumbled.

Meanwhile, something new had caught Magical Dream Princess’s attention.

“Wowie zowie~! (giggle!)” the ditzy magical girl exclaimed as she ran behind Kate. “Your hair is, like, really, reeeally long~!”

“Yeah, I know,” the photographer grumbled, looking incredibly tired. “You can thank Nykannis for that…”

“Like, it’s so super duper big~! Magical Dream Princess can, like, hidey widey in it for ever and ever~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl said as she proceeded to wrap herself in the thick golden tresses. It wasn’t long before she was completely obscured from view.

“Um, about that?” Kate remarked, while taking a clump of her monstrous mane and giving it a sharp pull. Instantly, the photographer’s voluminous hair slid off Magical Dream Princess as smooth as silk, leaving her clearly visible once more.

“Golly wolly! Like, what just happened?! Magical Dream Princess was, like holding on really tighty wighty too!”

“It’s magic,” Kate stated flatly. “My hair never catches on, and can never be caught by, anything. It’s the only good thing about it…”

“Humpf!” the childish magical girl pouted. “Well, that’s, like, no funsie wunsie…”

“Maybe you’ll like this better.” Nykannis suggested, before firing one of the weapons attached to her many mechanical appendages. A small sphere shot out to strike Magical Dream Princess’s hand, where upon it stuck firmly to her skin and began to expand at an alarming rate. Alarming, at least, for anyone other than Magical Dream Princess…

“Wowie zowie~!” the ditzy magical girl exclaimed, a gleeful smile on her face. “It’s, like, a big expandy wandy baloony woony~! (giggle!) But, like, why’s it gotta be all icky wicky grey and stuff? Like, whatevsies~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess is gonna popsie wopsie it now~! (giggle!)” she declared, conjuring a shiny pin and driving it into the expanding sphere. “Pop~!” she shouted, and the sphere did just that.

“T-That s-shouldn’t be possible…” the Mad Scientist stammered. “Those grav-globs are made of hyper dense Nythonium alloy… H-How did you…? Oh, forget it… My mistake. I should have FIRED IT ON FULL AUTO!!! NYAHAHAHA!!!”

As the Mad Scientist’s weapon charged up in preparation of doing just that, Magical Dream Princess conjured a baseball bat and assumed a hitting stance. “Like, okie doki~! (giggle!) Batter watter up~!”

As the stream of spheroids raced towards her, Magical Dream Princess took a mighty swing and batted them all directly back at Nykannis. Not expecting this, the Mad Scientist had neglected to raise any of her various energy shields, and before she could do so, the spheroids impacted her with enough force to send her flying across the room.

“Yippy skippy wippy~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess got a home run~! Weeeee~!” the childish magical girl cheered as she set off to run the imaginary bases. She was so caught up in her innocent enjoyment, that she ran right into Karen, the eldritch girl taking advantage of Magical Dream Princess’s distraction to tightly wrap her up.

“Nikki! Look! I’ve got her! I’ve got her!” Karen called excitedly. “I’ve… got her?” Looking at her captive, she discovered that instead of the adorable magical girl, she was actually holding a large pillow with her image printed on it. “Huh, this isn’t her… Well, it is,” the confused girl added after a moment, “but I don’t think this is the version of her Nikki wanted me to get…”

“Nopey wopey~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess replied, while wagging her finger in a teasing manner. “Karen Waren gives the bestie bestest huggy wuggies, but, like, right nowie, Magical Dream Princess wants to play~! (giggle!)”

With that, the ditzy magical girl proceeded to bounce around the various labs, playing with anything that caught her eye, while humming a cute little tune as she went along. For her part, Karen tried her best to chase down the hyperactive girl, but she wasn’t meeting with much success.

“Force her back into the testing chamber!” Nykannis ordered, after she finally extricated herself from the spheroids. “There’s too much sensitive equipment in here!”

“O-Okay!” Karen acknowledged, as she set about attempting to guide the ditzy girl’s hyperactive rampage towards the door that Magical Dream Princess had entered the labs through. Once she had finally succeeded in doing so, Nykannis sprung into action.

“Kate! Get to the top of that building,” the Mad Scientist instructed, while pointing at one of the closest ruined structures, “and let me know the moment you’re in position!”

“Roger,” the photographer replied wearily.

“Good job Karen,” Nykannis commended the eldritch girl who now seemed to be playing “tag” with Magical Dream Princess. “Just keep her occupied for a little bit longer.”

“Sure thing!” the eldritch girl confirmed cheerfully. “This is actually really fun!”

“I’m glad someone thinks so,” Kate muttered.

The photographer-turned-blushing-bride made quite the comical sight as she headed over to the structure Nykannis had indicated. A pair of tiny robots threw rice and flower petals before her, while an excessively long train trailed along the rubble-strewn ground behind her, its ludicrous length matched only by that of her golden, Rapunzelesque hair. Although neither her hair nor her outfit snagged on any of the rubble through which Kate walked (something the photographer was immensely thankful for), the outfit still greatly inhibited her movement, and she was forced to hold up the hem of her gown in order to proceed at even a moderately unhurried pace. Entering the building at long last, Kate scowled upon noticing how many steps she would have to climb.

In high heels…

Giving a weary sigh, and mentally cursing Nykannis for designing such a humiliatingly impractical outfit, the blonde bride slowly made her way up the stairs… She had only taken a few steps, when she heard Nykannis’s enraged voice in her ears.

“Come ON, Kate! WHAT’S TAKING YOU SO LONG?!!”

I don’t know, maybe this ridiculous gown you’re making me wear? Kate grumbled to herself.

Still, she knew it wouldn’t be wise to anger her friend further. She also knew that what she was about to do would in no way be pleasant… Gathering her strength, she took a deep breath, before rushing up the stairs like Cinderella in reverse. By the time she had reached the top, the poor girl was utterly exhausted.

“F-Finally… M-Made it…” she declared between needy gasps of air as she leaned her weary body against the door frame. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, and her ankles were absolutely murdering her. N-Nykannis owes me… one hell of a foot massage after this… “Okay,” she called over the comm after she had caught her breath. “I’m in position.”

“Great!” Nykannis commended. “Start recording, and whatever you do, don’t stop! I want to examine every nanosecond of that footage in exquisite detail…” she added, while gleefully tapping her fingers together. While still in the lab, Nykannis had surreptitiously scanned Magical Dream Princess with a spy ray. The data gleaned from it had revealed that the ditzy magical girl boasted a MAG stat even higher than Kate’s, along with a not inconsiderable amount of luck. Yes, she was certainly formidable, but the Mad Scientist knew that no matter how powerful their whimsical adversary seemed, she still had only a finite amount of mana. Once it was gone, she was finished, and Nykannis already had an idea of just how to expedite that process… “All right!” she declared as her body thrummed with ever-increasing power. “Now I can REALLY cut loose! Hey, panty shot princess! EAT THIS!!!”

With that, Nykannis unleashed the full might of her super-scientific arsenal: neutrino particle cannons, polyphasic penetrator beams, polycyclic plasma blasters, mega magitech magneto cannons, multiphasic transdimensional hyper homing lasers, ultradimensional gigga blasters, ultraetheric negaparticle projectors, hyperphasic disintegrator cannons, transaetheric flux arc coils, techno arcane quantum singularity cannons, transphasic turbo obliterators, and hyper voltaic lightning guns, along with dangerously overcharged neutron star drivers, gigga transphasic cataclysm cannons, zero point aetheric oscillators, omni-spectrum hyperwave disruptors, ultra atomic disintegrators, and a plethora of other bizarre technomantic death rays. These were supplemented by salvoes of Nythonium/antimatter fusion missiles, transwarp vortex missiles, hypergravitic pulse missiles and megaphasic super destructo rockets. Last, but by no means least, in an attempt to match Magical Dream Princess’s apparent reality warping powers, Nykannis brought her own reality editors into play: chrono cannons, hypermetric dischargers, omnitemporal exotic matter manipulators, polymorphic paradox projectors, and the like. Simultaneously, an array of weapon-covered drones detached from the Mad Scientist and floated into position to bombard Magical Dream Princess from every angle.

But despite the sheer volume of firepower directed her way, not a single part of the frightening fusillade actually managed to hit the ditzy magical girl, who stared at the impressive light show with wide-eyed wonderment.

“Wowie zowies~! Sooo many pretty lights and colors~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess feels like she’s some kinda winda pretty witty idol widol~! (giggle!) Oh~! Magical Dream Princess knows~! She’ll, like, totally wotally singy wingy a song for you girls~! (giggle!)” Gleefully hopping atop a pile of rubble, she transformed it into a glittering stage with a sweep of her wand. It possessed no lights, or smoke, or fireworks, but that was okay. Those would all be provided by Nykannis’s all-out barrage. “Like, all righty~! Here~! We~! Gooooo~!

If you can dream it, you can do it~!
So step right up, there’s nothing to it~!
When there’s a problem, just dance right through it~!
You can go so far~!
You can be a star~!”

And so forth.

Predictably, Nykannis took a rather dim view of the performance, and as Magical Dream Princess continued to sing and dance, the Mad Scientist’s fury grew stronger with each passing second. Enraged beyond reason by the childish magical girl’s playful flippancy, Nykannis decided it was time to break out her big guns…

Dense clouds of nano assemblers emerged from the Mad Scientist’s technomantic form and immediately set to work transforming and combining Nykannis’s existing weapons into larger and even more staggeringly powerful versions of themselves: Polycyclic transwarp infinity beams, omnispectrumatic gigga cyclonic quantum annihilator rockets, hyperquantum chrono vortex projectors, omniphasic ultra atomic supernova lances, omniaetheric zero-point hypertachyonic wave motion cannons, turbo-charged polyphasic quantum singularity gigga blasters, ultraetheric polyparodxical chronometric coil guns, and other weapons too incomprehensible to describe.

“Nyahahaha!!! Now this is what I call FUN!” Nykannis exulted as her massive magitech bombardment produced an array of brilliant explosions along with several tears in the very fabric of reality. “I’m the one who built this place, princess, so I’m the only one who gets to blow it up! Nyahahaha!!!” she cackled in manic glee. “Come on, Magical Dream Princess, SHOW ME WHAT YA GOT!!!”

For her part, Magical Dream Princess was only too happy to oblige. The Dream Barrier she had placed around herself turned any attacks that got even remotely close to her into whimsical, and completely harmless, caricatures of themselves. If anything, the hail of fluffy fuzz balls, cuddly centipedes, and flying fishies they became served only to accentuate her performance.

“Holy Heisenberg uncertainty principle!” Nykannis swore in amazement. “How much mana does this girl have?! Oh well, guess I’ll just have to crank things up EVEN FURTHER!!!”

With a high pitched whine, the Mad Scientist’s entire massive technomantic form began to shudder and spark as it surged with unimaginable power. An entire pocket dimension filled with magitech energy generators of the most esoteric sort, from vita-voltaic cold fusion dynamos and hyperbaric antimatter crucibles, to omniphasic zero-point infinity colliders and quantum singularity hyperflux cores transmitted raw, technomystic power of every conceivable (and inconceivable) kind to the already dangerously overcharged power accumulators protruding from the back of Nykannis’s gargantuan cybermagimechnical body.

“Nyahahaha!” the Monarch of Mad Science cackled with wild abandon. “You should be honored, your Highness! Just for you, I’m taking this shit up to 11²³, out of a possible five!”

Her hyper-charged, ultra-upgraded arsenal continued to vomit forth streams of inconceivable energy for several seconds longer, before Nykannis’s mana reserves finally ran dry. As she waited for the smoke to clear and the space-time fractures, temporal tears, and various other anomalies to reseal themselves, the Mad Scientist gleefully anticipated the state her target would be in. A moment later, Nykannis got her first good look at the ditzy magical girl, and a sadistic grin began to slowly spread across her face at the sight. Although Magical Dream Princess had escaped the barrage with nary a scratch, she now looked visibly tired, and in a fight like this, that was a major accomplishment.

“YES! Just as I predicted!” Nykannis exulted. “She’s finally running out of mana! Nyahahaha! I’m such a genius!”

“Wowie zowies…” the childish magical girl sighed wearily. “Magical Dream Princess is, like, kinda tired after all that singy wingy and dancy wancy stuffy wuffy… But, like, she really had the bestie westiest time~! (giggle!)” she added, perking up a bit and giving a big smile to her non-existent fans. This was particularly comical, considering her stage now sat in the center of an enormous crater, one that almost presented the appearance of a stadium. “Like, thank you soooo much for watching her show~! She, like, super duper appreciates it, and she wuvs you all very wery much~! (giggle!) Bye bye for nowies~!” she added, after which she hopped onto a smiling cloud and zoomed off, leaving a trail of sparkles in her wake.

“Okay, Karen! Grab her!”

“R-Right!” the eldritch girl acknowledged, using her tentacles to swing from building to building in an attempt to chase down the cloud Magical Dream Princess was flying around on.

In her unsealed, eldritch form, Karen possessed superhuman physical abilities, but even so, the flying cloud still managed to remain just out of her reach. If only she had some sort of ranged attack… Oh, wait, she did…

“Why the hell aren’t you using your fire spec, Karen?!” an enraged Nykannis shouted. “You need to go all out on this girl!”

“Gosh, are you sure?” the eldritch girl asked hesitantly. “I really don’t wanna accidently hurt her…”

“Hurt her?! I don’t care if you KILL her! Wait… No, scratch that. Don’t kill her. I wanna get the most data outta her that I possibly can, and for that, I’ll need her alive. At least to start with…” she added darkly.

At her friend’s instance, Karen activated her fire spec. She might not have been the most proficient mage, but nonetheless, she was still able to cover her body in an aura of sickly purple flames.

“Wowie zowies~!” Magical Dream Princess exclaimed at the sight. “Karen Waren looks so pretty witty with all those purple wurple flamey waymies~! (giggle!)”

“Oh! You really think so?!” the eldritch girl asked, her cheeks reddening at the compliment. “Darling likes them too! He always says that—”

“Karen!” Nykannis snapped. “Stop socializing with princess glitter tits and CAPTURE HER ALREADY!!!”

“I’m trying! I’m trying!” the eldritch girl pleaded, flinching at the sound of her friend’s anger and redoubling her efforts to chase down the hyperactive magical girl. Unfortunately, all of the fireballs she was now hurling were being dodged by the staggeringly nimble cloud Magical Dream Princess was riding upon. Even with her depleted mana reserves, it was clear to see that the playful magical girl wasn’t finished quite yet.

“Hmmm, this isn’t exactly going as I’d hoped…” Nykannis muttered. Although she was reluctant to do so, the Mad Scientist realized that she would have to rely on her other friend if she wanted to resolve this in an expedient manner. “So, Kate,” she asked the photographer in an almost casual manner. “Take any good pictures lately?”

“Well, there were those Slendermen I was tellin’ ya about.”

“Perfect.”

“You sure?”

“I am.” Nykannis replied. “Let’s give our little dream princess some nightmares…”

“Alright,” Kate acknowledged, while trying to suppress a shudder. “You asked for it…”

Despite her magical form’s ridiculous level of impracticality, it bestowed a major benefit upon the photographer, or, more precisely, upon her camera, one that made all the annoyance and humiliation worth it. And then some…

Pressing a button, a blinding beam shot out of the camera to a point directly in front of Magical Dream Princess’s current flight path. There was a flash of light, and when it faded, a pair of strange figures had flickered into existence. They were abnormally tall and thin, and their long, spindly limbs ended in several writhing tentacles. Most bizarre were the black business suits they were wearing and their complete lack of faces… They hovered in the air, calmly waiting for their prey, and when Magical Dream Princess’s cloud made a sharp turn to avoid them, they winked out of existence to appear directly in front of her once more.

“Okay, I think we’ve got her on the ropes!” Kate called out.

“Nice work!” Nykannis commended, giving her friend a thumbs up. “Okay, Karen, restrain her, and see if you can do it right, this time!”

“B-But… T-Those t-things are s-so s-scary…” the eldritch girl whimpered.

“WHAT?!!” Nykannis roared. “YOU MARRIED ONE OF THOSE THINGS!!!”

“B-But darling d-doesn’t look a-anything like that!” Karen protested.

“Fine! Then just wait until they’ve finished with her. By that point she should be so catatonic that even you won’t be able to fuck things up. Meanwhile, I’ll make the preparations for my… surgical strike!”

In addition to her already expended ranged arsenal, many of Nykannis’s various segmented servo-arms and tentacular mechadendrites were tipped with an assortment of bizarre melee weapons, from slipstream swords and biphase buzz saws to quantum hammers and monomolecular blades, all enhanced by shimmering auras of technomystic energy. Now, the Mad Scientist’s nano assemblers brought a new instrument into existence, a wicked-looking energy scalpel, which glowed with malevolent power…

Meanwhile, as Magical Dream Princess continued to avoid the summoned Slendermen, she soon realized that there was no way to outrun the terrifying creatures. She would have to confront them. Bringing her cloud to a stop, she put her hands on her hips and glared at the menacing beings as they drifted ever closer.

“Like, this gamey wamey isn’t fun anymore! Magical Dream Princess wuvs playing with her new friends, but you’re just icky wicky nightmare thingies! Magical Dream Princess likes cutesy wutesy sweety weety dreamy weamys, so she thinks you gotta go bye bye now! Bye bye~!” she called playfully, as she waved her wand over the two nightmarish monstrosities. This caused a shower of glittering sparkles to rain down upon them, which caused their bodies to inflate. Before long, the terrifying Slendermen had been replaced by a pair of balloons with cheerful faces. One resembled a star, while the other took the form of a crescent moon. Both were wearing blue nightcaps. “Aww~! You look so cutesy wutesy now~! (giggle!)” the whimsical magical girl gushed as she gave both balloons a big hug. “Alrighty~! Off you go~!” she added with a giggle as she released the pair to drift up to the chamber’s ceiling. “Byiiiie~! (giggle!)”

“Well, can’t say I didn’t see that coming,” Kate noted. “On the bright side, she’s now down to only twenty-five percent of her total mana.”

“This is it, Karen!” Nykannis instructed. “Go get her!”

Unfortunately, despite putting forth a valiant effort, and even taking into account Magical Dream Princess’s steadily decreasing mana, Karen still couldn’t seem to catch the playful magical girl. But she was getting closer…

“Keep going Karen, you’ve almost got her!” Kate cheered the eldritch girl on, while watching the chase through her camera.

“Thanks Kate! But this is a lot harder than it looks! She’s just so fast on that cloud thing of hers!”

“Y’know, I think I might have an idea about that…” Kate said thoughtfully. Brushing some of her long, blonde hair away from her face, she slid a gloved finger over her camera’s display. Scrolling through the various pictures stored within the device, she stopped when she reached the picture she had taken of Magical Dream Princess. Selecting it with a tap of her finger, she was presented with a list of the magical girl’s stats, while several additional holographic displays appeared, upon which could be found several dozen submenus. The photographer tapped on a tab titled “weaknesses”, and after only a few moments, a grin began to creep across her face. “Hey, MDP!” Kate called out. “You wanna take some more pictures? I got this really pretty parasol you can hold!”

“Reeeeally~?! Oh, goody woody~! (giggle!) Yaaay~! It’s picture wicture time again~!” the childish magical girl cheered as her cloud raced over. Once it was overhead, Magical Dream Princess slid down a rainbow to land right next to Kate. “Yippy skippy wippy~! (giggle!) And, like, did Katie Watie just give Magical Dream Princess a cutesy wutsey nickname~?!”

“Uh, heh, yeah...” the photographer said tentatively. “Your name’s kinda long, so I, uh, just shortened it a little. Y-You don’t mind, do you?”

“Golly wolly~! Of coursey woursey Magical Dream Princess doesn’t mindy windy~! She, like, abso-dutly-wutely wuvs it~! (giggle!)” the bubbly magical girl declared, clapping her hands enthusiastically, while jumping up and down with delight. “Thankie wankie sooo much~! (giggle!)” she added as she gave the photographer a big hug.

“O-Okay, cool,” Kate replied, while mentally breathing a sigh of relief. “So, uh, you wanna get started?”

“Like, yepperoonie~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess confirmed, taking the parasol from Kate and striking a cute pose with it.

“Alright, say ‘cheese!’”

“Cheesy weesy~! (giggle!)”

A single “snap!” was all it took.

With a click of a button, Magical Dream Princess found herself frozen in place, unable to move, or even speak.

“Sorry about that,” Kate told her. “This setting is called ‘Freeze Frame’. It’s kinda like a stasis field that has the added benefit of draining your mana at the same time. Pretty cool, huh?”

What wasn’t so cool was that it also drained the photographer’s own mana at a frightening rate. This, coupled with the fact that her target needed to be absolutely still for it to work, was why Kate only used the Freeze Frame feature on exceedingly rare occasions.

“Okay, Karen! Now’s your chance! Grab her before she starts moving again!”

Wasting no time, the eldritch girl quickly did as instructed, sliding up behind the frozen magical girl and tightly wrapping her up. This time, Karen made triplely sure she had bound Magical Dream Princess in such a way that she couldn’t move her arms, legs, hands, or feet even a single inch. At long last, the whimsical intruder had finally been captured.

“Yaaay! I did it!” Karen cheered.

“Bring her down here,” Nykannis instructed. “And take Kate along with you. I don’t wanna wait an hour for her to go back down those stairs…”

“Okay!” Karen acknowledged, scooping up both girls and bringing them down to the street below.

“Golly wolly~! Karen Waren’s tentacle wentacles are, like, so super duper tight~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess, like, can’t even move her arms~! It’s likey wikey Magical Dream Princess is all cuddle wuddled up in her beddy weddy~! But, like, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t wanna go beddy bye right nowie!”

“You’re gonna wish you were asleep,” Nykannis said as she approached, a sadistic gleam in her eyes. “Now, let’s begin the operation…” the Mad Scientist declared, grinning with maniacal glee. “Your ditzy little ADHD wracked brain’s got no idea how much FUN this is gonna be, but I think the best part will be when you start crying my name in that adorable voice of yours, begging me to stop tearing out your insides, while I just LAUGH IN YOUR FACE!!!”

“Uh, super sorries, but, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t thinkie winkie she can do that…” the girl said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

“What?”

“Ummm… Like, Magical Dream Princess’s memory wemory isn’t, like, the bestie westiest when she’s Magical Dream Princess, so, she, uh, totally wotally forgot… What was your namey wamey again?”

At that, the Mad Scientist’s eyes went wide with utter fury.

“Why you… Why you little… I’m the person who created this place! I’m the person who created those girls you kicked the crap outta earlier! I’m the person who finally captured your kitty covered ass! I’m the person who’s about to slice you open and pull you apart, bit by bit, while you scream your pretty little head off! I’M THE GREATEST MAD SCIENTIST IN THE FUCKING MULTIVERSE!!! I’M—”

“Dr. Kannis!” a new voice bellowed. “What is the meaning of this?”

All four girls turned their heads to see an imposing figure approaching. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and a belly that was a bit on the portly side. A thick, dark beard covered much of his features, while his eyes fixed the group with a piercing gaze. Although such a fortress of a man seemed to have no need for it, he walked with the aid of a glossy, black cane, atop which was mounted a glowing, crimson gem. He exuded a stately, commanding presence, one that caused each girl to reflexively shrink back a little at the sight of him.

“M-Mister Demiris!” the Mad Scientist yelped in horror, utterly shocked by her employer’s sudden appearance. “S-Sir, this girl broke into the lab and started wrecking things! Thankfully we were able to subdue her.”

“And now you’re planning to dissect her?”

“Uh…Y-Yeah…” Nykannis said sheepishly. “For science!”

“Release her,” Demiris commanded. “Now.”

Karen looked to Nykannis for instruction, her gaze filled with uncertainty. The scientist gave a defeated sigh, then nodded. At once, Karen slid her tentacles off of the whimsically dressed girl, and helped her slowly rise to her feet.

“S-Super thankie wankies, mister~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl told Demiris, while treating him to a brilliant smile. “But Magical Dream Princess still thinks you’re a meanie weanie head!”

“Charming… And who are these two?” he asked, gesturing to Kate and Karen.

“Karen Colman, sir!” the eldritch girl said cheerfully, while raising one of her tentacles in a salute. “We actually met once before, at the start of the Antarctic expedition! I think I said you looked like a younger version of Santa Claus?”

“Yes… I recall… And you?”

“Kate Carson, freelance photographer.”

“Dr. Kannis!” Demiris roared, whirling around to face the now-cringing scientist. “You brought a member of the press into my most secure facility?! What were you thinking?!”

“W-Well, ya see, sir, I kinda made that fancy camera she has, and she sorta broke it, and since all my tools are in my lab…”

“Sir, Dr. Kannis is my friend,” Kate began, in an attempt to defuse the situation. “I’d never betray her trust by taking pictures of this place. You have my word on that.”

“As if your word counted for anything of value,” Demiris replied disdainfully. “No matter, the real concern is our guest, here.” He turned to bring his full attention upon Magical Dream Princess. “Young lady, would you care to tell me why you chose to break into my facility?”

“Weeell, it’s kinda winda a super duper secret wecret, but, like, you did kinda winda save Magical Dream Princess’s life, sooo… Okie doki~! (giggle!) She’ll totally wotally tell you~! See, Magical Dream Princess’s Da… Uh, s-someone very wery important to Magical Dream Princess has a placey wacey just like this, and a few days ago, some meanie weanie heads broke into it and trashy washied it all up! And since, like, you’re a meanie weanie head, and you’ve done meanie weanie thingies to this super duper important person before, Magical Dream Princess wanted to see if you had done this thingie wingie too!”

“I see. And why am I a ‘meanie weanie head’, to use your incredibly childish vocabulary?”

“‘Cause you’ve done meanie weanie thingies to Magical Dream Princess’s Da… her very wery super duper most important person in the whole wide world, and it made him very wery upset! Like, this one time, you made him lose a dealie wealie that costy wosty him lots and lots of money! And then this other time you… you… Oh, fiddlewiddlesticks! Magical Dream Princess can’t remember wember…”

“Ah, so I have hurt this person economically, in the realms of business and finance? Yes, that is not outside the realm of possibility. I have fought and won many battles in the quest to assure my corporation’s dominance, but they have all taken place in the arena of the global marketplace. I have never, and will never engage in such detestable acts as breaking into a secure facility in the deepest hours of the night with the intent to vandalize it. Of this you have my word as a businessman, as a father, and as Lodovico Demiris.”

Magical Dream Princess seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, something that was clearly very difficult for her. Then, she flashed a big smile at the imposing businessman.

“Okie doki~! Magical Dream Princess totally wotally believes you~! (giggle!) Like, if she’s being completely weetely honest, she didn’t really thinkie winkie you were responsible wonsible either~! (giggle!)”

“I am pleased to hear that,” Demiris said with a nod. “Now, so long as this never happens again, I bid you leave to depart from this place and I wish you luck in seeking out the true party responsible for the despicable affront you described.”

“B-But, sir…!” Nykannis protested. “She…!”

“Did she see The Artifact?” Demiris asked.

“No, sir…”

“Did she see The Prototype?”

“Negative on that too, sir…”

“In that case, I see no reason to detain her further. But first,” he added, turning his attention to Magical Dream Princess once more. “Since I was kind enough to save your life and let you leave here, free of charge, I should like to ask you three questions in return. Is that acceptable?”

“Weeeell… You have been, like, really nicey wicey to Magical Dream Princess so far, and you, like, totally wotally did answer all her questions, sooo… Yeah~! Okie Doki~! (giggle!)” she said, winking and giving a playful salute, while striking a cute pose.

“Excellent. Question one: What is your age?”

“Magical Dream Princess is, like, super duper sweet sixteen~!”

“Question two: What is your favorite color?”

“Rainbow~! (giggle!)” she cheered happily. “Wowies! Magical Dream Princess, like, totally wotally wuvs these questions~! (giggle!)” she added, jumping up and down like a child on a sugar rush.

As this was going on, Kate raised a confused eyebrow, to which Nykannis responded by leaning over and whispering, “Mr. Demiris really loves Monty Python. A LOT…”

“Question three: Does Thane Covington possess the ability to create magical beings?”

“Nopey wopey!” Magical Dream Princess declared emphatically, stomping her foot down in what the others assumed was intended to be a serious gesture, but which looked as adorably ridiculous as the girl performing it. “Daddy Waddy can’t do any thingie wingie like that! He, like, doesn’t even know that magical wagical stuffy wuffy even exists! Only Magical Dream Princess knows, and it’s, like, her super duper special weshal secret~! (giggle!)”

“I see…” Demiris said, his eyes narrowing. “Very well,” he declared after a moment. “You may now take your leave. As far as I am concerned, this was all nothing more than a training exercise, one that provided irrevocable proof of something I have long suspected- Our initial production run is no match for the capabilities of a true magical.” Then, turning to Magical Dream Princess, he added, “You have my sincere thanks for demonstrating this… Miss Covington.”

Magical Dream Princess gave a sharp gasp and her eyes opened wide.

“G-Golly wolly! L-Like, how did you find out Magical Dream Princess’s super duper secret wecret identity?! She, like, tried to be so super duper careful wareful too!”

“Let us simply put it down to my supernatural perceptive abilities,” Demiris said with a small smirk. “Although, I would advise that if you wish to maintain the viability of your whimsical guise, you should refrain from referring to Thane Covington as your ‘Daddy Waddy’ in the future.”

As Demiris spoke, Magical Dream Princess began to look increasingly upset.

