Phantasmagoria — Ewigkeit in Wiedergeburt

[Skyswimsky]

"It's complicated."
"Complicated? You're telling me this matter is complicated? I tell you what: There exists an order, and anything that risks this order is eliminated. That's simple, not complicated."
"Without risk, there is no change."
"...Tzch. We'll soon have to deal with the Iron Menace, the Restless Dead, and who knows what the Writer of Tragedies is up to! Not to mention the usual... so why right now?"
"Because it's time."
"Says who!?"
"He."

---

Tutorial Chapter: A Witch's Second Step!

---

The Rite of Initiation — the final exam into Witch adulthood. The last hurdle to pass, and open the door to many more possibilities. Years of preparation, to become a fully fledged member of Witch society, that were finally put to test. Many kept their expectations low, realizing that this was just another small step in a big journey. Others thought the world was now open to them, just to be met with disappointment.

Most Witches went into various trades of work such as handicraft, research, or services — with only a handful following a different calling. Their reasons are many. Some seek fortune. Others fame. A few risk their life simply for closure, hoping to recover the body of a loved one. Yet, as different as their reasons may be, their path was all the same: The path of a Questing Witch.

Despite being a profession like none other, becoming a Questing Witch was a relatively easy task at first. A Witch simply had to express their wish into becoming one. A few days later, and a Witch got assigned to a nameless squad; its members chosen by Phantasmagoria's Administration itself. Many many more days later, and the Squad was finally called into its first mission.

The one-and-only well known E-Rank training mission. A mission to show the young, ambitious Witches, some very basics. Another practical exam to pass, and while failure hasn't been unheard of, it was truly an exception.

Would they prevail or become Phantasmagoria's next laughing stock?
This is your story.

Melody

10:02 on Ruby 17th | 326 AC​

A big yawn escaped a certain Witch waiting in front of a certain building: The Gateway — the central point in travel between Phantasmagoria and Horizon. With entry allowed to only those with a purpose, like a Mission, young Witches that have never been there before could only picture the place from the talk of others. 'Nothing fancy, it's only so big because of all the security. The entry-way is just this big magic circle in the middle of this big room! The other side? Well... disappointing. ' Something along the lines was the usual explanation from a veteran.

The yawning witch shifted her finger across a piece of paper that changed its content through this act "Gloria and her cryptic messages." She sighed, scratching her head. "But, hey! Maybe I'm lucky and the bunch decided to change professions instead! Yay me!" Taking a good look around, this Witch clearly liked to talk with herself. "Yeah, yeah, a girl can dream, no? Although... they still tell them when to meet up with their Mentor and all and it was not totally my job to do so, right? Right." Before giving another sigh. "Yes, I know, the meet-up is at eleven, not at 10. But gotta make a good impression and all, y'know."

It was indeed only 10 o'clock, well an hour before a new Squad of Questing Witches was supposed to meet in front of the Gateway. To meet with Melody of the Serene Sea, a somewhat known member of the Board of Education. But apart from that? Nothing.

It was a mystery why the Board of Education decided to keep the members of a Squad unknown to each other until the first official meet-up. But each and every one knew from various veterans, this easy E-Rank mission always had to do with the Manablight.

---

@Ehb @Luma @Vinn @Karyra @R-9 Pilot @Villamvihar
​

• Well, that starts the IC! I hope you'll enjoy.
• From time to time, you will see foot-notes like these which may explain one or another thing OOCly, especially when it comes to some mechanical aspects for certain challenges later down the roleplay.
• I'm refraining from putting up any sort of deadlines for now because they shouldn't be a thing for the start of a RP and if they are I already failed.
• Remember, if something is unclear don't be afraid to COMMUNICATE with me via Discord!

IC | OOC | INTEREST CHECK​

 

[Villamvihar]

About a month earlier...​

"Are you sure you want to go?"

Eirlys nodded to her mentor's question and took a sip of her lemon balm tea, feeling as though it were ambrosia. Her hands remained pale despite the warm beverage's best efforts and trembling dominated her fingers.

"Shame. You really did well on the debate and your audience liked the symbolcrafting presentation."

"S-she destroyed me and t-they were ch-children." Whether she liked it or not, Eirlys' emotions snuck into her speech. Like slithering serpents, they burrowed into the words, twisting their meaning in a way she despised.

"She won by a single point and the children want you back."

Instead of responding, Eirlys drunk another sip of tea and let out a deep, resounding breath she did not know she had been holding. Colour returned to her hands bit by bit while the shaking slowly loosened its reins over her muscles. Lara, her beloved mentor, interpreted this as a sign to continue.

"I think you would fit right in. No one is going to nail their first debate, or the first class they ever taught. There is always room for improvement, but it is my professional opinion that you would come to excel at it in time. You should not be so afraid of the challange."

Eirlys placed her empty mug on the table. She met Lara's eyes with her own and looked on in silence. Then, she reached for her sketchpad, flipping it to the second-last page she drawn on. Lara gasped and her eyes widened.

"The Metal Sea," she whispered.
"It… remained like that… until I thought of joining the Questing Witches." Eirlys shuddered and Lara was by her side right away. The older Witch drew her shaking apprentice into a warm embrace.

"That… that is horrifying." Eirlys had shown her many a warped scenery, but this one was… different, for the lack of a better word. It depicted a battlefield of grey corpses, all in various states of decay. All of them mangled beyond recognition and well beyond redemption.

In their centre lay Eirlys herself, her eyes gouged out. Her throat slit. Her blood, the colour of the Metal Sea.

"A-and… once I thought of joining…" Eirlys flipped the sketchpad with her free hand. Lara braced herself for more horror, but found herself face-to-face with something she did not expect.

"A platinum forest." Her charge nodded and buried her face in Lara's shoulder.

They remained like that for a long time.

"Y-you can show it to other Feathers." Eirlys broke the silence along with the embrace. "I think it means something."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Lara smiled at her and ruffled the young Witch's silver hair and locked eyes with her to reassure her of her presence. An unspoken message passed between the two of them as Eirlys withdrew from mischevious fingers trying to mess up her carefully-brushed strands, standing up and heading towards the stove for another dose of warm serenity. Dextrous movements fished Lara's mug out of her grip and before the mentor knew it, a steaming hot mug offered both of them a measure of hot, soothing comfort.

