>>38722892
>Let Rin handle this

>>38722892
>Tell her it no longer matters, the future is what you make it
>Flat out reminder that your mothers are going to space, they won’t be on earth

>>38722892
>>38723056
Seconding this.

Why would we reassure or comfort Rin? Is that supposed to be Aiha?

Deleted my previous vote.

>>38722892
>Write in
Trauma time.

They were hollowed out, and anything remaining of the person they were longed for death.

Strikes a little too close to the Magician stuff, y'know?

>>38722892
>>Say something to reassure or comfort them,

Tell them that we're working to support them, so nothing horrible is going to happen.

>>38722892
>“That vision is gone,” Rin comforts, “Its no longer what will be,”

So um,,, what does the future look like now?

Counting and writing

That vision...it hit close to you. The state of the original senshi and their leader, your mother, reminded you a bit much of your last encounter with Magician. The empty husk of a man animated by fell and yet understood forces, nothing of his original body and soul remaining to the point where there was naught left to be healed.

No, you are stronger than you were then. You are stronger than you were just a day ago. So you place the idea of being crippled by that notion aside and do what you set out to do when all of this started; to spare these girls such hardship.

~The future is what you make it, Aiha-chan,~ you explain solemnly and stand up and walk toward the door out of Rin’s room and slide it open to the garden.

Their eyes are on you, of this you are certain, as light streams into the room from outside and fills the choked room with something better.

~Things are already changing. Our mother’s aren’t even going to be on earth,~ you turn to face them, ~Tomorrow they go to space, for at least a few months, so they won’t be here when that is supposed to happen,~

The blue haired girl gently removes herself from Rin’s attempts at comfort. She offers a placating gesture to the raven haired girl, who watches as she approaches you with worry. Aiha stands beside you, facing the garden. Turning, you regard her with the confidence that carried you as Miki. They’re strong, and when they aren’t you will be there to catch them.

>>38723781

“I know I said I’d help with your ghost hunt, Mikage-chan,” she says evenly, “but...but I have something else I need to do. Somewhere else I need to be today,”

“You’re going to her, aren’t you?” Rin offers and returns to standing, sliding her jacket on.

“Mikage-chan is right,” Aiha sighs, “After tomorrow...when will I have another chance to talk to her,”

>Encourage her, wish her luck talking to her mom
>Halt her, you need help with this
>Say nothing, just let her go
>Write in

&

>Figure out where to start your hunt
>offer to go with Aiha to see her mother
>Talk to Rin a bit longer before she heads off to school
>Delay your hunt, relax in a park for a bit
>Go home, acquire shower, seriously
>Write in

>>38723803
>Say nothing, just let her go
>Go home, acquire shower, seriously

>>38723803
>Encourage her, wish her luck talking to her mom
>offer to go with Aiha to see her mother
Maybe not in the same room but nearby. She may need a friend after that shit.

>>38723803
>Encourage her, wish her luck talking to her mom
>Talk to Rin a bit longer before she heads off to school

>Encourage her, wish her luck talking to her mom

>Go home, acquire shower, seriously
Though, if we go Ghost Hunting, we know she was last seen at the hospital.

File: Halation.gif (509 KB, 500x352)

509 KB GIF

Writing

give me persuasion

dice+1d20+10
best of 3, 1s & 20s wild

Rolled 16 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>38724183

Rolled 12 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>38724183

Rolled 19 + 10 (1d20 + 10)

>>38724183

~Aiha,~ you say to the girl as she steps past you.

She pauses and looks up at you to make eye contact. It feels awkward, being even taller than these girls now.

~I know its hard,~ you offer her, ~I spent a lot of time keeping my mom at arm’s length. Time I can’t get back. So, good luck mending things,~

Her expression resolves, and she smiles softly.

“Thank you, Mikage,” she turns and takes three long steps into the garden before drawing out her transformation pen.

With a command and the scintillating display of blue light Aiha Mizuno dons the regalia and identity of Sailor Mercury, and leaps away. You and Rin are left behind as she soars off from rooftop to rooftop toward her destination.

Rin steps alongside you and calls out to her vanishing form.