“Oh golly wolly goodness…” she sighed, trying and failing to fight back tears. “M-Magical Dream Princess doesn’t know what to do now… Everybody wody knows her super duper special wecial secret, and all because she’s, like, such a super duper dummy when she’s Magical Dream Princess… This is, like, just the worsty worst…” For a moment it looked as if she might completely break down, but, all at once, she stopped crying and a big smile spread across her cute face. “Oh~! Goodie woodie~!” she exclaimed with her usual hyperactive glee. “Magical Dream Princess just thought of, like, the bestie bestest idea~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess thinks it’s past your beddy time~! (giggle!)” the adorable magical girl declared, pointing her wand at Demiris and the three magical girls standing near him. “She’ll make you all go sleepy bye, and when you wakey wakey tomorrow morning, you won’t remember wember any thingy wingy Magical Dream Princess told you~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~! Isn’t she, like, so super duper smart~?! (giggle!) Okie doki~! Time to say night night, everyone~! Night night~!”

With a wave of her wand, Magical Dream Princess sent a spray of glitter cascading over her four new friends. The instant it touched them, they fell to the ground, unconscious. Thankfully, the sparkling sprinkles eased the slumbering bodies down gently, so as avoid injury when they reached the hard floor. Upon confirming that they were all slumbering peacefully, Magical Dream Princess skipped a short distance away and struck yet another cute pose.

“Like, Magical Dream Princess had lots of super duper funsies with all of you, but it’s time for her to say bye bye now~! (giggle!) Okie doki, mister magical wagical portal thingie~! Ready~? Set~? Aaaand… Onesie~!” she called out as a pink hula-hoop poofed into existence around her already gyrating waist. “Twosei~!” she shouted as a second hoop manifested to join the first. “Tha-weeeee~!” she squealed as a third and final hoop was added. Glowing with mystic power, the three hoops began to spin even more rapidly, until Magical Dream Princess was lost in a blurry whirlwind of magical energy. All at once, there was a bright flash and a mighty “pop!” After the glow had faded, nothing remained of the magical girl except for a few swiftly dissipating wisps of glittery, pink smoke.

And a video recording held within a certain magitech camera…

✩✩✩What will come of this shocking development?! Probably nothing, but if anything does, you'll have to tune in to Magical Dream Princess's continuing adventures in Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl RP to find out!✩✩✩

Court of the Fairies
Starring: “Superior Cat Overlord’ Dinah
‘Captain Planet Substitute’ Mia Cooper

The Garden of Roses was one of Penroses’ smaller botanical gardens. Unlike the parks that were downtown or spaced across the city, this one was specialized around the growing of flowers. It also had an indoor section that catered to plants with different climates and environmental needs. With the coming of winter much of the outside was covered in snow, but the inside of the building continued to flourish.

With the evacuations, that did not make much sense. People only infrequently came through here at best, drawn by their love of nature or desire to escape the dreariness of winter. Precious few of the staff remained behind to look at things. No, there was another reason that this place flourished and bloomed.

Within the past few months fairies had moved in, setting up shop and making themselves at home. At first there had been no problems. But, capricious beings that they were, soon they were playing tricks on the guests, illusions and other magical acts to torment those who wandered into this space. No one had died yet, but it seemed to be only a matter of time.

And so a pair of brave magical girls had answered the call, preparing to enter the garden and deal with the fairies within. All that remained to be seen was how they would do so, and what troubles they would run into along the way.

Gaia had journeyed to the Garden of Roses at the request of her Patron, who had informed her of the precarious situation concerning the fairies that had recently taken up residence. While the fey creatures were quite respectful of the natural world, and actually promoted plant growth, they were also harming the humans who wished to enjoy the beauty of nature on display in the gardens. As Mother Earth’s representative, it was Gaia’s task to resolve the troublesome situation in as diplomatic a manner as possible. Upon her arrival, however, the verdant magical girl was surprised to discover that a third party was present, an aristocratic-looking cat girl.

“Good evening,” Gaia greeted the feline young woman in a serene tone, while giving a small curtsy. “Are you, by chance, here to meet with the fairies as well?”

Dina’s ears moved forwards and backwards as she looked at the whole world of sounds and scents around her. It was almost intoxicating, and she thanked there was not any catnip around. That would’ve been awkward. Fairies… they had made themselves known to the populace, and were a nuisance. But they were expert trap makers and illusionists, beneath their nice smiles and pristine giggles. Recruiting them for the Sanctuary would make a half-decent addition to the security measures.

Win win situation as some would say. It was then when she noticed a second presence, her tail jolting ever so slightly, as she appraised the newcomer. Her eyes widened slightly, as she could not hide a coy smile.

This one has manners.

“Well met.” She said, draping her dress in a curtsy as well. “I do indeed. Seems our minds think alike… miss?” She finished.

“Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth,” the nymph-like girl replied. “And whom would I have the pleasure of addressing?”

"Dina Denisova, the Stray Empress." Dina replied as she tilted her head. She had to deliver a tacky title in reply to the girl who called herself Gaia. "Something tells me you are pursuing a peaceful outcome too."

“Indeed I am, your Majesty,” Gaia confirmed with a demure nod. “Mother Earth herself has appointed me as her envoy to the fairy court here, in the hope of dissuading them from engaging in further attacks upon the mortals who wish to bask in the beauty of this lovely place. I am most thankful that she has seen fit to bless me with such an illustrious companion as yourself,” she added, treating Dina to a brilliant smile. “It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Empress Denisova.”

Huh, maybe I overdid it. Dina thought to herself, while flashing an equally charming smile. "The pleasure is all mine. So, let's get this show going, shall we?" Dina said, and snapped her fingers, summoning a swarm of little bats, intent on scanning the area.

“I could not agree more, your Majesty,” Gaia replied. Closing her eyes, she employed her connection to the local plant life in an attempt to discern the locations of any traps the fairies might have set.

The two put their powers to work, one handling magical while the other handled visual. While there was nothing immediate, Gaia would soon notice illusion spells placed on various side paths. These would leave those caught in them wandering about, unable to see the fairies and unable to find the exit until they had had their fun. There did not seem to be much more than that.

The bats would be slightly less successful in finding anything. Their echolocation revealed that things did not quite match up with how they looked. However as magic was involved the details were muddied. It seemed the fey had some experience in not being found if they did not want to be, though there was a decently sized area in one of the topiary sections.

“Not getting much of these little ones, merely a couple of places.” Dina sighed, as she eyed the swarm of echo-locating critters. “You?” She asked Gaia, raising an eyebrow.

“Not much more than a few minor illusion spells, your Majesty,” the verdant magical girl replied. “Since there does not seem to be anything particularly harmful, I feel rather safe with proceeding. After all, even at their most malicious, fairies usually like to keep their playthings intact. For a short while, at least. Does your majesty concur?”

Dina tilted her head, thinking. This one at least seemed to acknowledge her self appointed title. “I do. There might be a clearing nearby. It’s as good start as any.” She added. “These illusions are a bit hard to pierce, so I will have to rely on yet another non-visual animal helper.” She added as she dismissed half of the bats, the remaining being kept as scouts, and focused.

Several rattlesnakes began to crawl under their feet, their sensorial organs able to perceive heat. “These are a bit more difficult to control, but heat vision is a bonus.” Said Dina, as she sent them as scouts instead, towards the big area.

The duo moved on, aided by the animals that Dinah had summoned. Those, combined with Gaia’s efforts, would keep them from wandering into any illusion traps and finding themselves lost within this garden. There was plenty to see as well even if they were not casual tourists.

Entering the clearing, the naked eye would not be able to make out anything amiss. That left it more to the animals to carry the burden of doing so, further reinforcing what they had previously determined. It would give them a clearer picture of what they were looking for as well.

At the same time, they would get the distinct feeling that they were being watched, just as they were watching the fey. Their presence would have been hard to miss after all, and soon one of them shimmered into existence near Dinah. Tiny wings fluttered in the air, light reflecting off silverish hair as she came to a stop. “Oh dear, someone is really eager to meet us. You could have just asked you know.”

Dina tilted her head and bowed ever so slightly. “My apologies, but I was told you were a cautious sort. While my approach may seem high handed, It was only to not accidentally trigger traps and bring forth unpleasantness that could be avoided.” She said to the small fairy. “Are you perchance willing to parley?”

The Fairy regarded Dina with a curious look, before nodding. “Surely. We are friends of all magical folk. We will gladly talk.” She then floated forwards, leading them the rest of the way across the clearing.

After a few moments illusions faded, the other fairies coming into view as well as their dwellings. They had done a good job of weaving themselves into the local plantlife here, flowers and home and various herbs that were more unique to the worlds of the fey than Earth. Various fairies fluttered up, eying the two magical girls and their animal companions as they approached. For a moment, it almost felt like another world.

In the middle of that all they would approach a throne. It was made of tree wood, with flowers blooming around it in reds and pinks. Not really a size meant for humans, but that was understandable. And on the throne sat the leader of this particular group of fairies. Her hair was a vibrant red, like fiery leaves in autumn. She attentively watched the duo as they approached, a glimmer in her eyes.

“Greetings,” she said once they had come to a stop. “I am Caliphe, and welcome to our home. Who is it that I have the honor of addressing?”

“Greetings, Caliphe,” Gaia said with an elaborate curtsy. “I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth. Your care of the plants of this place greatly pleases Mother, and I appear before you to convey her deepest thanks.”

Dina looked at the scenery, her ears twitching and tail swishing. Courtly affairs… how nostalgic. She licked her hand and fixed her hair and ears with it, before offering the best of her curtsies.
“Greetings, O Caliphe. I am known as Dina of the Denisov, and I was known as one of the people of the Tsar, once upon a time. Alas, that is a thing of the past now. We are but humbled and delighted in your presence, as part of this vibrant court of faerie folk. Ours is the intention to parley.”

An eyebrow rose as Caliphe regarded the duo in their introductions. “I accept your thanks, dear Gaia, and bid you greetings as well Dina.” Fingers idly tapped along wooden armrests as they explained what their purpose here was. Thoughts worked to and fro in her mind, though she was inclined to go along with this regardless.

“Certainly, I am more than willing to parley with those who would not seek harm upon our kind,” she agreed. After a moment she gestured to one of the other fairies off to the side. “Would either of you like something to eat or drink as we converse on the matters you have come to parley on?”

“I would be honored to partake of the bounty of your garden, most generous Caliphe,” Gaia said with smile.

“While I do appreciate the gesture, I am neither thirsty not hungry.” Dina said. “Another chance, perhaps.” She said, as she eyed the queen. She still remembered those myths of eating something enchanted being ultimately bad to someone’s luck.

Caliphe regarded Dinah with a careful look for a moment, before returning to Gaia, “It is my honor,” she assured the magical girl before gesturing to one of the fairies nearby. A minute or so later they would return, offering a small wooden tray of various fruits (Apples, grapes, peaches, and the like) as well as a glass of milk, to Gaia for her to partake of.

Once she had begun to eat, Caliphe would return to the matter at hand. “Now then, what brings the two of you to my court?”

“As I informed your majesty previously,” Gaia began, “I come to you as Mother Earth’s representative, bringing with me her deepest thanks for shepherding this fair garden through these frigid days. However, I also bring her concern that your innocent frolicking might inadvertently cause harm to those mortals who might wish to enjoy the botanical beauty you have so skillfully cultivated here.”
Dina’s head bowed ever so slightly. “It is that very reason I am here as well. There seems a distinct growing concern about the possible damages humanfolk might sustain when wandering in this kind of place. It has been designed as a public space, and It would be unlikely to ever change the designation.” She added. “As clumsy as humans are, something is bound to happen sooner and later. We are here to… try to avoid such antagonistic fates.”
Caliphe looked between Dina and Gaia as they made their plea to her based on the wellbeing of her people. She was attentive, her eyes betraying little of what she thought. “I appreciate your concern for those of my people who have gathered here,” she said once they had finished their opening statements.
An arm then swept out, gesturing around the garden. “But the humans have left this place untended, abandoned. Why should I not reclaim it, and restore some small part of what has been lost to time and the growth of humanity? They will not be the lesser for it.”
“Of course not, your Majesty,” Gaia agreed with an elegant nod. “Mother only wishes to ensure that your potential human guests will remain safe, while they visit your beautiful garden.”
Dina looked at each other before looking at the queen.”People do not take kindly being pointed their own mistakes. For them, the illusion of being in top is too strong. They are also prone to misunderstandings. In a way, they are like… africanized bees. Kick the hive, and they will chase you.” Dina commented. “This garden is truly spectacular, and It would do well for more to know the beauty of it… but as my companion said, safety is a major concern. Tis a pity both worlds must have to kept apart.”

“Also, how many of these places are getting ravaged with the ongoing tensions.” Dina finished.

“Hm, you raise a good point,” Caliphe conceded as Dina brought up the damage that had been inflicted by the battle against the Horror recently. Certainly she did not want the same thing to happen here if it could be avoided.

She then leaned forward in her seat. “What would you have me do then? Even if I did no harm to the mortals, it is unlikely to stop those who would cause chaos and destruction for ill purposes.” The Fey were no strangers to that over the many years that they had existed on Earth.

Dina’s ears and tail swished ever so slightly, as she grabbed her chin with one of her hands. “All you need is a few misdirection magical barriers, with the help of some of us. Make them lose they way back to the exit… unless they bear a clear heart. I do think the magical community would also like one more neutral ground.” Dina said. “I am willing to help set up, if such a thing is possible. There have been massive fights between the community recently, and they surely yearn for places to soothe hearts.”

Dina then proceed to talk. “You would keep your place. You would get allies. And most important, you’d get protection rather than being questioned for putting traps against humans.” The catgirl continued. “Plus… if it ever fails, I know a couple of places capable of hosting an entire faerie kingdom.”

“I concur with Empress Denisova,” Gaia said, giving the cat girl a warm smile. “We would never wish harm to come to this idyllic place, and so a solution that protects both it, and the mortals who may visit, is one Mother Earth and I would fully support.”

Another hum filled the air as Caliphe considered the suggestion. It was tempting, to be sure. It would give her considerable influence in penrose if what they were saying was correct. After all, as the host of one of those ‘neutral grounds’ her word could carry a lot of weight. It was certainly a better offer than one could have expected otherwise considering how violent this city had supposedly been. She would be foolish to overlook this opportunity.

“You speak wisdom,” she noted after some contemplation. The fairies paused, watching attentively as their leader addressed the proposal made. “Your willingness to reach an amicable outcome will not be forgotten. Nonetheless, it does require me to place much of my faith that the both of you will carry out your word to bring this about.”

Then, she smiled and snapped her fingers. “How about a game. If you win, I will accept your offer. If you lose...oh, say, serving in my court? What say you Empress, Daughter of Earth?”

“Serving in another court. It could prove difficult and I’d have to give up on rebuilding Sanctuary court.” Dina mused about as she kept her tail upright. “Hmm… I guess there is no other way. State your terms, your Majesty?.”

“Very well, your Majesty,” Gaia said after a moment’s thought. “I, too, shall agree to take part in your game.”

As much as she did not wish to engage in such a risky course of action, Gaia knew that playing such “games” was a common fairy custom, and it would be extremely rude of her not to accept.

“Worry not, Empress Denisova,” she whispered to the cat girl next to her. “With Mother’s blessing, I am sure we shall know victory.”

Caliphe’s eyes glimmered as both girls agreed to take part in this trial. This would not be as serious as it could have been, but she didn’t really have the time to send them on some winding fetch quest anyways. This would have to do.

“Oh, nothing too challenging,” she assured them. “My fairies will hide five carved wooden tokens around the garden. If you can find them all in an hour without using magic to locate them, then you win. Does that sound fair?”

“If you will forgive me for saying so, your Majesty, that sounds as though it will be quite the challenge indeed,” Gaia observed. “Your majesty has stated that we are not to use magic to aid in our search. Does that mean that your majesty wishes us to return to our mundane forms? If so, then we would merely be two mortals stumbling around through a garden specifically designed to confuse and befuddle such beings. Even if that were not the case, we are still unfamiliar with this garden, especially in light of the changes you have recently made to it. I fear that finding objects hidden by hands as skillful as yours, and in such a place as this, would prove as impossible for us as for any other mortal, your Majesty.”

"Not to mention I simply ceased to be human some time ago… I am afraid it is impossible for me to comply with such a request. I would therefore lose by default, your Majesty." Dina said.

Caliphe shifted, chin resting against her palm as their objections were raised. “I have no issue with transformations. My concern was for things like Absolute Direction, Scrying, those pesky abilities that really take the fun out of the game,” she noted.

Still, she supposed it wouldn’t do to be too unfair. “You raise a good point nonetheless, Daughter of Earth,” she conceded. “I will limit the area to one portion of the garden then. That should give you a reasonable chance at success.” She would hate to have to come up with something different altogether, if it could be avoided.

“That is far more acceptable, your Majesty,” Gaia replied. “And are the abilities your majesty noted the only ones of their kind we are banned from employing?”

"I am thankful for that." Dina said, staying silent. Mia was addressing the issues rather well so she refrained commenting further.

Good, that had worked out. Caliphe looked pleased as both agreed to go along with her amended suggestion. “Mystic artifacts, but beyond that I believe only those three would need to be off limits. Give us a few minutes, and we can begin.” She then gestured to some of the other fairies, passing off the wooden tokens. The group then flew out, intent on carrying out their mission. Caliphe nodded to the duo, sipping her drink as the time passed by.

Soon the fairies returned. “All set,” one of them called with a wave.

Caliphe smiled as she looked over to them. “Thank you.” Her focus then returned to the two magical girls. “And with that, the game is on. Head to the Seurat section. I believe the humans modeled that off of a painting of some kind. So there shouldn’t be too much clutter, while still providing a decent challenge.” She gestured off to the side, indicating the general direction they should go. The signs would do the rest.

“Shall we be off, then, Empress?” Gaia inquired serenely.
After the feline monarch gave her agreement, the verdant magical girl would proceed with her to the area Caliphe had specified. Along the way, she would expand her awareness to commune with the various plants of the garden, in an effort to sense where at least some of the tokens had been placed.

“No time to waste.” Dina said, as she arched her back… and began to run on all fours. While this was a feature more of cats than of noblewomen, she truly did not want to lose. She kept her enhanced True Sight eyes and other feline senses peeled for anything off in the meantime.

Entering the area, the duo would find that it lived up to Caliphe’s description before. There were some hedges that had been trimmed to look like people, flowers, a couple trees, rocks, and a pond. The paths for this area were generally confined to one side of the space, with a plaque indicating the perfect vantage point to recreate the picture this place was based on.

The duo then got to work. Dina would spot a token nestled amidst the stones on the bank of the pond, while Gaia would be informed of one delicately placed atop a flower. Two had been found in quick succession, leaving only three remaining and most of their time too.

“Perhaps your majesty could recruit some of the local wildlife to assist us in our search?” Gaia suggested to the feline noble, while continuing to commune with the plants about any recent additions to this part of the garden. Since time was currently on their side, she proceeded at a calm and methodical pace, thoroughly searching one small section at a time. After all, she had always been a big believer in the adage “slow and steady wins the race.”

“Hm. I will try.” She said, trying to reach towards the creatures of the garden. Specifically rodents with affinity with shiny things. She’d hoped for magpies, but chances were dim of a couple of them nesting around.

‘Recent additions’ would be a somewhat difficult question, as many things had changed since the fairies had moved into the garden. Singling out what had changed in the time frame that they were discussing was a more tricky matter. Meanwhile Dina would find success with her efforts as well, though somewhat mitigated as the items they were looking for were not particularly shiny on their own.

As the minutes ticked by, more successes would follow. One token would be found in a bush sculpted to look like a baby carriage. Another was in the nook of a tree branch. That left only one to find, an easy enough task considering what they had managed so far. They still had a decent amount of time left.

Pleased with their progress, Gaia turned her attention to the final token. Stretching out her awareness even further, and plunging even deeper into her connection with the local plant life, the verdant magical girl sought out this last prize. Even in her untransformed state, she was capable of gleaning information about plants she touched. Even ones that were no longer living. Even simple pieces of wood. Now that she was transformed into the very Daughter of Mother Earth, Gaia was no longer limited to mere physical contact, and so she called out to the final token, kindly asking it to reveal its location.

Dina for the most part, then turned her attention to rodents, instead of magpies… and hoped they would not believe she was going to eat them. Using one of the other tokens as template, she would try to send them among the canopy as she herself caught a whiff of the scent and tried to also do it on her own.

Calling out to the token, Gaia would run into a significant problem. The token itself was of the fey, and not beholden to the call of Mother Earth.
For her part, while Dina would find that there were less rodents willing to listen to a cat, she would soon have a decent amount to set underway. Tracking the scent would lead her in one particular direction, and with keen eyes she would spot something that looked like the token sitting in a feeder box that birds would use close to the far wall. However, at the same time Gaia would notice a circle of mushrooms in the area in front of the token, easy to miss if one was not being attentive. But if one was to end up inside then there was no doubt they would lose this challenge – if not worse.

Gaia was disappointed, but not particularly surprised, when her attempt to commune with the final token was rebuffed by the fey’s magic. Thankfully, her feline companion seemed to have better luck, the animals under her command leading them to the token’s location.
“Well done, your Majesty,” Gaia commended, offering her companion a warm smile. “It would seem our quest draws near to its conclusion. Although, if I may be permitted to be so bold, I would advise your majesty not to intrude beyond the boundary delineated by those mushrooms,” the verdant magical girl added, while pointing at the circle in question. “However, your animal subjects may be permitted safe passage. Would it be possible for your majesty to inquire of them if that is indeed the case?”
“I got a better idea, miss.” She added, grinning ever so slightly. “My cute little critter aides must be exhausted, and surely these tasty mushrooms might be appealing. Do you want to eat them? You may.”

The rats paused, turning to look at Dina before shaking their heads. While they didn’t mind food, the suggestion of eating fey involved food was not appealing. They did have some common sense, even if they were rodents. A different sort of plan would be advisable.

“Okay then, can you sneak past that circle and get the token for me?” Dina fumed as she looked at the rats.

The rats turned once more, gauging the area between the token and the circle that Dina wanted them to cross. There was some chittering conversation between the group, before they looked back to Dina and nodded.

They then scurried off, looping around the circle to where the token sat. It would take them a couple minutes to return, but having identified the trap they would be able to avoid it and return safely enough with the prize. It seemed Caliphe had underestimated them.

“How splendid!” Gaia declared, placing her hands together. “Thank you for your assistance, your Majesty,” she said, giving Dina a small bow. Then, kneeling down, she added, “And thank you as well, little ones. Here is a reward for your noble efforts.” With that, a grape vine emerged from the folds of her robe to wrap itself around her forearm. Carefully plucking a handful of the purple fruits, she presented them to the rodents. “Please enjoy.”

“Well, take it. Your just desserts.” Dina dismissed the mice, however a part of her wondered how juicy and plump the little critters seemed to look like, even though she quickly dismissed it. It would not be ladylike at all to reward a work with death and meet a queen of Faeries with blood on one’s mouth. “T’was my pleasure, miss Gaia.” She finished, her tail standing upright as she began to walk towards where Caliphe was holding court.

The servants took the offered grapes happily, scurrying off to place them in hidden nests and dens for safe storage. Their concerns with this whole business was done, unless they were called upon again of course.

Returning to the initial section of the garden they had begun in. Things looked mostly how they had left it earlier. Caliphe had left her throne, and was flitting about as she conversed with some of the other fairies. But the arrival of Dina and Gaia drew their attention, and she turned to see who it was before making her way over. “And so the brave heroes return. Victoriously, I take it?” They did not have the dejected appearance of one who would be giving up.

“Indeed, your Majesty,” Gaia confirmed. “We have succeeded in obtaining all five of the hidden tokens, just as your majesty asked of us. Shall we now return to concluding our prior discussion, your Majesty?”

“Would we ever accept if there was no chance of winning at all, your Majesty?” Dina said, as she looked at Gaia, and then Caliphe. “We have honoured our part of the request, and so we lie in wait thus.” Dina added.

Regarding Dina, Caliphe gave a lazy shrug in response. “Perhaps. Overconfidence is the undoing of many.” She then stretched out a hand, gesturing to them both. “The tokens, if you would. Then we shall return to the matters of state.”

Stepping forward, Gaia handed her tokens to the fairy queen. She then waited for Caliphe to continue once Dina had done so as well.

“Perhaps.” was Dina’s reply, as she handed over her tokens as well.

Taking the tokens, Caliphe looked them over for a few moments to make sure that they were the genuine deal. Once confirmed she passed them off to one of the other fairies, before flying over to the throne once more.

Resuming her regal seat, she faced the duo with a warm look. “You have passed the challenge, and proven your skill as well as your sincerity. As such, I am now willing to agree to your suggested compromise with a sound mind.”

“I am most pleased to hear that, your Majesty,” Gaia said with a smile. “And I am certain Mother shall feel the same, once I inform her of your agreement.”

“I shall convene your word to the rest of the magical girl community as well.” Dina said. “Notably the Sanctuary.” She paused. “I am also willing to let you passage towards the resort dimension of my patron, should you wish to.”

It was not hard to tell that Caliphe was pleased with how this had turned out, though any outcome that did not involve violence likely would have turned out well for her. That they had avoided the trap was not a large matter, especially since they had not made an issue of it. Otherwise they had acted cordial, respectful, and properly treated her and her position. The ire of a fey was a dangerous thing to have.

She gave Dina a curious look at the mention of a resort dimension. “I shall keep that in mind, though it will not be necessary at this time.” she informed the catgirl before addressing them both in general. “Meanwhile I shall carry out my side of the agreement we have made. Fear not, for you shall no longer have any trouble with the mortals here.” So long as their deal remained in place, of course.

“Thank you, your Majesty,” Gaia said with a graceful curtsy. “Your majesty’s kindness and hospitality will not soon be forgotten. With your majesty’s leave, I shall now return to Mother Earth and regale her with the tale of all that has transpired here.”

Dina’s face turned into a brief smile. “Please excuse us, your Majesty, for we have now to spread the news.” she said as she awaited for her permission to leave.

Caliphe nodded in approval. “Go then, and speak of the generosity of the fey folk. Know that your actions here will be remembered by me and my kind too.” With that she gestured to the other fey around, dismissing the two magical girls. They would be able to leave the garden unimpeded, the crisis that had brought them here resolved without bloodshed.

It was nice to have so many people willing to work at the Golden Trove. Among the corrupt girls looking for a place to stay, some of them wanted work. Extra hands were always a good thing. But a lot of the corrupt girls lacked the mental facilities and charisma to cater to a guest’s every need. Though perhaps that was less a reflection of their ability to service guests, and more a problem with guests themselves.

Being a hotel manager was more than just managing employees. Sometimes it meant managing the guests directly. If the trash was taken out late, if the trash was taken out early, if a breakfast item wasn’t being served, if a guest was making too much noise, if staff needed assistance with anything, if a guest was arguing with someone, or if a maid forgot to leave a complementary chocolate on your pillow, a manager was likely going to be summoned to deal with it.

”She was so mean!” Standing before Su was one of the newer maids. An alien girl with white hair, white skin, and four red eyes. She also had a tail as thick as a tree, and it wagged a lot when she was excited. ”She wouldn’t come out of her room to let me clean! She said it was because she hadn’t had breakfast yet. ‘So she just needs breakfast?’ I thought. So I went and got her a little bit of everything.”

Su was leaning against the front counter. “You ate half of it on your way up the stairs.”

”Yea, but there was a lot of food!” She stammered. ”Anyway, I get her feast to the door, and she complains that I ate everything that she wanted and slammed the door in my face! Like maybe get it yourself next time?”

“You could have handled it better, but I agree that her behavior is unreasonable.” Su walked around the counter and sat at her desk. “She’s renting a luxury room though, Boteg wouldn’t forgive me if I just threw her out.” She brought up the room and it’s occupant on her computer screen. “I’m sorry, room 1408?”

”Yea!”

“Samantha’s room?” Su stood up. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Focus on the other rooms.”

Usually Su had Mika attend her room. She wasn’t a horrible maid by any stretch of the imagination, but Samantha was probably used to things like her meals appearing with a bite or two taken out of them. Maybe it was because she was one of Samantha’s objectives? But she had never seen her angry. Regardless, there must be some misunderstanding.

Su knocked on her door. “Samantha? Are you alright?”

Su could hear shuffling on the other side of the door before it was unlocked and cracked open. Through the slim opening stood a disheveled Samantha. She rarely paid much attention to how she presented herself to others in the hotel but this was even worse than that. "What?" came her terse reply.

“Are you alright?” The hotel manager found herself repeating the question, if with more feeling.

Samantha hesitated before answering. “I’m fine,” but everything in her tone indicated that this was not the case.

She wasn’t especially familiar with Samantha, but it didn’t feel right to leave her like this. She wanted to apologize for using her as a projectile against Justine, and thank her for taking out Janet. But that was an odd thing to talk about in the hallway. “You don’t seem like yourself.” She placed a hand on her hip. “Did something happen?”

“No, nothing has happened,” she snapped, her mood souring when Su brought this up. “Just that I normally get to eat my food instead of someone else doing it for me,” she complained, although as stated earlier, given Mika’s tendencies, this was not entirely factual. Sam seemed to be aware of this as she found herself glaring a hole in the floor instead of the person she was talking to. She then continued. “Shouldn’t there be some sort of code in place here? Ever since Mika abando--er, left, things have…” she sighed. “Things have been worse.”

“Things had been getting worse since we all returned from the beach dimension.” Su leaned against the door frame and folded her arms. Her eyes were pointed down the hall instead of at Samantha. “But yes, Mika’s departure does make Penrose feel a bit more gloomy.” It was hard not to smile. Su wondered how Mika would feel if she knew how Samantha felt right now. “If she knew you were like this, I’m sure she would give you a hug, even knowing you’d pinch her cheek afterwards. She hated it, but I think part of her enjoyed the attention.” She shrugged. “I can’t bring her back, but I can try to serve you as well as she could.” Su turned to her guest. “Would you like some coffee?”

Samantha did not deny anything Su had said even though she normally would have. The scowl she had been wearing faded and turned into a frown, before she composed herself and gave a silent nod in affirmation.

---

It didn’t take Su long to return with a catering cart. It had an electric coffee brewer on it, a few pastries, as well as anything one would want to put in their coffee. It was probably on the excessive side, but Samantha was renting a luxury suite, so words like “excessive” didn’t apply.

