Flamelord

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

Seated in the restaurant that Kimble had guided them to, like most Alicia was taken off guard by Dan's announcement. Of course one culprit immediately presented itself. Mariette's group had probably done this on purpose, not willing to risk the possibility that they might have their plans ruined by losing. And as servants of a Horror, it wasn't like they had any particular negatives for making Dan mad at them.

With Kimble grasping her arm, Alicia rose to her feet as she processed the news. "We may want to find Rachel first," she mused, though whether they could get to her before she got to the feast hall was another matter entirely. "You know, before she declares that she won the tournament by default." Even if she didn't go through with destroying the place, she might still try to take it out on Dan for losing the mirror that he was supposed to be looking after. And that would be bad, at least as far as their reputation with everyone else was concerned.

Taking one last sip of her drink, Alicia headed out with Kimble to go and do just that.

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

The beach dimension was abuzz with activity as contestants prepared for the next round of matches in the tournament. Most of that talk was about the dramatic finish to Penny and Sam’s match, as well as the confrontation that had taken place between Rachel and Finn afterwards. Some talk was spared for other matches though, as people touted their favorites and discussed the wacky maneuvers on display.

Having gone to the concourse with Lily and Alex for food, Alicia had procured herself some Dippin’ Dots ice cream to enjoy. She had grown tired of popcorn for now, and so had defaulted to ice cream even though it was technically winter at home.

In the midst of that, she spotted Kimble amongst the crowd. She had a feeling that the girl was looking for her, but it had been too soon after her match for them to meet up. So she took the initiative and made her way over whilst waving. “Hey Kimble!" she called.

Coming up next to her girlfriend, she ate a scoop of Dots. “Nice match, though I’m sorry things didn’t work out like you hoped they would.” She knew the feeling.

”Alicia!”
Kimble yelled, initially elated to see Alicia.
When she brought up the match however, her cheery demeanour changed into an embarrassed frown, her eyes having averted down to the ground.
”I-It’s okay,” she answered, and looked back up at her.
”It was a learning experience for me. I was conceited, and thought I’d easily win. Actually, umm...” She bit her lip.
”...There’s something I need to tell you, Alicia.”

Alicia gave a small shrug to the first comment, not terribly worried by Kimble’s slightly soured mood. “Hey, it’s fine. There’s not much point in competing if you don’t think you’re going to win,” she pointed out. Sure, Kimble hadn’t planned on winning the whole thing, but gunning for Justine meant she had to have some level of confidence about her skills.

However, Kimble’s warning caused her to slow with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Not that she allowed herself to show it. “Sure. What is it?”

Kimble first looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping on them, and then spoke in a more quiet voice than usual:
"I didn't actually win in my match with Penny...She took a dive." She put her hands to her face.
"I was so stupid. I really thought I managed to beat her. Can you forgive me?" She asked with a sniffle.

That tension released with a feeling of relief that washed over Alicia. Stepping over, she patted Kimble’s shoulder as her girlfriend wilted under the weight of her own feelings. “Of course I forgive you. It’s not like you were deliberately trying to mislead us,” she pointed out.

She ate another spoonful of Dots before adding to her point. “And as far as not getting to fight Justine goes, I know the feeling,” she added. It had happened to her more often than she might like.

Kimble lifted her hands from her face, her eyes having turned slightly wet from tears.
”Thank you, Alicia...” She answered softly, and leaned her head against her shoulder. For a moment, she was quiet, enjoying the time the two of them could spend together.
Then she spoke: ”I couldn’t get to fight against Justine again...But I don’t mind. As long as I can be with you, that’s all that matters to me.” She blushed.
”Anyway, it was quite crazy what happened with Penny’s match, right?”

“You might be able to ask Justine for a match outside of the tournament if she doesn’t get roughed up too badly,” Alicia noted with a gesture towards the arena. Unlike her own efforts, it seemed unlikely that someone would render it meaningless to do so.

The mention of Penny’s match brought yet another frown as she reflected on what had occurred. “It was. Some people are way too competitive.” And she meant that to include both Sam and Penny, given the escalation had been far from one sided.