“Goodbye, Aiha-chan! Good luck!” she pauses and turns to you, “I think she’ll be okay,”

~So do I,~ you sigh and turn to face the shorter black haired girl.

“Thank you for stopping by,” she says, “Even if you were spying on my dad and me before,”

~Ah, that’s not what happened,~ you cross your arms in denial.

“Heh, whatever,” she smiles and grabs her shoulderbag and begins loading it up, “I’ll see you tomorrow, probably, I gotta get to school,”

~Mhmm, and I need to swing home and grab a shower,~ you stretch and stride out into the garden.

>>38725203

After saying your goodbyes and thanking Rin again for sharing her vision with you, you finish your morning run back home. Your little sister apparently already left for school, your dad was probably already at the the Metro Center, and the sounds coming from upstairs tell you quite clearly that your mother is sleeping.

After a delightfully hot shower, soothing and relaxing your muscles from your leg day exercises and cardio run, you take stock of what to do with yourself next.

>Break a rule of ghost busting, hunt alone
>Wake up mom and talk to her for a bit
>Time to go to Magician’s lair. Alone or with friend? Who?
>Procrastinate somewhere else. Where?
>Write in

>>38725228
>Time to go to Magician’s lair. Alone or with friend? Who?
Alone or with Kairi

>>38725228
>Time to go to Magician’s lair. Alone or with friend? Who?

Alone is fine.

>>38725228
>Wake up mom and talk to her for a bit
Last chance for a while.

>>38725228
>Break a rule of ghost busting, hunt alone
Pfft, as if we're ever alone.

If we get possessed, who'd even be able to tell the difference?

>>38725281
I think we still have a day or two before she leaves don't we? The departures aren't synced or anything and Mom is supposed to be the last iirc

>>38725228
>Time to go to Magician’s lair. Alone or with friend? Who?
Kairi, it has to be with Kairi. This is something we both need to face and neither of us are ready to face it alone.

>>38725228
>>Break a rule of ghost busting, hunt alone

Gonna lose, but let it be known that I tried.

>>38725402
I feel like we need to find the flute and take it with us if we're going.

Writing

Well, with one traumatic experience under your belt despite the early hour, you may as well take on another. Getting dressed quietly, you throw on some plain jeans, a t-shirt, and a light jacket. Its not too cold out so you roll the jacket sleeves up to your elbows.

You commit yourself to heading to Magician’s old lair. The last place you fought as Sailor Moon, the place where you became broken. Where everything truly wrong started.

You won’t go alone...at least…

A stray thought catches you as you pass by your parents’ bedroom on your way out of the house. You know exactly where your mother has a tendency to hide things...you know she has...that thing.

A part of you never wants to see it again. A part of you never wants to remember what you did with it, but a stray whim reminds you.

>Search for the flute
>Leave it...not now

Once out the door you give Kairi a call, and find yourself faced with her voicemail after no rings. Frustrating. You knew you wouldn’t be able to face that place alone...and both you and Kairi need to go there...why isn’t she answering.

>>38726564
When you get to the Osaka household, no one answers the door. A quick inspection around back turns up your friend splayed out in the yard on her back. There is a vacant determination on her features. She struggles a bit to bring her knees up and fold her arms behind her head. Her wavy hair is pulled back into a tight, if short, pony tail.

“A-again,” she coughs and sets off into a series of sit ups.

She is at the apex of a repetition when you wave at her from over the fence. As she goes down you jump the fence and cross the yard to her. She’s going fairly slowly, and at your approach you realize just how long she’s been at this. You reach her when she again goes flat on the ground, leaning over to peer down at her.

She lacks the usual morose aura that lingers around her, even after you’ve cleansed her of her emotional problems. Something has her in a good mood, and you are remiss that you have to shatter it.

~Kairi-chan?~ you ask with some worry, ~Are you okay?~

“Yes,” she huffs and sits up, “What’s up?”

She freezes up a bit as you explain you were on your way to...to the place where she became a monster and you thought you had killed her father. Sailor Pluto had told you, Kairi, and Midori that it was a place that needed to be revisited days ago...but then things happened and you wound up in the hospital.

>>38726564
>Search for the flute

>>38726564
>Leave it...not now

>>38726586


She leans her head down for a minute, you give her time. Eventually she tilts her head up to face you and extends a hand for your to help her up. She’s smiling. You know its forced, you know forced smiles.

