AtomicNut

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

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March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

Things have stabilized... I wonder if I should bring everyone's least favorite valkyrie?

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Weird Science

Tropical Thunder

@Shifter_Master@Ariamis

The crowd was somewhat more silent than earlier matches, as the fights had gone on their collective feelings had gone from amazement to dread. More and more people were realizing how wrong this was getting. Dina herself could barely hold together upon sensing the maelstrom.

She stood there, as both opponents were related to her. Sann was nowhere to be found for the time being. She eyed the girl the valkyrie had rescued. She was a boon, but…

The downright hostility flat out hurt. Her eyes weren’t even focused on Dina.

“Tenebra… please. If I can’t get Penny to back down, maybe you should… It’s getting too chaotic.” She called, her hand trying to reach for the Gravity girl, only to be swatted by a gravitic field.

“No. I refuse.” She growled as she walked towards the ring, her teeth gritted. Gone was the dithering and the blushing, only a heartfelt anger was present on her face.

From her place on the other end of the arena, Penny was noting the somber mood with more than a touch of unease. It was a mood whiplash from the last time she had been out here only a short time ago. She was having a difficult time reconciling the changes with the relatively short time difference. A matter only made worse by the apparent hostility she saw a supposed ally directing towards Dina.

‘The hell did I miss?’ She would wonder as she slowly walked towards the ring herself. Her gait, stiff and robotic.

“Tenebra” Penny would greet with a nod. “You doing alright?”

Tenebra eyed Penny, her gaze somewhat resembling a thousand yard stare. "I feel fine." She said.

"Thank you for waiting, everyone!" Dan appeared before Penny, a microphone in his hand. He sounded less excited than usual as he addressed the crowd, yet still kept a smile on his face.

"The Queen of Steel has returned to face off against the dark horse of the race, Tenebra! After her tag-in partner Sakura secured a victory, we now have the crafty mage herself ready to throw her lot in. Let's give them a welcoming applause!"

Once he roused the audience to share in his gesture, he quickly leaned towards Penny with a whisper: "I know you want to win, but try to keep your cool, ok? Rachel did not like it when I delayed your match to be the last one. Ok, good luck!"

He then disappeared in a puff of smoke, and his face appeared on the wide screen.
"It's time to duel!" He announced.

It was then when Dina eyed Tenebra and then Penny, offering a frown. "Your Majesty… I am certainly surprised you showed up."
Penny would nod to Dan subtly, internally scoffing at the ridiculousness of Rachel throwing a fit at Penny’s match getting pushed back by fifteen minutes. before replying to Dina “I’m still operational” She’d say with an attempted shrug, though the movement was stilted and unnatural. “Not really my style to simply give up.” She would keep her eyes on Tenebra, her concern easily discernible.

“Is it a who, a what, or a why?” She would ask the gravity girl. “Because even if you are doing fine” Which Penny knew was a lie. “You still look like you’re ready to commit homicide.”

Dina's mood would deflate significantly, as Tenebra eyed Penny. "Why, I have to step up… given the results of the last round. Dina wanted me to back down, Sann said. But I won't. " She eyed Penny. "I was foolish to think that I was brought back out of kindness and I would get some bits of my old life back."

"Tenebra, we can…" Dina would begin to talk, before a nudge of gravity shook her.

Penny would shift into an easy stance, since the match had started. “So you want to stay in the matches.” She would tilt her head to the side just a bit. “Personal reason for wanting to continue up the ladder? Or just annoyed at people trying to tell you what to do?” In contrast to her last match Penny was opting to play defense. Which if her jerky movement was any indication meant she wasn’t fully healed. Though only a few people would know the truth of that at the moment.

[color=9e0039]“And is there anything I can do to help?”[/color

Tenebra would eye Penny. "You could not get in the way of things, your… Majesty." Tenebra eyed Dina, who was now eyeing Penny.

Dina looked like she wanted to say something, but at this point… she just gave up. It was bad for Penny to go back on her words, and now there was a teenager acting like such.

"Lots of points need to be made." Tenebra would then add.

Penny would raise an eyebrow at the rather ominous statement. Sending her own glance at Dina as well. “Well. Let me know if that changes.” She would say before giving another stilted shrug.

“Oh, and feel free to call me Penny.” She’d add shifting her stance. “I only need the title in formal situations.” And with that she would leap at her opponent. Though it was glaringly obvious that she was moving slower than she had at her last match.

Tenebra for her part just vanished, the air wobbling and rippling, before reappearing a fair distance overhead the ring. Her gaze still pierced Penny as she aimed at her with one hand.

Space would warp and twist around Penny, save perhaps a 2 cm region around the Cyborg. It connected two unseemingly disconnected portions of space, sending Penny and the unaffected space bubble around her to the bottom of the pool.

Despite her target vanishing Penny didn’t falter. She simply turned her leap into a dive and rolled before coming up in a run. Her left eye had gone dull and once again glowing tattoos were alight across her legs lending speed to her stride as she seemed to lift above the platform ever so slightly.

The warping of space wasn’t something that Penny was blind to, even with her mimicry systems throwing up dozens of system alerts every time she tried reaching for it. Gravity was one of the elements that resonated within her soul, and with it she could still map out the areas that Tenebra was targeting. Just before the area she was in was to be shunted, the bottom two of her hidden limbs would lash out at the ground below her, suddenly kicking Penny forward and out of the warped space.

Though she would leave just the tip of one of her limbs within the targeted zone. If it got sliced off it might end this match with a disqualification. Something that Penny wasn’t above utilizing.

Not willing to stay still long enough to check if that would end things, Penny would keep running, quickly building up speed as she went. Shortly before the edge of the platform she would give a mighty leap. Rocketing up towards Tenebra, Penny would fold in half aiming her posterior towards the Warper, and rather than losing speed at any point, it seemed that Penny was gaining speed the entire way.

Tenebra would just emit a choked grunt, before tweaking the spell to allow Penny go unscathed. She did not move otherwise, but Penny would find out the space between the two was being stretched, roughly at the same speed Penny was travelling towards Tenebra. Of course Penny would notice this, but given she had propelled herself towards Tenebra she was already caught in the warped space before she could realize it. Just like a sticky fly-trap.

Tenebra would then snap her fingers as the warped space sprung back to normal, the sudden rebound compressing the air around Penny past the point of self-ignition, creating a huge shockwave comprised of fire-rings. However the most important thing was that all momentum Penny was committing in the attack would suddenly bounce back at her by the sudden recompression of space-time. As a further insult, Tenebra briefly robbed Penny of weight by boosting Penny's usual gravitic reduction just to make Penny be sent back even further with the rebound.

The compounded rebound would knock Penny away, but she wouldn’t fly down very far before she continued her upwards trajectory at an accelerated speed, though it wasn’t aimed at Tenebra anymore. This was in part Tenebra's fault as well, because Penny didn’t reduce gravity’s effect on herself. She inverted it. Thus amping that effect just made her new down pull with even more strength.

Penny would waste no time in removing herself from the ceiling and resuming her running. Though at this point it was a bit more aimless, and more for building up speed again and making targeting her difficult.

After a moment of this Penny’s hand would disconnect and grab tightly to the ceiling as she raced along above Tenebra. Then she would launch herself downward, gravity once again inverting as she redirected her falling momentum into a pendulum swing once again aiming to strike Tenebra.

“Isn’t the ceiling a ringout?” Tenebra would then go on nonchalantly, as she warped space to dodge Penny’s strike. The same fly-trap effect would be in place on the field. As much as Penny tried to sped up, the feint was lost on Tenebra. Knowing she was the point of the attacks, all she needed was to adjust the warping of the space around her to compensate for that. She also adjusted her gravity to just nullify Penny’s weight this time. Blood trickled from the nose as she did so. After all, Penny’s blatant gravitic upgrade was enough for her to zero in with her Absolute Direction.

“Ringout is in the water” Penny would reply once she retracted her way back up to the ceiling. “Otherwise ice platforms would also be a ringout.” She would once again flip her gravity and start skating around on the ceiling once more.

“You slapping me in the face with a spatial rebound is closer to breaking the rules than me touching the ceiling.” She would explain before going for another pendulum swing approach, though she didn’t expect it to have any more luck than the time before. The rebound, while it did hurt, was more akin to her falling off a building and hitting the ground than it was her being directly attacked. At least that was the case with the pendulum strategy, the falling up of her original attack hurt a lot more with the rebound.

No, the reason for the repeat was more to try and cause Tenebra to burn out of her mana before Penny did. She had no way of telling how much Mana the warper had, but she was no slouch when it came to stamina. Her staying on the ceiling with the occasional swing down couldn’t have been as expensive as the expanding and contracting of space that was being used to counter it. That and the nosebleed hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Crude bitch.” Tenebra would mutter. This time, though, there was no space warping, and Penny’s attack seemed to almost connect, except this time Tenebra vanished from Penny’s sight. She was now just walking above the water outside the ring.

“You can move through space, and it’s clearly defined within bounds. If the ceiling isn’t the outer boundary, then what is?” Tenebra would then focus. “Brute force approach, just like a computer program. So like you. My best techniques are lost on you.” She would then say, as water began to float around her, gravitic fields pulling it from the pool. “So let’s start easy. Phase Transitions, for instance.”

It was then when the gravitic pull would increase, compressing the water, until the all familiar crackling of ice covered Tenebra in a shell… but something was off. This ice did not give a cold vibe, at all. If anything its temperature was rising.

Then, something else happened. A rune began to glow on Tenebra’s chest, as the familiar sensation of a Reinforcement enveloped her enhancing her magic. “Sann, huh.” Tenebra muttered. “How twisted, but I shall make use of it.”

‘Everyone is always running away from me’ Penny would sigh internally as she passed through where Tenebra had been just a moment prior. At the end of her swing she would push off the ceiling, her disconnected hand releasing its grip and retracting as she did, and go racing towards the center of the arena only to land near weightlessly in the center.

She wasn’t sure what Tenebra was going to be doing next, but Penny had her own theories about where out of bounds would end up being if she got knocked through the ceiling. Something that she hadn’t thought she would need to worry about, but it was looking more and more likely that all of her matches were going to be thinly disguised bloodsport. Which was a bit annoying if she was being honest.

“Everyone has to criticize the simple route don’t they?” She would say aloud as she took a balanced stance once more as she waited to dodge whatever it was that Tenebra would be throwing at her next. Which did seem to be the water of the pool itself. “No appreciation for the straightforward things, not everything has to be a grand complicated display.” Her tone was one of minor aggravation and reproach, though the sharpness in her eyes never wavered from the compressed shell of water that surrounded her opponent.

At this point it was more than obvious to the Queen that she wasn’t going to achieve anything by being the aggressor. So she stayed waiting, though she wasn’t standing completely still, she was drifting side to side a bit as she let her hover legs come into full effect. There wasn’t any point in hiding them after all, the same was assumed when holographic barriers snapped to life around Penny’s limbs. She was tired of getting attacked with lethal intent while she tried to keep things friendly after all.

"Going on the defensive? That will not do!" Tenebra said, jumping this time in a bit of an offensive with her rear. "Comet Rear!"

Penny would at first seem to plant herself in preparation to just tank the incoming attack, but shortly before impact she would side step out of the way just to quickly hip check Tenebra as she flew past.

Tenebra would widen her eyes ever so sligthly as Penny seemingly dodged and countered….

And an explosion ensued, as Penny's interference perturbed the fragile equilibrium of the ice armor, who turned into steam in a fraction of second.

Of course Tenebra herself received some damage, even as Penny took the brunt of the steam explosion, but despite the bruising and some cuts she was cackling, as she skidded to an halt, the ice rearranging itself to cover the gap.

"Ice VII was not on your computation model, love?"

No words would be exchanged as Penny came racing out of the steam cloud she had been enveloped in. Her own injuries were light due to her bringing her armor online just before the attack. She let the injuries remain visible however, choosing not to engage her Regeneration as she approached. This magic was a step too far Penny felt, but once again she wasn’t going to stand around waiting for Dan’s judgement.

Her approach seemed simple, a straight rush followed by a leaping hammer strike with her bust. Mid leap her spidery limbs would lash out however, caging Tenebra in as they also pulled Penny in even faster.

Tenebra would grit her teeth, as Penny seemed to be unfazed. She needed to be more throughout to score a win. So, when Penny charged forward, seemingly going for a chest blow to pull her in, Tenebra made a split decision.

Gravity wobbled as Penny's cage was finished, before transporting them both to the bottom of the pool. Of course, Penny enveloping Tenebra would be the first to be soaked in, there simply was no way she could be wet by the water first if Penny's limbs wrapped her. But to further her stance, she dismissed her armor in a controlled explosion just as Penny's assets hit her fully, to stall the water for precious microseconds before gravity, in a much reduced area this time, wobbled once more to pull her out back to the platform.

