Scene #9813: WPN2: Hunger and Loneliness

Owner	Pose
Angela	There's some time to regroup and recover. Angela rubs at her eyes and steps away for a moment as she looks at her hands. She asks, after a moment, "Did you know this before you became a Voice? Are you hiding from me or are you just concerned about being overheard?" But whatever answer she gets back--if any at all--just gets her to shake her head. She thinks about how Tiphereth wanted to be confronted by the whispers of Enoch and Carmen in the books and thus, essentially, wanted this--and then she puts it aside in her mind. She is the Magical Girl of Friendship right now, she ought to at least try. She rests a hand on Tiphereth's shoulder. "Are you alright?" 'Enoch' has just sat himself down, lying on the ground to look at the sky, looking more and more like Tiphereth with every moment as his hair turns blonde, grows longer, slowly transforming into something little more than a reflection. "Mm, before you answer, I know it is a bit of a silly question, perhaps I should have said 'Are you going to be alright?'." Tiphereth says, "...Enoch told me, a long time ago, that he didn't love his life for even one second. He said that children were dying in the Outskirts every day. That settling for simple comfort wasn't what he was born to do. That he was born sad. But if he's the product of my own wish..." Angela doesn't have to twist the knife anymore. "He wanted you to be happy. He wanted you to be able to find meaning in the world, or a world with meaning. It sounds like you wished to not be lonely, you wished for a world where your life had meaning. You've been searching for that meaning. If you can't find it here, then you're free to look elsewhere." The unspoken 'But I'm not' doesn't need to be said, but Angela adds, "I'll be fine." "He told me once that he wished he could shed his body and fly away. I didn't get it at the time. I was so excited for that space trip, maybe I hoped i'd find him there." "I'm sure someone like you can set off whenever you want." Angela says. "You've always been the great witch at the center." "But you're the one who is hungry for it, oh Usurper of Light."
Angela	The King of Greed and the Servant of Wrath are, of course, standing on top of a rooftop, posing as the wind blows through their hair. Wrath is as melancholic as ever, and the King has a big wide grin of her own. A massive golden gauntlet gleams on her left hand. "It doesn't seem like you like our world, so what brings you here? Isn't our business done? You have accepted your hatred of your world that deprives you of purpose, meaning, and a place. You have accepted your despair at the injustice as deep and vast as the space between the stars." Wrath radiates a quiet hostility, speaking softly. "You have accepted your wrath towards those who quietly betrayed you, the world full of twisted evil." "And you accepted that you are like me, your belly born empty like mine, but ahh--you've had a taste of the sweet honey, haven't you? First from Lilian's lovely little dinner party, but you're still hungry aren't you? And now that they've noticed your hunger... But you can be free today, just rip out that girl's heart and feast on it like your mother. Didn't you say you'd do anything?" But Angela doesn't get a chance to respond because The King already leaps down from the rooftop, punching with enough force with her gauntlet that an explosive eruption of force detonates from around her. The Tiphereth mirror is unaffected, debris and smoke filtering through them as their gaze remains fixated on distant stars. Tiphereth is thrown off her feet but is just able to orient her feet underneath her before she goes tumbling. "Or maybe... I'll just take it for myself!" __________________________________________________________ \|ARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING W\| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\|=\|WAW CLASS THREAT\|=\|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Greed and Wrath __________________________________________________________ \|ING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARN\| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Those shadow girls from before start edging towards the burgeoning conflict, a few by Natsuki and Satsuki and others filtering out from the stores or looking out from the windows. They chitter and gasp and whisper to one another, occasionally pointing with shadow fingers.
Ember	Ember lands with Tiphereth near Petra and Angela. "The magical girls found us, it looks like. They nearly ambushed Tiphereth... I was warned by..." he looks at the shadow of the boy who is slowly becoming like Tiphereth. "Him... actually," he says slowly, now knowing, or at least getting what is going on. What happens between Angela and Tiphereth is between them; he does not want to get in the way. It is clearly a moment and one that he feels unwelcome in, and for reasonable reasons. Of course... their moment of reprieve is taken from them because the magical girls followed him. Both at the same time... well, he was hoping they would come staggered. "Unfortunate that this was not spaced out a little..." he knows they're in a situation now. On the other hand, Wrath has not found a 'friend' that has 'betrayed her,' so that does potentially change things up... on the other hand, there is no check on Greed. Also, the things he's heard from Enoch before weigh on his mind. Specifically, the core of human nature, how to change it, and what the mysterious disembodied voice had chosen. However, there is nothing he can do about that now... right now he had a bigger problem. Greed. She falls down at them, causing a huge force to try to knock them off their feet. Thankfully, Garuda was still installed, and instead of flying off his feet, he caught himself mid-air. "Would you believe that you and your sister are the reason we are here, and it was because of your two sisters outside of the book?" Ember reaches for one of his hidden knives and draws it. There is so little time to come up with a new plan; the two of them being here wasn't expected except in a worst-case scenario. "Well... deep end it is..." he says, dismissing Garuda and summoning another primal into his form. Unlike on the outside, he does not change much in the book. Instead, flames pour out around him, and he dives towards Greed. He charges a spell in one hand while charging with the blade. Near the time he gets close to her, he chucks the knife at her. Something easily guarded, blocked, or dodged... but it wasn't what he was trying to hurt her with. He appears right next to the blade, hopefully flanking Greed, and fires the powerful flame spell into her side, aiming to draw her attention and hurt her a bit. "You seem to have loved ones on the outside who believe you can be saved from your greed."
