@BrokenPromise@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants@PlatinumSkink



"Mew?" Dina let a surprising yelp upon Dan's forceful nature taking her away to Mariette, before blinking at the unfamiliar situation. True to her bearings, she kept under a masquerade of poise as she absorbed the situation. She had been literally pulled at the last second.

Well, if she had been pulled earlier, Penny’s situation would have erupted, so that was a small blessing. Only just a bit. The situation here was not much better. The group was as heterogeneous as it were. She spotted the Golden Trove people, the decent girl and the ex-harlot among them. And a bunch of others.

And just like that, Mariette had been forced to start the play when the vampyr came in with a squad of beacon. Amidst some ranting about a brainwash, apparently. Of course the girl was brainwashed. Well, that wasn’t the term Dina would employ. Pavlovian conditioning would be more likely.

Vampyrs needing an invitation to enter was tosh apparently. That girl was starting to pressure, but at least the affirmation to help was in there, nominally. Until one girl, with a bombastic display started doubting things about allies.

No way, already bickering? Dina rolled her eyes as she watched that green girl’s display. Reassuring Mariette would come later. The scene brought a certain deja-vu. People were questioning ambiguous allegiances.

Oh the irony. At the Sanctuary, Dina had been the green girl there. But she had taken no pleasure in it. But this girl… was all joy and japes, but her heart and true intentions seemed far more muddled. The tell tale fretting of the would be ambiguous double agent was almost transparent. Dina had a good eye to appraise people, thanks to her power of friendship. Patrons also, more than often not, were far from transparent with their charges.

“Bog”

She muttered under her breath as she twitched her tail and rolled her ears. She began to focus her power.

“Don’t answer that, girl. It’s obvious she’s trying to play her cards at being an information hustler. She probably knows more than you do.” Dina said to Viridian, as she walked towards Lily and Alexander, and snapped her fingers.

“Chuchuna of the Ruler’s Menagerie, come forth.” Dina said, summoning a beast upon her presence. Out of seemingly nowhere an humanoid, huge, tall and monstrous came forth, covered in skin and resembling a bipedal gorilla.His kin had many names. Among those were Bigfoot and Yeti. The creature had a sad, somber bearing, but a glint of intelligence and restraint was shown in his eyes.

“I know you don’t like fighting, Chuchuna, but we need more time. Go forth into that snowstorm and buy time. Harass, but don’t engage frontally. Try to fetch their candles and mirrors if you can.” Dina said to the Yeti, before attempting to send the Yeti to the snowy battlefield with her key cat-girl doll.

Her eyes rested on Lily. “It’s okay, girl. You probably came with kind intentions to this abode, only to be caught in politics and power plays.” She paused. “I also know how it feels to go solo, and need another patron.” She caught a glance at Dan.

She indicated Lily to follow into a corner of the room, before addressing her further, touching her shoulder softly.

“Whoever that Umukamui or your patron is, it’s nothing important as the fight we’re about to do.” Dina said to Lily, as she drew closer. “And I would be honored to fight with you.”



Lily listened in as Mariette explained the situation, and gave a very slight wave of her hand to Eliza who was the last to arrive, barely lifting it from her chest, before she resumed her attention to the eyepatch-wearing girl. Mariette seemed to have caught her lie, as she felt the stoic girl’s hard gaze upon her, causing her to avert her eyes. Then Alex told her the truth, and she bit her lip in shock.
”A-Alex...” She spoke, looking at him. It was a sensitive topic, and she hoped that she could discuss the matter more discreetly, when there wasn’t an invading force out for Mariette’s blood, but it seemed they had no choice. Fortunately Alex at least had the courtesy to not mention Ronin by name, but she could only hope Mariette wouldn’t become suspicious of them, and would answer honestly.

Lily then gasped under her breath when Mariette admitted to the possibility of her mind having been tampered with; even if she dismissed the topic afterwards to focus on Justine’s attack, the green-haired girl was left with a lump of anxiousness sitting in her stomach.
Well, it’s still possible Ronin was mistaken, but…”

She half-heartedly nodded to Mariette’s request to help her as her allies; even if she disliked the idea of having to fight against some of her friends, she needed to somehow stop them before things went out of control. She lifted her eyes up when tactics were discussed, and then blushed as Mariette suggested she could help with regards to Mariette’s own Bane.
Uhh...This is embarrassing. But we’ll do what we can.” She gave the most fleeting of glances to Alex, and took the communicator offered to her, setting it to her ear.
She was slightly startled by the voice that suddenly came out of it, and took Alex’ hand, her other hand lifted up to the earpiece.

Alexander gave Lily’s hand a light reassuring squeeze. “I’m not really an expert on love, so I’m not sure if what we have is ‘true love’ or just normal ‘love’. Nor am I sure what the difference is. The movies I watched that mentioned it never really went into detail about it...but then again, what would Hollywood know about true love anyway?”

H-Hi, Miss Companion! I’m Lily, and I’ll be helping Mariette,” she answered back, probably looking like a doofus to everyone else.

For the rest of Mariette’s briefing, Lily occasionally managed to listen, while at other times she was caught up in her own feelings of doubts and fears. It was at this time that she looked around, and noticed other people, such as Dan, Hilaria, and a catgirl she hasn’t seen before. Not only was she pretty like a princess, she also acted like one, with perfect posture and mannerisms. Lily had seen plenty of ojou-like characters in anime and such, but she seemed to evoke the very image of one. However, the dolphin’s inclusion baffled her, as she didn’t expect the jovial, if strange, being to ally himself with Mariette. She did gasp when Mariette mentioned her emergency plan of collapsing the dimension, her eyes wide. When Mariette ended her speech, Lily spoke up.
”You can’t collapse the dimension, Mariette.”
She realized what she blurted out, and continued with a shake of her head:
”I mean, even if you’re desperate, that’s still too much! It’s too risky!”

“I’m not an expert on spatial related things, but that sounds like it could have some serious consequences for other nearby dimensions.” Alexander added “I mean, won't we feel some kind of backlash from that in other dimensions?”

That was when Eli informed them of Justine’s arrival, causing her to gasp again.
”Beacon...Does that mean-” She didn’t have much time to think of the implications, as another green-haired girl with a bigger presence made herself known, stepping out with the kind of bounce that immediately reminded her of Veronica.
She seemed friendly enough at first, but her true colors quickly showed when she addressed Lily. Suffice to say, she was devastated by the truths she had revealed.
”B-But...How did you...”
Lily had believed she had been quiet about Ixion, only bringing it up with trusted friends. But it seemed even that wasn’t enough to hide it from the likes of a busty bully like Viridian. And she even mentioned her new Patron engaging in illicit dealings. She wanted to deny the claims as lies and slander, and state that Umukamui wasn’t a Patron like that. But she didn’t have any evidence to prove otherwise. Her mouth was wavy as she visibly gained a big drop of sweat on her brow, looking nervous; even she started to have doubts about her Patron. Were the claims true? She was tongue tied, with no idea what she could say.

Sensing her distress, Alexander took a step in front of Lily, in an attempt to protect her

But then, she heard a new voice that advised her not to answer, and was shocked to see that it was the catgirl who spoke.
”What do you mean?” Lily responded, and then watched as she summoned a monster right before her very eyes, frightening her.
”Kiyah! A monster!” She exclaimed as she summoned her magical weapon, but then lowered it once it was apparent it wouldn’t harm anyone in the office.
After the yeti left, Lily sighed in relief with a hand on her chest.
”Phew...That really spooked me. I’ve never seen someone summon a beast up close like that.”

Dina gestured for Lily and Alex to talk, and Lily followed her to the back of the room where they could converse without bothering the others. She continued listening to Dina as she spoke to her, surprised by how insightful she was about her and her recent circumstances. So she had also been a Solo magical girl? Lily found herself drawn to the catgirl’s accepting smile, and gave a slight smile of her own back.
”Thank you for speaking up for me. I got taken by surprise there, heh.”
She offered her hand in a handshake.
”I’m Lily Lightning, and this is Alex,” she said, gesturing to her boyfriend.
”We’re Mariette’s friends.”

“Alexander,” Alexander corrected as he also offered his hand “But nobody actually calls me that...for some reason.”

”Well, I thought you’d like Alex more,” Lily spoke with a cute pout.
”But I can call you Alexander if that’s what you’d prefer.,”

Alexander shrugged “Eh, it doesn’t really matter anymore. It used to bug me, but I got used to it and don’t really care anymore. It’s just kind of weird how everyone we meet seems to use the nickname ‘Alex’ instead of my actual name.”

Dina’s ear perked up as she smiled somewhat catlike, before resuming her neutral polite visage once more, and offering a most elegant handshake. She would have offered a curtsy, but these folk seemed more about modern etiquette than most. “The names of a flower and of a conqueror. Fitting.” Dina said. “I’m Dina Denisova. Currently helping Sanctuary building a rapport and one of Dan’s girls.” Her gaze rested on the both. “This must be hard on you, to deal with such… harsh matters on top of a maze of lies that is politics and reputation. Fortunately for you, right now, with a Vampyr at the door the only reputation we ought to care about is whether you will stick to fighting, sell us out, or leave. And your emotions are written in your face. You’d make a very poor spy indeed.” Dina quipped, drawing even closer, almost nuzzling Lily’s neck with her cheek.

Lily cheered up from what she interpreted was a compliment.
”Thank you! Your name is also super cute.
She nodded to Dina’s statement about political intrigue, looking a bit tired.
”Yeah, but that’s what you get when you live in Penrose. It didn’t help that monsters swarmed the place in winter, and caused some jerks to come here and cause trouble,” she said, puffing up her cheeks. Afterwards, she reluctantly agreed to being too open with her feelings, and she held her arm.
”Well, I’m honest when I say I want to help Mariette...I just don’t know how...”
That was when Dina took a more intimate approach, causing Lily to freeze up, her face red like a tomato.
”Ahh!”
However, she didn’t push the catgirl away, and simply let her continue her speech.

“That girl, Mariette is warped. Even I can see that. Magic does also queer things, and I have the inkling suspicious her original age was fairly younger. Possibly a lost, mistreated child, easy prey for unscrupulous patrons.” The catgirl said. “Do not fret about that, we will cross that bridge when it comes. And addressing your patron too.” She paused.

“So worry only whether you will flee Beacon or stay, Lily. I won’t judge either decision. I wish I could flee, alas. I would hate to die a dog’s death… but that child, Mariette… needs motherly care. And time is of the essence, Lily, Xander.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow “Xander? That’s new.”

Lily’s lips parted, as if to say something, but instead she simply stared forward, thinking.
”O-Okay...You’re right.” She finally had the will to gently push Dina away.
”Let’s do our best in stopping Justine, Dina. You can count on me!”
She then blinked, and pulled out her phone.
”By the way, can we exchange phone numbers? Just in case either of us gets into trouble, you know? And, uh, you seem like a fun girl to talk to, tee hee~” She giggled slightly from her embarrassment.

“This feels weird” Alexander commented “Last time I had to deal with Justine, I was on the invading force. Now it’s the other way around, and there’s even more political nonsense. Thinking back to how everyone put aside faction based disputes to work together to stop her, I can’t help but feel like we’re moving backwards here. It’s actually kind of sad.” He sighed

“Such is life. But time is of essence. We should talk of this later.” Dina said, before addressing Lily. “My phone? Huh… just a sec.” She said as she brought her phone, and tried to extract a number… only to show a couple of male stud pics and a gif video about a nyancat. “...maybe later. Let’s get to it.”

Lily eagerly looked at Dina’s phone while clutching her own, only to reel back with shock from Dina’s fumble.
”Yeah, that’s fine with me, haha!” She responded, perhaps a bit too fast to be normal.
”Anyway, I now feel so much better than before!”
She gave a little hug to Dina before stepping off.
”I hope that after this we can be good friends. Bye for now!”
She then went back to Mariette’s side of the office.
”Hey Mariette, which way is to the roof, or somewhere else really high? I think I’d be able to help the best with a wide view around the mansion.”

“There aren’t a whole lot of us here Lily. So if you do pick a high point and snipe, you’re probably going to be up there alone. Are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own? Alexander asked worriedly.

Lily looked back to Alex with an unsure look.
”Don’t worry, Lexander!” She gave a bright smile.
”If I spot trouble, I’ll just run back here to you. Anyone trying to pursue me will be caught in the traps Mariette mentioned.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow “’Lexander’? Is that actually a thing?” he quickly dismissed that line of thought with a sigh “Just...be careful, okay? Don’t take any stupid risks.”

Dina for the most part, silently nodded and then addressed the rest of the people around Mariette. “Hope you do not mind me staying besides Mariette as healer. I can provide mythological summons on demand, stronger than normal beasts. Also, miss Su… do you think we could infuse those runes in mirrors so that they explode and can’t be used against Mariette?”

There was once a boy. A boy who dreamt to be a big hero. A boy who soon learnt that heroes were a thing of stories. A boy who… came to resent the meaning of the word “mediocrity”. A boy who sought to be an outlier. Because he had no mother. In a sense he was special.

Except he was not. He soon learnt that made him a target for being shunned and bullied. He still believed that he could make a difference. Except he could not.

How could he, if the night was full of terrors? The boy had a father. A father whose job was making the dead talk about their demises. A work that had a brush with the monsters that lurked beneath. Mediocrity and monsters. He could not bear it.

The boy then heard a voice. A voice that told him the stories were real… but they had a catch. If one was to be a peerless warrior, they must pay their price in bloodshed. The boy did not look back at his father, whom he saw wrecked and twisted.

He had come to regret it.

And now he had a mother. And now he had been a murderer. The magical world had taken him away. And yet… He desired to see his father once more. To tell he had not died truly.

