2866/Angling for Plans

Angling for Plans
Date of Scene:	01 March 2026
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	Following the attack on Rihito and the last-minute saving of his life, Coco, Rihito, Niji, Madoka, Homura, Tia, Kamiko, Hotaru, Usagi and Amy gather to the Shed to talk about how to best approach this new (old?) threat.
Cast of Characters:	Coco Delrieu, Madoka Kaname, Niji Dasshu, Usagi Tsukino, Hotaru Tomoe, Amanda Faust
Tinyplot:	An Ocean Aria

---

Coco Delrieu has posed:
On the bulletin board of the Shed:

"Hey, everyone!
I hope you are having a nightmare-free experience.
Seems like the Black Beauty Sisters decided they wanted in on that nightmare look, because they are back and all shadowy.
Somebody should have told them Halloween is long over.
I think they are out to get more power, so be careful around Tokyo, and if you see something, please let me know.
We will be running a meeting about them, so just keep an eye out for when I will share the time.
Let's meet soon!
Coco"

Coco ran a few things by the others, and a second message was soon posted detailing the exact time for everyone to come in. The sun had already started its descent for a few hours now, but there would still be a few more before it would disappear below the horizon.

When people start coming in, Coco and Rihito are sitting in front of a billboard, with a map of the larger Tokyo area attached to it, marking the place of attack, the location of the Pearl Pier, and where they got attacked.

On the other side of the board, there is another map showing the whole globe, and 9 dots showing all the underwater kingdoms (or its entrance point, in the case of Grand Ocean).

A white shirt with long sleeves has been integrated into Coco's usual outfit covering her arms in place of her fuzzy warmers, and her miniskirt and slackers has been replaced by cobalt linen trousers.

At the back of the neck, a slightly humid washcloth acts as a cover, tucked into her collar.

On the table, her hands are closed around a light brown thermos full of broth with a yellow cap, while an otter, showing grey spots on its muzzle and chest, is tossing around and occasionally biting a red plastic ball.

"So only Cora can actually understand us?", Rihito asks, extending a hand and lightly fluffing the otter's back. The animal stops mid bite and looks at Rihito with its beady black eyes. "That's right. Everyone else is from the normal seas", Coco confirms, and her hand moves to fix the washcloth a little bit.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka and Homura were both concerned about Rihito and Coco ever since they saw them last, and the fact that the anglerfish sea demons might still be out there wasn't entirely reassuring. At least Rihito was doing well again, right?

    The pair appear at the appointed time. Madoka shows up in a light blue oversized hoodie that covered so much that one could barely see the white shirt and shorts underneath. Homura is wearing a thin black jacket over a lacey black dress. Tia and Kamiko are also with them, hovering behind Madoka's shoulders.

    As they settle down at the table, Madoka compliments, "That's a cute look for you, Coco-chan!"

    Homura smiles gently at first, but she notices the wash cloth at the back of the mermaid girl's neck and slightly frowns. "Are you feeling alright?" Then Madoka notices too, and the concern in her eyes isn't hard to notice. Homura turns to Rihito and notes, "You at least seem to be doing well."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji Dasshu arrives at the meeting when it was called (or maybe only a few moments late) - coming in from the cold with a blue stocking cap on her head that her rainbow-colored hair pokes out of up front and even more behingf, a black jacket with a red-yellow-green stripe running horizontally, and purple pants that carry a blue stripe of their own downwards.

    The hat doesn't stay on long once she's out of the cold, and she walks over to observe Coco and Rihito. Madoka, who is already there, asks the questions Niji would ask otherwise, so she simply waves, attempts to regard everyone politely, and leans nearby with her back to the wall, foot occasionally tapping. She's not much of a the 'sit down for a meeting' type herself.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The message on the Shed had been concerning, but in a normal way - an expected way. Enemies who turned out to not actually be dead are kind of depressingly normal, when she thinks about it - and friends being attacked is, too. Usagi Tsukino wasn't there, when the Black Beauty Sisters attacked, but she's here now, to learn what she can to help, and share the information out, so they can all be on guard.

When she enters, it's in a pink winter coat with white fluffy trim, a scarf around her neck. Under the jacket is a knee-length white skirt, pink leggings, and white sneakers. The first thing she does upon entering is wave to everyone and offer hellos, before settling in her seat.

"It is a cute look," she agrees with Madoka, "I wish I wasn't seeing it for a meeting, but it's always good to be able to sit down for one of these."

It was always nice to have time to actually have a meeting before a big disaster, instead of just being in it.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe walked in and looked vry srs. She had done everything but paint on srs eyebrows today. She'd worn a dark jacket, a black blouse, jeans (because jeans just SCREAMED srs business). Even her lil beany didn't have any animal on it, it was just dark purple.

She was a mahou being serious.

None of the other outers had come today, because she was handling this. And she'd be informing them of what took place later, of course. But she was no longer hurt, or weak, and her cute little black and pink mittens (which she took off the moment she was inside and slid into her pocket), were the only sign she was not totally serious.

Srsly.

However, she joined Homura in the concerned look at the wash cloth. She'd had to wear something like that on more than one occasion... but she didn't say a word about it, though her eyes did go towards it. She had been there, on more that one occasion. And she knew what it felt like, to be the one who was 'sick'. To be 'weak'. To be 'delicate'. To be 'soft'...

To have others 'worry' about her...

... And she knew how much, even when you knew they did it out of care and worry... those caring words could make you feel even worse. She did pop the coat off, though, taking the hat off and shaking her head. "Hiiii Usagi-senpai!" she said, before she could help herself, her eyes lighting up when she saw the princess.

... She still had a lot of affection for the princess.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Rihito! You're doing better?" Amy asks after entering the shed. "And... nice to meet you, Cora!"

    She's not sure what else to say to an otter.

    She is otterly unprepared for this.

    Perhaps she otter have known better okay I'm done.

    Amy nods hello to the others, and as she approaches the group -- in her oversized comfy field jacket over a black T-shirt and leggings and red skirt -- notices the washcloth on Coco as well. "Is everything okay? I mean, are you okay? I mean, physically?" She touches her own neck t indicate her meaning."

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"Thank you, Madoka-chan. I am happy to see you here", Coco stands up straighter at the compliment. "I try my best to always look on point."

With people getting here, she gives a scritch to the otter on the table and gets up to indicate specific points on the Tokyo map, but stops at Homura's question, turning around with a nod.

Rihito raises his face from the otter, turning to look at Coco with thin lips. "It's just a little bit of a fever. Nothing to worry about, you know?" the blonde girl replies with a slight smirk, giving a thumbs up to the dark-haired girl.

Rihito gives a caress to her hand, then turns at Homura too. "Whatever Coco did really healed me completely. I don't even have a scar where I was bit." He is not sure how much could his life have been at risk from an arm wound, but he can only guess the Black Beauty Sisters took a lot from him.

"Hello, Niji-chan, Usagi-chan! If everyone is ready, we can get onto this map", she adds with more of that smirk. It doesn't feel right, not saying something, and she twists her hands a little bit before lightly hitting the map with an outstretched palm.