Petra Soroka	In the absence of the Magical Girl of Justice, Petra has taken her place as Loyalty instead. She's still in that mahou shoujo outfit consisting of her black and white suit as a base, with yellow ribbons and sparkly golden shoes, and the very uncharacteristic short skirt salvaged by pearly white tights. She leans against her Fourth Match Mahou Staff as a support after dispatching Nihil's monster, eyeing 'Enoch' warily. For Lilian and Tamamo's sakes, when they arrive into the book together she starts to explain-- actually, it's not at all for their sakes. Petra's adorable outfit and dandelion puff hair ornament force her to justify the events leading up to it even if Lilian and Tamamo didn't need to be caught up on the Walpurgisnacht so far. "Okay, so, the narrative adapted to put Friendship and I--" Petra pauses, dismayed at how easily that came out of her mouth. "In the place of Love and Justice, making us temporarily 'heroes' to the world. But, like, we don't know what effects that'll have in the future once we encounter Nihil properly. But that's why it's-- like this. You know." "Anyways, there was a monster and we beat it up. Nihil's doing some thing like, taking advantage of the dreams that these fake character stand-ins are trying and failing to achieve, to distort them into monsters, whatever. The real weird thing is that it's, like, grotesquely self-aware, with them commenting directly on Carmen and story tropes and stuff. I kind of hate it. Oh, and...." She waves over misgivingly at Tiphereth, Angela, and the boy. "Apparently the boy that got turned into the monster was... Enoch, somehow? Tiphereth's brother?" Raising her voice to call over to them, "What the fuck is up with that? Am I missing something? Why the fuck is Enoch here and what are you talking about?" "But you're the one who is hungry for it, oh Usurper of Light." Petra sighs. When she wraps her hand around her smoldering magic staff again, little ribbon-trails of flame ignite and dangle down from the clasped-hand ornament at its head. "Greed. Wrath. Aren't you skipping ahead a little?" "This is still a happy kingdom. Everyone here's still fine. What makes you the weak links? Even Hatred grew out of it."
Sarracenia	After the imp disappears to go get the boss, Sarra looks a bit uncertain. "I know we are not supposed to become rivals, but...this feels like it could be too far the other way. We could become part of the story as enemies of the magical girls." she says to Natsuki before they head back to regroup. Tiphereth being okay makes Sarra smile more than their limited interactions might suggest she should. "Tiphereth! I am glad to see you are alright! I was quite worried when you were suddenly gone!" she says before realizing there is a conversation in progress and Tiphereth doesn't actually seem alright. She listens to the exchange between Angela and Tiphereth, and is about to offer some words before... 'But you're the one who is hungry for it, oh Usurper of Light.' Sarra looks up in surprise, though her eyes drift to Angela, the Usurper of Light. There might be a slight disapproving look there. 'Didn't you say you'd do anything?' One of the things Angela said that Sarracenia most objected to. Being willing to do literally anything was not good, Sarra had said. She still thought it now, but she suspects now that Angela would not do literally anything. Close to it, but there are surely a few people Angela would not harvest. 'This is still a happy kingdom. Everyone here's still fine. What makes you the weak links? Even Hatred grew out of it.' The king leaps down, the explosion sends Sarra stumbling back before she hops and backflips to bleed off the momentum and manages to catch herself, skidding to a stop, her heeled ruby slippers digging into the ground. "Indeed, what do you need the Light for? You already have an entire kingdom that seems to be quite cheerful and bright!" 'You seem to have loved ones on the outside who believe you can be saved from your greed.' "Love and Justice! They are both waiting for you!" Sarra joins in. "Do you not miss them? Surely this is not who you and Wrath wanted to be! If this darkness that has taken hold of you can be purged then you could reunite with them! We wish to help!" Sarra moves to flank with Ember, spinning with her hammer and aiming to sweep Greed's legs. Though, she glances up at Wrath. It is odd to her that the one named for anger is not the one that attacked first.
Natsuki Nuki	Natsuki 'regroups' with Sarracenia with a sour look after the Imp does imp things and disappears. Quietly but audibly cursing the imp for being 'a damned tease' and 'so very kill-grippable', she rejoins with Petra and Angela, looking between them, and the dispelled nihility-empowered youma type threat being already dispelled is the sort of 'ah, you're not useless' appreciation of unexpected competence that gives her a lingeringly warm smirk across one cheek and a light flutter of laughter. "Did you banish it with your finisher? Well good job, Petra, Angela. Magical girls." She announces casually, hand in pocket of jacket, looking at the damage and appreciating the scene. "Does this place do [Burger]? Fried chicken?" She continues, though not every boba place is cool like she expects. A deadfall of reality, really, or storybook logic if not, but still, that sliver of expectable that makes 'no, we don't' normal. Tiphereth is there, not split off or corrupted - perhaps fate-intercepted - and Natsuki leans on the periphery of the moment Angela shares with Tiphereth, pulling an unlit cigarette out and balancing it in her lips. 'I'll be fine.' "Be better than fine." Natsuki states, even toned, a direction. Angela is someone who, among everyone here especially, was on the cusp of a breakthrough, ever a cusp, and perhaps this was the push... ... and perhaps not. 'It doesn't seem like you like our world, so what brings you here?' "Power? Debt? Hunger? Does it matter? Right now I want a burger. Are you here to give me fries too?" Natsuki asks. "Do you want to taste it? Have you ever put the fries in under the lettuce? Pressed into the melted cheese? It's great. [American Burger] is a special pleasure. I'll buy, if you wanna get them." Natsuki offers, thumbing up behind her. Casual stanced up, Natsuki looks up with her leering-looming shadow-tail spread as smoke behind her. 'Or maybe... I'll just take it for myself!' "You can always try." Natsuki snarls, still grinning, as the King of Greed crashes down with a big explosion, lifting one arm and curl of leg to 'block' and getting kinetically smashed back a little, wound aside as if struck with a heavy blow and guard rattled. Looking at the chittering shadow girls closing around, Natsuki sighs. "Come on, girls." She asides to the 'crowd'. "Cheer for a bad one!" She urges, and then lurches forward to take a few steps and leap up to Wrath and spin into a sweep of dark stormcloud-mist that crackles with electricity. "We should get hamburger instead!"
