[IC] The Truth Behind the Project

[Ariamis]

Elise's eyebrows lifted a bit. "Your poker face is pretty good. Have you been training that, or does it just come natural?"
She then turned around to Rose. She seemed to be annoying her, which was one reason Elise popped in unannounced. She did like getting a rise out of the otherwise stoic and composed senior. "I know, I was just bored. And hey, if you think of a better one I'm right here, listening," she said with one hand on her ear and leaning it towards her in a jesterly fashion. She then stepped back to let the two talk face to face.

She was stretching her arms a bit when the girl spoke to her. "Eh, you never know until you ask, right?" Elise of course did know it was Emiri, but she didn't actually care enough. Dead people are dead, and nothing's gonna bring them back. It was better to simply focus on what you have instead of what you've lost. That kind of thinking has brought the spunky girl this far, so she stuck with it.
She listened to the rest, but had to comment on the last bit the girl spoke: "Of course it doesn't. With a professional slayer like me around the block, magical girls won't have enough killing to share around. We'll soon have to fight for the prey," she said, making it sound like a joke.

@MarsAdept@Little_ninja

[MarsAdept]

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself. Calmly she began, "Emiri was killed by a penetration trauma to the Thoracic cavity. Most likely caused by a knife or similar stabbing weapon. She seemed to have let her guard down do to the lack of evidence of a forced entry into or out of the apartment. She had apparently collapsed during an earlier fight that evening due to overuse of her magic. I was not present for that battle because I was busy protecting this self proclaimed 'professional slayer' here from another Primordial. What disturbs me most here is the fact her soul gem or its remnants could not be located on her person or in the apartment."

Rose took a seat in one of the library chairs beside her, "As for why there are so many of our kind here now, I hope it is a temporary measure. Our mutual benefactor as reason to suspect a nest of Primordials exists in this city. Since the contractor has never encountered even the possibility of a nest anywhere, he has invited other magical girls here in an effort to write the book on how to destroy a nest. I would gladly accept your aid in that mission, if you are going to stay in this town for any period of time, Ms. Kasumii."

@Ariamis@Little_ninja

[Little_ninja]

Elise spoke of Kasumii's poker face, "Your poker face is pretty good. Have you been training that, or does it just come natural?", however, Kasumii felt no need to give a proper reply. The two girls then spoke about Akame, and a nickname for her. "Well, I guess Emiri could be Goldylocks, she was a blonde, but that would mean Akame is Arcane. She is good at magic, and I can see how that name is a pun off Akame, but wouldn't something Fire related be better."
"I know, I was just bored. And hey, if you think of a better one I'm right here, listening,"

Elise spoke after Kasumii asked about the strange situation of so many magical girls in one city, "Of course it doesn't. With a professional slayer like me around the block, magical girls won't have enough killing to share around. We'll soon have to fight for the prey,". Kasumii felt like rolling her eyes. A battle hungry fiend, explains the biting from the fight she thought before Rose began to answer Kasumii's questions.

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself. Calmly she began, "Emiri was killed by a penetration trauma to the Thoracic cavity. Most likely caused by a knife or similar stabbing weapon. She seemed to have let her guard down do to the lack of evidence of a forced entry into or out of the apartment. She had apparently collapsed during an earlier fight that evening due to overuse of her magic. I was not present for that battle because I was busy protecting this self proclaimed 'professional slayer' here from another Primordial. What disturbs me most here is the fact her soul gem or its remnants could not be located on her person or in the apartment."

Rose took a seat in one of the library chairs beside her, "As for why there are so many of our kind here now, I hope it is a temporary measure. Our mutual benefactor as reason to suspect a nest of Primordials exists in this city. Since the contractor has never encountered even the possibility of a nest anywhere, he has invited other magical girls here in an effort to write the book on how to destroy a nest. I would gladly accept your aid in that mission, if you are going to stay in this town for any period of time, Ms. Kasumii."

@MarsAdept

Kasumii nodded with closed eyes, listening to Rose's answer. She had already known about the penetration trauma and that she let her guard down. But then she mentioned the lack of a soul gem. Soul gem? Wait ... did any of them still have their soul gem with them ... Now that I think about it ... But why ... the soul gem ... I just don't understand why. Maybe I should talk with Yuna about what she has found out. Kasumii thought, pondering deep in thought about the missing soul gem.

