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Puchuu chooses you!
Magical girl Bella! No, not that kind of magical girl.
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Forks does not really seem like the place for... An escaped exotic pet of some kind? Whatever it is, it's fluffy and cute seems remarkably clean, with long purple (dyed?) tail and ears. Looks sort of rabbity. It's been hanging out around town for a couple of days, near the school for the most part. It never seems to get wet, either.

It's very cute, with energetic, puppy-like movements and big round eyes. It's watching everyone at the school most afternoons, almost as if looking for someone.

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Bella asks a couple people if they know what it is, the first time she sees it - her top guess is "dyed dog of some breed that usually has its ears docked" but she's really not sure.

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...Huh. They're not sure. It kinda looks like an oversized rabbit? Maybe some kind of albino raccoon?

(The thing wanders away when the scrutiny becomes obvious, hopping along the ground and vanishing from sight under a car.)

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That's not a rabbit tail at all...

It probably doesn't matter, she resumes her school day as normal.

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There it is again when school's out! Sitting on the roof of her truck, looking directly at her, and not being remarked upon beyond a brief glance by anyone else.

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Wow, she hopes it's not rabid. She walks toward the truck slowly, hoping it'll startle away.

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It tilts its head, ears flopping cutely, and paws at the air and goes "Chuu!"

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"Shoo," she replies.

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Headshake-headshake.

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"Did you just shake your head at me?" she asks incredulously.

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Nod nod! Happy tail wag and a little bounce, too.

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"What the heck??"

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It pads a bit closer and then- Speaks, in a whisper-tone, mouth moving but somehow producing more complicated sounds than it should, and says, "I've been looking for you for a while, chuu! I have a lot to explain but it might be easier to do it somewhere else. I can't talk to you with telepathy because of your latent specialty though. And I'd rather not draw too much attention. May I follow you home?"

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"How aren't you drawing attention? People can see you, I checked."

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"Pu... Magic is real, but most people aren't aware of it. There's an ancient spell laid across all worlds that helps people not notice for the most part. It's for the best, lots of bad things could happen if it weren't for the veil!"

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"Like what, you getting the attention of a dogcatcher?"

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"Monsters would find it easier to exist if people learn monsters are a thing."

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"Are... you a monster?"

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"I'm a Puchuu!"

It drops to the pavement rather than continue sitting on top of the car.

"You should maybe pretend to be on your cell phone or something. It's not nice to stretch the veil too far in front of people. There's a lot of magical things, but monsters are a category based on results - not origins. We call evil things that want to hurt people and disrupt society monsters! Abyssals are the worst, they feed on fear and make people afraid- Which makes them more powerful and more numerous. If everyone found out about Abyssals, I think most humans would die."

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"The Abyssals aren't bright enough to protect their food supply?" Bella asks, pulling out her phone and pretending to send a text.

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"Some are, but not a lot! Mostly they skulk around and get up to trouble without much detailed planning, but the smart ones can be really awful. The reason I'm telling you all this is because a relative of yours by the name of Evelyn had a very useful magic power, one that could help out a lot of people if it's handy just in case. You have a psychic magic affinity, which means the potential for a great defense against mental effects, much greater than the passive one you have already, and probably you'll be able to put people to sleep without hurting them, and track invisible monsters by their minds and things like that. I don't know where she went, but my little group of Puchuu stopped hearing from her eight years ago. We looked into her descendants off and on hoping to find someone with the same power, and I found you!"

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"My... mother's aunt...?"

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"I think so? I found you with sympathetic tracing through the Overworld. Kinda like knockoff prophecy?"

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"How would I go about - activating my magic potential, or whatever -" At this point she does go around to the driver's side of her truck and open the door. Critter can come in if it wants or ride in the flatbed.

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It hophophops into the passenger seat.

"I can do it for you but it's kind of permanent! I even have a budget of magic coins to improve the process with if you'll agree to help out sometimes. Magic coins work best right when something is being made or forged, so it's a better investment than giving them to someone else. But you definitely want to talk through everything with me first so you can plan it all out."

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"Sounds like a plan. Do you have a name?"

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"We don't use them among Puchuu but other magical girls call me Ollie or Fuzzball or Princess or Hey You."

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"How many magical girls are there?"

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"The Seattle Puchuus work with five magical girls in Washington to take care of monsters, and we know about another dozen or so who keep to themselves more. Potential is pretty rare. Mostly we each focus on one girl, gathering information, scouting out monsters, helping with little errands, and helping her out as much as we can. That's a Puchuu's job, to support magical girls!"

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"So those names were from - previous magical girls? How old are you?"

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"Yes! Puchuu don't get old. It's been a while."

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"So what do magical girls... do? Apparently it's not 'be immortal'."

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"Oh, they fight monsters and figure out mysteries and develop their magic and help people and keep things nice and peaceful and safe. What do you mean it's not 'be immortal'? Magical girls don't get old either."

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"Then what happened to your previous magical girls?"

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"Some of them got hurt and had to go away for a while. Some didn't need help anymore. And some just moved into other worlds or the Overworld."

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She pulls into her driveway. "What do you mean go away for a while? What other worlds, what's the Overworld?"

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"If magical girls get hurt badly enough they disappear and sleep for a long time. Until someone brings them back or they heal on their own. The Overworld is hard to explain... It's like tunnels and roads holding all the different Earths together. It's not impossible to get around without it, but way easier. But it's also huge and old and we don't really understand it."

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"Huh. So - tell me more about the becoming a magical girl process?"

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"When you awaken, you'll become a thing-made-of-magic instead of a thing-made-of-matter! You will have two states, transformed and baseline. You'll look the same all the time after that and not get older, and lots of magical girls don't look like adults. When transformed, your costume and weapon appear and you're much stronger and faster and more coordinated and have magic powers. When not transformed, your ordinary clothes reappear and you're pretty close to a normal human again. Making yourself even stronger after the first transformation takes the stronger kinds of magic coins, but growing more skilled is easier than getting more raw power. It takes a few minutes, plenty of time to focus on adjusting the results to your liking, and that's pretty intuitive... As long as you have magic coins to spend, chuu. A lot of the details of how you'll transform are already 'set', barring using magic coins to change them, and I can tell you what'll happen if you don't change anything and what you can change. But magic coins can also be used to increase your abilities and powers, so it's a tradeoff between adjusting things you don't like and getting stronger. It's random for each person, and not in a way you can roll the dice again."

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"Are magic coins a currency, or just a - unit of magic input - or what -"

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"They're crystal magic given physical form. You can use them to make wishes. And they're also the only real currency of the magical world, if you want favors from magic beings you usually need coins, and you can earn them the same way."

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"Where do they come from?"

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"Old gods like Isis and a few Puchuu and a few other people can make them!"

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"Isis? The - ancient Egyptian god?"

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"Yeah, she's nice."

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"Is she. How many gods are there?"

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"Gosh, I don't really think you can count them! There's a lot more than just the famous ones like Thor and Ameterasu and Jesus."

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"Jesus too? His followers are very big on the monotheism."

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Headtilt. "Well, they're wrong."

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"So... what if any relationship do the religions about these deities have to the deities themselves as you know them to exist?"

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"Lots of religions are rooted in something real, but it's really hard to tell. Most people don't actually get miracles anymore."

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"Do the deities, such as Isis, who is nice, say anything about this?"

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"A few gods pick magical girls like Puchuu, and they make those girls follow their rites. Even the impractical ones like sacrificing bulls."

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"What does Isis being nice even consist of, here I was imagining you'd like, met her."

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"She rewards magical girls with coins for protecting women, for teaching, and for getting proper educations!"

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"Huh.

"And you recruit magical girls because..."

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"To protect society and all of reality from the forces of darkness! We managed to pull this Earth out of the bad times over the last couple of millenia, and now it's mostly nice!"

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"What bad times in history were forces-of-darkness related?"

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"They made education and technology and specialization and stuff really hard."

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"How?"

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"They're attracted to good things."

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"So - monsters go around looking for good things, and wreck them, and killing enough monsters lets civilization get more momentum going?"

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"Basically, yeah! And then people can have nice lives with computers and plenty of food and things."

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"That does sound good. How hard is it to fight a monster?"

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"That depends on the monster and your powers! And how much you practice! You would mostly be using mind powers to mess with them, so other girls can get the tricky ones who make you forget they exist or turn people into their minions."

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"- are those not the sort of thing that mind powers would be especially good against?"

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"Puu...? That's why they would need your help! Psychic specialties don't tend to be as strong in close combat, so a good strategy would be you messing with monsters' minds or stopping them from using powers, while others actually hit them."

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"Oh, so I'd be on a team? Is there a specific team that needs a psychic, or...?"

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"I was thinking either a team, or calling you in for especially psychic-needing situations! If you want to be on a team I think we can work you in with everyone. It's usually a good idea to have backup, it's much safer than just a Puchuu looking out for you. And yes, we've been having a lot of trouble with mind-manipulating monsters, it'll be very helpful to have a psychic around whether you want to help a lot or only a little."

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"Can I meet them and get their input on how to - spend my magic coins?"

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"They're pretty busy most of the time but I can ask! A phone call might be easier than a real visit."

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"Is monster hunting that time consuming?"

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"There's always more monsters. And they also go to school and have hobbies and things?"

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"Oh, I was imagining they'd mostly be too old for school, if they don't get old."

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"A lot of magical girls look very young and keep up something like a normal teenager or older child life."

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"Isn't that awkward with their parents?"

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"It can get awkward, chuu... We can make fake parents who are pretty much dumb robots, and make it look like to the real parents that their child grew up successful and moved out, so they can still call them sometimes, or visit with disguise magic. Some girls hate the idea and some think it's the best option but not good and some really like it."

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"My parents are pretty chill, can I just tell them?"

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It waggles its ears indecisively. "A few coppers every year - that's not very hard to get - can do that but if they start telling other people, the veil will probably make them forget again... The veil makes people come up with other explanations for magic. It can make things worse sometimes, if they decide you're delusional or lying."

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"I don't think they'd tell other people..."

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"It can be hard to predict the veil but telling two people should be okay!"

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"Okay, that's good. Who are the magical girls I should call?"

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"I'm only allowed to give out one of their phone numbers, Tanya Falstaff's, but I was thinking about asking Sarah Vanders- who also goes by Mighty Gravity Maven, or Jean who doesn't use a last name anymore and goes by Magical Girl Titanium Steel- If they wanted to call a prospective new magical girl."

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"Are the monikers obligatory or can I make like Tanya and use my normal name?"

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"They're kind of traditional but you don't have to."

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"Maybe I'll think of one I like eventually. Anything you should cover before I call Tanya?"

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"She appreciates professionalism and directness." Puchuu gives the number!

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Bella gets out of her truck and lets the puchuu into the house and dials.

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Puchuu curls up on the couch.

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It picks up on the fourth ring.

"Tanya Falstaff speaking, is it urgent?" Comes in a clipped, slightly stressed tone. One that is very high pitched, as if spoken by a small child.

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"Uh - no -"

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"Right, I'll- Tch!" There's a scraping noise.

A moment later, her tone changes suddenly, and she sounds out of breath after the brief pause. "Never mind! Thank you for holding~ Who is this, please? It's showing as magic-aware but I do not recognize this number."

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"Your phone shows who's magic-aware? Uh, my name's Bella and I got your number from a puchuu."

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"Yes, it does. It was custom commissioned from-" A slight sigh- "Artificer Tsukumogami Circuit. Considering signing on and wanted to ask questions?"

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"That's right. Did I interrupt you, I can call another time."

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"I'm a time mage. You interrupted me, but everything is now taken care of. I try to make a habit of answering this line, it's occasionally critical, don't worry."

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"- ooh, a time mage, what does that wind up looking like?"

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"My principal power is slowing or stopping it from my own perspective. Can't go backwards. With enough futzing can do tricks with varying passage speeds, but that's hard to explain over voice. Think a wheel that falls for a long time on one side and rises on the other- Perpetual motion machine if not for the magic, like. So has the fuzzball been acting sketchy?"

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"Uh, it doesn't act like it has centuries of experience with appealingly pitching magical girlhood but it sounds neat anyway?"

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"Puchuu are Puchuu. You get used to it. Well, magic, right? Neat is an understatement."

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"Yeah! Apparently I have an in-demand specialty or something? Psychic?"

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"Oh, nice. Let's see, we actually have a lot of uncommon ones around here... Time, gravity, metal, sound, ice cream - no idea how that works - and now psychic. Not a traditional fire or lightning slinger in sight. Is your Puchuu paying attention to you right now?"

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"It's right over there, yeah, should I ask it to go?"

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"...There's a few things they don't like to tell people. Like how we 'go away' for a while instead of calling it death and reincarnation."

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"Ah. I think it used the word 'nap'."

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"How cute. Their typical recruitment audience probably appreciates it more."

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"Usually going for younger? I'm seventeen."

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"Ten to fourteen, typically. Longer tail on the older side, almost none below that."

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"Mmhm. What's the death rate like?"

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"High, if you're active. But the reincarnation is high quality, does not feel like much, personality and memory all intact and accounted for. And consistent with old record cache for that matter. I speak from personal experience."

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"Do you have to start over as a baby?"

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"No. You are locked into a specific age and appearance. For me, unfortunately, that is 'ten', but the tradeoff made sense at the time."

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"So you - respawn like a video game character? After how long?"

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"It does vary. Years to decades, typically. I had the sense to put up an insurance policy, as it were. A trusted ally with a silver coin and instructions to wish me alive, so I was back the same day."

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"Oh, that's not too bad, if it was same-day I could go back to my same family."

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"Silver is rare, mind. Copper does cantrips. Bronze anchors a simple spell like alarm or magic light for a year and a day. Silver is where we get into serious wish territory. And only Puchuu and gods have gold."

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"Can't I save some from my - awakening or whatever?"

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"I mean... Yes, but bad plan. Coins right at awakening are massive. Massive. Extra powers, extra strength, twisting whatever forces try to make you disgustingly cute or make you wield an impractical weapon."

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"Forces that what now."

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"Has it not told you? You get a magic uniform and weapon, supposedly random, and coins can change this from something absurd to one more sensible. I don't know what yours would be."

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"Why are they absurd?"

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"Mine was going to be a full on ballroom dress, complete with corset and wire hoop skirt! Impossible to move and fight in! And gem-studded silver gauntlets for punching things. Luckily, a pair of bronze fixed that. I have a sensible dress shirt and trousers, and a gun. Though, not that this is unpleasant conversation, but perhaps we can focus on things Puchuu can't tell you?"

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"Yeah, absolutely, what can't it tell me?"

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"Quite a bit. Hmm, most of all, and this is the bit I am trying to keep from trumpeting too loudly, do you think ordinary humans are psychologically stable and productive when placed in an endless ageless war against monsters and have to deal with their friends and families growing older and dying?"

