[IC] 4x Magical Girl Crossover Battle☆Royale

[Shamitako]

OOC

 

Haruka

 

The unending storm of rage and despair in her heart was quieted, she could finally be at peace. Darkness consumed her, and then the light returned. Haruka's name returned to her, she remembered who she was, and what she was. She did not, however, remember how she had come back, or where she had come back to. She was surrounded by strange places, all like slivers of their own unique worlds.

 

To the north was an open-air marble building held up by ornate marble pillars. Inside were a generic looking young woman and a short girl with very long purple hair and a black dress. The girl's face was embedded deep in the woman's bosom and she appeared to be sobbing as the woman comforted her with a hug.

 

The northeast was an empty black enigma that Haruka found impossible to see through.

 

To the east was a tiny little manga shop. Inside a girl with short brown twintails was being groped by a silver-haired girl with a ridiculously large chest and a mischievous grin on her face.

 

To the southeast was a fluffy cloud with three strange, colorful creatures and a small herd of four or five sheep scattered about it. It had only just appeared, and the twintailed schoolgirl that inhabited it was lying on the ground, asleep.

 

To the south was an unkempt woman with dark skin and messy black hair sitting on what looked like a circuit board. She appeared to be playing some kind of game on her phone.

 

The southwest was even harder to discern than the black enigma. It felt to Haruka like it was so empty that her vision couldn't even observe it.

 

To the west was an uninteresting mobile home. A girl with orange hair was sitting in a chair under the awning, talking to an orange ring with bat wings.

 

To the northwest was a brick hut, though Haruka could it was just a facade and that the conspicuous cellar door on the side lead to the resident's true home.

 

Suddenly, a bolt of white energy tore through the air near Haruka's leg. It came from the previously empty southwest, where a forest had now materialized. Another orange haired girl stood there, this one with a long braid. Her outfit was clearly that of a magical girl, complete with a soul gem, one which appeared to have a crack in it, embedded in her tiara. Her right arm was extended, the ribbon tied around her cuffs had twisted into the shape of a crossbow, and the girl already had another bolt nocked. "Get that thing out of here." She sneered, gesturing towards the ground next to Haruka, where a cat-like creature was staring up at her with unblinking eyes.

 

Haven

 

Haven had no idea how she was alive again, and answering that was important to her, but even more important was staying calm and taking stock of the area around her.

 

The north was a bright and sunny square of concrete, a pair of mannequins doing a waltz in the center. Two other inhabitants were present: A tall, blue-haired girl in a formal-looking purple dress and a rebellious looking girl with rusty skin and several piercings. They seemed to be having a heated argument, though Haven was observant enough to realize that the argument was still between friends. 

 

The northeast held a tall stack of wood clearly intended for burning as a large fire. A falcon was perched atop it, watching over an angelic looking woman who was observing her surroundings just as Haven was, though she wasn't looking towards Haven at the moment.

 

The east was a shallow stream flowing from a large stone word, "dogmatic" to another giant word, "ignorant," the latter of which was partially obscuring Haven's view of the area. Two girls were standing next to the stream, one a tall girl with red hair and glasses who looked rather intelligent, and the other a shorter, childlike girl who looked like she barely knew how to dress herself. The intelligent one appeared to be trying to explain something to the childish one, and if the look on her face was any indicator, it wasn't getting through.

 

The southeast held a small stone building that looked like a mausoleum. A vaguely humanoid, transparent white creature was floating through the air nearby it, giving the impression that it was haunted by a ghost.

 

To the south was a patch of dirt, at the center of which two adorable little puppies were working to dig a hole. A little girl with long blonde hair was sitting on a bench near the dogs. A green ring with ribbons sprouting from the sides was floating in the air near her and they seemed to be conversing.

 

To the southwest was a cemetery with a fog hanging over it. Several frogs were hopping around near the gravestones, and it only took a moment for Haven to come to the strange realization that the frogs were undead frogs. A woman with moderately dark skin, dark hair tied in a bun, and dressed in medical scrubs stood in the middle of the graveyard, talking to what looked like a sheet ghost.

 

The west was a forest of beautiful flowering trees obscured by a thick haze.

 

To the northwest was a bakery advertising enticing cakes and other sweets.

 

None of the others seemed to have taken note of Haven's presence yet, leaving her free to do as she pleased.

 

Sceleratis

 

Sceleratis awoke with a start, the pain of death still fresh in her mind. Her alert senses remained on edge, refusing to leave their panicked state until she confirmed the safety of her surroundings. At first, the entire area around her seemed empty, so much so that it seemed beyond her perception.

 

Before she had much time to ponder, the land to the west opened itself up to her, a small building designed to look like a minaturized a medieval castle materializing before her very eyes.

 

Next came the area to the northeast, which formed another small building, this one appearing to be a single office cut out of an office rental building. Interestingly, the entire territory seemed to be completely greyscale, even the rain that was pouring from the sky.

 

Following that, a tangle of massive, rainbow-colored vines popped up in the north. Standing atop these vines was a girl with blonde twintails. A blue frog was floating on a cloud next to her. She looked around in a panic and then pulled out her cell phone and started frantically flipping through it.

 

Then a single-room schoolhouse appeared in the east, Sceleratis could see several girls knitting inside, though none of them seemed like they were the true resident of the land.

 

Finally, the northwest land appeared, revealing a rocky desert with an oil pump in the middle. Two soldiers were trading bullets from behind sandbag forts. A dark skinned girl with green hair was laying in between them, and a little fairy dressed like a mechanic was trying to wake her.

 

Zeta

 

Zeta had thought, no, she had known for certain that she was dead. So it was a complete shock to her when she awoke inside a field of anti-space, her body and mind completely intact. With no knowledge of the area, she instinctively looked around.

 

To the north was a land with a red sky. It was taken up almost entirely by a small wooden hut, which seemed to be burning perpetually. Next to the hut was a mirror, which showed a reflection of the hut where it wasn't burning. Though the hut had a window on it, Zeta couldn't see inside because of the smoke and flames.

 

To the northeast was a sunny yard with a quaint little fountain in the center. Off to one side of it was an area blocked from view by blue curtains, like one might see in a hospital. Next to the curtained off area was a girl in a wheelchair. She was holding up some kind of electronic device similar to a phone and talking to a small creature that seemed to be projecting out of it. The girl coughed frequently, making it abundantly clear that she was very sick. When she noticed Zeta looking at her, she smiled warmly and waved before returning to her conversation.