Rose then sat beside Kasumii, mentioning a nest for Primordials. A nest ... Is there such a thing? What if ... no, I must be overthinking this. This could make things easier for all magical girls ... It is probably not a trap ... right? Kasumii could not shake this sense of doubt in her mind, but she did not show it, smiling at Rose and bowing her head politely, she replied "Of course, it would be my pleasure. Please take care of me and let's get along." She then returned to reading her book, still alert in case anything were to happen, although unlikely. She took notice of her soul gem, a tinge in it's clearness. She was different from other magical girls, since she did not technically exist. Forming a body, coming into "existence" and maintaining the body, required some magic, not much, but over extended periods, it could turn her soul gem black. It had been a long time though, so it was still safe to say, she could stay for a week in this form if there were no fighting involved.

@MarsAdept@Ariamis

[MarsAdept]

Rose smiled and respectfully bows her head to Kasumii, "I am glad to hear that. I would like you to meet up with our leader Akame or as Elise puts it Arcane, But it is getting late. If there was a fight, I might have been willing to stay up all night, but I am tired. I hope I get the chance to speak with you tomorrow, Ms. Kasumii. You know know of us and we now know of you. I am certain we could contact each other if we desired. Farewell and good night." Rose stood up and took her leave of this new magical girl. She still wondered about the power of this new girl.

Before she left sight, she turned back, "Elise, If you still have not made arrangements to stay in this city, you are welcome to accompany me. I have an apartment not far from here. It isn't Tuesday, but it should be fine to crash there if you want." Having completed what she meant to say she left the library.

@Little_ninja@Ariamis

[Ariamis]

Elise threw her neck at Rose in response."I do want to retrieve my clothes from your pad, Razor. As pretty as your dresses are, they aren't my style, really. Covering up blood ain't the only reason I wear red." She then strolled by Kasumii when she started following Rsoe, but stopped. She took a quick look at the stoic girl. "You should, I dunno, speak up, or something. You aren't much of a presence as you are." She then left the building, and teleported back to Rose's little Rosecave for a night's rest. A lot did happen that day, and she did make a new friend the only way she knew how. The next morning she would change back to her own clothes, but for now she decided to spend the night in Rose's garb.

@Little_ninja@MarsAdept

[Flamelord]

Miyako arrived back outside the warehouse to find everyone gone, the Primordials having long since vanished and everyone else having long since fled. Which was annoying, given that one would assume that other magical girl might be courteous enough to stick around. Well, she would just have to warn the others the next time they met, so they could be on the lookout for her. She wouldn't allow this mysterious figure to use anonymity to benefit off of their hard work, not if she could help it.

In spite of this, she did a once over of the place anyway. Who knew if there might be evidence that could help them track down this primordial nest they were supposed to find and kill. The sooner they got on that, the quicker things could get to normal. At least in her mind anyway.

Sadly, that came up for naught. Which probably wasn't that much of a surprise anyway, since she wasn't even sure what sort of clues she should be looking for in the first place. She did, however, find a bag cast off to the side, as if abandoned in a hurry. Given the location, it most likely had been.

"HM? Who's this belong to then?" Miyako was quick to inspect it, opening it up and looking inside, and her eyes widened in surprise as she found that it belonged to Sora. No way, she'd been here? What kind of stupid luck was that? Well, it didn't seem like she had contracted, so that was good. But now she had to worry about keeping her secret. and wasn't that just swell.

She shrugged then, picking the bag up after she had stuffed everything back inside and closed it. "Well, I'll get it to her tomorrow," she said to herself, fully intending it. She didn't know where Sora lived, and it was late. Showing up with the bag now would be something of a hassle, and invite even more questions that she wasn't ready to handle at the moment.

With that done she headed off, taking to the rooftops as she moved towards home, using her powers to make up for lost time. She didn't want to be too late after all, and if she had to walk then it would be a practical guarantee of that. She'd change back before making it there, but for now she ran. It had been something of an eventful day, and right now she was merely glad for the powers that let her run along the rooftops as she headed for home. Who said that being a magical girl didn't have it's perks?

