_@Lonewolf685

Suzuya gave her answer.

Stripes's eyes momentarily widened.

Suzuya was at quite the disadvantage. After all, Stripes was the one who initiated the question. She did not state her preference, and so Suzuya would not be able to tell Stripes what she wanted to hear. It was quite the conundrum for most people. While Americans can be quite boisterous about their political views, it is not uncommon for Japanese people to try to avoid such topics to maintain the peace. It would be different if Stripes opened with saying she liked or hated the aforementioned topping, but she had left that information out by design.

There are only two ways to answer a question like this: Tell the truth, or dodge it.

Suzuya could have told Stripes that she preferred one or the other, and it wouldn't have mattered. She was telling her honest opinion and revealing herself to be open with topics that some may find controversial or disagree with. Honesty was a respectable attribute to have, regardless of what side of the political spectrum they fell on. But Suzuya, somehow, had never eaten a pizza in a country that regularly ate both Italian and American style pizzas. Hisui made a valid attempt to feign interest in trying it. It was an attempt to gauge Stripe's view on the topping so that she could answer "correctly," but would ultimately backfire.

But Stripes was apathy embodied, and would show no outward emotion.

"Seems your mind is still too ripe for such questions." The witch nodded and stepped away.

Normally Stripes would be fine waiting for the rest of the teams to pick each other out, but it was pretty evident what was going to happen. Suzuya was probably going to team up with her verbose room mate, while the monkey and flower formed a team of their own. Familiarity sticks together, and a student that randomly left to go hunt pageless on her own was not going to be a common pick for anyone. While stripes was fine working alone, she knew that wasn't going to help her move forward. And if none of the "old" students were going to pick her, she was going to have to pick one of the newer ones.

_{@Majoras End}

Olivia was in the middle of blabbing something to Lupin when Stripes wrapped her arm around the wolf woman's waist and carried her under her arm. "We need to get you up to speed." Stripes wasn't looking at anyone, but she stared ahead with her eye lids at half mast. "Lets do some night training of our own. I'll make a woman out of you yet, Lupin." She walked a bit further before suddenly realizing she forgot something. "I'm Stripes, or Silvia if you prefer. I've been around here for a few years." She looked over her shoulder. "I think we lost her. Did you want to walk to the library, or would you prefer I carry you?"

---

There was only so much training one could squeeze into a week, especially when one had to make time for their own studies and classes. However, Stripes made sure to spend ample time with the new student.

The tabby and wolf might have seemed like an unlikely duo, but their powers synergized well together. Stripes could bombard her enemies with magic missiles while Lupin threw her knives. Since Stripes's magic missiles always hit their targets, Lupin was free to enter melee without worrying about getting hit by friendly fire. It was unfortunate that Stripes couldn't use her full tiger form when working with Lupin, but this did yield other advantages. They brainstormed a move where Silvia entered her "Neko" form and Lupin used her hood to copy it, making it harder for an enemy to identify the weaker stripes from the far stronger Lupin. Little was said during their training sessions, at least on Stripes's part.

On the day of the patrol, Stripes showed up and said little to any of her teachers. This was something she had done a few times, and there was always one curveball or another coming their way. Little reason to get excited, but it could prove an opportunity to display their growth.

(EDIT in response to earlier EDIT)

There wasn't much to say in response to Maria's speech. It was just another variation of "do your best, be a team," which had been repeated to Stripes ad nauseum. Stripes never felt like those words were meant for her. One, her grimoire was a bit unusual in that she was stronger alone, and two, she doubted many of her fellow students would have gone through the lengths she had to ensure her partner and her had good synergy.

Suzuya had asked Stripes about having Pizza later, which caused the witch to bring her finger to her lips. "We're on patrol. Stay focused." She looked at the teachers and noticed that for the moment, they were not looking directly at them. "I think that journeys of self discovery, such as deciding if you like pineapple pizza, should be undertaken alone." Stripes's delivery was so dead pan that few would doubt she was being serious, and she was. It just seemed like Olivia and Suzuya were joined at the hip. Talking to Rose and her groom for an extended period of time was not her idea of a good time.

"If something happens, we need to break off from the main group. Otherwise, my power will get divided between everyone and we'll have lost our advantage." Stripes told Lupin as she prepared to march. "We can start with projectile spam like we practiced."

Olivia listened to Lupin’s reply with an eager smile. “Oh goodness! I hadn’t thought of that! And if he could unhinge his jaw, perhaps he was actually a wolf-snake hybrid?” she mused. “And, you know, some reptiles have the ability to camouflage themselves, so maybe that’s why his disguise was so believable, at least initially,” she added, her lovely countenance taking on a thoughtful expression. “Oh, but does that mean you have experience with wolves, or wolf Pageless, perhaps?” the blonde beauty inquired her eyes seeming to glitter with fascination. “I haven’t been a Magical Girl for very long, but none of the Pageless my darling Xolys and I have encountered have really looked like animals. Although they certainly do have a lot of variety, don’t you think?”

However, before the wolf girl could respond, she was grabbed by another student and literally carried off. Something about night training? “Oh! Um, see you later!” a slightly startled Olivia called out. “It was very nice meeting you! Night training…” the azure-clad beauty marveled as she watched the pair depart. “They must be very dedicated,” she observed, before turning to Suzuya. “Maybe we should try to get some extra training in, too. But not tonight,” she added with a small yawn. “We had a rather eventful day today, and I’m quite ready for a good night’s sleep.”

Once they returned to their room, Olivia was somewhat surprised when Suzuya elected to sleep untransformed. At first, the ethereal beauty couldn’t figure out why her roommate had chosen to deprive herself of the comfy cushion her fluffy tails provided, but then she realized that Suzuya was probably doing this as a form of endurance training, like sleeping on a bed of nails. Wow… She’s just so amazingly strong… Olivia reflected. Having the ability to be so very comfy and yet choosing not to make use of it... Darling and I will have to train extra hard to be worthy teammates for her, she resolved, smiling at the thought of how much fun such training would be…

---

Over the next week, Olivia’s time was mostly spent in one class or another, and while she regrettably hadn’t been able to have more than a handful of brief interactions with Wilhelmina and Chinami, she had grown much closer to Suzuya. Indeed, between their chats during lunch and various after-school training sessions, Olivia had learned quite a lot about her roommate. Thus, she felt confident in saying that the somewhat timid girl was her first real “best friend”. Apart from Xolys, of course. It was just a shame that they hadn’t had much time to do anything outside of school-related activities, but Olivia hoped that would soon change, and, as they gathered for another city patrol, she was happily telling Suzuya about one of her most eagerly anticipated potential extracurricular activities…

“…and, so, I was thinking it would be a lot of fun if we spent the night there to see if the rumors are true,” the azure-clad maiden was saying as she smiled up at where Suzuya had perched herself atop Xolys. “You know, like a sleepover! We could even invite some of the other girls, like Helmi, and Chinami, and maybe that wolf girl…”

Her voice trailed off as she noticed that their patrol leader would be none other than Charlotte, or rather, Ozma, a very interesting turn of events for someone who she’d first encountered literally fleeing the responsibilities of being a teacher. Still, if there was any sense of unease at what such a state of affairs might suggest, it was all-too-quickly swept away by the excitement of seeing the renowned “Crimson Comet” in action. Their two new teachers, Maria and Valeria were present as well, probably to serve as evaluators. After Ozma had given a (very) short speech and zoomed off on her broomstick, Maria gave a little speech of her own. Neither was particularly noteworthy, just basic “watch out for each other and remember your training” stuff, and with that out of the way, it was time to begin.