Was such a thing allowed for Reaver? Perhaps not. But would not hurt to try. Besides… that could expose the certain oddness he felt about his mother figure. Viva was his mother, that much he believed, but it was so bizarre. So close to his dark impulses, yet so detached at times.

He guessed he needed confirmation.

And that’s why he was here, on the way to his old home. With her in tow.

In contrast to her son Viva was much more settled into her thoughts and her perspective of herself. Yet she seemed to be much more unstable at the same time, her words said that she was looking forward to seeing her husband again. To spend time with him and Reaver as a family.

Yet, she would always become cagy when she spoke about it. As if she was just barely keeping herself from running as far away as she could. She also seemed more than willing to let Reaver take point in leading the way to home, even as she would often offer detours that they could take. Her heart and mind were at odds with being a family again, but it was impossible to tell which was which.

Reaver stopped. “So how do we go about this? It’s not like father will ever believe us with our current appearances.” Reaver said, his arms folded. “We probably should expect being shot and having to prove our identities.” he said in a whisper, just outside.

“Not sure that getting shot will do much at the moment. Unless he gets in a good shot.” Viva would reply with a whisper of her own. “I could use my magic to get us looking like we used to. It won’t last forever but it might give us enough time to explain things.”

“Better than nothing.” Reaver sighed, giving his mother the go ahead.

With a nod Viva would step closer and place her hands on the side of Reaver’s head. The sensation that came next was bizarre. A rush of cold would suffice his body before he could feel muscle and bone bending and stretching and folding in on itself he would even lose his eyesight for a moment as his eyes shifted as well.

The process would take a few minutes as Viva was working on one area at a time, making sure her sculpting would last for as long as she could make it. Once she was done she would step back to examine her work. After giving it a nod she would turn her magic on herself. It would take less time for her to change how she herself looked, as her body was already amorphous, but it was just as odd to see as it had been to feel as Reaver could see her skin buble and roil as underneath it all she built a skeleton system and muscles that would be needed to make herself look like she once did long ago.

She would pull out a hand mirror from her Hammerspace once she was done with herself to check and make sure that she had gotten it right. “Everything looks like it should, I think” she would say, turning around the mirror for Reaver to get a chance to examine himself. “Ready for this?”

“We’re creeping closer and closer to monsters…” Reaver muttered before nodding, slightly disgusted at the display, before flexing his fingers. He was again his weak, nerdy self (safebooru.org//images/1627/ed538db467… ).

“You say that like it’s a bad thing” Viva would remark with an eye roll. She never cared for her humanity when she was a human so why should she care about it now? She gave herself one more look before tossing the mirror back into the Hammerspace. She didn’t mind how she looked now, but she had grown to prefer how she looks now.

“..Showtime.” He said. “But uh… better if you knock.”

“Right” Viva would nod, hoping that her voice didn’t sound as nervous as she suddenly felt. Casually as she could she would walk up to the front door, take once more calming breath then raise her hand to knock assuredly on the door.

The door opened so slightly, as the sight of a man eyed Viva at first. The door immediately closed, as one could hear a surprised gasp… and the cocking of a gun behind it. Once again, the door opened. “What kind… of prank is this.” said the voice of Edward Turner, visibly shaken and jaded.

Carefully Viva would meet the eyes of her somewhat estranged husband, her eyes glinting hypnotically as she pushed a tiny amount of magic into them. “No prank, no deception. We came back, Ed.” She would say softly “We can explain this I promise.”

“Sure, why not, knock yourself out. Might as well get eaten or bullied by a monster, nothing ever matters anymore.” Edward said, with a feeling of defeat. Reaver’s black heart tugged for a second, seeing how broken his father was at this point.

I should have not become a magical boy. What did I do? He admitted, a brief damning. But… then he just exiled the thought to the darkest corner of his mind. It was late, too late already for him.

Viva was momentarily taken aback at the defeated sounding man in front of her, but easily rallied and moved to enter the house. “Let's get something to drink for all of us and then we can sit down and explain.”

Edward looked with a pained expression to the flesh doppelganger of her late wife, before sighing. “Sure, I got whiskey… and whiskey…” His eyes then rested on the shorter figure of the two. “...great, there’s two of em. Well… it’s not like it’s any different after all. Except he’s alive, and not in a freak suicide cult site. Whatever.” Edward said, as he led the two inside.

Reaver had to refrain from biting his lip so hard that it would bleed, as he clenched his fists. Regrets over murder were something he could stall… but this, this was literally hitting the few parts of his heart that could still feel something. If this kept up, his commitment would waver.

Viva’s eyes narrowed when Ed turned his back. She got it that Ed was depressed since they had both left him, supposedly by dieing, but this was still a bit much in her opinion. She wondered if she was going to have to use her Coercion more forcefully, but set that thought aside for now. No need to rush this since they were still being let in. “Whisky’s not a bad idea, but not too much otherwise we might be having this conversation twice” She would say with a bit of levity, hoping it would drag her husband out of this funk a little.

“I do need a freaking drink indeed.” said Ed, as he led the both of them inside the house, before pouring three glasses. His eyes rested on the gun that was beside the bottle for a little while, before refraining to raise it. “So, spit it.”

Reaver for the most part, grew awfully silent, trying to endure this scene. He drank his shot in one go, trying to maintain his face sound while his internal self was screaming once more.

Viva would take the drink but would simply swirl it around in her glass as she thought about how to start. After a moment “Magic, for all that people like to claim otherwise, truly does exist. And along with it dozens upon dozens of other creatures and purveyors of it. Some of those that dole it out don’t ask the people they force it upon, and Magic changes a person when they first get infused with it.” She would say softly before draining her glass in one smooth motion. Handing it back for a refill.

“It took a long time to find you and Will, and even then it came down to luck that I did. You had moved by the time I was able to make it back to our old home. Because I had gotten lost in the Overcity.”

It was at this point when Edward let out a small chuckle. “Uhuh. Magic is real. Yes, that would explain it.” Edward said as he handed a refill to Viva. “Anything is possible with magic these days. As if normal criminals weren’t enough.” He admitted, as he took a sip from the beverage thoughtfully.

“Well, I’d probably need a demonstration.” Edward said, taking the words as truth.

And then grabbing the gun he had, and in a fluid motion, shooting himself in the neck.

Reaver’s eyes went wide as he vaulted over the table, witnessing how his father was bleeding to death. He sprung to action, as he summoned his power the best he could, trying to heal the gunshot wound.

Viva was slower to respond, mainly because she let out a sigh and drained her second glass before moving. It wasn’t to say that she was uncaring of Ed’s situation, not entirely at least, but more that she knew that he wasn’t in danger. Not so long as she could get to him before a minute elapsed and even then he was in more danger from lack of oxygen to the brain than the blood loss.

She would step around the table, her disguise unraveling as she went, maintaining it would mean that her skill at healing her husband would drop, and that wasn’t something she was willing to risk at the moment. “Move aside and don’t worry” She would say calmly to Reaver as she pushed him to the side so that she could work. The wound looked grisly, but it took hardly any effort for her to reach out and practically unmake it. The skin and bone, damaged by the bullet, twisting and reforming Ed’s neck with inhuman ease.

That was the easy part, the hard part would come next, as Viva carefully worked her reinforcement to help along the restoration of the blood that had spilled out everywhere. “That was rather foolish you know.” Viva would say, oily looking light glinting off her hands as she worked her magic. “Healing magic, while it does exist, it isn’t a universal talent that people have. You could have easily been taking your own life and there would have been nothing that we could have done to save you” She would explain as she continued to pass her glowing hand over her husband, making sure that her efforts to heal him weren’t failing.

"Saving me huh." Ed said, croaking at first. "I am not sure if I even want to go on. I tried to be a caring father and husband. My wife, a cannibal, flees from me, and my son decides his life is worth trading for magic in a suicide cult magic. And then two doppelgangers who may or not may be them decide to play house with me, after some magical girl mumbo jumbo nearly killed me in this goddamn city." Edward added. "It's clear this world is so fucked up it won't make a difference if i am alive or dead."

Reaver, usually willful on his own, was completely nullified, merely watching as the exchange went by. He was right. This world was shitty.

“I didn’t run away” Viva would say as she focused on her work, even with something as simple as blood restoration she had to be careful with her primary magic. Otherwise who knew what kind of consequences there could be. “Wil might have joined the magical community willingly but I didn’t. Most patrons aren't kind enough to ask first from what I’ve seen and if you are having difficulty believing we are who we say we are now, after learning of the truth yourself, would you have even considered it back then?” She asked dryly, as she gave Ed one last check over before sitting down next to him.

“That is all besides the point” She would add before she let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. “We are here now, and we would love to stay and be a family again. But we won’t force you”

"Stay or leave. Whatever. It doesn't matter. My family is dead for me." said Edward, before tossing the keys. "I need to rest. Please allow me. Or don't. Who cares." The man said, before dragging himself off the table and towards his bedroom.

Reaver eyed the situation and blinked. "At least he is not kicking us out." He said bitterly

Viva watched Edward leave, absently catching the keys tossed her way as she did. “That’s about the only good thing so far” She would agree with her son once her husband was no longer in ear shot. This whole situation was a bit outside of her norm, building people back up wasn’t something she often cared about doing after all.

“That being said, if he’s been here in Penrose all this time and has only now reached his breaking point I think we can still manage something out of all of it. Mother knows that the city’s been hit hard” This city was crazy she had to give it that, all sense of normality liked to slip away when it came to the magical aspects of it’s community.

She would turn to Reaver as she stood and pulled out a mop from her Hammerspace “Do you think he’ll handle it better if we camp out in the living room or simply move into the spare rooms?” She would ask before setting about cleaning up the blood. Reaver knew Ed better at the moment the Viva did.

At the same time as she asked him, Reaver would feel an itch starting to spread though his skin as his magic started to revert the changes that Viva imposed onto him.

Reaver breathed. He felt very conflicted about this. One part of him wanted to scream and start killing everything in sight and then feast on their remains in frustration… the other part wanted to be done with it. He knew it. He was no longer the once boy.

“Out of sight, out of mind.” Reaver said. “We could move in the spares.” The boy said… as if he had aged ten years overnight.

Viva would nod in understanding, before a wicked grin stole across her face. She opened her mouth to say something but just as suddenly she closed it with a snap and shook away her almost words. She did say she would try and tame her impulses after all.

“Feel free to turn in” She would say instead as she stated to clean up “I’ll take whichever room you don’t pick, once I’m done here”

Ronin walked forward and got one of the candles which she lit in preparation. It felt strange holding it, and she suppressed the urge to shudder. Within her, an instinct to fear this wax candle still lingered, an expectation to be repelled by the light, that it was supposed to hurt her. Yet, she was able to take it without particular reaction, subverting her instinctual expectations. She smirked by herself about it. Alright, let’s get going!

… But before that, Alicia asked her a question. Ronin blinked at her a bit, and realized with a start. “Oh, shit. This is the person that can 100% tell if I lie to her.” So, with a grin on her lip, she just had to form the sentence in her mind, double-check it, and then say it!

‘In a sense! Me and Justine are just after the same target, and I’d be hard-pressed to do this operation on my own, so teaming up made sense! She’s not the typical person I’d consider teaming up with, no, I like to consider myself one of the good guys!’ Ronin called, happily. So far, so good.

Confirming that what was said was the truth, Alicia nonetheless still found herself curious. Business would have been a reasonable explanation, albeit one she was wary of. This was another, but it did leave some questions of motive and intent behind it. Of course Justine trusted her, but who knew what their foe actually thought in the first place.

It was a pity she couldn’t be more open. Not while Sonia was still here. She would have to be satisfied with one sided confirmation in that case.

”I see. I’m glad to hear it,” Alicia assured the girl, before proceeding to that next point she wished to address. ”What did Mariette do to you guys? I know why Justine is doing this, but if you were after the same target before meeting then you must have a reason for it.”

Ronin had a minor moment of panic, because Mariette hadn’t done anything to her and she didn’t know how to lie her way out of that one, but then she had a little stroke of genius. Ronin grinned widely.

‘Nonono. Not Mariette. Asengav is the one I have a bone to pick with! He’s the eldritch horror that likes to kidnap and mind bend girls to do his bidding! We need to deprive him of his champions as soon as possible, or this world will surely feel the consequences sooner or later…!’ … Nailed it! Even managed to mix that bit in with the mind bending, just because, can’t hurt for Alicia to know that~!

Listening, Alicia nodded as Ronin explained what her situation was. ”Ah, alright. That makes sense,” she agreed. it wasn’t a lie, and Mariette possibly being brainwashed by her patron would not have been the biggest surprise to learn. After all Justine had just left, and she was basically doing the same thing. In spite of that, knowing it was brainwashing did not change the facts of what she had to do. This would not have been the first time Beacon did something like this, and the manipulation was not as clear here. How much of it was brainwashing, and how much of it was Mariette’s genuine personality? Could they afford to take that chance?

No, she had to continue this path. There had to be justice for the fallen.

Still, she had the answer she was looking for. Although ready to move on, the fourth member of Ronin’s group caught her eye again as she interacted with FanFan. ”Is she going to be a problem for this mission? She doesn’t seem like the sneaky type,” Alicia observed coolly.

Ronin looked over at the girl Alicia was talking about, and Ronin could not help it. She laughed, letting out a bit of tension as she did, because the idea was just so amusing.

‘Lady, we’re going to be discovered the instant we breach into Mariette’s domain. We’ll need her,’ Ronin replied with absolute certainty and a touch of amusement.

Knowing that Princess would not be an issue was good, but Alicia caught on what it was that Ronin had said. She sounded awfully confident that this infiltration wouldn’t be so much infiltration as it would be a running fight. It made the Paladin wonder just why she felt that way.

