The World

Grimoiric Heart

Obviously the new girl won't understand the power of friendship right when she gets her power though, she'll come around to it later after a defeat. :P

Secundi Lux

---

Crystal glanced in the direction Castra had gone before slumping her shoulders just barely enough to be noticeable. "Thank you, Liam. I appreciate it. If you wish to dance, however, it would be wrong of me to refuse." She took a moment to look the boy over before continuing, regardless of whether the two began to dance or not. "Though if I may offer some advice to the one who saved me from losing my mind in public... Take those lessons." Crystal smiled softly, the first time since she got to the ball. There's practical reasons, but I assume a boy would more care about the way dancing has been made into a courting process. It's silly, but not everyone will find skipping out on the formality endearing." Her smile turned to a frown. "Apologies. I didn't intend to be as condescending as I sounded." She continued without waiting for a response, finding herself rambling now, likely to her future detriment. "I've been forbidden from using my usual coping mechanism for stress, and have more than I should for a self-imposed reason. Then there's the heat from sticking so many people in one location, the speech that went on and yet nowhere, the need to keep up appearances... Though it's selfish of me to be under such duress when everyone is experiencing those things all the same."

The quiet girl was talking more than she normally would as a way to keep her mind occupied. When she noticed this, she stopped, her eyes widening slightly as she caught herself. "And now I'm rambling and making a fool of myself. Once again you have my apologies."

Depending on whether the young man wished to dance regardless, Crystal would find herself in one of two realities.

We can dance if we want to

As Crystal took position to begin, she seemed to outsiders to be a bastion of stoicism. In truth, the familiar steps took almost no effort after having them seared into her mind from practice and helped alleviate her mind a little. Though a particularly observant partner might notice how Crystal's grip got slightly too tight when it was necessary to tighten, and slightly too loose when it wasn't; how her steps were slightly too light, as if she were stepping on ice and trying not to slip. However, as the dance wound down to a close, she was again smiling, regardless of how well her partner had faired. "That was surprisingly pleasant. Thank you once again, Liam." she curtseyed once again with her non-existent skirt and began looking for her teammates, her social obligations hopefully fulfilled for the day.

But your friends don't dance

Thanking Liam for his assistance, Crystal would look around at her teammates, hopeful that they were nearing the end of their own dances. She felt selfish, but she really did want to present her work to them. Though the thought of their opinions being negative towards it brought her stress levels back up. She could only hope that she'd get a chance to show them and that they'd at least have some constructive criticism.

Symphony of Espers

Marrie Knight

Marrie puked up from the smell and was glad that she hadn't eaten today. "When I heard 'catacombs,' I didn't think I'd have to go through the sewers..." she managed to mumble before blowing all the air out of her mouth and quickly closing it, hoping to get the fumes out of her. She glanced at Pac-A-Fist, considering whether to ask if they were coming with, but decided it wasn't worth opening her mouth for. She thanked the gods that the catacombs weren't synonymous with the sewers, shook her head 'no' at Pac-A-Fist's question, and went through the opening.

Sure, the Bates were likely to draw the snake's attention, but if they were headed the same way Marrie was, ultimately, then she'd probably end up fighting it. As soon as the smell went away she sighed at the thought, taking comfort in the thought that maybe it could talk and they could just work things out. But with the Bates being the way they seemed, especially the girl, that probably wasn't going to happen.

She touched the wall next to the entrance and placed a portal on it, just to be safe.

---

19 | Female | Freelancer | Misty Steps
Apex Predator | Dagger | Physical | Mirror Shine
Wind-Carved Glacier | Masking
Step of the Hurricane | Wind | Riding the Currents
[Storm (4), Flight (6)] Damage X (6), Slow Fall (4), Blink (4), Magic Sense (6), Heal (16), Portal (8), Rain (2), Bounce (0), If Foe (0)

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: C | 750

Bronze Touch - Portal: -64

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 686

Secundi Lux

---

Crystal nodded as appropriate while Castra spoke. The idea of machines that could fight the Void was fascinating to her, the sort of thing that would be in fiction, but might become real? She wanted to ask further about it, but couldn't find an opening to ask before it happened. Castra mentioned his nephew and somehow got the idea that she wished to be dancing like the others, apparently not realizing she was abstaining by choice. She steeled herself for the inevitable introduction and likely dance she'd be forced to participate in.

