m.A.A.d City (Magical Burst)

Dem Taqat said:
Management Orders: Mission 4
Action 1: Spend Time with Jonas - So Jonas and I have been out once now, but I'm still not really sure about what we are, exactly. I think we're maybe together, but what if he doesn't see it that way? That would be so embarrassing. I guess I'll ask him if he wants to hang out with me alone again, that should make clear what he thinks we're like. We can probably just find a mall or something to hang around, since I bet neither of us wants to do anything too energetic in this weather, but i'm open to suggestions if he has a better idea.
Action 2: Look for Jasmine and Demons - Something wasn't right about that last demon vanishing, I could have sworn I felt a person trying to reach me. Given how unreasonable Nephilim was about what happened to Estefania, asking him probably won't help, and I know Laura doesn't like talking to me about 'that' stuff, so I guess that just leaves Jasmine. I know roughly where to find her, but I'll have to be a bit careful to make it obvious I just want to talk to her, given what happened to Sera last time. She said something about me being a 'natural blood girl', whatever that is, so maybe she'd be willing to let me help out hunting with her and the others (no cost, obviously), and if so I can hopefully get close to a dying demon again and see what happens this time. Even if she doesn't agree, it would be nice to set up some sort of communications so we can at least walk around in her area without her assuming right off that we're intruding on her turf; maybe where we text her whenever entering the Barrios?

Action Not: I don't want to have to lie to Ant' about some of the stuff that happened recently, so maybe I'll put off talking to him, just for a day or two...

XP Spending: +1 Social Point, +1 Magic Point

Dem Orders, right Patchy? :mischief:

DT
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
You sit down with Jonas in the air conditioned mall, taking a moment to bask in the cool air as you get shelter from the heat outside. Funny enough, you've never actually been to this mall before. Ant' lived in the directly opposite direction from it so you never had the chance to visit it before after school. You shake your head trying to get Ant' out of it, you still don't feel entirely comfortable with the idea of hiding things from your childhood friend.

You've been bouncing around a line of questioning in your head for a while, striking down various drafts of the idea. You can't exactly say what possessed you that day to spontaneously ask out Jonas and you haven't been entirely comfortable since then due to the complexity of the relationship and your relationship with his sister Sera. Heck, who knows how Jonas even sees the whole thing, it must have been even crazier from his perspective.

...Still going out with him hasn't been bad really, even though Jonas might be a bit younger than you he's entertaining to be around and is a surprisingly good listener. And the last part has been a godsend recently given the insanity your life has been put through.

"-ere? Hey, earth to Erika, are you there?" Jonas says waving his hand in front of you

You blink quickly, it seems like you got lost in thought a bit longer than you had expected. "Oh, sorry Jonas. I was just thinking."

"That's okay. I was just saying that maybe we should go and get some ice cream, if you're alright with that?" Jonas says while motioning over to an ice-cream stand nearby.

You nod and go to pick up your regular flavor of ice-cream while Jonas gets a healthy scoop of chocolate. He insists on paying for the treat, and you aren't particularly opposed to free ice-cream.

"Hey, Jonas?" you finally decide to quit hesitating and ask the question that's been eating away at you, "Are we- you know..."

"Yeah?"

"Are we... Alright with how your sister is doing? After the last fight I mean."

Erika Engel, slayer of demons, unflinching in battle, cowardly in love.

You restlessly stomp down on the more sarcastic side of your personality, really there was no need to directly ask Jonas about the relationship status. Clearly after he accepted your offer to continue hanging out and bought you ice-cream it means that the two of you are on the same wavelength as far as the relationship goes.

Jonas nods slowly after taking a lick of his ice-cream "She seemed a bit shaken after that battle, but she's been recovering alright, pretty much back to her normal self."

You nod with a smile "That's good to hear," your eyes start to drift towards the ice-cream in his hand, "Do you mind if I try a bit of yours?"
"Oh sure!" he says lifting up the chocolate offering.

As you eat some of the ice-cream the hairs on the back of your neck pick up for a second, similar to that feeling you get when a demon is about to land a blow on you. You look around distracted, but only see a regular crowd of mall-goers.

A cold feeling on your fingers alerts you to the melting state of your ice-cream "Oh no!"

"I got it!" Jonas says as he licks the ice-cream off your fingers, sending an electric sensation through your spine.

And there's that 'I feel like I'm gonna be killed' feeling again. You look around through the crowd for any sign of danger but again can't find anything.

"I've been doing too much hunting recently." You say shaking your head, "Let's go do something to relax."

***

You jump from rooftop to rooftop as you move about the Barrios trying to get to the school where you first ran into Jasmine again.

"You know Blood," a familiar voice rings out behind you, "I get it that you weren't around to hear me tell ya girlfriend this. But runnin' around uninvited through other girl's territory is a good way to end up getting jumped. Especially doing it all on your lonesome like that."

You turn around to find Jasmine standing in full magical girl regalia, dressed in a crimson leotard with a Napoleonic cuirass over it and her cannon swung over her shoulder.

"Oh, Jasmine, I was looking for you!" you say as you raise your hands up to make it absolutely clear you are unarmed. "I just wanted to talk."

Jasmine nods putting the cannon down on the ground with a solid 'thud.'

"I thought so to, just letting you know I had ta' head off one of my friends who saw you runnin around."

"Thanks for that."

"Ain't nothing. So why'd you come looking for me?" Jasmine asks with an easy going grin, "Am I really that popular now?"

You take a deep breath before laying out your proposal. "I was wondering if you'd let me help you and your friends when you're out hunting demons? I'm not looking for Seeds of course, you guys can take all of them."

Jasmine's brow creases as she frowns at you, "You tellin' me that you want to go put ya life in danger for nothing at all? Sorry, but I don't buy it. What's the catch?"

"No catch." you shake your head, "I just want to hunt more Demons."
A silence fills the air as Jasmine considers your proposal.

"Oh I know what this is." Jasmine says breaking the pause, "You want to get more experienced! You could use it too seeing how that last fight went."
Well technically speaking she isn't wrong, so you nod along.

"Aight. I'll introduce you to the rest of the gang, they get the last say on whether or not you get to come along. So no promises."Jasmine picks up her weapon and heads off with you following close behind.

The Piru gang seems to be made up of five or so girls pretty similar to Jasmine, most of them don't pay much mind to you after Jasmine introduced you. Except for one of the older girls Faith, who warned you against trying to go alone through Sureño territory. "They ain't nice like we are to outsiders."

The hunt for demons goes well enough, as you stick next to Jasmine who offers the odd bit of advice when it comes to tracking demons. By the end of the fight you've managed to position yourself near the Demon before it died. Covering your eyes you again feel a strange sensation of fingers pulling at your arm in the seconds before the Demon died.


Celticfury said:
Management Orders Mission 3/4

Order 1: Ach, that last fight seems to have made things so complicated. While it is good to know that Erika did not actually betray me, to know the truth of what happened, and to have experienced it first hand myself, has only makes things worse. To think of how easily I had lost control, and to not even have any memory of it...I just thank the Lord that Jonas wasn't there to witness that. It makes me wonder if it is still worth fighting these demons, if I’m just as likely to attack those I should be defending. And what about this kiss that I have no memory of? Should I confront Erika about it, should I ignore it and act like it never happened? Maybe if I talk to Papa, he will have some answers. He always seems to know what to do. I just need to be careful that I do not let slip anything about the demons or magic.

Order 2: After all we did to save Estefa, she still ends up crippled. I wonder how many other girls have met a similar, or worse fate. There must be something I can do. Nephilim said that demons are drawn to those who have the potential to be magical girls, like when Jonas and I were attacked. If I'm to prevent anyone else from having to go through what has happened to Estefa, I need to find these girls before the demons do. Hopefully they will never have to fight these creatures, if we can fight the demons on their behalf.

Spend 1 XP increasing Heart stat to 9; 1 XP increasing Finesse stat to 4
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
[blah blah, standard language disclaimers]

You sit down at home following the battle at the clinic, feeling completely and utterly spent physically and mentally. You scratch at one of the Band-Aids that Jasmine had put on you following the fight, you had to explain it to your father as you tripping on the ground when the rain had started.

You grimace as you remember that, you really hate having to lie to your father but it's really for the best that you don't drag him into this life. However, that doesn't mean that you wouldn't be able to talk to him about some of your problems, all you had to do was just couch the questions properly.
You knock on the door to your father's study before entering.

"Papa? Are you free right now? I want to talk..."

Your father looks up from the pile of paperwork he was working on before capping his pen and swiveling his chair around.

"Of course sweetheart, I've always got time for you, what is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could get some advice from you. It's about a friend you see." Genius Sera, now you can ask whatever you want about your 'friend.'
Your father raises his eyebrows "Oh? And what problems might this friend of yours be having?"

"Well you see, she's really just a regular person, but recently she's been trying to help make the world better. And to help and protect others."

He nods slowly "She seems like an excellent girl, this world needs more people like that."

"But..." You hesitate slowly, "The problem is that even when she's trying to help people sometimes, she can accidentally end up hurting them without meaning to at all. So I was wondering whether or not I should tell her to stop trying, if she might end up hurting the people she meant to protect."

Erwin places a hand on your shoulder and gives you a comforting smile.
"What you just described there is the tragedy of humanity, darling. You see, no one really wants to hurt people for the sake of hurting people. But people can try to do everything right and still end up hurting others."

He runs a hand through your hair, "What's important though is that we never stop trying to help others, as bad as it can sometimes turn out. Because if we do, then every cry for help would go unanswered and people would suffer because everyone was too scared of trying to give help. I know you are worried for your friend, but so long as she learns from her failures and gains experience, you'll see that she'll get better at helping people."

"Only problem is some people might like her too much for that..." you mutter to yourself as you remember how Jasmine told you that you were kissed by Erika after the fight.

"What was that?"

"O-Oh... Well I was just saying that... Never mind. It's nothing, absolutely nothing." you think you'd die of embarrassment before you told your father that you were kissed by another girl.

"Okay," your father says slowly, "But just a bit of unrelated advice. If you ever get unwanted attention, just be very clear to the person that it is unwanted. If they actually do care about you, they'll listen to that; and if they don't, you can always report to an adult about it."

You nod, your father always made a lot of sense and explains things very calmly. It was nice to talk with him.

***

You walk along with Nephilim through the Barrios while untransformed, you've learned your lesson about attracting unwanted attention in these parts.

"So you're sure this is the right way?"

'Absolutely, We only have two girls on record as having potential in this city. And you most certainly do not want anything to do with the second girl.'