"As you can see, I have marked where the attack occurred, our location at the time and where Radiant Heart is." She doesn't know what trying to drain the school's protection would do, but the Black Beauty Sisters are probably smart enough to steer clear, especially as they currently are.

"Hello, Amy-chan. Cora is actually out making a round in the sea, to see if we can find anything. And yeah, it's just a small fever", Coco reassures her, but her smirk twitches again. "More on the situation at sea later. Any question before we focus on Tokyo?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka accepts Coco's and Rihito's explanation at face value. Surely if there was an issue that they could help with, Coco would ask, right? She smiles and nods, and doesn't visibly worry about it any more.

    Homura's response is a little reserved. She's a little more cynical than her partner, and has a bit more direct experience with people hiding problems from her. Is this the case with Coco? Who knows? Either way, it seems rude to press about it. Especially when the yellow mermaid clearly would rather talk about something else. She keeps her vague suspicions to herself.

    "Well, I'm glad you recovered so well," says Homura to Rihito with a smile.

    Kamiko floats up to the map, hovering about a meter away from it but high enough to not block anyone else's view. "Nope. That all checks out. No questions here." Madoka and Homura remain silent, content to let the small fairy speak for them in the moment. Tia sits properly on Homura's shoulder and twirls her parasol.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji raises her hand. Not that she waits to be called on.

    "Do we know what those losers are after? Or why they went after your friend?" She asks. Almost blurting it out. "I don't want anyone else to get bit, and maybe the first way to that is if you know why your friend got targeted?" She asks. "Like, he had power to drain but so does liiiiike a bunch of the students here and I haven't heard about anyone else having the same encounters. Although, it IS pretty cold out in the water right now." she says, and grimaces. "We better get them cleared out before winter wraps up."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Hi, Hotaru-chan," Usagi returns, warm and pleased - it's good to see Hotaru well and strong again, after Pharaoh 90. She doesn't consider herself very close to Hotaru, but after everything, she's glad to see the younger girl, especially since she's not the one being targeted for once. At Coco's words though, she frowns.

"A little bit of a fever can still make you feel pretty bad... let us know if you need anything, okay? Like, soup or something! My mama would be happy to make some for a friend."

That's all she has to say before they start talking business, though she quicky thrusts her hand up.

"Wait, bit? They bit you, Rihito-san?" Her eyes are huge, and she wasn't planning on going swimming in winter, but still! "It's good to see these maps, to figure out where they were, so um, I'm ready to talk about Tokyo, but do you think they're going to keep biting people?"

Do they need rabies shots,,,

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe looked relieved when Coco said it was just a cold. While she had lied herself a few times when it came to 'why' she was sick... Well...

... That was 'why' she was sick. When she was dying. Coco wasn't dying. She was just sick, and after what she'd been through? She couldn't blame her for being a bit under the weather. What happened was likely INCREDIBLY intense.

"It's good to know you're doing so much better. Whatever they did to you was... foul," Hotaru said softly. "I've had a few times where my healing wouldn't work, but that? That felt... really bad," Hotaru said.

She grinned none the less at Usagi, though. It was... fairly clear she still kind of idolized the other girl a lil bit. Especially after everything that happened. But of course, why wouldn't she? After they defeated Pharaoh 90... her other self had been entirely quiet. And she felt more like herself than she ever had.

"They were like vampires, but in the ocean..." Hotaru said. "Or pirahnas..."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's calculation is that Coco would probably let them know if she were dying or something. It could be it's a magical or mermaid disease that would be more trouble to explain than a fever and not immediately relevant, but she won't press.

    Amy nods to Usagi, "Yeah, they bit him and drained enough energy to fight us with... I guess he has latent panthalassan power or something? They seemed a bit stronger than your usual 'put some random person in a mirror let the future in the mirror turn terrible' youma, and we didn't depower them..."

    Amy looks at the map. "...So why the map? I mean, set up like we're going to add a lot of pins to it. Do we have reason to believe they're operating out of a secret base we're trying to locate?"

    She blinks. "Actually, I guess they must, huh... unless they can just like, live as fishes between attacks? Or if their human forms are sustained entirely by dark energy..." Amy shakes her head. "Sorry, I'm getting ahead of things. Um, yes, what about Tokyo?"

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco's smirk softens when she sees she isn't being pressed about it, and turns to look at Niji. "Last time we saw the Black Beauty Sisters, they were trying to steal Gaito's Leviathan and had hipnotised the Dark Lovers. He punished them right away, returning them to their anglerfish form", she explains, tapping a spot unmarked on the map.

"Thank you for having been there, Hotaru-san", I appreciate you helping me out still. "Everyone who was there", Rihito corrects himself with a slight bow.

Niji may remember it as the place Gaito's palace rose.

"Rihito is a Panthalassa like Gaito, so maybe they needed a similar power to reverse their transformation. Or it could have been all him being at the wrong place". Lifting her thermos, Coco stops to take a sip out of it. "at the wrong time. The Black Beauty Sisters were still fish at the time," she says.

Rihito holds back a breath. "It's probably my mother who was Panthalassa, if what she left in our home matters. My father is human, likely", he comments.

Coco gives him a sympathetic glance and quietly holds his arm. At his small smile, she nods and resumes. "I don't think they are done draining powers, but we are probably safe from people getting bitten. They were sort of normal, just kinda... shadowy? But they can enter Tokyo now, probably."

The yellow mermaid smiles at Usagi. "Thank you, Usagi-chan. Nikora-san gave me broth for now", Coco explains, lifting the thermos, and then smiles. "But I think later would be nice. It sounds inviting."

She then looks at Amy. "The map is so people can add places we should be guarding. I don't know where we should start, but I thought to ask if you know of any place like that."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji smirks. "I don't suppose just drawing a big line around the entire coastline of Tokyo will do it?" she says, knowing full well it won't.

    "Do you think they'll contact Obsidian, or just do their own thing? The only thing dumber than our enemies is our enemies when they put their heads together, though, so I don't know if that makes them harder or easier to butt-kick." she says.

    "But... I'll admit, if somebody made me into a fish, or I guess back into a fish, I might do some pretty crazy things to get back. I don't suppose you think they'd get their forms back and just go, I don't know, open a bakery or something normal."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka turns to Usagi at her reaction and recounts, "It was a really bad bite. It wasn't just the physical wound, either. It drained him, and Hotaru-chan couldn't heal it. It wasn't... reacting the way a normal bite should, though admittedly I haven't seen a lot of fish bites." Hotaru explained the rest of what she could say, so she doesn't add more than that.

    Homura raises an eyebrow. "Places we should be protecting? You mean like... centers of power?" She crosses her arms and also her legs and leans back into her chair. "Well, Radiant Heart and Obsidian Tower are obvious goldmines for that, but I don't think those two ambush predators are ready to take on anything like those two. There are a few other places that come to mind, though I'm not sure they could be reached."

