572/Out Damn Spot!

Out Damn Spot!
Date of Scene:	13 November 2015
Location:	Plot Room #1
Synopsis:	Erin lures Mikoto into a Witch Labyrinth... but it turns out this Witch has a flair for theatrics!
Cast of Characters:	Mikoto Nakajima, Erin Takayama
Tinyplot:	Fall of the White Flower

---

Erin Takayama has posed:
It's the end of the day at Infinity University. Classes have released their students from their daily obligations. Kids pour into the halls, intermingling and laughing and chatting before branching off from the river of people and pooling into clubs or side activities. Some students leave the school entirely to go home, possibly stopping along the way.

To Erin, most of this is irrelevant. The average person is weak, nonthreatening. They will soon be food for the White Flower, and there's nothing they can do to change that.

They are beneath her notice.

Erin is sitting in the library, alone, eyes buried in a book and going out of her way to look completely uninteresting. No normal eyes could see anything particularly strange about her, though maybe no one really recognizes her, either.

There's something wrong about the library itself, however. A subtle feeling of despair, haunting the area, nagging at the mind. Those who have seen Witches before might recognize it. It's strongest around Erin, as if she were sitting directly on the entrace to the Witch's Labyrinth.

She may not want the attention of non-magicals, but she's clearly trying to get someone's attention.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
End of the class day at Infinity, and Mikoto has just gotten assigned another paper to write. So it's off to the library. She's got to get some research time in, and now's the time to do it, before she gets distracted by other matters. More interesting matters.

Ever since the White Flower turned up, she's been operating in a state of low-level paranoia. Not so much suspecting everyone around her, as being ready for an attack. She's not in a Barrier Jacket, but Carnwennan has been keeping some basic sensors active, just in case something happens.

So it isn't too surprising that she notices something wrong in the library, by the time she's picked out her third book. She's not quite sure who it is, of course, but anything generating that kind of dark energy is something to walk wary of. She spins on her heel, testing the feel of it, seeking out the direction, the source. Circling around the edge, not moving close, not wanting to be noticed yet.

Erin Takayama has posed:
Erin's eyes occasionally look up from the perfectly normal book she's holding in her hands. The title of it seems normal enough. "How to win familiars and influence ----" The last word is covered by her finger, though there's clearly the letters 'W', 't', and 'h' involved in it somewhere.

She's looking for people who are looking at her. People who are paying a bit too much attention. It's unlikely that she'll be able to overcome the ancient magic that protects people's secret identities, but her bait has been laid out.

Despite the evil nature of the Witch's Labyrinth, nothing outwardly evil seems to be happening. Erin is simply sitting in a soft cloth-covered chair, right in front of a Witch barrier.

Once in a while she looks at Mikoto, noticing her as she circles closer, but Mikoto is just one of five or six faces that Erin is currently tracking. Any, all, or none of them could be her target.

Her finger clumsily flips the page. It's not easy to notice, but once in a while her nervousness shows.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
If there's one thing Mikoto is capable of in a situation like this, it's acting perfectly normal. She's taken the time to get used to working solely from Carnwennan's sensors, and to focus her own senses on other things. She picks a book down off the shelf, paging through it, never once looking in Erin's direction beyond a single glance, one that passes her by without lingering longer than the moment it takes for one girl to decide whether or not another girl is better looking than her. And clearly enough, Mikoto is confident in her appearance enough that she doesn't need to worry about Erin that way.

Eventually she makes her way over to the card catalog, taking a few moments to look up another book, muttering something to herself about a particular author. One that happens to be on the shelf just by Erin's perch. She even takes the time to note down the catalog number of the book on a scrap of paper before heading in that direction.

And all the while, there's the slightest waver in the air high above her, near the library ceiling, as she forms tightly-stealthed Flicker Shots. The longer she waits, the more certain she is that there's something in here. And if it isn't an obvious attack...

Then it's a trap.

And the best way to deal with a trap is to ambush the trapper.

