BrokenPromise

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

I will link the remaining players to the trail post so that we can start writing.

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

---

I N V E S T I G A T I O N

---

The first thing everyone did was look at the Monokuma file. The victim was Faith, who died due to strangulation. the only notable marks on her body were the ones on her neck, but the monokuma file confirmed there were traces of MONO-SNOOZ in her system. A "common" sleep aid that can be found in everyone's medicine cabinet

Jezebel's room was quickly investigated to see what might have happened. The door in particular was closely observed. There was a small peice of tape stuck to the bottom of it. Furthermore, the door has a standard door knob that needs to be turned in order to open. The door has a solid lock to keep intruders out, but it does open from the inside, even while locked.

There was also a dinner scene set up. The room had a table with two chairs set up in it, one of which Faith had been seated on. There was also a knife taped to the underside of the table. Closer inspection revealed the knife to be a prop blade. It sinks all the way into the hilt, and the blade itself was made out of chrome covered plastic. Otherwise, it was hard to find much else out at this location.

The trap location where a cabinet came down and nearly crushed someone was also investigated. The cabbinet had been loaded up with heavy tools and rigged to fall when tripping a wire. There was some fishing line going from an eyebolt on the top corner of the dresser through another eye bolt which tied off at a final eye bolt across the bottom of the stairs. This created a potentially deadly trap that nearly cost the infinites their lives.

Lastly, there was the bottle of MONO-SNOOZ in the break room where Jezebel was found. Before any other evidence could be collected, Monokuma commanded everyone to go to roller coaster and take that familiar trip into the courtroom.

---

TRIAL IS IN SESSION

A L L R I S E

---

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

Thanks for helping with the collab guys. The actual trial will start over sunday/monday.

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

---

8:00 AM

---

It had been a strange week. Strange in that nothing of note happened. The carnage sisters only made occasional appearances, Monokuma only appeared on the morning announcements, but that was it. There was no motive called or anything of that sort. For the first few days it felt tranquil. Some even suspected the killing games might be coming to an end. Others were expecting something horrible to happen. 

Faith, Daimyon, Isaiah, Alice, and Henry were all enjoying breakfast together. Enjoy might be a strong word for what those gathered felt. The Isaiah/Alice/Henry clique was its usual edgy self, with Faith falling into her role as matchmaker. Daimyon sat apart from them, though not too far, preferring the company of his notebook this early in the day.

“I’m telling you, you’ll be sorry~” Faith waived her fork around like she was a music conductor. “Isaiah, it is such a shame Calvin-” he voice cracked. She forced a smile and tried to speak again. “You had great chemistry with him. I think it’s too soon for you to settle on Alice.” She turned away from the edgy people and looked to Daimyon. “Mmmmm, I don’t think I’ve had much time to work with you.” She squinted her eyes, and Daimyon could feel her eyes look into his very soul. “You seem like you’re ready for a relationship though. I could give you some pointers, if you need them <3.”

“Me?” Daimyon blinked, averting his eyes from the woman's piercing glare. “Oh, no, I don't think—there's too much to worry about for that. Much too much.” He picked at his breakfast omelette, thinking, then looking back at Faith with a smile. “But that's perhaps when love truly blooms. You would know better. And I wouldn't mind spending more time with you, what with the days being as quiet as they've been.”

“Me?” Faith tipped her head and thumped her fingers on the edge of the table. “I hope you’re not implying that you’d fall for me. I mean I wouldn’t blame you after all. Few can resist the wiles of a demigoddess and her tome. BUT!” She gave Daimyon a sideways glance while leaning towards him. “It is simply noit right for a matchmaker to match someone with herself! That would be like a mother feeding her young by allowing them to cannibalize her. It does happen in nature but it’s super icky and doesn’t make sense in the long run. Soooooooooo.” She swung around and leaned back towards Ice. “I could get you matched up lickety split, Daimyon. I already know the first person I’d introduce you to.”

Daimyon gave her words a chuckle. “But of course. Be careful though—goddesses can fall harder than any mortal.” With that wisdom, he finished his meal, picked up his tray and brought it back to the cafeteria. There was no one there to take it, nor was there anyone in the kitchen behind it, but somehow, the plates were always clean and the food was always fresh. He had long learned not to question it.
Back at the table, he noticed Faith was still intently sizing him up, her mind no doubt running wild with matchmaking possibilities. “I do wonder. Who would you introduce me to, if you could?”

Ice threw up his arms “You musical chigger! Haven’t you been paying any attention? She’s trying to-”

Faith placed her finger over his lips. “Shhhh, you’ll ruin your chance at future happiness!”

“‘Musical chigger!’ Can't say I have heard that one before. Very creative!” Daimyon said. One could have dismissed it as sarcasm were it not for his earnest smile and quick scribbling down the insult into his records.

Faith gestured towards Ice. “It is a work in progress, but the two of you have a very unique world view. At the very least, I think the two of you would be great friends if nothing else came of it.” She huffed and folded her arms. “But that’s why we need some quality time together, Daimydoo! Once I know what makes you tick, love won’t be too far behind~”

“I do believe we've been through an adventure or two together already...but I could be mistaken. Hard to, erm, remember these things. Amongst everything else, I mean. I need fresh memories!” He half-winked at Faith. “That goes for you too, Miss Demigoddess. We have nothing but time in here, don't we? Let's do something together!” With arms welcomingly open, he extended the invitation to the entire table. Then, in the next moment, a dark thought rose in his head, and his breath caught short. He fiddled with his shirt neck that suddenly felt suffocating. “—later. For now, just...enjoy your day, everyone!”
He hurried out of the break room, sweating, confused with himself. What had happened? He thought about it as he bee-lined back towards his room: an image, it was, that had taken over his mind's eye for just a moment. An image of a lively break room on a pleasant morning, with plentiful chatter and energy and hope in a bleak situation. The long table had been full with at least a dozen people. He had been among them. Now they were all dead. Dead!
He just about made it inside his room; slamming the door closed, he collapsed with his back against it. He felt like the air was being sucked out from around him; he felt like he was dying. He wished he was dying. Something enormous weighed him down, and it did not let up until he started sobbing.

---

9:00 AM

---

Daimyon got about an hour to himself before...

“Everyone!” It was Emily. The panic was evident in her voice. “Come to the first floor break room right away! Zachary and Jezebel, they aren’t moving!”

The announcement hit Daimyon like a bolt of lightning—yet that was exactly what he needed. He was still sitting against the door; though his tears had long gone dry, his thoughts did not quieten. It took a woman's panicked voice to break through the fog that had settled in his mind, to jolt his inert body to action. He stood up. As he dusted himself off, he dared speak back against the accusations in his head. No, it was not his fault that others had died. No, he should not have been in their place. He deserved life. He deserved freedom. 

Though he could not fully convince himself, it was enough to get him going.

The room was already crowded with people when the poet arrived. Max was lightly slapping Zachary’s cheek with a hand on his neck. “They’re still alive.” Max stood up. “Just out of it.” He looked over his shoulder at Emily. “Just what did you find in here?”

“What…” Daimyon broke through the lines of people to the front, only to recoil. “...happened?”

Emily was fidgeting. “R-right. They were both lying there like that. I found a bottle of pills by Jezebel. They appear to be sleeping pills. I’m not sure why she has them. Was this part of some suicide attempt, or a murder?”

Bliss shook her head. “It’s too early to make those kinds of assumptions.” She turned to look at everyone. “They’re kind of vulnerable out here. We need to do something.”

The Infinites looked from one to another, feeling the sudden responsibility of guarding their two unconscious fellows. Daimyon felt the urge to step back, to let the cooler, stabler heads figure this out. But before he gave in, he found himself blurting out, “They can't stay here. Someone's room—someone should watch over them in their room.” His thoughts eventually caught up with his mouth, and he hastily added, “T-they could stay in mine. That's okay. I’ll watch over them.”

"Good idea." Cyrus adjusted his glasses. “But I hope you don’t mind if I object to them both being placed in your room. We have no idea what happened here. If this was an attempt at a joint suicide, then I agree, they need to be watched. But if it was something else, it would be best if they could be interrogated separately.”

“I’ve got Jezebel.” Emily picked the woman up, and the bottle of pills rolled out of her hand. “I think they’ll be safest in their own rooms.”

Noel picked up Zachary. “That would probably be for the best. It would also give us a chance to inspect their rooms.”

“I wanna come with!” Lucy said as she walked after Noel.

“I'll help with Jezebel, then,” Daimyon said, equal parts surprised and relieved at the positive response to his idea. He went after Emily who seemed to hardly break a sweat as she carried the young woman. The poet wanted to inquire about the matter, but his tactful side got the better of him.

