Mahou Shoujo Troper Magica ~ Imaizumi City ~

Akira sat sullenly, tied to the railing. The burning from her neck had increased when the girl in the blue dress had arrived, but now it had simmered down to merely a low pressure. The chill voice had gone away some time ago; Akira had felt its attention move elsewhere, like a space heater being moved away. That made it a little easier to think, but only a little. She caught herself blinking and shaking her head, trying to clear the mist away from her mind.

edited 27th Feb '11 7:41:36 PM by RedSavant

Healing has been noted and my previous post fixed. I really should get to bed soon.

Natsumi hesitated for a moment before accepting the weapon.

"Of course I have questions! What is this place!? And what are these witch things you're talking about? What happened to Sasaki!?"

She gripped the handle of the knife to keep her hands from shaking.

edited 27th Feb '11 7:42:19 PM by JapaneseTeeth

"This is the magical barrier of a Witch. Witches are creatures that feed on human sadness and pain. They influence people, using them like puppets. Most mass suicides, murders with unexplained motives and other such things are usually the influence of a Witch. Witches make these barriers to protect themselves, make it difficult for people to get to them, ordinarily these cannot be seen, but now we have been trapped. As for your friend, Sasaki, was it? The mark on her neck is the proof of a Witch's manipulation. A 'Witch's Kiss'."

Chien walks through the fog, keeping an eye out for any more of the creatures.

She was sure she had seen others on the roof.

This wouldn't turn out good.

Kyubey approached Sasaki and Natsumi, it's expression fixed in his cat like smile Indeed, until the witch isn't defeated the kiss won't go away. Still, only those who make a contract with me and become Magical Girls have the power to stand up to a Witch

Like Satomi Yukino here Kyubey said, glancing back at the blue clad magical girl.

Kyubey also spoke privately with Chien Chien? We're around here. Yukino just defended two girls from a group of familiars that attacked

"W...what?" Natsumi muttered weakly. It was absurd. The idea that something like that could actually exist...it was like something out of a television show. If it weren't for the fact that she was standing in the middle of some sort of other dimension, she would never have believed it. Even now, she wasn't entirely sure that she was thinking straight.

Yukino didn't hear her stammered word. Just as well. There was really nothing more to be said.

She swallowed as she looked at the bizarre catlike being that was slowly approaching her.

"Y...you...that voice..."

Chien snaps her head up at the sound of Kyubey's voice.

"Where? I can't find them."

The white catlike creature sitting placidly on the gravel made about as much sense as anything else that had happened that day, but its words helped blow some of the smoke from Akira's brain. The... Witchkiss... on her neck now only throbbed occasionally; every now and then, her feet would twitch to stand her up, but Yukino's bonds — magical ropes! — kept her tied securely to the railing. Akira felt a sudden surge of gratitude for the icily polite girl.

"Um..." she managed, leery of interrupting her regardless. "Haruna-san...?"

"I am Kyubey. Indeed, I was the one that spoke to you in class. I believed that you could save Sasaki Akira from falling to her death. It seems like I was correct in placing my trust in you!" Kyubey transmitted his voice cheery and happy due to that last statement.

Meanwhile he transmitted to Chien "You should be able to sense my presence now. Turn to your right and then continue straight that way. We shouldn't be too far away"

Chien listened, then nodded, even if Kyubey couldn't hear her.

She headed to her right for a few moments, still listening out for any familiars.

About a minute later, she saw the forms of the others up ahead. She took a few steps forward, then stopped.

"Just relax, alright?" Natsumi looked over her shoulder at Akira, who had finally stopped struggling against the magic bonds. "I don't know what's going on either, but freaking out isn't going to help. We can talk when we get out of this mess, okay?"

She turned back to the weird cat-thing.

"Who are you and why did you pick me? And how are you talking into my head like that? Are you a telepathic alien or something? Why are you here?"

"I'm just Kyubey, a messenger whose task is to create more magical girls to defend the world from the witches. As for why I called out to you, it's because you have a great potential to become a magical girl"

"Of course, I would never ask you to put yourself in danger in return for nothing. That's why, if you become a magical girl I'll grant you a single wish"

"So, Natsumi, would you like to sign a contract and become a magical girl?" Kyubey asked of the young teenager.

Oopsie...

edited 28th Feb '11 2:12:28 PM by daltar

You might want to change "I'll grant you a witch". While that's probably accurate, given Kyubey's nature, I'm pretty sure that's not what you meant to say.

"What do Magical Girls do?" Natsumi asked, half looking at Kyubey, half scanning the area for more scissor-crabs. She didn't know whether or not to trust it. In five minutes her life had gone from normal to chaos. I'm not getting any deeper into this mess than I have to...

edited 28th Feb '11 11:45:57 AM by JapaneseTeeth

"Well, the duties of a Magical Girl are quite simple. A Magical Girl is supposed to combat witches. If let alone the witches will spread despair and curses through the whole city, bringing pain and suffering to those living within. Magical Girls are recruited in order to stop them from doing this" Kyubey explained, sitting calmly while moving his tail from side to side.

I guess I will post now after all.

