BrokenPromise

RPGC: General Discussion

So that contest was a blast to run! Already got the second one mostly done, and it should be up relatively soon.

I wasn't expecting this many contestants, but I'm a little bummed that we didn't get a single vote from outside the contest. But I guess the events just have to keep getting bigger for that to happen.

Character Contest #1: Voting

Seems that @Gwynbleidd's saloon girl has won the contest. Congratulations!



Maybe someday I'll have a real reward up for the winner.

I'll have my own thoughts about the entries up at a later date, but for now, I've got some roleplaying to catch up on, and another contest to host. So keep your eyes open!

In the meantime, I eagerly await to see the entries to ode to fury roll out.

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

When presented with the videos, Sammy immediately went to work observing them. She raised a magnifying glass up to the laptop's screen to get a better look. Of course this only made the pixels larger and didn't provide a true close up of any details. Sammy put away her magnifying glass with a nod.

”Uh huh, Uh huh.” A cat jumped into her lap, which she started to pet once it curled up. ”Well, it's clear that all of these crimes are magical in nature.” She pointed at the cat. ”I have some eyes on the street, and I believe this to be the work of an organization or two instead of random happenings.” The cat was purring. ”Without personally visiting all the crime scenes, I can't give a definite answer as to what it is. But I was able to witness a few spells being used on pedestrians. They had no effect beyond startling them!” She nodded. ”So it's clear that someone, somewhere, is trying to cook up a nefarious scheme that involves hurting a lot of people! And I only know one organisation that could have such a dark goal.” Sammy paused for dramatic effect, Amaryllis could practically hear the implied drum roll for her answer. ”It's Beacon!” She leaned forward and slammed the table with her little fist. It startled the cat into running off. ”A few weeks ago, I was chasing down an evil magical overlord called Binky, and Beacon stopped me from bringing them to justice! I wouldn't be surprised if she seduced them all with riches and power.” She looked away from Amaryllis. ”But it's just a hunch. I haven't found a way to tie the everyman's sudden immunity to magical phenomenon to this yet.” Sammy's eyes snapped back onto the busty school girl. ”But I think it's a lead worth following!” She took another bite out of her danish. ”By golly! We need to track down some of these leads! I've been avoiding Beacon, but If Beacon is as righteous as they say they are, then they'll need to answer for why they aren't doing anything about this!”

That was when Cindy Ford's announcement came through the restaurant.

”A takeover by a random Magical girl? Blast! Why didn't I see this with my deductions? I think this is a lead worth investigating too!” Sammy was about to hop off her seat when she suddenly froze. ”Oh.” She sat back down. ”I have a few friends I hang out with. We all escaped from Binky, we were her experiments. Some of us will never be the same. A tale for another time perhaps.” Sammy rubbed the back of her head. ”I think you should meet them sometime though. You and Lotus would get along well enough.” And with that, she ran out the door.

@ERode

Re: Zero: The High Council

---

Fight Pit

Lady Vertti immediately fell prey to Mie's spell. But the loss of her vision and what was going on around her wouldn't stop her from pushing forward. It was a straight shot from here, and as long as she ran she could escape. It was a race to see if Vertti would make it outside before Mie could catch up to her. And it looked good for the aristocrat, but she forgot about the decorative steps leading outside and tripped.

It was a stone floor and Vertti fell hard. She stretched out her arms but kept her elbows bent. That was the proper way to take a fall, but it was still hard to know where the ground was. Vertti was prepared to get her feet under herself and start running again, but there was no time. She was running from a demi-human with superior agility and stamina. With a pounce, Mie landed on Vertti's back, pushing her to the floor again. The chase was over. The butterfly had gotten tangled up in a web, and was now at the mercy of its predator. Vertti looked over her shoulder at Mie, clearly still under the effect of the spell. "Why?" Her voice cracked a little bit. "Why do you want to kill me? The time you spent with Grisaia, was that a lie too?" Her eyes were starting to glaze over. "I refuse to believe this is just for money. That you're just some assassin who plays with our emotions for some thrill." Even if Mie wanted to tell her something, she wouldn't be able to hear it. All that mattered now was how Mie wanted to deal with Vertti. She didn't have her weapons on her, and Vertti wasn't carrying anything either. But there was also the matter of how she had learned of her true identity. Maybe she'd be worth keeping alive a bit longer. But her thoughts would be interrupted by a bad feeling. Mie needed to move fast, and so she hopped backward. The head of a spear stabbed through the air exactly where Mie's throat would have been just seconds ago. The person holding the spear was a cloaked figure who was just as small as Mie was. Despite her stature, she had an intense gaze that belonged to a hardened veteran.