As they moved through the school’s gates, Olivia heard Suzuya call out to one of the nearby girls, the same girl, incidentally, that had carried away the wolf girl after Valeria’s first combat trial. “Pizza?” the Ethereal Rose echoed. “Oh, I think an after patrol pizza party would be a lot of fun!” she declared with a brilliant smile. However, the other girl didn’t seem to agree, saying that they should focus on the task at hand. Olivia had to admit, she was kinda impressed by the girl’s professionalism, but she didn’t quite understand their next statement. “Alone? Um, I always thought eating a meal at a restaurant was more enjoyable with friends…” she added, frowning slightly. After all, the azure-clad maiden had plenty of first-hand experience with the pain of silently dining alone, and she didn’t want Suzuya to go through the same thing, at least, not if she could help it. “We can still go together,” she hastened to tell her teammate with a reassuring smile. “I think it will make for a wonderful reward for a successful patrol, don’t you?”

Lupin chuckled at Olivia's reaction. Though as they talked, it appeared a small crowd had gathered around the new girl. Man, animal eared magicals really must be a rarity around here. Regardless, she did her best to keep up with them. The beauty had asked her another few questions. But before she could answer, the wolf girl felt an arm wrap around her waist and carry her off. Okay. This was happening, she guessed. Blinking, she waved fairwell-for-now to Olivia, then turned her head to her apathetic snatcher who introduced herself as Silvia. Guess Celina didn't have to worry about finding a partner after all.

When asked if she would rather walk to the library after a moment, she simply shrugged. "I can walk."

Days passed as Lupin gradually got settled into her new school life. She got assigned the same classes as other new students, even Olivia surprisingly! Dorming arrangements she didn't mind what they'd settle with, but it'd take a bit to decorate her side and such, what with her spending a good bulk of her time training with Stripes. Something she learned quick was that despite the group as a whole working as a team, the tabby's power sorta goes against that. A "Less is more" type of deal. Luckily, Silvia and her worked well despite the drawback. Few words were spoken between them, mostly from Celina wanting to get to know her new teammate.

Then soon enough, Lupin was going off on her first patrol with Marrywell's finest. She walked up next to Stripes, tucking her ears back under her hood and quietly nodding to the others. Ozma turned out to be the one leading, her and Maria giving out similar speeches. Admittedly, she wasn't paying much attention to that. She did get the gist though, be careful, work together, that sort of thing.

Silvia and Suzuya talked a bit about Pizza for some reason. A post-op lunch did sound good to the wolf, if the flesh of Pageless wasn't enough to satiate this time. Then the former told her they should split up from the main group if anything crops up. Lupin nodded, idly twirling one of her knives in her hand. "Bullet hell, got it. Ready when you are." With a flick of the wrist, the single knife seemingly divided into three, resting inbetween her fingers.

Lilac stared at Tesni. The kind of staring that meant it was pretty clear she wasn't getting all of this, but she was trying really hard and didn't want to mess up.

"So, um.. If I...." Lilac took a moment to try and process, her face visibly focusing.

"You can only be so strong alone so you're learning to ask for not-help?" Lilac, it seemed, chose an unusual way to parse the situation, and dance around Tesni's offering/not receiving hang-up. She was hesitant at first, but grew in confidence as she got the ball rolling.

"In that case, I'm truly flattered you'd consider someone like me someone you could ask for not-help! At your call, what drink would you like?" Clutching hand to heart, she took a bow to offer her service. But apparently she thought she was helping with getting a drink?

"I will admit, I'm looking forward to the team up thing now that I'm over the bee fight. Everyone's gonna come up with so much cool stuff to see!" Lilac definitely seemed on board with the idea, a bounce in her step not only from the springs.

The days following the training exercise had been strange for Nessie. Not that anything in the world of Marrywell was exactly normal to the young Magical Girl just yet, but even within that context things felt off. No doubt it was connected to her failure to protect herself and assist her friends against the faux-Pageless Valeria had set the whole group up against. She didn't understand. She'd done it before, harnessed her grimoire's energy and inflict attacks of incredible scale and power upon her foes. So why not then?

This was what she spent the following hours and days contemplating; as her classmates began to understand their grimoire's better and trained to increase their capabilities, Nessie was stuck in limbo as her perceived understanding on her own grimoire slipped further and further away and her ability remained stagnant. Her free time and time in classes became consumed by her considerations, her mind in a totally different place than those around her as she dug to find an answer. In reality, the reason had simply been that at the time there had been no water around to help enhance her attacks, but in her overthinking and desperation she'd removed herself even further from the powers of her grimoire.

So caught up in her own thoughts was Nessie, that the redhead barely even took notice of the new faces in the group as they gathered outside Marrywell's entrance at the behest of Ozma and the other staff members who had supervised them as of late. She didn't even approach Stripes, her previous saviour and the very person who had guided her to her grimoire in the first place. Her usual fiery nature was gone and it was clear to anyone that looked her way that she wasn't entirely present, a somewhat numb expression on her face.

She kept to herself, with no real group to speak of given her lack of communication with even her closer friends in the time since the exercise. The young Scot appeared unemotive towards the instructions given to them by their teachers, simply conjuring her broom as they were told and mounting it in complete silence, save for a deep, sighing exhale. She wasn't thrilled at the prospect of a patrol at the moment, especially if she couldn't even do anything against any Pageless that might show themselves.

"Fuck's sake..." She muttered coldly to herself, before kicking off the ground sharply to follow along Ozma's lead with everyone else. It was time to return to London.

Valeria had arrived to the Marrywell entrance in the same volkswagen she had created some time ago. It had been decked out with a few thrusters and exhaust ports to handle much higher speeds than the commercial models allowed for. For no other reason than it looked cool, the tanned girl sported some black shades across her eyes. A grin on her face and a cigarette in the side of her mouth completed her edgy older sister routine.

"What is it they say in America...Howdy! Hallo! Come take a ride, Maria. We have children to torture and witch's brew to make. Hehe!" She'd open the side door for Maria to join her in the passenger seat.

"It is the big patrol day everyone. You're real magical girls working for the academy right now, so wear it with pride and represent everyone well or Ozma will get mad. I hope you made your teams, because you're going to be using them a lot today."

Val would pause to glance at Ozma, noticing that something was up. She knew the redhead would never tell her plans directly, only letting them to be discovered in action. She'd move her sights on to the newcomer Nessie, who had just returned and probably didn't have a group yet.

"Hey! Lochness girl! Come here in the backseat. You can come with me if you want if you don't have a team ready yet."

“Try to keep up~”

That was about all the advice Ozma gave to the other Magical Girl. She left the actual pep talk and teaching to Valeria and Maria. She never said how the others could follow, only to simply do so. However they traversed in London’s streets was up to them so long as they weren’t seen by humans. Despite the invisible nature of their magic, it was surprisingly easy for people to claim catching the supernatural on camera these days. Or so they liked to believe.

The open-ended nature of Ozma’s request was, perhaps, an unspoken lesson of its own. Whatever method of travel best suited a Magical Girl was entirely dependent on their abilities and, often, their personality. Ozma passively kept track of where each girl was in accordance to her own zipping location. Curiosity and maybe a little amusement had the Crimson Comet grinning. Despite the worries of some of the other girls, it almost seemed she wasn’t taking this patrol any more seriously than normal. But Ozma’s flight pattern soon changed.

Diverged from the city’s streets, she took the class away from human presence and into further reaches near the outskirts of London. Their destination was eventually revealed as an abandoned mall long since left to cater undergrowth and decay. Maybe the city saw no use to fully demolish it or maybe it just wasn’t in their budget. Maybe the locals thought it was a fun place to evoke urban legends. Whatever the case, the mall was still standing, as run down and beaten up as it was. Ozma hovered her broom through an opening in the roof and descended into the lowly lit building. By the time everyone gathered back together her hands were waving with a red glow.