Tamamo	Entering into a magical girl story, Tamamo-no-mae appears as one might expect of the genre. That means, of course... She has many more tails, for who's ever heard of a fox with exactly three? There are probably nine, though they're positioned such that it's hard to carefully distinguish the lines of fluff. Her colors are darkened overall, blacks washed to blues, pinks to red, sun-bright to shadow. Though she entered the library with her full robes and golden adornments, that complicated arrangement has been replaced with the simpler look of her original summoning, that fantasy shrine maiden-ish affair with the detached sleeves baring her shoulders, and what could very, very generously be called a double-slit dress. That much is normal, but the changes in her lines are subtle when taken individually, and less so as summation. The pair of red-wedge tattoos(?) on either cheek and three-fireball symbol in the same scarlet just above her thigh-highs is less so. Moreover, those red lines appear on the tip of each tail, something like a flame, or an eye within flames, most striking on the faded-to-purple tips of the ribbon at her back, which hangs down in wide sections nearly to her feet. Her geta being that tall is... normal. "Oh, well." She blinks her eyes like a flash. "I suppose a fox of a tail like this must be of this type, or else, of a cuddly toy. I am a bit too... 'mature' to be a 'magical girl,' I think." Under other circumstances, she'd be more upset. Here, she expects the unreasonable. If you aren't a magical girl of goodness, or even a dark magical girl, and you aren't a marketable plushie of a magic-granting mascot, then you're an evil witch. Those are the options. "Good adults cannot take center stage in such a production, after all." She snaps open a fan, idly looking over it with those too-bright eyes as Petra explains. "That... does not leave all clearly understood, after all. Yes, I do understand some matters of what is before us, but this..." 'It doesn't seem like you like our world, so what brings you here?' "For love, for friendship, for reunion, for the skies above, for ascension, and for the destruction of the world. Is that enough of an answer? Would you forsake the world for love of a friend? Would you forsake a friend for the world?" Tamamo doesn't know Greed and Wrath all that well, or at all, really. At Petra's mention of Enoch and Nihil, Tamamo looks toward one and about for the other, but she isn't yet ready to get into that.
Lilian Rook	'Okay, so, the narrative adapted to put Friendship and I--' Yeah. Lilian actually did want to know. She was maybe hoping that it'd be way more embarrassing, but this is good enough. 'making us temporarily 'heroes' to the world.' Lilian smirks on purpose "Temporarily? You did fine as a hero when I ran the story, didn't you? Honestly I have no idea why you're always clamouring to play the part of the evil general when . . ." Looking Petra up and down so obviously was on purpose too. "You work so well as the little blonde heroine." 'The real weird thing is that it's, like, grotesquely self-aware, with them commenting directly on Carmen and story tropes and stuff.' "Oh." Lilian frowns. "That sounds like couch cushions." she decides, after only a moment of deliberation. "I think I will let you handle that part, actually. You're better suited." 'Why the fuck is Enoch here and what are you talking about?' Yeah good question actually! But Lilian just got here, so "--The one who died first? The failed guinea pig before Carmen that she killed herself in guilt over?" Blink. "Oh goodness, I'm sorry Tiphereth." 'I am a bit too... 'mature' to be a 'magical girl,' I think.' "I'm always saying this!" About herself! "But does anyone ever listen?! Noooo! Of course not! Even Love should know . . ." Unfortunately, Lilian cannot pretend to be interested in this old gripe for any longer than this. Not when Tamamo has a character redesign like that right in front of her. 'Good adults cannot take center stage in such a production, after all.' "Well. We can be bad adults together." Hearing her own name is the neuron activation that drags her attention to the fact that Wrath and Greed are already here. She raises an arm to loosely guard her eyes against the gust of wind, and settles the other on the cross of her sword out of habit, but says "I expect you'll explain further while you handle this, Petra."
Angela	Angela, of course, is taking the role of the Magical Girl of Love but as 'Friendship' which she doesn't really feel suited for compared to her child-self. She's less troubled by skirts, at least, and she's doing her level best to focus on the problems ahead of her. And of course on the Enochphant in the room too. ''What the fuck is up with that? Am I missing something? Why the fuck is Enoch here and what are you talking about?'' "Enoch is the original source of Cogito." Angela tries to explain this in the smallest number of words. "I am certain that is what Carmen is saying, at least. But this one at least is just a manifestation she's summoned not unlike Tiphereth B way back when. A bit like Psychonautra." ''Be better than fine'' Angela cracks a smile and then actually laughs a little. "Alright." She says. "I'll be great. I will achieve my goals with or without you. However difficult it is or how unsure my steps, I know my destination." But maybe Sarracenia is right. Maybe Angela is faltering a little. Maybe she ''won't'' harvest just anybody. But she does sound confident in her eventual victory in spite of whether or not she has more limitations than she'd ever admit to. She grimaced at the idea of taking Tiphereth's heart for herself. ''Right now I want a burger'' ''Greed. Wrath. Aren't you skipping ahead a little?'' Greed snaps her fingers and a pair of shadow girls rush over to Natsuki and deliver unto her one FAST FOOD quality burger and OVERLY SALTED FRIES. "This ''is'' a happy kingdom. Everybody can have whatever treats and trinkets they desire here. They can have wonderful dear friends, endless sources of conversation, that will never ever betray them." As a pair of shadow-girls peel off the rooftop and drape themselves over Wraths in a facsimile of close friendship, she doesn't seem all that happy, but she isn't rushing out to attack either even as she grips her hammers tightly.
Angela	Ember makes a move, as does Sarracenia. Sarracenia slams her hammers into Greed's legs with enough force to make her stumble even through her powerful resilience and Ember takes advantage of that to blast Greed off her feet with a burst of flame that sends her crashing through a street lamp. ''Surely this is not who you and Wrath wanted to be! '' "It's not." Wrath says, tears welling up in her eyes and starting to burn through the cloth around her eyes. "I just wanted a friend to accompany me on a lonely vigil, but it's just one traitor after another. How do you stand being so lonely? I want to know what I'm a 'weak link' too. If it isn't me, it must be them--" Wrath's wrath hasn't been set off yet. Greed starts picking herself up off the floor, grinning with blood between her teeth. The world glitches around her--for a moment she's wearing the ragged dirty clothes of a Rat, the next an Arbiter's uniform, before she solidifies back into her normal form. ''Would you forsake the world for love of a friend? Would you forsake a friend for the world?'' "I would forsake the world for a love of a friend. I already have" "I would forsake a friend for the world. There are so many hungry people who must be fed!" Natsuki leaps for Wrath, electricity crackling across the magical girl's body as she hisses and steps back. "Embodiment of... evil!!" She shouts, swinging her hammers back at Natsuki's midsection! But the growing number of shadow-girls are cheering Natsuki on! That's dark power! They dig that! It's so cool! ''Oh goodness, I'm sorry Tiphereth.'' Tiphereth's head jerks up and away from the reflection as she looks to Lilian. She looks like ''she'' is about to apologize for a moment before she adds, "Please don't apologize to me. I want to be of help instead." Tiphereth acts on this impulse by using Hornet (the EGO Lance from Queen Bee) to intercept a leaping Greed and knock her away from reaching Tamamo and Lilian. "My sisters are doing just fine, aren't they?" Greed asks. "And we're just fine here."