"Pick on someone your own size." Aer fret her brow.

Vertti scrambled to her feet and rushed behind Aer. She had recovered from the spell by this point. "Thank you for saving me Miss... ?"

"We'll talk later. Right now you need to contact Grisaia and let him know you're okay. He's worried sick about you." She didn't take her eyes off of her target. "The guard is on their way here, so you should hurry up."

Vertti took a few steps away from the two dueling midgets fighters when she turned around one last time. "Mie, would killing me really make you that happy?"

---

Outside Clinic

Hiro was one of the strongest fighters in his own world. He was the julius caesar of boxing. But no matter how powerful the man, they can all be slain by having their trust betrayed. ”Why!?” Ashton would never be able to tell him. The weakened boxer was having difficulty moving about as it was, and this was a mortal blow.

DEATH COUNT : 32

Ashton felt sick doing that to one of his friends, but he wanted to bring Aerith back. Causing a reset was the only way to set this right. It was the only way to save her. Ashton closed his eyes and hoped that this sick feeling in his stomach would pass with the reset.

Which should be starting.

Any moment now.

“What. The. Actual. Fuck!” Quill stared wide-eyed at the boy holding the knife. After the shock wore off, she growled. “Why do we even bother trying to kill you bastards? If you don't kill yourselves, you just turn on each other!” Quill sprinted away.

It would happen soon. It had to. Though it didn't take this long last time.

”You monster!” Gris crawled towards Ashton. ”You were in on it the entire time! You killed one of your own friends just so that you could kidnap Chiyo!” He growled and crawled closer. ”I'll make you regret your entire life!”

Why wasn't a reset happening? That sick feeling in Ashton's stomach was getting worse.

---

? W H O ? W H O ? W H O ? W O H ? W O H ? W O H ? H O W ? H O W ? H O W ?

Chieko, Alistair, Ashton, and Flame would all suddenly find themselves in a very familiar landscape. One without any details, but seemed to extend out in all directions forever. But they knew that this was the first place where they had encountered Lord Talus. That was instantly familiar to all of them. They were all positioned exactly the way they were before getting transported here. Ashton was standing, Flame was laying on his side with a few cracked ribs, Chieko fell a few feet onto her stomach, and Alistair fell backwards out of a seat that was no longer there.

”She actually did it?” Sitting on top of an invisible obstacle was a smug woman with a flute. ”I guess we all wanted them out of that situation. So long as I don't take the blame for it, this is acceptable.”

A cute fairy fluttered into view. ”Figures you'd say something like that, Greed! But this is bad! This breaks the deal we had with Talus!”

The smug woman chuckled. ”I doubt there will be repercussions. For now, let's just enjoy their company.”

”Oh.” A life like doll floated up to Alistair. He noticed its body was covered in transparent hands. Every blink of her eyelid, or twitch of her finger was being manipulated by one of these hands. ”Hello, Alistair. I, really, like, how, you, achieve, your, goals. I, wish, I, could, work, that, hard, at, anything. But, I, lack, the, ambition, to, do, so.” Her hand was lifted up in the air and brushed against Alistair's face. ”So, smooth. Better, than, I, thought!”

A girl wearing nothing but bandages hoped into the space. ”S-sloth! Behave yourself! Y-you can't just run up and touch them! You need to respect boundaries!” Her eyes shifted around. ”C-can you? B-because I'm not! I'm loyal to Lin!”

The bandaged girl was startled by a hand being placed on her shoulder. The hand belonged to a tall, busty woman with a blindfold on. ”Relax, Lust. We don't know why they are here. So we might as well enjoy them as much as possible.” The woman approached Chieko and extended one of her hands. ”Chieko, right? None of us have names, so we're instead named after the sin we represent. I'm Gluttony, in case it wasn't obvious.” Gluttony ran a hand along the bottom of her own breasts. ”You don't have to fear us, we have nothing but love in our hearts for all of you.” She pulled Chieko to her feet and smiled. ”You're my favorite by the way. And this might be a little inappropriate to say, but you look and feel delicious.”