“Do you like the coffee? It wasn’t something I focused on before your arrival, but I’ve been trying to improve it ever since.”

“Yeah, something like that…”

Drinking coffee with a guest, on the other hand, was not standard protocol at all. But Su was doing this less as a manager and more as a concerned friend. She knew Samantha and Mika were close, but not this close. There had to be more to it.

“How’s Trixy? Are you two still dating?”

Samantha ignored the question as she took her time slowly pouring a cup of joe. She took in the aroma and then blew on the hot liquid before taking a small sip which burned her tongue a little bit, but she didn’t seem to mind so much. “It’s… not that good,” she mentioned quietly, having not expected greatness to begin with. She, however, enjoyed it nonetheless and repeated herself before finally turning up to Su. “We haven’t talked much recently… but yeah, as far as I’m aware.”

“I’m glad. She seems fun.”

“She’s… interesting, yeah,” Samantha said between sips.

Su hadn’t taken a sip from her cup yet. It was still quite warm, and she didn’t have the love of coffee or tolerance for hot drinks that Samantha had. Moreover, she was mulling over how to best proceed. Part of her wanted to just ask Samantha what was bothering her, but she knew that wouldn’t end well. It was probably best not to pry into Samantha’s affairs, but it was hard to help fix someone when you didn’t know what was broken. “So the maid that brought you your breakfast this morning. Well, half of your breakfast. Aside from eating part of it, how did she do? She’s new, so I’m just trying to get a feel for where she needs work.”

"Aside from the plate? I guess she brought what remained of the food. And it was not as though her attitude was poor," she pondered for another second yet she found nothing unsatisfactory about the employee. "...she's just a chubbier Mika in that sense," Samantha shook her head. "Erm. Uh. How about you? Are you well, considering..."

“Firing her? No.” Su almost laughed. “Liara’s done well so far. I’ve had little opportunity to work with her, but everyone enjoys her company and she’s really good with directions. Her appetite is just, well, monstrous. She also gets flustered easily, but I think that’s just because she’s new.” Su lifted her cup to her lips, still too hot. “We don’t have many people who use the luxury rooms. Not anymore anyway. The fact that she’s being allowed anywhere near your room is a sign of how well regarded she is. But if she’s less than adequate, she may not be ready yet.”

Samantha shook her head. "Firing? No, I was talking about how you're doing," she elucidated. "I admit my reaction to her blunder could, in some cases, be considered excessive, but I wouldn't go that far." Samantha looked down at her coffee and, though she certainly looked like she had something to say, she hesitated and instead brought the mug to her lips.

Su chuckled. “Oh! Me? Haha!” She looked at her cup. “…It doesn’t seem real yet.” the corner of her mouth twitched. “In my mind, she’s still in that special employee room on the top floor. Like if I call her, she’ll come like she always does.” Su pursed her lips and set her cup aside. She waited before speaking again. “It’s so strange. She came into my life at an odd time. It felt like she was trying to replace Amber, so I ignored her at first. Boteg and Helga wanted to keep her around for some reason. I guess it was like taking care of a small animal to them. They both warmed right up to her, but I was sceptical. I just wanted to be alone with the pain. She wouldn’t let me though.” Su bit her lower lip. “It’s been a few months since then. Maybe half a year. I know her favorite color, her favorite toy, all of her friends, her favorite video on youtube, her favorite food, and I still want to know more about her.” She folded her arms. “Any time she woke up, I wanted to know what she was dreaming about. After she had breakfast, I wanted to know where she was going. I didn’t always ask because I know she enjoys her privacy, but I’m still curious.” Su’s tone became somber. “Of course it’s now when she decides to leave. Once we feel like a family, once I actually want her to stay. And her reason for leaving? She’d rather spend her time with some girl she encountered at the Pit Stop. ” She picked up her cup again. She produced a small bottle of vodka from her hammer space handbag and poured some into her cup before drinking. “Helga looks tired all the time. Bringing up Mika’s name is enough to make her cry. It’s impossible to talk about it with her, and throwing spells into the sky only blows off so much steam.” She set down her cup. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble. ‘Not well’ is what I was going for.”

"Ah, I see...well, it's okay."

Samantha took a long and awkward sip from her mug as she attempted to process the information given. Mika's departure was unwanted by Samantha, but she was not constantly on her mind day in and day out. The person who introduced her to Mika, however, was.

When Sam could finally respond to the stressed Su she was already done with her coffee. "You really do sound like what I imagine a mother to be like," she commented with a wistful look.

Su’s entire body froze when she heard those words. It caused a small pain in her chest. Nothing she couldn’t shrug off, but it took her breath away, and made her eyes wet. With a sniff, she rubbed her eyes and set aside the coffee. She probably wasn’t going to finish it.

“I haven’t done anything fun in a while, Samantha. How about you?” She turned to look at her. “I’ve recently renovated the indoor tennis court. Would you like to see it?”

“I was always more of a golf person,” she said. “But I suppose it could be interesting. Yeah, lets see how it looks,” she agreed with a nod.

---

The tennis court had the same flair as the rest of the establishment. The red and yellow colors on the wall were likely chosen to match the rest of the golden trove, but they made the space feel like it was under a perceptually setting sun. There were depictions of dragons and clouds flying along the ceiling, but the tennis court itself had little frills. There were a few rackets neatly stored on a caddy, but that was it. The play area was a slate gray, with white lines denoting all the special areas.

“I tend to get carried away with the hotel’s theme, but it’s important that there’s nothing to distract the players.” Su had changed into something fitting for a tennis match. She was wearing shorts and a tank with an open vest. “You mentioned you liked golf, I do have a miniature golf course I’m working on. That won’t be ready for a while though.” She spun the racket in her hand. “I think badminton is as close as I’ve gotten to playing tennis.”

Samantha admired the ability of Su’s to keep a theme going. She thought it must have taken a fair bit of dedication and time for something a lot of people might not appreciate enough. But hard work in general was something to be commended. Sam knew that more than anyone. “It looks pleasing,” she complimented, walking over and picking up her own racket. Su mentioning a mini golf course being the works was something to look forward to. “I’m only vaguely familiar with Tennis myself,” she gave the racket a few mock swings in order to get a feel for it. “It’s not something you can do by yourself,” she added.

“Not a proper game, at least. But people do practice by playing against a concrete wall.” Su walked over to the other side of the net. ”So from my understanding, you score by having the ball bounce in your opponent’s zone twice? And you can’t touch the net.” She pulled a tennis ball out of her pocket. ”We can also just hit the ball back and forth if that’s what you’re in the mood for.” Regardless of what they ended up doing, Su would be keeping score anyway. Even if it was just in her head.

Samantha shook her head, denying such an outrageous thing. “Wouldn’t we be doing this court a disservice by not utilizing it for its purpose? If we are both at least vaguely aware of the rules, then I see no reason not to play.” Su would likely come to understand that Samantha was a competitive person by heart despite her lone wolf lifestyle. Although she might have learned this earlier had she spoken to Trixy.

Thankfully for Su, they were playing Tennis and not sparring.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but...On serve or return, the ball must bounce once within the boundary of the court or be counted against the offender, a second bounce in the opponent’s side scores a point, I would say the losing party should serve on game point or take turns if tied. I… believe there was something akin to a shot clock added at some point but that seems excessive even if I could keep track rather easily.” It took a few moments, but then Sam shook her head again. “Sorry, I get carried away when it comes to competitions. We should probably keep it simple…I guess just serve,”

”Yes, that sounds about right.” Su couldn’t hold back her smile. She knew there was something special about Samantha. Even if neither of them were experts at tennis, wanting to be competitive in all things regardless of skill level was an admirable trait. ”I think usually a coin flip is involved, but since I’m already holding a ball, I’ll serve.” She tossed the ball into the air and hit it with her racket.

If there was one thing Samantha really hated, it was losing. Though this may be surprising given her affable demeanor when it came towards Justine and a certain inquisitor, she absolutely couldn’t stand it. She had to be perfect and the best at the things she did if the possibility was there. So, naturally, she was going to play for keeps. No screwing around. No going easy. This game may as well been a duel to the death, and Sam was leaving here alive.

“Hyah!” Samantha saw the approaching tennis ball that was her target and predicted its course after the first bounce. Catching a ball going slower than a bullet would be child’s play compared to evading fire from magical girls or even bullets. It would be too easy, in fact. With a mighty swing, Samantha’s racket collided with the ball and sent it flying... straight backwards, gifting Su a point.

...maybe this is where she would die.

“O-oh, that’s…” she felt a bit embarrassed. “I suppose that might’ve been instinct…” The problem here was that she had used the racket horizontally, instead of utilizing the net like she was supposed to. As though she were trying to slice the ball in half.

”What’s with that stance?”

Su understood that Silhouette was one of Veronica’s most capable agents. But it seemed she was lost on the tennis court. Someone else might have felt compelled to play it easy on their opponent after such a display. But that would be doing Samantha a disservice. It wasn’t like Su was an expert player herself. The only way you could get better was by playing against opponents that were better than you, and only if they did their best.

”It does take a bit to adjust to.” Su extended her hand, and the ball was blown towards Samantha’s heel. She hadn’t transformed yet. Su was just using what little magical power she had out of costume to get the ball to roll back to her. ”So that’s 15-0, and it’s your turn to serve.” Su slid one of her feet behind herself. Perhaps this was a ruse to make her drop her guard.

Samantha picked up the ball. Taking a deep breath, she turned her racket in her hand and held it properly. Slicing at a tennis ball was obviously not the way to go about things. “I shouldn’t be in love over something so stupid…” Sam muttered under her breath, but Su might’ve picked this up. Either way, she managed to throw the ball into the air and serve it properly.

Su did, in fact, hear that. ”Samantha?” Su hesitated, and the ball bounced past her without a single swing. ”Is something bothering you?” She ran the discussion she had with Samantha in her room through her head and tried to find ways to link it up to what Samantha was saying now. ”You weren’t in love with Mika, were you?”

That statement caused Samantha’s features to redden but she held an expression that seemed to suggest she didn’t even realize this. “W-where’d this come from?” she asked. She looked away and tried to think about it, but honestly she was not sure. “...I don’t… really have the experience to say,” she admitted. “We talked about this a while back, didn’t we?”

“I recall you saying you felt that way about your boss.” Su blinked. Her initial hunch was correct, Mika had nothing to do with this. “I’m sorry, it’s hard to get Mika off my mind. What I wanted to ask was how Veronica was doing.”

The assassin’s expression soured when Veronica was brought up, confirming that this was indeed what irked her. “Fine,” she replied. “She’s gone now, though.” There was a bitterness to her tone.

”She’s gone?” Su turned her head. ”Like, dead or, did she leave?”

“Left,” she clarified. “Veronica can’t die,” Samantha said this with absolute confidence. It was almost as though she thought the notion was laughable. “In her place is some… woman nobody recognizes, too,” Su could probably tell this particular part was what irked Sam the most given the sheer reluctance of hers to even give her the decency of calling her a woman. “I don’t think it’s going to go well for us as an organization, but since she was chosen…”

“Do you wish she picked you instead?”

Sam shook her head. “No. I’m not the sort of person who can lead others. I was a soldier, so I am better at following orders,” she told Su..

Su nodded once and lowered her racket. ”Is it something you feel like talking about?” She jogged over to the net. ”Talking about Mika made me feel better. It might do the same for you.”

"Mmm..." Samantha seemed to stew on the thought for a while before hesitantly nodding. "I'm not good at explaining how I feel, but..." she placed a hand on her chest. "...it's like I'm mad, irritated, and sad simultaneously. I don't like it at all. Not Veronica leaving, not that woman taking her place, and not me being left here.”

”I feel similarly about Mika.” Su stepped around the net. ”I don’t think there’s anything anyone could say to us to make you or I feel better though. It’s just not a pleasant situation.” She tapped her foot.

“Yeah, I think that you are probably right…”

”The woman who’s taking Veronica’s place, have you spoken with her much?”

"I didn't want to," she said. "Aside from when she introduced herself, we have not spoken."

”If she’s acting as your boss, you should probably get to know her a little better.” Su wasn’t Silhouette’s mother. Still, there was no harm in trying to give Samantha advice. Maybe? ”I’ve never spoken to her, so I don’t know how she is. By all means avoid her if she’s mean or doesn’t act in Veronica’s best interests, but you’re probably going to have to talk to her sooner or later. It’s what she’d want, right?”

Samantha rubbed the back of her neck. “I know that, it’s just…” she seemed almost unable to complete the thought. “...I don’t know. Or I do... I know that it would be ideal for us to cooperate and that Veronica would want that, but…” Sam sighed as her mind ran in many different directions. “I just must be sick or something, I can’t make sense of my own thoughts and it’s frustrating me.”

”If you were in love with her, then that’s normal.” Su hugged herself and looked away from Samantha. ”Some people might say no one could love someone like that but, well, I was in love with Veronica once.”

That roused Sam from her confusion. “Huh?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

”Um.” Su blinked. ”I mean, we dated?” She needed a moment to think. ”She snuck me into a movie theater once. That was back when I could only be a human for a half an hour at a time. I remember poking my head out of her coat so that I could eat her popcorn.” The corners of her lips twitched. ”We were an item.”

I was never told of this!

Samantha understood Veronica had her flings with other magical girls, but she wasn’t exactly briefed on them, so she hadn’t known that Su was involved. It… well, much like the rest of her thoughts, Sam couldn’t think of a proper word about how to describe them. She wasn’t mad but she wasn’t happy about this, either.

“What happened?” Sam let her curiosity lead her.

”I don’t fully understand it myself.” Su hadn’t meant for her relationship with Veronica to become but it had been about a year since it was hinted at was probably something Samantha had ought to hear. ”We had been dating for-” Su closed her mouth. She took Samantha aside and spoke to her in a hushed tone, confident that no one could hear them. ”We had been dating for a while. That was when the former ‘Vermillion Veronica’ found her. To keep things from getting confusing, I’m going to call the Veronica you know ‘Fritzi.’” It was like uncorking champagne. As soon as Su mentioned her name, the rest came out easy. ”Fritzi needed help, so she was given a black coin, a debt, and sent on her way. I wasn’t allowed to listen to their conversations together, but Fritzi always told me what Veronica had told her. Or at least I assume she did. Fritzi was always to type to withhold information rather than flat out lie.” Su found herself standing up straight. ”It was normal Mint fanfare with her. I’m sure you know the types of things Fritzi was asked to do better than anyone. First it was just odd jobs, then it was assassinations. All while feeding the Mint information on Boteg. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t believe she would sell out Boteg, but I also loved her. Her missions kept getting tougher. At one point they told her to slay Veronica. They were trying to get her to use the coin, or ask for more help. We knew it.” Su rubbed the back of her neck. ”One night she said she was going to save Boteg and myself, but that I had to remain behind. We had our last kiss and then I went back to sleep. Well, I tried. The following day Boteg’s entire hoard was gone.” Su closed her eyes and folded her hands together. ”She must have been successful. You can tell her power isn’t normal, and she was respected enough to be a coin broker. We encountered each other on and off over the past few years, then she called me out to bring Amber to Boteg.” Su looked away. ”We haven’t spoken much since then.”

“...I see,” Samantha ruminated on the odd history Su shared with Veronica. It wasn’t something she was privy to, as Veronica rarely spoke about her past in detail, though this was par for the course with a Mint broker and any smart agent. “The Mint, from my experience, works with profit in mind exclusively. To this end, anything might be demanded of an agent and they will use whatever means necessary to achieve their goals, be it menial labor or contracted killing,” Samantha explained, her chin resting on her hand. “That they would ask ‘Fritzy’ to take out her own superior… it doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Sam realized something, then shook her head. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure you already know this. But the reason I was bringing it up was because I had a stray thought about something, but since it involves… ‘Fritzy’, I can’t see it being a problem.” Samantha sighed. “I imagine she used Boteg’s hoard as a bribe to protect the two of you, but that would normally just give the Mint leverage considering it would make obvious the significance of the two of you to ‘Fritzy’.”

Samantha was thankful that her lone-wolf approach to life had made it impossible for them to have such a hold over her. Since she joined the Cradle with Veronica, they had nothing to use against her. No family. No friends.

“But… she’s smart,” Samantha declared. “And you aren’t dead or worse. So it’s nothing, I guess.”

”I would like to think that she did it to protect us.” Su couldn’t, of course, think that was the only reason. There was too much secrecy. ”She doesn’t have many reasons to keep me alive, I don’t imagine. I’m just a liability at this point.”

“Yes, that’s exactly why it would be leverage. They would know that you were someone of importance to her. And do you think they have standards? Only when it benefits them,” Samantha told her. She was no different when she joined, so the spite seeping into her words was not entirely directed at them.

She examined Samantha’s features. ”How do you feel now?”

“Frus…” Samantha then realized that such feelings had become less pronounced. “...well, maybe not as much anymore,” she changed her answer. Sam scratched her head. “I do not feel as strongly as I did earlier, at the very least.”

”That’s good.” Su walked back over to her side of the net. ”That was your point, so we’re 15-15.” She spun the ball in her hand before preparing to serve. ”Oh.” She looked Samantha in the eyes. ”I’m glad we talked. I feel a little better too.” She fired the ball over the net and Samantha returned to focusing on the game.

In the end, neither of the girls could pull off a win and thus the match was eventually concluded with the only reward being the promise of a rematch with a more satisfying conclusion. But Samantha might be looking forward to more than just the game.

@BrokenPromise@Ariamis@AtomicNut@Ponn@FamishedPants@Card Captor@twave


Ronin winced a bit at Alex threat, but she went and kissed Lily anyway! Then Shoggy took the cupcake. No dare, huh? Well, that's fine. She probably should hang out more with Connie and Mia just because. But anyways, there was that one thing that she had to do. At some point she'd sneak in behind Faith to just whisper

‘I'm so happy you're alright,’ before sneaking off. Apparently Faith was in a disguise so shouldn't talk to her, but just couldn't wait with that one. Then off to do other stuff.

The Sanctuary. Even if things looked a little better these days, things were not alright by quite a shot. Their position was flimsy, and a hundred warring factions waged sometimes openly, sometimes with underhanded deals under the table for dominance over Penrose. The cat girl’s ears twitched as her tail swished as she headed towards the center of the Sanctuary, her mere presence making people turn their heads toward hers.

Eventually, she stopped, her eyes resting on a metallic figure. Penny.

“Hail and well met, O Builder Penny.” said Dina, as she performed a curtsy. “Would you like to convene our thoughts on the situation so far?” She asked.

“Hey Dina” Penny would reply without looking up from her work. In front of her was a small collection of scrap that she was in the process of turning into what looked to be a chess board and pieces. “And sure, I’m always grateful to get a second opinion on things. Take a seat” she would say gesturing to the other side of her table.

With a small acknowledgement nod, the noble catgirl took a seat in a delicate and purposeful manner, and eyeing the amount of scraps let a small sigh.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum" She uttered. "So you also think we should force the gears in the agenda."

“It’s only a matter of time before it sparks into something more open” Penny would say as she kept to her work. She was doing more than making a simple board she was working on making this one more detailed, purely for the hell of it. “Not sure if forcing something is the right move yet, but from what I can gather someone will soon. Beacon is planning a raid against Mariette soon and I would be surprised if no one else makes a move under the cover of that one”

Dina's tail swished only once. "To be expected. Beacon seeks to vindicate their wounded pride. Others will exploit this and target either side." Her eyes shrunk slightly. "We might have more refugees or the Sanctuary's policy will make it hard to stay out of any pleas for help." She paused.

"I have done some groundwork. Mostly disatisfactory. The Golden Trove faction I approached first, but one of them was rather rude and did nor allow me to meet with their master. I believe it was a chinese dancer. Trying to win their cause as first ally was being costly so I had to strike a deal with someone else. A patron dolphin named Dan."

She paused. "Quite helpless at times but his goals of feeding off happiness should be fairly easy to deal with as I work here. Most importantly, I have a summer retreat for all of the people in here if things get hairy."

"We still need to do so much yet, though."

“Yeah Su is something of a rough sell.” Penny would remark, thinking of the Manager of the Golden trove “Though part of that I think is the fact that I stole from a friend of hers shortly before that friend died. Was able to get some more bedding from her for trading away some information that wasn’t much use to us here.”

“As for Dan” Penny would stop at her work to glance up with an uncertain look on her face “If he is willing to give us access to his Beach then I’m willing to let his past actions slide, so long as he’s not going to pull any time shenanigans with it again. You serving under him or just striking a Solo deal?” She would ask.

“On my side I’ve got some inside help from Beacon. A few White Coins, and a few Purification potions. Hesitant to offer the Coins unless someone’s trapped with their patron, but the Potions should help with those that don’t feel comfortable with how they are.”

“Also been contacted by someone who had a deal with Cindy with the intention of continuing that very same deal, not fully sure I trust them not to betray us at the moment so I’ve left that as an open option. Other than that I’ve talked with an acquaintance of mine to try and get more security here.”

"Figures." Dina said. "If you know Dan you know… his shortcomings then. A solo deal would not have given me access to the dimension. I'd like you to elaborate on what he did to you then. Still, It should not be very difficult to get that passage deal out from him. He loves being a social butterfly, just like myself… and I dare say a second opinion is sorely needed with such a crew." Dina stated.

At the mention of Beacon, she hissed slightly. "Oh, their idea of mercy. Convert or else. I do not relish on Beacon's help at all. They can be as binding as the Mint sometimes, and… to be honest, how many of these refugees will trust anything from Beacon?"

Her eyes darted. "Well, perhaps I could go in those talks to help smooth things down. I do have a knack for it, or at least I did."

“I should point out that when I say Beacon I’m talking about the faction that was here before the Ascendency showed up. I view them as very different organizations. Alicia’s not a purge and scourge zealot, that would be Rachel. Still you have a point about the girls here, hence why I only have a little of what I do” As she spoke she laid out the board she had been making, now checking that it was to her liking “Regardless one of their members ended up getting an incomplete copy of Cindy in her head so it was best to work with them on the matter, despite how distasteful I find it myself.”

“Onto Dan and what he did. He, along with the help of a set of Twins who can grant wishes, ended up stealing away most of the magical girls from Penrose and hiding us away on his Beach. For us it was only a few days, but it was months on the outside. If not for that I doubt that the Ascendency would have moved in, or at least not with as much success as they had.”

Satisfied with the foundation she had Penny would start working on making the pawns a bit more fanciful. “And I wouldn’t count your skill gone, Penrose is just a mass of tension at the moment, few people willing to trust others, even with your boons I doubt that it is an easy environment to get things done.”

"Still too risky, I would say. Plus that Cindy copy - I will believe it once I see it. I feel it is far too tempting to play with Cindy's memory to gain a foothold here at this point." Dina said, unconvinced. "Though we should keep the gifts just in case."

Her ears seemed downcast as Penny told Dina what happened. "I should have grilled and eaten him already, but he is proving to be fairly fitting for this moment in time." She then lifted herself up and went to Penny's side. Something was telling her that Penny… was still enduring a lot, so she let the noble on second row and decided to play the cat as she nuzzled against Penny's neck with her face, purring all the time, with her tail upright.

"You are doing well, Penny. You remind me of my grandson Yuri."

“Pretty sure eating plastic would give you indigestion” Penny would deadpan as she kept working on her chess set. She was annoyed at the Dolphin, but she couldn’t bring herself to be truly angry at him anymore. He simply wasn’t important enough for her to care about right now.

As Dina went to nuzzle Penny there would be a crackle as a translucent blue barrier would snap to life. With its appearance Penny would side eye the noble cat girl, setting down her work to do so. “Not a fan of unexpected contact” She would say as a way of explanation for the force field that had sprung up between them.

She would hold the look for a few moments before shrugging and returning to her work. “How do I remind you of your grandson?” She would go on to ask, the barrier between them dimming into non existence once again.

Upon being pushed by the barrier, Dina’s automatic reaction would be to jump backwards slightly, followed by a low-key hiss and growl, as her feline features tensed, before snapping out of it. “Please forgive me, not being wholly human makes me sometimes behave like an actual cat.” She added, before looking rather dejected.

“He always worked himself to the bone, trying to take everything in. And then…while he was trying to make a better world, died on a war on a foreign land.” The cat girl said. “Carrying the dreams of many is a thankless job.” She paused.

“No worries” Penny would reply with a knowing smile not perturbed by Dina’s reaction to the forcefield. “I understand, trust me I understand. Being a machine comes with it’s own behaviour quirks trust me” As she spoke her left hand would lift up for a moment as it seemed to type on thin air. When it was done there would be an almost imperceptible lessening of pressure in the air around Penny, yet she didn’t comment on it, simply going back to her work on the chess set.

“And I can see the similarities” She would go on to say “It’s not quite as one to one as it probably looks from the outside though. I”m not trying to carry everyone’s dreams after all. I’m just working to cement mine into the waking world”

“Do androids ever dream of electric sheep?” Dina quipped. It was an interesting book, that one. Helped alleviate boredom when her body was but a husk of the past. “There’s yet another piece that has sprung up as of recent. It was Dan’s idea. Mariette Pendersen. I’ve heard ghastly rumours of her. But that dolphin expects me to help with her.” Dina said between clenched teeth.

“I’m not a fan of being a gun for hire, but we had better prepare the sanctuary before I’m called to…” she paused, scoffing.”...arms.”

“Used to,” Penny would reply with a thoughtful look “Would need to go to sleep again to find out if I still do.” She would shrug off the thought as for something to tinker with later.

“Ah, Mariette” she didn’t hold back her sigh when it came to hearing that the Portal Witch was involved. She seemed to be everywhere recently.”Be careful, She’s under a Horror and she personally offended the current leader of the Beacon branch here in Penrose by lying and pseudo kidnapping a bunch of girls. So it’s likely to turn into a grudge match.” To say nothing about the Ascendency and Justine.

“On keeping this place safe, I’ve got something finished recently that I’ll be passing out to the girls here who are interested in it” She would say pulling a small token out of one of her storage locations. It was a circular piece of metal that had three gray diamonds in a line down the middle of it. “These are hero tokens of a sort, they are all tied to the Sanctuary. If they work correctly, they should let everyone know if this place gets attacked.”

“Ever heard the term Realpolitik, Penny. There’s vested interest in Mariette on Dan’s part… and ours as well. Even if I am told to ally with them, in the end it’s just one more faction that might swing things in our favour and keep others busy.” Dina grimaced. “Interesting. Have you tested it yet?” Dina said. “Are they activated at will or when hostile magic reaches a certain threshold?”

“Not fully” Penny would reply, tossing the token to Dina “Hard to stage an attack on a place that I am trying to keep safe. I reverse engineered it from a different Hero token that I had, and everything looks right. Had Monica double check it against Ashlyn’s. Can’t say I fully understand how they work, but sensing hostile magic is the best explanation for it so far.”

“And I’m aware of the term” Penny would go on to say, though she hadn’t been before Dina had voiced it and had quickly googled it as she was explaining the tokens.”Can’t say that I’m partial to the idea. I founded this place on Ideological beliefs, tossing those out doesn’t sound like the best path forward.”

“What’s done it’s done. It’s the risk of having a sponsor. Bizarre ideas.” Dina shrugged as she eyed one of the tokens. “I’ll be keeping one of these. I don’t like fighting but I can heal.” Her head tilted sideways. “But we need more fool proof testing.” Her tail swished. “Okay, how about I perform an attack on the Sanctuary?”

“I’ve got plenty of them, going to be handing them out to others here soon, how do you plan on attacking this place?” Penny would ask sitting back watching Dina. “As I’d rather not freak out the people here just in the name of testing these things.”

Dina’s ears twitched, before putting two fingers in her mouth and performing a loud whistle. The ominous flapping of metallic feathers on wings was heard, as an horrid crane with a metallic sheen perched on Dina’s shoulder, screeching slightly. The ominous bird looked at Penny and tilted its head, before rearing it to Dina.

“The birds of Stymphalos shall suffice. They’re quite efficient in battle, with their iron sundering beak, poisonous droppings, disturbing presence and metallic feathers.” Dina added as she scratched the underside of the neck of the creature, who squeaked slightly. “As an Empress, I can draft an army on my own. I shall tell them to launch their feathers at designed places, and ramp up their attacks if needed.”

Penny would give the odd creature a long look. Before cutting her eyes back to Dina. “Let’s try the front door first, and then if it works there try some of the back routes in”

Dina eyed the bird for a split second, before gesturing ever so slightly. The creature flapped its mighty wings, and letting a screech, swooped past its way towards the entrance, where several more would wait. The creatures then would start hammering the door relentlessly with their beaks and feathers.

The tokens would prove themselves within moments. As a momentary vision would flash across both Penny and Dina’s perceptions. A stilled image of the flock attacking the door, a lingering sound of their cries and a sense of where to go to reach the image.

Penny would return to her senses quickly as she rushed towards the door “I’m pretty sure that answers the question if they work” she would call out over her shoulder.

“Alright.” Dina clasped her hands, offering a smug expression, before recalling the birds back to her presence. “It’s another safety measure proven, it seems.”

Penny would stay at the door a moment, gauging the actual damage and fixing it if needed before trotting back. “And likely not a moment too soon either. Can’t help but feel like the sword of damocles is hanging over this place.” She would let out a sigh at that. Both here and the Beacon HQ were likely going to be prime targets here soon, she really needed to have a talk with Alicia about that.

“Shall we try a few more areas before I start passing these tokens out?” Penny would ask pushing aside those thoughts for the moment.

“We could, yes.” Dina said.

“You have something else in mind?”

“There’s always something else in my mind, dear Builder. The question is what to do next. So many things… so much toil… so little time.” Dina said, stretching slightly while using her hand to fix the hair tufts of her ears. “...there’s always time for tea, however.”

“I hear you on the excess of work and the lack of time. Kinda wish I ended up with clones as a power, would have made this so much easier.” Penny would run a hand through her hair, as there was still so much to do, there always seemed like more to do. “I’m not opposed to a break if that’s what you are suggesting though.”