The game of life is harsh. As Castra looked around for his nephew, Crystal tried to find a way out by glancing towards her teammates, only to find them now all dancing with strangers. She couldn't tell if Selma and Rivka were toying with their partners or not, but Chie looked somewhat distressed. It seemed misery did, in fact, love company.

Grimoiric Heart

Blood-soaked Lotus

|The first impure dhamma|

---

A Magical Girl of eight months, unofficially a student of Marrywell Academy for half of that time, and a London resident for only a few days, the young girl named Karen finally arrived at the scene of battle between her fellow Magical Girls and their sworn foes the Pageless. Hesitant to enter her transformed state, she had travelled on foot as a normal girl to the construction site. When she did finally arrive her heart soared and she found herself nearly swooning upon seeing the other girls in action. The angel of light Lumière being the first she saw, her unusual wings acting as both ranged and close combat weapons that made Karen alight with joy at the sight. Meanwhile there was a blur of gold which, in the flashes of visibility she had of it, appeared to be masterfully handling a naginata as it sliced through Pageless with ease. Then there was the girl in the center of the Pageless who was swinging around a pole of some kind that would warrant further investigation at another time.

On a more boring side of things, there was a Magical Girl working hard to defend the humans that appeared to have been charmed by the Pageless by planting a shield of metal around them, and there was another who seemed to be praying. Normally Karen would feel somewhat upset at the sight of someone standing aside, but she had herself gained a sympathy for those who can't fight directly as she's learned more of her own grimoire. Not to mention that as a Magical Girl it was entirely possible that their prayers were actually a conduit for their magic. However, her thoughts on this were interrupted when she noticed another girl next to what seemed to be a powerful beast. Could she have charmed a Pageless to her side? Or was this a result of the girl's own grimoire, the beast a weapon in its own right? The thought excited her.

But ultimately, she was here for three reasons and unfortunately, admiring the other Magical Girls was not one of them. Her first task was to protect the humans, a goal that seemed to be well covered by the golden fox-girl and the girl with multi-color hair. The second task was to destroy the Pageless, which was being attended to by the other four. That left the third and final task to find the grimoire as the most understaffed. So she found herself tearing her eyes away from the others, jumping the fence, and running through the construction site to find any hint of it.

It only took a few moments before she thought she heard something in the distance, something that sounded like a human voice. If there was a straggler, and the other girls didn't notice... She sighed inwardly and began running toward the sound, her red scarf billowing behind her. She'd wait until she learned the situation before risking transforming, and she hoped with all her might that this detour wouldn't cost them the grimoire.

Myriad Reality

Sorry the puns are unstoppable at times, why did I spook you so?

@Dark Cloud

I thought you were trying to do something involving the Triggers that aren't around anymore, and I was afraid I'd have to go into the long explanation of why that wouldn't work.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by The World>

I'm gonna need to dig but I believe @Dynamics would know, we talked about it months ago after one of the many clone bots gave Regan a chip containing something called a Dark Trigger.

@Dark Cloud

You gave me a fucking heart attack my dude.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by souleaterfan320>

In which lies the fact that Regan is manipulating the amaranthine to mix with his on conceptual energy to in essence make it a completely different energy all together.

I should mention, Regan also possesses a Dark Trigger.

@Dark Cloud

So, uh... what exactly is a Dark Trigger?

Symphony of Espers

And

Marrie

And

Mary

After a lengthy phone call with her mother, Marrie found herself biking to the hospital one-handed. Her excuse for why she needed to go seemed to placate her enough to convince her not to fly to Pax Septimus with money she doesn't have. She avoided telling her mother that she was uninsured, knowing that she wouldn't react well. It took a while to get there, and she fell once or twice (luckily on her good right side instead of on the broken one) due to her lack of having two functional arms, but she made it and checked in to be seen by a doctor in... about 2 hours. Great. She'd be on her phone until then, she figured.