 

To the east was a purple-black expanse sparkling with a multitude of stars. It had a rocky ground like the surface of an asteroid, with several large stones floating above the ground, connected to each other, and sometimes the ground, by a network of blue beams. Sitting atop one of the higher stones was a helmeted girl in a grey and green bodysuit, she seemed to be talking to herself while staring at the starry sky.

 

To the southeast was a slab of asphalt ringed in concrete. The sky there was obscured by clouds and the whole area looked desaturated. A tall girl with curly blue hair and orange highlights was standing over the body of a boyish girl, which had been impaled with a harpoon. Something about the dead girl didn't seem entirely human and there was no blood, but it still made the taller girl appear very dangerous.

 

The area to the south materialized just as Zeta went to look at it, materializing an extremely tall building which seemed to be split into various layers, each one slightly more futuristic and clean looking than the last. Though there were plenty of windows, zeta couldn't find the resident of the land in any of them.

 

The southwest was a land with a setting sun (which was strange, considering the state of the land directly opposite), its clouds lit in purple and orange, with arcs of blue lightning flashing across them. Similarly to the northern land, this one was primarily taken up by a little hut, though this one was crafted from bricks. For once, Zeta could see the resident through the windows. It was a girl with deep red hair, dressed casually and with a scarf wrapped around her neck that covered the lower part of her face.

 

To the west was a land caught between two mirrors for the ground and sky, with a pale blue building shaped like an octahedron floating in the center.

 

To the northwest was a circular pond with a small island in the center and a narrow path of land leading to the outer edge. On the island was a generic looking young man and a well-dressed girl with a rebellious purple haircut. The man seemed to be pleading with the girl, who refused to even look at him to show him the disdainful look on her face.

 

While Zeta was still observing the pond area, a voice shouted to her from behind. "Hey, floaty, any idea how we got here?" The helmeted girl called out.

 

Airi

 

"No, I don't want to die here. I can't die here! I haven't saved her yet..." The world seemed to travel in slow motion as Airi fell backward, the life bleeding out of her. She should have known they had no chance against a site admin, they should have run away, now everyone was going to die. She felt a thud as her body, now completely beyond her control, smacked into the ground, and then time ran forward at full pace again, leaving her behind as the darkness closed in.

 

Airi jolted upright, her eyes snapping open. She was sitting on a slab of asphalt, but while the world looked much like her own, she knew instinctively that something was different, this was not her world. But one thing remained: Nana was there. The admin didn't seem to know any more about what was happening than Airi did, as she was looking around in confusion, though her face still held its disturbing smile. Airi jumped to her feet, grabbing her harpoon magical stick and assuming a combat stance.

 

Nana noticed that Airi was up, and raised her finger to point at her, but instead of invisible bullets tearing through Airi's body, there was nothing. Even through that unchanging smile, airi could see Nana's fear. "Wait, we can talk about this." The admin protested as she realized what was about to happen.

"No, I don't think we can." Airi answered, impaling Nana through the chest with the harpoon.

 

The facade that was Nana faded away, leaving Airi alone with the body of a boyish girl and a sense of victory.

 

Eve

 

"I'm sorry Senpai, I have to go now." Eve smiled sadly at her beloved master. Eve knew that Hikaru would be fine without her, but it didn't make Eve any less sad for abandoning her beloved senpai. She closed her eyes before Hikaru had time to respond, not wanting her master's tears to be the last thing she saw. Her own tears streamed down her face as a beam of energy engulfed her, disintegrating her body into nothingness.

 

When her eyes opened again, she found herself inside a temple. A reddish tint covered the air, but she immediately recognized her master standing across from her. She wasn't sure why or how, but they had been reunited in this afterlife. The tears that had followed her into death burst forth again as she ran forward. "Senpai!" She shouted with relief and happiness. The two hugged one another tightly for a while, just happy to see one another.

 

Eventually, Eve pushed back and dried her face. "How did this happen? Where are we?" she asked.

"Well, for some reason I do seem to know a lot about this place." Hikaru answered, "This place seems to be sort of like a reality marble, though it's on a much bigger scale than any reality marble has a right to be. I think it might be more akin to an intersection where several realities collide. This temple is your territory, and it's connected to the gemstone you have."

Eve gave Hikaru a confused look and was about to ask what gemstone, when she realized that it was in her hand, a blood red gemstone. "When did I..?"

"You've had it the whole time. It grants you control over your territory, and although both are small right now, you can make them bigger by taking the gemstones of other magical girls."

"Magical girls?" Hikaru's explanation was just raising more questions.

"Apparently that's what you are, along with everyone else here." Hikaru answered with a shrug, "Look, I don't know why, I've just been given the information."

"Alright." Eve didn't have any reason to doubt her master, especially considering she knew even less about this place.

"I don't think we have to take other girls' gemstones, but it seems we're at risk of being attacked even if we don't. And the bigger your gemstone, the more powerful you'll be..."

"So we have to fight." Eve concluded.

"It seems that way. I'm sorry, I know you don't like fighting."

"It's not that, it's-"

"There's one more thing." Hikaru interrupted, "See... I'm, not really me."

"Huh?"

"The real me never died, she's still out fighting. I'm just a copy that's here to fulfill a role." Hikaru toed the ground uncomfortably.

"Don't say that!" Eve insisted, "Don't you remember what you told me? 'Even if you're a copy, you're not a fake.' Was that a lie?"

Hikaru smiled, "No, you're right. I meant every word of that. Besides, now that we're both copies, I feel a little closer to you now"

Eve blushed a little. "I like being close to you, Senpai." She said, hugging Hikaru again.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Sceleratris

 

"Sceleratris, I highly doubt that would be enough to finish you. Get up."

 

...

 

"Do not make me repeat myself, 'Holy Knight'."

 

...

 

"WAKE UP!"

 

With a start, Sceleratris's eyes snapped open, her body lurching forward and onto its feet as her hand flew to her heart. She had let her guard down for a fraction of a second, and paid the price. At least, that's what she thought, but it was clear that she was still alive. Somehow. Thankfully, her shock at being alive was quickly replaced by her noticing several things.

 

One, the area she was in was... Fortuna. Which she hadn't been to in more than three years. Or rather, the simple large church of the Order of the Sword, rising into the sky with guards posted around.