"Alright..." you say slowly as Nephilim directs you across the street to a small park across from an elementary school, you can see a couple of kids playing there afterschool, "This is the place then?"

Nephilim hops onto your shoulder before pointing with his tail to a tween girl with beaded braids and mocha skin playing by herself on a swing.

'That would be her, all previous attempts at creating a pact with her have failed.'

"I thought that girls with potential had a scent that Demons were attracted to?"

'They do, it's just not a scent that is noticeable to humans. Her continued survival despite this is at least four standard deviations from the average length of un-pacted lifespan.'

You raise your eyebrows, it seems like it was a good thing that you decided to go looking for girls like her then.

You walk on over to the swing set and sit down next to her. You see the girl's eyes bug out when she sees Nephilim sitting on your shoulder.

"Hello, do you mind if I take this seat?" you ask politely

The little girl shakes her head, keeping her eyes on Nephilim.

"So you can see him too, huh?"

"Yeah." she says before looking at you, "Are you a magical girl?"

"I sure am." you nod, "My name is Sera, nice to meet you."

"I'm Alicia! That's so cool, I don't get to meet many magical girls."

You frown in confusion, this doesn't seem at all like a girl that would turn down Nephilim's offer.

"You know, if you became a magical girl you'd probably meet more of us, you'd be a lot safer too."

Alicia kicks at the gravel on the ground "I can't be a magical girl though, my sister says I'm not allowed to do that."

"But you can tell me about what that's like!" Alicia says with renewed enthusiasm, "Have you been in a fight yet?"

"Yeah, I've been in one or two."

"Ooh! Tell me!"

You chuckle at her enthusiasm before beginning to talk about the first fight you were in as a magical girl. Alicia listens with her attention solidly on you, and before you know it the sun has begun its descent in the sky.

"I gotta go home now." Alicia says, "But you'll come and see me again soon right!"

"Well... I don't know if I can really say that, but I'll try." You say.

"It's a promise then! See you tomorrow Sera!" Alicia says with a wave before going to a bus stop.

Red_Spy said:
Management Orders 3: Red

1. Following the recent revelation during the last time out, Estefa will be figuratively throwing herself into her practicing for the track team. It is a fun and enjoyable activity and interacting with the few people she knows in it, such as the coach and Sera, have been the highlight of her days. And, in case in the future it turns out poorly, best to get in the good memories while she can?

2. Give all the recent hassle lately, making a pact, discovering she is paraplegic untransformed, and Jonas going out with some [redacted] some minor grievances with acquaintances, Estefa could really use a day to herself. On a day where the pressure to go out and patrol is low, she'd like to go to a mall or some other place people like to be at so she can just spend some time away from all the recent stress.

XP Spending: +1 Heart, +1 Fury.
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
First part under construction.

***

You sit down at the mall, your bandolier of potions clinking audibly as you relax by the fountain. It has been a long week, and a hard one given the various revelations that have turned your world upside down. But today is your day, you are going to relax and not worry about Demons, being unable to walk normally, or how Jonas was seduced by that bad-

"I'll pay for us!"

"You really don't have to Jonas."

"No I insist."

She's stalking you.

It's the only logical explanation, she's following you around to rub in the fact that she has Jonas and you don't.

Every fiber of your brain screams at you to get up and walk away from all of this, but you can't force yourself to do so. You have a burning desire to look after Jonas, you could never leave him alone, especially when he's in the clutches of Erika.

Breathe. You breathe in slowly, before looking around to see if you can't find a better position to be in. The absolute last thing you want is to be out in the open with those two in the mall, they might see you, or worse, come over and talk to you.

In short order you manage to find a nice little vantage point where you can peek in on the two while staying relatively well hidden.

"Alright ... how your sister ... doing? After the last ... I mean."

Well it didn't sound like anything too sinister, but wasn't that also how it began last time? You can't let your guard down again.

"She seemed a bit shaken ... but she's been ... back to her normal self."
Well it was nice to hear that Sera was doing well at least, especially given the ordeal that was having to go from battling Jasmine to fighting the spider Demon.

"Do you mind if I try a bit of yours?"

Wait, that doesn't sound good.

You watch in horror as Erika goes and eats some of Jonas's ice cream. It's awful, Jonas's lips had been there; doesn't that makes this, like, indirect kissing? That- that- that bad woman, how could she have tricked Jonas to get so close to him? Surely he has to realize that she's just using him for her own nefarious purposes?

"Oh no!"

"I got it!"

You stare blankly as you watch Jonas lick her hand in public.

"I'm done with today." you mutter as you head out the exit of the mall.
 
Management Orders: Mission 5

Action 1: Firearms with Father - Much as a I want to help with the search over the weekend, Father and I have been planning a trip to the range, and I don't want to miss the opportunity to spend time with him. I also want to see if my transformation has affected my normal shooting skills; dual-wielding seems so natural when I am transformed, and if I can manage that kind of accuracy without switching I definitely want to know it. Father will laugh if he sees me trying of course, and maybe it is a bit silly, but I can just imagine the look on his face if it works.
Action 2: Investigating with Ant' - Its been a few days since I talked to Ant, but I don't want to leave it forever, and I think now I have plenty to occupy him other than the things I don't want to talk about. I can bring him along to look for Hana and Isabella while the others are at track; fill him in on the situation with that, the story of Mao, and see what he thinks about it all. It would be nice to get some of his perspective on all this, and telling somebody else about it should get some of the worry off my chest. I don't want to get caught up in the other gangs going at it after all.

And there is no XP to spend it seems. :( Hopefully those orders are fine though.

DT
 
Management Orders: Mission 5

Order 1: Alicia is a quite an enthusiastic young girl. She certainly seems eager to become a magical girl. Of course, this makes me wonder if she is truly aware of the perils and responsibilities that come with making a pact. It is not something to be taken lightly, especially considering the recent incidents involving Erika and I. I know her sister has forbidden it, and I can certainly sympathize with that, but a demon may not be as understanding. If Alicia was ever forced to defend herself as Estefa or I were, I’d prefer it if she were armed with proper understanding of the risks involved, as well as with magic. Plus, I did promise to meet her again; or at least, she promised on my behalf.

Order 2: We’ve danced around the issue for far too long. It is time to sit Jonas down and let him know that both Erika and I have decided it would be best if he did not follow us hunting. I appreciate that he wants to help, and I know that he means well, but he has no way of defending himself against these demons. If anything were to happen to him, I do not think I could forgive myself. I am sure he will understand that I only have his best interests in mind.
 
Management Orders 4: Red

1. Have a chat with Nephilim about the demons. Specifically, back in magical girl 101 we were told they are formed from negative emotions, but what exact negative emotions? Are some emotions more susceptible, do some result in stronger demons? Getting a better idea on where to look for them can help tremendously to both finding them and getting more seeds quickly.

2. Okay, enough is enough. That person has gone parading Jonas around for long enough, it is time to act. After a class with him, take him aside and explain that Erika doesn't actually care about him. In fact she went behind his back and kissed Sera. Maybe take a page out of Sera's book and say Erika thinks their relationship is a game. Just make sure Jonas gets the message. To be clear, Estefa of course has no personal stake in this, she's only trying to be a concerned friend of Jonas and Sera. Jonas doesn't need to go and get his heart broken this earlier in life, right? That's all she wants. There's no ulterior motive, she's trying to help him as a friend.
 
Dem Taqat said:
Management Orders: Mission 5

Action 1: Firearms with Father - Much as a I want to help with the search over the weekend, Father and I have been planning a trip to the range, and I don't want to miss the opportunity to spend time with him. I also want to see if my transformation has affected my normal shooting skills; dual-wielding seems so natural when I am transformed, and if I can manage that kind of accuracy without switching I definitely want to know it. Father will laugh if he sees me trying of course, and maybe it is a bit silly, but I can just imagine the look on his face if it works.
Action 2: Investigating with Ant' - Its been a few days since I talked to Ant, but I don't want to leave it forever, and I think now I have plenty to occupy him other than the things I don't want to talk about. I can bring him along to look for Hana and Isabella while the others are at track; fill him in on the situation with that, the story of Mao, and see what he thinks about it all. It would be nice to get some of his perspective on all this, and telling somebody else about it should get some of the worry off my chest. I don't want to get caught up in the other gangs going at it after all.

And there is no XP to spend it seems. :( Hopefully those orders are fine though.

DT
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
One of the first things you notice when lifting up the pistol is how different holding it feels to holding your weapons when transformed. The weapon has a familiar weight to it that, before now at least, you never noticed was lacking in the transformed guns.

You arrived at the range on Saturday morning with your father, who you could tell was happy to be on this trip. Even though you and your father's relationship was one that was short on words, you hadn't been having as much time to talk to him ever since you made a pact with Nephilim to become a magical girl. So while your father might not show it on the outside, you knew that he must have been looking forward to this trip.

"Sloppy grip." your father notes gruffly from your left.

He just really doesn't know how to show it.

You frown as you adjust your grip, your father was right, it would seem that all the fighting you have been doing was building up some bad habits. Your fire pistols weighed like feathers, never needed reloading, whatever safety mechanism they had seemed to be based on whether or not you wanted to fire them, and the recoil was for all practical purposes non-existent. It would take a bit of getting used to in order to use regular guns again.

"I know what I'm doing, I wasn't going to fire or anything."

Doesn't mean you'd admit it to your father though.

The two of you put on your earmuffs (permanent ear damage ain't no joke!) as you begin to fire down the range. For a while you just enjoy the time you get to spend with your father as you begin to practice on your marksmanship.

You can't keep your mind from wandering though, and soon an idea strikes you as you look down at an unused pistol next to you.

Now although you know what you are about to do is a Bad Idea, you can't help but wonder... Has any of the fighting you've been doing with weapons akimbo translated over to your untransformed state?

You'd never know without trying it out, you reason to yourself as you pick up the pistol in your free hand. Already you notice why the guns you use to hunt weigh almost nothing, guns are heavy and you're not a particularly large girl. It takes serious effort to heft up the pistol in your non dominant arm with no support.

Once you do have it up, however, you easily settle into the natural stance you take whenever fighting demons. You can feel your tattoo itching as if you would want to transform, but you squash the feeling quickly. Taking a deep breath in, you aim down the range with your weapons.

BANG BANG

The recoil of the guns reverberates down your arms and slams into your chest, forcing you to take a couple of steps back to avoid falling on your ass.

Everyone is staring at you, including your father. Yeah, this wasn't the most well advised of ideas.