"Breaks are important." Dina said, leaning. "So are teatime manners. Would you like a few pointers?"

Penny pondered that question for a moment. she knew that most of the time she ignored supposed etiquette and simply treated everyone in a relaxed manner, yet she also knew that she was capable of acting with manners. She preferred her methods. “I’m not really sure that the pointers would help. It’s not like I can actually drink tea.”

“There’s a time and place for everything, is it not?” Dina said, tilting her head. “Being prim and proper at teatime will make all those little followers grow enamoured with you.” The noble catgirl said, clasping her hands together. “And even the little inconsequential things do help towards a sound mind. Contrary to what you think, you’re no machine. You need breaks.” She paused.

“If tea’s no good, I know a good place for drinks too.”

“Fair” Penny conceded, there was a time and place for such things. “And on me being a machine we are just going to have to agree to disagree.” Because Penny was a machine and that wasn’t going to change.

“And it’s not that tea is no good, it’s that I don’t have the capability to eat or drink normal foods anymore. I subsist off my elements if I need to, but otherwise I don’t require anything else.”

“Mmm” Dina muttered, as her ears deflated in dejection. “That does make for a very trite life, without the small pleasures. Although I guess I could get some classical music to play.” The catgirl said. “So, time for a break?”

“I still can enjoy the little things, they just happened to be different then normal” Penny would correct with a shrug, “But a break sounds good to me. You get the music and I’ll get my cup of nails.”

---

”The queen of Penrose lives in a barn?” Sammy huffed. ”I haven’t had a chance to deduce anything yet, but that hardly sounds like a monarchy worth respecting.”

”It’s a fitting one for Penrose.”

Sammy and Nuncio walked side by side towards Sanctuary. The little detective wore a padded jacket with a hood. Her entire body disappeared inside the jacket aside from her two massive eyes and her magnifying glass. Nuncio wasn’t dressed as warmly, but it was one of the rare times he decided to wear his coat shut to keep out the wind. Rosa walked behind them. Being a tiger, there wasn’t a lot they could do for her. But Nuncio had powered her up to give her some resistance to the stinging wind.

”This is the barn. I can deduce as much from the barn-like structure.” It was actually a warehouse, but that didn’t seem to matter to the detective.

”Sounds good Sammy.”

”I don’t see anyone. I must conclude they are taking shelter and are unable to greet us.” Sammy waddled into the warehouse.

”Hey! Hold on!” Nuncio power walked behind her, but she could move surprisingly fast with such stubby legs. ”Dame’s gunna be the death of me.”

While on the outside the place still looked like a wreck, the inside was in much better condition, even if it was still on the rougher side of things. There were quite a few monster girls milling about in the open commons area. Most were talking, some sitting off on their own with cheap smartphones surfing glimmr or Youtube. And a small group had even pulled out the projector and set up a makeshift movie theater. There were also a few walled off areas that they couldn’t see inside of.

Off on the far side of the commons Sammy and Nuncio would be able to see the memorial area, a few members there paying their respects there as well. Generally the two of them were ignored. A few people glanced over when the door opened but none of the girls further in seemed all that interested in the two of them.

“You two are new around here” a voice would say just beside them. Turning to look an unnaturally tall Oni looking girl sat resting up against the wall just next to the door. She was giving the two of them measuring looks but overall seemed bored. “What brings you to the Sanctuary?” she would ask before lifting a gourd next to her and taking a drink from it.

”We’ll get to your questions in a moment!” With all the flair of a shonen protagonist, Sammy gripped her jacket and cast it off in one fluid motion. The supah sleuth was here!

”You have horns on your head.” Sammy danced over to the other side of the girl, moving her magnifying glass over her legs. ”You have black and yellow stripes on your clothes. Furthermore, you have a yellow skin tone. You’re clearly an oni of some sort.” She scratched her chin. ”Yellow oni like to menace people and sow discontent.” She nodded. ”I’ve made my deductions! Without a shadow of doubt!” Her finger shot out and pointed at the Oni girl. ”You are here to badger us until we decide to stay at Sanctuary! But you’re too late! We’ve already decided we’re staying!”

Nuncio and Rosa acted like Sammy didn’t just whip out one of her famous deductions. ”Hello ma’am.” he tipped his hat. ”Sammy and I can’t stay in Penrose proper anymore. We’ve been lookin’ for a new spot, and we were told we could house here.”

The girl in question would simply raise an eyebrow at the tiny detective’s deduction. Before shrugging “Ya caught me” She would say blandly before turning her attention to Nuncio.

“The Sanctuary is open to all types so you and your friend are free to stay. The Lady is wanting to be greeting newcomers herself while she’s got the opportunity. So she’ll likely be giving you the tour when she gets back.” She would go on to explain as she rapped one knuckle against her breastplate causing an ethereal echo to stand away from her. One that was much more bestial than she was and colored a ghastly red. It would barely spare a glance at the two newcomers before drifting away into the floor.

“She’ll be here as soon as she gets the memo”

”What’s this?!?” Sammy watched the Oni sink into the floor. ”Red oni are creatures of passion and lust. She must have seen something she likes to do that.” After staring at the floor for a moment, Sammy turned her head towards Nuncio.

”Please.” Was Nuncio’s only response.

It would only be a few moments before Penny would emerge from the hole in the ground that led to the lower levels. Her four spider legs poking out of it at first before finding purchase and her lifting up and out. “I really need to get around to building that ramp” She would grumble to herself as she turned towards the entrance, her extra limbs folding away as she did. The ladder she had installed was fine, and since most of the people here were magical it wasn’t like the jump up or down was all that difficult, just it still being a hole in the ground was something of a bottle neck.

She would use the moment it took to walk across the common area to examine Sammy and Nuncio as she had heard about them but never actually met. “Thanks for the heads up Ashlyn.” She would say nodding at the Oni girl, who simply waved away the thanks, before turning to the newest residence of her home.

“Welcome. You must be Sammy and Nuncio, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Penny.” She would introduce offering a hand to them to shake.

Sammy seemed to be taken back by the girl’s spider-like limbs to bother shaking her hand. She continued to mutter notes to herself.

”That’s us, Ma’am.” Nuncio shook Penny’s hand, but made it brief less the pint-sized detective get jealous again. ”Amaryllis told ya about us I take it? We’re bein’ targeted by the Mint. It’s a long story, but we were told this would be a good place to crash.”

”And strike back at them!” Sammy raised her magnifying glass.

”For now we’ll take a place to sleep.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. ”So howdaya wanna do this? Not interested in bein’ a freeloader myself, I’m sure Sammy feels the same way.”

“She mentioned you, yeah” Penny would reply with a nod as she leaned on her back foot. “And currently any help you can in getting this place supplied is more than enough to help pay back for having a room if you are insisting upon it. We’ve got the basic supplies such as food and water, it’s mostly everything else that we are having difficulties with in any amounts.”

”Ah hah!” Sammy raised her magnifying glass towards the heavens. ”With my incredible powers of deduction, I can find just about anything you could want or need! The supah sleuth is on the case!”

“Thank you Sammy.” Penny would say with a smile, not bothered with the interruption before returning to the rest of her explanation ”You can also help out with renovations if that’s more your capability. We’ve got three floors at the moment but most of the sleeping rooms are still being shared, so any assistance with helping expand in that regard is also appreciated. Though I’ve been working on something that should give us a fair bit more space so might not be needed here soon.”

“And even if you can’t find anything at the moment to help out, you're still free to stay. I built this place to help those in need, and I can’t expect those in need will always be able to return the favor.”

”I ain’t a freeloader, ma’am” Nuncio folded his arms. ”Construction was what I did before joinin’ the ranks of the magicals. I’m no stranger to hard labor or pouring concrete. Can’t say my arm is the strongest, but I can help.”

“That know how is probably better than having a strong arm” Penny would mention “We have a lot of people who are strong, but not as many people who are knowledgeable in the traditional sense.” She would give a shrug “Either way, follow me and I’ll show you two the open rooms we have and answer any questions you have on the way” She would turn back towards the hole and start walking but check to make sure they were following before she got too far.

But they were following, and closely. Sammy had a tendency to lag behind, but she never let Nuncio get further than a few paces away before speeding up behind him. ”How many people presently live here?” She held up her magnifying glass to a wall. ”Also, you’re queen now, right? Do you consider Penrose your kingdom then? ”

”I imagine that makes your relationship with beacon interestin’ to say the least.” Nuncio started to unbutton his trench coat.

“The number of girls that live here is hard to pin down, as some only use this place as a safe place to congregate and still live elsewhere. On average it’s a couple dozen. And I have claimed the title of queen, but I don’t consider Penrose as mine. Too many factions and forces here for any one person to have a claim to it all. Besides, I view the title of queen with a different lens than most I think. For me it’s not a statement that I am a ruler of the area, but that I am willing to stand for the corrupted. A lot of us are persecuted for only being inhuman, and even more are willing to take advantage of the fact that more often than not we won’t have somewhere to fall back to be protected.”

“In that regard Queen is something of a lofty title, but I’m not the one who picked it, and at this point choosing a different title would just cause unneeded confusion.”

The walk to the hole that led to the lower level didn’t take very long, the hole itself wasn’t anything special, just a clean circular hole that led to a twelve foot drop into what used to be the abandoned pipelines in the area, there was a ladder installed into the wall as well but it was not hard to see that the ladder was a more recent addition. Penny would drop down without much fanfare before moving off to the side for Sammy and Nuncio. “My relationship with Beacon has always been interesting. Especially since their Beckoners directed them to me while knowing full well of what I was. This” She would gesture to the Sanctuary around them, “hasn’t changed much for those in the know and the only reason I haven't told more of Beacon is because I don’t trust the Ascendency.”

The tunnel that they stepped into ran parallel to the drop in point. And it was easier to see down here where they broke away from the path laid out by the pipes. There were also doors, or approximations of them, placed in the walls in either direction. “Most of the rooms are on this level” She would explain “The rooms down that way are mainly storage, but there are also the showers” She would gesture to her followers right “The end of that is also one of the emergency exits. The room behind me is mine” She would say pointing at the double doors she was standing in front of. “And the end of the tunnel with the rest of the rooms is another ladder to the next level where we have more rooms, the gym, and are currently in the process of putting together a media room. We’ve got a few games down there mainly board games at the moment but we did get a few gaming consoles recently.”

She would turn and start heading towards the third level, as that was where the open rooms were at the moment.

The detective and mobster let Penny guide them to the third floor. ”It was my understandin’ that you were takin’ Cindy’s title. Guess that wasn’t the case.”

”I could make a deduction, but I will give Penny the chance to answer honestly.”

”Do ya prefer Queen, Queen Penny, or is Penny just fine?”

“I did take Cindy’s title. I am Queen Penny, the Builder. And Penrose is my territory. But I’m not so arrogant to assume that means anything by just saying it. I wanted to make a place for people to be safe. Action is going to be needed a lot more than words are to secure this place. As for how to address me I honestly prefer just Penny, but not everyone wants me to be just Penny so I leave it up to the person. Ashlyn, the Oni girl you met at the entrance, calls me Lady, or Oyabun for example.” Penny would explain as they walked, they had a bit more of a walk to the dropdown this time then they did before.

Sammy bounced into the air. ”Ah yes! This falls right in line with my deductions!” She ran up beside Penny. ”You scraped up her title to ensure no one could oppose you. With the outer alliance momentarily out of action, and Cindy out of the picture, you were free to move into the power vacuum that was created.” She rubbed the side of her head with her magnifying glass. ”I wonder if this was part of Beacon’s plan all along, or maybe the Mint’s plan? Could they be working together for some nefarious scheme!?!?!”

Nuncio sighed. ”Forgive the dame, she’s goin’ stir crazy.”

”Quit flirting with the queen, you!”

“Well, she’s not wrong in some respects.” Penny would point out as they got down to the current lowest level. “I did step into the power vacuum that was left behind by Cindy’s death and I did take the title to minimize the amount of infighting that could occur. Reasoning is backwards though. I stepped in so that neither Ascendency or Mint would be able to profit from the destabilization that would have occurred had someone not stepped up.”

“Besides as far as I can gather it was the Mint that assassinated Cindy, so I doubt they were expecting me to step in so quickly and Beacon hates the Mint. Their current leader wouldn’t work alongside them.” She would add with a shrug. “Also Sammy, don’t worry Nuncio’s not my type. He’s a he after all.”

”See? Even she knew you were flirting her up!” Nuncio didn’t dignify Sammy with a response.

The third floor once again started as a simple tunnel. The difference was that one of the directions ended very shortly, and opened up into two different rooms, one of them was the gym and the other was the still in progress media room, though only the Gym was easily visible from the landing point.

The other side of the tunnel was still under construction. And not all of the rooms were finished or had doors in place. “Welcome to your floor. The gym is that way, as is the media room. Gym currently doesn’t have any pads so be careful of that. But don’t worry if you break anything fixing it isn’t too hard. Feel free to add to the media room, as mentioned not a lot there but we are keeping an eye out for more things to add.”

“Rooms are over here” She would say walking over to them. “Don’t really have any rules for the assigning of them, so feel free to pick whichever room you want. A thing to note is that the marks above the doors indicate how many people are currently residing in that room” She would point out drawing attention to metal ‘X’’s placed above the rooms Which most of the rooms down here had at least one, but a few were empty and one had two. “More than two to a room tends to make things rather cramped, but there is nothing against it so long as all of the people are okay with it. I try to keep up to date on how many people are in each room so everything should still be accurate.”

”Thank you for the tour, Penny.” Nuncio Took off his hat and bowed. ”If ya plan on building anything, let me know.”

”I have much to investigate, but the preliminary examination was very helpful.” Sammy shook one of Penny’s many hands before wandering over to the rooms. ”Let’s see what we can do for a room, Nuncio!”

As the two turned to their new abodes, the familiar sound of heels clicking against hard ground could be heard. Amaryllis Evenings, her long hair tied back in a ponytail and her Sword hanging from a loop around her belt, emerged from one of the adjacent hallways. A few quick strides brought her to Sammy, and she greeted the detective and her boyfriend with a wave.

“The Horned Lady informed me that you two would be here,” Amaryllis said, brushing some sweat off her exposed nape. “I hope you haven’t found much objectionable during your expedition through Sanctuary?”

”It ain’t exactly 5 stars, but I’ve lived in much worse.” Nuncio gave his honest opinion.

Sammy was still going over everything with her magnifying glass. ”It is perhaps best that our accommodations are not too comfortable, less we spend more time sleeping than solving mysteries!”

Nuncio smiled. ”Nice to see ya again!” He extended his hand to shake, but his hand was swatted out of the air by a tiny detective.

”You need to tell him to relax if he becomes overbearing!” Sammy looked squarely at Amaryllis as she said this. ”You appear to be sweating, and it is much too cold outside for it to be from a jog. According to my deductions, you must be working on something around here!”

“Hey Amaryllis,” Penny would greet as she witnessed the by play between the three of them, Half way turned towards the media room. “Need any assistance?” She would ask with a raised eyebrow, as if it was strenuous enough to cause the Knight to break a sweat some assist might be preferred. Unless of course it was simply the swordmistress keeping in shape.

“Glad to see you two are doing well,” Amaryllis nodded, retracting the hand that she was going to shake Nuncio’s with. “And no, it’s nothing that I need assistance with. Weaving circuitry’s just the sort of precise magical work that helps with my practice, at the expense of inducing hunger. Have you two dined? Or am I the only one amongst you lot who has yet to break her fast?”

Nuncio looked at everyone, then at Sammy. ”Would you like to get something to eat?”

”I would! Though I am not especially hungry, I could use a coffee and a treat of some kind. Maybe a danish or a scone?” Sammy parted her hands, and her magnifying glass seemed to hover in the air. ”Shall I deduce the best possible places to eat? I need only know what you hunger for.”

“Makes sense” Penny would say, accepting Amaryllis’ explanation. Penny herself never had issues with the intricate stuff, but while putting together the gym it was discovered that external conjuration took a lot out of her.

“As for food, we have some stuff here, mostly dry foods. As well as some coffee and tea. One of the other girls here also has a pocket apartment where she cooks or bakes on occasion. That is if you don’t want to go out.” She would point out, mainly to give another option.

“If this is to be your future dwelling, I do believe it’d be apt if we were to throw a housewarming party. I’d prefer a heavier affair myself, but I suppose the question must be asked. Have you any stock of raw ingredients, Penny?”

“Not much within the Sanctuary’s stocks, as I said mainly dry goods, but if you mention a housewarming party I’m sure that Monica will allow you to use her kitchen. Her Patron is all about House and Home.”

”M-Monika?!” Sammy’s eyes dilated upon hearing the girl’s name. ”Um.” She blinked. ”You don’t have to do anything too out there for us.”

”So we’re talking to Monica then?” Nuncio looked to Penny.

“Sure, give me a moment” Penny would nod before walking off to find the Mino-girl.

It would be a few minutes before she returned with the girl in question. She was a short and rather busty Minotaur who seemed to only just be restraining her excitement. “So I hear we are throwing a housewarming celebration?” Monica would ask excitedly upon seeing the rest of the group as she rushed over to them.

“Amaryllis, Nuncio, Sammy. Meet Monica” Penny would introduce once she also had joined them.

“Do you want it to just be the few of you or do you want to make it a celebration for everyone here? What were you hoping to make? Do you need music? Drinks?” Monica would ask bouncing in place slightly.

“Her Patron is Hestia. Goddess of Hearth and Home.” Penny would offer as an explanation for Monica’s exuberance over the idea of a housewarming party.

Would it be cannibalistic to ask a minotaur for beef? Amaryllis thought about it for a moment, before saying, “If you have chicken thigh, potato starch, some seasonings, and pot full of olive oil, that’ll be what I require for my craft. Sammy, I recall you desired something sweet and caffeine-laced?”

Sammy nodded

“And Nuncio?”

”I’m easy.” Nuncio shoved his hands into his pockets. ”If we had time, I wouldn’t mind a stromboli, but I’ll take a pasta dish for today.”

Monica would nod at Amaryllis “I’ve got that in stock. Plus coffee, creamer and sugar for Sammy if you want” she would add with a nod to the tiny detective.

“Excellent,” Amaryllis said. “How’s the ventilation system for the Sanctuary going, Penny?”

“Main areas got the best ventilation, outside of the showers. Full A/C is going to take a lot of work so it’s been put off for more important things. Monica here has set up a partial kitchen area up there as well if you don’t want to take advantage of her apartment’s full kitchen.”

“It would certainly defeat the purpose of a communal kitchen space if everyone eschewed from it in favor of an individual’s home appliances instead.” Amaryllis turned to Monica. “If you could lead the way?”

Monica would nod enthusiastically “Sure, follow me!” she wouldn’t quite race back up the kitchen area, but it was a near thing. It was back in the main room, a moderately sized pseudo room set up on the opposite side as the memorial area. It held a few islands and scavenged campinging cooking equipment.

Once everyone made it Monica would step sideways into a door that wasn’t there a moment ago and would be gone for a few moments before she returned carrying a tray with the requested supplies. Once she handed them over she pulled up a stool to watch the sword mistress work.

With the ingredients brought out and the counters properly sanitized, Amaryllis washed her hands, draped on an apron that was perhaps a bit too small for her, before flourishing her Sword. The Patron, roused from its after-feast nap, only raked at her elbows slightly in irritation; slicing raw meat was fun, but not when it was already butchered beforehand. Still, Amaryllis’s talent with the blade wasn’t limited only to slaying monstrosities and dueling her brethren. She tossed six chicken thighs up in the air and diced them into bite-sized chunks with a flurry of slices. They fell into the stainless steel bowl she had procured from her metal-making, their surface scored to allow for faster marination.

The seasonings came in next. Sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, were added in carefully while the stove flared up underneath a pot of blooming canola oil. She massaged the diced chicken into the seasonings with one hand, while her other hand cracked open eggs, dumping them into a pile of potato starch to make the batter. With hot oil, batter, and seasoned chicken all prepared, Amaryllis got to deep-frying. Soon enough the smell of fried meat and the sizzle of oil filled the area, the Knight of Rose’s amethyst eyes intent on catching the moment where the batter was fried to a perfect golden crisp.

Her Quicksilver (skewer edition) flicked out with pinpoint accuracy as each individual chunk of chicken was finished, retrieving them from the pot and onto a basket covered with paper towels. In time, the basket would be filled, oils saturating into the paper, and Amaryllis flipped the basket onto a plate.

“Sorry for the wait,” she said, taking her apron off. “Have a taste. It’s a pretty simple recipe, but it’s good for calories and protein, I’d like to think.”

”Wasn’t expectin’ ya to run off and cook for us after work.” Nuncio took a seat, with Sammy hopping into his lap.

”Hmmm.” Sammy poked it with her fork. ”It smells Chinese, but I will have to taste it to further deduce what this dish is.”

Simultaneously, Nuncio and Sammy skewered a piece of chicken and moved it to their lips. After taking a bite, they both nodded.

”Damn fine job Amaryllis.”

”I must conclude that this dish, while not what I expected, is indeed worthy of being called supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”

Monica would also move to acquire a piece of the chicken. “Ooh, this is quite good!” She would quickly devour the piece she had taken “You have to give me the recipe” She would say happily as she reached for another piece, one that she would go on to savor slowly.

“It’s not really a recipe sorta thing,” Amaryllis replied, popping the fried chicken into her mouth. Considering the reputation Monica had with being a magical girl serving under a deity of homemaking, they were probably just saying it to be nice anyways. To her, chicken just tasted like chicken; maybe it was better than reheating frozen nuggets, but otherwise, it was normal.

Definitely normal.

“Well,” Amaryllis said, with the slightest hint of smug self-satisfaction. “To new abodes?”

”To new abodes!” Sammy shouted as if it were a toast.

”Yea, let’s check ‘em out.”

Nuncio had his reservations about living in a run down warehouse, but this wasn’t half bad.

---

While Shane had come and gone after Cindy’s death he typically had not stayed at the Sanctuary. Given everything going on though he was overdue for a visit to see how things were. Having been dragged around by the former Queen of Penrose in the time of their return from the beach a good number of the residents knew of him, but not much about him. After a lovely conversation with Lillia, Shane would pop up into the hiding place.

The place was different from the last time Shane would have been here, not radically, but notably. One aspect that had changed was one of the corners of the main floor had been altered, there was a large mural on one of the walls, covered in pictures and letters. In that same area stood a statue of Cindy looking out with a regal smile.

There also seemed to be japanese maids wandering around, Catgirl maids in fact, if the tail and ears were anything to go by. The place also seemed cleaner in a way, but it was hard to pin down why, but it was also more than that, there was just a presence to the whole place that wasn’t there before.

And while Shane was looking around it wouldn’t be long before he felt a pair of eyes on him. The culprit wasn’t hard to find, mainly because she wasn’t bothering to hide the fact that she was watching him. Not that Penny’s gaze was suspicious, more just curious. She was watching him even as she worked on putting something together.

Taking his time he went over to the changed corner and looked over the pictures and letters in particular. These were people’s thoughts, feelings, and those they’d lost. It was disheartening, but good to see that there was this outlet for healing. The statue of Cindy was a little odd to him. They had a contentious disagreement on how to do things. He’d hoped to persist and get her to see things a bit different.

He looked around a bit more before spotting Penny. He knew who she was and heard murmur that she’d taken up the mantle of Queen. That being the case it would be interesting because as far as he knew she was in Beacon as well. That dynamic could be a good thing if the Ascendancy didn’t tear it all apart. He would make his way over to her and give a wave as he approached. ”Hello Penny. Keeping busy I see.” He apparently didn’t care about being watched. If you have nothing to hide…

“Always” She would reply with a smile. This close it was easy enough to see what it was she was doing. Putting together rubik's cubes. She had a few of them already put together, and from her supplies enough to make a few more. “Seems you know me, but I’m sorry to say I can’t return the favor.” She would say apologetically. “Feel free to take a seat, I’m always available for getting to know people who know of my home.”

The boy would pick up some pieces and began assembling one of the cubes. "Haven't messed with one of these in years." He mused. While working on assembling the thing he kept talking. "You can call me Shane. I'm not surprised you don't recognize me. We didn't get the chance to talk much. But we've met on a number of occasions. Since I can let the cat out of the bag now you probably remember me as Shannon." He would say casually as he fiddled with the plastic toy. ”I ended up using a Red Coin per Cindy’s request as a show of loyalty since I had opposed her methods when she first arrived. Not really sure that was the right move now since my original plan to get her to lighten up went up in smoke with her death.” He would eye the statue in the corner.

“Trying to give the people here something to be able to pass the time with, other than simply surf Glimmer” Penny would say as she nodded her thanks for Shane’s assistance in putting these together.

“Shannon” Penny would say slowly as she worked to place the name, or at least acted that way, a computer for a mind makes data recall a breeze but it also tends to make people uncomfortable. She blamed Skynet. “Oh yeah, Hospital girl. Plus you helped out with the thing at Justine’s castle.” She would say in recognition. Before giving him a once over. “Tough break?” she would half ask, half say. Some people preferred to be male, so she wasn’t sure what aspects of the change Shane would be opposed to. Plus the whole loss of Cindy thing wouldn’t have been a good thing.

He shrugged. "Eh. I was a boy before and had been a girl for the last 9 years so I got used to it. A little weird going back but it doesn’t really change the job.” The Puchuu boy didn’t seem phased by the matter. ”Just trying to keep the peace. How have things been here? I know a lot of people were leaning on Cindy to protect them. I understand you’ve taken her place.” He would look at Penny curiously. "Does Beacon know? "

“It was either step up or let them fall to the Mint” Which in truth wasn’t an acceptable outcome in any way “And some of Beacon knows. Those I trust at the least. Which includes no one from the Ascendency.” She would let out a small chuckle at that “In fact, if the whole unsanctioned Beach trip hadn’t happened this place would have likely had open Beacon backing as my friend was planning on doing something like this as well”

Shane would look impressed. He knew things were changing but didn't realize it was that significant. "Well that's good to hear. Hopefully we can work on the rest of them and keep things from devolving further. I get the feeling it isn't going to be an easy though."

While they were chatting, a little girl was escorted in. She was tiny, a doll actually. Penny was pretty quickly pointed out and she was brought over to meet the Queen. “We have a newcomer to see you Obayun. We found her outside looking for the Sanctuary.” The girl would step around and up into clear view.

”H-hello, m-my name is Melisa. I was hoping to...” She said shyly before looking up to see Penny. She stopped for a moment and looked the larger girl up and down. Something inside her seemed to wake up and the pink flame in her abdomen flared briefly. She gasped as the connection to her Metal magic fell into place. ”Are you... made of metal too?” She was suddenly mesmerized by the mechanical girl.

“Tip to toes, inside and out” Penny would admit with a smile as she raised up one arm before it fragmented out into component parts for a moment to help prove her point. “And it’s a pleasure to meet you Melisa. My name is Penny.” She would add before offering a hand, though mainly just her fingers, to the diminutive girl.

She didn't expect someone with the title of Queen to be so casual about things. She reached out and shook the hand as best her limbs would allow. "Very nice to meet you." For a moment she would just stare. Coming to her senses she would apologize. "S-sorry. This magic and monster stuff is all very new to me. My new friends told me about this place. I'm just visiting to see what it's about." She kept a smile on her face as she spoke.

“I get that, the first few weeks are the strangest.” Penny sympathized, hers were odd in more then one way after all. She would tap on the table with a finger before flicking it in Melisa’s direction causing a ramp to grow out of the metallic table so that the small girl had an easier time climbing up if she wanted.

“This place is… Well I’ve always taken to calling it the Sanctuary so that’s the name that stuck. As for what it is, it's supposed to be a home, or a safe haven, for the people like us that need one. Lots of people out there that aren't fond of us, and even more that are willing take advantage of the fact that we rarely have a place to fall back to. So I decided to make one.”

Melisa would stare at the metal that had moved for a moment. Bending down she would knock on it and find it solid. Curious. Seeing as Penny had made the thing she would walk up the ramp to be more at eve level.with the girl.

Shane was watching curiously. Something was a little odd about this girl aside from being in the form of a doll. It wasn’t exactly a bad thing per se, but his PoF told him that she was extremely easy to make friends with. ”Hello there, I’m Shane. Like Penny said, this is a safe place for people to stay. So long as you don’t go out of your way to cause trouble you’re in good company.” Again, not really bad but different than most. It could be that she was so lost and confused though. Some that are thrust into being monster girls can be a bit clingy to people they first meet if their mutations or patron doesn’t drive them to be combative. This girl might be a perfect example of people that Beacon would persecute without ever getting to know them.

Turning to face Shane for a moment, her smile would widen. ”Oh, well thank you.” She would turn back to Penny. ”And thank you for making this place. I uh… am not really sure what to do.” She would lower her eyes to the floor, or in this case the table, and fidget with her hands a bit.

“At this point that’s kind of up to you.” Penny would answer with a shrug, tapping the table again and pulling the ramp back into the table. It wasn’t a mechanical process, just Penny exerting her magic over the metal to shift its shape. Something she had gotten into more practice doing as of late.

“This is a safe place, or a home, and we have some things for entertainment here. Games both board and electronic, a gym to practice parkour in” And she still thanked Amaryllis for that idea “But outside of here it’s up to you. Do you want to help out the Patron that brought you into this world, champion a different cause, help those less fortunate than yourself, sleep. You’re in control of your own life now for better or worse.”

That was rather open ended and only marginally helped. Trixy and Eliza seemed to think her patron had left her. ”I don’t really know what my patron wants. She…” She paused briefly, suppose it was a she based on the voice at the very beginning, ”She only mentioned making friends together. I haven’t heard anything since. If I had to choose I would like to be helpful at least. I don’t really know how useful I might be though.” She clearly didn’t know the first thing about what she was capable of. Despite being a third of her previous size she was superior in almost every other metric. That was even without using her specific magical abilities.