 

Two, she could not materialize her gauntlets, for whatever reason.

 

And three, Folkvangr wasn't at her side. Instead, it was impaled into the ground, just a few feet away from her, at the steps to the church.

 

Due to the fact that there was no one around to immediately threaten her, Sceleratris closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Her senses were all in high alert, and she could barely even think straight with the sudden scenery change, her close brush with death, and everything else. But thankfully, she was good enough to settle down, taking one last breath before opening her eyes, stepping forward, and placing a hand on her sword-

 

"It's about time you came around."

 

The familiar, deep and gravely voice echoed in Sceleratris's mind, enough to almost make her smile at the familiarity, "My apologies, I seemed to have gotten hit harder than I expected."

 

A scoff, as expected from the sword's mind, "You don't say. You were as good as dead, even with your blood."

 

"Yes, but I'm still alive. Those demons failed to finish me off when they had the chance" Sceleratis replied simply, only to pause when Folkvangr chuckled, "What?"

 

"Nothing. Merely something I remembered long ago" the sword stated before going quiet, as it normally did when it said something wrong. Sceleratris immediately sighed, knowing from experience that nothing would get it to talk now until the mood struck it. It was a fool's errand to try and get it to. So, instead, she merely slid it back into it's sheath, glancing around her and taking in the rest of the sights, freezing when she noticed other lands beginning to materialize out of thin air, each of them different from each other, and each surrounding the church. But, for the most part, Sceleratris merely narrowed her eyes at each of the lands...

 

Only to, once again, freeze when she laid her eyes on the final one, which was a desert that appeared to be in the middle of a firefight between two men, and between them, from what she could see, an unconscious girl, with another trying to wake her. In any other circumstance, her rational mind would tell her to wait and figure out what was going on before blindly rushing into something. But, unfortunately, her own body and instinct told her otherwise.

 

She saw someone in help, and it was her duty to help.

 

So, Sceleratris ran, or rather, sprinted, towards the firefight, keeping a hand on Folkvangr, and ignoring what felt like a sigh coming from the sword.

[Shamitako]

Sceleratis

 

As the castle took up the entirety of its area, Sceleratis was forced to divert across the tangle of oversize vines to reach the desert. Unfortunately, she failed to account for the fact that not all of the vines were oversize, and found her right leg caught several inches lower than her left by the twisted mess of a floor. From this close she could at least better tell what was happening with the unconscious girl and the fairy.

 

"Stupid magical realm saves her from death but forgets to turn her on." The fairy was grumbling as she tried in vain to flip the girl over. "Could at least have put her on her stomach so I could get to the access panel."

 

If Sceleratis wanted to figure out what that meant or how to help, she was first going to need to find a way to free her leg from the tangle of vines.

[Chevaleresse]

Everything was tumbling down. Everyone around her, everyone she met, it felt like their lives fell apart as soon as she touched them now. And now this? Pain wracked her, mentally and then physically, as the once-bluish gemstone finally turned black as the void. . .

 

She awoke on a small hill with a flat top, the occasional strange flower dotting the grass. A tree with silvery bark and leaves - no, the leaves were green on top - decorated the top of the hill, and provided shade to a small tent made of some greenish material. It wasn't quite like anything she had seen, but it seemed familiar to her, somehow. . . She wasn't given much time to contemplate the sights around her, though, even if they begged for further consideration, as a flash of hostile light burned its way into the ground next to her.

 

Haruka jumped in startlement, armor coalescing around her in response to the sudden assault. An armor-plated dress appeared, alongside a towering shield and a strange weapon that seemed to be the midpoint between a bayoneted rifle and a lance. She moved to cover herself with the shield, before realizing from her attacker's words that the it wasn't intended for her at all. "You know that won't do any good, right? He just keeps coming back." She shuffled away from the creature with a muffled clanking. Haruka didn't exactly care for Kyubey, but she also didn't dislike the thing's presence enough to kill it on sight. 

 

Still, she kept her guard up, shield at the ready in case this strange magical girl mistook her ambivalence for protectiveness, or if she was the type that didn't tolerate competition for prey. She peered over the shield at the stranger, watching, waiting for her next move as she tried to gather up the power she'd thought was depleted.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Sceleratris

 

Single minded rushing was one of Sceleratris's major flaws. Enough so that she tended to ignore everything around her. Such as the tangled mess of vines that she ran through and almost fell flat on her face. Thankfully, she was fast enough to stop herself once her legs became tangled in the mess. All it took from Sceleratris at that point was a downwards glare at the vines before sighing.

 

And then, a surge of power burst from her, instantly turning her from what appeared to be a normal human to an "angel", complete with two large wings. Immediately following the split second transformation, Sceleratris raised Folkvangr above her head, then slashed down at the vines, aiming to cut them away from her legs so she could fly up continue her way to the desert.

[Bfroger6]

Zeta

 

Emptiness engulfed Zeta. She felt the Cores' energies being drained away, turned into the Anti-Space tearing away at her very existence as she was left alone to face this calamity. She'd failed.

 

---

 

The Nexus Girl woke in silence. Her eyes flicked open drowsily as she found that she still had knees to hold on to, floating in a fetal position, her scarf rotating behind her in a helix. She was still in Anti-Space, yet this one wasn't really hollow like the actual thing. One thing was for certain, she was dead. "H-has it restarted?" She screamed, straightening her body out quickly, which just made her spin really fast in the zero gravity suspension.

 

Music: Curiosity of an innocent star

 

"Woah-woah-woahhhhh!" She could see worlds around her as she spun. Nexuses, perhaps? Then why were they all so openly connected? No, this was different. Her spinning slowed down as she wondered what this all might mean. Confused, she marveled at the red skies over the burning house which reminded her a bit too much of Nexus #02's burning fields, waved back, pushed by some innate excitement at the prospect of the first human she saw here greeting her so softly, dazzled at the field of stars, stared at the harpoon and the two people put off for some strange reason by the whole scene. There was just no positivity in that world.