***

"Hey, Ant'! Wait up!" You call out as you run after your friend as the school ends.

You've been searching high and low for Anthony this morning in school, but you couldn't find him at any of your usual meeting places. Figuring that if he wasn't there that he'd be going home early, you decided to wait to intercept him at the school entrance closest to his home. And sure enough, when you got there you could see the back of Ant's head bobbing away from you.

Ant turns around to the sound of your voice "Erika?"

"Man, I've been looking everywhere for you. Where were you today?"

"With friends." Ant says with a shrug, "We haven't really talked in a while, you've been kinda busy with the Ritters."

"Riiight." you say sucking in air through your teeth, "Sorry about that... Magical girl stuff. But I can tell you about it now!"

The two of you talk at length about what Ant' has missed since you last went out hunting with him. All the way back when you first went berserk, speaking of which you begin to fill him in on what you've learned about Mao and her sister Hana. You talk about the disappeared Isabella, and how it has begun to reignite an old tension between the two gangs, and about the lead you have with the returned Hana.

"In short, if we find Isabella we'll be able to de-escalate this problem between the gangs and that means that there'll be no worries about getting caught in the crossfire of another war."

"That..." Ant' shakes his head, "That all sounds very stressful. And dangerous."

"Dangerous? Well, I guess it could get dangerous, but I've already talked with Laura to calm down the Sureños. Really it shouldn't be a problem." You say waving down his concern.

Ant again shakes his head "I meant more about searching for whatever made Isabella disappear."

"Eh?"

"Well, assuming that she didn't decide to leave her friends and family one day with no explanation or message, then she's been taken somewhere against her will. And I just think it's pretty dangerous to be looking for whatever was able to do that to a more veteran Magical girl."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Between Sera, Estefa, and myself we can deal with any threat that comes our way, and that's not to mention Laura and the Sureños who will want to be looking for their friend."

Ant shakes his head and mutters something about 'stubborn headed.'

The two of you continue to walk for a while before he speaks up again.

"You said that Mao ended up hiding in North Rosario after her berserking got really bad?"

"Yeah, least that's what I heard from both Laura and Jasmine. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking, doesn't that remind you of an urban legend that was going around a couple years ago?"

You stop walking and frown "No, I never really paid much attention to those. Do you know anything about this that could help us out?"

"Well, it was this rumor that was going around a couple of years ago about this factory that got abandoned when the economy tanked. Kids were saying that it was haunted, and that if you'd go in there at dusk that you'd have your soul stolen from you. Stuff like that, but I was thinking..."

"...Maybe the story started because someone noticed weird things happening when Mao moved in." You complete his sentence, "That's a great start, if Hana is coming back here after years being gone one of the best places to find her would be her sister's old place."

"Basically." Ant says with a shrug, "I won't let you go anywhere near it until you get the others with you though. That's too risky."


Celticfury said:
Management Orders: Mission 5

Order 1: Alicia is a quite an enthusiastic young girl. She certainly seems eager to become a magical girl. Of course, this makes me wonder if she is truly aware of the perils and responsibilities that come with making a pact. It is not something to be taken lightly, especially considering the recent incidents involving Erika and I. I know her sister has forbidden it, and I can certainly sympathize with that, but a demon may not be as understanding. If Alicia was ever forced to defend herself as Estefa or I were, I’d prefer it if she were armed with proper understanding of the risks involved, as well as with magic. Plus, I did promise to meet her again; or at least, she promised on my behalf.

Order 2: We’ve danced around the issue for far too long. It is time to sit Jonas down and let him know that both Erika and I have decided it would be best if he did not follow us hunting. I appreciate that he wants to help, and I know that he means well, but he has no way of defending himself against these demons. If anything were to happen to him, I do not think I could forgive myself. I am sure he will understand that I only have his best interests in mind.
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
You find yourself walking back to the park where you first met Alicia, through the winding roads of the Barrios and over near to the small elementary school with Nephilim in tow. You couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable during your journey, the whole place gives off a rather unsafe feeling to you that has you checking over your shoulder regularly.

"Sera! You're back!" a young voice calls out from the direction of the swings. You spot Alicia waving you over enthusiastically.

Smiling to yourself you head over and take the swing next to the girl.

"Hello Alicia, you did say I had to come back and meet you."

"Well, I wasn't really sure if you'd come back." the girl says while messing with one of the beads in her hair, "But you did! Which is really cool!"

The girl pauses for a moment to look over to Nephilim who she gives a shy wave to.

'Good afternoon.' The ferret greets, before shifting himself to lie on your shoulder easier. He seems content to let you take the wheel in regards to handling Alicia.

"How have you been doing then?" You ask, and not just as a formality either. As a girl with potential you knew that Alicia was basically walking around with a large target drawn on her back. If there was any sign that she was being hunted by a demon you'd want to know about it as soon as possible.

Your question causes the young girl to pout as if remembering something, drawing your attention and concern.

"Well... I told my sister about you after we met and... She says I shouldn't talk to you anymore, she doesn't want me involved with Magical Girls at all."

You blink in shock, you knew that Alicia's sister must have been against Nephilim for trying to make a pact with her, but you hadn't imagined that she would have been untrusting of you as well. This was... problematic to say the least, you had to be able to talk to Alicia in order to get her to understand her situation better, if only so that she'd be able to protect herself if she ever got attacked by a demon that hadn't been noticed by other magical girls.

"Your sister wants you to be safe though, doesn't she?" You ask as the cogs in your brain turn.

Alicia nods, predictably.

"Then really, she'd want you to keep talking to me." you reason, "I'm not gonna ask you to make a pact with Nephilim or anything right now, I just want to help you know how to protect yourself if you ever have to."

"I can understand why your sister is telling you that though, being a Magical Girl can be really tough," you explain, "fighting Demons isn't something you can do by yourself, and even with a team it's pretty dangerous. Plus you'll have a lot less free time for yourself when you become a magical girl, patrolling the city to look out for Demons is a big responsibility and takes a lot of time as well. Being a magical girl changes you, and you have to be watchful that you don't change so much you don't recognize yourself."

"Then why do you continue to fight as a Magical Girl?" Alicia asks looking up to you.

You hesitate for a moment, it was a question you had grappled with before, especially after you realized that you were just as liable to lose control as Erika was. You think back on the advice of your father as you carefully craft your answer.

"...It's because I have a duty to help others. Not many people have the same sort of powers as I do, and there's been times when Demons have hurt innocent people and would have done worse if I hadn't been there to fight them. So even though it isn't fun, even though it takes a lot of time, and even if it changes me, I have to keep fighting as a Magical Girl. Because If I don't, then I'm guaranteeing that I won't have a chance to save those people."

Alicia looks up at you silently

"Helping people like that..." She begins, "That really sounds like something I'd want to do too. Even if it was dangerous."

You smile and pat her head, "If you ever run into a Demon you shouldn't hesitate to make a pact and protect yourself. But until then, just think about it for a longer time, it's a big decision to make."

"If I do become a Magical Girl, would you let me fight with you?" Alicia asks

You open your mouth to answer right as a loud voice cuts through the air.

"I think that's enough."

You turn in surprise to see a familiar face glaring you down, with hands tucked neatly into that dusty red 49er's jacket.

"Big sister/Jasmine?" You and Alicia respond.

"Alicia, I told you to stay away from this type of stuff." Jasmine states coldly.

"Uh- But..."

"Just head home, you can watch cartoons there."

Alicia nods slowly before getting off the swings and giving you a small wave. Your attention is primarily dominated by Jasmine who stares you down, but waits to move until Alicia is out of ear shot. Vaguely you notice that Nephilim has disappeared, when'd he do that?

"What were you thinking, tryinna get her to become a Magical Girl?" Jasmine says while slowly bringing her hands out of her pockets.

"L-look here Jasmine." you begin nervously, the last thing you want is another fight, "I wasn't telling her to make a pact, I was just worried for her since she had Potential but wasn't able to take care of herself."

"I look after her." Jasmine declares, "And you should know well enough why I don't want her involved with Demons or gangs. She's a smart girl with a future, so don't try and drag her into this mess."

Jasmine gives you one more look before turning around and heading after her sister.

***

Under construction.


Red_Spy said:
Management Orders 4: Red

1. Have a chat with Nephilim about the demons. Specifically, back in magical girl 101 we were told they are formed from negative emotions, but what exact negative emotions? Are some emotions more susceptible, do some result in stronger demons? Getting a better idea on where to look for them can help tremendously to both finding them and getting more seeds quickly.

2. Okay, enough is enough. That person has gone parading Jonas around for long enough, it is time to act. After a class with him, take him aside and explain that Erika doesn't actually care about him. In fact she went behind his back and kissed Sera. Maybe take a page out of Sera's book and say Erika thinks their relationship is a game. Just make sure Jonas gets the message. To be clear, Estefa of course has no personal stake in this, she's only trying to be a concerned friend of Jonas and Sera. Jonas doesn't need to go and get his heart broken this earlier in life, right? That's all she wants. There's no ulterior motive, she's trying to help him as a friend.
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
You lie in your bed untransformed for once, sleeping in uniform was uncomfortable you found, trying to think of anything that wasn't your legs, Jonas' predicament, or that person. It's a lot of things not to think about, and you already weren't really good at clearing your mind or any of that meditation mumbo jumbo.

You let out a sigh as you hear the pattering of little feet running down the hall, it seems like your little siblings were rough housing again, it's only a matter of time before you hear your mother shout at them to stop running indoors.

As your mind drifts, your eyes settle on the blue form of Nephilim who happens to be curled up at your feet.

"Hey, Nephilim."

'There is something you wish to ask.' The telepathic ferret notes.

"Yeah, sorry if I'm bothering you."

'We are not bothered.'

"I was wondering about demons you see. I know that you told me that they are created by negative emotions, but I was wondering what kind of emotions? Just saying 'negative' is pretty vague."

'Vague for a purpose.' Nephilim chimes, 'We have noted a wide variety of human emotions that have resulted in the spawning of a Demon.'

You frown, that wasn't really helpful either, and Nephilim seemed pleased to stay silent unless you directed your question more specifically.

"Well then..." you think on how to best phrase your question, "How about what emotions are the most common in spawning demons? And do any of them result in stronger demons?"

'Certainly.' Nephilim says while getting up to better look you in the eyes. 'But to answer your first question first, We have found that emotions such as what you call jealousy result in 34.65% of documented cases of Demon spawning, while spite results in 20.01% of documented cases, and despair results in 13.33%, repeating of course.'

