BrokenPromise

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

The Even Better [IC] Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay Filler Arc Featuring A Spinning Bottle And Some Movies.

_{@Ariamis@AtomicNut@Ponn@FamishedPants@Card Captor@twave}

Faith was simply overjoyed to be surrounded by all of her friends. Connie, Mia, Hildiebell, Hilaria, and even her mother was here! And they had friends and even they had friends. Being part of something so large was almost enough to put Faith in a euphoric state. She sampled the food, she conversed, and for a moment the dread of Lotus’s death had subsided.

”It’s not important~!” Faith reiterated to Hildie, who inquired about her run-in with the twins. ”What have you been up to?“

”Hey!” Mother pointed at the bottle. ”Quit stalling the game and spin!”

Faith laughed. ”Seems it’s my turn! Tell me how you’ve been when I get back~!“ Faith kneeled down beside the bottle and gave it a spin. And it landed on…

”Alex again!?”

”R-really?“ Faith was not oblivious to Alex’s outburst earlier when Ronin kissed Lily. ”Well, I guess it’s going to be another game of truth or dare for Alex.“
”What are you, straight or something?”

”Hm?“ Faith turned her head, only to find herself pulling her head back when her mother’s face was practically against her skin. ”I-Is something wrong?“

”You heard me! I raised you in a progressive environment!” She pointed at Alex. ”Everybody else is doing it, you might as well too!”

”I-If you’re sure.“

Faith felt a bit uncomfortable as she approached Alex. He seemed kind of gruff, and in a relationship he was serious about. But maybe he just felt left out because mother hadn’t kissed him? She would have preferred the bottle pointed her towards anyone else. But it didn’t have to be a kiss on the lips or anything serious.

”Pardon me, Lily. I’m just going to, um, maybe if I stand over here?“ With Alexander and Lily so close, it was hard to maneuver around them. Then the corners of Faith’s lips curled into a smile.

”Hold on now, Lily spun on me before leaving~!“

She stuck her head between the two love struck teens and pushed their faces into her cheeks. ”Oh yes! I can feel the warmth of their bond passing through me and into each other! Oh ho ho ho~!“

Her mother closed her eyes and groaned. ”Alex looks busy. Did anyone else wanna spin the bottle? Or are we gunna watch some shitty movies?”

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Looks like all the weapons are twice as stronk now. Does that mean th ether staff is a +2 now?

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

The heavy blade specifies it's 2 handed and offers retarded stat bonuses, which Is why it can't be equipped with other weapons I think. But if it applies to every weapon that would be kind of weird. Well, weird depending on the weapon. Guess we'll find out.

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

@FamishedPants@Mateotis@Majoras End

Wild week, But I got something up.

On the upside, this part is more chatty than figuring out stuff, so feel free to just roleplay and we'll see how it goes. The good shit is coming.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Mariette & Oros

‘… Wait, our banner is shaped like a heart?’

*Draws gun* ”Always has been.”

— Mariette & Oros

Oros and Mariette continued to stare in the direction of the subway. But there was no explosion, just the gradual reversal of the BAMF’s energies.

”Back in my day, killing a boss at least netted you a big explosion. There wasn’t even an interesting cut scene after this one.” Oros tried to put both of har hands on her hips, but one of her arms was missing so that was kind of impossible. ”Guess we’ll just have to make our own.” She turned to face Mariette. ”So Mary! Whatcha doing?” She approached the girl. ”You didn’t drop me in the ol’ pit of darkness. What’s up with that?”

Mariette sighed a bit. She really wanted to go in there and collect some more crystal, but if there was a build-up of energy as long as she was in there that may be a bad idea. In any case, there was an Oros approaching her, asking why she’d not been dropped into a hole of darkness… ‘Would you like to be dropped into the hole of darkness?’ Mariette asked, peering over at the girl with a mildly curious expression.

”Well yea! I’d love to finish fighting that thing! Along with anything else you’ve trapped in there!” She boxed the air. It looked a little weird with one hand. ”Of course, I’d rather get inside your hole of darkness.” Mariette wasn’t sure she had ever seen someone’s smile get so wide.

Mariette gave Oros a weird look. She exceedingly did not get it. Was she referring to her mansion as being her “hole of darkness”? ‘Er. Right. No, you don’t want to go there. I put things that’s going to be sacrificed to my patron in there. Unless you wish to be sacrificed, stay out,’ Mariette told her, but the thought had crossed her mind to stay quiet about it and just let Oros unknowingly sacrifice herself. She’d eventually decided against it, though. ‘I collect monsters to keep my patron happy. He takes magical girls, too, but I’m currently trying to avoid being a public menace, so I’m sticking to monsters,’ Mariette says her official explanation to her actions, framing it as a bit of a joke.

”Unfortunate, but I wouldn’t want to tick off ass n’gav by killing off all the sacrifices you collected.” Oros continued to step closer to Mariette. ”Now what do I get for helping you with all this?”

Mariette had to take a moment to look a bit confused. ‘If you mean for the bounty, I assume you will be paid for the successful joint dealing of the monster, same as I…’ she told, but… ‘… Or are you asking because you want to help me out in the future, too?’ Mariette asked, confused.

Oros didn’t stop walking towards Mariette until she was right in front of her. If she extended her hand, she could touch her. ”The bounty is old news now, the grand magistrate will dole out coins for that in the future I’m sure. Or perhaps it’s already happened? Liquid time is such a strange thing.” She raised her hand and placed it on her chest. ”But I was doing more than just collecting a bounty out there. I offered to protect you from all those shitsicles, and you made use of me. You netted yourself a few sacrifices out of the deal. I feel I deserve compensation for this service.” she tapped on her chest with her finger. ”Would you mind doing something for me?”

