[Main] Pretty Pretty Slaughter

[InsaneAsylum]

In all the excitement of being on stage answering questions, Una had completely forgotten about everything that had happened prior. She simply allowed herself to bathe in the love and amazement radiating from the crowd. All her stress was gone. She felt lighter, like she could do anything. Unfortunately the show had to end at some point. Afterwards, Una found herself off the stage with Vulture and Cinnamon. Seeing the two next to each other made Una realize the extreme resemblance. Vulture thanked Una for accepting 'Shanay' as her servant.

"Of course," Una began accepting the thankfulness, "are you two sisters?"

Perhaps Tinkerbell trying to make fun of her one more time turned out to be good thing.

 

[SadistPoet]

Una, Vulture, and Cinnamon

"Are you two sisters?" Una asked. Vulture immediately winced with some discomfort at that question and scratched the back of her head. Moments before that question, Vulture had a calm and cool look to her, but now she had a look of wariness. It was definitely a look of someone who had done something wrong. She wrapped an arm around Cinnamon's shoulder affectionately and pulled her closer.

"Yep - we are sisters. One of us is a bit more magical than the others, but I still love er' like I did fo' years ago," Vulture raised her eyebrows with suspicion at Una, "She still has feelins' - despite her current condition."

Cinnamon looked uncharacteristically distant for a moment before being brought back to awareness by saying, "I love Tinkerbell - a lot." She reached over and hugged on Vulture tightly.

"Yep, love ya too sis," Vulture smiled at Cinnamon. It seemed that her pre-programmed words were being interpreted by Vulture as affectionate words directed at her. Cinnamon's actions seemed to back up this theory, but it still was uncertain about how much humanity really remained within Cinnamon. "Please take good care of her. Tinks' is not on the same page as me when it comes to the rights of humans, but guess this is the price of protectin' us outliers from grubby execs and those who think they be known' everythin'." Vulture let go of Cinnamon, but Cinnamon clung on for a few seconds longer before Vulture had to gently push Cinnamon aside. She stepped closer to Una, "Keep Shanay, or Cinnamon, on a tight-leash. Make sure Tinks doesn't get pushed ta' dispose of her. I'm busy keepin' the girls here in line, while also ensuring no infiltrators slip on in."

"I love Tinkerbell..." Cinnamon remarked interrupting Vulture's rant.

Tinkerbell flew on in from some random, unknown, direction landing down next to Cinnamon, "ALSO in addition to protecting this brown tub of lard from me, also put it on a diet! Keto? Paleo? Vegan? Atkins? Low-carb? ULTRA-LOW-FAT? Starve her? Gag treatment? Or something to stop this bug from uselessly expanding outwards to take up more space than she rightfully deserves to take up!" She screamed in the direction of Vulture, but her words seemed to be directed at Una.

Vulture stared back at Tinkerbell with a stone-cold expression, "I'm gonna take Shanay for a lil' walk. I'll return her back to block section NE412, uh that's fancy speak for your room by the way Una, in time for the meetin." She took Cinnamon's hand and walked away with her.

Tinkerbell directed her attention to Una, "Well next up on the big ol' list of three things to do is one more thing! We are gonna have you meet my officers, who will... secret organization willing... eventually become your officers. Now once you get to em they have compiled a confidential list, without any of my input, of several different questions concerning your positions on issues. Please answer carefully! Any questions my golden-haired beautiful pig?"

InsaneAsylum

 

[SadistPoet]

Francesca and Bell

Francesca had bell sit down at a small dining table. A nearby pink-haired maid poured the pair some tea and offered them sugar. Francesca put generous amounts of sugar in her tea before continuing with her questioning, "So, my dear little magical girl, we know of the nearby train incident. It is not of the jurisdiction of my organization to clean up and salvage that train wreck - it is of the ArakiCorp, but none-the less I want to know your last memories prior to being abducted. Where were you? How did they catch you? Any particular details of your captivity that stand out?" Francesca sipped her tea and stared intently at Bell. She was watching for anything that would indicate a lie.

ElenaIsCool

 

[Sacrosanctis]

Claire respected Francesca because she always seemed calm and authoritative. She wouldn't have been able to imagine her acting violently if she were held at gunpoint. So she was alarmed when the woman's eyes began to glow red from rage, prompting a response from the soldiers that surrounded her.

"Y-yeah. We really saw Pretty..." Francesca was already dashing towards the plane wreckage, her expression hardened by hatred. Seeing her eyes change colors was as disturbing as seeing the pregnant bulge of her torso. Was she really carrying a child without the girls knowing who the father was? Was her anger coming from a desire to avenge Pretty, even though she hadn't been told that she was dead, or was her indignation directed towards the legendary magical girl herself? Claire could no longer even consider the woman human; her change in eye color was simply too unnatural.

The pain in her leg distracted her from her thoughts, causing yet another grunt of pain. Before it could become unbearable once more, Luce approached her with an inquiry. "Huh? Uhm... Something I like? I guess..."

She stuttered unintelligibly. The question felt so out of place that it caught her off guard, and she had to mentally find her balance before she could answer the question. Confusion quickly gave way to clarity; Claire recognized that Luce was distracting her from her pain by making her think of nice things. The thought made her grateful enough to return the smile.

"One thing I like is sweets. They're yumm⁠—" She grunted in protest as something was suddenly stuffed into her mouth, only to quickly realize that she was being fed delicious cotton candy. She smiled contentedly at both Luce and May as she finished the snack, the pain in her leg disappearing entirely. Her clothes were still bloody and tattered, but the mush that had formed below her waist was beginning to resemble a proper leg, and her skin was becoming less pale. "Thank you both!"

After the moment of comfort, Claire settled into a grim mood as she surveyed the surrounding rubble of the plane. Aimi was screaming from utter desperation, and it took all of her willpower to stop herself from crawling straight towards the suffering girl to try to soothe her. Luckily, Francesca seemed to calm her with a mere gesture, making her once again question exactly what the woman was. She grimaced at the image of Pretty, the paragon of light and hope, first and supposedly most powerful magical girl, and the alleged savior of humanity being turned into a red paste. Was the world really so cruel as to ignore the wishes of such an optimistic figure?

May's regenerative candy restored Claire's body to working condition as the girls were loaded onto the airship. She felt bad about being nervous. She enjoyed meeting new people, but getting two new members of the group felt a bit sudden, almost as though they were replacements for the lost members. And of course, there was the ever expanding mysteries surrounding Francesca. Claire fidgeted impatiently as she waited for an explanation to the situation.

As Francesca spoke, it felt as though a block of ice were settling into Claire's gut. She was tense as she listened to the sound of that posh, refined accent that she respected so much harshly berate her and inform her of truths she never wanted to discover. She soundlessly stood and covered her mouth in shock, crying as she read the elimination methods. With this, it was abundantly clear that Francesca's motivations weren't quite as noble as she'd thought. After all, they were being threatened to serve her or face death, and their powers weren't being used directly to save the world.

She gasped as the sound of an explosion bombarded her ears, the wind sweeping at her face, hair, and clothes. She raised her arms, blocking off the wind and briefly struggling to regain her balance. She watched as Cleo abandoned the airship after having thrown a dagger towards Francesca. Watching as her precious, reliable teammate fled led her to more tears.

The explosion caused one of the newcomers to rush in with several soldiers, but the girls were surprisingly unharmed. When Claire saw Francesca embrace Liv, she was reminded of the way she radiated a maternal warmth. Sniffling, she summoned the courage to speak up. "Ms. Turner...ever since I became a magical girl, I had faith in you. All this time, I've been trusting you to do the right thing, no questions asked."

The magical girl felt light headed, and she sank a little while clutching the chair she'd been sitting in moments before. She collected her thoughts before speaking, her eyes directed towards the ground. "I'm sorry if I turned out to be a failure. There are a lot of simple things that are too complicated for me to understand. But I think I still want to help you. I don't know what it is you're trying to accomplish with the baby and all, but I wanna know why you're doing all of this. I think it's okay that we aren't using our own powers to save the world, because that's what you're raising that child for, right? But I need to know...what is this ideal world that you keep talking about? And m-maybe I'm already supposed to know this, but why does Pretty not belong in that world? Of all people, why do you want us to kill her?"