”I just hope neither of them got injured too badly,” Kimble spoke softly, looking out towards the distance.
”Especially Penny. If she can’t continue competing, Rachel might end up winning.”

“I’m not sure,” Alicia conceded with some chagrin. “Time stop’s one of those things that takes a lot of effort to use, doesn't it?” The fact that it had been employed here did not speak well to the physical state of either combatant, to say nothing of how it had ended with referee intervention.

A shrug then followed. “Still, imagine dying in a keijo match. No self respecting person would be able to live that down.”

”That would be very embarrassing, yes,” Kimble responded with a nod.
”Anyway, wanna go somewhere before the matches start? I heard of a new shop that’s opened up close by We could visit that if you’re not too busy.”

Alicia could definitely agree that dying in a keijo match would be super embarrassing. If only because of the methods used and nothing else. But they both seemed to move on past that quickly enough, perhaps to forget that very occurrence.

Before she could forget entirely, Alicia took the opportunity to focus once more on what really mattered. “Listen, all I’m saying is that you shouldn’t feel too bad. I’ve got robbed of resolving things with Justine, Mariette, and Regina. You get used to it eventually. It’s just a matter of tempering your expectations. But you can still talk to her if you want.”

The mention of a new store caught her attention, though she wasn’t sure if it was necessarily her interest. “Most stores are new in Dan’s dimension, relatively speaking. But alright.” She didn’t mind checking out something new, though hopefully she didn’t miss the final match by leaving like this.

With a decision made, the two of them headed off to the destination Kimble had decided upon.

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

The Keijo tournament had begun, another round of pageantry and heated competition as the snow was traded for the sun kissed sand. Having done what she could to assist Rachel and Kimble, Alicia had returned to the stands to watch how it all went down. There were enough people competing as it was, she didn’t need to add to that.

One match had concluded already, and another was going on between two of Mariette’s posse. Alicia wasn’t as interested in that since she didn’t know the people involved. They were probably all working together anyway to get their precious mirror.

Because of that lack of distraction provided by the match, she noticed a familiar figure making her way up the stands. ”Hey Lily!” She called to the girl, waving and directing her to the open bit of stand near where she sat. She fully expected Alexander to show up in a few moments, but the opportunity to chat was worth it.

She’d wait until the girl had taken a spot next to her. ”Well, this Christmas thing really went out of control, didn’t it,” she noted with a nod towards the Keijo arena.

Lily and Alex were at the spectator seats. Lily was holding a big tub of popcorn with melted butter on top, intently following the dramatic events in the matches.
”"
”Woo! Go ice girl! Go beast girl!" She yelled, until she noticed Alicia calling out to her.
”Oh hi Alicia!" She waved enthusiastically to her, and tucked the tub of popcorn under her arm before grabbing Alex’ hand.
”She’s got great seats over there, Alex, let’s go!"

“Uh, okay I guess” Alexander shrugged and let himself be dragged off by Lily, while holding on to his own tub of popcorn

The two took their new seats, with Lily sitting between Alicia and Alex.
”Well, I guess it kind of did," She answered with a sheepish smile.
”But at least the feast hall didn’t turn into a food fight."
She extended the tub towards Alicia.
”I got some popcorn from Dan! Wanna try some?"

Alicia wasn’t sure her seats were that much better than the ones Lily and Alexander already had, but she wasn’t about to argue the point as they relocated to join her. ”Sure,” she agreed, taking a handful of popcorn when it was offered to her. It was pretty good too, just the right amount of toppings to enhance the flavor without being overpowering.

Idly munching on the popcorn, she gestured towards the stage. ”I guess so. Do you have any bets as to who’s going to win?”

“Do either of you even know the girls down there well enough to make any kind of bet? I mean, I have no idea who either of them are, so I’m not sure if what we’ve seen so far is all they’re capable of” Alexander piped in.

"I don't know either of them," Lily answered, "But I think the fluffy girl's gonna win it! She looks really strong!"