A loud sigh from a girl who just didn't give a shit caught everyone off guard. ”I still don't see what the point of this all was.” she waved her hand at everyone. ”Melancholy here, don't mind me at all. I'd rather not be a part of the fight that's going to break out once they realize there's not enough lovers for everyone.”

It was hard not to notice the thunderous appearance of A woman that was unapologetically punk. ”Fuck yes! Hiro baby's here! Time for pride to put the squeeze on that handsome bastard!” She looked around a bit. ”Wait a second, where the hell is Hiro?” She pointed at Ashton and Flame. ”The fuck are you guys doing here?!”

By this point, Sloth's hands were all over Alistair. ”We, think, she, is, the, reason, this, is, happening, because, that, is, sort, of, her, thing, you, know?”

”Whoa guys!” Lord Talus showed up, waving his hands around. ”Don't talk about her when she's not here! Plus I think not referring to her by name is really pissing off anyone here who doesn't know who she is! Also I'm Lord Talus, gotta work a name drop in there so that nobody forgets me during my first appearance.” All eyes were on the black man now. ”Hah! Alright girls but seriously, do you remember the rules we set up? I know there were a lot of them, but do you remember the first two?”

”Yes!” Lust put a finger to her lower lip. ”U-um, yes! We can only influence the game with our authorities once! And we can't use more than once per day.”

”Very good Lust! Very, very, good.” He started to pace around the foreigners, but it was clear he was talking to the other woman in the room. ”So, why is using a single authority dangerous? Aside from the strain it puts on the cultists trying to activate the spell?”

Gluttony released Chieko's hand and looked to Talus. ”When we use an authority, it's possible it won't arrive at the right time. Not only that, but it moves the checkpoint forward and changes who the sentinel is. If our authority doesn't fix the situation, our lovers could be stuck and unable to escape.”

”Gold star for Gluttony!” He turned to face her. ”Now you may be tempted to team up and do something special, or fix a blunder and use another authority to help everyone out. Now why is that a bad idea?”

This had all the girls thinking pretty hard, but Greed soon answered. ”I know why, it's simple.” The smug girl twirled her flute. ”The lovers don't know how the game works, so after enough deaths, they may discover they are the sentinel. If someone uses an authority, they won't know that the checkpoint has moved forward. They might get this idea in their head that they just have to kill themselves to return to the checkpoint. But of course, they aren't the sentinel anymore, and a late firing authority would move the checkpoint past their death.”

Pride's eyes widened.”Hiro was the Sentinel.” she stared at the floor for a long time, before finally looking at wrath. ”That ain't fuckin' funny!” She pointed at her. ”You love Chieko! You fuckin' did something!”

The Fairy flew backwards. ”H-how could I have done anything? My authority only heals people! I can't heal Chieko out of danger!”

”You teamed up with someone you flying piece of shit!”

”Enough!” A mighty gust of wind blew over everyone. It was just strong enough to get everyone's attention and stop the bickering. ”I need to think of how to best resolve this situation.” Talus stroked his chin.

Greed pointed at Ashton and Flame. ”You're going to get rid of them first right?”

”I'll worry about that in a moment.” He glanced at Chieko and Alistair. ”But yes, here's all the people who wanted to see you. You two should be excited!”

Gluttony turned back to Chieko. ”Seems we have a moment to talk.” She exhaled slowly. ”I don't know what to ask, I've been watching you through your whole life.”

Sloth was plastered pretty much directly over Alistair. ”Is, this, too, much? Just, move, me, if, it's, too, much.”

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

@Crusader Lord Dude that post was made like, half a year ago.

I don't even know what you're trying to imply.

Let's Talk: The Discord Discussion

@POOHEAD189 Honestly, same. I have no problem with discord, and I primarily use it because that's what everyone else is on. But Skype's biggest edge over Discord is that I don't have to see every random "general-chat" conversation that doesn't pertain to me.

Re: Zero: The High Council

---

Fight Pit

Lady Vertti had a pretty good start. She was well above everyone else in the VIP area, and didn't have to cut past too many people. When Mie's expertly aimed bear mug collided with a drunk however, things became a bit more interesting. A fight broke out, and the only exit out of the place was starting to fill up with people. This slowed Vertti's progress to a crawl. She tried to find a way through, but it was impossible to get by because of how tightly packed together everyone was. There was no way through, and she panicked when she lost track of Mie.

