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Nothing about Roche was subtle, be it in her complexion or her bearing, she stood out like a rock breaching the surface of a stream. In her experience, however, she’d never stood out for her deficiencies. 

[color=orange][i] If Rei finds out I’m sneaking into the City of Light, I’m dead before I can even get off the bus back home. [/i][/color] Roche thought tersely as she jogged sedately, hair in a ponytail beneath her raised hood, while took another lap of the campus. Pavement and manicured strips of lawn marked the spaces between dedicated buildings of the local College, and there she was, a high schooler, jogging around like she had any business being there. 

People tended not to question someone who looked like they were moving with a purpose, but how many loops around could she make before someone stopped her to ask questions? 

And much like everything else in the City of Light, Roche was alone in enemy territory. One she knew was stronger then, terrifyingly well informed, and with unknown numbers of powerful Allies. Let alone the worry that the GEMS might notice her, forcing Roche to keep her magic tamped down and not even dare to transform lest she be dragged down by weight of numbers. 

Yet the Rule Keeper was finding ever more creative reasons to flex the principals of the Detention Club in the face of multiple existential threats. Possessed by some mad spark that would not- could not be appeased till she grasped it in both hands.

Why.

Why did Ashbringer insist on any of the madness she thinly veiled as revenge for what Roche was increasingly convinced was a staged encounter at the flower shop? Why give them time? Why suddenly decide to put together a team of her own?

Why reach out to Roche at all and reveal her civilian identity? The only reason she had the vaguest inkling of where to find the pyro was because she had let Roche know, so it was only a matter of time before she came to investigate the college herself.

If only it wasn't so mortifying being the under-developed one on campus.

Most school children felt self conscious about something. This was true for most dark magical girls and doubly so for perfectionists like Roche. The truth was that most children were awkward, self absorbed creatures. Most of the college students were too busy trying to make classes and earn credits to pay attention to some [i]teenager[/i] jogging around in circles. That, and the Collage of Light was gigantic. It was almost as big as a gated community, filled with facilities for all the sciences. It took five or so minutes just to make a single lap. 

Though maybe there was a reason to feel a little nervous. Because even if these collage students were ignoring her, a magical girl certainly wouldn’t be. This was the home of the GEMs. If they knew as much about the Detention club as she thought, then they would have little issue dispatching her. She was alone, without a partner, and deep in enemy territory. It would be foolish to think there weren’t stronger light girls around. And even if they weren’t a problem, Ashbringer certainly was. 

Just as Roche was running around a corner, she saw a petite woman. [url=https://cdn.donmai.us/sample/43/d0/__chii_aruel_soulworker_drawn_by_kyjsogom__sample-43d0f940ab8a34512d06cfe1d55bd4ca.jpg]She was tall, had pink hair, and was dressed a bit too cutely to be a student.[/url] She was also carrying some groceries and had a piece of toast in her mouth. That was all Roche was able to make out before they ran straight into each other. Perhaps a normal highschooler would have had the decency to bounce backwards, but this woman plowed into Roche. 

A teenager among young adults was already discomforting, but the scale of the College of Light really hammered home just how much of a disparity existed between the Detention Club and the GEMS. Just because Rei had carved out her fiefdom didn’t mean they were of equal quality, and the wealth of the Light Girl’s stronghold was aggressively direct.

Every street had cleanly marked bike lanes. The trash cans didn’t overflow. Micro-parks sprang every few blocks to offer a breath of fresh air amidst a modern concrete landscape. It was sickeningly cutting edge with an optimistic bent that ruffled Roche’s feathers. 

But outrage was not a luxury she could afford, especially not when she was deep in enemy territory. One slip up, and the GEMS would at best use her as a hostage against the Detention Club. Worst case, well, Emblems weren’t impossible to break, and they already demonstrated a willingness to engage in emotional terrorism against the Dark Girls…

So even as she was actively searching, she was caught up in her tunnel vision enough to be taken entirely unawares turning a corner and engaging in an age-old cliche with a college twist. 