    Kamiko scratches the back of her head and says, "Um, well, I should probably be careful. My Labyrinth isn't entirely under my control, and that can introduce several weak points that I might not even know about. Henshining into Hope Concept makes it easier to protect, but considering we don't know exactly what they did or can do... I'd want to be careful about that."

    With a smirk, Homura comments, "A little hard to pin your location to a map though, considering how much you get around."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Ocean vampires? Piranha? Draining people by biting? No thanks! Usagi shivers unhappily at the very thought, and frowns in concern the more she hears. She doesn't Rihito's story, but it sounds as thought he can't simply ask either of his parents about this, and she doesn't want to poke any sore spots. Instead, she purses her lips in concern, and glances at Rihito thoughtfully.

"Has anyone scanned you, or anything? I mean - it looks like you're better now, but if they did something that couldn't be healed... maybe there's still like, trace evidence or something, and Mercury-chan or Rashmi-chan or someone can help find something to give us clues. It might not help us figure out what they're doing but it could help us figure out what they did?" It's an idea, and she won't take it badly if it's not a good one - she's used to having bad ideas, anyway.
R
But at the thought of centers of power...

"Hmm... well... I don't know if it's a center of power, but, uh, we Senshi kind of have a secret base at the arcade? I don't know if it's actually at the arcade, or if the arcade's just the convenient entrance to the pocket dimension, but, um - not the point! The point is, if they're looking for places with magic, it might count?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh right, Hotaru's healing didn't work. That's... concerning. How, then, did Coco... Something to ask about later.

    "Well not just fish. Apparently still magical intelligent fish..." Amy glances at Cora. Oh right. "...although I guess that's not actually unusual, after all."

    She nods in agreement with Dasshu-san: She would rather not be a fish.

    Places they should be guarding? "I don't know of any... I mean, unless this gets into finding the leylines at old shrines or something, and then other people'd know more. For concentrations of people, Comiket's right before New Years'..."

    She looks curiously at Madoka. "Targetting you through exploiting odd properties of your Labyrinth sounds awfully esoteric, though. Something to worry about from an enemy with some sort of special connection to or knowledge of Witches, or an assassin targeting you, perhaps, but it doesn't sound like something they can just stumble into, is it?"

    She looks back to Coco. "Oh yeah, has Mamoru scanned you?"

    The Senshi have a secret base at the arcade. "You what." Amy is just trying to imagine like... where? How? "Like... in a pocket dimension...? Or a secret extra floor everyone magically doesn't notice, even us...?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a frown as she looked at the map. "I could reach out to Riventon-sempai... but... I'll need to phrase it the right way. If I do it wrong, he'll try and steal the power himself. He's really smart... but also really dumb sometimes," Hotaru said with a sigh. "But if I did it right, he'd tell us if they reach out to Obsidian so we won't get blindsided."

"But... he does try really hard *to* do the right thing. And he'd likely be able to let us know if they reach out to Obsidian, at least. Other than that, the ummm... gates of time? But those aren't really a place... And then there's the glaive, but... that's more... me. And... I don't know if... that really counts... I don't think I really know any-pl-- OH!" She did pause, loking and.... "Okay, yeah, I think Grand Ocean is there? La Mer's. Yeah. I don't think I have any, then. Sorry. I'm sure others will be able to add other places, though."

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco laughs slightly at Niji's joke. "I am sure that with your speed you would be able to travel around really quickly and deliver any message we might need in a second," she suggests. Would they need that? Who knows.

"I don't think we need to worry about Radiant Heart or Obsidian being under attack. And them making allies..." Coco hums and takes another sip out of her thermos. "I don't they will, but I can't swear by it. They are probably more focused on working on their own, if Gaito's event burned them badly.

Overall the better thing, even if it makes them hard to find. She doesn't want to think what they could be doing at Michel's service. Maybe steal his winged servants' chances. That would be nice, and she could see it.

Coco's eyes widen. "Is that possible?" She knows they cannot just ask Madoka to be Hope Concept all the time, but still... That's a really big problem. She has to think what to do there.

Rihito's holds his chin at Usagi's question. "Well, I don't really feel anything, but I don't have any special perception, so they could find something. But it's just as likely Coco's magic washed it all off."

When Usagi reveals the secret of the Arcade, Coco hums surprised. She would have thought any secret base would have been on the Moon, not this close by. With a flick, the mermaid puts a pin at the Arcade. "We need to pay attention to it then, even if it sounds well protected."

"This otter is not intelligent", Coco explains to Amy when she gazes at it. "Only Cora is." It doesn't stop her from helping out in her own way, though. Her mouth opens slightly when Amy wants her scanned, and there is a return of that nervous smirk. "Me? Why should I be scanned?"

At Hotaru's mention of Grand Ocean, Coco flips the board, revealing the other map. "These are where our Seven Kingdoms can be found, plus Grand Ocean and the Kingdom of Giant Squids. We are trying to get into contact with everyone, since the Black Beauty Sisters might attack there too."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji sees the wisdom in Amy's suggestion - she might not be book smart, but she's street-smart. Sometimes. "Really, both you and Rihito should be checked. Rihito because of the bite, and you because your magic interacted with it. It seemed to resist Hotaru's healing and who knows what other kind of nastiness it might have carried with it. Like... better safe than sorry, right?" she suggests.

    "And look, there's a limit to how far I can run normally - but if it comes down to it, to protect my friends, I'll do whatever it takes." she says, crossing her arms and noting that firmly. "So if there is anything you need... let me know, I'll figure something out. I honestly... haven't tried flying for distance over speed yet." and she sounds like she might find that boring, but for her friends, she'll endure a little boredom.

    "Okay but can I just say the arcade has to be the coolest place for a secret lair? Like, is there an arcade machine that swooshes back into a stairwell when you push the right keys?" she says, her eyes a bit bright at the concept. "I mean, at least it's not a kareoke bar or something. Can you imagine the noise? Yeesh."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Homura notices the exchange about scanning Coco, and especially Coco's reaction to it. The black-haired Puella's response to this is to close her eyes, look away start playing with her own hair. It's true that not everyone wants a checkup over every little thing, but... well, Homura is a suspicious girl, and Madoka's starting to pick up on her girlfriend's body language. They exchange glances for a moment, as if having a brief silent conversation.

    'What it is?' 'I'll talk about it later'

    To Amy and Coco's questions, Kamiko shrugs and says, "I wouldn't underestimate what someone could stumble into. Weird stuff happens by accident all the time, and esoteric doesn't always mean inaccessible." Then the divine fairy floats over to Madoka's shoulder and rests on it.

    Madoka reaches up to scritch Kamiko with her finger and says, "So it seems as if they're trying to regain power after Gaito took it from them, and also they're working alone. I also kinda doubt they'd stop if they thought they could get even more power."

    Homura comments, "It depends upon whether or not they have a specific end goal aside from 'more for me'."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Last time someone attacked Obsidian, I don't think it went well for them..." Amy mutters.

    And then Coco... "You have a terrible poker face. Whatever happened to Rihito resisted Char-- Saturn's direct magical healing, and you did something that healed it and now you're sick? If you like, transferred it to you, it should probably be looked at by a healer, it's magical. And... maybe Rihito checked out too, incase there's anything lingering." Plus, reading Rihito thinking about the experience might also reveal information.

