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Setsuko Kaminagi     As the light of dawn rolls over the city, certain residents might have cause to be... just a touch nervous. After all, once upon a time, low-hanging grey cloud cover like this portended something extraordinarily dangerous and hostile. But even though the low, distant rumble of thunder echoes from somewhere in the clouds, something about this feels... less than ominous. Almost watchful, in a way. There is certainly no sense of oncoming Witch; it might not even be possible for Walpurgisnacht to take shape in this world, thanks to the Law of Cycles.

    Nevertheless, Setsuko Kaminagi is banking on a certain someone perhaps wanting... fresh air.

    The swordswoman stands on the rooftop of the building in which the Loft can be found. Beside her stands a thoroughly improbable, very large pitch-black warhorse. Setsuko herself appears to have changed - gone is the asymmetrical, long-on-one-side hair, now cut a uniform shortness. Gone is the black sleeveless top and cargo pants, traded for a gold-trimmed blue coat with spiked, black shoulder pauldrons, and a pair of dress pants and tall boots. Zanjintou sits at her side as always, but the hand that rests absently on its sheath is gloved in white.

    And even beyond the radical change in look and new companion, there's something... different, in the way she holds herself, silently looking out over the city.
Homura Akemi     It shouldn't come as a surprise when Homura just kind of appears. There's a toothbrush in her mouth and she still looks half-asleep, evidently a sign she didn't gauge the appearance as a threat once she saw it and just let time resume as-is before going back down to change out of her purple pajamas.

    She can't sense Setsuko, and so her ability to identify her is pretty much all guesswork from a few small details. It'd probably be very different if she couldn't recognize her.

    "That's an unusual style for you. I'm sorry, did I... forget something was going on today and you're here to pick me up?" The massive horse is a change from Setsuko usually using some of those cheap flying vehicles you can find around. "I'm pretty sure I didn't."
Setsuko Kaminagi     The horse, unlike his owner, is not familiar with Homura or her abilities. When she simply appears there, he utters a startled noise and turns- before a gloved hand reaches out to its side. "Peace, Kuro-no-Tatsumaki. She's a friend." But of all the ways Homura might have greeted her, Setsuko did not expect 'half awake and still in pajamas'. The swordswoman turns herself, and... completely comes to a stop, for just a moment, blinking quietly. "...no," she finally replies, "You didn't. I just came to pay a visit for the start of the new year. And to apologize, for being out of contact since the fall of Njorun." Turned as she is, Homura can spot a new scar; from the middle of her forehead, down over her right eye.
Homura Akemi     "Oh. The fall, yes. I wasn't there when it happened but heard it was pretty bad. It must have been for you, too," Homura answers, noticing the scar but not asking about it further. She glances back towards the stairs leading down, before offering:

    "If you want to see the others, they're all in the living room. We stayed up late, so most are still asleep in a big pile, but it's about time they wake up," she says, simply.

    "Or was it just me you wanted to see? To talk about how you came about a horse, a new haircut and that outfit."
Setsuko Kaminagi     "I'll let them sleep," Setsuko replies, giving a faint shake of her head. "It was you I wanted to see, for the most part. I'm making the rounds this morning. Visiting those who grew closest to me, over the past few years." She takes the moment to look down at herself, the ghost of a smile on her lips for just a moment. "It's certainly different. But I've gotten accustomed to it over the past little while. To answer your question, I've been in my world for the past few weeks. With the war finished, I thought I'd see to my own obligations. And now... well. I've taken on some very great responsibility." For a moment, her eyes seem positively radiant; up above, the stormclouds rumble.
Homura Akemi     "I see. Goddess of War, was it? I knew it was your domain, but you hadn't been making much of a reach for the official position. What changed that made you take up a mantle?" Homura questions, without skipping much of a beat. If the rumbling of the clouds and the unusual weather bother her, she doesn't let it show. If there was a fight oncoming, Setsuko would say so. And she's not much the betrayal type.

    "Ironic though that the end of a war would make you of all people take up an official position like that."
Setsuko Kaminagi     Setsuko does smile now, properly. "That was fast. Yes, I had never planned on it. But... it turned out that I was on the path from the start, and no one bothered to tell me." She closes her eyes for a moment. "I only discovered it a few days ago. Gods from my world... if you can best them within their own domain, you take their mantle for yourself. And what is killing a God of War, if not besting them at warfare?" A shake of her head, and those eyes re-open. "I didn't claim the mantle of treachery, of course. Our fight was fair. So that will eventually find its way to someone new. And in the end, I could have chosen death rather than assume the role, but... I've never been one for choosing death, have I?"
Homura Akemi     "No, not you or most people I know. You'd make a terrible Goddess of Treachery, anyhow," Homura replies, having long since stuffed the toothbrush somewhere else, and so being able to afford Setsuko a smile of her own.

    She finally approaches closer, to inspect Setsuko's new armor up close, out of curiosity, and then spare the horse a glance too. "Then, the mount is also part of the mantle? And now that you've achieved it, what will you have to strive for?"
Setsuko Kaminagi     The goddess holds still, letting Homura look as she wishes - though the horse utters an irritable snort, to which Setsuko responds with a flat, silent 'behave' stare. "Tatsumaki... he belonged to the same God as Zanjintou. The God that Ura slew. Ura sent him out against me, but I was able to break him of Ura's control and take him for my own. That was around a week or so ago, separate from... all this." She indicates herself. "This has only been a few hours."