You blink, that was certainly more detailed than you expected.

'But some rarer emotions have been noted to correlate with stronger Demons.' Nephilim continues, 'One in particular stands out as an outlier in terms of effect. Self-loathing.'

Huh, you can't say you were expecting that one.

"Do you know why that is?"

Nephilim shakes his head 'We unfortunately do not have a theory that explains this phenomena adequately, although some Magical Girls have proposed ones, they are usually based on superstition however. '

You sigh as you cast your eyes up at your ceiling. It was a start at least, and put you ahead of where you were before, which was knowing near nothing. You try to think about how to best apply this knowledge, but soon find your eyes growing heavy. Really, this all seems like something you can worry about later...

***

Under construction.
 
DT and Celt haven't been on chat lately so I'll post it here.

No mission this week as I have to volunteer for a clinic on Saturday and I have a test coming up on Monday. We will be continuing next week without delay.
 
Management Orders: Mission 6-7:p)

Order 1: So it looks like my arm has indeed grown back, though not without some, complications. No need to worry, though; the maw on my hand went away after an hour or two, so surely this will go away in time as well...though, it has been several hours longer than last time, and nothing has yet to change...maybe I should talk to Laura about this. Surely she must have seen something similar to what is happening to me. I just need to remember to cover it up when going outside. One of those athletic arm sleeves ought to do the trick.

Order 2: I had hoped to be able to talk to Alicia again; I just never thought it would have to be like this. To have lost such a wonderful big sister like Jasmine, she must be devastated. I need to make this right. Alicia can't do this alone, she needs someone to comfort her, someone to protect her. She needs...forgive me, Jasmine, but she needs to make the pact. I know you were against this, but I cannot be with her at all times. She needs to be able to defend herself, even if it is just long enough for me to get there. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to yell at me when I wish you back.

Spending 1 XP to gain 2 Resolve and advance to Tier 2; 1 XP to gain the Magical Effect Scaling Defiance; Gain the free Guardian Magical Effect I Shall Never Fall for advancing a tier.
 
Last edited:
Management Orders: Mission 7

Action 1: Visit the Pirus - After inviting Jasmine to tag along on our expedition, I feel like it is my responsibility to inform her teammates of her fate. I don't especially like talking about it given the circumstances, but they deserve to know, so I'll just have to swallow my bitterness. I don't want them assuming it was the Suernos after all, tensions are high enough between the groups as is. While I'm there, I also have a couple more questions about Mao that Faith might be old enough to help me answer: what did she look like? And how did she fight? I have a suspicion, but lets not jump to conclusions.
Action 2: Unimportant - Wherever else Erika goes, it surely has nothing to do with her latest new abilities...

XP Spending: +1 Social Point, Gain effect 'Assassinate'
Tier Advancement: Gain Effect 'Combo'

-----

Celt, your order numbering system offends me with its inconsistencies.

DT
 
Management Orders 5: Red

1. N/A.

2. N/A.

Not posting any given the circumstance of when this is being posted.

XP Spending: +2 to Resolve, +1 to Physical
Advancement: Arcane Rend
 
Celticfury said:
Management Orders: Mission 6-7 :)p)

Order 1: So it looks like my arm has indeed grown back, though not without some, complications. No need to worry, though; the maw on my hand went away after an hour or two, so surely this will go away in time as well...though, it has been several hours longer than last time, and nothing has yet to change...maybe I should talk to Laura about this. Surely she must have seen something similar to what is happening to me. I just need to remember to cover it up when going outside. One of those athletic arm sleeves ought to do the trick.

Order 2: I had hoped to be able to talk to Alicia again; I just never thought it would have to be like this. To have lost such a wonderful big sister like Jasmine, she must be devastated. I need to make this right. Alicia can't do this alone, she needs someone to comfort her, someone to protect her. She needs...forgive me, Jasmine, but she needs to make the pact. I know you were against this, but I cannot be with her at all times. She needs to be able to defend herself, even if it is just long enough for me to get there. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to yell at me when I wish you back.

Spending 1 XP to gain 2 Resolve and advance to Tier 2; 1 XP to gain the Magical Effect Scaling Defiance; Gain the free Guardian Magical Effect I Shall Never Fall for advancing a tier.
Click to expand...
Spoiler :
You glance down at your left arm, the thing has been itching something fierce at just above the elbow where it was bitten off in your fight with the last Demon. You hadn't noticed when it had grown back, but you figured it was at some point between when you untransformed after the fight and when you ran into Jonas as you were sneaking into your room. Your brother nearly dropped the glass of water he was carrying when he saw your arm.

A burning sensation surrounds you, the smell of acid clouds your head. A girl stands over you shielding you from another stream of acid with her own body. "S-sera, we're almost out now."

Starting just above your elbow you can see a faint line that shows where the new arm attaches to your old one, following it down you soon get to your elbow which has been turned into a ball joint, similar to that of a doll's. The rest of the arm continues devoid of any blemish, with a slightly plastic sheen to it, and the doll joints reappear at your wrist, and fingers which end in perfectly manicured nails. You can move your arm around just fine, even further than normal because of the free ball joint, and even feel through it.

The first action you had taken after waking up the next day to see the doll arm still attached was to cover it up. It was a bit unsettling to see that the Mutation hadn't subsided yet, after all hadn't Laura and Jasmine said that they don't tend to last but a couple hours?

Your lungs burn as you give a final desperate swing with your one arm, tears nearly forming in your eyes as you see light spill over your face from a small hole.

At first you had put an arm sleeve that you had left over on it, but it still left your wrist and knuckles exposed. With no other option in such a short time before school starts, you resort to getting a hefty length of gauze and wrapping up your left arm entirely in it, making sure to wrap your fingers separately to not entirely mummify your arm.

Now at school you wasted no time tracking down Laura at lunch, you need to figure out what is happening to your arm as soon as possible and the veteran Magical Girl is a good of a place to start as any. You manage to find her easily enough, as she waves you into an empty classroom, it would seem that she wanted to talk to you as well. You notice her still wearing her cracked glasses, a painful reminder of what had happened the night before.

"Its open?" The girl asks weakly as you grip her hand tightly in your ascent. You manage to stutter out an affirmative, hardly believing that the end was so close. She smiles, "See? I told'ya... you'd make it."

"Laura/Sera" the two of you speak over each other after making sure that the room was secure.

"Please, you go first." your ingrained politeness kicks in.

Laura nods and recomposes herself before beginning, "I just want to say that... I didn't mean to be so cold yesterday. Even if Jasmine and I never got along well, it was your first time losing a friend, and I know how that can feel."

You give her a short thanks, yet your throat feels so dry, really you can't even remember what you told her it's so distracting.

"I... I can't fix dead."

The words echo in your head as you frantically thrust on the girl's chest in a desperate attempt to revive her. Your vision is blurred, you can barely see the large SF logo emblazoned on the her jacket. And every second a set of ice cold talons tightens its grip around your chest.

"...your arm?"

You shake your head, "I'm sorry what was that?"

"I asked if you wanted to talk about that arm you re-grew?" Laura repeats.

You nod quickly glad to have some activity with which to dam up the memories, unwrapping the arm to show it to her. Laura pulls out a gem and runs it across the doll arm frowning to herself as she analyzes it. You stay mostly quiet beyond telling her that the Mutation has been around since last night, much longer than any Mutation should last.

"It looks like the Mutation might have been made permanent. But I can't tell for sure why." Laura says as she continues to frown over your arm, "My best guess would be that its a result of the interaction with the magic that rebuilt your arm. That or it was made permanent due to the arm mutating at a time when your mental state was so unstable, since your magic is controlled by your mind after all."

"So it looks like I have to get used to it then?" you ask as you begin to re-wrap the arm.

Laura shrugs and repeats a familiar phrase, "It's better than the alternative."

***

You sit down with Alicia, who has been rather quietly following you, on a bench in the park. In fact she has been uncharacteristically somber since you first saw her today, greeting you with a quiet 'hi' rather than her usual enthusiastic wave. Nephilim lays on your lap, providing you with a furry lap pillow and little else, as the blue ferret seems content to let you handle talking to Alicia.

You struggle to think about how to best start off this conversation. There's so much you need to tell her, but you can hardly just dump all of this on her at once. Especially since she must still be in the process of dealing with the fact that she lost her sister.

"Alicia, I'm really, really sorry about what happened to your sister." You begin, "I know it could seem that at times we didn't get along, but whenever it really counted she was there to help us."

She continues to stay silent, but nods after a moment to let you know that she heard what you said.

You sigh before beginning to recount to Alicia, as gently as you possibly can, the last battle that Jasmine ended up fighting with the Angler Demon. You explain how you ran into her and the lead up to the battle, down to the desperate struggle in the belly of the beast.

"...being a magical girl is dangerous, but your sister knew that better than anyone else." you conclude.

Alicia ponders this for a while, "I guess I understand her a little better."

You put a hand on her shoulder as you address her very seriously now, "But you know Alicia, even now that your sister is gone you've still got that scent on you. Demons will still be chasing after you, and as much as I'd like to, I can't be nearby all the time to protect you like Jasmine could. "

Alicia's eyes harden "If... If I become a magical girl, will I get the power to kill Demons?"

'We can grant you that power if you make a pact, Alicia Monroe.' Nephilim speaks up for once, now sitting upright between you and the girl, 'And in return for completing your fate and gathering twelve Seeds of Oblivion you will get something even more powerful. One wish shall be granted, any wish you desire.'

"Any wish..." Alicia repeats, before looking up to you. You nod, it seems like she's on the same wavelength as you regarding that.

Alicia stands up "I'll do it! I'll make a pact with you if you give me the power to get my sister back."

Nephilim's eyes flash for a moment before he and Alicia begin to glow a soft light.

In a flash of light Alicia has donned her Magical Girl uniform. Mostly pink and white in color palette, her uniform itself hangs lightly over a body suit, making her seem agile and hard to pin down. The beads on her braided hair seemed to have been enlarged, but they just seem cosmetic, until a pink gem on one of them catches your eye. The only armor she wears is on her arms and legs, padded guards rather than anything more old fashioned. Her arms end in striking gloves like those of a MMA fighter, and she carries no other weapons.

'Another Pact has been agreed to and signed.'


