[01:30] <@Tangent> Cassie was out in costume during the day for once. A slight, brown-haired girl with expressive eyes and an earnest look to her, her wine and cream-colored costume was almost archaic, lined with lace and embroidery. She had a satchel slung over one shoulder, and a bell quietly tinkled in her other hand. She looks up, eyes widening in mild surprise.
[01:40] <IWBTG> The girl above her that had caught her eye hadn't yet seemed to return Cassie's attention, her eyes trained off in the distance. Standing on top of a street lamp, the girl appeared nothing short of cinematic with a long crimson ponytail and equally red cloak billowing behind her with the wind. Her eyes focused, she seemed to be looking for somethin
[01:40] <IWBTG> g, her face twisted up in annoyance.
[01:45] <@Tangent> Huh. That superhero look this girl's rocking...It's pretty cool, actually. Cassie's actually kinda jealous. Shaking off the stray thought, she decides to get her attention. She holds up her bell and rings it once, a single, clear note that breaks the silence. Cassie looks up, remembering to smile at the stranger. She still looks slightly nervous...Olivia's off doing her own thing. "Hey there!" She calls up. "You...You're a magical girl too, right?"
[01:45] <@Tangent> It still feels strange to say that. "I'm Cassie." She adds, waving with her free hand.
[01:46] <@Tangent> *magical girl too, right?"
[01:49] <IWBTG> Her gaze snaps down, her focus broken. Immediately the look on her face softens to something closer to confusion. "Huh? I... Uh... Yeah, I am." She shakes her head rapidly to regain her focus before gently hopping off of the light pole and floating to the ground in front of her. She swallows the lump in her throat and puts on a confident face. Plan
[01:49] <IWBTG> ting a thumb into her chest and a smile on her lips, she speaks. "My name's Nadia... Did you, uh, happen to see a Puuchuu around?"
[01:50] <IWBTG> She sighs and mumbles to herself, not intending for Cassie to hear. "He probably just fucked off like usual."
[01:51] <@Tangent> Cassie's smile vanishes, and her expression twists for a moment. Anger. Loathing. Disgust. She takes a breath, and she's mostly calm when she replies. "Yeah...he's gone again. Little rat bastard Kyubey knockoff..." Her old self'd been dead all along and he hadn't even told her.
[01:54] <IWBTG> Her serious expression cracks into a small grin at Cassie's reaction to just hearing the word Puuchuu. As appreciative as she was for the new life, her experience with Puuchuu had been nothing but miserable. "Not a fan?"
[01:58] <@Tangent> "Ya think?" Cassie's deadpan reply is a bit more terse than she'd meant it to be. She shakes her head. "Yeah, that...thing's just messed up. Sorry about snapping at you, Nadia, just...I got some bad news, and it's kind of Puuchu's fault." She's not sure why she's talking about it at all with a stranger, even in vague terms. She pushes her hairband up, more out of habit than necessity and manages a smile. It's not too hard.
[02:02] <@Tangent> "But anyway, enough about me...Nice to meet you, Nadia. I...didn't think I was going to run into anyone else like me and..." Well, Olivia was...different these days. "Like me." She corrects herself with a flap of her hand.
[02:03] <IWBTG> Her smile fades slightly. That was a little more hostile than someone who was just annoyed at Puuchuu should be. "It's fine. Bad news?" She drops her cocky act for a moment, still inexperienced in faking that sort of persona. "What, like you let a monster get away or something?"
[02:06] <@Tangent> "I...Kind of..." Cassie mumbles, dropping her gaze. Her stomach churns as she remembers that night again. "Not really." She corrects. "Um...this might be a bit of a stupid question...but..." She's faltering, unsure if this girl's start was anything like hers. Olivia wasn't. For all she knows, she could be the only one suckered in and...well, reshaped like that. "It's...kind of complicated."
[02:06] <@Tangent> *the only one grabbed
[02:07] <@Tangent> *"Never mind...It's kind of....complicated
[02:07] <@Tangent> That, and there's no good way to say you're supposed to be dead.
[02:07] <@Tangent> "I'm supposed to be dead."
[02:07] <@Tangent> ...That was out loud, wasn't it.
[02:09] <IWBTG> Nadia blinks. "... Huh?" Maybe she almost lost to a monster? Or... Or maybe she... Nadia's face turns to worry. "Did... Sorry if this is too forward, but... Did you lose a partner?" She unfolds her arms from her chest, adopting a more open pose. Admitting to and talking about her own problems was difficult, but giving a shoulder for someone else to
[02:09] <IWBTG>  cry on was something heroes did naturally, wasn't it?
[02:19] <@Tangent> "I wish." Cassie mumbled, then shook her head. No, she didn't. O was a pain sometimes, but she'd been a good teacher and she owed her too. Even if she pecked her a lot. "No. It's nothing like that...It's just...I..I was...d-dead when Puuchu found me, and I...didn't know." Her explanation's shaky. She swallows. She's said it.
[03:10] <IWBTG> She was dead? Like, figuratively? Nadia scratched her neck lightly. If that was the case then Nadia definitely knew how much Cassie had suffered. "You were dead? How did... Figuratively? Like you would've died without him?" Either way, wasn't that something to be happy about? Why would she be upset at Puuchuu?
[03:20] <@Tangent> "Well...no...and yes..." Cassie shakes her head, still not meeting Nadia's eyes. "I...I hit...hit someone when I crashed...and Puuchu decided I was a good replacement for her...But I...My neck...and he didn't even /tell/ me what he did. I had no idea. I thought even if I wasn't /me/ anymore..." She felt herself slipping again, voice becoming thick.
[03:24] <IWBTG> Her heart drops. The realization that this hadn't been her choice finally enters her mind. "You..." She was robbed of her old life. There was no other way to say it. It was one thing for Nadia to become a magical girl. She had never wanted her old life. But someone who was perfectly happy being roped into this, becoming something and something they
[03:24] <IWBTG>  didn't want to be...
[03:26] <IWBTG> She swallows and steels her resolve. Though the two had just met, the girl in front of her was pouring out her soul. She was desperate to tell someone, anyone about her troubles. "Well, lifting the weight of darkness, right?" She mutters to herself. Nodding her head, she continues, stepping closer to her. "I'm... I can't believe how awful that must
[03:26] <IWBTG>  be."