 

[SadistPoet]

Francesca Airship

Francesca allowed the girls to vent their initial frustrations out. She knew very well that many of them would form negative responses. In the end, the ends did justify the means. Her mission data had proven that Magical Girls, as they are, pose no real threat to the higher-prosperity due to their adolescent state. This came to light in Claire's desperate plea for answers...

"I'm sorry if I turned out to be a failure. There are a lot of simple things that are too complicated for me to understand. But I think I still want to help you. I don't know what it is you're trying to accomplish with the baby and all, but I wanna know why you're doing all of this. I think it's okay that we aren't using our own powers to save the world, because that's what you're raising that child for, right? But I need to know...what is this ideal world that you keep talking about? And m-maybe I'm already supposed to know this, but why does Pretty not belong in that world? Of all people, why do you want us to kill her?"

Thankfully Claire, or the others, had not noticed the hubris in her statements earlier. Francesca accidentally let the key word my slip from her lips in relation to her plans. These girls, as they were at-least, would never have a place in her future. Regardless, Claire deserved an answer to her questions. Francesca paused for a moment to consider Claire's words, pretending to pay actual mind to them. It was weird that the resident idiot was the one asking the questions, but Francesca noticed that one must be an idiot to question her, "Pretty has power that pulls from the Earth's natural life-energies. We cannot allow her to continue her to exist because it is a global threat to our resources, climate, and so on." That was one part of Claire's question answered, and the easiest one too. It had a shred of truth to it, while also sounding believable under the circumstances of magical girls running rampant.

Francesca turned to her hologram display on the center of the desk, "Look here - all of these incidents occurred in the same year of Pretty coming into existence." The floating orb that represented Earth had several dots appear all over it. The dots expanded into articles, photos, and news footage of various environmental disasters: glaciers melting, forest fires, crops dying, and many other occurrences. The articles seemed to have several graphs concerning Pretty's power usage in relation to the Earth's natural decline, "That is why Pretty cannot exist, and you girls must eliminate her to prove Magical Girls are not in league with one another. This is where you will make a distinction between the good and the bad - right and wrong."

She closed the hologram display immediately after she was done with explanation and moved on to her next statement, "The ideal world will have no people starving, diverse individual liberties, but will also maintains social order - the world will be unified under one banner of peace, which will naturally be under my corporation. The people of Earth are begging for a savior in the wake of that monstrosity emerging in New York, and I feel inclined to save them. It is nothing too complicated." Francesca left the room after this statement, but made sure to give the girls some last instructions before leaving the room, "Girls do please behave. We will be landing shortly, and further orders will be given."

Francesca passed up Jack who was being offered a cookie by Chris. He was about to accept the cookie, but Francesca tugged him along by the collar of his uniform, "Come Jack, We have work to do." He looked back in the direction of Chris with pleading eyes. This fully grown man looked genuinely terrified. Before they went to the upper level, out of view of Chris, Jack looked at the door of the conference room before turning to follow Francesca.

Cruise Liner (Francesca and Jack Airship)

Not long after the girls landed, they were quickly rushed off the airship by the crimson soldiers. Francesca and Jack were nowhere to be seen. The boat they were on appeared to be an odd mix of a vacation cruise-liner and a battleship. It had portions of it sectioned off for defensive weaponry, while maintaining a nearby open bar and pool. Unfortunately, the girls were not here to play. All of them, including new arrivals, were rushed below the deck. All the while a sinister conversation was occurring in the airship that was well on its way...

"First Triad Seraphim, how are you? (OOC: This individual is the highest ranking Virtue)" Francesca sat in her chair with Jack at her side, "Oh, I see..." she said in response to something the person on the other end said. "I have picked up a Virtue from your botched operation in Africa. I see they were crossing borders without authorization. Our two organizations are sister-groups, which means we have shared consequence when Nightingale starts sniffing about," Jack winced at Francesca mentioning Nightingale.

Francesca diligently listened to the response on the phone, "OneMind has already been cleared of suspicions, yes - the captured Virtue was dealt with. On the other hand, your retrieved Virtue has not been dealt with." Francesca began writing down some notes on a notepad. Jack glanced down, but saw only strange scribbles, "So you do not want her alive? Got it - our media lock-down and control of OneMind is going swimmingly. We cannot afford a possible leak, even from one of the Virtues. Now, do you mind at-least clarifying on the grounds for the Virtue squad possibly being treasonous?" Francesca let out a little laugh, "So it was the squad leader? She expressed ideas of dissent desired to expose OneMind, and moved a little bit too close to the honey-pot - Yes dear, I understand. Even under a 2% chance of an absolute compromise, we still have to eliminate her, along with those she got into contact with. I will give the order soon."

Jack sighed, "So it really came to this? You are gonna throw those girls lives away for a 2% chance? Because they came into contact with a virtue who may or may not know the extent to what their field-officer was up to?"

Francesca cocked her head to the side with confusion, "What do you mean? They are right here..." she stroked her pregnant belly affectionately, "I will give Una a different opportunity considering she was missing in the operation. I might be able to use her to get my mileage out of working with the Tinker Virus." A crimson soldier walked into the room carrier an archaic looking computer, "Link up Jack - order the hit please."

The computer was linked to a blood extracting device. He slid his arm onto it and pins pricked into his wrist and began siphoning blood. Jack, with his one free arm, began to type away. It only took thirty seconds, "Right, so when can I see my family?" Jack removed his arm from the device, "That hit will probably be the last one they will do without knowing their system was compromised, so my job is done, right? No more outlier shenanigans?"

"Oh, but my dear little Jack, you have been near your family," Francesca pinched some flab on her stomach, "And they were quite delicious!"

Jack had no words...

Cruise Liner (Pretty Protectors)

The Pretty Protectors had been all taken below deck to their own individual rooms below deck. Francesca's Crimson Soldiers were not very talkative, but otherwise seemed alright. They held doors open for them, helped them carry objects, and were receptive to any requests. May had asked for more pillows in her room, and was given them promptly by the Crimson Soldiers. It seemed that the boats crew were either not around, or the Crimson Soldiers were the crew. Regardless, the girls were yet again stuck somewhere with nothing to do. All of the girls rooms were the same design resembling a bare-minimum hotel room, and all of their rooms were located in one hallway.

After some time, it seemed that they were in the clear. The girls all seemed to be in a moment of peace to reflect, scheme, or do whatever they please for the time-being. All but one girl, one girl would be receiving a special visit - Liv.

When Liv entered her room, the door would lock behind her, and she would be pinned to the wall by a shorter figure that had extreme strength, "Shh... shh... It's me, Pretty. I am here to save you." Pretty backed off allowing Liv a moment to respond.

Meanwhile, May had resorted to lounging just a little ways down the hall in a game-room. It had a pinball machine and a pool-table, really just a bare-bones type deal. May aimlessly rolled the balls back and forth on the table, "What to do... what to do..." she mumbled under her breath seemingly contemplating something.

The girls were free to interact and roam for the time being. Little did they know of their impending doom...

 

[Reis]

Annie stared up at the ceiling of her room. She pondered all the truths Francesca revealed to them-- the baby, the elimination methods. And not to mention the theory that Pretty is a threat to the planet. Lies and deception. Even if the data Fran showed them was true, there was no guarantee that Pretty's existance was the cause of global catastrophe. In fact, Annie felt tempted to believe the opposite-- these disasters occured independent of Pretty, and the magical girl's increasing power usage was dedicated to subduing them.

Of course when Fran named herself the natural savior of the world, Annie didn't even believe her for a second. How could she unite all of Earth when she couldn't even manage her team of adolescent magical girls? Despite the fact that she was a highly successful billionare, Annie had no respect for the woman after seeing her callous treatment of the Pretty Protectors. No, only one person was capable of making the world right again, and Annie's mission was to find her.