Dem Taqat said:
Management Orders: Mission 7

Action 1: Visit the Pirus - After inviting Jasmine to tag along on our expedition, I feel like it is my responsibility to inform her teammates of her fate. I don't especially like talking about it given the circumstances, but they deserve to know, so I'll just have to swallow my bitterness. I don't want them assuming it was the Suernos after all, tensions are high enough between the groups as is. While I'm there, I also have a couple more questions about Mao that Faith might be old enough to help me answer: what did she look like? And how did she fight? I have a suspicion, but lets not jump to conclusions.
Action 2: Unimportant - Wherever else Erika goes, it surely has nothing to do with her latest new abilities...

XP Spending: +1 Social Point, Gain effect 'Assassinate'
Tier Advancement: Gain Effect 'Combo'

-----

Celt, your order numbering system offends me with its inconsistencies.

DT
Click to expand...
Spoiler :
You manage to find your way to the Piru camp easily enough. You remember the route Jasmine had taken you through as if it was yesterday, and as you take it again you can see signs that the Piru gang seems to be busy patrolling right now. Still, the girls nod you through as you pass them and even offer directions to find Faith.

The older girl is currently just finishing a text on her phone as you arrive. She's dressed in her magical girl regalia a combination of loose, segmented crimson robes and golden jewelry, a sword as big as she is hangs sideways off her back. Turning the phone off she sizes you up as you enter, "I heard you was on your way here."

"I'm just here to help clarify what went down last night," you explain "I thought you'd appreciate hearing it from someone who was there."

Faith nods "Well you thought right, last we heard from her she was chasing some Sureño who went runnin through her territory."

You nod, "Close as I can figure out, she was a victim of the Demon we fought. A great big Angler fish that used illusions and hid in the shadows. She helped us fight it off too, so don't think she was trying to lure us into a trap."

Faith gives you an unreadable look, "Well how about you tell me more about that fight and what happened to Jasmine, five on one is more than a fair battle."

You feel a bitter taste welling up in your throat as you begin to recount the story of the battle, and how Jasmine had thrown herself into the Demon's mouth when she saw Sera get eaten. You then talk about how by the time you had finished killing the Demon, it was already too late for her.

In the first open display of emotion, Faith seems honestly hurt as she hears that Jasmine wasn't able to escape alive.

"I knew it, and I told her so. One of them days that hero complex of her's was gonna kill her." Faith says with a shake of the head.

"You did a good thing, telling me about what happened soon as you could. We was about to go knocking on the Sureños ground for some answers."

You nod, it seems like your fears had been right. It's good that you had acted in time to stop this.

"So you guys are cool with them then?" you ask hopefully

Faith shakes her head with a grim smile, "They still have a lot of blood on their hands to pay for, but at least that debt wasn't made any larger today. If you ever need a favor from us, you have one."

"Well I don't know if you'll count this as me spending it, but I do have one question. Can you tell me anything about what Mao looked like? You must remember her, right?" You ask.

Faith frowns at the out of the blue question, but regains her composure easily, "She was some Asian girl, Japanese I think? She fought with a sword in hand and combined it with her peerless control over temperature, making that sword glow white hot in battle. A really dangerous enemy to fight, and we did fight every time she'd lose control and go berserk after killing a Demon. Why do you want to know about her, though?

"Oh, I'm pretty sure its nothing..." you say.

***

Nothing of interest occurs...


Red_Spy said:
Management Orders 5: Red

1. N/A.

2. N/A.

Not posting any given the circumstance of when this is being posted.

XP Spending: +2 to Resolve, +1 to Physical
Advancement: Arcane Rend
Click to expand...

Spending noted
 
Management Orders: Mission 8

Action 1: Hook up with my Ice Cream Dealer - Wow that was hectic yesterday. I can't believe I almost shot Sera, and Jonas didn't seem too thrilled about it either; I should make sure he isn't too worried: I freaked out a bit, sure, but I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Estefania says otherwise of course, but after how she was acting before, I'm not sure she's exactly stable. And she's definitely not unbiased is she? She's just jealous, just trying to cause trouble for me and....okay, I can be charitable, living like this is stressful. But even if I want to help her with that, I need her to work with me, not accuse me of being a heartless sociopath! Sorry for venting all this at you but, oh, was that your Ice Cream? You don't mind, right?
Action 2: Play Sherlock - Things just keep getting worse on the magical end of things, and now we have another Surenos gone. Well, every good detective needs a bumbling sidekick, so I guess I will have to bring Ant' up to date on this and haul him along. After how helpful he was with finding Mao, I bet he'll have some other insightful theory on the situation with Ella, and worst case scenario talking things over with him will help organise my thoughts. Of course since I am the Sherlock here any idea he has is something I already thought of, but I have to at least pretend he's helping. ;)

:cry: No XP spending this mission.

DT
 
Management Orders 6: Red

1. Time to do some magic. Regardless of what he said, regardless of what happened, I still need to be there to protect Jonas and be with him. That's what you are supposed to do right? You protect those you love, those who make you feel welcome, even if... well Estefa still thinks he might want to be with her, but of course Erika is there. Well, anyway, when Jonas is not looking, Estefa will be placing a spell similar to Backlash Curse on some of his school supplies, only instead of blowing up if they attack Estefa is alerted if the target is placed in danger. That would keep an eye on him, right?

2. Though despite all of that, wishful thinking is not enough. As said before, being calm and quiet does nothing. She is going to have to dedicate herself to a plan to get him back. And to do that she is going to need Neph's advice. Sit down with the strange magical ferret one night and go over her wish with it. Ask for advice on how to get more seeds faster, questions on the best ways to get them. Are demons even the only source of them? She needs this information if she is going to march into battle.
 
Management Orders: Mission 8

Order 1: Ok, so this new arm of mine is a bit more, complex, than I first imagined. I need to learn to control this new power, before I truly hurt somebody. Which means some practice seems to be in order. First, I need to go somewhere remote, where I won't attract attention. Then, I need to practice controlling this energy. Can I stop it mid flight? Move it back and forth? What about in other directions?

Order 2: So now that I have a handle on control, let us see what else this energy can do. When that shot was fired into the ground, the debris that was spewed out seemed to freeze in the air. And further more, it felt like I could push or pull the 'sling' on my arm. I wonder, what would happen if I were to move the sling back or forth? I should try to repeat what happened the other day, for consistency.
 
Dem Taqat said:
Management Orders: Mission 8

Action 1: Hook up with my Ice Cream Dealer - Wow that was hectic yesterday. I can't believe I almost shot Sera, and Jonas didn't seem too thrilled about it either; I should make sure he isn't too worried: I freaked out a bit, sure, but I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Estefania says otherwise of course, but after how she was acting before, I'm not sure she's exactly stable. And she's definitely not unbiased is she? She's just jealous, just trying to cause trouble for me and....okay, I can be charitable, living like this is stressful. But even if I want to help her with that, I need her to work with me, not accuse me of being a heartless sociopath! Sorry for venting all this at you but, oh, was that your Ice Cream? You don't mind, right?
Action 2: Play Sherlock - Things just keep getting worse on the magical end of things, and now we have another Surenos gone. Well, every good detective needs a bumbling sidekick, so I guess I will have to bring Ant' up to date on this and haul him along. After how helpful he was with finding Mao, I bet he'll have some other insightful theory on the situation with Ella, and worst case scenario talking things over with him will help organise my thoughts. Of course since I am the Sherlock here any idea he has is something I already thought of, but I have to at least pretend he's helping. ;)

:cry: No XP spending this mission.

DT
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
You sit in the mall right next to Jonas, having a little surreal moment as you talk with him for the first time since the events of yesterday. With no one else here it seems even more crazy that just yesterday you were almost at the point where you shot both Sera and Erika on the park grounds.

Breathing deeply you try to move past that feeling you had back there. If Nephilim was right about one thing it was the burden that the knowledge he imparted on you held. You can't imagine almost getting to the point of killing your friend over her Mutated arm acting up. Still, if yesterday proved anything to you it was that you had a duty to look out for the others who didn't know. You don't want to imagine how many times you have already skirted to doom in the past.

"... so really while I was a little spooked I didn't mean to hurt anyone." you finish explaining to Jonas, leaving out the information about Demons of course.

Jonas nods in understanding, "It must be really tough, going from being a regular girl to this life with no warning at all."

"It can be pretty rough, but I wouldn't say it's all bad." you say as a blush creeps in on you, "After all, it did introduce me to you."

"Yeah, didn't think of it like that. You don't think we might not have got together without it?"

"I don't know, but I do know that its far better than if Estefania had ever gotten near you." your blood begins to get hot as you think of her, "I mean seriously! What's her damn problem? She's acting like I'm some crazy psychopath just because she's jealous of the fact that I asked you out first, give me a break. She's acting like a damn child is what she's doing."

At some point in your triad your hand had slipped around Jonas waist as if protectively grabbing onto him .

"I think she's more confused than anyone else right now." Jonas says evenly, "And we aren't always our best when we're confused."

"But the hypocrisy of that girl, calling me a danger when you saw what was happening to her with that... that... Thing in her chest." you shake your head, having run out words to express yourself with.

"Sorry for venting on you."

"It's alright, better for you to do it now than bottle it up inside of yourself."

"How lucky am I to have such a fantastic listener?" Slyly you lean forward into him, before directing your face downwards and stealing some of his ice cream, "And such a fantastic sweets provider?"

Jonas laughs "You seem to think I have a problem getting my ice cream back." he says before leaning into you again.

***

You and Ant walk alongside Faith as she and another Piru girl escorts you through the Piru territory. You are lead through the projects (think council houses in UK) and soon enough find yourself in a rather remote area of south east Rosario.

"Here we are." Faith says as she stops by an alley way, "Luther Street Alley is where one of our girls here stumbled onto Ella. Sureño territory is a good twenty minutes even for a magical girl from here, so whatever she was doing here, it wasn't on accident that she came here."

"Which looks bad for both them and you." you point out.

Faith shrugs "Guess so, but that's why you guys are here. Plus I don't think Laura would try to pull anything while she got a girl AWOL."

You take a step forward before immediately running into Faith's outstretched arm.

"Word of warning," she cautions, "What's in there ain't for the weak of heart, the girl got straight cut in half."

You nod and look to Ant' "Last chance to back out."

Ant shakes his head, "And let you go in there alone? I'll manage somehow."

In the alley way lies a young girl with a familiar face, you have to blink twice to make sure but that girl certainly has- had, you correct yourself, a close family resemblance to Laura. Wearing a blue sundress that has become stained red at the bottom the girl lies with her back on the wall, contents of her purse spilled out below, her entire body under her torso absent.

You vaguely notice Ant's hand go to his mouth as he gives a small retch in reaction to the sight. It all seems to be happening as if you're deep underwater.