[TheWendil]

Night soon turned into a new day and with it, more promises to come for the future. It was Friday meaning tonight would be beneficial for Primordial hunting. A perfect opportunity for any sane Magical Girl. But school came first and Akame quickly got prepared for the last day before the start of the weekend. She had offered to give Amara a place to sleep in her apartment, an obvious sign of trust on her part.

Whether the girl had accepted, Akame couldn’t quite remember given that she had headed straight to bed after the events of last night. She had made a quick stop to Emiri’s apartment, putting a flaming barrier invisible to human eyes around her friend’s corpse until her and Rose could deal with it indefinitely tonight. If any Primordial or Magical Girl dared to move around their friend, they would get more than just a burned hole through their soul.

“Akame Natsuko, I’m glad that you’re awake.”

“Contractor? Is there something you need?”

Usually the fluffy creature would be their physically at the end of Akame’s morning routine but today it chose to contact her via psychic link. Raising an eye to this, the flaming Magical Girl quickly got her bags and headed off to school.

“I just wanted to inform you of great news! I took a look at all of the Primordials slain last night and none of them seemed to drop any of the black stones.”

“Really?”

To be honest, she hadn’t even noticed. Well maybe that was a sign that the Primordials would be destroyed permanently then. Or maybe it was a clue to finding the Primordial nest. Whatever the case was, she was interrupted in her chat to find Yuma waiting for her at the front of her school’s gates.

[Little_ninja]

As the two other magical girls said goodbye, Kasumii nodded and waved, keeping silent. With the two leaving, she continued to finish reading her book before retiring for the night. Fading into an invisible mist, loomed over the city, without presence, and became unconscious. And with that, night passed and soon the day came.

With the sun rising, the consciousness of the non-existent magical girl started to come back. Looking down on the city, she could see students leaving for school, and adults leaving for work. A part of life she could never truly be a part of, not that she ever technically was. And even if she were, she would bring misfortune to those around her, as evident before she stopped existing.

With not much else to do, she decided to head back into the library and read some more books. It was a pastime she could enjoy, as it was peaceful, and did not involve getting close to others.

[Crimson Raven]

Amara declined Akame's offer and headed to her own apartment. She hailed a cab and gave him directions to her place. The cab pulled up in front of a big, century-old wooden boardinghouse, which was divided into several apartments, and in a quiet neighborhood. It was made almost entirely of wood and creaked and groaned with the wind. Amara loved it. It was a place with a history. She walked down the stairs to the basement, unlocked the steel framed anti-burglar door, and slipped inside.

Once inside, she flipped the lights on and surveyed her apartment. It has one larger room used as the general living room, which holds a small kitchenette and a fireplace. A door lead to a bedroom, which had an adjacent bathroom. In the floor was a hinged door that leads down to the subbasement. It consisted of one room. Her T.V. and furniture were second hand, but still in good condition. The carpet that covered the floor was worn, but clean. The whole place was relatively tidy. A small, calico, fuzzy kitten, curled up on top of a bookshelf, got up and stretched at her entrance. It jumped down and started to rub it's head on her leg and purr. Amara bent down to pet the kitten. "Hey, Sebastian, been holding down the fort while I've been gone?" The kitten mrowed and padded over to his food dish. Yeah, yeah I get it. She put food in his bowl and gave him fresh water. Suddenly tired, she quickly changed and went to bed. She was asleep almost instantly, with Sebastian cuttled up behind her knee, purring like a car motor.

[KoL]

Yuna Yukino

Yuna had been waiting for Akame and Rose at the school gates ever since the sunrise, quietly listening to British punk-rock, from her seemingly endless library of random music. Currently,it wasn't snowing, but still the air was cold enough to turn the f
frost magical girl's breath into puffs of white vapor.

Some time in the middle of her morning vigil, Yuna closed her eyes and without even realizing, she began to about her childhood and what had happened ever since she became a magical girl.

When she heard Akame's muffled greeting through her headphones, Yuna opened her eyes and noticed that her vision was blurred "Huh? Am I..." crying? She would say, but when she placed a hand on her face she noticed a stream of tears running down her cheeks "I... it's not the time o be sad about the past. I crossed the point of no return long ago, there's no use in remembering these things now." Yuna said more to herself than anything else.