Usually, when two girls crashed together turning the corner one would be atop the other, faces embarrassingly close as hands inevitably came to set upon feminine curves.

Alas for Roche’s dignity, the college version of this seemed to involve the junior of the two would be bowled over, the breath in her lungs forced out by a shoe stomping down onto her chest as the Light City local halted herself entirely upon Roche. 

Feeling much like a doormat she looked up and saw her assailant was a [i]pinkette[/i] which was bad enough for the reminder of the GEMs most frustrating members, but that she was actively eating toast as she ran around. 

[color=ff6347]"Eyuu shuud reevy tie cunning wit tust!"[/color] She said through clenched teeth. 

[color=orange]"I’m okay."[/color] She eventually said when it became clear the pinkette wasn’t going to be helping her up. With a hand holding her hood in place and rubbing a soreness that naturally occurred when cracking your head to pavement, Roche crossed her arms over her shoe-printed wind breaker and eyed the toast-enjoyer. [color=orange]"You must be in a rush to snack and go like this."[/color]

She reached a hand up to her mouth and removed the toast. [color=ff6347]"Are you stupid?"[/color] She held out the toast. [color=ff6347]"If you run around with toast in your mouth, you usually run into someone important. So that’s what I was doing!"[/color] She tipped her head. [color=ff6347]"But it seems like the only thing I’ve found is you."[/color] With a huff, she reached into her grocery bag and pulled out a second slice of bread, [color=ff6347]"Here, maybe if we both do it, we’ll run into someone important!"[/color] 

[color=orange][i]Is she serious? [/i][/color] Roche just barely contained her incredulity as the girl seemed intent on insulting her for interrupting the nonsensical ritual that would only have worked in an episode of Lucky Star. Yet in spite of the madness that would have left Suki caught unawares, the strange runner carried on without missing a beat and offered Roche a slice of bread. 

[color=orange]"You’re looking for someone too? You got a description? I might have seen them on my laps."[/color] She offered with a shrug, tearing off a chink of a bread and swallowing it dry. Not out of the goodness of her heart, of course. [color=orange]"I’m looking for a girl. Really stands out with her red hair. Pretty mature. Her name’s Regina. See her around here?"[/color]

She raised an eyebrow. [color=ff6347]"Why are you eating it? You have to hold it in your mouth!"[/color] She sighed. [color=ff6347]"Are you a patron champion? You’re kind of acting like one."[/color] She looked around herself. The campus corner was pretty non-discript. Other than the brick corner of the university, there was a hedge wall to block the street from the college. There wasn’t even a sidewalk back here. In other words, they were offered some measure of privacy. [color=ff6347]"Alright, let’s see what we’ve got."[/color] A black flame consumed the woman, and her form changed to [url=https://cdn.donmai.us/sample/c6/70/__chii_aruel_soulworker_drawn_by_lolboja__sample-c67025a0e679f877d325ab23b0d881c1.jpg]that of one wearing a dark feudal outfit.[/url] She didn’t dance or introduce herself, and simply carried on like it was the most mundane thing in the world. She drew her sword and looked at the blade. [color=ff6347]"I knew it, you are a patron champion after all!"[/color] She laughed darkly after her discovery.  

[color=orange]"What the f-"[/color] The swift transformation  took Roche completely unawares, staring with a horror writ plain upon her face as she staggered back a step from the now armed woman before her. Yet she wasn’t the Rulekeeper for nothing and quickly realized that simply reacting to such a transformation already confirmed to this stranger she was a Magical Girl as well, so playing dumb went right out the window. 

With a growl she shifted her weight to her back foot, fingers clenched tight enough to deform the bread in her grasp. [color=orange]"What are you doing just transforming like that?! Do you want the GEMS to jump down your throat?!"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"As if you know anything about how things work around here…"[/color] The girl pointed her katana at Roche. [color=ff6347]"Speaking of deep throating, how about you eat my sword, bitch!"[/color] The mysterious, and apparently violent magical girl, took a swing at Roche. 

Roche’s luck was truly a black hole of crap rolling downhill. Just when she thinks she takes a step forward, someone tries to kill her!