"So go ahead, you're free to look." Faith says as she leans back on a wall opposite of the mess.

The only thing going through your head right now is just asking yourself what the hell you're doing here, for all that swagger you had coming into this the second you saw Ella's corpse it vanished. You're 15 for crying out loud, you're not a detective, you don't have any special training. How the hell are you supposed to draw any information from a dead body? Best you can do is just look at her and say 'Yep. That's a dead girl.'

"She wasn't expecting to die." Ant' speaks up next to you.

Faith raises her eyebrows "How'd you figure?"

"It's her purse." Ant explains, "See when Jasmine died, her uniform disappeared and her wounds were left over, so we can't tell anything from how she's dressed. But if she was in a fight, then she'd have dropped her purse in order to better face her enemy. If she's still got it here spilled like it is, then we can tell that she wasn't expecting a fight. Let alone expecting to die any time soon."

"And if she wasn't expecting a fight," Ant continues, "then we can reasonably assume she wasn't on a mission from the Sureños here in your territory."

You blink in shock, since when was Ant like this?

"Well I guess I'm just happy to have something to back up my gut feeling then." Faith says with a nod, "Can you tell anything else about what's going on here?"

Ant nods pacing back and forth a few times before speaking up again, "She was drawn out here, I think."

"Assuming your territory here hasn't changed in a long time." Faith nods to confirm, staying silent to let him continue speaking, "Then I think it's safe to assume that Ella didn't come through this neighborhood here often. Which would mean that she likely wouldn't know anyone here or have a reason to be walking through. So in order for her to be here, she'd have to have been drawn out. And who ever did it would have had to have done it in a way that wouldn't have gotten her to be suspicious and on her guard."

"So you're agreein then that there's no way we could have done it?" Faith asks

Ant nods "If tensions have always been as high between you two as Erika says they are then she would have been very suspicious of getting called out here by a Piru. She probably wouldn't have entered your territory on her own volition either, unless she was feeling like reigniting another gang war. More likely it was someone she knew and trusted that pulled her out here."

"So it seems like y'all really ought to talk to Laura."

You spend a bit more time standing around Ella's corpse before you say your goodbyes and start walking back with Ant.

As soon as the others are out of earshot you hiss into his ear "What the hell was that?"

"It was just logic. And dad's a cop you know, guess some things just rub off."

You shake your head, you can't help but feel like your friend has been changing ever since he got brought into this really, but especially after Jasmine died. Then again, who's to say you haven't been changing either?


Red_Spy said:
Management Orders 6: Red

1. Time to do some magic. Regardless of what he said, regardless of what happened, I still need to be there to protect Jonas and be with him. That's what you are supposed to do right? You protect those you love, those who make you feel welcome, even if... well Estefa still thinks he might want to be with her, but of course Erika is there. Well, anyway, when Jonas is not looking, Estefa will be placing a spell similar to Backlash Curse on some of his school supplies, only instead of blowing up if they attack Estefa is alerted if the target is placed in danger. That would keep an eye on him, right?

2. Though despite all of that, wishful thinking is not enough. As said before, being calm and quiet does nothing. She is going to have to dedicate herself to a plan to get him back. And to do that she is going to need Neph's advice. Sit down with the strange magical ferret one night and go over her wish with it. Ask for advice on how to get more seeds faster, questions on the best ways to get them. Are demons even the only source of them? She needs this information if she is going to march into battle.
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
Magic device created, you simply have to wait until Jonas leaves his supplies unattended for a moment (hardly a long wait) before slapping the sticker onto his backpack. Now you'll surely have advanced notice of any moment that Jonas might be in danger. The problem now is being close enough to act on it.

***

"Nephilim! We need to talk." you say as you drag him home after school.

Today is not your day to pick up your little siblings so you've got all the time in the world to focus on the number one issue. Getting enough Seeds of Oblivion to make your wish come true. It's really the only option you have left to yourself now. You had tried the direct route with Jonas and all it had revealed was that Erika had already sunken her talons far too deep into him for reason to work.

You shudder as you think of that harpy, that bad woman, for all the loathing you feel towards her you still have to work with her. As much as you'd hate to admit it Demon hunting is not a two girl job, let alone solo-hunting, and even if Sera had recruited a new girl she was still untested and who knows how long she'd last before going the way of her sister. No you needed to get Seeds as quickly as possible, which brings you back to the idea you had struck upon during the work you were doing ignoring class.

"I need your advice Nephilim." you ask him flat out in the privacy of your room.

'It is my duty to give it.' Nephilim states as he gets himself comfortable on your bed.

"I need to get a wish, and I need it as quickly as possible."

'Then you must gather twelve Seeds of Oblivion. And you must do it before the year ends.' Nephilim advises, 'Seeds do not last forever, and although your team is more than half way there your time too is diminishing.'

"Then you need to tell me, how can I get more Seeds? What's the quickest way to gather them, are Demons the only source of them?"

Nephilim's eyes gain a soft glint as he speaks up 'You walk a dangerous path, Estefania del Bosque. But there are options available to you.'

'The fastest way to gather Seeds of Oblivion bar none is to take them from other Magical Girls after they have done the labor of gathering them from Demons. But it is an option that is fraught with danger, because while Magical Girls might be weaker individually than a Demon, they guard their treasure jealously and will put aside all differences to visit doom on anyone who would break the unwritten rules of not hunting girls for Seeds.'

With that, he lays his head down onto the bed.


Celticfury said:
Management Orders: Mission 8

Order 1: Ok, so this new arm of mine is a bit more, complex, than I first imagined. I need to learn to control this new power, before I truly hurt somebody. Which means some practice seems to be in order. First, I need to go somewhere remote, where I won't attract attention. Then, I need to practice controlling this energy. Can I stop it mid flight? Move it back and forth? What about in other directions?

Order 2: So now that I have a handle on control, let us see what else this energy can do. When that shot was fired into the ground, the debris that was spewed out seemed to freeze in the air. And further more, it felt like I could push or pull the 'sling' on my arm. I wonder, what would happen if I were to move the sling back or forth? I should try to repeat what happened the other day, for consistency.
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
Finding an empty place to practice with your arm is difficult, but after asking Nephilim for advice you manage to discover a nice arena to practice under a bridge where he claims you'll have no issues with prying eyes. With the roar of traffic above you masking any noise you might make, you begin loosening the binds on your left arm. Unwrapping the gauze to reveal your doll-like arm that looks just a little less innocuous than it did the day before.

Treating the arm with care, you don't want it exploding anywhere near you, you present an open palm at a pile of cans you have stacked up a couple meters away from you. Taking a deep breath, you thrust your palm forward and shield your eyes with your free hand from any debris.

Clank

...

You crack an eye open, the can at the very top of the stack had been knocked over and was currently being rolled by a gust of wind down to the gutter. Looking at your arm, you see that it hasn't bloomed open into its firing position yet.

Shaking your head you begin to pry at the arm, but you can't seem to get it open again.

'Perhaps the arm only responds to magic.' Nephilim suggests from the sidelines where he bats one of the cans, 'In the last case the immediate area was certainly saturated with a lot of it. And it doesn't seem to respond otherwise.'

You nod, deciding to transform into your full magical girl uniform to test this power out. As the transformation completes you can feel that itching return to your arm, but less strongly this time. Placing your palm forward again, you concentrate on the energy underneath your arm until it begins to crack open and bloom into the shielded firing position.

"Woo!" you cheer as you pump your fist. Now that you've managed to figure out how to activate this part of your arm it was time to get to work on practice.

After blasting the cans around for a couple of minutes to get a feel for aiming you begin to focus on feeling out your boundaries. One of the first things you notice is that you can exert some control over the direction of your shot after its in the air. Although the bolt flies fast you can influence it to curve to the left or right some, but not enough to turn it around completely.

Beyond that though, your shot is simply too fast to control, let alone toss back and forth.

***

Now that you feel like you've got a better grasp of your basic shot you begin to move onto the more curious aspect of your power. Specifically you look at the sling that remains in your arm after the shot is fired.

The last time you used it and pulled the shot back the explosion that your shot had created mysteriously froze in time. You also vaguely remember Nephilim referring to the frozen debris as being "inviolable", whatever he might have meant by that. Still when you told him you were going to be practicing on that again he seemed to get excited, or at least as excited as a blue ferret with a toneless voice can seem to get.

'So will you be testing it now?' Nephilim asks for what feels like the umpteenth time.

"I would be if I could get a moment for concentration." you mutter out as you face a newly stacked can tower.

First you focus on trying to replicate the freezing effect, aiming squarely at the cans you let loose a shot. Immediately you pull back on the string causing the shot to slow almost to a stop in front of the cans before detonating in a small green pulse that washes over the cans.

Nephilim proceeds to jump at the stack of cans before ricocheting off of them, 'What a curious anomaly.' He remarks.

"Well you're hardly the strongest thing I'd think of." you point out as you give your warhammer a few practice swings.

'Our mass has little to do with the inviolability,' Nephilim explains, 'these cans would not move even if struck with your full force.'

You raise an eyebrow before walking up next to the stack and gripping your hammer with both hands, "Well let's just see about that!"

The second your hammer connects with the stack you realize your mistake as the cans remain upright like as if you had attempted to move the earth with your attack. The shock-wave with no other way to go trembles back up your arms making you almost lose your grip on the hammer. Taking a few steps back in shock you stare from the cans to your left arm.

Aiming your arm again at the cans you fire, this time with the intention to pull the string forwards. Again the shot slows and explodes in a small green pulse. And again Nephilim jumps at the stack of cans, this time however as he slams into the cans they move again and the tower collapses, burying the azure ferret.

'This green energy of your arm is very curious.' he exclaims from under the pile of trash.

"Tell me about it."
 
