Complete Private ✪ Stokbon The Past Dies With Time...

[Magi Heart]

Stokbon: Old Town

Old Town.

No one was even calling it that these days, it took quite some time even to find the spot Wendel was looking for. There was a time, a certain place in this run-down part of the Holy Capital that she had used a certain clock tower every so often. It was her base when away from bossy vampires, and preying eyes of the nosey masses. There may have been an even earlier connection the Dark Heart had with the decrepit old tower but that was no longer recalled.

One of the first places Wendel would return to upon entering the normie lands was this place. Yet... it was gone. It looked like for whatever reason the whole square it could be found in was changed. Was it a bad memory? Maybe it was, so she continued to wander the streets.

Eventually, she had done this long enough to attract an unsavory fellow.

And why not? She wasn't even 5 feet tall and wore a pink jacket and short twintails. Yeah these days, Travelers had established a new culture and introduced many new looks (video gamer and nerd tastes basically). That would make one second-guess before they picked on a strange-looking young lady wandering around.

This particular young lady REALLY should be left to her devices, but...

"Hey kid... watchya up ta? This ere place ain't safe fer liddle bitches like yas!"

Wendel stopped dead in her tracks, but didn't turn around.

"*Giggle* Can I help you♥?"

"Yea kid, ya sures can! Heheh, come on over ere and leave yer money before I take worse from ya..."

"Oh! You're a thug. Can I ask a question mister?"

She turned to face the slowly approaching knife wielder.

"Ser thing sweety cakes. But drop yer money first! Heheheh... hey kid, sorry someone punched ya in da eye. Heheh, We dun want ya ta get hurt again do wes?"

The pinkette didn't change her child-like tone, There was no malice for this man. She just wanted to know where the tower was. Then she would help him out with his money problem. Yep, super simple this stuff at this point.

"Where's the big tower thingy? The clock tower. You know, it goes tick tock♥? Tell me and I'll help you tons mister thug."

The thug sneers and nodded his head. Two more similarly dressed ruffians emerged and surrounded their victim.

A lot of needy people persons in this part of town. It didn't take having good memory to know that sort of thing never changes...

 

[Cain Darlite]

Shadows stalked the long and winding alleyways of Old Stokbon, the last fragments of the Stokbon that Cain once recognized, in a city that was rapidly gentrifying. It wasn't by coincidence that he came across the scene, of desperate thieves not knowing what exactly they were threatening there. Years ago, she had dug into all sorts of conspiracies and suspicions, talking to Chelsea and even that 'Jin' fellow about what the hell was up with Terrasphere, about what the hell was up with Magi, Eldhi, and then...Seigi.

Pointless thoughts now, compared to the emotional truth that resonated within him. Leave the philosophies of truth and illusion to the scholars. He just wanted to have a talk with her. Ask her what happened to her eye. Simple things.

And though four years past, Cain Darlite would have defused the situation with charm and wit, he had dealt with enough shit in reality by now that he couldn't be bothered to bandage up every little boo-boo. Desperate as they were, these were three grown-ass men who knew they were fundamentally shaking down a child for her lunch money. Somethings turned out to be unforgivable.

Shadows grew deep in the Kingdom of Light, and the ruffians collapsed where they stood, consciousness extinguished like candles by a foul wind.

"Hey Magi."

Soft soles padded against rough-hewn stone.

"Or was it Wendel."

His tie, once white, was now a deep, rich red.

"Maybe Wendy."

Midnight-hued hair fused well with the ambience of the afternoon, golden rays burn magenta into the sky. Not a cloud in sight today. A beautiful day, to transition into a starry night. But within twilight, that transitory state where the world was divided by the grayline, oddities emerged.

"Been four years, so I'm honestly impressed you're still recognizable. Bought your freedom from that bat too, or are you just on vacation?"

And there he stood, Danielle, his eyes ashen, smouldering. Pretense removed, for this one moment.

 

[Magi Heart]

Stokbon: Old Town

The trouble-making needy people just suddenly decided to take a nap? Or were they dead? Either way, the man that approached was more important now. The clock tower was still the dissonant girl's focus, but this man was making her feel a way.