She tossed and turned. The exhaustion from the day was agonizing, yet the red-head still felt far too restless to sleep. Finally, she threw her legs off the bed and stood, slowly making her way out to the bare hallway lying beyond her room's door. Aimless, she placed each foot directly in front of the other as she walked. It wasn't long before she saw May, leaning sullenly across the pool table in a pensive daze. Annie's brows knit together in concern. One day she could very well end up fighting May in an effort to defend Pretty. But...even after everything that happened, Annie couldn't conscience leaving May in such a depressed state. Who knew, maybe she could even convince her to join in on the plan. She approached her teammate and leaned close, her voice lowered in concern.

"Hey...how are you holding up?"

SadistPoet

 

[SadistPoet]

Annie And May In Game Room

May was startled that Annie came to visit her. She felt ashamed about her bald head, knowing that no-one would love a bald idol (with a frog tongue too). "Hey...how are you holding up?" is what Annie asked in an uncharacteristically somber tone. May noted the change in Annie's appearence. It was as-if she was becoming more like her robot, or a gheist. May began to feel somewhat responsible for Annie's condition. If she had been able to better fight Seven, they would have been able to better protect Pretty. May clutched the edge of the pool table with a sense of pain coming over her.

"Not... good..." she looked over and met Annie's gaze, "I'm afraid. I'm angry. I'm tired." May took a deep breath to try and calm down, "I want to stop Francesca. I don't care how many people I need to hurt, how many cities have to burn, or how many of us die. I want her gone. She is doing nothing but lie! I wouldn't be surprised if the Mahou Hunter and Seven were working with her the entire time! Is this all just one big test?!" May began to hyperventilate, "U- u- una... she is in Neverlandia... we need to tell her this... but how?"

Reis
InsaneAsylum

 

[LoliCowboy]

Kyoko placed the length of her room, unable to shake the feeling that she wasn't supposed to be there. Sure, she was certainly allowed, if not mandated, to be, but it felt like being there was a mistake. In light of recent events, she couldn't be sure that it wasn't. She pushed the door open, trying to avoid making eye contact with any of the guards. She wasn't scared of them, per se, but she knew her current expression carried venom that was all too easy to read. Her stomach rumbled.

Food would be good. She wasn't sure she could stomach it right now, but was well aware that her body required fuel. She set off in search of something to quell her stomach's complaints, mind working furiously as she went.

What the hell was she supposed to do? She had missed her opportunity for escape, that much was certain. She gave a bitter laugh at the irony of it all, startling herself. She had felt more, expressed more, in the last few hours than she had since all of this started. Since her parents had started their experimentation. She was changing once again, she reflected.

Perhaps not for the better. All she felt was anger now.

 

[Reis]

Annie watched May become more and more agitated. By the time she was done speaking, Annie wore a stony look on her face. Even after being threatened by someone as powerful as Francesca, the thought of self-preservation hadn't crossed May's mind. Instead, she was willing to put her life on the line to end the cycle of evil that Francesca brought into the world. This was good. Now that Annie knew that May was doubtlessly an ally, her sympathy increased tenfold. She couldn't allow such a righteous person to suffer.

Annie gently held May's hand with both of her own, letting emotion seep into her voice as she stared straight into her eyes. "Listen, Francesca will not get away with this, okay? We're going to find Pretty, and she will help us get through this. We'll do it together. You and me." She smiled, then backed away. "As for Una...you're right. We need all the help we can get. I'll take care of it." With that, she walked off towards the boat's deck, a new kind of strength in her step.

--

Annie took a deep breath. The fresh scent of the ocean hung in the air. Water parted as the boat traveled across its surface, leaving a trail of rippling waves in its wake. She stood at the frontmost part of the boat, taking in the beautiful scene around her. She was at peace.

That peace came to an abrupt end when Annie bent her knees and jumped. Her superhuman strength carried her several feet into the air. Crimson Soldiers stared up at her shrinking form in shock, but their vision was obscured by a blinding flash of light. Annie had transformed into her magical girl state, and with it came her 50-ft mech of blazing destruction. Now comfortably seated, Giga Girl punched coordinates into her mech's console and took off at full speed.

Her suit could travel at up to 2000 miles per hour, almost 3 times the speed of sound. Moving at max speed put a drain on her batteries, but she didn't have a second to spare. There were 6585 miles to travel before she got where she wanted to go. That meant 3-4 hours to get there, and another few hours to get back. When she was done, she'd arrive with one more teammate, one more magical girl to resist the horrific whims of Francesca. Her destination? Neverlandia.

SadistPoet InsaneAsylum

 

[Dawnsx]

Along with the other girls, Liv was ushered off of the airship and towards her room. She politely declined the soldiers' offer to carry her sweethearts before falling into contemplative silence, taking the time to reflect on everything that had happened. None of the other girls had followed after Cleo, whether it'd be out of fear of Francesca, genuine loyalty, or maybe just plain shock from the revelation. Liv wasn't sure if she should be glad - she wouldn't be alone like she'd thought, but the girls would be risking their lives again for Francesca - so she thought about the woman's words instead.

Pretty was apparently a threat to Earth and its natural energies, but Liv took Francesca's words with a grain of salt. That didn't sound like the full story, and after everything that has happened, Liv's trust in Francesca was as good as gone.

Yet Liv still hesitated in dismissing her explanations. A naive, hopeful part of her still clung onto the possibility that maybe Francesca was telling the truth, that she had mankind's best interests at heart, but was just using the wrong ways to motivate the Pretty Protectors. But even then, the idea of killing Pretty, who was the ideal for so many magical girls, just didn't sit right for Liv, no matter the reason. Then there was Francesca's child. The conglomeration of all the girls' genes? That was just disturbing. The woman didn't even tell them, didn't ask for their consent. Though at this point, Liv doubted that she cared about what the girls thought. And when Francesca hugged her back on the airship, Liv distinctly felt movement from her belly, like a fist pounding from the inside. It just didn't feel natural.

Liv sighed when she arrived at the door of her room. Maybe she can talk about everything with some of the girls later, provided that they weren't too crushed about the truth. She definitely wanted to speak to Annie to come up with some sort of plan as fellow leaders, and to get her thoughts about their eventual hunt for Pretty.

She quietly thanked the soldiers before slipping into her room. Closing the door behind her, she moved to set her sweethearts down when she heard a soft click from behind. In the next second, something - someone - pinned her against the wall. Liv transformed on instinct and thrashed to get out of the hold, but it was no good. She could feel how small the hands of the assailant was, but they were ridiculously strong and wouldn't budge. Out of desperation, she was about to animate her sweethearts when a familiar voice hushed her.

Pretty?

Liv, stunned silent, blinked as Pretty backed away, finally allowed a chance to get a good look at her. She'd already known that Pretty was alive since Francesca gave them the mission to kill her, so the surprise of seeing her good as new quickly faded.

"But, how..." Liv started in a hushed voice, but quickly snapped her mouth shut. No, it wasn't important how Pretty lived or how she managed to get here. This much was expected of the legendary magical girl. More importantly... "I- I'm glad you're okay, but what do you mean, save us? How? That- that means you know what Francesca is trying to do, right? She wants to kill you and she's threatening us to do it. Why?"

She sucked in a breath and stopped there despite more questions swirling in her head. The prospect of escaping Francesca's manipulation was enticing, but she wanted explanations from Pretty too.

SadistPoet

 

[dazzling]

lucia megume "halo"



interacted ➜
mentioned ➜ Claire Sacrosanctis , Liv Dawnsx , Cleo SilverBlack , Annie Reis , Pretty/Franny SadistPoet

⊱ ─────────────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ─────────────── ⊰​

Luce's head hurt.

In fact, she barely remembered anything that had happened in the past while. It was too much. Too. Much. A pregnancy. Pretty being dissolved into ground meat by the plane. And then the idea, the bullshit idea, that they were supposed to kill the very girl who had just been so turned into ground meat because she was a threat to Earth's "natural energies". Things flashed before her eyes, scenes and pictures. Claire smiling up at her from the ground with cotton candy in her mouth. Liv's doll shattering on the ground, way back in New York. And then, even farther back, Luce looking into that perfectly-clean mirror and dabbing blush on. It'd been so long ago. She had told herself, this whole time, that eventually the weight on her shoulders would lighten and she'd have a moment to be happy. But no. No moment. Not at all. She was barely even able to walk herself to her room, and was nearly catatonic as she did so. Since she'd seen Franny and all the secrets started being revealed, one after the other, she'd been completely silent.