Management Orders: Mission 9

Action 1: Level with Laura - Ant' and I need to catch Laura some place quiet after school and tell her about how we found her sister. I have no idea how to put this across gently or subtly, and trying to mislead her about it would be a disservice, so I guess I'll have to explain how Faith and the Piru's were the one's who brought it to my attention. Laura doesn't seem the type to do anything rash, so I can give her a moment to be emotional if she needs it before we continue. That said, once the basic facts are down, we need to explain to her what Ant' deduced from the scene, and my theory that some outside party is trying to start something between the two gangs. I need to know the Surenos will be alert for more incidents like Ella, and I suspect Isabella, but them getting the wrong idea and starting a throw down with the Piru's will almost certainly mean we never get to the bottom of this. And uh, I'm not sure what the gangs usually do with, you know, remains, but if she wants to go into Piru territory and, uh, see it for herself, I'm sure I could get Faith to give her some room somehow.
Action 2: Advising Alicia - Since Sera doesn't seem to be up for the task, I need to meet up with Alicia and help ensure she's up to scratch with the basics. I doubt I need to tell her much about the gangs, so I'll explain what I've seen about how different fighting transformed is, how she needs to pay attention almost more to her tactics than to her actual body. More importantly though, I need to stress how dangerous this is, that using too much magic leads to weird things like what happened to Sera, and that she has to be careful when she fights. If she's up for it we can have a gentle spar to help her get a feel for her style, but it's more important for her to understand the dangers of what she's involved in and learn to follow my lead in fights. (Lets not mention how little I think of the others decision-making in fights unless she asks, it can't help anything. :p) This is not hanging out; there's no harm in having a little fun, but this is serious and my demeanour needs to reflect that.

XP Spending: +1 HeaR+ Point

------

Action 2 feels a like I wrote a fair bit in there, so don't feel like you have to detail it all out. That's the stuff I want her to take away from the session, but aside from the bit about demeanour I'm fairly open-minded about what you actually write. In the same vein, I decided not to mention the temporary change, since these seem like they will put a fair bit on your plate already, and I don't want to detract from anything important.

DT
 
Management Orders: Mission 9

Order 1: This team is coming apart at the seams, and I am at a loss as to how to save it. As much as I wish I could talk to Papa about this, I think it would be better to talk openly to someone about the issue. I need to talk to Faith, and ask her how she manages to prevent or resolve these types of conflicts. The Pirus gang seems to have been around for some time, so they must have had to deal with situations like this in the past. Asking for advice from a gang leader may not seem like the best course of action, but it is better than trying to sort this out alone.

Order 2: While I am talking with Faith, I should ask her about something that I have been wondering about; what happened during that big “war” between the Pirus and the Surenos? What exactly caused the war to begin, and how did they manage to end it? Also, considering what I know of magic and its capabilities, wouldn’t a war as brutal as Faith and Laura described would leave behind some noticeable magical phenomenon? I understand this will be a touchy subject, so I should approach the topic with a great deal of tact.

Spend 1 XP increasing Finesse stat to 5.
 
Management Orders 7: Red

1. Oh this is going to be so disgusting. Estefa can't do that to Sera again, though, and while she could probably break into a hospital alone that's not much better. So the only option left is this. Time to find a park to go to at night. One with a lot of trees. Squirrels live in trees, don't they? They should be good and oh god this will be disgusting. Just hunt some of them down, close eyes, and get the biting over with for now.

2. This calls for a day of relaxation. Just a day of enjoying life at school away from all this magical girl business. Take a test, do well on the track team, and try to stay away from siblings. Just a normal, relaxing day.

XP Spending: Pick up General Effect Cleansing Light.
 
Dem Taqat said:
Management Orders: Mission 9

Action 1: Level with Laura - Ant' and I need to catch Laura some place quiet after school and tell her about how we found her sister. I have no idea how to put this across gently or subtly, and trying to mislead her about it would be a disservice, so I guess I'll have to explain how Faith and the Piru's were the one's who brought it to my attention. Laura doesn't seem the type to do anything rash, so I can give her a moment to be emotional if she needs it before we continue. That said, once the basic facts are down, we need to explain to her what Ant' deduced from the scene, and my theory that some outside party is trying to start something between the two gangs. I need to know the Surenos will be alert for more incidents like Ella, and I suspect Isabella, but them getting the wrong idea and starting a throw down with the Piru's will almost certainly mean we never get to the bottom of this. And uh, I'm not sure what the gangs usually do with, you know, remains, but if she wants to go into Piru territory and, uh, see it for herself, I'm sure I could get Faith to give her some room somehow.
Action 2: Advising Alicia - Since Sera doesn't seem to be up for the task, I need to meet up with Alicia and help ensure she's up to scratch with the basics. I doubt I need to tell her much about the gangs, so I'll explain what I've seen about how different fighting transformed is, how she needs to pay attention almost more to her tactics than to her actual body. More importantly though, I need to stress how dangerous this is, that using too much magic leads to weird things like what happened to Sera, and that she has to be careful when she fights. If she's up for it we can have a gentle spar to help her get a feel for her style, but it's more important for her to understand the dangers of what she's involved in and learn to follow my lead in fights. (Lets not mention how little I think of the others decision-making in fights unless she asks, it can't help anything. :p) This is not hanging out; there's no harm in having a little fun, but this is serious and my demeanour needs to reflect that.

XP Spending: +1 HeaR+ Point

------

Action 2 feels a like I wrote a fair bit in there, so don't feel like you have to detail it all out. That's the stuff I want her to take away from the session, but aside from the bit about demeanour I'm fairly open-minded about what you actually write. In the same vein, I decided not to mention the temporary change, since these seem like they will put a fair bit on your plate already, and I don't want to detract from anything important.

DT
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
You walk alongside your friend Ant' as you head out of class and attempt to catch up with Laura before she leaves. She hadn't shown up the last two days you went to class since you were alerted to Ella's death by Faith, understandable you suppose but it was rather strange given Laura's straight-A student status. This time, however, you are able to find her after school alone on her way back to home.

"Laura! Wait up!" you call after her.

The bespectacled girl turns to you for a moment, "I'm sorry Erika, but I can't stay to talk right now. Family issues."

"We know!" you say as you reach her, "We found Ella."

Her eyes pop for a moment as she grabs you by the shoulders, "Where!? Is she alright?"

You wince, and not just because she's got a much stronger grip than anyone her size has business having. You and Ant' share a glance for a moment, "Well... You might want to sit down for this."

As gently as the two of you can, you explain to Laura how Faith had alerted you to a discovered body in her territory. The second you say how you discovered Ella in her mutilated state your body seizes up for a moment as a cold breeze rolls through. For just a moment, you could see clearly what Faith meant when she said Laura was a gang leader 'not to be taken lightly'.

"Continue." Laura says slowly.

You look towards Ant', as much as you'd hate to admit it he's the one who figured out everything. You shake your head as you try to dislodge your mind from the memories of being around Ella's corpse and the feeling of uselessness that you had been consumed by.

Ant' explains how he first convinced Faith that Ella hadn't been on a mission against them, but rather had been taken by surprise and killed quickly. He then follows up with the thread of logic he had used to determine that Ella had been drawn out to the area by someone who she had trusted.

If anything this bit of information seems to trouble Laura more than anything else.

"I see..." she says after the explanations have been finished, "Is there anything else?"

"I-I think there's someone, someone on the outside, who's trying to start up some conflict between you guys and the Piru gang." you speak up after a moment of second guessing yourself.

"After what's happened with Isabella and Ella, I'm almost certain that's what's going on." you continue, "So you have to be on guard, and make sure that you don't throw down. Otherwise I don't think we'll end up getting to the bottom of this ever."

Laura gives you a look, "It's not us you have to be worried about there, we're the ones who first looked for peace during the war even when we had the advantage."

After a moment she speaks up again.

"I... I do have something to ask you for. Could you perhaps come with me to negotiate with Faith to let me collect my sister? It would probably be for the best to have a third party there given the circumstances..."

***

[Occurs chronologically before last mission]

You wait for Alicia to finish with her classes as you sit idly on the swinger of the park outside her school. Out of the corner of your eye you can still see the floating earth that Sera had locked in stasis from your last meeting there. Speaking of that girl, the reason you had rushed down here as soon as school had ended was because the last fight you had been in made it absolutely and undeniably clear that she was incapable of properly taking care of Alicia after she first inducted her into the danger that being a magical girl was.

As school lets out and you can see a small head of braided and beaded hair bobbing its way towards you. A quick wave confirms that it is, in fact, Alicia.

"So you're going to teach me how to kick Demon butt then?" Alicia asks enthusiastically once the two of you are transformed and the other children had gone home.

"I will not teach you to 'kick butt', I will teach you how to survive." you correct, "Fighting Demons is about the most dangerous thing you will do. And not just because you could end up getting eaten, but because the very act of fighting will come with serious consequences."

Alicia's face falls a little, Jesus, when had you become such a wet blanket? You shake off the thoughts, it's for Alicia's own good, you wouldn't want the burden of sending her unprepared into battle on your conscious after all.

"When you're fighting, you'll notice, your body mostly takes care of itself and all of the split second reactions needed not to end up dead. What you really need to focus on is the tactics: fight smarter, not harder."

Alicia nods.

"The most important part of this is to manage your use of magic during a fight. While it can seem at first like you can use however much you want, using magic isn't something that comes for free. Use too much of it and you'll end up having weird things happening to yourself."

"Like what happened with Sera's arm and that Mexican girl's chest?" Alicia asks.

"Yes, those are what we call Mutations. They are physical changes that happen to your body from abusing magic, but not all of the changes are so easily seen. Some can also affect your mind, causing you to go berserk and attack anyone nearby for example."

"Sounds scary."

"It is."

"Magic," you conclude, "is not something to mess with. It's a tool we use to kill Demons."

"Well, talking about it is nice and all. But I don't know how much this will help me with learning to fight." Alicia says.

"If you're up for it then, I guess we could have a bit of practice." you say as you drop your guns in a poof of flame and settle into a boxing stance, "Nothing too serious though."

"Sounds like fun!" Alicia exclaims as she clenches her striking gloves and gives a few experimental swings in your direction. Goddamn this girl is fast with her fists.

The spar continues, you using your experience to solidly overcome Alicia's more natural inclination to hand to hand combat. For how serious you were being, you can't help but let a couple of laughs slip as you and Alicia fall into a more comfortable dynamic during combat. You know in the back of your head that you'll have to deal with Estefa soon and figuring out how to distribute the Seeds you gain from a hunt properly, but right now it's the last thing on your mind.


Celticfury said:
Management Orders: Mission 9

Order 1: This team is coming apart at the seams, and I am at a loss as to how to save it. As much as I wish I could talk to Papa about this, I think it would be better to talk openly to someone about the issue. I need to talk to Faith, and ask her how she manages to prevent or resolve these types of conflicts. The Pirus gang seems to have been around for some time, so they must have had to deal with situations like this in the past. Asking for advice from a gang leader may not seem like the best course of action, but it is better than trying to sort this out alone.

Order 2: While I am talking with Faith, I should ask her about something that I have been wondering about; what happened during that big “war” between the Pirus and the Surenos? What exactly caused the war to begin, and how did they manage to end it? Also, considering what I know of magic and its capabilities, wouldn’t a war as brutal as Faith and Laura described would leave behind some noticeable magical phenomenon? I understand this will be a touchy subject, so I should approach the topic with a great deal of tact.