Then, she turned to Akame, after wiping off the tears "Akame, I know that I said the same thing yesterday, but we need to talk. And this time every second is important, we can't wait until lunch."

Yuna waited to gauge the flaming magical girl's reaction before continuing "The devil that you call Contractor, told me something yesterday, and you must know it immediately. Now, where are the others?"

Hitomi Sora

Away from there, at Miyako's school...

Sore didn't knew if she was scared, or excited when she arrived at her school earlier than anyone and made a beeline for her classroom. She hoped to meet Miyako and ask her the truth about the magical girls and all that, even if the other girl would think that she was mad. That's how Hitomi Sora was, if there was something that she wanted to do, she would do it regardless of what others would think of her, and this time it wouldn't be different.

Nevertheless, when she arrived at th classroom, there was no one there, which was fitting, given that the homeroom would start in about two hours "Well, I kind of expect this, but still..." the small girl said to herself, before slapping her cheeks with both hands and plunging herself on her chair "Ahh! It doesn't matter how much I have to wait, I'll stay here and ask Miyako-chan about that even if it's the last thing I do."

A few moments later, however "Greetings, Hitomi Sora! We've been looking for you everywhere. Have you decided on a wish yet? If so, please... Make a contract with me and became a Magical Girl!" A Contractor that defied gravity boldly by walking on the roof, said as he jumped to Sora's desk and rubbed her cheeks with his head.

When Miyako would arrive at school, she would notice the sight of Sora happily chatting and petting the Contractor, while both waited for her to arrive.

[MarsAdept]

Rose slept in her apartment just a few short blocks from the public library. It was one of her many hideouts throughout the city. She did not spend the night in her batcave with Elise. Rose woke early in the morning to got ready for another uneventful day acting like a normal school girl. Rose put on one of her blue dresses. She looked young enough she could still pull it off. She grabbed her book bag and headed off to school. Walking through the streets of the city, Rose casually watched the people going about their daily lives. In her head, she was making fun of them. When she could not hear what they were saying over the sound of vehicles, Rose made up what they were going to say. It was always to most random of things.

Rose eventually came to the school. Fortunately, it was not hard to find Akame and Yuna. They had already met up at the front gate. Rose silently approached hoping not to be noticed. Rose's watchful eyes just so happened to catch Yuna's face just before addressing Akame. She say Yuna was crying. Rose approached and laughed playfully, "So, the Ice Queen is soft on the inside. There is not point in denying it, Yuna. I saw those tears. Water is supposed to be my element."

@KoL@TheWindel

[Flamelord]

Miyako had had a good night after the primordial hunt. There had been no other attacks, and she was able to take the ensuing time to relax and catch up in her studies for the school here. With that, she was confident that she would be able to keep up with schoolwork and cement herself near the middle of the pack come tomorrow. Magical girl powers were useful like that, and she took advantage of them to her own benefit. And who said she wasn't using her powers?

Come morning, she headed for school at her regular time. She had her own bag, as well as Sora's, and she was turning her mind to handling this situation. Admittedly it wasn't much of one, but she had to come up with a way to pass this bag back without arousing suspicion somehow. The last thing she needed was for her secret to get out, to say the least.

Arriving at the room though, her blood practically froze as she saw Sora chatting with the Contractor happily, and petting him no less. Well then, there went that plan. To say she was amused would be incredibly far from the truth, and now she quickly raced to deal with this situation as she walked over.

"Here, I found this on my way home," she said with a nod as she passed over Sora's bag, before looking to the Contractor with her expression morphing into a frown. "Not to knock your strategy or anything Contractor, but do you really think adding a new girl to the six we've already got here is really gonna make a difference in the long run?" For now she'd focus on that, since the chances of her keeping her secret were practically minimal at this point.

She just hoped that it worked out. Otherwise this could get ugly.

[TheWendil]

Akame was a little concerned about Yuna's apparent and random act of crying. She didn't take the other Magical Girl to be weak but she did know that Yuna had some scars from left over from her past. Perhaps she was merely reflecting on those old sins that led up to her becoming enthralled in the world of magic? Whatever the case, Akame heated the area around the three slightly with a rising temperature, just enough to keep them warm on this chilly day.