Erin Takayama has posed:
Erin is somewhere between average to above-average in looks, though it's clear that she hasn't been trying today, thus she leans a bit closer to 'average'.

Erin doesn't quite have the magical sense to detect the Flicker Shots. Stealth detection is not her field of expertise.

On the other hand, someone is getting closer and closer to her personal space, even if seemingly by accident. There's really only three reasons why that would happen. One is that it's a complete coincidence. Another is that someone has a crush on her and is about to ask her out, but all things considered that seems increasingly unlikely. The third possibility is that the one approaching is exactly the kind of person she's looking for.

Well, there's one way to find out. From the Witch's barrier, a monster suddenly pops out. It's a Familiar, wearing a black frowning mask. It's completely invisible to the non-magical people of Tokyo, but if Mikoto's a magical person she'd be able to clearly see a lesser monster jump out of seemingly nowhere and get in her face as if it planned to attack.

Jump scares are the worst.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
The thing about jump scares? They work. Even as aware as she is, as prepared as she thinks she is, Mikoto isn't quite ready for a monster to jump out of nowhere right next to her.

And psyching yourself up for it just makes it worse.

Yeah, she reacts, alright. She definitely sees it. She jumps back, out of its reach, crouching briefly as if reaching for something... then straightens. "... dude. Library. Try not to startle people like that, okay?" There's definitely something in her hand, a slender rod of some sort, perhaps, it almost looks like ivory... but there's no blade or anything to be seen. No sign of the Flicker Shots that still continue to stack up by the ceiling, ready to crush anything that poses a threat to her.

Mikoto's taken time to think about what Hana and the others said, that first night. About how magical girls go around indiscriminately killing monsters, just for being monsters. So, here's a chance. Let's see what happens if she leaves it alone. Just once. And if it does attack someone, well, she's there to stop it, right?

Erin Takayama has posed:
"It's a Library," Erin retorts, "So don't make so much noise." She says this as if she hadn't just scared the crap out of Mikoto.

The black-haired girl closes the book in front of her and stands up from her seat. Several other familiars, one by one, some of them wearing white smiling masks, others wearing black frowning masks like the first, others wearing colorful clown masks, each of them looking like some sort of ghost or spirit, made up of a transluscent sheet that seems to be rotting apart, full of moth-eaten holes.

Erin's eyes flicker towards the rod as more familiars come out and start surrounding Mikoto. None of the normal people seem to be noticing the familiars. Strangely, none of them seem to notice Mikoto's outburst, either. This part of the library is becoming increasingly empty, in fact. Is that barrier expanding?

"In any case... it seems like this is your unlucky day. Sorry about this."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto turns her head, side to side, surveying the approaching mass of familiars.

Yep. It's a trap, alright.

"Unlucky day, hm?" She fixes her gaze on Erin, relying on Carnwennan's sensors to keep track of the familiars. "That depends on your definition, I suppose." Near the ceiling, Flicker Shots position themselves, high above the heads of each familiar. Plus a few for Erin herself, of course. If these are like the usual White Flower mooks, it won't take much to dispatch them. But it isn't time for blunt force yet.

"Library's for reading, not fighting. Were you at least enjoying the book?" She does snark quite well, yes. Her stance is loose, fluid, ready to move in any direction, and Labyrinth Architect is awakened by a silent telepathic ping, ready to shield her at need.

"I'm afraid I never caught your name? Your employer introduced herself, but she didn't seem to care much about you or the other girl. I guess she doesn't care that much about you."

Erin Takayama has posed:
Erin frowns at the mention of the book. She turns it around and opens it so that Mikoto can see its contents. It was once a normal book, wasn't it? Yet suddenly it seems different, like it has been replaced, or possessed, by an evil power. Erin flips through the pages so that Mikoto can see. It's mostly images, not words. A hand holding a skull, another hand with a bloodstain, a scene with witches, a deserted island, all images rapidly flickering in front of Mikoto from the pages in the book.

