Mahou Madness!

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Umm... No idea... I missed the station name..."
It was one of those tiny platforms with no shelter or even seats... Never mind a sign saying which one it was... And to make matters worse... It looked like it was about to... Yep, there goes some thunder and now it was raining... And they had to get off.
"Ahh... This is gonna suck..."
Lucas declared, running out of the train... God, even his running was stereo typically girly!

 

[twinkletide]

Well, Namiko thought. It could be worse.

You'd expect Namiko to flash back to her days of homelessness, but it never rained then. At least as far as she remembered.

They both ran into the downpour. The rain had the thick heavy feeling of city vapor, of components separate from Nature's normal cycle of condensation. Half the periodic table poured down on them, chunks of one to two letters in every droplet.

Namiko scanned for some shelter, but the rain combined with her drowsiness made it difficult to see. "Lucas," she said, "do you see anywhere to take shelter?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas had never been caught in the rain without an umbrella before! Especially not while lost and who knows how far from home... Though it could only be at most an hour or two with the line they were on... At least their injuries were all but healed!
Lucas's uniform was soaked almost immediately, and Namiko likely suffered the same fate, at least it would be a chance to see if magic could protect them from getting a cold?

Lucas looked around carefully, there had to be SOMETHING!
"Umm... I don't... Oh! Over there! Maybe the will let us in?"
He had pointed out what seemed to be an old western style church, it had a sign above the door ready "Needy welcome!"
Lucas ran right in, where a few candles lit the dark space, it seemed there were no electric lights in there.

 

[twinkletide]

The sight of churches - especially old, dilapidated ones - always made Namiko sigh. Nevermind that such a God was likely not real, at least not in the form normally thought of, as they could empirically note; no, the sight of these places of worship always incurred in her a torrent of pity and despair, the source of which was elusive.

Nonetheless, they needed shelter. So she ran along with him, feet firmly planted on the concrete so she wouldn't slip.

As soon as they stepped inside the rest of the world collapsed into a patter of static outside. The church was lit darkly by burning wicks centered around the altar. The inside looked just as old as the out.

"Geez." Namiko said, sitting down on one of the pews. "Guess we'll have to wait here until it dies down out there. Are you cold?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lucas personally liked churches! Not for their purpose, but for how interesting they were! Old architecture was always way more interesting than anything built in the modern day, especially in modern japan... Where houses were built for efficient use of space more than looking good...
Lucas actually did slip, twice, his shoes seemingly having no grip on the wet, worn down concrete and asphalt of the street.

"Umm... This place is kinda creepy... Warm though..."
The church was indeed warmer than outside, so perhaps there was some heating there despite the lack of lights?
"Y..yeah... I'm freezing!"
Lucas admitted, before jumping as footsteps approached.

"Greetings... It has been a while since I last had guests here... I am sorry I cannot offer towels but I am not very well equipped..."
A girl approached, she was clearly a magical girl of some type... But not one Namiko had ever met, which meant she was most likely non aligned, and her outfit had a religious theme to it.

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko's eyes narrowed at this new person. She looked like part of the clergy, but her magical energy suggested otherwise. She was regal presence, one that was both imposing and strangely comforting. Perhaps it was this mix of comfort and royalty that prevented Namiko from tensing up as much as she would have.

"Hello," she said cautiously, walking near Lucas, "might we have your name?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Ahh... Of course... You can call me Emily... It's not my name but is the one I prefer".
She introduced herself calmly, seemingly happily giving a fake name and then stating it to be fake...
"I see you two were caught in the storm... Were you out fighting chimera and lost your way?"
She asked, having apparently figured they were magical girls.

"Umm... Well we were fighting chimera before... But then we fell asleep on a train... Where are we exactly?"
Lucas asked, a little more confident since the fight, despite them technically getting their asses kicked.
"Oh! You are in Patria..."
That was an area a good hour from their intended destination! They had slept a lot it seemed.

 

[twinkletide]

"Patria..." Namiko whispered. The name didn't ring a bell. Then again, being wet and sleepy didn't do much to help her memory.

Anyways, there were more important matters, like the fact that this girl was, indeed, a magical girl, or at least affiliated with them. Luckily she didn't seem hostile, at least for now. "Well, Emily," Namiko said. "We'll stay for as long as the rain keeps up, since we have somewhere to be. Thank you for your hospitality." She cleared her throat. "Might I ask for your affiliations, if any? You'll forgive the questions. You understand how...dangerous things are nowadays, for magical girls."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I am happy to have you here... There is a heater back here if you girls would like to try and dry off... If you catch a cold it could make fighting a little more complex, especially for someone requiring accuracy such as you..."
Alright it seemed this Emily knew a decent bit about Namiko, perhaps she had seen her fighting before? Or had other ways of finding out how she fought.

"Oh? A good question to ask... I side with no one, well technically you could say I side with the church, but they still don't acknowledge our existence so I highly doubt you will come into conflict... And no, in case you were going to ask, I will not join Orphan or the AAD".
She declared, leading them to a large heater, it was radiating dry heat and would be great for cooling off.

 

[twinkletide]

"What church? Catholic?"

They sat down near the heater. Namiko's knees were folded politely underneath her. Subconsciously she huddled up next to Lucas, perhaps to keep him warm, or for some other reason. The machine emanated a thick and wooly warmth, a steady whirr.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

She nodded her answer.
"I suppose... This church does belong to them, and I am payed by them to run it... Though mostly I think they wanted me out of the way".
She admitted with a slight smirk that lasted merely a moment before vanishing.

