5 ❧ though the pressure's hard to take, it's the only way I can escape

[headedforhope]

Comments

Hey there new not!sister~

[adropofjupiter]

[Marisa was usually a heavy sleeper, but a scream was one thing that would rouse her. She immediately assumed it was Mion, that Stabdad had gone after her, so she stumbled to the girl's room.

Only Mion was still asleep. O...kay... That left the remaining drones. If it was the mother drone, Marisa wasn't going anywhere near Stabdad's room, so that meant she'd go check on the lone drone child.

...who wasn't a drone anymore given the sight of the unfamiliar young blonde girl curled up in a ball on the bed. Well then, Marisa should--

Stare a few moments before going over and plopping down on the bed. And poking the girl in the shoulder.]

Hey, hey...

yo sis, how's it hangin'

[headedforhope]

[It seems endless, this silence. Heavy and oppressive, locking her into place, whittling down the last of her will until Mami dimly questions the point of ever moving again. The world has compressed immensely, narrowed until there's no room left for anything but grief and memories.

The creak of the opening bedroom door is a soft and distant sound, Marisa's sudden presence a thing Mami can only respond to slowly, numbly. She lifts her head and stares at the unfamiliar girl with red-rimmed eyes that carry the flat sheen of overwhelming pain. A long pause, then her throat works (a shuddering motion that almost makes her flinch, makes her tense up in anticipation of more teeth pressing in) and she manages to ask in a soft, defeated, lost little voice:]

What...?

Have a witch all up in your bed.^^

[adropofjupiter]

[Woah. Something was seriously wrong with this girl. Sure, waking up in Mayfield really SUCKED, but there was something else going on here. It was like the entire girl's world had been destroyed.

...that could actually be truth, now that Marisa thinks about it.]

You okay, ze? You look like hell.

gross!!!

[headedforhope]

...I'm....

[The attempt to respond is sluggish, Mami coming back to herself inch by inch. Another voice, another pair of breathing lungs seems like such an impossibility, and it's like having a wall torn down - a way out of this crushing epiphany.

Mami draws away and rubs at her eyes with the back of one hand for a few minutes. She clenches her jaw as she fights for control, hard enough to ache, and there's a brittle smile on her face when she finally looks at Marisa again. A cracked, exhausted defense, but the only one she can call upon right now.]

Ah, sorry.

[The apology is empty, pure reflex, and there's still that awful heaviness to her words - yet it's a start. She licks her lips as she ponders where to begin, fighting through the muddled thoughts still insisting that her beating heart must be an illusion.]

Could you...tell me where I am, miss?

home

[envyspites]

[KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK.]

Oi! You alright in there? Can I come in?

[Too bad, because Mion comes in anyway, a knife in hand.]

[headedforhope]

[She couldn't have answered Mion anyway, not quickly at least, even if Mion had patiently waited outside the door until Mami managed to piece together her words, much less drum up the desire to speak. She regards Mion with blank, uncomprehending eyes - who are you? where is she? - at least until she notices the knife. The bright, gleaming blade triggers her into action; she immediately scrambles away and falls off the bed.

Mami's trying to speak but grief has locked down her throat, instinct allows no time to think through the obstruction, and so there's only an agitated whine of surprise as she moves and then falls. Her battle instincts flare into life and where's her soul gem, where is it, where is it, she's going to die, she'll die again without it-

It's on the small table by her bed, gone unnoticed in her panic.]

[envyspites]

Woah, woah, woah. I'm not gonna hurt you. [She sticks the knife into a holster on her hip she managed to find.] This was just in case the fuckup of a dad was hurtin' ya.

[Mion drops to her knees, tucking her feet underneath her.]

Did you just wake up here?

[headedforhope]

The...what? I don't-

[She subsides, mulling that over, the utter absurdity of Mion's words piercing a hole in her hysteria and bleeding it dry. The alien emptiness in her gaze slowly clears.

Then, a few long moments where Mami covers her face with one hand (but does not close her eyes) and simply breathes. Shelves the horrific images in her mind's eye aside, hurls them into some dark corner for later. When she speaks again, it's with a new calmness. A lie is all it is, if a serviceable one.]

...yes, I did. [Cautiously she peeks out at Mion, searches the other girl's face. Snippets of some other memory, faded and gray, slowly rise to the front of her mind.] Tell me, miss, this place.....what do you call it?

b

[heteropennae]

-Not that anyone should be surprised, but Dizzy definitely noticed what was going on. And she could even tell who one of the figures were. But she remained watching in silence the entire time, unable to bring herself to interrupt what she was beholding...-

[headedforhope]

[Mami skids backward in the snow. Her breathing is hard, intense puffs of white in the cold air. Bringing up a hand to her chest, she quickly draws another musket - seemingly from within her own body. Darting forward once more, she aims it directly at her assigned mother and fires. There's a cold machination in the movement, the same with all the identical ones before it.