“Then let’s go. No sense in putting it off any longer,”

She grabs a quick shower and a change of clothes. Ever prepared, she tosses you a military grade flashlight and loads a few heavy things into her backpack. Together, you set off to a lonely overflow basin in a mostly abandoned industrial block nearby. Your eventual destination a lonely pipe, set too high to drain off water from the basin if it floods, and not officially on any civic engineering plans.

>Ask Kairi why she was in a good mood
>Ask Kairi something else
>Don’t say anything unless she initiates conversation
>Call someone else
>Tell Kairi about Rin’s vision
>Write in

>Search for the flute

>>38726564
>>Search for the flute

>>38726611
>Ask Kairi why she was in a good mood
>Search for the flute

>>38726611
>Tell Kairi about Rin’s vision
>Ask Kairi why she was in a good mood

>>38726611
>Ask Kairi why she was in a good mood

>>38726611
>Don’t say anything unless she initiates conversation

This doesn't seem like a situation for lighthearted banter.

We need clues. We're missing a piece of the picture and hopefully between the two of us, we can figure it out..

>>38726564
>>38726611
>Search for the flute
>Don’t say anything unless she initiates conversation

Writing

Actually. Everyone queue up, we got a final destination coming up in about a minute

FINAL DESTINATION

Select the number of your choice below and reply to this post WITH JUST THE NUMBER
NO text
NO linebreaks
NO greentext
NO punctuation
NO dicerolls
Post only counted if posted within 4 minutes of this post's posting

1 Ask about her good mood earlier
2 Don't start talking unless she does

ready...GO

>>38727171
2

>>38727171
1

>>38727171
1

And I believe we are past 4 minutes.

Writing

>>38727271
ugh, my lack of 4chanx is killing me.

Opening the door, you waltz into your mother’s room. Well, waltz isn’t exactly what you do, you just walk in. Given your usual proclivities for stealth, you may as well be waltzing in. Luckily, your mother is an extremely heavy sleeper.

Hidden in the back of her closet is a black case. There is no lock, and the logo on the side indicates its proper purpose. Giving it no second thought, you grab the handles and leave.

You don’t open it as you head out for Kairi’s house.

===========

~So,~ you ask with mischievous and hopeful intent, ~What was that goofy smile on your face earlier about?~


The goal is to quench your curiosity...and bring levity to the dour tidings ahead.

Kairi is shocked out of her funk, and blushes at your question.

“Well, I-uh...you see-it was,” she claps her hands to her cheeks and shakes her head as her eyes snap shut and the smile again graces her lips, “I asked Gai out last night! It was nice!”

~Oh,~ you say completely and entirely without I’m not going to dignify that with my attention jealousy, ~That’s great news! You know I convinced Koyomi to back off after you said you were interested, turns out she had eyes for him too,~

“Oh, now I feel even worse about it,” she sighs and drops her hands...the blush still on her face.

~Worse?~

“Well...after Keiko-chan told me she thought Kinno-kun had a crush on me, I wanted to test the theory,” she laughs nervously, “So when I went out with Gai, we went to the Jupiter Cafe...that way I could gauge his reaction to seeing me out with another boy,”

>>38728078

~Oh, that’s quite naughty of you, Kairi-chan,~ you mock scold her with a waggle of your finger and try to hide your own blush as your mind wanders back to recent thoughts of your own in regard to naughtiness and K- you know what, backing away from that, ~Well, did Kinno-kun react?~

She smiles broadly and sets her hands on her hips.

“When I went to grab Gai’s hand across the table and thank him for a wonderful time, Kinno-kun interrupted with complimentary coffees for both of us,” she laughs, “It feels so good to know that now that I’m back among the living I can do stuff like that!”

You slide down the incline of the basin wall. Kairi slides after you.

~Yeah, Kairi-chan, you’re really turning heads,~ you nod firmly and try not to think of her and Gai as an attracti-CUTE, cute couple, ~So, was Gai a proper gentleman or do I need to go and be aggressively defensive of your honor in his general direction?~

At this point Kairi huffs a bit and looks down. She seems a bit deflated.