If there was a connection between him and the clocktower... She would ask him now.

"Clock tower ?...You heard of it, right? Um, wait."

"Hey Magi."

A small light appeared over Wendel's shoulder, It had been so dim that it was near impossible to see even with spirit magic but perhaps could have been felt. Now Chibi Magi stretched in mid-air and hovered as she rubbed her blinking eyes.

"Is he talking to us? Hey, you went and wandered around without me again didn't you!"

"Or was it Wendel."

"Gee whiz mister. You know my name? I don't think I know yours♥?"

"Maybe Wendy."

Huh... he knew all of her names, well the ones that mattered anyway.

The girl made her way toward the tall individual. Stopping just out of his arm's reach. raised a finger to her lip and stared unblinking for a while. Her red eye's dark pupil doing enough movement in its own right. It was Chibi Magi that would break the silence although only for the Dark Heart, as those without the enlightenment of spirit magic would nor see nor hear her.

Just one of many things that blocked most normies from knowing her true nature or condition. Her body was also fully clothed from neck to feet, with thin gloves over her hands. Thankfully the throbbing black veins and fracturing flesh that ran across her body during her more exciting moments were less visible a lone pale scar on her face and neck being the only signs.

"...Ohohoh! It's Cain. Caaaain! Can you see me? I'm Chibi Magi! Hiiiiii!"

Wendel made a tight-lipped smile as she nodded her head slightly. Yep, she remembered this person now. It was foggy but she remembered another thing.

This man was a friend of someone most important to Wendel.

This man had let that person die.

For all, she knew he may have done it again...

"Cain... Cain, Cain, Cain, Cain! *Giggle* Brady was right then. You all did come back from Beston. Yep, that was the place, right? Tne Untied Status? States?"

As for the one she and him together, she would not mention it now. For now, she was more interested in learning who he was. Spending so long in Terrasphere with little interaction besides other natives had left her far more a Lander than a Traveler at this point. Just another way Wendel could never be Wendy and vice versa.

Oh and those thugs?
They could rot.

@Cain Darlite

 

[Cain Darlite]

What could not be seen could still be divined, and what he saw in the stars sparkling in Wendel's eyes was...concerning. Four years had done much for him as an individual, but whatever the fuck was going on with Magi Heart had only gotten worse over the years. Perhaps it was an improvement, that she hadn't spent those four years turning into a wanted criminal and a terrorist, but now she was manifesting her former ego in the shape of a miniature spirit.

One that looked like Magi Heart before all this happened. A split personality, drawn out an effect that had nothing to do with her own masteries.

Suddenly, he was struck by a sense of fatigue. Struck by buried emotions, a sense of stirred rage. Feelings unprocessed, simply buried and then forgotten about. But he could swallow them now. Could rationalize. And perhaps, beyond that, could forgive, with a simple, sweet reason.

Wendy, Magi, Wendel.

She had been a child.

"Hello hello to you once again, Wendel," his smile softened, looking at a space filled with a substance so fragile, so transparent, yet so endearing. "And hi there as well, Chibi Magi. It's been quite a while. I suppose the two of you haven't had the chance to meet up with any other trapped players during the four years?"

He cocked his head to the side.

"Though I'm not actually in Boston right now. Get this, but with Terrasphere's return, it's gone global. Everyone's still spawning in Astorea and Falderen, of course, but as for where they're actually from?" The moon rabbit, she had spoken with fragments of Japanese, hadn't she? "There are some who hail from as far as the origin place of all magical girls: Japan!"

 

[Magi Heart]

Stokbon: Old Town

Chibi Magi'ss eyes opened even wider if it was even possible.

"Cool beans you can see and hear me! Woohoo! Umm, no not many.We met Brad if you know him? We only just recently got back ourselves."

"You should know this one Cain♥. You've seen me go through changes before. The land of normies here is difficult for me. I was told I had been unconscious for a year in some village full of weird talking people. And... about that bat."