The book gets no further comment before it's tossed aside... where it disappears before hitting the ground.

"My name's Erin Takayama," she offers, ignorant of the attacks being prepared overhead. The area around them suddenly changes, as the barrier expands to engulf both of them. If Mikoto doesn't escape in time, she'll see Erin standing on a brightly lit stage.

Erin looks at her fingernails. "Okay, look, I realize that my boss is a jerk. That can't be helped." A couple of familiars dance around on the stage behind her, one of them is dressed like a king, and the other a peasant. The peasant shakes its fist at the king. "If I don't do what she says..." The King brandishes an axe, bringing it down on the peasant in a gruesome display. "... it's off with my head."

A crowd of familiars, all brightly dressed, are laughing and clapping. The king and headless peasant bow before the audience. The curtains close, and when they open, Erin is gone.

Where she was standing, a large castle appears behind her. Not just a stage setting of a castle, but a full-on castle, complete with dusty ground, stone walls and ramparts, flags flying overhead. It's as if the curtain was the gateway to another world.

Her voice can still be heard, coming from everywhere. "I'm sure you know the rules here. Kill the Witch if you want to leave. Just one problem: No one has ever been able to find this Witch except for me. Many magical girls have wandered around in this maze for so long that they collapsed from starvation and exhaustion. Sometimes they drop their guard and a Familiar wipes them out suddenly. Your fate will be no different."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto applauds, slowly, as her Barrier Jacket forms around her, replacing her school uniform with the familiar blue and white and black. "Well. I do understand what that can be like," she says, letting the playlet go on. "You need to at least try. And this isn't a bad try."

She flicks her hand, and the ivory rod expands into a rosewood cane, her Jacket flaring -again- to be replaced with a pure white business suit, complete with panama hat. "This seems a bit more appropriate, don't you think?"

((Wide area search,)) Carnwennan whispers telepathically, as a dozen spheres of slight distortion form in the air, spreading out through the labyrinth.

"But, really," she continues aloud, "Isn't this exactly the sort of thing that she was ranting about? You're literally inviting me to do just what you're supposed to be here to complain about us doing. Killing witches and familiars." She shakes her head, showing sadness, looking down.

"I don't like killing." Jethri didn't, either, although she wasn't too disturbed by it. Maybe that's why Mikoto has so little trouble killing youma and such. She's a soldier. They're attacking her. She defends herself and her people. It's a simple calculus. Unless you're on the other side.

Finally, though, she starts to walk, slowly, towards the castle, one step at a time.

Erin Takayama has posed:
"I couldn't care less about her goals," says Erin's voice, calling out from... wherever she is. The source of her voice seems to change very often. "... but frankly, I don't think she cares about anyone's life but her own. This isn't a matter of morals or ethics. She's not trying to form some organization like People for the Ethical Treatment of Youma."

"Think of it like this. Mice eat the cheese, and cats hunt the mice. If things go on long enough, the mouse will eventually be caught by a cat and killed, and the mouse knows this. Even if the cat doesn't want to kill the mouse, even if the cat is just defending the cheese, the mouse needs to eat that cheese to live. Conflict is inherient in the system." Upon the stage, this story is acted out. A Mouse familiar and Cat familiar chase each other around, fighting over a wedge of cheese that has just appeared on the stage.

"But what if the mouse has a way to prevent that? What if the mouse could just kill the cat? Then the mouse could have as much cheese as it wants, without worrying about being killed by an angry cat." The Mouse familiar pulls out a gun and shoots the Cat, then helps itself to the cheese.

"At least that's the way the mouse sees it, from its own limited thinking." A large stick comes from above and kills the mouse. The cat is picked up by large hands and carried away.