---

Present day​

As per Feathers custom, Eirlys arrived five minutes early. Already, she could see at least one figure waiting for her and her heart hammered in her chest. She wondered if she would be able to hold a proper conversation with her new squadmates. Insidious whips of fear coiled around her heart, squeezing the girl's chest with enough force to drive air out of her lungs. As such, she found herself standing about ten metres away, legs glued to the pavement. For a moment, her fears and frustrations skyrocketed, shouting at her at the top of their lungs... But she overcame them with a resolute step forwards.

"H-hello," she greeted, her gaze fixed on the pavement. She found herself unable to look up at Melody, leaving her without a chance to recognise the older witch. "I'm Eirlys of the Metal Sea. I-I'm happy to meet all of you!"[/hr]

 

[Luma]

"Ruuuuune, wait up! I can't run that fas-- oof!"

"..."

"You didn't have to stop so suddenly..."

Aurora's golem, Rune, stared down at her shorter master with a smug, satisfied grin as onlookers stared curiously from every direction. Indignantly, Aurora grabbed Rune's hand and, holding fast to it, she led the mischievous golem forward.

"So I've been thinking about this a lot, Rune... Hats. What do they mean? After all, every self-respecting witch seems to have one, even if it's just lying at home. They're just an expression of our inward personalities, right, but what part of ourselves draws us to a certain kind of hat? Because think about it, Rune, there are both super shy girls, and super spunky ones, and they both wear pointy hats. Both of them! So if it's not a social thing, then part of our persumm mm mm MMPH!"

Aurora's ceaseless deconstruction of hat preferences was suddenly cut off as Rune clamped her master's mouth with her hand. She slapped it away.

"I bet you'd look really cute in a beret... Hey! Why must you keep running off?!"

...and so, the two ran off through Phantasmagoria, until they finally arrived at their destination: the Gateway.

"I wonder what our squad'll be like? I hope they're all nice. Oh, who am I kidding, we'll be best of friends either way. And their'll be that super cold, emotionless one who looks like she hates everyone, and everyone thinks that, but then you get to know her, and she's suddenly the best friend ever, and you share all your stories, and th-- oh, hey, is that Raine?"

Aurora paused as she stepped into the grand building known as The Gateway, locking eyes on a smaller girl about the same size as her, with long, silver hair from behind.

"I haven't seen Raine in so long! It's been like... one... two......... a lot of years! Hehe, surprise time...!"

Before Aurora could move forward however, Rune grabbed her by the shirt and held her back, shaking her head. Unsurprisingly, Aurora turned around to pout and tried yanking her cloth back to no avail.

"Rune... let go!"

Rune did so. She shrugged. That was as far as golemly duties required: she tried, and she obeyed.

"Honestly, I don't get you sometimes, Rune. You're so strange."

Continuing with her previous plan, Aurora snuck up behind the silver-haired girl until she was close enough to step on her shadow. In one, swift motion, Aurora leapt forward and wrapped her arms around her.

"Surpriiiiiise~! I haven't seen you in forever! How've you been? You're still si-- ...not Raine..."

As quickly as she'd latched on, Aurora released her grip and jumped back with a faint red on her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry! It's just you look so much like my friend, Raine, at least from behind, and so I was thinking I'd give you-- I mean, her --a surprise hello, since we haven't seen each other in forever, and umm... sorry! Ehehe..."

Rune wandered up to give Aurora a little 'whack' to the back of the head before wandering off to appreciate some of the intricate decorations on the walls.

"Right. Anyway, hi! I'm Aurora. "

@Villamvihar

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Earlier that morning, Mina actually spent some time figuring out what she was going to wear. The whole Questing Witch thing was important enough to dress up, even if she ended up in basically her school uniform and her old hat. "Well, Moonie, how do I look," she asked her cat.

He didn't seem to care either way, as cats do.

Mina frowned. "I knew I shouldn't have asked you. Ah, well, better get back to preparing. Can't be too careful~" The young witch went back to packing a few things in a bag. Nothing too heavy, but it wouldn't do to be caught without chalk or pens or something important like that on a test. Practical exam, whatever they wanted to call it. Still, better to have it and not need it. She checked over her stuff, closed her bag and slung it over one shoulder. One her way out of her room, Mina grabbed Mysteltainn from its place of honor by the door, in the same bucket as her broom and umbrella.

Mina made her way to the Gateway to meet her new bond companions. She had aimed to be early, but some of the others had the same plan and had beaten her to it. "Yo," she shouted out into the cavernous room. "Are you the other questing witches? I think this is the right place." She noticed Melody, and recognized her right away, at least. It was as good an answer to her question as any, though she would wait for verbal confirmation from someone, too.

At least if she brought her cat, she'd have something to pet while she milled around, instead of playing with her own unruly hair.

 

[Karyra]

Melora's bedhead was atrocious today. It stuck straight up in places, went completely sideways in others, and was just a mess anywhere that didn't meet those two descriptions. Well, that was no good. Today was her first day of being a Questing Witch. Thus, hair gel it would be today. After finishing her morning routine, Melora started her next task; watering her plants.

Melora never imagined that she was much of a plant person. However, as time went by she picked up more and more plants. Cacti and succulents, mostly. She had about six now, and they all were lovingly cooed over as she gave them water.

"Thirsty today, huh?" Melora said. "Well, I hope that this will help you keep while I'm gone. Shouldn't be too long, but you never know with these sorts of things."

A quick check of the time, and it was only nine am. Well, she could be early... but she could also take her time and eat breakfast somewhere. There was a nice little restaurant that made excellent breakfast foods. The bacon was to die for, really. Plus, she could relax and gather her thoughts. The whole month long, it bothered her that no one remembered what the Rite of Initiation was. She'd done it, that much was clear.

Melora looked at her tarot box. The carvings were intricate and lovingly rendered. It was her soul in there, wasn't it? Or her soul was bound to at least. But why?

Melora picked up the box and opened it. Sitting on the top was The Moon. Melora covered the card back up, trying not to remember her experiments with using that one. It was a useful card, but really... she hated the bonus time activation. She thought she didn't fear much. That she was as brave and smart and clever as they came. She saw herself, dead. Brutally murdered because she had mistakenly used a dormant card at the wrong time. She didn't like that card.

Melora pocketed her historia and its contents and prepared to leave home.