Spells were enacted, a rising forcefield of magic bubbling up the abandoned mall to keep them inside. Or to keep something from getting out. There was method to her madness however. Even the weakest of the gathered girls could sense the growing darkness around them, the wild presence of Pageless that piqued their interest upon their arrival. “Seems we found the place just rife with them,” Ozma commented, finishing her spell and grinning down at the class from her broom.

“Oi lasses, you all know the Pageless are getting right and antsy these days. Some of you may have noticed they were following us. Bold little devils they are now; better to lead them here and box em all up for one fell swoop.” Ozma tipped her hat forward and leaned back on her broom. Her expression was unreadable even as she smirked. “There’s another reason we’re here though. Well, we’re not supposed to be but since when was this country founded on following rules? We’re hunting for someone.” said Ozma with a gloved finger to her lips in a hushing motion.

“Some of you encountered her before and we’ll be relying on that experience to wrangle her. Consider this patrol off the record, if you catch my meaning yah?” It was all but spoken confirmation the Grand Ministry didn’t even know they were here, calling into question if Ozma was even approved to lead this patrol. Such thoughts wouldn’t last long, not when the Pageless Ozma mentioned grew restless. They hissed and buzzed, the darkness taking shape with beady eyes gazing back at the girls from behind Ozma. Their bodies easily blended into the thick greenery of overgrowth.

“What? Is something behind me~?”

---

"I am no Ameri-- Oh." sometimes Valeria's enthusiasm went right over Maria's head, but she did not hold it against the German lass. In fact, her sparkling personality was a breath of fresh air and, frankly, this whole thing was; the Academy, her class, the girls and teaching. Nothing like Maria has ever lived up to this point.

"You are good at speeches, Valeria. More so than me, it seems." Maria said after sitting down in the car's passenger seat. She was like a contrast, like an old painting superposed on modern art compared to Valeria's modern machine. The new Teacher took the opportunity this moment offered to watch over everyone else in the class. The girls seemed to get into pairs as demanded; Suzuya with Rose and Xolys, Silvia with Celina, Lilac with Tesni... but Nessie had no one it seemed. Just as she was about to ask the girl to join them, Valeria acted first.

"A splendid idea. Miss Burns, I too would be delighted if you accepted to join us." Maria added, and although she was frank, her polite smile did not reach her eyes. The girls would have known her for a few days at this point and know, however, that she was genuine - just not very expressive for one reason or another.

Ultimately, whether Nessie would accept their offer or not they would depart. Maria's elbow rested on the car's frame as she looked ahead, then up at Ozma flying a little ways ahead. At some point during their travel, she would look to Valeria and ask; "So, Valeria. Tell me, I have heard you and Miss Clementine are friends? If so, that is grand." she said then looked as if she was thinking back. "I have had the pleasure to pair up with the Crimson Comet on a few occasions in the past. She truly is a delightful woman, isn't she? So bright." Maria's eyes went back up to Ozma, still flying ahead of them a bit further now. She kept talking, although her tone had changed to a lower one, almost as if talking to herself; "I do not know what tragedy inhabits her, but to be able to smile through it and be such a bright beacon for everyone... I find myself a little envious of such a feat."

"Dear me - pardon me, I seem to have lost myself in thoughts. Haha." Maria quickly added along with a small calculated laugh, her hand covering her mouth as she did so. "It seems we have arrived."

---

Maria made sure to stay near the entrance of the old building and make sure everyone arrived before she would herself enter the building. After which, she would remain at the front, entrusting the back to Valeria. Still, Maria wanted to focus on the students entirely and watch how they would react, how they would move and their every reactions so she would be keeping a close eyes on them, even from the front. Despite seeming cold, she was calculated and cared about making sure these girls could fend for themselves. She wouldn't participate directly in any fight, but she'd be at the front and ready to take action if anyone needed assistance.

Then Ozma began speaking, and the more she did the more Maria's eyes narrowed. So, this was why Ozma mentioned it to her a few days ago; Roma Bhakti. It seemed the Crimson Comet had this planned out for a little while, at last. It did not sit right with Maria - to put her class in such a precarious position? it did not feel like Charlotte. There was no point in bringing it up now, though, and it was too late to back out of it. This was when Maria, too, noticed the Pageless. Quite a few of them, too.

"Well, students. You heard her; let us put your training to the test. I will keep an eye on you to see how you all are doing." at this moment, a Pageless lept for Maria - to which she grabbed it by the throat and, without changing form, slammed it to the ground with such force that it died on impact and dissipated through her fingers. After which she stood back up, clapped her hands together gently to get any dust off and added; "Proceed."

After nodding to Lupin's comment, Stripes did notice Nessie was standing with them today. She had meant to talk with her on the day of her training exercise, but talk about tuning grimoires and the curious oddity that was Lupin stole her attention in the end. Stripes had also assumed that in the time she had been gone Nessie had formed other relationships. It wasn't like what Stripes had done for her was anything special. Sure, it felt great to personally save a future magical girl, but it was just another Tuesday for Stripes. Anyone in her position would have done the same thing. If Nessie had been the one to save Stripes, the last thing she'd want her to do is stick around her as a constant reminder of her former weakness. People should learn to get out from under their heroes at some point. Her dower mood didn't go unnoticed, but as soon as Stripes thought about approaching her, the teachers offered her a ride. There wasn't much point in worrying about her now. Stripes and Lupin had to figure out how they were going to keep up with a magic broom.

_{@Majoras End}

"We can get going I suppose." Stripes's zone of influence was a little strange and seemed to vary in size depending on the situation. In non-combat situations like this, the range was quite small, while it tended to encompass the part of the battlefield that she was in during a fight. It was something she was still trying to figure out, but after a few years she felt like she was more or less in control of her powers. The important important part was that Stripes's "allies" were anyone nearby who was assisting her directly, which was why normal mundane humans didn't steal her power. "Your turn to carry me." Stripes wrapped her arms around Lupin's neck and hoisted her legs and back into her arms. "You should have no problem running along the rooftops. If you get tired, just transform back and you can ride my tabby form." Stripes wasn't certain if Lupin would be visible ridding atop her back, but figured that few people would even notice them running up there. But Stripes was positive with their combined magical might that Lupin would probably not run out of stamina. It would be different if stripes was fat, but she was pretty light for her height.

And if Lupin refused to carry her, she'd just turn into a tabby and run there herself, lone tiger style. But demonstrating their teamwork was important to her.

---

Barriers came up, Ozma explained everything, and Stripes was not surprised. This was Ozma that was leading them around. It would have been a much bigger shock if everything was like it seemed on the surface. Though stripes did have to wonder if this was as "off the record" as she was letting on. The Grand Ministry was run by a nutjob and it made sense that she would confide a special mission in Ozma, as she had a similar mind. But none of this really mattered. They were here to slay pageless and get a good grade. They just needed to watch for friendly fire and go on from there. Lupin seemed pretty tough during training, it was time to see how she reacted in a fight.

Stripes's eyes flicked up between Ozma's face and the massive lizard behind her. "Nothing we can't handle."

Stripes scrambled and climbed up a vending machine against one of the far walls. From here, she could rain magic missiles on the pageless. Voleys of eight or four missiles (depending on Lupin's proximity to her) descended on the swarming monsters. She prioritized hitting closer to the other magical girls, as there was no danger of her glowing projectiles ever hitting an ally. Though this did mean someone would have to watch and make sure Stripes didn't get surrounded. She could defend herself, but not while also laying down suppressing fire.