‘Oh…’ Right, yeah, there’d been such an offer. Mariette hadn’t promised any form of reward for that, but she supposed it merited consideration. Mariette turned towards Oros with a business-ready face and prepared herself a bit, the closeness making her subconsciously prepare her tentacles in her shadow. ‘Okay. What would you like me to do?’

”Well.” Oros leaned closer. She inhaled the air around Mariette one more time before letting her breath flow out of her mouth. ”What I’m about to ask you to do is something I haven’t gotten to enjoy in a long time. It’s something adults do as often as they can, to the point it becomes something of a ritual.” She took a lock of Mariette’s hair and started to play with it, looping it around her finger and allowing it to slide off. ”But it also requires trust from both sides. I’d like to think we have that after our fight together.” She closed her eyes as if remembering some distant memory, only for them to open again moments later. ”I’d like to teach you how to best utilize your tentacles. Would you like to do that with me?”

Mariette winced back a little when Oros leaned in. Something adults do? She looked a bit in alarm at what Oros was doing with a lock of her hair, and then continued to listen to her words, and upon Oros reaching the end-

Said tentacles sprouted out of Mariette’s shadow and made an attempt to grab Oros and lift her away from Mariette, or otherwise just make her back off if they didn’t get a grip of her. Mariette maintained a significantly alarmed and worried expression and summoned back Bunny to clutch him, looking in slight fright at Oros past her defensive tentacles. There were many things Mariette didn’t understand, but there was an unmistakable feeling in her chest.

This girl was dangerous.

But it seemed that Mariette’s tentacles were enough to lift Oros into the air and restrain her. Or if Oros’s maniacal laughter was anything to go by, it was something she was fine with being subjected to. ” That’s a yes then? Good!” Oros was splayed out like an upside-down Y, with her only arm pointing straight up into the air. ”Surprise tentacles are always a good thing. But you’ve watched me fight, so you know that this won’t stop me.” She gestured towards the scabbard at her side. ”I can draw that blade with more than just my arm. If I were a real opponent you’d want to remove that from my person.” Her limbs twitched, the tentacles pulled against her flesh. ”Mary, Your real goal is to make it so that I can’t even think about escape. The body and mind are interlinked. You can’t control a mind, but you can control a body. Limit their options and they’ll conform to your will.” She looked around herself. ”Remove my sword, or at least contain it. Also, try pulling my legs directly outward. Like I’m doing split. You’ll probably dislocate my legs, but it’ll make escape that much more difficult.”

‘Uh…’ Mariette breathed out, a bit confused. She knew how to neutralize a person, that hadn’t been the goal of the tentacles. Still, she felt safer with Oros over there now… With a frown she had one of the tentacles snap around the blade and pulled it away from Oros. Then, okay, guess she wanted that? Fine, then. She had her tentacles grip Oros legs and pull them to make her do a split with significant force. She wasn’t sure why.

”Yea, I can feel the burn.” Oros was looking at her legs, which were being pulled further and further outward. ”You’re stretching my ligaments to their limit, possibly my tendons too. I’m not a doctor so I dunno all that shit.” One of her legs twitched. ”This would be immensely painful, normally, probably”

Oros looked around herself. ”You could also wrap one around my neck if you wanted to. Not all magical girls need to breathe, but it’s still a vulnerable area you can use to get more control over someone. We can also just pretend it’s there, you’re doing fine so far.” A sly smile crossed her face. ”But you need to play with your target's emotions. It’s the only way to be sure you really have them trapped.” Her eyes trailed down the front of her own body. ”A woman’s body is precious. There are certain areas where they don’t like to be touched. I trust you know what those areas are?”

Mariette abstained from pulling a tentacle around Oros’ neck, wincing a little at the thought. She had in mind she’d have to knock someone out anyway in order to prevent them from using their specialization, but that aside. Then… target a woman’s emotions? … Certain places where they don’t like to be touched… A light blush appeared on Mariette’s cheeks, and she took a heavy breath. ‘… I do…’ she said, with some awkwardness in her tone of voice. Then, she held her hand forward to command her tentacles, and…!

And her tentacles chased into Oros’ armpits, waist and bottom of her feet, others still holding her restrained so she couldn’t escape while her tentacles proceeded to wiggle and attempt to mercilessly tickle her to death…!

For someone who was getting tickled within an inch of their life, Oros didn’t look to be too phased by it. Every once and a while she would twitch or wiggle her toes, but she seemed otherwise unphased by the attack. She wasn’t smiling though, so it must have been working. ”Did I stumble into Deviantart, or is this a Touhou fanfiction?” She sighed. ”Well, that works. Time for the final blow!” Her grin returned. ”Now that you’ve entirely broken your target's will, you need to enslave them. And the only way to do that is by giving them a kiss! Gotta be on the lips. Really screws with what’s left of their mind, trust me.”

Mariette looked downright confused that her vicious assault had failed to spur any reaction. She knew she was targeting the girl with the most atrocious of tortures… so why didn’t it have any effect? The portal girl frowned as Oros said some more words she didn’t understand, until it was declared it was time for the final blow. ‘A-a kiss…?’ Mariette winced, looking in alarm at the restrained girl some distance ahead of her. A kiss, really…? W-well, Mariette could imagine that it would be pretty confusing…

There was the faintest stir in front of Oros’ face for a second that could have implied a portal was going to open…

‘… I’ll… take your word for it,’ a somewhat blushing Mariette said, shaking her head over there, deciding she would not take part in that, squeezing Bunny to her chest with one arm.