 

Zeta shook her head. She was still quite interested in the sight, but she kept spinning on. "W-wooooooow! This tower is so big like Space Aether!" She exclaimed as she saw the futuristic building appear. The pushed herself to spin vertically so she could try and see how far up it went, but her line of sight was cut off by the limit between the worlds before she could see, prompting her to pout. "I wanted to see..." She said through her pouting face, a muffled dissatisfied grunt. Before long, she also realized she'd crossed her hands and feet as she spun, stuck in some sort of half-sitting position as she floated on. She peeked through the hut's window to try and get a better look at the girl inside but couldn't catch a good enough view before she turned to the mirrors. Or at least she thought they were  mirrors. The sight made her a bit dizzy along with the spinning. And lastly the ponds. Those reminded her of her home Nexus ever so slightly. The water there was abundant. Too bad it was apparently turning living things into crystals. What did they say it was...hmm...crystallization? Or something petri-petra......

 

Her thought process was cut short when she heard a voice call out to her. "Floatie? You mean me?" Zeta said, stopping her spinning, as she looked at the armored girl before the visage of stars and pointed at her chest, where a rather large bright yellow circular gem was embedded in her clothes. "B-but aren't floaties those things you bring to the beach? To float!" She smiled brightly at the unknown girl. What would stand out to the armored girl would be the triangular pupils in her eyes.

[Shamitako]

Haruka

 

"That's why I didn't bother actually shooting it." the magical girl told Haruka, "But it will leave if you tell it to fuck off, at least for a little while. Isn't that right, you little rat?" The last sentence was accompanied by a sneer in Kyubey's direction.

Another voice chimed in, speaking directly into Haruka's mind. "It would be very helpful if you would do as Octavia asks, I haven't had time to explain the situation to her yet." It said in a voice that sounded similar to Kyubey's, but slightly off, "She's usually much more reserved, it's only Incubators that get her riled up like this. So if you could dismiss that one for the moment, I'd be grateful."

 

Sceleratis

 

The Sceleratis's sword caused the rainbow vines to turn orange and black like they were burning as it cut through them, rapidly turning to an ashen color. "Hey! Stop!" A shout sounded from deeper into the vine-territory. The girl who resided there was running towards Sceleratis. As she ran, she pressed some buttons on her phone and her outfit changed, granting her a pale yellow dress, green boots, green gloves, and a stylized nailgun. She didn't point her weapon towards Sceleratis, so it didn't seem she was hostile yet.

 

Zeta

 

The girl with the helmet cocked her head slightly, though due to the dark visor, Zeta had no way to tell if it was from confusion or something else. "Sure, whatever." the girl answered, "You know how you're here or not?" She then mumbled to herself, "This was not on the list, Radiah is gonna get an earful if I ever get back."

 

The flaming hut's proprietor barged out of it, literally smashing through the wall. She was extremely tall, had red hair, and her eyes were like pitch black holes in her face. She was armored and carried a shield and spear. She was also extremely loud, as her entrance was accompanied by a scream of, "Dianaaaaaaaaa!" Which drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

 

The wheelchair girl was quick to respond. "Um, miss, are you okay?" she asked, her voice absurdly weak in comparison to the guttural rage that was the armored woman.

"Where is Diana?" the armored woman demanded in return.

"I'm sorry, *cough* I don't know any Diana." Wheelchair girl apologized, "I'm Mahou Shoujo Dead☆Walker."

"What kind of a stupid name is that?" the armored woman asked rhetorically, "I'm just going to call you Dead."

"Oh dear, it seems you *cough* you haven't talked to your familiar yet. We all have names like that." Dead Walker responded, "The first time we introduce ourselves to someone new or name ourselves *cough* in a formal context, that name will pop out whether we want it to or not." She tried to say something more, but was interrupted by a coughing fit.

"Hmph, you're weak." the armored woman spat. She then shouted again, "Listen up, because I'm only saying this once. I'm Magical Goddess Bellona☆Vanity. If you call me anything other than Bellona, I'll kill you where you stand."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Bellona. *cough* I'm Miyako Kanae, my friends call me Kana-chan."

"It's... nice to meet you to, Kanae." Bellona seemed off-balance from how nice Kanae was being to her.

Kanae looked a little disappointed that Bellona hadn't called her by her nickname, but otherwise seemed content that she'd calmed the beast of a woman down to a manageable level.

[Chevaleresse]

Haruka started to relax slightly, letting the bottom of the shield rest in the soil beneath her feet. The other voice had her curious; was there a third magical girl here? She had no idea what was going on; as far as she knew, she should be dead or worse. "Is there someone else here?" she asked, glancing between the newcomer and Kyubey before shaking her head. "And, are you sure? He would never leave me alone when I wanted him to." Still, she sighed, tilting her head back toward the vile little creature. "Kyubey, could you leave, for once? She'll just blow you up otherwise and I'm not going to stop her."

 

To her total surprise, the cat-like creature actually started to pad away. Haruka blinked, then shook her head again. The thing probably had some kind of ulterior motive. . . or it was going to hide just around the corner. Either way, Kyubey vanished from sight as it walked down the other side of the hill, sitting at the edge of the tiny realm they currently stood in and watching the others with an unblinking stare. Haruka looked back toward the other magica girl and shrugged, waiting for a response.

[Autumn Zephyr]

Haven

 

'Seriously, why am I always the whose body gets hijacked?!' Haven complained as her body missed another swing against at the shadowy figure before her. The Annuler had done it, one of the crime bosses the Spritebound Investigative Agency had targeted early on did it, even Cer's stuck-up twin had done it. Though, she had to admit that this was the first time one such body thief had tried to destroy her psyche in the process. It took as much magic as she could muster to keep the psychic tendrils at bay...

 

"This is getting old, Ven." The shadow declared as it deflected another jab with its blazing scimitar, curved slit-eyes filled with displeasure. It warped to the top of a nearby cliff with a burst of flame, the blade now a longbow drawn and aimed at her. "How many times have we told you to work on your mental resistance now?" 

 

'Well, well, well! It seems I've found weak spot in your team's synergy~!' her possessor's voice jeered in her head as he willed his puppet to lunge up the cliff and deflect the arrows fired at them along the way. 'And the other four were playing so well togethe- what?!'

 

This time, the punch landed true- but it had hit a mere distraction, a fake that exploded into countless shards of blackened ice and gave the real shadow an opening to press a blade against the body's neck. "You actually fell for that? Seems like you haven't been able to access our tactical secrets yet, huh?" They pressed against Haven's back, allowing their foul aura to eat at the cords that bound her. 

 

"You don't have enough power to snap them, you know," the villain chided in Haven's voice. "The only way you can free this girl from my grasp is to killer her. Can you live that guilt, Ms. Hearth?"