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"Oh, probably not, but I think I'd take to it actually? If I can compensate for my incredibly disablingly bad balance."

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"Magic makes you better in almost every way, I'm sure it will fix your clumsiness. But the thing is, Puchuu make a couple subtle... Adjustments. To keep you motivated and out of depression, you see. It seems to be the same for all new girls, Puchuu or god or lesser force, perhaps something innate about the process rather than designed? I accepted this, on balance, but I think a coin could probably prevent or change it."

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"Adjustments?"

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"Yes, as I said. A new emotional baseline, as it were."

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"Well, I appreciate that it seems kindly motivated but thanks for the heads up, I think I'm not very prone to depression and will be able to self-maintain while immortally and magically defending the progress of civilization."

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"Oh, lovely, you're not freaking out about it.  The Puchuu are hardly ideal allies-slash-employers, but I do think they're by far the best option available. They pay well enough, get you access to a network and support system, and are by far the most entrenched competitive power in the magic scene. You look at your options and pick one instead of moaning about how paradise is not one of said options, yes?"

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"Yeah. What else won't they tell me, or what do I need to ask?"

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"The Black Mint is sketchy as fuck and most Puchuu won't mention them, but they do offer new girls loans. It seems likely to be a bad idea. And it's not all sunshine and roses and for the good of humanity, not all girls get along? That's hardly a secret, though, just reality. I don't have any other big warning signals for you, I don't know how psychic magic would work."

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"Not get along like, coworkers may not, or like, I don't know, gang warfare?"

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"Eh. Puchuu girls don't go past verbal sniping with each other, mostly, but there's rogues and indies, and a few monster-aligned girls - nasty stuff - and you want to watch your back in the Overworld generally. There's also, like, so much random magic crap once you start going looking and a lot of it is prickly."

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"Will the puchuu help me navigate that okay?"

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"They lean towards 'don't touch it' or 'destroy it' when in doubt, but broadly yes."

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"Well, that's probably good enough to start with? Are there other magical girls I should talk to? Why is it girls?"

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"One of the great mysteries. Whatever system makes us is very, very old. Though some of us were trans. Some were boys who weren't trans, or were genderfluid or whatever and dealt with it for magic power. Maybe five percent are actually magical boys. Very bishounen when it happens. We're pretty confident the modern animation genre is inspired by reality, not vice versa, for what it's worth."

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"Weird. The puchuu didn't make it? What's their - interest, stake -"

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"Who knows? Stability. Peace, banishing the darkness. Take your pick." Tanya sighs. "I hope you'll put all this to good use, for what it's worth. It will be nice to have another sane person around."

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"I'll do my best - how bad is the sanity situation?"

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"...I'd better not deprive you of the chance for a fair first impression more than I already have."

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"I guess that's legit. Puchuu says it should be okay to tell my parents, do you have any regular folks who know what's up with you at all?"

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"I think we should meet in person some time if we're going to discuss personal matters."

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"Okay. I live within daytrip distance of Port Angeles if you know where that is?"

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"Google is a girl's best friend~," she singsongs. "Sunday? Lunch, scheming, and me showing off?"

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"Sounds great!"

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"Noon? Lincoln Park?"

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"Can do."

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"Look for a blonde kid. I'll be hard to miss."

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"Brunette teenager. See you then, thanks so much!"

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"Good luck. A real thing for us, by the way."

Click.

(Her Puchuu is napping - or pretending to - on the couch, curled into a fluffy little ball.)

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She will go sit next to it. "Can I pet you?"

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Puchuu wakes up and blinks sleepily, then shakes its head.

"Sure! Petting is nice."

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Scritch scritch. "Tanya was helpful, thanks for giving me her number. But you can probably cover most of what I need to know. Apparently costumes are not practical by default and I can fix my clumsiness?"

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"Your costume is going to be a big swooshy dress unless you change it! And as long as you have a relevant power or spend some coins on it, you can make yourself magically agile and coordinated, yes! Want to go over everything you need to know about awakening now?"

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"Yeah, though I'll probably want to hold off on actually doing it till after I've met up with Tanya."

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"Oh, you're going to meet up? That sounds fun, chuu."

Puchuu sits and focuses closely on her.

"Everyone takes the transformation differently. The things you'll get are already determined, and telling you about them is next after I go over all this to make sure you're not missing anything! Every magical girl has a costume that serves as magic armor, a magic weapon that they can summon to their hands, a transformation chant that you shout out to transform- But you can pick it!- A specialty that they can use to do fairly free-form magic as long as it's related to the specialty, a major power, and at least five minor powers. The powers are eclectic and not necessarily related to your specialty. They're just things you can do. Every magical girl also has a new appearance to go with their new magic. They look like themselves, but older or younger or maybe with a different body type. Magic also makes you much more capable in five broad ways while you're transformed. Strength, toughness, agility, magic power, and luck! Some magical girls can throw cars, and others are as fast as a bullet! While you're untransformed, you won't be able to use most magic, and the being-stronger effect mostly goes away. You'll be only about as strong and coordinated as a normal adult human while untransformed, but that's still the minimum, you won't be clumsy anymore even untransformed.

Puchuu pauses and head-tilts.

"Absolutely everything about your awakening can be changed in specific limited ways using bronze coins, and changed to almost anything you can imagine as long as it's not more powerful than the original using silver coins. The coins can also be used to increase how much strength, toughness, magic, agility, and luck you get when transformed. And a gold coin can get you new powers- A second magic weapon, or another major power, or two minor powers, all custom designed to suit you best. I have a gold coin, three silver coins, and five bronze coins right now, but the gold coin is really precious, chuu! If you want to use the gold coin, you need to promise to help out as much as you can!"

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"I mean, I wasn't planning to just take the magical powers and not fight the civilization-destroying monsters with them but I will want to... ever do other stuff?"

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"The other magical girls on the team still have time for school and sleeping and hobbies. Except for Tanya, she's almost always working, but that's because she chooses to."

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"Presumably the time magic helps. What kinds of options do I have with and without the gold coin?"

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Puchuu focuses and produces an illusion flickering in midair: Obviously her, but - taller, and her face subtly different, a bit younger looking perhaps despite the change in stature, and wearing a costume.

"Without making any changes, you'll have a fist-type weapon- Spiked gauntlets or boots, claws or gloves that emit bursts of fire, something like that. That kind of weapon makes you stronger. A bronze coin can make it a magic focus like a wand or staff instead, that will improve your magical strength!

"Your costume is currently determined to be an elaborate ballgown. The exact style and details are variable as long as it stays as fancy as that. It makes your magic stronger. You can also adjust this with a bronze coin, either to something loose and flowy like robes for physical strength, or something more like a uniform for toughness and stamina." (Helpful illusionary adjustments accompany this sentence.)

"Your major power is called Focused Assault. If you stand still and focus one one single foe, it allows you to overcharge your magic and your weapon attacks, to get through tough defenses! A bronze coin could change this to different kinds of special attacks, like big explosions, or a 'killing blow' or a barrage of smaller attacks. A silver coin can change it a lot more- To things like regeneration, a personal pocket dimension to store things in, or the Third Eye that lets you see magic even untransformed."

"Your minor powers are the Disguise Artifact- You get a trinket that can do disguises for a few hours a day and can call it to you like your weapon, Emergency Metamorphosis- In dire straits you can choose to get a lot stronger for a short time but also kinda turn into a monster a little bit, Magic Handbag- Gravity Maven says I should just say 'it's like Hermione's!', Improved Sustenance so you don't have to eat or drink or breathe much at all, and Gifted Magic- It makes you a lot better at using your specialty. Silver coins can change these pretty freely, do you want examples of some more minor powers? Oh, and a few minor powers like Gifted Magic also make you stronger. In magic strength particularly, for Gifted Magic."

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"Good for Gravity Maven... yeah, I want more power examples." She grabs a page of unlined paper out of the printer and starts sketching, not that she's good at it but she can at least annotate a silhouette with frippery till it passes muster.

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Puchuu cheerfully describes more powers! First, the swaps she can make on her minor powers with bronze coins.

Disguise Artifact to Escape Mechanism- If she's conscious but trapped, kidnapped, stranded, etc, she can teleport to a random-but-safe place! Once a week, and not if actively being watched or restrained.

Emergency Metamorphosis to Money Tap, a connection to a long-standing spell almost as broad as the Veil, a divine amalgam of a bunch of gods of wealth that passively gives her a couple grand in 'lost' mundane money each month, either in cash or in a card.

Magic Handbag to Absolute Direction, a power that- So long as she knows what she's looking for, she can always tell what direction it's in. Gets hinky if you look for things like 'the best Thai restaurant' or 'true love'.

Enhanced Sustenance to Wings. Which gives her wings that can magically lift her aloft; Though without another supportive power or some way to propel herself flight is pretty exhausting, though gliding is easier.

Magic Gifted to Cosmic Heal; An exhausting and draining healing power that takes tons of magic but can heal almost anything with time and focus.

A few other standout minor powers: Enhanced Weapon and Enhanced Outfit, Instant Transformation, Martial Instinct, Eternal Style (never deal with hygiene or cosmetics again and conjure mundane clothes at will!), or Sorcery (lets her learn a mundane method of magic that works even out of costume and can be taught on a small scale without the Veil punching back... Too hard).

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Okay, she's not super into the disguise trinket or the emergency monster transformation. Does the sustenance one make her not need to sleep? She doesn't really object to eating and breathing most of the time. Absolute Direction is tempting but the handbag is also good. Healing power is tempting but it'll depend on how good magic gifted is in terms of what it lets her do, she doesn't have anything concrete on what being psychic cashes out to yet. Sorcery is going on the shortlist pending further detail. How long do non-Instant Transformations take?

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Normal transformations take about twenty seconds. She can get down to just needing two or three hours' sleep with Sustenance.

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Okay, not bad. Wings are tempting but if it's also exhausting maybe not that practical. Especially if she has an Escape Mechanism such that in any situation where she could fly she can probably also teleport.

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The flight given by minor power wings at sixty miles an hour is about like a fast jog edging into a run.

Some other options for her major power include extremely potent regeneration and stamina, both magical and physical, so that anything that doesn't outright kill her can be healed up from; Or duplication that lets her make more of herself as hollow shells whose experience joins back into her when they run out of magic or get destroyed; Or the power of friendship that gives her a (not perfectly reliable) sense of how to make peace with and befriend other people, not just humans and magical girls, but even occasionally monsters; Or the power of Manufacture which gives her a suite of minor magic spells for heating and cooling and cutting and such and an instinct and mental catalogue of how to make most (non-magic) things really really quickly.

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Flight and duplication and regen are tempting. Power of friendship is... she can't deny the practical upshot if it lets you get monsters onside (what monsters has this been done with, are they meetable?) but creepy.

What will her psychic specialty let her do?

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"The psychic specialty is all about manipulating minds! Most psychic girls can track people and tell them apart, and make them afraid or asleep, or calm them down. You have to be pretty good to get more subtle and sense or change specific thoughts or emotions or senses. You can do mental defenses on yourself, and if you're good on other people. If you're really really good you can make permanent subtle mental changes in people and animals, like making people forget scary things or fixing bad habits. It doesn't work on things without minds, like robots or slime. Miss Evelyn even made some artificial minds in computers!"

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"Who's Miss Evelyn?"

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"Your great-aunt, I think you said. I can't tell for sure except that you're related."

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"Oh. The present tense confused me, I thought she was dead - is she incarnated right now?"

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"Yes, because Absolute Direction gives a direction, but it's through the Overworld and far enough away that the girl who checked didn't want to keep looking. I don't know why she left."

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"I mean, presumably because she was understood to be dead."

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"Maybe!"

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"Are any of the computer-minds she made accessible?"

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"Miss Sparkling Idol still has Ensemble, it picks background music and gives her accompaniment and watches her back in fights."

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"Is the background music... useful?"

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"I think it helps her focus."

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"Fair enough. Are there any other active psychics I could talk to?"

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"I can introduce you to someone, I think, but I'll need a few days to ask around!"

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"That's fine, I'm not seeing Tanya till Sunday anyway." Sketch sketch. "Can the ballgown be pants as long as they're very elaborate?"

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"That would be a bit difficult... Maybe pants under a dress, or with a nice coat and plenty of accessories!" Puchuu peers at the sketch. "A crown and silver chains along the arms might suit you!"

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"I'm not sure the chains add anything aesthetically but a crown is fine. Nice coat is doable though." She sketches in a nice coat. Goes for kind of a D&D character aesthetic with a multitude of swag on the assumption that you have to fight in the swag and it's useful swag.

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"You have to look super pretty, not tough, if you want to keep the elaborate costume theme! The minor power Enhanced Outfit will let you blend them, though."

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She will prettify the swag.

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More lace! More filigree! Gemstones and ribbons and gauzy layers!

...Now it passes muster.

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"What process determines if it's fancy enough?"

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"Magic!"

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"But why does magic care if the outfit is fancy?"

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Puchuu gives a confused headtilt.

"That's just how magical girls work!"

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"Ah-huh." She starts a new draft of the costume drawing since the old one is marked by lots of erasures and crossings-out.

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"Magic is pretty mysterious most of the time."

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"Where do puchuu come from?"

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"We've been around since the first magical girls!"

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"Did the same thing make you and them?"

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"Most Puchuu think so, but we're not completely sure. It was a long time ago."

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"How long?"

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"So long ago we can't tell exactly how long!"

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"Ballpark?"

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"At least thirty thousand years... But that was on a lot of different Earths. We've been expanding to help more people!"

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"What differs between Earths?"

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"Lots of things, do you want to go visit another? It might not be safe until you're magic, puu..."

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"I was hoping for a verbal answer actually."

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Headtilt?

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"Can you give me examples."

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"I used to live on an Earth where a company called Omoikane-Kessler Works was using monsters and evil magic to try to take over the world!"

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"Whoa, how'd that work out?"

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"They were using mind control broadcasts through TV! We helped magical girls from all across the world fight their monsters and investigate, until we found the location of the mind control hub and Savior Blazing Supernova destroyed it!"

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"Good for Savior Blazing Supernova! Is anything big like that going on on this world? Is it common to run missions off one's home Earth?"

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"Mostly there are more local troubles. There was an alien invasion but they just wanted a place to live so it's fine now! New magical girls mostly stay on their own Earth, but as you get more experienced more places can use your help."

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"Where did the aliens go?"

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"Tunisia!"

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"Are they just... blending in... with the human Tunisians?"

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"They're shape-shifters who like hot dry places so they live in the desert. I remember hearing there was some kind of fight between the African and European girls over it, I don't know the details really."

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"Are any of them magical girls? Do magical girls go to other planets much?"