Marrie would not have much time to play with her phone. Or at least, she would not have much time to enjoy doing so in the tranquil environment she was presently in. Over by the desk Two kids were standing in front of the front desk. One was a girl wearing a flamboyant purple suit that probably would have looked better on a man. It was kind of baggy, in contrast to the girl’s otherwise feminine appearance. She had shoulder length hair that had two strips bleached and then dyed red and blue. She also had her bangs dyed red and blue as well.

"What do you mean I need to wait?" She practically barked the words.

”There’s quite a line for new patients.” The clerk looked into the waiting room. ”That other lady is going to be waiting for a while, at least two hours.”

The girl took a peak, pouted, and then looked back at the clerk. "Oh, of course some white princess gets to get in before we do."

The clerk took a deep breath, clearly at her wits end with all the other unhappy people she’s had to deal with today. ”Well ma’am, she was here-”

"Did you just assume my gender?" She(?) pointed at her(?)self with their thumb. "It’s zir!" Ze took the boy by the hand and guided him into the waiting room, where zi sat across from the “white princess” to bore holes into them with zir eyes.

The boy would admit it clear as day. He never liked hospitals. Whether it was for a flu shot or for something simple as a check up, he would always have some weird anxious feeling weigh him down no matter how calm he was before. If you'd ask him, he wouldn't know. Probably because of a natural anxiety that something might be wrong, or the strong smell of sanitizer in the halls. Or something worse, like the feeling of death looming deeper within the facility. Or how helpless people are at the mercy of time.

One wrong move, and you're done for.

Grim thoughts aside, he was feeling more flustered than anxious at the moment. The boy in the red hoodie said nothing as the other kid berated the clerk, mostly because any attempts to calm zir down would be drowned out. He could only offer the clerk a sympathetic shrug as he was dragged off. To sit across from the mentioned lady, no less.

While the feminine fellow glared daggers at Marrie, he offered a polite wave. "Er, g-good evening! Don't mind my friend here, we've been a bit busy." The boy tried to explain. "What're ya in for?"

"Oh, no worries." Marrie said to the boy. "Just a... olecranon fracture." she said, having looked up the term a moment ago. Then she paused, remembered that she herself had just learned it, and therefor most people wouldn't know what it meant... "I, er, broke my elbow." Marrie tried to straighten her left arm and was struck by severe pain, wincing and then smiling at the two youths. "See?"

Seeing her try to move her broken arm made the boy panic a bit. "H-Hey! You don't have to show an example, I get it!" He quickly reassured Marrie, a worried frown on his face.

"Yes, I think we could both see that your arm was broken." Zi folded zir arms and sat upright. "Let me guess, Bike accident? Tripped and fell into something hard? I’d consider the various farm related injuries, but you don’t strike me as much of a tom boy."

Marrie paused at the last comment, before allowing it to bounce off her like a rock on a lake. "It's okay, it only hurts a lot, heh." She turned to the insulting child. "Uh... yeah. Bike accident." she managed in a not quite convincing way.

For some reason, the reaction seemed to satisfy zir to the point that ze smiled. "I'm Mary, by the way," Ze raised zir hand, which was still holding onto the boy's. "This is Fable!" After zir introduction, ze lowered their hands back down. "We were going to go on a date, but I decided to stop by here for um..." Ze trailed off for a bit before making zir smile even wider. "Therapy! Or at least ask about it, but my, therapist, I'm too early see? My apointment is for later, but I need to see them, right now." Ze tapped zir foot on the ground.

_{"Er, I-I really wouldn't...call it...a "date" per say..."} Fable mumbled off, scratching the back of his head. When Mary thought up an excuse, his face comically blanked out.

"My old therapist is in prison for attempted murder." He bluntly said, fib or not. "Ze was going to suggest zir's to me." Mary raised zir eyebrow briefly, but said nothing before looking back at Marrie with a dead pan expression.