This is training. But more than that, it's a purging. While Mami is locked in this engaging battledance with Ciel, there's no room in her mind for thoughts of her death. There's no time to dwell on such horrors, to allow them the single toehold needed to overwhelm her again. Another brilliant clash of metal as her bullet is deflected; she doesn't yet notice Dizzy's silent presence.]

[expiatrice]

[And with Dizzy as loaded on supernatural powers as she is, Ciel'll notice her in turn. But because they've spoken enough for Ciel at least to get an idea of Dizzy's power...

Maybe it's only fair that she gets a glimpse of her own, which Ciel never brought up in any conversation so far.

So she'll continue training with Mami, each of the Puella Magi's bullets fired from appearing and vanishing muskets met with the edge of a Black Key without fail. Both are displaying astounding amount of agility, and this will keep going until Mami starts to look like she can use a break. Above training, this also has in goal to keep the blonde girl's minds off of her last memory from home, though if Dizzy is patient and/or curious enough to watch until the two figures finally break, Ciel would approach the area where she is while her assigned daughter takes a breather.

Will she still be around, whenever that may happen?]

[heteropennae]

-Dizzy finds herself absolutely fascinated and glued to her seat, metaphorically. She's certainly not going to wander off, at least not until they were finished. She watches in complete amazement of their ability.-

B

[gonnamarrydaddy]

[Yuna's taken to jogging a little more often to stay warm, and it just so happens tonight's route has taken her past the church. She can't resist checking out the sounds coming from the back, though, and heads off to check it out.]

Whoooooaaaaaa! Awesome!

[headedforhope]

[The sound Yuna makes is jarring, jerking Mami out of her reverie of footwork and gunfire. She swivels hard on her heel with a musket in hand, unthinkingly obeying the battle instincts making her nerves run hot, and shoots the ground directly in front of Yuna's feet.

Then she pauses to confirm her target, and the lull breaks the combat's hold on her; Mami's gold eyes widen in surprise before narrowing to slits. She searches Yuna's face, wonders why the other girl looks so oddly familiar.....and then more memories of her previous time here flood back. Mami's voice is quiet and stern, an almost perfect mask.]

Akashi-san....? You shouldn't be here.

[gonnamarrydaddy]

[...Oh. It's Mami.

Well, this is pretty awkward, especially considering their last meeting.]

...I didn't know you were back.

[headedforhope]

[A level stare. She discards her now useless musket, the gun hitting the snow with a muffled thump. A sigh, a brief closing of her eyes more to ward off the frustration once more mounting than anything else, and another musket (impossibly) drops from the inner workings of her skirt.

She picks it up without looking at Yuna, already aware of how Ciel has moved to the periphery of the scene.]

I returned only this morning, so that's not surprising.

B I DON'T CARE EITHER WAY whatever you guys want since this is hideous already?

[imoutosnake]

[ With the lack of electrical power, it doesn't really seem to matter whether you're outside or not. And so Nadeko is there, hopping through the snow (the snow part of the cold is actually rather fun, or at least she thinks so, not to mention it keeps people off the streets and the less people the easier it is for her to go outside) with a winter coat and her usual hat on.

It's when she passes by the church though and hears those sounds that she gets a little curious. Scared, too, yes, but in the end her curiosity wins out. Her shyness and nervosity make her sneak over quietly and slowly though, just to make sure she won't be seen if it's really something dangerous.

And then she sees it. It's.. two people fighting. One she almost can't see, but with the other there's almost something familiar about that yellow, something she hasn't seen in a while, and without realising it she lets out a rather audible loud gasp. ]

wow it is THREEWAY JAKE?

[expiatrice]

[Nadeko's presence is immediately noted by Ciel

awww yiss

[headedforhope]

[She's momentarily taken aback by this shift in attack, breathing hard as she watches Ciel go until the older woman is swallowed up by distance and the dim night. Still running high on instinct and the rhythm of their fight, Mami readies herself to follow Ciel into the belly of the woods. However, she just so happens to catch a glimpse of Nadeko out of the corner of her eye, and snaps to face her - prepared to eliminate any new threat by the town that somehow managed to find them.

Of course, what Mami actually gets is something completely different.]

Sengoku-san.....ah, my, it's been awhile, hasn't it? [A stiff nod, and then Mami pauses. This isn't the time or place to stand around and chat.] You should be getting along home, you know - it's pretty cold out here.

[imoutosnake]

[ She's mostly just still standing there, speechless. One of the figures disappeared, and the one she slightly recognized is still there and it is Mami and she's back and.. she isn't entirely sure what to say, so for a few moments she just stummers as she looks for words. ]

B.. but.. Tomoe-san! I-- I didn't know you were here, I mean-- back here!