“Well, sounds like we should head to the gym and figure that out then.” Penny would say setting down another completed cube. “As figuring out what it is you can and can’t do goes a long way towards figuring out what you can do to be helpful.” With that said she would stand “You're free to tag along as well if you want Shane” And then she would gesture for Melisa to follow along.

“The gym is still new, or a work in progress depending on how you look at it. Got something of an obstacle course set up and a few areas for more conventional working out, but it’s the best area for slinging magic around” Penny would glance down at her small follower, both to make sure she wasn’t walking too quickly and to give her another once over. “I’d guess you have at least Metal magic, but the pink flame leads me to think that it’s not your only one”

She followed along pretty well even if it took her more steps to do so. There wasn't really any fatigue to speak of so that was an interesting discovery. Looking at the space they went to it was pretty nice, even if unfinished. Penny pointed out the Metal magic. She had sensed something to do with metal earlier. Checking her hands she would hold them out in front of her. Something was fighting to get out, she didn't know what but simply moved how the magic guided her. It took a bit but two cannons would form in her hands. They were both almost as big as she was. "What the f…" Before she could get her words out the two weapons would fire.

Thankfully no one was in the way of the projectiles. Hitting the monkey bars the fixture didn't seem to receive any damage from the impact. However, Penny would notice almost instantly that her ability to manipulate the bars went away almost instantly. Twisting and contorting it seemed to come to life and would begin walking its way toward Melisa. The cannons would disappear and she would raise her hands once again, more in fear than anything. "Aaaaaah. What did I do? S-stay away!" On command the monkey bars would stop, standing still but not quite looking normal. Melisa would shoot a glance at Penny hoping for some clarity.

“Huh” Penny was much less afraid of the twisted metal and much more curious as to what it was that just happened. It wasn’t a spell, but the disconnect from her senses told her it was still magic. “Interesting weapon you’ve got there” She would go on to say as she walked over to the twisted climbing equipment.

Reaching out she would grab hold of the construct and feel out the magic that simmered within it. Turning she would trace the echo of the metal back to Melisa. “I think you just hijacked the metal for yourself” Penny would say her hand still on the twisted monkey bars “It’s connected to you, through more than just Metal but I can’t say what else. Pretty sure it’ll listen to what you tell it to do”

“Can you feel it?” She would ask tapping one finger on the metal she was holding, curious what the other Specialization it was Melisa had, knowing that if things got too complicated she could easily go copy a Third eye from someone else in the Sanctuary to help speed things along.

”Uh. I suppose? I sense something. Kind of like how it is with my own body. I don’t really… feel… things the same.” It hadn’t really clicked in her head until now. Her senses were very different without all the nerve endings and sensory organs. How did any of that even work now? Eh, that didn’t really matter, there seemingly was no going back.

Penny had mentioned being able to control the metal. She had a passing thought and the equipment began to move again. The apparatus folded around the mechanical girl gently in what could possibly be construed to be a hug. When Melisa realized it responded to her whims she waved the thing away. ”Oh, no no. G-go back to your place!” She would point off to where it had initially started.

Releasing Penny the monkey bars galloped back to where it started, straight and rigid as if it had never moved. The tiny girl sighed with relief. This was so bizarre.

Chuckling at both the antics of the metal and Melisa, Penny would follow the monkey bars back to their correct position placing her hand upon it once again. This time however she would pulse her Titan’s Reignment through it to purge any lingering connection to Melisa.

“So it seems like you can possess metal with your arm cannons” She would explain as she returned to the doll-like girl’s side. “I’d guess you’ve got Metal and Spirit. I can help you with Metal, but we’d have to go find Ashlyn to work on Spirit. So which would you like to work on first?”

Shane had wandered over after assembling a few cubes. ”You seem a bit busy at the moment. I should be around a bit more so we can catch up some other time.” He would crouch and pat Melisa on the head. ”You’ll be safe here. You take care.” He would stand and go off to chat with some of the residents.

The doll girl seemed to like the simple gesture of being patted on the head. She would wave as Shane walked off. ”Bye!”

Pulling herself back into the moment, Melisa would turn back around. She didn’t seem quite sure what to do. Looking at the equipment she’s possessed for a bit she would eventually face Penny. ”I don’t know. If Ashlyn isn’t here then isn’t Metal the only option?” After a second she would draw back a bit. ”Or, your highness probably has more important things to do.” She’d suddenly remembered she was talking to someone with the title of Queen.

“No need to worry. Ashlyn’s always around somewhere as I know that Monica’s still here.” She would say. “And I always try to make sure to set aside some time each day for my subjects. Otherwise I think it would be too easy to simply lose connection with them. So once again, no worries. So what’ll it be? Want to work on Metal or should we track down Ashlyn and see if my hunch is right about Spirit?”

Placing her hands on her hips Melisa would think about it for a minute. She appreciated that Penny was willing to assist, on the other hand there was something in the back of her mind that didn't like something about this place. Though that could also be her being a complete noob and everything felt weird. For now she would take the help she could get. "I'm more interested in the metal since I have your time right now. I already took you from Shane and there are probably plenty of other people around here that could use your attention." She took a look around at everyone there. It actually was quite a connection of magical and monster girls. If Penny made time for other people there was no telling when she'd get the chance again for some guidance.

“Sounds good.” Penny would say as she sat down “A quick warning, I’m not the best when it comes to magic, somewhere below average at the moment, so don’t be surprised if you are able to do a lot more than I can.” She would begin, before moving on to the rest of her explanation.

As they went along it did become apparent that Melisa was more heavily skewed toward her magic than anything else. But their session was mostly about helping her get a grasp on how to manipulate metals. If she had Spirit it seemed closely connected to her Metal magic, likely it was why the objects she targeted seemed to come to life and were able to operate on their own. Took a little bit, but she seemed to be warming up to what had happened to her and becoming more relaxed.

“Right, I think that’s about as much as I’ll be able to actively teach you about Metal.” Penny would say eventually. She was happy that she had been able to assist Melisa, and was thankful that she was able to help the tiny girl relax. Penny knew, very, very, well what it was like at the beginning. “I’ll still be able to work as a sounding board for ideas, but at this point you’ll likely be able to figure out everything else on your own. Especially as magic tends to work differently for everyone, at least so far as I have seen it.”

“So any other questions? Outside of magical theory at any rate, that I might be able to help you out with?”

"Hmm, I guess I'd like to know more about things going on in general. Like is this the only place to 'hide' or whatever? What are we hiding from? Stuff like that." A pretty broad question, but she didn't have a lot of information in general about much of anything. Seemed like a lot had been going on that before she'd been oblivious to. On the outside it just seemed like the city was going through some big economic downturn but maybe there was more to it than that.

“As far as I am aware the Sanctuary is the only one of its kind. Mainly because a lot of people out there get really worried when girls like us start gathering together. Who we are hiding from isn’t always clear. A lot of girls will tell you Beacon, which to a point we are, some will tell you Mint, which we definitely are, and some will tell you everyone else, which also has some truth to it.”

Snoopy would make an appearance with a few beeps before projecting a rather basic image of circles with the names of various groups in them. “Thing is, from a normal perspective most of the girls here are not human anymore. Most of us have been corrupted by magic to be something other than human. For me and you we are classed as Monster girls, some of the others are just classed as Dark magical girls because they are partially corrupted. A lot of people view us as dangerous because of it and some actively hunt us down. Beacon can be like that. The branch here in Penrose isn’t, but the Ascendency is very much a fundementalist group but they don’t originate from Penrose.”

“Then there is the Mint. They are a mix between a greedy loan shark and mafia. They offer you power then drown you in debt so that you have to work for them once you’ve accepted their help. The only way to pay off the debt is doing jobs for them, which might require you to take on more debt to get all the information to do the job correctly. They come after us, because a lot of the time the corrupted don’t have anywhere to fall back to, or anyone they can count on to help them out.”

“Those are the major entities here in Penrose. But there are always the countless other Patrons to consider. The Puchuu, the Lesser forces, the Deities, and the Horror’s. All of them have their own goals, and attitudes about all of the above, which may or may not be shared by the girls and boys under their service. For the most part it’s just not possible to generalize them as good or evil, except for the Horror’s, as almost all Horror’s are detrimental in one way or another.”

“So as you can tell, it’s not the easiest life to get dropped into. Especially if your patron can’t or won’t contact you to give you all this info themselves.”

She’d been told a bit by Trixy and Eliza, but that was a lot more than she expected. Her eyes were wide for a moment while she stood and listened. ”Yikes. Okay then.” It was a fairly solid update for her patron as well. Seemed that perhaps this may be the place to be after all. She had been used to others being much more adversarial. ”So this is like a safehouse then.” Looking around at everyone there she considered how she might be of use. It seemed a noble enough cause at least. ”Is there any way I could help? I’m not sure if my real estate skills are all that useful but I’m reasonably used to renovation.” She could see how getting dragged into this could easily destroy your life goals. It seemingly had hers thus far.

“It's a Sanctuary” Penny would agree “I’m hoping it will be able to give people everything I didn’t have for the first few months after I was inducted.” She would explain before leaning back on her arms. To think over Melisa’s offer to help. “Renovation would be a help. A lot of the rooms we have here are sparsely furnished so helping out with that in any way would be appreciated I think. If you know of anywhere we could get more supplies, food mainly, or any other creature comforts that would also be appreciated.”

Shane would have wandered back over once it had looked like the training was over. For the moment though he just listened.

Thinking it over a bit, she shrugged a bit. ”Well, I was going to be getting rid of a whole bunch of stuff at the estate where this doll was. So that’s a lot of regular old furniture and such. May be a bit dated but it still works. There are probably some games and things. I don’t really have much use for any of it. Might be nice to keep the house though.” She wasn’t sure how exactly that would work. The place was paid for already but eventually it could be marked as abandoned, or her as missing or dead. Well whatever, that would take months if not years to get sorted out.

So as to food… She would tap her finger against her face which made a small clicking. ”Have you considered growing things? Could make a greenhouse. This place isn’t really set up for it but that’s a pretty tried and true method of feeding people. You could probably set up some indoor thing here if you really had to or maybe we could use the yard at the estate. Pretty sure the land was used to farm at some point or another. It’ll just take a while before you get anything.” Sounded like a lot of work. Then again what else was there to do? Too bad it was winter.

“Starting a farm is not a bad idea” Penny would agree as she turned over the idea, it wouldn’t be very easy. Unless one of the girls around here was a wood spec, but there was no promise of that happening. “This place has only been under active management for a few weeks so I’ve been focusing on short term stability, but that’s got merit” Assuming that the Sanctuary would be able to stay standing at any rate.

“And if you’re willing to donate the furniture, me and a couple of girls can go with you to pick up everything. The games would be good to add to the media room. And everything else can be split up in some fashion or another. But again only if you want.”

”Of course!” She said loudly while her voice went up an octave or two for a moment. She seemed a bit surprised for a second but shook it off. ”I mean. I was planning on selling or donating most of it anyway. I didn’t have plans to stay in Penrose but now… well, I’m not really sure where else I’d go.” She scratched her head. ”It’s a little ways outside city limits so we’d need a truck and probably a few trips. It’s a fairly decent sized place. I had hoped to sell it for a good amount but I doubt I could get away with closing a deal looking like this.”

“Hmm, getting a truck might be tricky” Penny would say before shrugging, they could always just hotwire one of the abandoned ones if needed. She also wondered if it wouldn’t just be easier to carry all of it, might be faster too depending on things. “If you still want to sell it, either find an illusionist or keep an eye on Brittney’s shop for a disguise artifact. Either should work. Granted with Penrose being how it is at the moment seems like it would be the bigger hurdle to finding a buyer.”

“Either way, let me know when you are ready and I’ll get the people together.”

Rocking a bit she didn’t have any real response for some of that. She knew the market would be bad. Though now she was more thinking it was worth keeping just for its usefulness. ”Whenever is fine. I don’t really have any plans right now.” She was feeling a bit hungry. Though she supposed she had been since her transformation she was just able to ignore it. As she would take glances around she would occasionally spot someone sleeping and she would feel a little pang. ”Um, I have a question. Is it normal to be hungry all the time or is that because I’m actually hollow?” It was a legitimate question. She knew that when she’d consumed Trixy’s deam the other night she felt better, but she thought it would have gone away by now.

Penny’s eyes would narrow slightly at the question. Hunger and Monstergirls rarely mixed well. “No.” She would run a hand through her hair as she thought about how to expand upon her answer. “Hunger can mean a lot of different things now. It’s one of the reasons why non-corrupted tend to be wary of us. Part of the way you think has been touched. You are going to want something. That can be good, can be bad, can be benign. There are Monster girls out there that need to eat people, for example. Others that need to defend everyone they can, and some just want to collect things.” She let out a sigh, “It’s one of the harshest things to get accustomed to and some of us never really do. But if you are hungry, you must have some idea what it is you are wanting to eat, explain it if you can. And I’ll see if there is anything we can do.”

None of that sounded very good. She tried to think if she’d done anything harmful to her friend, but she hadn’t seemed to notice at all. Turning her head she would point to a girl sleeping on the other side of the room. The girl seemed a tad restless as she would shift every so often. ”She’s having a nightmare. I think that’s what I need.” She would blink and look back at Penny. ”The dream at least. I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten one already and the girl was fine the next morning.” She hoped this wasn’t going to be a problem. Hard to tell what it meant from the sounds of it.

A bit of the tension left Penny at that declaration, eating dreams didn’t sound bad, especially if it’s already happened with no down sides. “That shouldn’t be an issue.” Penny would say after a moment “Still to be on the safe side.” Snoopy would pop out with an excited trill before racing off.

A few moments later Snoopy would come bobbing back with a rather petite minotaur girl. Who would nod at Penny when she arrived. “Alright, go ahead and eat. Me and Monica will watch to make sure you’re not hurting them”

”O-okay.” She was a little nervous with the scrutiny of being watched. At the same time though she did want to know if she was hurting someone when doing so. Turning toward the girl the flame in her body went out and she became perfectly still. With Third Eye from Monica, both the minotaur and Penny could see the girl’s spirit magic zip across the room and enter the sleeping girl’s head. At first, there was little that could be determined of what was going on. Monica would be able to see that Melisa had entered into the dream proper, looking just as she did in the real world. She could apparently interact with the dream naturally as if she were a part of it. As dreams tend to be everything moved very quickly, only lasting minutes. Things would begin to go off the rails as time went on.

On the outside the girl seemed to stir more as the dream became more chaotic. Before it got out of hand though the doll girl would consume the dream and it would vanish without a trace. The nightmare gone, the girl would relax and settle in her cot seemingly unaffected. The spirit would return to Melisa packed with replenishing magic for the girl and the flame would return. Giving a satisfied sigh she would turn back to Penny and Monica. ”Is she okay?” She really didn’t know and would look back at the sleeping girl. If she had lungs she would have held her breath.

Both of the girls watched with rapt attention to what was happening. Penny kept a closer eye on the sleeping girl than anything else, as Monica had the more important job. Once Melisa was done eating Monica would close her eyes as a look of concentration crossed her features. A moment later she would open them before smiling and giving a cheerful nod.

“She’s fine” Penny would respond with a thoughtful look. Monica had explained what she had seen to Penny telepathically, as well as supplying her own opinion after giving the sleeping girl another scan that there was nothing detrimental about what had just happened. “From our perspective you simply hopped into her dream and went along with it for a bit before consuming it.”

“And since you ended the nightmare before it could get any worse. I think you helped them sleep easier” Monica would chime in as she crouched down to pat the doll on the head lightly. Completely at ease with the tiny monster girl.

Well that was a relief. Relaxing Melisa would smile brightly. ”Well that’s good. I wasn’t really sure what was going on with all of that. I’ll try and pick out the nightmares then if I can find them.” She would resolve out loud.

Shane would step back up with a slightly amused smile. ”Can’t say I’ve ever run into that kind of magic before. Comes in all shapes and sizes.” He would also give the girl a light pat. Both of which she seemed rather gleeful to receive. ”I was listening to what you were saying earlier about resources. I was at Brittney’s shop not that long ago and if we’re able to get a space for planting then I think there is a good item at the shop to buy to help with that. Won’t allow you to do any crazy Wood spells but it was called Nature’s Staff. Then almost anyone could tend to the garden.”

“Is definitely like nothing I have ever seen before” Monica would say with a nod, “Let me know if anything goes weird during any of the sessions okay?” She would ask “Magic can develop odd quirks over time”

Melisa would nod. ”Okay.”

“I remember the staff” Penny would say, turning her attention to Shane. “The issue is going to be cost, and possibly finding a way to make it so that anyone could make use of the staff. A rotating schedule for the garden might be a good idea, unless we find someone who really takes a shine to it. Give everyone something to do,” Finding space for it wouldn’t be too hard, neither would making some space, but without some source of nature magic either would simply be a waste as otherwise they didn’t have the required things to make an indoor garden.

“Definitely something to keep in mind though.”

Shrugging a bit, Shane would wave off the problems. ”I got it. I may not have Earth magic anymore, but I remember plenty about soil composition and what helps plants grow so we can get things started. I could just give myself Wood magic, but I’m holding onto that just in case. Plus then other people could tend to it if I’m away. Sometimes it just takes a little thinking outside the box.” He would tap on his head playfully. Turning to Melisa he would give her a thumbs up. ”Good call on a garden. I think that’ll go a long way to helping people out here.”

“Yeah” Penny would agree with a nod. “Still once we get that it will take care of most of our supply requirements. All that would be left is setting up the location.” She would state thinking about it. Idly she wondered if she would be able to get donations from the rest of the girls here. Would make getting the staff easier.

At this point the only thing that the Sanctuary needed was a way to generate their own Coin income and they were a fully established organization rather than just a safe house. A lot further along then Penny was expecting them to be with only a few weeks of work.

”Somewhere down here would be better until winter clears. Would be a more controlled environment. Shouldn’t be too important exactly where.” They could work out the details later. There was another matter he intended to get to.

”Not to steal you away, but there was something I wanted to discuss. Excuse us for a moment.” He would take Penny aside just a bit so they could talk. ”I ran into someone else new in town and we talked about trying to put together a team of sorts with some of the people of the Sanctuary and some of the independents in Penrose. Still need to talk to others about such a thing before it really gets anywhere. I know you and some others here have been working to clean up the city, but we could then have something of a group doing good that is deliberately public facing. The idea isn’t fully fleshed out but I wanted your opinion before getting too far along with plans.”

“To put it bluntly, any options that remove power from the Mint and empowers people that don’t have a lot of options is gold in my book” Penny would reply “And now that the Sanctuary is more or less stable, I’d be willing to help out with this team either as a member or a sponsor of sorts. Though I would like a bit more details on what you had in mind”

He would have to shrug a bit. ”Well, it has to be fleshed out. But the simple message is that this is our town too, so we’re going to help protect it. Prove that we’re not just her to make a mess of things and actually fix up Penrose.” He offered. Like he said there were not a lot of details to be brought up just yet.

“Ha, pretty sure I declared that to be my stance already with taking the title of ‘Queen of Penrose’” Penny would say with a chuckle “Let me know when you and your friend are ready to sit down and flesh this out. I’d be willing to sit down with you to brainstorm.”

”Can do. Worth looking at at least.” He would smile. ”Anyway. I’ll probably go and pick up the staff from the shop so we have something we can use. Unless you have anything else.” He would wait and see.

“Nothing comes to mind” Penny would say after a moment of thought. “I’ll get a small plot set up near the Gym in the meantime.” She would say turning to start working on that “Thank you, by the way” She’d stop mid way to look back at Shane “The garden will go a long way to helping I think.”

Shane would give a thumbs up and turn to head out. Seems he may be busy for a while.

In the wake of Connie’s mission with Hilde, during which the timid girl had finally managed to gain some control over her powers, Mia decided it would be a good idea for Connie to get some practice against a few similar collections of low-level monsters. Such was the reason why the Empress of Nightmares and Daughter of Mother Earth now found themselves in the ruined halls of Penrose Downtown Library, facing off against the swarm of giant rats that infested the crumbling structure.

“I believe it is safe to say that we have acquired their full attention,” Gaia observed as she blasted several of the creatures with beams of emerald energy from Nature’s Blossom.

“Y-Yeah…” Connie agreed, while employing her tentacles to keep the swarming vermin at a safe distance. “C-Can I g-get r-rid of t-them n-now?” she asked, her shaky voice filled with nervous expectancy.

“Not just yet,” Gaia advised. “We need to make sure you can affect as many of them as possible.”

“O-Okay… B-But t-there’s a-already a l-lot of them, a-and i-it’s g-getting h-harder f-for me t-to k-keep them a-away…”

“I know, little sister. You’re doing such a great job. Just hold on a little longer, and… Now!”

At Gaia’s order, Connie conjured her Nightmare Barrier, which surged out to fill the entire room. The skittering rodents stopped in their tracks as dozens of jet-black snakes slithered out of the floor, walls and ceiling. No sooner had the serpents appeared then they set about devouring their prey with frightening swiftness. In less than a minute, it was over. With the last rat consumed, Connie dispersed her barrier, causing the snakes to vanish as well.

“Absolutely splendid, little sister!” Gaia commended, while giving her friend a hug. “You have come so far in such a short time, and I could not be more proud of you.”

“T-Thanks Mia,” Connie said, blushing slightly at her friend’s complements. “I s-still had m-my eyes c-closed through m-most of it, though…”

“That is perfectly all right,” her friend said with a smile. “Let us work on one thing at a time. With that in mind, are you ready to begin our final sweep of this place?”

“W-What?!” Connie stammered. “B-But d-didn’t w-we just k-kill them all…?”

“With any luck, yes,” Gaia confirmed. “But we need to make sure we didn’t miss any.”

“O-Okay, l-lead t-the w-way…” Connie conceded as she followed her friend deeper into the ruined structure.

Within the depths, a light humming could be heard. Amanda appeared to be searching through the ruins for lost books;her spellbook held under one arm, and whatever she could find in another. Just cause she and the others were stationed outside of Penrose, didnt mean they couldn't check back or visit sometimes, right?

Besides, the magician was bored.

“Hmm… It would appear we are not the only ones who decided to pay the library a visit,” Gaia observed upon catching sight of the bespectacled magician.

“O-Oh! U-Umm… H-Hello there,” Connie greeted the other girl hesitantly. “Umm, w-were you h-hunting the r-rats too?”

"Hm?" Amanda looked to the two girls, pushing her glasses up to her nose. "Ah, not exactly. Though they've proven to be quite the hindrance." for a moment, she glanced over to the few rats she took down. "I'm just trying to find some books that can be salvaged from within here. she motioned to the books she was holding.

“I see,” Gaia nodded. “In that case, please allow us to assist you in your search.”

“Y-Yes, w-we’d l-love to help!” Connie added eagerly. After all, searching for books was certainly better than searching for giant rats…

“I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth,” the verdant magical girl introduced herself. “And this is my dearest friend, Connie, the Empress of Nightmares. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

"Amanda. Don't really have a title myself..." the magician nodded with a smile. Yet something made her curious. "Wait, nightmares?" she asked, her expression showing no ill intent.

“U-Uh, y-yeah…” Connie replied hesitantly. “T-That’s m-my m-magical s-specialization… I, uh, r-really h-hate it, t-though…”

Amanda held her spellbook close to herself. "Curious..."

“Yes, it does seem like something of a cruel trick that someone as timid as my dearest Connie would receive such a frightening specialization,” Gaia observed. “But I can assure you that, despite her menacing title, she is one of the kindest and most gentle people you will ever meet.”

"Quite. But...I never thought I'd find someone with my power's antithesis. Someone so meek to contrast it, no less. Amanda explained, ever intrigued.

“A-Antithesis…?” Connie asked, slightly confused. “Y-You m-mean you have d-dream magic?”

The magician nodded with a tired smile.

“Oh, w-wow…” Connie said, the eyes of her mask widening at Amanda’s confirmation. “I r-really wish m-my s-specialization had b-been that instead… B-But, um, I, uh, h-hope that d-doesn’t mean w-we h-have to f-fight, or anything…” the masked girl added, while nervously playing with her hair.

"Fear not, I wish no harm upon a sister in arms." She reassured Connie. "I'm more of a support type than offensive anyhow, eheh."

“O-Okay,” Connie replied with a relieved sigh. “I-I’m r-really glad to h-hear that.”

“As am I,” Gaia agreed while offering Amanda a warm smile. “Shall we be on our way, then? After all, this library is a sizable place, and the books you’re looking for won’t find themselves.”

"Ah, yes! I'll lead the way." Amanda nodded, depositing the few books she had into her pocket dimension.

“S-So, um, i-is your P-Patron nice?” Connie asked tentatively as they walked along. “M-Mine’s r-really s-scary, b-but s-since you use d-dream magic…”

"Lady Maura is...different, in a good way. We happened upon each other by chance." Amanda started to explain. "I used to be a journalist, and she posed as one of my boss' clients for awhile. When she finally approached me, she explained that my predecessor was once a mediary between dreams and nightmares. As she was with life and death. Neither of us had yet to find the old witch of nightmares, but she decided to take me in either way."

She looked down at her spellbook with a smile. "She saw that my bloodline had potential, I suppose.

“I was much the same,” Gaia informed her. “When Mother Earth chose me to become her daughter, she told me that it was because of the familial bond I already shared with her. Apparently, one of my ancestors also served as her champion sometime in the distant past. It is a great honor for me to continue that tradition.”

“I-I j-just f-found a s-scary m-m-mas… U-Umm, t-the t-thing I’m w-w-wearing r-right now…” Connie added softly.

"An artifact?" Amanda looked over to Connie, searching through a pile of rubble.

“Y-Yeah… I, uh, f-found it in the b-basement of t-the orphanage w-where I l-live,” Connie explained. “I-I w-was s-so s-scared w-when it s-started g-glowing a-and t-talking… I-I n-never w-wanted to b-be a m-magical g-girl, b-but it d-didn’t give m-me any c-choice…”

“Yes, but as I have said many times, you have come so far since then,” Gaia told her, while placing a comforting arm around her shoulder. “You have already conquered so many of your fears, and I am so very proud of you. I simply cannot say that enough.”

"Hm, I have heard some lesser forces reside in such artifacts, but I've never really seen a case myself. Has your patron been good to you thus far?" the magician asked.

“N-Not r-really…”Connie said glumly while looking towards the floor. “H-He o-often y-yells at me f-for b-being w-weak a-and e-easily f-frightened… B-But l-lately, t-thanks to M-Mia and my o-other f-friends, I’ve b-been g-getting stronger, s-so h-he h-hasn’t been y-yelling at me q-quite as m-much…”

“Her Patron is an abominably contemptible being,” Gaia added. “I simply cannot abide bullies, and I cannot stand the way he has treated my dearest Connie. If I could, I would very much like to do away with him myself. As it is, I must content myself with helping Connie grow stronger so that she is less likely to suffer his torments.”

Amanda furrowed her brows, then sighed. "If only I or Maura could have a word with the brute... He forced you into this, it's only fair that he should be patient as well. Such power is complicated, after all." she picked up a book and looked through it, making sure it's intact. "You can't help someone learn through harsh scoldings alone.

“Indeed,” Gaia agreed with a nod. Then, after watching Amanda inspect a few books, she decided to ask the bespectacled girl a question that had been lingering in her mind since she and Connie had first met the other magical girl. “Please forgive me if I am being too presumptuous, but, exactly what books were you hoping to find?”

"Just some that weren't destroyed in the wreckage, is all. I've been lacking in reading materal lately, so I was hoping to hold onto them 'till things are restored. I plan to bring them back by then." She said, picking out through the few she found.

“I see. So, will just any books suffice, or do you have particular subjects of interest?”

"Any will do." she nodded.

“Very well,” Gaia said, before turning to her friend. “Ready to lend a hand, Connie?”

“Uh huh,” the masked girl confirmed, conjuring her tentacles and using them to grab various books for inspection.

Meanwhile, Gaia grew several vine tendrils from a collection of seeds, which she sent forth to scout around for intact manuscripts. After only a few minutes, they had returned with roughly a dozen books. Connie had been similarly successful, acquiring a large enough stack that she was having some trouble holding it. Presumably Amanda herself had found a few more tomes as well, creating a sizable collection.

“Will these be sufficient?” Gaia inquired.

"Oh- yes! This is perfect." Amanda helped them set their stacks down next to her's, then opened up another rift to her pocket dimension below the books for deposit. "I appreciate the help!"

“You are most welcome,” Gaia replied, while offering Amanda a kind smile. “Indeed, it was our pleasure to help.”

“Y-Yes!” Connie hastened to add. “A-And it was v-very n-nice meeting you!”

Amanda smiled back, bowing. "Pleasure's all mine."

“After all the searching we’ve been doing, I think we can safely say that this place’s rat problem is now a thing of the past,” Gaia observed.

“S-So does t-that mean w-we can leave?!” Connie asked eagerly.

“It does, little sister,” the verdant magical girl replied with a gentle laugh. “Unless, of course, there is something else our new friend requires help with.”

"Not exactly. My team and I are currently stationed outside the city till further notice thanks to recent events. Well, save one, but Elizabeth's probably busy here." Amanda scratched the back of her head. "So if you'd like, we can exchange contact info to keep in touch."

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Gaia agreed.

After she and Connie had done so, the two friends bid Amanda goodnight, and made their way back home. No sooner had they departed, than a sparkly pink cloud appeared overhead. A rainbow extended from it, which a cute girl slid down to land beside Amanda.



“Hyyyiiiee~! (giggle!)” the girl called out, while striking a pose. “Magical Dream Princess was, like, wondering if you’ve seen any nasty wasty nightmare thingie wingies around here~! (giggle!) She wants, like, every wevery body to have, like, only the sweetest weetest dreamy weamies, so she’s, like, gotta wotta stopy wopy all the nasty wasty nightmares and the meanie weanie heads who cause them~! Her Patrony Watrony person said there was some nasty wasty nightmare stuffy wuffy happening in this placey wacey, so, like, was there?”