    Amy looks at the map of the seven... nine kingdoms. "Great. Against just the two... do the mermaid kingdoms have any magical defenses at all? Or just your mother? I guess if they had their own magical girls, Laura wouldn't have come looking-- right, the other princesses. But any of them standing against the two alone..."

    Amy winces at that thought. Coco has more battle experience than any of the others, surely, and it took everyone there to fight the Sisters off.

    Dash has some lighter thoughts, at least. "She's right, that's pretty cool. An arcade lair..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Hotaru makes a suggestion that Usagi is immediately :I about. She understands that people love her brother-in-law in spite of all his nonsense, but given that his latest nonsense involved almost killing her husband she's lost all sense of patience for him, or getting his help ine ven the most circumspect ways.

"I don't think we should mention this to him unless it becomes necessary. He might think he's trying to do the right thing, but his idea of the right thing isn't ours - and there's always a chance that he'll just decide the 'right' thing to do is drain the power so he has it, before the Sisters can get to it."

Despite being the princess, she can't just order Hotaru around, and she wouldn't - but she can make her own position known, before shrugging and visibly softening up at Amy's astonishment and Niji's mention of how cool it is.

"Yeah... it's kind of private, and also mostly just a computer room and endless mood-setting sky, so I haven't really tried to bring anyone, but, if you go to a certain ...Sailor... themed game and know how to activate it, it will drop you down a slide right inside. But like, it's definitely some kind of pocket space, because it doesn't have walls, it's just pillars and floor and the endless sky and clouds around it."
r
It's cool, actually. It really is. Sometimes she loses sight of ways that magic can be... cool.

Amy's direct position has Usagi turning her eyes to Coco -

"Coco-chan, if you have reasons to keep it quiet... I mean, I'm worried, but I trust that you wouldn't just, lie to us about being okay. So... I think you should get checked out, but none of us can make you. Just like we can't really protect all of these kingdoms, but we can take care and try our best to be ready."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded along, looking more relieved when it seemed that the mermaid kingdoms would be safe, yay!

"Well, better safe than sorry is probably better. And... yeah. Coincidences are dangerous," Hotaru said.

"But if they only end up going after places, and not people, that'll at least be easier to defend. How many magical places could there be?" Hotaru asked.

She then blinked, paused, started considering it... then looked at the map, frowning.

"... Actually, maybe this could be pretty hard... also... an arcade lair sounds awesome..." Hotaru whispered.

Usagi's opinions on involving Riventon were... well... Fair. She nodded. "Honestly... you're probably right. He's... going to probably notice something is going on, though," she said softly. "He's always watching everything. Directing him in the... slightly wrong direction might be better than letting him go off on his own. He has a lot of projects, so long as he thinks it doesn't need his immediate attention, he'll get distracted and focus on something else once it stops blinking. He's not the only one who needed a HDD."

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"That sounds great. Thank you Niji. If you need any help just tell me, and I will see what I can do." She can't keep up with any of Loyalty's techniques, but she could restore her stamina if they found a way to set her at specific rest points. It could make the experience a tad less boring, but wouldn't it defeat the point of going fast?

Coco raises an arm in front of her as a shield, looking at Niji and Amy both, and she jumps slightly when Usagi joins in. She really didn't want to get this out, especially since there is a lot she isn't sure about.

"Well, I don't want to worry you. There is a lot of things I don't know" she confesses. "I didn't take on Rihito's wound. That part was true. I just paid a price for it, one I don't really know about." She bites her lips.

"The Yellow Pearl is part of myself. I can never willingly give it up, or else I will fall to misfortune. But this allowed to put all of my feelings in it, and heal Rihito completely. You would have done the same, right?"

Rihito stands in the background with a dark face. He had already guessed some of it during their last talk, but to know the truth directly from here like this... His shoulders fall inwards."I will just find a way to make it better, and we won't have to talk about it ever again", Coco says.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Amy just comes out and says what Homura was thinking. Her intention was to pull Coco aside after the meeting and ask her more privately, but apparently they're having this conversation now. Madoka glances at Homura, then Amy, then at Coco. "You know, come to think of it, you weren't looking so well after the attack."

    So... Coco really was hiding something. Naturally, Homura noticed. When she hears the explanation...

    The raven haired Puella takes a deep breath in, and then lets it out. After a pause she says, "Yes. I would have. Without question, and I know for a fact that I wouldn't regret it, either."

    Madoka blushes for a moment, and then shyly laughs. "Eheh... I mean, I guess I would, too."

    "But..." interjects Homura, "Hiding from the consequences will not make them go away. The truth is still there, whether you acknowledge it or not. I can understand if you don't want to share every detail of your life story, but you're our friend and we do worry about you."

    Tia frowns, and then floats up to Coco. "Wait wait wait. Homu-chan isn't asking, but I am. What exactly do you mean by 'fall to misfortune?'"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "Well, in the meantime I'm going to step up my beachside patrols. I can cover ground in Tokyo faster than anybody. Not so much underwater, but at least the coast and any more boats." Niji says.

    But when Coco says she paid a price, Niji frowns obviously unhappily. "Well, if you don't know the 'price' you paid shouldn't we be trying to find that out as soon as we can? Nobody's ever returned to play the next game by just avoiding medical care. As my teammate, if you're hurt or sick, it's my responsibility to make sure you get care before you go back on the field." she says, taking a few steps forward.

    "I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but when it comes to this sorta thing you can't just make it go away by pretending. That's how little injuries end sports careers, and I bet it's the same on some level for merfolk!" she says. And she nods when Homura says similar things.

    "Hiding from stuff just means you're not prepared to fix it. I'm not cool with you doing that, Coco-san." she says, reaching out to try to put her hand on Coco's. "And whatever's happening - you can count us on while you recover."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy listens, and nods. It sounds like the sort of power some of her friends might have -- the Silver Crystal, for example, which Usagi doesn't fully know how to use but which somehow, sometimes comes through when she needs the world to change -- so it's not out of nowhere... but as Coco notes, she paid a cost and she doesn't fully know what it is. "Are you... what do you know about it?" She looks between them. "And why do you want to never have to bring it up ever again?"

    She double-takes at Tia. "Wait... I thought you meant you used it in a strange way... you gave up the pearl?"

    Amy blinks.

    "...'Oh.'"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe went still when she heard what the cost of giving her pearl over was. "It... If you give it up... you fall to misfortune?" Hotaru asked. "So you'll have bad luck from now on? Or... you won't be able to henshin anymore?" Oh, now she definitely looked worried.

"... You can run that fast?" she asked, looking at Niji with wide, amazed eyes. "That's so cool..." she whispered.

Her focus then shifted back to Coco. Sacrificing her pearl to save someone she cared about... that, she understood. And heck, it even made a lot of sense to her. She knew more than a few people she'd have... done the same for. Even if she wasn't Sailor Saturn, she understood that, sometimes, sacrifices had to be made.