"I guess I should be happy that you'll die before Hana finds out that I've compared her to a mouse... but really, that's about the long and short of it. Hana is trying to kill off anyone who is a threat to her." A familiar dressed up like Hana Shiori, the White Flower herself, appears. A Puella-shaped familiar has a gun to her head. "I'm just trying to not get killed by Hana." The Hana familiar points a gun at a Familiar dressed like Erin. "And so I have to kill off the magical girls." The Erin familiar points her gun back at the Magical Girl familiar. "All of this is just a matter of survival."

"Except for Maddy," says Erin's disembodied voice. A Madison-shaped Familiar appears, laughing and dancing around joyfully with a bloodied knife. "She's just in it for the fun."

The Wide Area Search reveals a few interesting things. The castle, from every point of view, is an actual castle straight out of the middle ages. There are some other doors that seem to exit the stage area, but each one of those doors just leads straight back to the stage. There are some clear examples of distorted space, and the stage seems to vanish once someone goes past the curtain towards the castle, however there is one minor oddity that Mikoto and all of her Wide Area Search spheres might pick up on.

No matter where you are, a book is there. It's the same book that Erin was holding.

Also, there's an army of familiars approaching the castle, as if they intend to lay siege to it.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Well," the newly white-clad mage muses. "I'd expected it was something like that. I mean, really. If she wants to not get killed, that's perfectly understandable. You don't want to get killed, either, clearly enough." She shrugs as she pads onwards, tracking the various familiars, hmming softly to herself as she surveys the castle.

"It sounds to me like there's a simple enough solution, though," she finally decides. "Bide your time. Keep in her good graces. And when the moment is right..." There's a brief projection of an image, a simple translucent hologram, of Erin turning her back while a dozen magical girls hurl attacks at Hana and Madison.

A little smile flickers over Miko's lips, as she realizes what the scan results imply, and she redirects her scan to get a closer look at the book. Nothing active, nothing that could be detected. Just tracking the visible power flows. It's an old trick of Jethri's, finding the enemy's command post by tracking the flow of communication. Useful for hunting down spy cells in a city, or officers on a battlefield... or witches in a sneaky labyrinth.

"Just ask yourself... how many of the local girls have you managed to kill, this time? More than Madison? Less? The same?"

She steps closer, near the castle wall now, eyeing the door.

"She can't blame you if you have a good reason for being tied with Maddie. At zero."

Erin Takayama has posed:
Erin doesn't speak back for a long time, but as Mikoto might be guessing, she is listening. Her silence begins at about the same time Mikoto displays her hologram. Is she thinking about it? Is she laughing at the absurdity? Is she distracted by something else?

Finally, she responds. "That isn't possible. You and your... allies? Friends? Whoever they are to you. They might be stronger than average, but nothing I've seen suggests that they're powerful enough to overcome Hana Shiori, the White Flower. No, more likely she'd just kill you, and then kill me for attempting to betray her."

Nothing in that statement was saying 'I don't want to'. It was very clearly 'that's not going to work.'

"Even if you did manage to kill this Witch? Which, by the way, you wont be able to do... Even if you managed it, this isn't even a tenth of what Shiori-san's capable of. All it'll mean is that I'll have to step up to the next natural level of escalation."

As to the subject of the death tally, Erin is notably quiet. She doesn't answer that question. How many have died since their arrival to Tokyo? If she wanted to, there's always some weakling she could just pick off, but the weaklings are never the biggest threats. All she says is: "Madison is a bit better at it. It's her passion, after all."

The book looks the same from the perspective of every Wide Area Search. Magically, powerful ley lines connect the book to the very ground, and tiny magical threads link it to every familiar in the labyrinth. Most of this is only detectable with special sensors, however. Once in a while, the book opens, showing a picture of a face. The book never shows the same face twice, but the eyes always move around on the page for a few brief moments, as if it were looking around, before the book closes again.

The door to the castle is a large metal gate made of criss-crossing metal bars. It looks both ornate and functional, sturdy enough to take a few solid hits. However, Mikoto probably wont need to force her way in, as the gate opens up for her on its own.