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"Guardian Unbreakable Shield and Mistress Stellar Radiance are aliens! Getting to other planets is hard compared to using the Overworld, but some people make secret asteroid bases and things, or warp gates, or divine domains that aren't really on Earth anymore. By the way, I might have to go check on things in Seattle soon!"

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"What's going on in Seattle?"

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"We're trying to track down what's responsible for some mysterious thefts, chuu. There's traces of magic where they happened."

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"Is that likelier to be a girl or a monster?"

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"We don't know yet because the magic is completely unaspected. It's just raw mana, like eating sugar straight out of the bag. It's very mysterious. There aren't enough Puchuu to watch everywhere that someone might steal things and we don't have enough alarm charms to cover places either. Maybe you'll have clever ideas for how we can investigate?"

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"- what does using raw mana, uh, do?"

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"It just makes you feel kind of warm and tingly. It's not very useful. Even the most basic of spells aspects mana somehow."

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"How does that help steal things?"

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"We don't know but it's the only clue we have!"

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"Weird. Hope they figure that out. How long will you be in Seattle?"

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"It's quick through the Overworld so I can come check in in just a couple of days!"

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"Okay, I guess I'll see you then... are there books or websites or anything in the meantime?"

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"I'll see what I can do!"

Puchuu walks in a circle on the couch, then shakes itself out.

"If there's a monster-related emergency your best option is to call Miss Tanya! Bye for now!"

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"...bye."

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Puchuu manages to open window latches, open it, and close it behind itself. And then drops down and vanishes.

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Why didn't it vanish inside the house... whatever. She'll notebook till her dad comes home.

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Nothing particularly interrupts this.

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She mostly goes about her life as normal, though she does keep adjusting the outfit design. When she gets out of her truck at the end of the day she collects the FedEx package on the doorstep and notices with mild surprise that it's for her; she opens it.

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It's a book. Paperback, dog-eared and a bit worn. Slightly singed, even. Titled, Species and Specialties! A fantasy setting/worldbuilding guide.

There's a note that just says 'Puchuu approved!'

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Who's it from?

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Some sort of holding company whose name only has one result on Google. The return address is a PO box in Seattle.

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Fair enough. She will settle in to read it.

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It purports fairly thinly to be a worldbuilding guide for a tabletop RPG setting. There's lots of pictures. Specialties apparently include fire, water, earth, metal, ice, air, light, shadow, spirit, reinforcement, psychic, time, lightning, sound, beast, illusion, wood, empathic, gravity, space, transform, and 'other'.

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Cool! What does the psychic entry say?

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Psychic users can read and influence minds, and induce feelings of terror, anger, or sympathy in their target. With practice they can harm their opponents with a mental blast. While they are adept at disrupting or destroying their enemy's minds, the greatest psychic girls can make subtle changes without damaging the target mind, allowing them to edit short term memories and even temporarily turn people into their slaves. Sadly their powers do not work on entities with no minds, meaning that long range or remote attacks and drones or mindless summons are their greatest vulnerability. Additionally, permanent mental changes are the domain of the very mightiest psychic girls. Strong willed opponents or specifically designed defenses can resist psychic manipulation. These girls become highly resistant to effects that meddle with their minds. Of course, while psychic girls have little magic to turn to if their mental attacks can be resisted, this does not mean they're harmless! A magical girl's weapon and body remain effective even without any actual offensive spells.

Out of costume, psychic girls are resistant to mind effects and can sense the presence of other minds, though they can't read them.

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...sketch. Sketch as fuck, actually. The puchuu made it sound more appealing.

What can magical girls in general do regardless of specialty?

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Transform and untransform, be stronger/faster/tougher/luckier than baseline human, heal better than humans, be ageless, use magic artifacts, have a weapon and costume, have their array of miscellaneous powers, and reincarnate.

Coins can change your specialty, though it's apparently a tricky process.

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Magic artifacts, what's the deal there?

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Magic artifacts are trinkets that usually do one very specific thing, though weirder and more powerful ones have multiple uses. They have to be charged with coins or juice from a magical being. You can wish up weak ones with silver coins, and stronger ones with gold. They can be lost or destroyed- Not easily, but it happens with the amount of energy magical girls and monsters throw around sometimes. Gods, oni, gremlins, brownies, greater spirits, dwarves, werewolves, monsters, harpies, dragons, miscellaneous, and magical girls or human magi with appropriate talents can make them in an incredibly eclectic collection of methods, too. Some example artifacts: Heal Orb, alarm ward, teleport beacon (one-way), weapons of killing-this-specific-sort-of-thing, semi-infinite water jug, invisibility cloak, various trinkets to blast things with fire or ice or lightning, defensive talismans, magic phones with interdimensional internet, a piece of paper that shows whatever the viewer expects it to, artifacts that shift the local area halfway into the Overworld so all the collateral damage of a big magic fight doesn't kill people or leave odd craters in office buildings and municipal water pipes.

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Ooh, interdimensional internet. What are the appropriate talents?

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It references the 'sorcery' minor power, there's quite a few schools of non-Girl magic; Either that, or learning the same thing the hard way with 6-10 years of full time study. Added to the difficulty of finding a teacher.

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Oh she wants to know all about the non-Girl magic and about sorcery. Seems like an important way to add flexibility.

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The book has exactly 3 pages on that and devotes one and a half of them to the difference between dark magic (lengthy rituals, sacrifices, spooky aesthetics) and evil magic (inherently corruptive or distorting, powered by malice and hatred and fear). This tentacley symbol and that tilted-swastika and this weird pyramid are all Bad Fucking News, by the way.

Runes involve carving things really carefully. Ofuda involves calligraphy. Tarot actually works if you do it right. Carving wooden protective charms is an old standby (fun fact, holy symbols work on some bad things!) Alchemy is a thing, as is magic infusion and dollmaking and druidism and Wiccan and shaolin meditation and geomancy and crystal healing. If you actually know what you're doing, of course. 

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And the book certainly has not chosen to devote the space to telling her.

She will call her mom and drop a hint about her old Tarot deck with all the pretty cards, though, and her mom says she'll drop it in the next care package.

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The book also has a lot of stuff on different kinds of monsters. With a focus on what their scary powers are and how to kill them.

Zombies and skeletons are not people but liches can be, vampires are people, oozes and slimes aren't, trickster spirits are, werewolves are people who only sometimes can control themselves transformed, shades are ghost-things that like to make people pissed off and impulsive and are sorta debatably people, poltergeists are people but not former living people they're just blobs of mischief, there's a few different kinds of tentacle-blob monster and some of them are people. Abyssal Demons are a big category with the following tells (not perfectly reliable): Black, purple, and red, leave things rotten or rusty after they pass, slimy and 'feels unwholesome', distorted-sounding voices like a chorus of off tune singers, often weak to silver (but not always). There's a pretty staggering variety of Abyssals. Spitters, pit traps, spike boars, one-eyed crows, phase wolves, spikewheels, brutes, exploders, headcrabs, giant mosquitos, fire beetles, screamers, hellephants, Death Machines (possessed animate scrap metal), and more.

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Yikes. How and when are monsters encountered?

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Depends on the monster; In run-down parts of town for some, hiding in dense city areas for others, wandering around rural areas or wilderness for some. Abyssals, however, just appear all of a sudden, usually in places where they can cause a lot of trouble and death. Luckily their materialization is obvious to magical senses! Magical girls always have to be ready to respond, even in the dead of night!

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Yikes. How do people not notice them?

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Most get hunted down smart quick, by Girls or other magic beings. And due to the veil they get attributed to gas explosions, house fires, psycho killers, wild animals, car accidents, etc, etc.

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Are gas explosions et al simply not a thing actually or are they just sometimes monsters?

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This book does not have enough detail to make a firm conclusion.

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She puts it on a list of questions to ask Tanya and/or Puchuu.

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She has reached the end of substantial information here unless she wants to read up on other specialties or random monsters.

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Sure, what are the other specialties, let's start with Tanya's time thing.

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(specialties)

Time mages are a strange specialty. Novice users are quite weak, but aware and practiced users are deadly. They can slow their opponent's time stream to give themselves or allies more time to think and act, or speed their own time to have more time to move and strategize. An adept time user can freeze time for periods of several seconds, and a master can suspend time for as long as they have the mana to spend, though full time-stops are very taxing. The truly gifted are rumored to even be able to selectively alter the time of different processes and laws of physics- For example, rapidly cooling burning debris by speeding up temperature exchange but leaving combustion unaffected. There are few counters to a prepared time mage other than overwhelming power.

Out of costume, time girls always know what time it is and can near-perfectly predict deterministic events (like falling objects or cooking). They are also aware of gravity effects, as they distort time.

Time travel is believed to be fundamentally impossible.

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Fun. What else is there?

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Girls with beast powers focus on summoning and enhancing animals and themselves. Though similar to the rarer transform specialty, the focus is on cooperation. They find it easy to understand the body language of animals and will likely have a number of pets that make good targets for enhancements including speed, strength, size, and healing. They can also use wild or untrained animals, but results tend to be mixed. The utility of granting themselves animalistic features such as superior senses, flight, or natural armor cannot be overlooked. Very skilled users can apply these enhancements to other magical girls, making beast users a potent supporting and crowd-control asset in a fight. True masters are said to be able to create and alter magical animals, or summon spectral forms of their pets so they they are unharmed even after intense battles.

Out of costume, they have enhanced senses and a fast metabolism and high level of athleticism (maintaining potent strength and agility boosts even out of costume).

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Huh, neat. She does hope she winds up falling in with a team sooner or later, it seems like a lot of the abilities work much better synergistically. Next.

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Fire is a very straightforward and direct offensive power. Lacking some utility, but probably the single most potent specialty in direct offensive power, fire is a force to be reckoned with. From projecting a stream of fire, throwing explosive balls of heat, breathing fire from your mouth or wreathing a weapon in flames, destruction and power is the calling of fire girls. But more metaphorical uses of flame are not impossible. With skill and control, fire can be expressed solely as heat, or solely as light, though never as potent as a light mage. Blasts of flame from their feet can propel them into the air, and masters can use the metaphorical cleansing property of flame to 'purify' things- Foul magic, infections, or even toxic waste. High-level fire girls can almost be compared to walking artillery batteries, but still lack a strong defense.

Fire users become more inspiring and courageous, able to act decisively even when confused or afraid. Out of costume, they retain high resistance to heat and to many air contaminants.

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She doesn't love the sound of them "becoming" "more inspiring and courageous" but at least it's not her...

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The next three are:

Water (hydrokinesis of various forms, masters can do weird stuff that's metaphorically appropriate like teleport between bodies of water, stealth magic, or cleanse things, fast swimmers and vague watersense out of costume)

Air (speed and aerokinesis, flight and deflecting projectiles, masters can dispel almost any magic and gain minor far-seeing and combat precognition for a few seconds, are extra-aware and alert out of costume)

Stone (terrakinesis, earthquakes, fast construction and metaphysical "reinforcing" magic for masters, good at defense and standing ground, and are extremely durable and have an intuition for civil engineering out of costume)

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What a curious assortment. Why does Air dispel magic and do precognition??

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The answer seems to be 'metaphor'. The weirder specialties like psychic and time don't have to reach very far for their branch into advanced tricks, but the "four elements" have a lot of history and weight behind them. Air 'scatters and disrupts' and 'reaches far and wide'.

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Huh...

Next.

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Ice mages are fundamentally different from water mages; The focus is on the cold and inevitability. Lashing blasts of frigid air, materializing ice as shields or obstacles, slowing and stopping enemies and projectiles. Impressively versatile. Experts can slow, preserve, seal away, and stop things and true masters can get weird and metaphorical with it, like freezing 'tiredness'. Out of costume they have extreme resistance to cold and can emit a passive cold aura. They tend to become calmer and more deliberate.

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Man, most of these specialties have more flexibility than an (ethical) psychic. Oh well.

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Spirit mages bargain and cooperate with the ethereal spirits that are all around us. (Spirits are mostly immortal and don't tend to think about things in human terms.) Their bread and butter is giving incorporeal and otherworldly beings enough realness to exist and help out and enjoy being corporeal for a while. The big limiting factor is meeting and getting to know enough spirits to have a wide repertoire, but there are a lot of different spirits out there. Experts can wind up with whole platoons of animated sculptures and poltergeists and elemental dervishes to fight with. They are really benefitted from having perspective-taking as a skill, and can communicate with incorporeal beings even out of costume.

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She can't decide whether that sounds fun or irritatingly extroverty. Doesn't really matter though.

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Reinforcement mages are 100% focused on defense. Wards and shields, trivially against blasts of energy and physical projectiles, but pretty easily against all other sorts of magic as well, from psychic to Abyssal to anything in between. Reinforcement mages also have natural healing and restoration spells, able to clear off damage and lingering effects. They are dependent upon allies to actually damage foes in most cases; Reinforcement girls are all defense and support. Master reinforcement mages can place long term defenses on places or objects that last years, even decades, though only the very most gifted can make true magic artifacts. Out of costume, they remain surprisingly durable and tend to become more altruistic and extroverted.

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Okay so her dream team is probably something like, her, a reinforcement mage, an air maybe, and something hard-hitting... not that she expects to be spoiled for choice in her superhero team.

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Lightning: Is a lot like fire, just more mobile and real masters can pull tricks with magnetism. Tend to be restless and active. Can get boosts from the power grid.

Sound: Is pretty flexible, though not strong at any one thing in particular. Support powers. Not automatically musically talented, you have to actually practice.

Darkness: IS NOT THE SAME AS EVIL. All about stealth and 'crowd control' (I.E. fucking with enemies by confusing or weakening them). Can learn to do curses.

Light: Long range laser beams! The more advanced spells are all about seeing through tricks and illusions. Good at finding things. Can always tell if they are being lied to.

Empathic: A strange one, their magic is extremely flexible but powered by emotions. In populated areas they're strong, near sites of tragedy their magic can get... Disturbing.

Wood: Plant manipulation and summoning plant monsters, lashing foes with vines and thorns, animating shrubberies into shields. Basically the same as beast, but in plant form.

Gravity: Pretty specialized, and basically turns into extremely potent and fine-grained telekinesis for really advanced users. Good at crushing monsters under their own weight. Can fly.

Metal: Conjure, shape and manipulate metal (though conjuring is an expert move). True masters can do crazy stuff with metallurgy, making magical superalloys. Out of costume they get a much lesser version of the Fabricate power's make-things intuition.

Illusion: Highly focused on deception and the more skilled users can create completely convincing fake worlds to deceive people in. Masters can make illusions become reality if they're convincing enough.

Transform: Marked out as similar to beast and wood, but more general and therefore weaker, though you can get really creative with it. Transform mages tend to get bored easily.

Space: Can make distances larger or smaller, can twist places into escherian nightmares or make near-invisible shortcuts. True masters can arbitrarily shrink and grow things, and six foot high spiders are terrifying. They never get lost.