But... "If we find your goddess, can we like.... negotiate for a like... reprieve or... something? To undo it? Or... does it not work that way?" she asked.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I think... it depends on what counts as a magical place... I mean, there are a lot of shrines and temples and graveyards, even without the base in the arcade or Kamiko-chan's labyrinth, or any of the rest..."

She is feeling the same problem that Hotaru is realizing, and tips her head back and sighs, deeply, from her core.

She's still got her head tipped back when Coco finally begins to explain, and she closes her eyes and doesn't look.

"I would have done the same thing, Coco-chan," she finally agrees, "But I think... whatever this misfortune is... you don't have to find a way to make it better all by yourself, you know? We're your friends, and we want to face it and fix it with you."

It's Coco's choice, and it's Coco's consequences - it's what she chose. But standing by her side, to see it through with her... is what they would like to choose.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco looks down to the table when Madoka and Homura express both solidarity and worry over her decision. It's not like she did not expect that, but they have much bigger worries right now, and she is sure she would have managed. One way or the other... She really didn't want it to get to this point, but she never was any good keeping her own secrets.

"Sorry", she murmurs, and gives a brief look at Tia. "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and I don't even know the exact consequences myself, so we don't need to focus on this, at least while the Black Beauty Sisters are still around." She gives a smile to the group. "I am basically just repeating what I was told myself."

She talks with more assurance once Niji suggests medical care. "I am taking care of myself! But I cannot afford to wait to get better, no? This is my responsibility too."

The blonde mermaid looks at Hotaru next. And I don't think this is something Aqua Regina can fix. She already has little power normally by herself. I think it would require a miracle for her too, maybe. But I can still transform into Yellow Pearl Voice as normal. That hasn't changed."

She winces when Niji expresses her disapproval. "Sorry." Even if she is not sure she wouldn't do it again if the situation presented itself. She lets the rainbow-haired girl take her hand. "Thank you, Niji-san. For your patrols too. And I don't intend to sneak off to fight the Black Beauty Sisters by myself. I wouldn't be able to even if I were in shape."

She raises both arms as soon as she sees her phrasing got out of hand. "Let's stop, take a step back! I just meant I am not really supposed to separate from it willingly. It can be stolen, and I would suffer no problems besides not being able to use most of my powers, but it is letting go of part of myself. It's not really normal, either, and I can't say I know what will happen next."

She looks directly at Amy now. "I don't regret doing that, though. Rihito wouldn't be here if I didn't, and finding a solution to my problem is much easier." She holds back the doubt that might not actually be the case. "Once we can fix that, there won't be a problem again, so we can leave it behind us", she clarifies.

Rihito frowns, and squeezes Coco's other hand. "Listen to them, ok? Or I will tell Nanami-san, and I promise you she will nag at you even more."

Coco's eyes sparkle slightly, and she bows slightly with her head. Somehow, that threat is... "I don't want her to get angry, and I care about having you by my side, so I will let you know if something comes up. Thank you, Rih."

She smiles at Usagi. "Thank you too, Usagi-chan. So, I guess we should keep watch around shrines and our kingdoms then?", she asks her, trying to get back to the main subject. "Do you know any especially magical shrine?" At least she can take assurance that the Black Beauty Sisters don't have the power to leave the planet.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Tia hovers nearby Coco while holding her parasol in both hands, looking concerned. She doesn't like where this is going or what's being implied here, but it's also very clear that Coco doesn't want to talk about it. She glances towards Homura, who seems to have similar thoughts on this matter.

    Madoka pets the divine fairy resting on her shoulder, and then reaches over to take Homura's hand while looking at Coco and feeling a vague unease about this. Homura glances back at Tia, and then at Coco, before closing her eyes.

    "Let's not continue to pester her," says Homura. "Coco, you have been our friend for a long time. If there's anything we can do to help you, you should let us know. With that established, I'd rather not have any more incidents where evil singing anglerfish bite us or our loved ones with incurable wounds."

    Madoka glances to Homura, and then to Coco. She decides to also drop the subject, since Coco clearly wants to focus on something else and also whatever the Black Beauty Sisters are up to. "Well... defending Kamiko's Labyrinth should be easy enough, if that comes up. If they wanted to try something there, they'd likely have to get in while we were using it as a Barrier."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji nods at Hotaru. "Speed is kinda my main thing. Some people get laser beams, though, so..." not that she's still a little bitter about that or anything.

    "Alright, well, I think everybody's harped on you enough and all of that, just make sure you don't forget there's a ton of people that care about you, too, and you can count on us to help." she says to the mermaid. And moves back a little bit, giving her and Rihito a little more space to be close. She can read rooms!

    "But yeah, with everything going on this is one more thing on the pile, so, what's the best way we can help clear this one up?" she asks.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's 'Oh.' of realization is followed by another 'Oh!' of releif, when Coco clarifies that she did not lose the power of Yellow Pearl Voice. Still, she looks a bit confused, wondering: what did this change about Coco, exactly?

    And then she looks around the room, tapping her chin. "I'm trying to remember if anything on the flash drive indicated leyline places they might attack... Riventon and Kagayami-san are basically trying to dig a canal between their reserve of dark energy and... wherever it needs to go to enhance the Fade. So the Black Beauty Sisters probably aren't going to go for the same targets. The only important magical place I remember offhand is the Hikawa shrine."

    "...If the Senshis' power comes from planets... they can't really reach them, and I'm not sure what 'attacking the Earth' would look like when they live on it too... Pretty Cures' come from a god or something, and we just have our own souls..." She holds up her hand, palm towards herself to show the ring.

    Amy looks at the minidokas. "...I guess they could try to snatch chara?" Amy frowns at that thought, remembering how they talked about going on their own little adventures sometimes...

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was... definitely concerned, to put it lightly. However, one thing was certain. If her friend wouldn't be here anymore... Well, Hotaru understood. 'Giving up a part of one's self', no matter the rosks, to keep someone they care about around? That was something she could see a lot of people doing. And there were even a few people she thought she might do it for.

Wait, no, she shouldn't think like that. Saturn would probably snap at her if she tried.

And once they got what was taken back, everything would be all okay again, right? She was sure of it. And there was no reason for them to keep nagging on her, if there was a clear and easy solution to fix her...

"So I guess we.... can maybe try and lay bait, even?" she asked. "!!! Like FISHIES!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"There's the shrine in the Forgotten District, too," Usagi says, after giving Coco a long, assessing look. She seems okay, for now, and she doesn't want them to keep worrying, so she'll try not to, even if it is... worrisome, maybe? A little. "Soryuu Shrine. It's where Hematite made his last stand before he was Mamochan again. That place was purified, but it's still - melancholic? Magical, a little, I think? Everyone still seems to forget it's there, at least."

Which is something, even if it's not the magical power house it could be.

"Hikawa Shrine is where my friend Rei-chan lives, and I don't think it's magical by itself, but... one of those points that the Shitennou were using, to try and corrupt the city back then is there so... maybe there's something they could try to reach?"

She makes an apologetic face.

"Sorry, Ami-chan is better with that kind of stuff than me."