Spend 1 XP increasing Finesse stat to 5.
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
Having never been to the usual meeting point of the Piru gang you don't really know what to expect once Faith invites you to there in order to have your discussion. The camp seems to be set up on the roof a seldom visited public storage facility. Any questions you ask about having their headquarters in such an exposed location, however, are simply deflected by Faith who insists that the camp has picked up a few surprises over the years.

Faith's segmented robes sway as she walks to a makeshift sitting area set up on a corner of the roof and adjusts her oversized sword so that she can sit down properly.

"Must be difficult to deal with." you gesture to her blade in an attempt to break the ice.

"Huh? Oh, I guess she was, 'fore I got more used to walking around with her." Faith says after a moment of confusion, "It's second nature now, really."

"But I'm guessin you ain't come here to talk about my weapon."

You nod, "Well... Really I came here for advice."

Faith quirks an eyebrow up, "Advice?"

"Y-yeah, if you don't mind giving it of course."

A smile stretches across the darker girl's face as she gives you a comforting pat on the shoulder "Naw, it'd be my pleasure." Her voice begins to pick up, "In fact, maybe some of these deadbeats could even learn from you, asking advice."

You hear some good natured, you hope they were at least, grumbles come from across the camp.

"So what can Big Sis Faith help you with?" Faith says, refocusing her attention on you.

"Well..." you begin in a hushed tone, "Things with my friends... They haven't been turning out the best really."

Faith's eyebrows jump, but she nods understandingly.

"Well, that might be a bit of an understatement. You see, sometimes after a battle, one of us will just continue fighting like a madperson. It's happened to all of us, and it doesn't seem like something that will stop happening. And well... you've dealt with Mao before, so I figured maybe you might have some better idea on how to deal with it?"

By this point all of the humor has drained from Faith's face, "...I see, that is pretty serious."

She wiggles her chin for a moment before speaking again, "Well, I figure I might as well just tell you how we dealt with Mao."

"When we first met her, she didn't seem to have any problem at all, but that illusion only lasted for a short while. Watching her fight was like watching one of those werewolf movies where a regular dude sees the full moon and slowly gets turned into a bloodthirsty beast. At first we thought she was just some two-faced snake, but that stopped making sense after she'd charge into a fight five girls to one."

"The only thing that could actually snap her out of that state, beyond whooping her ass silly of course, was her sister. Those two were in tight, almost inseparable really, and after she figured out she could calm her sister down they got even more inseparable."

"But I heard that she ended up getting worse before she holed herself up and died." you ask, "If her sister could just calm her down like that, then why did things get so bad?"

Faith gives a humorless smile "It should be obvious, she stopped taking her sister with her on hunts. I wasn't there personally, she was fighting with some Sureños back before they were Sureños, but I heard one night Hana almost got herself killed by a Demon. After that Mao never brought her back to fight and we were back to having to knock her lights out after every fight."

"It got worse, the longer she kept on letting it happen. She'd get more violent, and even hurt herself if there was no one in reach for her to get. From the rumors I heard, she and her sister started fighting too. Well life went on until one day she just up and moved to the North, stopped talking and mostly tried to avoid people. We saw less and less of her on patrols, until we just stopped seeing her at all. Hana stuck around for a bit after that, until she left too."

"That... That all sounds awful." You say with a pained voice, "I-I can't just bring Jonas into every fight I get into!"

"I never said it was pretty, you can take something away from it though." Faith points out, "Someday you'll have to make a decision too. What matters more to you, your sanity or your brother's safety? If you can answer that, at least you can face the future without regrets."

You look down as you think about the implications.

"And Sera," Faith adds, "Thanks for telling me this."

***

You carefully think of how to best approach the next question you have in your mind, it has been some time since you had told Faith about the berserking that you and your friends had been experiencing. While you had initially intended to head back home and ask her about this another time the older girl had insisted you stay and have something to eat along with the other Piru members.

That "something" ended up being some regional-chain burgers that Faith swore by as the best burgers you can buy on an allowance. The burgers were above average you suppose, but the company was appreciated as you got to see how the Pirus relaxed and interacted with each other. You're honestly a little surprised about how close they all are, eating dinner together on what seems like a regular basis. You certainly can't think of a time you've done this with your friends since Laura took you and Erika out to eat after your first battle.

"Hey Faith," you begin after having finished eating, "I was just thinking about what you had told me earlier and... Well, I've actually gotten to wondering about how things were before I moved to this city? It seems like you guys have a bit of history."

"Ugly mostly." Faith answers, "You've been with them Sureños before, ain't Laura told you anything?"

Your Father says honesty is the best policy and thankfully here you can be entirely honest, "Not much really, all I know was that there was a war between you guys and the Sureños a couple years ago."

"Yeah, figured you might know about that much. You sure you want to get me running my mouth off any more about that though? It don't affect you none."

"All the same, I'd like to hear how it started at least." you assert gently.

"Alright. Well if I had to tell it to you I think I ought to give you a bit of background. It all happened after Mao died and Hana left, this was back before there was ever a Piru or Sureño. Back then Rosario didn't have all that many Magical Girls, I mean there were signs that there were girls before us but we ain't ever seen one of them. It was just me, Jasmine, Mao, Laura, her older sister Catalina, and Isabella.

"After Mao died, well, things really began to change. Nephilim started to make more pacts with girls, a lot of them too. More than a few of them was from our hood too, so Jasmine and I felt like it was our duty to look after these girls since we knew them pretty well. Catalina and her friends got a hell of a lot more distant after that, didn't want to hunt with us no more. And what do you know, she starts gathering up a couple Mexican girls to compete with us once she figures out we can hunt better than they can. Things were still fine for a while though, we left them alone and they left us alone."

"It didn't stay like that though, she kept on gathering more magical girls, and that's when the Sureños began to get greedy. Catalina started to poach some of our Demons, she started preaching they needed it more 'cause we were just gonna to use our wish to get rich."

Faith spits angrily "She knew damn well how we were gonna pull our family out of the ghetto, but then you get that crab mentality you know? A bunch of crabs in a bucket can easily escape if they work together, but instead they just grab at each other and push them down so that no one can get out."

"She made up a ton of bull about how they could remake the world and all that, and those girls just ate it up. We could have worked together to get that wish, instead they started to move in on us and steal every Seed they could get their hands on. Right up until one day, one of her girls killed a rookie we just got, said it was in self defense but she still kept the Seed so it's pretty obvious what happened. I couldn't just let them kill my people and get away with it and Catalina didn't back down. So the war started."

"I lost some friends there, we gave as good as we got though. For about a year the fighting was on and off. Until Jasmine and I decided to try and end it going right for Catalina, cut off the head to kill the beast you know. It wasn't easy, but I killed her, that's when I got this."

Faith points to that scar on her chest, "Laura nearly finished me there. But after the battle was over and I recovered we managed to work something out between us just to stop the fighting."

"Just to stop the fighting?"

"By that I mean we called a truce, made sure everyone knew were the borders was, but never agreed on whose fault it was or who had to pay what. And it's mostly worked, at least, until recently..."


Red_Spy said:
Management Orders 7: Red

1. Oh this is going to be so disgusting. Estefa can't do that to Sera again, though, and while she could probably break into a hospital alone that's not much better. So the only option left is this. Time to find a park to go to at night. One with a lot of trees. Squirrels live in trees, don't they? They should be good and oh god this will be disgusting. Just hunt some of them down, close eyes, and get the biting over with for now.

2. This calls for a day of relaxation. Just a day of enjoying life at school away from all this magical girl business. Take a test, do well on the track team, and try to stay away from siblings. Just a normal, relaxing day.

XP Spending: Pick up General Effect Cleansing Light.
Click to expand...

Spoiler :
'Oh this is going to be so disgusting.' Is all that goes through your head as you stand in the park.

Well, that and some second thoughts about perhaps attempting to resort to breaking and entering into a hospital in order to steal some blood bags for easy consumption. But no, that would be wrong, and you are not wrong since being wrong is for Erika.

The sun has set a while back, but if it wasn't for the lack of headache that usually accompanied being in the sunlight on a less than full stomach you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. In fact, if anything you can see better now than you ever could before. Being able to track the slightest bit of movement in the park from a lizard scurrying through the bushes a good distance away from you. And the smell! Of all of your senses, smell has to be the one that was enhanced the most as you can detect a great many scents lingering in the park. If anything it can be a bit overwhelming on the senses to stand here.

With a deep sigh you manage to pull your mind away from all of that noise and instead focus it on the task before you. You have a stomach to fill so that you can operate properly at school tomorrow after all.

Catching a squirrel, it turns out, is not quite so difficult as you'd have expected it to be. Then again, you are still internalizing the abilities you have gained from becoming a magical girl in addition to this newly found vampirism.

Breaking into a jump you managed to swipe a squirrel from its resting place in a tree knot and quickly dispatched it with a snapped neck. Now sitting on the tree branch you are forced to confront the reality of holding a dead, uncooked squirrel in your hands with the intention of eating it.

You feel your stomach churn at the thought, gone completely is the lust for blood that had you sucking away at Sera's shoulder. The idea of this meal doesn't seem to awaken that desire in you at all.

With a resigned gulp, you bite deep into the squirrel and begin sucking away at the blood.

It honestly tastes like nothing, which is at least a step up from what you were expecting. However it also just leaves you completely unsatisfied. The best parallel you can draw is like eating rice, you'll survive with it but only a diet of rice is a hard diet to follow outside of a famine.

One thing is clear though as you finish extracting the last bit of blood from the squirrel. You were going to need to spend more time hunting these tree rats.

***

Relaxing normal, sunlit day happens to be both normal and relaxing.
 
Somethings come up and it looks like I might not be able to make the Sunday mission we planned. If that's the case then it looks like there will be no more opportunities for mission before vacation, I would have liked to have this mission wrapped up before that happened but it seems like fate is not permitting.

Sorry about that, but at the very least mAAD City will continue after a break.
 
I'm back! Or at least, I'm back until the 7th of September as some out of country clinic experience opportunity has cropped up and I'm taking it. Thankfully by the end of September I'll be back in uni and my schedule will stabilize a bit.

However that does mean that we should have the opportunity for one, maybe two (depending on how quickly we can get the first mission set up and player enthusaism for two missions in 1 and a half weeks.) missions. At the very least we'll be able to wrap up the cliffhanger mission.
 
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