'Other' specialties are incredibly eclectic and varied, but a general rule of thumb is that they tend to be highly specialized but powerful inside their narrow specialization. Some examples of 'other' are candy, bone, paper, stories, steam, the zodiac, the moon, guns, dolls, pearls, clocks, and string.

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Candy. Wow.

Gravity and space sound kickass. Is there anything in the book about how big a team is standard?

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Not specifically, but by implication soloing is disrecommended but happens a lot anyway, pairs to quintets seem common, anything bigger suffers from personality clash issues and being overkill for any specific local problem.

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Cool. Hopefully somebody has room for her.

She will read all the rest of the book that she skipped by jumping around but presuming there's nothing revelatory in there she will explain her plans (partially) to Charlie and head up to Port Angeles on Sunday.

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Tanya is waiting at the park. She's the only violently blonde kid in the area, and she is tapping away at a laptop on a bench, wearing a T-shirt that says 'IT'S ABOUT TIME!'.

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Charming. Bella walks right up to her. "Tanya?"

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"Bella. Hello! One moment."

Type type type. Laptop snaps shut and she starts putting it in a messenger bag. 

"Good afternoon."

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"Good afternoon, it's nice to meet you. Love the shirt."

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"Delightfully cheeky, isn't it?" She smirks.  "Likewise. We can talk about things in public to an extent, as long as it's obvious we're just discussing a game or show or something."

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"Of course we are, I got a book in the mail that was clearly an RPG manual."

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"I got thrown into the deep end. No tutorial. That was practically forever ago, though. Where to for lunch?"

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"Fish and chip place?" She points.

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"Go fancier if you want. My treat. But that's fine too."

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"I don't have expensive tastes. Used to be a place I'd go to on my dad's birthday with him but it closed."

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"Well, simple is as simple does." She starts marching for the place. "You asked about backup and... Family for me, last time. I stick with friends these days. It was inevitable I'd have to move on."

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"No way to bring regular folks along for the ride as it were?"

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"No easy way. Couple golds or steady supply of silvers might do. Or the right friend up above. Let's say I didn't consider it worth the investment," she drawls.

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"Fair enough. I'm not planning to be all brooding immortal about it but it would have been nice. Who're your friends, do you have a regular team?"

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"I tag in for single-session scenarios with the Seattle pairs but wouldn't say I'm on either team. That's Gravity Maven and Titanium Steel, and then Sparkling Idol and Rocky Road. And some freelancing, there's a fixer kitsune in Tacoma. But Puchuu pay reliably, if not generously."

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"A fixer... kitsune?"

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"Yes? Fox spirit? Collects contacts and matches them to jobs. Someone has to be the lubricant for the magical economy."

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"Sorry, just wasn't familiar. I assume Gravity Maven and Titanium Steel are gravity and metal, and I don't have a strong guess about Sparkling Idol, and Rocky Road must be the ice cream one you mentioned? What are they like?"

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"Sparkling Idol is sound specialized. And, hrm. I'm a very businesslike person, so take this with salt. Gravity Maven is an active girl who likes looking 'cool', Titanium Steel and I get along pretty well, she's sensible. Sparkling Idol is a bit forgetful but friendly enough, and Rocky Road is still a child - for real - and honestly needs kindness and support."

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"What does an ice cream specialty do anyway?"

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"Make ice cream, so far. But enough about me. Psychic, hm? That's one scary power, honestly."

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"I'm not super thrilled with it, it seems like half the powerset is stuff I won't touch for ethical reasons, but the defensive aspect is good. I'm going to need to pick a good array of other powers to compensate."

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"I suspect a conversation about ethics would either be illuminating or infuriating."

She will frown at the menu and order something.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Why one of those?" Fish and chips and tartar sauce.

Permalink Mark Unread

"I self-identify as evil. Or at the very least, selfish. The reason I don't lie, and cooperate with people, and stick to deals, is because this is a very useful reputation to have, and I have standards. The only thing wrong with mind controlling someone, in my opinion, is the norms it might create that mind controlling or otherwise randomly attacking other people without a reason is okay, which might lead to me getting mind controlled or randomly attacked."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Huh. Well, it's plausibly convenient for you that I don't feel that way, isn't it?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yes. But the thing is, I don't have to trust that you feel that way. There is a social contract. Not ironclad, and society is complicated of course, but in the modern day you can be pretty sure that most people aren't randomly backstabbing most other people. That's an incredibly valuable piece of social technology."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sure, I can roll with that. At any rate I think I will need backup to function well in fights if I'm not using half my main powerset and frankly even if I were. Gravity and space powers sounded awesome, are they looking for a third?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Gravity Maven is looking for magical friends. Titanium Steel I think will be glad to have more backup."

Permalink Mark Unread

"...magical friends?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Friends who are magic, and therefore exciting. Superhero buddies, basically. Not just coworkers. Apparently I'm too professional." She smirks.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Okay, for a second there I was worried it was a euphemism. I should talk to them, can you put me in touch?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"What would it even be a euphemism for? Anyway, sure. I'll hand our your number? I'm kind of hoping to keep you as a contact. Any powers particularly standing out? Happy to give tips on synergy."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, hand it around." Bella pulls out her notebook and rattles off what the puchuu told her about her potential.

Permalink Mark Unread

Tanya's hands blur as she copies out some information and writes it up differently.

Character Sheet

 

Large form (tall), +1 VIT*

Psychic Specialty, +2 MAG +2 LCK

Fist weapon, +2 STR

---Assuming spending 1 bronze---> Magic weapon = +1 MAG

Elaborate outfit, +1 MAG

 

Major Power: Focused Assault 

Bronze to change to other assault types, Silver to change to any major power, Gold to get a 2nd major power (any)

 

Minor Powers: 

Disguise Artifact or Escape Mechanism (brz) (silver to pick any combat power)

Monstrous Metamorphosis (+2/2/2/0/0)** or Money Tap (brz) (silver to pick any combat power)

Magic Handbag or Absolute Direction (brz) (silver to pick any support power)

Enhanced Sustenance (applies out of costume) or Wings (brz) (silver to pick any support power)

Magic Gifted (+1 MAG) or Cosmic Heal (brz) (silver to pick any power)

Spend 1 gold to gain two additional minor powers of any description

 

Stats

Strength: 4

Agility: 4

Vitality: 5*

Magic: 6 (7 with Gifted)

Luck: 4

 

1 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze left

Coins-->stats at +4 for gold, +2 for silver, +1 for bronze (max 2 coins spent on any single stat)

 

*Applies even out of costume 

**Applies to physical stats when transformed

 

"Okay, so. Are you willing to disable nasty things with your specialty? If you're hardly going to use it at all, that informs different tradeoffs. You can also change your specialty to something related with coins, if that appeals?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm willing to do things that, hm, don't have too many invasive moving parts? Knocking them unconscious is fine, detecting that they exist is fine, I just don't want to be doing, like, mind control."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Okay, then Gifted isn't going to do much for you. And pushing magic above eight would be overkill, that's enough to get through to most things that won't just no-sell you entirely, and keep your noggin tightly sealed against, likewise."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yes, gotta... seal my noggin."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What do you want to accomplish? What kind of girl is this character?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh, like, defending civilization and all that's good, plus incidentally seeing the cool mysteries of the universe."

Permalink Mark Unread

"So you need some combat potential beyond mental slap, I think. Overworld Shift would be a great minor power for you- It reduces collateral damage and gives you a fast-travel method. Sustenance pairs well with the major power Regeneration, and Regeneration also goes well with Cosmic Heal- It's expensive, which regen really helps with. I recommend Monstrous Metamorphosis for survivability, but it has its drawbacks too, and I'm a paranoid bitch sometimes, so."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How hard is it to use the overworld as fast travel? I didn't really like the sound of the Monstrous Metamorphosis thing...

Permalink Mark Unread

Shrug. "It's not for everyone. I don't even have it myself, but I've seen it save lives. As for the Overworld, I don't wanna say it's easy, but I find it easy at this point. It's not just... Paths, people live there. I do recommend Absolute Direction for it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Which leaves me with how much budget - I don't actually think the puchuu gave me a number, is there a standard -"

Permalink Mark Unread

"To be clear, you want Escape Mechanism replacing Disguise Artifact, Overworld Shift replacing Monstrous Metamorphosis, Absolute Direction replacing Magic Handbag, Enhanced Sustenance no changes, and Cosmic Heal replacing Gifted Magic? And a magic-focusing staff instead of gauntlets as your weapon? That leaves you with... One gold, two silver, one bronze coin remaining. The gold is best used either on a major power or two minor powers. One silver or two bronze coins can boost your magic power to eight, that'll keep you pretty steady in that frame... To get Regeneration you can spend silver to replace Focused Strike or the gold to get it clean, honestly you kind of need more offensive power so I'd recommend not replacing focused strike...

I could loan you a few bronze to tick your stats up. It's not... Really the done thing, I'd want considerable interest. I don't really know you after all, so it's a risk. It bugs me to leave gains on the table."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't have a great way to find out what a reasonable interest rate is - especially if it's not the done thing - but that doesn't seem out of the question, if they're more valuable to me now than they will be later? What will Focused Strike... focus? Like, is that going to be psychic aspected mana hammering the monster, or...?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Well, my competition is the Black Mint. I won't leave a mark in your soul for the repayment, Puchuu can tell you that much is legit, that it's just an ordinary magic coin. I'm thinking fourfold within a few years. Yes, and also any girl can do these generic magic blasts, it'd focus that too."

Permalink Mark Unread

Nod. "I was also looking into the thing where you can pick up Tarot and stuff like that and have it actually work?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yes, and? I don't do that myself. Titanium Steel uses runes."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Cool, I'll talk to her about that. I was just wondering if it's a worthwhile investment or just sounds cooler than it is."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It sounds like you have higher priorities."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Getting a nice stable starting build will be worth it. And you can always learn these things the long way."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, okay, if I don't need to officially take Sorcery to have tarot work for me I'll pass on it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Right. Regeneration, with your gold coin? Think you're going to angle to work with Maven and Steel?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It seems like the sensible thing to do, they have good specialties with a gap I can patch and vice-versa, though I'll want to talk to them. I can probably get into U Dub a bit early."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That would line up nicely. Okay, so here's your stat line-

She spins a paper.

STR: 4

AGI: 4

VIT: 5*

MAG: 6

LCK: 4

"Two silver, one bronze coin left. I think I can lend you up to three to boost stats, with an expectation for ten bronze coins or equivalent favors paid out over time, if you want to up your stats. Strength is... Physical strength. Can come in handy but not really critical unless you're going to be punching things. Agility, I think you would enjoy, it's both speed and coordination. Vitality is toughness and everyone can use more in my opinion. Even if you have a healing power, it'll keep you conscious enough to heal or run. Luck is unreliable. My character has four, six, nine, nine, four. In your position I'd up magic to eight, maybe nine if you want more oomph, and also agility and vitality, but you might have different ideas. The rule of thumb is- Four is an average adult, six is a pro athlete, seven is an Olympian, eight is superhuman and it goes up from there."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And this is an absolute scale so the fact that I, uh, also took the Disablingly Clumsy flaw won't affect my agility results?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I've never had a GM that made backstory traits count for your stat line."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oh good. I agree with you about Vitality - what's the asterisk for -"

Permalink Mark Unread

"You retain up to 5 even out of costume."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is that also true of agility?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Up to four, it just didn't get an asterisk because 4/4/4/2/2 is the baseline for all girls, yeah."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Cool. Is there a cap on any of these?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not really. I've seen someone get up to 22."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Whoa, in what?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Magic. Gravity specialized. This isn't Maven, though." She shakes her head and shows a slightly manic grin. "Katarzyna can throw an apartment block."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Dang."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And do lots of other cool things too. But that gives you an idea of scale. I'm a generalist, and don't really regret it, since it's helped me not die but the once. So far."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How old is your character?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Subjective or sidereal?" Smirk.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sidereal."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Fourty."

Permalink Mark Unread

"A pleasure to have the advice of someone who's been through so many campaigns. The coins for the stats, are those only for stats or could they add up into more powers?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Honestly, some sort of training position would be nice if I could realistically swing it. No, it's gold or nothing for more powers, sadly. And coins can up your stats a teensy bit at a time later on, but it's a much worse gain."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not enough people getting into the game?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Seems like most people want to figure out the system on their own. Or want shortcuts and get mad when I don't have 'em."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Wow, I can't imagine wanting to learn all this without help."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Right??? ...It might be something about the average candidate not having a lot to spend. Also, I guess, giving you build advice is one thing, but substantial combat training is a lot more time consuming and kind of specialty-specific."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Are most of them just, uh, picking up game pieces with spare change, nobody giving them a budget to have another player in town?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mhm. I've seen it happen, but it seems like budgets are tight all over. Also, the Puchuu gang isn't as competent as it wants you to think it is. They're the best game in town, but they're not the best game, you know?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't think 'competent' was the impression I came away with..."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Wrong word, maybe. Mmm... Cute innocent protectors trying their best?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"And they're not?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm not saying they're not, I'm saying it's complicated."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I would like to know more, since I do expect to see a lot of them."

Permalink Mark Unread

 

"I have not outright observed things that can be really called - malefesance, or bad behavior. Just trends. Suspicions. Their perfect magical girl is the one who smushes the bad monster and hugs it like a stuffed animal and gets ice cream on the way home and doesn't ask questions. I half suspect they'll decide they made a mistake with you later, they must really want psychic in particular for something. They don't talk about where monsters come from. And I don't want to jeopardize my working relationship with a steady supply of coins and backup by saying much more."

Permalink Mark Unread

"So legit. Uh, do I need to worry about them deciding they made a mistake -?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's give and take, right, that's the understanding the whole thing is built on. As long as you play the role for a while you'll be fine. There's one thing that- Okay, I want to say it without actually saying it. There's lie detection, yanno. Some monsters are smart, right?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mmhm?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"And magical girls used to be ordinary humans."

Permalink Mark Unread

 

 

"On a completely unrelated note, any pitfalls I should be wary of starting out?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"The Monstrous Metamorphosis power specifically is actually quite safe and has no permanent effects, fun fact. As opposed to other things with monstrous - aesthetics-

-I think I've covered it, nothing huge you're going to stumble into by accident." She twists and stretches for a moment. "I was sort of hoping this would be a social call. I've forgotten how to... Do that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I mean, we can also do the social thing. Hi, I'm Bella, I moved in with my dad because my stepdad is a baseball player and constantly bopping around the country and my mother wanted to go with him, I like Civilization the computer game in addition to civilization the social organization phenomenon, and reading books."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I am all about wargames. The more complicated the better. It's very hard to find people who want to play sometimes. Numbers going up does feel nice though, doesn't it? Also, tea over coffee every time. What books?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I have the taste of a literature professor. Old stuff, like Austen or Dickens."

