Several days later, Julia and Jillian found themselves seated in a park, clad in their transformations and amidst a sparse collection of families here and there. Perhaps if it were any other pair of magical girls, those surrounding them would have paid the odd pair and their equally odd appearances more attention.

Fortunately for them, the ghostly girls were rather difficult to notice in the first place, even when Julia wasn't actively massaging the minds of those around them to pay them no mind, to hold no long-term memory of them or pay their translucent, ethereal shapes any mind. Maybe they would inspire a ghost story or two if anyone was taking pictures, but they were safe from the average citizen's eyes.

Julia sat with her hands placed upon her lap, her eyes closed as she focused upon her self-imposed training regime. Jillian, on the other hand, was leaned up against the back of the bench, her eyes closed for an entirely different reason; Another sleepless night had lead to them doing this at nearly 6:00 in the morning. She'd learned to appreciate resting her eyes whenever she could.

For a while, they sat quietly in the tranquil, cool air of dawn, as darkness made way for the sun crawling up. That is, until they heard a rustle coming from a nearby tree. Then, Julia sensed her again; Caroline lowered herself down from the tree, hanging upside down from her legs. Her wings were folded on her back, so she resembled a playful child. But, the twins knew that she resembled a bat more with her unusual method of idleness.

[color=92278f]"Hi Tutu, hi Turkey, hehe~ Caroline is happy to see...friends again. Caroline also brought...gifts!"[/color]
She reached for under her dress, and pulled out a strange object, resembling a black crystal; she gave it to Jillian.
[color=92278f]"Big sister uses these to talk with her friends, so...Caroline stole one! Now Caroline can talk with friends anywhere! Yay!"[/color]

Jillian was able to hide her surprise with a quick mental warning from Julia, straightening out and smiling as she spotted Caroline. In a way, it was vindicating; she had been right about the girl being able to find them. Julia knew it too, and offered the girl a patient smile as she butchered their names once more. [color=Aqua]"Hello again, Caroline. It's good to see you too."[/color] Jillian greeted her, with Julia's nod of agreement not far behind. It was, too; the possibility that they had lost all contact with the girl had been heavy and worrying.

And now, the girl brought with her a method of clear magical communication... Albeit with rather ominous possible drawbacks. The object floated out of Jillian's hands without prompting, coming to hover between Julia's as she examined it with a keen eye. She didn't trust the thing, and her natural assumption was that it was also probably a method for  [i]tracking[/i].

Jillian's focus remained upon Caroline. [color=Aqua]"That sounds lovely, Caroline. I'm so glad we have a way to keep in touch, now. I hope your sister won't mind this gift to us..."[/color] She paused for a moment. [color=Aqua]"If she would, please don't mention us, okay? You don't have to share your friends."[/color] she added, winking conspiratorially. She did not know who Caroline's sister was, but presumably she was equally threatening.

Caroline giggled, her smile as sweet as sugar. [color=92278f]"Hehe...Big sister doesn't know. She will be angry, but...She will not be gentle with Caroline, hehe~"[/color] Then she giggled more creepily, her fangs showing from her parted lips. She then blinked at Jillian's request. 
[color=92278f]"Hmm...okay! Caroline has to share...dolls and sweet red...with big sister, but she never...shares her friends with Caroline, so Caroline will do the same!"[/color]

She dropped down from the tree, and leapt at Jillian with her arms out and mouth in a wide smile. [color=92278f]"Hahaaa, friends!"[/color] She passed right through, landing on her face comically, but the ghostly girl still felt an uneasy tingle from the contact with her.
[color=92278f]"Heheee...Uhhh, what do friends do? Do they punch each other? Do they bite each other, or scratch?"[/color] She asked with an eager gaze at the two.

[color=MediumVioletRed][i]A masochist.[/i][/color] Julia intoned mentally, conveying all of the deadpan that her face failed to show with its pleasant smile. Jillian's response did not come in the form of words, but more the mental impression of an apologetic shrug as she shook off the feeling of Caroline passing through her form.

[color=Aqua]"Unfortunately, we can't really do anything like that with each other, and friends don't really do that unless they're a very rough kind of friend."[/color] the ghostly girl replied apologetically, shrugging, before offering a smile and extending a finger. [color=Aqua]"[i]But,[/i] friends do spend time together, and talk about themselves, for one thing. Would you like to spend some time and tell us about yourself, Caroline?"[/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed]"We're very interested in hearing more about you."[/color] Julia added, nodding.

Caroline had her mouth open in puzzlement as she listened. [color=92278f]"There are different kinds of friends? So you're the airhead kind of friends! Haha!"[/color]
She blinked her eyes. 
[color=92278f]"Uhh, okay. Caroline has a big sister named Justine, and she's really cool. Caroline wishes to be just like her. She talks a lot about making Caroline pure, but Caroline doesn't understand. But she's really nice; she collects lots of dolls with long, long hair for Caroline to play with! Caroline can't wait! Caroline wants to invite her friends, but home is hard to reach; big sister calls it Overcity, but Caroline doesn't understand that, either."[/color]

[color=Aqua][i]Sadomasochist.[/i][/color] Jillian corrected her other self mentally, some small part of herself sinking back at Caroline's words, even as Julia processed and stored the knowledge of Caroline's sister. But outwardly, the empath's smile refused to break; anyone could be a friend, with the right words and attitude. Caroline struck her as a very broken soul, and those were vulnerable to friendship. Unstable, though.