So she returned from the Princess to Ronin. ”Is that so? That’s good to know,” she replied, one hand holding her bow while the other rested on her hip. ”Are there any other insider tips we should know before going in there? I would prefer not to be taken off guard.”

Ronin chuckled a bit. ‘Sorry, never been in there. Just, be aware Asengav has more champions than just Mariette. It’s not unbelievable that we may be facing a dozen or so of them, in addition to other reinforcements, monsters and traps. It largely depends on if Mariette expects to be attacked or not.’

Listening attentively, Alicia nodded as Ronin warned her of other potential champions, traps, monsters, and the like. They had known this wasn’t going to be easy, and dealing with a being like a Horror was always going to put them up against a lot. Especially with someone like Mariette.

”We’ll just have to keep our eyes open going in,” Alicia said once Ronin had finished. It was not a lot to go on, but it was all they had. ”It sounds like you’ve been working on this for some time now. i’m surprised I haven’t seen you around town before.”

‘I was seeking through the Overcity when I met Justine, and she took me to Penrose. I had assumed working with Justine meant any chance of an alliance with you of Beacon was void, heh. I instead went to the monster queen for aid, but she died, and,’ Ronin sighed. ‘Quite the community you’ve got here! Always someone stabbing someone’s back, eh?’ Ronin giggled, before spinning to go back to her little group. ‘But let’s get each other through this alive, shall we?’

That sounded like quite the adventure. Sparse on details, but those did not seem as important right now. Like Ronin had said, they needed to focus on getting through this in one piece. ”Agreed.” With that Alicia returned to her own group as well, to prepare for their imminent teleportation

Despite the frighting pace that all the political intrigue was unfolding at, Nuncio found the time to reflect on last weeks posts.

What had bothered Nuncio about the exchange between Dina and Penny was that it made him realize how frail leadership was around here. Yes, Nuncio had perhaps whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and it was probably a good thing Dina was around to quell things for the moment. But Dina had made it clear that she wanted Penny’s throne. Both the Mint and Beacon seemed to be having difficulty running their respective organizations without them erupting into a mutiny. Perhaps magical girls were too volatile to work along side each other. The ones that could were few and far between, which was all the more reason to stick to a small group. Regardless, things were at least going his way. He needed to talk to Amaryllis about this at some point. Preferably when Sammy wasn’t around to get jealous.

@twave

Nuncio didn’t get far into the crowd when a doll-like girl tugged at his pants leg, asking a simple question with an answer he didn’t feel like explaining. There was also the matter that Sammy could be anywhere now, and she generally frowned on him having positive interactions with other girls.

Still…

The plushy maker was taken back by the girl’s physique. She looked just like a doll, and was almost too small to be a real magical girl. Was it a minion of some sort? He doubted it. If only because in his dealings, such creatures weren’t capable of speaking, being curious, or anything of the sort.

”Short version, Penny’s breakin’ ties with Beacon.” A crowd of people was a horrible place to have a discussion. Even if the monster girls were starting to calm down, many were being as loud and obnoxious as they possibly could. ”You’ll get crushed down there. Here…” Nuncio picked up the doll and set her on Rosa’s back. The tiger groaned in response, but did little to protest her master’s wishes.

---

One of my responsibilities at work is to water the plants. I water them every day I am there, I give them fertilizer, I care for them. The water in our area is pretty bad, so we need to collect rain water to water the plants. This means there are several plastic containers out back that I use to fill watering cans. This water attracts mosquitoes and frogs, but I want to tell you about the time I caught some ants trying to get a drink.

First I knocked them into the bucket with a splash of water. Then I lowered a jug below the water’s surface. When the water surged into the empty jug, the ants followed suit. With less than a square inch of air left in the bottle, I put a cap on it and set the jug out in the sun. It was a “clear” plastic jug, so it did nothing to hold out the summer sun. This was the end of my work week, so I did not come back for several days. I put the ants out of my mind, sure that if they didn’t drown, they would boil.

When I did come back, I waited until lunch time to check up on the little bastards. To my surprise, a few of them were still moving. They had bounded themselves together in a giant spinning ant ball, with roughly half of them below the water, and half of them above. I poured them all out, and they landed on the hot pavement in a big blob. One by one, they frantically sputtered away from their torturer. But I wasn’t interested in them anymore. Not the live ones at least. I was eagerly waiting to see how many I had killed. The ball of ants got smaller and smaller, and do you know there wasn’t a single ant corpse?

So for three days, thirty-something ants managed to survive in a bottle of stagnant rainwater, while the sun threatened to cook them like an egg, and with a limited amount of oxygen. Ants are known to be good swimmers, and carpenter ants can survive being drowned for 14 days straight. But most ants can only survive 24 hours, and that’s in ideal conditions like colder water temperatures. They can slow their metabolism so that they take twenty times less oxygen as when they are sleeping, but warmer water makes this harder to maintain.

It was their teamwork that enabled them to survive. Had they not bound together and took turns sharing oxygen, I’m sure they would have perished. How fortunate that the ants in Penrose are incapable of teamwork. I’m not speaking of the magical girls, mind you…

Penny would give the people a moment to speculate amongst themselves, using that time to relax as she felt the tension in the room dwindle. It wouldn’t fully fade, but the hostility would go which was really the most that Penny could ask for.

And even then before she could say anything Dina would be whisked away by Dan, something she didn’t bother to hide her sigh over. “That was Dan” Penny would say glowering at the spot the dolphin had appeared and vanished from “Dina’s Patron. She’s fine” She would reassure the populace before they could start freaking out.

“But onto the matter at hand.” She would gesture with the Shine spark again “The reason I would prefer to return this, and the reason I will not destroy it or damage it, is because the sheer fact that I can own this proves Beacon wrong.” She let the statement linger for a moment as she returned the Shinespark to where it was hidden within her. “I am a Monster-girl that is an undeniable fact. I am one of the few that even has the capability of shifting into a full monster for a time; that too is a fact. But the Spark doesn’t reject me. The Spark which is a tiny fragment of the Beacon of Humanity doesn’t deny me. Me. Someone who’s magic is distorted in such a way so that I can never be truly purified.”

She once again drew her gaze across everyone present, a grin slowly stretching across her face as she spoke. “I am living proof that the fundamentalist at Beacon are wrong. So I will not damage or destroy this spark, I will not give them the satisfaction of being proven right. After all if a Destroyer can choose to preserve this small spark, what could the rest of us do?”

She would start walking towards the Plant girl as she spoke “All of us. All. Of. Us. Have the potential for great things, and it is my opinion that we, the Dark and the Monster, simply take everything to greater extremes. Our heights are higher, but our lowest are lower. More than the Solo’s and the Normal’s we need community. To help us all temper our extremes.” She would reach down and offer a hand to the girl who lashed out at her, for she held no ill will towards her, or any of the girls who turned against her or sided with Dina. They all simply wanted some place to feel safe, and from what they could tell Penny had threatened that.

“So I will always defend those of us who need it, I will always side with us over those that seek to destroy us, or abuse us.” She would say after she gave a soft hug to the plant girl and a smile to let her know that Penny had forgiven her. “Because when we come together there is no limit to what we can do.”

Penny would rest a hand on the Plant girl’s shoulder for a moment longer before turning back and walking towards the other end of the Sanctuary. “That doesn’t mean that the gifts we have are always kind.” Her destination was those who had moved towards the Purification supplies she had brought out. “I can’t blame anyone for wanting to get back some semblance of who they used to be, because I’ve been there before. I remember with sharp clarity the nights spent dreaming of regaining my humanity.” She would pick up the lone White coin that was laid out with the potions; it was one of only a handful that she had gotten from Janet and Jenna directly, because she still didn’t trust the supplies that had been passed along by Mariette. “I’ve undergone purification,” She would say holding the coin above her “My nature, my magic, denied it from working correctly. But I will never deny the opportunity to those who want it for themselves. We have lost so much already, I will not take this away as well.”

“The potions will cleanse you of all corruptions, and the Coins will do the same. The Coins will also sever your connection to your Patron, though it will forge a connection to Beacon. For now I will be keeping the Coins locked up. If you fear your patron enough that you would choose Beacon over them, I will be willing to give you one, but for the moment that would mean you have to leave the Sanctuary, for our safety as much as your own.”

The Coin would slip into her hand, to be hidden away within her. “Because there are still those in Beacon that fear us.” She would turn back towards the small stage she had raised out of the ground “Most of Beacon still does in all truth. Dian has a good point; to publically withdraw at the moment does nothing but place under the spotlight. To call a Beckoner, one of the Patrons that guide those in the Beacon, here and now would place us on a timer. So for now, I will wait. For as it stands Beacon at large doesn’t know of our location. They think we are hiding out near the suburbs, or some such location. For better access to ‘prey’” Penny didn’t bother hiding her sneer at the blatant discrimination within that assumption.

“They know of me, and my nature, but they don’t know that I’ve built this place. They don’t know of my connection to it, my title, my promise to all of you.” One last time she would meet the eyes of everyone present. “I do not hide any of that out of shame; I would gladly shout it from the rooftops if you all wanted me too. But while it is a secret, I can listen and learn. I can watch them, and keep us safe. I have eyes in all of their systems, I can find out where it is they are looking for us, where it is safe for us to be and where we should avoid. Until our Home is ready for us, until the Bastion is ready for us, I will keep my title hidden from them. Because all of you deserve the right to feel safe, and I feel this is the best way to go about doing that.”

“One day, hopefully soon, we can carry ourselves openly. Until then I have no problems hiding in plain sight with a target on my back to keep you all safe, because that is more important than just about anything else.”

---

Up in rafters of the Sanctuary Snoopy was hidden quietly observing all that went on below. Nothing Penny was saying was a lie. But there were those that had proven that they weren’t above stirring the pot to get things done, Nuncio for example. And there could be others, agents of the Mint hidden away, or other organizations or factions. They were the ones that Snoopy was keeping an eye out for.

---

Once again Penny’s capability to multi task was proving to be perhaps her most powerful capability. As from the moment Dina was taken away by her Patron a small part of Penny started monitoring that situation. It was less than two percent of her over all attention, but that was all she really needed considering all she had to monitor was cellphone signals.

But even with that limited amount of information Penny could tell that the whole assault was already a mess. She knew of Ronin already, and could sense the division of Beacon’s forces, which considering Aurelio was there had a good guess as to where Justine was going to be as well.

She knew that Dina and Mariette were in close proximity, plus Lily which meant Alex. If she pushed her attention a bit she could scan contacts and with that she would find Sil. Fresh phones were rarely so empty after all, which meant that the Cradle was also a part of things.

To say nothing of all the other signals that Penny had no context for figuring out who or why. For the first time Penny was regretting not going, Alicia was going to need all the help she could get. But it was too late for her to change course now. All Penny could do was hope and pray that her friend made it out alright.

---

[‘Hey Jenna. Message was delivered, was much more divisive than expected. Fall out was minimal, but bridges were nearly torched for a moment.

Cindy’s not made any friends, and has possibly lost some. Coin’s were a massive bust, but potions were a small hit. Will update you as things progress, still very fluid at the moment.’]

---

Aurelio simply smiled wider in response to Justine’s apparent kindness, even as he suppressed a shudder at how she felt. More and more it was becoming clear to the young man that the Vampire in front of him was one of the rare few that he would have no conniptions about circumventing his Vow for. Which wasn’t really a surprise, if he thought about it, Her patron was antithetical to Aurelio’s stance when it came to life after all, or was it Aurelio was antithetical to theirs?. Either way that quite revelation steeled his resolve and hurt his heart at the same time.

He also took solace at the righteous anger that was flooding Alicia; After all no one from Beacon seemed to be enjoying this mission so far. ‘Wonder why the Beckoners agreed to it?’

Still he kept to himself, much the way he had before. Watching and keeping tabs on how everyone was feeling as best he could unobtrusively. It was strange to be the knife in the dark.

“Welcome to the show” He would greet Sakura after he procured a candle and lighter. No need for a mirror as he could simple conjure up some mirrored sunglasses if he needed, or at least he hoped that such a trick would work. ‘Hmm, things to contemplate at another time.

Aurelio would be the last one to place his hand on the table, still he was silent, but for the first time since he arrived the grin that was on his face was truly a genuine one. Because the 'teleportation table' trick gave him a great opportunity. Using the cover of Sonia's magic Aurelio would tag everyone with a Magician’s Mark through the table, using Sonia’s magic as the carrier. Sympathetic magic was a staple of Empathetic magic after all. Granted if he had tried to do anything more complex than the Magician’s mark it would have failed, but that was beside the point.

Arriving at the front of the mansion he would give a quick look around for any hostiles. Not seeing any he would bow towards Kimble lightly “Thanks for the catch” before stepping off the Wind storm to land next to Hyun, he was spinning his cane through his fingers already but his magical focus lacked any distinctive glow.

Ready as he was for what came next, Aurelio still hated the fact that he was here, but it was far, far, too late to back out now.

_{@Ariamis,@twave & @AtomicNut,@PlatinumSkink}

Unlike Dina, Hilaria had not shown any real distaste for being whisked away suddenly. The likely reason had been because she was already taking refuge in the Beach Dimension, chomping on some snacks which she had finished by the time they arrived at Mariette's abode.

She gave a content sigh as she basked in the aftertaste of the kebab she had just eaten. "Oh, parting is such a sweet sorrow~" she would wait for the day when she could enjoy kebabs again. But for now, there was some business she had to attend to.

The truth was, Hilaria was considering having a talk with Dan. She was doing her best to fulfill her end of their bargain, but the reality was that she struggled with it. Treating people to food was okay and all, but nobody quite appreciated it like her. The energy he received was unlikely to be worth much to him, at least not enough to justify her continued employment. She felt as though breaking things off before she wore out her welcome, so to speak, would be for the best. She had no particular reason to make an enemy of someone who had granted her delicious feasts on multiple occasions.

