Back in this shit hole. Oros preferred to stay as far away from Penrose as possible. With her patron having left this reality plenum, sticking around felt weird. Moreover, there were a lot of things she couldn’t stand about the place. One of the more bothersome aspects of Penrose was its magical girls. It wasn’t their behavior, just that there were so many of them. Worse still, some of them were many people. Janet Howell had been everything from a member of Beacon, a monster who opposed Beacon, two members of Beacon, and now was her fourth iteration where she didn’t really have anything to do with Beacon anymore. That last part was especially hard to find out. All Oros had to work with was a ritual hex blade that could see into different times and realities. A powerful tool to be sure, but limited when you didn’t know what to look for. It was an awful lot of work for what Oros [i]might[/i] get out of the deal. And she needed to go into a school of all places! The cultist didn’t get the appeal of schools either. Yes, Japanese school uniforms looked cute on everyone, but in America there was little appeal to be had. Schools weren’t supposed to be interesting places anyway. They had a bunch of bored teachers drone out a lesson or two before collecting a paycheck. TV made school look fun, sexy, and smart, but nobody really wanted to be here. The fact that so few magical girls ever showed up in school was proof of that. Oros had her sword up, and was examining its reflection to find her mark. There had to be a trace of it somewhere. While there could be a number of magical girls attending the school, Oros had the advantage that there were only a small handful of magical women. The details of how Kayli had become an adult weren't all that important. Simply that by the end of the Christmas party Kayli had somehow aged into a 30-something. So after some meandering the blade led to the biology lab where the only adult there was the teacher. It wasn't long after that the bell rang. Students began to filter out and after a brief talk with a few that had questions all others had left the room. Oros stepping in, the blonde woman could tell there was something different about this girl. Not that that meant anything in particular. Since taking this position she was occasionally approached by magical girls or boys when they wanted to talk to a neutral party about more than the mundane. [b]"Hello there. Do you need help with anything?"[/b] She said as she adjusted her glasses and greeted with a warm smile. [color=tomato]”Yea! You could get these things off of me! Don’t touch that!”[/color] Oros smacked one of the children on the hand. While most were inclined to ignore the strangely dressed woman, Oros’s unusual robe was a bit too enticing for the average school child. “Are you a wizard?” “She’s a samurai! Just look at her sword!” “A jedi!” “Or a sith? She looks evil.” [color=tomato]”You’ll find out if-”[/color] With a groan, Oros reached for the heavens, and several lollipops appeared in her hand. [color=tomato]”Look, it’s, hng, gehana!”[/color] She flung the sweet treats out of the room, and the children flocked into the hallway. This had not deterred some of the older ones, but they had already lost interest in Oros and had to get home for whatever they occupied their time with. Regardless, Oros and the teacher were alone-ish for the time being. [color=tomato]”Alright so.”[/color] Oros waved her hand over herself. [color=tomato]”The change isn’t quite as dramatic as yours, you probably remember me from somewhere, right?”[/color] There wasn’t much reason to drag this out. Oros didn’t really have anything with Janet, and she doubted that would change now with the way things were. [color=tomato]”Maybe you know where I could find… my nooooooooose?”[/color] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/tjNJV6U.png[/img][/center] Looking over the girl for a moment the resemblance seemed to click for Kayli. The reference of the nose pretty well clarified things as well. [b]"Oh I see. How is it you…"[/b] She waved off the question before completing it. How it was the Oros found herself purified wasn't important. Opening a drawer of her desk she retrieved her purse and took out a small case and set it down on the desk before Oros. [b]"I'm sorry that this took longer to get back to you than it should have. The twins had a way of taking on more than they could handle."[/b] She gave a warm smile. [b]"You should find it better at helping you track down corrupted magic. I hope that's alright."[/b] [color=tomato]”That’ll be plenty helpful. I wasn’t expecting anything, so this is good.”