Tenebra's nosebleed and wounds were patent, but she still stood up.

The shifting of gravity was a blaring warning of what was about to come, but at that point Penny was too committed to her physical course of action to change anything. Thus she knew that she was shortly to be at the bottom of the pool, and had even less time to prepare for it.

Hidden underneath the gravitational fluctuations on Tenebra’s warping, Penny would augment and alter her own gravity. From those changes a thin veil would encase her, separating her from everything outside of it. And that veil would do one thing, but it would do it very well, it pushed everything away. A shell of gravity, inverted so that nothing would touch her.

She would spend only a second longer at the bottom of the pool. Normally she would have given a sigh before jumping out of the pool, but the urge escaped her. Her thoughts had changed, she could tell, and even knew the reason most likely at fault. But those examinations could come later.

A simple hop, her strength no longer being hidden or constricted, brought her surging out of the water. Her barrier was obvious to see as she left the pool, the liquid cascading off the invisible protection. She wouldn’t land upon the platform, instead stayed suspended over the water. her legs aglow with light as she hovered there.

She would go to say something before stopping and glancing away, off towards the other island. Her expression turned dark shortly afterwards. “How important is this match to you?” Penny would ask. “As something important just came up, but you seem to have a chip on your shoulder.”

"I wanted to have a good second chance at life. But it was a lie. Everything is a lie. You turned a simple affair in an overcomplicated tournament and toyed with everyone's affections and goals. Complicated enough to revive me. Don't go asking and talking now in order to appear as a just ruler"

Tenebra would say nothing, as she jumped off the platform into the pool, the same shell forming around her as she descended into the depths. Given that Dan had not called a win it meant that as long as one could stay dry on the bottom, the match was still ongoing. An ominous silence then followed.

I need more power…

DO YOU DESIRE MORE POWER? A voice echoed in Tenebra's head. To understand what was happening, one had to rewind back all the time just before the start of the tournament. When Odin offered Sakura assistance to revive a comrade it had a price. Dina and Sakura never looked too hard at how Sanngridr had performed her revive.

She had reconnected something, to which Umukamui, the current patron of Tenebra had not realized. She was a loan, and thus the bridge with the Puchuu had been severed.

Then, who was Tenebra's actual master right now? None other than a cosmic horror.

Odin smiled.

Outside, above the water, Penny could hear a scream from beyond the water as gravity created fluctuations. Something had happened to Tenebra.

“Right” Penny would say softly as Tenebra jumped into the water. Her attention once again turned towards the lodge on the other island. The scream from below the water concerned her, as did Odin’s smile, but honestly she had other things to worry about at the moment.

All of a sudden the lights from Penny’s legs would cut out and she’d drop into the water with a splash. Hardly a moment later her spider limbs would strike out of the water onto the far ledge and hoist her from the pool. She’d wipe the water from her face as she strode away, uncaring about her now drenched state after all she had more important things to focus on right now.

Though it did explain why Dan had been so quiet.

"And the winner is Tenebra…" The booming voice of the norse god said as she clapped. "Well...played" She said, a smug grin on her face. "But will it be enough to save the current situation, I wonder…"

Meanwhile Dina scrambled as soon as the combat had finished, taking a dive into the pool. "Tenebra!!" She yelled before vigorously swimming towards her, the gravitic changes rattling her bones. She clamped hard on the bundle of Gravitic energy, as dry snaps announced her bones were broken by the runaway energy.

But the child. The child needed her.

Fight it off! Damn that one eyed god! Is there anyone capable of purification around?

Penny had been fully ready to simply leave the arena. Her focus already turned towards the lost Mirror and all the potential ramifications that were held within that turn of events. The events under the waves weren’t something that Penny was able to fully perceive, and with everything else that had happened the mechanical girl had simply assumed that it was yet another trick that the augmented gravity girl had tucked away.

That changed with Dina’s panicked actions. Dina was one of three people that Penny had placed at the highest levels of priority. So she was always paying at least some attention to the Regent. To see her diving towards Tenebra with such fervor was notable, and worrying considering the violent turbulence that had enveloped the water.

So she changed directions again. And with more urgency then she had just a moment ago Penny dove back into the water to assist Dina. Just to get a face full of static from the oddities in the water coming from Tenebra. Not that it stopped her from pressing forward. It just meant that she had to orient herself using Dina rather than the warper herself.

Dina had barely time to focus with all the pain, when something brushed her fractured tail. She winced with pain, as she grabbed ahold of whatever lunatic had decided to follow suit her. No matter who, help was well received. Hoisting Penny’s hands towards the target, a denaturalized white coin in tow.

Is that...?

The explosion was heard throughout the rings, as the three people were scattered unceremoniously, Tenebra falling the first in the remains of the ring, unconscious but stable. Penny followed soon after, falling a bit ahead, her body sprawled around the spectator benches.

But Dina…

Dina wasn’t resurfacing at all.

‘Why do I keep getting caught up in explosions today?’ Penny would wonder as her spider limbs pushed her back upright. In no time at all she was once again back into the water looking for Dina. Snoopy had been sent zooming off to check on Tenebra in the meantime but Dina still held priority.

Hopefully whatever the static interference from early on was, it had gone away, but even if it hadn’t Penny still had a trick or two to locate Dina.

Dina was just in the bottom of the pool, bleeding profusely as bubbles escaped from her nose. She was unconscious and unable to leave the pool on her own. While she was still alive… it could change in a manner of seconds-to-minutes.

The Regent being at the bottom of the pool was something of an advantage for Penny. It was easier for her to reach Dina that way then if she was floating somewhere midway down. Still she wasted no time in getting to Dina.

Then as gently as she could Penny would scoop up the cat girl before launching herself out of the water. A mix of her hover systems and her spider legs cushioning the landing. Soon as they were out of the water she would lay Dina down before retrieving her Christmas gift. Thanking her luck and her mysterious benefactor she would start pouring mana into the artifact as she wielded it to try and assist Dina.

Dina just shifted somewhat, before convulsing and coughing, thrashing back to life. Until it stopped, as a second artifact was added into the healing mix.

A limping, haggard Tenebra held her own Healing Artifact, while clutching the straps of her own swimsuit and bruises with her other hand. She had cut her lip, but managed to utter something.

"You...use...them like this." She added, as her more experienced hand managed to help Penny stabilize the Regent.

Penny only cast a single momentary look at Tenebra before she began shamelessly mimicking Tenebra’s technique with the Healing artifact. When it was clear that Dina was no longer in any danger Penny would let herself relax.

Sitting down cross legged she would turn her healing efforts towards Tenebra. Though it was easy to tell that Penny wasn’t putting as much effort into healing the other girl as she had been towards healing Dina.

“Thanks” She would say as one of her spider legs reached out and ripped out a section of railing from the nearby stands. Penny would quietly start consuming the metal railing as she also turned her attention towards herself. Consecutive explosions had compounded the damage she had taken, but if there was one truth about her that reigned above all it was that she was built to last. Still, since there were no immediate concerns she started up her Regeneration and let it run it’s normal course. She’d be back at 100% in no time.

“You doing alright?” She would ask Tenebra after a moment. “Aborted corruption via purification doesn’t sound like it would have been particularly pleasant. That’s discounting the eruption at the end.”

Tenebra chose not to talk to Penny, before staggering to scoop up the unconscious Dina with a gentle gravitic field as she began to walk away.

“...I feel fine.” She said, her words echoing the ones she had said at the beginning of the match.

Upon turning around Tenebra would see that her path was currently being barred by two of Penny’s spider limbs, though the metallic girl was still sitting down.

“Didn’t buy your lie the first time, not going to buy it now.” She would say as she turned to look at Tenebra. “Want to give me an honest answer?”

"Do you even deserve an honest answer?" Tenebra would add, before teleporting out with Dina in tow.

Penny would simply shake her head at Tenebra’s departure. Penny knew she was missing a lot of context, but the push back she was getting just seemed misplaced to her. But for now it wasn’t worth tracking the girl down. Dina was stable and safe. So it was time to tackle the next task.

Standing up Penny would once again start towards the feast hall. As she did the water on her would start to bead up and fall off leaving her dry in a matter of moments.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@Ariamis@Card Captor

Tenebra was distressed. Too many things had happened at once, even a short time after the revival. After being used and discarded by Justine once she had turned a new leaf, the darkness awaited her.

Only for fire to inhabit her lungs, as she gasped into life over more. A silver haired being had pulled her off, that could pass off as her sister. She had been brought to an strange dimension she had only heard of… and to a tournament with a certain silly, very anime-like premise. The swimsuit was particularly embarrassing.

But before she could make any sense, she was dragged in a competition for the dimension crumbling. She didn’t want to make it crumble. It was a fancy beach! If Amy and SoulBurner were alive, they would certainly enjoy it too.

The things were changing, and enemies of the past were friends, and friends of the past were enemies. It hurt her regenerated brain… as she saw and witnessed what had happened. She had little time to hesitate, after seeing dearest Elroy and the will of Sakura duking out in her stead. She would do what she was revived for.

Yet...things gnawed at her mind. Was this alright? The so-called Queen bout had ended with blood and grief, and here and there signs of things not being alright were there. Justine was not bound in chains, that scoundrel, tyrant and soul-ravager all in one. Yes, for her youth, she did exactly realize what Justine had done to her, and to other girls.

Being locked away in anguish would have been acceptable, but each breath hammered on her like someone was trying to hammer nails to her beating heart. How could they allow her...to go unscathed after what happened? How could they, the same people who had driven her first team to Death. She had tried to find solace on the cat-like Regent, regal and matron-like, but she too was facing the first stages of despair.

And to top it off, Lily was coming. She had tried to begrudgingly accept her, but she had switched sides once. Maybe it was for the best, as the rat was a deceitful being… but she had a feeling she wasn’t any better than the others. She just gripped her healing artifact, squeezed dry.

She hoped this storm passed by and she had to focus on the match.

Lily herself could not believe what she saw when she first saw a certain the listed matchup for the tournament; Tenebra vs Elroy. As far as she knew, Tenebra had died at Justine’s hands, yet somehow she was there. She knew she was not a copy or an illusion, but the real Tenebra herself. This was because she had met her before in an arduous battle; one that ultimately cost Lily her first friend she made when she began her life in the world of magic.
When the match ended, with Sakura having won in Tenebra’s place, Lily went to seek her out, trying to find answers to her questions. Finally, she found her at a remote location in the summer islands, seemingly basking in the warmth of the sun.

”Hey! Tenebra!" Lily called out to the girl as she approached her, followed by a big hug.
”It really is you! I thought you died! What happened?" She asked, and spun her around in the embrace.

“Woah there Lily” Alexander pulled the girl back “I understand your enthusiasm, but give the girl some room to breathe. She’s not looking too good.”

Tenebra reeled at the touch, the gravity wobbling at the area a little, before her eyes rested on the duo. “Wahwahwahwah! Oh… It’s you.” She said, half-distracted by something. “Also him too.”

She sighed. “I don’t know… Lily. I was gasping my last breath one moment, the other a certain winged girl pulled me out from the darkness to fight for a Russian cat against ...Elroy.” The paused when she mentioned his name was remarkable, as well as her tired expression turned to a wistful look.

Then she looked at Alexander, and smirked a little.”Heh, can’t compare.” She muttered.

“Then Sakura beat Elroy… she is crazy good.” She added.

Lily calmed down at Alex' suggestion, and released Tenebra.
"Oh, right! Sorry."
She blinked at the answer the somewhat strange girl gave, looking quizzical.
"A winged girl, huh…The Russian cat girl must be Dina then."
She afterwards nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, Sakura was awesome! She went all ka-pow and blammo on him! So cool!"

“I couldn’t lift a finger. I couldn’t. Elroy was too dreamy.” She mumbled. “I have to be worthy of these two. I have to fight Penny and win!” She then indicated.

“Dreamy?” Alexander raised an eyebrow “I would think that would make fighting him more appealing, or something” He shrugged “But it sounds like you’ve been dead for quite awhile. Were you just dragged back to the land of the living and told to fight, or did someone take the time to bring you up to speed on what’s happened since you died?”

“What are you, stupid?” Tenebra said, flustered. “I can’t just scratch a stud and then date him. I think.” She added. “I was told things, but only pertaining to the fight.” She then confessed.

"So you’re competing to prove yourself. " Lily realized, a hand on her chin.
"Penny’s going to be a tough opponent, but I’m rooting for you, Tenny B! Anyway, so you like Elroy, huh~?" She asked coyly.
"Have you told him how you feel yet?"