Everyone else slowly disbursed. There wasn’t much left to see, just a waiting game to see what would happen when they woke up. 

Daimyon and Emily did not talk much during the way, mostly because the grave situation made any attempt at small talk quite awkward. When they arrived, he fished out the e-handbook from Jezebel's elaborate outfit, and they lay her down on her bed. Emily sat down on the bedside, while the poet took the table. There was silence for a minute.

“What a terrible incident,” Daimyon sighed. “I'm glad you found them, but I'm afraid what is delayed can still happen.”

Emily had her eyes on Jezebel. “I know what you mean. But such thoughts won’t help us now.” She folded her hands together and leaned on the edge of the bed. “The only thing we can do is be as vigilant as we can with our respective duties.” But if you don’t mind watching her with me. Um…” She pulled open a dresser and picked up a card sleeve. “Maybe we can play cards until she wakes up?”

---

9:15 AM

---

A bit later, there was a knock on the door. Emily stood up from the table to go answer it. “H-hello?”

It was Max “Greetings.” He folded his arms. “It seems like everyone’s settled down, but I’d like some help looking around and seeing if we can figure out what happened.”

Emily looked to Daimyon and then back to Max. “There’s only two of us here, can’t someone else go?”

Max lowered his head. “No one seems particularly interested. Noel, Cyrus, Bliss, and Lucy are in Zachary’s room, and are perfectly content waiting for him to wake up. Ice, Alice, George, and Faith are MIA, Which only leaves Denis and Henry to help me.”

“Well, someone needs to watch Jezebel...”

“I think that should be you.” Max then looked at Daimyon. “With just three of us, I feel like it would be too easy for something to go unnoticed. Given how intelligent Denis and Henry are.. ” He sighed. “You don’t mind tagging along, do you?”

Daimyon pushed himself up with some strain. "No, I don't. In fact I'm quite curious myself." He stepped up to Max, putting his notebook back into his jacket pocket. "Stay safe, Emily."

“I will.”

Daimyon and Max didn’t have to walk far before Henry and Denis joined them. They were talking amongst themselves in a hushed tone while Max and Daimyon walked in front. “Hmm, no situational awareness. Stay on your toes.”  

---

9:30 AM

---

After a second look at the break room, everyone walked after Max and Daimyon. 

“How sleep medicine though?” Denis scratched the side of his head. “You no need pharmacy access for that?”

“Everyone’s rooms should have a medicine cabinet in it.” Max tucked his hands into his pockets. “We should probably check Jezebel’s cabinet at some point. But for now, I’d like to see if the chemistry lab was-” As soon as Max tried to walk up the stairs, his foot was caught on a fishing line, nearly causing him to stumble onto the stairs. The other end of the tripwire went into an eyehole, and pulled a storage cabinet down the stairs. “Get back!” As soon as the closet fell onto the stairs, it zoomed towards them. There must have been something heavy inside. 

Right behind Max, Daimyon quickly realised their predicament. He turned and ran, almost right into Denis and Henry. He brushed into the former anyway but in the end all of them got out of the way in time, just moments before they saw the trap cabinet tumble into the wall. The crash was harsh, and it made Daimyon gulp as he imagined how it could have easily squashed any of them into a pulp. Max, on the other hand, quickly recovered and was already taking cautious steps towards the cabinet. The poet soon followed, content with staying firmly behind the resolute officer.
“Who could have done this?” he voiced what everyone in the group was wondering. “And why?”

Max opened one of the doors. The entire thing was filled with tools.“That cabinet is pretty heavy. It could have really hurt someone.” 

Denis and Henry just looked on. “We watch crime scene!” Denis finally responded.

“Good.” Max turned to look at Daimyon. “We have a few people to track down. There’s no reason not to have everyone present. This was an attempted murder.”

“Attempted serial murder, it was!” Daimyon nodded at Max, and the two began to walk briskly towards the patients’ rooms. “What a curious trap…” the poet murmured to himself, taking one last glance back, vowing to be more careful.

---

11:00 AM

---

Zachary stirred before finally waking up, his eyelids still heavy as he slowly gazed around the room. For a moment, his expression was vacant, as if he wasn’t entirely there, but it soon became clear he’d realized something was amiss. He very nearly gained some air time from fright and backed into his bed, clearly suspicious of everyone. “W-what is going on?! Why are you all in my room?” he demanded. Though that did force him to consider something else. “...and why am I in my room?” he added. 

Bliss and Emily were the only ones present, but those were two people he usually didn’t expect to see in his room.They were startled by his sudden movements. “Calm down Zachary!” Bliss raised her hands in a calming manner. “You were knocked out, so was Jezebel. We took you to your rooms and watched over you. But now that you’re awake...” Bliss took in a deep breath before going on. “Jezebel’s room is locked, and whoever’s inside isn’t answering or opening the door. We’re currently trying to gain entry.”

Zachary’s attention was grabbed immediately by the mention of Jezebel. He looked at Bliss with concern written all over his face. “She’s… locked in with someone…?” 

That was when it showed up Beside Zachary. Monokuma poked the young man on the cheek. “Hey! Glad you finally woke up!” He placed his paws over his mouth. “You know I’m not usually this nice, but I’m going to let you be the one to open up Jezebel’s room.” Killgood raised his paws into the air. “Badabing badaboom! You can enter her room!” And without uttering another word, Monokuma sunk into the floor. 

By this point in time, Killgood appearing out of nowhere was rather routine. And there were much more important matters to focus on than being startled. Zachary listened to what the bear said while anxiety gnawed at him and despite the bear’s ‘generosity’, Zach became ghostly pale. “T-that doesn’t sound… there’s nothing good about this. I don’t like the sound of any of this one bit!” he immediately hopped up from his bed, not even bothering to make direct eye contact with either of the others in the room. “Jezebel is… I have to go to her…!” 

Clearly frantic, the one-eyed archer would bolt out the door and dart straight for Jezebel’s room. Emily and Bliss ran after him, neither swift enough to stop him.

“Zachary!” Bliss called out, but his attention was elsewhere.

Jezebel’s room was surrounded by everyone.  They all wore looks, ranging from annoyed to concerned. Few of them registered to Zachary, who simply pushed his way past them. As soon as he was in front of the door, he could hear the sound of it being unlocked. The tiny monochromatic bear presented the door to him. Before he could say anything, Zachary pushed his way inside.

It was horrible.

The room was exactly the way Zachary remembered it being. With the hay covered floors and the circus motif apparent everywhere in the room. But unlike before, there was a chair in front of the bed. And Jezebel was sitting in it. Her large hat obscured her face, but she didn’t look like she was awake yet.  

Would she wake?

"Jez!" 

The moment Zach saw Jezebel, he lost sight of anything and everything else. The irritated grunts of the people he pushed away, the horrible bear that was obviously leading him here, and even the state of the rest of the room escaped him now, his focus was so narrow. In no time at all, he found himself before the chair, his tone advertising his worry as well as anything could. Reaching for Jezebel's arm, Zach intended to rouse her from her unconsciousness with a shake, only to notice something was off. "...J-Jez...?" he stopped his approach.

His eyes centered on the woman's neck, where it appeared as though something had torn into her skin. His anxiety grabbing hold of him, he couldn't even manage to confirm if this was true before he assumed the person in front of him was dead, his heart sinking. "J-Jez..." with tears threatening to pour from his eye, he moved his vision up to her face. 

...And then the tears that had nearly erupted from his face vanished.

Zachary became nonplussed, and remained still for a few seconds before the gears began turning again. "T-this... this isn't Jezebel." he stated softly, perhaps still affected by the confusion, and then again louder, once he'd taken the reins back. He was partially disgusted at how relieved he was. The one before him was still another person, after all.

"Gah…" Jezebel crawled out from under the bed. "Agh!" She stumbled and fell on her stomach. "Like, what the hell?" She pulled at her sleeve. “Zachary! Like, what did you do? I’m wearing like, gosh!”

Upon hearing her voice, Zachary's head turned towards the bed, and the sight of her crawling out from beneath the bed was the final straw. He lost all coloring in his skin and his eyes began to roll back. The spirit within was attempting to free itself from the mortal prison it was confined in. But, somehow, he managed to prevent himself from dying right here, and soon returned to normal. 

"J-jezebed!? Bedejel?! Jezebel?! Where have you been?" he hurriedly moved to her side, offering his hand for the woman. "...I just got here, what were you doing? And... what are you wearing...?"

Jezebel was dressed in a maid’s uniform. It was a little ill fitting, clearly made for someone a bit taller than Her. She let Zachary help her to her feet before looking down at the apron. “Like…” She looked between Zachary and the apron. “Faith totally did this! These are her clothes!” That was when Jezebel noticed someone sitting in a chair wearing her clothes. She cautiously approached, not letting go of Zachary’s hand as she did so. "She-" Jezebel stumbled backwards, nearly bumping into Zachary. “What-” Her voice cracked. “What’s going on here?”