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco's head snaps towards Madoka. It did not occur to her that Kamiko's Labyrinth could ever be in danger. She is in fact so used to thinking of it as a Barrier that it did not occur to her that it would be just like other Witches' Labyrinth.

It's a good thing that at least Madoka is confident they can't just enter at anytime. "Thank you, Madoka-chan, that's actually, a huge relief." She gives Madoka a thumbsup, but quickly changes course of action once she feels her washcloth slipping, and her hands hurry to the back of her neck, fixing it into place again.

"Attacking the Earth?" Coco repeats confused at Amy's worry. "I don't think they are trying to destroy it. They live here just as much as any of us, and I am sure they would be more interested in ruling it than breaking it completely."

She scoffs lightly. The Black Beauty Sisters have already given them enough trouble. They were not getting close to either.

"The patrols you have suggested work just fine, Niji-san", Coco tells her. "And I think we could look at Hikawa Shrine to see if there is any power they can take then?" But she thinks there is already a Sailor Senshi stationed there, and at least Usagi would be warned if someone evil approached.

Coco's mouth opens for a few seconds when Usagi just reveals the name of her friend. "Oh, so, the Shrine could do that, huh... Could they use it to take from Tokyo all at once?" She severely doubts that, but nothing is wrong with asking.

She purses her lips when Hotaru gives her suggestion for a trap. "Or... that. Pretty fitting for anglerfish, that much is certain. But there are many risks in that... you know for sure, right?" Her voice lowers a little at the end as she feels a brief spike of her fever, and she shakes her head.

Even if it is not nearly full, the blonde girl gives a smile at Rihito when she notices the transformation of his glance, and turns to Amy once she sees her boyfriend nod. "That's true, but would they notice Madoka's Charas? They are small, and it's easy to mix different magic together."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "Speaking of Riventon and Obsidian and destroying the Earth - Gaito was part of Obsidian, right? Do you think the Sisters are working for them, with them, or just doing stuff on thier own?" Niji asks.

    "I dunno about much, but, I think I remember Kirara-san saying something about shrines often being near magical points. But, I might be wrong - she can kinda go on and on and sometimes I fall asleep midway through a lecture." she admits, rubbing the back of her neck apologetically. "But that seems right if they've already been places the bad guys have tried to start trouble before."

    "I probably can't say much about who would notice what, but I know if you plan a trap, all you gotta do is let me know and me and A Bat Named Friendship will be there to help." she says giving a thumbs-up.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks. "Oh right, Soryuu shrine... I definitely remember them attacking the Hikawa shrine too, it was, uh, Zoicite? When he was evil. It was one of the first times I came over to study with you guys."

    She blinks at Coco. "Ah. By attacking Earth, I more mean, if they're hoping to go after the sources of our magic... well, I don't know what that would look like, in Mamoru's case. Maybe working with the Nightmares to mess with him."

    Use a shrine to take from all of Tokyo at once? "I don't think it works that way. Although... if Obsidian makes their connection... maybe Obsidian Tower, or for that matter, Clover Tower? I don't... know, about channeling or reaching or using that kind of magic. I've never really felt like I could draw on external power, except Dark Energy or when Rashmi's spells or Mamoru's magic gave me a bit of a boost... but those latter cases were all pretty limited. I don't think I can like, draw from anyone to do some big magic without draining my soul gem, although your song and the Silver Crystal and Mamoru's magic seem able to lessen the drain a bit..."

    Amy blinks. "So, maybe that'd be more something to ask Hinoiri, or the Candidus Cordus's geomancers about. They must have known something in order to design the towers..."

    The charas are small. Amy blinks. "So is my Soul Gem, and it's a source of power. Speaking of the idea of baiting them though... do we have anything like that? We destroyed that gem of dark power we got the other day, though..."

    Amy closes her eyes, hand still held to chin. "I've never heard of anyone here putting magic in a gem, but maybe Hinoiri would know how, and... maybe we could get something that stores magic from KiraKiraFantastica? Or alter one of those Belkan Storage Devices? To store enough power to attract them as bait."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Homura frowns at Coco as she watches the mermaid princess's symptoms. The slipping washcloth, the lowering of her voice... Clearly this woman is ill, perhaps moreso than she's letting on. After just now telling people not to pester Coco, she finds herself getting more worried. Her eyes go to Rihito for a moment. He, by all outward appearance, seems like a reliable man. Does he have a way to contact them, if Coco is unable to do so?

    Just because Homura doesn't want to overwhelm or distract Coco, that doesn't mean there's nothing here to be concerned about...

    On the subject of them going after minidokas, Kamiko crosses her arms and says, "I mean, we gotta watch our backs all the time. That's why we minidokas aren't allowed to run off on our own. We gotta use the buggy system."

    Homura corrects, "Buddy system."

    Kamiko blinks. "Oh! That makes more sense. Anyways, whether or not they'd notice us would depend upon who they're working with and if they're looking for us specifically. Easter would probably know how to find us if they wanted to target us."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"No, no I don't think so," Usagi answers, thinking it over, "If they could do anything from just one point, they wouldn't have needed to attack so many to begin with."

She considers it carefully, and then,

"Rei-chan would probably help us look around there... and I mean, technically, there's shrines and temples all over the place, but there were others the Shitennou went after when they were still with Obsidian that we could look at..."

She hums, thoughtful, and adds, "They might not notice Luna either, or just think she's a regular cat. She could spy too, if we found them first, but that seems like a big if to me. But if she went with the Minidokas, she could give them a ride, or even hide them if she turned into her human form."

At the mention of gems, she reflexively clutches her broach, then says, "Sunbreaker made fake silver crystal gems, and I think she could put magic in gems, but I don't know if Hinoiri till can, or if that was Dark Energy letting her use some of her KiraKiraFantastica magic?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe went suddenly very, very quiet. Her eyes focused on Coco, a look of concern on her face. She'd been there herself more than a few times and knew exactly how it felt to struggle at that point.

To be tired, exhausted and trying to keep up the conversation as others kept going. Just because she didn't feel anything like that now didn't mean she didn't understand how it had felt once. "Coco-san, let us know if we're pushing too much, okay? Or if you need a rest or something to drink or anything, please?" she said.

Then glanced to Kamiko...

And imagined the charas using a buggy system. And it was adorable, them in their tiny lil buggy mobiles, nyooming around at high speeds, skidding along in packs of 2 or 3, in tiny lil colorful mini-buggys...

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"Your Soul Gem is connected to you, and the Charas aren't using their magic for anything eyecatching." Coco sits a bit straighter on her chair, with a low hum in her voice at Amy's surprise. "But if you think that actually makes a difference, that's better."

She takes a deep breath. "One ambush was enough. I don't want more. If you wanna be bait, you should be protected really well. And- ok, let's keep the shrines as high priority."

Rihito's dark grey eyes look into Homura's as she seeks his, and contrary to Coco's, not much at all can be read there. He gives the dark-haired Puella Magi a nod, at least. He is staying at Coco's side, so even if he can't tell what exactly Homura's concern is, she is not being left alone.