With Olivia being gently cradled in Xolys’s arms and Suzuya riding atop him, the eldritch beast set out across the rooftops of London, paying careful attention to remain close to the rest of the group, should an attack occur, but also ensuring that he traveled on the opposite side of the street from where Lupin and Stripes were leaping from building to building as well. Although Olivia was often blissfully unaware of such things, the far more attentive and observant Master of Xhar’doth had realized that the somewhat misanthropic Stripes actually became weaker when more allies were present. Thus, he would endeavor to give both the feline girl and her wolfish teammate a wide berth during this patrol.

Following Ozma’s lead, the group eventually found themselves at an abandoned shopping mall on the outskirts of the city. Although most would probably consider such a location rather unappealing, if not outright creepy, Olivia unsurprisingly found it utterly fascinating. As they entered the dilapidated structure, her head was a blur of motion as it looked in all directions in an effort to take in every aspect of their ominous surroundings. Indeed, the blonde beauty was so enthralled by the gloomy panorama of urban decay that she didn’t even notice the spell Ozma was casting to seal them within it.

“Goodness! This looks like something right out of a horror movie!” Olivia exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with wonderment. “It has such an unsettling ambiance, I’d imagine dozens of ghosts could probably live here! Or maybe fungus monsters! Or Pageless!” she added a moment later as she noticed a sea of yellow eyes glowing in the mall’s darkened recesses.

Ozma had been saying some rather interesting things about how they were actually searching for someone, and how this mission would be “off the record”, but as thought-provoking as those statements were for the Ethereal Rose, they rapidly paled in significance once the Pageless finally revealed themselves…

“Oh wow! They’re so precious!” the azure-clad beauty squealed in delight. “They look just like giant iguanas! Don’t you think so, darling?”

“Indeed, my sweet,” the eldritch beast replied. “But I fear their opinion of us is far less appreciative…”

A moment later, that fear was confirmed as the Pageless began their assault. Since they were still at a fair distance, Xolys opened with a ranged attack, his swirling beam of unreality adding its destructive power to a hail of magic missiles from Stripes. Still, there were far too many Pageless for this strategy to be effective for long, and so the Master of Xhar’doth readied his many scythed and spiked appendages in preparation for when their foes entered melee range. Meanwhile, Olivia, fully confident in Xolys and Burning Heart’s ability to handle the situation, only hoped she’d be able to have enough time to get a closer look at the reptilian monsters before they were completely dispatched.

"Wait what- Woahhey!" Lupin's arms instinctively shot out to catch Stripes, essentially carrying her bridal style. Not exactly what she was expecting, she assumed she'd be giving her a piggyback ride like last time. The wolf girl blinked away her initial surprise. "No worries. Just make sure to hold on tight, yeah? I know cats land on their feet, but I wanna make sure you don't slip out." She told the tabby, one corner of her mouth quirking up into a smirk. With no futher delay Lupin ran after Ozma and her broom, soon breaking into a full-on sprint.

With the combined might of experienced hunters, animalistic or otherwise, plus whatever parkouring experience she gained before arriving to London made it easy to run to and fro, across and up the many rooftops on their way. Even if she had to climb up a few buildings with one hand, she could carry Stripes in the other with ease. Soon enough, the group arrived at their destination; an abandoned mall, reclaimed by nature. Lupin helped Stripes back down to her feet as Ozma blocked the outside off with a barrier.

Or really, perhaps it was to keep something in.

Ozma explained what the deal is to everyone. Apparently Pageless were following them, lured into their soon-to-be battlefield. Lupin could only assume she was too focused on keeping up with the Crimson Comet to notice. More importantly, they were hunting someone. Someone apparently some of them ran into before. Whoever it was must be dangerous if this patrol was kept under wraps.

She wouldn't have time to think on it. The Pageless were ready to attack.

A knife shot out, whizzing passed Ozma's head and nailing the monstrous chameleon into the wall. With Stripes sniping their adversaries above ground, that left Lupin to rain hell in a dance of silver blades. The Pageless nearing her lept in to attack, to which she juggled between melee attacks and ranged for any that knew better than to approach. Of course, she made sure to aim right. Unlike her partner her knives didn't have a damn autoaim function, and the last thing she needed was to accidentally hurt an ally.

Seeing Maria remained untransformed did make her feel concered for the other blonde...UNTIL she slammed a Pageless to the pavement with surprising strength, killing it instantly. "Damn, okay!" She really had to remember not to make an enemy out of her. If she had that kind of strength untransformed, who knows what the teacher was capable of otherwise!

A couple of Pageless tried to sneak up on Stripes, while Lupin's back was turned. Unfortunate she could hear where they were coming from. She spun around and threw a row of knifes up above the both of them, striking the creatures dead in the center of their bodies. Her hood fell back to reveal her ears. "Keep it up, I got your back!" She told her, actively listening out for Pageless still hidden out of sight.

Before Nessie could rise up on her broom, however, she was met with another offer. Her gaze followed Valeria's call, with the boisterous teacher and her equally flashy ride quickly coming into view. Sat next to her was another new tutor working with the class, one whom Nessie hadn't interacted at all with yet really. She seemed nice enough though, and she'd heard bits and pieces of conversations concerning her through hallways and in the dorms, all of which concerned something positive about her character and prowess. It just so happened that the young Scot hadn't been in much of a mood for the whole socialising thing in the last few days, which was the only thing stopping her from giving Stripes a characteristically energetic and and expletive filled greeting and expression of gratitude for all her help way back at the construction site. Though a reacquainting of some kind would surely be in order at some point.

Nessie looked up towards the others, now already on their way in their separate teams, already having to work together in order to make the trip possible for those without a means of transport. Suddenly she was starting to realise what she had been missing out on by being so reclusive, and with that cast her eyes back to Valeria and Maria again.

"Uh, yes. Thank you."

She managed a slight smile and a nod accepting the kind offer, dismounting her broom and letting it dissipate away before she'd carefully get into the back of the car. The last thing she wanted to do was to put a mark on this thing, lest she suffer the wrath of the somewhat volatile German Magical Girl sat in the driver's seat. She'd remain quiet for the rest of the journey, eyes mostly fixed on the views outside of the window while her mind wandered to various places. The mentions of Ozma did catch her attention though, her gaze and hearing flitting occasionally to the conversation the two seasoned Magical Girls were sharing, including some of Maria's more private mutterings. Perhaps even more interesting to the girl in that moment than the mention of a tragedy in Ozma's past, was Maria's description of her: A bright beacon for everyone... As her mind wandered further, those words conjured up visions of that night of the construction site in her mind's eye, the somewhat ethereal but recognisable voice that had encouraged her forward, to progress further as a Magical Girl right from the very off. A bright beacon that had enabled her to hit the ground running, one which had most likely saved her life that night and in other events since. Could it really have been her? But before there was a chance to dwell further, the car came to a sudden halt. They had arrived.

As opposed to where her patrol had been before, a place comprised of natural beauty, now she and the rest of her class stood within the confines of a manmade construct. That being said, in its abandoned and dilapidated state it seemed that nature had taken things into her hands with moss, grass, plants, even small trees and pools of water imbued throughout the run-down architecture of the mall. Once bustling with life, and now an incubator for another kind of life. As well as something else. Though Nessie couldn't distinguish it, she could feel a cold, dark tinge to the atmosphere, one that was growing increasingly familiar to even her deepest instincts. Even if her senses weren't as keen as anyone else's there, she wasn't stupid. And as soon as she noticed Ozma putting up the barrier around their location, it became pretty clear to the girl what exactly they were doing there. After all, it wasn't like this was going to be a shopping trip.