MASC #2: Fear - Voting and Critique

Yikes, these reviews are a bit sloppy, but I didn't have a lot of time to write them.

alone

I’d like to comment on how you handled the fear itself, but I glanced over Hank’s vote and had the entire thing spoiled for me. So I probably didn’t get to feel the full effect like most non-hank-post-reading people will get to do. But I can say it was an interesting concept, taking something as mundane as being alone and making it scary. It’s a fear we’ve all had at some point I think.

I’d vary my word usage a bit next time however. The first sentence has “the sun gave off a pleasant warmth and a gentle breeze gave just enough cooling.” If the sun gave off something, maybe the gentle breeze could provide, lend, bestow, etc. There’s also the part where he hears the car move and “He turned to one side, listening to the silence in his room. He turned to his other side. He turned on his back and looked to the ceiling, but soon he turned to his side again.” I feel like all that turning could just have been described with “He shifted around on his mattress to examine every square inch of his room.” or something to that effect.

Journal of Alexi Kravinov

The writing was pretty clean, save for that part where you put the period outside the quotations marks. It read very naturally without any “bumps” or things of that nature.

On the story front, it was just a dude talking about how he might off himself. I would have preferred to experience someone considering suicide, or recalling a time they almost did it. Make things a bit more tense.

The Darkness Within

I’m glad we had a more traditional entry in this contest. Werewolves are always cool. We all struggle with our inner beasts, and werewolves are unfortunate enough to have outer beasts as well.

The paragraphs are oddly spaced. You don’t always have to double space paragraphs, but you do have to indent them if that’s the route you want to take. I also felt the pacing was a bit off. The action scenes were over too soon, and I don’t feel the darkness had enough time to properly build up the temptation.

Muh Vote

Alone

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

Amaryllis
'N
Tetrad

Tetrad was making her way back toward the arena, but slowly. Really taking her time that one. She was quick to take Emily out on the water, but was getting distracted by everything on the way back to the Keijo pool. She was taking the scenic route along the beach, and was still trying to swallow more of those gummy worms. It was no easy task. Her stomach was still upset, and eating a giant wad of them hadn’t helped settle things at all. Eventually she stopped walking and just sat on the beach, worms in hand. There were a few crabs crawling around, but they mostly kept to themselves.

Ugh, this was super awkward now. Though she had spotted Tetrad from a distance, the monochrome girl pretty easy to find out on the beach, Amaryllis now had the problem of wondering just how to approach her. She totally seemed depressed, didn’t she? Just sitting at the beach, doing nothing but vacantly stare at the sand. Oh god, if Tetrad actually turned out to be one of those ‘tough on the outside but literally flour on the inside’ girls, what the hell was she even going to do?

Be like, casual and just pretend to have stumbled upon her? Go rush at her and just be super business-like about it? Do a diving hug-tackle and shower affection upon her? Be super hot-blooded about it and just scream incomprehensible words? Cry tears of regret and prostrate before her?

Naw, Amaryllis was just going to awkwardly walk up and awkwardly say she’s sorry.

Her strides shortened as she approached the sitting girl until she was more or less tip-toeing towards her, Amaryllis’s body rejecting what she was going to do while her mind made up excuses over and over again. But in the end, where body and mind failed, spirit remained, and soon, the animal-bikini girl stood behind Tetrad, sucking in a deep breath.

“So, uh, yeah...sorry, Tetrad, for like, what happened at the whole...thing...like, I honestly should have discussed our whole roles and stuff before we went into the game itself, but, like, yeah...it was really dumb on my part, so I apologize for it. I don’t really think I deserve any sort of forgiveness from this, but as recompense, I was thinking that I could, uh, get us first place in the tournament?”

She looked off to the side, embarrassed at how bold a proclamation that was.

“Like, yeah, that’s it.”

Tetrad hadn’t turned around yet. She finished chewing on a worm before standing up. When she turned around, she didn’t look depressed, angry, or anything like that. If anything she looked bored. Half of a gummie worm rocked up and down before being pulled behind her lips.

”Well yea.” She ran her fingers along the top of the bag. It had a zip-lock style seal on it that kept everything fresh. ”I mean, isn’t it obvious? I wouldn’t have partnered up with you if I thought you were weak.” She placed her hands on her hips. ”I’m not going to make excuses for myself, but I would have done a bit better if I had the chance to draw one of my cards… Maybe.” With a snap of her fingers, a fan of cards appeared in her hand. She shifted her eyes towards it. ”Anyway, no need to apologize. That might have a parable of the horse situation.” After running her finger through her cards, Tetrad locked her eyes on Amaryllis. ”Are you familiar with that story?”

"Don't draw conclusions? I mean, I guess I could stop doing that, but humans have an imagination for a reason, so I don't think it's really a good story or lesson to learn, you know?" Amaryllis scrunched her face together, the words flowing so easily, now that Tetrad seemed ok after all. "I mean, viewing everything with a sense of detachment is just boring."

”Is that what you’re supposed to get out of it?” The parable in particular that Tetrad was talking about was one that starts with a horse approaching an old man. The horse’s arrival starts a long chain of events, with the old man’s neighbor commenting on everything that happens. In the end, the old man’s son breaks his leg trying to tame the horse, but isn’t drafted for the war the following day.

Amaryllis made a face. "Isn't it? The old man basically tells everyone else to just say what happened rather than whether or not the event was a curse or a blessing, so like, yeah…"

”I choose to believe that it means that not everything is what it seems. How strong the ace is depends entirely on the card game being played.” With a snap, her cards vanished. ”If your card game even has aces, that is.” Tetrad stepped past Amaryllis and dropped the bag of worms in her hands. ”We should see what our competition is doing.” She stopped and turned around. ”Oh, and talk tactics a bit.”

It sounded like Tetrad was just paraphrasing it in a different manner, so maybe they were just confusing each other now. Receiving the bag of worms, Amaryllis awkwardly held onto it, not certain if this was a present or just something to…hold onto. Tactics talk was easy though.

"We should get to that, yeah, so like, what do you do anyways? I'm just a pretty normal physical power girl without my sword myself…"

---

The Binkster

Binky had been rescued the day before, but was a bit leery about heading out and joining everyone during the festivities. There were too many people who wanted her dead and too many more that wanted her for her unique talents. After nearly passing out from heat exhaustion, Binky was fine laying on top of her bed with the AC on. It was nice to just not make anything for a while.

She swung her legs off the edge of her bed and stood up. She wasn't so exhausted that she had to lay in bed all day. Betty would likely be over to visit her soon, so all the more reason to be up and about. But as good as things were going, Binky also felt like she was being watched. It was a feeling she got ever since she was moved to Beacon, and now she was getting it on this island. She walked over to the window of her room and peered out. It looked like an empty landscape. Just a view of the ocean, with only the beach and a palm tree to separate them. But Binky couldn't help but shake the feeling there was something amiss...

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

”Let’s touch butts!”

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy

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: KEIJO!!!!!!!!! 1 gold

Total: 6 Gold, 111 Silver, 120 Bronze

After person-watching for a few days, Mac plopped down to watch the Keijo tournament. The concept was silly, but she refrained from passing judgment on it too soon. At the very least, it was a sport that could only really be played by magical girls as anyone else would get a sore backside and chest to boot. It was kind of amusing, in that “so bad it’s good” kind of ways.

This was when Veronica decided to show up next to her. It was hard not to notice the woman emerging from her shadow.

“Well? Learn anything interesting?” Veronica was using some kind of shadow magic to obscure them.

”Nothing pertaining to our kidnapper, no.”

“You seemed to know a lot about them before they showed up.”

”I...” Mac ran her hand down her face. She should have known this was going to happen, but it was the only way she could ensure that she entered Dan’s dimension without detection. All the same, she wasn’t sure if it was safe to tell Veronica about herself yet. Veronica was on the hunt for more magical girls, and she didn’t want word getting out that she could see the future. Though she needed to tell Veronica something. ”My patron is quite knowledgeable on matters of the future. ”

“Then I am glad to be on their side.” At the moment, the Keijo arena was empty. It looked like it would be an hour or so before the next set. “Do you believe that you can get to know someone by fighting them?”

Mac tipped her head side to side. ”I think you can learn a different side of someone by seeing how they fight, yes. ”

“A far more real side to them than what they pretend to be, I’d say.” Veronica held her hands over her chest. “You can learn things about someone that can’t be faked. Things their own family members will never know. You’ll never know everything about someone until you fight them at least once.” She grabbed Mac by the hand. “Let’s get a round in before the tournament resumes.”