Ember	'They can have wonderful dear friends, endless sources of conversation, that will never ever betray them.' "And it sounds so completely hollow," Ember immediately says. He looks over at Hatred, who is bemoaning her lot in life. However, he focuses on Greed first. "You can have those things in here, but they aren't real. These are shadows," he motions towards the shadow people, "They say whatever is going on, and they can't betray. You might as well ask a puppet for conversation." "So you are not doing 'good' in here; you could be doing better out there. It's obvious you are suffering, and coping to try and mitigate that suffering." He also considers Hatred again: "Also, have you considered that friends do fight and don't always agree. If you expect the worst in everyone, you'll be left with nobody." Yeah, Ember, maybe take a bit of your own advice. Tiphereth wants to be useful, and he nods at her. Good, get that maytrness out of your system. When she shoots Greed out of the air, Ember leaps up, aiming to grab the shot magical girl and fling her towards the ground near Sarracenia. Hopefully, she can follow up on that layup! Ember lands after a minute, hitting the ground in a three-point stance near the others. "This feels a little... half-hearted."
Natsuki Nuki	'I will achieve my goals with or without you.' "Now that's some spirit! Here or there, near or far, with or without, make it a point to make it to the point." Natsuki councils, casual while she hangs out 'on the ropes' of the rude girls. It's easy to rest there until her comments cause a BURGER to be summoned, a generic fast food burger of legally distinct nature with fries that are probably fried in tallow and also fried frozen and fried again on purpose in lots of salt... And still not as good as the usual suspects. There was something about authenticity -- and nothing about this that was a Food Show. Not at this level of fidelity. Taking up her generic burger, she takes a bite, considering and then spending a short beat fitting fries into burger. Another bite - now enfried, and the seasoned and crunchy and fluffy and gooey burger is improved! Unity, mastery, and excess all in one. A good bite of that and Natsuki gets the power of food cooked to shorten your lifespan to deliver on flavor. Marvelous... if insufficient. --- 'Embodiment of... evil!!' After leaping in with her whip of storm-mist, Natsuki laughs louder and louder as she clashes with Wrath, playing a 'game' with the counterattack. "Oh, did you catch on? I'm wicked through and through! A concentrated poison!" She laughs, shadow-snake tail twisting into something more solid and serpentine at her back, poised to attack. Then, as she's reaching forward to pounce on Wrath with her augmented shadow burger, Wrath swings back with a heavy smash to her midsection with a hammer, folding Natsuki around the weapon and flexing her tail into a zigzag of pain-expression and a tongue-out 'bleck' of openmouthed loss-of-breath in sympathy for Natsuki having the wind smashed out of her. Her arms, free, claw around Wrath's shoulder to feed her that burger she's wielding. "So what do you think? Burger! It's good, right? Let's burger!" She carries on, all but trying to force Wrath to respond to burger time with a constricting tail after her post-smash grapple, extending the clinch into a terrible burg'n time.
Sarracenia	'This ''is'' a happy kingdom. Everybody can have whatever treats and trinkets they desire here. They can have wonderful dear friends, endless sources of conversation, that will never ever betray them.' 'I just wanted a friend to accompany me on a lonely vigil, but it's just one traitor after another. How do you stand being so lonely? I want to know what I'm a 'weak link' too. If it isn't me, it must be them--' Sarracenia blinks in surprise when Natsuki does indeed get a burger and fries. She shakes her head, then looks at Wrath. "Friends do not betray each other. This is true. But, sometimes friends might disagree on things. That is not betrayal, and when such a thing happens the friends should talk it out! Just like my friend Merelisa and I did! That way they stay friends! And if you would like to talk about what happened, I am happy to listen! Maybe I can help you and your friend both!" ''Would you forsake the world for love of a friend? Would you forsake a friend for the world?' 'I would forsake the world for a love of a friend. I already have' 'I would forsake a friend for the world. There are so many hungry people who must be fed!' Sarra flinches when the world glitches, but it only stalls her attacks for a few moments. As she hears what the two magical girls said though, she points. "See? Friends disagree sometimes! And that is okay! Surely whatever happened between you and your friend can be settled and you can return to being friends!" My sisters are doing just fine, aren't they? And we're just fine here.' Sarra shakes her head. "Your sisters miss you. They have faced many hardships, made new friends, and most importantly, returned to their true selves. If you are doing fine here, why is Wrath crying? Why are you still seeking more light?" 'Because I'm evil!' Sarra can't stop a little giggle at the petulant stomp. "But if one did not know you were evil, you would be quite indistinguishable from a heroine." Sarra says, just to tease Petra a bit. 'We should get hamburger instead!' "Oh! That is a lovely idea!" Sarra exclaims. "New friendships are forged and old ones repaired over a hamburger!" 'I suppose a fox of a tail like this must be of this type, or else, of a cuddly toy. I am a bit too... 'mature' to be a 'magical girl,' I think.' "The outfit looks quite good on you, though!" Sarra calls out. "And so many tails!" 'Well. We can be bad adults together.' Sarra giggles at this, but not in a mocking way. More in a 'aww that was cute' way! 'This feels a little... half-hearted.' Ember sends Sarra a layup, and Sarra times her swing to catch the falling Greed and send her sailing into the side of a nearby building. "Well, we did say that fighting is not the actual purpose of a magical girl fight. It is merely a way to get the magical girls talking. The fight will probably only become real when someone's emotional center is hit."