Admittedly, Alicia had been speaking of the tournament overall rather than this match, but she didn’t feel like correcting Alex. ”I saw ice girl earlier during the sculpture carving competition, and I think I saw her during the raid too,” she offered. After a moment she hummed in thought. ”That said, she seems to be lacking in energy. So I suspect it’ll be her opponent.”

“Fluffy?” Alexander wondered, not quite sure which one Lily was talking about “Although now that you mention it; an Ice Magic user in ice sculpture sounds like cheating. I was in a team of three for that, and we had to carefully carve our block of ice. While an Ice user could have probably just out right made their own into whatever shape they wanted. Hell, they could even make it bigger and add some weird additions if they wanted ”

Lily pointed to Freya in the arena in response to Alex' question.
"Yeah, her! You can tell she's a Beast girl by her menacing aura~"
She grasped a fistful of popcorn and stuffed it into her mouth as she listened to the two talk about the Ice specialist.
"Ice magic may make it easy, but our ice sculpture came from the heart! No magic can replace that, I think. But I do wonder if Dan took points off of cheating or not. I'm gonna ask him later!"
She turned to Alicia.
"Anyway, I heard that you trained Rachel in Keijo. How did that go?"

”Do all beast spec users have a menacing aura?” Alicia asked as she glanced over at Alexander. He was a beast spec, wasn’t he? But he didn’t give off a menacing aura, at least to her.

Lily leaned against Alex with a cheeky smile.
"Nope! Alex here may seem like a grump, but he's the sweetest guy around~"

Leaving aside her own magically aided show in the ice sculpting event, Alicia instead addressed the question that had been posed to her. ”Training would be a strong word, more like some pointers,” she replied with a shrug. ”She got pretty into it once she started treating Keijo like a somewhat serious sport. Whoever wins is going to have to work for their victory against her.”

Alexander snorted at the mention of Keijo as a ‘serious sport’ “I’m sorry, I just have a really hard time taking this insanity seriously” He shook his head “I mean, this feels more like something straight out of a lewd cartoon, than an actual sport. There’s a reason I only tried it once.”

Lily blushed at Alex' remark.
"Yes, Keijo can be a bit embarrassing, but it's also so much fun! I mean, the whole competitive nature to it is so compelling. And when you're right in the midst of it, it's...liberating." Lily reminisced as she looked out to the arena.
"Like that time I dueled Amaryllis...I really felt like our hearts were closer to each other."

Alicia could understand how Alex felt, and certainly she had a hard time treating it seriously too. But given the stakes involved in this particular contest she had little choice. ”Once you get past the particular tools used it’s not that much different from soccer or volleyball,” she pointed out. ”A sport where you can only use specific parts of your body to accomplish a goal.” But that was as far as she’d go in defending the thing.

After a few moments she shrugged. ”Well, anything to keep the mirror out of the wrong hands.” And by the wrong hands, she meant Mariette’s hands.

“I guess” Alexander shrugged as well. “I don’t know, I guess I’m feeling a little bitter that this nonsense had to come and interrupt my first real Christmas. I mean, I was just starting to really get into the spirit of things, when the turbo bitch had to come and ruin the mood.”

“Yeah...” Lily mumbled with a pout.
“I think Dan done goofed when he gave that mirror to Mariette in public and made Rachel mad. He’s kind of an idiot. But I hope the time we’ve spent here has been fun, Alex.” She looked to him with an apologetic look.
“I know it has been for me, at least.”

“I have enjoyed myself, for what it’s worth.” He nodded at her “But I guess shit like this is par for the course in Penrose. It almost makes me worried what will happen on New Years.” He snarked the last part.

“Yeah, I’m glad-OHHHH, SHE’S DOWN!” Lily practically jumped up to stand from her seat when Freya struck the finishing blow on her opponent.

“Wow, that match was great, even if it was a bit short! I hope the next one will last a bit longer.”

It turned out that Lily’s wish was granted, as the next match did last longer. However, it was the final match of the first round between Penny and Sam...And it didn’t end well.