”H-hey! Hold on a second!” But Veronica didn’t. There were still a few magical girls around, but it looked like Dan was prepping for the rest of the tourney matches. Once they got onto the center island, Mac jerked her hand out of Veronica’s. ”I’m trying to stay hidden!”

“And you are. No one has any idea we’re playing.” The coin broker chuckled.. ”I know better than to force answers out of a potential ally, but you must be a little interested in participating in a match if you’re watching.”

She wasn’t wrong. One of the reasons why Mac watched people so closely was because they lived lives that she could not. While it wasn’t every day a dolphin locked you up in a special dimension to have a vacation, the joys of mundane life were no longer ones she could enjoy. Even simple things like hanging out with a group of friends that didn’t spend 100% of their time scheming and talking about kid shit was near impossible to find. But Playing Keijo was something that she very much wanted to try.”Alright, let’s-”

And then in the blink of an eye, Veronica’s ass smashed into her face. Mac hurdled backwards and landed in the water.

”Oh? Did I go too fast? I thought you were ready.” Veronica placed her hands on her hips. ”We can try as many times as you’d like.”

Mac’s head floated out of the water, looking wet and miserable. If there was one good thing about her and Veronica’s hidden nature, it was that nobody got to see her lose so quickly. All the same… ”Yea, let’s try that again.”

---

Moments after Tetrad began to leave, a certain fire-spec magical girl approached her. “Oh, that was a great watch! Did you have fun, Tetrad?” the girl asked. She had been enjoying the competition so far, but wasn’t sure she herself would join. Emily felt she would probably not be too good at the game, and she wasn’t dissatisfied with being a spectator for this particular sport.

With a sigh, Tetrad curled the corners of her lips into a smile. ”I think Keijo is the type of thing that’s better for spectating.” Tetrad patted Emily on the back. ”Do you plan on watching anymore, or have you had enough?”

“Oh, is that so?”

Emily concluded that if Tetrad thought such, then maybe she shouldn’t join. And though she certainly enjoyed watching, she wouldn’t mind doing something else, too. Plus, hanging out with Tetrad sounded really fun, and she felt she should do so since they were going to be partners, however brief, once they could reach the nefarious villain of that ghoul plot from earlier. “I’ve seen enough to sate my curiosity.” she answered, smiling. “What did you plan on doing? There’s so much stuff to do on this island that I can’t really figure out what I should start with.”

”Hmmm.” Tetrad held her chin. ”I wouldn’t mind a change of pace.” She placed a hand on her stomach and took another deep breath. ”Why don’t we go fishing?”

“Fishing?” Emily tilted her head to the side. That was something she had never really had the chance to do. It looked rather involved and slow, but each activity was a chance to grow. Besides, maybe it’d turn out to be fun? “I never fished before but I’d love to try!” she smiled. “Are you good at it?”

Tetrad chuckled. ”Oh yea, I’m what people in the know call a pro.”

---

It didn’t take Tetrad and Emily long to prepare to go fishing. Emily got the boat, and Tetrad got the fishing lines and a cooler. In no time at all they were out on the water.

”Alright. So before we do anything, we need to make sure the cooler is emptied of everything but the ice.” She flipped open the cooler, only to reveal a dozen or so drinks. Every kind of soda you could want was inside. ”Whoa! We’ve got our work cut out for us!” Tetrad reached into the ice chest and picked up a glass bottle. ”It’s okay, we’ve got time. We should probably drink these so that we don’t go over the boat’s weight limit with our haul of fish.” She sat down on the edge of the boat and started drinking.

Emily wondered if it was healthy to drink this much soda in such a small amount of time, but she was not one to waste things. “Then I’ll take... “ she glanced into the chest. Unsurprisingly, it contained exactly the soda she wanted. “...this one first.” she produced a bottle of M.D Spice from the chest. Sitting across from Tetrad, she opened the bottle and took a quick chug, nearly burping in the process. Thankfully, she did not embarrass herself in front of Tetrad, but would probably be keeping the pace on the slow side from now on.

The flame girl simply took in the atmosphere for a few moments, remaining silent as she worked on her soda. She was eager to experience all kinds of things with her many sisters on the island, but something simple and relaxed was very nice too. From what she knew of it, a lot of fishing was just waiting to get a bite. It probably wouldn’t be too different from right now. And that was perfectly fine for her.

“Hmm~” Emily seemed rather content. Being able to relax, to not have to worry about fighting. Emily couldn’t ask for anything better. “Hey, Tetrad… do you have any specific dreams or wishes?”

”Nah.” Tetrad said right away. ”I think my earliest dream was to become an astronaut or some shit like that. Then my parents started nagging me about getting a-” She made air quotes while holding her can. ”Real job.” She took another sip. ”Once I got my own place, I was kind of occupied with just surviving. I dunno, does that count as a dream? Surviving?”

“It’s not exactly the same, but my parents had a similar reaction when my sis told them she wanted to be a police officer.” she gave a soft laugh as she recalled the memory. “Anyways, I think ‘surviving’ is a dream everyone has, so it’s not exactly what I was talking about. My idea is something that’s a bit more personal. A goal you’ll try to achieve, no matter what, even if it might not be possible.” she clarified, swirling what little remained of her M.D Spice in the bottle. She quickly finished with a swig. “In a way, this island is the dream I’m reaching for.”

”Heh, this whole situation does have ‘Emily’ written all over it.” Tetrad reached for a second drink, and froze. She curled her lips into her mouth before bringing the drink to her side. ”Emily, that’s a german name, isn’t it?” She popped the can open. ”I’m not sure how good your history is, but you probably know a bit about Nazi Germany. They used painful torture tequniques. Unless your name happened to be Hanns Scharff. His methods used no form of physical torture.He was kind to his prisoners, and was known for taking them on walks through the woods, and made sure they got any medical care they needed. They even ate better food most of the time. Essentially, he acted like a good friend.” Tetrad turned her body sideways to face the bow of the boat. ”He was so successful with his interrogation techniques that he was asked to assist other interrogators frequently. After the war, the americans had him teach them his techniques, which they still use today. He was given immigrant status and did some shit with mosaics.” she held her can to her lips. ”Short version is, we’re all prisoners here. We’re just choosing not to leave because Dan’s treating us right and flexing on the people who don’t cooperate. Even Hanns threatened to turn prisoners over to the Gestapo if they didn’t cooperate.”

It was likely for the best Emily did not mention her ineptitude when it came to history class, which may or may not have been caused by her fascination with comics and manga when she was younger. “Ahaha, is that the case? I’m not sure if that’s more brilliant than it is manipulative.” she commented, but remained silent throughout the rest of Tetrad’s lecture, a strong familiarity with where the conversation was headed. Seemed Tetrad had the same idea about this place and their situation.

“Yes, you’re absolutely right.” she agreed, setting her bottle down and retrieving another, opening it with a quick ‘pop’. Emily was going to get around to that very same point, too. Part of the reason why she added, ‘in a way’ to her statement was because as great as it seemed, the truth was that they weren’t really being given much of a choice to be here. And the dream Emily was reaching for was one where people consented to the peace, rather than being threatened into it. “I understand what situation we’re in… or well, at least as much as I can right now, but regardless, this sort of atmosphere is part of what I seek to make reality.” she set her bottle to the side for the time being. “A peaceful world where nobody is worried about when the next tragedy will occur.” she smiled. “A very ignorant, idealistic wish, but the one I have been working towards for a while now. The futility of such a dream certainly never escaped me, but I’ve always persevere anyways. But.. having been introduced to this particular… environment, I’m beginning to think that might not be true.”

Emily’s gaze turned to Tetrad, an innocent look in her eyes. “I think Dan may be onto something here.”

”Nah, Dan didn’t do anything special.” Tetrad set down her can and picked up a fishing line. ”All Dan did was separate us all from the stuff we were fighting about. I’m sure all of that crap is still going on.” Tetrad pulled a can of gummie worms out from her shirt-thing and proceeded to bait her hook. ”Like the necromancer we were hunting. Do you think he’s on vacation too? Because if all the magical girls are here...”

"Geh..."

Emily grimaced and almost knocked her drink over, having forgotten about it momentarily. But that was something she desperately wanted to not have to think about. In an ideal scenario, they were all locked in some alternate dimension where time flowed at a different pace than normal, so that even if they stayed her for months on end, when they left it'd only be like an hour or so. But perhaps she had watched more than her share of anime. "...That is going to make it hard for me to sit down and relax." she sighed. "I'll have to question that dolphin on this subject soon... but that might be pointless since I wouldn't be able to tell if he were lying."

...maybe it was best to trick herself into forgetting about the outside world until they were able to secure a way back. Otherwise she would die of worry.