Lucas was a little more controlled by his instincts and straight up wrapped his arms around Namiko, laying his head on her shoulder, and less than a minute later it became apparent that he was asleep... It made sense, Lucas was new to all this magical girl stuff and had so far been transforming and fighting every day, without having any training beforehand.

Seeing how close they seemed to be Emily decided to question their relationship...
"So... Are you two lovers? Sisters? Or just close friends?"
There was no change in her tone, it was asked as if she had inquired about the weather, it also appeared she was taken in by Lucas's feminine appearance.

 

[twinkletide]

At this point Namiko was unsurprised by people mistaking Lucas for a girl. After all, she was fooled too at first, and that was before he slimmed up and grew out his hair. She shook her head. "Close friends, I suppose," she said. "Not for very long though. And just to let you know, he's a boy." She said that last part with some hesitation; things had gone astray from black and white as of late.

Her hands drifted over to Lucas's slumbering head. What did he dream about? Freudian wish fulfillment? Kafkaesque nightmares? Did his dreams betray some hidden darkness under his childlike interior?

"This church still operates, then?" she asked. "It looks...old. What is its history?" Something about magical girl business made Namiko formal, polite, in a near archaic manner. The seriousness of this girl only exacerbated it.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Oh! My apologies... She... I mean he, just looks so... Feminine... I suppose I was wrong about him being a magical girl then..."
She mumbled, clearly a little embarrassed at having made such a mistake, maybe her tough facade wasn't as strong as she made it look? Or maybe she was just easily embarrassed, it was hard to tell.

Lucas seemed incredibly happy in his dream, smiling and snuggling against Namiko, had he always been this affectionate?
"Pretty..."
He mumbled, sounding a little excited, apparently he talked in his sleep! That was an interesting, yet likely sometimes embarrassing little quirk.
"Yes, it still operates for the few people around here that are interested... Most it is just a shelter for those in need".
She admitted, not sounding too sad about it.
"I don't know it's exact history, I believe it was built by missionaries a hundred years ago... Give or take a decade".

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko shut her eyes. She was somewhat disappointed at the lack of a narrative. But no matter. Outwardly she looked to be asleep. The seconds passed in silence, with only the crackle of rain and the gentle hum of the machine to keep them company.

"Do you believe in God, then?" Namiko asked, her eyes still closed, her hand still stroking Lucas's head. A question like how's this weather. A question as free of pretense as she could possibly get, something to fill up space.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I thought you might ask that... Well to be honest... It's a little complicated".
She admitted, before taking a deep breath and continuing.
"I must admit, while I was raised as a devout Catholic... The events following my awakening, especially the tower and the war... Have shaken my belief, not destroyed it, but I still believe god exists, in fact... Does such mythical occurrences not merely make Him more plausible?"
She questioned.

Lucas would wake a half hour later, rubbing his eyes sleepily as she seemed torn between stretching and cuddling... Before noting that his pillow was in fact Namiko and springing up into a sitting position.
"Uhh... Umm, sorry, I guess I passed out?"

 

[twinkletide]

She nodded at Emily's explanation. Though she disagreed, it was respectable to hold belief in such a world. God knows they needed to believe in something. The result of a lack of belief could be seen in the suicide rates of magical girls, who neither felt like there was anything worth fighting for and anything worth living for. The worst part was that she couldn't blame them.

Lucas stirred under her hand. She stopped stroking and opened her eyes for the first time in a half-hour, looking down at him. "It's okay," she said. "You've had a long day."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Oh... Yeah that makes sense..."
Lucas wasn't entirely awake yet, but in the next few minutes as he slowly came around the rain went silent, it seemed the downpour had finally ended and they could get going again.

"You would be heading to your headquarters in this region wouldn't you? If you hurry you may be able to make the next express train... I have the time table all but memorized".
Emily stated.
It made sense she would know where the HQ was, most magical girls knew, but non aligned girls would never risk going there unless they wanted to join, and the AAD didn't have the forces to risk a battle with Orphan in Japan.

 

[twinkletide]

The white noise stopped abruptly. Namiko looked out the window. The world had the wet and early feeling of softened dew and shafts of thin light. Times like this Namiko felt closer to religion.

They walked outside. Their shoes splashed against small puddles. As Emily gave them the express train timetable Namiko smiled. "Thank you," she said. "We appreciate it."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Emily bowed to them and smiled.
"My pleasure... Feel free to visit again if you are ever in the area".
She told them as they left and she returned to whatever it was she had been doing before they arrived, with how clean the inside was, it was probably safe to say said task had something to do with cleaning.

They managed to make it onto the train without much trouble, their still slightly damp uniforms were a little uncomfortable but not to the point where they couldn't stand it, though it was enough that Lucas remembered something.
"Oh! I still have my Orphan uniform... I never took it out of my bag..."

 

[twinkletide]

Namiko sighed as they plopped themselves onto the seats of the train. She'd have to wash these clothes later, which was not a chore she particularly enjoyed.

When Lucas mentioned the uniform, Namiko laughed. "Yes," she said, "but you can't exactly dress up here." It occurred to her how comfortable he seemed now with the idea of wearing that girly uniform. "Do you still want us to make pants for you?"