Yes, she was using her magic for a more mundane task but it wasn't like there was any long lasting consequence to exhausting their Soul Gems, right? At least, there was nothing they hadn't seen before besides the usual fatigue on their physical bodies. Even so, she was well aware of how dark her Gem was slowly becoming.

"The others should be in school," she told Yuna, still puzzled on why things had to be discussed now when classes were about to begin. "At least, Nanako and Miyako are. Izumi and Elise are probably lounging around somewhere and...that reminds me, Rea, how was your contact with the intruder last night?"

Akame waited a while for Rose to explain before she went into detail with her own encounter with Amara. There was no doubt now that the active productivity of Primordials here in Miso City along with this Magical Girl killer were somehow linked in a way. Or at least, that's what appeared to be going on.

[MarsAdept]

Rose looked calm and focused as she began to explain, "Akame, I made contact with a magical girl that introduced herself as Kasumii. I am unsure of her exact powers, but she seemed to like books. She did not want to fight. I tried to provoke a fight when we met, but she did not take the bait. A good sign. Elise was also there to provide support. Kasumii insisted she was not the killer, but had actually been investigating similar killings of Magical girls just like Yuna." Rose felt the air around the group warm up. It honestly made Rose relax, she disliked the cold.

@TheWindel

[KoL]

Yuna Yukino

"Them we should call them here, the other magical girls, I mean. Or find a place where we can meet." Yuna said to Akame just as Rose arrived and delivered her teasing commentary, Yuna knew that she wasn't ill intentioned, thus the frost magical girl replied accordingly "I can't help it. Where do you think all this snow came from?" Yuna then gestured to the snow "Don't they say that rain is tears of the angels? Well, to me they only come as snow." It wasn't one of her best jokes, given the morbid implications it had, but still Yuna hoped that Rose would understabd that she was well.

When Akame began to heat the air around them, Yuna said "Thank you, Akame, but you know that cold can hurt me, don't you?" Nevertheless, she moved a little closer to the other girls just as Rose was talking about Kasumii "So there was someone else looking for the assassin, huh? I guess that I wasn't so far off the truth then."

"Anyway, the Contractor said to me yesterday that something called inverted rainbow will happen in forty hours. No matter what it is, we can't let it happen. I have bad feeling about it"

Hitomi Sora

"Thank you, Miyako-chan!" Sora said as Miyako handed her bag to her. "Can I ask you something?" The small girl said to get Miyako's attention, before continuing "Miyako-chan, when I lost this bag I was being attacked by a monster, and then this small one came and made an offer to me, but I didn't had the time to accept it before someone who said that she was a magical girl came and saved me. Do you know anything about this?" Sora tried to ask it in a roundabout way, at first and see what Miyako's answer was going to be.

Meanwhle, the Contractor stepped away from Sora and padded ligtly on his way to Miyako's shoulder, rubbing against her cheeks, he said "It's nothing like this, Miyako Komatsu! Hitomi Sora seems to have a big potential to her, though we can't explain why. That's why her help will probably prove invaluable when the Inverted Rainbow comes."

[Ariamis]

Elise woke up with a groan. She broke her vow last night and took a couple of drinks. She felt a bit unwell, but her hangover was nowhere nearly as extreme as the morning after the night she spent with Rose and Izumi. She was actually a bit disappointed that Rose went somewhere else to crash, and Elise realized she may have formed a bit of a bond with her; she wasn't the type to mingle with other folks due to her feisty nature. Ever since she came to the city she found herself forming bonds with other magical girls, people she would have been ready to kill if she ever went too far in her bloodlust. Fortunately not, since she understood the value to buddies like Rose or Yuna.

She returned back to the circular room to see she left the anime she was watching while tipsy still running through the night, and turned it off. Then she changed back into her trusty red clothes, and sighed in relief; she felt confident wearing them, like they had some sentimental value to them.
Once she was done eating what snacks she could find from the kitchen, Elise teleported out of the building as a measure of avoiding the many traps Rose set around her cave, and headed towards the school. She wasn't about to attend any classes, but she knew it was the hang-out place for all the girls, and she didn't feel like wandering around the city this early in the morning. Once there she took a post on the tallest branch of the tallest tree, looking out for anyone she might recognize.