It was then when Lily’s tact, likened to a bull in a china shop made Tenebra short circuit, unable to answer. She fell to her knees, reddening like a tomato.

Lily was taken aback by Tenebra's reaction.
"Oh, umm…"

“Unless he’s petty or insecure as hell, you can most certainly ‘scratch a stud and then date him’, if said scratch comes from something like a tournament match.” the painful irony of Alexander of all people giving relationship advice wasn’t lost on him “But if you keep running from him, then you’re not going to make any progress. Hell, he might start to think you hate him or something. I know I would if a girl seemed to go out of her way to avoid interacting with me.”

Lily managed to smile a bit despite the awkwardness.
"What Alex said is right. I know it can be super scary, and you can get flowers in your stomach, but being silent is not the answer."
She took Alex' hand.
"I was like that too...Scared to admit how I really felt. But I had a friend who helped me overcome that hurdle." She blushed a bit.

Tenebra looked at Alexander, tilting her head. Then she shook her face, blushing like a tomato, and teleporting him far away off the island. “Shut up!” She said, almost on her breaking point.

Lily gasped when Tenebra spirited Alex away with her magic.
“Alex! What did you do to him? Where is he?” She asked frantically.

Tenebra eyed her hands, before looking at Lily. “I um… he’s on the other side of the island. With a bunch of cat...girls in bikini? Yeah, that.” Tenebra replied.

---
Meanwhile, as Alexander kept dodging and deflecting the attacks of catgirls overly excited to play Keijo:

“Where the fuck am I!?”
---
Lily blushed hard at the revelation, and stomped her foot on the ground.
"Y-You bring him back right now!" She sounded genuinely angry, her eyes shining yellow and her hair crackling with electric energy.
"Or you'll get a thousand voltages!"

Tenebra looked at Lily, her gaze sharpening, as she waved her hand and brought Lily's boyfriend, on top of Lily. "He was being pretty intrusive."

“Gah” Alexander groaned as he got up “where the hell was that!? I didn’t even know there were that many catgirls on this island...at least I think that was on the island.” He then noticed Lily on the floor and helped her to her feet.

Lily was dizzy from the impact of Alex landing right on top of her, and her eyes briefly spun before she recovered.
“Oof...Watch where you drop my boyfriend next time, Tenny!” She groaned, and blushed when Alex corroborated Tenebra’s ludicrous answer. She pouted.
“So it is true...Tenny, do you know something about them?”
She asked with her arms crossed, looking surprisingly serious.
“Because I need to tell them to back off if they know what’s good for them.”

"Absolute direction. It seemed one of the safest most secluded places." She then eyed Alex. "Oh, maybe I should spirit away Alexander for practice with Elroy then." Tenebra smirked coyly.

“How about not teleporting me away, did you ever think about that?” Alexander snarked

Lily puffed her cheeks.
"Well, that might not be as-" she blushed again, and walked briskly to Tenebra, putting her hands on her shoulders.
"Ok, that's enough! Don't send anyone anywhere for now!" She sighed, and grabbed Alex' arm with her own.
"Anyway, I think me and Alex will be going now. I'll see you later, Tenny."

Tenebra raised an eyebrow. How come someone so old have less maturity than herself. "That what was I … revived for."

It was then when a shadow encroached Lily, and swooped from up the Sky. Dark wings enveloped the magical girl, as a voice whispered to her ear. "Making friends with our little teleporter, sparkplug? We have to talk, little revenant."

It was Sann.

Alexander pulled Lily out of the newcomers grasp “Damnit, don’t just ambush people like that you weirdo!” he looked to Lily, who he had pulled into his chest “She didn’t do anything weird to you, did she Lily?”

Lily was taken by surprise when Sann arrived, but quickly realized who it was as Alex pulled her out from the Valkyrie’s roost and right into his embrace.
”I’m okay,” Lily answered, though she sounded more quiet than usual.
”Anyway, what do you want?” She glanced back at Sann.

Sann just raised an eyebrow, before smiling. A dark fluffy oppressive darkness engulfed both as she wrapped herself on Alex's back and around the couple. This time, though, there was a sharp difference. Alex himself would find it difficult to struggle free of the feathery embrace.

“What a gallant Knight… Sann was just being friendly.” She said, before closing Alex to whisper. “Sann would love to play...but I have business with my charge there, and besides… pappy Odin told me to keep my hands off Sol’s chosen out of professional deference. Gods and the like.” She then giggled, as the wings opened free, but not before giving Alexander the cheekiest peck on the side of his face, before freeing both. “See you around, Lord of Beasts…”

Alexander rubbed the spot where she kissed him, as if trying to wash it off “Weirdo” he grumbled

Tenebra was eyeing Sann. She wanted to say something but she sheepishly bowed down to the quirky interloper. She owed her life. She had expected some sort of talk, or command.

“My, are you alright?” She said, as she knelt in front of Tenebra, her eyes facing her downcast face.

“I’m fine.”

“Tenebra…”

“...I don’t understand what’s going on. I...I mean, I am supposed to fight for what? Penny? But she’s my next opponent. And I let that stud flee.” She then began to talk, slowly opening up. “And there’s ...Justine of all things… I miss my friends. And Penny’s last opponent was...was...I mean.”

Lily grit her teeth, offended by Sann’s flirty move.
”You harpy...” She grumbled. However, before she could say anything further, Sann had already moved on to address Tenebra, causing her to blow a raspberry and cross her arms in an annoyed manner.

“Do you think we should just find Elroy and lock the two of them in a room somewhere?” he asked Lily “Because at this rate, she’s not going to make any kind of progress at all.”

”You’re right on that one, Alex,” Lily answered with a sigh.
”Hey Tenny, if we bring Elroy to you, will you tell Sann to stop bugging us?”

Tenebra looked at Lily, her eyes a glimmer of hope. "I mean… I will try."

It was then when Sann smiled, as her sight rested against her. "My, such fighting spirit. But Elroy's gone." Sann would then drop the fact. "Apparently he is gone. Penny's last fight upset a lot of people, dear."

You could probably hear the sound of Tenebra's dream crashing down. "NO!" She squeaked. "You lie!"

"Why would I lie when you can find people with your gift?" The winged lady said. "I am sorry, Tenebra. I will find someone for you."

"But I need you to do something. I need you to step down from the fight. Your opponent is her Majesty." She added.

"But I…"

"No buts."

“...Crap” Alexander felt a slowly creeping sensation of dread “Lily, are you also getting a really bad feeling about this, or am I just crazy?” This whole thing felt like it was spiraling out of control; first, what was a simple christmas party was hijacked by a nutjob, and now the resulting tournament was getting infected with politics. Or at least that’s what it felt like.

Lily was so stunned by Sann's revelation that for a couple of seconds she didn't respond to Alex.
"...Oh, uhh…" She felt terrible at having lifted up Tenebra's hopes only to dash them, and bit her lip.
"You're not the only one, Alex. We might need to do something before Ascendancy decides the tourney is not worth it anymore."
She took a step away.
"I want to go check on a few things. Tenny and Sandy, you wanna go with me?" She asked to not sound rude.

“Sann would love to, but I do have a match. With these changes happening around, who knows what might happen.” Sann deflected Lily, with a smile. “That mirror does spark the wildest dreams in people. Figures… even Elroy believed it could hold him somehow in this dimension.” Sann would then caress Tenebra’s chin. “Leave this for us, child… you should stick to plan B. I’m sorry.” said the Valkyrie.

Tenebra for the most part shook her head sheepishly. “...I will go…” She said to Lily, motioning to walk. “NO!” She snapped. “I DON’T WANT TO!” She snapped, a furious spacetime warp gathering around her.

“Don’t be silly, what can you do? Beat Penny? And what for…” Sann said, before tapping Tenebra on the back, leaving some sort of...runic enchantment.

“I WILL. I WILL BEAT PENNY! I WILL BEAT JUSTINE! I WILL BEAT ALL OF YOU! FOR SOULBURNER! FOR AMY!” She said, before warping off.

“Whoops.” Sann would then deadpan. “It seems she snapped. Ah well, Granny Kitty should be able to handle this.”

“...Well that was deeply concerning.” Alexander commented “geez, just what happened to that girl?”

Lily gasped at Tenebra's outcry.
"Wai-Ah! She's gone!" She slowly shook her head as she held her arm.
"She must have been through a lot...Well, if there's nothing else, we'll be going now. Bye, Sandy." She half-heartedly waved at Sann before turning and leaving.

"Fare thee well." Sann would reply, as she watched them leave… a hint of a smirk forming in the corners of her mouth.

“This whole thing feels like it’s starting to spiral more and more out of control” Alexander said as he and Lily walked away “I’m starting to wonder if we’ll even reach the championship before it all dissolves into chaos.”

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

_{.:⋮Mewcutesoft Support⋮:.}

Dina made her step brisk as she zoomed past, her tail stiff and with her hairs standing up, as her ears were pressed against her head. How could this happen? Was that dolphin daft? Did they manage to overcome the magic of this place due to sheer viciousness? The questions would be needed for later.

The clusterfuck had to be fixed now. Sighing, she opened the door to see how much of a wreck Penny was. Few people needed to see this. Penny, after all, had overwhelming strength as her forte. Seeing that she could actually be brought to heel… would no doubt lessen the effect.

She opened the door, readying her heart for anything.

Penny was already awake when Dina entered the room but the wizened girl could tell something was off. For one the illusion that was normally centered over Penny had failed somewhat, her headdress was visible as were the segmented nature of her joints. So no longer was her lack of humanity hidden.

Secondly she was sitting with her back to the wall seemingly staring at her hands, which were visibly shaking, yet the look on her face was one of bemusement. Like she didn’t fully understand what it was she was seeing.

Lastly her eyes weren’t the right color. Her left eye was still dull but was now an electric blue and her right eye was little more than a pool of red light. And while smoke was no longer emitting from her body, thankfully, there was now a dull grinding sound that could be heard every now and again coming from her.

Penny would shift slightly as Dina entered the room, almost adopting a defensive position, but would stall out part way through it as she stared at the Regent for a long few moments before returning to stare at her hands.

“Dina” She would greet, though her voice was unnaturally flat. “Request: local timekeeping compromised. H-How long was I out?”

"Not long enough to miss the tournament." said Dina, downcast and a mixture between fear and being livid at Penny's situation. "But that talk...should be done later." She shook her head slightly as she leaned forwards, her Reinforcement magic ready to administer first aid. "Let us see if we can just make you a bit better than being a walking wreck."

Dina could tell that the healing properties of the reinforcement magic she was supplying were having an effect, it was just that it was a drastically reduced one compared to what she was used to. Penny’s unique nature seemed to be highly resistant to the traditional healing capabilities of the spec.

“Fo-fo-focus on Mana regeneration.” Penny would instruct “Mana capacity: once percent. Warning mana status critical. Core functionality preserved. secondary and tertiary systems shut down. Warning: Regeneration protocols not responding, mana recharge rate stalled.”

Penny would give a long blink “I think it’s obvious that something wrong occurred.” She would state still looking at her hands. “I can-n-n-n partially identify what, but s-s-systems can’t determine why without additional data.” Penny would slowly close the hand furthest away from Dina before violently slamming it down on the floor. A moment later she would dislodge it from the ground and go back to examining it.

"Stubborn people, that's what happened. Now stop talking and flailing, It's going to take far too long if you persist." Dina said as she continued."Do we even have a metal user around?"

She gritted her teeth as she separated herself from Penny.

"Hen to Pan" She said as she began transforming, but the strain was too much and buckled undearneath, almost falling flat on the ground.

"Cough...Mew...Spirit of the mines, Kobold." She said, while a snarly little thing with a bunch of tools appeared before her..
and then promptly ran to Penny to bang her a bit into shape.

Dina for her part would shakily grasp Penny, and compounded her healing abilities with metal, lightning and gravity, in order to resonate with Penny.

A few mana drinks also appeared in front of Penny."Drink those once your windpipe is aligned. It will help" She said as she grabbed her own stash to drink, to keep up the taxing state she was in.

The charged healing would speed things along, but it also didn’t take very long to realize that in all truth there wasn’t a whole lot of physical damage that Penny had suffered from, granted what had been damaged had been delicate and important but repairing it wasn't extraordinarily taxing.

Her statement about being nearly devoid of mana was true, and for the vast reserve that Penny normally had to be reduced to such a limited amount was worrying. She would seemingly drink the offered Lightning and Gravity magics that Dina would pour into her however, almost taking more than the Catgirl was trying to offer. And would still take on more energy even after she was recovered from a traditional point of view.

Yet some of the issues persisted. Her hands would still shake on occasion, but the tremors were much lighter and spaced out by minutes and her eyes were still different colors though they both had a more normal shine to them.