Coco slightly chews on her lips, focused on her own thoughts when the mood seems to turn down, and not so much on any specific show of concern. She knows they are worried, but what can she do to really calm them? Maybe if she just opens her thermos and lets the smell wander, they will understand she is taking care for real, and not just trying to placate them?

That seems like a good plan, she thinks. The blonde immediately brings it closer and uncaps the bottle, with the distinct smell of chicken broth released into the Shed.

"Fake gems holding magic, we were saying, right? That seems a much better plan to me than using one of us as bait", she gives a smile. "And if you want to drive over those water demons, that seems good to me, Kamiko-chan", she jokes.

"But if Gaito were working with them, I don't think they would, see, be shadows", she considers to Niji.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "It was just a wonder. I'm not sure if they're more or less of a problem if they're working on their own. Obsidian gives them support, but maybe also keeps some of the crazy at least a little in line more than if they're on their own." The rainbow-haired girl thinks aloud.

    "But yeah, if we can trick them into going after something that's not a person that'd make things a lot easier. I don't know if Kirara-san can still do that, but it's not exactly something we talk about a lot. I can ask when I see her though." she says.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The... buggy system?

    The chara of the Goddess of Puella Magi, everyone! Amy sweatdrops.

    "Uhh. Well. I wonder if you might need the protection of more than another chara, if you were attacked by the sisters, though."

    She looks back to Coco. She smells chicken soup but doesn't think anything in particular of it. Hot soup is good but it's not medicine. Although it's still unclear what Coco's condition actually is.

    "I wonder if there's a way to collect dark energy into something without touching it ourselves..." Amy shakes her head. "Probably a bad idea."

    She looks thoughtful. "...I wonder if they sense power they can use, or only magic power? Would they go for a grief seed? Although, if they somehow got away with it and did figure out a way to draw on it... That seems like it could go badly so many ways. But also Obsidian would've tried it by now."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Homura's silent judgement seems to give Rihito a pass, and another glance at Coco's brave face convinces her to drop the topic for real. The yellow princess is not particularly known for irresponsibility or recklessness. Quite the opposite in fact.

    "I agree," she says. "Acting as bait is dangerous. If we're going to set up an ambush, whatever we use should be disposable and possibly rigged to explode."

    Kamiko considers for a moment, "You know... none of us minidokas have to be bait. I can have one of the Familiars do it." Then to Amy she says, "Yeah but the other minidoka isn't there to do the rescuing all by her tiny self. The other minidoka is there to spot the other one getting in danger and then call for help."

    The divine fairy scratches her chin at the thought of running the Black Beauty Sisters over, mistaking the joke as a serious suggestion. "Um... well they're a little big for that, but I bet we could drown them out with car horns!"

    Madoka laughs and says, "I think she's joking, Kamiko-chan." On the topic of Gaito, Madoka nods. "Yeah. He could have probably fixed that himself if he wanted to. Plus I kinda got the impression that Gaito doesn't really want to be involved in this stuff anymore. He's probably not a lead."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Gaito might have an idea of what they could be after, aside from power, though?" Usagi drums her fingers on the nearest desk, thinking. "He worked with them before, so maybe he'll have something to share?"

The idea of fake gems instead of anyone playing bait works for her - it works very well, for her, in fact, given that she'd much rather no one be at risk than the other way around.

"Hopefully they don't find out about grief seeds though, because that just sounds... dangerous, for sure."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave Coco an affectionate smile when she opened the chicken soup. Alas, nothing would truly make them not worry. That was part of what friendship was. That and well, seeing your friends get hurt, how could you NOT get worried after that?

She shook her head, though, at the idea of using a grief seed. "Uhhhh... c-can we not do grief seeds... though? Those... those things are... never good," Hotaru said softly. "They always tend to go badly and... well..." She trailed off, glancing away. "Just... you know? And they're not... nice. And even if they couldn't figure them out, grief seeds being tossed about are scary..."

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco shrugs. She has no good answer to Amy's question. There is only so much guesswork can do, though she is convinced of her previous answer. The Black Beauty Sisters had already shared enough about themselves, but she doesn't feel sure enough for another guess. "I have no idea", she replies plainly.

"Please, could you ask her? I don't know how effective it could be, but with what we know it's a good idea", the yellow princess asks Niji.

The conversation about Coco's joke passes by, and the mermaid takes sips of her broth, grounding her. "I am not sure Gaito wants to be approached. He knew to step in and protect Somegoro, but left as soon as the threat was over." That is not really the behaviour of someone up for conversation.

And for Grief Seed... "It's unsafe- I agree. I don't want the Black Beauty Sisters close to them. Even if it may do nothing." She gives Hotaru a look at her hesitation. Did something happen with her and Grief Seeds?

She stands up, and slowly moves towards the young girl, drawing her in a hug. "It's ok. We won't... Nothing bad will happen", she tries to come through to Hotaru in her most reassuring tone.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji grins. "Of course I will. She's still looking for ways to make-good on all the trouble she caused, so I'm pretty sure it won't be hard to get her to help - and if she can't do what she did before, I'm sure she'll be happy to help on some other way." she says.

    "And yeah, don't worry, nothing bad will happen as long as all of us work together. They got the jump on our yellow friend, but that was their one lucky day."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka, with a slightly mortified smile, says, "I think we're all on the same page on not using Grief Seeds for this."

    Homura considers out loud. "Well, Hinoiri might be helpful. If nothing else she can point us in the right direction." After a pause, she considers, "... do Mimi and Sheshe have any particular draw towards pastries? Donuts maybe?"

    Using otherworldly donuts as bait might not be that effective, but if it fails then at least they have donuts.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, agreeing with these plans. Definitely. Not having to deal with witches and grief seeds definitely sounded like the better idea. And having fought enough witches (more than one was enough, honestly), she knew she didn't like involving them in any plan if she could avoid it.

She liked creepy, weird things. She liked JOKER, for goodness sake. But there was weird, evil creepy. And then there was Witches, which was just... death.

"And yeah... if he doesn't wanna be approached, trying o force him to help us here will probably just drag a wedge between all of us..." she mumbled. "Making him less likely to help when we do need him. So maybe just save him as a last resort."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Hotaru. "They... uhh... what? I mean, I get that it's kinda grisly business if you think about it, but once Madoka takes the soul out it's just a battery that keeps me from... y'know... keeps me alive. Oh, that reminds me--"

    She's surrounded in an orb of light that silently shatters leaving her wreathed in flame which dissipates to leave her looking... the same, except with her jacket poofed away and now she has a belt with a couple pouches on it and a first-aid kit slung over her back. She pulls a grief seed from the right belt pouch and holds it out to Madoka. "Here's Hook's grief seed. I'm not, uh, done with it yet, but that's no reason to keep her from the cycle." Of reincarnation or wherever it is that souls go, she means. "Just... give it back to me later, I guess."

    She says that, but Kamiko can probably tell it's like 95% used up. Maybe Amy's lost track?

    She looks back to Hotaru and tries to give a reassuring smile. "See? No harm, everything's fine."