Though it was also possible he would not care for her departure. Actually, considering that entire beach event, he seemed like he was a clingy patron. Well, she could think about it later. At the very least, she promised her hand with this fiesta and she would not go back on that.

There was a lot of talking, and some sort of pseudo-phone provided to the group. Mariette's rather lengthy explanation at least made it clear she wasn't a fool. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. A tactician's mindset, if ever there were one.

Must I be reminded of this ugly, vexing irony? Thy form bestowed upon us far surpasses that of a fragile and hopeless human, yet wherefore does our hallowing neglect to temper our minds? Be it our lot to fall prey to the ever-present allure of war akin to they who are inferior? Bah!

Hilaria was, as you might imagine, not fond of war or these battles whatsoever. But she couldn't kid herself. They were going to happen no matter what. An important man once said that all that was certain was death and taxes. He was wrong, but only partially so. So long as people existed, so too would conflict and war. And when they were gone? It would simply fall upon the other beings in this universe. War was without end.

"Hilaria, ready for duty~!" she announced, ignoring the appearance of the green-haired girl and her attempt to start something with Lily. It interested her not. She would focus instead on her role in the upcoming fight. She could stay back and assist Mariette, but it appeared as though Dina, her companion, had that task in mind. Hilaria could stay with her, but she would probably be most useful in the thick of things. Her build allowed for extended fighting, and she was only moderately useful at a range.

Perhaps due to the existence of video games, many people did not realize the true range of a shotgun. They were often used to kill birds while they fly. Shotguns just tended to have more... 'explosive' results the closer you got, depending on what sort of shell you utilized. But, ultimately, Hilaria was much more useful in close-quarters combat.

Hilaria managed to catch the tail-end of the interaction between Dina and the couple. Seemed they were splitting up. Perhaps, then, she could acquire a partner. "Lexander~?" she used his nickname without a thought. "If you don't have any plans, Hilaria would love for you to accompany her~"

His answer would not affect what she did next, which was to grab Mariette's attention when possible. "Hilaria prefers to be up close and personal, and is good at acting as a WALL to hold a position~ Hilaria can go where you think she's needed with that in mind~" she told the witch and, if Alex hadn't rejected her call to action, she would give him a warm smile.

Oros only grinned as Emily caused the air to change temperature and sputter things at a pace even she couldn’t keep up with.

“I didn’t catch all that.” Oros placed his hands on his hips. “I’ll just assume you’re a little flustered because you didn’t think I could be this dreamy.” Oros brushed his hair back. “Anyway, I just feel like eating something and talking about my day. You can do that right?” He extended his hand.

He was right. Emily was flustered beyond belief, but she knew she had to try to reel herself back in. Oros had not done anything to deserve being treated like some dangerous animal! "O-oh, um, I'm so sorry!" she apologized, casting a hesitant glance at his hand, which she reluctantly took. It was warm, or maybe that was her? "I-if it's just that, t-then I think I can manage!" she told Oros, although she wasn't sure if she was lying or not.

Oros’s fingers curled around Emily’s palm one at a time. His thumb brushed against the back of her hand, caressing it with the same tenderness Emily would use with a stray puppy. He exhaled, and the edges of Oros’s lips curled into a smile. “Glad to hear it.” When they started walking, Oros was practically skipping down the sidewalk. “Got any ideas for where we can get breakfast at this hour? I’m done with the greasy spoon shit for now, so no trashy diners for us! A truck stop would be the perfect place! Think there’s anything like that open around here?”

Emily held her small shopping bag close to her heart as she walked at a pace only barely slower than Oros’. She had opened her mouth to speak, as she wasn’t sure about truck stops being better than diners, but thought better of it. Instead, she tried to remember the places she had either eaten at or heard about. There weren’t too many of those, as most of the places she would have been familiar with had either shut down because of the evac or simply closed down before she returned earlier. “Um, I’m not entirely sure,” she explained. “I don’t usually go out to eat because of my budget…” Particularly after meeting Sakura, things had become just a bit more stressful on her wallet. It was a godsend that people agreed to bring food to the party that happened earlier. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t heard of places. Yes, with Hilaria occasionally dropping by, it would be impossible not to. “Um, it’s not exactly a ‘truck stop’ but I did hear good things about the Pitstop,” she finally said, recalling the few times Hilaria brought it up. The busty and ravenous magical girl did not actually give it any particular praise, which actually might’ve been a red flag, but the place had the word ‘stop’ in its name so maybe that was good for Oros? Emily wondered if it was going to put her in the red. “It shouldn’t be too far away, if memory serves.”

“No.” Oros curt reply was followed by her hand tightening around Emily’s. “I told you, I don’t want to eat at some shitty diner.”

“S-sorry…” she apologized meekly.

He had stopped walking at a street corner. There were no cars, but the traffic lights were still working. “WALK” was lit up on the other side, but they had stopped moving. Oros tugged Emily so that they were both looking at each other. “I haven’t been in Penrose for a while, and you don’t eat out much. Perhaps we should eat you out.” Emily merely tilted her head as his fingers curled between hers, missing the point. “… of house and home! Haha! I bet they still serve eggs and toast at your place, right? I like that idea, it’ll be a good deal more private there too. Do we need to go shopping or should I take you straight home?” He waved his hand across the street, which was now saying “DON’T WALK.”

“Oh, Hilaria was just over so I think I do need to hit the store…” she mumbled as she began to recall the mental shopping list she had made. Eggs and milk were at the top of the list as they were almost gone. “But nothing is on sale right now, so I was going to wait.” Emily did not particularly want to bring a boy whom she just met over to her place, but now her thoughts were of the weekly ads for the grocery. Shopping smart kept her afloat, so she couldn’t just go buy eggs all willy nilly. It was irresponsible! “Um, perhaps a different sort of breakfast would work? I still have some pancake mix, or cereal...” she offered alternatives to eggs.

Oros lowered his head and thought. “Can you make… waffles?”

She shook her head and also Oros’ hand. “Why yes, I most certainly can!”

“Well what the hell are we waiting for? I would love to eat your waffle!” Oros practically dragged Emily to her house, running as fast as her legs could manage.

---

This was not the first time Oros and Emily were at her house together, but they hadn’t engaged with each other last time so it felt like this was the first time she had Oros over. At the very least, it was the first time Emily had Oros over by herself.

Oros was a glutton, but she didn’t compare to Hilaria. And Emily wouldn’t complain even if she did. Oros was content with four waffles, which she had slathered with syrup and whipped cream. Chocolate chips and sliced fruit practically floated on top of the syrup and cream.

Oros sat in front of her meal. She had turned back into a woman and had a handkerchief tucked into her shirt. When Oros split the waffles with her fork, the syrup and cream concoction pooled on her plate,

“I love breakfast!” Oros swabbed her fork full of waffle through the syrup. “My mommy used to make it for me every day. She’d make it for me for lunch when I was a good girl.” it only took Oros a moment to clean her fork. “It doesn’t get any better than this shit. Once your mom dies, the best you can hope for is some friend with benefits to come along and knows her way around a kitchen.”

Emily was noticeably less tense since Oros changed and that had allowed her to make their food without additional stress. She sat on the other end of the table and waited for Oros to begin before even looking at her own food. "Oh, I hope you enjoy it then!" she agreed with Oros in that regard. "My mother was a great cook, so I always try to emulate her when I'm in the kitchen." Emily was only taught a few basic dishes since she was young when she was separated from her family, so she was mostly just attempting to replicate the taste her mouth remembered.

Dwelling on that particular subject wasn't exactly pleasant, however. She was aware of her own mother's fate, and it didn't take a genius to guess what happened with Oros', so she instead asked about the girl directly. "Um, if you don't mind my asking... what brings you to Penrose?" she asked. "Or perhaps I've just missed you. It's been quite busy lately."

“I haven’t been to Penrose in a long time. I don’t know how long you’ve been here, but I doubt you’d remember me.” She chuckled, then her eyes dropped to the table. “As for my reason for being here, I don’t imagine it’s too different than any other magical girl. We’re all serving our patrons, right? Well, they wanted me to come to this shit hole. Though I guess I can leave whenever I want now.” She trailed off. “I mean, you can’t be here by choice, right?”

She nodded. “Oh, I was born here!” Emily told her new friend in contrast to Oros’ assumption. She did not seem to take any offense to Oros’ choice of vocabulary when referring to Penrose. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, but Sakura had forced her to become somewhat desensitized to that sort of stuff. “Um, but I haven’t been here for quite some time since I left,” she elaborated, wondering just how many years it had been before her return. It was far too many, for sure. But she had to come back eventually. “Penrose has become a lot more active than I remembered it being, so it has kinda caused some problems with my search…”

“Yea, people keep making more magical girls. You’d think just one or two would be enough for most people.”

“...But I still like it very much. What is it that you dislike about Penrose?” she went on to ask.

“I mean,I don’t like, ‘hate’ Penrose. But there’s all the destroyed buildings, normals on the edge of annihilation, with Beacon and Mint pushing this world closer to its destruction. A shit hole. ” Oros scratched the back of her head, her eyes looking everywhere but at Emily. “It’s just been a really long time since I’ve found anyone who wants to do more than fight, you know? I’ve been to places where the sun doesn’t shine anymore, where the only place you can see a human face is a mirror.” With a shrug, she folded her hands together. “I got my hopes up when I came here. I thought it would just be some magical girls fighting monsters. But it’s the Zach Snyder version of Sailor Moon.”

Emily could relate to that sentiment. She felt pain any time she saw or was forced to be a part of infighting between magical girls. It should be as simple as just killing monsters, but apparently it wasn’t. If only a majority of the other magical girls weren’t so stupid. Emily wished she could do anything to prevent this from happening. “Oh, I so very much dislike conflict between sisters and brothers. Monsters really should be our priority, but that’s not the case all the time... “ she sighed, thinking about how unfortunate it all was. “I’m sorry that the experience is so disappointing. When I was little, things were so much simpler and kind. That’s what I want to bring back, but so much stuff happens here that I’m not sure I could make a dent… Oh, but I don’t want to ruin your appetite with any pessimism, sorry!”

Though it seemed like pessimism, if anything, made the miko hungrier. She ate the entire time Emily was talking, and had almost finished the entire stack of waffles.

“It’s just the way of things.” She licked one of her fingers. “Peace always seems to follow war. The trick is to survive the war so that you can enjoy the peace.” After cleaning her fingers, Oros smiled and folded her hands together. “I told you why I was here. I may be serving my patrons, but my reason for staying here is my own.” Her eyes closed as if recalling a distant memory. “Penrose may be a shithole, but I know how to fix it. I can make it the way it once was: a paradise.” Her shoulders visibly dropped with a sigh. “But I need help.”

Emily seemed interested in what Oros had to say. But of course she would be. There was really only one thing she wanted more in the world than to Make Penrose Great Again^TM. “Oh? If that is your goal, I would love to see how I could help!” she exclaimed, taking her first bite out of her breakfast. “If you don’t mind my asking, how would you go about this?”

Oros scratched her chin. “Hmm. As I’ve said previously, the Mint and Beacon are the sole reason why Penrose is in such a sorry ass state right now. The first order of business is to remove them from power.” Oros reclined in her seat. “Not too difficult really. All we need to do is unite some of the factions into an alliance. Something big enough that it can beat Beacon in a skirmish, but not so big that everyone targets us. From there it’s just targeting the two respective faction’s weaknesses. The mint craves their secrecy, so forcing them out into the open will make their entire organization crumble. Beacon’s crutch is it’s hate. If we flood beacon with enough monster girls though, they will have no choice but to reform.” Oros folded her arms and grinned. “Once we’re all more or less fighting monsters again, the normals will be free to come back and rebuild. But that can’t happen with the Mint and Beacon milling about.”

Hearing about them always put her on edge. They were responsible for her sister's death, after all. If Jonald was snooping around, then maybe he'd--

A cat-like figure could now be seen sitting on top of the fridge. "The Mint." His disgust and contempt for them was made clear in an instant. "And I could not say I care for the likes of the Beacon, as well." Jonald hopped down from the fridge and circled their table. "This is acceptable, is it not?" he eyed Emily. "You can make Penrose a better place by ruining the Mint."

Emily looked at Oros. "Oh, yes, I could see how that would require help," she acted as though she didn't hear Jonald. "To see sisters working together..." the thought clearly appealed to her.

Oros on the other hand was giving Jonald all of her attention. So much so that one might think Emily became invisible as soon as he entered the room. The pink haired girl practically teleported to the creature’s position and pulled it into her chest.

“Hey!” She stroked Jonald’s head, while her other arm kept his tiny body trapped between her breasts. “You didn’t tell me you had this chick magnet hanging around here!” There was a tiny bit of drool coming out of the corner of Oros’s mouth. “Are you Em’s boss? I don’t think we’ve met before.”

Jonald’s lithe figure squeezed its way out of her grip. “Do not touch me,” he snapped, retreating to his spot on the fridge. “But I am Emily’s patron, yes,” he answered the question that was not necessary. Why else would a Puchuu appear at someone else’s house so suddenly?

-Because he’s a spy?
-Because he’s a big pervert?
-Because how else is a puchuu supposed to show up?

“Count Emily in if your plan is more than just a thought in your head. Anyway, you can call me--”

“Jonald,” Emily cut in. “His name is Jonald, and he’s been my patron for the entirety of my time as a magical girl,” she explained.

The Puchuu did not seem pleased by Emily’s interruption. “Whatever.” he feigned indifference at the name.