Permalink Mark Unread

"The benefit of the classics is that only the best are still considered good. I bet there were ten thousand awful fanfictions of Pride and Prejudice."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That is in fact my theory for why I like old stuff. It's filtered."

Permalink Mark Unread

"In theory modern things with enough good reviews can capture some of the same things, perhaps... A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is always fun, personally. Mark Twain has a good sarcasm."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, I love Twain and that's a very solid one."

Permalink Mark Unread

They can discuss books until the food is gone.

It's fun. 

"So! I believe I promised some showing off?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I believe so! That's not like, expensive or anything? Do you need coins just to use powers you already have or anything?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's about like jogging, honestly." She makes for an alley or thr back of the fast food place.

Permalink Mark Unread

"As experienced by people who do or who don't like jogging?" Bella asks, following her.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Those who don't. Though clumsiness isn't an issue, natural ones on spells aren't a thing unless you take the flaw for it."

She glances around, notices nobody immediately in sight, smirks and holds out her hand. "Into the overworld for a couple hundred meters and straight back out?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mmhm!" Handclasp.

Permalink Mark Unread

She - glows, and suddenly, there's someone entirely different there. Or so it seems, her stance and pose is different, even if you ignore the fancy baubled dress uniform, white gloves, glowing eyes and necklace bauble, and sudden appearance of a long rifle on her back.

And then they are elsewhere. It bears a similarity to the fast food alley they just left, an alley, except that the buildings seem grey and fake. There are no windows or doors, no dumpsters or scuffs and damage. Just tall, grey walls. The sky here is covered in faint spiraling patterns, just barely contrasting enough to be visible. It's very quiet, just an odd unidentifiable distant rumbling and the faint sound of windchimes.

Tanya marches forward to the street. Which again mostly resembles the Port Angeles they just left. The road signs mostly don't make sense, the cars are different models and none are moving, and there's a huge bush with bright pink flowers growing in the road median. The flowers are moving from place to place on the bush.

"Best leave them alone, just some fairies."

Permalink Mark Unread

Oh gosh that's so cool.

"What's the deal with fairies?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They look like tiny people but are really more like - bees. Probably serving some kind of vital magical ecosystem role, best left alone unless you know what you're doing."

She crosses the street without even looking, heading for the big park across the way. The plant life and decorations here again mostly sort of follow what's actually in Port Angeles.

"If you stop recognizing things, best to drop out into the real again - it's intuitive - this near a city things will be safe-ish. The place is handy for getting around unseen. What's more- Damage and destruction here don't carry over to the real, at least not right away. And non-magic people can only get in if they have an artifact just for that. You have potential, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not right away? What, do they - accelerate wear and tear subtly, or -"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Something like that. If you blow up monsters in the same place every day for a year there'll be a sinkhole or something, or just wear and tear. None of this is very scientifically robust, I'm afraid. There's theories but they're more like guesses as far as I'm concerned."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How odd. So I guess the park is a good place because it'll only damage plants if you throw stuff around showing off, and they'll grow back?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It also has a little more life, and I figure we can drop out in a nice secluded corner without trouble- Veil's particularly strong when you drop out. Alleys, behind signs, behind dumpsters, nobody happens to be looking, they blink and think they mis-saw..."

Permalink Mark Unread

Sketchy but not really invasive. Nod nod.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Now, I'm not precisely the 'huge explosions' type... There, those trees look like good targets, no? Watch closely."

Is she watching?

Because for a brief moment there's eight of Tanya, and then they all blur, and with a loud crack, a whole lot of tree branches fall at once. Then she blurs forward and punches and slices them in midair, turning them into twigs.

She pirouettes and bows.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Wow - the multiply locating thing, does that drop out of the time specialty somehow or is it a separate thing -"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Time! Twisting it into knots is awfully difficult, but just layering it a bit? Like icing a cake." She grins maniacally. "Gifted covers a lot. Bit of a shame you're not going to be using it, perhaps."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, if I wanted to turn people's brains into cakes."

Permalink Mark Unread

"There's those AIs- Or techspirits, or whatever- I guess you might not want to become a technical mom either, huh?"

She twirls the gun. "Want to experience a speed boost?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't really have ambitions of being a technical mom though reportedly my great aunt did - uh, what would I do with it, I can't run or anything -"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Slo-mo is cool even if you're just watching a leaf fall? Up to you~"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sure, I'll try it."

Permalink Mark Unread

She grabs a stem of wildflowers and tosses them up just before she gently taps Bella on the hand.

Pollen swirls in the air like the best hi-def slow motion videos, lush petals twisting slightly in the wind as they spin.

"I seriously love being magic. The only thing better is a quiet day with tea and a good book and absolutely no responsibilities."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Oooh - yeah, it looks so fun -"

Permalink Mark Unread

"And I get to messily kill uncomplicatedly evil things, too! It's great!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They're definitely uncomplicated?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"The less humanoid Abyssals, at least, definitely are."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And the more humanoid ones?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Complicated. Scary, dangerous. Also rare."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Well, rare is good. Maybe I can do like - D&D style Hold Person, so I can talk to them or something..."

Permalink Mark Unread

Things speed up again and Tanya hums.

"Probably should just need practice, not Gifted, to get to that. Puchuu absolutely, categorically, hate Abyssals though, for what it's worth."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Stands to reason what with why they'd invest in magicking folks up."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah. Okay, that's all my cheap tricks shown off. Time to go? Want to drop back out?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, let me see if it's as intuitive as you say." Bella ducks behind a bush and - returns to normality?

Permalink Mark Unread

There's a thing? It's like a stubborn condiment packet? Or the end of a tape roll, stuck to the layer underneath it? Obviously grabbable, but slick and hard to get a grip on and not quite going.

 

"I'm pretty sure you should be able to even just as a potential, but I meant at the time 'once you're a magical girl'..."

Permalink Mark Unread

YANK?

Permalink Mark Unread

Dizziness! Everything twists and spins and the ground moves under her feet-

And then Tanya is there on the perfectly ordinary park grass, back in her IT'S ABOUT TIME shirt, holding out a hand to help her up.

"Bit of a rough landing but you got it!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Eh, falling over is fairly normal for me, presumably I'll get over it." Up!

Permalink Mark Unread

"So, that's the Overworld. Parts of it are much more interesting - Lived in, I suppose. I'll mention you to Titanium Steel... Anything else?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't suppose there's an online forum or anything fun like that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not really. My phone's pretty expensive, ya know?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I was sort of imagining that it would not be that hard to turn magic into conventional money."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's tricky without a niche the veil doesn't object to much."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I guess I was imagining doing stuff without anyone looking and getting paid for the end product. Maybe that is impractical in today's world."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I know there's a market for 'medical miracles'. I don't know much more about it than it exists. And precious metal, and time-stopped urgent deliveries occasionally. Most girls care a lot more about magic currency than mundane stuff, there's even a power to tap directly into a god of wealth's domain for chrissake..."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Which is totally legit, just, like, you still need to pay the phone bill."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Puchuu will pay your phone bill. Not entirely sure where they get the money. They won't buy you a penthouse."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Huh. Will they buy me a studio for off-campus student housing in Seattle?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"You'll have to ask them yourself I think."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is there a spending money stipend or do they just directly pay your phone bill?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Second thing. They just- You ask for something and they're either 'I can do that!' Or 'I'll see what I can do!'. Books, phone, hobby stuff, nice frozen meals or those pre measured kits, weird tchotchkies you can pawn, sometimes magical trinkets to borrow if they're in a good mood with you."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Huh! And they won't explain that at all? I hope they're not like, looting the corpses of the fallen. Or doing weird brain magic to the phone company."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Think their minds work really differently. And favor networks are more intuitive to them than money. That is just a guess though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Gosh. Well, hopefully I can figure something out but I guess it might be a part time job at the bookstore or something."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Mhm. Let me know if you want that loan of bronze for your character- Three now, paid back ten later. I should get going soon, though. 

Permalink Mark Unread

"I think I do, yeah."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'll fetch them from my stash and give them to your puchuu later, then. Ta! Should do this again some time!" She smirks, salutes, and starts wandering off.

Permalink Mark Unread

"See you around!"

And Bella drives home.

Permalink Mark Unread

Her Puchuu shows up again on Tuesday, hanging out in a tree near her house. It waves a paw at her.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hi there. C'mon in." She holds the door for it.

Permalink Mark Unread

Puchuu strolls in!

"Hello again! Did you have fun with Miss Tanya?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Very much so, thanks for introducing her. She's going to lend me some coins."

Permalink Mark Unread

It hops up onto the couch. 

"I'm glad you get along! I thought it would be a good fit but I wasn't sure. Miss Tanya can be headstrong. And I heard about the coins too, I actually have them with me. I don't want to activate you right away even if you're ready for that though, I want to explain why we can use your help first."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Please do."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Lots of things you have legends about are real in some fashion or another. One of the things that is real is vampires! They're not quite like abyssal creatures, but still really dangerous! One of their powers is enthralling people whose blood they drink. We think there's a vampire living on the military base near Tacoma, because there's been more and more dark magic there lately and some strange police reports too. We're pretty sure a vampire is around but we don't know what it's up to, and approaching a vampire without psychic defenses is a really bad idea. We were waiting on miss Third Eye who lives on the east coast to make some defensive talismans, but if a vampire is infiltrating the military, that's really bad news, and it might not be great to keep waiting."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Am I going to be able to be helpful with that, like, right away...?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"The thing you'll be able to do right away is protect your own mind and the minds of other magical girls from the vampire's gaze! It's not as strong as blood thralldom but it's still bad, it'd confuse people long enough for the vampire to hurt them a lot. I think you'll be able to mentally shield your teammates right away, so if you're around just in case it makes investigating at all so much safer, because we're not in as much danger of that. You might not be able to shake people loose of thralldom right away, but that mostly goes away if the vampire is destroyed."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Who else is on this?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"We have eight different Puchuu who can help spy and figure out where the vampire is, and Titanium Steel and Gravity Maven are willing to help. I'll probably also get Tanya and maybe even make sure Sparkling Idol and Rocky Road aren't busy in case we need more backup, if it's as dangerous as we expect. Vampires are a big deal! But we're going to investigate first and not go into this before we're ready unless we really have to."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What makes them a big deal apart from the enthrallment thing?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They're extremely fast and heal rapidly by draining the life from their thralls. They can cast curses and make lesser vampires. Tanya will be necessary to slow it down, if there really is a vampire and we're not just scared over something else. They tend to make plans for tragedy that are far more subtle than usual, like passing bad laws, bringing corruption into organizations, and even starting wars."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Eesh. Uh, how do they make lesser vampires?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They turn some of their blood thralls into them. I think it usually kills them instead, so they don't do it very much because that's more suspicious than people who are just a little woozy and act funny sometimes."

Permalink Mark Unread

"But they could maybe get a few in a hurry if they have a lot of blood thralls?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It takes a few weeks..."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Okay, that's good. Anything else up with them? If they've already made lesser vampires what's their deal?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Lesser vampires aren't really as magic. They're still fast and dangerous, but even non-psychics can shut them out with effort."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Okay. So we're looking at - physical fight only as long as I'm in the picture, civilians in danger, unknown number of vampires. Mm?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"If you can keep up the shield on everyone. Civilians might even be made to attack you, but they're not that much of a threat, even the military ones, if we watch out for it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Magical girls are bulletproof or something?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not unless you have really high vitality or a barrier charm. Psychic girls can make telekinetic barriers with practice, sometimes... And thralls can usually see through the veil. It's just that Miss Tanya is very good at dealing with guns, maybe because she has one."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Ooh, telekinesis. How much practice? Will civilians be able to come into the overworld, like with vampire help, or does taking the fight there solve that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Maybe the blood thralls will be able to... We don't know how many there are, or if there even really is a vampire yet, though. We'll find out as much as we can first, chu!"

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"What's the - intel gathering strategy there?"

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"Invisible puchuus since we're good at tracking bad magic, and maybe Miss Tanya looking at things while time is stopped."

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Nod nod. "I am hoping to meet Gravity Maven and Titanium Steel, would it be a good idea to do that before I activate?"

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"I don't see any particular reason to. Or any reason not to either."

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"Can Charlie, like, see you, to - explain, since I'm going to tell him anyway?"

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"Hmmmmmmmmm yes, we can do that today. Here!"

It - nuzzles its flank - and produces a small, dull looking coin that definitely wasn't there before. The design is worn and indistinct. It looks ancient.

"You should use this copper coin by wishing to exempt him from the veil! Since you're associated with magic by having potential, it should work pretty well."

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"Okay. Uh, I'm going to wait till he comes home, should be any minute now."

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"Sure! I'll wait with you."

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She will pet the puchuu while she waits.

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Here's Charlie. "Hullo, Bells."

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"Hi Dad. Uh, I have - news -" She attempts to wish on the coin.

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The coin vanishes. It feels like - something, like dropping something or a breeze from someone walking by-

That's not just some sort of fluffy thing Bella's petting for some reason! It has wings, and is, like, impossibly clean and fluffy, and is looking at him with a significant degree of cutesy intelligence.

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"News," Charlie echoes.

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"Yeah. So, uh, this is - a puchuu - I haven't named it, apparently they don't have names per se - and it wants to give me magic powers!"

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"Charmed," says Charlie.

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"Hello! I'm not sure how much Miss Bella wants me to explain, chuu?" It ear-flicks.

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"It talks."

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"Yes, that is how it offered me the magic powers. Uh, I'm going to go for it, I talked to an active magical girl to confirm and it sounds really awesome. There is some... superheroics going on. I may enter dangerous situations that are in need of magic. But also I will not age and if I die I will, eventually, pop back up again, so I think it's a good deal."

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Charlie looks skeptically at the puchuu, which isn't saying anything.

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"You can tell him whatever," Bella tells the puchuu.

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"There are monsters that want nothing more than to destroy civilization itself! They would cause a lot of harm if left unchecked, and puchuu aren't good at fighting them directly, just finding them! So we need girls with potential to help make sure they don't cause problems. Miss Bella is going to have psychic powers, to defend her mind and those of her friends, too. There are a lot of puchuu, and we've been doing this for a long time, even in ancient times. It's a puchuu's job to support magical girls, since they're helping us out so much! Miss Bella has already talked to another magical girl, and I think she'll be happier as one because it lets her do interesting and important things. We can also help her get into university, and even pay her for the work with magic coins that grant minor wishes."

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"Girls? Specifically?"

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"Mostly girls, about nineteen out of twenty. We don't really understand why, the system is very old and from a parallel Earth. But reliable."

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"A parallel Earth."

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"There's a lot of those, but they're hard to get to."

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"I want to tell Mom too but like, probably in person, I don't think the phone would really work," Bella says.

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He hugs his daughter. "You pop up again if you get - hurt?"