The track captain had braced herself for a verbal lashing but her balance was just as suited for spring back to evade a slash trying to cleave her in two. [color=orange]"Do you always jump to murder? Cut it out, I’m just visiting the campus. I’m not here to poach your turf or steal Miseria."[/color]

Roche was bouncing on the balls of her feet, poised to bolt like a rabbit. She still didn’t want to risk transforming when the GEMS already had an archer with city wide range. Which left her on the defensive, anger warring with incredulity at meeting such a maniac. [color=orange]"Put down the sword already!"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"No!"[/color] She practically shrieked the words. [color=ff6347]"There’s no way some pathetic brat like yourself is going to get me to do anything!"[/color] She twirled her blade. [color=ff6347]"If you’re so scared then run! Run back to mommy and tell her what a bad, bad, BAD girl you’ve been!"[/color] She continued to approach and swing with abandon. 

[color=orange]"This damned brat!"[/color] Roche snarled as she found herself ducking and weaving, backing up from the sword lashing out at with juvenile skill. True, no one in the Club really used a sword but the crazy girl was a damn sight easy jer to evade then Suki or Shatterscape. Even the Miseria pirates telegraphed less clearly then the pinkette. 


Running away with an invisible slasher at her heels wasnt ideal either, as at best she’d make a scene just by sprinting across the lawn like a fleeing burglar. 

Waiting for the sword to pass by she changed tact, lunging forward as both hands grasped for the aggressors wrist and pulled up and sidewards. Her leg sweeped out, catching the girl at the ankle and trying to through off her balance so she’d fall harshly on her side. 

Despite how wildly unpredictable her swings were, that she was transformed, and [i]should[/i] have possessed abilities that outstripped Roche’s untransformed state, she managed to pull off her risky move without hardship.

[color=ff6347]"Oof!"[/color] The yet-to-be-identified dark magical girl picked herself up. [color=ff6347]"I’ve had my salad tossed pretty hard, and that was nothing to write home about."[/color] Her onyx black blade shimmered. [color=ff6347]"No more fuckin’ around, It’s ass eating time!"[/color] When she lifted her blade over head, the entire thing turned into the upper half of a lion. But it was a black as the blade was, and its body was filled with stars. Then with a swing, the lion roared and reached out with both paws, threatening to maul Roche.

While a transformed girl was vastly more capable then an untransformed one, throws had a lovely way of turning strength against itself, especially when the magical girl was so reckless. 

That only mattered up to a point, however. Overwhelming force had a way of crushing finesse, and the Rulekeeper’s ire was overflowing with wrath as the crass Magical Girl transformed her weapon into the leading section of a roaring lion. Faced with what was clearly a Dark Magical Girl trying to either kill or violate her- Hard to tell when she was talking like a fouler Suki- There was no option left but to discard secrecy. 

The shift was instant, no fancy transformation sequence to pad out the run time, and Earthshaker was swinging her shield overhead with both hands. It’s hidebound length crashing into the celestial beast before her power expelled its force to try and crush both lion sword and Magical girl to the ground. This time Roche wasn’t going to give her an opportunity to get back up either, eye gleaming with a malice that would have chilled her club mates. 

The overhead shield bash had knocked the opposing magical girl to the ground, and it looked like her sword arm might have broken. [color=ff6347]"What the hell is going on!?"[/color] She said to no one in particular. Then she looked up at Roche. [color=ff6347]"What? You’re going to pout at me now? Just wait until you see the apex of my power!"[/color] With a grin, she plunged her malformed sword into her own rib cage. [color=ff6347]"WARPGASM!"[/color]

Her body grew in every direction, but not uniformly or with any sort of purpose. Initially it was like watching tumors grow on someone at an accelerated rate, but eventually the growths became so numerous and massive that the original girl was no longer visible. Some out of control monster was growing around Roche and threatening to crush her. Walls of flesh came up on all sides of the rule keeper and started to close above her head, blocking out the last rays of sunlight. 