“Actually…” she droops further, “He was a perfect gentleman. No moves made, I was tempted to do something dramatic to get a rise out of him...but it didn’t feel right,”

~To be fair, he is an alien,~ you reason and pat Kairi on the shoulder, ~You think you’ll ask him out again, or he’ll ask you?~

“I don’t know,” she shifts her posture upright and punches a hand into an open palm, “but now I need to figure out how to bait Kinno-kun into asking me out,”

You nod firmly at that, and feel a sudden feeling of foreboding. Looking ahead, you see the five foot wide pipe opening. Kairi comes to a stop beside you.

“...this is really happening, right?”

~Yeah...yeah it is,~

The two of you stand there for a moment.

>Let’s turn back
>Say nothing, head in
>Say something confident and headstrong, then head in
>Grab Kairi’s hand, head in
>Write in

>>38728095
>Grab Kairi’s hand, head in

>>38728095
>Grab Kairi’s hand, head in
B-but Gai... really? Dammit.

>>38728095
>Grab Kairi’s hand, head in

>>38728095
>>Say something confident and headstrong, then head in
>>Grab Kairi’s hand, head in

>>38728095
"I'm...

I need another pair of eyes on this place. I feel like... I missed something, and I haven't been back here. since..."

Writing

Gritting your teeth and setting your jaw, you reach out and grasp at Kairi’s hand. No words are needed, and her hand was shaking. She looks at you and nods as the two of you make the quick climb into the mouth of the access pipe and begin following it into the dark.

Both of you click the high powered flashlights to life, and descend into darkness until you find a wheel locked door built into the wall of the pipe. Together, carefully, you turn the wheel and force your way through. Advancing into a large space with a concrete floor, Kairi grabs a lantern out of her backpack and activates it.

You never needed it. You can see from here the crater left in the wall by first your own impact...then Magician’s fist. There’s the tables he ran his experiments on...there are empty giant tubes that likely held his failed experiments. There is no equipment left, and an outline of tape on the ground where they removed Umino Sensei’s corpse.

PIT was here weeks ago. They cleared everything out.

You’re shaking. You don’t like this place.

Kairi likes it less than you do.

She falls to her knees at the sight of the outline. The impact echoes loudly in the bare space. You think her hear her choking back sobs. You take her hand again and wrap your arm around her shoulders. When you were here last...you were scared and alone. When she was here last...she was transformed and tortured by someone she trusted.

You kneel there with her for a while, unaware you shed tears in sympathy of her own. Kairi calms down.

>Write in

>>38728622
PERCEPTION!

>>38728923
Also try to play flute.

>>38728622
Taking a look around, maybe make an assensing roll or something.

Writing, roll me Perception

dice+1d10+5

best of 3, 1s and 20s wild

DC 20

Rolled 19 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>38729179
I hope you meant 1d20 man because a dc of 20 on a d10 +5 is fucked up.

>>38729179
wait, that's 1d20

>>38729217
It was I.jpg

>>38729241
not that it matters much with that 19

Rolled 19 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>38729179

>>38729333
I require thr-

>>38729343
...well as long as the third roll isn't a 1 we're good then.

Rolled 5 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>38729179

>>38729198
>>38729343
...the hell? O_o

>>38729379
>Missed hat-trick

>>38729385
The odds of getting the same number on two successive rolls are the same as the odds of critting.

Writing

You hold her for a while as she cries, her body blocking the ambient light from the lantern and casting shadows on the walls. It falls over the crater your body left in one of the reinforced walls of this chamber, and your ability to see perfectly well in the dark catches an odd distortion between the moving shadows as something stands before the crater, watching you. Something is still here, and as Kairi falls quiet beside you; you whisper something into her mind.

-We aren’t alone, my knight,- you hold her close and look away from the thing that doesn’t know its been seen.

Whatever it is watches from near the door. Was it already here? Either way, it is something invisible.

You are quite familiar with powers of invisibility.

What’s more...now that you are aware of its presence, you are aware of its subtle negative emotions.You don’t sense them as specifically as you once did, is this a side effect of Koyomi trying to heal you? You cannot tell if they are tainted emotions are not.