“Systems normalizing” Penny would mutter quietly as she put down her hands and rested her head against the wall. “Running full system diagnostic. Subsystems damaged, diagnostic examination will be slowed down” She would run a hand across her forehead. “This is going to be a problem”

"Mew?" muttered Dina as she met Penny's eyes."Underst-"

It was then when a huge spark heralded a magical rebound happening before Dina was launched out of her Avatar state and across the room, all her magic failing at once, the Kobold also vanishing in thin air.

She remained hapzardly sprayed across the floor, her butt up.

More proof that Penny wasn’t fully healed was that it took her a full three seconds to start reacting to the event that sent Dina sailing across the room. She would stand and walk over to Dina, stalling for a moment before kneeling down to help Dina. The first action in her doing so was to pull out her Healing artifact and give it a few slow passes over Dina, though the output of the artifact was low before offering the girl a hand.

“Designation: Regent. Statement: Personal maintenance priority should not supersede my health. Now that you’ve helped kick start my mana again I’ll be as fine as my system restoration protocols are capable of. Sustained damage isn't something that we are going to be able to simply heal this time. Which wasn’t an issue that I was aware my schematics were capable of undergoing.”

“I’m fine...thanks for asking.” Dina said, with no small amount of mirth. “It’s been a while since I had a flat out rebound. Perhaps this is a sign we should not push further things much. I could do a round or two in your stead… while you handle the evacuation plan, but even that sounds stretching ourselves thin.”

Shortly before the start of Penny’s first match, MDP had taken up position at the edge of the pool and, with glittery pink pompoms in hand, begun a predictably vivacious cheerleading performance. This had continued throughout the match, up until time was called, at which point the hyperactive cheering trailed off as the whimsical girl tilted her head in confusion. “Sooo, like, did Penny Wenny win~?” she wondered aloud. However, MDP’s confusion soon turned to horror, as she saw Penny’s smoking body crumple to the mat. “P-Penny Wenny?!!” the childish girl cried out in alarm, tears spilling from her widened eyes. Unfortunately, before she could rush to her girlfriend’s side, the mechanical monarch was swiftly taken away by an impromptu medical team.

Following after them, a very concerned, and nearly hysterical, MDP found herself in front of a door guarded by a pair of imposing minotaurs. “L-Like, can Magical Dream Princess pretty, pretty please come insidey widey?! Can she?! Can she?!” the childish girl pleaded frantically. “Like, Magical Dream Princess’s girlfriend wirlfriend is in theresie, and, like, she’s gotta see her right nowie!” Despite her pleas, the twin guards refused to budge, and it wasn’t long before the whimsical girl was reduced to a sobbing mess. Just as she was about to give up, the minotaurs simply vanished. Not wasting a moment, MDP rushed into the room. “Penny Wenny?! Penny Wenny… A-Are you… Okie dokie…?” she asked hesitantly, her demeanor noticeably calming as she caught sight of her girlfriend, who, from the looks of things, did indeed see to be doing better.

“That’s…” Penny would stall out as she looked at her hand trembling again. “Physical integrity has been restored. Shut down and reboot contained driver degradation. Which is going to be a bitch to take care of, to say nothing about the memory loss.” She would say calmly.

“Nothing I lost was critical, as far as I can tell, but the data was corrupted beyond repair. System network can’t be restored via Regeneration protocols. External assistance required to mitigate any further system degridations.” She would go on to explain. “Note; Empathy subroutines are unaffected, expression capabilities however are hindered. And I think my speech center is damaged, but it all sounds the same to me either way, so I lack sufficient data to prove hypothesis.”

MDP listened as Penny listed her various “injuries”. It was difficult for her to understand all the terminology in her transformed state, but she still possessed just enough of her technical knowledge to realize that Penny had only narrowly avoided something truly horrific. And even so, there was still the issue of her girlfriend’s lost memories…

“Like, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t mindy windy how Penny Wenny soundy woundies,” MDP replied as she gently took the robotic girl’s hand. “She’s just worried about your memory wemory,” the whimsical girl added with a concerned frown. “Like, what if it was something womething super duper important wortant? How would Penny Wenny even know it was missing wissing?”

“Context. Hopefully.” Penny would reply with a muted shrug. She silently let MDP take her hand, but it was obvious almost instantly that Penny was far from as composed as she sounded. As her grip was just shy of painful, which said a lot for the normally very controlled girl.

“Current memory loss isn’t complete cache’s of data. But there are bits and pieces that I’m missing. I don’t remember meeting Dina for example, but only that first encounter is gone. I know I spent time with Alicia at a mall once, but all records of that day are corrupted. Other minor events are in a similar distorted state, the vast majority are from memory’s obtained from pre awakening. Overall loss minimal, likelihood of repeat outcome should it happen again is not good.”

Penny would go silent after she finished explaining. In truth she was terrified, and with her systems jammed full of junk data and other errors she couldn’t really process things as quickly as she normally would. The things she knew for certain was that her mimicry systems overloaded and nearly wiped her from her own mind and that the damage wasn’t something she could deal with on her own.

MDP would almost imperceptibly flinch as Penny squeezed her hand with far greater strength than normal, but the whimsical girl refused to show any discomfort. She knew her girlfriend was hurting, and she resolved to do, and endure, anything she could, in order to take away at least some of that pain. Penny went on to explain the memory gaps as best as she could, but even though most of the lost memories were of times long past, the explanation still left room for some concerning possibilities…

“S-So, does Penny Wenny remember wember meeting Magical Dream Princess for the first timey wimey?” MDP asked, unable to fully keep the worry out of her voice. “A-And our first date? A-And, and all the funsie wunsie we had together wether at the Christmas Whistmas party?”

“Designation: Princess. First encounter Sanctuary. Situation; Post Mint disruption event. Secondary notes; necklace was pretty, though not the most eye-catching thing about you. Still remember wondering how you turned a wall into ice cream.” Penny would answer as she turned to look at her girlfriend. “I remember the school, the conversation in the hall and painting over the sigils in the room. And I remember our conversation afterwards, and the trust you showed me.” Penny’s lips would tick down slightly as she paused. “But primary objective data for the excursion is corrupted. Hostile events are noted, but cause and outcome are lacking.”

“No gaps detected within the last twenty four hours. All lack of recordings within this time frame have been logged due to me crashing out on the platform. Which I recall vividly, same as with the fairy outfit you had when we were out ice skating. But as far as I can gather I didn’t corrupt anything from today.” Which was a lucky outcome if it was true.

“Thank goodness woodness…” MDP sighed in relief. “S-So, umm… D-Does Penny Wenny know what caused some of her memory wemories to go bye bye, and all that other wother stuffy wuffy?” she asked, still very concerned about her girlfriend’s condition.

It was when Dina coughed. "I guess you are stable enough to have visitors. Do we forfeit the tournament?"

“My Mimicry systems caused a critical overheat to occur. I don’t know how or why those systems were able to do that however.” Penny would answer MDP before turning towards Dina. “It depends. Supposition: Without maintenance, my system integrity is likely at increased risk. Statement: There are three such people with acceptable skills to be able to accomplish that task within the Beach. Recommendation: Determine optimal viable candidate for assistance before the next round starts to ascertain viability of personal continuation.”

Dina sighed. "The next bout is Tenebra, the girl Sanngridr raised. She is one of us, so I think nothing will happen if we forfeit, Your Highness."

“U-Ummm…” MDP spoke up hesitantly. “I-If Penny Wenny thinkie winkies it’ll helpy welpy, Magical Dream Princess can change back to her normal wormal selfy welfy,” the whimsical girl offered. “But, like, even though she’ll be super duper brainy wainy, Magical Dream Princess doesn’t know if she’ll be brainy wainy enough, ‘cause, like, Penny Wenny’s so super duper special wecial, and Magical Dream Princess never ever worked with anythingie wingie like her beforesie…”

“Insufficient data on subject: Tenebra. Differing to Designation: Regent on subject. Addendum: If we can get me back to full operations I’d like to go back in.” Penny would state with a nod to Dina. The mechanical girl didn’t want this to be the end of her matches, but she had to put her getting repaired above the Beach unfortunately. With luck Tenebra would be able to pull through and get the mirror, but Sam had pushed Penny much further then she had expected, and her trying to claw her way out of a sure fire defeat seemed to have only delayed such.

“You can do this Princess. I’ll be there for the entire procedure. My systems won’t need to be placed into suspended runtimes, thus I’ll be able to supply diagnostic and troubleshooting assistance.” She would go on to say giving Magical Dream Princess a stilted smile. “I trust you the most out of the three. Designation: Elora is flagged as Ascendency and Designation: Psycho Scientist is lacking enough data to be truly trusted.” She would explain quietly. “Statement: Requested course of action only presented due to limited time frame before systemic degradation of Beach peace. I’d never ask you to risk a reveal otherwise.”

“The thing is… only whoever fights in your place or Tenebra can advance in this kind of tournament. One cannot be a substitute if they have been defeated.” Dina added. “I will secure some privacy” she added as she went to lock the door.

“Acknowledged. If repairs can be completed in time I will continue, otherwise further operational involvement will be in the evacuation protocols.” Penny would state as Snoopy flew off to go watch the hall before Dina would lock the door.

“Okie dokie, Penny Wenny~” MDP told her girlfriend with a gentle smile. “Magical Dream Princess will do her very wery best~!” she added, a look of determination on her cute face.

“Snoopy will be executing Eye in the Sky protocol.” Penny would explain as she led them to the far corner of the room. “Early warning will let you initialize your transformation in case anyone tries to force entry. Dina’s presence within the room is preferable, incase of unexpected errors. Designation: Regent holds highest authorization possible alongside Alicia.”

Although she would have prefered to have Dina depart, MDP trusted her girlfriend’s judgment. She also knew that the need to maintain her secret identity paled in comparison to Penny’s need for assistance, and so she gave a resigned exhale, before being consumed by a flash of light. An instant later, she was her mundane self once more.

“Okay… Well, I suppose we can get started now,” Violet observed, still seeming a little nervous, despite her mundane self’s more composed demeanor. “Although it occurs to me that we seem to lack the necessary tools for any sort of repair work…” she added, blushing a bit in embarrassment at having only just now realized that important detail.

Penny’s lips would quirk up at the edges as she sat down with her back facing Violet. “Adaptation is one of my core capabilities.” She would state as her back would start to segment and fold open giving an unimpeded look into Penny’s inner workings. A moment later the segments of her back would remold into a half dome set of monitors that were suddenly filled with numerous readings and data flows.

It was quite the sight to see, grouped into separate windows along the outside of the monitor were all the basic things that Penny kept track of at any one time. Chassis integrity, mana levels, weapon status, local entities and their threat index. Her current emotional status and a rather complicated read out that was monitoring ‘Engine level’. But the real star of the show was the lines of code that sat in the middle of the screen. There were millions of lines of code easily, if not more.

The outermost layers were an ever shifting mass of code, updating and rewriting based on all the incoming sensory information. But it was easy to see that it was a mess. large sections were damaged, and that was before the corrupted code came into play. The deeper Violet looked the less human the code would turn as well. Outside of the kernel processes, the code was oddly sloppy though and the later processes were laid on top of the prior code leading to a bizarre mesh of code that was nearly incomprehensible.

The display began highlighting several sections of code that were obviously corrupted. A line of text would suddenly pop up on a nearby window “These areas are the most damaged” It read “I can’t really see what is wrong with them” It would go on to add “Kind of like having a headache, you know something is wrong but not the reason behind it”

Dina was leaning against the door, her ears perked up to hear possible interlopers while she left the task at hand. She would look at Violet for a second, noticing the stark contrast between the two states. She herself was more of an exception to the rule. Her personality had gained some quirks, but the core of her being was the same.

"A person's body is more complicated than any machine. Despite looking a machine, her Majesty is still a magical girl." Dina would then say.

"Exertion seems the cause, and I am afraid there is not much to do besides letting its course I am afraid."

It would be an interesting sight to literally be able to see Penny’s thoughts playing out in response to Dina’s statements. Minor irritation and disagreement towards the assumptions of it being exhaustion as the sole cause, and the resignation at her own nature being disregarded and downplayed.

A few calculations ran on if she should respond, before an ultimate conclusion that there wasn’t a sufficient reason to do so. Engine level was noted at raising a tick, as was her emotional state wavering for a moment. There were a half dozen other things tracked and recorded as well, but the annotations didn’t make sense without context.

“Ready when you are” A text box would say as Penny waited. One of her spider limbs would partly unfurl in front of Violet, a keyboard and trackpad partially formed into.