The enemy army of famliars is far enough in the distance that they don't need to be worried about. However, inside the castle is a whole other army of familiars, dresseed in different colors. If the other familiars are attackers, these are the defenders. None of them pay too close attention to Mikoto, though that might change if she does something.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
The trap here is obvious: Take shelter behind the walls from the invaders, and end up murdered by a 'fellow' defender. Stay outside, and fall victim to both. No, joining either party to this little playlet is simply another path to the fate Erin promised: letting your guard down around a familiar.

And that's something Mikoto isn't interested in letting herself do. Fortunately, she's patient, forcing herself to wait for the best moment to strike. Moving the hidden Flicker Shots into position. "Every Dark Lord makes that assumption, you know. That because they're stronger than one enemy, they're invincible against all. It is - I do hope you'll pardon the pun - a fatally flawed perspective."

She watches the book through her remote sensors, waiting for it to fall open and the face inside to be revealed. "Really, it's almost a rule. I could name a few for you, if you like. Look up the story of Sankt-Kaiser Obler, sometime, if you have a good Belkan history. He thought he was that much better, too. And the Centai Zel cut down his guard, rescued the princess he'd forced to marry him, and then put an end to him." More of Jethri's memory. She needs to figure out where these tidbits of ancient history are coming from, sometime. But the middle of a trap is not the place to go questioning her own identity.

Finally, the Flicker Shots are in place. She gives a moment for the book to open. "No one is invincile, Erin. All you need is a friend at your back. But Hana and Madison aren't your friends, are they? All they want from you is your ability to throw Witches at poor little girls like ... yourself."

As if she'd anticipated the imminent attack, from one faction of familiars or the other, Labyrinth Architect makes itself known. ((Defensor,)) it intones, and the blue-tinged dome of light swirls into being around the young mage.

And when the book opens, when that face is revealed, she strikes. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of those barely-visible Flicker Shots pour down from the sky at it, her mana link to them opening wide just moments before impact, flooding it with Belkan fire.

Erin Takayama has posed:
"I've heard that one before. The first one who said it was impaled on a spike wall. The second one managed to make it all the way to me before she tripped and fell into an endless abyss. The third? Ugh, I don't even want to think about what happened to the third." Erin's everpresent voice fills the labyrinth. Even Mikoto's Wide Area Search spheres can pick it up.

"I mean... I understand the logic. There's always a bigger fish, right? Except everyone always thinks that they're gonna be that bigger fish. All of them so far have been wrong, except for the White Flower, and she's made it very clear what will happen to me if I even think about turning away from her. You're just wasting your ti---"

The book is suddenly under fire, and Erin stops talking. The book SCREAMS, and the scream is LOUD. It's more ever-present than even Erin's voice, as the walls themselves are screaming. Both armies of familiars cry out, collapsing to the ground.

The book vanishes from everywhere at once, and when it reappears it is only in one place: Hovering right in front of Mikoto. It opens, revealing text. Well, it's less text and more like scribbly lines that look like they're supposed to be text, but the author has forgotten what letters are. The book's pages seem to bubble as if they were the surface of boiling water. Not one, not two, but three large, dark humanoid creatures step out of the book. Each of them tower over Mikoto, as if they were twice her height. Yet as tall as they are, their backs are hunched over, and one can even make out a crooked nose among the shadows on their face. Each one of then wears a pointy witch's hat. The book has been replaced with a cauldron of boiling water.

The three old shadowcrones each grab the edges of the cauldron and tip ot over, pouring out hot, boiling water in Mikoto's direction.

"Well, you've found the Witch...or have you? I told you before, no one has ever found this Witch before."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Oh, it isn't the bigger fish," Mikoto assures her. "It's the swarm of sharks." She watches the result of her strike, careful to observe the fine lines of mana leading from the book (or whatever it becomes as it replies) to the Familiars. And then it turns into 'Three Witches'. With a cauldron. How utterly stereotypical.