The corners of Oros’s lips started to drop. ”Are you shitting me?” Her eyebrows settled over her eyelids. ”You’re going to give me blue vulva? Is that it?”

‘Blue v…?’ Mariette frowned and looked confused again. ‘… I’d rather not kiss… Isn’t kissing supposed to be for…’ Mariette said, squeezing Bunny before she mumbled something unintelligible, looking away from Oros awkwardly.

”For what? Spit it out already!” Oros growled. ”What, you got a girlfriend or-” Her eyebrows shot upward. ”You do don’t you? The hell is even going on?” The katana floated in front of Oros and showed her some images. ”Wha?” The flat of the sword hovered in front of Mariette’s face. In its shean, she could see a moment Mariette had thought was lost to time. She was kissing a magical girl in Justine’s fortress. That one girl with the magically healing kisses: Nancy. ”Who is this woman?”

Mariette winced a bit at the growl. No, she didn’t have a girlfriend. Mariette had sort of expected that Oros could return the sword to herself without trouble but…

‘Wha…’ Mariette looked a bit surprised. ‘… How could you possibly… see that…?’ she asked, in honest alarm. Not because it was an embarrassing scene, but because the existence of that kind of scrying was potentially outrageously ruinous.

”Oh right, I didn’t tell you about that!” Oros mood seemed to entirely change when asked about her sword. ”That’s Endless Eclipse, he’s a gift from my patron. He lets me see all kinds of shit.” The sword spun in the air. ”I figured you didn’t want to kiss me because you had a girlfriend, so I just asked ol’ Eclipse here ‘who’s the last girl Mariette kissed?’ and I got this image of you going in for the kill, haha, rawr!” She flexed her fingers like a tiger’s claw. ”I think there are a few limitations in how it works, like if you had kissed in a place I was unfamiliar with, or we never met, it probably would have been a lot more vague. Like, maybe it would have shown you kissing a silhouette or some shit. Fortunately I know a bit about you and I’ve been to Justine’s old crib.” Oros chuckled, then sighed. ”Oh well.” She blinked. ”So um, are you going to tell me, or?”

That was… an outrageously dangerous power. The kind of power that could so easily destroy Mariette’s whole operation, if she got the sense to ask about it. So…

‘… Yes, I was going to tell you about it, as soon as… whatever we were just doing was over,’ Mariette said, having her tentacles place down Oros again, sliding off her and back into Mariette’s shadow. Best make sure she never has reason to ask.

‘Once upon a time, Justine von Visceral had a plan to conduct a ritual to rid this world of love. She killed numerous members of Penrose to do so and made an attempt on my life, after I had unknowingly been used to accomplish the preparations of the plan. I proceeded to assist in her defeat in the Overcity. But perhaps, you already know this?’ Mariette asked, with a slightly tilted head. ‘Now she’s back, and I am expecting her to attack my Interdimensional Home when she has sufficiently prepared to do so. I am somewhat gathering allies to resist the attack…’ she said, then peered at Oros’ blade. ‘Tell me. If you desired to find Justine telling someone about her plan, or to find her telling someone when she’ll strike, would you be able to?’ Mariette asked. Because… really powerful scrying.

Oros shook out all of her limbs and stood up. There was a crystal growth on her shoulder. Much like the crystal BAMF they fought, it seemed that Oros was going to try regrowing her arm. ”I’m familiar with Justine, yes.” Oros walked towards her blade. ”Endless Eclipse works better when you’re hunting for visual clues. If she told someone the time, you’re shit out of luck. But we might be able to see who she talked to, or if she wrote a specific date as part of a letter.” Oros chuckled. ”Assuming this all happened in a place I can divine. The grand magistrate is pretty good at making sure critical information like that never gets found.” She picked up her katana. ”Oh, I should also note that beyond my own familiarity with a person or situation, it’s also helpful if others have witnessed what I’m trying to search for. One of the reasons your kiss was so easy to find was because forty-something girls were watching it. It wasn’t a secret. If Justine gave a resounding speech to a collection of magical girls, we might get something.”

Oros peered into the blade. Justine’s image showed up. The vampire opened her mouth to speak when Oros lowered her sword.

”Hey!” Oros pointed at Mariette. ”Do you think I’m a simp or something? This wasn’t what we were talking about! That girl you locked lips with.” She pointed at her hair. ”I have pink hair too! Do you prefer bob cuts? Is that it?” Oros sprouted a tentacle that grabbed her hair and held it up for her katana.

Mariette nodded to the explanation, inwardly relieved. With those limitations, Oros would be hard-pressed to discover certain sensitive information. And, even if she could find the location and time, she'd be hard-pressed to find out what was actually going on. Still, seemed like Oros wasn't going to let the matter of the kiss go…

‘At the time you viewed, I had depleted my mana in battle. The girl I kissed had the ability to replenish the mana of those she kissed. I decided it was not the time to be picky about who I kiss, and had my mana replenished in case I needed it, as we were behind enemy lines. … That's it,’ Mariette explained, a bit perturbed that she actually had to explain that kiss to someone.

Oros held her sword against her hair a bit longer before releasing a resigned sigh. ”I see.” Her eyes were cast at the ground. ”The only reason why it happened at all was because of extreme circumstances. You were in danger.” Oros lifted her head. She was grinning from ear to ear. ”A bit like now, really.”