Wendel removed her bow and unbuttoned the top of her jacket, then lowered the frilled shirt beneath. It would become obvious to a well-traveled person that she had the clothes of noble underneath more Astorean (or perhaps also Tertorian) clothes for her jacket and shoes. The stereotypical magical girl outfit of old was gone, along with any color swapping from her early days as Tenebris under Vermillion.

What was revealed on her décolleté was bare skin, no rose to be found, instead were markings and more pale scars like the one running across her face. She closed it and spoke as she worked on the buttons.

"I'm free of fetch quests, but not free of the l̸i̸t̷t̷l̵e̸ ̶m̴i̸s̴s̵ ̸s̷p̸a̸r̶k̴l̶e̴ over there"

"There are some who hail from as far as the origin place of all magical girls: Japan!"

Chibi Magi and Wendel both in unison made the exact same puzzled looks as if they weren't sure what he meant until they both exclaimed simultaneously.

"Sailor Senshi!"

"Star Maiden!"

@Cain Darlite

 

[Cain Darlite]

That...was good.

He didn't need climax and death-defying battles now, to be happy, somewhat, that Wendy had managed to wrest herself free from Vermillion's control. So it was possible, after all. Perhaps still with something lost, but perhaps too, with a chance to regain that too, if Chibi Magi was any indication. Ah, perhaps this was a good enough day, after all.

Perhaps it simply meant that a different form of corruption had seized her, and overthrown the dominance of scarlet. Something to do with that heterochromia, perhaps. An odd-eyed gaze similar to Seigi's own.

"More Sailor Senshi than Star Maiden in this case," Cain replied breezily. "And c'mon now, Wendel. You've been to Gardibrook by now, haven't you? That place doesn't look like Japan at all." He grinned, teeth flashing in a way both irritating and endearing. "Do you want a reminder as to what the Far East ought to look like?"

 

[Magi Heart]

Stokbon: Old Town

Gardibrook... and the far east? No not at all similar he was right about that. It wasn't all that easy to go there unless you wanted your money taken anyway.

Money was just one root of evil.
There were tons of roots and that's why everyone would always suffer.

"I wasn't born in the real world and she isn't there either so why should I care about it? Gardibrook is some weird place full of people persons trying to sell me stuff I don't want. But I did get some nice clothes once after dealing with a pesky girl who wouldn't leave me alone on my field trip *giggle*. Anyway, my identity is here. So stuff like Japan isn't important. I'll tell you what IS important though..."

A shadow fell over the Dark Heart's face as hunger,and a deep desire burned in her eyes as the area around her and Cain would grow somewhat... unnatural? Although it was so slight it surely would not register with an average Traveler.

"Oh yeah! Have you seen Raina? I know you know her right? We haven't seen her in forever and are really worried something might have happened. "

"*Giggle*...Yes, have you? You've f̴͓̀a̵͔͐ỉ̴͕l̸̡̐ë̶͖́d̴̙̈́ her once already so who knows how you left her? I have a ̷̩̊p̵̪̾ṟ̷̾o̵̡̐m̵͓̐ĩ̷͍s̶̤̀e̶̝̓ ̷̒͜t̴̳́o̵̚͜ ̴͔̈́f̶͉̐u̸͇̔l̸͕̑f̸̭̿i̷̥̅l̶̥͝l̴̤͝ and I can't do that without her around okays ♥?"

@Cain Darlite

 

[Cain Darlite]

Shadows growing longer, granted life of their own, was nothing out of the norm. It was a change that he had grown accustomed to himself, as emotions spilled out from the dam in his heart, taboo magics feeding upon such delicate emotions. And so, just as Wendel's own mood pulled out the darkness latent around her, Cain drew them back, the clinging resentment within their environment receding.

So slight that it would not register with an average Traveler, but in truth, neither of them had been average for quite a while.

Cain faked a wince, placing a hand over his heart at Wendel's uncalled for jab. There was something interesting going on with her voice, one that garbled up the words that spilled out from her mouth. Another factor to consider. "You wound me," he replied, "Though in truth, I suppose I've failed Raina enough times now that just one or two times hardly affects me. I have seen her though, of course. We've adventured together, recently, caught up over drinks, slept together, and now she's off doing her Hero-ing business again!"