As it happened, tools would apparently be unnecessary, and Violet gave a small gasp as she realized that she would be manipulating Penny’s systems directly…

“Amazing…” she whispered in awe as her eyes skimmed over the various displays. “I know I said that I wanted to take a closer look at you, but you didn’t need to injure yourself just to give me the opportunity,” she told her girlfriend with a playful smirk. “But seriously, Penny, I-I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. I mean, I recognize the basic foundation, but this is light years beyond anything Covington Industries has ever created.” As she made her way through the increasingly complex lines of damaged code, Violet found that even her impressive intellect struggled to comprehend the information before her. Nevertheless, the heiress was determined to do everything she could to assist her beloved girlfriend, so when she was presented with a keyboard interface, Violet placed her hands above it and took a deep breath. “In that case, let’s begin.”

It was then when a cellphone rang, the tone of Nyan Cat permeating the room to break the awkward silence. “...I believe it is mine.” said Dina blandly, before answering. Most of the conversation was taking place in hushed whispers.

“WHAT? YOU ARE FORFEITING?!” Dina raised her voice, before gritting her teeth. “Because...you were bored? Now listen here you womanchild, there’s much at- what!?”

Whatever was said on the phone made Dina blanch, and cut off her rant mid-way. She then sedatedly replied. “I will relay that.” She then hung on the phone, before sighing and letting a small chuckle.

“...Sanngridr is forfeiting. Because she says this is boring and there’s something more fun going on. Apparently the Cradle, one named Finn, is on the warpath and wants to claim the city for himself.”

She then sighed. “It makes sense they would change their stance because of what you did to your opponent, your Highness.” She slid down against the wall, falling to her knees. “We really need to preserve force, even if we would be down to just Tenebra. We should forfeit like Sanngridr did to avoid over-commiting. Sometimes I underestimate her intelligence.”

Dina’s phone would crackle to life as Penny’s voice chimed out from it. “More reason for me to not forfeit I would think. I was also obviously carried away after the match. Me forfeiting now, after Sann did as well make it look like the Sanctuary is at an all time low.” She would reason. “Staying in especially if nothing is obviously amiss is a show of strength. Which we kinda need if both the Ascendency and the Cradle are watching us closely.”

A sigh would follow those statements “Mind if I borrow the phone? I need to call Dan.”

“But our next opponent is Tenebra! She’s one of our own! Forget about strength! Blood has been shed now!” Dina would chime in, before handing the phone to Penny. “Please reconsider.”

“Tenebra has only just joined our ranks. After being resurrected. My standing down to leave all of this to her, untested, is too reckless. I have nothing against her, but I do not know her. To say nothing of what people would assume of my status and infer about the Sanctuary’s vulnerability from there.” Penny replied as she took the phone. “For the worse the tournament has become a political event as much as anything else, me not continuing is more harmful to us than me continuing. As everyone will try and find out what I am up to, especially once they learn that Sann forfeited.” She would explain.

“I was willing to stand down and let the others handle it, but I will not let all of our expectations fall to one girl who only just got her life back. Not when I can still act, to do otherwise is cruel and against why I founded the Sanctuary and took the crown in the first place. In the meantime you can try and talk to Maura and Finn, see if you can get them to reconsider trying to use force, as I don’t think that they will try and attack me during the tournament, especially not with the All-father watching the matches. Another reason to stay in for now”

Dina’s gaze steeled herself. “The mirror and this dimension aren’t really that important to Sanctuary. It has been said that fear is better than love, as rulers are concerned. But above all, a ruler must not be hated. We can’t regain lost face in any case. We need to preserve our rankings and mollify the opposition, not strut around the blood of the fallen! And Odin loves that! He isn’t going to avoid scuffle, or preserve us from retaliation.”

“This was supposed to be a christmas party… when did it all go wrong…” She muttered under her breath.

“When a horror’s artifact was given away in front of the Ascendency” Would be Penny’s soft reply “And then made worse by my attempts to protect the Beach to repay Dan assisting the Sanctuary.”

“If you can tell me that we have any chance of talking to Finn and Maura right now to try and deescalate this before it becomes a Challenge I will forfeit and go to those talks over the match. As you are right, the Beach and the Mirror aren’t important to the Sanctuary. But if you can’t, then I don’t see how advertising the Sanctuary as weakened by my withdrawal is the better option for it. I am it’s Queen and my actions reflect the overall state of it for better or ill.”

“They’ll want a piece of flesh for this you know.” Dina growled.”I can only try.” She said heading towards the door.

“I know” Penny would say as Dina moved to leave “And I would prefer they stay focused on me when they come to collect.” She worried that Tenebra or another new girl to the Sanctuary would draw the Cradle’s ire if she herself went to ground.

“Stay safe” She would add before Dina left. “Their calm is not worth your wellbeing. In any capacity.”

For her part, Violet had remained silent throughout the brief exchange between Penny and her regent, but her concern had grown with each new piece of information revealed. The moment Dina departed, the heiress finally spoke up.

“I’m not going to pretend to know what that was all about, but, for what it’s worth, I think you’re making the right decision,” Violet told her. “As long as I can fix whatever’s wrong with your systems, at least… And did I hear correctly that the Cradle has set itself against you and Sanctuary?” she asked with a frown. “If I am not mistaken, Amanda is a member of that organization. Perhaps if I could talk with her, we could come to an amicable resolution?” she offered.

“Politics” Penny would reply dryly “And the Cradle setting itself against the Sanctuary is what it sounds like, but I’m hoping that it’s an exaggeration.” She would flip open the phone “If you can talk with Amanda after we are done here that would be great, even if nothing is wrong she might be able to explain why it sounded the way it did.”

Meanwhile Penny was calling Dan, and when he answered he would hear this “Dan, it's Penny. I need a small favor with my match.”

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@PlatinumSkink

Mariette was stressed.

She was sitting on the top row of the arena looking down at the stage that was currently between matches. The first round had gone… less than great.

She wasn’t particularly sad about her own loss. She’d entered because she’d realized she could do some interesting strategies with her portals, and even if she’d lost Justine had promised to give her the mirror if she won, and Mariette’s Light-spec had told her Justine was telling the truth. So that was a powerful ally gained.

What was way more bothersome was the fact Mayra had lost. Now, her opponent was apparently going to give them the mirror if she won, too, but Mayra was one of their star players, and between her and Freya, Mayra had felt like the stronger card. Then there was always the chance a third party could always change their mind, Light-spec only helps tell the truth in the moment, and Freya’s upcoming battle was… Could any of them actually beat Rachel? Mayra probably could have, but…

Mariette sighed and gripped the seat in front of her, leaning her head down on it. It was better than it could have been, but oh, so stressful. The consequences of losing that mirror would be… And if it came close to that, Lea’s plan… Mariette didn’t want to consider any of it.

It was then when a sudden ripple was detected, zeroing on Mariette. Mariette had scant seconds to react before she became a tangled awkward mess with another swimsuit clad girl who had just appeared out of nowhere.

"How could I miss the landing?" Tenebra gasped, and choosing to gleefully ignore the situation then went on her tirade. "Pedersen! How do you capture a hot guy?"

Mariette blinked a bit as her portal-sense reacted to the only object other than herself, Overcity Shift and mirrors to actually disturb it. A tentacle quickly grabbed the chair next to her in order to pull her out of the way, but it wasn’t quick enough to pull her before Tenebra popped out of nowhere and collided with her. The tentacle still pulled, though, ensuring that after Tenebra’s statement both of them were pulled off the chair and fell down on the floor (Mariette under, I’m imagining), and Mariette just looked up at her kinda incredulously.

‘A… a guy? What…?’ she asked, kind of too shocked to give a proper answer and a bunch of her tentacles grabbing chairs around them as Mariette had already prepared herself to potentially hit the offender with all the chairs using her tentacles if actually given a reason, by sheer instinct. Hadn’t done it yet, though.

"Tentacles huh… that would work but it would be awkward...Oh Elroy…" She said rising to her feet. "He was so dreamy I could not lift a finger…" She fidgeted. "Sakura beat him, now I need to fight whoever wins over Penny or Penny herself...good luck charm…" She would ramble with a blush until something in her mind clicked.

"Oh right you lost against Justine…"

‘…’ Mariette blinked a little as she registered what Tenebra was speaking about. Like, Mariette knew about romance as a concept, but she wasn’t exactly an expert in the subject. But still… Yes, she did. Mariette retracted her tentacles, and sat herself back up on a chair.

‘I did. Thank you for your tip, I might have been better off following it, I just didn’t see a way I could hit Justine without her outspeeding me, but perhaps it would have been worth it. I’m sorry I lost,’ she said, acknowledging the fact the girl had cheered for her.

"Speed has no meaning if you can warp space…but i guess the spell buildup was what made you...lose…" Tenebra had winded down, gripping her fists. "If I had my old team…"

‘Unfortunately, speed has meaning when it comes to delivering powerful attacks,’ Mariette said, the basics of physics having been inserted into her mind because it’s useful to know. She then tilted her head, wondering a bit about what Tenebra just said.

"Just expand space and red shift it. Oh right, maybe your power wont work like that." She paused. "Star Eater might have taught how to do it, but it is brain scrambly."

‘Red… shift?’ Mariette asked, keeping her head tilted. ‘I’m sorry, but who are you? Why can you do what you do?’

"I am your rival. Even since that horror picked the three of us from the orphanage and fixed our broken bones." Tenebra said."Turns out if I had not been born with brain damage, I would have been a savant. I do know how to use gravity to bend spacetime like General Relativity tells us."

Tenebra. "And yet ...we failed...to Lily, then mother came back and put me work alongside Lily and Sakura…"

"...Wait. That's not mother. She is a puchuu who looks like mother." She whispered, increasingly going livid.

"And then she ordered us to help Justine and Beacon… and she killed me...but now I am back…"

Mariette began to doubt her understanding of the word "rival". Still, it did very much seem the girl had some trouble, when she continued talking. She had indeed died…

‘… Who were the three of you at the orphanage?’ Mariette asked, just to make sure of something.

"Amy, Zophia and I...Amy's parents crippled her into a wheelchair, Zophia was deaf and I had seizures since birth. We all became magical girls… to be something other than dregs."

She then whispered, a jaded and tired smile upon her face. "We died like dregs. And now I am again a tool."

‘…’ Mariette was silent for a bit after listening, her expression blank as she found herself able to relax a bit, but not for a good reason. ‘… We have a lot in common,’ she eventually surmised, feeling a certain kinship.

‘So? What's keeping you a tool?’ she asked, but could guess the direction of the answer.

"Few girls with similar power to me...so Sakura had Sann yank me from the dead… I owe her… but this is so… painful. Amy and Zophia are dead...and I am just a servant of the cat lady and Penny… I can't have fun with the one that forced my friends to death… and Star Eater bartered me away before that…"

‘… Do you want help?’ Mariette felt compelled to ask, looking at her somewhat intently.

Tenebra looked at Mariette… a puzzled expression, before she lunged at her, and squeezed the portal girl in a hug.

"Thank you, but you are my rival…" She said, withdrawing.

"I need more power. I need to be sharper to beat my next opponent."She mumbled.

Mariette blinked a bit in surprise when Tenebra lunged and hugged around her, and once again her tentacles emerged just a little in preparation for self-defense, but after realizing it was but a hug she let the tentacles slide back. She processed Tenebra’s statement, and considered who her next opponent would be… … …

‘… Would you like more power?’ Mariette was saving for her own champion, but she could do some things…

"Huh?I can't accept your help…even if you are cute! You are my rival!"

Mariette smirked a little. ‘Can you afford to be picky? It’s just a little. It’s not like you’d owe me or anything,’ she tried. Honestly, this was a little fun.

"I uh… but Sakura…uh...Elroy!" She seemed to be caught off guard giving how she was babbling nonsense.

‘Would be impressed if you won, right?’ Mariette asked, the little smile still in place.

"I uh… what do you suggest?" Tenebra said sheepishly.

Oooh, the things Mariette could have suggested if she actually wanted to bring this girl under Asengav’s thumb… But, no. She wouldn’t actually want to put her through that.

‘Obviously, it would be on short notice, like this just before the battle, but we have a mana-specialist that could fill you up with excess mana letting you use more per spell that could become more powerful, though more unstable, maybe,’ and who knows if that was a good idea with Tenebra.

‘We also have a Reinforcement specialist capable of interweaving her abilities into articles of clothing, she could make quick cloth bracelets for you to wear that would up your physical performance… a bit.’ Not a whole lot, to be frank, but everything adds up.

‘Then we have numerous Power Artifacts that would allow you to briefly perform spells from a specialization you don’t actually possess…’ Among other things that Mariette wasn’t actually going to mention. She smirked at Tenebra anyway. ‘So? What would you say?’

"I used to have one of those… a darkness one." Tenebra gasped, somewhat flustered at the flurry of options.