“He smells great too!” Oros seemed to have ignored Jonald’s request to not touch him. Fortunately the fridge was deep enough that he could retreat out of her grasping range, which he did. Though she seemed to lose interest and returned to her seat. “I knew there was something special about you Em! I could sense your potential!” She grinned so wide that her eyes squinted shut. “I’ve gotta show you my patron some day. You’ll be glad you’ve got someone as cool as Joe at your back!” Oros stood up and walked to Emily’s side of the table. “What a chance encounter! What started with ruined toast ended with an unbelievable waffle! And I made a friend!” She extended her hand to Emily. “Thanks for the date. Next time we’ll go to my place. I’m something of a cook myself.”

“If you’ll have me, then I’d love to, Oros!” Emily beamed such a warm smile at Oros. To have made another friend, even if she didn’t make the best first impression, was a delight. But speaking of food, she needed to eat her own! She began to dig in as Jonald hopped down from the fridge.

”Goodbye.” A single word was all he granted before he left.

It did seem that Silhouette and Su were making their positions clear on their particular team-up. Good. Trixy apologized, and Mariette nodded.

‘I’ll choose to trust you on this,’ Mariette replied to Trixy.

Mariette simply nodded to Lily and Alexander saying they’d see what they could do about the true love thing. The companion did not respond to Lily, making her look like a dofus. Lily called for Mariette not to collapse the dimension, making Mariette blink at her and then Alexander a bit in surprise.

‘This is a small artificial dimension created by my patron. Its collapse is of no consequence to the multiverse at large. But, if you really don’t want me to collapse it… then please ensure I don’t have to,’ Mariette simply said, absolutely not intent on giving up the collapsing dimension plan in case something went wrong.

Viridian showed up and set up her tower. She’d been at the mansion the entire time, so it wasn’t as if it was surprising. Still.

‘I’ll note I haven’t stationed forces on the roof on account of that it’s outside the protection of the reinforced mansion exterior. I cannot promise the safety of the tower if they fire upon it, but I’ll see what I can do,’ she said. Then Viridian put pressure on Lily, which… huh.

Dina summoned Chuchuna, and Mariette opened a portal for the yeti to easily slip out into the snowstorm if needed, briefly blowing some cold blizzard into the office before the portal closed. The cat-girl then stood up for the electric girl… hm. That girl was a natural protector, wasn’t she?

‘… Lily is a personal friend of mine, not an ally by patron. She is the last person in this room I would expect to betray me,’ Mariette stated rather simply, about the matter of Lily’s current employer. She wouldn’t put it past Lily to potentially be manipulated, but Lily would never desire to harm her, she was confident about that. Mariette stopped paying attention to the rest of that conversation, she was still multitasking by letting her forces fire through portals, after all.

‘Your service as a healer and summoner would be greatly appreciated, Dina. It is amusing you’d suggest, because the mirror thing has already been covered. Should a mirror within my mansion be destroyed, it will disperse into shadows. I couldn’t have my mirrors be used against me, after all. Still, Su. If you’d wish to enchant regular house-hold objects to be used as grenades or traps, that would be interesting,’ she said, honestly.

She also nodded to Hilaria. ‘Sounds like you'll be of greatest use when the enemy has reached us. Until then, feel free to make yourself ready.’

Then, finally, looking to Trixy and Lily about the places they wished to go. ‘I will open three portals for you for now,’ so she said, and opened three portals. One went into the snowstorm, one went to a line of combat-ready magical girls looking out windows, and another went to the second floor balcony looking over the foyer. There were some more troops there.

‘If you wish to go onto the roof, here you go. I warn that I wasn’t intending on positioning any troops on the roof, for it is a dangerous and open location, but as long as you are aware you can fire upon our enemies with similar impunity. I will rescue you if it goes bad.’

‘The second option is joining the Artillery Line. These are my magical girls firing at our enemies from various third floor windows, though I have some shooting from second floor windows, too. They’re likely to be attacked, as such there’s close combat potential in them, too, but they’re ready to scramble back past the trapped room should things go badly. I will do my best to relocate as makes tactical sense.’

‘The third option is the top of the foyer. There are traps ready to be activated manually should our foes enter the main entrance, including a shield to separate their forces to allow us to focus on annihilating those who made it inside prematurely, as well as a sonic blast focus on the lower floor to shake up our foes and make them more vulnerable before our attack. This ambush could also use help. Of course, if our foes come with a different tactic, we will adapt as may come, and the second floor foyer is the best place to be prepared to rush anywhere else in the mansion even without portals.’

From here, the girls would be allowed to move where they thought they would be the most useful, because Mariette currently did not actually know, it all would change depending on what shape Justine’s attack took…



@BrokenPromise@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants@AtomicNut@Majoras End

Sakura began to somewhat shiver upon being put in contact with the blizzard. Despite spartan training, she spared no time in conjuring a fluffy coat that for some reason, had to be pink too. Well, it still stopped the blowing wind. Obscuring visibility in purpose, something told me there were many a trap ahead. A hothead she was, but even this cold blizzard seemed to cool her head a little.

Welcome to the show said indeed, as a foppish individual called her. She would have given Aurelio a stern gaze, but there was no time for antics right now. She nodded briskly, as she focused on the task at hand. She was glad Emily wasn't in this mess... although she grimaced that Lily had chosen Mariette's side. Still, there was this important task at hand.

For once, she would play coy, and simply allow herself to keep being in close vicinity to the bombastic leech, as she went on with her speech. She would commit only the reasonable lightning in sniping the incoming forces, giving a sense of protection and unity towards Justine von Visceral. That bloody mosquito loli had a high opinion of herself, and there would be many a chance to slap her across the room... If she could keep herself glued to the vampire lady.

---

Meanwhile, the girl know as Tenebra silently gazed at the leader of the expedition, the Beacon girl. The second team would move on to making a pincer attack, and she knew her space time warping ability would be able to at least make the whole portal and teleporting less than a one-sided affair. She blandly smiled, chuckling to herself, before pulling an artifact out of a Hammerspace handbag.

"Disguise artifact, shall I use it?" She said to the infiltration team.

Justine grinned as she felt the temperature drop, and the howling winds of a blizzard scream around her as it manifested all around her, covering the snow field in a blinding white screen.
”My oh my, you even have an ice mage to give me a welcoming party through a large-scale spell? My, what a naughty little copycat you are. Then again, imitation is the greatest form of flattery~”
And soon enough, Mariette’s forces were on the move; monsters and simulacrums raced through the snowy field, easily crossing the difficult terrain, while projectiles began flying from all kinds of directions. She immediately recognized the portals from whence they came through.
She glanced at the Beacon girls as she dodged and defended herself using some of her wings, particularly at Kimble who floated using Wind magic. While she didn’t pay much attention to her during the meeting, she was amused to see how much her former pawn had changed, having gone so far as to reject her monsterhood in favor of submitting to the Beacon’s tyranny.

”This blizzard is proving quite troublesome. Clear the way for us, my dear Kimble.” However, Kimble gritted her teeth, contempt clear in her eyes. Only moments before, she was happy as Alicia cheered her on before they left, having responded with words of gratitude and affirmation that she would be careful. But her mood went sour the moment the vampire addressed her.
“You don’t get to order me, you evil hellspawn!”
Justine rolled her eyes.
”Very well then. I suppose we’ll all freeze to our deaths then. Is that what you want to do for your precious Alicia? To die a meaningless death and break her heart?”
”W-Wait, how do you-”
Kimble’s eyes widened, horrified by the vampire’s cruel words, causing her forearm to be grazed by a bullet and for her to flinch. Hyun Long deflected another with her fists lifted up in a defensive pose. Justine waggled her finger with a knowing smirk, but then was struck herself in the hem of her skirt, damaging it. Nonetheless, she kept her menacing aura.
”Clock’s ticking~”
Kimble bit her lip, absolutely loathing the fact she has to endure Justine’s banter. However, she knew she had no choice.
”Ok, fine! But I’m doing this for the sake of my duty to Mistress!”

Kimble had summoned her magical weapon, a hand sickle, and made a spinning motion with it as she channelled her magic.
”Cyclogenesis!”
Upon incantation of the spell, a great whirlwind of green-tinted wind began forming around the assault team, spinning anti-clockwise to the blizzard and leaving them in the somewhat tranquil eye of the storm. While she was unable to suppress the more powerful combo magic Tullia and Lea were casting, she was able to create a small bubble where the group would be protected by the biting chill. It also helped deflect some of the projectiles shot at them by redirecting their trajectories and improved their visibility, though only up to the radius of the whirlwind that covered the group, beyond which the blizzard raged on.
”Ngh....I can’t hold this for long!” Kimble stated, wisps of green energy visibly spinning around her limbs.
Sally and Hyun Long nodded, having acknowledged Aurelio’s Magician’s Mark with thumbs ups and respectful nods, respectively.
“Good work, Kimble! Now we can fight much better!” The former commented, and twirled her Shamrock Shooter around her index finger. “Hyun Long, let’s advance!” The latter girl nodded, a determined look in her eyes.
“Got it! I’ll start clearing us a path through the snow!” She took in a deep breath as she took a martial arts pose; her fisted hands glowed red, and were covered with hot flames, melting the snow in her immediate vicinity, before she punched forward; A dragon head-shaped burst of fire was launched, melting the snow before them in a 10-meter long distance.

However, just as she was about to run forward, Justine spoke out.
”Halt! Allow one of my canaries to pave the way forward.”
Her red eyes flashed, and one of her troops began running forward; she was a magical girl with a uniform consisting of a brown skirt, a white blouse, and yellow highlights holding what looked like an ornate Winchester rifle as her magical weapon. Without saying a word, the vampire’s thrall sprinted forward, having casted some type of enchantment on herself. Soon enough, the vampire’s thrall stepped on something, and activated a magical trap, killing her with an explosive blast.

Justine giggled at the sight, showing a maniacal smile..
”Ohhoo~ I knew it! Mariette has trapped the field and mansion, the little rascal.” She glanced at Sakura, who was near her and blasting the various monsters that popped up with lightning bolts, thinning the numbers successfully.

Hyun nodded with a wavy sigh, and continued, allowing the four brainwashed magical girls to pass her. Sally didn’t seem bothered by the prospect of traps as she followed after Hyun, skipping through the melted path while shooting at an ice clone, riddling it with holes that allowed other shots to ricochet inside the structure of the construct, shattering it. “Just follow me, and those traps won’t be a big deal at-Ahh!”
Suddenly, she slipped on a patch of ice, causing her to flip. At that moment, a white, furry yeti monster appeared from the blizzard, attempting to swipe at Sally but missing due to the inopportune moment. Hyun Long gasped, about to punch the yeti, but she hesitated due to Sally’s proximity. The yeti took this opportunity to punch the blue-haired girl and steal her lighter, before it dove into the blizzard, turning practically invisible again before it appeared again; it performed a dropkick on one of the brainwashed magical girls, causing them to be knocked and dropping the hand mirror the yeti soon pilfered.
“We got ourselves a yeti!” She informed the others, and punched an ice clone that came for a swing, blasting a hole right through the construct’s chest and melting it into a puddle.
“It’s trying to steal from us!”

Justine scoffed.
”Hah. What a weak monster. Mariette is desperate indeed.”She opened the palm of her hand that held the broken hand mirror; the object now stood up on it’s handle from the middle of its palm, perfectly balanced and unaffected by the snowstorm.
”Take care of your given weapons; Mariette will do everything in her power to disarm us of them.”
The hand mirror then sank down into her palm by the use of her blood magic, it’s shattered reflection having resurfaced on the back of her hand, now fused into her body. She then directed four of her other troops to respond to the ice clones, purposefully moving forward in an attempt to activate more traps. The Red Nest agents also mobilized, showing off inhuman agility and ferociousness as they took out their own weapons. One of them used a machinegun with magical engravings on it, and blasted away at any portals that popped up, forcing Mariette to close them prematurely. Another used a chain that seemed somewhat prehensile, wrapping around an ice clone and binding it. The Red Nest agent then swung the bound clone around like a massive flail, smashing other clones into pieces. The third agent seemed to be in a support role, and used cybernetic clawed gauntlets to direct two hard light constructs resembling shadowy nightmare wolves with red eyes, covering their flanks.

Justine then created a barbed blood javelin in her other hand and, as she waited for an opportune moment, chucked one at incredibly high speed right at a portal where she predicted one would open, surprising Mariette and impaling one of Mariette’s ranged magical girls straight through the chest; the eyepatched girl would realize that Justine has grown stronger since the last time.
”That’s right, Mariette, give me more of your portals!” She loudly taunted as she created another in her hand, her fangs bared in an evil smile as she flew forward, keeping pace with Kimble as she moved the wind barrier with her at a steady jogging pace, the team having gotten one-third of the way to the mansion doors.
I’ll gladly pick your slaves off. One. By. One. Tee hee~”

---

Sonia stared forwards, as if in a trance, before she lowered her hand.
”Lady Justine has begun her advance. I am now ready to transport you, when you are ready,” she informed Alicia.
The Beacon group nodded as their leader warned them to prepare for any possibility.
“No worries. If they have a magical trap waiting for us on the other side, I can nullify it,” Leena stated with crossed arms, and glanced at the bubbly Magical Dream Princess as she approached them. She didn’t seem as fazed as the usual magical girl would be in the presence of such an outrageous personality. “I’m Leena,” she answered bluntly.

However, FanFan seemed more enthusiastic of MDP’s attention, her mechanical hands clapping above her head with the same rhythm with the pink girl’s hops as she shook MDP’s hand with a normal one, a bright smile on her.
“Wow, thank you so much. Not many people recognize them for how stylish they are~ I also think you’re looking absolutely fabulous~” She gestured to herself. “I’m FanFan. It is nice to meet you~ Would you like to join me for a spot of tea after this is over?” She greeted her, and gave a polite giggle as MDP mentioned her bouts of amnesia. “Oh, that’s fine then~”
“All you need to remember is that Mariette and her friends are bad girls, and you’ll be fine,” Leena added, and focused her attention on the discussion Alicia and Ronin held. She stayed quiet for most of it, but interjected when Ronin mentioned the backstabbing nature of Penrose. “You get used to it.”