While her blow had struck and laid the girl out, it hadn’t been enough to end the fight. Rather it had pushed the vulgar girl to reveal she was as hideous on the outside. Impressive and horrific in equally wretched fashion, Earthshaker reeled back at the sight of flesh rupturing and expanding, a rippling wave of meat trying to crush her in its twisted embrace. 

Not moving far enough she felt the wet, raw skin clap against her, stretching overhead till everything turned dark. 

Dark. Wet. [color=orange][i]Suffocating. Clammy hands closing on her windpipe as they sought to drag her down into the ocean depths.[/i][/color]

Deeper still and close to home. A memory that sat deeper then her brush with the pirates. One that carried a far stronger familiarity due to the presence of a Magical Girl. [color=orange][i]Hot blood shaving my skin. Her lips at my throat as a tendril speared my calf. That insane girl would have killed me.[/i][/color]

There was no active thought in face of such a hauntingly familiar threat. A flame could be smothered, a bolt of lightning could be grounded, but raw concussive force would travel through flesh all the same. More to hit meant only more to batter. Earthshaker screamed and lashed out without restraint, open palms slapping out into the encroaching walls as she hurled herself forward with a feral scream. 

The magical girl, creature, inner demon, whatever Roche was fighting, it ruptured like a balloon and made a hissing sound as the skin deflated. Roche’s charge had carried her out of the magical girl’s clutches, and her deflating form flew around erratically after she had been deflated. She face planted in the grass nearby, possibly knocked out. 

Roche didn’t even have time to catch her breath before another girl walked onto the scene. Initially Roche thought she had been followed by Acid Drop, but after taking her in, it was clear that she only looked like Tsubomi out of the corner of her eye. Her clothes were monochromatic. She wore a grey shirt with what seemed to be some devil stars and designs scribbled on with a black magic marker. She wasn’t wearing pants, or if she was, they were too short to be visible over her long shirt. Her hair was closer in color to a slate grey, and her fingernails were painted black. Only her eyes had any color, which were a blue darker and deeper than any non-magical human should ever have. Yet the girl didn’t really look like a magical girl either, [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019a3248-16aa-7375-bb79-55cb9a346d7b.webp]whoever she was[/url].

[color=e3bbc6]"Oh, now this looks like a mess."[/color] She grinned from ear to ear as she approached. [color=e3bbc6]"I wonder who was roughhousing so hard back here. They made an awful mess of the grass here. Hmmm…"[/color]

Hunched and panting, Roche looked every bit the savage maiden her Magical Girl form projected outwards. Eyes shrunken to pin pricks as lost herself in the raw trembling of her extremities, fingers tingling from the muted splat of her magic striking meat without any holding back. 

Just like last time the Rulekeeper was left the one staring down at a Dark Girl, and it was some fluke of fortune that the girl who had burst into a blob of meat wasn’t a smear against the grass. A ragged exhale as she banished the phantom image of Suki imposed upon the lecherous assailant and she considered changing back to her regular form to leave the rotten city behind. 

And was stricken in place, a chill racing down her back as she looked to see they were no longer alone, and this girl looked equally as unlikely to be a GEM. 

Was she a Magical Girl? Impossible to tell given her attire, while dark, wasn’t screaming magic either. Pushing down the lizard brain instinct to leap away with a blast of force, Earth Shaker took a silent step back onto the paved path and watched the stranger wordlessly. Hoping against hope she was blind to her presence as the other mundane people and she could slip away from this mess.

The stranger approached the fallen girl and kneeled. [color=e3bbc6]"Hmmm. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmmmmmmmm…"[/color] She lifted a flap of skin that had popped to look under it. [color=e3bbc6]"Things are changing around here, we can’t be as reckless as we once could."[/color] She allowed the skin to fall out of her hands. As violent as the exchange was, there was no gore to speak of. It was almost as if Roche had defeated some sort of balloon miseria. Only the girl didn’t bubble away into nothing, nor was she all black. [color=e3bbc6]"There’s a time and place to be the hero, and it’s not now."[/color] She started to stand up. [color=e3bbc6]"So, what brings the detention club to the city of light?"[/color] She asked her question without looking at Roche. [color=e3bbc6]"I thought it would be a few months before you got cocky enough to mount a siege, and certainly not by yourself."[/color] 

[color=orange][i] When did everything get so complicated? I swear a year ago all that I had to worry about was Suki and killing Miseria. [/i][/color] Earthshaker seethed in her frustration and stepped forward, letting the cloak pull tight around her. 