She suppressed the sympathy that came with that thought; there might be a time to help Caroline properly in the future, drive her towards the truth and love of the Panopticon, but the future was uncertain. [color=Aqua]"You're a very interesting girl, Caroline. Let's talk about your dolls. That aura you went after a few days ago, did it belong to a long-haired doll? We'd like to know about whoever was making such a silly show of themselves."[/color] Perhaps it was dangerous ground to tread, but knowledge was power.

Julia, meanwhile, tucked the stone Caroline had given them up into her sleeve, where it was deposited into her personal hammerspace.

[color=92278f]"Hehe...You want to learn a lot about Caroline, huh? Big sister likes to keep secrets, and hates it when they are told. Caroline understands; surprises are not fun if they're not surprises."[/color] She bounced around a bit, seemingly distractd by something before she continued. [color=92278f]"Ow-ra? Is that what makes Caroline angry? Caroline found two dolls that made Caroline angry with Ow-ra; one doll was a boy, and Caroline hates boy dolls! The other was a long-haired girl doll without a shirt! Caroline thought that was weird. Oh, and both had horns on their heads. Nnnhh..."[/color] 

The vampiric girl then turned uncomfortable. 
[color=92278f]"Um, Caroline doesn't want to tell what happened with the dolls; it is a painful memory, and Caroline turns sad from painful memories."[/color] She next looked at Julia.
[color=92278f]"Now it's Caroline's turn to ask! Why are you ghosts?"[/color]

[color=Aqua][i]Twins, you think?[/i][/color] Jillian asked mentally, turning to shoot an inquisitive look to her other self. Julia offered a small shrug in response, her smile twitching slightly as Caroline spoke. Being civil was not her greatest skill; that was the domain of Jillian, who did most of the speaking for her.

And to be inquired upon so rudely.. Julia shook it off, chuckling at the question. [color=MediumVioletRed]"The gift of our patron, dear Caroline. I won't pretend to understand what it represents, but it's been... Helpful."[/color] As if to demonstrate, a rock near the bench she floated an inch above shot through the air, passing through her hand. She squeezed it into a fist, suppressing a wince at the discomfort the demonstration brought. [color=MediumVioletRed]"It's rather 'neat', don't you think?"[/color]

[color=92278f]"Wow, it's super cool!"[/color] Caroline squeed with glinting eyes. She then saw how the sun was now startintg to shine.
[color=92278f]"Uu-oh. Caroline has to leave now. Call Caroline, and let's have fun again, hehee~!"[/color] And with that, Caroline shot off into the sky, partially blending with it so she was harder to see, until she disappeared into the distance.

[color=Aqua]"Good-"[/color] And then the strange, ominous girl was gone. Blinking owlishly, the taller of the two lowered her raised arm. [color=Aqua][i]That was fast. And strange.[/i][/color] She finally looked back over her shoulder when Julia didn't respond. The psychic of the two had her gaze fixed upon the sky, her eyes squinted and her hand held up to shield them from the last rays of light. The sheen through her transparent flesh created an interesting and eerie effect. [color=Aqua][i]Julia?[/i][/color]

[color=MediumVioletRed][i]Mm. It's nothing, dear. This has been eye-opening. Many new questions of course, but...[/i][/color] Jillian did not respond, content to allow Julia to murmur to herself; she was quite adept at telling when her other self actually expected an answer. [color=MediumVioletRed][i]Well, I guess we should be going. It's getting late.[/i][/color]

[hr]
[color=fff200]"Hmm, this is the place, right?"[/color] Lily asked Alex behind her as she zoomed through the streets with her magical motorcycle. She Cut a tight corner by actually driving horizontally on a wall, and then jumped as they hit the parking lot of the Pit Stop.
[color=fff200]"Scale does have good taste, though; this diner looks cool."[/color] She parked her vehicle behind the diner and untransformed, looking like her usual self again. [color=fff200]"Hey Alex, do you mind if you stay back and keep your barriers up? I'm a bit vulnerable when out of my magical girl state. See ya soon!"[/color]

She then walked inside, giving a bright smile to all the customers as she passed by them with a perky step, almost hopping along. She soon found Sue, and practically jumped into the seat next to her, wrapping an arm around the familiar. Her eyes glinted at the sight of the beautiful girl. [color=fff200]"Hi there! Wow, you're really pretty, miss. I'm Lily, Sue's friend, nice to meet you!"[/color] She offered a hand to her, but before Deni could respond her attention was diverted by what she saw next to her. [color=fff200]"Mariette! Oh, it's so good to see you! I've been looking all over this city for you! You sure are a master at hide-n-seek with those portals of yours. Could you lend us one to Overcity? We need to speak with Justine von Visceral!"[/color]
She then pouted, seeing as her words didn't change the gloomy girl's expression in the slightest.
[color=fff200]"Please?"[/color]