The shadow was silent for a moment. "...Talk about cliche. But, as it turns out..." She let go and quickly stepped away just as a massive blade shrouded in brilliant light ran through where she had just been- and Haven's torso. "...I don't even have to."

 

Two different voices wailed in excruciating pain as both victim and villain were rent asunder and seared by raw divine power.

 

One voice died out as his presence was exorcised away.

 

The other died as her wounds claimed her. As, too, did the trenches of the realm beyond...

 

...

 

- - -

 

...

 

...But the trenches occasionally make returns shipments.

 

Through the haze of unconsciousness, Haven was vaguely aware that she could feel herself again. That led to questioning about her state of being. Was this the afterlife? If so, where was she? The ground beneath her was too rough to be Heaven. Or had NYM managed to revive her despite the grievous wounds? No, that couldn't be right. She would never allow rain to fall in the healing ward. Besides, she didn't seem to be able to heal mental injuries...

 

Eventually, she opened her eyes and drug herself to a sitting position. She seemed to be on the roof of an apartment complex- one very similar to where she lived before... well, before the situation that led to her making her pact. Except for the school of see-through anchovies that just swam by. "...Uhm?"

 

"Finally awake, I see." Haven looked behind her to see Bulla, her patron, mixing something in a plastic bowl. "I'd imagine you're pretty hungry. Care for some tuna salad?"

"...Tuna salad? Seriously?"

Bulla shrugged and scooped some of it into another bowl. "For a multistory apartment building, this place isn't especially well stocked."

 

"...Fine." She took the bowl from her familiar and sighed. "...So, did we win?"

"A bit hard to say," Bulla replied. "My memories end shortly after our backup arrived for some reason. I do know that you didn't, though."

"What do you mean by that, exactly?"

"The fact that we're here means that you died." The matter-of-fact way the sprite had put it was a little off-putting, but at least confirmed Haven's suspicion. "As did at least half of the people in this realm..."

 

Haven looked up toward the rainy sky for a moment, only now realizing that the water wasn't actually sticking to her at all. "Guess this is some sort of Purgatory, then. Hell doesn't strike me as the type of place that'd give you time to contemplate the situation before throwing into of the thick of things."

 

"Could be," Bulla answered, floating toward's the edge of the building. "Though the view from here gives me other ideas..."

 

The human followed them, and dropped her bowl in surprise at the sight. To every side of their apartment was a different sort of location, ranging from a restless graveyard, to a concrete square, even to some place with massive stone words! Weirder still, the closest any of the places got to sharing her weather was a thick haze that shrouded a nearby forest. "Th-this is even worse than when the worlds first became marbled!" she exclaimed.

 

"Exactly. My theory is that this is some sort of alternate dimension set aside for those who have both forged a pact of some sort and fallen in battle in their own worlds." It heaved a sigh of its own. "At least whatever power it is that brought us here had the decency to let me know that each area is technically a manifestation of its resident's mind, which means that this has nothing to do with the Great Spirits' Conflux."

 

"...Weird. But the separate dimension thing does suggest that there may be a way back home." Haven's face shifted from one of awe to one of determination. "And if there is one, then we'd best start searching for it!"

"Certainly beats sitting around twiddling our digits while we hope for the Starmantle to find a way to rescue us."

 

"...For the umpteenth time, he has a name." Haven snapped her fingers, and paused. "...Huh. I can't seem to change vision modes anymore."

If Bulla had eyebrows, they would've been furrowed. "That's odd. I'm still granting you that power... Maybe it only works when you transform here?"

"And people are likely to panic if I approach them looking like I'm ready for battle. Talk about inconvenient..." She cracked her neck and climbed atop the railing. "Might as well start by seeing if anyone knows anything we don't, hm?" She leapt confidently off the edge, caught her fall on a windowsill, and safely dropped the rest of the way to the sidewalk below. 'A bakery is probably best visited last, and the pair directly north of us probably shouldn't be interrupted alone... Guess I'll start with the campfire then.'

 

Bulla caught up to her as she started to head northeast. "Just as eager as ever, I see."

"You know the saying: think too much at the start, and investigation never gets done. Come on!"

[Bfroger6]

Zeta

 

"Mmmm..." Zeta frowned, deep in thought. The question posed by the armored girl in the stars had her a bit worried, honestly. What could she even remember, and how she got here, both were equally important questions. However, while one might run away from the truth that Zeta was facing, she was far too innocent to doubt it or her current condition. She was fine, she just wasn't where she really should've been. So all she had to do was get back there. "I think I died, but it wasn't in a Nexus like this. Is this some Nexus where you go when you die? I've been to one similar to that in the past." She answered with an excited smile. She didn't seem all that worried about the whole situation. "Let me just grab my A-Comm and see if I can get a signal around here!" She added as she started rummaging through her outfit. "Hmm, not here, nor here, oh hey here it i- WAH!"

 

The moment the cabin on fire burst open, Zeta turned to look that way. The girl that came from inside was shouting someone's name, but the one that waved to Zeta had already begun talking to her. She smiled as she floated downwards so she was on the same level as the two of them. "H-hello there, guys!" She waved happily. "Me and my friend over there have been wondering how we got here! My name's-"

"Her name is Magical Nexus Girl Lone☆Zeta."

"Huh?" The voice came from the gem on her chest, which turned as pitch black hollow as the Anti-Space around her. Like an endless hole in her chest. "W-wait you sounds just like-"

"Mhmhmhm~! Yes it is I, President Naether! In the form of the only Core you have been left with in this world, I shall lead you."

"I don't get it, which Core, I can't feel any Type Energy in this world...s-so anyways my name is Lone☆Zeta, pleased to meet you both, Bellona, Kanae!" She turned to the girl in the stars. "What's your name~?"

[Shamitako]

Haruka

 

The other magical girl relaxed and lowered her arm when Kyubey walked away. A black creature that looked extremely similar to Kyubey appeared out of the trees. 

"Thank you." the voice in her head said again, "I'm going to explain what's going on to Octavia now, you're welcome to stay if you like."

"Oh, there you are, Beta." the other girl said to the black Kyubey, "There's another Incubator here, you should be careful." 

"Were safe, it's powerless in this place." the voice answered, still allowing Haruka to hear even though it wasn't speaking directly to her, "I do appreciate your concern."