Petra Soroka	"Enoch is the original source of Cogito." "Okay, well-- sure. I guess." Petra doesn't feel like that explains anything, but it is true, and books are always doing some bullshit anyways. Whatever Carmen's grand tragic narrative is this time, it's just another Carmen thing, and Petra has long since resolved to mistrust Carmen's voice haunting the City. Completely contextless, a minute later, the word "Carmenslop," escapes from Petra's lips. "That... does not leave all clearly understood, after all." "You're telling me." Petra burbles, swaying her skirt side to side idly. Her eye contact is continually drawn towards Tamamo's red tail-eyes rather than her own, like an especially lureable animal. "You work so well as the little blonde heroine." "Because I'm evil!" Petra's half-serious petulant stomp doesn't do anything prove her point, because her heels are so glittery and so color-coordinated. Once that's out of her system, Petra sweeps her fingers down to gesture to her outfit. "But I mean-- okay, this just doesn't suit me at all, right? I can accept that there's situations, even, like, most situations, where I'm good at being a heroine. Especially when the heroine loses and a whole cutscene plays out. But that makes me an anti-villain, narratively, because what I'm known for is still being evil." "I think I will let you handle that part, actually. You're better suited." Being evil, as she demonstrates when snapping a salute to Lilian with her heels sending out a sparkle of animated yellow magic when she clacks them together. "Yes ma'am. Consider it handled." "I just wanted a friend to accompany me on a lonely vigil, but it's just one traitor after another." Petra's lip curls at Greed's utilization of the shadow-girls as, like, friend-prostitutes for Wrath, which doesn't even seem to improve Wrath's mood at all. She catches Wrath's hammers on her staff, which sparks and then ignites, blasting out a wave of fire to repel the magical girl in return. "There's only a few people that can't betray you, Courage, and that's the people who are in your same boat. You had three of those before, and now you've abandoned two of them. Are you happy being the traitor to your own sisters, when you could still balance it out by joining them?"
Petra Soroka	"I expect you'll explain further while you handle this, Petra." "Wait, what am I explaining further now?!" Mid-battle, Petra's scampering around to avoid the craters Greed's punches create, when her wail of confusion reaches Lilian. Her staff chimes each time she swings it, spitting out little magic fireballs as she goes. "Um! Well I think Natsuki's trying to strike a deal with Nihil that's going to end really badly and advance the story! We went and took some pictures in the photo booth earlier before meeting the kid! Uh, Happiness and Courage are here fighting us because-- because--" Petra snaps her knee forwards, arresting Greed's gauntlet with a clang against her kick. She skids backwards, but the broken momentum is enough for her to gesticulate angrily with her staff. "Hey, Happiness, why don't you explain why you're fighting us, actually?! I thought this'd be at the end!"
Tamamo	'Enoch is the original source of Cogito.' Tamamo tries to remember what, exactly, that would mean, and draws on the most recent time the term was mentioned in earshot. "Did it not 'come from the river'?" Hod had said that. 'A bit like Psychonautra.' "An impression left upon someone else, then." 'An imitation' would have been unacceptably imprecise, though correct. 'Well. We can be bad adults together.' "We shall be the wicked adults who call for time to resume its march, for the pages to turn and the cover to close, so that another book may be taken from the shelf on another night. If we do not, who would?" There's something hypnotic about the eye-flames swaying on at least nine points even when Tamamo's doing little more than standing there. More so when she moves. 'Please don't apologize to me. I want to be of help instead.' "You offered yourself as a sacrifice. I remember. For the sake of resolving this story... or, was it for the sake of those girls? Not for these two, but for the others." 'Everybody can have whatever treats and trinkets they desire here. They can have wonderful dear friends, endless sources of conversation, that will never ever betray them.' "A world such as this is not wholly empty, and neither is it full. It is 'sparse,' at the kindest. It is balm enough for a night's rest, and not to be taken night after night. It would be so for a child." For an adult, it'd be worse. "You are not all that greedy, if this is enough to satisfy you. It is so.. insubstantial. Does your belly not feel empty, after all that?" Tamamo looks toward Natsuki's food delivery, drawing her to the same topic with, "Would it be enough, for you to have 'snacks upon demand'?" She's certain it's otherwise. Fully in the role of the tempting fox, now, "Is it not a terribly 'narrow' greed, if so? Should one not desire far more?" 'I would forsake the world for a love of a friend. I already have.' "Will you do so again? I can give you that opportunity. We can, together, if the sacrifice is made." Was there always a sacrifice involved? "I can set you on the path, if you will commit to seizing it. Girls who wait for happiness to come to them will be waiting until their next life, did you know?" Did she always sound so casually sinister?
Tamamo	'You work so well as the little blonde heroine.' 'Because I'm evil!' Tamamo quietly laughs behind her fan. "The role suits you, after all." Of course she'd agree with Lilian. Of course she'd praise Petra where Petra's resisting with all the might she can bring against Lilian about it. '...because what I'm known for is still being evil.' "Hmm, is that true 'here'? Is reputation not a matter dependent upon the place, as well? One can adopt another mask in each city visited, if one wishes. Some worlds are vast, and some are made small by the roads rumors trod." Tiphereth blocks Greed from going after her, but Tamamo takes a stance, lowering her stance and one arm, while raising her fan -- shut with a snap. Every movement again sways her tails and ribbons. "If it will bring some satisfaction, if sense could be delivered by knocking one about, I will allow for a round or two, myself." She wouldn't, usually! It's a pain to do anything painful, but she's feeling different about several things, both today, specifically, and recently, generally. "However! I have no love for violence done for its own sake. That indulgence is the least permissible, and the most reproachable. Answer Loyalty, now, as to the goals that drive you."
Lilian Rook	'Carmenslop' "Oh dear god." Lilian whispers. "Don't you introduce that term. Don't you make that a thing or I'll never get it out of my head." She's still regretting the passive-aggressive unhappy 'Girl-Fluid' joke. Then she catches Petra eyeing Tamamo's tails and starts snapping her fingers loudly. She says "Hey. Up here." like she's talking to a frustrating dog; an attitude that lasts up until she gets one look at Petra's sparkly little heel clicks. "Oh my god . . ." 'I can accept that there's situations, even, like, most situations, where I'm good at being a heroine. Especially when the heroine loses and a whole cutscene plays out. But' She raises her hand all the way to her mouth. "Oh my god." 'Did it not 'come from the river'?' Unfortunately, this exposes how little Lilian ever actually knew about the difference between Cogito, Enkephalin, the Light, the Well, and the Tree. She assumed they must have fairly definite ones, given that the handful of surreal concepts of possible-impossibility she works with are fewer and much harder to describe, but it'd always just seemed clear enough through context at each given moment. "Wait is that relevant to the story? Are we being quizzed?" Lilian says, nervously glancing both ways. 'We shall be the wicked adults who call for time to resume its march' "Well I'm not certain about that~" Lilian says, intentionally draping herself on Tamamo's arm; snicker: evil, hands: wandering. "Indeed, however~" Now she's doing a tenth of her stage voice. "Even I may tire of a refrain unbroken for long enough." One fifth. 'It is so.. insubstantial. Does your belly not feel empty, after all that?' "And so I wonder. Is it out of fear that she wants for nothing more? Only 'an infinity of what she dares ask'? Is it instead that she knows not what her heart craves at all? Or that she only fears to speak its true name aloud?" One third. "There are many reasons to live a life that is 'enough, for now, even if barely', and think oneself fallen from grace, but none of them will impress me." Tiphireth having to block attacks on her behalf makes her feel a little bad, but Lilian was quite adamant about the amount of effortful self-sacrifice she would do here before coming in at all, and every moment that someone makes it 'not her burden to carry' is a tiny morsel of . . . some very important nutrient that Lilian can't actually name, but still feels guilty for wanting.