He set his eyes upon Magi, the translucent sprite bobbing up and down within his star-touched vision.

"You'll be happy to know that despite some 'hiccups', she's managed to kill a raid boss without dying, for once."

 

[Magi Heart]

Stokbon: Old Town

The aura coming off of the teenager dissipated as quickly as it had appeared as Cain's words were spoken, and for once... Wendel would stay silent for awhile while Chibi Magi flew into Cain's face, beaming.

"Cool beans! Raina's alive still? After all this? Cain, we have to find her, Please, there's so much to talk about and I want to hear about the cool hero stuff she did1 Uhhhh, I know it's a lot more serious now and we're stuck in a game, and all, but...c'mon! Take us to her, please! Right now!!!!"

Wendel looked away and said nothing. Her eyes once again looked for the clock tower. It was gone. So there was no reason to stay here, much like there was no reason to concern herself with stuff from before her existence. This man... he didn't treat her differently for being some kind of monster. The hermit man she met did say to follow her identity, that was what she wanted too.

Seigi was not only what her desire drove herself towards... but also shared her reality. They were both stuck here.

"Once we find her maybe we can figure out how to log out. Gee whiz... when was the last time we even tried to open one of those menu things? I don't remember what they looked like..."

"Log out? What even would that do to me...?"

The distorted girl let the thought leave her and grabbed the Flagbearer's hand with her gloved one and pulled on his arm. Her face did not show the same happiness at Raina's survival but a much more subtle possibly even gentle expression on her face.

"What's the point of being free, if I can't be with my best friend? Take me to her..."

The obsession with Raina Raythean was one of the core principles of what made Wendel who she was. For many reasons...

She needed to find her, at all costs.

@Cain Darlite

 

[Cain Darlite]

Cain leaned away, raising a hand up to shield his eyes from the cluster of Magi-shaped starlight that suddenly flew up to his face. His eyes narrowed as well, but not from the brightness.

They both didn’t know though, did they?

That, physically, in the real world, the body they’d be returning to would be six feet under, sealed in a casket. How much did Magi remember? How much did Wendel understand? How much would he have to bear, with the words he said next?

“Apologies, little Magi, but you won’t exactly be able to log out on your side. I’m figuring out something about that too though, so don’t stress about it! For now, just keep out of trouble and…” He still had to log out, but she didn’t. So his gaze rested on Wendel’s as her mismatched eyes turned to him. “...make sure to watch over Raina, yeah?”

He gave a quick squeeze to the hand she placed in his.

“Now, allow me…”

They spoke of a service before, that Hero (@Seigi Ling Ling). A way to call for her, no matter the distance to be crossed. For the world itself worked in curious ways, and the fate that bound them all could at times be so taut, and yet so flexible.

They spoke of a service.

A cameo.

“SEIGI! SAVE ME!”

 

[Seigi Ling Ling]

How often was it that the police were being prank called? How often that some SWAT team got unleashed on an unsuspecting streamer? In some countries, there were rumours about emergency ambulance services that were used for the most trivial of things. Oh no, I broke my nail.

Yet, no matter how ridiculous and fake a story. They always answered. Why? Because they were supposed to be heroes. For that one in a hundred chance that something could happen, for real. A single life saved outweighed a thousand false alarms.

Thus, for the fledgling hero, it wasn't any different. Like a call, she had to follow. An addiction to satisfy. A thrill for adventure. Simple wanderlust. Maybe, the heroism was just an excuse? Maybe.

Nonetheless, by the time @Cain Darlite words left his lips, a certain girl had already been long on her way. As the weaver of fate had since long started spinning. It wasn't often that the UI-less quest marker led Seigi into a big city, and as her surroundings changed from the more luxurious parts to the accursed Old Town, so too did her demeanor. Expectations to save yet another old lady's cat from high places switched with determination to likely bust up a local crime ring or similar.