[color=orange]"I didn’t come looking for a fight, but this girl thought different and pushed the matter till I had to push back."[/color] The Rule Keeper exhaled, hood quirking to the side as she scanned the campus tensely. If two Magical Girls showed up, it was only a matter of time till more joined them, and she already had a mountain of questions to unpack just from the strangers monologue. It reeked of secrets Rei would keep.

[color=orange]"I came here trying to meet an acquaintance of mine. If she’s not here, then I’ll get lost. I don’t know what you think the Detention Club does, but we aren’t looking to storm the City of Light, even if the GEMS are pushing things too far."[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"Well yes, all of that is pretty evident. At least, everything but the ‘meeting an acquaintance’ bit. A dark girl wanting to meet anyone here is about as uncanny as dark girls being in the City of Light. And to clarify, Madness and I don’t really qualify as either of those."[/color] The mysterious girl folded her arms behind her back. [color=e3bbc6]"What are you doing here, really?"[/color]

Magical Girls not identifying with either side, even with their edgy bearings? If she were back home she’d have called it ridiculous, but it wasn’t worth splitting hairs over given the circumstances. 

[color=orange]"The GEMS aren’t the only ones stepping into my home to cause trouble, and I was hoping to find her to get some answers as to why she’s bothering with it. Maybe…de-escalate things if she’s reasonable."[/color]

Saying that while glancing down at the pummeled Madness didn’t have her too confident in the last approach.

[color=e3bbc6]"Ah, of course."[/color] The yet-to-be-introduced girl nodded. [color=e3bbc6]"I think I got the picture now."[/color] She held out her hands and framed Earth Shaker between her thumbs and point fingers. [color=e3bbc6]"There are plenty of fish in the sea, but none are biting your hook, if ya catch my drift."[/color] She tucked her arms behind her back. [color=e3bbc6]"The dating pool back at Hibusa town, or whatever you call it, is far too small. They either don’t like you, you don’t like them, and those you do spark with don’t do so hot enough to fire your cylinders."[/color] The pile of flesh that used to be Madness gurgled something. [color=e3bbc6]"Yes, your hunch was right, but that’s always your hunch. I can hardly give you kudos for making the same observation you always make."[/color] Her eyes returned to Earth Shaker. [color=e3bbc6]"I’m afraid your attempt at a romantic rendezvous will not work here. I’m not allowed to say exactly why, but there’s a reason why they’ve chosen to keep their distance and made themselves so hard to track. That, and your world had shifted. Surely you’ve noticed things have not been the same since Ashbringer showed up? Things feel different, don’t they?"[/color]

[color=orange]"Wh-What?!"[/color] Earthshaker choked on her words, gasping and pounding a fist to her chest at the sudden turn. Even if Madness had been so very vulgar about it, hearing the insinuation directed so flatly at her did leave the Rule Keeper bothered. [color=orange]"This isn’t a romance thing. She’s trying to-"[/color]

[color=orange][i]Huh, so what’s it feels like? No wonder Ashbringer was upset with me.[/i][/color] The gears in her mind caught and spun, vision narrowing against the strange gothic girl. One who didn’t seem to identify with either group that fit within Roche’s worldview, and who dropped the name of the very girl she’d refused to say aloud here. 

[color=orange]"I see I was too arrogant. Too hopeful she hadn’t put together a big team."[/color] Earth Shaker loosed a rueful laugh and forced herself to loosen up. Fighting wouldn’t help her now if this new girl pushed things, and unlike Madness she didn’t seem the mindless berserker type she could lay out with a good counter. [color=orange]"If she won’t talk to me I’ll stop looking to force it, but I won’t stop asking why this is happening."[/color]

Or why the world was so tilted, for that matter. Miseria were escalating to the point it was a wonder they remained hidden from the world. The very existence of Giga Miseria was unsettling, as though every natural disaster was in actuality a lumbering monster cleaving across the country. 