Lily alone saw the moment in stopped time, her eyes wide open at the fact Penny managed to barely save herself from what otherwise would have been a guaranteed victory for the black-haired girl. Afterwards, she shook Alex’ shoulders.
“No way, she stopped time, and still couldn’t knock her out! Penny’s way too strong!”
Then, after the most intense combat the arena had ever seen, both of them collapsed, having to be carried away by Maura and Dan.
“That’s terrible! Why would they push themselves that far?” She asked, her face having turned pale.

Alexander shrugged and sighed “Who knows. I don’t think they have any kind of personal stake in this, so my only real guess would be pride, subberness, or something else like that. But it does feel like a bad omen, doesn’t it? I just hope that the other matches don’t end like that”

"Yeah, same here…" Whatever remained of Lily's joy had crumbled into a sad frown, followed by alarm as she saw what looked like a new source of conflict. While it seemed to end peacefully, Lily still seemed to be afraid.
"Was that Finn and Oliver over there? They looked angry…"

The next match was a far cry from the one before it, to use the greatest of understatements. Where there had almost been something akin to uncertainty on the part of one of the combatants, the match between Sam and Penny was more like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, and both of them breaking. Some part of Alicia wasn’t completely surprised, remembering how Sam had gone after Rachel at the Rave, but it was another thing entirely to see.

Looking over to Alex and Lily as they conversed in the aftermath of the match, Alicia could not relinquish her troubled expression. ”Who?”

“A couple of guys we met while Lily was teaching Justine how to play Keijo. They’re new in Penrose.” Alexander explained “We only really met them one time, so we don’t really know them that well. But they seemed like okay guys.”

“I think they’re with Maura and the Crimson Cradle, but I’m not super sure,” Lily added.
“Anyway, it looks like the first round matches are over.” She stood up. “Wanna go get a snack? I’d like to check up with Sakura and Justy before the second round starts.”

”I see,” Alicia mused with a thoughtful hum. Unaware of the bold declarations Finn was making, she proceeded to shrug whilst worrying. Still, if there was anyone who could recover it was Penny. After everything that had happened, it would be kind of silly for her to die in a keijo match of all things.

As Lily rose, Alicia followed a few moments later. ”How are you still hungry after all that popcorn?” she asked incredulously. Was this a Lighting/Time spec thing? Did they have increased metabolisms requiring them to eat more? How come none of the girls had mentioned this before? Or maybe she was just overthinking.

“No clue. She’s been like this for as long as I’ve known her.” Alexander answered, and then looked over to his now empty tub of popcorn “...but yeah, more food sounds nice. I just hope nothing else crazy happens while we’re away.”

Lily’s cheeks turned red as she pouted.
“I can’t help it, okay? When I get the case of the munchies, I gotta eat! Anyway, let’s go get a jumbo-size popcorn so we can all get to share it!”

It seemed she would not be getting an answer to her question. Alicia mentally shrugged to herself and put the matter aside for now. “Sure. Let’s go.” Maybe she could find Kimble while they were there. They’d have a decent amount to talk about with how her match went.

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

While Elroy claimed to have not been dead this whole time, Alicia was not sure how much she believed that. Still, that was one issue where she didn't much feel like arguing about it either, so she pushed past that for now. There were plenty of other things to spend her energy on.

Instead, she shot him a skeptical look. "Regina may have been purified but we were not friends. Before she left anyway." He might have thought that she was being grouchy, but to some extent this was a reasonable reaction when the last she'd heard of him involved helping that Horror in trying to destroy the world. and they'd never been particularly friendly before that either.

After a moment she shrugged. "Still, good luck in the upcoming tournament." She glanced over to Rachel, and then considered who else would likely be competing this time around. "You'll probably need it."

_{@BrokenPromise}

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

While a training montage lay in her future, for now Alicia found that she was unable to leave the feast hall without being further addressed. She turned towards the figure, suddenly struck by the urge to grind her teeth without knowing why. Her first impression was disbelief that this guy could have figured out some way past the magic that was causing them to all look Christmas themed. How had he managed that?