Mariette frowned a little bit. ‘… A little bit like now, yes,’ she replied, a reply that worked regardless of which of the two possible meanings Oros could have meant that Mariette could think of.

”Now that’s more like it.” Oros’s crystal stump had turned into a crystal upper arm, and was still growing. Without breaking eye contact with Mariette, she sheathed her sword and held her hand up to her face. A bottle of “Pizzazz Breath” appeared in her hand, which she promptly shot into her mouth before shoving it into her clothes. Then she tiptoed over to Mariette so that they couldn’t have been more than a foot away from each other. She took a moment to examine Mariette’s facial features before relaxing her face. The crazy smile was gone, and the miko appeared to be in a state of tranquility. She closed her eyes and moved her face closer to Mariette’s, cupping her lips for a kiss as she did so. She only came about ninety percent of the way however.

Mariette had a bit-longer-than-a-split-second decision to make. _{unlike her player that took better part of a week}

When Oros closed her eyes, Mariette silently stepped aside. She’d just avoid that for this moment.

‘I’m afraid that’s not a reward I want to give out ahead of time,’ Mariette said, breathing out. ‘Kisses are special things, after all.’

Oros’s eyes shot open and she turned to Mariette. ”Excuse me?” She stood up straight. ”So you gave me your phone number, but your intention this entire time was just-” Her entire body trembled. Mariette found herself taking a step backwards all on her own. ”You can’t just play with my heart!” A low gurgling sound in Oros’s throat grew louder until it became a growl. Then just a moment later, it turned into a roar. ”You’ve tempted me, there’s no going back now!”

Oros lunged For Mariette with both arms extended. Her new arm had just finished healing, and was ready for a test drive.

‘??????’ Mariette looked positively confused as she backed away, her tentacles lashing out to constrict and stop Oros’s assault, with more force the closer she got, all the while Mariette tried to manifest a portal underneath her feet to get several blocks away from this attack for now…!

The tentacles did not stop Oros for long. It was a simple matter for her to draw her sword and cleave through them. The second or so they bought Mariette was enough as she was able to escape through the portal moments before Oros’s outstretched arm could grab her.

When Mariette was safely away from Oros, she opened a few portals around the girl so that she could talk to her from a safe distance. But she noticed something strange. The light around Oros was becoming distorted, and a similar anomaly was happening just a few feet over Mariette’s head.

‘I…’ Mariette started, before she once again tried to drop herself through a portal to an apartment some distance away to avoid the anomaly, her tentacles regrouping to try to deal with the next “attack”. Mariette was still really confused. If she succeeded now, next she'd try to open a path to her Interdimensional Home, just to hide in for a couple minutes.

Gravity didn’t seem to be working right, which made it difficult for Mariette to fall into the portal. But the light disturbance over her head went away. Under her eyepatch, she could see Oros sniffing the air. Something had distracted her.

”Reinforcements? Seriously?” Oros shrugged her shoulders. ”Guess I went in too hard. Whatever.” A black shadow opened up behind Oros.

Mariette’s answer to not falling would be tentacles grabbing onto the other side of the portal and pulling herself through manually, although it’d take a slight moment before realizing. After having gotten partly through and then hearing Oros mention reinforcements, Mariette dared to peek out a bit, significantly alarmed at how it seemed like more than a few could suddenly pursue her past portals all of a sudden.

‘… I didn’t… mean to play with your heart…? I’m sorry?’ Mariette tried to say, but she wasn’t really sure what it was she was apologizing for and as such the words sounded a bit more like confused questions than actual apologies.

Oros pointed at one of the tiny portals that were observing her. ”W-why don’t you just go hide until the next season rolls around, huh?” Oros walked into the shadow as it collapsed on her. There was no trace of her left, and while Mariette was an expert at locating things, she had no idea where she had gone.

‘…’ A very confused Mariette was left standing and squeezing Bunny as Oros vanished… who knows where. Huh. That had been… a moderately disastrous attempt at making an ally. She didn’t understand what had gone wrong…

She’d later go home and tell the others at the mansion about this event, leading to Jelena laughing in her face and a couple others looking on awkwardly as Eli led Mariette aside to explain the alternate possible meaning of sharing phone numbers like that…

---

Meanwhile, on a far off dimension, Oros sat in the ruins of some long abandoned building. Behind her was the carcass of a monster she had recently slain. Something covered in scales and talons, but it was hard to identify. The creature had been decapitated, and there was a gaping hole in it’s chest. Oros was tearing out its ribs one at a time and cleaning the meat off of them.

”*Chomp* Can’t believe it.” Oros muttered between bites. ”Stupid girl, *Chew* stealing Mariette’s first kiss. Stupid *Swallow* reinforcements, always showing up at the *Chomp* wrong time. Stupid *Burp* magistrate, cucking me at every turn.” She used her sleeve as a handkerchief and blew into it. She sounded like the horn on a ship before it left shore.

---

...One awkward run-in with Amaryllis, Mika, and Faith later…

...In case anyone was curious about the time frame...

---

The Even Better Horror Cosplay Or...os

_{@Ariamis@AtomicNut@Ponn@FamishedPants@Card Captor@twave}

”That so Alex? I didn’t realise you were into- Oh, Lily left.”

Oros noticed that the game of spin the bottle froze as soon as Shoggy embraced Shane. While it was understandable, it was always a shame when a man was too weak to take all of his girl’s kisses.