[color=orange]"Are you saying Ashbringer opened us up to some hidden truth of the world? Or did she actually change reality?"[/color]

Finally, the smug grin on the girl’s face opened up her lips. She turned her head and attempted to shield her face from Earthshaker’s view. [color=e3bbc6]"Ah, you almost got me."[/color] She lowered her hand. [color=e3bbc6]"The magical girls here are powerful, but none can transcend the laws of this place. Causality as it pertains to mortals remains intact, etcetera etcetera. No, I am implying that something happened that allowed Ashbringer to show up."[/color] The girl produced a gourd from behind her back, one with a tiny hole in it. She shook it a few times and then by the opening was a tiny-teany apple. She pinched the apple between her fingers and slowly pulled it out, at which point it expanded until it was large enough to fit in her hand. [color=e3bbc6]"What do you think happens when a god gets tired of their creation?"[/color]

That was a small relief. Given the scale and power of girls like Rei and the absurdity of some forms of Magic, it didn’t seem beyond the pall that causality would start being twisted into knots. But any succor she found turned to ash on her tongue at the pointed question. Because the answer had been staring them in the face from the moment the strange girl had introduced herself.

[color=orange]"They’d burn it down and start over."[/color] Earthshaker’s voice was tiny, barely heard on the wind as she considered the first meeting with Ashbringer. A flaming harbinger of doom that came completely out of the blue. [color=orange]"She’s older than us but she came all the way to our city to put us down. Like she already had a connection to the Club and wanted to wipe it away. A girl who easily brought together others for a new group like she had experience."[/color]

The blob beside the girl snorted. [color=ff6347]"Holy shit! Dude, what did she just say? Satan here isn’t talking about the six-foot-ten dommy mommy you want to step all over you."[/color]

The girl who had been called Satan looked down at Madness. She had taken only a single bite of the apple. [color=e3bbc6]"You’re healing up fast."[/color]

[color=ff6347]"Give me ten more minutes and I’ll be feeding this girl an ass wooping!"[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"As interesting as that would be, I don’t think she’s going to remain here that long."[/color] Satan dropped the abble into the blob, which promptly devoured it. Then she looked back at Earth Shaker. [color=e3bbc6]"Anyway, I wasn’t talking about Ashbringer. I was talking about the simple relationship between a creator and their creation on a cosmic scale. And I’ve found that they do not, actually, bother destroying what they created. I mean it sounds very cool, but more often than not they simply move on. Rather than pillaging their creations to start over, they simply back away from them and begin again elsewhere. Gods do not have to be as frugal as you or I do. Their power is limitless, so there is no need to conserve it. And so, sometimes something else can swoop in and start playing with the god’s old toys."[/color] 

[color=orange]"That’s….better"[/color] The Rule Keeper felt she’d dodged a serious bullet there, and with how mysterious Rei was she wouldn’t have doubted if Ash Bringer was some founder come to end the club they started. But no, Ash wasn't god, she was more like the Demiurge trying to fill the void. Though what that said about a God  

Though considering the girl telling her all this went by Satan, it might have been wise to take everything she said with a measure of salt. 

[color=orange]"Yeah don’t worry, I’ll be gone before the meatbag is back up, but just to be clear; You’re saying all this craziness is because someone set up my City as their playground, and now that they left we’ve got strangers rolling in and there’s nothing to stop them. That’s….a relief."[/color]

[color=orange]"No god is pulling our strings or writing our fates. Just a bunch of Magical Girls getting into a fight. That’s so typical I’d call it boring if it wasn’t setting fire to my neighborhood."[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"Oh no."[/color] Satan finally chuckled. It was dark. [color=e3bbc6]"No, no no, no no no. When a god abandons their creation, that is an opportunity for something far more sinister to step in.  I don’t doubt there are truly benevolent beings that wish to keep things in harmony, but it’s clear your world is now in the clutches of an eldritch horror."[/color]

[color=ff6347]"Preach it sister!"[/color] Madness lifted part of its blob up, which might have been an attempt at pumping her fist into the air if she had one. 