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"She will. There are ways to make it faster, but she will eventually return no matter what."

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"It's a pretty good deal, and it'd be a better one if I weren't signing up to, uh, go fight a vampire, but, like, given that the vampire already existed..."

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"A vampire."

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"It might not be a vampire. It would be better if it's just evil magi or something."

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"How is that better?"

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"Vampires are some of the worst monsters to have doing things. They actually plan ahead for how to hurt people instead of doing it incidentally to some other goal, or randomly with whatever idea is most obvious."

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"Why do they do that, anyway?"

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"It's not always clear, but just like some magic is associated with positive emotions, there's magic associated with negative emotions too. Vampires are immense concentrations of dark magic, like most monsters."

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"I don't suppose there's any realistic possibility of interrogating them."

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"If the others weaken it enough, you might be able to disable a vampire non-lethally... And then we could put up defenses to hold it when it wakes up again. It would try very hard to escape and might have contingency plans, though. It would be pretty risky."

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"What'll happen to all the lesser vampires, if we don't find them all, though?"

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"They'll scatter and go into hiding, and cause trouble later."

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"So that'd be a good reason to interrogate him if it looks feasible to do so... anyway, I should talk tactics with the others, the point of this conversation is to give you a heads up that I'm going to be magical, might be gone at odd hours, and won't stay dead if I get in over my head."

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Nod.

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"You need to know about the Veil a little bit, mister. The Veil is an ancient magic spell that nobody can cancel as far as we know. It keeps people who aren't aware of magic or magical in some way from noticing magic things. But you've been exempted from it for now, it should last a few months at least, since you're related to Miss Bella and she wished on a magic coin to do that. So you might notice magic things that other people don't, but probably not. Forks is a magically quiet place, Miss Bella is the most magical thing around by a long shot."

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"What will - happen after a few months?"

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"You might start forgetting about magic and think Bella is doing something else important and maybe dangerous, but not remember it's magic specifically. If you write it down you could lose the note or forget to read it. You might not need reminders now that you know, though. The Veil is annoyingly tricky like that."

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"Will reminders stick, if I give them?"

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"They should! In the worst case, more copper coins. Copper coins are common."

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"Okay. I guess. Works less well if I'm hibernating."

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"Oh. We can definitely make sure to visit and remind you if that happens! It would be mean not to!"

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"Huh. Thanks, that's very decent of you."

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"It's a Puchuu's job to support magical girls, after all."

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Nod nod. Pet pet. "Uh, I think that more or less covers it, Dad."

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"Thank you for telling me, Bells."

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"If you're ready to become magical now, all we need is a nice comfy place to do it and to make sure you know all your choices before it starts."

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Charlie considers watching this and then decides not to instead.

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"I think I'm ready!" She flips to her notes on her build and magical outfit.

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Tanya's final suggested build for her, after the discussion and including her offered 3-bronze-coin loan, was:

Taller form, slightly younger-appearing face, but disguised by tallness.

Elaborate costume, however she ended up designing it.

Psychic specialty- Don't change.

Fist weapon- Spend 1 brz to make it a magic staff or wand of some sort instead.

Major power- Focused Assault- Don't change.

Minor powers- Escape Mechanism (spend 1 brz, replacing Disguise), Overworld Shift (spend 1 brz, replacing Monstrous Metamorphosis), Absolute Direction (spend 1 brz, replacing Magic Handbag), Enhanced Sustenance (severely reduced need for air, water, food, sleep), Cosmic Heal (spend 1 brz, replacing Gifted Magic).

Gold coin- Spend to gain Regeneration extra major power. 

Stats before coins (in costume/out of costume):

Strength: 4/4
Agility: 4/4
Vitality: 5/5
Magic: 6/2
Luck: 4/2

With two silver and four bronze coins left, giving her two +2s and four +1s to distribute in terms of stats (in costume only).

Tanya recommended she reach 8 in Magic but not go over that, and recommended Agility and Vitality be the focus for what she has left, but didn't specify an exact layout.

Or optionally- Instead of Regeneration use the gold coin to pick two minor powers, but none of the options discussed struck her as critically important.

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Plus two Magic and plus three Vitality, plus one Luck and plus two Agility.

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Puchuu piles up the coins in her palm, glittering and promising unmistakable power, and then-

-It's obvious, the path she'll take, the shape things will be. Her fists, brutal weapons of destruction. Her powers, eclectic and not what she would ideally want. As plain a fact as anything. Rocks fall, water's wet, this is her build. The coins feel hot in her hands.

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Time to try to steer this so that she doesn't have to try to punch a vampire!

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As long as she has a clear picture of what she wants that's Not This, it's not difficult. She naturally pulls on the appropriate sized coin, which vanishes and coincides with a sudden shift that feels just as natural and factual as before.

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Oh good. Coins go where coins go - spend spend spend - MAGIC -

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She needs a pose and chant to transform. A single sentence. NEEDS it. The magic is pushing for it, gently at first, but increasingly strongly. Maybe "Inner mind and outer power, none shall fall before my sight!" while standing heroically, hands on hips. Or "By fortress of mind I stand, a light in the darkness!" while pointing ahead. Or "I promise nightmares and torments to my foes with my mind's razor!" while glaring with one foot forward and arms crossed.

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Eh the fortress of mind one is okay, she'll go with that one.

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"Ooh, you're almost done!"

 

Say it. Saaaaaaaay iiiiiiiiiit, the magic cajoles.

 

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"By fortress of mind I stand, a light in the darkness!" she says, pointing at nothing in particular out the window.

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Her magic rises up in a great surge as she glows! Her costume spills forth from nowhere, replacing her old clothes bit by bit with fancier, shinier fabric loaded with accoutrements and extra bits! She feels suddenly vastly more capable. She could do a cartwheel. She could pick up the couch with ease. She could lash out with bolts of magic, or use any of her minor powers- Absolute Direction is just begging for a target.

There's a few minds around. Puchuu, which 'looks' small and nimble and slightly alien. Charlie in the other room, instantly recognizable as Charlie despite not really having... Distinct features per se at this level of perception. One of her neighbors. Faint hazy hints of others, further away.

"Congratulations, Miss Bella!" 

Can you hear this? (The answer will depend on whether she's raised instinctive mental shields or not)

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I can hear you! she says, twirling and giggling.

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It looks like it went perfectly! What do you want to do now?

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Call Tanya, I think. Also are there easier missions I could do before the vampire one?

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The thing about monsters is that they either hide really well or pop up suddenly, so I don't have anything just waiting for you to go fight...

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Yeah, that makes sense. She will go pick up the phone.

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There might be a pest in the Overworld someone wants dealt with, one that's not super dangerous just annoying, but easier to hire a magical girl to deal with than deal with themselves. That happens sometimes. I'll ask around. May I ride on your shoulder?

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Sure. She dials Tanya.

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Puchuu leaps and flaps its intangible wings once with a light puff of pink-purple sparkles. Then it settles on her shoulder, feeling like it weighs almost nothing at all.

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First ring: "Tanya speaking. Bella, right, it's your number at least?"

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"It's me! I'm magical now! I was slightly taken aback by needing a slogan but I guess I have no excuse."

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"Hah. Mine's kind of... Violent. I didn't tell you the story, but a Puchuu found me literally right as an Abyssal demon was clawing at my front door?"

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"Wow, timing needs work."

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"A contributing factor to my allegation of suspicious patterns.

I take it you want a practice target?"

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"Wouldn't hurt. Apparently the reason a psychic was needed was there's a vampire."

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"I don't keep pet monsters or anything but I can introduce you to Saeko. She might give you a tip on something small, probably with your payment being the info and chance to hit something safeishly while she pockets the actual fee."

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"Sounds worth doing. Saeko?"

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"Kitsune I mentioned. Helpfully obsessed with accumulating magic coins and owed favors. A good contact!"

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"She have a phone number?"

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"She does not. She's got an Overworld address."

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"Well, I guess I can try my fancy new navigation power then."

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"That's the spirit! I'm guessing it's like thirty miles in the Overworld by A.D. South of Tacoma. Shortcuts are pretty short in there. You can bring bikes in."

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"I... do not have a bike. Hey Puchuu will you get me a bike?"

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"Maybe in a couple of days. It seems like it'd be pretty useful!"

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"It does, yes. Maybe I can get somebody at school to lend me one for the time being."

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"Well, there you go. Or you could just jog. You ought to be able to maintain a full-on sprint with regeneration and significant amounts of vitality and agility. I can meet you there at a certain time but not really go out of my way to escort you."

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"Man, maybe I really could just jog, that would be something."

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"Physical stats are like that! You should mess around in the woods or Overworld, do gymnastics, climb walls, get used to it. It's instinctual to an extent but it'll help planning, to have a feel for it."

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"Anything else like that I might be overlooking?"

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"Get used to your weapon, it'll be a magic focus but you can still whack things or block. Use the heal a couple of times so you can learn to feel and judge magical exhaustion. Learn to throw mana bolts, generic no-element attacks, and the Focused Strike. Blowing some Overworld woods up once won't be a big deal."

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Bella writes all this down. "Awesome, thank you."

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"Happy to welcome another member of the community! Let me know when you're about ready to talk to Gravity or Titanium, they'll be much more sanguine about giving their numbers to a newbie than a potential."

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"I will probably go play with my magic for the next hour or two but expect to be at home to the phone till ten after that tonight!"

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"'Kay, I'll call back. Or they will."

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And Bella will go give her dad a hug and then let herself out into the backyard, and from there the overworld, to leap around and wreck trees.

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She's pretty much an action hero! More Hawkeye than Superman, admittedly, but she can scramble up trees with moderate effort, do cartwheels and tumbles, bring her foot above her head, and barely even feel a hard bump against a tree that definitely would have bruised before. Throwing mana bolts is a little weird- Her weapon is a purple and silver staff topped by a sphere of red crystal, which appears in her hands when she intends it- But it's still fairly intuitive and they range from 'shake the leaves' to 'cleave through a large branch'. The lower end tends to dissipate before it hits at any distance.

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Wheeee she will keep an eye on the time but bop around topiarying trees and jumping from heights and tumbling around for about an hour and a half. What does mana exhaustion feel like?

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She won't be able to figure that out unless she goes really hard on making woodchips or tries out the heal. She still feels like it's 10 am and she's had a good night's sleep and maybe coffee.

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Good on her for spending points on vitality, she guesses! Tanya recommended trying out the heal, so - so as not to waste it - she will go for more daring stunts till she is actually banged up enough to benefit from it.

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-Yeah, landing bad on a big fall will still mess her up! And hurt! 

Cosmic Heal makes her glow with pale purple light and a sense of silence and starlight. It feels peaceful. It's also much more obviously draining.

Magic exhaustion feels a little like tiredness in a muscle that doesn't have a physical location, and a little like being So Done with some mentally draining activity. It's definitely its own distinct thing and coming from the same place as the rest of her magic.

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Huh. Good to know what that's like. If she sits for a bit can she notice it recovering?

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It would be hard to put numbers on it, but she's getting over it pretty quick.

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Oh good.

As long as she's in the Overworld anyway where is the kitsune?

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That way! Down this trail, towards a bit of Overworld that looks like a distorted upside-down forest.

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Huh, neat. She's not going to jog fifteen miles right now, though, she's going to drop out into the normal world and head back inside.

There is a note for her saying that there was a call while she was out! She dials the return number.

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"Hiiiii~ Gravity Maven here! Teeny Tanya said nice things about you so I'm already pre-impressed, miss newbie psychic!"

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"You sound pretty neat too! I just got back from fucking around in the woods, it's very cool to be able to balance at anything quicker than a shuffle."

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"I know, right? It's so cool to be athletic without really trying! Even if it's kind of cheating, I was never in it for the 'cheivos anyway. Do you read superhero stuff?"

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"Not particularly, why?"

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"I totally do and have the constant urge to rank us all on power ranking systems. I think they make a nice shorthand. Oh well."

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"Well, if you want to quiz me about my magical arsenal I'm game."

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"So, I have gravity. It's basically elaborate telekinesis. I also have a bunch of minor powers, including a weird one that gives me vague prophecies. The minor powers add up quick don't they? I don't have much durability, but I have a reallllly cool one that means I don't really need it! I can be in two places at once!"

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"Oh damn that's a cool one! What's it like to be in two places at once?"

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"I have to absorb myself back to see what the other me was doing, which is always a bit trippy. And I don't get anything if one of the not-original-mes pops. And they're weaker. But I make great scouts. I can push it up way higher, but then I get so fragile a papercut will pop one of me. I like doing pair gymnastics by myself, though, it's fun. I can be a whole cheer squad!"

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"Ooh, fun. I have the psychic specialty which is sort of unfortunate in a way because I think half the stuff it does is unethical but at least I get to defend against all that unethical stuff from other parties, and then I've got the wayfinding one and the overworld shift and the one where I don't need to eat or breathe much and Cosmic Heal and Escape Mechanism."

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"Ooh, healing! I have a boost to awareness - spidey sense - Oh, don't be alarmed if I turn into a dragon lady if things get really bad."

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"Complete with wings? Neato."

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"Uh, no wings. And it's nnnnot actually a fun time."

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"Ah. Less neato on both counts."

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"It's saved my butt at least once, though!"

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"I am glad of it! Did Puchuu tell you about the vampire situation yet?"

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"Oof, vampire? Nah, just that there's probably something very bad at J.B.L.M. to not poke around myself. The one time I poked around against their advice I regretted it so shrug. I kind of want to steal a tank but that's damningly irresponsible even for me."

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"That's why they wanted to recruit a psychic, so I can hedge out the mindwhammy thing," Bella explains.

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"Makes sense. Mindwhammy is kind of... Save or die, so I'm sure we'll all appreciate it being defended."

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"Hopefully I don't die five minutes in or something embarrassing like that! I'd like to have a strategic plan A before going in even if the vampire will inevitably fuck it up."

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"I mean, the answer to that is training. Lots of training so you have an instinctive reaction to things. And knowing when to run away. Cherry, that's my Puchuu, and his buddies go for thorough spying when they're actually worried about something, so we can plan to drop out of the Overworld right on top of it or something. Honestly, Tanya's gonna be doing the heavy lifting. As usual."

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"Tanya's really cool. And she gave me a loan to supplement my build with too!"

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"Wow, lucky. She's kind of a badass but... All work and no play. And you've never seen her mad..."

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"Eh, I like to have fun but I also like to get things done efficiently, I can respect a workaholic."

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"I guess. Anyway, the original reason I called was to see if you want to run Titanium's obstacle course! We can't really give you magic practice and I don't really want my mind messed with by a novice, but we can help a little!"

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"I would love a shot at an obstacle course! Where is it, when's good?"

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She rattles off an address, a small town further south in Washington. 

"She spends most every day there since it's also a workshop. Don't go past the warning signs. Pretty much any time is good!"