 

Both the girl and the black Kyubey turned their attention back to Haruka, and the girl introduced them. "I'm Puella Magica Octavia☆Acuta, and this is Beta. It's nice to meet you. And I'm sorry for overreacting." Her I teoduction and apology were accompanied by a deep bow. 

 

Haven

 

As Haven crossed the concrete land with the dancing mannequins, she heard a moment of a beautiful symphony that made her want to join them, though it didn't last long as she quickly entered the land with the firewood. The woman who inhabited it noticed her approach and moved to intercept her.

"Hello there." the woman said. Her voice matched her angelic appearance, deep and soothing, "This is quite the strange place, isn't it?" 

 

Zeta

 

The girl in the bodysuit and helmet hopped down from her perch, though instead of landing on the ground beneath her, she pressed something on her wrist and vanished in a flash of purple energy. Another flash appeared beside Kanae and Bellona, and the girl appeared out of it, landing lightly on the grass. She pressed something on her wrist again and her helmet retracted, revealing the face of a young girl with emerald eyes. Her hair was green with purple highlights, and though short, was still long enough to suffer from helmet hair. She shook her head to straighten her hair out and then introduced herself, "I'm Magical Raider Universal☆Galiah." 

"It's nice to meet you, Zeta, Galiah." Kanae said. 

 

Standing next to a young girl and a girl in a wheelchair made Bellona's extreme height seem even more out of place, and she seemed to agree, as she was engulfed in a white glow that shrank her down to a much more normal looking blonde woman. She still towered over the other two, but not to as ridiculous a degree as before. "Good, introductions are over." She said, "Since you can't help me find Diana, I don't suppose one of you knows the way out of here?" Bellona's high pitched voice was oddly dissonant with her attitude, especially after the deep, resounding shouts she'd entered with. 

[Autumn Zephyr]

Haven

 

Crossing the border between regions was a bit... different from what she was used to, audibly speaking. That was probably to be expected, though- back home, the change was typically a little more gradual compared to the abrupt nature of this one. That didn't stop the change from simple but calming rainfall to lively song from being any more jarring! Haven was more of a hip hop type of girl, but even she had to admit that this piece sounded good enough to...

 

'...No! This is some sort of siren's song!' She snapped herself out of the trance and forced her way back toward her goal, heaving a sigh of relief when she found that the next border hid no similar traps. 'Guess I'll have to stay on my guard here...'

 

Haven halted when she saw that this quadrant's resident had noticed her, and tried to look as non-threatening as she could while the lady approached. Between the overall pale complexion and the golden eyes, Haven couldn't help but wonder if she might be related to an old friend of hers, though their demeanors and senses of style seemed to be quite different so far. 

 

"It certainly is," Haven answered the local's inquiry. "Especially the place behind me- there's some sort of enchanted song that can only be heard in its borders." She shrugged and shifted to a more comfortable stance. "Anyway, I was wondering if it was possible that different people were given different bits of information when we arrived here, and figured that it might be worth it to ask around."

[Shamitako]

Haven

 

The angelic woman shook her head with a frown. "Stanza says that your familiar should know just as much as he." she explained, "Although..." she hesitated, uncertainty momentarily flashing on her beautiful and pristine face, "I have my own speculation that this is a sort of purgatory. The variety of people here... I believe this place judges us across multiple realities. It encourages us to fight one another, but I suspect that's only a superficial goal, that this is some form of test."

[Autumn Zephyr]

Haven

 

"Seems like we came to the same conclusion regarding the Purgatory bit," Haven confessed. 'Why does everything seem to lead to violence?' The group had hoped that they wouldn't have to fight anywhere near as much with that last battle, but it seemed that she wasn't so lucky. This did mean that she had to look at every single person as a potential enemy again, and that was rarely a pleasant experience. More importantly, that meant that the entity, or entities, that gathered them all here was unlikely to let whoever survived this experience return home without a whole bunch of strings attached...

 

"So, some higher power snagged a bunch of warriors when their disappearance would be most unobtrusive to their realms, and had them beat each other down to see who is the strongest of the bunch," Haven shook her head. "This feels like a situation that won't end well to anyone who loses a match, or makes it all the way to the end. Though that's a fitting predicament, considering the previous conclusion..." 

[Chevaleresse]

Haruka returned the bow out of instinct, somewhat belatedly realizing that her conversational partner was probably not actually doing it as a greeting. "My name is Puella Magica Haruka☆Lorica." She frowned for a moment. That. . . wasn't quite what she'd meant to say. Still, it was far from the weirdest thing she'd noticed in the last fifteen minutes or so, though it was only the second one that was about herself personally. The first, of course, being that she was alive, unless this was some twisted self-deception to cover up what could very well be the horrible reality. . . She shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head. I was in my house. "Sorry. I was thinking. It's, uh, good to meet you, Octavia. I think. I don't really understand what's going on." There was a bit of an edge to her voice; even if the peaceful nature of the immediate surroundings was calming, to an extent - I've read a book with something like this - the entire nature of the situation and the possibilities it presented were distressing. "What is Beta?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Sceleratris

 

The rapid change of color as she cut through the vines was enough to make Sceleratris pause, which was enough time for her to take notice of the new girl running towards her and shouting at her to stop. At first, Sceleratris didn't move, merely being prepared to jump and then move away as she took in the girl's weapon. A nailgun... Which was a strange choice of weapon, but still useful. What mattered to her was the fact that she wasn't aiming it at her or shooting yet, which meant that she was just worried, not hostile.

 

Gah, she should've been paying attention sooner.

 

"Now you think of that"

 

"Shut up Folkvangr"

 

In less than a second, another burst of energy reverted Sceleratris back into her normal form, straightening and holding her sword at her side as nonthreatening as she could, "If you are the caretaker of these vines, then I apologize for my carelessness" she began, raising a hand in a form of greeting, "Rest assured, I'll do what I can to mend the damage. As of now though, I'm in a hurry. I don't have the time to chat" she explained, already beginning to turn back towards the desert.

[Shamitako]

Haven

 

"I don't think there's any point to guessing at the motives of our captor." the angelic woman said, "Not yet at least. Survival should be a priority."

"Can't argue with that." the interruption came from the direction of the musical realm, it seemed the girl with the reddish skin had ecided to join them. The friend she'd been arguing with seemed to have gone elsewhere. "I'm Rust, who're you guys?" 

 

Haruka

 

"I am an individual, although the one with you would call me a criminal." Beta answered.