The mention of an extra 'someone' that the group was searching for, however, stirred up a little nervous anticipation within Nessie. If not a Pageless, who was this person they were potentially going to confront, and why would they have any reason to fight them? And the fact that this 'class trip' seemed to apparently be off the radar of even the Grand Ministry didn't do the girl any less of a concern.

Perhaps that's why, while trying to keep an ear open for Ozma's instructions, she found herself drifting back over to Maria. Not only did she seem to know a fair bit about the other redhead of Marrywell, but being a tutor there was no doubt that she probably possessed experience and skill far beyond almost anyone else present. Perhaps she could help with this whole witch's block thing she'd been experiencing.

"Excuse me, miss. I, ehm... I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I've been having lately with-"

Unfortunately not paying full attention cost Nessie the sight of a swarm of Pageless gathering behind Ozma, ones that seemed to specialise in stealth and appearing from out of nowhere. And so that's what they did, with one in particular almost blindsiding the girl if it weren't for the quick actions of her superior next to her who, in an awesome display of pure physical strength, drove the dark reptile into the ground and to its demise while Nessie stood dumbfounded to the side.

"Camouflage?!"

Nessie thought out loud, in an instant changing to her Magical Girl attire now that she knew what was at hand. And yet still she felt no more powerful or capable than she did without it on. This at least reminded her of her unfinished question to Maria which, though perhaps it wasn't the greatest time to choose, she endeavoured to finish asking.

"So basically I'm having some trouble right now with casting my spells and I was just wondering if you knew anything about how to help with it?!" She continued hurriedly, giving panicked looks all around to try and keep tabs on the Pageless chameleons, which was easier said than done when they constantly blended in with their surroundings. Nessie would take up her wand and attempt to ward the creatures off, but ultimately only displayed her current ineptitude as a pitiable stream of water was all that spluttered and spurted out in defence of the oncoming Pageless.

"See what I mean?!"

Nessie turned with a desperate look to Maria once more, backing up towards the teacher as the Pageless advanced closer and closer, undeterred, not surprisingly, by the young redhead's spellcasting.

There's a loud crash as a now suddenly armored volkswagen crashed through the wall and obliterated a small fashion kiosk. She had made her own way into the shopping center and Nessie and Maria were free to hop off whenever they pleased. Tires squeal and grind against the tiled floor as Val shows no signs of stopping herself. Val announces 'coming through!' as she intentionally runs over a pageless. She'd then refocus to the ongoing conversation.

"I basically spew a lot of shit from my mouth and sees what sticks."

As Nessie climbed up and got in the back of the open roofed volkswagen. She'd kick open a compartment in the dashboard to reveal a hidden stash of Heineken alcohol. She'd pop the cap with a bottle opener she quickly crafted and began to down the beer in several filling gulps.

"This stuff is basic, but it gets the job done. I can't complain."

After downing her drink, she'd raise up her golden revolver and casually drive by shoot an unfortunate Pageless straight through the head, obliterating the monster. As usual Valeria remained in her transformed state, never allowing herself to be shown untransformed.

"Vunderbah!"

She'd giggle, and then turn to Maria to answer her questions.

"Oh, me and Oz? Yeah we go back a while. Of course she's amazing and all, one of the best in the academy. Just uh...I don't have a single idea what makes her tick. I know she went through some bad stuff with her last team that I don't want to say too much about. Just uh. She's been through a lot. Let's leave it at that. Personal stuff."

Val had her own things she wanted to say, but preferred to drown them in alcohol instead.

"Our first team is doing really good! We need to give them some names! I thought that was their job, tsk tsk. Gonna have to give them more homework for that. Nessie, Nessie! I hear talks there's a really good pub in the area. Your mission if you so choose it is to fetch me some of the nicest English beer you can find. If you can hold off the pageless who'd no doubt try to stop you. Maria and I can lend you a hand! Yeah!"

Valeria giggled, letting loose and having fun with reckless beer drinking. Blasting the magical monsters as they came out the side of her car with her golden handcrafted revolver.

"There's something alluring about secrets. The number of things someone knows will always be greater than the things they don't. Most of those things are not of interest to a lot of people, or they simply wouldn't think to acknowledge that which they don't know. If you could see in the dark, what color would it be? What object is exactly 200 feet to your left? How many stones are in your lawn? These questions feel trivial because the information is irrelevant to most people. More interesting questions pertain to things in one's environment that affects and individual. What will you have for dinner tomorrow? Where is the remote? What is your friend doing between text messages? These questions are more interesting. Someone may even know the answer to them.

But secrets are not merely questions. They can all be framed as questions, but their answers are known by few. In fact, some people work very hard to keep cesecrets hidden from others. Take a child for instance. Maybe they stole a cookie out of the cookie jar, but were careful to cover their tracks. When their parents came home and toll them what a good girl they've been, they flashed a brilliant smile. Smug superiority masquerading as joy. Ahh, but what's this? The parents are no fools. They noticed the cookies have been disappearing. They kept count this time. Mother made twenty cookies. She had served a total of nine but there were only five left. Someone had been eating them, but there's only three people in the house. Father rushed off to get his belt, and mother leaned into her daughter to press for a confession. She can't believe her daughter would lie to her like this. She cryed over her betrayal, and her daughter continued to deny any allegations. But her excuses are all crap. She can't defend herself from-"

“M-miss Fang?”

"Hugh! Yes Jen?" Mika Fang, student councilor at Marrywell Academy, had just been roused from her monolog by a student she was working with. Mika might have looked human enough, but she was using some of her grimoire's magic to give herself beastly features. Her eyes were almost feline in appearance, and there was something feral about the hair that seemed to lift off of her head. She had been on a month long vacation and just returned today, so she was a little out of it. "Is there a reason you stopped me?" She stood out of her chair and dusted off her dress before sitting back down.

“I just don't understand!” The student's voice was cracking as she spoke. “What does this have to do with why I'm like this?”

"Did my story make you uncomfortable?"

Jenny was a gifted student that showed a lot of promise, but was having some issues working with others. She was unusually cautious during team exercises, bordering on distrustful. No matter how potent her abilities, a magical girl that couldn't work with others was no magical girl at all. Or at least that was what Marrywell Academy would have you believe.

“Sort of. I mean, I guess it bothered me the way you were talking about the daughter. You made it sound like she really did eat all of those cookies.”

"Didn't she?"

“I-I mean, she could have!” Jenny confessed. “B-but she also couldn't have!”

The corner of Mika's mouth curled into a smirk. She reclined in her chair and tucked her hands behind her head, throwing one leg over the other. "I didn't finish the story."

“S-sorry-”

"I think it's more important that you tell me how you think it ends." Mika nodded at the girl. "What happens next?"

“I think-” Jenny took a deep breath and shook out her hands. “The daughter isn't able to convince her mother. So the father comes in with his belt and slaps her hands! A-and then they send her to her room!”

"That it?"

“Yes!”

"It sounds like the daughter got what she deserved."

“No!”

"Did you leave out any details?"

“M-maybe.” Jenny rubbed her chin. “Dad, I-I mean the father didn't hit her as hard as he could! He wasn't as rough as he could have been!”

"Was he just taking pity on her?"

“No!” Jenny shook her head. “He's never easy on me-the daughter! He wouldn't have held back!”

"Why would he hold back then?"

the flustered girl rubbed the side of her head for a moment, but then it clicked. Her pupils shrunk as the realization sunk in. “He knew I didn't do it!” She stood up. “He must have eaten the cookies!”