Angela	''These are shadows.'' "So are most people in the world. Or are we going to start saying that that most people out there have a deep inner world now?" Ember goes for a throw but Greed grabs hold of him with her gauntlet, sending them both tumbling to the floor by gripping too hard herself to just throw away back to Sarracenia. She rolls him around on his back to start clobbering him in the face with a gusto, as if to serve as a violent counterpoint to the matter of halfheartedness. She's having a good time! ''Have you considered that friends do fight'' "I'm not stupid." Wrath says, sourly. "I'm not talking about something so mild! How do you know what's true?" ''But that makes me an anti-villain, narratively, because what I'm *known for is still being evil.'' "But you are a hero to girls." Angela points out. "Mm...But perhaps we are confusing antagonist and villain? Or hero and protagonist?" Angela is getting distracted from the fight, but Greed is too occupied to go after her, especially as Sarracenia slams her into the side as she's trying to pummel Ember, sending her to the floor. Greed still gets up again, still grinning--but it doesn't reach her eyes this time, like someone determined not to be too upset that meal time was interrupted. ''Your sisters miss you'' Greed hesitates a little before saying, "They do not wish to return here one day? This Kingdom I built for them?" ''Burger!'' Wrath gets a burger shoved into her mouth. Her eyes widen through her blindfold because that's such a weird thing to do! She doesn't get it! She tries to say Embodiments of Evil but there's burger in her mouth! Natsuki even forces her teeth to chomp down on it thanks to the power of her tail. Swallowing it down she says, "Let's Burger??" She's too bewildered to be pissed off. ''There's only a few people who can't betray you, Courage, and that's the people who are in your same boat.'' Wrath seems tired. Clearly those shadow 'friends' are not delivering the happiness Greed promised. "I... could bring balance by joining them...? Even now? Even after I betrayed them all? They're still my friends?" Wrath mulls on this and then says, "..Burger Time?" She looks to Greed for a moment through her blindfold. "I will join my sisters. It surely is better than this. Thank you, Loyalty." She lifts her blindfold, her blood-red eyes shimmering like that of a Bloodfiend's for a moment before returning to normal. "What must I sacrifice, Tamamo-no-mae?"
Angela	''Carmenslop'' ''Did it not 'come from the river'?'' The Tiphereth clone that has replaced Enoch says, "It did." They look at Tamamo, focusing on her, and smiling at her directly like at someone who reminded them of an old friend, or maybe an old memory or sensation. "I was sent down from the star, the star is also me. I became the river. Lisa found me, her heart cried out and the river took Enoch's form to answer it. You understand this better than anyone, don't you, Tamamo-no-mae?" "Making my wish take material form." Tiphereth murmurs, keeping a wary eye on Greed. "I'm a gift left behind you couldn't see before." The clone says. "You remember, when I said I wished to shed my body and fly away? You said that you did not wish to be left behind. I have become Light once again thanks to Carmen, you can join me there. You don't need anybody else. Or do you wish to stay here?" ''Does your belly not feel empty, after all that?'' "My belly always feels empty." Greed says, which coincidentally answers the question of motivation. "I am always so hungry. Once Nihil showed me that my happiness did not feel my belly, I realized it could only be satiated by constant meals." She looks to Natsuki. "Is your belly ever full? Have you ever been satisfied?" ''I thought this would be at the end'' "Because it is the place where I can eat uninterrupted, but you seek to tear me away from here!" She pushes against the staff but without getting into a nice flow, it's impossible for her to get truly powerful strikes in. "You spoke of my sweet meals ... But I've had many now." Angela sees the opportunity to utilize FRIENDSHIP. "But the ones that I've shared with my closed ones, those are the ones that 'filled my belly'. You think you are being greedy, but Natsuki has a stronger desire than yours." "That's true..." A shadow-girl near Natsuki says, offering her a thin flat hand as a jester-like grin splits open across her two-dimensional face.
Ember	Greed manages the grab, forcing the two to fall to the ground in a mess of punches and knife strikes. Fortunately for Ember, Ifrit is augmenting his strength, allowing him to make each exchange with Greed just as painful for her as it is for him... the downside is that he isn't channeling Titan to weather the blows, so each one of her blows hurts. Even while she has the upper hand in terms of positioning, he gives as good as he gets, knifing her in the side with each blow she makes to his body and face. Sarracenia's well-timed blow knocks her off, letting Ember jump back on his feet, wiping a line of blood dripping from his nose. He's going to need something for the bruising. 'Or are we going to start saying that most people out there have a deep inner world now?' "I believe they can have one. Removing the confines of needless classism and mind-numbing work that people are subjected to by those at the top will allow those without a 'deep inner world' to develop one. Greed can be conquered and destroyed, letting happiness rule once again. This, I believe, will let everyone eventually obtain their own form of happiness... people just need to be shown the way." "And... well, to kill a lot of greedy men who prop up a system of exploitation for their own benefit." He motions towards Angela, as if to prove his point about greed and happiness. "Sometimes it's okay to be a little greedy, sure. It's when it comes at the expense of everything and others that it's a problem. Happiness also feeds that hunger far better..." "So what are you waiting for? Your sisters are waiting. You are starving, and now alone here. Whereas you can be full with them and happy."