”It is recommended you use any tools of subterfuge for this operation,” Sonia answered Tenebra. The Ascendancy girls took out their own Disguise Artifacts, and changed their looks to resemble Mariette and Eli, respectively; the Artifacts were prepared using the memory Alicia had of the two thanks to the Beacon’s scrying machine.
“Probably won’t fool anyone for longer than a second...But it’s a second we can use,” Leena commented.
”Excellent. Now then, are you ready?”
The maid asked. Once everyone had placed their hands on the table, Sonia once again channelled her magic…

And the group, this time including Sonia herself, was teleported into the Void Room.

---

After saluting together with Hilaria’s announcement, Dan the Dolphin seemed to be out of the loop for the rest of the discussion. He was floating around the room like an aimless balloon, spreading tiny glistening bubbles and sparkles as he went, contrasting the gothic atmosphere of the room.
“Helping out Mariette, Mariette~~Bringing smiles to all~” He hummed.
But when Mariette mentioned collapsing the dimension, he stopped in his tracks, his eyes bulging out much like a cartoon character.
“Wait, WHAT?” He then deflated, and floated sadly down to the floor, flat as a pancake.
“So that’s why you asked about it...I feel betrayed...”
However, he did perk up a bit when Mariette afterwards claimed she wouldn’t want to do that.
The dolphin created a thumb on his flipper, blew on it, and then grew back to normal.
“So you do have a heart, Mariette!” He pat her on the head.
“Phew, I’m glad it’s only a backup plan. Now, let’s all work together so we don’t have to even think about something that horrible. Okay!” She then spoke to Hilaria. “Alright, Hils!! Can I call you Hil! Or does that sound too weird? Anyway, let’s do our best today, hahaa!”

Lily nodded, agreeing with the Lesser Force. She herself giggled a bit at the dolphin’s goofy antics, helping her relax for the battle ahead of her.
Her face turned a bit red as Mariette stated she trusted her the most out of everyone.
”Th-Thanks, Mariette. I’m glad you think of me like that.” She found that to be a sweet and kind compliment, reminding her of the friendships she has read in random shoujo manga, even if it was worded more matter-of-fact than she’d have liked. But it did bolster her confidence to help Mariette out, and defend her from the likes of Justine.

She looked unsure, a finger on her bottom lip, as Mariette explained the three locations. She shook as she saw the raging blizzard from one of the portals, imagining how freezing it must be.
”On second thought, maybe I’ll go to the..eeh, foyer. It looks like it has plenty of space, and it doesn’t look super cold.”

She was a bit spooked as Hilaria suddenly approached Alex, causing her to give an uneasy smile.
”O-Oh! Well, sure, it’s a good idea to, uh, work together...”
Her voice turned into quiet mumbling, her eyes occasionally glancing up at Hilaria. Despite the heavy armor she wore, Lily could tell she was on a different league compared to her. Even when she knew there was no reason for it, she felt a bit clingy towards Alex.
”Anyway, I’m gonna go now. And, um, Alex...I...”
She inched her face closer to Alex' with averted her eyes, hesitating for a moment, before she gave him a kiss on the lips.
”L-Let’s do our best. Um, bye.”
Feeling so embarrassed she could die, Lily ran through the portal, arriving at the foyer.
”Geez, I can’t believe I did that!”
Her voice could still be heard before Mariette closed the portal, causing her to vocalize her embarrassment in a brief whine.
”GWUEUEEEEEH!”
After she finally managed to calm down and recomposed herself, she addressed the other girls.
”So, uh, hi...Can I help?”

---

While Helga didn’t care for Mariette as a person, she had to admit they were a meticulous person, having even thought of the possibility of the kesy being stolen. Then again, the dark magical girl’s neurotic paranoia was something that didn’t sit well with her, as to her it was the sign of a weak person. Nonetheless, she turned her attention to Sil when she spoke to them, irritated by the assassin’s condescending words. “I’d like to see you try, you emo bi-”
She was interrupted by Su who claimed responsibility over her, causing her to shut up out of embarrassment, her cheeks red. She waved her claws before her as if waving them. “Alright, fine, let’s just get going. The room’s starting to feel stuffy.”

---

The Sanctuary crowd was surprised by Dina’s sudden disappearance, but their worries were near-instantly settled by Penny informing them. “Oh, I see. My Patron can also be nosy at times,” one happened to mention. “Mine is obsessed with cheetos, and claims it’s the universe’s ambrosia.” “My Patron got addicted to videogames and now spends all our money on gacha,” another mentioned in an exasperated voice. “But at least she stopped yearning for souls of the damned, so that’s nice.”

The crowd listened as Penny once again continued her speech. The Plant girl, bruised and bleeding, shuddered as the queen approached, expecting to be publicly punished or shamed. Instead, Penny helped her stand up again, causing her to cry. “Thank you, Your Highness,” she would whisper reverently, failing to dry her tears. Even after Penny left her, she would still touch her own shoulder, seemingly savoring in the kindness bestowed upon her.

For the rest of the speech, the people quietly listened to Penny. However, it was not only because their worries were placated or they didn’t want to protest; in fact, some didn’t seem content with the ban on White Coin use, notably those who have reached towards the purification supplies. Penny herself could note that the reason for the silence was that some were starting to become tired of the many speeches they have had to listen to, yawning or otherwise distracted by things such as cellphone surfing and the like. But it also meant the people were more docile, and in the end, did accept Penny’s final verdict of agreeing with Dina’s concerns and taking a subtle stance. When the speech ended, a dark magical girl in the crowd clapped her hands, and soon was joined by the rest, the claps echoing like in a great concert hall.

Afterwards, the crowds parted, returning back to their daily lives. Penny moved on to using her hacking abilities and messaging Jenna.

It seemed as if the rest of the day would be peaceful for the Queen of the Sanctuary.

Unfortunately, some days you can’t catch a break.

Only a couple of minutes after peace returned to the Sacntuary, Snoopy detected unrest at one of the entrances to the Sanctuary. It seems there was a commotion about a monster girl who had arrived. When Penny got to the scene, she saw a crazed-looking wolf girl with blood on her mouth and hands apprehended by a couple of the local residents.

“Get off me you bitches!” She snarled, but she was soon tied up in chains enchanted for durability as well as a dog muzzle placed over her mouth.
“Queen Penny!” Before Penny could question what had happened, Goblina came running in; she could tell it was not something good.
“We’ve got a problem here, and we need you to settle it.”

Soon enough, the monster girl, whom a friend of hers identified as Belladonna, was brought before the queen in public court, however Penny wanted that to be set up; whether she was judge, or granted someone else the position, she could decide. In private, Goblina explained the facts of the incident, mentioning how a magical girl and a monster girl called Reyina and Cataliira accompanied Belladonna on a search for food when they happened upon a lone civilian.
They claim that without provocation, Belladonna murdered the civilian, and soon after they were chased by Beacon magical girls until they reached the Industrial sector, where they managed to lose them, and afterwards Belladonna was apprehended when the girls told the local guards.

But regardless of what the arrangements were, Goblina would start the session.
“Belladonna Susi, according to eyewitnesses from two locals, known to the royal court but kept anonymous for their protection, have witnessed you to have murdered a civilian, and in the process leading a pursuing force of Beacon into the Industrial sector before losing them, thereby risking the discovery of the Sanctuary. How do you plead?”

The wolf girl thrashed around, attempting to break her chains. “So what? I managed to lose e’m anyway. Who gives a fuck about those dipshits?”
Goblina sighed. “So you don’t deny the claims made against you?”
“What, you’re gonna point fingers just cause I murked some normie? I can’t eat that canned shit, I need fresh meat to survive! Is that so bad?”
The crowd, however, was not pleased.
“She’s a menace, kill her!” “Execute her!” “Off with her head!” They yelled as they shook their fists, boo’d, and even threw empty cans at the wolf girl before security put a stop to it.
Belladonna struggled again.
“Hey, you can’t kill me! I need to eat humans! You all would have done the same in my shoes! This isn’t fair! You’re all a bunch of damn hypocrites!”
Goblina bit her lower lip, and looked at Penny. “Do you want to ask more questions, or are you ready to hand out your verdict, Your Highness?”

---

Rachel squinted as the twins expressed their doubts about the success of the weapon program.
“A safe course of action?”
She visibly trembled.
“Caution?”
She suddenly slammed her hands on the table.
“You purposefully integrated a simulacrum of a monster into your consciousness, and allowed it direct control of your body’s functions!” She shouted.
“What you have done is a grievous breach of conduct that has risked everyone’s lives in Beacon! And you dare talk back to me about safety?”
She was visibly agitated.
“It is only through my mercy that I have not yet purged that foul abomination from your soul and forgiven you for crossing against your fellow sister, and in return I expect your unswerving loyalty and obedience.” She clenched her hand into a fist as she rambled. “This is no time for us to falter! The enemy is at our door, waiting for a chance to tear us apart as we are our most feeble! But we won’t compromise, and we won’t back down!” She pointed at them. “When the weapons are complete, the only darkness we will know is the one they will behold, when we ride as valkyries and strike them down!”
She finally paused, taking a deep breath as she adjusted her glasses.
“But if you are so wary, design the weapons so that they can’t be meddled with by dark forces. And, if I hear any more complaints…” She spoke in a low, but sinister tone, and opened her drawer. “I will have to conduct a ‘disciplinary evaluation’ on the both of you.” While the twins didn’t see what items the Inquisitor was searching through, based on their experiences with her, they could tell it was nothing they would find nice or pleasant. “Dismissed.”

Alexander wasn't too tactically minded, but the defensive line already prepared sounded decent 'This...might work. But I'm still worried about Lily.' Hearing that the roof was so open didn't fill him with confidence 'I'm just going to trust her. With her magic, she should be able to escape if things get too dicey.'

”On second thought, maybe I’ll go to the..eeh, foyer. It looks like it has plenty of space, and it doesn’t look super cold.”

'Oh thank fuck!' Alexander let out a sigh of relief. He felt better knowing that Lily would be somewhere more fortified then a rooftop. Suddenly remembering, he let his Beast magic flow as his costume altered and his head became uncovered 'I really need to remember to do that.'

"Lexander~?"

'Fuck. Am I just the nickname guy now?' Some heavily armored girl approached him

"If you don't have any plans, Hilaria would love for you to accompany her~"

'Is...is she talking in third person? Fuck it, it's not that big a deal' He sighed before responding "Well Lily was planning on going to the rear lines...I think. So if you're off the the front, then sure" Alexander took her explanation to Mariette that she preferred close range combat a yes.

”Anyway, I’m gonna go now. And, um, Alex...I...” Lily's voice drew his attention. But seconds after he turned to her, she kissed him.

Alexander froze up, the world around him becoming hazy for a little while as he felt a strange warm tingle flow through him from his lips 'Was that...lightning magic?' he wondered. His faculties returning, he raised his wand and proclaimed in a slightly drunken manner "To the front lines!" before walking to the portal to the artillery line, the one Mariette mentioned having the most chance of close combat.

@FamishedPants

It wasn’t so much that she was a copy-cat, ice is just one of those specializations that stay around when you use it, useful for keeping enemies cold. Mariette now turned away from the rest of the girls in the office to focus on the battle.

… A cyclone, huh. It was a cute little trick. Weaker projectiles wouldn’t be able to get through. Still, it had a notable weakness. But that was for later.

So, the monsters that the assault team were fighting.

As they were heading forward, there was a sudden howling as their flanks got attacked by bloodthirsty, magically empowered wolves, their most common opponent. These frosty wolves were jumping at them from various sides, and are likely the ones Sakura is currently fending off. Here’s a picture in case you can’t imagine a wolf.



They were disposable, gathered from the wilds of a frozen world, manipulated by Ronja’s mind powers to wish harm upon the foes of Mariette, and were not expected to survive this encounter. They’re also really annoying to hit with a greatsword.

Then, there were the Victoria clones that suddenly launched themselves out of the snow, able to travel through the cover of cold and then launch themselves at their enemies with Victoria’s physical capability and her ever-present grinning and leering.



‘Hey, hey!’ ‘That’s all of you?’ ‘I could beat you all on my own!’ echoed out from various places in the blizzard, but never from a clone that was about to attack.

A couple launched themselves after the members of the Red Nest, having seen that their efforts were making life a pain for Mariette, intending to use their athletic ability to dodge past their attacks while they were focused on portals to harass and punch/kick them if possible.

Because I feel like it, another couple targeted Aurelio and whoever he’s next to, launching out of the snow and trying to deliver a flying kick to his chest. After likely failing, she grinned at him.

‘Heeey, don’t I know you!? We played beach football together! How nice of you to join us!’ she said, while also trying to assault him with more kicks and punches.

Whenever a clone took a blow, they’d shatter into ice, proving themselves to have been ice-clones all along, despite the full colouring and ability to speak. That said, even though they were disposable, the clones would fall back and dive into snow to save themselves if they were clearly losing, their job was to ensure the enemies were harassed for as long as possible to drain the enemy’s power outside the mansion as much as possible before the main battle.

Then… Lea’s little surprise burst out of the snow.

With a vicious speed, a giant bug launched itself to attempt to bite down at Hyun Long. Another broke through the cyclone to attempt to breathe fire at Kimble. A third launched itself at the rabble of Justine’s thralls, trying to swallow them whole. These were Remorhaz, monster’s from a different world, super-heated creatures that insulated themselves in cold climates, 12 meters in length, and feel free to read all about them.