"But gravity is costly… I want more Mana… but probably what your girl can provide is not enough…" Tenebra said. "Well I could always serve a better master that the fake mom…"

Mariette was a bit amused by the mention of a Darkness artifact. If it was one of those she wanted, she’d definitely be in luck. For the second part…

‘Oh, Josefin has a lot of mana over. Even a portion of it could…’ Mariette started, before blinking a little in surprise at that last statement.

‘Wait, uh… I wasn’t intending to…’ she stumbled on her words, suddenly quite conflicted about what idea she may have put in the girl.

Tenebra did consider asking for more power, but the consequences she had envisioned made her brain hurt slightly. Maybe that was it. Her eyes stared upwards. “Hey, Pedersen, you got something to reinforce brains?”

‘Reinforce brains…?’ Not something she’d personally considered. That said… ‘Well, I could introduce you to my expert,’ she replied, because if there was anyone who knew about that subject, it was undoubtedly Ronja.

“I’ve got an idea…” She trailed.”...ehehehe. Let’s meet her.”

‘Very well,’ Mariette said, turning around and a portal opened, leading elsewhere. ‘Then let’s go.’

And so, the two went through the portal, which shut behind them and leaving nothing, for now…

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Do you drink...wine?

& Knuckles Dina
@Ariamis

Dina’s ears twitched, as the rhythmic drums of the cheering crowd reached down below, where the lounges were. The once lady of a territory wondered how little had this kind of event changed through the ages.

Bread and circuses were often effective to quell otherwise unfortunate thoughts, but for how long would that last? She served herself a cup of wine… and wondered how such a drink had made its way into the stadium. Probably not Dan’s influence, that was for sure.

Sann had managed to scored a victore, and show the crowds Sanctuary had strong moves… and the less she wanted to talk about the Sakura and Tenebra mess, the better. It would benefit her in the end, but she would never admit it.

No, for all the joviality present, she required to stack the odds in favour of Dan and Sanctuary as much as possible. Even if it meant talking to unsavoury elements.

“Viszeral.” She called for Justine, fresh out of her victory. “Care to join me for a drink before your next match?”

Justine had a purple towel draped around her shoulders when she entered the lounge. She had spent a moment talking with Lily, who had complimented her victory in her usual bubbly way.
But while she enjoyed her company, she really did need a refreshment, and so promised to meet up with her later. However, it wouldn't be the end of her meetings with people, as she immediately realized.

Justine blinked, and bit her lip. It was the caretaker for this place, and one whom she was sure did not appreciate her presence based on first impressions. Maybe she wanted to berate her for defeating Mariette in the ring? In any case, Justine didn't think she'd get many chances to talk peacefully like this, so she nodded.
"Well, if you don't mind, I would be glad to accept the offer."

She poured a glass of water to herself and approached the table Dina was sitting at. She noticed the wine the regal monster girl was having.
"So, you wished to speak with me?" She asked, sounding nervous, though much better than during the initial party at the lodge's entrance hall.
"I have to say, I didn't expect that."

“So many unexpected things have happened as of late.” Dina would swirl the cup on her hand, her eyes going up and down from Justine’s figure. “Good things. Bad things. And yet, we ourselves can’t catch a break.”

“This could have been a time for fun and joy, and instead this is nothing but a mere half-assed effort, a byproduct of several hasty ideas thrown together, in the hopes we avoid tragedy one day more.” Dina then swallowed everything in a big gulp.

“I feel tired. Tired and without enough support. Sure, the Queen is strong on her own, but a single keystone a castle does not make.” She waved for Justine to have a seat.

“How badly do you seek redemption, Justine?”

"That is certainly true," Justine agreed to Dina's initial remark.
"The Ascendancy has interfered with your plans for a peaceful event. At least they have stayed their hands from grasping weapons for now, which is a relief...Though Dan could have chosen a less embarrassing way to go about it."

She took a seat once offered on by Dina, and she sighed at her question, and looked into her glass.
"Well...I don't expect to be redeemed, even if I have abandoned my bloody past. Some burdens never leave you. But I would like to at least start on making amends."
She then lifted her eyes up to Dina.
"What would you have me do?"

“Creatures like you and me… and possibly Rachel are relics of a bygone past. Of the old ways. The ways that gave in the horrors of the Great War.”

She poured more wine.

“The ways which plunged us into despair, and turned ourselves into monsters.” She sighed. “Tenebra can’t help but fly into a rage upon seeing you. That much you wounded her, almost as if you were squashing a bug.”

She paused.

“You’ve been a most heinous person, and I do think I cannot help but to feel contempt. But given these circumstances, can I afford to deny you a chance?” Dina then took a sip.

“The Twelve Labours. Surely you’ve heard about the myth. A set of feats so impressive that even a murderer might be called a hero.”

"The myth of Heracles," Justine spoke up, having reached into her centuries of knowledge.
"In a fit of rage spurred by the Goddess Hera, he slew his wife and daughter. The Twelve Labours were decided by king Eurystheys as recompense, and included quests of near-impossible difficulty, such as slaying ferocious monsters or performing great toils in but a day."
She leaned her head on her hand.
"What would you propose to be the first Labour?"

Dina chuckled. “I’m no Eurystheys. If I do claim to set you a task I might be called arrogant… but that being said… I think that making Beacon stay their hand would be no small feat should the tournament fail.”

“Failing that, help me evacuate this dimension.” Dina said. “You may borrow Tenebra or Sann for your help.”

Justine furrowed her eyebrows.
"I see. You're afraid of the consequences should Rachel win in the finals." She put a hand to her chin.
"I'll help you protect this place, Dina. It has helped bring opposing forces together, if only temporarily, and facilitate diplomacy."
She paused.
"...Even I have had the chance to partake in this party, which is something I'm grateful for. It would be a great loss to see this place erased.
I'm sure my Mistress would agree to this."
She took a sip.
"Do you have a plan for the evacuation?"

“Gather as many people with teleporting or Overcity Shift as we can. Blanket Rachel on magical attacks while the rest pull out. Still very rough around the edges. Of course if we ever manage to topple her it’d be a better scenario...” Dina admitted as she finished the wine.

"Understood," Justine answered.
"I no longer hold the influence I used to, so I can't promise any reinforcements. But I can certainly provide a distraction."
Her eyes briefly glowed red.
"No so-called Inquisitor would resist the chance to go after a former Seventh Sinner if they were to *return to their evil ways*, as it were," she said, gesturing quotation marks with her fingers.

“You know, even Vlad the Impaler is considered a hero among their folk. Persevere, and if by chance you succeed, I will not have complaints on sharing… my time and my wine.” Dina finally responded.

"Your time is appreciated, but you can keep the wine," Justine answered, raising a palm to Dina.
"I don't mind a glass every once in a while, but I've decided to not indulge in it like before."
She sat up from her seat.
"Thank you for reaching out, Dina. I appreciate it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some recuperation to do before the second round. Until next time."

“Hail… and fare thee well. I don’t envy you.” Dina replied.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

“Bit late for that now.” Dina said to Mariette, as she was given a firsthand show of the spectacle that was brewing. She then began to walk, tension in every step she made.

Dina clenched her fist as her tail was swishing. She surely had wished for reinforcements, but she did not expect this. It was spinning out of control fast. And her patron… Well, she mercifully thought wisdom was not her forte.

But Penny? As a queen she should have been better. Rachel could have called them off at any moment, and what she was going to avoid with a single duel, further bastardized by Oros… had become a mockery of what she had initially intended.

A tournament with a pittance to win, and much to lose? And was he a lesser force of happiness? No doubt he was… so ineffectual. She needed to have a word with Dan.

The Lesser Force was wiping his brow with a polkadot napkin when he saw Dina, and immediately broke into an uneasy smile. "Uh, Dina, I know this looks bad, but it wasn't supposed to end up like this. We planned to have Rachel be placed with Penny in the first round, so she'd have a more difficult time to win." He turned to Penny with a nervous look. "Right?"

“That, and not having the Dimension up for grabs either” Penny’s counterfeit would agree as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “At the very least the later half of that was accomplished. The mirror is up for grabs still but no one has noticed that the agreement for the realm isn’t a part of the tournament. So that’s two chances against Rachel if things get that far.”

Dina sighed. “Do you think that will stop Rachel?” The catgirl eyed Penny, and there was a rather noticeable look of disapproval in her face. “If cheap rethorics and technicalities stopped the Ascendancy, I would have claimed victory decades ago.”

“Considering they like to claim the moral high ground it might help” Penny would interrupt, “And Rachel is zealous about following her word. She’s declared her intention to fight the champion of the tourney for the Mirror. Fine, the tourney isn’t involving the Beach, that is still another fight needed and time to possibly dissuade her. Not that I think the latter is really an option.”

“Regardless, even if it isn’t enough to stop her it is still time to figure things out.”

“I wasn’t done talking, your majesty.” Dina hissed. “We had Rachel on her one track mission, and we had carefully laid it so no one but her and another one would fight.” Her gaze rested on Dan. “And then you commit resources in a frivolous tournament for a mirror we have no use for, undermine my courtly approach about losing Dan’s base of operations, and to top it off, this Keijo tournament won’t make people happy in the slightest, except for maybe Oros or Sanngridr, and that’s a stretch.”

“Which precisely goes against the nature of Dan himself.” The catgirl grunted. “It’s a blessing Rachel is too dazzled by the situation she has not yet realized she can just call foul and press forward with destroying the dimension. Despite, and not because of your plan.”

“By the way, If you’re so sure of your planning ability, why are you talking to me through a proxy, your majesty? Still hooked up on that dreamy courtesan? I had thought that maybe having so many copies running around could get some decent evacuation preparation for the worst, but who am I to talk? After all, my own Queen and my Patron keep walking over my earnest attempts.”

“Except that Rachel can’t call foul considering that the person who first issues the challenge for the dimension wasn’t even qualified to make such and could have been overturned if you hadn’t legitimized it.” Penny would reply, her voice turning hard. “But you went and accepted a challenge that could lead to your Patron losing his home without consulting him if he would even be willing to allow that. Thus undercutting his authority in his own home.”

“There is also the fact that you are objectively incorrect about how the overall effect that this tournament being declared has had. Already there are a half dozen people growing closer because of it, lessening tensions over all rather than leading to a net increase of them.”

“The fact that I am a counterfeit does not mean I don’t speak with the Prime’s voice, nor does it mean that I am simply idle. There are six other copies out there running recon at this moment. Which is more than can be said about your choice to waste energy on tearing into us.” Penny’s eyes were glowing brightly even as her voice maintained it’s calm level, but the fact that she had gone inhumanly still was telling on its own.

“Your ‘earnest attempt’ has done more to jeopardize the Beach than mine has.”

Dan looked on as the two girls’ debate had turned into an outright argument, and looked sad about it.
“Now, let’s, umm, just calm down...” He spoke in an awkward mumble.

Dina's pupils contracted into slits upon hearing Penny making such cold arguments as a reply. Had she been of flesh, she would have gotten a nasty claw swipe directed at hair. By now, her tail was completely stiff, hairs poking out in every direction as if she had been shocked.

"Calm down." She snarled. "That's all you have to say, Patron?" Dina said in a low, growling tone.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Dina switched back to Penny. "Let me guess… you analyzed the frequency of smiles and giggles and the breathing rhythm of all the people." Her eyes were now tightly locked with Penny's. "People getting together only needed an excuse, because those getting together are either plucky… or are falling in with their respective factions. But when it comes to trade blows, a lot of people are going to reel from it. Grudges will no doubt form even more."

"And I find distasteful you cannot have five minutes for the regent without a proxy." Dina continued to stare at Penny. "And doing recon...what is the use of recon if half of us can teleport in and out here anyway." The cat girl said. "Would it not be better to make a contingency plan should Rachel win?"

"I also cannot fathom why you agreed to this considering your past brushes with Patron Dan." Dina answered back.

“I listened and watched.” Came Penny’s sharp reply “The ones doing recon are watching what everyone is doing. Which is how I know that Justine, Lily and Alex are practicing; together. Same with others. It’s how I know what type of competitor Rachel is going to be.”

“It’s how I know which fighters are going to be in this at all, which is more than you can say.” Penny would meet Dina stare with one of her own, unblinking in intensity. “And what sorts of contingency plans are we going to need? As you so rightly said, all of us teleported here, we will all be able to do the same to leave so no need for evacuations. It’s Keijo so no need to worry about anyone suitably injured.”

“Best contingency for if Rachel wins is to make it an empty one in regards to the Beach. Which I already did. So tell me Dina, what do you think we should be doing right now? Wasting energy or working on the next damned step?”

Dina just snarled, as Beast magic was put into place. It was one of her summons, as she whispered.