Sarracenia	'I'm not talking about something so mild! How do you know what's true?' "I do not know anything of what happened, but I do know that friends and especially sisters can talk through anything!" Sarra doesn't know for sure that they are real sisters, but she's heard it enough times. "They have been waiting for you! They care little for whatever betrayal you may have committed! They just want you back!" 'They do not wish to return here one day? This Kingdom I built for them?' Sarra huffs. "That is not it at all. They wish to return here. Love talks constantly about how she wants to free the Kingdom of Happiness from Dark Nihil. But, I am quite certain the kingdom is less important to her and Justice than you and Wrath are. Coming back to this kingdom will mean nothing if the sisters she loves are not full of love and happiness as well! And, really, cleansing this place of this Dark Nihil seems like quite a good idea. Would you not agree?" 'I will join my sisters. It surely is better than this. Thank you, Loyalty.' Sarra lets out a little cheer of happiness as she hears Wrath say this. "Excellent!" She has no doubt Tamamo can handle whatever the next part is. 'I am always so hungry. Once Nihil showed me that my happiness did not feel my belly, I realized it could only be satiated by constant meals.' 'So what are you waiting for? Your sisters are waiting. You are starving, and now alone here. Whereas you can be full with them and happy.' Sarra eyes Ember a moment before she turns her attention back to Greed, her hammer still ready but no longer swinging. "Happiness...it is supposed to be shared. It is very difficult to be happy alone, and taking someone else's happiness does little to fill the void. When you think back, the times when you were sharing happiness with your three sisters...are those the times when you felt most satisfied?" Sarra lowers her hammer, and the head dissolves, leaving her with just the long black staff with the sinister red gem on the end. Then, she holds out a hand and offers a smile. "Your sisters await you. Will you not share your happiness with them and leave this greed behind?"
Natsuki Nuki	Natsuki was told, up front, to not try to appeal to the classic friendship piece. Called in as a ringer, close to Greed by aspiration and ambition and the fragment of power taken on outside of the story. A page from a storybook stitched into her scroll, inspirations for a new chapter gathered and scribed down, Natsuki had been working hard in her own way for this stretch. She had really wanted a burger, though. 'Let's Burger??' "Let's Burger!" Natsuki agrees at a huyu-huyu flutter of birdsong. The squeeze of her tail and shove of her hands doesn't last long at all, forcing her way to delicious burger (fries on the inside) and then leaving the food in Wrath's hands and not forcing anything a few beats later. "That's what I said. It's a needy little indulgence, but we want salts and fats and stach and texture. What's not to like?" Well, plenty, but it's a dream burg'n. "We can get out of here and get some real burgers, sure. They've got Sapporo out in the Multiverse too and I can only get boba around here. Where's the Ichiban?" Kirin Ichiban, specifically. Natsuki wanted something smooth to go with her burger! And for someone to season their patties!! The rest was a clean appreciation for the ingredients (and also salt and butter). Giving away Wrath towards Tamamo once the burg'd magical girl moves towards complying with Tamamo's own plot, Natsuki peels off, standing off and near the ringing of shadow girls again. 'Once Nihil showed me that my happiness did not feel my belly, I realized it could only be satiated by constant meals' "Depends on the hunger." Natsuki answers, tone considering. There's not a scrap of downbeat to her 'depends', no doubt or deny in her tone. She knows. "Hungry is want. But some lacks don't need to be filled, and others you could drown in meals and never fill. You won't ever feed 'expression' eating sweets. You won't ever find 'power' isolating away. It's the quality of the meals that matters too - the nutritional value of them..." Her tail looks again, sinister in its red-eyed lingering in the periphery of her frame. "But you've surely figured it out, right? There's nothing really to eat, here. You can't eat happiness. Happiness is a great flavor, that moment of tasting, chewing, swallowing, and then it's gone, and even 'full' you're not satisfied. It means there's some nutrient you're missing, not mass that needs to be fit. Rarify your pleasures, girl." Natsuki explains, easing into a sisterly drawl. To a point... She was talking to herself, and had this conversation more than once.
Tamamo	'Are we being quizzed?' "Where 'instinct' fails, you may trust in my 'wisdom,' my dearest one." 'Even I may tire of a refrain unbroken for long enough.' "They will never catch up with us, otherwise." With Lilian half-draping over her, Tamamo raises one hand to cross and cup her cheek, all without turning away from the camera -- that is, from Wrath and Greed. 'Is it instead that she knows not what her heart craves at all? Or that she only fears to speak its true name aloud?' "As the frog in the well, surely. The sky seems so far away, but let us reach into the well." 'What must I sacrifice, Tamamo-no-mae?' "The life you have here, your past, must ever be the first thing sacrificed for a future. This world, built by happiness and greed, is that which will be left behind. There is little you have to offer to pay your passage, as you are now, but there may be someone willing to cover the remainder." Tamamo looks toward Tiphereth. As she'd said, a miracle requires more than a casual wish. 'You understand this better than anyone, don't you, Tamamo-no-mae?' "Perhaps," she says, thinking on it. "Though I was sent from Her, I never took on the form of another. This... is more akin to the one who prayed for a doll to keep them company. I will not keep you, nor will I advise your relationships. I will say only that one must be true to their own soul, first, without conforming to comfort another, before leading anyone else by the hand." "So sparse! So insubstantial! There can be a belly that is filled with only dreams, but I would not recommend this." . . . And so, what will Tamamo ask, at the end? She cannot do just as happened last time. There were two magical girls, then, who felt fervor and desperation in their hearts, and they turned their feelings toward bringing a third magical girl to join them. There was a specific understanding, then, of what was needed, and it occurred outside the Library. Miracles, by their very nature, are not repeated. Ritual is the very opposite. "Blood is little on its own, but is enough to carry feeling and fortune, together with heat and life, and to serve as a medium for that which is carried by the dragon's veins. Few serve better for realizing the unreal."
