Figure of Hourai
Hanako didn't believe the girl's words, at all. It sounded too... outlandish, really, and she couldn't say that this whole situation pleased her that much. Really... dragging a bunch of random people to a castle than then making some dramatic statement? It had to be a joke. Not a very good one but a joke nonetheless.
"Oi, don't you think you'd better apologise for the joke?" the golden-eyed female asked, shouldering her way through the crowd and frowning, "It's not right to drag people to a place like this under false pretences."
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(Avatar by Coffee)
When Hana entered the castle, she stopped, leaned on the wall and stared at the cherry tree and the girl who stood beneath its branches. One part of her continued to think that, in all probability, someone hit her on the head while she wasn't looking and now she was hallucinating; the other toyed with the idea that this perhaps wasn't the case, and the preternaturally beautiful girl, talking magpie and the rest were real.
She looked from Larissa to Hanako. She couldn't decide...
"Excuse me," she said, at length, "but can you please provide me with evidence that I am not hallucinating? All of this seems a little... weird..."
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Masuko had pulled the other girl along with her, and now found herself just... staring. The girl... she was just standing there in a pretty kimono. And saying things about protecting the city, and power, and all kinds of strange and confusing stuff. Masuko wasn't sure how to respond at all, really. It was just... was this even real? It felt like a dream, but... was it? At the same time, it felt... too... real? Then again, some dreams felt very real, and... it was just so strange!
"I... um... Masuko Masuko is confused... but... protecting the city is good..."
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
...
Alice was simply amazed at the scene before her. The beautiful woman in the kimono, the cherry tree... it was like a scene straight from a shoujo manga! And... wait, what had she said?
Defend Sakurasaki...? Huh? Alice wondered what she meant by that. From the vandals? Thatw as a good cause, but all this seemed a bit much just to ask for help. And hadn't they been cleaning the place up anyway?
Then Alice remembered the monument and shuddered. As if this woman, a talking bird, possessed monument and all the vandalism wasn't weird enough, how were they going to prevent it?
...Alice wanted to say she would help, but she was too nervous to speak to the woman, as if afraid of saying the wrong thing, or maybe the woman would laugh and say it was all an elaborate prank...
And you don't seem to understand...
Like everyone else Ichigo was taken by the beautiful cherry blossom tree. As well as the mysterious girl who stood beneath it. She pinched herself, actually, to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Ow!" She winced, now officially convinced that what she was seeing in front of her was very much real. The girl then started talking, mentioning how the city needed to be protected. Ichigo's eyes widened. Could this be connected to all the weird vandalism that had been going on? But those were just bored kids behind those incidents! Unless...
"I'm interested in helping." She spoke up after finally finding her voice. "I just want to know what's going on. Will you help us figure it out?"
"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"
The Maid
"It would be wrong if it were false pretenses, but as you have seen in Bitoku Shrine's grounds... our city is under attack right now by forces of the kind the people of today only speak in legends and stories. But still, they are a very real threat. If you would not believe my words then you need only remember what you saw, what you felt mere minutes ago" said the girl under the shade of the tree looking first at Hanako and then to each of them in turn.
"I am Sakura, the Guardian Spirit of Sakurasaki city" Said the girl as she lay a hand over her heart "And I require the help of those willing to save the city in order to protect it from this threat"
"As for how you might help..." said Sakura, her eyes sparkling with just an inkling of mischief "Hmm indeed... in this age and time... I think Magical Girls and Boys are the most fitting form the Guardians of Sakurasaki can take"
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
"I... I don't understand..."
"Yup. That tasted purple."
(Avatar by Coffee)
Hana shook her head.
"I don't quite get it," she said, "this is so unlike what I know... But if the city is in danger, I will do whatever it takes to protect it. It is my home, a beautiful place with an esteemed history, and I refuse to stand and watch while it is endangered. Even if it means suffering the insufferable and bearing the unbearable, I will protect this city. Upon my word."
She bowed, fist touching her palm before her heart.
Figure of Hourai
Hanako stared. Then stared a little more. Finally...