Amanda could only muster up a wide-eyed, dumbfounded smile on her face, once the pastel girl made her appearance.

"E-Eh...?"

A quick mental translation, and the magician snapped out of it to answer. "Ah, forgive me, but I didn't see any nightmares here, asides from the giant rats." She had to bend the truth a little. If MDP was talking about Connie, Amanda didn't want the poor girl to get attacked.

“Mommy wommy fluffer wuffer!” she grumbled, while stomping her foot on the ground in an absolutely adorable manner. “Magical Dream Princess was too late again! That, like, makes her super duper upset…” Then, she took a better look at Amanda and a big smile spread across her face, while her eyes lit up in joyful wonderment. "OMGeee~! Your outfit's, like, so super duper cutey wutey~! (giggle!) And your face is, like, sooo totally wotally moe~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess could just eat you up~! (giggle!) But, like, not literally! the hyperactive girl hastened to clarify. “Ewww! That would be, like, sooo icky-wicky! Oh noes!” she exclaimed with a gasp, suddenly looking very upset. “Magical Dream Princess is, like, being so totally wotally rude! She, like, never introduced herself~!" Striking a cute pose, she gave Amanda a peace-sign salute. "Ta-daaa~! She's Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess~! But you can, like, just call her Magical Dream Princess for short~! (giggle!)" she said with a wink. "So, like, what can Magical Dream Princess call you~?"

"I-I'm Amanda." she introduced herself, albeit rather flustered. "I guess you're a dream specialist too?"

"Huh? Like, that's not a magical girl name, silly~! (giggle!) Nopey nope nope~!" Magical Dream Princess told her, while waging her finger cutely. "It, like, needs to be super duper cutesy wutesy and kawaii, and, like, make everyone who hears it think of sparkle warkles and glitter witter and rainbows and wuv~! (giggle!) Something womething liiiike... Super Duper Cute Magical Girl Pastel-Chan~! (giggle!) Yepperooney~! That's, like, totally wotally gonna be your namey wamey now~! (giggle!) Wowie zowies~!” the hyperactive magical girl exclaimed after Amanda had revealed her specialization. “Like, Pastel-chan can do dreamy weamy magic too~?! Like, for realsies~?! OMGeee~! That's, like, the super duper duperest~! (giggle!) Never in a million willion years did Magical Dream Princess imagine she'd meet another girl with dreamy weamy magic like her~! (giggle!)” The next instant, something seemed to occur to the ditzy magical girl, and she gave a sharp gasp, before becoming even more excited. “Oh, golly wolly~! Pastel-chan is like, the bestie westiest person to ask Magical Dream Princess’s super duper important question~! (giggle!) Does Pastel-chan know a particular wickular super duper meanie weanie nightmare person namey wameyed… namey wameyed… Oh, phooey whooey… Magical Dream Princess can’t remember wember… Wait~!” she exclaimed, holding up a finger. “There was that one creepy weepy top hat guy who said something about her friend~! He said her namey wamey was... it was… and she had something... something… green? Oh, golly wolly, Magical Dream Princess, like, can't remember wember that either…” She looked incredibly downcast, before quickly brightening up, and adding, “Super duper fun facty wacty: Magical Dream Princess’s memory wemory, like, isn't very good when she’s Magical Dream Princess, but that’s, like, totally wotally okie doki~! (giggle!) She's having, like, waaaay too much FUN to worry about silly willy thingie wingies like that~! (giggle!) Hey~! Magical Dream Princess just thought of something~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess and Pastel-chan should totally be, like, super duper BFFs~! Like, totally wittily wottally~! (giggle!) We could have, like, sooo much funsies~! (giggle!)”

"Uhm, sure! If you want to!" Amanda (Pastel-Chan?) chuckled. She still felt a bit nervous, meeting someone who manages to top North of all people in being hyperactive. Then again, she was sure the two would get along if she introduced them to each other.

“Oh, wowie wow wowies~!” the ditzy magical girl cheered, while jumping up and down like a little kid. “Magical Dream Princess, like, never had a BFF before~! (giggle!) Daddy Waddy always said it was, like, a 'distraction' or whatever, but he's not here right nowie, and Magical Dream Princess, like, totally has, like, no idea where she's going with this~! (giggle!) Can Pastel-chan, like, believe that happens to her, like, ALL THE TIME nowie? At firsty worsty, it was, like, really annoying, but nowie wowie it's, like, super duper fun~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess, like, has NO IDEA what's going on, and she just wuvs it~! (giggle!) It makes everythingy sooo much more magical wagical and dreamy weamy~! (giggle!) Oh! Does Pastel-chan have any siblings~?! Magical Dream Princess is all by herself, since Daddy Waddy didn't wanna pay Mr. Stork the money woney to bring any more babies after he delivered Magical Dream Princess… That made her sooo lonely, but now she's, like, meeting so many new friends, like Pastel-chan~! (giggle!) Golly wolly~! Magical Dream Princess just can't get over how cute her new BFF’s outfit is! Magical Dream Princess just wuvs Pastel-chan’s color palette~! Is that, like, your most favorite wavorite color~? Magical Dream Princess's most favorite wavorite color is rainbow~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess also, like, wuvs listening to super cute J-Pop idols, but that's, like, our super duper BFF special wecial secret~! (giggle!) So, do you have, like a crush on anyone, Pastel-chan? Magical Dream Princess had, like, the super duper biggest crushy wushy on one of Daddy's secretaries, but she, like, totally wotally wasn't supposed to tell you that~! (giggle!)”

Amanda had to admit her ramblings were charming, but it was a bit hard to keep track. Well uhm, I do have a twin brother;but I haven't seen him since I became a magical girl. Yes, I do favor lavender, pastel colors are soothing to me. And uh, I never exactly had a crush on anyone?? So..." she answered, with a sheepish grin on the last question. The magician never really concidered seeing someone, even when she was still a journalist. Her work was her mistress, she used to say.

“Wowie zowie~! Like, having a twinsie winsie must have been, like, so super duper fun~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess is, like, super duper jelly welly~! Oh~! But, like, why don’t you ever see him any moresie? Magical Dream Princess thinks that’s, like, kinda winda mean…”

"I just...haven't heard from him in a while. It'd be hard to explain all this to him anyways." the magician motioned to herself.

“But, like, couldn’t you see him as your normal wormal self?” Magical Dream Princess asked, slightly confused by her new BFF’s problem.

She appeared confused for a second. "Uh, thing is..." Amanda decided to go ahead and revert to her untransformed state.

"Like most magicals, I wasn't always a kid. Unless he got dragged into this mess too, I dunno how he'd feel seeing me again but...younger." Her demeanor seemed to change, appearing more laid-back.

“Golly wolly! Like, Magical Dream Princess stayed the same agey wagey when she became a magical wagical girl, so she, like, just thought that was the samey wamey for everybody! But, like, twinsie winsies have a super duper special wecial bond, so, like, Magical Dream Princess thinks you should, like, totally wotally go and see him~! (giggle!)”

"You...think I should?" Amanda tilted her head.

“Like, totally witally wotally~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl said with a playful wink. “Magical Dream Princess, like, just knows that Pastel-chan’s twinsie winsie wuvs her lots and lots, and wouldn’t mindy windy that she’s not the same agey wagey any moresie, cause she’s still his twinsie winsie who he misses sooo much~! (giggle!)”

"...Heh," Amanda smiled. "'Alright then."

“Yaaay~!” Magical Dream Princess cheered, while jumping up and down. Then she wrapped Amanda up in a big hug. “Like, Magical Dream Princess is, like, sooo happy wappy for her BFF~! (giggle!) She, like, just knows Amanda Wanda-chan will have so much funsie wunsie seeing her twinsie winsie again~! (giggle!)”

The magician hugged back, giggling.

“Oh~! And, like, if Amanda Wanda-chan needy weedies any helpy welpy finding him, Magical Dream Princess has, like, lotsie wotsie ways of doing that~!” the hyperactive magical girl noted cheerfully. “Like, when she’s not Magical Dream Princess, of coursey worsey~! (giggle!)” she added with a wink.

"Really? You want to help?"

“Yeperoonie~! (giggle!)” the ditzy magical girl confirmed. “Like, Amanda Wanda-chan is Magical Dream Princess’s super duper special wecial BFF, after allsie~! (giggle!)”

"Alright! Well, I should probably head back before the others worry. But in case I swing by again,we should keep in touch." Amanda said.

“Okie dokie~!” the childish magical girl said with a playful giggle. “Oh… But, like, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t have her phoney whoney with her right nowie…” she added, as a sullen look spread across her face.

"Oh. Hmm, guess we can hang out a bit longer then?" she suggested.

“Oh~! Like, Magical Dream Princess knows what to dooey wooey~! (giggle!) She can take Amanda Wanda-chan to her homey womey~! Like, that’s where her phoney whoney is, after allsie~! (giggle!)”

"Hm. Well, okay then." Amanda shrugged. "Lead the way!"

“Goody woody~!” Magical Dream Princess cheered, clapping her hands together with childish delight. “Like, Magical Dream Princess never ever had a friend come over before~! This is, like, sooo super duper exciting~! (giggle!) Come on, Amanda Wanda-chan~!” she added, taking the other girl by the hand. “We can use this thingie wingie~!” Pointing her wand at a nearby garbage can, she fired a sparkly beam at it. Within moments the innocuous object had been transformed into a whimsical pink rocket ship. Leading her BFF up the ramp, Magical Dream Princess helped her strap in, before the rocket launched with a mighty roar. Almost before it had begun, Amanda would find that her wild rocket ride was over. A door had opened in the side of the craft and a blow up slide led down to the floor below. “Like, this is the most funsie wunsie part of all~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess informed her as she prepared to disembark. “Weeeee~!”

"Woah." Amanda watched MDP slide down. Then, not sitting down like normal, she pushed herself forward to join her at the bottom. "Incoming! Hahah!!" she chuckled.

Amanda would find herself in a luxurious study, one that presented a refined and elegant aesthetic that was completely incongruous with the magical girl who supposedly lived here.

“Like, this is Magical Dream Princess’s super duper private study wudy~! Her phoney whoney’s over there, along with her super duper special wecial computer thingie~! (giggle!)” Skipping over to the desk in question, the playful magical girl retrieved her expensive and highly advanced looking phone and brought it back to Amanda. “Okie dokie~! Magical Dream Princess’s number wumber is right heresie weresie~! (giggle!)” she said, holding up the phone, so that her BFF could see the number on its display.

An odd contrast, Amanda thought. What kind of person was she outside of her magical girl state? The magician grabbed her phone from her jacket pocket and copied the number onto her contacts. "There we go." she nodded, setting MDP's contact name to "Dreamy".

“Yippy skippy~! (giggle!)” Magical Dream Princess cheered, before typing in Amanda’s number, listing it as “Pastel-chan”.“Like, now that we’re heresie, Magical Dream Princess has, like, another idea~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess can show you what she looks like as a normal wormal person~! (giggle!) Like, Magical Dream Princess probably wobably shouldn’t let you, like, see her super duper secret wecret identity wentity, buuuut, since Amanda Wanda-chan, like, already showed her normal wormal self, and since she’s, like, Magical Dream Princess’s super duper special wecial dreamy weamy BFF, Magical Dream Princess is, like, totally wotally gonna show you~! (giggle!) Magical Dream Princess, like, has to warn you though, she’s, like, totally wotally different when she’s not Magical Dream Princess~! (giggle!) Okie dokie~!” she declared, while dramatically raising a finger high in the air. “Time to go backsie wacksie to normal wormal~! (giggle!)”

There was a dazzling flash, after which the rocket, along with all the destruction it had caused, completely vanished. But perhaps the most startling change was that Magical Dream Princess had been replaced by a refined-looking young woman with long, dark hair.

“There,” Violet said with a sigh. “Having magical powers is certainly nice, but there is something to be said for the ability to think rationally, don’t you agree?” she asked, while giving Amanda a small smile. She sighed again, “It was probably an enormous mistake to bring you here, let alone reveal my true identity, but I don’t exactly think things through when I’m Magical Dream Princess. But, then, I don’t suppose I need to tell you that,” she added, while looking away and blushing slightly. “O-On that note, I… want to apologize for how I was acting earlier. I can get a little… carried away when I assume my magical girl persona. I only hope I didn’t offend you too much,” she added in a soft voice. It was clear to see that she was incredibly embarrassed.

Now it made sense. Oh- No, it's cool! Amanda reassured Violet. "I get that some patrons can affect your mental state. Hell, mine gave my team and I some chivalry lessons. It's nothing to be embarassed by!" she chuckled, then giving the other girl an empathic smile. "Besides, from what you told me as Dreamy, you...never really had a friend, did you?"

“N-No…” she replied hesitantly. “As the heiress of a prestigious family, and future head of that family’s business, I had little time for friends or frivolity growing up. I am embarrassed to say it, but that is why I so greatly enjoy being Magical Dream Princess. Despite the loss of nearly all my intelligence, memory and inhibitions, it is still so liberating to be able to act like the innocent child I was never allowed to be. When I’m her, I can express all the feelings I am normally forced to keep hidden away. I can play all kinds of games and make so many new friends. Although… It has been somewhat difficult keeping my two identities separate. It is so nice to finally be able to share my secret with someone,” she added, giving Amanda a warm smile.

"Well you do now. And your secret's safe with me!" Amanda grinned back.

“Thank you so very much, Amanda,” the heiress told her new friend, while giving her an embrace. “I… want you to know that I meant what I said earlier. I would be only too happy to assist you in reuniting with your twin brother, and… I would very much like to, um, ‘hang out’ with you again. I-In fact… I would not mind possibly having a… s-sleepover at some point…” she added, looking away, while her face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.

"Heh." Amanda bear-hugged her back. "Whenever you want, just let me know!"

“Okie do— ” Violet began cheerfully, before gasping and quickly returning to her more mature tone. “I-I, uh, mean, okay…” she said quietly, while giving Amanda an embarrassed smile. “I-If that’s everything, I s-suppose you can return to your companions now,” she added, still a little flustered by her slip in demeanor. “Are you capable of doing that on your own, or should I transform again and take you to them myself?”

"No worries, they're just stationed outside of town until things go back to normal." The punkish girl explained. "But we can always visit!"

“Very well, then,” the heiress said with a nod. “I suppose I should bid you farewell for now. Oh, and sweet dreams,” she added with a smile.

"Sweet dreams!" Amanda waved goodbye, and walked out.

I assume she has a way of getting past the security undetected… Violet thought as she watched Amanda depart. Then again, if I could do it, and we both have the same type of magic, then I suppose there is really nothing to worry about.

The heiress still possessed some slight trepidation due to the fact that she had revealed so much sensitive information to someone she had only just met, but for some reason that she was unable to put into words, she simply felt that she could trust Amanda. It was certainly wonderful to know that she had at long last gained a true friend in whom she could confide her deepest secrets. Now, if only she could have had better luck in finding her nightmare-conjuring foe… First the Park, and now this… Twice she had been mere moments too late… Still, she reflected, with a fellow champion of dreams as her ally, it would only be a matter of time before they were found, and then, The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams would once again reign supreme…

A group of girls, some of them monster girls, dove into a building fleeing the Ascendancy. Magic missiles and projectiles burst through the walls, but they kept trying to flee. One of them pleaded to be saved, one yelled that they had to save themselves. Then they broke into the next room… and there was a portal. A gasp went through them. They knew who it symbolised, their leader rather didn't want to depend on her but right now they had no choice.

‘Come on!’ she yelled, and she and her crew leapt through the portal just as an Ascendancy agent appeared in the doorway behind them, and the portal closed.


They lay breathing heavily on the floor, as Mariette inspected them. They were in a random apartment with sealed windows, and Mariette stood there in dark dress and clutching her Bunny. Next to her stood Eli, her wings folded, keeping a check with Third Eye, just in case. The leader of the group quickly got up, preparing her bracers for combat.

‘What do you want!?’ she demanded.

‘For you to live,’ Mariette stated, plainly. ‘I'd rather not see you die like this when your strength could be needed later. Where should I drop you off?’

‘Don't bullshit me. You want us alive because without us, they'll come after you!’ the leader claimed, glaring at Mariette. She took a moment to inspect her, those behind the leader looking more appreciative.

‘… Believe what you like,’ Mariette simply stated. She opened a portal next to her. ‘This leads to the entrance of the Sanctuary, where people like you gather to grow strong. They shouldn't be able to hunt you down, there,’ she stated.

‘The Queen is dead. It's just a matter of time before they- h-hey!’ the leader called out, for her companions just headed for the portal, looking apologetic. The leader gave a singular grunt and then headed after them, visibly not liking this. Mariette closed the portal behind them, and then sighed out.

‘Who'd have thought saving lives was such a thankless job?’ she asked the nothingness, causing Eli to giggle a little.

"Greetings, Mariette Pendersen. I see you are fighting the good fight, are you not. How...interesting." The small furry creature talked, choosing to reveal himself after having slipped in amidst the confusion.

Mariette blinked a bit, and looked over at the sudden appearance of this furry little creature, Eli peeking over from behind her as she did. Confirming who’d spoken, she turned to face him.

‘Greetings, Puchuu. To whom do I owe the pleasure?’ Mariette asked in a completely blank tone and a straight face. Now, she’d heard of Puchuus, but she didn’t keep track of which Puchuu was which.

The creature looked at Mariette, and then swished his tail thoughtfully. “My name is Umukamui… I’ve come to have some sort of freelance agreement with Beacon. Something you might be interested in… according to what information I’ve heard.”

Mariette had heard the name of Umukamui before, but not seen him herself. Then, though, she was told something she did not expect. Freelance agreement with Beacon…? ‘… I’m listening,’ Mariette said plainly, and paid attention as indicated.

“I am supposed to assist neutrals to join Beacon’s effort in stabilizing the city. However, Ascendancy and I… let’s say we have different nuances on what qualifies as neutral. There’s wiggle room. Horrors might be stretching it, but it’s not the first time.” Umukamui said as he advance. “It’s pretty simple really. Just remember those who you are selflessly saving there’s other chances… and I’m willing to compromise. In return, I can… well, let you partake in the species of carte blanche I do have with Beacon nowadays. Within limits, of course.” Umukamui tilted his head.

Mariette listened silently, staring at Umu as he laid down the explanation. But, uh. ‘“Species of carte blanche”…?’ she questioned, voice unsure. ‘… Elaborate, please,’ Mariette requested.

“Literally, as long as I say it’s okay, they will take my word for it and pry not too much.” Umukamui leaned slightly forward.

‘… Huh,’ Mariette said, looking curiously at Umu. ‘You are aware of that I’m generally considered an enemy of Beacon, are you not? They may not react too kindly if they find out who it is you’re working with.’

“Generally… but don’t they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? I am willing to misunderstand that you are an enemy, as long as you do the same… while we pursue the same goal. I can also misunderstand that your girls are turning over a new leaf.”

‘… I see,’ Mariette stated, giving the little puffball a stare. She modestly suspected some form of trick, but she couldn’t necessarily turn down a potential chance to gain an advantage, now, could she? ‘So what will be asked of me?’

"Wetwork." Umukamui stated bluntly. "Staying clean means someone else gets the stain." He swished his tail once.

‘Heh. Fair enough,’ Mariette gave the slightest of a chuckle, nodding and then considering it. ‘I’ve not yet figured out what I desire out of this, but I’d like to give it an attempt, at the very least. It’s not too different from what I am already doing, after all. I’ll find a way I’ll profit from it.’

"It does not have to be right now. Ponder it. Being a picky eater is not something I do, and while I may decline in the future…I shall answer." The puchuu said. "Be sensible about who you tell about this".

‘At the moment, those will be none,’ Mariette answered, she had no intention of telling anyone about this even before the Puchuu’s reminder. ‘… Does this involve managing contact in some specific way? Do I need to show up at the right time somewhere, or will you give me a magic stone to contact me through?’ Mariette had been a fan of the former, others did the second pretty often.

"Magic...yeah right." A phone materialized on the girl's hands. "I made it so it is not easy to track, the battery lasts forever and you can play Destiny Great Order on it. My phone number is in there." He said, before attempting to leave.

‘… “Destiny Great Order”?’ Mariette asked, looking confused at the phone suddenly in her hand. ‘… Alright. Thank you. I’ll hear more from you later, then,’ Mariette simply said, letting the puchuu depart without issue if he wanted to.

… Huh. A connection to Beacon through a third party? … How was she going to use this to her advantage…?

Shortly after the Shoggy debacle had been resolved, Sakura returned with replacement movies, along with yet another guest. The new girl seemed nice, though, so Connie didn’t mind. With her customary swiftness, Lily went to work setting up the first film. Connie let out an internal sigh of relief at this, for while she had mustered up the courage to play spin the bottle, she had been fervently hoping it wouldn’t land on her. Now, she quietly excused herself from the circle to go sit with Mia, Hilde, and Ronin near the television.

“I wonder if this’ll be the Raymond Burr version or the original Japanese…” Mia mused as the film began.

“Huh?” Connie asked, clearly baffled as to what her friend was talking about.

“Oh, well, there are two different versions of the original Godzilla,” Mia explained. “You’ve got Gojira, the original Japanese version, and then there’s—”

“G-Godzilla?!” Connie stammered as her body began to shake. “T-That’s w-what w-we’re w-watching?!”

“Uh, yeah…” Mia replied. “If that’s a problem, I’m sure Emily wouldn’t mind letting us do something else in one of the other rooms.”

“N-No,” Connie said with as much firmness as she could manage. “E-Everyone else w-wants t-to w-watch t-this, s-so I’m g-gonna w-watch it too!”

Mia smiled as she took her friend’s trembling hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Okay, little sis. If you do get scared, just remember, I’m right here.”

“I-I will,” Connie said, returning her friend’s smile. “A-And it’s not just you. All m-my friends are here. I c-can’t believe I’ve made s-so many in such a s-short time. It makes me really h-happy when I think about it. Oh! T-That reminds me! W-Why didn’t you invite that c-cat girl you were t-telling me and Hilde about a few d-days ago? I w-would have l-liked to meet her…”

“The aristocat?” Mia asked. “I really don’t think she’d fit in too well with a crowd like this,” she explained, pointing her thumb at the commotion surrounding Shane. “Besides, you know I don’t like to carry my phone with me when I’m doing magical girl stuff. I’ve always tried to keep my magical and mundane identities as separate as possible, though, lately, it’s gotten kinda difficult.”

“Oh, gosh! I-Is t-that because of m-me?” Connie asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Sorta,” Mia conceded reluctantly. “But you haven’t done anything wrong, Connie, so please don’t worry yourself about it,” she added, while giving her friend some comforting head pats. “It’s actually kinda nice hanging out with friends as plain old me, instead of as the ‘Daughter of Mother Earth’,” she noted, using air quotes for her magical girl title.

“O-Okay,” Connie replied, while snuggling against her friend’s coat. “A-And it really is!” she agreed. “H-Hanging out with friends, I mean.”

Yes, sitting here, watching a movie with friends (plural!) was something truly wonderful for someone like Connie. The movie may have been a little scary, but her friends were here for her. With them by her side, she could face anything, be it a man in a rubber suit or whatever dangers the future might hold.

Now, more than ever before, Connie was sure of it.

With a majority of the magical girl clashes done, many magical girls and boys set about doubling back and sweeping out the shambles left in their wake. So going on a beat was pretty standard fare for Shane at this point. Most of the time it was to keep monsters from creeping back into areas that had been cleared. The extra work wasn’t exactly being helped by the fact that Beacon were keeping a lot of the monster girls off the streets that would otherwise assist. Wasn’t like he was alone in keeping things from devolving further, simply less presence was all. Things were beginning to slow down more which was good. Could get back to socializing again. Cindy being out of the picture kind of left things up in the air as to where things would go though. At least Penny was far less likely to start a war. Vendettas were such a pain.

Being on the other side of town it would take Shane a while to head back to the Sanctuary. He’d been a little scarce there lately and with everything as it was they could probably stand to have a few more peacekeepers, Could only keep so many people bottled up before tensions would inherently rise. On his way back though...



Lillia had not exactly been watching where she was going, frankly speaking, though that meeting with a ‘coworker’ of her patron who was pulling operations out of the Penrose area had given her a...couple of odd magic coins? Not normal ones, not even the Ebon Mint’s stuff either. It was an alien sight, but once they’d been explained to her she’d made use of them to empower herself somewhat.

Beyond that, however, it had been a long day of monster killing. She was new to the area, but with all of the Beacon Ascendancy presence and the issues otherwise it wasn’t as if she’d really run into anyone else yet. Not so much as a conversation or a “hey get off my territory” kind of thing. At least she’d been able to stay busy, but all work and no play was not exactly fun. Also didn’t help her learn any more about what had been happening here either.

“Oh! Sorry dude, you ok?”

Not expecting to literally run into someone the boy fell over but pretty quickly rolled to his feet. His first reaction was to take a defensive stance but a short glance pretty quickly told him that the girl he’d run into was not necessarily a threat so he stood up relaxed. He didn’t really react much to her appearance seeing as she wore almost nothing with a clearly overdeveloped body. He did offer a slight smile though. ”I’ll be alright. Don’t think I’ve seen you around before. You new to Penrose?” Though most people didn’t really know him all that well, he had more info about people in the city than one might think. Details weren’t so solid but he knew of a number of people.

Lillia lightly chuckled, letting one hand rest on her hip as the other dangled by her side.

“Basically. Been trying to get the lay of the land here, buuuuuuut with so few people here it gets kinda’ dull,” she said, giving a small one-armed shrug before continuing on in an easygoing tone, “Though with a reaction like that, it’d almost seem like you ran into some kind of monster, eh?”

Her voice was slightly teasing near the end, though the small smirk on her face seemed to inject a certain lightheartedness to her words.

The boy made an over exaggerated shrug. ”You never know in Penrose. Lot of people getting offed lately. Not that I can think of anyone that would see me as a thorn in their side, but ‘guilty by association’ is a thing. You don’t strike me as that type though. Sometimes it feels like something of a rarity these days.” He would wave one finger in the air. ”I digress. There are more people running around than you might think. They’re all kind of doing their own thing though. Planning, scheming, fighting, and surviving.”

Walking a little bit aways where he could see a bit more of the city he would shake his head. “The old place has been through its paces. Suppose I could try and catch you up if that’s what you really want.” He would look back quizzically. To say that a lot had happened in a few months would be an understatement.

“No problem, but you make it sound as if this place has been a warzone for a while,” the girl said, raising a quizzical eyebrow of her own at Shane, before giving a small sigh, “Though considering what it’s looked like so far I wouldn’t blame you for bein’ careful at least. Specially’ if people are running around in the shadows.

I think I’ll take you up on that offer to catch me up on things. It’d be a good start since I’m here now anyways.”

Chuckling a bit Shane would concede. ”Yeah, warzone might be a bit much. Most of that is pretty recent. The city is a hotspot for over the top horrors and monster queens though.” He would glance around at the empty street around them. ”Since I offered I suppose it’s only fair to let you choose where we talk. Doesn’t particularly matter to me.” He’d say as he turned back to face Lillia.

“Hmm...I saw a diner-looking place a block or two back, why don’t we head there? Could use a bite to eat while we talk things. You cool with that?” she said in return, turning and gesturing for Shane to follow with a grin, “My patron wants me to get to know people anyways, so basically two birds with one stone. Heh.”

A quick nod from Shane he would respond. ”I can do that. Where I was going can wait. No real timetable anyway. Lead the way.” He would follow Lillia as they backtracked to the diner.

The two got some stares as they entered and were seated. That wasn’t true. Lillia got all the stares, Shane was just there.

“Well, what’s the situation been?” the girl asked whilst sitting in a booth and motioning Shane over, undeterred by the initial stares as the people in the diner eventually went back to their own business over the following minutes, “Kinda got sent here with just a ‘hey there’s big evil here let’s move in to help clean up’.”

Shane would think about it for a minute. ”Well for the most part right now the issue is more the general stability of the city. Suppose I should start from the beginning though. When I first arrived it was to help fight against an evil girl named Justine Von Viceral. She was out to destroy all love in the world or something like that. Nearly succeeded but a large group of magical girls managed to assault her castle and stop her. The next event was a horror attempting to manifest a portion of itself as a magical girl here on earth. They had a monster king and queen working with them that had managed to mind control several Beacon girls and there was a huge battle at the main graveyard here in Penrose. It was pretty chaotic but that was eventually thwarted.” He would dubble back a bit to fill in more details. Not being part of any big organization he knew less of the internal stuff happening. Having a decent number of connections he had a solid understanding of those events though.

Moving forward he would explain Cindy Ford’s arrival and claim to the city. Some of that tension got derailed with the beach event which apparently left the city largely defenseless for three months. Monsters running amok, the Ascendancy moving in, and things leading up to the assasination of Cindy, declaration of war against Beacon, the riots, and a rise in Mint activity. ”So, at the moment pretty much a free for all. Lots of people making moves to grab their portion of the pie. There are a good number just trying to survive though. A lot of this fighting is pointless in my opinion but convincing people of that is easier said than done.” To bystanders most of what Shane was talking about probably sounded like a show or video game. All kinds of craziness had happened in this city.

“Tch. That bad, huh?”

Lillia let out a small sigh, before lightly shaking her head side to side as she leaned her elbows on the table between them. Eventually, her hand would come up and her chin would come down to rest on them in turn.

“Seems this place has been on ah’ slump for the last while. One crazy after another, leading to basically chaos the Mint and Ascendancy have tried to take advantage of or deal with respectively. Makes me wonder what’s coming next, or at least if the city can withstand any more of this.

The most recent incident I was there for reminds me of Honolulu in 2016, albeit very vaguely though. Most I remember of that day is a party, some talk, then some arguing, a few members of the local Beacon chapter getting into a bar fight on the beach with a visiting demigod asshole of some other local’s patron, sea creatures climbing up on land wielding tridents and nets, and a drunk Cthulhu making out with...never mind...”