"A-aah, well, anyways... that's some strange-looking bait you are using, isn't it?" she'd been carefully observing Tetrad's actions since she had no clue what she was doing herself and decided against potentially screwing things up. She wasn’t confident at all about any of this fishing stuff… but she could swear that you were supposed to use worms for bait.

Wait, now that I think about it.

The image of placing a worm on the hook and throwing it out to sea came to her mind. It was... not pleasant.

Eww

Tetrad grinned. ”You would think so, but isn’t it strange that fish eat worms in the first place? It’s certainly nothing they normally come in contact with.” The gambler pulled the worm over the hook until about half of it was on. Then she pinched off the rest and tossed it into her mouth. ”Real worms do have the advantage of wiggling on the hook, but fish aren’t just interested in moving prey. The big mouthed bass back home absolutely hate rainbow eels. They eat bass eggs and destroy their nests. The mere sight of one is enough to drive a Bass into a frenzy.” She pointed at the hook. ”So the red and yellow ones kind of look like rainbow eels to a bass. I don’t know how well it’s going to work on saltwater fish, but I thought it might be fun to try.” She cast out her line. ”Some people use yarn, marshmallows, instant noodles, anything can be a bait if it works.”

“A-ah, that’s nice to know…”

It was very brief, but for a moment Emily had forgotten the nature of the worm Tetrad had just devoured so she found her stomach feeling uneasy. Thankfully, this was not the case and Emily found her cheeks reddening slightly in embarrassment at herself. She retrieved her unfinished drink and began sipping on that to occupy herself for the time being.

“So then fish just eat whatever looks tasty?” she asked Tetrad. “Though I guess that goes for any animal. That does remind me though… I don’t think I’ve eaten much fish.” Emily could only distinctly remember cheap fish sticks her mother would buy her at the store, and maybe salmon once or twice. Otherwise, her family had a preference for chicken or beef.

Emily decided to look into the sea, and suddenly seemed to become really focused at the task, though only for a short while. Done with whatever she was doing, she gave a slight pout. “Mmm, water sucks.”

”What do you mean ‘water sucks?’”

Emily tore her eyes away from the water, looking to Tetrad. “Oh. I was hoping I could see where the fish were, but the water kinda messes with my vision, so I couldn’t.” she smiled. “I suppose that makes sense though. Water isn’t the same as air.” Emily appreciated she had found this out during a fishing trip and not when it could potentially harm her. She wasn’t exactly sure what kind of situation would require her to try to look through water, but now if she was in such a place, she would know how it’d turn out.

”Well, no biggie.I’m not sure we want to eat these fish. Skinning them is kind of a chore anyway. I just like catching and releasing them.” Tetrad placed a hand on her hip, still holding the rod.

“Catch and release?” she frowned. “Isn’t that a bit cruel though?”

”If done correctly, the fish won’t suffer much. The hooks I’m using are rounded to prevent them from puncturing their gut or gills, and they don’t have any barbs on them. It also helps if you keep them underwater for as long as possible. And if we do hook one really good, then maybe we will eat it.” Tetrad watched her line rest in the water. Nothing had bitten yet. ”You lived a pretty sheltered life growing up, huh? Bet you follow PETA pretty closely.” She chuckled.

Emily fervently shook her head in denial of the accusation. “I most certainly am not!” her expression betrayed a genuine feeling of offense to the statement, in the form of another cute pout. “Hmph, I’ve been called many things, you know. But likening me to them is a whole different thing.”

She didn’t stop there.

“Do I come off as someone who is out of touch and spiteful to anything and everything human? I assure you I would absolutely never publicly try to disparage someone so kind, cool, and loving as Steve Erwin! Nor could I see myself ruining a man’s life because he took a selfie with Naruto! A bunch of hypocrites they are, too! Stealing pets and then putting them to sleep, acting like they’re saving animals ...! Gawsh!”

Emily took a few seconds to breathe, then finally realized how heated she’d gotten, a dash of red staining her cheeks. “O-oh, um, no. Anyway, I just don’t like seeing any--- um, I don’t like seeing innocent things in pain, is all.”

Tetrad, very slowly, drew back the fishing rod. ”Riiiiight.” She placed the pole in the boat and folded her arms. ”I guess that Keijo match where I was butt thrown, butt slammed, and subsequently had to REDACTED underwater doesn’t count as innocent things getting hurt. You seemed to enjoy that.”

“Butt!” Emily raised her finger in protest. “Those were the risks associated when you become a challenger! Fair’s fair!” she smiled. “Like it or not, that is what you signed up for! A lifeguard should never complain about getting wet, after all.”

Tetrad rolled her eyes before shoving her hand into the bag of gummie worms. ” Whatever, guess we’ll just eat since the salt water fish don’t seem to like them.” She shoved a wad of worms in her mouth, probably too many to chew. But that didn’t stop her from trying.

Emily wasn’t interested in having any of the gummies Tetrad was eating, the thought of a real worm still on her mind when she looked at them. It’d be impossible for her to stomach those things currently. Though she did intently watch Tetrad’s battle with the gummies in her mouth, hopeful that the magical girl won out in the end. Thankfully, however, were that not the case, Emily was here if the heimlich maneuver was necessary, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Instead, she looked for the unfinished bottle of soda she had and returned to sipping. Ah, she could honestly live off of M.D Spice if she were given the opportunity to, but alas, the world was cruel. With no immediate stimulus to occupy her unless Tetrad suddenly started to choke, Emily’s mind started to drift to a recent subject.

She found her gaze sliding down to her rear end. “It’s probably for the best I don’t participate in that event.” she sighed, finding herself rather lacking in a certain department.

Tetrad’s lower jaw quivered, before snapping shut like the maw of some nightmarish creature. Gummy head and worm tails fell to the ground as Tetrad finished swallowing what was left in her mouth. It seemed that she could not be beaten so easily.

”If it was all about the size of your body, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been defeated so easily.. I mean, just check me out. I know at least three girls who are jealous of this bod and I didn’t meet any of them before today. Everybody’s hiding their boyfriends from me.” She chuckled darkly. ”Honestly, I think you would be pretty good at it. Fire magic has a lot of utility uses, and if you’re sadistic enough to enjoy watching the sport, you should probably try playing it.” Tetrad threw her hands behind herself. ”I’d join you, but I’m already in a team.”

Tetrad had got Emily to begin thinking about joining a keijo match even if she had earlier given her the impression it wasn’t too fun. Of course Emily was more self conscious about her looks compared to others, like Tetrad, but it was true that those weren't exactly important in the game. She'd still love the confidence that came with such a sexy bod, however. "I wonder if there's anyone left I could group with or if I'd have to go solo? I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try, in any case." Plus, she thought, maybe it would be enjoyable to meet Tetrad in a match.

”Really? Well, you can do whatever.” Tetrad stood up and walked towards the back of the boat. ”The tournament has already started, so you don’t have a lot of time to find a partner.” She pushed a button on the electric start motor before sitting down next to it. ”Since we’re not fishing, there’s no reason to stay out here any longer anyway.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

It wasn’t long before the two once again reached the shore, with Emily hopping off the small boat. She turned around and bowed to Tetrad. “Even if the fish didn’t seem to like us, I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with you, Tetrad. Thanks.” she glanced behind her. “I guess I should go see if there’s anyone left I can pair with, so I’ll be going on ahead. I’ll see you when we clash!” Emily then darted off in search of her partner.

MASC #2: Fear - Prompt and Discussion

@Jorick Voting thread should be up soon right?

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

(I’ll get around to Su and helga’s banner later, maybe, if I feel like it.)

EDIT: Fuck that, this ship ain't worth it lol.

---

Even though it was a new day, Su found her thoughts drift to her time with Chloe. There was a lot more to her than met the eye, but it was probably for the best if she limited her interactions with her going forward. Otherwise, it was just a matter of time before Chloe got hurt. She hoped that kiss on the cheek would make her not feel like she wasted her time. That wasn’t the type of thing Su did too often.

”When was the last time I kissed someone like that? Twenty years ago?”

It was probably not worth worrying too much about. Right now, Su had to figure out this game she was going to play.

Su did not fully understand the appeal of minigolf. She knew it had something to do with the crazy obstacles that normal golfers never get to face. If you had become accustomed to putting balls over green hills and around sand traps, then putting around windmills, jumping dolphins, and other exotic obstacles probably had an appeal. But it all felt superficial to Su. A gimmick to trick the player into thinking they were playing a more exciting version of golf. But it was the same for the most part.

 At least, that was what she thought looking at the game. She hadn’t played it yet, instead choosing to examine all of the equipment before playing a round. Su was looking at one of the golf clubs, which was noticeably smaller than a normal one. ”I guess that’s why it’s called minigolf.” She got on her hands and knees and looked inside a windmill. ”Looks like a tough shot.” Maybe she would have to play this game to fully understand it. Fortunately, she had the foresight to invite someone to play with her.