"Huma!"

It had been said that Vertti hadn't practiced her magic in a long time due to an accident. However, she had no problem using her magic here in the underworld. She rode a growing ice floe over the conflict and attempted to land on the other side. But she over extended herself and the ice floe broke, dropping her a few feet onto the ground. She was relatively unscathed, but the heel on one of her shoes broke off. Vertti simply kicked them off of her feet and started to run down the tunnel leading outside. It was a straight shot, and there weren't any people in her way. However, she wasn't an Olympic runner, and would probably be in trouble if Mie had a quick way past that mob.

---

Clinic

Elder Sibling listened to the very end of Aerith's speech before saying anything, which they did with an air of calm. ”You're not my type.” They broke character with a chuckle. ”Not only that, but your ability is inferior when compared to Hiro's, isn't it? And with all of you before me, why would I settle for you when the very best is right here?”

”Damn it.” Hiro grit his teeth. ”Is this really it?”

Then all eyes turned to Chieko, who was pretty much tired of this shit. As soon as she started to walk towards the clinic, she found herself stumbling over something. When she looked to see what it was, she could see Quill had somehow made it outside, right in front of her legs, without Chieko knowing it.

”Quill!” Donovan called out. ”The fire's out, but I can't hear ya! Say somethin'!” Apparently, Donovan didn't know it either.

“Ugh.” Quill sat up. “The candles must have started to melt and knocked me out.” She turned to Chieko and started pointing at her. “Did you plan this? You were going to leave me to die in there after I decided to spare you! How dare you!”

”Not quite.” Elder Sibling appeared with Chiyo and dropped her beside Quill. ”She was actually prepared to go save you. Chieko seemed disappointed that her friends tried to save her.”

“She wha-” Quill turned to Chieko again, just as angry as before. “H-how dare you try to rescue me! It's humiliating enough to be tricked by a bunch of lowly humans! I wish Elder Sibling had let me burn!”

”Quill.”

The oni rolled onto one knee and bowed before her superior. “Elder Sibling, I am unsure the information you have on the clairvoyants is entirely accurate. Chieko was the one who came to the test, and while it never truly started, she did survive it. I have also not observed anything to lead me to believe Hiro has the superior ability.” Without lifting her head, she gestured towards Chieko. “I also believe she will genuinely help us. Even if Hiro has the strongest ability, he does not look like he will ever be made to willingly help us.”

”Interesting, thank you Quill.” Elder Sibling turned to Chieko. ”Sounds like she's singing your good graces, and I don't think I've ever heard her say anything positive about a human. But were you being sincere?” They looked at everyone else. ”We'll have to round up all of your other friends. I'd rather not have all these clairvoyants running around. But they will not be harmed if you join us, I assure you.”

Re: Zero: The High Council

---

Fight Pit

From her “spot” in Belriggers filthy clutches, Mie did at least have an amazing view of all the spectators. It was almost a surprise that such a large audience could be housed in secret. How long had these games been going on? But there was someone who stood out among everyone else. While most of the patrons were seated, cheering for the fighter that they hoped would win, this woman was standing up, staring at Mie with her jaw agape. The woman was none other than Lady Vertti, and she was really dressed for the occasion. Shortly after being noticed, she walked away from her seat, occasionally passing glances in Mie's direction. It wouldn't be long before she vanished in the crowds.

---

Clinic

There were a few problems with throwing a super heated, metal laced projectile at someone who was a master of super heated, metal laced attacks. It wasn't that she could counter it, and it wasn't that such weapons are difficult and dangerous to use. In near total darkness, the weapon was about as subtle as a DJ. Quill didn't need heightened reflexes to spot the candle, or to react to it. She positioned herself in front of the projectile and took a swing at it with her molten sword. The Metal and fire was absorbed by the weapon, and both halves of the candle fell to the floor. Quill used her free hand to cover her mouth. “ What are you doing?! You could have killed her with that!” But her words fell on deaf ears. That, or Aerith was more intent on screaming. “Shut up already!” By this point, the adjacent room had caught fire. “What the fuck!?”

Chieko didn't have time to react to the total shit show plan of Aerith's before she was dragged through the drape-like wall opposing the fire. ”It's just me.” Hiro was holding Chieko in both arms as he ran for the exit. ”I guess this makes up for the peppin's house incidents huh?”