"Uh... uh-huh. Nice to meet you?" Marrie replied. I'm Marrie. Weird running into someone else with the same name as me, but kind of cool. 'Fable' is a cool name too, by the way. You could even call it... legendary." she began laughing for a moment before raising her left hand to cover her mouth, causing her intense pain which stopped her laughter. Then it registered. "Wait. Who did they try to kill? A patient? she asked, totally nonplussed by Fable's use of non-standard terms for Mary.

"Well It's more of a moniker than anythi-" Fable rambled, until Marrie's pun caught him off guard. He was locked between a strange cackle and an awkward cough, and the inbetween would sound weird anyways. He cleared his throat once she asked about his little "fib".

"It was. Long story." He simply said.

"Hey man, I've got two hours to wait. If you wanna talk about it, I'm not really a therapist, but I could hear you out. I did some psych research back in school for a class, which isn't really qualifying, but hey, better than nothing, right?" Marrie rambled for a bit until she remembered something. "Oh, right. Sorry, I don't want to impose on you and your date's time. Sorry."

"We're also waiting, so you aren't taking our time." Mary giggled, only growing happier with Marrie the more she spoke. "My full name is Mariette, It's a little unusual, so everyone just calls me Mary." Zir hand slid out of Fable's palm and up his arm, which ze used to pull him closer. "But this psych research sounds pretty mature. What grade was it? What grade are you in? You don't look that much older than us."

"Oh, I actually just finished highschool last year. It was as a junior and senior that I took the classes." Marrie was suddenly struck by the thought that perhaps she was short for her age. Then again, youthfulness was a good thing, right? ... Right?

The boy shivered when he felt Mary's hand move to his arm. As much as he wanted to be nice, this was kinda making him uncomfortable. So eventually, he gently shook zir hand off him. "I'm alright." Fable quietly said, to both of them in fact, with a mixed expression.

Mariette gave Fable a looooooong stare before lowering zir hands into zir lap. "Well, I guess it's just the way you keep your hair. I'm only fourteen, but I can't wait for my next growth spurt!" ze crossed zir brow before looking at Fable. "I think we need a long story right now, so how about you tell us more about the murder? I didn't get all the details when we spoke last time." Mariette was fidgeting zir hands as they spoke.

Marrie also looked towards Fable, partially reluctant to have him tell a story that seemed to upset him.

Fable frowned slightly for a second. "Attempted. But... Right. I had a friend once. A superior I looked up to in a way. Prodigal investigator, despite his age. He and his partner would work together to solve even the most dangerous cases, even if they risk their lives to keep others safe...and each other. One case was an asylum escapee. A master of deception and manipulation, no matter how much that sounds like something out of Batman but, anyways, she eluded law enforcement for years. The pursuit ended up to the two of them. They didn't really tell me anything until later, trying to protect me I guess." As soon as he found the words, the story he told flowed out naturally. He furrowed his brows. "That damn woman. She ended up targeting them. The patient that got shot? Was one of them. The partner. He survived but it still sickens me that I couldn't be there to do something." Fable shuddered. "I hate not being able to prevent something. I hate it..." His voice ended on a whisper. Even if some things are still left obscured...

This wasn't a lie, was it?

"You were friends with a detective?" Mariette looked more confused than anything. "That sort of reminds me of '
A Study in Emerald' only without the horror elements, and it's real." With a shrug, ze leaned on their arm rest away from Fable.

At the comparison, the boy offered a tired chuckle and a smile. "Yeah, not the weirdest thing in the world these days." He said with a shrug in return. "...I kinda miss them."

"I can understand where you're coming from with that last bit. And I'm sorry to make you think about all this again. But, uh, sorry to ask this, but I'm confused. Was it the asylum patient or your old therapist who shot the patient?"

"The escapee WAS the therapist." Fable clarified. "Probably should've specified that earlier."

"Your therapist was an asylum patient? They don't sound entirely up for their job then. Or was it like an asylum where even the doctors weren't allowed to leave? Is that a thing?"

Fable blinked. He was silent for a moment, before he sighed. "Fuck if I know." he slumped further into his seat.

"Well that was fun!" Mariette looked at her phone.

