spellbinders | catch-all open log!

catch-all open log!

Who: Anyone and everyone!
Where: On the beach, and various other places throughout the hub island
When: Day 80, and the next couple days after
Open/Closed: open log for hub shenanigans!

[This evening, someone has placed an old, rusted-over camp stove on the beach near the coven's row of huts--anyone examining it in detail will see that it's not operational at the moment, but that could potentially be changed, couldn't it? If someone was handy with mechanical things . . . .

Next to it is a crate (which, from the weight of it is empty) and pinned to that crate is a sheet of paper with a map on it, something like a much cruder, black-and-white version of this:

with the following key:

1 - crags. Contain snakes which may be poisonous. Watch out.
2 - ocean, going about one mile out from the coast.
3 - lagoon. Contains thick reeds (could be woven or shaped into tools) and frogs (edibility uncertain).
4 - abandoned campsite.
5 - orchard. Currently, trees are diseased and bare. Plant healer needed.
6 - abandoned house. A family used to live here, from the looks of it. Still contains some useful supplies.

And there should be a 7 north of base camp with the notation "graveyard. Graves unused." but the player forgot and is too lazy to go back and fix it right now. Observant individuals will note that the map looks like a more detailed version of one hanging on the door to a certain coven member's cabin, one that has a note on the bottom: "Have information? Ask for Jay."

Other than that, it's a quiet night on the hub island. We've been here for a couple days; maybe you're getting restless? Want to check out that ocean, or lagoon, or even those crags? Maybe just go door-to-door in the beach huts? Maybe you're sick of shrimp and looking for other things to eat . . . hopefully someone's got a fire going tonight, and thought to kill a boar . . . .

What are you doing tonight?]

((here or here for place descriptions))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. After Aimintas, it's a little weird to be somewhere so empty.

[He gives the bow in her hand a look as they walk.]

Are you expecting another fight already?

No, that's not it. I just — [she looks down at the bow, a bit pensive.]

I don't really have much else, I guess. I can heal once a day, maybe, and I know a lot more about first aid than I did before, but ... that doesn't really help anybody if I can't defend myself, right?

Edited 2017-09-29 18:28 (UTC)

Well, it's smart to be prepared. We know that at least some of the wildlife around here is dangerous.

[It's not the first time she's said something like that, but Al still doesn't get how someone as helpful as Madoka could ever worry about feeling useless. Rather than call attention to it, though, his voice turns slightly teasing.]

But you know you don't have to do everything by yourself.

[that catches her off guard for a minute, and she looks up at Al, eyes widened just slightly.]

[to Madoka, everything she's done as a magical girl has been ... sort of a way of making up for the last 14 years of her life. one of not being of much help to anyone, not really having anything to offer the world. needing help for everything. it hadn't really occurred to her that she could have been trying to do too much on her own.]

[(the truth is, though, that fighting alone, with no way for the world to remember her, or to even realize that she exists, is something she'd ultimately wished to do for all eternity. that particular memory may not be there for her, but perhaps the sentiment is.)]

[but then, Madoka just smiles.]

You're right. We have each other to count on, don't we? I guess I get so wrapped up in ... well, everything ... that I forget that.

Thank you for reminding me.

I understand. We're all from such different places that it's hard to get used to the idea of us really being any kind of team.

[He likes the people here--trusts some of them, even, but that's not the same as being ready to rely on them.]

But we'll definitely get farther by working together, so you don't have to push yourself so hard.

... I'll try my best not to. [she means that sincerely, but it won't be easy. it's in her nature to give this everything she has and then some.]

The same goes for you, too. I know you said you can't get hurt, but...

Yeah, you don't need to worry about me.

[As if that's a given. He might be in perpetual denial of his own recklessness.]

And I said I'd try to explain all that, right?

[Casually, like they've moved on to discussing the weather. Madoka is too kind to ask--or even be bothered by it, probably--but Al would still rather set the record straight when it comes to any question of his humanity.]

It's a long story, but for now my soul is attached to this armor. It's something I'm going to fix, though, so it's only temporary.

[Normal stuff.]

Your soul —

[the entire story of how she processes this runs across her face, from surprise, to understanding, and then ... something a bit pained. empathetic, even.]

[of course, it seems obvious to her now, that Al's soul isn't where it should be. she knows that story all too well — though, she also can't help but wonder where exactly his body is. Madoka doesn't think it's her place to ask, not right now, and she's not entirely sure the answer would help much, or what it would imply for her own situation.]

[instinctively, she brings her hands together, pulling at the ring on her finger slightly. she bites her lip.]

... I see. I ... thank you for telling me. I stand by what I said earlier — you can always talk to me about it, if it's ever bothering you, if that would help. [Madoka may be able to better understand than most, after all.]

You trusted me with this, so ... I believe I can trust you with something about me, too.

[Now it's Al's turn to be caught off guard. If anything, he expected her reaction to be the same sort of mildly confused acceptance he usually gets when he brings up anything alchemy-related to the coven. That something in his story clearly struck a deeper chord with her is... worrying, honestly.]

You know you don't have to.

[He's terribly curious after a lead in like that, but he can't not extend the same courtesy she offered him.]

But if there's something you want to tell me, I'd be happy to listen.

It's all right. Like I said, I trust you, and ... maybe, in a way, it'll help.

[she pulls the ring off her finger, and holds it flat on her palm so that Al can see. the tiny pink gem glints in the sunlight.]