It was too much. She reached her room and her legs carried her tirelessly into it. She wasn't even really sure if the past few hours had happened. It was the very definition of sensory overload-- Everything felt too outlandish, too intangible to anything but a dream. Luce's legs faltered when she reached the bed. She tumbled down onto it, sprawled out over the covers haplessly. Francesca, this whole time, had plans on how to kill them. That was another thing to add to her list of insanity.

As much as she wanted to get up, to get out, to do something, Luce didn't even have enough energy to look for that stupid bottle of pills Francesca gave her. That was probably a good thing. With all that'd she'd been doing behind their backs, she might as well have been giving her a placebo. The pills were probably some crazy concoction anyways, something Francesca could test and maybe even include in one of her elimination methods if she was lucky enough. Oddly enough, this morbid though propelled Luce to jump off her bed and storm out of her room. Francesca's gene-soup baby can go die. Take her out on the way too.

Her angry footsteps turned into running ones. She didn't know where she was going, but soon her feet took her out onto the deck of the ship. Warm sunlight washed over her features, but it provided no solace. She was beyond comfort. Everything she did, all the days wasted on trying to be something she clearly could never be, were gone. Franny said it. I failed. We all did. And what the hell am I without her? Luce soon found herself at the rail of the ship, staring down into the gently rolling water. She didn't feel the glances of soldiers on her back, or hear anything around her. All she processed was the hot and heavy tears that had welled up in her hideous snake eyes.

I am not a coward. She buried her head in her hands, silently sobbing into and feeling the hot tears splatter against them. Taking her hands down from her face, she watched them violently twitch and convulse in front of her eyes. A heavy guilt started building in her chest, pressing against her lungs until she was dry heaving over the edge of the ship. Only one thought remained in her whirlwind of a mind; It would be so easy. So easy to prove to the rest of these horrible, worthless unnatural mistakes of human beings that she wasn't a coward. She had tried. She had given up everything. Just for it all to be summarized up in a two-word, pitiful sentence: "Luce cowered". She couldn't even tell herself it was a lie anymore.

She knew it was true. She'd never be as good-natured as Pretty, as strong as Cleo, as steadfast as Annie, as sweet as Liv, as versatile as Claire. She'd never be good enough to be a magical girl. It didn't even matter that she had a "gift" or that she was "chosen". There was no way, no way someone as pathetic and piteous as Luce would ever be able to represent the title of "magical girl". So yeah, she was a coward.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

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[div class=background]

[div class=textbox]As it turned out, the two were in fact sisters. It made Una smile briefly, watching Cinnamon hug Vulture. However a cold sadness gripped her when she realized just how unfortunate their situation was. It made Una realize that she wasn't sure of her own stance on how people like Cinnamon were treated. With their expressed emotions and free will stripped from them, they weren't even people anymore. No one deserved to be treated that horribly, but even still, regular humans were better off as servants. Perhaps someday she could change things, but there were other things that were more important right now. "I'm glad you still keep an eye on her, I-" Una was cut off by Tinkerbell speeding in. She yelled some horrible things about Cinnamon before Vulture took her sister away to Una's room. Una couldn't help but wince at Tinkerbell's heartless insults between her explanation of her next task.

"I have no questions. Let us go and meet the officers," Una replied as calmly as possible. Inside she was still very upset over Cinnamon's treatment. The happiness she absorbed from the crown had been quickly dispelled.

[/div]
[div class=minibox]Princess Peril Neverlandia SadistPoet
[/div]

[/div][div class=credits]credits @RI.a [/div]

 

[Kitt]

| AIMI MINAKO |

The pain Aimi felt subsided as May and Kyoko tended to her, and finally, as Francesca did come to her aid. A shaky breath of relief left her lips, but not much time was left for her to lay on the ground and consider what the actual FUCK was going on. Another ship was waiting for them, and so they were hustled onboard, healed to a workable level, and sat at a table with their caretaker. Aimi sat nervously, tapping her feet on the ground in order to distract herself. They had failed the mission, something that irritated Aimi greatly. She felt as if they could’ve finished a man with a revolver off if she hadn’t stopped time, but it was in the past now. Her eyes were glazed over as the girls fidgeted quietly, before Francesca began speaking.

“First and foremost, my dear girls, I would like to apologize with my most sincere words. I am so very sorry that I have not been able to visit, and personally spend time with each one of you," Aimi’s heart leapt at this proclamation, but sank again once she remembered what was going on. Everyone had new features, it seemed-- Cleo, with her jagged teeth, and Eesha with an interesting blue tail. Annie had more metal than flesh, and as for herself… She didn’t want to think about it.

"I believe after all the traumas you have endured for my sake - everyone of you deserve an explanation. An explanation of my absence, and one for the simple question of why.I am going to tell you girls the truth, and this is absolute. Your purpose was never for the sake of saving the world. I had two reasons my dears for this group. One has been made a success, while the other has failed." An odd feeling of dread and fear filled Aimi’s heart as she realized the gravity of the situation. Of course that wasn’t our purpose. Of course not! How could we be so naive to think that we weren’t being used? She watched in horror as her caretaker placed a hand gently on her round stomach. Had she always looked like that? "This child, my dears, is all of yours. It is an amalgamation of all your genetics combined together, and perfected. It is being gestated as the perfect hunter of gheists, and a weapon of mass-destruction to assure my world peace. Please rejoice that you are all mothers now."

Stinging fluid rose in Aimi’s throat, but she managed to push it down. An amalgamation of our… genetics? And perfected? So that means this child… this thing… will have the abilities of all of us? Something so horrific.. does technology like that even exist? How could this happen? This sort of thing just seems wrong, like a crime against nature. What the hell is going on? "Now your other purpose was to prove the viability of a magical team. You all, and the other two girls I gathered, were some of the best examples of magical girls. Even then, with all your training, work, and dedication - you all have failed me. Annie you got side-tracked like a fool.” Aimi winced. Was Francesca speaking to her? “Luce cowered. Liv wept over death of something not real. May failed time and time again. These are just a few of your failings. I believed in magical girls when no-one at my level would. The idealism of a girl able to be who she desires, and with the power to make her dreams real is beautiful, but your failures spit all over my idealism.” With each vitriolic word spat in their direction, Aimi shrank further into her seat.

Wouldn’t it be so nice to just die right now? Can I even die by my own hand? Or will this infernal body keep regenerating? This string of thoughts kept Aimi preoccupied, until Francesca informed them of their new, updated mission.

“...In addition to the Mahou Hunter, you will also kill Pretty. No questions, no hesitation, or failure, my dear girls."

More droning, more droning, more droning, and then, disgust, fear and dread. Elimination methods for each of the girls scrolled across a screen. Aimi picked her own off of the screen, and her eyes widened in fear. Isolation? A muzzle? The descriptions of each of their containment methods, Una’s especially, was horrific. Tears streamed down her face as Aimi watched Francesca open a container of ice cream and inform them of their task “...Then we will re-deploy you ladies back on your mission for one more chance to prove the viability of my magical girls." No, no, no, no, no. I don’t wanna go back! I don’t want to! It’s too much. I want to leave. The idol’s thoughts were interrupted by Cleo laughing hysterically.

“Haha...Hahaha, di-did you guys know? I said--pfft---I said congratulations to that baby earlier, congratulations!” Aimi was too horrified to laugh along with her, but she supposed that there was some humor in the situation. How couldn’t there be? She figured it would be funny to see a group of idiots, bumbling around, following orders from a rich lady with the technology to recreate Rosemary’s Baby. Cleo went on, calling Francesca an idiot herself, before throwing some explosions and jumping out of the plane.