”What happened?! Quill, ya don started a fire in there!” Donovan may not have understood the situation, but he knew how to fix it. The giant ran past everyone to douse the fire with his water magic. ”Quill! I can't hear ya!” While Donovan ran deeper into the Clinic, everyone else ran out.

And then they were saved! They had broken the cycle and cheated death! Hiro sighed and lowered Chieko to the ground. ”We made it.”

”Did you now?” It was that black cloaked person. Aerith noticed them instantly. ”I'm elder sibling, the leader of the demihuman rebels in this sector. Though I doubt I needed to tell you all of that. I understand you have a clairvoyant among yourselves.” The looked at the clinic, which had a bit of smoke billowing out of it. ”... And if that's anything to go by, it looks like your powers are working.” they started to walk towards Hiro. ”Join me Hiro. You may not be a demi-human, but we can work something out for you. Otherwise, I'll have to take you in as a prisoner.”

Hiro looked to Aerith. ”What do you think? Can I take them?”

They tipped their head. ”Why are you asking her? Aren't you the claravoyant?”

---

Peppin's(?)

It suddenly dawned on Ashton that this was probably Fritzi's house, All the shoes, the apple motifs, he couldn't be sure, but he had a pretty good idea. Come to think of it, how was he going to get paid if she ran off? Even if this wasn't her house, he had no idea who to contact for payment. Was she going to come back?

Beyond the Looking Glass: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Moirai
Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Paragon, Blessing, Gifted Item | Monster Form, Big Brother, Arrogance, Vendetta
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 | VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03

STR: 10 | AGI: 08 | VIT: 11 | MAG: 17 | LCK: 05

Earnings this post: Helped save some people, dispatched some witches, and held off Sammy. 1 Gold 5 Silver 3 Bronze

Total: 3 Gold, 100 Silver, 99 Bronze

So this was the big day, eh?

It felt kind of weird. There was little to no build up this time. While Justine had spent several weeks gathering up magical girls, this thing with the Bates seemed to come out of nowhere. In fact, it wasn't quite live yet. But it would happen, and it would be a messy affair.

Something was happening to Penrose. Magical girls were starting to become more cliquish. The idea of Penrose's magical community coming together as a whole was a distant one. If not for her spool, she would have doubted so many people would show up once things got out of hand.

But the one thing that She kept thinking about was Alicia. She had been using her spool of thread to look over the girl's life, trying to peace together exactly why a member of beacon would be so easy on monsters. Would she be easy on her? Could Alicia and Mac have a conversation one day?

Eh, unlikely.

B-but she would enjoy it! If it did happen. Maybe.

She actually hadn't been hitting beacon too hard this time around, had she?

And she wasn't likely to start. With a horror on the horizon, they all needed to band together to kick its ass.

---

There are two types of people: those that arrive early and those who arrive late. The ones who arrive early crave obedience and order in their lives. Those that arrive late are usually more whimsical and free spirited. The reason why there are no third types of people is because it's very difficult to arrive directly on time for anything. Some people would say that the act of trying to arrive right on time would land you in the latter category, as most people would assume you were late if you didn't set some time aside just in case you ran into something unexpected. Also worth noting, the same types of characteristics can be gained from looking at cat and dog people. Dogs are obedient pack animals, while cats tend to do their own thing.

Sammy was a cat person.

”Just in time!” Sammy burst into the restaurant wearing a rather adorable uniform. ”Now all I have to do is make a few deductions!” Sammy had never actually seen Amaryllis out of costume, so she'd have to run around calling out her name to get her attention. But that sort of thing was far below her status as a detective. This was a test of her detectives skills. A warm up before tackling a real case.

A waiter approached her. ”Hey miss! Are you looking for your mom and dad?”

”Absolutely not! A supah sleuth like me doesn't need clues to find those types of missing people! I'm looking for a different mark.” Sammy scanned her surroundings. The knight of rose shouldn't be hard to find. Almost all magical girls were between the age of 7 and 16, and there were very few woman in that age group seated here at this hour. Fewer still that had come without adults. She couldn't rule out groups of girls, as the knight could have come with friends. But such groups weren't present. ”Alright, I need at thick book. You will fetch it for me.”