>Call out to your observer. Lie, Intimidate, or persuade?
>Do nothing, carry on with your investigation
>Cast a spell, which spell?
>Use a power, which power?
>Move into position and attack.
>Write in

>>38729845
>Do nothing, carry on with your investigation

>>38729845
Let's wait for our watcher to make the first move.

Rolled 8 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>38729845
>Move into position and attack.

Monster or Ghost? Or worse a conflicted Aiha who found us holding Kairi?

>>38729845

>Call out to your observer. Lie, Intimidate, or persuade?

Going with persuade, since it hasn't done anything yet.

Wri-

...actually looks like a 4 way FD. everyone queue up and we'll get this started.

Final Destination

reply to this post with only the number of your choice.
No text
no dice
no linebreaks
no green text
no punctuation

1 Do nothing, carry on with your investigation
2 Let's wait for our watcher to make the first move
3 Move into position and attack
4 Call out and persuade your observer

4 minutes on the clock

>>38730345
>Let's wait for our watcher to make the first move
Present.

>>38730345
>Do nothing, carry on with your investigation
and
>Let's wait for our watcher to make the first move.

Are close enough. If you want to avoid a FD.

>>38730400
>>38730400
2

>>38730400
3

>>38730400
1

>>38730400
4

>>38730400
2

Hey,

Is this thing on?

>>38731186
yes, just got distracted by foodstuffs

-We’ll wait for our watcher to make the first move,- you explain.

-Yes,- her mental voice holds resolve and duty.

Her tears dry in an instant and she reaches to your hip, to steady herself and push off of you to quickly stand whenever something happens worth reacting to.

So the two of you wait, and she offers a few fake sobs as you continue to comfort her fakely.

You sit like this for quite a while, its actually kinda boring...but you watch the visual distortion out of the corner of your eye. It moves around the room, skirting the edge and never getting close to you. It has footsteps, they are light but you can perceive them, so it must be solid. It isn’t your ghost friend. After a short while it comes to a stop near an office chair knocked over on its side.

Kairi follows your eyes, nods at you when she settles on the same space you’ve been watching. Motion flickers from the flutter of your jacket in the pale glow of the electric lantern.

Whatever this thing is, it isn’t moving now…

A chime shatters the silence of the empty space.

Your phone pierces from its place inside your short jacket. Its mildly impressive that you get reception down here.

>Let it ring out
>Silence it
>Answer it
>Just check the caller ID
>Write in

>>38731841
>Just check the caller ID

>>38731841
>Just check the caller ID

“You get reception down here?”

~Aparently,~ you shrug and slide your phone out of your jacket pocket.

Checking your phone’s caller ID, you are surprised that its around lunchtime, you see its a call from your little sister. Why is Koyomi calling you in the middle of the day.

~My baby sis,~ you explain.

Your invisible observer hasn’t made any movements. If you wanted to, you could get away with casting a spell to outline it’s invisible shape without it knowing you were the one to cast it. It waits there, in the corner next the the downed chair.

Hmm...its on the inside of the room, you could probably tell Kairi to go and close the wheel locking door so it can’t escape without notice.

>Ignore the call
>accept it
>text back, what?

&

>keep waiting
>cast a spell
>attempt to communicate
>write in

>>38732399
>text back, what?
Busy. Don't ask.
>attempt to communicate

>>38732399
>accept it
It avoids suspicion and I'm worried it's about our guest.

>attempt to communicate

So, FD in a minute.

Final Destination.

Same rules as the two other times done

1 text back
2 accept call

>>38733052
1

...one vote in after the time limit.

Calling it.

Writing

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>38733613
looks at roll.

looks at reaction chart

...laughs externally.

>>38733639
Never a good sign.

>>38733639
Famine and pestilence will befall us!

Well, best to keep up appearances, at least for a moment. You rise and turn away from Kairi, idly facing the direction of your invisible spy. Unlocking your phone, you text reply to the call from your little sister.

<Busy, Don’t ask> you reply curtly.

Hmm...you’ve been waiting in the dark with someone at your heels for more than an hour, at least. Enough of this waiting around.

-Kairi, get ready,- you think.

Putting your phone back into your pocket. What happens next could be dangerous, so you slip into one of your more subtle powers. You become no one of importance, whoever this person is you will just be a face they can’t place.