"H-Haruna-san, I think he's telling the truth," Akira put in, turning as far as she could to look at Natsumi. The tip of the combat knife Yukino had given her described little circles in the air as her hands shook, but her eyes were hard and alert as she scanned the rooftop in quite a professional manner. "I mean, that Yukino girl said the same thing, and she was right about... this mark. I could hear the Witch talking to me, telling me to..." she trailed off, cast a look at the edge of the rooftop; sheathed in fog, it looked like it could have been no deeper than a single ste... Akira shuddered and looked away.

"...Anyway," she continued after a moment, "if you want to do it, I think you should. What's the downside, after all?"

The following takes place between my last post and Japanese Teeth's most recent, and assumes that Kyubey is helping Kiyohiko and Yukino communicate. I'm handwaving Yukino's earlier comment re: Kyubey being within the barrier as her being aware that the creature was at school, but not exactly where there.

A jolt of electricity shot through Kiyohiko's stomach when he saw Yukino dash out of the classroom. Kiyohiko bolted out of his seat with enough force to send it careening towards the wall and ran after her, not even bothering to make an excuse for the teacher.

Unfortunately, the difference in the placement of their seats proved decisive: by the time Kiyohiko had flown out of the rear door of the classroom, Yukino was nowhere to be seen. Even before receiving her magical powers, the girl had been a fast runner.

Kiyohiko slammed the classroom door shut and took a few alert steps. Yukino? What's going on?

There's a girl on the rooftop and she's going to jump. I'm going to stop her.

Is it a witch?

I don't know. I'm not sensing anything, yet.

Some tension left Kiyohiko's body, and he leaned on the... door he'd shut behind himself. He bit his lip. Going back now would be... well.

I'm coming too. Wait for me.

Wait? When there's a girl about to jump?

Kiyohiko didn't bother to respond and started running. Fast access to the rooftop was one of the benefits of being a senior, so even from the other end of the corridor, Kiyohiko reached the stairs swiftly. However, when he did...

It's a witch, Kiyohiko! I'm going in.

Kiyohiko's run came to a screeching halt as he reflexively glanced at the stairs leading down. He needed a weapon... but his kendo equipment was in filed away his locker, all the way down on the first floor.

No choice. He'd have to make do with one of Yukino's knives.

Kiyohiko made to run again, but the moment he turned his head away from the stairs a younger black-haired girl came barreling up them. The boy managed to dodge the miniature comet only barely, his hasty maneuver sending him careening on his back on the floor. The girl didn't even seem to notice and continued right up the stairs.

It didn't take Kiyohiko long to put two and two together. There was only one reason someone could be in so much of a hurry to reach that particular roof at that particular time.

Yukino! There's another magical girl coming your way!

Yes, that's Chien, Kyubey's telepathic voice echoed in his head. She's another magical girl I've contracted in Imaizuma. I think this is the first time you've met.

Why didn't you tell us about her? Kiyohiko thought incredulously.

You didn't ask, it responded innocently.

Kiyohiko wanted to think something in response to that, but then he remembered that there was still a witch on the other end of the stairs before him. The boy stumbled to his feet and shot through the door leading to the roof, but...

Nothing. Just an empty rooftop. The barrier had already closed off.

"Damn!" he kicked the doorframe and looked up at the sky, absurdly thinking it'd reinforce his telepathic connection to Yukino somehow. Yukino? Yukino, I didn't make it in the barrier. Are you alright?

She's just fine. There's only been familiars here so far, Kyubey's cheery voice rang in his head again.

I want to hear that from her, Kyubey.

I'm fine, Kiyohiko. I already defeated them.

Is there anything I can do?

Stay put and wait until I dispel the barrier. The girls here might need some help once they get out.

Bu—

Kiyohiko took another few steps, but when a portal failed to magically appear and lead him to Yukino's side, he kicked the doorframe for a second time and collapsed on the rooftop in resignation. He hated it when their hunts turned out like this.

edited 2nd Mar '11 4:09:21 AM by LORd

"You mean I'd have to keep fighting these witch things? And go into places like this?" Natsumi surveyed her surroundings. Other than the surface of the roof, everything was so alien that she couldn't begin to make sense of it. "I just want to get out of here!"

"Unfortunately, you cannot leave the barrier by yourself Natsumi. Only a Magical Girl has the ability to leave the witch barrier while she's still alive"

"What happens if that Yukino girl kills the witch? What happens then? Do we disappear with this weird dimension thing?"

edited 28th Feb '11 4:12:51 PM by JapaneseTeeth

"No," Chien speaks up.

"Don't worry, you're not going anywhere if I can help it. Killing the Witch will release the two of you, and your friend will be cured. Pretty simple."

"Good. I'll let you take care of it then. At least you know what you're doing."

Natsumi turned to the black haired girl in the white dress, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you? Are you another one of those magical girls?"

Chien blinks.

"Yes."

"I see, that's too bad then. Chien, Yukino you should start looking for the witch now. Every moment Natsumi and Akira remain in this barrier as simple girls is a big risk." Kyubey said, looking back at the two magical girls.

"True enough. Take care of yourselves. I'll see what I can do." Yukino turned and leapt off in search of the witch.