"When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain?" she quotes, directing another dozen Flicker Shots down at the cauldron.

Water pouring out at her. It's either an attack, or another trap. Taking to the air is easy enough for her, much easier than for the average Puella. "Do you know how the Centai Zel work, Erin? Wander into a region. Disappear among the local populace. Find the disaffected, the rebels, the strong of heart and mind. Teach them. Train them. And by the time the enemy knows what's happened, they've taken control of the heartland of his country." A few shots are expended against the water, to see how it reacts, as well, just to be sure. The obvious target is always a trap.

"And, Erin, the Centai Zel are here."

Erin Takayama has posed:
"So you've read Macbeth?" calls out Erin's voice. "No surprise. It's required reading in many places. But if you know that, let me explain something to you."

"I'll give you this hint: What you saw a minute ago wasn't an imminent attack against you. It was acting out a scene in a play. This Witch likes to waste time, you see."

"But if this is a play, then what part would the Witch play? The King, who Macbeth slays in his ambition? Macbeth, the Usurper, doomed to die by the hands of his own countrymen? Macbeth's wife, who urged him to act on his impulses for power? The Witches are right there, so they're not the answer."

The Wide Area Search, if one of the spheres has entered into the castle, can't really find a dead king. It doesn't find any pretenders to the throne either.

The crones back away from the cauldron as its fired upon. Shooting the boiling water just causes it to turn to steam.

"Or maybe you're a part of this play, too. The Three Witches, trying to turn me against the King, the White Flower. But then that makes me Macbeth doesn't it? I don't like being the one who dies in the end."

The Wide Area search does, in one room in the castle, find a faceless woman. The faceless woman is endlessly washing her own hands. It's a bit of a distance off, and the room is behind a locked door. However, the walls are magical and not that strong. It probably wouldn't be that hard to shoot through them.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
No further need for talking. She's made her point. She's revealed her hand, or at least part of it, as she continues to stack up more and more Flicker Shots to replace those expended. Mikoto hovers in the air above the Witches Three, watching them, paying more attention to the sensor inputs from her Search drones.

Is it Lady Macbeth? Or is she just another red herring, meant to lure a too-clever attacker into wasting their time?

There is, of course, one other key figure in the Scottish Play. And she has read it, yes, and written a ten-page report on it, too. Just last month.

She gains altitude, enough to put her out of easy reach from the ground, not enough to be entirely out of the scene, as she narrows down her targeting of 'Lady MacBeth'... and continues her search. For the other key figure, yet to show themselves, as Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane.

Lay on, MacDuff. And prepare to fall.

Erin Takayama has posed:
MacDuff is easy enough to find, once he makes his move. He... wasn't there before, actually, but now he is charging towards the castle. Macbeth is suddenly there, behind the castle gates, armed and ready to fight. He was not there a minute ago. Mikoto would've noticed, either with her own eyes or her Wide Area Search. The Witches, also, are gone.

The inconsistencies should be pretty clear to Mikoto, especially if she's just recently read it. Chronologically, for example, everything is out of order. Icons, rather than events.

But which one is the Witch? Does the Witch see herself as a beacon of morality, coming to take revenge on a mad king? Does she see herself as a king rising to power? Or does she see herself as a woman who can never clean the blood out of her hands?

MacDuff is out in the open, with an army at his back. Lady Macbeth is behind stone walls. Macbeth is here, close to Mikoto but ignoring her.

Erin no longer speaks, silently watching from wherever she is.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Find the Witch. That's Mikoto's goal, right now. Erin claims no one has ever found it before... well, duh, it's still alive. She discards MacDuff and MacBeth, once she's had a chance to analyze it. The face in the book wasn't that of a conqueror or a usurper. No, it was something else. And she'd already found Lady Macbeth: faceless.

Every witch's Labyrinth is about one thing: symbolism. It embodies the trauma the girl who became the Witch went through to become that monster. Mikoto has only a vague understanding of this, but it's easy enough to spot the key themes. She has taken her time, observed the ongoing chaos of the muddled performance, the way characters seemed to appear when she looked for them.