---

A decent meal and short walk later, Melora arrived. A few girls had already shown up, and there was hugging happening. However, it became clear that this was a case of mistaken identity. Melora, however, wasn't sure how to go about asking for one, and decided not to.

What caught her attention, however, was the golem that had accompanied Aurora.

"Oh... what a cutie! How did you make this? She seems to life-like. I almost thought she was another Witch until I took a second look at her." Melora started to poke and prod at Rune, carefully examining. "Is she based on a person you know? Is she sentient? I wish I could pull out Judgement for her to meet this golem! Maybe then she wouldn't go berserk on me for asking questions..."

"Oh how rude of me." Melora stood up straight and seemed like she was about to give her name, "what's this cutie's name? Maybe I should look more into working on golems. They're truly fascinating."

"I'm Melora, by the way. But seriously, you have to tell me more about this golem. I wanna know everything."

@Luma @Skyswimsky

 

[Vinn]

One.

She turned off the lights.

Three.

Click. The lights turned on, flooding her room with the fluorescent bulb.

"Alright, last time."

Two.

Mio sighed in the darkness - soaking in the stillness. The perspiration on her palms seeped into her skin, and the rattling of her breath stilled.

She was perfectly afraid - perfectly ready.

"Perfect."

✬

Catching a glimpse of her supposed squadron, Mio posed her lips into a proper smile.

As if.

The girl was beaming inside.

She felt her bottled patience, curiosity, and adrenaline bubbling up and foaming at the top, bursting with froth and excitement. Something about the unexpected, the ambiguity, and danger seemed to thrill her as much as it frightened her. It didn't matter that she didn't recognize any of them. It was better to introduce herself - to have them introduce themselves. It was black and white, square one.

"Hello," She greeted with the removal of her hat and impressive composure. "My name is Mio Belle-Ruse, a pleasure to meet you all."

The assertion in her voice drew away any attention from the butterflies in her formal greeting. Her eyes glossed over each member in recognition, before settling onto Melody of the Serene Sea.

 

[Villamvihar]

"Eeep!" Eirlys felt foreign arms wrap around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Her high-pitched surprise was not very loud, but it definitely felt deep; after all, who would hug a stranger in the middle of the Gateway? Not that it was wholly unpleasant or unwelcome. The other Witch's hands were surprisingly warm, not to mention she seemed happy to see Eirlys for a change. Or at least she did until she realised she mistook Eirlys for the wrong person. The embrace shattered before it could even properly begin.

Feeling a tinge of red in her cheeks, the silver-haired girl mustered her strength and blinked as she registered the interaction between Aurora and her... golem? It certainly did not feel like a Witch, despite looking like one, not to mention it looked familiar.

"Ah... erm... I-I'msosorry!" she tumbled after having spent an eternity staring at Aurora. Or at least she felt so; in reality, it had only been a second or so. Just enough to take in the appearance of another person, yet her mismatched eyes found themselves on the ground again. "I didn't mean to stare... I mean.. Ummm... err... ummm..." Frustration. Once again, words failed Eirlys as more girls arrived, introducing themselves with perfect grace and poise while she struggled with words. Her head fell even lower as she tried to shrink, reaching for her sketchpad.

She quickly flipped to an all-too-familiar page, showing it to her team-mates.

​

And underneath the text, the sketch of a smiling Eirlys waved towards the group.

 

[Luma]

@Karyra

Rune curiously swiped her hand across the perfectly chiseled wall, rolling her eyes at the inevitable awkward moment behind her. Wasn't the whole point of being a Regalia Historia witch to listen to your Historia? A golem can dream... metaphorically...

"Oh... what a cutie! How did you make this? ... "

POKE

Rune jumped and shivered as she was suddenly subjected to an endless barrage of prodding like some living pincushion. After a few more pokes, she tried flailing her hand out in front of her to ward off the attack, but to no avail. Once the mystery witch had finally knocked it off, she just followed up with a volley of demeaning questions.

'Is it sentient,' was the point where Rune finally lost patience and glanced over at Aurora, nodding her head towards the curious witch as if to say "Get it off me!"

"Hm? Oh. I'm Aurora, and that's Rune." Aurora turned to the new stranger, forgetting all about having potentially scarred the other one with her surprise.

"She is adorable, isn't she? I'm glad you think so! I mean, you should have seen her when I first made her; she barely looked like a functional creature at all, but then a few friends helped out and now she just looks great! Didn't they do an amazing job?! I especially love her eyes: they look all mysterious."

Throughout the whole conversation, Rune grew less and less hopeful that Aurora would be any help. Eventually, she started to slowly sidestep out of the area, hoping no one would notice.

"You should definitely try making a golem sometime if you have a few years to study them! I'd probably still be making them if TA didn't kick me out, but hey, they have their ruuuuuules and that's fine, I get it, rules are important, right? If we didn't have rules then everything would be crazy. Anyway... what were we talking about? Oh. Yes. Golems. Rune, come over here."

Aurora's call froze rune in place like a child caught sneaking away with a cookie jar. Slowly, Rune turned around to face the growing group of questing witches and trudged forward to stand by Aurora.

"So Rune has a fancy alchemical cannon in this arm," she explained, pulling Rune's arm up like a puppet, "and she has all the normal stuff you'd expect a golem to have. You know... locomotion, basic senses, the... one where you speak and it... understands certain words... whatever that one was called, I can't remember."

A short pause followed.

"Although ever since I passed my Initiation, she's been kinda weird. Like a lot more 'real person'-y. Is that a thing? Well it is now! Realperson-y: I love it."


@Vinn

Aurora then turned to meet the new girl, 'Mio Belle-Ruse,' in the eye, waving a hello. "Hiya, I'm Aurora."

WHACK

"Owww....! Um, and this is Rune."

Rune smiled and waved to the group with her proxy-introduction, once again wandering off as Aurora caught sight of the adorable little drawing waving its hello.


@Villamvihar

"Oh my garsh it's so adorable; I just wanna pick it up and hug it~!"

...

"I mean, umm...! I swear it was an accident; honest! People need their personal space, right? I get that. It's not that I just go around hugging everyone I meet all the time. Anyways, nice to meet you too, Airall... Eiroll... Eir... um... how is this pronounced? WAIT!"

---

@everyone (also specially mentions @R-9 Pilot somewhere in there)

Stepping back, Aurora finally took a look at the broader picture and something clicked in her head.