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"I'll swing by when I have a chance, then!"

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"Call me first, I wanna watch!"

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"I'll phone before I head out, sure!"

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"Cool! Wanna talk more or, uh. Because that was a natural point for a goodbye but I'm not actually done talking on my own."

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"Well, I'm not leaving now, it's getting late. Go right ahead."

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"Cool. You'll love magic. It's gonna be great! The Puchuu do the hard work of finding gribblies and we get to practice awesome superpowers and come to the rescue! But we magical girls do have to use proper teamwork, of course."

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"Yeah, I'm all about that, I don't want to be without backup in a monster nest. Besides the obstacle course are there not-live-fire options for that?"

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"Sparring. Particularly weak enemies or soloing something with backup waiting in the wings. It's not cops and robbers, the monsters are Monsters, not villains, and they're playing for keeps and already escalated almost all the way. Abyssals, anyway. Rowdy werewolves will surrender."

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"What do you... do... with surrendering werewolves?"

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"Hit 'em with silver and let Puchuu give them a talking to and then cart them back home! There's a few clans around. At least the two times I did it- Two different weres."

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"Huh! And they're basically just folks except the regular police can't put them in the drunk tank?"

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"Ehhhh... Whole toxic culture and a few weird powers other than being big and mean. But kinda yeah."

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"Toxic culture how?"

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"We are the strong, we take care of the Pack and nothing else matters, bad warriors are worthless as people, our land has been stolen and blood will run when the time is right..."

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"Has... their land been stolen? Are these Native American werewolves or something?"

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"No, they're black, mostly. I dunno about the land but the whole thing is just... Brr."

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"Are they contagious?"

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"Yeah, and the P.G.C. have threatened, uh. Extermination if they start mass turning. Oh. That's - Puchuu Girls Collective, what passes for the Justice League. It's extremely informal."

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"How is it together enough to threaten people with things if it's extremely informal?"

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"Puchuus will tell you they exist, I mean, I wouldn't want to cross them... Maybe not extremely informal. It's an alliance between some big names and the Puchuus. The big names at the top hop around the world to deal with major threats, otherwise they don't - do much. One of a few groups on that level - there's the Heavenly Stars, an Asian group, who are full of pageantry and formal ranks and stuff, and this group calling themselves Olympus who go way into the greek mythos aesthetics, and the PGC who I think are the most reasonable but also the least formal. There's a mailing list and a suggestions box and an annual meeting but, uh, it feels more like a hobby group and a party to show off than a serious superhero team. The big names, Antoine, Sola and Luna, Monument, Amazona, don't want to make it very limiting I think."

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"Should I be on the mailing list?"

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"May as well! Or I can just show you the letters I get. ...By mailing list I mean snailmail, yeah."

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"I do have a physical address and can receive mail at it. Puchuu gave me a teeny little coin to let my dad remember what I told him, too."

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"Sure. You have to send in a form, give me your email address? It's good form to donate a few coins when you can spare them. Or occasionally volunteer for something if the newsletter calls for aid."

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Bella rattles off her email. "I think I owe Tanya before I go paying membership dues but I will assess my availability if the newsletter calls for aid."

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"The annual meeting is fun, at least. This one's in August- A weekend thing."

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"Oh, what makes it fun?"

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"Everyone's showing off, telling stories, trading stuff, sparring - it's one of the few times there's more than a dozen magical girls in one place at a time, so it's always cool."

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"I will attempt to carve out the relevant weekend."

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"It's cool, I promise! Wanna hear about the big five?"

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"Please." She is ready to take notes.

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"Antoine, an Ice user who doesn't really have raw power but is known to be knowledgeable and strategic. And a boy with this sort of confident dignified look.

Sola and Luna, Who are... Sorta technically twins but started as the same person? With fire and water powers, always work in a team. They put on a truly spectacular show.

Monument, a Stone user with absolutely phenomenal vitality, rumor has it she can walk straight into a volcano. She's the bigshot tank who wades into the hardest fights to take damage.

Amazona, a Beast user who summons armies of phantasmal, magical animals to do what she asks. She's got an animal ready to deal with almost anything, it seems like.

Those are the big five in North and South America. The Olympians have a trio who call themselves the Fates, one of them can cut things at a distance, I don't know nearly as much, and the Heavenly Stars brag about their leader, Shining Pillar, who's a reinforcement and warding specialist."

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"How did they start as the same person, did they bilocate like you and then make it stick somehow?"

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"Yeah, it's a thing that happens occasionally. Twinned soul, they call it."

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"Cool, I guess! About how many magical girls are there in North America for them to have - floated to the top of?"

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"Ballpark a thousand? Two, with South America? The PGC meeting usually has like, a couple hundred."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Huh, what fraction of potentials is that?"

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"I dunno, the demographics make no sense to me. It's a lot of newbies- First decade, like me- And then an increasingly long tail of older and older ones. I think people mostly fuck off to the Overworld or another Earth or start going really low profile after a while?"

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"Or they're in hibernation from being dead."

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"Or die and don't go public again when they come back, that too, yeah."

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"People just live in the Overworld full time? Are there advantages to that I'm not seeing?"

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"You haven't seen much of it yet have you~"

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"Not much, no..."

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"There's whole communities where the Veil doesn't give you any trouble in there."

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"I guess if there's actual towns that does sound nice."

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"Yeah, especially cause the Veil punching back really sucks."

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"What does it do?"

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"If you try to post about magic on the internet or something and don't take the hint when people are completely certain it's a hoax, or when your computer breaks, or you like... Fly around in public with a megaphone, or heal everyone you meet, the weird coincidences to keep things quiet stop, and you start feeling awful and getting magically weaker until you take the point."

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"We don't know why there is a veil at all, right?"

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"Well, the Puchuu party line is that it's an ancient spell, but no."

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"Yeah, that kind of leaves who and why very much unanswered."

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"Anyway that's why I have to practice in the maze or the Overworld. Which you can get into without the power for it in some specific spots."

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"Huh, what kind of spots?"

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"Thresholds. I'll show you when you come visit."

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"I'll probably have time tomorrow, assuming not needing to sleep much means I can do a lot of my homework in advance tonight."

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"Cool! I'll look forward to it."

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"Anything else I should know sooner than later? Does your friend want to talk to me?"

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"Titanium's neck deep in some sort of smithing thing right now, don't wanna bother her. I could talk about books and games and stuff if you wanna just keep chatting? Or not."

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"I dunno if we're into the same stuff, I like literature classics and Civilization. What does she smith?"

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"So much. So, so much. You know the sorcery perk? She does Norse runes and just keeps getting better at it. Magic electrical generator is just the start. You'll experience it with the obstacle course, heheheh..."

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"Is it going to zap me?"

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"Pff. There's a mercy mode but I feel like it loses something."

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"I might want to have it set that way my first time through, at least."

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"Can do!"

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"Thank you for accommodating my tender sensibilities."

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"I bet I'm squishier than you. Hmmm... Time to say bye for now, I think."

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"Bye, thanks for calling!"

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Click.

Her Puchuu is still perched on her shoulder.

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Scritch scritch.

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Purr!

It's really responsible of you to look at training! One thing we can try is setting up mental defenses. If you can block Puchuu telepathy on yourself and Charlie, you're on the right track!

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Oh, good idea - hm - Like... this? "Try now?"

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Her sense-of-minds responds immediately, giving her a sensation of a shell around her, like thin glass.

 

"It's working! This much was always going to be easy for you, of course."

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"I'll go see if Charlie'll cooperate with experiments." She goes looking for him.

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Puchuu will remain shouldered unless shooed.

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Shoulder Puchuu is fine! "Hey Dad, you up for letting Puchuu try some telepathy with you - I should name you, shouldn't I, Puchuu - anyway, so I can see if I can shield other people?"

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"S'pose."

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Can you hear this?

After confirming that he can, Puchuu asks Bella to imagine extending her protection around him, or creating an entirely different shield around his mind. It's different for different girls.

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Well, obviously no one around her should be telepathically poked, that seems just not allowed, right?

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Just forming the intent doesn't seem to work. Charlie can still hear Puchuu.

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What if she tries to - mentally tag him, as though with a psychic paintball, as Protected -

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Psychic paint splatters Charlie in her new sense. There's definitely a distinct travel, something going from her to him.

Charlie can't hear Puchuu anymore, but the 'paint' is already evaporating away.

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Okay, higher-maintenance mental image. Holding an umbrella over him?

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This one stays connected to her, a slow trickle of energy flowing along it, and seems much more stable!

"With practice you should be able to anchor wards to items, chuu. It's intuitive rather than patrticularly trained, like most magic."

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"Wouldn't items make it possible for someone to steal them?"

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"...Yes? It's just another option."

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"Understood. Do they all require ongoing maintenance like this, or will I eventually be able to make one stable on its own?"

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"You'll get better with practice. They won't last forever without you, even item-bound."

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She nods. "Can I talk telepathically like you - and if I can will it work as a test or do I automatically get through my own shielding?"

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"Try it and see!"

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Hey Dad!

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(Her umbrella ripples slightly, and Charlie hears this)

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Huh, the ripple is interesting. She will keep poking that for a while trying to work out efficiency hacks and general principles while Charlie patiently reports on what he hears.

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This ability admits to practice really well. She can make her shields keep even herself out, though it's metaphorically like standing on tiptoes. She can 'solidify' the shields, making them hard to change but slowing their power requirements to a trickle. She can- Woop, it got a little unsteady there, but she kept it from doing anything. The range she can stay connected seems to be independent of any intervening obstacles. She can, if she is daring enough to try, turn her mindsight carefully onto her own mind and keep track of what's going through it much more closely than ever before. There's a visceral flinch reaction against changing anything even aside from any natural hesitance, though.

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Oh wow she is going to stare at her own brain so much once Charlie seems a little bored with experiments that involve him.

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She can make Charlie (or Puchuu, who volunteers as a target without hesitation) wince in psychic pain, trivially so, disorienting and slowing them, knocking them flat to the ground with more oomph. She can read thoughts and make them forgetful, if she tries this, too. Puchuu urges her to use it as target practice, not really showing any signs of discomfort or self-preservation.

It looks like there ought to be some way to connect the shields with the state of her mind, or the state of Charlie's mind, but actually managing this seems to be beyond her for now.

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She will put it on the list of things to retry in the future.

If the puchuu wants to be target practice she has no real grounds to object. What's going on in its little brain?

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It's keeping careful track of what Charlie and Bella think, noting all their emotions and reactions in a much more conscious way than humans tend to do social processing. That's occupying a lot of its attention. It thinks she's very sensible and probably not going to get badly injured due to recklessness, which makes her a much safer investment. It's happy that she's taking to magic so well, and happy that she's enjoying magic. It's trying to remember things it heard from other Puchuu about what psychic girls can do, so it can offer hints. It's looking forward to resolving the 2-standard-deviations-likely-to-be-a-vampire situation and anticipating an update from [qualia for telepathy] while Bella is asleep.

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Huh. Peculiar little critter. She will go on poking and prodding it for practice till bedtime. (Update from whomst?) She doesn't need as much sleep, so she isn't going to go to bed at bedtime, but she's going to brush her teeth and stuff and then stay up playing Civilization till she gets tired.

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Puchuu wanders off while she's brushing her teeth.

I'm going to go get you a present!

Its mind - goes sideways in a direction that feels Overworld-y - and then quickly goes out of range.

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Huh. She wonders if it will get back before she crashes for the night. Time to take over the world.

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It's back after two hours with an overly cutesy necklace, rhinestones and beads in the shape of a cat head, like something a six year old might wear. It's definitely magic. Feels... Eye-ish?

Can you guess what it does?

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Can she... read its mind? Has it got one?

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It doesn't have a mind. It does have a... Mental surface...? Though.

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What sort of mental surface?

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Looks like it's designed to make her sense something if she puts it on? And has enough psychic presence to do that while still very definitely being Not A Mind.

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"Some kind of vision enhancement?"

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"Not quite, chuu! It reacts to the presence of Abyssal energy. It's not nearly as sensitive as a puchuu, though."

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"Oh, cool. Do I have to wear it as a necklace or can I just have it in a pocket?"

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"I think you can keep it in a pocket if you-" This mental motion to connect.

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Like so?

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That works!

She can tell it's on but the necklace is quiescent. No Abyssal energy here.

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"Thanks!" Pocket.

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You're welcome! I'll stay nearby as much as possible in case you need anything.

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Scritch scritch.

When she has taken over the world she will go to bed for real.

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Her Puchuu hangs out, occasionally vanishing into the Overworld for an hour or two. Nothing disturbs her daily life today, though Puchuu will suggest more training in the evening; Once she's comfortable, she can shield vampire-investigators, maybe in another two to four days? It's urgent on a scale of weeks, if not days.

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More training is a good idea - she should go visit the other magical girls and try their obstacle course and meet up with them, rather than just beating up trees.

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"That's a good idea! I know the Overworld path to their home base if you want to go today."

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"About how long a trip is it?"

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"I think you could get there in an hour running fast, since you don't get tired. I don't have a bicycle for you yet. The Overworld's paths aren't all flat anyway, though."

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Heheheh she can RUN for an HOUR.

She will notify relevant parties of her travel plans. And then go.

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The Overworld shows off its weirdness a bit more as she's sprinting through it. The mostly-similar streets and houses of Forks give way to weird forests as she follows the path. Landscapes and sights in the distance change more than they ought to given the time she's spent running. Ten minutes in it fades from an asphalt road to a wide dirt trail back to a twisted mirror of an interstate. She's passed by another girl on a broomstick, dressed in black and whipping by without giving her more than a glance. There's a tall gatehouse made of pieces of cars, shipping containers, and heavy metal, and a sign saying don't try to use this as an actual fortress. It's art! 

After another few minutes there's a large treehouse and troops of metal-armored squirrels patrolling the area. They're bright, for squirrels, but not nearly as smart as her or Puchuu. They salute her and the Puchuu as they pass. And at about the halfway point there's a gorgeous gigantic wrought iron bridge, all curls and flowers and arches, across a river that definitely does not exist in the real world, and a crossroads on either side. The looming twisty upside-down forest of the depths of Olympic are visible off to the left. There's a sign on one of the roads saying 'This way to Olympic Village - watch out for the solar bears'.

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What's up with the squirrels? What's a solar bear?

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They're a beast mage's familiars! Solar bears live in Olympic and they're people. They don't bother you if you don't bother them, so you don't need to worry.

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I wasn't worried, I just want to know what their deal is. Are there a lot of them? What do they get up to?

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I wouldn't say there's a lot of them. I don't know any solar bears, but they're said to be very passive unless their home is threatened. And good at keeping monsters out, so we don't have to!

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Do they all live in Olympic or are there more some other places?

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There's some in Scourged Peak, which isn't close to any Earths! That's where they come from.