”Gotta keep things moving...” Oros hadn’t gotten her kiss yet, after all.

That was when Shoggy bumped the bottle, causing it to spin and land on Ronin!

”We have a winner!” Oros approached Ronin, ”Alright you! Now get in there AND PUCKER UP!” She placed a hand on Ronin’s back and gave her a firm shove towards Shoggy. Perhaps too firm for one as small as Ronin. ”And remember to spin the bottle when you’re done!”

Faith only giggled. ”I’m glad everyone’s having so much fun! I’ll have to talk to Ronin once she’s done with that other girl. I had no idea that was her~!” She turned to Hildie. ”Hildiebell! I um, I ran into some of your folks earlier… B-but that’s not important! You’re well I take it?“

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

*Sad toothy girl noises*

— Trixy

It was a rainy day out, not that it would effect Trixy’s scrolling much.

She was swiping her finger across her phone, reading all of Betty’s old messages. Most of them were one or two sentence responses, usually encouraging words about something Trixy had posted. The ones that weren’t were positive messages aimed at other members of Cradle. Betty got mad and flustered all the time, but when she was online, she made sure that everyone saw the best side of her personality. Trixy consumed these messages like popcorn. This had to be the third time she had read everything. She was appearing offline, so no one else would bother her.

Trixy was able to get over the rave. She fired on Mariette, she couldn’t save Cindy, she couldn’t stop Elvira. Trixy could accept that she had erred in these tasks, either for the right reasons or because the tasks were simply larger than her small organization. But Trixy was in the rave when Betty was captured. She was dancing with some Beacon girls when she was abducted. It felt like there was something she could have done. Even if there wasn’t.

Unlike everything else that happened that night, Betty’s disappearance affected Trixy’s life. Something that was there was now missing and incomplete.

The doorbell rang.

Trixy groaned. ”I’ll be right there!”

As Trixy walked to the door, she wondered who was waiting for her. Perhaps that puppet girl was actually an assassin all along? Maybe the Mint had located her home? Maybe Dusty hadn’t been killed and was returning? Yea, fat chance of that one coming true. She was already transformed, and had her rifle at the ready. Trixy pulled open the door, keeping her rifle out of sight.

”…Maria?”

Standing on the other side of the door was Maria, or ‘Remedy’ as she was more frequently called. She wasn’t wearing wearing much, considering the cold weather. Just a tank and jeans. She had to be freezing.

”I did not expect it to rain.” She was trembling.

”Did you at least expect it to winter? Come in!” Trixy placed her hand on the girls’s back and practically shoved her inside before shutting the door. ”What are you doing out this-” Maria started to remove her top. ”W-what are you doing!?”

”This shirt is wet.” She waved her hand over it. ”You can see through it. Any modesty it might have preserved is no longer present. I do not find it comfortable to wear when it is saturated with cold rain water.” Maria was stoic most of the time, but it was evident she was annoyed with having to explain herself. ”Do you have something else I could wear?”

”Yea.” Trixy extended her hand, and blue tank like the one she was wearing appeared in Trixy’s outstretched hand. ”Also, I couldn’t help but notice you’re wearing a bikini?”

Maria had finished removing her tank and was pulling the one Trixy provided for her over her head. ”Well, I am a water girl. I wear a swimsuit at all times. It’s not quite as comfortable as underwear, but it’s less awkward if a fight breaks out.” She tucked her shirt into her pants. ”The kitchen looks nice. You’ve updated the cook wear since I was last here.”

”Yea! It’s all garage sale finds, but it’s good stuff!”

”Mind if I look at your room?”

”Uh, I mean…”

---

The two girls sat on the edge of Trixy’s bed and looked at the poster covered wall.

”I forgot that I made this place a man cave.” Trixy was twiddling her thumbs. ”It’s not much to look at. Well, if you’re a girl.”

”Swimsuit models are pretty tame by today’s standards.” Her eyes locked onto the poster of a bear mascot. ”I never put two and two together, but your cal sign is based off the Penrose Middle School mascot, correct?”

”Yup!” Trixy giggled. ”I spent a lot of time dressed as Trix the bear. I attended all the basketball games. Penrose Middle School had a good team.”

”Did you play any basketball?”

”Me?” She shook her head. ”I was a bit old to be playing for the team, as well as faculty. I wasn’t especially athletic anyway. Too old to be a player, and too ugly to be a cheerleader. But my spirit was strong enough to shine through a mascot’s suit.”

”You’re one hell of a magical girl anyway.” Maria held up her hand. There was a wooden band wrapped around her finger with a heart shaped knot on it. ”Do you still have yours?”

Trixy raised her hand. She, too had a wooden band. Hers looked more like a lumpy mass. ”I’ve been hiding it in my handbag, but when I’m not on a mission I wear it at all other times.”

Trixy, Maria, and Blair were the three cradle agents left to defend Veronica’s foothold in Penrose. They weren’t enough to stop the Ascendancy or the monster invasions, but they persisted. They were quite the team. Blair had her physical might, Trixy had her strategies, and Maria was there to patch them up when they got hurt. Trixy would often joke about what a great team they were, and went on to give them all nicknames based on their role on the team. Blair was the arm, Trixy was the brain, and Maria was the heart. Together they were the trinity force. She made crude wooden rings for all of them. Trixy didn’t know if Blair ever wore hers, but Maria and Trixy wore theirs as often as possible.

”The trinity force lives on!”

”Heh, yea.” The maid looked between her feet.