"Does this mean you're all my new questing witch squad? Well, no sorry, not you, Melody... obviously, but you and you and you and you! Oh wait, didn't you ask that earlier," Aurora confirmed with the brunette witch? "I'm so sorry, you even asked and it totally just went right over my head, but yes! I'm one of the new questing witches. Sorry, um.... what was your name again? I can't believe I forgot... jeez, I need to pay more attention..."

"But this is great," Aurora continued, briefly pausing for a breath as she took a notebook out of her satchel. "I was thinking earlier-- as you do --and I was wondering how we'd all break the ice, right? Because there's all the 'hellos' and that's super easy, relatively speaking, but then what comes afterwards? Cause we'll be together for years probably, so why wait to become friends? That's silly. So I came up with this list, see, and it has all these little games we can play to get to know each other FAST while we wait for stuff! Like this one..."

Finding a good starter activity, Aurora returned the notepad to her satchel and clapped her hands together in anticipation, "Okay, so we'll just go around in a circle and name our favorite thing. Or well... the first favorite thing that comes to mind-- cause there's so many, right? --and then if we'd like we can also explain why. Like um... clouds! They're so mysterious; like what are clouds? I have no idea. Does anyone know what clouds are? But they look so fluffy like you could just curl up in one and daydream the day away. But that's just me, what about you girls?"

 

[Skyswimsky]

Melody silently eyed the group that slowly gathered in front of her — any chance to have some conversation with a fellow 'Sea Witch' robbed the moment a very bubbly Witch entered the scene. Instead, the senior Witch got herself a better impression.

A friendly nod to the newcomers, an envious sigh upon witnessing the hug, serious concern at certain antics. Ultimately, Melody smiled in a rather sighed fashion. "To be younger again..." She whispered to herself. "Oh, shut up, I'm not that old." She casually added.

"Eirlys, Aurora, Mio, tattooed Witch... Mina?, and Melora." Melody kept talking to herself as she scribbled around the piece of paper with her finger. "So... two more? One more?" She glanced towards a corner of the plaza, into the streets between a myriad of buildings. "Eh..."

"Ahem, ANYWAY! Attention... please?" Finally, Melody spoke up. Her voice sweet and loud. "My favourite thing is sleeping, because it's resting and comfortable AND. Not. Loud." She answered Aurora's question before casually starting to pet Eirlys' head. "You still got a few members missing, so you can continue to socialize some more after, uh, listening to me. Yeah!" Now her hand just gently rested on the Metal Sea Witch's head. "Urgh, this is gonna be long, isn't it? ANYWAY! I'm Melody of the Serene Sea. Melody's fine. I'll cut straight to the chase."

"As you're hopefully aware my task is to give you support on your very first mission and ultimately judge if you're fit for this very important profession or not. That means I'm here to answer questions, give you some tips, and pretend to be useful. Pretend to be useful I hear you asking? Yeah! Because, the actual task, which I'll brief you once we're out, is something you will do all by yourself. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy my time off." Finally removing her hand from the other Witch's head, Melody sighed.

"Now, here are some freebie tips for you! If you're going to pass - which shouldn't be too hard - this will be the one and only E-Rank mission you'll ever face. BUT! That doesn't mean it's going to be a walk in the park. Part of a Questing Witch's profession is to deal with the unexpected. Don't treat being outside for the first time like some sort of super awesome adventure. It can be harsh." The Witch of the Serene Sea stopped to yawn for a second.

"Now, usually Squads have a single leader they listen to. There are also squads that are just working with each other because. It would be smart for you to decide on something like that right now. Because in an actual fight the enemy won't sit still and wait for you to plan and talk things calmly out. Of course, trust needs time, and you can change things up however you want. Just... consider it, will ya?" Scratching her head now, Melody's eyes scanned the border of the Plaza once more.

"But, yeah. Questions, anyone? I don't like repeating myself so it's your job to get your missing members up to speed."

IC | OOC | INTEREST CHECK​

 

[Ehb]

A witch. A witch. A witch and their golem. A witch. A witch. A witch. and of course:

A witch.

Some distance away, just within earshot of Melody and company was a girl in white. The white cape around her covered her entire body. Save for her head and the brilliant red hair that hung out from underneath her beret. She was a distant listener on this briefing. The hum of the plaza, and the fluttering of parchments attached to her cape did not impede her from hearing. All in all, she was just a part of the conversation as everyone there - minus actually being there.

Why such secrecy from this particular young witch?
Knowledge. For herself. And the withholding of such things to the other 'fellow' witches of the squad she had been assigned to - seemingly at random. She wasn't able to beat the instructor here - but she was able to see the girls who came after her as they arrived. As the rest of them began to file in an introduce themselves, the young witch in white felt her heart sink.

Each and every one of them.
Among those who were a part of this squad, not a single one of them were a part of the Order.

That was very unfortunate.
Her order, the Praetorians generally had a good number of adherents given it's recruitment practices. This should've made it more likley that at least one or two of them would be a fellow member. However, by a stroke of bad luck, she seemed to have managed to attain the statistical unlikelihood of being the only Order Member in this squad. Which meant a terrible, terrible, thing:

Socialization and introducing oneself.

Stuff that this young witch, Seia Flavia Augustus, was amazingly bad at.


At the thought of that, the young witch tucked up the collar of her vesture up a bit more. Hiding herself away into it's proverbial shell.
Being a part of the Order had it's own set of baggage. There were witches out there who considered the order as being pushy or particularly controlling - which was understandable given the inherently martial lifestyle that its professed. This meant that anyone who was apparently a part of such a big and powerful organization was immediately looked at with suspicion when one such member was out of their element and among strangers. If there was even one Order Member in that group then she'd at least be able to have that bond to go off of, but this was not the case in what fate had assigned her.

There was no lying either. Even if the Order condoned such behavior, her outfit was a dead giveaway.

The witch Melody likely could see her from afar and probably thought of Seia as plotting or the like. But the simple truth of the matter was that she was incredibly, terribly shy.

Seia had been given the 'pep and prep talk' earlier during morning prayer. She remembered her mentor briefly going over what to expect for this first task but being confident that she was more than ready to take it on. They spend the rest of that briefing - about forty minutes out of the rest of that hour, talking about the need to reach out to people.