"Glutton of dreams, Baku." She said, as she manifested into reality something that did resemble a tapir-like version of Dan, albeit one with grubby hands and a shifty smile.

"Baku, research the gift of dreams that was bestowed unto me. I want to ascertain the potential combat application of such."

Dina did not stop staring at Penny. "Who says I was not working on it already, your majesty?" It was then when she eyed Dan. "Unlike Rachel, I am not willing to take part in this farce. Do not try to coerce me."

"Now where is that birdbr-" It was then when a shadow engulfed the trio, as a certain Valkyrie was now landing next to Dina, a slimy smile plastered all over her face.

"Kitty training." Sanngridr said." An exchange. Runes for Keijo Training?"

Dina set an aside glance. She never knew whether Sann was either too stupid or smart for her own good. "Acceptable. You will be my champion in Keijo. I shall conserve my strength for the aftermath. I trust Odin vouches for your boldness."

Sann said. "Pappy Odin might be joining actually. To dissuade foul play. Brain whispered me."

"Good...wait what?" Dina's anger was broken all of a sudden upon hearing the news. "Does he even know what Keijo is?"

"He knows many things." It was Sann who replied, making Dina grunt in frustration again.

Penny’s flat smile was the only reply that she would give while Dina started working. She remained unmoved when Sann portaled in as well, though her gaze did shift to watch both the Valkyrie and the Regent. The glance Dina gave didn’t go unnoticed, but would remain unremarked upon.

There was a quiet sound of a metal latch being thrown at the proclamation that Sann would be acting in Dina’s stead for the tournament, but other than that Penny maintained her closed off look.

Mention of Odin possibly joining had her turning her attention towards Dan for the first time. “Is that something you are going to allow?” She would ask calmly, the edge to her voice when she had been arguing with Dina absent in her inquiry to the Dolphin. Though it was still flatter than normal and if one looked closely they could see that her teeth were closer to razor blades then normal.

The dolphin shivered as the Deity's name was invoked. "Well, Keijo is a competition strictly between magically gifted girls, not Patrons, especially since this will have official rules and not be a sparring session. However, if Odin decides he wants to compete, I can't really stop him." He seemed to be in thought as he rubbed his chin. "But if enough magical girls reject him, then I'd be able to prevent his application with the magic in your hearts."

Sann left her spot beside the Noble catgirl and then decided it was a better use of her time to caress the little patron’s chin."He isn't interested in the tournament more than a passing fancy, but watching a boring skewed tournament would… displease him." She spoke, her voice suddenly gaining a serious tone. "Come to think of it…" She then leaned on him. "Since you have been a decent host so far, why not ask him to enforce fairness?"

It was Dina who replied, somewhat surprised at the level of realpolitik displayed by what she assumed was a birdbrain. "It's true that Odin is an ominous god, but he seems to be the least involved in the state of affairs present. Might be good to prevent another Rachel flying off the handle."

Dan was surprised by Sann's suggestion. "He would do that? I mean, I figured he'd just want to drink and watch the matches, but sure, I can ask him!" He seemed to have his spirits lifted. "He would make the perfect enforcer. So, I'll be going now. See ya later!" He waved his fin and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Penny returned to her quiet observations after hearing Dan’s answer. It wasn’t a terrible surprise to hear both that Dan wasn’t strong enough to deny the Deity on his own, nor that a rallied force could grant Dan the power to bar the All Father from joining. Still she was much assured to know that she wouldn’t have to contend with a god in a Keijo match. That didn’t mean she trusted him. Nevertheless, there wasn’t anything else to be said on the matter.

There would be another sound of a metal latch being thrown before Penny would move onto the next topic of importance. “Sann mentioned training. Would you mind if I joined in on that?” Penny was also curious how Sann had learned of Dina’s need so quickly, but that could be focused on later.

Dina eyed Penny. “I do not see harm in it but…”

It was then when Sanngridr, true to her mercurial temper, blew a raspberry in Penny’s direction, instead resuming her position at Dina’s back. “Get your own runes teacher, your Highness. That or offer something in return.”

Penny would meet Dia’s eyes once again and raise an eyebrow. Curious to see if Dina would have anything to say in regards to Sann’s interjection.

Dina was staring somewhat horrified at Sann’s lack of manners. She bit her lip and turned her sight to Sann. “That was very rude of you. Apologize.”

Sann eyed Dina and then Penny. “Okay… I’m sorry your Highness Penny. I did not meant to disparage your obvious supreme supremacy, but I mean… I uh, pappy Odin has allowed me into the secrets of Runes, and I was going to bestow them to Dina for Keijo lessons. So uh, onlookers are bad.”

Dina eyed at Sanngridr and sighed. “You can teach me the runes later in private, Sanngridr. While I would appreciate an edge, I must decline it now for the sake of stability.”

“Okay.” Said the Valkyrie, who then proceeded to shift once more and draw awfully close to the space where the Baku was fiddling with the sphere, eyeing it like a bird gazes at a shiny thing.

“I understand not wanting to cross your patron.” Penny would allow with a nod “And I have no desire to draw his ire. I was only asking about Keijo tutelage and if I could join in on that.” She would spare a glance at Sann “Not your Runes” The valkyrie’s condescension went unremarked upon, but there was a reproach in Penny’s look.

“Where would be the best place for this?” She would go on to ask “As we don’t have a lot of time if we want to be able to learn anything from you before the matches start.”

“Skating rink.” Dina would say. “Manage Keijo on Ice, you will manage Keijo on water. Plus neither of you are… fragile.” The catgirl would then go on, but the squeals of Baku, who was now trapped in Sann’s grip, caught her attention.

“Sann, that is not a pet.” She said, like a tired mother. “Nor food. Put my servant down.”

Sann shrugged and let the creature go, but not before said creature handed back the orb and whispered something to Dina’s ear. Her eyes went a little wider than usual, before dismissing the creature with her best poker face.

Penny would not be surprised at Sann’s mercurial nature, but would leave Dina to handle it. The Regent was the one who courted the Valkyrie for the Sanctuary after all. “I take it the prognosis was high” She would say instead. She was watching Dina closely after all, so the widened eyes weren’t hard to notice. Nor was the sudden poker face.

"It can indeed manifest a single dream." Dina would then say, but not elaborate any further. "And dreams make the impossible possible."

She did not elaborate any further, instead eyeing Penny. "Like me being able to summon a dragon, because I had that dream before."

"Oooh I want to play with a dragon, Granny Kitty. " Sann said, a predatorial smile forming.

"Sanngridr, stop it." Dina finally said, her gaze sharp. "You are not fooling me. Odin does not take fools for servants. We are running out of time." Dina said.

"Do I need to tell you that your highness only tolerates you because me?"

Sanngridr stared at Dina, before letting a chuckle. She then straightened herself and performed a bow. "I shall be your Varangian, regent."

"Good."

"But if I may, You might teach us both at the same time. I get to play rough, Her highness gets something, and you keep your strength for eventualities."

Sanngridr then stared at them both. "If you can spare some gold and silver we can aim for even better cards."

A simple nod would all Penny would have to give at the proclamation of a dream made real. Potent, powerful, and all together not something she would spend on a dragon. What dream she would make true if given the opportunity was up in the air though. “You got quite the treasure” She would say to Dina. “I’ll do what I can so that you don’t need to spend it on combat.”

That said Penny would lock eyes with Dina before moving on to crack her own neck, and while the sounds of her neck popping were more metallic than her current appearance would lead one to assume she would let out a relieved breath nonetheless and with such her eyes would dim and the little tells of humanity would filter back in.

“My coins are with the Prime if that is what you are asking about.” Penny would then say turning towards Sann “But if you're talking about their more traditional counterparts, raiding the kitchen ware might still work. What did you have in mind?"

Sann closed the distance between her and Penny, almost touching her."Chooser of the slain. As long as the price is paid, and the conditions are met, death will be lifted from whoever you choose…"

Dina:"You mean… you can revive people??" The regent's composure gave in. Not even patrons could claim that feat easily.

“Okay now that is impressive” Penny would readily admit, for the same reason as Dina. “But thankfully I’ve not lost any allies to the veil so I’m not sure who we could be bringing back.”

Dina was about to reply, when a fourth figure, a short pink-haired girl entered the discussion.

“Naniiii???”

Oh, that crude yaponski...why was his voice so high pit- Oh. When did he become a she? Dina stared back at her, while Sanngridr took notice of the tiny figure to squeeze her between the arms.

“Lil’ piggy.” She said. “Squeals like one.”

“Oi you bird baka! Lemme go! Swiss knife -chan! Neko-baba! Tell this stupid to let me go.”

“Let her go, Sann.” Dina sighed, to which the girl obeyed, before scurrying a few steps back.

“Oi! I heard that right? You can revive people?” She then said.

“Correct. As long as you pay the prize and have a precious item of the loved one...piggy.” Sanngridr flapped her wings.

“Is that so? How costly.”

“Very.”

“Hum, I got all of these coins,will this do?” Sakura then said, offering all of her coins to the strange bird girl.

“Not-”

Dina was then to cut Sanngridr with a glare.

“It is enough, as the regent says. One gold coin.”

“Oh, that’s cheaper than I...okay, that was nice, Neko-sama. I thought you were an insufferable hag, but you hit the popo bitch’s face like nothing. And then put bird baka in her place.” Sakura would then say. “I forgive you for the slap.”

Dina’s eyes were reduced to pinpricks. Even in praise and under a new cute form, this girl was as unlikeable as she would ever be for someone like her.

“Do you have anything in mind, yaponski?”

“See, there’s this warping girl.” Sakura would then produce a small booklet… of advanced physics.

“Is that a German Physics booklet?” Dina would then gasp.

“Sakura, please don’t insult my friends” Penny would chime in upon noticing just who it was that had dropped in on the conversation. “And a Gold is required to revive them, but a Silver or two extra would be appreciated for the service.” She would add nodding towards Sann “Magic like she has is exhausting after all.” She would add, sending a less harsh look to Sann that carried a similar message as the one she had told Sakura.

“I’m assuming the girl is a friend of yours?” She would go on to ask, examining the booklet herself from where she stood.

Sakura would frown upon hearing that from Penny. Freaks were freaks. "Sorta. Comrade in arms. Bit of a mommy's girl. Was killed by Justine. Could teleport like eyepatch-chan."

Sann did look at Penny. "It is. It takes time. And normally I would charge over 10 gold."

Dina. "Do we have enough time to do the Keijo training?"

"I am not sure." Sanngridr would reply.

Sakura would then eye Penny, and then Dina. "All of my coins then".

Sann tilted her head. "Ara? I think we could make it work then. Hand me the book."

Dina would then eye Sakura. "Wasn't Justine your ally ?"

"Bitch was a cunt. And killed my allies. Then I sucker punched her." She then began to walk away. "Now if you will excuse me… I have to get a good seat now that I am a loli again."

“Beacon was always planning on double crossing Justine in the raid.” Penny would explain more as Sakura left. “I don’t know the full details, that operation is above my clearance. And I didn’t want to break into the system and piss off the Ascendency.”

“Guessing that Sakura was one of the third parties that got invited as well. A Puchuu’s squad was contracted out alongside Justine. Guessing she was with them. Both Sakura and the lost girl.” She would shrug, putting the rest of it out of mind for the moment.

“If it’s going to take some time, Dina, you could start the Keijo training with me and we can help get Sann up to speed when she is done. Since I’m assuming a ritual to raise the dead isn’t something we could assist with.”

"We were on opposing sides." Dina pondered. "Yes… we should not dally further." Sanngridr… conduct the ritual."

Sann just let a wry smile, before bowing out.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

The party was proceeding surprisingly well for such a gathering of...less than brave people. At least the dolphin seemed to go on his way of not enforcing a distinctive lack of violence. The Allfather mused as he drank. His servants were... well, all scattered. Reginleif had been a little too shrew, but she, too had faded eventually.

The downside is that there was no one to pour drinks for him. His eyes rested on a female figure who had been equally neglected and had nearly faded onto obscurity.

"Puchuu, serve me.” The norse god commanded at Umukamui, still clad in her female form. The Puchuu seemed to not react, before deciding that acting servile to a norse god wasn't really that bad as opposed to snubbing one. She just began to pour the drink with a neutral face.

"Lord Odin..." She said.

"This party has been quite a bit tricky for our servants, has it not? Mine are all over the place... and yours... are all over the place too." He chuckled, remembering Umukamui of both Lily and Sakura's less than stellar performances.

"It is as you say."

"Mmm" He muttered, a hand on his beard. "Have you ever heard... of the fourth wall?"

"In books, yes."