"We're different, the details aren't important right now." Octavia said, a hint of suspicion still present in her voice, "Any idea where we are? This place doesn't seem like a normal labyrinth."

"I've been trying to tell you what's going on since we got here." Beta chastised, "Please stay put and listen this time."

"Oh sorry." Octavia apologized sheepishly, "What do you know?" 

"Whatever force brought us here wants us to fight. Your strength is connected to the gem you started with, and it can only be grown by defeating other magical girls and taking theirs." Beta explained, "If you don't fight, then the other girls around you will grow too strong and eventually defeat you."

"Well, I'm used to fighting others, but..." Octavia looked at Haruka, "Can we call a truce until we absolutely have to fight? I don't like fighting when I don't have to."

 

Sceleratis

 

The vine girl tried to protest as Sceleratis ran off, but didn't follow outside of her own territory. As Sceleratis approached the unconscious girl, a few stray bullets flew her way, but they simply ricocheted off of her harmlessly. The two combatants didn't even seem to realize she was there.

 

"Stupid hunk of junk." the frustrated fairy kicked the girl in the side of the head with a metallic thunk. She didn't seem to have noticed Sceleratis's presence either. 

 

Veronica

 

Veronica stormed off in a huff. Rust could be so infuriating sometimes! But by the time she got to the bakery, which didn't take very long, she was fiddling with her ring anxiously. She wasn't ready to apologize, but she was already trying to figure out what to say when she was.

 

A bell jingled as Veronica entered the bakery, causing the teenage girl and elderly man inside to turn their attention in her direction.

"Evildoer! Have you come to challenge me?" the girl shouted, pointing dramatically in Veronica's direction. 

"Evil? What? No, I'm just your neighbor." Veronica protested. She was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but quickly regained her composure.

"Even if that is the case, you have invaded my land, I cannot let that stand... Unless you brought chocolate."

This girl's rambunctious attitude made Veronica ppreciate how much progreds she and Rust had made all the more. "Listen." She tried to explain. 

"There will be no listening without chocolate!" the girl insisted. 

"Calm down Nova, perhaps we should hear her out?" the old man chimed in, "This is a strange place, but that doesn't mean you can demand gifts from anyone who walks in the door."

"Oh...alright..." the girl pouted, "What do you want, Miss Neighbor?" 

Veronica sighed in relief, at least someone was reasonable. "I was just trying to learn about my surroundings and neighbors, since I know almost nothing about where we are." 

"Well, I'm Magical Girl Super☆Nova, it's nice to meet you."

Something about the way Nova said her name reminded Veronica of someone really annoying, but she decided to let it slide.

"Demon Weapon Sunshine☆Veronica, nice to meet you as well." Veronica winced at hearing her own name said the same way, and wasn't sure why that was the case, but she was trying to make a good impression, and thus didn't dwell on it for long. 

"'Demon Weapon', what kind of magical girl is that?" Nova asked. 

"I'm not magical girl." Veronica answered adamantly. 

"Sure you are, everyone here is. If you're not a magical girl then how are you here?" 

"You make a good point, I guess I must be." Veronica wasn't sure how to answer that, so she decided to just play along. She wasn't into that sort of childish thing (anymore), and she was definitely not a magical in any way, but arguing over it was a waste of time.

 

Whatever her magical girl status, Veronica was certain that her conversation with Nova would continue to be eventful. 

[Chevaleresse]

Haruka shook her head, before realizing that the motion might not be interpreted how she wanted. "I don't want to fight at all any more. Especially since you're not a Witch." I thought I was finally done, at least. I guess there's still more fighting to do, if this Beta isn't lying. Haruka didn't trust the creature. Granted, she'd never known Kyubey to lie, necessarily. . . but that didn't mean it told the truth. Yes, it had said only Incubators riled Veronica up, but until it said plainly that it wasn't one, she wouldn't even begin to trust it. As she pondered the creature's motivations, a thought occurred to her.

 

The armored magical girl tilted her head slightly, her expression suddenly shifting to. . . well, neither suspicious nor curious was quite the right term, it was some place in the middle. She fixed Octavia with an ocean-blue gaze. "Are you sure you don't actually want to fight me? Do you actually know why?"

[Autumn Zephyr]

Haven

 

Haven's attempt at voicing her own agreement with the pale lady's musing was interrupted by the newcomer, so she kept her mouth shut and let them say their piece. She was quick to notice that this off-colored girl's friend hadn't come with her, and figured that they must be trying to cover more ground by visiting two places at once- certainly a distinct advantage of having two humans on their team. One of them probably saw her pass through their plot while they were arguing with each other, so the other girl probably went to the bakery or even whatever landscape was to their north- assuming, of course, that she was right in their motives. You can't always tell with people, yet alone people from other worlds...

 

"Nice to meet you, Rust," she responded, hoping that this would prove to be the truth. "I am Magical Girl Shimmer☆...Haven." Her face took on an increasingly confused expression as she attempted to process what exactly was rolling off her tongue. "...Weird. That's not quite the title I meant to give."

[Shamitako]

Haruka

 

Octavia looked saddened when Haruka mentioned her not being a witch. She seemed confused by Haruka's question. "I don't like fighting anyone." she answered, "Especially not other magical girls. We're all victims, we shouldn't fight one another." 

 

Haven

 

"Don't worry about it, according to the info it shoved in my head, this world forces all magical girls to introduce themselves like that." Rust shrugged off Haven's introduction, "What about you, goldie?" 

The angelic woman shrugged, "'Goldie' is as good a name as any I could give."

Rust narrowed her eyes with suspicion, "Uh-huh... Well, if that's what you want, 'Goldie', I won't push it." 

[Bfroger6]

Zeta

 

As much as she was excited to be meeting all of these girls, Zeta knew she had to do some stuff first and foremost, and so as Bellona asked how to get out of there, the Nexus Girl readily grabbed her A-Comm, a small white apparatus similiar to a flat screen phone with some kind of orb on on of its ends, not dissimiliar to a security camera's bulged lens. "Don't you worry Bellona, I just gotta figure out our coordinates and get the Headquarters to come rescue us! This has got to be a new Nexus, so it's not weird we're lost here. Like, even if we've all died and arrived here, that means we're still alive anyways because else we wouldn't be here~ Besides, I've already seen a Nexus where dead people came to life so this isn't all that special or scary to me anymore!" She flicks her nose up proudly and giggles, like a kid that's already watched their first horror film and were no longer outwardly afraid of seeing more.