She could only internally apologize to her mentor and to Seraph Augustus for still being too weak. Cream of the crop? Genius? She couldn't even step up to people and just say hi. That was really pathetic, was it not? A model witch of the order who couldn't even step forward to say hi. She didn't deserve this outfit that they'd handed down to her.

As that thought crossed her mind, the pure white of her magically attuned clothing started to tinge more towards grey without her realizing it.

She wondered what having metal sea in one's name even meant.
She found the doll-like golem with the one girl to be quite a curiosity.
She agreed with the one girl who was twisting their hair nervously.
She wanted to know if that one girl really used 'cutie' in every other sentence.
She wanted to know how one can walk up to people with such confidence.
She also wanted to know why Melody needed to make a good impression when she was already a member of the board of education.


Unfortunately it seemed like all of that would be kept under lock and key.

Seia steeled herself. Instead, of being distracted by these other witches, she'd focus on the task at hand. What she was supposed be here for. To be a questing witch, and to someday be able to meet her mother. That was the reason why she'd come this far.

With that clarity of purpose, Seia's outfit returned to a pure and brilliant white.
She stepped towards the squad of witches.

...
..
.

With military-like discipline. A young witch, presumably a part of the squad, formed an invisible file line at the edge of where the rest of the new witches were cobbled around for their meet and greet. It was a little curious, though. Even though she was the lastest one to arrive, she seemed variably focused. Maybe it was because she was late.

She didn't offer anyone any chance at contact however. She kept a steely gaze towards the front - towards the gate. The look she had was ice cold. If none of that was any indication, the blatant Praetorian order uniform was the true giveaway at who this newcomer to the squad was, exactly.

She probably looked down on everyone else here for being so disorganized.
Her arrival was still quite abrupt. So much so that Melody sort of had to at least address...

"...I heard all that you've said thus far as I was arriving. I am ready to move out at any time." Seia promptly explained to Melody before the thought completely crossed the Witch proctor's mind.

The gaze going from Seia Augustus, to Melody was one of complete no-nonsense. This particular one was very disciplined - which was ironic given that this one was a bit more late than the others. As the girl talked on, Seia looked on forward. She looked like she was waiting. Waiting for this little pleasantry to be done with so that she can proceed with bigger, greater things. Things that she'd only be able to attain later in her Questing Witch Career.

She had come with a clear goal in mind. That was clearly evident on observation.
This mission, these girls, and these pleasantries, were things that would be left behind soon enough. There was no need for any attatchment beyond what had to be done to advance.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Mina looked everyone in the room over. She only had a good read on Aurora so far, and that one was "scatterbrained chatterbox." She'd keep it to herself for now. She sympathized with Eirlys a bit. She didn't feel nearly as awkward as the shy artist, but if someone's introducing herself with a sketchbook, there's got to be something going on. And she probably didn't need the ton of attention right out of the gate, either.

"If we're doing introductions, I'm Wilhelmina. Just Mina's fine, though." She introduced herself without much fanfare. There wasn't too much reason for a show, at least. "Anyway, nice to meet you all. We'll be working together a while, right? I'm sure we'll have plenty of time for getting to know each other, Aurora. No need to go nuts right now." Really. Mina joined up with the others, but if she were already there, she probably would have bopped the girl over the head with her staff. It just...felt like the right thing to do.

Melody's call for attention got it, and Mina stood quietly for the whole spiel. Still no information on what they were going to do, beyond treating it like it would be nice and easy. So either they couldn't fail unless they really screwed up, or something went wrong. Better at least consider something could go wrong then.

"Someone will step up when we need a leader, chances are. Or...something. That's how I usually see it working, at least. We can't exactly start planning now without an idea of what we can all do, anyway." She looked at the rest of the group, including the newcomer who seemed like she had no interest in her teammates. "So we probably need to talk about that at some point. It's not gonna do any good if whoever's in charge tries to make a plan where one of us has to fight out in front and doesn't even know who's good at it."

She addressed Melody more directly, "I don't think I have any other questions yet, unless you can tell us what it is we'll be doing in advance. But I'm guessing 'no'."

And back to the others. "So, yeah, anyway. I'm pretty good with curses and stuff, and have a lot of spells, uh, written down for easy use. Nothing really focused like some people, though. I'm ok with curses and can help move 'em around with this," she gestured around a bit with her silver-wood staff, which in context would surely be no cause for alarm. "And I can also hit things with it. I'm also pretty good with runic stuff in general, so if we need a quick alarm spell on an area or whatever, I can draw something that'll get the job done."

 

[Vinn]

Eirlys. Aurora (and Rune). Seia. Mina.

Alright. Got it.

"I vote for you." Mio said, the moment Mina had finished talking. She was looking right at her, clearly addressing the girl covered in ink.

"You're right, we've all just met. It's a little too early to decide on a leader..." Glancing over at Melody, a little smile formed on her lips. "But if the veteran thinks its smart to decide on one now, I'm tossing a coin in for you."

They were going into new territory - the unexpected. The least they could do was take Melody's words at face value.

She looked to the others, appearing relaxed and unafraid to voice her opinion. There was a feline comfort in the way she stood and in the way she moved. Though her features were soft, kind and innocent; Mio had the presence of a cat that caught the canary.

"Temporarily, of course. Either the role will truly belong to you, or someone else will emerge." Fixing her hat back onto her head, Mio held her hands behind her back and pleasantly swayed on her heels. "Change is fine, but only if we're able to properly communicate."

A leader wasn't about battle prowess. It was about who could observe and convey.

She looked to the others, bright eyed and curious. "What do you all think? Think she'd be up to it?"

Focusing her gaze on Mina, she grinned quizzically. "Are you up to it?"

 

[Villamvihar]

Eh?

Cute? Want to hug it? Her?!

It could not have been addressed at anyone else, as Aurora was looking right at Eirlys when she spoke of such things. Of course, this was not the first time she heard these words, but the silver-haired Witch had just as much trouble believing them now as she did then. A faint flush spread through her cheeks, mixing with dread when Aurora started to speak of getting to know each other, of sharing personal information, not to mention games. Would she be able to participate well in them? Would she stumble over her words again? Definitely, Eirlys thought, which was when a hand landed on her head and Melody of the Serene Sea took charge of the-

Wait.

Melody of the Serene Sea?!