"Real, honest-to-god magical girls? As in, transformations and attacks that wreck the scenery?" Hanako asked, perking up. If the girl was going to continue with the facade... will, maybe they'd get a bit of fun out of it. Hnn... cosplay, light shows, and posing. All in perfect anonymity, if she took her glasses off and tied her hair up. Yes, yes... that would be fun.
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"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
"Magical girls?!" Masuko asked. This... was perfect. Ideal! Wonderful! This is... Masuko adored magical girl shows, from older ones that her cousin had shown her to more modern ones. The chance to be a magical girl... it wasn't something she would ever dream of saying no to. Not in the slightest. "Masuko Masuko cannot believe her eyes or her ears! But Masuko Masuko believes you anyway because you sound very sincere and... and... I want to be a magical girl! Being a magical girl... it would be awesome! Masuko Masuko bravely volunteers her services to fight to protect the city and be a magical girl!"
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
"This day is just getting weirder and weirder...." Nao mutteredt quietly for herself before she glares at the woman in pink and exclaims dramatically "..But Fine! I'll become a Magical girl in order to protect this town!"
...
Yep. Definitely fell into a shoujo manga at some point, Alice decided. Seriously? Become a magical girl?! That sounded so ridiculous, so unbelievable... so sincere?
Alice was unable not to trust this woman's words. This 'Sakura' woman spoke the truth, she was sure of it. And that meant... Alice could be a hero like her father!
...Well, okay, not exactly, since she'd be using considerable more magic than a fireman would, but she could do so much more! Alice could help others with her powers! Then she could feel like a daughter worthy of a hero!
With quite a bit more confidence than before, Alice joined the agreements to become a Magical Girl. She was so excited! No doubt her powers would be cool! All Magical Girls had cool powers!
"M-magical girls?" Larissa's face flushed a deep red. Well, she had a secret thing for eroge and the like and no-one knew about it. "T-that stuffs for.. eh..." her gaze fell right and left. "Aye-uh... aye wanna defend the c-city so aye'll take what AYE can GET!" she blurbed whatever came to mind.
Aye don't know what aye'm gettin' myself into... maybe the lass is playin' a trick on us? Aye, that has to be it! B-but if it is true... ahhhh, aye'm screwed either way..., Larissa placed a hand to her forehead and sighed. This was just happening way to fast for her to keep up with.
edited 27th May '12 1:07:27 PM by RagnaTheSaviour
What the hell, hero?
Orihime's back in her home, having barely made it on time to appear she went straight from school to home. She was on her room, taking a look to the ceiling and admiring her necklace. Am I ready for the next step?
HALOLA PEEPUHL!! HOWAYAAAAAAAAAA?!!
The Maid
"Wonderful! As expected of the children of Sakurasaki, your spirits do not disappoint. Then to those who wish to fight I shall grant my blessing... and to those who don't well, they might remain with me to look at the trees in full bloom. The sight is beautiful all year long" said the young woman with a bright smile on her face.
"But for now... to the brave defenders of our city, please accept my gift. Something to bring you all a little closer to your true potential" says Hanami Sakura, Guardian Deity of the city as she bring her index and middle finger to her lips to kiss them.
"Awaken" She whispers, before blowing softly on her fingers, a warm breeze picking over as multiple petals of pink light appear from her kissed fingers. These petals flutter in the breeze and then head straight into the children of the city... and upon contact with them it transforms them for the first time into their forms as Magical Girl and Boys.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Figure of Hourai
The sudden change of clothes was... quite alarming, Hanako felt. It also ruined thinking of this as a joke: the sudden disappearance of her laptop (she really, really hoped that untransforming was more than a matter of undressing and putting something else on, she needed that) and glasses were quite noticeable. On the plus side, her hair was now neatly done up. On the downside, everything was blurry and it was impossible to make out any detail. Enough to navigate, sure, but she couldn't read like this or trust herself to aim anything.
Elsewhere...
Gabriel had decided to take advantage of her parents' being out for the foreseeable future by inviting all of her 'co-workers' around and preparing food. She'd spent the entire morning doing it, thankful for having several ovens in the kitchen to simplify matters somewhat. The end result was rather a large variety of cakes in the dining room of a large—by Japanese standards—house, one with a garden and quite a bit of space to either side. It was even across the road from a smaller, less impressive park dominated by a pond and the omnipresent sakura.