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What kind of place is it instead of an Earth?

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An Overworld place! You can't get to any Earth from there, you're stuck in the Overworld!

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Huh - are there exotic directions of travel in the Overworld, is it just bigger than an Earth?

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Hmm... Both. Definitely both.

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Hee hee.

O obstacle course, where are you?

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Past more weird landscape! Though the off-road to Olympic Village was the high point of weirdness. It's mostly interstate from here. She does pass by a pretty patch of forest, all multicolored flowers and fairies. Eventually, Absolute Direction directs her turn-

I smell a monster! Puchuu declares.

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Shit. What kind? she asks, freezing in place and listening hard.

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I think a swarm type of Abyssal, south of here. In that old lumber mill, maybe. You should hurry and find Titanium Steel and Gravity Maven!

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She runs faster.

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Puchuu is faster! It zips past her, trailing sparkles like a furry missile, turns a corner that her Absolute Direction says to follow, and its mind gets progressively further away until it drops out of the Overworld entirely.

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About thirty seconds later, a new magical-girl-mind (distinct from ordinary humans and from Puchuu) enters her field of perception. And then stomping around the corner comes an eight-foot high suit of armor festooned in dimly glowing shapes, moving like it's someone wearing jogging clothes instead of a suit of armor that must weigh about as much as a motorcycle.

"I'm Titanium Steel. Do you want to try fighting, or just leave it to me?"

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"I'll try but will mostly try to stay out of your way."

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"Okay. Staying back and maybe fucking with them is a good idea. Swarm type is a bunch of evil chihuahuas, kinda. I fight up close, don't worry about me getting hurt. I don't expect anything to go horribly wrong, but you never know. Good to meet you, by the way."

And then Titanium Steel is running back the way Bella came.

(Her Puchuu appears a moment later and says that Gravity Maven isn't around.)

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Okay! Just her and the suit of armor. Cool. She runs after, keeping alert for evil Chihuahuas.

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Titanium Steel pauses at an intersection, until her Puchuu gives directions. A different, bulkier and green rather than purple, puchuu shows up and follows along too.

Oh. And her Abyssal-detecting necklace is reacting. The sensation is sharp and unpleasant, like smelling smoke.

Titanium Steel drops out of the Overworld when they reach the lumber mill, vanishing in that sideways in a direction thst doesn't exist sort of way.

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You should drop out, and then use the Overworld Shift! Just do it really hard and you'll drag all the monsters with you!

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(Puchuus come in colors! - not important.) Okay, she will give that the old college try!

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The glimpse of the large warehouse-like structure she gets when dropping out reveals it to be oozing with foot-long black things. They seem to mostly be slimy, lopsided, and tentacley, little blobs of hate rather than anything like a conventional animal. The giant suit of armor is already laying about with her gauntlets, and metal chains are lashing around the place, trying to keep them from scattering. There must be over a thousand of them, though, all with tiny sparks of minds dancing about like insects.

And then they're in the Overworld again, where the twisted mirror of the lumber mill is twice as tall and full of weird pipes and spinning saw blades. The Abyssal swarm hesitates, stops trying to scatter, and starts trying to reach her. Though they're a good hundred feet away right now, and Titanium Steel immediately pivots to try and get between her and them.

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If she can feel their minds can she attack their minds? Extinguish them, perhaps! Or confuse them, that would also work. Can they climb, will getting up high help?

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She can zap their minds, making them spasm or flop bonelessly! She can confuse them, making them attack their conspecifics!

But there's a lot of them. A LOT of them. And they can definitely climb, they're climbing all over the armor.

A new wall of lashing chains rises up twenty feet ahead of her, extending and interlocking into a dense protective wall. And growing barbs. The sounds of metal smacking against ooze continue.

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Is she going to run down her mana if she just keeps making them attack each other as fast as she can for practice?

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Not right away at least! She's not pushing herself as much as Cosmic Heal does, and she could keep that up for a few minutes before being really out of it. (Smash-smash-squish there's still more!)

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Are there bigger ones, or anything, that would be more leverage in getting turned against their fellows? They're swarming, can she push on the swarm instinct itself and get them pushed around how she wants?

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That doesn't seem to be a thing! At least, not in an adrenaline-fueled quick attempt at it.

All the Abyssals that try to pass the wall of chains get shredded. It's a scene of mania and chaos, but it's not getting any worse, now.

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Welp, she'll keep making them fight each other since her better ideas aren't working.

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Titanium Steel is being really quite destructive over there. Big sweeping attacks, smearing monster goo everywhere. Eventually, the swarm falls below some critical mass and seems to - fail to exist - the remaining patches of ooze start smoking and fading away like boiling water.

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Are their minds going simultaneously with their bodies?

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Seems like it! The animated chains start retreating back into the ground at this point.

"Ugh, swarms. Gravity Maven would have got 'em in twenty seconds."

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"Squash 'em all flat?" Bella guesses.

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"Yep."

She stomps back towards Bella.

"So, yeah, monsters. Nasty little things, and this one was close. I'm going to have to review all my 'fuck off' runes..."

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They might just be diverting the monsters, so they go elsewhere.

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"Don't you keep track of the number and location of breakthroughs? We can look for a trend. I haven't noticed anything."

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Sure, we can do that later. It's hard to get reliable info from far away though.

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"Do you have like, monster senses or something?" Bella asks Puchuu.

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Yes! Relatively short range though, a mile or two. It's why we run around so often!

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"I guess that stands to reason. Is there an obvious tactic I missed for dealing with swarms, I was just making them fight each other but it didn't scale up well."

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"Swarms are just kind of hard unless you have big splashy attacks, or a barrage power. You could have tried mana bolts?" The armor shrugs with the sound of sliding metal. "Well, we seem to be good here, so I'll invite you back to the warehouse."

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"Thanks! Where is Gravity Maven right now?"

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"Getting groceries I think? I was working on something, I usually am. The timing is weird sometimes, but that's just life."

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"Makes sense. I'm excited to see the place."

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She takes her helmet off, apparently telekinetically at this point. Her flat tone doesn't change at all.

"Let's go, I can show you around! Show off all my hard work! Soon as I put this back up. I have an iron man suit-up thing, but it's a bit slower to put it all back."

The green puchuu perches on her shoulder and Titanium Steel waves Bella to follow as she clomps back the way she came.

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Bella parkours along after her.

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The warehouse: Is a warehouse. It has a faded logo, the same as the weird bland holding company that Puchuu sent her book from- "Western Logistics Specialist Team".

She ignores the security keypad on one of the external doors, instead interacting with the blue glowy shapes spread across it in circles. "I'll key you into this permanently when we know you a little better. For now, just follow me in- It won't stop you from leaving.

The door opens with a hum of magic, felt in the new part of her like a subsonic vibration. Beyond it is a sort of locker room with no obvious magical properties. Clomp-clomp-clomp she goes to a white square painted on the concrete.

"One sec!"

Metal chains come out of various lockers and shelves, taking the armor apart piece by piece and storing it away.

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"Oh that's really cool!" says Bella, applauding lightly. "Uh, is there a real Western Logistics Specialist Team?"

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"...Teeeeechnically yes? It's a cover story. These cultists Gravity Maven found a year ago, uh, think more Amish than devil-summoning, it's, they 'sell' some of my rune projects as 'art' and do some random Amazon shipping stuff on the side to seem like a real business, and order us furniture and food and drive us places in the vans sometimes. It's a little weird to talk to them, honestly, I mostly leave it to the Puchuu."

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A good support system is vital to the long-term effectiveness of a magical girl team!

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"What are they a cult... of?"

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"Thinking mankind's sin causes monsters and magic is a blessing from God in the vein of Jesus or something?"

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"I guess there are worse things to be a cult of."

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"Mmm."

Presently the armor is finished being taken apart. Under it all, she has a magical girl costume like Bella's, in the 'uniform' style. Like a military parade uniform- Stiff black coat and pants, gold and silver cord everywhere, silver belt buckle and polished boots, bright gemstones and ribbons and medals that look vaguely military, but clearly far too gilded and fanciful for an actual army to use.

She pulls out a phone. "Calling Gravity Maven."

...

"-Yeah hi, I- No, I took care of it. No- Yes. Isabella Swan is here, so come ba-" She pauses and looks annoyed. "I literally told you as soon as we were safe, you know I can't use phones in the armor, just come back, okay? Yeah. Mmhm. Got it."

"She'll be here in twenty minutes."

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"Can't use phones in the armor because it's too bulky?"

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"Yeah. Only took two eight hundred dollar pieces of scrap before I stopped trying. Flip-phones are hardly any better, I could probably get something custom but why bother, Puchuu will tell me anything urgent I need to know while I'm in armor!"

She picks up the big green one and hugs it. It nuzzles her, purring.

"My civvie name is Rachel, if it matters, by the way. Gravity Maven will be so mad if I don't let her show you the obstacle course, so do you want to come sit and have a snack 'till she gets here?"

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"Sure, running headlong through the woods is hungry work. It's so cool to be able to run, I had a balance disorder before!"

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"I can manhandle a damn truck now! And keep it from just snapping into pieces with metal powers, if I want! I used to be scrawny! It's much more superheroic than fantasy, unlike some other girls- Though the runes are plenty fantasy, I gotta admit. I sorta leaned into it as my best option given what my predispositions were. Cover myself in hideously heavy armor and be a walking tank."

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"What's your favorite thing you can do with runes?"

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"Ooh, so, the thing is, runes are pretty - persistent? They stick around, so not so much good for active things, passive effects are the rule. It's insane how complicated it can get, I can tell there's layers and layers I'm just completely missing but my power and the Puchuu don't say anything about them- Uhhhh, I'm a big fan of the rune of stacking. It's hard to explain, it can do space-bendy but also conceptual, well, stacking. I can stack two weapons into one, for example, and they're still just as big and heavy but - one gets anchored to the other? Because they're a stack, a single entity, not two separate ones."

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"Whoa, like in a video game? Can I see a stacked weapon?"

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"Yeah, sorta."

She goes to one of the lockers and thinks for a bit. Grabs a long box out of it, then goes to another and gets a pair of long axes.

"Quiver here, for a magic crossbow I was trying that proved pretty disappointing compared to just whaling on things, or even mana bolts." She takes out a metal-tipped arrow from the inch-high box. Then another. Then another. A dozen, held in her hands, and more still visible in the quiver. "Doesn't work unless they're all functionally identical- Not molecularly so, but one being damaged or any kind of decoration will ruin it."

Then she grabs the two axes, holds them in her arms spread apart, and then - moves the one in her left hand over to the right. The one that was previously in her right hand mimics the motion in empty air. She gives a demonstrative swing, which is also followed. "Stacked. They're the same, so if I can hold one I may as well be holding the other, is what the rune basically does?"

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"Damn, that's so cool. I'd like to learn more magic."

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"It's not impossible. But not a cakewalk either. Gravity Maven absolutely did not have the patience for it when I tried. It's sort of, uh... Do you know anything about programming?"

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"I know how to do mildly interesting things in Excel but nothing beyond that."

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"I have Excel formulas in my brain and procedural knowledge of how to competently lay them out because I took the power for it. And old Hephie's blessing doesn't hurt either, Hephaestus, he's the one who empowered me even if he doesn't mind me working with the Puchuus. You'd have to start at the level of learning how CPUs work and writing ones and zeroes."

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"Well, you know, best time was five years ago second best time is today?"

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"I'm pretty sure teaching a craft counts as worship, even."

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"Is that the deal you have with, uh, Hephaestus?"

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"...Gods are more demanding than Puchuus. He yells at me to make mighty weapons and offer libations and prayers and convert and teach. You'd have to at least offer the odd ceremony if I teach you. It's only polite. They're not too onerous. The not-amish do it, they call themselves Torchbearers."

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"Sounds fair enough. Would this be in addition to charging me or nah?"

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"Nah, no payment other than that unless you want to get intense or work to your schedule instead of mine."

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"My schedule is mostly open apart from, like, school, and I sleep a lot less now!"

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"Evenings then? Once or twice a week? The ten minutes until G gets here aren't enough to really get into it but-" She offers a short prayer to Hephaestus, asking him to guide her words as she teaches the craft. You carve things, or cut or even sew or weave, juuust right. And starts describing how the shape of runes carved into things matters, but also the depth, order of strokes, pacing, orientation, and more. The standard rhythm is like so. Here is some jargon to write down. Why it fundamentally works is something about resonance with the oldest memories of the world, ritual and precision.

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Bella takes extremely high-density notes!

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Eventually, someone crashes through the door, flying at a moderate speed!

"Hello, good to see ya! You didn't call ahead like I asked so I wasn't here to meet you, sorry! Hi, Tites!"

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Titanium Steel visibly represses an annoyed sigh. "...Hello, Gee. Bella, as I was saying-"

She finishes the current thought about carving depth, as Gravity Maven fidgets and hovers, then with a final nod, brushes herself off and stands.

"Nothing will stop her from taking us all to the obstacle course, now..." (Gravity Maven giggles.)

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"Oh, shoot, sorry, I should've called, my bad."

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"No worries, no worries! So, wanna see the place? Its pretty big!"

She creeps towards a door in one of the walls.

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"Yes I do!" She traipses after Gravity Maven. "Should I call you Gravity Maven in person?"

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"Well, if we go out out of costume you'll have to call me Hana, but in costume it's Gravity Maven, yeah. Gee is fine."

She takes them into a hallway, pointing at doors as they go - that goes to their private rooms, that's Tites's workshop, that's storage, that goes to the public part of the warehouse - "And here we are!" She dramatically throws a pair of double doors wide, revealing a large windowless concrete room with all sorts of ramps, platforms, and similar structures leading across it. "Lots of maneuvering practice in here, plus trap-spotting practice, dodging practice, simulated enemies... It's kind of hard to figure out what makes the best training sometimes."

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"Do a lot of 'em lay traps?"

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"The smart ones do. And I'm not talking about just Abyssals..."

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(Titanium Steel approaches, having walked to Gravity Maven's excited jog. She goes to a control panel looking thing on a wall near the entrance and pokes at it.)

"Easy mode."

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"Thanks."

In Bella tiptoes.

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There's three paths available, and even the easiest looking one would have been really daunting gymnastics for her a month ago.

A few of the platforms move on her, as soon as she steps on them. At one point a sign swings out in front of her suddenly- "THIS IS A TRAP" is written on it.

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Ooh, it's like a platformer video game except it's not totally pointless and she also doesn't have to suck at it! She leaps around, ducks things.

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Gravity Maven runs and jumps along with her! Slinking and bouncing through the obstacles extremely smoothly. She seems to have about the same raw, magic-enforced athleticism that Bella does, but wields it like someone extremely used to fast, parkour type motion.

"And I swear I'm not using gravity at all by the way~!"

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"I believe you that it's all practice!" Leap! Roll!