"Not really."

"But not very time consuming." zir eyes darted around the waiting room before locking on Marrie again. "So um, I uh... Well you seem nice." Mary inhaled. "I'm considering hormone therapy. But I'd like to talk to a doctor first." Ze locked zir fingers together. "I know I'm too young, they'll want me to be at least sixteen before they do anything. But you said you did some reaserch on psych stuff. Does that sort of thing make people happier in the long run, usually?"

Marrie thought for a moment while she shook off the stun of what she just heard. "Well... From what little I've read on the subject, it seems like it's a case by case basis? Some people are more happy, some wish they never did it. I'd say the only way to know is to try, but... It's not really reversable as far as I'm aware. I mean, I guess you could get further therapy to try to reverse it, but I don't know if that would work or not. Again, I've only done a little research on this topic." Marrie took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "If you don't mind a personal oppinion, I'd say that I wouldn't do it. If you can't find happiness in your body now, then there might be other avenues to change that that are more in the mind than changing the way your body is, you know? But it's ultimately your decision. I'm not so old that I think people younger than me can't make important decisions, I'd just caution you to maybe consider other ways first, if there are any."

Mariette's head bobbed up and down while Marrie spoke. "I see," ze placed a hand on zir chin. "I don't think... I know the doctor is probably going to say something similar," Mary stood up. "But um, say I had, two bodies. Would you still think that?"

"You mean if you weren't satisfied with either, or that you wanted the opposite gender expressed from each? Like one being a boy and one a girl? I guess I'd need to know why you actually wanted the therapy, but that would be an interesting phenomenon to have two bodies." Marrie said, it obvious from her voice that she was thinking it over.

"Yea!" Mary giggled, even if zir nerves were showing a bit. "If I had two female bodies, would you still say I was better off finding different avenues, or would it be better to alter one of them with hormone therapy?"

"Well... Ultimately, you can only change gender, not sex, with current methods as far as I'm aware. Therapy would help other people see you as what you want to be seen as, but you'd need some magic way to change one body to a male if you wanted that. I guess it also depends on-" something occured to Marrie. "If we're doing hypotheticals like that anyway, I guess there'd already be some form of magic in order for someone to have two bodies, right? So maybe it would be better to look into magical means of changing one of the bodies, though they'd have to be really careful in what they did so they didn't fall to dark magic or something like that. At the point of having two bodies, is hormone therapy even good enough?"

Mariette was nodding much more excitedly now. "Thank you, fellow Mary! I think you saved me a good two hours of waiting in line." Ze extended zir hand to shake. "Maybe later you can stop by the Great Escape and we can all do something fun together! Do you have someone to drive you home? I could have one of my servants- erm, friends pick you up."

"No problem, I'm glad that I seem to have been able to help." Marrie shook Mariette's hand with her good arm. "I should be able to get home okay, but thank you for the offer. And I'll look into the 'Great Escape' when I get home. It was nice to meet you two."

Ze nodded. "Taake care!"

Marrie waved and continued her wait. A few hours later she left the hospital with a sling and a elbow that was ready to heal.

Grimoiric Heart

Karen Susanna

Name: Karen Susanna

Age: 18

Nationality: USA

Appearance:

Mundane

Transformed

Description:
Karen grew up in the middle of the United States, where there was farmland within a short drive's distance in any direction, though she herself was always in larger towns or cities of her state. She's a fanatic when it comes to weapons, and has been since she was twelve. Being in a relatively well-off family her main responsibilities were her grades, which she managed to get nearly straight A's in. Ironically, it was history that she had the worst time at, considering that she can talk for hours about the history of various famous weapons. She has a love for fiction of all kinds, though comics and japanese manga are her favorites, more the latter than the former. Because of this, she was known around her school as "the weapon weeb" though luckily her teachers refrained from calling her this.

She is the type to spend money frivolously on her interests and as such is usually broke. Though she could theoretically turn her "collection" into money, she'd rather die than lose a single piece of her precious assortment of weaponry. Granted, she doesn't have anything too absurdly dangerous; she has no modern firearms, nor bombs, nor rockets or anything of that sort. Her interest in guns extends only to the earliest kinds, while her obsession with bladed weapons of all kinds is concerning to most people, especially if they're able to see the meticulously maintained collection in the basement of her parent's home.