Cat was precious to the old woman.
Life was precious to whoever was getting mugged.
Not that she didn't apply more-or-less gusto either way around. And running was like a workout anyway!

Thus, when Seigi cut a corner, climbed over a roof, and landed in a wagon full of hay just to wall-jump past a sinkhole, she eventually found herself at the end of the thread.

A harmless prank? A meeting orchestrated by the devil's matchmaker. A miracle to possibly kill. An encounter meant for a later time. @Cain Darlite had tempted fate. And now he had to bear the result.

Tiz s a good thing that Seigi did not believe in Fate.

"C-Cain!?" Those were her first words. The initial surprise. He seemed fine. The bodies on the ground... seemed fine? The girl close to him seemed-

N-Noo! T-This is gonna be bad! We have to turn around and pretend it didn't... didn't happen!
Bahahaha! Whatcha gonna do when they call for you? And it turns out it's a speed-date with yer BFF CRINGE edition!
Rend her Flesh! Consume her Soul! Accept her Embrace! Accept their Sorrow! Accept our Offering! Kill the Meddler!

...

The voices were loud and clear. The blood in her mouth tasted fresh. She had sought @Magi Heart before, through caves and ruins and castles and vampire lairs. Always expecting. Always hoping. And now, when she wasn't expecting. Surprise!

A hundred thoughts raced through her head, a hundred more from the others. What should she do? What would she do?

"Tzch..." For a moment, Seigi seemed annoyed. Though it was aimed at no one but herself. How could I even stop to consider? The answer was obvious. A slow step forward, breaking out into a quick dash.

Foomp

"I've missed you so so so so much!" Seigi embraced both the small Magi and the big Magi in a tight hug! The power of love, friendship, and all that!

Poor Cain, though surely he would understand.

 

[Magi Heart]

Stokbon: Old Town

"SEIGI! SAVE ME!"

Did he actually expect that to work? Had Cain always been such a goofball? Heh, perhaps he had changed from back then as well. Wendel's memories were not clear enough to recall nor did she care enough about him personally.

She cared for all equally, with the only notable exception being...

Instantly Wendel was full-on tackled and her hand pulled from Cain's by the sheer force of it. Although she would never hit the ground, rather she was lifted by a taller individual and somehow... Chibi Magi was as well!

Someone who would break the rules of physics like this.

Someone who displayed so much emotion that it made Wendel's dissonant heart beat faster from the energy.

"I've missed you so so so so much!"

That voice.

"Ehh? ...Ahhhh... AHHHH!!!"

"Wahhh? AHHHHHH!!!"

After years of separation, it had finally come to pass. Whether it's due to fate or not. After all, only two of the three stars here this waning evening would have an affinity for the cosmic whims of fate.

It was Seigi Ling Ling that would not...

Flashes of the past would cross the distorted soul of Wendel. A reunion in the past was intersected by a slave to a crimson noble, another interrupted by a revenant of some unknown god. Only to become fully separated in the time of the ancient dissonance. It was there that Raina Raythean may have forever perished

But no, things have changed since then.
Finally, there were no strings being pulled by the rose on her chest. Wendel and Chib, no, Magi Heart.

Wendel's arms wrapped around Raina's. She pushed her cheek against her, allowing the larger woman's hold to remain. Eyes closed as Chibi Magi would speak from within Raina's embrace.

"Raina? Gee whiz you just showed up like magic!!"

It was then that quiet barely audible words were being muttered by Wendel as she continued to hold Raina.

Promise...
Promise...
Promise...
Happy...
Happy...
Happy...
Mine...
Mine...
Mine...

This had been a long time coming and there was no way Wendel was going to let them separate again. There was also something coming off of her beloved friend that was new to the pinkette although also... similar to previous sensations. It was not important right now though.

The Obsession had found its target, and The World meant nothing in comparison.

@Cain Darlite @Seigi Ling Ling

 

[Cain Darlite]

A heartwarming reunion.