”Eh?” The waiter was curious as to what she needed the books for, but didn't ask. There was an old phone directory behind the receptionist's desk, which he promptly got. By the time he returned, he could see that Sammy was standing on a seat opposite of Amaryllis. He jogged over to the table, book in hand. ”What are you doing?”

”Yes, it's all coming together now.” Sammy surveyed the table and its single occupant. The girl drew her finger and pointed it at Amaryllis ”A girl with voluptuous curves who's eating a salad, despite meat clearly being in her diet...” She swept her hand threw the air. ”...All this food pushed to the other end of the table...” Sammy closed her eyes and placed a finger on the side of her head. ”The perfume, the smoke, the unusual look of calm on her face, and the glares of all the other patrons. There's only one thing I can deduce from all this...” Sammy threw her fists up into the air. ”All of this food is for me!”

”Hey!”

Before he could get out another word, Sammy swiped the directory out of his hand and dropped it onto the seat she was standing on. ”I'm not sure why you guys would all pitch in and try to buy me food. I mean, I'm not that cute.” She sighed. ”And if some little rascal is trying to win my heart, I'm already in a relationship.” Sammy sat down on the directory, which elevated her just enough to where she could comfortably use her utensils.

There were no words to waiter could use in this situation. His face was turning purple, as were a lot of the other waiters. They slowly backed away from the table before vanishing from sight. If Amaryllis truly wanted to be left alone, Sammy granted her peace.

”Amaryllis, you have no idea how lucky you are.” She placed her fork on a plate with a danish and dragged it closer to herself. ”You get so much attention when you're this cute. If I looked like you, maybe people would leave me alone so that I could actually get to the bottom of my case.” She started to cut the danish up with her fork and knife. ”But I suppose it's good for getting witnesses to talk. Everyone seems to let their guard down just because you're cute. Oh, and you can have some of this by the way, I'm not really even hungry.”

---

The event from 2 week ago was a mess. The Golden Trove was quickly becoming a hang out for pesky magical girls, which was putting Boteg on edge. Between Charlie's angels extended visit and the unannounced appearances from Mayra, Su felt like she had acquired a second job. Well, a third job. She always took care of Boteg and the apartment complex, now she just spent more time acting as a body guard and less time searching for Penny. Su wasn't even sure what she was going to do if she confronted Penny. Her removal was something Boteg was insistent on, but Penny had many allies, and Su risked angering any number of them. And aside from Su's well being, Mika had been feeling down recently ever since meeting Lupa. She had really come around from two weeks ago, thanks in no small part to Helga. But that was another magical entity to spook Boteg, and required explaining to someone who could just barely speak Elizabethan English. And then there were all of Su's smaller failures that were highlighted by the bigger ones. She ran off on her own to confront a monster girl, who was fortunately just Mayra. One of the reasons why the Mayra thing was so upsetting to her was that Amber died doing exactly what she did. They broke away from their friends in a high pressure situation and attempted to fight a monster girl. That was a foolish thing to do. At least Helga didn't chew her out about it.

Su had managed to find some free time to get away from all that. Helga and Mika both recommended she go do something fun. While Su was grateful for the change in scenery, being away from work gave her time to think about Amber. Without the constant stream of things to do, she couldn't get her mind off of her death.

She was just outside of Penrose, in silver glade forest. It was just a cluster of evergreen trees that seldom saw any visitors. This was where they had decided to bury Amber. It wasn't the sea, but Amber always kept an evergreen air freshener in the bridge of the ship. Helga had uprooted a boulder and carved it into a gravestone, and Su planted some violets over her grave. She heard they tend to grow and spread easily, which meant one day Amber's grave could become a flowery meadow. She could picture it in her mind's eye. The purple peddles swaying in a calm breeze, all surrounding Helga's stone pillar. But there was something off about the forest today. The forest floor was littered with an unusual number of branches. At first Su thought there was a wind storm, but the damage was too widespread. With all the trees around, there was no reason for there to only be damage this far into the forest. And the damage got worse the closer she got to the grave. It wasn't just tree branches, but entire trunks that had been knocked over. The type of damage was very inconsistent as well. Some of the trees looked like they had been ripped out of the ground, while others had been broken up and scattered about. Su ran deeper into the forest, unsure what she would find waiting for her. The clearing around the grave was much wider now, and was surrounded by craters. The stone pillar had been knocked over, but what was more unsettling was the ring of dirt surrounding the grave itself. Su knew what she was going to see when she got closer, but she still couldn't believe it. Of everything that had been happening to her, the world was going to give her another gut punch. The closer she got to the grave, the more her fears were confirmed. It wasn't until she was standing over the hole that she was able to accept it. Someone had stolen Amber's body.

