queenofheartsrp | second bullet

[After the events of this thread, Mami can be found in the Gardens. She's become very....popular with the local wildlife; there's a fox snuggling in her lap, rabbits nestling contentedly by her feet, a quail perching on her knee and a cat nuzzling her arm.

For awhile, Mami silently preoccupies herself with petting all her animal admirers. For awhile, she focuses on them and not what occurred inside the Labyrinth, not the lurking idea that everything she saw was a horrible illusion. (She deserves for it all to have been real, so that cannot be. Never mind the sudden vanishing of all those bloodstains....) Then she reaches out to a nearby Vine, speaking to it, and the plant obliges her with a mirror shrouded in leafy boughs.

She's very tired, but still smiling- although the expression itself seems...a little less there, a little more whittled down. To those who might notice that sort of thing, anyway.]

I don't suppose this kind of behavior is normal for these creatures? Not that I mean to fuss- this is rather nice. I never had a pet before, or anything similar.

[a pause to scritch the cat, who has by now become quite persistent, behind the ears]

.....However, that's not important right now. I don't know if I was able to save the Queen. Please, has anyone heard from Miss Harlaown or her daughter, Vivio? They went into the Labyrinth with me and I've yet to hear from them.

I can only hope they're safe.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Go ahead and ask me whatever y'want♥

When I was with Miss Harlaown and Vivio in the Labyrinth, they became magical girls.

Are you also one?

Yes, that's right!

....I see. So what Miss Harlaown said was true, then.

What'd she say?

Almost everyone in her world is capable of magic. Most are mages- it's a natural thing.

There's no price to pay.

Did Fate say there was no price to pay?

She said it didn't cost anything to become a mage. That's the same thing.

That girl. She's so kind she ends up hurtin' people.

[.....]

I don't think I understand you, miss Yagami.

That kid suffered more than any of us to get where she is today.

[ ... ... ... ]

But I've got no place t'be talking about what price she paid. I can only talk about my own.

I shouldn't be surprised. No one is that kind without-

[but she cuts herself off]

-not that it's any of my business.

No, but I think I'd like to make it your business.

I'll tell you the cost of my power.

[just watches the older woman, her smile still there but small, cold]

I didn't have friends or family for ten years. My only company was a book. I felt it whispering to me in my dreams. I was stuck in a wheelchair, not able to help anyone and could barely help myself. I was supposed t'die before my eleventh birthday.

The book was a magic tome that was eatin' away at my body and was why my body was rotting away. Eventually, the book let out its evil and I was helpless as the friends and family I just made fought it and lost.

Then, from the book came a beautiful woman; she had been the one whisperin' to me all those years, the only thing keeping me from bein' crushed under the weight of loneliness and dying alone. She--

She made me sacrifice her to save me from my illness and gave me her power. Though I can feel her heartbeat with my own, she's...infinitely far away.

And as we speak, two of my family are at home dying. If suffering with loneliness for ten years, watching my family die because of their obligation with the powers they have, and...sacrificing the person I loved most in the world aren't costs, then...

--I don't like talking about all that, but hearing that Reinforce didn't...her sacrifice doesn't count, I--that's not something I can handle.

[Mami's quiet for a long time, gathering her thoughts. Maybe, too, she's silent out of respect for this suffering- something much harsher, much worse than her own.]

....perhaps I shouldn't have said anything at all.

...You're so much like Fate. That's why...

I can only imagine what price you paid.

No, I am nothing at all like your friend. And I won't belittle your own cost by bringing up mine- it's inconsequential.

[Just one more lie.]

You're just as silly as she is, too.

[ She reaches over to rub Mami's head. ]

Fate's taken you in, so you're our friend and family. And I won't be having my family make lies like that, 'kay?

[Something wavers in her face at the contact and the words- but she tries to stay strong, detached. She already opened her heart to Fate, can she really do it again?]

It's not a lie when I compare it to yours.

Suffering isn't any competition. A good girl like you looking at another person's is gonna say something like that, even if it's not true.

Fate's better at this kinda thing than I am and I'm willin' to bet you two already talked about it, so I'm not gonna pry it outta you. I just want you t'know we've suffered and so have you.

Like it or not, you're gonna be part of our family here. No one can resist the combined forces of Hayate and Fate!

[......She glances off into the distance. "Even here, there are people who remind me of you, Kaname-san."]

You two certainly are determined, I'll give you that.

'course, there's one thing you've gotta do.

Yes?

[ Hayate embraces Mami, giving her a compassionate hug. ]

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