”Which is why it surprised me that you wanted to shut us out.” Maria’s eyes became sharp and focused. ”You weren’t very subtle about it. You never log off.”

”I’ve just been appearing offline. I wanted to be by myself initially, and I just forgot to turn myself back online. Did you come here to check up on me?”

”You could say that.”

”You didn’t then?”

”Checking up on you implies that I didn’t know how you were feeling.” Maria folded har hands in her lap. ”I wanted to cheer you up.”

”Oh.”

”But you seem to be doing a lot better than I thought you were.” She smiled. ”How did the date with Samantha go?”

Trixy sighed. ”It went really well until she started spanking me.”

”She’s a Dominatrix then?”

”Wah?”

”Nothing.” She shook her head. ”I also came over here to talk to you about a possible job.”

”Doesn’t Veronica handle that?”

”Normally, but she’s left and has since stated that she doesn’t want me handing anything like this.” She raised her hand. ”It’s just a guard job. You probably won’t see any action. I’d hand it off to Eliza or Silhouette, but it seemed more like a Trixy thing.”

”Sure. What are the details?”

---

Once again,the cradle agents had been gathered in Veronica’s interdimensional mansion. Most of the usual girls were here. Samantha, Eliza, Maura, Tetrad, and Trixy were all present. As were Blair and Remedy, but they hardly interacted with anyone so they might as well not even exist.

Trixy sighed. ”Betty...”

Betty’s seat remained empty, and Veronica’s seat was occupied by a white and red fur ball. 

”We have some new blood though. Well, new to the table anyway.” Tetrad patted Ronin’s head. ”We recovered Binky, right?”

Ronin reached her hand up at being addressed and waved it to whatever onlooking crowd she might have, then took the hand down and focused on listening to what people were saying.

”My operations will be discussed in a bit.” The furry creature cast its gaze on everyone. As cute as it looked, it still had Veronica’s presence. ”Before we begin, does anyone have any concerns or information they wish to share?”

Since she already spoke to Veronica at an earlier point in time, Samantha shook her head. “Not on my end.” Sam did cast what could technically maybe sorta be called a sympathetic look at Trixy, who seemed to still be suffering from the loss of Betty. 

"Not a lot to note on our end. However..." Eliza spoke up, noticing Trixy's expression. "I've attempted to scry on Betty's whereabouts, see how she was doing."

The maid looked up from her slump and nodded at Eliza. ”I hope you find her soon.” She smiled. 

”Nothing significant to report then? good.” the critter hopped up onto the table. ”I believe I have discussed the possibility of Trixy taking over Cradle operations in my stead. I have since decided that such a thing would not be wise.” Veronica looked at Trixy. ”Operators function best when they are not in the field.”

Trixy hung her head. ”I was afraid you’d say that. But it’s understandable.” She shifted in her seat. ”It’s not because of the Mariette thing is it? I’m still sore from that punishment.”

”Hold your questions.” Veronica’s eyes flared red. ”I have assigned a new operator to Cradle, one who will look over things in my stead. You may have some reservations about this individual given that you’ve never met them. However, I wish for you to treat them the same way you would treat me. Her words are my words, her goals are my goals. I am the mother of the cradle, she is the wet nurse who will look after you in my absence.” The critter looked directly at Sil. ”If you have any questions you don’t feel comfortable asking her, you may ask Tetrad. She knows more about the situation than anyone else.”

The creature’s eyes went dark. It sunk into its own shadow which melted into mist. Everyone got the feeling it would be a while before they heard Veronica’s voice again.

Then at Veronica’s side of the room, something shuffled around in the dark. Before it could fully emerge from the shadows, the cradle agents could hear the stranger call out to them.

”Howdy y’all!”

What stepped out of the shadows was a woman with a green ponytail in a black dress. It was adorned with all manner of ribbons and jewels, and the more lustful of the cradle agents would be unable to take their eyes off the flesh of her bosom. ”Pretty nasty weather we’re havin’. I just tell myself it’s summer time somewhere.” She pulled the ribbon that held her pony tail tight before taking a seat in Veronica's chair.

Tetrad blinked. ”So yea!” She pointed at the newly arrived. ”Viridian! The Onyx Operative, our wet nurse!”

Trixy chuckled. ”Hello nurse.”

”If it’s easier for y’all you can call me Velma. Just don’t call me late for dinner.” She turned to look at Ronin. ”Well ain’t you just the cutest thang. Nobody told me our little Ronin was so garsh dang adorable.” She reclined in her seat. ”Got anything for me girls? Any naggin’ questions? Let’s tackle ‘em and then I’ll start this briefing as quick as a hiccup!”

Ronin grinned happily at Viridian's statement to her. She did like being cute.

Though it confused Silhouette at first, she understood this was likely some form of guise. A more affable demeanor to ease people in, to deceive foes, to… Wait, wasn’t Veronica about to hand the Cradle over to Trixy? She nearly shuddered. “I, at least, would prefer to know what you are capable of,” Samantha began, her mood having soured immediately after Veronica’s departure. “It speaks that Veronica would entrust operations to you, particularly because you are certainly not familiar to the rest of the group. But why is this? What do you bring to the table?” her questioning was certainly laced with aggression, though many could guess why. 

”That’s a fair question, darlin’. Or should I call you Sam?” She placed her hands together.

“It’s Silhouette,” she replied curtly. 

”It didn’t really make sense for Trixy to run operations, did it? The doll’s got a load of charisma, even little ol’ me can see that. But she ain’t got the power to back you girls up. She’d need to relay everythin’ to Veronica in order to activate any of her powers.” She spread her arms. ”Meanwhile, I can do everythin’ Veronica can do. She can truly focus on her thang while we hold the fort.”