Now just to hope the morons made it here.
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...
Alice, after transformation, found that she was... less than ecstatic.
After giving herself a once-over, the first thing she noticed was the colour-scheme - way too much red for her liking. The other thing was that she was holding a staff with a flame on it.
Too afraid to move, lest the small flames suddenly grow wild and consume her or something, she fearfully inspected the staff, finally noticing that an orb of hers was on top of the thing. How had it...?
...Maybe the better question was, 'why did her power seem to be fire based'? Because Alice sure as hell did not want to have fire as a power.
Dressed in a white summer dress with matching flip-flops, Shiro hummed merrily to herself as she approached the large house. For whatever reason, one of her current allies had invited her for something to eat. Nice thought, and she was getting free food! Though Shiro was quite sure her own cooking was better.
Shiro knocked on the front door, announcing her arrival, before simply opening the door and entering. she was invited, so no reason to stand around outside, waiting.
"Heya~ Gabe, I'm here~!" Shiro called out, carefully slipping out of her footwear and searching the house for her host. "Hope ya made some yummy snacks~!"
What the hell, hero?
Orihime, having told her parents that she was going to study in her friend's home, went straight to Gabriel's house, that was a few blocks away. When she got the call she was a bit unsure, but a voice in her told her she had to. Good thing she was given the ability to brave up, or else she wouldn't be able to lie twice to her parents.
She knocks the door, still a bit nervous, but shocks when she finds it open. "Oh, my..."
edited 27th May '12 2:54:55 PM by RESP
HALOLA PEEPUHL!! HOWAYAAAAAAAAAA?!!
Kei had just enough time to notice the flower petals before her school uniform exploded, revealing a short yellow dress over a pair of black cycle shorts and a tight fitting black t-shirt. Over the top of this was a yellow cloak with a vague wing-shape to it and a silver feather pattern embroidered into it, which fastened at the base of her neck with a clasp shaped like a pair of silver wings, and the whole ensemble was accompanied by a pair of pale blue thigh-high socks, a slightly-darker blue pair of shoes and a pair of yellow, blue and black fingerless gloves.
"What... what just happened?"
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Dreams of Revenge
Up until the mysterious woman had spoken, Sergei was sure that everything was just an incredibly realistic hallucination caused by lack of sleep or some other mundane explanation, and soon he would be woken from it by someone's intervention. But now... now he was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that something very special was happening.
As "his" petal touched him, Sergei found ice slowly but surely working its' way up his entire body, flooding his system with cold. It was strangely pleasant, not at all the way he had expected such a turn of events to feel. The ice growth was steadily accelerating, reaching a breakneck pace in a few moments. When it covered his entire body, Sergei felt a brief moment of panic... but then it shattered, revealing him in his new costume. He felt a solid but reassuring weight in his right hand; investigation revealed a long metal pole with a trio of prongs at both ends. He knew that this was an important moment, one that would define his life for quite some time. He needed something memorable to say, something that would capture the moment perfectly. Something on the scale of what Neil Armstrong said during the moon landings.
"Woah."
So much for that.
The best way to describe Akio's journey to Gabriel's house was a march. The teen (who was wearing his characteristic ensemble of a t-shirt and shorts, along with a pair of trainers) didn't wait for anybody or anything, making his way directly to his destination. He had never been particularly interested in this sort of thing (and decided to project his feelings on his cohorts by assuming this was the case with the others), and so he immediately assumed that there was some sort of ulterior motive to the little get-together.
Akio slinked in behind Shiro, and decided to get down to the point in his customary manner. Closing the door behind him, he said, "Right, why are we really here?"
Locking you up on radar since '09
And you don't seem to understand...