Mika's grin only widened as she closed her eyes. "Jen, you've been having difficulty working with others. All of your teachers sing your praises, but you constantly underperform when you're asked to work with others. You don't function well as a team member, and I think I understand why that is now." Her eyes opened up and she leaned forwards in her seat. "This is not the first time you have been lied to, Jen. You know that. And because you were lied to by the one you should trust most, you can't trust others. Does that make sense to you?"

“S-sorry!”

"There's nothing to apologize for." Mika picked up a notepad on her desk and jotted something down on it. "I'd like you to focus on your ability to trust others. Do some falling exercises with some nice classmates, and try asking them questions that you know the answers to. Don't isolate yourself. Have some fun with them from time to time. That may be enough, but if it isn't-" She tore a sheet off of her notepad and handed it to the girl "You can make an appointment to talk to someone a little better at this than me." A gentle smile spread across Mika's face.

“I'll try!” Jenny said while reaching for the paper. “Thanks Miss Fang! Thanks... Thanks for believing in me.”

"Fare well, Jen! Think nothing of it!"

Once Jenny left the office, Mika pulled a scabbard out from behind her desk. It was made from black lacquer and had a red ribbon wrapped around it. Anyone who saw the scabbard would know it belonged to a katana. Though even they might be surprised if they saw the blade. It was black as the night sky, and shimmered like the stars. When Mika looked into the blade, she could see a time long ago. Jenny's mother was sitting on a couch with her husband got the munchies. She got up and walked into the kitchen to get him something to eat when she came across the cookie jar. She pulled out two cookies, one for her and one for him, and prepared to put the lid on. But then she froze in place. After marking the two cookies that she had taken, she reached into the cookie jar for a third cookie and plopped it right in her mouth. She chewed it exactly twice before swallowing and taking the remaining cookies into the living room.

Secrets were special after all. And Jenny hadn't earned the answer to that one yet. But Mika had spent the past few days catching up on lost time. Now she wanted to do something fun. It was one thing to try and figure out students, but it was more fun to drop in on wildcards like Ozma, who always knew how to have fun!

The image in her sword changed to that of a run down mall. There was a barrier, students fighting pageless, a drunken teacher, and Ozma orchestrating the chaos! It was woman like this that made Aigorost proud! Even the mother brain of Kos would sing its song of carnage as its floating eyes trembled in delight!

But, where did this leave Mika?

She could tell the Grand Minister about it, but what was the point? She probably let this happen knowing full well Ozma would do something like this. Not to mention Mika tended to have one of her clones out at all times acting as a free agent. Reporting Ozma's actions would be like the pot calling the kettle black! It would be like the fork calling the spoon pointy! It would be like Agrophis complaining about Dentogin's dog-shaped head! Though maybe she should see the Grand Minister anyway. But she wasn't going to be left out of this either. With a snap of her fingers, two portals opened on either side of her and out stepped two clones.

"Go visit the barrier. If it goes down, you know what to do. I'll send another one by if the situation changes."

And with that, the three Mika's departed. Two to stand guard outside Ozma's barrier while the real one went to have a talk with the Grand Minister. She hadn't seen her since she left a month ago, so she was probably due to at least greet the weirdo before too much time passed.

After it all began, Maria kept very close watch over what was going on and taking notes.

Miss O'Sullivan was often heard speaking how she works better on her own and from the notes Maria had on her grimoire this may certainly be true, but here the Teacher witness the young girl get on high ground and cover her peers. She would have expected Stripes to go in on her own, but she chose the teamwork approach - at least for now - despite proximity to allies weakening her attacks. It all worked out, however, when Miss Bell joined in and Xolys added it's own powers to the missiles barrage. Not only that, but Eldritch creature positioned itself in a way as to receive and block the coming assault. It was a god plan and a nice display of teamwork and would have been almost perfect if it wasn't for Miss Bell's unhealthy curiosity of the Pageless. It was also good to see Celina protect Silvia in such a way. One of the last to have joined this group and yet seemed to immediately have formed a strong bond. These students had things they could teach Maria it seemed.

"Hm?"

After having dispatched of the Pageless, Maria turned to Nessie while dusting off her hands and dress. In contrast to Nessie, who spoke in a hurry and looked around, Maria had her hands joined at the front and her full attention dedicated to her young student - a clear contrast of experience. "I see." the Teacher said after Nessie's display.

The Pageless came towards them slowly but surely and Nessie attempt did little to dissuade it. "Are you, perhaps, doubting yourself Miss Burns?" said Maria, unmoving. She thought about it for a second before taking a step forward so that Nessie couldn't go back anymore and put both hands on her shoulders in a calm and reassuring way. "Just like people, not all Grimoires are alike. My magic requires me..." she paused, trying to find the correct words "...to maintain a great deal of Willpower, amongst other things."

Maria had read her students files. She knew where Nessie came from and her story thus far. Her background was not un-similar to Maria's, in some ways. Now, she did not know exactly why Nessie had difficulties with her magic and could theorize, still not believing she was the best choice of Teacher the Academy could have picked and yet, here she was. It seemed that for most of her background, Nessie was clueless about what she wanted to do with herself. Maria could only surmise that this indecision translated to her magic, causing her mind to be troubled and doubting herself. Maria was no stranger to doubting their own Magic, after all...

"What is true for myself might not be so for you, however. Focus, if you will, on a purpose. If your doubt comes from indecision, find footing in what you know for certain and grow from there." after but a second, she added; "Time to settle down, Nessie. You are where you belong."

If there was one thing to be said about this one sided slaughter in the mall, it was that there was slightly more cohesion then when last she fought with so large a group. Pairs weren't full teams, but at least they acted closer in concert then they could on their own, but she had a sneaking suspicioun that the real reason there was less- Valerie's indoor drive by shooting notwithstanding- was Ozma's presence hanging over them.

Suzuya meant that literally, in that she remained hovering in the center of the air over them, a beacon of easy confidence with eye catching red hair and a crisp white attire. While she wasn't a teacher she had their authority and more in the eyes of the students whether they admitted it or not, something the Japanese Magical Girl could relish in. Perched on Xolys's back she drew her heavy bow and could pick her shots with an almost leisurely ease. Four foot long shafts of wood and metal aflame lanced out into the gloom, striking true as her senses sharply picked the scuttling of reptilian Pageless before her eyes even registered the shimmer of their camoflage in motion.

A flicker of flames trailed behind her fur and hair, power slowly rising as heads were punctured and necks demolished. The act was almost leisurely and she gave the eldritch horror a stroke of what she hoped qualified as his head between loosed shafts.



The one sided slaughter of the Pageless could only continue for so long. There numbers even in their hidden nest were not infinite and the Magical Girls, as always, were forces of nature when gathered in sufficient number. A microcosm of the beauty and the horror of their present existence.

The beauty, of course, was that there truly was no limit to what they could accomplish when gathered and set to purpose.

The horror was simply that for untold years they had not done a thing.

"I believe you all have made your intentions clear enough." A monotone voice silenced the clamor of battle not by overpowering it, but ending it. The pageless once on the brink of charging in a futile effort to drown the invading light now broke like water upon a stone, turning away to a singular point emerging from the umbra. From beneath the awning of an art supply store, splotches of paint marring her hands showing it had not been completely bereft of product, the very target of Ozma's inquest made herself known.

At her back was a legion of pageless, numbers slowly swelling as the mall was roused to life, and beside her stood only one of her celestial attendents. Those she met at the park would recognize the tall, buxom woman with elaborate hat and garbed in shades of blue and black.

"But I would be a poor host to not receive you personally in my studio, so please, be welcomed. It may seem lacking in amenities, but one does not turn their nose up at london real estate in today's market." Drawing out a golden fan she opened it, shielding the lower half of her face like a demure lady of old as she stepped into the light just a short ways from Maria's personage. At a glance she read the girl, and for all the power she had just displayed it curdled Roma's stomach to know she was holding so much of her splendor back. It was almost enough to make her sigh, but such a slip in manners was beyond her at the moment.