That was when she heard the nickname, and she knew without a doubt. She'd have been more surprised were it not for the Lord of Change and their very unsubtle announcement about what they'd be doing. “Elroy," she replied with a small nod and a set face. “I see you got brought back in that game." He had been pretty definitively dead after all, at least from what she'd been told.

“Just because you're dead doesn't mean I'm letting you use that nickname," she added, fully expecting that her objection wouldn't meany anything. It wasn't like he'd stopped using it at any point prior to this. She knew to moderate her expectations where he and his twin were concerned.

Glancing back to the rest of the group, she shook her head whilst folding her arms over her chest. “Just giving some advice. I'm not really in the mood this time around, especially with most of the stuff up to this point being Christmas themed. and what has brought you suddenly plunging out of the sky in front of me?"

_{@BrokenPromise}

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

Things progressed at a rapid pace, people sharply reacting to Rachel’s decree in a mostly negative manner. Not that that was a surprise, even if Dan’s dimension was not at stake. It seemed like she could have said the sky was blue and people would object to it.

Then the situation changed, resulting in a Keijo tournament for the fate of the Mirror as well as the dimension. As much as she wanted to ensure Mariette lost, this seemed like a task best left to Rachel. She seemed to have things pretty well in hand, Dan’s dimension or not.

At least someone else seemed to be getting something out of this. She turned, grinning as Kimble voiced her intention to get revenge. “Well, I’d be careful. You’re a bit different than the last time you did Keijo. She might not have experience, but don’t get overconfident.” That was what she said before rising to her feet and heading to go talk to Rachel, as she had initially said that she would.

Kimble rolled her eyes with an amused expression.
”Alright then. Good luck talking to Rachel,” she spoke as she waved goodbye to her.

Coming up to the Inquisitor, Alicia gave a small nod. “Quite the spectacle,” she observed. “I can’t say I disagree with the idea to take the Mirror. It’s more than anyone else was willing to do.” There was too much blind trust in Mariette’s supposed cleansing, and not enough caution towards Asengav in general. She could at least be glad of the proactive nature there.

Rachel was standing outside with her arms crossed, facing away from Alicia. She couldn’t see her face, but the Paladin Seraph could tell that she was absolutely livid based on her trembling. Violette was next to her, her face pale.
“...Did you know about this?” Rachel asked, her calm words seemingly strained to contain her fury.
“What kind of ludicrous, absurd, unwholesome disgrace I have been tricked into?”
She turned towards Alicia, her face red like a tomato.
“To think that they would try such an underhanded, dirty tactic...Well, I’m not going to give up! I will endure this humiliation if it means I can fulfill my holy duty and shatter that detestable artifact as well as this revolting reality.”

Alicia was taken aback when she finally reached where Rachel had positioned herself. It seemed she had figured out what Keijo was already. “I did,” Alicia confirmed with a nod. Reaching into her stuff, she produced the scrying artifact that she had been given by Beacon. Typically a scepter, it had been shifted into a small candy cane by the magic of this dimension.

Turning, she activated the magic of the artifact and used it to cut a small hole in front of them, through which they could see Alicia playing Keijo the last time she was here. “The patron here has particular….quirks.”

"Pah, don't show me such...Oh, it's you." Rachel observed the match pictured in the divination with much intent, seemingly studying her movements.
"I must be honest, I did not expect you to have an understanding of this...sport."

Alicia could appreciate the fact that Rachel had not provided any criticism of her performance that was on display. She shrugged, stepping back to stand next to Rachel so they could see unobstructed as events played out. “Necessity is the mother of invention.Ultimately it’s all about leverage and momentum. And wacky magic tricks, but what else is new?”

Rachel's eyes were on the astral feed. "I see…" She was deep in thought. "I assumed it’s all but a farce...But it seems there’s more to it than mere child’s play. Paladin Seraph, do you have a prediction of who will challenge me at the end of the demon’s tournament? Who would be the strongest and most skilled among the participants here?”