It was desire for growing this collection that led to her acquisition of her Grimoire. A replica of a katana by Muramasa, specifically a replica of the Myōhō Muramasa, was delivered to her home alongside a copy of the famous Lotus Sutra written in Japanese. It was delivered in the afternoon of a sunny day, and at nightfall she was still too excited about her new sword to have any hope of getting any sleep. This was a fortunate thing. At midnight, she was in her upstairs room polishing the blade when there was a loud crash outside. Spooked that something might have broken the fence outside, or worse, that there was a purposeful intruder intent on harming her or her family, she momentarily lost her composure and in her rush to go check she stood up and slipped on the book of the Sutra that came with the replica. When she got up on her hands and knees she saw not the book but rather a second sword, an exact copy of the one she had received that day and was caring for, still in its scabbard. Shocked, she picked it up and noticed that her outfit had changed as well. She had unwittingly become a Magical Girl at that moment.

She found a sense of peace along with the transformation, and walked outside with the sheathed sword in her left hand and its original twin in her right. Luckily for everyone, she was unnoticed by her parents, and found herself facing a Pageless. After trying to speak to it and being attacked in response she instinctually set down her replica and drew the sword that was still sheathed, using it to quickly dispatch the Pageless beast. Upon returning it to its scabbard she noticed that she had transformed back to her normal form, a trait of her Grimoire that once sheathed her transformation would end.

In the past year, after that event, she was approached on behalf of and joined Marrywell Academy. She believes that the Grand Ministry is, like all else, a means to an end. She hopes that the end it leads to is a good one, but she has not had enough experience with it to know for certain if she trusts it as a whole.

Grimoire:
• Title: Lotus Sutra - Myōhō Muramasa
• Classification: Altered Legend
• Description:
The greatest work of Sengo Muramasa, and the only of his blades to be considered an "Important Artwork," the Myōhō Muramasa (or "Muramasa of the Sublime Dharma") is a byproduct of the Lotus Sutra, the saddharma (or "true doctrine") of the teachings of the Buddha. It is a blade that depicts Kurikara beautifully on both sides and the mantra sign "myōhō renge kyō" on the front side. The sword is but a vehicle for the story of the Lotus Sutra, which itself is but a teaching that the three vehicles of Buddhism are of the one true vehicle, the supreme and all encompassing path that leads to Buddhahood.
The teachings of the Lotus Sutra include the idea that all beings can become Buddhas, and that one should see this potential even in enemies. Despite this, the blade is still of Muramasa make, and the stories of its siblings' darkness do not pass parallel to it. As such, the stories of the blade's maker's evil nature and its own nature as an offering to Buddhism create an alteration in its story.
• Abilities:
Devadatta Blade - The Myōhō Muramasa requires bloodshed to be sated, without which it will not return to its scabbard and as an extension of this fact it will not allow Karen to transform back to her mundane form. However, this does not mean she necessarily has to kill something. While killing something, Pageless included, will satisfy this requirement so too will simply harming another human to the point that blood is shed in a literal sense. A single cut is enough, but due to the blade's extremely fine edge this single cut could easily cut too deep and become fatal, or maim the victim.
The Way of the Lotus - Karen finds herself altered in her thinking when transformed. She becomes implicitly kind, understanding, and solemn in her thoughts. This makes using her sword a last resort, which makes her hesitant to enter her magical form, as she knows it'll be difficult to return to normal unless there are Pageless nearby. When in this state, she views even the Pageless as naught but victims of their own nature, and finds difficulty in dispatching them without an attempt at peace. Obviously, this doesn't turn out the way she would like, but perhaps someday she'll find a way to communicate with the monsters.

Misc:
Karen despises insects and insect-looking things like spiders. She also has a bit of a complex about her name due to the meme of people named Karen being horrible people that has leaked from the internet into her real life at school the past few years.