‘Will you be our friend?’ Ronin asked. ‘Veronica always kept a certain distance, but I haven't given up Veronica! Tell me anytime you just wanna hang out!’ Ronin told the place where the critter once was while grinning widely. ‘... But yeah, you seem friendly, wanna be friends as well as companions?’

”Sure darlin’, I’d love to be your friend!” she pointed at Ronin. ”Oh, and while I’m sure Veronica would love to know you haven’t given up on her, I should tell you that Veronica has adjusted the magicoms so that she can’t be directly contacted. Another measure to ensure she can focus on the lab without distractions.” She looked at Samantha, who seemed even less pleased. ”Only I can contact her directly, and only in emergencies or for a daily report.” Her eyes moved back onto Ronin. ”I’ll let her know you’re thinkin’ about her, sweet pea.”

Ronin first giggled happily at that Viridian would be her friend, then made an  ‘aw’ sound at that Veronica wouldn't let her talk to her, nodding about that Viridian would let her know.

Trixy finished inspecting Viridian before asking her question. ”So you taking over for me is just a matter of convenience?”

”That’s right darlin’. It ain’t any more complex than that.”

Blair kept her arms crossed. ”I share in Silhouette’s skepticism, but if Veronica wishes us to follow her orders, I will.”

”No more questions? Alright then!” Viridian folded her hands together. ”Veronica did manage to pick up Binky, and they’ve been at the new lab site for a few days now. It was luck really. But they’re both safe and sound. All of the girls there are now official members of cradle, so it was an important step to strengthen our numbers. But she still has a lot to do before she can come back home.” A shadow appeared in the center of the table, which took the shape of Mariette. ”Y’all know who the portal witch is, right? Veronica has enlisted our help in protecting her from an upcoming attack. Turns out Justine’s set her sights on Mariette, and Veronica wishes for us to repel the attack at all costs. Seems our chance to get payback on the little bloodsucker is all too close.” Another shadow appeared in front of Samantha, Trixy, Eliza, and Ronin. A “key” rose out of the shadow. Though they looked like everyday items. Samantha’s was a pen, Trixy’s looked like a fork, Eliza’s was a ribbon, And Ronin’s was a tape measure. 

”These keys will let you enter Mariette’s dimension, once she interviews you and activates them at least. She wanted to interview all of you later. We’re unsure if Justine herself will show up, but given Sonia’s ability to teleport, she seems like a likely candidate to extract Mariette. That’s one of the reasons we’ve insisted she enlist Dan and his girls in this operation. Teleportation will be as difficult for her as escaping molasses is for a fly.”

‘Um,’ Ronin raised her voice. ‘Should I really have one of those? As I mentioned, I was forcefully recruited by Justine to join her in the attack on Mariette, despite that I actually wish to save her and her subordinates. I had been planning on playing along and enter with her and then make up a plan, but do we have a different plan of action here?’

”Well sweet pea, we were thinking you could have one just in case.” She giggled. ”But if you don’t feel safe with one, that’s fine, nobody’s forcing you to have one. Veronica didn’t inform me of her personal dealings with y’all.”

”I mean.” Tetrad pointed at herself. ”I could always have it, right?”

”Afraid not, sugar plum.” Viridian looked a little more grave when she spoke to Tetrad. ”We know Justine is gunning for us too, and the knowledge you carry is really secretive.”

With a groan, Tetrad propped up her head with her arm. ”I know the risks, if anyone gets access to my mind, everything gets wiped out.”

”I’d rather not risk it. We don’t even know if that’ll stop Justine. Her form of mind control is based on ‘turning’ people. She might not trigger the kill switch.” Viridian’s smile returned. ”Besides, you’re a cute little ball of entropy. Things are bound to get more wild than a bucking bronco with you around.”

”Then what am I going to do this whole time?”

Viridian pointed at Betty’s seat. ”I discussed it with Veronica, and she agreed. You’d make a great bodyguard.”

”WHAT!?” Tetrad slammed her palms into the table. ”Betty was abducted as a bodyguard! The hell are you smoking!? I want some!”

”That’s more because of how Veronica reacted in the situation. It’s less that I need a bodyguard and more you can monitor things better when not in the thick of it.” Viridian kept her eyes on Tetrad, ignoring any looks she might have been getting from the others. 

The gambler pinched the bridge of her nose. ”What utter bull crap!”

Silhouette recalled the last time she fought Justine and how chaotic it got. She wanted to hope that things would be smoother this time, but that wasn’t possible. No, it would probably get even worse. But there was something she wanted out of this. “So protecting the Portal Witch is our only objective in this operation?” Silhouette asked for confirmation. Anyone else in the room likely knew that she wanted Justine and even Sonia’s blood, especially after the events of the Rave. 

”Protecting Mariette would help us get on her good side. Veronica would rather have her as an ally than the alternative, and it means givin’ Justine what-for, so it’s a win-win y’all!” She pointed into the air.”Veronica would rather Justine be weakened so that she could be interrogated, but she’s dangerous, and killing someone of her ilk would be understandable. Twenty years without Justine is twenty years without Justine.”

"We should also expect Justine to have back-up." Eliza finally spoke up, having quietly observed the others. She was surprised Veronica got her a key; looked more like a ribbon if anything, but she wouldn't question it. The witch pulled out a phone from her pocket, the same one Justine gave Amanda, and set it down on the table. "Not only has she convinced both Mint and Beacon to assist her, she kinda tried to drag one of Maura's into this. Girl's dead set on Mariette being the cause of the influx of monsters..." she explained.