How badly Aimi wished to follow her-- yet something held her back. Fear? Duty? Loyalty, not to Ms. Turner, but to the rest of the girls? It wasn’t clear at this moment, but it seemed like it would become something she would regret not doing. Liv, on the other hand, took this chance to stay. It seemed like a painful thing for her to do, so there was something unwilling in her spirit, too. It was comforting to know she wasn’t alone in this. And then Kyoko, speaking what the deeper recesses of Aimi’s mind wished to say.

It was all a whirlwind of words, and none of it really mattered. All Aimi could think about before they reached the ship was how Francesca had played them. They were just tools, objects and pawns in Francesca’s game.

Francesca, the idiot, Cleo had called her.

Idiot of idiots, playing cards against the world, all or nothing.

The Four of Diamonds, giving and kind -- Liv.
Luce, the anxious, Six of Diamonds.
Ophelia the fallen, Ace of Clubs.
Una, the Jack of Spades, making a difference in Neverlandia while the rest of them failed, time and time again.
Claire, the softest of them all, the Six of Clubs.
May, the Jack of Hearts, jealous of others and what she thought she couldn’t have.
Cleo, free from Francesca and forever loose from the rules of society, the Four of Spades.
Lyudmila, lost in the chaos, the Eight of Spades.
Annie, driven by Pretty, the Eight of Hearts.
Pamela, firey and furious, the Nine of Spades.
Kyoko, a shell of a girl, the Five of Hearts.
Eesha, the one who will tell their tale for generations to come, the Three of Clubs.
Aimi Minako, The King of Hearts, tearing herself apart with each step forward.

What’s still up your sleeve, Miss Francesca Turner?

----

Once they finally arrived at the ship, Aimi felt no need to do anything, really. She was dead tired and crashed onto her bed almost immediately. Only a moment passed before she began to sob. What am I going to do? Gripping her pillow tightly, she flipped over on her back and sighed deeply, sniffling loudly and rubbing her nose. “A-ah… look at me, crying again… I think you were right.” The voice from before didn’t respond, and while Aimi was glad, part of her wished she had SOMEONE to talk to. And so, she ventured out into the ship’s main area, seeking someone she felt would understand her hesitance, and someone who would believe her story about her mutation.

It seemed that fate was on her side today. Across the deck Aimi spotted Luce, who seemed to be in a similar state of disarray, crying. The idol carefully approached her fellow magical girl, before timidly speaking for the first time since her mutation. “L-luce…? Are you..” Aimi puffed air through her nose before smiling a bit, “That’s a stupid question. None of us are okay… U-um.. Can I ask y-you a question..?” Aimi tilted her head to the right a little before looking back down, pondering if this was an acceptable question to ask someone who was crying on a ship deck on a beautiful day. If Luce told her to fuck off, she would understand, but it would hurt like hell. Yet, it felt like it was worth asking.

“Are you as fucking miserable as I am?” ​

 

[Mqueserasera]

Christine Gein
Lodestar
Mentions: Rosemary ( Servant ) Sera (@Sushi Muncher )
Interactions: Kyoko ( LoliCowboy )
​

Chris chomped on a stale cookie and her meager sadness a trifle. From where she sat, it was a big room, though, for her small frame, it would have been big no matter where she and her melancholy mood located. Space was never a big concern to her, she never took much space, her presence small and her movements smaller still. And so, with minimal movements, she sat, ate, and reflected on her mistake.

Human is a complex kind, it appeared so. Unlike mere animals, they strive for the greater, and even greater, to wherever stretched to or beyond the edge of their imagination. People are capable of so much more than what simple animals could.

Yet she had tried to tempt them with food, cookies no less.

To be honest, it was an honest mistake. How could she know of the many existing disparities between people and cats without ever interacting with those people before? Well, she did know to an extent, but it was irrelevant. She acknowledged that not all simpleton is simple at all times, admitted that she offering them foods was an experiment she conducted to see if the girls are as much a simpleton as herself. One burned it, and the other two had matters more pressing than taking her offer of sweet, homemade cookies. It couldn’t be her false that people are too complex for their own good, wasn’t it? Even if the answer was yes, she couldn’t help but wishing for them to forego their made-up problems and focus on having a bit of fun, and cookies.

She was only a bit sad though, only a tiny small bit.

Chris stood up without a word, because there was no one beside her in the room. Though she could use someone right now, a friend, an enemy even, to share her contemplating. The crimson soldiers seemed alright.

She put the half-eaten cookie back to the plastic package, hid it in her cramped bag then went outside. And bumped into someone.

“Oh bugger,” said Chris quietly, “sorry about… ARRGH!”

She had bumped into, realistically speaking and vividly looking, a zombie.

“Sorry!” She apologized for her appropriate reaction. The zombie was a small girl, as small as her, which was quite small. She had scarred limbs, an expressionless face and a tint of anger, albeit small, in her eyes.

“I thought you were a zombie,” it was a lie, Chris was still thinking that. “Since you look like a corpse, or a solid ghost with, eh, solid chopped up limbs. What I’m trying to say is, I’m trying to say that despite that you don’t look like you’re looking for some brains.” Well, her eyes totally said otherwise. Chris was quite smart, with a big and delicious looking brain too, those facts worried the poor girl.

“If it’s not brains you’re having for dinner then we can go grab a bite together, I think?”

Then she had a second thought. The thought said: "Have you not learned anything, silly Chris? Stop using food to approach others! People are not cats, dogs, ducks or Chris!"

“Or not!” she said in a haste, “I don’t want to eat, I never eat when I’m not hungry, I hate food!”

 

[LoliCowboy]

“Or not! I don’t want to eat, I never eat when I’m not hungry, I hate food!”

Kyoko cocked her head slightly. What an odd girl. Something in her registered that maybe she should be offended by the zombie comment, but she found that it had instead brought her back to reality somewhat. Her anger, though still simmering beneath the surface, was tamed for the moment. She offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I am rather hungry, actually," she said quietly. "But... not for brains. Though I would greatly enjoy some baked goods, I would think." She studied the girl, who seemed rather unbothered by the situation at hand, and then remembered. She didn't know. About everything.

About that bitch Francesca.

The anger flared again, but just for a moment. She focused on maintaining a pleasant expression.

"So," she began cautiously. "What do you think of... the organization. This situation. What do you hope to find here with us?"

Mqueserasera

 

[dazzling]

lucia megume "halo"



interacted ➜ Aimi Kitt
mentioned ➜
location ➜ Ship deck

⊱ ─────────────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ─────────────── ⊰​

The sweet voice coming from behind was familiar. That sweet voice, belonging to that sweet girl. Why wasn't she more like Aimi? Aimi was perfect. Aimi was beautiful. Aimi was useful. Aimi was a magical girl. And she couldn't cope with her being there. Francesca was probably going to kill Luce-- No, she had to keep her elimination in mind. She was probably going to kill herself. Hahah, I'm such a coward! What a coward move! She was right! But Aimi would be spared. She had done so much. She didn't deserve this.

Even so, Luce was able to sympathize with her. What she did at the wreckage, stabbing her eye out, someone who did that was not alright. In a way it connected them; Luce's feet were already mentally perched on the railing on the boat. Oh, how she wanted to feel the cold water filling her lungs. Maybe Francesca's words had had some good effect in a way, as they were the only thing stopping her.

She didn't want to be known as a coward. Luce turned back to Aimi. Her face was red and blotchy with tears, and her sickly yellow eyes filled to the brim with more to come. She couldn't even offer her some sort of sad, measly smile. She could only manage the slightest nod before casting her eyes down. She couldn't help but wonder what question Aimi was going to ask. And fuck it, if she asked what was wrong or some bullshit lip service like that, Luce was jumping.

"Are you as fucking miserable as I am?"

Right then, right there, something broke. It was like Aimi had simply wiped away all her cares with that one simple sentence. It hit home with a painful accuracy, rendering her nearly speechless. Franny's voice, reverberating around her skull, whispering a harsh "coward", disappeared. The tears welling up in her eyes faded back. And all she could do was open her trembling lips and plead.


"Aimi.... Please come with me."