~What are you,~ you ask the empty space by the chair.

You expect silence. You are prepared for violence. Perhaps it will try to flee. It is most unlikely that whatever stalks you here talks back to you.

None of this forethought prepares you for what actually happens when you call your stalker out.

There is a sharp intake of breath. The hiss preceding an eep of surprise as whatever you face stumbles back against the wall and then collapses in a heep. As it falls, it becomes visible.

A young woman with grey skin and stringy dark hair. Her bangs are long, concealing her face. Her eyes, sunken and wide, stay open as she crumples in a heep. You’re relatively certain she concussed herself on the way down. Her clothes are ragged, and covered in strange geometric shapes. She has long fingers with unnaturally clawed nails.

>>38734053
Can we keep it?

>>38734053

Kairi is up and wreathed in her kightly attire with sword drawn before the figure hits the ground. She is to charge forward, but you raise your hand and stay her advance.

~She’s fainted,~ you explain...mildly disappointed in that turn of events.

“A monster to keep tabs on this location?” Kairi asks and curses under her breath, “Maybe?”

You are going to respond when your phone chimes again. This time to singular note to announce a text message. Pulling it back out, its a message from Koyomi. The top tells you to read when you have the time. Just as well.

You look down at your found monster, if she is one. She was nervous, and you detected a fair amount of panic when she realized she had been spotted. Still nowhere near as acutely as you were accustomed to.

An interrogation and potentially a meal.

How lucky you are.

Eclipsed Moon Quest Episode 73
End

Interlude vote
>Cover Band
>Straight Edge
>Recording Deal
>Sticky Silk

>>38734074
No it's not disgusting enough.

>>38734081
>Straight Edge

>>38734081
>>Sticky Silk
Spidered fangirl

>>38734081
>>Cover Band
Legend of Moonlight? C'est La Vie?
Enter Sandman?

>>38734074
>>38734097
What if she's the shy illusion monster?

Though I visually got a Tomoko vibe from the description.

There would be more peaches than Mikage could eat.

>>38734338
That's cool. It just seems like something small in need of a home and cuddles. Hell we're going to have to be the big girl of the house anyway. Might as well take on one more. Because reasons...

>>38734074
I bet we can go full Miki on her and condition her hair and find clothes that compliment her complexion.

>>38734081
>Recording Deal

>>38734597
Indeed.

>>38734597
>>38734981
You mean we'll spend more time doing things with her than we have with Koyomi in the past few months? Peaches must flow.

Keeping a pet monster of the week?

Man, things are going to get weird. We might accidentally become the big bad after all.

>>38735121
>Being sweet to poor mistreated monster
>Big bad

Mikage's inner bunny is shining through.

>>38735155
no, I mean more like we take over the villains machinations somehow on accident and it just becomes a freight train that we can't shut off.

"Mikage-neechan, stop this madness!"

~What are you talking about, Koyomi!~

"You have the Shintennou and the Neo Shintennou working for you!"

~Yeah, they kinda had to jump ship to my side when it came out I was the rightful queen of earth,~

"And you have all those monsters,"

~Its not my fault they started following me because I was nice to one of them,~

"You're sitting on dad's past life mom's desecrated throne!"

~Its comfy,~

"...you're wearing a crown of bones, neechan,"

~When the hell did that get there?~

>>38735252
We must make this thing happen. For great justice.

>>38735252
>>38735252
This is a non canon omake by the way.

>>38735379
The difference between non-canon and canon is HARD WORK AND GUTS!

Sigh, do I really have only 1 vote for each interview option?

Oh well.

>>38735670
I could vote twice..

>>38734081
I'll go with Sticky Silk.

Sorry for the late entry, my usual Sunday game got particularly intense and couldn't multitask today.

>>38735700
No, don't do that. Let's see if anyone else moseys in

>>38735782
Ask and ye shall receive.

>>38736381
So it would seem.

>Cover Band
Can't resist

Kinda surprised that Mikage is holding together this well at the scene of her greatest failure, tbh.

I had to step out last night, but thanks for the thread Artemis.

>Cover Band

Also sure, I'll try it.

>Sticky Silk

Tell us your secrets, plot.