"And Ozma, so good to see you so soon again. I would have thought you would come to wax poetic on the old days, but your present company leads me to think your questions will be decidedly more current in their time and forceful in their inquest." There was a twinkle in her eyes, the only sign of her hidden smile. "Has the crone in power finally decided to pull back on the illusion of freedom she abides us Magical Girls? Well I shall not be abiding a private interrogation, and seeing as you have gathered so many of our peers, let us enjoy a public forum in a most Athenian fashion."

Magical Girl Ozma didn’t flinch when a knife launched her way like a bullet in the air. It whizzed past her hat and caught the approaching Pageless behind her with a weighty thud courtesy of Lupin. Ozma smirked and gave the wolf Magical Girl a thumbs up before all proverbial hell broke loose. Or, it would have, had these girls not seen their own share of experience so far. The lizard-like Pageless, small as they were and meek, bristled with aggression and didn’t hesitate to lash out with their tongues and claws. They flickered in and out of view, camouflage being their main attraction as Nessie loudly pointed out.

It all lined up with the spike in Pageless activity and aggression these days and this time was no different. But the Magical Girls, seasoned and green, handily held them back. Ozma practically didn’t have to do anything although she fired off red bursts of energy at any Pageless that got too close to the others, especially Stripes. The result led in their efforts being all but unmatched and that would have been the end of it right then and there. But Ozma focused most of her senses in the surrounding mall, picking up and latching onto any new magical interference she found.

One was familiar and Ozma recognized the faint presence of Oros the Wise. One of her clones must have been nearby to scope out the magical barrier, that rascal of a devil. But another held a darker taint with it and soon enough that negativity picked up with Roma’s appearance. Much like before back in London’s streets, the Pageless scampered off towards Roma as if drawn by her figure and authority. The fighting came to an end for now and Ozma turned on her broom to look down on the other girl. With Roma came a dark chill, one that even Mika could feel back at the school for some particular reason…

“Heeeey Tsubasa. Long time no see there,” Ozma said, hand raised for Maria and Valeria as a sign to keep calm and not make any rash moves. The last thing they needed was a war of attrition especially as they could all see the rows of Pageless glowing behind Roma. “Something’s off about you from last time. Is it your hair? Did you do something with your hair?” the red witch mused. “Kidding, kidding! But seriously, how have you been? There’s no need for “forceful inquests” unless you decide that.”

Ozma lifted up her witch’s hat to get a better look at the other Magical Girl. “You didn’t really give a clear answer last time so speak up for everyone to hear, yah? What brings you back in London? Like I said back then, I doubt it’s to join back with the Ministry. And those spooky guys behind you don’t exactly look like a new Magical Girl team. Why all the mystery?”

Surely Roma wasn’t just here to cause more mayhem? After all, there stood in front of the group a perfectly reasonable explanation to why the Pageless were so agitated these days. It certainly didn’t help her case in how the dark creatures seemed to almost follow her beck and call. It changed little of the fact that what stood before them was no monster of the dark, no Pageless, but another Magical Girl.

---

“Those lying bastards…” Tesni had been left behind. ‘Left behind’ is a bit misleading. Tesni deliberately didn’t go, but it was the result of miscommunication than her not wanting to go.

“They all said it was ‘just going on patrol’!” Why wouldn’t she go if she knew she could have the slightest hint of a chance at punching the arrogant lady? She loved cutting arrogant people off midsentence, ruining their monologues. It was one of her favourite things in the world.

“Then half the bloody school goes missing ‘on patrol’! Bet they’re tearing up the town as I speak, leaving me out. You’re allowed to say ‘Hey Tesni, let’s go destroy an army’s worth of Pageless’ no need to be coy about it… I mean it has to be, like, an army, right? You don’t need that many people to dogpile a normal Pageless. You don’t need teachers to go and dogpile a special Pageless…” throwing rocks at one of the ancient trees on the school grounds, Tesni briefly considered just running off after the group. Maybe she could be the ‘hero that arrives just in the nick of time’… Bonnie would probably like that cliché. All out of rocks, Tesni’s mind raced with all sorts of petty revenge she could get on them all.

“I bet Ozma has the good stuff hidden in her office…” returning to the main building, Tesni saw the counsellor up ahead and a better idea came to mind. Just talk about things. Sure, not everything can be solved by talking about it, but at the very least someone else will know and the outside perspective is very useful when you’re caught up in your own head.
Yeah, that’s smarter. Ozma would laugh and joke, but then the retribution will be disproportionate…

“Hi! Miss Counsellor! Do you have a moment? I’m Tesni, you’ve probably heard of me. I’m just… a whoooooole mess of issues. And a troublemaker according to faculty. Just issues all the way down.” Putting a bit of speed in her step, Tesni caught up to Mika and kept pace with her.

“I get this is out of the blue but if I don’t do this now, I’ll forget about it and then nothing will change or happen. So, I’d like to… how does this all work? Make an appointment?” Every window they passed, Tesni felt her eyes drawn outside. Having to tear her vision back towards the counsellor each time. A chill on the back of her neck, hairs raising. It was like how some people could smell a storm coming, feel the pressure changing.

“So, miss… something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know if it’s just, y’know ‘issues’, or if something is legitimately going wrong here. I know everyone else left on their big special ‘patrol’, but I don’t think that’s enough of a reason for the whole vibe of the school to feel this empty."

Like any student would, Stripes was enjoying the hell out of blowing apart the Pageless. She enjoyed having eyes on her. She didn't enjoy Ozma assisting. Since everyone had kept their distance, it would not have been difficult to turn into a tabby if she got surrounded. But Stripes wasn't going to complain. Ozma was still the coolest cat at the academy. But she was starting to warm up to the others too. Tutoring Lupin had paid off, Nessie was discouraged but made interesting observations, Burning heart was holding her own, and her teachers were... amusing. Olivia was annoying but at least Xolys had stayed away from her earlier. She wasn't sure if the big guy did that on his own or if under Olivia's command, but she was thankful for it. Maybe Olivia wasn't all bad.

But the fighting didn't last long. Before things could build to a crescendo, they stopped. This was less a lesson and more an attempt to stop someone Stripes hadn't ever seen. She had been away for a few weeks, so she was unaware of who they were trying to catch.

But it clicked when Roma revealed herself.

She had only heard about this magical girl in hushed rumors. Of which they were too varied and numerous to really inform Stripes of anything. But the mask was a dead givaway to what they were dealing with. She couldn't tell if the chill she felt had been brought on by a magical effect or just just the dread of deing with something so alien and unknown as this woman.

But stripes was apathy incarnate, so it was probably the former.

She had several questions, but it seemed like Ozma had the basics covered. There wasn't any reason to add anything else at the moment. But she did have to question if talking was the right move right now. They were in a bubble and everything, but what about what Nessie hinted at earlier?

"Keep your guard up." Stripes looked at her allies as she spoke. "Our enemy can turn invisible. Who knows what else they can do." Stripes did, at the very least, believe that trying to get to the bottom of things was the best option here. But there was no way this evil magical girl would give away her secrets unless it was advantageous to her. How was she even controlling the pageless?

---

_@McFazzer

Mika was power walking her way to the minister's office when she was suddenly hit by a cold chill.

"Hmmm? Is the AC unit on?" She wondered out loud. But there were no vents around that would cause such a thing. It seemed to be magical in nature but that was all she could really tell. There was no way of knowing if it was an incoming ice spell or the cold grip of Aigorost reaching from behind the veil of reality. Regardless, it was a simple enough thing to figure out. She just needed to inquire about it from her sword.