Helga came over and crouched down to look at the hole Su was peering into. “Are there mini people in the windmill?” She asked jokingly, and giggled as she stood back up. “So we swing these clubs at balls, huh? Why do so many sports revolve around balls anyway? That’s super weird.”

This was going to be a long game. 

Su placed the ball on the turf. ”I suppose the reason why you see balls so much is because it’s a perfectly uniform shape. It has the same effect regardless of which side you hit it on, and it rolls the best.” 

“That makes sense,” Helga nodded. She patted Davish’ head as the dolphin came over and spoke the same spiel it had done to earlier players. “Yeah yeah, balls in holes, get points. This ain’t boogie board science. Anyway let’s start.” She placed the golf club on the field, lifted it up...And slammed the golf ball so hard it got stuck in the blade of a windmill.

”Um.” Su stared on, wide-eyed.

“Oh, whoops! I got a bit too excited,” she smiled awkwardly, handing a new ball to Su before watching her putt.

”R-right, my turn.” She felt awkward being hunched over in a swimsuit, but this was probably to limit the power of your swing. Not that it weakened Helga’s shot much. Su gave the ball a gentle putt and rolled the ball up to the windmill. She had great hand eye coordination, but she was unfamiliar with the club and managed to bump into the windmill instead of passing under it. ”I don’t think you can play your last ball where it is.” She passed the club back to Helga. 

“I guess so. Let’s see if I can control it better this time.” She made a new swing, and this time it rolled fast on the ground, passing by the windmill blades in one go. “I think I’m getting the idea; it’s about accuracy. This is actually pretty cool.” 

Su nodded. But as interesting as the game was, she had a reason for meeting up with Helga. ”How did things go with Penny? Were you able to confirm Mika’s story?”

Helga’s face turned a bit softer. “Yeah. It’s just like Mika said, really.” She held her arm as she reminisced about the encounter. “She did have Amber’s ship.” Expecting Su to get mad, she immediately followed up: “But she didn’t steal it on purpose. It’s more like, she happened to inherit it, I think. She didn’t go into details, but she has obviously taken good care of it. She really didn’t seem like a bad person. Now that I think about it, she might have been the robot girl who joined us on the Justine gig...But like a lot cuter,” she happened to add, smiling about it a little bit.

This was not good news to Su. Regardless of how Penny got the ship, it wasn’t hers, and Helga had returned without it. Had she even bothered to ask for it back? Su let go of a deep sigh. ”I’ll have to talk to her myself.” She took the club back and eyed her ball. She was pretty close to the windmill, but just beyond was a straight path with moving shark fins that threatened to block any incoming shots. ”I was going to apologize for taking Chloe away from you, but it sounds like you’ve hooked yourself up with another girl already. I’m glad.” Of course, Su didn’t look glad. Not that Su was one to smile very much in the first place.

Helga blushed a bit at Su’s words, and chuckled. “No no, it’s not like that. She just took me on a cruise around the islands, that’s all,” she said, basically admitting to have gone on a date of sorts with Penny. “Are you worried about me finding a new girlfriend here, Su?”

Su lower lip quivered until she pursed her lips. ”I think you should do what makes you happy.” She didn’t like where this conversation was going. Romance was a sour topic for Su, especially when it was one of her own friends mocking her. Which wasn’t to say Helga wasn’t partially correct. She did her best not to let her irritation show. 
She swung her club, and the ball flew past the windmill and most of the sharks before clipping one of the fins. She did manage to roll to the other side of the obstacle, but her ball had lost all of its momentum by that point. ”There.” she handed over the club again.

Helga swung the club again, watching as it nearly passed by every shark fin except the last one. “Almost had it, bummer.” When Su went to take her swing, Helga moved to stand right next to her, her eyes following down the club. “Hmm...” She pondered audibly.

Su stood up and placed a hand on her hip. ”What is it, Helga?” There was a hint of irritation in her voice.

Helga’s eyes slowly drifted to Su, a playful smile on her lips. “I think your swing could use a bit of improvement. Here, let me help.” She went behind Su, and took hold of her hands, directing her arms to grip the golf club. “See, you hold it like this...” She calmly explained; Su would notice their cheeks were nearly touching from their close proximity. “And then, you bend your waist like this.”

Su groaned, and she could feel her face changing colors. This was happening a lot over this vacation. She hated how weak it made her feel. ”Thank you. B-but I’m still ahead!” She averted her eyes from Helga and muttered under her breath. ”Just trying to disturb my concentration.” The obstacle ahead held the final hole in this particular game. A statue of Dan’s head emerging from a giant wave. His nose was a narrow ramp that lead up to the blow hole on the top of his head. What made this shot tricky was that the hole was on top of the crest of his head. Too little power and you couldn’t climb the ramp, too much and you’d fly over the hole. The wave behind the statue was steep and would punish any ill-prepared shot by rolling away from the goal. Unlucky golfers would find their balls thrown back into the shark obstacle. Since Su had the lead, she decided that it would be best to just get herself into position with this next shot. She followed Helga’s instructions and managed to get the ball to what she felt was a good spot. She was lined up with the ramp, and didn’t need to hit the ball too hard. She passed the club back over to Helga, who had been standing beside her the entire time. ”Helga.” She sighed. ”I’m sorry about the volleyball thing. I wanted to have you on my team.”

Helga smiled as Su swiftly shoved her, taking the club with a twirl of her arm. The smile faded a bit as Su apologized, and she sighed. “It’s fine, Su. We already spend every day together, so it’s only a good thing we see other people. I was also being a little obnoxious, I admit.” She made a swing, and the ball nearly made the entire ramp, before it slid down from the very top. “Oh man, that’s tough. Dan’s a slippery fella. Well, he’s a dolphin, so it makes sense.” She held the club behind her, balancing it on her hands.

Su looked away from Helga”I’ve been trying to enjoy this vacation, but it’s given me too much time to think.” She stood upright. ”I heard Lily, I saw how excited she is about her date with Alexander.” She looked at the floor. ”I don’t think I was always this petty.”

Helga listened to Su’s confession; at the end of it, her eyes seemed to widen a bit. She blinked, and then went over and placed her hand around her shoulder. “ Are you jealous of how happy they are together, Su?” She asked, tapping the floor with her club. “Well, we gotta fix that.” She grinned widely. “Let’s begin operation: Get Su A Boyfriend Slash Girlfriend Slash Something To Make Her Happy! Wouldn’t that be fun? I bet we could find us some cuties at this tropical island, eh?” She playfully nudged her with her shoulder.

Su chuckled. ”Y-yea, you’re probably right.” When she went to make her put, her club didn’t stop shaking. Perhaps it would be best to just inch a bit closer with this next one too. Her next shot got her closer to the ramp, but it was anyone’s game. Su handed the club over to Helga and took a step back. It wasn’t until Helga was ready to swing again that Su worked up the courage to speak. ”I love you, Helga.”

“Great, I also love-WHAAAT?” Su lifted her club, ready to swing, when Su suddenly said something very shocking to her; as a result, her eyes shot wide open alongside her jaw. As she audibly reacted with a rumbling exclamation, she accidentally infused a large charge of Sound magic to her club and ball at the point of impact, destroying the entire Dan head with a sonic boom. Still holding the mangled golf club in her hand, she looked at Su with a big blush in her face, and then down at the club. “...U-Uh huh,” she managed to audibly react with wavering lips, the sound echoing inside her. She dropped the club, and turned around, biting her lip with her hands clasped together. “...Whoah, I...Think I destroyed the hole. I mean, Dan’s head!” She became flustered as she saw the real Dan pop in with an angry look, and turned back to take Su’s hands. “Let’s go to some shade.”

”S-sure.”

---

She took Su to a nearby gazebo after escaping the sounds of disgruntled dolphin squeaking, and the two sat down. Helga took a deep sigh, still shaking. “I think you won that competition by me getting disqualified. So, uh...congratulations, Su. You’re the better golfer after all, hah. So, umm…” She looked like she wasn’t sure what to say, and she fiddled her thumbs. “...You really love me? That wasn’t a joke to make me destroy the mini golf course, right? Cuz that would be outright devious.”