 

"Oh please, Zeta it's not gonna happen." The gem at her chest speaks again in a snarky tone, at which Zeta growls back at it before replying.

"Then what can we do?"

"Fight, of course. All of these girls each posses a crystal that represents their energy somewhere on their person. If we kill them and take them from them, we can build a new world here and fill it with our own rules. Isn't that beautiful? So won't you please fight~"

"W-what? But I don't have a crystal. You're just lying."

"I've already stored our crystal within your Core's integral field. See girls, if you wanna get out of here, tear this green haired dolt apart and take her crystal, hahahaha!"

 

"..." Zeta doesn't reply. She's more at shock than anything else, but she slowly raises her head to look at the other gathered girls. "I-I don't wanna fight. If we die and we're already dead then we'll really die!"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Sceleratis

 

Unfortunately, the bullets barely had a chance to even connect with Sceleratis, who merely maneuvered herself around them as she ran. She had expected to be shot at as she headed between them, but it was obvious to her that the shooters weren't even trying to hit her, completely into trying to kill each other.

 

Well, that could be focused on later. What was important was what was in front of her.

 

"Let me help" Sceleratis 'greeted', kneeling down so she didn't get shot and placing a hand on the fallen girl's shoulder, before pulling hard so she could flip her over. Ordinarily she would've asked if they needed help, but it was far too obvious that they did, and Sceleratis had already rushed over to help. Might as well finish the rush.

[Autumn Zephyr]

Haven

 

"Riiight." Haven was a little unamused by Rust's nonchalance about it, but she decided to let it go. After all, it wasn' the stranger's title that got lost in translation. More importantly, her choice of words suggested that she was likely the pactmaster of her pair, and thus an individual with significant personal power- especially considering her apparently human form. Even if that power was backed by a lack of skill, it would still be wise to avoid angering them...

 

And then there was the matter of the pale lady. "...That's an understandable decision, given the situation. Besides, Rust and Goldie are both names derived from metals. That should keep things simple for the time being." She focused her attention to Goldie again, and kept Rust in the corner of her eye on the off chance that the newcomer tried something. "You mentioned someone called Stanza earlier. That'd be your pactmaster, I take it?"

[Chevaleresse]

"Okay. Good." She felt reasonably assured that Octavia was doing this (or rather, not doing this) out of her own self-interest. She saw the glimpse of sorrow in the other girl's face, but wasn't really sure how to react to it. It was a good thing she wasn't a Witch, right? I wish Victoria was here. She would know what to do. She almost slapped herself at the thought. Careless wishing was what lead to all this; she would much rather Victoria was anywhere but here, even though the odds of her even being alive any more were vanishingly slim. I don't really have time to cry about this right now. Haruka squeezed her eyes shut again, taking a brief moment to compose herself. "So what do we do now? I don't want to fight, but I don't want to die, either."

[Shamitako]

Zeta

 

"If that's the way to Diana, then I have some war to wage." Bellona said, "You girls have been bearable, so I'll give you a brief reprieve, but don't expect me to go easy on you when your time comes." She stormed off towards the north, transforming back into her oversized combat form as she went.

 

"Well, that's unfortunate." Kanae shook her head, "Unfortunately, it's true that we have been directed to fight. This is nothing new to me, but I'm disheartened to see it occurring here as well after what happened to me and my friends."

 

"ALICE, have you figured out a way out of this place with WARP?" Galiah asked, "External voice output please."

A robotic feminine voice echoed from the ring around her neck that had been her helmet. "Negative." it said, "WARP is fully functional, but I have not detected any way to access anything outside of this space."

Galiah bit her lip. "Alright, thanks anyways, ALICE." She looked to both Zeta and Kanae, "I'm going to follow Bellona's lead, but I don't plan to attack other humans without a good reason, maybe we can work together." 

"Actually, Galiah, Zeta is not human. She is quite alien. A crystalline race of some kind, perhaps even energy based. Considering her apparent mimicry skills, contamination level 2." ALICE chimed in,her tone almost cheerful.

"Oh." Galiah's blaster was suddenly pointed at Zeta. "That's different then."

"Wait!" Kanae tried to stop her, "Why does it matter if she's not human? She's a magical girl just like us."

"All aliens are a threat to the purity of humanity." Galiah answered, her response almost as robotic as her AI partner, "All Aliens must be exterminated. Purity. Glory. Humanity."

 

Sceleratis

 

The fairy let put a yelp of surprise when Sceleratis suddenly appeared,but didn't stop Sceleratis from helping. 

 

Even with the hefty tug she gave, Sceleratis was surprised by how heavy the girl on the ground was, easily five and a half tons (5k kilograms). There was no way the fairy had ever had any chance of successfully overturning her. The heavy girl rolled onto her stomach with a thud and some mechanical clanking.

 

"Thanks." The fairy said once the sound had died down. She then flew over and opened a panel on the back of the girl's neck, revealing an electronic control panel of some kind. After fiddling with the controls for a bit, the fairy managed to cause a whirring sound to start up, which she followed by closing the panel. She flew a little ways a way, and indicated for Sceleratis to back up as well. 

 

A large helicopter rotor sprouted from a panel in the girl's back and began spinning. She rose into the air slowly, apparently still unconscious. This didn't last for long however, as her eyes snapped open and she immediately took stock of the situation. Weapon pods sprouted from her arms and legs, the two soldiers were immediately annihilated.

 

The girl trained her weapons at Sceleratis. "What are you?" she asked. 

 

"I already regret turning her on." the fairy muttered to herself, face-palming.

 

Haven

 

"Stanza is not my master." Goldie said firmly, "He's the bird, for some reason he seems to have been granted general information about this place."A lthough Goldie was trying to be polite, it was increasingly apparent that she didn't really appreciate the visitors in her domain. She seemed to be hiding something, but wasn't any good at keeping her emotions in check.

 

Haruka

 

"I think we should start by exploring the areas around us, get an idea of who we're not going to have a choice about fighting, deal with them first before they get stronger." Octavia answers d Haruka's question, "I'm not interested in teamwork, but I'm open to sharing information. It's entirely up to you though, I'm content with just having one person I definitely don't need to fight."

 

Octavia was surprisingly composed. For someone who didn't like fighting, it seemed like she was used to it. There was a sadness to her that said she'd been through this all before.