[color=e3bbc6]"Yes, Aigorost has come to this place. Isn’t it funny how impossibly strong you are, and now there’s a city of light that houses a bunch of ultra strong light girls, some of which can stand up to you? How convenient that Rei has almost stopped making public appearances in your time of need? These anomalies, inconsistencies between the world that was and as it was now could only be the result of a creature that feeds on despair!"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"The tendrils of the unborn god have coiled themselves around the white god’s creation!"[/color] Madness bubbled in glee. [color=ff6347]"It remains to be seen if they will pull themselves out of inexistence, or you into it!"[/color] 

[color=e3bbc6]"Beware his symbol!"[/color] Satan opened her hand, revealing a decomposing frog overtaken with plant life. Both squirmed in her hand. [color=e3bbc6]"A corpse that fosters life! Duality!"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"From beyond the veil of reality, their unborn eyes look back at us from the stars!"[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"Do you see now?"[/color] Satan placed a hand on Earth Shaker’s shoulder. [color=e3bbc6]"I will be departing from this world shortly, but if there is anything you need, I will do my best to help you. In exchange for a favor, of course."[/color]

A moment of stunned silence passed in the aftermath of Satan closing upon her, hand clasped to her shoulder as though they were old friends, and not that she was a complete stranger trying to overturn her understanding of reality so completely she’d be left rudderless and adrift. How did searching for Ashbringer turn so complicated? Were the Giga Miseria a consequence of this supposed Horror?

Her eyes slid to the frog in her hand, mind lurching towards her own city’s resident frog girl, but that relation was only superficial. No, there was something far more appropriate that dawned upon her; The bone giant and it’s shrikes. Creatures of bone with flesh and muscle, life and death puking a viscera that melted all it touched. 

There wasn’t a fiber in Roche’s body that didn’t want to call Satan insane, or attempt to label her the deceiver she was named for, but there were enough loose pieces that she couldn’t cast it aside. Especially when she was the only one who seemed interested in explaining whatever was going on in the world. 

[color=orange]"What do you want?"[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"Tell Suki that I forgot her E-mail address, and I need her to send it to me again."[/color] Satan tipped her head. [color=e3bbc6]"TheRealRizzo, she’ll know who it is."[/color]

If one listened closely, they could hear a loud, visceral snapping sound. One couldn’t know if that was from the grinding of teeth, or if Earthshaker was suffering from an aneurysm at the sheer insanity that was her life. 

Her voice was deceptively flat as she nodded, expression blank. Almost serene for the lack of life behind her eyes. [color=orange]"I will tell her. Now if you would be so kind as to help."[/color]

[color=orange][i]It always comes back to Suki. Everything always traces right back to her and her messes….[/i][/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"Help with what?"[/color]

[color=orange]"With the Eldritch Horrors? And Ashbringer?"[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"Oh."[/color] She clapped her hands together. [color=e3bbc6]"I don’t think we can do anything about Aigorost, as Madness is their acolyte. It’s not like we can bring the white god back anyway. All we can really do is pray."[/color]

[color=ff6347]"You need a virgin sacrifice!"[/color] The blob jiggled. [color=ff6347]"Come here, and we can appease all the watchers with an X-rated ritual!"[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"As for Ashbringer, she’s not my area of expertise. But I’d say keep an eye out for what’s happening in Japan. Wild fires aren’t common outside the dry season, so they could be an indication of where she is."[/color] Satan produced a crystal ball. [color=e3bbc6]"Or I could give you this. I’d need you to pay me, of course, but it will let you see exactly where she is."[/color]

The horror was clashing miserably with frustration at the pair who switched tactlessly from rousing terror back to irreverent interplay, and Roche was liable to pop a blood vessel if she squinted any harder at Satan. 

