[quote=@Flamelord]
Eponine certainly had set herself up for a difficult task, with no leads to go on besides those she had already reported to Maria. There were methods she could follow if she wanted, such as staking out Witches Barriers and waiting for a magical girl to arrive, but that would be time consuming, and there was no guarantee that the person she was looking for would ever show up at all.

But that would have to wait for a moment as her phone rang, caller id revealing who it was. It would be Adrian, one of the higher ranking people in the militia she had created to help her fight Witches. It was a group that undeniably took losses, but he had been one of the better ones at surviving it all, and if he was calling, then it had to be important.

That was revealed soon enough to her, once she had answered the phone. "Hey boss, remember that effigy thing with the grief seed people've been talking about? Well, some rogue magical girl decided to bust through one of the checkpoints into the city a little while ago. Thought you might want to know." 
[/quote]

"Track her, but keep a safe distance," Eponine ordered, "We want this one...alive.  And unharmed, as much as possible."  Eponine hopped in the jeep that had taken her here and ordered the soldier to drive her to the checkpoint.  Speaking to the survivors, Eponine was able to glean a general idea of what this rogue looked like, as well as her magical weapon.  What was troubling, but nonetheless expected due to the need to conserve magic, was the fact that the rogue seemed not to have revealed what her magical ability was.  Apparently the rogue had also been shot in the leg, if she didn't use magic to heal the wound, she should be hobbling at a slower pace, but if she did use magic, she might be more desperate to find a grief seed.  Eponine asked if the trail was still hot.  She wiped blood from her mouth with her forearm, noticing that, once again, she had bitten the inside of her mouth without noticing.

[quote=@Ariamis]
Maria changed once again into something darker and brooding as she started to speak. "Indeed. We become nothing but screams of despair in the air, to be violently taken and then thrown away by those with purpose, scattered to the winds and consumed by strangers. To live without hope is to accept all the pain you have endured as having been for naught, to throw away any semblance of human will and to welcome complete oblivion."

Maria realized what she was saying and reverted back to her 15-year-old self. "Oh, I was starting to talk silly stuff. Never mind that, Fantine. I'll be at the study now, so don't disturb unless it's something important."
[/quote]

"Understood, Lady Maria," Fantine replied, letting Maria head off to her library.  However, Maria's words made Fantine worry more about Eponine, so she quickly dried the tears that had started welling up at the corners of her eyes.  Certain that she was no longer visibly sad, she headed down to the kitchen to help out with chores.