"In books. It is a most intriguing device. Often times it can offer a fresh view, and engage the public. But if you overdo it, the entire cosmos of the play unravels. A most ...unpleasant consequence." The norse god went on muttering. "I do like proper stories, though. Of hapzard fools, ignorant and fumbling, that they eventually reach greatness."

"You did create a world out of Ymir." The puchuu would drone.

"Well learned, I do like that." The norse god would finish his cup, and stare at the spectacle. "We're more alike than you think."

"Pardon?"

"Nevermind, just an out of place comment. The valhallan brew is still strong, you see." The god would then stare at the Puchuu's eyes. "Would you care to conduct... a certain business?"

"Always." Umukamui would look at the deity with unabased interest... or she would, had not a certain downcast youth hobbled towards the couple.

"You have power, have you not, titty-rat?" It was the downtrodden and dishevelled Sakura, having left Emily.

"...I am discussing important business with Lord Odin, Sakura." The puchuu would reply, a steely gaze aimed at the interloper.

"I do not mind. Go ahead, childe of Izanagi." Odin would muse, snatching the jug out of Umukamui and serving him another cup.

"Could you please turn me back into a loli?"

It was then when Odin spit his drink, racuous laughter rumbling from his belly.

"That which you regained through tricky methods? It would be my pleasure." Umukamui said. "May I ask why?"

"It seems that the wish made me...arrogant...I hurt my friend...I would offer a pinky, but those grow back now."

Odin himself was still laughing out loud.

"...I see. Well. I certainly can accomodate. Easily." It was then when the Puchuu snapped her fingers, as the energies around Sakura unraveled, showing a new look. A residual set of sparkles condensed on the Puchuu's hand, the crystallization of the masculinity wish.

Sakura herself nodded to Umukamui before attempting to leave.

"Wait, former man." It was Odin's turn to talk. "That was a worthy sacrifice, and it was done within my gaze, so you shall receive a favour from me. Seek Sanngridr. She has... an unique power if you want to do good for this party."

Umukamui looked at Odin once more, before arching an eyebrow.

"Another drink?" Odin would rattle his cup once more."Before we get down to the real business?"

The puchuu obliged.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Sann & Justine

_{AKA Wilhemina and Decaffeine}
@Ariamis

Well, it seemed that the chaos had become full blown, with a tournament being hosted. The Valkyrie of cruelty smiled somewhat. At first she seemed to think Odin would have put her through the humiliation without precedent. It turns out, Odin wanted booze and some scraps more than dealing with a newly created underling, so as long as she did not abuse her newfound status, everything would be fine.

Granny Kitty seemed a bit distraught. She had a spine, despite being a cat, that much Sann knew. Perhaps, on another time, when she had believed in princesses and knights, she would have reassured her. Well, she would fight for her regardless. She had been the entry to Sanctuary, and her opinion seemed to influence Penny to a certain extent. So keeping the fluffy kitty happy was a good idea.

Still, Penny had been busy creating this whole thing with that dream girl. She had pegged Penny to be a bit… more cold than she was displaying. Well, that was good. No matter how she chose to hide it, she was still born of that weakling Jason. She did never strike her as the person she could get along with, and the person who was dependent on others for self-growth, and recent developments were, perhaps, a repeat of the past.

She missed yearning for a twisted expression of attachment. Different from her twisted love of her own mother. Different from the regal grandmotherly stern behaviour of the kitty.

She had spotted her prey, with all hubbub. Justine… How had she cheated death exactly? Actually, was that even Justine? She just looked like a little fawn with her face, not the proud cruel tyrant mistress of the night she once was.

Well, there was certainly some time to kill before Dina called for her services. Even if it meant doing very erotic wrestling. Sann was no fool, and as a good past nerd, knew exactly what was in for her. Rachel seemed a clueless zealot in accepting.

Granny Kitty was perhaps the only person who could match the length of the stick up the rear or the Inquisitor. Oh well, Justine awaited.

She simply skipped a couple of wingbeats, before landing on the fallen vampire and enveloping her.

“Hi. You’re that Justine everyone talks about? I heard about your exploits. Pappy Odin told me.”

---

”At the lake? I don’t know, that seems a bit chilly," Lily spoke in response to Alex’ suggestion.
”We could first ask Dan if he’d let us practice over at the sunny side."

After Justine had signed up for the tournament, Lily went with Alex to ask Dan about the possibility of training back at the tropical islands. Justine was about to follow when she stopped, a look of concern on her face as if she had sensed something.

”Ah!"

That was when Sann got the drop on her, the former vampire girl having failed to recognize the pounce in time.

”Y-Yes, that’s right," Justine answered in a dejected manner, not struggling in the hold of her wings, though she did blush as she realized what her cheek was pressed up against.
”Pappy? Are you referring to Odin?"

"He is the Allfather to us valkyries… so pappy." Sann tilted her head. "More amenable than the horror called Father, don't you think?" She said. "Can I call you Decaffeine?"

Justine blinked, surprised that this apparent stranger knew of her former Patron.
”Uh, sure," she answered, and now attempted removing herself from Sann’s hold to get a better look at her.
”May I ask your name in return?"

Sann allowed Justine to leave her grasp, but not before brushing her with her fluffy wings.

"Aww… no rebuke?" She said. "I am Sanngridr. Chosen of the Slain. Now cleaning that stupid simp puppy's mess." She said.

”If that is how you wish to call me, I see no need to rebuke it," Justine answered. In her old life, she would never have accepted a derisive nickname like Decaffeine, and would have struck the offender with her crimson nails. However, the girl no longer cared if she were to be called names. However, Sann’s own name was something that she did care about, especially the words after it was given.
”Wait, you don’t mean..."
She hesitated, before she asked:
”Do you know of someone named Reaver?"

"Meh." Sann said upon seeing Justine's passivity. "No fight at all."The Valkyrie said, before smirking. "We are intimate. Let's go for a small flight...Are those wings decorations, Decaf?"

Sann said, before taking off in a mighty flap, gently grabbing Justine by the hand.

”Wait-!" Justine attempted to protest, but Sann had already taken liftoff, bringing Justine up with her. By reflex, Justine also flapped her wings, and ascended up towards the upper area of the feast hall. Lily shouted down from below.

”Justine, where are you going? We got approval from Dan to go to sunnyside for practice!"

Justine bit her lip.
”I’ll see you there, I’ll just make a detour. Won’t be long, I promise!"

The two flew out of the building, and up into the sky. Justine endured the buffeting winds, as she wanted to learn more.

”Sanngridr, you seem to know much about me, yet I have never met you before. Are you an old adversary seeking revenge? I know I have made many enemies in my life of bloodstained servitude."

Sann just gave a slight evil chuckle, before lunging directly at Justine, her attack consisting… of a single playful nibble. "I am here to help you. Reaver was mad, but madness fades away."

Justine’s eyes widened, and she braced with her arm, only to lightly gasp as she realized Sann’s less-than-lethal intentions.

”Help me?"
Justine looked confused, and she slowly flew circles around Sann, trying to make sense of her riddle. It didn’t take her long to connect the dots.
”...Re-"

Sann didn't waste time. As soon as Justine was about to utter a single word, she pried off her own crown and slammed it into Justine's forehead, her own countenance becoming now wild and twitchy, but sealing the mental scrying Cradle agents were subject to.

"Oh come on, don't spill the beans so soon." She giggled, unhinged. "This should buy us time."

”Th-this is..."
The moment Justine was forcefully crowned, she felt the dampening effect of the headgear; it subdued her thoughts into an inner shell, surrounded by a void of static. It was unpleasant at first, evidenced by Justine’s pained expressions, but soon she learned to focus her thoughts and ignore the strange effect.
”They don’t know? That is...Impressive, I must admit."

"In a sense, I died. Nobody can take a red coin and a black coin at once. But it was a necessary thing. Odin agreed for a chance… but removed my prized spear and condemned me to a life of serving drinks to grabby vikings."

Sann just breathed."I was denied a fight with Penny. Now I have her close. It should be fun…" She licked her lips, her Destroyer getting the better off her.

"And it pains me to see you. You used to be confident in yourself. You shouldered strength for the sake of your loved ones, even if Odin told me about how noxious Father was." Sann said.

"He can see things many of us can. Even where Caroline is."

Justine nodded, having now understood the circumstances for Reaver’s own metamorphosis.
”So you’re set on fighting Penny...You must know how daunting of a task it is," she said, followed by averting her eyes as Sann pointed out her own change in personality.

”It was confidence, yes, but one born of crimson-hued insanity. That strength was only to cut a bloody swathe, all for the hunger of a beast with no fangs. I do not regret leaving Father, as he only held me back, like a bat on a leash."

Justine looked back at Sann...And her eyes widened. Her lips trembled, and she stuttered:
”H-How do you know about Caroline? Where is she? Where?"
She demanded, though to Sann it sounded more like half-masked pleading.

"It was nice. Refreshing even." Sann said. "Wouldn't you like to know huh? The Allfather, not that bargain copy you sucked up to… can see many things. For the right price that is."

"Even you could, with the black mirror… but it's not like your current master will allow you to keep it."

So this is where it ended up. Once, Justine was the one to offer a deal to Reaver, and while he refused at the time, the two enjoyed a non-equal relationship of pain. But now, the tables have turned, and she was the one to receive an offer, with her own sister as the bargaining chip.

Fate was evil.

However, she could not blame Sann, knowing that in an alternate world, she would have done the very same. She was a Mint agent, after all, and some habits die hard. That must have been why Sann singled her out from all the other guests, Justine thought.

”Name your price," she stated, trying to act more willfully. The stakes were too high for her to back down.

Sann sighed, showing a tired expression, before out of nowhere she bit her own arm.

"Whew." She said, controlling her impulse once more. "I am the middleman, but I figure lord Odin would deal in sacrifices or you becoming a follower. Or both. And about the Mint… Sonia is with them, so just… stay scarce." Sann said.

"Rest assured… I won't press you that much. A happy Justine and out of the way Justine is a factor less in the plans of the city."

Justine irked at the sight of Sann drawing blood from herself, reminding her of Reaver’s violent compulsions during the times they met, but it did not distract her from Sonia’s name being mentioned.
”So she survived...And if she’s with the Mint, it can only mean that she’s trying to find me...To bring me back to Father’s shadow, actually," she added, distraught by the realization.

Justine sighed as she listened to Sann’s surprisingly positive reasoning, finding it bizarre.
”Sanngridr...Thank you for sharing all this with me."

“Well, It seems that it was a waste for Sonia to die, so I took action. But the thing is… Cradle or Caroline. Cradle or Sonia. You can’t have both at the same time…Think carefully.”

It was then when Sann just smirked. “Oh yeah, that reminds me. Alibi.” She drew closer and closer to Justine…

Justine would have been surprised by Sann admitting to have rescued Sonia, but on retrospect realized the appeal her former maid and her stern personality had for a masochist.
”I understand..." Justine replied, followed by giving a worried look as Sann closed the distance between them.

”Umm, what are you doing…?"

Sann did not reply, instead she shot herself at Justine's face, planting a rather intense kiss on her mouth, all while grabbing her tightly with one hand, the other reaching for the crown. There needed to be at least a plausible explanation of the whole Cradle mind-probing not working for an amount of time.

If she was still Reaver, she would have enjoyed it more, but she mirthfully smiled as she adjusted the crown unto her once more.

”Mph!"

Justine did not expect Sann’s kiss, and by instinct bit the Valkyrie’s lower lip, failing to puncture it as she no longer had her razor-sharp fangs. The moment it was over, she spat and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, looking disgusted. Then she saw the crown back on Sann’s brow, and grit her teeth.

”Y-You should have warned me before doing that!"

"Was it good enough to blank out? I don't think Sann is a bad kisser…"

”I didn’t ask for a kiss in the first place!"
She turned away, the flapping of her wings now more frantic.
”So that’s how it felt to them when I collected them...” She mumbled to herself.
”...It sickens me."

She turned back to Sann.
”Well, you have your cover story now, I suppose. Anyway, it’s starting to get late, and I should be heading back to Lily.” She sighed, as she looked down the horizon, at the tropical islands.
.”I have a lot to think about now.”

"Aww I thought we could have a date in the sky. And liked blood and stuff…" Sann said. Was this the regal Justine?

She was just a dreg. Well, she did need help. To achieve her own path. And given that Penrose was just Penrose… It would make a lot of people.unhappy, and cause strife.

Justine shook her head.
”Sorry, but I don’t think I no longer...Fit your fancy for the macabre,” she said, seemingly reviled by her last words.
”Thank you for bringing me out on this...date. Goodbye.”
She turned, and flew away, heading towards warmer climates.

Sann just smiled. The seeds had been sown. Maybe she should bully Lily next? She smirked as she flew.

Training was good too. Mayhaps the kitty could help.