[color=orange]"Tell me what you want for the crystal ball, and it better not be an X-Rated ritual."[/color]

[color=e3bbc6]"Good heavens no!"[/color] Satan laughed. [color=e3bbc6]"Ah, you finally got me. I’m not nearly as depraved as Madness here is. I was going to charge you 25,000 yen for it, but you made me laugh, so how about 20,000?"[/color]

[color=orange]"Show me that it works and you have you’re 20k."[/color] It wasn’t like she couldn’t steal some groceries to make up for the dip in her funds. If this orb could track Ashbringer then she would have considered the rituals regardless of her words. 

[color=e3bbc6]"Very well, I’ll show you first, but don’t even think of weaseling out of our deal."[/color] Satan closed her eyes and gripped the ball with both hands. [color=e3bbc6]"Where is Ashbringer now?"[/color] She gave the orb a shake and turned it over to look at the hidden message on the bottom. [color=e3bbc6]"It says to ask again tomorrow."[/color] 

[color=orange]"Ah."[/color] Such was Roche’s turmoil that her expression looped upon it into a state of serenity. 

Without an ounce of tension she reached out and clasped Satan’s shoulders like an old friend. [color=orange]"How much of all this was you messing with a tourist? I just wanna be clear before…."[/color]

Earthshaker’s head tilted with her drifting words, the hood casting an especially deep shadow over her face. 

Satan looked back at the crystal ball, shook it again, and waited for the next answer to reveal itself. [color=e3bbc6]"Signs point to yes. It helps if you frame your question with a yes or no answer in mind."[/color]

[color=orange]"That’s what I thought."[/color]

There was nothing in the world Roche Wouldnt have given to be gripped in the thrall of Nyxia’s predisposition to violence without great consideration. It may have helped her forget just where she was or that Madness could likely get back up if she really wanted to soon enough. 

But cursed as she was with responsibility and with the sputtering blob of meat before them, Earthshaker would not be blowing her top. Or much of anything, as her transformation unravelled, leaving Roche able to reach into her pocket and draw out her wallet. Wrinkled bills came free and she held them out to the great Satan. 

[color=orange]"Thank you for the help. I think I’ll take this back home with me now."[/color]

The lavender haired girl took the money without counting it and handed her the globe. [color=e3bbc6]"I hope it brings you to what you seek."[/color] She folded up the money and pushed it into the tiny gourd, then moved it behind her back to whatever invisible space seemed to hold her inventory. [color=e3bbc6]"Ah, but a few more words before you depart."[/color] She picked up Madness and swung her over her shoulder. [color=e3bbc6]"The world is big. There are many things in it and things happening at every level. During our time together the insects beneath us move beyond our notice. Aigorost and Glexaroth continue to wage war beyond the stars. Regardless of scope, these things are both equally immaterial to us in the moment."[/color] She turned around to leave. [color=e3bbc6]"A second meeting with Ashbringer is an inevitability, is it not? The time you spend apart will seem so short when you are finally together."[/color]

[color=orange]"That’s nice."[/color] Roche said, not entirely listening as her eyes glazed over. Fingers curled like the rictus limbs of a departed spider rolled the ‘crystal ball’ over in her grasp. There was a sound like crackling of ice the day after a blizzard, that crisp shattering of a pristine surface that only needed the slightest pressure to collapse into fathomless depths. 

Mirth rose sticky and black as she gave the Orb a jerky shake. She didn’t ask it for the whereabouts of Ashbringer or the machinations of the GEMS. Not the secrets of Rei or twisted past of Shatterscape. 

[color=orange][i]Will I ever be loved again?[/i][/color]

A childish impulse. The sort of question a cluster of girls would ask a ouija board amidst a giggling sleepover, but it was what emerged as her mind was pushed to the precipice. Bloodshot eyes warbled as the crystal ball was lifted to her face.

[b]Signs Point To Yes.[/b]

The Rule Keeper’s cheeks grew wet and contorted, a feeling of euphoria washing away the last of her resolve. A manic laugh as her arms slid over the magic eight-ball and the world tilted wildly.

She struck the grass beside the path, curling into a fetal ball as she wept, cried, and bawled like a newborn babe. Something’s were just too much for the mortal mind to bear.