    The second question is more difficult. "I... don't know. I am free of both my own vengeance, and the obligation I incurred for taking up this sword. My first duty will be to free the souls of a thousand years of Kaminagi, who even now reside in a limbo for those who refuse to pray to the gods... or pray to gods that have been slain, it seems." She rests her hand on her sword. "My very first act as a Goddess of War will be storming the gates of Hell. Fitting, in a way. But after that... I don't know. I will have my position to manage."
Homura Akemi     "From one war to the next, then. And you're not worried at all you won't know rest until the day your successor claims your mantle and your life?" Probably not, Homura thinks. It's not like being in the Union was much rest to begin with. Always something else that needed handled. It's the same thing now, just with different names and goals. Rest and being active don't go hand in hand, unless you can let yourself ignore the world. Which Setsuko couldn't.

    "You should see about finding successors for all the other gods. You might have many allies out there who don't know what they're meant to be yet. Wars aren't fought alone, last I checked."

    She backs away, pre-empting Setsuko: "The horse doesn't count."
Setsuko Kaminagi     "That was the other price for taking up Zanjintou," Setsuko replies. "To walk the path of carnage - to eternity, if need be. I've accepted both my life and my death. There are far worse things on which to spend both."

    At the last comment, Tatsumaki snorts irritably, stamping at the roof; his hoof crackles with tiny electrical discharges. Setsuko looks amused, but simply replies, "The other gods wished to remain neutral in what they considered a 'personal dispute' between Ura and the followers of his predecessor. They considered it reaping what he had sown, but at the same time, they couldn't stand with me against one of their own. Politics." A distasteful word, for Setsuko. "But now that I am one of them, there are a few willing to stand beside me. And I'll accumulate an army of my own, in time. No need to go cleaning out Pugna's current pantheon, just yet." There's that touch of amusement there.

    Then the goddess reaches to a pocket, patting at it before reaching inside. "I almost forgot. I brought you something, a keepsake." It takes her a moment or two to fish it out, and once she has, she holds it out for Homura to see. It's a pendant; simple gold, inlaid with a gemstone the same striking blue of the swordswoman's eyes. "There's no particular power to it, but I have touched it with the domains of Storm and War."
Homura Akemi     "I see," is all Homura utters to Setsuko confirming the terms of taking up that mantle. There's nothing else to say about it. Homura's no different. Being a magical girl is... well, it's a fight to the death, basically. No escape. Just postponing the inevitable. For a long time so far, admittedly.

    At least it sounds like she'll have company, in both the unruly steed and fellow divines to help out. That's good.

    Homura takes the pendant, inspecting it for a moment before glancing back to the much taller woman. "If you come bearing gifts it's that you expect to be out of touch for a long time. I guess a war against hell, any hell, would do that. I hope you understand just because it isn't our fight doesn't mean you can't call on us if you ever need something. Or just want to catch up."
Setsuko Kaminagi     This time, Setsuko's smile is soft, almost sad. "That's part of it. But more than that... I need to see to my post. I need to oversee War on my world. Pugna's it at its end, but Pugna is not the only continent, after all. It's a full-time job, with little opportunity to get away." Once again, she rests her left hand on Zanjintou's sheath absently; an old habit that will probably never go away. "But I'll extend you the same offer. If you ever have need of help, or even just to speak, come to Pugna. To any temple of Kaminagi-no-Tachi Kiri-no-Musume. There are few people whom I'll answer personally, but anyone bearing one of those pendants will have my ear at any time. Moreover, it will mark you as a friend, both of Seiryuu and of the Duchy of Bran. If I myself can't help you, someone will."
Homura Akemi     "Understandable. And I don't blame you for not seeking to enter the new four-way war while juggling the start of your own personal one. The silver lining of your retreat is that you won't have to deal with the upcoming several months. Or years. Who knows." With a nod, Homura places the pendant around her neck, lest she forget it with every other piece of jewelry she never wears.

    "I'll make sure to drop by now and again, if only to see how your efforts are coming along. And to call on you if anything warrants such intervention. I'd rather nothing did, to be honest. We've had enough of that."
Setsuko Kaminagi     "I know the feeling," Setsuko replies. "Though I don't know if I can quite call what's coming for you all 'war'. 'Tension' might be a better word for it. But that's for those on all sides to decide, I think." Finally, she turns one last time... and reaches out, to set her hand gently on Homura's shoulder. "...Thank you, Homura Akemi. For standing beside me these past few years, and letting me stand beside you. I'm glad that I got the chance to spend the morning with family one last time."

    Then she steps over to Tatsumaki, and slings herself up into the saddle, taking the reins. With a simple flick, the horse lunges into motion, cantering right off the side of the building... and into the sky, of course, its hooves crackling with thunder as they ascend. Ascend, and fade away, until her presence and form have dispersed entirely.

    Slowly, the cloud cover begins to roll out, clearing the sky to let the morning light through properly.
Homura Akemi     "Perhaps. But whatever it will be won't be restful."

    Homura watches Setsuko get on Tatsumaki, taking a step back, expecting the horse's takeoff to be thunderous. It turns out to be pretty noisy indeed, and without much of another word the goddess is gone.

    "Thank you for standing by ours, too."

    Homura likely owed her her life more than a few times over. She waits for the storm to recede, patiently, and then heads back inside, silent.