Magical girl? She wanted them to become magical girls? And did magical boys even exist? She couldn't remember ever really seeing them represented in anime or manga very well. But then again she didn't watch a lot of anime nor read a lot of manga so-
The petals that flew at them caught Ichigo off guard. She would've ducked, but it was too late. When it touched her she was immediately shrouded in a bright pink light that was comforting despite how it may have looked to others. Then as quickly as it had surrounded her, it dispersed, carried away by the wind. Though she was no longer in her school uniform. Instead she was wearing a pretty, flowing pink dress with lots of ruffles. It was also adorned with multiple neat, sky blue bows, the biggest one being tied neatly at her chest. Her feet were clad in a pair of equally pink knee-high boots which seemed to be quite durable and not just-for-show.
"Oh." The transformed teenager said, reaching up to feel the last accessory to her outfit — a dazzling pink headband with ribbons trailing from it. "Oh." She repeated, feeling a bit overly cutesy. No, A LOT overly cutesy.
"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"
What the hell, hero?
Orihime sits on the floor, near the table and looks at her 'partners'. She just looks at the cakes, not ready to touch anyone.
"Akio-san, please, be patient. It will all unfold when we all get here. Right, Gabriel-san?" Looks around for someone missing... "And where's Hanako-san? I think we should all be here before this unfolds..."
edited 27th May '12 4:18:07 PM by RESP
HALOLA PEEPUHL!! HOWAYAAAAAAAAAA?!!
Ryota couldn't help but notice how easily some of the girls were won over by the word Magical Girl. They must eat that stuff, but Ryota shouldn't focus on that, he should focus on whether he would agree to defend Sakurasaki city.
If Ryota agreed to this, he'd have to deal with the terrifying threat at the Bitoku Shrine. It was the scariest moment of the boy's life and there would be more things like that if he agreed!
But, than Ryota remembered the effort everyone put in protecting the town's relics. And, with whatever is ruining the shrine running around, all their effort, was for nothing.
And this might not be the only shrine they'll target. They might target that shrine, the one his mother was the miko of. Not his adopted mother, but the one that gave birth to him. A memory of her flashed in Ryota's mind, it was the only memory he had of her but it was one he'd always remember. It was when Ryota was very little, she was holding him up smiling.
The thoughts of all those people, it made Ryota look past his fears. "I don't care what you call me, Magical Boy or a Guardian, I'm going to protect this city!"
And than Sakura granted her blessing and the petal touched him.
The transformation was quick but Ryota felt it. The most noticable thing he felt was like his body was being pushed and parts were shrinking in response and changing shape, most notably his hands and feet, it felt like he was standing on his fingers and toes except it didn't seem like he had fingers. There was somethings growing, all across his body there was something growing on his skin and his spine was extending past his body.
When it was all done with, Ryota had a look to see what happened to his body. His clothes seem to have disappeared into thin air, his body was now covered in white fur and his hands and feet had turned into paws.
He was supposed to be a Magical Boy right? Well right now it seemed more like he was a magical animal. Ryota could only say one thing about this...
"Nya?"
edited 27th May '12 4:06:31 PM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Masuko blinked and was incredibly confused when her clothes seemed to just... vanish after the petal touched her chest... and then rapidly, new clothing began to form, putting her hair up into a different style. In one hand, a pink and gold staff formed, leaving her somewhat surprised, but... quite excited at the same time. This... this was a real magical girl transformation. She was actually becoming a magical girl! What kind of powers would she have? She was so incredibly excited about it all...
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
When Ryota got closer to the castle, the comfort of the wind made his grip on his sister loosen, however he tightened it again before he could accidently fall off his sister.
After going through the wooden doors, the cherry blossom tree stole his gaze. It was so tall...it was so beautiful...
And than there was the girl, who's beauty rivalled that of the tree. She was...special, he didn't know how the girl was special but she was! And than she began talking and not only were her words were directed at him but she was happy with his appearance and seemed to want to give him the means to perform a special task! They were directed to every other visitor but still, this person how seemed on another level was talking to him.
Ryota's focus on the girl was taken away when his older sister shouted at the figure, put him down and pulled off something out of Gyakuten Saiban. "Onee-chan, should we really be speaking to her like that?"
Ryota couldn't help but realise something about his words. Wait, did I just call Nao Onee-chan?
The magpie was up on one of the branches of the cherry blossom tree, she's very familiar with the castle so she reacted like it was nothing.
edited 27th May '12 6:35:40 AM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.