Her voice, a shaking and miserable beg, quickly turned almost fanatical as more and more words started pouring out of her lips. "They wouldn't find us! The ocean is huge!" They wouldn't stop. Her thoughts flowed, unbarred, straight from her twisted mind to her mouth. "We wouldn't have to deal with this!" Why wouldn't they stop? "She's going to kill us anyways! Don't you want to control your own fate?!" She laughed, a choking, gurgling sound. "Please come with me! We can do it together!" Luce was backed up against the railing now, her hands stiffly clamped on it.

"Come with me! Please... Please! Please Aimi..."

 

[Servant]

(Apologies for the rushed post.)
From the outside of Rosemary's room a faint yet noticeable green hued light slipped through the door's cracks, and should one dare to get close enough they'd be greeted by the peculiar scent of burnt meat. While relatively inviting at first the inside painted a far grimmer picture. Standing motionless in the middle of her room was Pumpkin with her left hand set completely ablaze, not exactly the most uncommon of sights until one became aware of her agitated breathing. While some furniture inside the room did show some signs of damage (Such as a lamp with its top fully on fire, probably the brightest that piece of trash will ever shine) nothing came close to matching what Pumpkin was experiencing. Her body appeared to be plastered with third degree burns, such as part of her right cheek which had been fully burnt off thus fully displaying her teeth, and yet she showed no signs of an attempt to quench the flames that covered her hand. She simply stared at it. A few moments passed before finally Pumpkin dissipated the fire, revealing burn damage that managed to reach her bones. Pumpkin opened her mouth to say something when suddenly a wave of pain cruising through her whole body caused the young Virtue to collapse onto the ground. The previously damaged nerves had finally regenerated back and they weren't exactly pleased with Pumpkin's actions. She had to bite down her arm just to stop herself from screaming in agony. For what seemed like an eternity Pumpkin laid on the ground in a fetal position, her body occasionally twitching, until all the burns had fully healed up and she was able to slowly incorporate herself back up.

"How many times have we had this conversation? 13 times? Well then, for the 13th time this is not your fault." Despite the excruciating experience she had just gone through Pumpkin had seemingly completely dismissed the whole situation and instead opted to engage in an empty conversation with Chainy as it sat on top of the bed, its expression showing signs of concern. "This is just the way things are, ya know? I doubt it'll ever change, but still I have to give it a shot from time to time, can you imagine how rad it'd be if it worked out for once? " Pumpkin crouched in front of Chainy, her mask displaying a wide smile as she took her weapon and chained it to her leg. "So please stop blaming yourself, yes you are at fault for many, and I mean MANY, other problems, but not this one. 'Kay? 'Kay. And save the sass will ya, I am keeping a mental note of all your fuck-ups and it's looooooong."

With that whole ordeal now left behind and the room being fire-free Pumpkin finally chose to check-out the cruise. The fact that she'd been shoved into the boat after the ship ride only fueled her frustration, specially seeing as she had yet to contact HQ, and she needed a way to vent. Stepping into the corridor revealed the distant sound of feminine voices engaging in conversation. Pumpkin briefly considered the idea of joining them until she remembered who they were and who they served: "I bet they are as honest as that bitch too." With nothing else to do there Pumpkin wandered away from the voices. For the most part the cruise appeared to be mindbogglingly dull, with the most interesting things she saw being the crimson guards from before as well as catching a glimpse of an interaction between the cookie-gifting ghost gift from before and...a walking corpse. You bet your sweet bippy she didn't stick around those two. Further exploration finally revealed a sight that almost moved Pumpkin to tears: A gym. And then she almost cried again when she saw the state it was in. Weights scattered on the floor, a dust covered benching press, two exercise bikes (One toppled over, the other missing both pedals.), an exercise mat that more so looked like a dirty floor rag and three punching bags barely held together by grey industrial tape. Pumpkin took a moment to take in her surroundings. She took a deep breath and calmly exhaled...Then she sprinted at full speed towards the punching bags and with a mighty kick managed to shatter the chains that held one of them up. Once the bag struck the floor Pumpkin picked it up and threw it across the room, it ended up landing on the hall outside the gym.

"...Oh really, you don't say!? I never would've guessed I used too much force, thanks for the insightful comment Chainy!" Pumpkin yelled before angrily stepping on her weapon's "head". "Whatever, if I am going to do this then I'll do it properly. Just be useful for once in your goddamn life and tell me if you hear someone coming." And with that Pumpkin reached for her mask and with a swift motion she ripped it off her face. What followed was her magical girl outfit slowly becoming ashes that fell onto the floor, the mask being the last thing to go, and by the end of it she was back to wearing her sporty clothing from before. With her normal form now assumed Rosemary was able to take a few swings at one of the remaining punching bags without it immediately breaking. The feeling of her Rune Caster tightly strapped to her back and her flight gear hovering above her head made Rosemary feel relatively safe, though her mind still remained cautious. Still, she needed this, after all it had been one hell of an unpleasant trip so far.

 

[Mqueserasera]

Christine Gein
Lodestar
Mentions:
Interactions: Kyoko ( LoliCowboy )
​

“Opportunities and career advancement I suppose?” Chris cocked her head. Is this an interview? She would rather further the topic of food or her fabricated hatred of it. She never expected to hear such a serious question from a zombie, or someone who, by chance, looks exactly like one. But it was a question she knew the correct answer for, or at least the answer the typical Magical Girls would want to hear. More precisely, the voices knew.

To save the world, rid it of sufferings, make it a better place. Make it pretty. The voices had been whispering those desires into her ears, unceasing ever since that day of the strange dream.

Her left eye twitched ever so slightly as the rest of her face fixed a friendly expression in place. It took some effort to suppress the voices. But she had gotten used to it. With time, you can get used to anything.

Well now, she told herself, don’t say anything weird, just be short and to the point.

“I mean,” she said after a period of silence, “I don’t think much of it at all. It’s big, yeah?”, she referred to their organization, “and pays well. That’s what matters at the end of the day, isn’t it? And it’s not like I don’t know of any better alternative, but you can’t afford to be picky in times like these anyway, I mean, people like us can’t, but don’t quote me on that. Like saying every man for himself, but in an inevitable way or something like that. What I’m trying to say is,” she stopped mid-sentence to gather her own thoughts.

“My criteria are simple for a reason, it’s not that a good cause doesn’t matter, saving the world ain't that bad, it’s just that everyone claims it for their causes one way or another nowadays. And I don’t have that big a brain,” she stressed the word and sneaked a peek at the other girl’s face, unchanging since the beginning of her ramble, made Chris wondered if she had bored the girl to death, if zombies could still die of boredom that is, “Hm, I know I’m being super roundabout about this. Guess you can just say that all I’m looking for is a place to belong. The rest is kinda… irrelevant.”

“What do you think?” she added without knowing what to expect in return, a compliment or a reprimand perhaps?

 

[LoliCowboy]

Kyoko drew in a breath, let it out. "What do I think?" She murmured to herself. Being asked her opinion was a... new experience. It was usually "do this" or "just be quiet, it'll be over soon." But never "what do you think?"

What did she think?

"I think... well, firstly I think your brain is bigger than you give yourself credit for. Secondly... maybe we can, even in times like these, be picky?" She searched her mind, not sure how much she should say. She didn't want to destroy the world that this girl had just discovered, the place to belong that she had found. "I think we've been looking for the same thing, really. Belonging. But it maybe doesn't have to be the first place we find. Or maybe it does. Maybe pickiness will doom us, if that is the road we follow. I don't know." Her smile faltered. "I really, really don't know."

With effort, she revived her pleasant expression. "I, ah, hope that comment about your brain didn't reinforce the zombie idea, but I really am hungry. I apologize for the... sudden change in topic. I just feel like, in the situation we find ourselves in, time to get to know each other - understand each other - is at somewhat of a premium." She faltered, not used to talking this much. It seemed that the tumult around her had forced so much into her head that it was all ricocheting around, forcing its way out of her throat. "Do you know where to find some food? Human food, I promise. You can keep your brains for today."

Mqueserasera

 

[Kitt]

| AIMI MINAKO |
dazzling

"Aimi.... Please come with me."