The magical girl said the latter part with a straight face, even, as she trailed off and briefly looked out of the window to her left. For a moment she let them wander on the almost empty streets, at least near the diner. At least the cars in the parking lot here were a decent sign of human activity around here though.

“Any big factions or reliable not trying to turn this place into a dumpster fire at least?” she said, her eyes then turning back to Shane once more.

That was a story he wouldn’t mind hearing about some time. Preferably when things weren’t as horrible as they were at the moment. His eyes followed to the outside when the pause came. Soon he was presented with another question. One not as easily answered since he didn’t entirely know.

He would consider the question a little bit as their food would arrive, it had taken a while to explain everything. He ignored the dishes for the moment though. ”Not sure I would call them big. There is the Crimson Cradle which splintered off from the Mint. They at least seem to be intent on keeping some sort of peace. You also don’t cross the Mint like that and be their friends. Not really sure what they think of everyone else but they don’t strike me as evil. There’s also some group of the local Beacon members that appear to be trying to change things. I would say they were having more success before the Ascendancy came in and the mass attack at the rave. I’m worried those efforts may have been undone. Kind of hard to say who is for or against that kind of thing now sadly.” He would pause as he considered a few others in Penrose. ”Don’t know of everyone else. There’s a place they call Sanctuary that a lot of the people Beacon is targeting are hiding out. There are those like us who kind of do their own thing without any specific affiliation. Some others I feel participate but have their own personal gain in mind. It’s about as bad as they come but not entirely hopeless.” He would offer his thoughts.

While he had been on his way to the Sanctuary, it did occured to him now that he should probably get in contact with the Cradle as well. As he said, they didn’t seem to be the type to make trouble, generally, but he really didn’t know them or their motivations all that well. Also would be worth catching up with Beacon. He had the advantage of not being on their bad side or tied down to any hard line faction. Sadly his best contact, Sylvia, was no longer around.

“Mmm...Mint ties don’t sit well with me. Some decent Beacon people are a breath of fresh air too, and not an alien concept at least either. Not that the Ascendancy helped anything with that stunt, though, so hmm…”

The white-haired girl seemed to think hard, before giving a small shrug and taking a bite of her double cheeseburger. The somewhat greasy slick patty seemed to get the nice charred taste, and complimented the fresh-tasting tomato and lettuce topping it nicely. It was at least helpful to her mood, however, as she put the burger down and casually wiped her mouth with a napkin before looking back up at Shane again.

“Well, I’ll toss you a thought.

With Beacon probably licking wounds and trying to recover, among the other devastations back there, I’d venture there’s a bit of time to just talk to some people around here. Maybe some independent parties around here would be good to try to get on board with, see if Sanctuary has anyone willing to help from there.

Stabilizing this city, even if just enough, for now would mean benefit for others anyways. Steady flow of monsters, but a thriving city to hide in and not a disaster zone. Even some room to make plans, if those here don’t go too overboard.

The problem, it seems, is the loud factions. The Ascendancy. The Ebon Mint. Whoever was in on that plan in the Rave. An excess of monsters. Whittle those down enough, or create a force to counterbalance these temporarily on the local level, and maybe there’s a chance.

Whadda’ ya’ think?”

Reaching out for all of that might be easier said than done, but he did know a number of people that were more independant. At least setting a course would be better than running around with no direction whatsoever. "Certainly worth a try. Could go a long way to showing that some of us are on the same side. Hmm…" He would poke at the steak he had briefly. He was almost sure he could still hear it moo with how rare it was. He did prefer it that way though. "I have a movie night I'm going to. I'll see about getting some more people's contacts and see what I can drum up. I don't usually form up with groups but in this case I think we both agree something has to be done. Hopefully we can avoid the crazy people." He would shake his head briefly before cutting into his own dish.

“Heh...sounds good to me. Better than no plan at least,”

Lillia let a small smirk bubble back up onto her face, just happy that there was something. Well, hope for something. A chance? A plan was better than nothing in her mind, at least, so she’d leave it at that for now. Shane seemed a level headed enough sort at any rate.

With most of the catching up and planning done the two would chit chat about their experiences as they ate. Turned out they’d been in this business around the same amount of time. Learning of Lillia’s magic they would go off on a tangent about dinosaurs and archeology. Shane had a surprisingly broad grasp of various dinosaurs. Part of that was because he’d always found them fascinating. On top of that though his previous experience as a magical Earth girl meant a lot of the fossil record had been within pretty close reach. Oh yeah, and he used to be a boy, before he was a girl, before he was a boy again. That whole mess. All in all it was a pretty good night.

---

Having been given a fair amount of responsibility thus far with information, Hilde took a little bit of that and spoke with Janet and Jenna about her friend Ronin. She was sure to leave out the part that she was Deni, since the other girl wasn’t sure that Beacon could be trusted. Hilde would leave revealing that to Ronin herself. Since this didn’t appear to be meeting with anyone bad, she had helped defend the Cardinal and fight off the horror after all, the twins agreed to meet in a secure location to see what they could help with if anything. Warding the location before hand would help keep out prying individuals.

The twins would be seated when Ronin arrived and would stand and smile as she entered. ”Hello Ronin. I’m glad you were able to make it. I’m Janet and this is my sister Jenna.” She would gesture to her sister.

”Nice to meet you. We heard you were a big help at the park. I hope we’ll be able to return the favor.” After shaking hands they would all sit. ”So Hilde said you had a friend that needed help with breaking free of some mind manipulation. Correct?” Not having a lot of details they wanted to be sure whatever this was they could actually help with.

When Ronin entered, she’d be smiling but still look a bit hesitant as she looked over the two girls in here. ‘Hiiiiii, Janet and Jenna! As you know, I’m Ronin, pleased to meet you!’ She didn’t let that show in her tone of voice, however, as she sounded as excited as ever and happily shook their hands when offered and then sat down where indicated. Then it was immediately onto breaking free of the mind manipulation…

‘Yeah, that. Did Hilde tell whose mind? I did tell her she could tell you about it, but, heh,’ Ronin said, chuckling a bit. ‘… Though, could you start off by telling me what you think of “dark” or “corrupted” kind of people?’

Seemed a recurring topic for a question. It was understandable though. Giving a warm smile she would try and put Ronin's fears to rest. "Well, they're still people which is important to keep in mind. You weren't around when this happened but I was corrupted for a short time myself. I believe more often than not it's the fault of the patron that they're 'corrupted' more than the girl or boy. After that it's a matter of whether it's the patron making someone do what they do or if it's their own prerogative." Janet spoke calmly but simply. Her stance was much more individualistic when it came to actions.

She would answer the original question then. "Hilde did eventually tell us who it was. You want to free Mariette and Eli correct?" She was keeping it professional and didn't really show any signs of anger or bitterness.

Ronin listened, nodding a bit as Janet told about these things. That’s pretty much what Hilde said about their thoughts, yeah. And… once again, now… ‘And the rest of Beacon? Do they share your opinion.’

Anyways, yeah, about who it was… Ronin grinned a bit. ‘Correct~’ she said, and then smiled a bit more. ‘I had a very strange encounter in the Overcity. I can’t tell you what happened in it, for I wasn’t entirely conscious for most of it,’ she said, referring to the time when she was given this form of hers, ‘but I came out on the other side with a bit of information. All the Magical Girls under the wing of Asengav are mind-bent to follow him. They think they’re doing it by their own volition and that they’d never betray him no matter what, he’s their beloved savior, the whole wholesome stick, but in truth they’re mind-bent. They have no choice. Having learned this, there was no way I couldn’t act on it,’ Ronin said, smiling to them.

‘But, like, if they learned that I was trying to “save” them, they’d probably see me as a threat and eliminate me, so, like, don’t let them know? Haha. Anyway!’ Ronin brightened up again. ‘I’ve asked around a bit, and while just stealing them from Asengav appears to be impossible, strong Horror you don’t mess with, I’ve learned anyone with the right set of talents could mend a bent mind. It would need a bit of a ritual slash surgical procedure over a pretty long period of time, but other than that all that’s needed is a powerful enough Empath, Light-user, or Psychic,’ Ronin said, and then grinned widely. ‘So all we got to do is kidnap Mariette! Can’t be that hard, can it?’ She giggled, knowing that wasn’t the case.

Janet would shake her head a bit. ”A few agree, some are lenient. Most haven’t really come around to it yet unfortunately.” She would lean forward with a small glint in her eyes. ”That said, what you’re telling me most don’t necessarily believe is true. Providing proof of some girls being mind-bent would be helpful to waking more up to the plight of others.”

Sitting back up she would drum her fingers. ”We’ve broken someone from another’s mental control before. Our magic is particularly suited for that kind of thing given the right circumstances. Though it’s easier if we have a baseline. I’m not sure a Horror’s control and magical girl’s is the same thing so there may be nuances we won’t know until we encounter it for ourselves.” She would say honestly. There was no promise they could do it. They probably would have to break one of their own rules to make it easier if they were to try. Assuming they could catch the girl first.

Ronin grimaced a bit at that confirmation about Beacon. Oh, well. ‘Ouuugh, proof… How do I prove something like that?’ Ronin questioned, looking up into the roof a bit as, well, that’s impossible. Her own proof was that she’d been mind-bent herself but lost the mind-bending once she was freed from Asengav. ‘Yeah, other than that I know I’m telling the truth, that one’s hard…’

Still, they were ready to give it a shot, if the chance presented itself. That made Ronin grin a bit. ‘I’ve been told you should be able to do it. So, I believe in you. If the chance ever presents itself to you, I know you’ll try.?’ Ronin asked, smiling, albeit internally she’d probably go with Victoria’s attempt first, but in case that didn’t work, this was nice. ‘So, like, think there’s any way we could potentially persuade Beacon not to kill her on sight and try to capture her for an attempt to take away the mind-bending?’

Seemed there was some misunderstanding. Jenna would speak up. ”We’re not saying we take them to Beacon before they’re freed. That would be after. That would be the proof.”

Ronin giggled loudly. ‘That’d do it!’

”Right.” She would smile. ”Then the question would be if we can even get a hold of them long enough to help. And it would need to be somewhere safe.” She would muse. The twins themselves didn’t have a particularly good place to do this type of thing that wasn't Beacon.

‘… I… do have a place I could take them, though I’ve sworn only to take them there if I’m bringing them, not sure about bringing you along with. Probably fine, I’ve just promised not to abuse my permission to open a path to the place, heh~’ Ronin said, chuckling a little awkwardly.

That was understandable. ”Well, if you require permission for that then let them know beforehand. We’re not really about trespassing on other people’s property.” She would smirk just a bit. ”We’re also aware that not everyone may want someone from Beacon around. It’s an unfortunate fact given the organization's history.”

‘Oh, absolutely. I’ll ask them as soon as I can,’ Ronin said, nodding about that.

”Sounds good then. We will make preparations in case we’re needed.” She would make a few mental notes to herself and Cindy. The other girl likely knew a few useful things in that regard.

With that business out of the way the two twins seemed to lighten up a bit more. This kind of stuff was sketchy at best. ”Is there anything else you would like to talk about?” She would say with a smile.

Ronin considered for a bit, then decided, yeah, probably should bring that up. ‘The following is probably best not too many people know. Justine would probably have my head if she learned I’ve been talking about it, hahaha,’ Ronin laughed a bit, needing to explain that, fast. ‘… So, Justine forcibly recruited me as she intends to engage Mariette. That’s partly why I’ve been so serious about this. Whenever she attacks, I’m going to do my best to save them, even when I’m supposedly on the attacker’s side. I… just wanted to say that. It’s probably not something you can do anything about, but it’s a piece of information; Justine intends to attack Mariette’s Interdimensional Home. Probably won’t actually be seen in this world, but the outcome will definitely be felt,’ Ronin said, biting together a bit. ‘If I get them out of there, I will call you. If you want to, I could also give you a message saying when the attack is… as soon as it approaches,’ she finished.

Listening to what Ronin had to say the two girls wouldn’t react too significantly. They knew there was going to be an attack and everything. What’s more, Cindy had an agreement with Mariette as well which put them in a very weird spot. ”We’ve heard rumor of something like that. We have mixed feelings about it. We’ll do our best to keep Mariette and Eli safe so they can be freed. Obviously we’re in a somewhat awkward position either way.” The two would sigh almost in unison.

‘Alright! Aside from that…’ Ronin smiled a little, knowing there wasn’t much they couldn’t do about that, so switch of subject a little. ‘How’s Cindy?’

Janet would smirk for a moment. Hilde had mentioned she’d told Ronin about Cindy. Given that she was hired to protect the lightning girl though it was alright in this case. They did have to give her a lecture about loose lips though. She could do what she wanted but it was potentially dangerous. Janet’s appearance would change and the transformed girl would look over the little samurai. ”...I am well. As well as can be expected anyhow.” She would cross her legs and sit up proper.

‘Woah,’ Ronin made a light exclamation of amazement as Janet changed, which was then switched to grinning pretty widely at Cindy.

‘I’m happy you are! A strange situation to find yourself in, but it beats being dead. eh?’ Ronin giggled just a little. ‘I’m sorry I failed to protect you. That aside! What you up to now? Is there anything I could do to help?’ Ronin asked, very intentionally changing to way more upbeat after a single somber apology.

Looking rather curiously at Ronin for a moment she would dismiss the worry. ”I’ve come to terms with my situation. The performance of your duties notwithstanding, I was betrayed by another.” It didn’t take much to guess who she was referring to. ”As to my affairs it has largely been acclimating and finding my new place among Penrose.” She was pleased to hear that the other girl wanted to help though. Ronin as far as she could tell had few if no ulterior motives.

Pondering for a while she would place a finger to one side of her chin. ”I am unsure you can assist me at this time. Much is yet to be seen once more learn of my existence. I believe that shall come soon however. I suppose I will be in need of a messenger of sorts before long. Beacon likely scrutinizes my whereabouts and many of my contacts cannot move about so freely as you.” Seeing that Ronin was solo, she didn’t have to worry quite as much of a patron meddling in what they spoke about. And as previously established Ronin was probably in reasonable standing with Beacon.

Ronin simply nodded at the first couple of things Cindy said, understandable enough, and then she grinned at the potential messenger job. ‘Yes, ma’am! If you find yourself in need of a messenger or otherwise, and under the assumption I’ve not gotten myself killed or something, feel free to give me a call! I’ll see what I can do!’

Nodding with a small smile Cindy would clap her hands.. ”Excellent. There is still much to be done. I feel it shall have to wait until after this event with Justine however. Do be careful. I would hate to hear that you too have fallen.”

”It’s probably time that we get going. We have another meeting to catch. We’ll keep in touch.” She would set down a note with their number. They hated to run but they had someone related to reach.

‘I won’t let you down!’ Ronin told to Cindy, smirking and doing a slight salute to her, and then picked up the note with their number. ‘Got it! Until next time, or until I have a couple of mind-bent souls I need your help with! See you later!’ Ronin told, and then was quick to turn around and skip away, filled with energy and very happy to use them to move right now. She’d been staying in one place for too long already~

---

Having parted ways, Janet would ring up Mariette after traveling a bit. This dynamic was beginning to get quite messy. They were still in a reasonable position to make things happen at the moment. After a few rings and an answer she would speak up. ”Hello again. Everything is ready. I assume you can see us.” She would speak casually as they walked.


‘I can,’ Mariette replied. ‘If you simply leave the items here, I can pick them up for you. Or do you intend it to work elsewise?’

”Simply a point of reference. Everything is in a small crate North, two blocks over in a warehouse. You’ll find it by a number of pallets. You may pick it up at your leisure.” For a while they’d been transporting and storing the potions in small batches, mostly because carrying out a box would look super sketchy. Hilde helped on a number of occasions to keep the Ascendancy off of them. Coins were much more compact but the potions were quicker to make in this case. A decent amount of the space was used up by padding. They didn't want the contents rattling around or potentially breaking somehow.

‘Very well. Leave it to me, then,’ Mariette said, and then, guess it was time to go to work.

A portal opened underneath the items. It led directly to a floor, so the objects weren’t shifted any, and then the portal simply rose to carry them somewhere else. After that, Mariette opened a path to her Interdimensional Home, and from there to where Olivia was working. Within now, she checked the items that they’d be transporting…

Potions. Mariette had expected White Coins. Olivia, standing up from her desk, walked over to inspect the potions.

‘Oooh. These are the same purifying parts of a White Coin, except without everything else, and as a drinkable liquid instead…’ the magic researcher confirmed as she opened one and inspected the contents of it. She’d already taken apart a White Coin previously and identified the contents, so she knew about that part already. Mariette nodded, and then checked another, slightly different-looking, package. … Okay, so there were White Coins, too. … It really was just mostly the purification, and whole White Coins for those who wanted them. Mariette sighed a little.

‘… Alright. Olivia, dissect these coins and remove the Beacon parts of them. Make it quick, this transfer was supposed to be instantaneous.’

‘Y-yes, my lady,’ Olivia said, taking the first batch of White Coins over to her workspace to try to do very precise work quickly. Mariette was a bit disappointed, when it was like this she couldn’t get the impact she wanted if she’d wanted to go with that other plan she’d considered. … Oh, well.

As had been suggested during their previous conversation, Mariette took one of the purifying potions for herself to store somewhere, to potentially examine and/or actually use on someone in the future if any of her allies suffered a terrible fate, who knows. Potion because the White Coins were a bit too few for her to take one like that. There were only approximately a dozen of them, after all. Meanwhile, Olivia was hard at work, wielding a magic scalpel assisted with her Magical Coin specialty to do her coin surgery…

---

So, at the location that had been given to Mariette for delivery, a warehouse not far off from the Sanctuary, a portal opened. It was lying on the floor, going nowhere as it was directed downwards. Then, it lifted itself up, providing the wares that were requested for delivery, lying there as if it’d always been there, ready for Penny to pick up.

@Shifter_Master

It wasn't half bad, despite not being taken seriously at all. Sakura's comfy sitting atop Buttercup was actually good, the pleasant plumpness of the girl being a balm to her nerves. She was in such good mood she even allowed other girls to play with her hair and cute-like features without even attempting to defend herself. She wondered if she should do the next one with Emily alone. She did looked a little overwhelmed, and felt a slight pang of guilt to drag herself around.

Slight being the term. This was a mighty fine gathering of oddballs, but there wasn't anyone truly malicious. Well maybe the Oppai miko and her devilish bottle ploy. But it was still harmless. Everyone was winding down in their manner, and that was good.

And then Sakura made a fatal mistake.

She fell asleep.

During a Gojira movie. Drooling all over.

SHAMEFUL.

And she didn't lean on Emily this time.

Meanwhile, Tenebra would just watch the movie, laughing and snorting at the silly costumes, german words peppering her speech. She'd also try to cuddle to Alex. But knowing that thunder bitch, she refrained. No cuddle with a nice guy was worth being zapped again in such a manner.

Unlike Shoggy, who seemed to be smitten with Shane. "Ohboy! Where do I start. I was slithering around an asteroid when Umu did a contract thing. He gave me a face, and opposable thumbs and made me a cutie! But he was a bit odd. He called me a failure. He was my boss regardless. Except that time he stuffed me in a jar. Or that time that eldritch horror stud with the opalescent operculums wanted to be my boyfriend. He was a jerk though. Made me raise a thousand of children... then ate me! I got better though." She added as she leant on Shane, her mouth stretching in impossible manners to give the boy a kissy face. "So let's get to making bab- hey look at Pinkie, she's drooling! hahaha!!!" She said, pointing at the asleep Sakura.

"I am hungry now." She said, eyeing the movie discs again. "But I need to watch my waistline now! I got a boyfriend, right, right??"

After Penny’s inauguration as the new Queen and the Ascendancy’s aggressive campaign of pride and prejudice among many others, Penrose’s riots eventually quietened down, replaced by an ominous air that clouded over Penrose. Both Alicia and Mariette had gained notoriety and power in their own ways in the wake, either recruiting members loyal to the cause of change or collecting supplies and connections. Even so, as magical threats subsided, common ones resurfaced, but not in a way one might have expected; due to the circumstances surrounding Penrose’s growing infamy as, unsavory folks among the common people have been drawn in to practice their trade of drug business; rumors spread in the magical community that it was another ploy by the Mint to seize control of Penrose’s populace and expand.
However, a small number of Glimmr posts have also expressed concern over certain disappearances of magical girls. While mostly from the ranks of the hunted, a couple of normal magical girls had also vanished without a trace.

And Remedy was the next target.

At dusk, during one of her countless peacekeeping missions, Remedy felt a chill down her spine, as she felt a presence suddenly behind her. Before she had time to turn, she felt a hand grip her face, long red nails digging into her skin; she saw a glimpse of white fangs glistening in the dark, about to bite into her neck-

-When suddenly she was instead thrown aside. When Remedy next turned her eyes up, there was no sign of the attacker. Yet, the sting of pain she felt was only too real. It took only a couple of seconds after when Remedy heard from her fellow comrade in Cradle what happened; she was saved by Viridian, who had immediately alerted the team to one who had claimed one of their own once before.

---

"Forgive me, Lady Justine," Sonia spoke, bowing with a perfectly still posture with her arms clasped before her. She was bathed in light coming from a ceiling light above her.
"I had overestimated Veronica’s caution, and had to make a retreat before they could harm you."

A pair of crimson red eyes gazed from the abyss beyond the light, disappearing for a blink before they resumed looking at Sonia.

“Unfortunate, but expected. The former Mint broker has taken every rightful precaution against a possible kidnapping. It is amusing how much emotion she has invested in a bodyguard. But that is no matter.” Justine giggled a bit, and picked up a cup of hot tea from a small table next to her, complete with a tiny plate. She took a sip from it, and put it back down.
“We shall now proceed with the operation.”

"I will secure this area first, my lady," Sonia stated. Holding her hands out, she closed her eyes in concentration as a magical circle expanded around her feet, encompassing a sizable area around the two. Justine smirked; the anti-scrying zone had now been established, ensuring their meeting would be untarnished by a certain peeper.

“Excellent. Sonia, arrange some furnishings while I send out the invitations.”

Sonia nodded, and proceeded to summon a satin rug and chairs, arranging them around the center of an empty yet vast corridor. Justine picked out a cell phone, and sent a simple message:

[The time has come. We shall meet at the underground parking lot. I will be waiting~]

---

”You know Alex, I’m really glad we went to that movie night.”
Lily was cleaning the apartment with a vacuum, having wrapped a yellow bandana around her forehead.
”It was a lot of fun watching some goofy old movies, even if it was a bit too crowded for my tastes. I also...Got to talk with one of the girls from when...You know. I got to really scream and shout, which I really needed, hah.”
She then looked aside as she held the handle of the tool close to her.
”And...We got to be...Like a couple on a date. That was nice too. It’s just a shame we can’t do much with all this crazy stuff happening.”

That was when she heard a ping from her phone, and picked it up, only to widen her eyes; it was a message from Ronin.
”Wait, why would se-Oh no.”
She quickly realized the implications behind the samurai girl’s request. She fumbled with her phone as she turned off the vacuum and set it aside to rapidly type a response.
[ Hiya Ronin ^_^ ]

[ Umm, I’m sorry to say this, but I’m actually busy :( ]

[ But don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom of this (ノ°д°)ノ( ┻━┻) ]

She sent the message with a shaky thumb, and lightly smacked her forehead with the vacuum tube. When Alex came over to check on her, she bit her lip.

”Hey Alex...Ronin just messaged me. She is going to try and free Mariette from her mind-bending. But I think that means she’s going to join Justine in her attack. And that means I’d need to fight her!” She held Alex’ shoulders, dropping the vacuum.
”What should we do?”

---

Helga was at the Golden Trove, working as usual, when she stopped and blinked.

“...I feel a great disturbance. Or maybe that’s just me needing a lunch break. Hey Su, do you reckon I forgot something important?” She yelled out.

Alexander was really more of a crappy B movie kind of guy. Watching people try and fail to make a movie with any degree of competence was not only funny, but made him feel warm inside. That being said; he found that he enjoyed the movie marathon much more then he expected to, and he had a very strong suspicion who was responsible for that; Lily.

”-oo. It’s just a shame we can’t do much with all this crazy stuff happening.”

'That...that sounds really nice' Alexander thought as he worked on the dishes 'Dammit, I'm turning into a total sap. But I just...I want more of this' Before that line of thought could go any further however, Alexander heard the vacuum turn off "Huh?" Putting what he was doing on hold, he walked over to where Lily was, and saw her fumbling with her phone. Before he could even say anything, she spoke up

”Hey Alex...Ronin just messaged me. She is going to try and free Mariette from her mind-bending. But I think that means she’s going to join Justine in her attack. And that means I’d need to fight her!” She held Alexander's shoulders, dropping the vacuum.
”What should we do?”

'Aww fuck...' Alexander sighed. Hesitantly, he put his hand on Lily's head and started rubbing to calm her down. "Okay, this is the first I've heard of Mariette being under any Mind-Bending. So before we do anything we might want to get some more details on that. If she really is being controlled, then we'll have to help her. She's running a relief center right now, and having someone in charge of something like that being under mind control...well...it probably won't turn out well for the people staying there. Also..." Alexander paused "...I suppose I do kind of owe her for helping to save you."

At some point when Dina was in the Overcity, doing whatever she wished, she’d suddenly have a portal open behind her first.

‘You are Dina, correct?’ Mariette asked, stepping forward out of the portal, holding a stuffed bunny between her crossed arms. A single eye inspecting Dina and the other behind an eyepatch. ‘I wish to speak to you.’

Dina’s entire body seemed to jolt, and, in a split second, jumped forward and spun in midair, her body language on all fours with her tail upwards and hairs stiff showed a clear distress, her ears equally stiff and almost hissing. She had been thinking of getting some Overcity Sky Tuna sushi, but a girl appearing out of a portal was definitely not expected.

However, after seeing that Mariette had not pursued attack, the catgirl seemed to relax, ever so slightly, however her tail was still noticeable swishing and her ears downcast. Her eyes narrowed like pinpricks boring into Mariette’s skull.

“Indeed I am, and I am loath to say this is certainly surprising. Who are you?” She said, trying her best to rein her poise back in.

Mariette winced a little at Dina’s excessive reaction, mentally preparing to defend herself. Wasn’t necessary, though. That was some display of acrobatics.

‘… I am Mariette Pedersen. I spoke to Dan about him helping me defeat a vampire. Does that clarify things?’ Mariette asked, looking curiously at the cat-girl.

“Oh, that one.” Dina said, finally assuming a normal stance. “Pretty atypical for him, for as little I know him.” She began to walk forward, her face leaning towards Mariette. “And I guess this is pretty atypical for you. To cooperate with other factions, are you not?” Dina said leaning inches away from Mariette, before retracting.

“Since this is something Lord Dan agreed, I am bound to honour your wishes.” Dina said. “Therefore, you may speak what you have to say. We seem to be in a rather nondescript location, anyway.”

Mariette shied away a little when Dina leaned in towards her, looking a bit uncomfortable with the presence. Still, she held steady until Dina leaned back.

‘I was given an item to summon Dan and his girls, and I wished to brief you as to what you’ll find upon being summoned so you’d be ready when the time came. As well as to provide you your “Key”. … You are correct, this is not what I typically do, but I had to take measures to make sure I was ready for Justine’s attack.’

Dina’s hand was raised to her chin, pondering the situation, as her tail stopped swishing and instead was loosely curled around her waist. “Vampyr” She said, before hissing. “Nasty creatures.” She paused for a second.

“You think of yourself as strong, but this vampyr has you worried.” Dina said casually. “You don’t trust people, yet need allies.” She closed a step forward. “You’re hardly the only one.” She paused. “Well, how much you tell me is up to you, still if you don’t trust allies, you won’t be able to fight as one.”

‘… Dan is far less likely to betray me than most,’ Mariette idly commented. ‘Because I take it you’re not considering betraying me, are you?’ Just checking.

“Anyone would say no to that question.” Dina conceded. “Betrayers won’t ever admit it. Although to assuage your fears, let me tell you a couple of details. I know how betrayal feels like, both in my past life and in the present. Being a victim of it should make me very reluctant to do it. The only time I could feasibly refuse to do something is if I have to protect Penny’s charges.”

Not exactly the most encouraging answer, but it’d do. Mariette took a bit of a deeper breath and then started talking.

‘Should I summon you, it will likely be because Justine has already arrived at my doorstep. I command a considerable faction of Magical Girls within a mansion inside my Interdimensional Home, who will be attempting to fight them off. I will use my portals to place my allies where I believe they will be of most use, but you may also opt to just do whatever you feel is the most effective. I am up for suggestions. My mansion will be filled with traps to combat the enemy force, inside and outside, but the “key” I will give you will make sure they will not trigger on you, so keep it on you at all times. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.’

“Hmm. Traps, huh. I guess everything helps. I sometimes supplement my Reinforcement and magical beasts with those.” Dina said, as she drew once again closer, and then tried to lean in Mariette’s ear. “For starters,are you afraid of death? How are you holding up?”

Mariette staggered back a bit, not comfortable with Dina getting so close, her muscles tensing up a bit. Still, the message was delivered, and Mariette was left wondering why that was relevant. … And Mariette found she had only one answer.

‘… I am,’ she started, breathing out. ‘I’ve never died before. I don’t want to die. Dying means failing the mission Asengav has given me. Asengav doesn’t take kindly to failure,’ she said, finding oddly enough that it was the first time she confirmed this to herself. The fact she was afraid. ‘I’m preparing as best I can to make sure I live. I don’t yet see reason to fault my efforts,’ she responded to the other question, all while squeezing Bunny tightly between her arms.