”It wasn’t.” Su made sure to look into Helga’s eyes when she spoke, even if the temptation was to look away. ”I’ve loved you for a while Helga. It’s just-” she sighed. ”I’m cursed. If I try to get romantically involved with someone, bad things happen to the people I want to be with. Amber, Deni, and so many others.” She put her other hand over Helga’s. ”I thought that maybe if I could distance myself from you a bit, it wouldn’t be so bad. Chloe was sort of an experiment in that regard. But I’ll just end up hurting her too, I fear.” She closed her eyes. ”I don’t think it’s possible for me to have a relationship like that with someone. Not without it having a painful end. ”

Helga listened patiently, only sounding the faintest of hums to acknowledge Su’s words. “Su...” She spoke, and sighed. “You’re not cursed. Bad things just tend to happen when you’re living the magical life. I’ve lost good friends too, in my past.” Helga looked at the sun as it was setting. “It’s easy to think it’s your fault when you’re the one who survives, that something’s wrong with you for having lived. But that’s wrong.” She turned back to look at Su, and inched closer to her. “Besides, I already died once. So, in that sense, I overcame the curse.” She took her hand, which was laying on the bench between them, and interlocked their fingers together. “I...I’ve been blind. I kept teasing you all this time, thinking it was just friendly banter between sisters, that, ugh...You’d get yourself a boyfriend and leave me, so it would be okay to do that. But...I guess I wanted to see your cute embarrassed face a little too much to leave it at that.” She looked away while still holding her hand. “Geez, I’m like a bully thinking that way.”

Su grinned. ”I understand the appeal. It was fun to watch you destroy the golf course when I only said four words.” She used her other hand to turn Helga’s face back towards her. ”But you’re right. You don’t seem to be afraid of what might come next, and I’m not having much luck distancing myself from you anyway.”

“Yeah...You’re everything I could ever wish for,” Helga spoke.

Her smile broadened.”We’re a family. It’s not just us. Boteg, Mika, and Lupa are part of that family too. But we need to decide.” She leaned closer to Helga. ”Are we sisters or a couple in this family?”

Helga allowed Su to close the distance, her breath a bit uneven from nervousness. “Oh Su, always trying to make me think...” She cupped Su’s cheeks, and suddenly, closed her eye. In the next, brief moment, she gave her a kiss on the lips. Afterwards, she opened her eyes again. Su averted her eyes, but she was still smiling. “Why not both? If trashy novels can do it, what’s stopping us?” She hugged Su. “Nothing, that’s what. We’re free to do anything we want, sail anywhere we go. Face the storms, reach ashore, and bury our gold. And out of all the treasures in the world, you’re the only one I want.”

Su laughed. ”Stop it! You’re not going to make me blush again!” She gave Helga a light shove before standing up. ”We should do something together though. Something special. I’m going to need some time to think about that. But for now.” She extended her hand to Helga. ”I think I can enjoy this vacation a lot more now. There are a lot of people I’ve fallen out of touch with and others I’d like to meet.”

Helga also stood up, and took Su’s hand. “You betcha, Su.” She smiled as the last rays of the sun could be seen peeking out, as night drew over the islands. “This is like something out of a movie. It’s so unreal.” Her eyes turned wet, like she was resisting the urge to shed tears. “Thank you, Su. I don’t think I would have had the courage to do what you did.”

Su was not sure what she did was all that brave. Facing the possibility of rejection was always a hard thing to do, sure. She’d respect herself a lot more if that was the sole reason why she was holding Helga’s hand right now. But Su had been motivated by envy as well. She did love Helga, but it was that desire to match Lily that finally gave her the will to say it. But in the end, this was fine. Amber had always said she wanted Su to be happy, and she hadn’t been this happy for months. This couldn’t be a bad thing.

”Yea. Lets go for a walk.”

It was going to be a good day.

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

Sylvia was not feeling the vacation any more, or at least, as much as when they were informed their situation would be one. Though she knew it was petty, if not even immature, of her to let a third party spoil it, the unfortunate incident reminded her of the responsibility she had; not only to her local Beacon cell in Penrose, but the magical world at large. No matter how many tasty drinks she sipped, she couldn’t forget that sinking feeling in her heart. And the more she looked out into the sparkling sea, the more images of the city being invaded by vile forces popped up, and her being powerless to prevent it from this tropical paradise. Of course, Sally and Tabitha did not need to be burdened by such worries, so she simply engaged in light chatter with them as she lounged next to a pool, slightly covered by a couple of palm trees with umbrella-like leaf shading.

But then, something unexpected happened. A mature woman, one whom Sylvia did not recognize but did happen to spot at the initial gathering in the main island but who carried an ominous aura about her, appeared in a swarm of rose petals that  seemed to rain from the sky. Sylvia turned with an apathetic look at first, reflexively moving her cup away. “I’m not in the mood for-Huh?” When she saw her, she was surprised; she had seen her a couple of times, and every single time she had changed her wardrobe. Unlike the mysterious, borderline hostile demeanor she had displayed before, she now looked like your typical celebrity, with flower-themed hair accessories, cute bows, and a general style designed to catch the eye. Unlike the majority of Beacon’s forces, Sylvia did not care much for female beauty, at least  not to the degree more impressionable members like Tabitha would, as she noticed the bright blush forming on the shy girl’s cheeks. However, she appreciated the effort on the mysterious stranger’s part to assume a more approachable appearance. At least it meant she wasn’t there to attempt to irritate her with narcissism.

Dressed for Diplomacy?

“Hello Sylvia. Would you like to play Twister with me?” 

Sylvia wondered about the magical effect the woman had produced, and decided to give her a quick, cursory glance with her Third Eye. Though her face didn’t twitch a single muscle, in her mind she let out a curse. It’s...Darkness? But it’s not exactly...It’s something more powerful. Who is she? And why haven’t I heard about someone this magically talented in Penrose before? She had no reason to be afraid of the woman attempting anything dangerous: Dan made it extremely clear that no attempt at malevolent violence would be tolerated on the islands, and he had the capability to enforce that order. And so, she stilled her emotions faster than she realized. Still, she was now very curious, and was willing to engage in a simple physical game. “Oh, well, this is sudden, but it is fine. It is as good of an opportunity to perform some organized exercise that I can get without seeming forced, heh. Also, the last time I played Twister was as a wee child, so this should be refreshing.” She stood up from her seat, and offered a handshake to Veronica. “I believe we have not been properly introduced. My name is Sylvia Starlight. It is nice to meet someone who doesn’t attempt to steal your drink.”

“I did not realize that was a problem people struggled with.” She took Sylvia’s hand and gave it a firm shake. She didn’t let go of her hand. Sylvia made the first blink when the grip on her hand had stayed, but resisted the urge to give her a look about it; you meet all kinds of eccentric people in the magical community, so she decided to ignore the faux pas.” I’m Vermillion Veronica. I’m glad you’re not concerned about me stealing your drink. I consider my own cocktails to be among the best, so I have little reason to take them from others.”

Upon hearing her name, she blinked again, and forcibly removed her hand from hers. “Well isn’t that...Nice.” In the years she had served in Penrose, she remembered a single report mentioning that name as a suspect in a local ring of Balck Coin trafficking, and other magical crimes. Of course, the person who gave it disappeared from the face of the earth mere hours after it was delivered to his office, with no other leads. Frankly, it might have even been a miracle that such a leak happened, considering that she later learned the coverup to have been done by the Ebon Mint, an organization the Beacon is sworn to stamp out. Now I get how she knows my name, and why she is so ridiculously strong; she’s a Beacon-damned Mint Broker! Well, this just got a whole lot more interesting. She gave a polite smile. “So, have you prepared the mat somewhere? Or will we make our own in the sand?” She asked, now a bit more cautious in her behavior, but not to an alarming degree. With luck she might be able to learn more of the Mint’s inner workings.

”I don’t see any reason why we can’t play here. Why don’t we do something like this.” Veronica reached behind her back and pulled out a twister mat. The walkway around the pool was a firm surface that would be good for playing twister. ”Since you haven’t played in a while, here’s a refresher on the rules. We each step on the edge of the mat, and then a designated referee spins a spinner.” In a cloud of black smoke, the aforementioned spinner appeared in Veronica’s hand. ”The spinner has four quadrants, which are each divided into four sections. Each quadrant represents a hand or a foot, and each segment represents a color. The referee will spin the spinner and call out the color and body part that needs to be moved to a circle. After that, the players have fifteen seconds to get into position before the next action is called.” Veronica tossed the spinner to Tabitha, who happened to be standing nearby.

When Tabitha was handed the spinner, she made a cute little yelp, and held the spinner close to her chest, as if she had received a bouquet of roses. “I-I can work as the referee, no problem,” she quickly stated. Sylvia could tell that Tabitha has been swayed by the femme fatale’s feminine wiles, but there was little she could do before Veronica continued to explain the rules.

”Each circle can only be occupied by a single body part, so two players can’t share a single circle. If a player touches the mat with anything but the specified body part, or otherwise falls down, they lose. Pretty simple.” Veronica stepped to the edge of the mat and waited for the first color to get called out.