Eirlys fixed her gaze at the ground so hard not even dynamite could have dislodged it. Because naturally, she had to make a fool of herself in front of the Board of Education! Her shoulders shrunk. Her arms dropped by her sides. Her fingers tightened on her sketchbook. She pursed her lips. Drew a breath. In and out, focusing on the rhythm along with what everyone else was saying, hoping against all hope it would help her regain some semblance of control before she could run away or embarrass herself something fierce. Fortunately, Melody stopped petting her head and a tiny lull occured in the conversation. Just big enough for her to step in.

"U-umm. I'm sorry, Melody of the Serene Sea. I-I didn't mean to ignore you," she apologised, forcing herself to look the older Witch in the eye before she bowed her head in apology. She wished her voice did not tremble so much. "I-I hope I didn't do anything wrong."

She turned back to the other Witches as they discussed their abilities, but kept Melody in the corner of her eye just so she could apologise again, if necessary. Lifting her sketchbook, she swallowed and spoke up after Mio.

"I-I'm bad with people." Yeah. Let's state the obvious. She could not even look them in the eye for too long. "But I can do this." And she flipped to another very familiar part of her sketchbook. It was a full-page, coloured and meticously detailed drawing of Eirlys in the centre of a Flowiron storm. She seemed to be dancing mid-air while the grey material flowed around her, taking countless shapes. To her left: spears, arrows, bullets and shrapnel, all set to a backdrop of metal symbols. To her right: a raging torrent following the guidance of an invisible force.

 

[Karyra]

Soon enough, the information about the golem, Rune, was reported by the maker. Must have been some impressive amount of work put into that golem. Melora's bag of tricks was too varied to make studying any one disipline worth it, but upgrading Judgement? Maybe eliminating that berserk mode forever? Heck yes, Melora would take that now and forever.

"I mean, technically I have made one. Problem is that most of her core features are sort of bland. I wanna upgrade her, but I'm pretty sure she'd try cracking my skull open." Which Judgement had. A few times, actually. Melora was not fond of that, either. "Plus I feel like the TA would kick me out for having something that could potentially harm others..."

Melora turned to process the sentence, but noticed it was Rune sidestepping out of the area that had drawn her attention.

Melora decided to prevent further attempts at escape by draping herself over the golem. this thing could probably take it, as the golem had a cannon in her arm. Would Judgement even let Melora close enough to try that sort of thing? She'd have to ask Aurora for that later.

Melora was dragged along with Rune when the golem saw the notebook. She was content to be dragged like that if it meant asking about that notebook. Aurora was the one to propose an icebreaker.

"My favorite thing is new stuff. Oh, and GGMG. I used to play it a lot, but since I sell the cards for work I don't anymore. People might think I was cheating by stealing card packs or something silly like that."

She said this while still dramatically draped like a cape over Rune, of course. Besides, it was worth it to see how this golem worked. People handed out how their magic and golems worked like it was free samples. It was too bad that Melora hadn't gotten another golem or figured a non-penalty time extension yet. She'd love to pull out Judgement, but she wasn't sure what they'd be doing next yet.

Speaking of, their mentor witch started sort of explaining stuff. Well, Melora would prefer to know a bit more about what they were going to do next now, but that was just something that would probably be obvious when they got there.

A girl walked up and said they were ready to go.

"Well, we're not, cape girl, so best to chill and enjoy the socializing. You could give us a better introduction, too. It's not as if we're all a part of some military operation at all times. So it would be best to know the people who have your back, yeah?"

There was something hilarious about being adressed so formally and returning it with a half hearted statement while still draped across a golem. Dang it though, Rune was so cute, unlike Judgement. Melora wished that Rune was her golem instead.

"I call not it for leadership. I don't like bossing people around unless it's important. I use cards, but you'll know what they do when I use them, its obvious."

Eirlys spoke up and presented another drawing in her sketchbook. That would be awesome on a card. However, Melora couldn't reveal that she made cards for GGMG. That would be giving away far too much.

"Eirlys, I wish that I had half as much skill as you in drawing. That's so cool!" Melora said. "So what can you do? Does it involve that notebook?"

@Luma @Ehb @Villamvihar

 

[Luma]

"Woah..." Aurora cried in awe at Eirlys' detailed drawing. "You can do all that? You have to teach me sometime! It looks so flashy~!"

As Aurora continued to be distracted by the various happenings, Rune suddenly found herself dragging along the crazy, green-haired witch. She flailed her arms in front of her in surprise before steadying herself. The girl wasn't especially heavy, but compared to the typical 'work golems,' neither was Rune. Unbeknownst to her master, Rune began to run around the plaza in circles, hoping to shake the clingy witch off.

Meanwhile, with the arrival of the new witch with her fancy, Praetorian garments, Aurora suddenly grew very nervous, shifting her position to the opposite side of the group.

"Does she recognize me? I don't think she recognizes me... or maybe she just doesn't care...? I mean it was just one statue and it was an accident! I would've fixed it... somehow..." Aurora murmured to herself awkwardly.

After this brief period of awkward monologuing, Aurora finally noticed how tightly Melora was wrapped around her golem. "Aww, she likes you," Aurora chimed as Rune shook back and forth to try and shake her off. "Uhm... anyway, I'm still kinda trying to figure out my Coven, you know? I've been in....... erm...... well let's just say I'm waiting for one to really 'click.' But Rune should be able to handle all that while I get a feel for things. You can't go wrong with alchemical arm cannons, right?"

 

[Skyswimsky]

Melody raised an eyebrow upon the arrival of Seia and the no-nonsense attitude she displayed, before simply grinning and checking on her paper again. "Just one last member, and we should be good to go." She explained to the six as it now meant to wait.

Despite feeling nearly bad at Eirlys' reaction, the senior Witch decided to press the matter not further as time passed at the speed of one second per second. Melody wasn't too sure if she was supposed to be happy or concerned that nobody really had any more questions, and instead, they talked about their powers and leadership. Which was all fine and good until she clapped her hands together.

