who am i: jelly 17 (cw: mentions of death/identity/spoilers)

[magicurls]

[ Scene: Mami in the greenhouse, with a fluffy leaf-green hedgehog on her shoulder. ]

Hi everyone...

I wanted to let you know about something more serious. It's about who...or what I am. So this doesn't surprise you later. I guess some of you already knew I wasn't quite what I appeared to be, but I'm still processing it.



I used to watch shows about magical girls when I was younger. If you've never seen those shows before, they're about girls with magic who use some kind of gem to change into cute battle outfits, have animal friends to mentor them, other magical friends to fight alongside...and love and justice always won out. I used to dream about what it would be like to become one, though I was sure it wasn't real.

And then, when I least expected it, it happened. I was heavily wounded after a car crash, and a cute animal appeared to me. He promised me any wish I wanted as long as I agreed to become a magical girl and fight witches who trap and kill humans. So I wished to keep living...and became what I am now.

I thought I was just a regular magical girl like the ones on TV. But it turns out I'm a lich. Revenant. Undead. He ripped my soul out of my body and put it in a gem...I know that's usually dark magic. I've been reassured that I'm safe for you all to be around, Rosetta helps keep my soul gem safe. But it just feels strange, that I've been like this for a while...is all. Any advice on living with it would be appreciated.

Comments

Video->action?

[magicurls]

Here in the greenhouse is fine. Rosetta and I aren't going anywhere.

[And indeed she doesn't go anywhere. The small hedgehog continues to sniff around the grass, but she doesn't wander too far. ]

Video--->Action.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Better than the garden probably. I'll be there shortly.

[So Raven cuts the feed, and proceeds to make her way to the greenhouse car. It's not far really, so it does not take long. Nor does it take long to find Mami.]

[magicurls]

[ Mami lifts a hand in greeting. ]

Hi Raven. I guess...I'm part of a bigger club than I thought, huh. Magic's not all fun and games.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

It's a lot more complicated than many people think, and more dangerous than most want to consider.

[Raven tilted her head slightly.] Would you tell me more, about the contract and wish?

[magicurls]

All right. Well...it happened when I was on a drive with my parents, about. It must be close to two years ago by now.

[ She sighs. ]

There was a terrible accident. My parents died on impact, or so I heard. I was left alone, dying in the crumpled ruins, when Kyubey appeared. He told me he could save my life if I wished for it, all I had to do was become a magical girl. So I did. That created a contract, which transferred my soul into this gem---which as I said, he didn't tell me.

As a magical girl, I'm duty-bound to fight witches, magical beings who spread curses and try to trap humans. If I don't, I won't get the grief seeds from witches that I need to keep my gem clear---I'll eventually die if I don't.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"I can understand why you didn't necessarily read the terms and conditions of the contract." Raven said. "I don't expect it to come up now, but always read contracts carefully when it comes to magic. They're often more binding, and the wording is often full of loopholes, so you want to be REALLY specific, with them."

[Raven figured she wasn't really telling Mami anything new, but just in case.]

"Also...usually beings who don't mean you well, are the ones who use contracts. It could be simple--like in your case, you might object to being 'alive' the way you are now. But Kyubey wouldn't want you to come back to him and say that he hadn't followed the terms. He saved your life, he just neglected to be up front about how he'd do it."

[Raven, for her part, was instantly suspicious of Kyubey just from this. Omission of information in a magical binding was a common underhanded tactic. It relied upon assumptions, and leading the other person to the wrong conclusions.]

"What does a witch have to do with a grief-seed? How does it work with your gem?"

[magicurls]

"If only there had been time to ask...but I was fading fast."

One of her regrets. There are many. Mami folds her hands in front of her as hse thinks.

"Witches are...magical beings born from curses, who set out to hurt people. They draw on feelings of loneliness and despair and lure people into an invisible trap...ordinary humans can't see the witch or their barrier, so to them it just looks like they're walking like zombies in a fog. The witch then tries to kill them. It's my job to kill the witch as quickly as possible, and when they die they drop a grief seed, the shell of the core that their power came from. Empty grief seeds can be held up to soul gems to clear away the impurities, but only once or twice---adding too much dark magic to it will revive the witch."

This icon seems most appropriate...

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Oh what Raven wouldn't give to have some of her books right now... Because this was sounding like more and more bad news. How much did Mami really know? How much did she want to know?

"What impurities in your soul-gem? And can non-witch dark magic, or any magic really, help you with purifying it?"