_{classically cannot breathe fire, but I’m saying these can because cool}

Numerous of these beasts erupted from the snow here and there to strike at whoever was closest. That should keep them from being too confident for a bit…

Mariette grunted when Justine threw that lance. The portal closed and Mariette immediately sent Josefin and Ronja to tend to the impaled girl. Josefin to ensure the blood magic didn’t do any further harm and Ronja to attempt to save the girl’s life. So far, their only injured. Still, it irked her. She’d somewhat forgotten how these girls broke all semblance of common sense about how capable they were. Still, it wasn’t as if Mariette would be disabled so easily.

From that point on, the portals still opened, but they opened on an angle. Her ranged troops could attack on an angle towards anyone that WASN’T Justine. She’d also position them on angles that were difficult for the Red Nest to target. If Justine threw another lance, she’d find it impaling not a girl, but a wall inside the mansion, because the girls were now firing on angles towards the portals to ensure they were never in a direct line of fire from Justine. And that would do.

‘Enemies have appeared in the Void Room,’ Mariette was suddenly informed by the companion beyond the communicators, as was anyone still in the office. Mariette blinked a bit and looked at the map, to the basement and the Void Room. … Ugh.

Alicia and Sonia were bad names. There were Mariette and Eli, which didn’t annoy Mariette as much as not knowing who they actually were. And then there were others…

‘Connect my communicator to the Void Room,’ Mariette requested.



[in assault squad]@Ariamis@Shifter_Master@AtomicNut

[maybe in the room]@BrokenPromise@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants@AtomicNut@Majoras End

---

The Void Room was a room of absolute darkness, or so it looked. There was some sort of ambient light that allowed those inside it to see each other, but the walls, the ceiling and the floor was nowhere to be seen. It was impossible to tell how big the room was from mere vision. More than that, there was an eerie sensation of being watched.

It took all of five seconds.

‘Is there no way we can talk this out, Alicia?’ Mariette asked, her voice coming from somewhere in the corner of the ceiling. Of course, anyone still in the room with Mariette also heard her ask this.

Under the assumption that the answer is “no” to that first question.

‘I suppose I have no choice. Welcome to the Void Room, a place where the walls between dimensions are thin, and where I sacrifice things to my patron.’

Suddenly, a trap went off. A sudden, powerful gust of wind blew past them, blowing out any candles left unprotected. There was a slight beat as the room went silent after the wind settled.



In that moment, holes formed in the floor. Portals, dark portals with no edges completely unlike Mariette’s portals opened, leading to nothing but darkness. From these launched a rapid assault of dark hands and tentacles, seeking to grab and drag them into the depths. They launched with ferocious speed, a great mass of hostility that would not end even if they were cut down, new hands and ends would seek to grab them and drag them into the void. They’d first target anyone with their feet on the floor, dark portals opening near on beneath them to try to snatch them up, targeting more or less everyone with no inclination. If there was a central mass to destroy, it was beyond the portals that had opened in the midst of darkness, basically impossible to see with the naked eye on account the portals were as dark as the floor. It showed no sign of ever stopping.

This was not Asengav, as much as Mariette would like them to believe it. Asengav wouldn’t be bothered with involving himself in Mariette’s little struggle here. However, it was a creature directly bound to Asengav, one which does its duty for him to take things that his champions offer and take it to their master. They were facing…



@Flamelord@Ariamis@Ponn@AtomicNut@Majoras End

---

‘It could be more effective to use the disguise artifact during the chaos of battle than before we enter. They’re more likely to lose track of us then,’ Ronin replied to the potential use of Disguise Artifact. Because, they’d be discovered immediately when entering, and at such a point Disguise Artifacts would be useless. Anyways! With candle in hand Ronin went back to Connie, Gaia and maybe MDP if she’s not bounced off somewhere. ‘There’s absolutely a magical trap waiting for us, it’s just a question of how potent it is~’ Ronin said with a little grin about Leena’s thing about nullifying. That could be really good. Also nodded about the thing about getting used to it. How nice.

‘Alright, we’re ready.’

And then, they arrived in the Void Room…

‘Huh, not entirely what I imagined…’ Ronin commented as she looked at the absolute blackness around them. ‘Wait…’ she blinked as she realized what it might be. Oh. Oooooooooooh.

Mariette introduced the place as the Void Room, and… ‘Uh-oh,’ Ronin made a noise. Then the wind-trap went off, and Ronin made a noise as she hadn’t entirely been ready for it, and her candle was clean blown out. Really should have seen that coming.

‘Everyone who can, get off the floor…!’ Ronin called out, leaping onto her own mid-air barrier and offering a hand to anyone who wanted up on it, primarily her allies. The dark hands and tentacles reached forth for them, and Ronin was quick to cut at some heading for her Connie or Gaia. ‘Okay, whatever happens, do NOT get dragged down! We REALLY need to get out of here…!’ she called to the others, Alicia, Sonia and Tenebra primarily…

Justine's forces outside the mansion would notice a lot more firepower coming their way than was actually available. That was largely due to Mac, who was also able to make the extra projectiles somewhat realalistic thanks to the use of gravity magic and having illusion magic spec'd for it.

You know, her exact same trick every single time she appears? That was what she did.

---

Viridian nodded along to Mariette’s words. ”Well, if she ain’t botherin’ you, she ain’t botherin’ me.” Viridian‘s true goal in all of this was just to make Lily aware of what she had gotten herself into. Of course she knew who her patron was, but clearly Lily didn’t. ”I’ll be off then. Y’all take care now!” And with that, Viridian vanished from sight.

@PlatinumSkink@Ariamis@Card Captor@FamishedPants



As soon as Justine initiated her attack, Su sprung into action.

“I’m going outside.” She looked to Samantha. “Last time we fought against her, I threw you at Justine.” She shook her head. “I will not do that again. There are no traps outside, so there is no reason for you to come with me if you wish to defend Mariette.”

”I’ll keep an eye on her, Sam!” Trixy loaded her gun. ”But you have a sniper rifle too! So…”

Su was already walking towards the portal. “Let’s move! I will protect us from the wind. We just need a way to keep Justine’s lances off of us.”

”On it!”

The eyepatch girl which was not Mariette threw a hand full of acorns into the could wind. The side of the roof facing the intruders sprouted a half wall made out of solid oak. Anyone following after Su would have a bit of cover and wouldn’t be directly visible to those hiding

”Alright girls, let’s split up!” And without waiting, Trixy split into several other operatives. Dusty and her two sisters soon joined the fray.

As soon as Su stepped out onto the roof, she looked up at the sky. “So this is what passes for a storm around here?” With a shrug of her shoulders, she extended her arm into the heavens. The blood vessels on her white skin turned black and raced down her arm. “I’ll teach them the meaning of that word…” Her hand was turning black from the sheer force of her magic.

Overhead, the overcast skies were turning. Was this an erratic air current, or Su’s focused assault manifesting?

“Trixy, you seem to be able to grow plants.” She didn’t look away from the sky. She remained on the other side of the tower where she (hopefully) couldn’t be hit directly. “Do you have any dandelions? I would like a few.”

”Let me see what I got.”

Dusty and crew continued their assault. They made good use of their cover, popping up for single shots before ducking behind the barrier again. They never came up in the same spot more than once.

---

@DarkwolfX37

”Are you done hiding, Shion?”

Vermin Killer tipped his hat folward and spun his cane around his hand. To his back were an assortment of animals, from wolverines to jaguar. Almost all of them had to be the African variety. It was hard to tell exactly what the number was, as so many of them hid in the shadows. But before him was the building where Shion resided.

”I actually have a use for you, so I would prefer it if you could just surrender. Otherwise, I can’t promise I’ll leave you alone like last time.” The corners of his lips curled into a smile.

---

It seems we are on borrowed time, Oros. Let’s see how much havock you can cause before the next time skip starts.

---

“I SMELL THE SPARK UPON YOU!”

Oros dove out of frickin’ nowhere and landed in front of Summer. The tip of her nose was vibrating, sniffing nearly a hundred times a second.

“Oh! You’re that one.” She spun her katana before stuffing it into her sheathe. “Okay, so I’m kind of bored to shit with everything going on right now, and I think I can make things more interesting if I can get in tough with the Jays. You know? The Beacon twins?” She folded her arms. “You want more context? I want to make a super weapon to wipe out the Mint. I’ve got an idea for one, and they are just the people to make it. If you don’t trust me, just read back a few Patron Observable Session Transcripts. Just ignore the bit where I mention ruining Beacon by flooding its ranks with monster girls. I’m sure that was a typo.”

@DarkwolfX37

Shion wasn't able to hear what Vermin Killer said, but luckily Ko was there and had rather large ears, the better to hear you with. She relayed his message to Shion. After thinking it over for a moment, Shion decided to walk out to wear he was standing. The army behind him was somewhat intimidating, but...

"Gods damnit. What do you want this time?"

---

Summer blinked several times in rapid succession. She was back on screen. Finally. And there was someone similar to her suddenly saying she wanted to wipe out the Mint? Summer had no quarrel with the Mint, but... They made monster girls. And that was both a good and bad thing. However, if there were never monster girls, she wouldn't have had to run away... Damnit! Stop! STOP STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP FUCKING INTERFERING! YOU CAN'T JUST BRUSH AWAY THINGS LIKE THAT!

Summer was beyond furious. She had no time to think about her past or the moral implications of something like that, she was pissed, and she needed an outlet.

"Fine. Whatever."

There was a moment where she almost said something, but she couldn't quite find the words for it. Perhaps another time she could STOP. I've had enough of you for now. Go away.

---

@BrokenPromise

The Basement - Monster Room

Tullia and Lea were focusing their firepower, while Victoria was guarding them in case enemies appeared. She created a sphere of ice around them, and had a couple duplicates left in reserve in case their teleporting foes could transport themselves inside. They knew the blizzard would eventually not be needed anymore, and then the three of them were to be portalled around to reinforce wherever they were needed. For now, in order to keep the blizzard going, a portal was letting Tullia and Lea gaze outwards from Tullia’s room, on an angle so that Justine was not in their direct vision. That would do for now.

---

3rd Floor - Artillery Line

The Artillery Line was a long row of Magical Girls that Mariette had kidnapped tamed over a long actually decently short career, and they were focused and determined to help protect this mansion. They were charging spells and drawing arrows or loading bullets, and once in a while a portal opened and they fired through, actually perhaps several shot through the same angled portal for extra efficiency. When the time came, they would fire through the windows ahead of them as well, and multiple close combat ready girls stood in case the enemy teleported in to assault their firing line or otherwise jumped or flew in through the windows…

One girl lay wounded, a javelin having been thrown through to impale her through her chest. Over her stood two individuals, a spider-girl and an otherwise cheerful looking girl that stood out among the rest. The spider had bound reinforced web over the girl’s wounds, and it seemed the girl’s life had been saved.


‘Mariette. I saved her life, but she can’t fight. Take her away,’ the spider said, before walking away towards the firing line again.

‘Hear that? You’ll be just fine! You live to fight another day! Lucky you! I'll take your magic and pass it on, so you'll still help us in spirit!’ the lucky girl said, using her magic to drain the fallen girl's mana as a yellow cloud of dust before Mariette opened a portal to take the wounded girl somewhere to rest.

So, Alexander came running in. The first thing that greeted him was a dark slimy harpy, turning to look at him, and anyone that may have accompanied him. _{like Hilaria, if she accompanied him}


‘Oh. Welcome to the Artillery Line. Er. Alexander,( Hilaria, _{if she’s there}) the enemy might fire at us, do you think you could shield us if they do? And then, if they decide to assault us directly, we’ll really need some of your combat prowess…’ Eli said, nodding.

‘Ronja’s already here, but we could certainly use more defense, as well as offense,’ Eli said with a little awkward smile, gesturing to how the spider girl, Ronja now placed herself at the windows prepared to fend off enemy ranged attacks if so needed.

‘And I, Josefin, am ready to punish enemy magical ranged attacks by draining their mana, too! And of course, help us all with my luck if they try to assault us up close~!’ Josefin said, skipping over to take a similar position.

That was the situation here, right now.

---

2nd Floor - Overlooking Foyer

In the second floor foyer, there were numerous Magical Girls gathered, prepared for the instance should their enemies come inside through the front gate. It was a prepared battlezone, with many close combat fighters and ranged individuals prepared to assist. Nobody was on the first floor, because a trap was set to spring on anyone on the first floor foyer. There were two leaders here, prepared to do some damage.


‘Steady. Be prepared for anything. When the enemy gets through, we will bathe the lower floor with our firepower,’ Suzette said, clearly acting commander on this level. She blinked towards Lily as she came in, and smirked. ‘Welcome, reinforcements. We’re just waiting around for now, but we’re prepared in case we’re needed anywhere in the mansion. Sonia can show up anywhere. I’m Suzette, and I lead the common magical girls around here. How’d you do?’

And that’s when someone who spontaneously appeared behind Lily (because she was hidden with Darkness magic) suddenly struck her paws together on Lily’s midriff and fiercely tried to tickle her with dragon talons.


‘Hellooooo~!’ the monster girl called excitedly while doing it, and certainly didn’t mind if she got shocked by electricity or slapped by a weapon or something for doing so.

‘Mayra, don’t bully our reinforcements,’ Suzette asked, though with an amused tone that sounded like she didn’t mind.

‘But I gotta do something! The fight’s almost here, and I’m getting so… ANTSY!’ Mayra called, skipping away from Lily a bit and summoning fire as she talked, finally ending the call by shooting a big fireball across the room. Mariette, who still saw everything due to the portal Lily came through from the office still being open, casually opened a portal and redirected the fireball at the Red Nest, because why not.