[/color] Oros looked her nose over. It was hers alright. The flesh on her face peeled back until a cartoon canon was exposed, which she unscrewed. Then she pushed her other nose in place, which melded into place. [color=tomato]”Finally, reattached to its rightful owner!”[/color] Oros sheathed her sword before looking at the teacher. [color=tomato]”Oh wow, I can smell forever now.”[/color] She sniffed the air a bit. [color=tomato]”What smells so good? Oh! That’s me!”[/color] The beast woman grinned. [color=tomato]”I guess we’re all settled up then? Don’t need my credit card number or any favors?”[/color] The woman would shake her head. [b]"No. I think Penrose has enough people wheeling and dealing as is. I might no be able to stay out of it forever, but I can do my best to stay a neutral party in the meantime."[/b] She put her purse back away. Oros folded her arms. [color=tomato]”I was less thinking of me pulling a magical bullshit device out of my ass and more like going shopping somewhere. But if you’re cool, I’m cool.”[/color] Scooting a notepad over she wrote down a number and handed it to Oros. [b]"If you find yourself in need of something feel free to give me a call and I'll see what I can do. I can't perform miracles, but I can provide a safe place to rest if nothing else."[/b] [color=tomato]”Oh-hoh! A number.”[/color] Oros accepted the piece of paper. [color=tomato]”I mean I can traverse dimensions, so I doubt I’ll have a use for something like this. Well, not for the reason you handed it to me anyway.”[/color] The note disappeared, presumably going into Oros’s hammer space. [color=tomato]”Right so, I guess I do have two burning questions you could answer for me.”[/color] She counted off her fingers. [color=tomato]”So if you want to be neutral, why offer to help everyone? Seems like a good way to tick someone off”[/color] [b]"A fair question. It would be easier to stay quiet and completely out of things. Much like my predecessor though I feel that doing nothing isn't really an option. For better or worse I am a product of ideals that are hard for me to ignore. One could argue that once you've been dragged into this kind of business there's no real getting out though."[/b] She gave a light shrug. To be honest it had crossed her mind to leave town and make change elsewhere. That was prior to accepting to become Connie's adoptive mother though. Physical changes aside, the mental ramifications probably had a greater impact with her maternal instincts becoming front and center. And in a world made up of mostly magical girls and boys it was hard for her not to immediately see them as children even if she knew it might not be the case. [color=tomato]”That uh, didn’t really answer my question. Whatever! I Second question…”[/color] Oros blushed a little bit. [color=tomato]”You uh, you kept my noise in your purse?”[/color] The second question was a bit more odd to her. [b]"Where else would I keep something I might need on hand?"[/b] [color=tomato]”Wha?”[/color] Oros covered her nose with both hands. [color=tomato]”The hell do you need a spare nose for!?”[/color] Blinking a couple of times she chuckled aloud. [b]"Oh, I see what you mean now. I had it with me so I could return it to you if we should meet. I found a number of loose ends left behind that I've returned or resolved. I believe your nose was the last to deal with. I'd rather not be responsible for someone else's possessions."[/b] Doing her best to reassure she hadn't tampered with the nose any further than what the twins had already done. Oros had her eyes squint through the teacher’s entire explanation. [color=tomato]”...You’d better not be kidding.”[/color] With a sniff, her eyes opened up. [color=tomato]”Alright, I guess I’m gonna go then.”[/color] She turned around. [color=tomato]”Yep, just gonna leave.”[/color] She stepped towards the door. [color=tomato]”Just gunna-”[/color] Oros looked over her shoulder. [color=tomato]”So you’re serious? You really don’t wanna do anything? You’re just gonna, what? Go home?”[/color] She would look at the clock for a moment. [b]"Well, regardless of what I'd like to do I have a few more hours on the job."[/b] She would put a hand on a stack of papers. [b]"These aren't going to grade themselves after all. I probably will be headed home afterward though. I have other responsibilities to attend to."[/b] In this case, Connie and Mia. [color=tomato]”Well alright, if you say so.”[/color] Oros shook the paper in the air. [color=tomato]”I’m gonna use this number soon though, so you’d better make yourself available some time.”[/color] She waved before closing the door behind herself.