Her vision was spinning. Su took a step away from the grave, and nearly lost her footing in the soft dirt. Her stomach was on fire, and she had to fight the urge to throw up. This was wrong. Su couldn't think of anyone who would hate her enough to do this. Nobody knew the location of the grave site aside from people close to her. But Mika was too kind hearted, and Helga loved Amber too much to even joke about it. Her mind kept asking the same question over and over, but she was unable to deliver a response. Had Penny decided to consume Amber's body? Did the magical girls from two weeks ago do something? There was no one to comfort her, and even if she screamed, no one would be there to hear it. With a growl, she rolled over onto all fours. She wasn't getting anywhere with this.

Su didn't see any of the violets she had planted. Maybe Su was setting herself up for disappointment, but she had to find them. Right now, that was more important than the location of Amber's body. She crawled over to the piles of dirt and brushed them away with her hands. Over and over again, until her hand finally caught on the stem of something. It could be a violet, it had to be. She tool hold of it and gently pushed the dirt away from the shape until the plant came free. Sure enough, the violet had survived. It was missing a few pedals, but they would grow back in time. With a sigh, Su hugged the flower against her chest. That was all Su really needed right now. She could already feel herself calm down. It was such a relief to know that not everything had been defiled. She placed the flower off to the side where it would be safe, and retrieved some bottled water from her handbag so that it wouldn't dry out. In time, Helga would come back to set up the stone pillar. And while it wasn't assured, Su was determined to find Amber's body and return it to this place. But knowing that Amber's grave would one day be covered in violets was a victory, however small.

---

They were back in the sewers again. Elroy and Regina had used them to traverse the city many times. Regardless of the sun's position, the underground passages were just one giant shadow that they could use to get anywhere in Penrose. Regina was making her way towards the abandoned school, and Elroy was following close behind with their prize wrapped in a dirty blanket. They were covered in bruises, as were the beacon buddies.

"It doesn't really look like the body of a magical girl though." Elroy gestured with the blanket. "But I guess we shouldn't question our patron. I doubt the ghosties would attack us if it wasn't."

Regina kept looking ahead. "It is a magical girl. She's exactly as our patron described." She closed her eyes. "Did you hear that announcement? That girl claiming penrose is hers? How childish!"

"I actually agree with you." He chuckled. "Say, does this end of the world plan feel a little premature? I mean you wanted to square off against beacon, show thunder thighs that we're the real Penrose royalty. Hell, we've only just begun building an excellent harem! And then we gotta settle things with the ghosties."

"The body will take care of all that." Regina looked off to the side. "But I know you like a good fight, and I'm sure we'll get one as soon as the ritual starts. It'll just be screams as far as the eye can see."

Elryoy scratched his chin. "That does sound good." He snorted. "But still, doesn't that seem a little unfair?"

Regina snorted. "The world has always pit itself against us. It never wanted to be our friends or see us grow." She looked ahead. "So now it all burns, and we get to watch."

How do I create an avatar w/o uploading from my computer?

Sounds like your problem isn't uploading from someone else's computer, as you're perfectly capable of doing that. Here are a few simple methods to avoid your situation.

#1: The grown up method

- Tell "him" that you'd like to upload an image online, and that there are less security risks to him if you have a guest account. Bonus points if you tell them it's for online roleplaying.

-If he says yes, then YAY! GUILT FREE RPING ON SOMEONE ELSE'S COMPUTER! You're no longer abusing anyone's trust.

#2: The other grown up method

- Buy a computer or phone that has internet magic, and upload from chosen device. You might even be able to RP from it too, and no longer need to lie to "him" about your crazy sex fantasies. YAY FOR INDEPENDANCE!

#3: The sneaky bastard method

- Find a computer with internet access, something like a library computer. Upload a photo from there. Make sure you come in at an hour where there aren't a lot of people. You might need a USB stick to get photos and such onto the computer, and there's a possibility it'll get deleted. but if it works? YAY FOR BREAKING THE SYSTEM!