Humming in thought, Alicia glanced at the rest of the hall as she stroked her chin. “Well, I’m not sure who all intends to compete,” she noted. “But skill will probably depend on whoever’s done this before.” Mariette certainly had a wide consort of people to draw on, but she had the feeling that they’d treat it with varying degrees of seriousness. “I’d say Penny if she chooses to compete, and that girl who tried to take a shot at you before. Time magic can be a strong advantage, in lieu of Gravity.”

Rachel put a hand to her chin. "Yes, Penny seems the most likely candidate. Hmm...I suppose I could make some preparations for the labor at hand. Pal...Alicia," she corrected herself, showing surprising uncertainty. "I would appreciate it if you were to assist me with your practical experience in Keijo."

There had not been any doubt that Rachel would take this seriously, but at least she had some appreciation for what she had gotten herself into now. “I would be happy to assist,” she replied with a small bow and a smile. “If it’s alright for Kimble to come with us. She may want to get her sparring legs back before the matches begin. She wants to get some revenge on Justine, if our former ally slash enemy competes.”

“So Kimble will participate? Interesting. Of course she can spar with us. We shall strive to use our time in an efficient manner. And, Alicia...Thank you.” She offered a handshake.

There was something ironic about Keijo being the thing that would get Rachel to start working with and trusting Alicia, compared to all the other Beacon business that they got up to on a daily basis. Perhaps Dan was a bit more correct than she had previously thought when he promoted this particular sport. Though she should probably wait to see the outcome before committing to that.

For now she smiled and took Rachel’s hand in a firm shake. “You’re welcome Rachel.” With Kimble accompanying them, they could kill two birds with one stone. So long as they didn’t over exercise, it might also be a fun chance to get some karmic revenge. But not too much revenge, lest things go overboard again.

“Just let me go get Kimble and we can get started.” Once her hand was released she stepped back and turned to return to the table where Kimble was seated. All in all, that meeting had gone pretty well.

Approaching the group at the table, she was quick to address them. “Sorry to cut this short, but I need Kimble for something,” she said to those gathered there, before gesturing for Kimble to follow her. They needed to get this practice show on the road.

Kimble’s chatting ended the moment she saw Alicia, and eagerly waited for her return.
”Oh? Did something happen with Rachel?”
She asked as she followed after her to Rachel.
“Kimble, we will be sparring together for Keijo. I have received a report that you have also participated in Keijo matches previously, so I demand...request,” she again corrected herself, “That you share that expertise with us in the ring.”

Kimble was shocked, her mouth in a wide circle.
”Whoah! O-Of course, Inquisitor! I’ll do my best!”
She accepted the handshake offered to her as well, and Rachel gave an unusually warm smile...before it turned to a stern one.
“Alright, let’s get started then.”

Nodding, Alicia returned with Kimble to the other Ascendancy members. It seemed that her good mood extended further, as Rachel was also eager to seek assistance from Kimble in readying herself for the tournament. Now she was really willing to give Dan credit for his idea.

“Let’s get to it,” she agreed. Together they headed out to one of the practice areas in order to begin practicing. They’d work on Rachel’s balance, experimenting with momentum and leverage of weight. They’d test various combat techniques combined with her magic, and have her spar with Kimble a bit. A veritable training montage to ensure that both Rachel and Kimble were ready for the tournament to come.

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

While Alicia was taken slightly off guard by Kimble's enthusiasm for taking some pictures while they were here, she was not about to object to it. It was probably just something she'd never really had the opportunity to do before, at a guess. it would be fun.

"I would be incredibly surprised if Penny didn't have a camera function," she observed with a small nod before her focus was drawn away by Dan's announcement. The mention of dinner caused her stomach to rumble, though it was a bit less than it would have been had she not had that hot chocolate.

Well, if that was what was going on then there didn't seem a reason to remain aloof. That said they were already in the lodge, so it wasn't much effort to step over and glance into the room that Dan had opened. "Another victory for space warping," she mused with a chuckle.

For now she'd wait and see if Penny showed up. At the very least, giving others time to arrive before heading into the feast hall was not unreasonable. Especially with the Patron already inside. She didn't want to be that particular lightning rod.