Sylvia nodded, glad to see they didn’t have to relocate far to play this game. And with the bit of privacy that the shading provided, it hopefully helped lull the Mint official into a feeling of security, and divulge some valuable intelligence. She of course knew the rules, but did realize she forgot about the timer rule. “So each player has to complete their move in fifteen seconds? Sounds reasonable.”

Veronica brushed a rose peddle off of her face. ”So Sylvia, you’re a Seraph right? Three years if I recall? You were promoted after a display of leadership wasn’t it?” Veronica placed her hands on her hips so that she could stretch her back.

“How do you...Well, I suppose some P.I article has spoken about it,” she quickly corrected herself, not wanting to seem at the very least vulnerable before the dangerous lady. “Yes, I am the commanding officer for the troops present,” she would state with a straight back and confident cross of her arms; it looked quite ridiculous considering their current state. “I must say, you are quite well read when it comes to these things, miss Vermillion.”

”Information is my specialty, yes.” Tabitha called out left foot blue, and Veronica took a step forward. ”Though it is harder to come by nowadays. They aren’t happy with some of the things I’ve done, and now they hunt me..”

Sylvia was shocked, but hid it by nodding to the call of red right hand on the mat, right next to Veronica. Was she in bad blood with the Mint? She hadn’t considered the possibility, and wondered how she had come to earn their ire. She crouched down at the edge of the mat, and placed her hand down while craning her hand up to look at her. “If you don’t mind me asking, who is hunting you? The Beacon is sworn to protect those who need protection.” 

Tabitha called out another action, and Veronica was on all fours. Sylvia and her looked a bit like two cats circling each other. ”The Mint has turned on me.” The rounds seemed to be speeding up, but it just didn’t take them long to get into position. Veronica had to cross her arms to get her right hand over her left one, giving the appearance that she was creeping closer.

“I figured as much. I would have heard of someone as attuned to the arcane arts as you if you wouldn’t have been hiding in the employ of the Ebon devils.”

”You’re perceptive, but I’m not sure how I feel about your proposal. Beacon has sworn to kill dark magical girls and mint agents alike, and I was both until a few weeks ago. Not that I even need protection, as you can likely see.”

Sylvia sighed, not because of the revelation as she called it right, but because of Veronica throwing her words back at her. “So you admit you have been a coin broker.” she simply stated back, having decided to make an attempt to not repeat the argument from yesterday. The next call was a green leg, and with little time to decide, placed it sliding under Veronica, looking like she was performing a low kick. There was a slight change in the atmosphere, as the two magical girls were but inches from each other, yet without a trace of embarrassment or hesitation. It had turned into an actual competition of who could keep their composure the longest, even in such compromising positions. “But this is strange; it seems you were too much even for the coin crooks. What did you do to piss them off, make a wish at a well?”

”I would say it’s what they did to me, but if you were to ask them, they would tell you I created my own faction and directed their resources into it.”

Sylvia did not expect that answer. She assumed that while the Mint’s base agents were controlled by debt and blackmail, their brokers were happy as can be spreading around Black Coins and raking in the cash. “A faction?”

Veronica threw one of her legs over Sylvia’s, as if to dodge the incoming kick. ”I was forced to. You see the Mint does not have have an oath, they have contracts. Contracts have conditions when they are broken. It’s not quite like Beacon where they change their outlook on corrupted magical girls at the drop of a hat. But if we’re being honest, Beacon has worked with monsters plenty of times before that. Penny, the portal witch, there must be more.” The next call had Veronica half sliding under Sylvia. Their faces couldn’t have been more than a few inches away from each other.

She grit her teeth at the Beacon-bashing. “It was not my choice to make. If the Beckoners have deemed for change to better serve this world, then that’s how it will be.” When it was time for her to place a hand right under Veronica, she purposefully pressed her elbow up against her hanging chest; Tabitha struggled with reading the next result on the spinner, as the poor girl witnessed the heightened levels of tension between the two.

”I do not feel that is a bad thing, mind you. If I’m being honest, Sylvia, that’s why I think it might be possible for us to work together. Or at the very least, stay out of each others way.”

Sylvia subsequently lowered her elbow so it only lightly swept on her skin as Veronica gave her a surprising offer. “Are you suggesting cooperation?” She asked. “Do you want to use the Beacon as a tool in your revenge against the Mint? If so, that’s not happening.”

Veronica swung her outside leg over Sylvia’s, trapping it in place. ”I doubt we could just start working together. All I want is some transparency.” With a groan, Veronica moved her hands behind her back. This propped up her torso a bit higher than it was before. ”I am no longer affiliated with the Mint. I only control a small force of magical girls, of which I’d rather not spread too thin. I just wish to know where we stand, and if there can be a truce now that I am no longer affiliated with the Mint, and Beacon has changed its stance on corrupted magical girls.”

Sylvia seemed to concentrate more on the discussion than the actual game, and made the mistake of placing her other foot in an awkward spot, causing her to wobble a bit. “It is true we are more tolerant of those with signs of corruption than before,” she admitted, and arched her back, causing Tabitha to fan her face. “But we won’t tolerate any force in Penrose who intend to harm the city or its inhabitants.” She grit her teeth, and made a heavy sigh. “What is your organization’s name, and how do you operate?” She asked, showing some flexibility in her limbs as she adjusted her position. “Do you still use Black Coins to control your members?”

”Black coins are not very good tools for controlling people. Not strong girls anyway, which is what the entirety of my organization is made of.” Just a few rounds later, and Veronica was able to get out from under Sylvia. ”When I founded Crimson Cradle, I had transparency in mind. If I became disgusted with the Mint, others eventually would too. My girls are bound by contract. One that they can fully read and understand. We don’t pretend to be Beacon, but we are unified. As for harming the city or its people, I can safely say my girls have yet to blow up any hospitals or bases of other magical girls.” Veronica was practically draping herself over Sylvia’s back. Her stomach was resting in Sylvia’s arch, and the two could make eye contact by looking over their shoulder. ”Well, maybe one base. But that was when we wore the Mints colors.”

Sylvia turned her head the best she could, grunting from slight pain. “So you’re basically offering an employed shelter. That makes sense-hrk!” She could no longer hold her balance as Veronica’s weight pushed her down, and she finally fell down on the mat. “Um, miss Veronica won,” Tabitha spoke in a low voice, but Sylvia simply stood up. “Not only do you possess magical prowess, you are no slouch in athleticism as well,” she stated matter-of-factly. “And you are a charismatic person, I admit. I can see why those forsaken by all others would flock to you.” She stretched her arm, and bent her neck, causing an audible cracking sound. “Very well then; as long as you only keep to hunting monsters and don’t disrupt the public order of the normies then we can agree to a non-hostility agreement.” She offered her hand. “And as long as our common goal of eliminating the Mint exists, I suppose we can tolerate communications with your agents. But we will not be openly working with the Cradle on the field. And, the moment you break that promise, we won’t differentiate between you and the mobsters.”

Veronica did not move much at first. She also seemed more enthralled with the conversation than the game of twister. Once Sylvia was done speaking she replied, ”I thought for sure you would need to speak with the Beaconers before getting back to me.”

“The Beckoners are not omnipotent, even if they want to give that image of themselves,” Sylvia stated, looking up with her arms crossed. “I’m tired of having to waste my time trying to get approval for every little thing our local cell can and can’t do in Penrose, which results in us often arriving too late at the scene of the crime to save people, let alone prevent atrocities from being committed in the first place. Note that I don’t trust you, miss Vermillion,” She said as she glanced back. “After all, you’ve already betrayed once, and it is likely you might do so again. But...Your words are honest; I’m no Light girl, I just have a knack for telling that. That’s why I’m giving you a chance.”

”I see. Well, this works for me.” Veronica stood up and dusted herself off. ”The non-hostility agreement was the most I expected. I can arrange for some form of communications between us, I’m sure it would be useful.” She stepped over to Sylvia. Veronica was slightly taller, but Sylvia wasn’t about to get intimidated so easily. That was when Veronica leaned in and whispered in Sylvia’s ear. ”You’re not so bad yourself, by the way. You almost had me. If the changes at Beacon ever become too much for you, I would consider taking you on. Provided you learned to trust me of course.” Sylvia did not respond, instead choosing to watch Veronica approach Tabitha and extended her hand. ”I’ll take that back now, unless you wanted to play?”

Tabitha nearly fainted from the busty woman approaching her, her face like a ripe tomato. “N-No, I’m not...I would lose immediately. My legs seem to s-shake too much for this game.”

Sally giggled and lifted her hand. “I could play if you’re still up to it.”

”Hmmm.” Veronica stepped back towards the mat. ”Very well. One more game.”