[Flamelord]

Miyako grunted but otherwise didn't do anything to stop the Contractor as he jumped onto her shoulder and rubbed against her cheek, as if he was really a cat and not some weird alien that enjoyed insulting her species at every opportunity. Which might be quite similar to cats now that she thought about it, but she let it go instead as she focused on what he was saying.

"I was thinking more in terms of training," she replied calmly, arms folded as she looked at the Contractor. "I'm not sure we're going to have the time to make her a decent magical girl in time to make a difference." Then what he said registered, earning a look of confusion from Miyako as she tried to figure out what this term was. "Wait, 'Inverted Rainbow? What's that?" She didn't expect an answer, but she could try.

With that said, she looked back to Sora, ready to address her question. "A bit," she admitted with a bit of chagrin, rubbing the back of her head. "It's kinda complicated." And wasn't that the truth. At least there was a girl here, unlike her own Contracting, when it had simply been her and the bunnycat on her shoulder.

[TheWendil]

“Inverted Rainbow?”

Akame didn’t want to feel like she was being glanced over, but the Contractor usually told her of these things and she had to stare at Yuna incredulously for a moment. Not that she didn’t believe her friend since she knew Yuna would never joke about their business as Magical Girls. Whatever it was, it probably had something to do with the supposed Primordial nest, which made Akame question all the more why the Contractor did not approach her first.

“I suppose I can gather everyone now but don’t expect many to show up Yuna. Like I said, most of us have actual school to attend and I hope that whatever this is about is worth it,” Akame said, trying to not let her irritation show in her voice.

Quickly, she sent out a message to all of the girls she knew didn’t go to school first. That had to be Amara, Elise, and Izumi. She motioned for Rose to contact Kasumii since they had a better understanding of each other. She saved the others, Miyako, Nanako, and Chiyo for last, telling them that they would relay any information they would miss if they couldn’t make it.

“Right then. Lead the way Yuna.”

[MarsAdept]

Rose nodded in acknowledgement when Akame told her to contact Kasumii. Rose did not take it as an order from her superior. Rose was just the most logical to invite the girl. Rose took a few steps away from the group then held her soul gem up like a mic as she called out to Kasumii, "Good morning, Ms. Kasumii, this is Rea. I cannot seem to pinpoint where you are, so i hope you can hear this. Please come to the high school. There is going to be a meeting of magical girls in order to deal with what we spoke about last night. Please make haste but don't exhaust yourself."

Rose then called out to Elise, "Elise, Stop playing around and come to a meeting at the school. We have gotten some information that we need to share. I know you are not into girly things but we will be discussing something called the Inverted Rainbow. Make haste." Rose knew she did not need to invite Elise, but she felt responsible for Elise. Once finished, She hid her soul gem again and followed Akame and Yuna to the meeting place.

@Little_ninja@Ariamis

[Little_ninja]

In the silent library, Kasumii was silently reading. However, she could not focus on the book in front of her. The information from yesterday, the lack of a soul gem being found. Tracing her memories, there was no track of a soul gem on any of the girls. Are they targeting soul gems? Why? What use do they have for them? Additionally, they are targeting corrupt ones from the looks of it. That would explain why there are two methods. If they are already corrupt and vulnerable, and if they are "clean" and ready to fight, they would go about it differently. Am I missing something else? Am I even on the right track? I wonder what Yuna thinks about this. Kasumii thought before Rose had sent her a message via soul gem.

"Good morning, Ms. Kasumii, this is Rea. I cannot seem to pinpoint where you are, so i hope you can hear this. Please come to the high school. There is going to be a meeting of magical girls in order to deal with what we spoke about last night. Please make haste but don't exhaust yourself."

@MarsAdept

Holding up her own she simply replied, "Okay.", putting it back and getting up from her seat. She had to replace the book she was reading before she could leave. Guess I might be able to ask her sooner than I thought Kasumii thought, as she started to disappear, in a corner of the library where no-one was around. As a mist, she moved close to the school. She could identify it due to the magical girls signatures.

Forming a physical form once again, she started to make her way to the front gates of the high school. Unsure of where she was meant to meet the girls, she decided to wait for them at the front gate.