This ... usually it's that gem I showed you earlier, but I can't use it on this world — but this is where my soul is.

[a finite amount of magic, indeed.]

[It's probably lucky for both of them that he doesn't have facial expressions, because Al would definitely be looking at her with nothing short of panicked horror. As it is, he takes a moment to remind himself that this isn't alchemy, that the rules are completely different from what he knows. Still... As he leans forward to take a closer look at the gem, the first thing that comes to mind is a Philosopher's Stone made up of a single soul.]

Madoka.

[Carefully. He doesn't want to scare her, but there's no hiding the note of urgency in his voice either.]

This is how you power your magic? How long has it been like this?

[she hears that urgency, and matches it with something much more sheepish. she hadn't meant to worry him, she just wanted him to know that she could relate.]

Oh — it's been this way ever since I first became a magical girl, but. Please don't worry! I have it under control, I promise.

Under control how?

[He doesn't think Madoka is stupid or unaware of the risks, but it's disturbingly easy to picture her being selfless enough to go through with the arrangement anyway for the sake of helping others.]

Having your soul separate from its body... It's really, really dangerous.

I know.

[it's probably easy to picture her doing that, because that's pretty much exactly what she did — although, Incubators usually aren't very keen on telling a girl who decides to make a contract what exactly they're doing with her soul.]

But, I do know my limits. And, I also have a way of restoring magic when I need to. [because "destroying the corruption building up in her Soul Gem" doesn't really sound very reassuring.]

So it really is fine, I promise you.

[Normally he wouldn't be so ready to argue against the apparent workings of another world, but in this particular case he considers himself something of an unwilling expert. Madoka's attempts at reassuring him are met with a slow shake of his head.]

Even if you do have a way to stop your magic from eating away at your soul's energy, that's not the only problem.

[He's not convinced that's not at least doing some serious damage, but there's so much wrong here he's willing to move on from the point. His own stability issues with the armor are bad enough, but that's nothing compared to what an incompatible soul can do to a human body. He can't help thinking of how Barry the Chopper had looked in the end, even if there's absolutely no way he's going to describe that to her.]

Something like this-- [he taps on the armor for emphasis] it can only last for so long. You said one of your teammates has had her magic for about a year more than you, right? Do you know anyone who's been a magical girl for longer than that?

[... Madoka has a sense of why he's asking, and quite frankly, she doesn't have anything to counter it.]

[the truth is, deterioration is a rapid process. in a hundred timelines before, it didn't even take Sayaka a month. for Madoka, a month and a half, thanks to a horribly powerful witch descending upon their city every time. all it would take is a threat equally as powerful to end her story in the coven, as well.]

[she can't imagine — no, she doesn't want to acknowledge — such a bleak outlook for herself. but she won't lie to Al, either.]

... No, I don't. If Mami-san knows any magical girls older than she is, she's never mentioned them.

What are you saying, exactly?

[For a moment he looks down, like he's trying to find the right words. This is the last thing in the world he wants to say to her, but it's not like he has any choice when her life is on the line.]

Even though we became this way for different reasons, I think your situation might be the same as mine.

[In an awful, twisted sort of way it makes some of things Madoka's said about her world suddenly make more sense. For someone's wish to be granted, the price would have to be as high and horrific as a soul.]

Which means we have to find a way to get you back to normal as soon as possible.

[Madoka ... carefully slips the ring back on her finger, directing her gaze to somewhere on the ground past him.]

[going back to normal, putting her soul back where it's meant to be, would mean giving up her magic. doing so in order to live would be the obvious course of action, wouldn't it? but ... it would also mean returning to being the sort of person that made her feel miserable: weak, not able to keep up with the others, always having to rely on others for help. like having the strength she'd always hoped for, and then losing it.]

[she knows that's selfish of her to think — that she's okay with the situation she's in now, because she's afraid of what she once was — and so Madoka doesn't know what to say. she just keeps her eyes fixed away from Al.]

[Gently, he sets a hand on her shoulder but doesn't actually try to make her look at him.]

I know being a magical girl is important to you, but there's no way it's worth this.

[Accepting a death sentence before she's even really had a chance to live.]

Besides, a few years of magic can't compare to the kind of good you could do for the world by living a full life.

[Unless that's not what's holding her back.]

Or... is it because of your wish?

[If it had been for someone else's sake, it'd make sense that she'd be willing to do anything to keep it from being reversed.]

No, it's not that — [honestly, the wish she remembers making is entirely irrelevant to what she remembers truly wanting — which was to make a contract with Kyubey. she simply went along with the first opportunity that presented itself, and ... wished to save a dead cat.]

[she stands there in silence for a moment more, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.]

I just ... I need time to think about this. [that's probably not the answer Al wants, but Madoka, stubborn and stupidly selfless girl that she is, isn't ready to give this up. not yet.]

[It definitely isn't what he wants to hear, but it's also about as far as he can bring himself to push when Madoka looks so close to crying. It isn't like he has a solution to either of their problems just yet anyway, so he has to believe that a little more time is a luxury they can afford. He nods and drops his hand, resisting the urge to sigh.]

Yeah, I understand. Just... don't forget you're not in this alone, okay? I'll do anything I can to help, and what you said about talking goes both ways. I'm here if you need someone to listen.

[despite it all, she somehow manages a smile. it's small and unsure, but it's there all the same.]

I know. With any luck, we'll be able to figure something out that works for the both of us.

[she's not sure she fully believes that yet, but she's willing to hope for it anyway.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

catch-all open log!

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