"Alright! That's that." Checking her Magwatch, it was now 15 minutes after the appointed time. "Maybe the last Witch got cold feet, nothing to concern ourselves with." And just like that, Melody turned towards the giant archway that served as the entrance to the Gateway, and moved forward. "Follow me~"

Entering the inside of the Gateway through a giant archway, the group was greeted by what seemed like a hollow cave. Right at the entrance was a reception desk sort of thing with a bored looking Witch that perked up from behind the counter. Further in, alongside the walls, were various witches were sitting on chairs to read books, sleep, play GGMG or other activities. The majority of the space, however, was claimed by a gigantic magical multi-circle on the ground. It was truly a masterpiece. Even while currently being dormant, the faint glow the slowly rotating mini-circles gave off was enough to illuminate the entire room. And while some inscriptions spoke of Horizon, the Sun, the Moons, and apparent other Celestial Bodies, the meaning of other symbols couldn't be found in any of the Coven's libraries.

"Yo!" Melody raised her hand as she stepped closer to the reception desk. "M-Melody..." The green-haired glasses wearing witch responded rather perplexed as she put away the book, Magic of Thrones, she had been reading. "Long time no see, eh? Anyway, here's the paperwork." Handing the reception Witch the paper, she took a quick glance over it.

"Ooohhhh, I see." Adjusting her glasses, she tilted her body to look past Melody, waving to the newcomers. "You're new, eh? Well, I wish you the best of luck and have fun!" — "Stop pampering the new Squad, Alexa! They're on a mission, not a trip."

"...?" Alexa looked at Melody in confusion. "Since when have you become so uptight about those regul—" - "WELL! Witch Squad." Melody clapped her hands together. "When you take on a mission you'll get some sort of paper stuff that gives you clearance to go to Horizon! Unless you belong to an A-Rank squad like I do, for example! Now, all you have left to do is stand in the centre of this giant circle there!" She pointed at the most magical object in the room, expecting the group to get in position.

As Melody followed behind, the various Witches stationed around the room stopped whatever they were doing and positioned themselves at the edge of the circle themselves. Finally arriving in the middle, though, Melody kept explaining. "Now, I hope anyone of you has magic to amplify the volume of their speech because what we gotta do now is..." Suddenly becoming a lot louder, she yelled with a grin. "Alexa! Beam us up!"

It was quite a distance, but those with sharp eyes could swear that the green-haired Witch didn't seem too happy about what Melody had just said as every Witch in the room started to clasp their hands together and chant in a low tone. The circle contraption below the group started to slowly accelerate, its glow gaining in intensity. "Don't be scared." The Mentor Witch simply said before a high noise robbed them of the ability to hear anything else while slowly, but surely, their vision was filled more and more with a bright light until...

...
...
...

it all seemed to stop just as slowly as it started. The glow, fading. The sound, just a faint tone in the back of their mind. They were still inside a hollow cave, there was still this giant circle. Even the other Witches were still there! Except, at a closer look, they all looked different. "Come on!" Melody urged the group to make haste as she walked towards the exit. "Fresh meat, eh?" A brunette with a scar across her face greeted them at what seemed like, once again, some sort of reception. "Don't die too quickly." Clearly a lot more grumpier than Alexa. "Don't worry about her, she's just like a huge teddy bear! Scary on the outside, fluffy inside." — "I can still hear you!"

Exiting the Gateway once again, this time the group of Witches were greeted by an actual cave, or tunnel rather. Tight enough that no more than two people could walk beside each other, with the walls illuminated by some very faint runes. "Just a bit more~~" Melody hummed happily as she walked, and walked, and walked.

"Right, your mission. You know we divide hostile beings into various danger levels? ZAYIN, TETH, HE, WAW, and ALEPH. There is a HE-level entity that accelerates the growth of the Manablight around it, even without an Alptraum around. We have reason to believe that an island with such an entity drifted close-by. It will be your task to take out." Simple enough, wasn't it? "Now, for navigation, this time I'll guide you." As they kept walking through the tunnel, it suddenly became a lot brighter. "But next time you'll have to take care of that yourself. Although some Witches..." Was it an exit!? "...prefer to simply use the Horizon Peak to navigate!" Melody pointed at a giant tower-like construct far-off into the distance.

A cold breeze of air.
The gentle warmth of the sun.
The deep whistle of a Skywhale far above.

The group of Questing Witches were standing on top of the World.
The entrance to 'Phantasmagoria' well hidden among a small, floating, mountain.


IC | OOC | INTEREST CHECK​

 

[R-9 Pilot]

"Eh?" The question from Mio caught Mina off guard. "I guess I am. I mean, I can do it until someone naturally bubbles to the top if nobody else seems interested or whatever." It wasn't the most enthusiastic response, but it would have to do. At least she was willing to step up. Of course, people could still object or simply ignore her.

She sighed at Aurora's comment about a coven. "A coven and personal talent or skill are a little different You don't need to be part of a coven to know what you're actually good at magic-wise. You at least learned the basics if you got this far." She didn't leave room to answer. There wasn't a witch who'd passed her Rite who wasn't worthy of it, so clearly, Aurora had something going for her, even if she didn't know what it was. "You know what they say about jacks of all trades." She left it at that.

Mina kept to herself for the whole transport through the gate. Not much needed to be said, anyway. And after a point, it was impossible to be heard anyway. Or see. It took her a moment to blink the last of the glare from her eyes after the ringing in her ears had finally faded. The other side of the gateway didn't...seem that different, beyond fewer furnishings.

"I don't plan on it," Mina shot back to the scarred receptionist. She'd heard stories, but she didn't need the discouragement either. She followed Melody on out of the room, and...wherever they were actually going. At least as they walked the air became less musty.

"He? I would've thought the first thing would be against something less dangerous, but that does sound like something that needs clearing out sooner rather than later." As soon as they left the cave, any further thoughts were struck from Mina's mind by the scenery. She had heard of it, of course, but to actually be in horizon was different. It was breathtaking. An actual sky, with light filtering through the clouds above onto countless floating islands in the distance. And the colossal distant pillar of the Horizon Peak. Mina nodded at it when Melody pointed it out. "Ah. Yeah." Even the air was different. It was fresher, and free of the smell of old books and countless witches. It was going to take a little while to process.

 

[Luma]

@R-9 Pilot

"W-well, I..." Aurora stared back at Mina, seemingly lost for words for the first time. "I'm still figuring out where I belong," she reiterated off-handedly, and a bit stubbornly.

For a while after that, Aurora actually remained quiet and pensive, passively following along with the group. Only after the deafening teleportation was complete did she open her mouth again.

"Urgh... Rune! Get off!" Aurora shoved the golem which had itself herself around her like a child embracing her mother out of fear. "It's over, we're here. I think. Right? Though this doesn't look like all the paintings... did we move at all actually...? Oh... right: coming!"