Except there was a complication.

A student was calling for her help. As easy as it would be to resolve where the chill was coming from with her sword, drawing a weapon in the halls was not a good thing to do. Certainly not in front of a student that faculty is suppose to be setting a good example for. It seemed that resolving what was causing this chill would have to wait. The sword remained hidden as she turned to face Tesni. Mika put on a warm smile and nodded her head. She continued to walk to her destination with Tesni.

"Tesni Edris, right? Magical girl Dynasty Queen. I suppose I've heard a bit about you." Out of everyone, Mika was probably the least bothered by the antics of the students. The faculty? probably, but never the students. They were here to learn and better themselves regardless of how eccentric they might be. What teenager didn't feel like they were some special case with larger than life problems? And speaking of, Tensi was already talking about scheduling an appointment! Mika's smile only widened at the remark, but she refrained from laughing at what was clearly a struggling student. It was a common misconception that a student counsellor was some sort of specialized shrink, but they were more the sort to listen to a student's school related problems. They offered guidance and acted as an emotional anchor. Mika might suggest a student see a therapist, but wasn't really trained for untangling deep seated emotional trauma. But that didn't mean that Mika didn't occasionally have to play therapist a little bit. Jenny was one case like that, but even then Mika just gave her some exercises to do and recommended a real therapist if she needed it. Mika did not anticipate Tesni's case would be so dire. Though the student's problems probably felt enormous to her. "I am scheduled to see students, usually. But I can talk with you if something bothers you." As they got closer to the minister's office, several chairs came into view. The hallway leading into the office had been turned into a waiting room for busier days, but at present all the chairs were empty. It was a quiet atmosphere with few distractions. "Let's have a seat right here."

Regardless of where Tensi sat down, Mika sat across from her. She folded her arms in her lap and leaned forward. Her eyes moved up and down Tesni's form before locking onto her eyes. "Go on."

And then Tesni talked. Her issue was how the school felt. This was well within Mika's realm of expertise, and a common issue she had dealt with in many students. Though the solution to this problem was a bit different for everyone.

"Feels empty." Mika propped her head up with one of her arms. "Are you familiar with RPGs? Like video games? You take your avatar inside a tavern and there's tons of people to talk to. But out of, say, twenty patrons, maybe the bartender and two other characters have anything to say. Everyone else just spits out a one liner that's quickly forgotten." She waved her hand in a dismissive fashion before propping up her head again. "Marrywell Academy is certainly not empty, but it might feel devoid of, mmm, 'content' at times." Mika sat upright. "Your entire class is out on patrol, and you're here by yourself. Your adventuring party has left you. Being surrounded by a bunch of NPCs isn't going to make you feel any less alone. Your classmates aren't here." With a chuckle, she tucked her hands behind her head. "But this isn't a videogame. There's no reason to avoid talking to students from other classes. It can be beneficial to have connections outside of your usual group. Outsiders that you're less familiar with but still enjoy the company of. You're pretty cute, I don't think you'll have any problems making friends." The smile ran from Mika's face. "Though it might be hard if you have a reputation as a troublemaker. Mind telling me more about that?"

Nessie wasn't really in a state to listen to the boisterous banter Valeria had to throw at her, and if anything the young Scot herself could've done with a Heineken to calm her nerves (even if it does taste like dog piss compared to other beers). As such the challenge thrown her way, whether in jest or not, was ignored for the time being while the budding Magical Girl turned around sharply to Maria as she found herself backing into the teacher, therefore sandwiching her between the Pageless. At first panicked and fidgeting, a look of reluctance and uncertainty painted on her countenance, the calmness with which Maria approached the situation and Nessie herself was enough to gradually simmer the girl down. The redhead felt a warm aura emanating from her far more experienced senior, a warmth that was imparted directly onto her as a pair of hands came to rest on her shoulders. It almost felt like she was being taught to paint in an art class, rather than how to destroy embodiments of pure darkness.

Willpower... now there was a word that hadn't even crossed Nessie's mind in a long time. In fact she hadn't even really registered the fact that she was doubting herself in the first place until Maria brought it to her directly then and there. It had felt like that to recognise that doubt as just being that, doubt, was to doubt the reality of her situation itself. But, as had been made quite clear recently, reality wasn't always so simple. As it never is. Maybe that's what she needed: Willpower, the strength and attitude to overcome doubt and the very base of weakness that comes from faulty perceptions.

Now she turned to face the Pageless. Shimmering in and out of their camouflage, just to tease the seemingly defenceless girl, the dark reptiles slunk ever closer to Nessie, somehow not at all shaken by the presence of Maria just behind her. Perhaps they were getting cocky. They clearly hadn't noticed the new look in the redhead's eyes though, her green irises sharpened as her teacher left goosebumps on Nessie's arms with her wisdom, words that the girl felt truly resonant with. Because, above all else, they were true and honest. She was where she belonged. Her Grimoire wouldn't have chosen her if she wasn't. As if to reflect this sentiment her Grimoire raised itself up before her, a radiant glow about it as it encouraged its bearer to take the next step, to prove to both it and herself what she could do.

"Focus... on a purpose..."

Nessie whispered to herself, eyes now shut as she took deep breaths, shutting out the incoming danger for just a moment to find something to picture or envision, whether it be an object, person or ideal, just something to help her find that purpose. And for one singular, private moment, she found it. One that passed her by, fittingly flashing past her at such comet-like speed that she could barely catch it. But she did. The pools of water that Nessie had admired within the confines of the mall shimmered slightly, rippling unnaturally as if brought to life by some unseen force. A force that was perhaps even palpable enough to be felt by a few others present, not least the experienced Magical Girl standing right behind the Scot girl. A force that was on the edge of exploding into a truly grand climax. One that was mere moments away, as rippling turned quickly to vicious bubbling and droplets began to rise into the air.

But unfortunately that display would never come, as a distinct and weighted voice cut through Nessie's concentration and the rest of the battlefield like a hot knife to butter.

"Agh, shite!"

Nessie cursed, at least back more or less to her normal self, as the waters suddenly stilled after all that build-up. To her surprise though, upon opening her eyes she realised the Pageless were no longer in front of her. In fact they'd scampered completely out of sight, as had the other ones whom her classmates had been facing off against. Instead, one woman stood to replace their presence. And not just replace it, but somehow utterly outdo it. Now the girl lost all the pent-up will to be her usual outspoken self. This mysterious woman, half-masked by a strikingly golden fan as compared to her darker attire, was very obviously not one to be trifled with. And given the alarmingly dense swarm of Pageless that now gathered like an army of hellhounds behind her, it was clear her intentions and affiliations were at odds of those of the Magical Girls present.

Ozma's usual casual, devil-may-care attitude and way of conversing seemed especially odd now, but it's not like anyone was going to question that. Nessie listened closely, registering a name and the fact that this woman was, most likely, a Magical Girl. To say the girl was surprised to hear that was an understatement. Until that moment she had never considered the fact that a Magical Girl could go bad, turn rogue, join 'the dark side'. But if it was possible in any other walk of life, why not this one. Still though, despite all that, the still slightly wide-eyed Nessie found herself looking to Maria again as she offered the teacher her second big question of the day. After a bit of fumbling, that is.

"Miss Maria- should I call you miss?- oh, nevermind- who is that...?"

Upon hearing Stripes' helpful reminder to stay alert despite the fascinating scene taking place in front of their very eyes Nessie perked up, Grimoire still very much at the ready now just in case any of the buggers came out of hiding to have a go at any of them.

"Aye." She acknowledged Stripes directly with a nod.