Aimi blinked. She didn't know how to respond to that. Go where? The idol gave Luce a look over, and realized the implication of her statement. Luce is going to jump. Aimi tensed as Luce rambled on, "They wouldn't find us! The ocean is huge!We wouldn't have to deal with this! She's going to kill us anyways! Don't you want to control your own fate?!" Luce laughed, the mania and intense desperation incredibly present in her voice. It was almost palpable how badly she wanted to jump, how badly she wanted it all to end. Part of Aimi sympathized. The part that tried to kill the voice in her head earlier in the day. The part that wished she could kill herself, and cursed her healing that prevented her from doing so.

"Please come with me! We can do it together! Come with me! Please... Please! Please Aimi..." Luce was pushed against the railing, knuckles white as her grip on the metal bars tightened. Aimi looked down at the ground numbly. She didn't mean to trigger this sort of reaction. If Luce jumped, would her blood be on Aimi's hands? "Luce... i-if you're really set on doing this, I can't stop you. But.. Hear me out first before you go."

"After we all fell out of the plane, I woke up with a voice in my head." She paused, chuckling at how crazy it all sounded. Is this crazy? I mean, we've been through much worse things. Hopefully this doesn't push the line too far. She poked her temple three times before continuing. "It's a mutation. I know it is. A-and I know I sound crazy. It kept taunting me and mocking me, and I wanted it out. I would've done anything to get it out. I wanted to rip my brain right out of my skull and destroy it. Anything to make it stop...." Aimi trailed off as she tried to recall the rest of the memory. All she felt was pain, excruciating pain, but... relief, as the voice was silent, covered by the sounds of her screams. It was all pain, until... Francesca made it go away.

How did she make it go away?

"A-anyways. What I mean to say is... I understand wanting to make the pain stop." She snapped back to reality, remembering that she was supposed to be talking a suicidal girl off the literal ledge. "Back there, Francesca silenced it with a wave of her hand. I-It was.. unnatural. But... After it all stopped, and when Ms. Turner was telling us... everything... it made me think." She sighed and looked out on the edge, watching the water pass by. "I wish I was strong like Cleo. I wish I could've jumped off and gone with her, out on our own...." Her voice trailed off, and when she spoke again, her tone was different. Darker. "But I didn't. Because I want to help you all." Aimi placed her hands on Luce's, gently pulling her off of the railing and continued talking to her, hand in hand. "We all need help. From.. each other." It was here that the idol pulled Luce in close, inches away from her own face. Her eyes searched inside of Luce's tear-filled ones, darting back and forth, before Aimi pulled her into a close embraced and whispered in her ear. "We have to find out what Francesca Turner really is. And we have to kill her, and that monster growing inside of her. So you can't die yet. I won't let you." ​

 

[dazzling]

lucia megume "halo"



interacted ➜ Aimi Kitt , Chris Mqueserasera , Kyoko LoliCowboy
mentioned ➜ Cleo SilverBlack
location ➜ Ship deck, Chris and Kyoko's hall

⊱ ─────────────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ─────────────── ⊰​

Luce's face fell from a lopsided, sick grin to a small, resigned pout in a matter of seconds. She could feel her emotions rolling around in her stomach, hitting off signals at such a fast rate she could barely process anything. Her knuckles, clenched ever so tightly around the ship's railing, started to tingle with a cold sensation. She felt weak.

Why is this happening?

She was so focused on the swirling mess of feelings that she almost missed Aimi's next words. "I woke up with a voice in my head." Luce was almost tinged with surprise from her lack of reaction. Immediately her mind signed it off as a mutation, just another one among the rising count the Pretty Protectors boasted. An interesting one nonetheless, but still a mutation. But something in Aimi's voice, something told Luce that she was having a hard time grasping it. And she didn't blame her. A voice, whispering in her head? I'm sure Aimi's own voice is hard enough to deal with. A sudden pang of sympathy broke through the agonizing apathy that had clumped up in her chest. All this time, she had forgot what Aimi had left-- A fanbase, a lovely life, having the ability to sing and make music. Luce was struck by how selfish she had been just moments ago. Her real cowardice wasn't in not being a good fighter, but in not realizing how self-centered she was. She wasn't the only one who had issues, who gave things up to come here. She wasn't the only one who felt betrayed.

In her small reverie, Luce had failed to notice Aimi getting closer to her. She almost backed up farther against the rail, but her next words stopped her brain mid-thought. "She fixed it? How could--" Cutting herself off before she could stumble over her words anymore, Luce almost slapped her hand to her mouth. Even in her precarious emotional state, that one truth cut through it all with a shocking clarity. How could she stop it? How could she stop it? How could she stop it? Can she fix us?

Tucking the tumultuous thoughts away, Luce pondered over Aimi's words. She hadn't been in the wrong by not going off with Cleo. Sure, what Cleo did was brave, but what Aimi did was maybe even braver. Staying and facing the situation like she did, with no fear in her eyes, took guts. Her grip loosened before her hands slid off the rail to be gently grasped in Aimi's. And in all of a second, a bright firework shot off in Luce's chest. A vibrant explosion of warmth and cold, the intangible feeling of shock and love twirling together before fading just as sharply as they burst. Aimi pulled her in close, leaving Luce's hands shaking millimeters off her back. In just a small minute, the younger girl had provided her with the most solace she'd felt in a long time. But the anger was far from gone.

"Thank you." Her voice broke the small silence with a ringing calmness to it. Luce wasn't sure if she felt anything, but she sure as hell had enough anger to end a bitch and her unnatural monster-baby. Stepping back out of the embrace, Luce looked down at her now still hands. Something was different. Just like Aimi with her voice, Luce's conscious was clouded with the lingering feelings of a change. A mutation. But this time, it was stronger. Shaking it off, she looked Aimi square in the eyes, tears still moist on her cheeks. "Let's end this." Spinning away and taking a glancing step towards the stairwell back down to the rooms, she suddenly stopped and turned back to her with a wan smile. "And call me Lucia."

⊱ ─────────────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ─────────────── ⊰

Corruption Level: 43%

Saint's Touch- While transformed into magical girl form, Lucia can hover 6-12 inches off the ground and summon a small glowing aura around her. Anyone in the range will gain an increased feeling of purpose and dedication, though this applies to enemy and teammate alike. However, using this will slowly drive up her corruption percentage.

Devil's Advocate- While transformed into magical girl form, Lucia can subsequently cause a much larger red aura that appears to cast the area it covers into a slight shadow. Those within its radius will begin to feel an uncontrollable fit of rage. Their combat skill will benefit from this, as well an increased endurance. They lose all ability to disengage combat regardless of injury or mental state. Lucia can fully control the range of this, including making it selectively cover specific people. Using this ability makes her corruption level rocket up, though it is significantly more powerful than Saint's Touch.

⊱ ─────────────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ─────────────── ⊰​

After Lucia's rather riveting encounter with Aimi, she would head back down under the deck of the ship in search of more of their teammates. She needed to make everyone aware of what was going on. There was no way any individual one of them would be able to hold ground against Francesca, especially considering there was a pretty great chance all of them together wouldn't be able to hold ground against Francesca. They were still mainly in the dark regarding her powers, though one thing was more than clear to Lucia; She lacked any sense of empathy towards the girls, and would stop at nothing to have her outcome, whatever that was.

As she patrolled the hallway, peeking into open doors with the hope of finding a familiar face, she stumbled upon two slightly less familiar ones. Kyoko and the new new girl, Christine. She hadn't had a good chance to really get to know either of them yet, though she did recall both of them being excluded from Francesca's earth-shattering, all-changing meeting. They seemed to be awkwardly stumbling through a series of questions, so hopefully her presence wouldn't interrupt too much.

Stepping into their field of vision, she shot a feeble smile at the pair. Telling them everything that had happened would no doubt be tolling for all three of them. "Hey," She spoke quietly, running a hand through her short hair before walking closer to them. Lucia was painfully aware of her puffy eyes and reddened cheeks, but at least her new mutation didn't give her a snake tail or some other visible insanity. She would have to figure out what it was later.