Then walking.

@Karyra

"Have any of you tried the cake at Memoria's? I haven't, but a bunch of friends were talking about it. I wonder what it tastes like? I mean, it's cake, so it's bound to taste awesome, but chocolate and vanilla are two totally different kinds of awesome, right? Do you all like chocolate better, or vanilla? I think I prefer vanilla, cause..."

And walking.

@Vinn

"How do you feel about hats? Cause I've been thinking about them a ton? Do you like the traditional pointy hats, or ones with a more modern flare to them? You'd look pretty cute in a hat, I think. Well, it depends on the hat, of course. You have to be careful when picking out the right hat, cause you could end up spending all that flow and then you're stuck with a..."

And more walking.

@Villamvihar

"Eir! I can call you that, right? Eiry? I like Eiry better. Eiry! Cute! Wait, what was I— oh, right! Now this might just be me, but you look like you could use a confidence boost! Don't worry though, that's not a bad thing! I knew a witch who was just like you once— well, not exactly like you, cause you're —anyway, my point is: I know how underconfidence goes! It's pretty awful, right? Blech. Sooooo...."

Plunging her hand into her satchel, Aurora rummaged around by feel until she felt confident enough to pull out a small, glass robin, handing it to Eirlys with a smile.

"This is a butterfly. It's so strange looking, isn't it? I'm really hoping we get to see one in Horizon. They're supposedly these adorable, timid little creatures that fly through the clouds and protect witches from harm. Anyway, according to that witch, she had problems with confidence for years. She'd always practice by talking with the butterfly, then when it came time to talk with real people, she'd imagine she was just speaking to the butterfly. Makes sense right? And it really seemed to help!"

Aurora took Eirlys's hand and closed it over the glass bird.

"Anyway, she doesn't need it anymore, so maybe it'll help you. Maybe, maybe not, but it can't hurt to try, right? Success starts with absolute confidenc— WOAH!"

Completely losing track of her pep-talk, Aurora was blown away by the absolutely massive size of Horizon, and excitedly hopped about, spinning around and catching sight of as much as possible.

"I knew clouds were big, but... woah...!! Haha! Ahahahahaha! This is amazing! Rune look at this! And that sky! And look a— yes yes, I see it, Rune, I see it! Oww. OWW! It kinda hurts to see it... moon! That must be the moon!"

 

[Karyra]

"Oh! So fast for a non-work golem!" Melora said as she was pulled in circles by Rune. It was a lot like riding a roller coaster, though Melora had no idea what exactly that was.

When Rune stopped eventually, Melora stood on her own two feet. She smiled and pulled out a small book filled with lined paper. She wrote something down, and seemed satisfied by it and pocketed the notebook again.

Melody said that it was time to go, and Melora walked behind the group. She was scanning them all, trying to figure out exactly why they would pick these specific witches for this. Why pick her for that matter? Surely they knew she was using them to unlock more cards. It wasn't like Melora was being subtle about that.

Once they arrived at the circle, Melora's notebook appeared again. She quickly made note of everything she had time for. A quick sketch of the circle, a note of the runes she didn't recognize, and a few questions written in the margins. Melora put away the notebook again, careful to store it somewhere secure. If she had to hazard a guess, it was probably a method of travel.

Once the ritual began, Melora desperately wish she had brought some sort of noise blocking item. If it was going to sound like this every time, that would unbelievably suck. As Melora slowly opened her eyes again, they were... well it looked all the same. No wait, those transport witches were different now. Melora whistled impressively.

Of course, the news of the mission quickly soured her mood. A HE? They had to be joking? Nope. Why would they start easy for new people? Well, if they all died too quickly that would be bad, but picking a HE level monster?

The walk was made easier by Aurora. The chattering eased Melora's nerves. She even joined in and tried to hold a conversation. However, The Moon card sitting at te top of her deck this morning left her unsettled. What if that really happened? No, she was just being superstitious.

When they finally arrived outside, Melora pulled out her notebook and took notes about navigation and the tower in the distance. Seemed that was a standard point for navigation.

"So... I assume we just punch this HE-level monster to death? Unless there's some kind of purification ritual, I'd say there's not much else we can do about that." Melora said. "Oh, I need a moment to change."

Melora held her hands in front of her face, and her clothes quickly exloded in light and were replaced with new clothes, dark and simple. In her hands, she held a strange mask that hadn't been there before. Melora didn't put it on yet, and held it by her side.

"A witch has gotta have at least some protection from monsters, right? Anyway, I'm ready to go whenever, now."

 

[Villamvihar]

A shy, embarrassed smile crept to Eirlys' lips when she heard the praise for her drawing skill. While she may not have believed the meaning put behind the words, or at least not with the full extent of her heart, it felt nice. Especially given the picture she showed was unrelated to the Metal Sea and so she allowed herself to experience just the slightest bit of confidence. Of course, it evaporated as soon as she opened her mouth, yet the brief experience brought a slight improvement to her posture, not to mention her expression.

"U-u-umm. Thank you. T-t-to... err... explain, I can create and control metal..." Oh that was a bad explanation and she knew it, yet she could not know how else to put it without explaining Flowiron's properties at length, not to mention the intricate symbolwork, the creation process, the little bits of trivia she disco-

Melody suddenly interrupted them and the chatter ceased. She too, went rigid, paying rapt attention to the Witch and her brows frowned when she learned someone was missing from their team. Surely, Horizon could not be so bad, right? Many a Questing Witch braved its dangers, returning safe, if a little exhausted or worn out. But that was perfectly normal, was it not?

She quickly abandoned this train of thought as they approached the ritual circles, then after the horrible noise cleared, lifted her hands from her ears to listen with rapt attention. She hoped she would be able to catch some details, but apparently, it was not to be. In fact, the only thing Eirlys caught was the glass robin Aurora passed to her amidst a flurry of nicknames, stories and misconceptions.

"T-that's actually the Sun," she corrected in a barely audible voice, deliberately avoiding eye contact with the more cheerful girl. "A-a-and while i-i-it's nice of you to think of m-me, p-p-please don't give s-s-such valuable things t-t-to me. I-I-I-I'll just break them!" With that, Eirlys thrust her hands forward, her palms open. If she wished, Aurora could easily take her glass robin back.