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

Initially welcoming of Dinah's presence, Alicia was left confused as the older girl dismissed herself and exited for some other part of the gathering. It didn't seem as though it were planned, given how the conversation had begun. Still, if she was just willing to run off like that then it must be important. Right?

"Well, see you around," Alicia called after the retreating Dinah. There was no reason to push things, so she didn't feel bad letting the conversation lapse here. There were other things to do after all.

For now she returned her attention to Kimble. That was actually the second thing she did actually. The first was getting some hot cocoa for herself, since it looked pretty good after the floor they had barely escaped. Just the sort of thing to warm ones bones after being out in a snowy wonderland.

Sipping a cinnamon infused chocolate drink, that was when she really returned her focus to Kimble. "Hm, what to do now," she mused aloud. She found her thoughts drifting momentarily to the fact that aside from Penny, most of her friends at this party were already in the room with her. A sign of those who'd left Penrose, or maybe a sign that she was becoming too reclusive for her own good. It was hard to tell.

While thinking on it, at least one related thought occurred to her. "Remind me to track down someone who has a camera here before we leave. A picture to commemorate the occasion would be a nice souvenir," she noted. It was not a full answer, but it was better than nothing.

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

While things escalated elsewhere, Alicia had done her best to help FanFan. She wasn't sure it had worked, but she'd done her best. Without being an Emotion spec girl, she had to do things the old fashioned way. Somehow she had the feeling that this was not an issue that could be solved in a single conversation.

Was she thinking of FanFan, or herself? Who could tell these days?

At least Kimble pulled a smile out of her at the glowing review of their date and pseudo Christmas. "That's good." Tactfully, she refrained from discussing what her competition was. Some memories didn't need to be dragged out. Better that Kimble was enjoying it now.

Before she could go no, Dinah approached the group. It seemed that she had finished with her singing, and was now looking to join them. Alicia did have some mixed feelings, but nothing too strong. Not much had happened after their last conversation to change her opinion after all. They might as well take advantage of the moment while it was here.

"Hello Dinah," she replied with a respectful nod. "That was a nice song. I suppose you've had a lot of time to work on your singing over the years, right?" No doubt Dinah was trying to play peacemaker while they were all here, though she hadn't been paying enough attention to know if it was working or not.

_{@Ariamis@AtomicNut}

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

Alicia would admit to a pang of fear as the giant blast of water came down nearby, the product of that racing towards them in a mighty wave. At least that's how she saw it anyways. Luckily for her Dan built his stuff pretty sturdy, so the sled ended up riding the water back to the lodge rather than being flipped and sunk instead. She wasn't exactly the biggest fan of a chilling dip. "Well that was exciting," she observed as the sleigh drifted to a stop.

Like Kimble she hopped off, doing her best to not splash the water too much as she stepped towards the door. "Perhaps. But the thought matters to me. At least when it's this kind of event"

Her considerations were interrupted as they spotted FanFan, and Kimble waved her over. She listened carefully as FanFan explained her woes, nodding slowly as the situation was laid out whilst her smile shifted to more of a frown. She'd known it was bad, but the Ascendancy had been pretty quiet about the whole thing. Getting news was difficult, even for her.

While Kimble went about helping, Alicia expressed her sympathies as well. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said, stepped over and laying a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Magic isn't the be all and end all, despite the name. I've seen how strong both of you are, and I know you'll get through this."

Even as she said that, her heart burned with anger and regret. Sure, partially at Mariette and partially at the girls who had supported her, but also at herself. If she'd just fought harder, been smarter, everything might have been different....

In the end it had been her mission, her crusade. That blood was on her hands. How could she ever make it up to the others? They'd paid so high a cost, only for her to fail in the end. Though she kept up a firm exterior, inwardly her shoulders sagged beneath self inflicted blows. Personal cost she could shoulder. But to others? She did not have the same resolve.

To hide this turn of feelings, she shifted to look at Kimble, offering her a renewed smile. "So, what's the rating for our date?" she asked, mostly jokingly. Anything to distract from the tension she felt inside.