Petra Soroka	"But if one did not know you were evil, you would be quite indistinguishable from a heroine." "Right up until I open my mouth! What magical girl goes around shouting all the things I do, you know?!" "The role suits you, after all." Beleaguered, Petra taps her toe against the ground, twisting around to examine the shoulder-to-ankle glitter of her costume. Reluctantly, but about something she straight up did not need to admit at all, she says, "Hhhh... maybe if it was pumpkin shorts or something instead. I mean, with Kenshiko and all...." "Even after I betrayed them all? They're still my friends?" "They can't not be." Petra's view on friendship and betrayal may not be the most morally justifiable in the world, but when it comes to Loyalty, she doesn't even have to perform the role to have her opinions. It's easy to imagine, following the Magical Girl naming scheme, that her corrupted name would have something to do with 'obsession'. "Sisters are a kind of friend who can't leave you." That's so scary. "That's what I mean, Courage. No matter what you've done, you're still 'the four magical girls of the kingdom', and the only thing that bond is abandoning them on your own." "Thank you, Loyalty." Petra's chest rises and falls in a sigh of relief, and she leans using her staff as a support. Whatever else she feels about this story, she doesn't actually hate the 'Loyalty' thing being assigned to her. "Just stay with them, okay? Even when it's hard." "Because it is the place where I can eat uninterrupted, but you seek to tear me away from here!" Her tone, when it comes to Greed, is a lot less mahou-compliant. Maybe because this is 'Greed', while the Servant of Wrath still clearly contained the heart of Courage, but Petra's tongue-click is as wounding as Greed's attacks. "Tch. Yeah, fucking, have fun in your eternal jerk-off cage, Greed. You're not getting anything from this. Broke-ass king settled for a nation of nothing at all, joined forces with 'Nihil' to get over having jack shit. You know that's not going to work, right?"
Lilian Rook	'Where 'instinct' fails, you may trust in my 'wisdom,' my dearest one.' "Yes ma'am~" There was no reason for Lilian to sound like she was going to salute either. Or perhaps there was, now that Tamamo (ver. mahou shoujo ~vilainess~ is draped over her and cupping her face in that iconic way, which would explain her theatrical shiver and adjustment to promo poster fainting contrapposto. "Oh what a tragedy indeed~ To never escape the middle of the melody, quailing in terror from the bridge . . ." Girl pick a fucking lane. "Worse, to mistake it for the outro . . . Or in other words, to read the first chapter over and over, seeing the blank page that follows it, and fearing the end." Pick a metaphor too! 'Sisters are a kind of friend who can't leave you.' "Wait what--?" Lilian is already bolting upright. 'That's what I mean, Courage. No matter what you've done, you're still 'the four magical girls of the kingdom', and...' "Oh." Flat, at first, recognizing something inscrutable, only to elicit a wincing-following "Ah . . ." in the aftermath. "I suppose Tales can afford to be far more unambiguous. So much that it's tempting to forget that clarity is allowed to mean something." 'Tch. Yeah, fucking, have fun in your eternal jerk-off cage' "Oh come on! That was so nice for a moment!" Lilian whines. "Couldn't you have tried 'And so you can only not have 'Happiness' by leaving that role behind' or something?! It's so obvious now that you've underscored it! Of course she's never going to be satisfied occupying the one place literally defined by her not having it!" 'I was sent down from the star, the star is also me.' Lilian makes a mental note to ask about that later.
Angela	''No matter what you've done, you're still 'the four magical girls of the kingdom''' Wrath nods once. It does feel true. They may have fallen, but when they fell they ultimately fell together. And when they were at their heights, they were together too. What would be the dual aspect of 'Friendship'. Neediness? Longing? Isolation? Adversary? Adaptation? Angela watches Petra as she speaks. "That is well said, for a magical girl of Loyalty." ''Have fun in your eternal jerk-off cage, Greed'' "But we must be true to ourselves first." Angela smiles. Greed grimaces, troubled by the words, but now that she's alone she's having trouble refuting them as she's gone from having some support to having none. Is even Nihil on her side right now? ''Just stay with them, okay? Even when it's hard.'' Tiphereth looks to Petra, then to Angela, and then to the second Tiphereth that's making her a tempting offer. "Even when it's hard," She murmurs, catching Tamamo's look as well. Wrath extends her hand to Greed. While Love fell first, Greed fell hardest. She's more elemental than can be described by well researched economists, but she is not without hope. When Ember offers up another idea of paradise, where the many can have a deep inner world--it sounds ridiculous, but that sort of pie-in-the-sky thinking...isn't that what Greed is all about? ''It's when it comes at the expense of everything and others'' Angela looks away. The question of whether she's being greedy or just doing what she must for an honest chance of happiness is always a bit of an unsettled question. She knows her destination, but the path is as difficult to see through as the fog surrounding the Library. ''And, really, cleansing this place of this Dark Nihil seems like quite a good idea.'' "And what of their happiness?" Greed might be the only one of the four who would even consider that. But she's flagging. Losing Wrath means the Kingdom is truly empty but for her. And Nihil. ''Though I was sent from Her, I never took the form of another.'' "So long as you understand the similarity in process. Perhaps we could have come as ourselves, but right now that is a good way to end up in the hands of a Wing. We do not need to be the same." The other Tiphereth tells Tamamo, but they seem pleased at Tamamo's grasp of things, at least, her wisdom. She must have worried that it'd be too difficult to explain but if Tamamo understands it enough, then that's good enough for now. "You need blood?" The true Tiphereth says, approaching with the lance. Tamamo was giving her a look so she assumes she was the one being asked for. She will reach to cut her hand on her lance to offer as sacrifice for whatever ritual Tamamo is hoping to produce.
Angela	The swarm of shadow-girls seem to be coalescing around Natsuki, having abandoned Wrath to hover around her as an increasingly ominous set of shadow-people. ''It means there's some nutrient you're missing, not mass that needs to be fit. Rarify your pleasures, girl.'' There's a unified front here, even if some say it differently than others, whether they speak of returning to friends, filling the belly with that kind of companionship, or something else. Why did she accept Nihil after Love became the Queen of Hatred? ... It feels like a long distant memory, maybe she could actually feel satisfied back then. "An empty kingdom ... I suppose in the end, that would just consume me to no satisfaction." Greed says. She reaches out to take Wrath's hand before adding, "It seems Nihil has found a new friend after all." And that's when the shadow girls start swarming into Natsuki, willingly getting absorbed by her until the depth of shadow encompassing her obscures her from vision. This was the plan! But Tiphereth startles anyway, raising her lance until she sees a small shake of the head from Angela. The darkness bursts ahead, flying towards the castle sitting atop the tree in the center of the town, increasingly Librarylike. "Well, we wanted to go for Nihil too. So..." Angela doesn't really like the fact that Nihil has chosen Big Tree as their evil lair, but there's nothing for it.