"So, um, do you want to know what happened?" She didn't even have enough energy to manage a hint of her usual politeness. Surely Chris and Kyoko wouldn't mind-- They were basically in prison, and though the two might not know it, they might as well be sentenced to death.

 

[Mqueserasera]

Christine Gein
Lodestar
Mentions:
Interactions: Kyoko ( LoliCowboy ) Lucia ( dazzling )
​

"Do you know where to find some food? Human food, I promise. You can keep your brains for today."

The stale cookies in Chris’s satchel flashed by her mind, and so did the horrible idea of offering them to her would-be friend, which she quickly dismissed. With the satchel pressed unconsciously on her hip as if to hide the inadequate snack inside, she struggled an answer for the other girl’s question, “Food, huh? And human food at that… well, I’m no expert, apparently. There should be a canteen or somewhere on this ship. I don’t know where though, maybe we can ask someone?”

"Hey," someone called out to them, though quietly. That someone was a beautiful girl, strangely so even with her eyes and face reddened. A beauty, an emotional person, two types of people that never have much concern for someone so small and insignificant like Chris. In her experience, which was terribly limited, people behave less than rational when being emotional, and that she should be cautious of those kinds.

“Hi there,” greeted Chris.

She seemed friendly enough, surprisingly, in fact, too friendly with the follow-up question:

"So, um, do you want to know what happened?"

What happened? Whatever happened that made her cry? Chris highly doubt it was anything pleasant and food-related.

Still, it was a friendly gesture, much more than what she could have hoped from a total stranger. Little Chris could see another friend in the making.

“Sure, if it’s alright for you to share something that personal, I can lend you an ear, or two, if you want me to,” said Chris, not entirely with keen interest but an effort nonetheless.

 

[ElenaIsCool]

Francesca and Bell

Francesca had bell sit down at a small dining table. A nearby pink-haired maid poured the pair some tea and offered them sugar. Francesca put generous amounts of sugar in her tea before continuing with her questioning, "So, my dear little magical girl, we know of the nearby train incident. It is not of the jurisdiction of my organization to clean up and salvage that train wreck - it is of the ArakiCorp, but none-the less I want to know your last memories prior to being abducted. Where were you? How did they catch you? Any particular details of your captivity that stand out?" Francesca sipped her tea and stared intently at Bell. She was watching for anything that would indicate a lie.

ElenaIsCool

Bell

Bell got sat down at a small table, and a pink-haired maid gave them tea and sugar. She stared at the tea for a while. Should she drink it? Was it even safe? Should she stop being so paranoid? Maybe. Francesca put diabetes worth of sugar on her tea before she started talking.

"So, my dear little magical girl, we know of the nearby train incident. It is not of the jurisdiction of my organization to clean up and salvage that train wreck - it is of the ArakiCorp, but none-the less I want to know your last memories prior to being abducted. Where were you? How did they catch you? Any particular details of your captivity that stand out?"

Bell stayed silent for a while. Everything that had happened so far made her forget a bit. Soon the memories came flooding back in

"Uhm..Well, I was over at a sweets shop. I was supposed to have a meeting scheduled for..Tomorrow, I think?"

How could she forget the meeting with her Asian sponsors? Manny clearly told her not to be late, or forget.

"This guy was supposed to drive me to the hotel but after some driving, I noticed that the AC was spewing smoke and he had a gas mask before I passed out and woke up in that train"

Bell checked for her phone. It wasn't there. Must've left it at the car. Dang. Manny was gonna be mad. What day was it anyway?. Bell sipped her tea. It was kinda good.

"So, I'm assuming you know about.. Everything that happened in the train? Uri? The other captured ones?"​

 

[dazzling]

lucia megume "halo"



interacted ➜ Chris Mqueserasera , Kyoko LoliCowboy
mentioned ➜
location ➜ The hallway

⊱ ─────────────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ─────────────── ⊰​

"Oh, um, it's not really," Lucia cleared her throat and looked up at the small girl in front of her. "It's not really personal." She twisted her hands in front of her, her gaze floating around the room but never quite settling on Kyoko or Chris's eyes. In a way, she felt bad for the latter girl. The newcomer was completely unaware to the fate she had been sentenced to, and probably hadn't even found her footing yet. Poor Chris might not even have a good concept of everything that was going on.

"How do I start this?" She murmured, beginning to pace quickly up and down the hall. Lucia figured that she might as well start with the big bombshell. "We're going to kill Francesca." Glancing at Kyoko for any sign of reaffirmation, she scratched her head before gathering the confidence to continue. Soon enough, words started flowing uncontrollably. She couldn't control what she was saying. Everything came out jumbled and messy, but hopefully she got the point across. Lucia went over everything; The baby, Pretty, the methods, all of it. By the end her eyes were glimmering with a fresh round of tears.

In a sudden moment of bravery, she crossed over to Chris and took the girl's frail, light hands in hers. "Please tell me you understand. You don't deserve this, what she wants to do. You don't have to fight-- But please, please, tell me you're on board. You don't deserve to die."

 

[Sacrosanctis]

"Six of Coins."

Claire held her Tarot card between her fingers as liquid swirled the blood and grime off her skin and clothes before disappearing into the air. She looked into the mirror of her lush room with dismay, staring into the clear blue eyes of her reflection. Those eyes crawled across her dainty features, absorbing the snowy white of her hair and her smooth ivory skin. She slowly turned her dainty hands, scrutinizing every movement of her womanly, curvaceous body. It was unnerving that Claire had control over every motion of the perfect girl in the mirror; it wasn't the girl she had seen in the mirror for the past 15 years of her life.

When she first met the girl in the mirror, it was riveting. It gave her confidence, made her think that even a ditzy girl like her could earn a future. After all, she'd always had her cards to guide her on her path. Without a doubt in her mind, Claire had faith that she would fulfill her destiny, so long as she continued to follow her intuition. She returned the Six of Coins to the deck and replaced it with a separate card, one that she had always identified herself with. She watched the white-haired girl's eyebrows arch with shame and anxiety, resisting the urge to curse her confusion.

"In the end, you're nothing but a Fool..." Claire thought aloud, speaking gently as she gripped the card in her hands. She always told herself that there was nothing wrong with being a fool. Blindness is the first step to wisdom, and as long as she remained open-minded she would emerge from any journey stronger than before. But how was she supposed to react when the mentors she trusted, the source of her power, seemed to betray her? It was Pretty's voice that she'd heard in the vision when she'd gained her magical girl powers, and she was the revered first known magical girl in existence. Pretty was a hero, and her only desire was to grant peace to the world.

But Francesca had shown them the data. The woman was gracious and perceptive, and she clearly intended to make the world a better place. The dates aligned with climate hazards lined up, establishing a logical connection between Pretty's existence and worldly disaster. But did she really have to kill such a renowned, powerful beacon of hope for all of humanity in order to appease Francesca? There had to be another way.

Claire despaired, thinking deeply about a solution. She didn't even consider the possibility that Francesca was lying; she invested too much into herself and the other girls to act so manipulative. Frustrated, she returned the Fool card to its deck. If she was like the Fool, then Francesca would be her indubitable High Priestess, and to outright deny the words of one with such sacred knowledge was anathema. For now, she wouldn't question her mentor's commands, but she decided to raise the possibility of alternative options with Francesca at the first chance she had.

Claire left her room, raising her posture and setting aside her concerns. The fresh breeze and the distinct scent of the ocean calmed her nerves as she traveled above deck, and she idly explored different rooms of the cruise ship. Eventually, she wandered into the gym to find the nameless fighter that helped the Pretty Protectors when they were in the airship. At first she hadn't recognized her, but she realized that it must be her human form when she saw her nearby weapon. Claire slowly approached, trying to think of a way to talk without disturbing the girl. She had walked past a punching bag that was broken off its chain and reasoned that she must be letting off some serious steam. She watched the girl for a moment before finally speaking up.

"Did someone teach you how to fight? Because you look really strong." Claire smiled, genuinely happy to be meeting someone new. "Thanks for helping us with the Mahou Hunter back there. I don't know if we would have survived without you. If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing up here in the middle of Africa?"