Viridian placed a hand on her chin, addressing Eliza’s information now. ”We were expecting Mint reinforcements, but if she’s got Beacon in her pocket, that could prove to be…. mighty interestin’.” She giggled. ”Mint and Beacon, former enemies of Justine unite with her to take on a timid little witch.” Viridian phased through the shadows and arrived at Eliza’s side. ”How long ago was this? What makes you sure she has Beacon reinforcements?”

Eliza tapped the side of her head. "It was before the rave happened, and after she had come into contact with Amanda and Ronin, from what I can tell." she explained. "Though knowing Beacon, and by extension, the Ascendancy, they might have other plans for Justine. Still, we should take precaution. I can't look that far into the future yet." she sighed.

‘That's a worrying thought...’ Ronin said about the Beacon and Mint thing. Otherwise she didn't have much to add.

”Interestin’.” Viridian returned to Veronica’s seat. ”If that’s true, Alicia knowingly hid information from us. We might need to take her down a peg in the future. But you know what they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. We’ll worry about Beacon after we thwart Justine’s plan.” She folded her arms. ”Any other questions darlin’s? I’ll contact Mariette shortly to interview those who are getting keys.”

“If that is all, then I would like to take my leave.”

”Not quite yet, Sil.” Tetrad tapped the table. ”Veronica said we were going to have a vote on what to do with Elvira. She’s interested in joining Cradle, she signed a contract and everything.” She looked at everyone. ”I think I talked to most of you guys about this.”

Viridian tapped her cheek. ”I do seem to recall Veronica saying something like that.” The corners of her lips flicked upwards. ”Even a single vote against Elvira will sink her. That was the deal, right?” She nodded to herself. ”Well alright then. I’ll abstain from voting, but y’all can give your verdict.”

Tetrad inhaled. ”I doubt my answer is going to surprise anyone, but I think she wants to turn her life around. Cradle did a lot for me, and I think she’ll be a welcome addition to the team. That was the impression I got when I interrogated her.”

”I haven’t changed my mind.” Trixy folded her arms and grinned. ”I was one of the first people to fire on her, but if Tetrad thinks she can change her ways, I say give her a chance. The more cute faces, the better.” She leaned towards Samantha. ”Having an idol on the team could be useful, right? In case someone needs a coach?”

“The only ‘idol’ we need is me,” Sil retorted, offended at the very idea. “That being the case, I don’t particularly care what happens to her. But considering my own circumstances, it should not matter what they did before. If she has a use and signs Veronica’s contract, then I see no real reason to object,” Sil expressed her honest opinion. 

Remedy shrugged. ”I don’t see any reason to damn her. The Mint is a crooked organization, they make fools of everyone who works under them.”

"We already agreed to give her a chance." Maura spoke up.

"And besides, she can't get away with pulling something behind our backs with me around. I can always deal with her if that's ever the case." Eliza added.

‘She's the cause of what happened at the rave, right? Or at the very least, she was in on it?’ Ronin asked, and bit together a bit. ‘I don't like that she did that. I probably haven't heard the whole story, but I don't like that she did that. That said, I'm not going to stand in the way of her trying to become better, if that's what she's trying, then go for it,’ she said. Besides, did she even have the kind of authority to make that kind of vote, here?

The last person to vote was Blair. ”Must be a blood moon tonight.” She chuckled. ”I’m going to agree with Silhouette again.”

”So it’s a unanimous vote to keep her around, huh? I thought y’all were harder than that.” There was an awkward silence in the room. The corners of Viridian’s were lowering before they popped up into a smile. ”But it’s what y’all want. I’ll notify Veronica with two shakes of a lamb’s tail. She’ll be put to work outside of Penrose for the time being. Maybe in the future you’ll see her again.” She clapped her hands together. Y’all are free to leave. Dismissed!”

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

List was updated. Now you roll a 1D14, Sakura has her old number back, patch notes, etc.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

(Posts this small don't need a proper header)

BUT THEY NEED MENTIONS LOLZ!

_{@Ariamis@AtomicNut@Ponn@FamishedPants@Card Captor@twave}

After giving the enrich pudding (Shoggy, not the Samantha-esque meal she brought.) the meanest stink eye* she could muster, Oros produced another green bottle. and gently placed it on the floor.

“Sure thing.” Her gaze found its way onto Tenebra. “I'm sorry, what's this about eating Mariette's panties? I was only half listening.”

*For non-USA posters: Stink eye is a disapproving look. A deep scowl, pointed brows, etc.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

I think the possibility of the bottle pointing at Sakura should still exist, but m'kay.

Ronin is now number 11.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

How 2 Spin the bottle:

Step #1: go to this link: roleplayerguild.com/campaigns/761
edit: You'll need to make your own campaign or ask me to do rolls since RPC isn't chad enough to let a bunch of people roll their own dice.

Step #2: Go to the Roll area and type in 1D11. Write the character spinning the bottle in the Note area if you so desire.

Step #3: Your result is who the bottle is pointing at.

1 = Faith
2 = Oros
3 = Hilaria
4 = Emily
5 = Mia
6 = Connie
7 = Hilde
8 = Shane
9 = Alex
10 = Ronin
11 = Shoggy

EXAMPLE: The test roll was a 9, so they can kiss Alex or play truth or dare with him.