But also wow, he did not seriously expect that to work. Sure, Seigi told him about her heroics, about how she'd show up like Superman out of the blue, rescuing people from danger as if she had heard their cries for help from impossible distances away, but even in the best of cases, he had expected that he would turn things into a joke, before using more...practical methods to track down the Sunset Sage of Seven Strikes. And yet, here she was. A flash of surprise, then hesitation, before finally gathering the resolve to tackle a friend long-lost, the three of them embracing each other.

That was the difference between him and her, no? The difference between someone who had given up only to be proven wrong, and someone who had never given up at all.

It almost made him feel a little bit lonely. Made him realize too, that the situation itself was that they were still surrounded by the unconscious bodies of alleyway ruffians. And perhaps he had rushed too fast into it, considering what he could hear whispered, his sharpened senses detecting the obsession of the Liberated Rose.

"Not a crime to have your biases though," Cain murmured.

He leaned against a wall and allowed the two their space. Whether for better or worse, the value of this reunion was not for him to decide. As for himself...well, he'll at least get these bodies out of the way.

 

[Seigi Ling Ling]

Their embrace felt like yet another eternity as Seigi slowly regained her senses. Their bodies pushing close to each other as it seemed like it was Magi who didn't wanna... let go? "Wow..." Usually, it was Seigi who did anything too long!

And then she started whispering. Seigi wasn't one to judge, and while Seigi didn't know any details, she had kind of feared and anticipated that things wouldn't be easy. Back then, four years ago, she had lost Magi to the Vermillion Court. And while now Seigi was unaware of any closer details, she was simply happy that Magi didn't seem... lost!

Giving Wendel another tight hug, Seigi reassured her. "Don'tchu worry! I am not going anywhere anytime soon! Besides..." She gave Cain a quick glance, yeah, she did tell him about the whole Service. "Apparently even without a UI I am being easy to dial..."

Finally getting Wendel off her, Seigi eyed the chibi Magi, and then the Wendel Magi, and then then the Chibi magi again.

That.... was new? Urgh, why did things always have to be so complicated?

Just...
No killing anybody!

"Magi... where... have you been all this time? And..."-what happened to you? She glanced at Cain. She couldn't just leave him out like that, could she?! "How is it you two found each other? Have I..." A slight pout. "Not been looking hard enough!?"

@Cain Darlite
@Magi Heart

 

[Magi Heart]

Stokbon: Old Town

"Don'tchu worry! I am not going anywhere anytime soon!

Oh... she had better believe she wasn't going anywhere far from Wendel again, that was for sure.

Wendel made a disappointed face at being pushed away so soon, They had been apart for years, and she couldn't at least deal with a few more hours ... days... weeks... of snuggling with her?

That would change though... yes!!
This was Raina and they simply could not exist without each other!
Let alone how pointless everything else would be!

Completely ignoring Cain as he did whatever he did with the bodies of troublemakers. Wendel would make a over-exaggerated face as if she was thinking hard and then close her eyes and shrug with an only sorta creepy laugh.

"I dunno but seeing you here is cool beans as hell *giggle*!

"Maybe it was fate! Like...like... destiny! True friends always come back together! We just have to believe right Raina... Raina-chan! Ooooh I haven't called you that in forever either. I wonder what that means but I remember us liking it!"

"F̵a̸t̷e̶ ̷m̷e̴a̸n̴s̷ ̷n̶o̵t̷h̸i̶n̵g̵, right Raina-chan? It's cause WE want it to happen. Just like how I wan-"

Her eyes shifted to Cain and she didn't continue. It had been too long and she was not so wild as to say things she shouldn't right now. Instead, the Dark Heart would gently grasp Raina's hands again and hold them tight in her gloved hands.

"Let's not worry about silly stuff like log out or whatever. Let's be h̴e̶r̵o̴e̸s̵ here. I want to learn about this place more... you do too right♥? Let's go learn how to really save everyone. ...Okay?"

Her red eye would catch Seigi's as if whatever was behind those eyes could recognize something in the other but... who knows.

These two were just getting weird as fuck too.

@Cain Darlite @Seigi Ling Ling

[Getting close to a good stopping point if not already there lol. Up to you guys when you want to end it and we can have other threads later.]