“Chernobog instead of Byelobog, huh.” Dina said, eyeing Mariette, and then whispered once more. “Makes two of us… I’m terribly afraid of death. Even if I lived for over a hundred of years before becoming a magical girl. And that Puuchu said my reincarnation was broken too.” She paused. “I will see to it that you do not die. You seem a sweet girl, beneath past your duties and face. I can tell you how painful your yoke is, as you wince mentioning your master. And yet you don’t say a word… because you are in command of others.” She said, before retracting.

“Should this ever fail, I shall personally deal with your master. And should this mansion be ruined, I shall help you find refuge in the Sanctuary.” Dina said.

Mariette was a bit stunned. She felt like Dina had somehow uncovered a side of her that she hadn’t even realized she had. Which was… perplexing. Still, was she a sweet girl? Mariette could but wonder. One thing was clear, though. The awe she now had for what had been, at first glance, simply a quirky catgirl.

‘I am… very grateful. More than I can put into words…’ Mariette said, stumbling a bit on her words.

Dina’s mouth curled up in a cat smile. “I just state what I see with my heart, not my mind or powers.” She said, her tail upwards. “It looks like you’ve been running ragged to the point of tears and helplessness once or twice. Old habits die hard, and I’ve raised several children on my own.” Dina added. “Hey, want to see a little secret of mine?”

Mariette held quiet and nodded a bit to the first parts that Dina said, then… Secret? ‘Um. Yes, I would,’ Mariette answered, getting a bit curious as to what sort of secret Dina would show her.

Dina extended her hand, for Mariette to grab. “My potential as a magical girl… is beyond normal. I was fated to be Anastasia’s aide, and the bolsheviks drove me off. Almost a leader of a country. I lived to old age, and yet… when I contracted a Puuchu, I had so much power I turned partway into a cat.” Dina admitted. “Only a few people know this. Only Dan and a few others have seen a glimpse of it. Not even Penny. Not even the late Cindy.” She paused, as she breathed.

“Hen to pan.” She said, as her appearance shifted, and lines were seen all over her. Her hair flared gold, and her eyes turned red. Her magical power seemed to diminish, but it grew odd patterns…

And her hand was still inviting.

Mariette, currently more of a child interested in the story the adult was telling, was looking at Dina with one wide eye as she told her little story and then made herself flare like that… and the hand. One part of Mariette’s mind told her it was dangerous, this might be the moment she’d be betrayed and killed if she took the hand… but she’d felt the truth in what Dina’d said before, so she dismissed the thoughts, and reached forward to take the hand, her other arm still clutching Bunny.

“This eats magic like crazy, I’m told some Cradle can do it… Dunno how I can, I guess sometimes magic defies common sense.” Dina winced, as she held Mariette close to her.

And then time stopped for the briefest moment, in a circle around Mariette and Dina.

Lightning discharges adorned metal spikes that had grown through the ground, while a fireball and a large chunk of hail orbited around Dina’s head. All in the span of a brief time stop.

“This is what will happen should someone try to lethally wound one of my allies…”Dina said, slightly out of breath due to the sudden effort. “So let’s keep it a secret, mkay?”

Mariette held her breath as she was preparing for something to happen… and then she held still as she watched the various magical destructive energies that happened during a bit of stopped time. Yeah, that was… that was scary. Mariette swallowed a bit, and nodded. ‘I will,’ Mariette confirmed with two simple words. Because she sure didn’t want to anger her now…

“Was it too scary?” Dina said, making a conscious effort to return to her normal self. “I know it was. But Dan told me to spread joy, not fear. And I like the brilliance and smiles of people in the end.” Dina said, as she tilted her head. “Now then… I believe that’s been enough of strong feelings for now.” She clapped her hands. “And I must apologize. You probably wished to be more business oriented.”

“Perhaps a tea with extra jam and sweets is in order?My treat.”

Mariette did a slight nod to that first question. She really felt that she was the child here right now. ‘Th… It’s fine. I’ve… achieved what I came for, and more. And that… sound lovely,’ Mariette said, still a bit stunned.

“Now, let us. I know a place in this very Overcity…” She said.”Oh, and one more thing?”

“Can my key be a plush of yours? you seem to have good taste in those.” She added, trying to lead the way.

‘…’ Mariette took a long look at Bunny. Of course, Dina couldn’t have Bunny, specifically, but… ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

They then went and had tea with extra jam and sweets, and it was a nice little break. Then Mariette came home and had Ronja sew together a cat-plushie that was similar to Bunny that Taihei then could make a key out of, which then could be delivered to Dina via portal. And so it was.

"...I'm just saying, I think there's a lot more tension in the reconciliation of those two worldviews that you're not giving enough credit."

Another day at Beacon HQ. With things as they were in Penrose and less time spent dealing with rioting and fights, that meant more attention could be devoted to mundane occurrences. One of the things Alicia had set up was tutoring, to ensure that their members did not fall behind in their academics while school was in the state that it was in now. That way they would be prepared for when regular society returned to normal, rather than lapsing.

Admittedly right now it was more like a book club, but that was a small detail.

Alicia sat at the head of a circle, with six other magical girls making points in the ring around her. "Honestly I think you're overthinking it," Chelsy remarked with a small groan. "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Looking towards the redhead, Alicia would remain holding her cordial demeanor. "True," she agreed with a small nod. "But what if it isn't. That's the sort of thing we're here to talk about. Literary analysis is important to understanding the mindset and themes of a work.

A finger rose to hush Gabriel before she could chime in. "And don't say anything about Death of the Author, got it? We're not stepping into that minefield." Concepts like those were an argument that she really wasn't qualified to have, any more than she was qualified to be a teacher in the first place.

Before she could go on her phone buzzed as a text was received. She paused, reaching down into her pocket to glance at it before returning to the meeting. It would only take a moment after all.

[The time has come. We shall meet at the underground parking lot. I will be waiting~]

Her blood dipped in temperature, grip on her phone tightening for a moment at those words. So here it was, the moment at hand to stop whatever Mariette was up to and avenge those who had been subjected to so many dark things because of her was at hand. A chance for justice, for revenge. It would not go to waste.

[I'll be there] she replied swiftly before her gaze rose back to the group. "Sorry, but something's come up. We'll have to cut this short, and you'd better get ready for action. This one is going to be tough" With that said she turned and headed out of the room, heading back to her office.

There were only a few things she would need to do. Rachel would be informed of course, so the Ascendancy would be prepared both for the operation and for carrying on in Penrose. Then she would do the same for the girls under her command, with messages sent out to those on patrol. Those she knew would not be attending like the Howell twins and Penny would be left out, but otherwise she would marshal what she could before they made their way to the parking lot.

It was time to finish this.

_{@Ariamis@Shifter_Master@Crusader Lord@Majoras End}

Penrose was a mess, but that was nothing new.

Shortly after the rave concluded, corrupted girls continued to run amok. In response to this, Beacon dispatched squadrons of girls to deal with the mess. They needed to protect what few normals remained, as well as guard Beacon HQ from another attack. The Ascendancy was out in full force, and if you so much as looked like you were corrupted, you were put down.

Of course if you attacked them first, that hardly mattered.

Dova limped through the streets. The fish girl had an Olympic body, but her foe managed to land a good hit on her. She had been minding her own business when she spotted a beacon girl walking through the street. Fearing for her life, she got a few of her friends together and placed an ambush for her. Turns out the isolated Beacon girl was an Ascendancy scout and more than enough to execute them all.

The fish girl wasn’t sure how it happened. One moment they were all ready to fight, then the next moment they were crying in pain. Her friends sunk to the ground clenching their feet, and then something stabbed holes in them. Like the ground was firing bullets into their collapsed bodies. Dova almost fell victim as well. Her feet were filled with holes, but she refused to collapse. She ran through the streets, and her pursuer sauntered after her.

Dova had to wonder if the Ascendancy girl would be content with just killing her. Fates worse than death lept into Dova’s mind as she hoped for a savior. She turned a corner to break the Ascendancy girl’s line of sight and hoped to find someone close.

Dova didn’t believe in a higher power, but it seemed that someone answered her plea. There was an old car with what could only be a magical girl sitting on top of it. A pink haired miko with a black dress. She was looking into a black katana. No time to think, this girl was either going to save her or doom her.

”Please!” Dova gasped. ”Let me hide in the car!”

The miko didn’t hesitate. She sheathed her blade and hopped off of the hood, making no attempt to acknowledge Dova. The woman stepped around her, putting herself between the girl and whatever was chasing her. “Just remember, no one rides with Oros for free.”

”Thank you.”

The fish girl jumped into the car without another word. The windows were frosted over enough that she could look out, but anyone else would have trouble looking in. Dova would be safe as long as her pursuer was fended off or simply lost track of her. She didn’t wish any harm on this “Oros” girl, but better her than Dova.

Before long her pursuer appeared. She would never forget the nun with a giant cross. Her coat ended at the back of her knees, and she wore leggings that went half way up her thighs. She also wore gauntlets and grieves, yet her shoulders were left bare. She wasn’t wearing a habit either. There was a cross embroidered on the front of her uniform.

“Not a bad look.” Oros’s eyes went straight for the nun’s thighs. “Can’t believe you stole Alicia’s gimmick though.”

”You there.” The nun either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her comment. ”Where is the interloper?”

Oros grinned. “You’ve got to be Ascendancy if you talk like that.” She stepped off to the side and waved her hand at the blood trail going to the car. “Shit for brains didn’t hide her trail very well.” Dova would have stormed out of the car and kicked Oros’s ass if she was in better shape. Just as Dova gave into her anger, Oros stepped back in front of the car and folded her arms. “You’re not blind, right?”

The nun fret her brow. ”I do not appreciate your tone, samurai.”

Oros lifted her finger while keeping her arms crossed. “I prefer shrine maiden. Shinto maidens used katanas in their rituals sometimes. Or you can call me Oros.” She raised an eyebrow. “You got a name, nun?”

”Sasona.” The nun was relaxed at all times. Even as a frigged wind blew through the street, here eyes remained on the woman before her. ”I wish to vanquish the treacherous heathen and be on my way.” She spun the cross upright. ”Move from my path so I may deal with the corrupted witch.”

“Geahahaha! How do you manage to talk like that without making it sound forced? Does Beacon only recruit from a pool of historical LARPers or what?” With a sigh, Oros managed to calm down. “But getting back to your request, Sasona...” Oros scowled as her brow ridge dropped between her eyes. “No.”

”Is there a reason you wish to protect this monster?”

“I just feel like pushing your shit in. You look like a good fight.” she pushed her sword an inch out of her scabbard. Just enough to reveal the silver of her blade.

The nun gripped her cross with both hands. ”I expected a fight. I don’t know why I played along with you.”

“Remember this moment, Sasona.” Oros closed her eyes. “Right now, we are both proud fighters, sure of how this fight will turn out.” She took her time drawing her sword out. “But we can’t both be right. One or both of us will be brought low by this encounter.”

Sasona took a single step forward. ”I am part of the Ascendancy. I’m not one to be trifled with.”

“Oh yea? Well this is a solo Patron Observable Session Transcript, herein called a solo POST. I like my odds of winning this one!” Oros’s katana flew out of her sheath as soon as she initiated her charge. “Let’s WRASTLE!”

The distance between them was not far, maybe twenty or thirty feet tops. By the time Dova blinked, Oros had closed half that distance. Yet something had caught her feet. When she looked down to see what it was, black spikes were protruding through her feet and into her shins. Dova had been hit by a similar attack, but she didn’t have a chance to see what it was. But Oros wasn’t even staggering, even though it looked like she was being cut straight to the bone.

“That kind of hurt.” Oros pulled her leg back. “Interesting use of darkness. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone use it to attack like that.”

”You shouldn’t be surprised.” The nun kept her distance.

“Right right, the Ascendancy is filled with g I f t e d I n d I v I d u a l s. I haven’t forgotten.” Oros hopped out of the shadows and into a patch of light. “Let’s try that again.” Though Oros’s charge was stopped by the black spikes a second time. “What trickery is this? The road is perfectly illuminated!”

Sasona examined her fingers when she addressed Oros. ”Are you sure? Shadows cannot exists where there is light.”

“That so?”

This was twice Sasona had managed to surprise Oros. Ascendancy girls were in a different league than normal Beacon girls for sure. Dova was worried, but Oros didn’t seem to be. In fact, her little smirk might have been an indication that she had figured it out.

“I get it now, you used the darkness below the street. I can fix that.” Oros hopped into the air. Two giant insect wings sprouted out of the back of her uniform. That was all it took to keep her aloft. “And before you get any more ideas...” Oros’s body became bioluminescent. removing any shadows that might be lingering inside her body. A confident smile crossed her face. “Now our fight begins in earnest!” A black spike stabbed Oros through the chest, directly over her heart. Since she was almost entirely transparent, she could see the spike came from inside her heart, which was being fully illuminated. “What. Is. This. Shit?!”

Sasona forced a smile that was too wicked for a nun. ”You figured part of it out. I can control conceptual darkness too, including the darkness in your heart.”



Her smile only widened at Oros’s outburst. ”I’m not an opponent you can beat. If you surrender now I’ll make sure Beacon doesn’t treat you too harsh-” Something leathery and wet slapped against the side of Sasona’s face: a fresh heart.

Oros licked the blood off of her clawed hand. “You can keep it, I won’t be needing that slimy peice of shit.” There was a hole in Oros’s chest where her heart use to be. Oddly, the wound did not appear to be bleeding. Her blood seemed to stay in place despite there being a gash near her sternum. “Now if you can do that shit to my brain, do it right frickin’ now! I’m not in the mood for any more tricks! Put me out of my misery!”

”Tch!”

“So that’s your limit? I might have dark thoughts, but no one has a dark brain, right?” Oros grinned. “I hope we’re done flaunting ourselves like exhibitionists. I’m ready for a fight!” With her katana raised, she flew towards Sasona.

Sasona wasn’t going to remain on the ground, though, Her shadow locked around her feet and held her up in the air, growing to whatever altitude she desired. Her swinging arm was strong, and despite having the larger weapon, she could move just as fast as Oros could.

“Of course, why not also be a champ in physical prowess as well?”

Dova had to roll down the car’s window to observe the fight. They kept flying higher, trying to find a way to breech the other one’s defenses. Sasona flew past Oros and tried to catch her in her shadows, but the miko’s mode of flight was nimble enough to maneuver around them. Oros summoned a tentacle on her next pass, but the nun’s shadows would mince them before they took hold.

The nun fret her brow. ”How much longer do you plan on dragging this out?”

Oros’s eyebrows jumped. “We passed the 2k word mark already? Shit on a single! Better end this before it gets so long nobody reads it!”

The two contents took one last swing at each other before the force of the blows pushed them apart. Oros swooped upwards into a crescent dive, and Sasona pulled back her weapon for another swing. They were both preparing something. Shadows clung to the outside of Sasona’s cross, and Oros sprouted four tentacles.

Dova couldn’t risk blinking less she miss the whole thing. In an instant, the two came at each other. Adrenalin and her waning magical energies slowed everything down for her. The black nun and the glowing comet, tendrils of flesh and darkness, but the impact still eluded her.

Oros made the first move. She flicked her tentacles forward to grab a hold of Sasona when she got in range. Her opponent was ready with her own tentacles, which were made of thin blades of darkness that sliced through her fleshy restraints. Not a moment later Oros hurled her katana, but this too was thwarted, as Sasona simly swung her weapon and knocked it aside. Oros was close now. She was within grappling range, if without a weapon. Sasona had demonstrated greater strength and agility than Oros, so Dova was unsure what sort of move she could pull off at this point to save herself. But then she-

Woops, she blinked.

When Dova opened her eyes, she could see the two cruising towards the earth. But it wouldn’t be until they both crashed into the ground that she could discern what had happened. Once the smoke had settled, she could see Oros was hugging Sasona’s head against her breasts, which were stained with blood. Oros’s back was riddled with holes, and it seemed like her katana had found its way back to the fight and embedded itself inside Sasona’s ribcage. Dova was sure that they had killed each other, but it was Oros’s rumbling laughter that let her know who the victor was.

“Hey, how’s the headache?” Oros was slow to stand up, but as she did, Dova could see something emerge from her bosom. There was a crystal slab between Sasona’s forehead and Oros’s hammer space. Oros needed to stand up completely and take a few steps back for the entire slab to emerge from her hammerspace. “Ready for another go, I’ve got plenty of fight left in me!” Oros grabbed the alter with one hand and chucked it off to the side. Her knees were wobbling, a universal symbol of fading stamina and confidence. “Y-you’re still alive, right?” Sasona’s skull seemed to be in tact, but she was still hit in the head with a nine-hundred pound chunk of rock. Her eyes were partially open, unblinking. “Talk to me damn you!” She picked up the nun and gave her a shake.

”Mph…” She groaned before blinking. ”What will you do now, foul cretin?”

“Ah!” Oros pulled her into a hug. “I was about to say, I knew the ascendancy was stronger than that!”

”How shameful that you defeated me.” Sasona closed her eyes. ”No wonder they thought I should remain behind a desk. I’m just so weak and-”

“OH YOU SHUT YOUR FACE RIGHT NOW YOU SLUT!” And with that, Oros popped open the trunk of the car and tossed Sasona inside.

The fish girl blinked. ”I’m alive.” A wave of relief washed over Dova. Her friends may be dead, and she would have nightmares about this for the rest of her days, but she had survived. She climbed out of the car and prepared to leave. She didn’t care what happened to Sasona, so long as Dova could leave that was something worth celebrating.

“I didn’t forget about you.”

Dova had just walked past the back end of the car when Oros addressed her. ”What do you mean?”

“Well I saved you. Don’t you think I deserve a reward?”

”I-I don’t think I have anything to give.”

“Hah!” Oros placed a hand on Dova’s shoulder. “Surely you have something I want.” Oros motioned her eyebrows.

”I honestly don-!”

The wounded fish girl was picked up by a magical force and shoved into the back of the vehicle. “I’ll check the oil in a bit.” The trunk closed, shrouding Dova and Sashona in darkness.

”I don’t suppose you can get us out of here huh?”

But Dova got no response from the unconscious magical girl.

---

“Shit I should be dead.” Oros reminisced about the encounter while holding a bumper sticker.

A week later and all of the excitement caused by the rave had died down. Even magical girls could only stay wound up for so long regardless of how tragic an event was. The Independent hadn’t really followed up their performance with anything, so the rave became old news. Penrose was the type of place where even world ending events like Justine or Soth’s thing were quickly buried under.

“I’m so frickin’ bored, there’s no one to dooooooooooo!” Oros flicked the bumper sticker out of her hands and stood up. “Wait! I saved something for this occasion! I’ll run into someone important for sure!” She reached into her cleavage and pulled out a piece of buttered toast. “You haven’t failed me yet buddy, lead mommy to gold!” She bit onto the corner of the toast and started to run through the streets. Disguised of course.

Shion awoke from her 30 hour sleep on an unfamiliar couch in an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar dimension. Luckily Ko was there to explain what happened to her.

"Is that so?" she looked around to see how messy the area was and that the very couch she was on had holes in it. "... Ko? Do you know what I'm thinking?"

"I think so, but how are we going to find a ghost here?"

"What? No. I'm thinking we should clean up a bit. You've got some cloth, thread, and needles in that bag of yours, right? You get started on the couch while I work on the rest."

With that said, Shion stood up and began clearing all the garbage she could find into a pile by the door while Ko began sewing colorful patches onto the couch, pushing springs back into place and even replacing a few in the process. Shion opened the fridge and began clearing any expired foodstuffs as well. They couldn't exactly install lighting or anything fancy, but the two were able to disinfect and clean all the surfaces, even the walls and ceiling, before they bagged up all the garbage and took it out when they left.

---

Summer arrived back in Penrose after her extended stay in the Beach Dimension with a notable tan and a much darker attitude. Her anger was palpable, literally visible from the steam rising from her head as she began towards and then past Beacon HQ into the middle of the city...

”And I thought I was playing with fire” Penny would mutter to herself when she saw started opening up the packages that Mariette had delivered. Potions and Coins, and there was only one place they could have come from. She reorganized everything before she started carrying it back home; moving all of the Coins into one package was really the extent of it. All of this passed through Mariette’s hands after all, and while Penny was giving her a chance, one should always verify they have gotten the correct stuff.

Plus it seemed like the universe was poking at her as well, she had recently gotten a video file from the twins, it held Cindy’s ‘I’m alive’ announcement on it, and now this delivery had arrived. Guess it was time to tell the rest of the Sanctuary about these developments.

It was part way home that she would get a text from Alicia. To which she would quickly reply

[I’ll keep an eye out for the City while you’re off. Stay safe.]

Seems things were starting to move forward again. That meant she was running low on time. So with an aborted sigh Penny picked up the pace to get home, she had things to set up and a call to make.

---

The Sanctuary, her home, it always felt comforting to be returning to it. Even more so now that things had stabilized in it. She nodded her greetings to Ashlyn, the Oni girl had taken up the habit of guarding the door and keeping an eye on things on the top level, it was in her blood after all considering that she was a Sentinel.

Penny for her part just kept moving and dropped into her room to stash the Potions and Coins in her hidden safe, the fact that her cloaking artifact was setup within it made sure that she was the only one who knew where it was. She took out a pair of potions that she knew to be clean as well as one of the new White Coins, and then went up to the theater area. She hadn’t been the one to set it up, that was a few of the residents that lived here who had gotten bored, but she was going to make use of it now.

“Everyone!” Penny would call out, her voice echoing throughout the haven once again. She had done this a few times already, with other announcements that she had made, such as the starting of the garden or the creating of the Gym and Media rooms. And by this point the people here know that When the Queen called in this fashion she had something to tell everyone.

“There is an announcement I’ll be making, plus a video to show. It’ll be in the Theater Area, it’s important but not an emergency and it deals with Cindy.” After that Penny would set about getting the Projector set up to display the video message she had, she had already seen it in private after all. It would take her only a moment to get set up and she would wait a few more moments for anyone else who wanted to show up before she began speaking.

“What I want to tell you before I start the video is that in addition to this message I was recently given a care package of purification supplies. I know that not everyone is happy with the forms that they have, be it because it was forced upon them, or regret because of things they have done. So for those that want them I have a small number of potions that will purge all corruption from you. It is not a requirement, it is not a suggestion, it is simply an offer. Come see me after the video if you are wanting more information or if you want one of the potions.”

“Next, is the video, it’s an interesting one.” She would gesture at the projector causing the opening image of Janet to be displayed on the wall behind her “Seems that not all of Cindy passed away.”



“I’ll admit that I’ve had a chance to talk to this Cindy before this video was sent to me, Janet is a friend of mine after all. This Cindy is both the queen we lost, and she is not. She remembers something’s that have happened but just as much has been lost. They are a mental capture from the moment of death. She is real, and Psychics, if you can explain it better please do, as I’m not the best with your branch of magic but I know that it was responsible for what happened. I agree with her message, but I don’t think that surprises many people here.” She would crack a grin at that as she looked out over the people who had gathered.

“This is a shock, I know because it took me a while to come to grips with it as well. I will state a few more things before I’m done. One, this doesn’t change my goals. The safety of everyone here is still my top priority. Two, I will not be relinquishing my title of Queen. But I am willing to work alongside Janet and Cindy to try and build better relations with Beacon for us. Lastly I am available if anyone of you wants to talk about this. I’ll be over there” She would point to one of the many tables scattered around “I’ll be working on a few things that feel free to interrupt if you want or need. Thank you for your time”

And with that she would walk to the table she pointed to, one closer to the corner then she normally took. And set up the supplies to work on a few more chess sets. She kept an eye out on those that had just watched the video looking for those that might need an ear, and an eye out for the few Third eye users that lived here. She’d Copycat them if she got the chance, as she wanted to test her recent gifts against the ones she had taken from Janet and Jenna personally, but that for the moment wasn’t her priority.

No instead while she worked she started up a phone call. Most of Beacon was currently busy, and that included the Ascendancy, which meant she might be able to get in contact with someone she had been wanting to at last. So she called Ishtar, or more accurately, because she didn’t have the Cardinals number, she called Beacon’s infirmary and asked to be connected to Ishtar.

---

_{@Flamelord & @Ariamis}

The spirits Huginn and Muninn circled the earth collecting information to pass on to their master, Odin. While often they would simply do their job themselves, in key places and times they would enlist an individual to further their mission. Penrose had become such a place and Hilde was their agent as it were.

While it had taken some time to understand and establish her role in the city, in the weeks she'd been around she'd broken away from Janet and Jenna for a number of reasons. One was being around them put what they were doing at some risk. Hilde wasn't a park of Beacon after all. Still on good terms though for helping save the Cardinal. Just as important though was she could not do her job all cooped up on one place. She needed to gather together the goings on and that required some footwork, or wing work in this case. Her encounter at the graveyard opened up and interesting avenue though. Eyes and ears were everywhere, and not all of them were of the living. It took time and some convincing, but slowly she was getting in contact with the spirits that inhabited the area. A network unseen and that could walk through walls. She would instruct them to stay out of sight though. There were still others with Spirit magic after all.

More in particular, with people disappearing she was looking to find the perpetrator. A general description, where it happened, what have you. It might take a bit but surely something would turn up eventually. The excess level of crime helped strangely enough. So periodically she would make rounds, meeting with various spirits she'd managed to recruit to gather more locally. She would of course take anything else they could give her as well. In exchange she would try and find safe places for them to hide and release others that may have been trapped by previous vices.


Despite being a newcomer, Melisa has settled in among the other girls easily. This was mostly thanks to her very being attracting other girls. By now the childish persona being imposed by her patron had set in pretty hard. This of course made things easier still as she would skip around talking with people, getting to know them, and such. The younger in particular took to her and before long they were playing and having fun despite Melisa being an adult. Admittedly she was not ordinarily a fan of children but that had seemingly vanished.

Before long Melisa was standing on a chair around a table with a small group of girls. They were playing tea party. The others had actual tea but the doll did not since, well, she couldn't drink it anyway. Either way they were having fun regardless. "May I have some more tea, Sadie?" She would hold her cup up to a little mouse girl across from her.

Pretending to pour into the cup the little girl would smile. "Of course my dear Melisa." Giggling softly as did so.

"Thank you very much!" She would reply pretend to drink from the cup, which was about half the size of her head. Their little party was cut short as Penny made an announcement. The three of them went up to see what it was. Being new Melisa wasn't entirely sure what it all meant but it seemed to put a lot of murmur through the crowd.


After a rather eventful what was supposed to movie night, Shane had a bit of an issue regarding Shoggy. After a bit more coaxing he was able to get that she used to be a horror, or something like that. It was not particularly an issue in his mind, but it did tell him enough to know that her understanding of humans was probably spotty. Somewhat fighting to keep her off of him at times he tried his best to convey that relationships with people weren't usually so abrupt and required time. In the end it wasn't clear if the misunderstanding was really cleared up by the time they parted ways. He hadn't really seen or heard from her since.

Back at the Sanctuary a new project began. With help from a number of Sanctuary residents, some lighting, a few seeds, and a trip to Brittany's shop, Shane had everything he needed to get the gardens started. While Wood magic wasn't a magic he'd ever really used he thankfully wasn't trying to do much more than accelerate the growing process. So the plant to do its thing while they gave it the water and light it needed. Since this was a first go around he started with some simpler things to grow. Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and some green beans would be some decent filler. One wall was dedicated to the beans as the vines tended to wield more.

This sort of task was not one he'd ever saw himself doing. Thankfully it wasn't one he minded. Helping people was practically his mission and it didn't particularly matter what it was he was doing. Helped that basically any information he needed was just a search away. While washing up he heard the call Penny put out and came up after a few minutes.

Listening and watching the message Shane was a bit baffled. What, how? And Penny apparently knew. He had a number of questions but he would let others ask their questions before he would. Might get some of the answers from there anyway.

Dina was not having a good time. The whole changes in Sanctuary had caught her unawares to an extent. It appeared that Penny had been working on much more behind the scenes than she had thought. And she had not tell her a soul. She, who had been one of the first to help settle the Sanctuary. Furthermore, the first time she was around, there had been disparaging remarks about her. She had doubted her.

Yet, now, in the perspective of this... this revelation, Dina could not feel other than hypocrisy from Penny. How quick was she to judge other monster girls, yet lap up anything Beacon and Cindy related at the first chance. She had seen the video. More of Let's be friends drivel nonsense. Dina could not help but narrow her eyes at it. How dare they? How dare they after staining their hands on monster girl blood so much, to make such an statement.

And that "Cindy", to speak of a better word, was all sorts of wrong. A ghost should pass onto the next cycle of their lives, not cling like a mockery of life riding alongside Beacon. The thought of it made her feel nauseous. What kind of deviant was this Janet Howell, to mess with souls and memories this way.

Suddenly, Dina felt as if the very walls of Sanctuary were oppresive. Was Penny a false idol? A puppet of beacon? She could not tell. But one thing was certain. While she didn't like how forceful and prideful the old Cindy was, this new Sanctuary could become even worse in her eyes. Reigning herself with poise, she approached Penny, and doing a small curtsy, she glared at her.

"Greetings, Penny. I request an audience. In private. No rush, when your highness is available. Please cavort with Beacon at your leisure." She said, a hint of venom in her voice, before she took her leave. She really needed to reign herself before she eventually snapped, and so she walked towards the garden. Indeed, some of the other girls were looking at her. She was, after all, a potent presence among both monsters and normal folk, so her very actions and words were always being watched. Sometimes, even with hope.

The gardens seemed a good place as any to get a break. She would just shuffle into a corner, her very ears and tair betraying the sour mood her face was struggling to contain.

Okay. Should I stay commited to this project? Should I go back and try again with those fools at Golden Trove? Should I just quit and go to that dolphin's bastard dimension? Mint? Nah, too foul. Cradle? Who were these guys again? Should I take over the Independent? It's too tainted. Dina thought, as she watched the boy named Shane go around with menial tasks.

Another face Penny had recruited and failed to mention. Well, at least he seemed an earnest sort. But that didn't cheer her up in the slightlest. She felt insulted to not be relied on.