Just in case, she tasks a few Search-spheres to find the book once again, just to see if it turns up. Meanwhile...

"You know, Erin," she remarks quietly. "This just proves my point. Duncan died, despite being surrounded by an army. MacBeth died, despite the promises of the witch. No one is invincible. No one at all."

And then a stream of Flicker Shots slam into and through the castle wall, striking without mercy at the form of the Lady MacBeth, the one most traumatized of all the characters... the one who made the choice that caused it all.

Erin Takayama has posed:
The book is a bit difficult to find. There are many lines of magical power criss-crossing the labyrinth, looking much like the ones that were centered around the book. They can be traced back to a source... but it seems like the 'source', presumably the book, is hidden by an impassible wall. The earlier Flicker Shots did quite a number on it. If it had been the Witch, the whole show would've been over then and there.

The book is hiding. Fortunately, that turns out to not matter that much.

As the Flicker Shots burst through the stone wall and into Lady Macbeth, or rather the creepy figure that loosely resembles Lady Macbeth, the figure screams. It isn't a loud scream, like the one from the book. Mikoto can probably only barely hear it from where she is... but this isn't the kind of Witch that makes a big show of herself, is she?

As the lady crumples to the ground, defeated, the Labyrinth begins to shimmer and fade away. Mikoto finds herself in the middle of the Infinity Library, just like it was though a few moments later. No one seems to notice her yet.

There's also a black ornament on the ground, standing up on its sharp point in defiance of conventional physics.

Erin is not visible from where Mikoto is standing. With the Witch dead, she has very little to gain from sticking around. One might catch a brief glimpse of her as she hurries out of the library door. She's holding a different Grief Seed in her hands... A little something to discourage pursuit.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto wraps her hand in a buffering field, to protect it from any potential contamination. It wouldn't do to let herself be corrupted by all this, after all that she's been through today.

She wraps her shielded hand around the abandoned Grief Seed, and unless anything spectacular happens, she'll tuck it away to examine later, or perhaps to trade to a Puella she values.

She notes Erin's departure, letting a search sphere trail after her to note her path. Hopefully she's given the witch-herder something to think about.

Erin Takayama has posed:
The Grief Seed doesn't seem to be boobytrapped, and nothing particularly interesting seems to happen when Mikoto picks it up. It seems just like any other Grief Seed. If Mikoto looks closely, she can see that there is a tiny icon at the top of the Grief Seed, the twin masks of Tragedy and Comedy.

As for Erin, she looks back behind her to see if anyone is following her. She walks around a corner, vanishing into what looks like another Witch's Labyrinth. That Labyrinth seems to vanish as soon as Erin passes through the barrier, spiriting her away to who-knows-where.

Inside the Labyrinth, Erin leans against a dark red wall.

"Another failure... Am I just losing my touch?"

Looking up at a bleak, empty sky.

"Killing innocent people... defenders of justice... That's not what I wanted to do with my life... but are they really strong enough to overcome the White Flower? I'll admit they're stronger than usual, but is it enough?"

"... maybe there's a way to test it. If they pass... if they live... then maybe..."

Erin turns down the long red hallway she finds herself in, walking down the path, not really sure that she knows which way she's going.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto sighs softly to herself as she watches Erin make her escape. If nothing else, she'll have given the girl something to think about. The more doubts inside the White Flower, the more chances they'll have to break it apart from the inside.

It's kind of disappointing that they weren't recruiting, to one part of her mind. If he could get a closer look at Hana's own issues... But, well, it seems that isn't going to happen. Besides, she's already committed to infiltrating WitchHunter Arms. Maybe the Grief Seed will be useful to that project. She tucks it away, looking around briefly to be sure of privacy before dismissing her Barrier Jacket, and makes her way to the exit. It's time to brave the cafeteria's idea of dinner.