‘Make yourselves ready, you won’t have to wait for long~’ was Suzette’s only end on that.

In the stairway over there, sat a single lamia-girl, looking antsy but not expressing it in the same way Mayra was…

---

2/3rd Floor - Sitting in the Stairs


Freya sat in the stairway overlooking the 2nd floor foyer, and also so that she could slide up and look over the Artillery Line from a distance. Wherever she was needed, the fastest and most powerful close combat combatant on Mariette’s team could get wherever she needed exceedingly quickly. It did, however, mean she had nothing to do until the enemy reached their lines. She sat down in the stairs, sighing a bit, staring at where Lily and Suzette and Mayra were now talking.

‘Aurelio is among our enemies,’ said the little communicator suddenly buzzed to her. Freya twitched a little, frowning the slightest more.

‘Am I supposed to say something about that?’ she asked, after a small, irritated pause.

The communicator did not respond.

---

2nd Floor - Taihei’s Room


Taihei stood alone in her room. Her exceedingly reinforced room with super-sturdy metals within every wall just in case something blew up inside it. The room was placed to be facing outwards from the front. She had an open window, looking directly out over the battle.

Her objectives were two. One, she’d use her powerful Gravity specialization to fend off any ranged attacks targeting the Artillery Line above her. Secondly…

She lifted a hand, holding an fiery explosive artifact. Her Gravity specialist power grabbed it and blasted it out at high speed towards the rabble of magical girls distracted by the Remorhaz that had appeared in their midst. The artifact was fiery because then it would not harm the Remorhaz. It flew like an arrow and burst into a great fireball as it approached Justine’s forces.

She was held in this super-reinforced room to ensure her bad luck only affected herself, the only one that could survive her own bad luck, while still contributing to the battle. If she had to leave, she had the means to, and Mariette was ready to portal her. But on her own, Taihei was perhaps still the most formidable solo force in Mariette’s army.

She wondered how her back luck would manifest today.
_{Today, I leave that to the GMs.}

The time had come. The assault was underway, and now it was time for the second team to deploy. Glancing over to Tenebra, Alicia nodded along with her comrades. "Sounds like you can do either option," she noted. "The more confusing we make it for them, the better."

With everyone transformed and disguised, she turned to Sonia and placed her hand on the table. "Take us for a ride." Everyone else did so too, and in the blink of an eye they found themselves at their destination.

Finding themselves seemingly floating in midair, Alicia took offense to the omnipresent darkness. A flick of her wrist sent a pulsing ball of light into the air, as her Third Eye kicked in. They had suspected that this route would have strong defenses, but this wasn't entirely what she had expected. She looked around as Mariette spoke, but there was no sign. Not that that was much of a surprise. Portal tricks, no doubt.

"Not until you let them go," she called back, a demand they both knew would never be met. Especially not now.

She tensed as Mariette announced what this place was, bracing herself against the wind as it whipped past. Then portals opened up from below, and they were beset upon by a myriad of tentacles and appendages. Her wings flared outwards, launching Alicia upwards before she flipped in mdiair. She drew back her bowstring and fired, a barrage of light arrows to cut through the tentacles as they drew near.

As she did so she called to her companions. "Wall over there," she called to FanFan with a gesture. "Take it down!" While they did that she would focus on defending her allies. She was not going to let anyone be taken out so soon.

_{@Ariamis@Ponn@PlatinumSkink@Crusader Lord@Majoras End@AtomicNut}

---

---

In a time approximate to 'now', Reaver would find himself being contacted by the Mint. Unlike some normal Magical Girls, this was not done by texting. Instead it was psychic message, the mental equivalent of getting a rock thrown against your bedroom window. Once they were certain he was paying attention, the actual message would be sent.

'It's time. meet us in the Industrial District and bring your partner. Near the train yard'

That was all that would be said. Some distance away Dyvrene and headed in the same direction. She had played her part, now she had to get to the meeting spot. It was time to get to work.

_{@AtomicNut@Shifter_Master}

“Golly wolly~!” MDP exclaimed after FanFan had introduced herself. “Your namey wamey is, like, sooo super duper cute~! (giggle!) And, like, Magical Dream Princess would just wuv to have a tea party with her new friends~! Oh~! And don’t you worry~!” she added after Leena had told her the most important thing to remember about the upcoming mission. “Magical Dream Princes knows that taking care of Mariettey Wettey is, like, totally wotally the most important wortant thingie wingie~! You can, like, totally wotally trust her on that~! (giggle!)”

Connie watched quietly, while MDP chatted away with the Beacon girls. She was still very nervous, but she did her best to stay calm and focused on the reason she was doing this. Her friend needed help, and several girls needed saving from a horror. If she could assist in any way, then she was going to do so, regardless of how much the situation terrified her. That said, she made especially sure to keep the glass side of her broken mirror facing away from her as she stored it within the folds of her robe. After all, even a broken mirror could still show your reflection…

Connie gulped when Ronin explained that it was certain that a trap would be waiting for them. She only hoped what Leena had said about being able to nullify them was true. After that, it was time to depart.

“Ready, little sister?” Gaia asked as she placed a comforting hand atop Connie’s.

“Y-Yeah, Mia,” she replied with as much confidence as she could muster. “L-Let’s do this!”

The next moment, they were transported into what seemed to be a featureless, black void.

“Golly wolly~!” MDP exclaimed. “It’s so dark and icky wicky in heresie~!”

“Y-Yeah…” Connie replied softly.

The masked girl couldn’t help but cling to Gaia, her nervous body beginning to tremble. No sooner had they entered than a voice that could only belong to Mariette addressed them. Alicia and Mariette went on to exchange a few words, before the latter informed them that they had arrived in the aptly named Void Room, a place where she sacrificed things to her Patron… Connie was on the verge of a panic attack, when Mariette activated a wind trap. Fortunately, Connie, Gaia, and MDP had chosen mirrors, instead of candles, but Ronin wasn’t as lucky. Although she really didn’t seem to care about that at the moment, as a bigger problem had made its appearance... Wasting no time, the small samurai had created a barrier platform, upon which Connie and Gaia soon joined her.

“W-What are those things?!” Connie cried in alarm as she used her own tentacles to fend of the ones emerging from the floor.

“They’re super duper icky wicky~!” MDP added as she blasted them with rainbow beams of sparkly energy from her wand. Having conjured a sparkly pink cloud for herself, the childish magical girl was now zooming around the void room, blasting the dark hands and tentacles as she went.

Ronin then mentioned that they needed to escape, and fast, something that seemed rather obvious, as far as Gaia was concerned.

“That certainly seems the most advisable course of action,” the verdant magical girl agreed, while firing a beam of emerald energy at one of the nearby tentacles. “Perhaps our space-warping ally can be of some assistance in that regard?” she asked, while directing her gaze to Tenebra.

_{But it's mostly just the magical girl ghosts.}

Silently, Anaya and her party of spirits set their hands on the table with everyone else, and teleported away into...the void. Huh.

"Uhm, did we take a wrong turn?" The green spirit; Amalthea, asked.

"Not quite." The blue spirit; Morgan, whispered back to her when Mariette started speaking. Unable to shake off the anticipation of a trap, she held her sword tightly. Soon as the portal witch had summoned whatever-the-tentacle-creature-was, Amalthea quickly grabbed Anaya and flew up to the air. "Get a path open, we'll buy you some time!!" she took advantage of the wind blowing into the room, and used it to start slicing through the apendages.

Morgan focused more on providing defense, casting walls of ice around Ronin's platform to block whichever tentacles were going to sneak on their allies.

"H-How REVOLTING!!" the violet spirit; Blake, threw about a dozen duplicated scissors at the tentacles Connie and Gaia were dealing with, more or less in disgust. Then turned her attention to the ones nearing her.

While the white spirit; Magdalene, stayed by FanFan to cover her, using her chain flail to cleanly cut through whatever tendrils that were near them.

And the golden spirit; Elaine, was rushing around to provide support to everyone. "Keep ya' mits off 'em, ya' fokin' wankstain!" she yelled at the monster, using her brodsword to hold it back.

"Language, Elaine." Magdalene calmly spoke up to the other girl.

"Whateva', we need ta' move!"

---

As everyone split up, Eliza mulled over which position to take. "I'm going to the foyer. The closer to Justine, the better." She grabbed a communicator, and followed Lily through the portal. "Alright, you'll have to help me with this. I can look into the condition of our opposing party and predict their next move with my power, but I'm limited to who I can actively talk with." The witch explain to the companion with the communicator. "If something's about to happen, can you quickly patch me through to anyone?" She asked.

Speaking of scrying, Eliza took the oppertunity to see what she was dealing with. She cursed under her breath when she saw the Red Nest was with Justine. "Heads up, our old friends are back!!" The witch warned Trixy, then looked into the other beacon team.

Crap, why was Anaya here?!

Not only that, but it seemed Amanda's friends were there too. Eliza silently hoped she wouldnt have to fight them. Red Nest and Justine were her main priority, after all.

Penny wasn’t surprised at the loss of focus; back to back speeches could get boring for anyone. Though having to come up with them on the spot did keep them a bit more interesting than it otherwise would be. She bowed her head as the crowd applauded her, mentally leaving herself a reminder to talk to Dina about getting them all a trip to the Beach when they both had a moment.

She also took a moment to memorize the people who seemed the most reluctant about losing access the White Coins. Penny would make a point to talk to them all later, in private if possible.

Still she was looking forward to a bit of, not relaxation, as with the assault going on she wasn’t going to be able to relax, but some quiet. As her luck would have it however just as she had gotten situated Snoopy would Ping her about the disruption. “It’s a good thing I cleared my schedules for today I suppose.” She would grumble to herself as she headed out to see what was going on.

Quietly she would listen as everything was explained to her, and overall the entire situation she found herself with wasn’t one that she was particularly happy with, especially since Amaryllis had vanished. “A few questions” She would reply to Goblina before she strode towards Belladonna. Penny would nod her appreciation towards Ashlyn and the other guards who stopped the crowd from throwing more things. It meant that Penny didn’t have to do something more drastic.

Penny would stop just outside arm’s length from the Wolf girl, meeting her crazed look with one of cold detachment. “Is it you need fresh meet, or is it you need human meat?” Penny would ask after a moment, her tone was one of neutral curiosity, not judgment. She simply wanted to know. “And did you attack them purely because you were hungry?”

Her voice wasn’t loud; she had no need to project her voice as she normally did when she was giving a speech after all, but she wasn’t bothering to hide what it was she said either, it was just at the moment the only person who Penny cared about hearing her was Belladonna.

---

The battle was well and truly stated. The raging blizzard, the howling tornado, and the general chaos of combat. A situation that Aurelio was not all that familiar with if he was being honest, he had assisted Strike teams on occasion or assisted with the more skirmishing type conflicts that would pop up in the Cities, but this all out conflict wasn’t something he knew how to properly commit to. Still, with so many people marked with his Magician’s mark it wasn’t hard for him to tell where his allies were.

Loath as he was to label some of them as such. Really every time he thought he could despise Justine more she proved him wrong. Her blindly sacrificing kidnapped girls to clear the way disgusted him to his core.

Regardless, he was a support specialist, and if there was anything he could do it was provide support. A task made all the more simple because of all the chaos and snow being thrown about, as he was already wearing white. Add in a touch or two of Illusion and finding him easily became an impossible task. Because the real him was translucent, easily over looked with his colors and all the chaos. Meanwhile an Illusory copy of him stayed with the group every now and then tossing out small magical blasts from his cane that wouldn’t do anything but could serve as a distraction.

It was this copy that Victoria attacked. “Pretty sure I remember that” His illusion would reply as it ducked and weaved away from the attacks be thrown at it. “Sad to hear we couldn’t have meet again under better circumstances.” It would go on to say conversationally not bothering to lash out in retaliation.

Meanwhile the Real Aurelio was busy. His mana supply wasn’t endless and he needed to keep enough for later, so he was very careful about what magic he did spend and on whom he spent it. His Priorities were rather straight forward. Starting with Beacon, then the ‘Canaries’, then came Sakura, afterwards were the mysterious ‘Business partners’, and lastly Justine. No, he wasn’t holding this entire mess against the Vampire, just everything out here. Regardless the air was suffused with Determination, so that was the basis of how he helped. Using that Emotion he would conjure small momentary barriers, to deflect what attacks he could see and who’s target didn’t.

But he knew that it wouldn’t be enough alone. So every now and then Aurelio would conjure up a Clone, one with just enough mana and emotion to heal up those that got hit badly, or drive off an attacker for a moment. If he hadn’t slipped in his Mark during the Teleport over, this would be a impossible task, yet even now it was still a difficult one.

Lastly he kept as close an eye on the Canaries as he could, any of them who ended up to wounded for him to easily heal he pulled out of the fight. A clone was sent to keep them down, Apathy was good at that, before teleporting them back to Beacon HQ. The first time the Clone would go with to Explain what was going on, but after that he couldn’t justify the mana expenditure.

All in all, the fighting had just begun and already he wanted to go home.

Then the Remorhaz’s popped up. “That is not fair” He grumbled, before taking a deeper breath and conjured two copies. One dyed red, one dyed an oily green. Disgust went towards Hyun Long, Rage lept towards Kimble and the real Aurelio stayed hidden under his illusions, but focused his attention, and his shields, towards the Canaries.

Rage would announce their presence with a crimson crescent of energy aimed at the creature’s head as they landed near Kimble.

Disgust would fling out a dark green net that seemed to ooze slightly seeking to ensnare the next Remorhaz as they strolled up behind Hyun.

And the true Aurelio would conjure up several bright green barricades in between the Canaries and the third Remorhaz. Hoping the enthralled girls would be able to kill it easier if he focused on keeping them alive.