    She considers what was said, and misses what Madoka was hinting at, looking to the pinkette. "You think we could lure them with delicious pastries?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"If they might be nicer because of magically delicious sweets, I can ask Mako-chan about making more sweets. It would be nice if that was all they wanted, but I'm betting we don't get that lucky?"

They never get that lucky. If only they got that lucky!

The subject of using a grief seed is thankfully put to rest, though she reaches out to put a hand on Hotaru's shoulder because of how worried she looks, and she nods, sighing a little, "Yeah, you both are probably right about him not wanting to help, and he is supposed to be dead, so we probably shouldn't do too much to upset that story?"

Still, at Amy's concern, she reminds her, "Don't they hatch into Witches again if they aren't used by one of you, or helped by Madoka-chan?"

Seeing a Grief Seed handed over to the only person who can help them, is... nice.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Apparently Hotaru didn't really need the hug, is the first thought that came to Coco's mind from the Saturn Senshi's lack of reaction. She returns to her chair and sinks in it, watching the rest of the group discuss Grief Seeds.

Meanwhile, she is thinking about the donuts. Considering they are talking about KKF donuts, and what they seem to be like when they were being passed around, she wouldn't be surprised if they were the pastry equivalent of her songs, and just taste hideous to the Black Beauty Sisters the same way her songs sound grating to the water demons.

"I don't know, about KiraKiraFantastica donuts. I should ask Hinoiri. If it's normal donuts, I don't think they'd fall for them. Seems more like the Dark Lovers."

"I am ok with you asking others about it. Worst case, you get tasty donuts out of it. That's never a mistake", she considers cheerfully.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka looks at the new Grief Seed that Amy has handed her, and then looks at Kamiko. She stand up, gives Homura's hand a squeeze, then says, "Kamiko-chan, let's go to your Labyrinth. Everyone else, we'll be right back."

    A white and pink Labyrinth portal looking like a lacey mandella opens up and draws Madoka and Kamiko inside. There's no reason to drag everyone else into this business and there's no telling how much emotional support Hook might need before her soul can move on in peace. Actually getting the Grief Seed is the hard part. Freeing the soul is... well, it's maybe not easy but it's something that Hope Concept highly specializes in.

    The portal stays ever so slightly open, like a pinprick of magic that could easily be ignored but also isn't really doing anything to hide. From within there's a bright pink glow as the feelings of hope and peace leak out of it. A moment later, Madoka is stepping out of the portal with Kamiko following her, and she hands the Grief Seed back to Amy. "It's pretty close to done as is. Don't rely on it too much longer. Also, thank you for bringing her to me."

    Homura and Tia meanwhile have been sitting outside the entire time like what just happened is perfectly normal. At the mention of the Dark Lovers being more likely to fall for it, Homura cracks a small smile. "Well... you have a point."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked a few times and... hold up.

"Wait."

"You rip the *souls* out of things?!" she asked, looking to Madoka, with sparkly eyes. "That's *so cool*!" she said, voice filled with awe.

"And... yeah. Him staying hidden and uninvolved is likely for the best." All of the hugs, the comfort... being hugged by Coco and even a hand from her princess.... A part of her wanted to object and go 'I'm not scared or anything'... but when it came to witches? She... kind of was. A bit. Not that she wanted to admit it. As she reached out and gave Coco's hand a little squeeze when the mermaid pulled back, a small sign she did appreciate it, though she'd not leaned in that much to the hug like she normally would. Trying to be tougher in this situation. She wasn't the one attacked, wasn't the one hurting this time. Coco was. Coco was the one who needed comfort and help, not her.

But she was also trying to be responsible, too! And she would definitely be tougher.

"We don't need to come up with everything immediately, right? You were just attacked, after all," Hotaru said. "And we have plans now. So long as we know what we are going to do next, we should be ready to keep an eye out for them and make sure they don't take us by surprise, right? Not... a second time, at least."

And this time... she reached out to hug Coco. Just like she hugged her, to comfort her. "And this time? I'll help keep you safe. Like you helped keep me safe, when I was hurt. Just you watch and see."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy double-takes back at Hotaru when she says ripping sould out of things is so cool. "Huh?!"

    But then Madoka's walking off with Kamiko. Amy blinks. "You're doing it right now?" She looks down at the floor. "Well, I gotta admit, if it were me I guess I wouldn't want to wait... thank you."

    ...She really should have gotten it to Madoka sooner, she thinks.

    While that's going on, she smiles at Coco, "Tasty donuts would be pretty good. I'm down with that!" She nods with Homura at the assessment that it fits the Dark Lovers better, and at Homura's comment that at least they have a plan now, or the start of one anyway.

    Amy holds out her hand as the grief seed is placed back in it. Close to done?

    Amy nods to Madoka, and thinks back. She burned a lot in that fight and had already used half her soul gem when she got the seed... and she's been conserving her magic since, but it's been awhile, and she had to throw out a few big attacks...

    She smiles to Coco, "It must be because of your song that it's not used up already."

    She looks back to Madoka. "And thank you for taking care of her." She bows her head slightly.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "I can ask Hinoiri about the donuts too if you gals want." Niji replies.

    "Man, all of this soul and grief seed stuff is out of my league." she admits. Sometimes, she's thankful for the nature of her powers, even if there aren't laser beams attached.

    "Let's just make sure nobody and nothing of any further value becomes food for the fish girls." she says, crossing her arms.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Ripping souls out of things is not cool," Usagi says in the tone of a kindergarten teacher reminding students why they can't run with safety scissors. "But it is cool that Madoka-chan can save people that way."

The soft light that comes from Madoka's Labyrinth entrance as she and Kamiko go off to save another soul is lovely, and she smiles when the other girl returns.

"I'm with Niji-chan - let's make sure no one else ends up fish food, and also, checking out shrines and temples and such for places they could be striking sounds like a plan. And we'll make sure everyone's aware, so they can watch their backs!"

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco looks interested when she sees Kamiko open the gateway to her Labyrinth right her. She really didn't consider how useful that could have been. Really different from how a Barrier works. Especially if it's there that she leads Witches to salvation.

The magical feelings that leak out are familiar to her, not too unlike what her songs. With how she can slow down consumption of Soul Gem, there may be something in common. It may be worth talking to Madoka about it sometime. "Maybe", she agrees with Amy pensively.

Coco tilts her head when Hotaru reaches out to squeeze her hand, and gives her a smile when the purple-haired girl talks about her desire to protect her. "Thank you, Hotaru-chan. I am sure you will do it just fine."

"If it's not too much trouble, please do, Niji-san", Coco replies to the offer. Though, she is going to meet Hinoiri anyway, so...

But Usagi is right, they do have a plan now, and she could use a bit of a nap, so now is a good time as any to end it and let everyone go back to their own things. "Let's go then for now, and when we meet them next time, we will show them. Thank you, everyone."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked and then nodded to Usagi. "Oh, I know. But she's not *actually* doing it. She's a good guy," Hotaru said matter of factly. "But like, her thingy is cool!" Hotaru said with a big grin. Supportive as always.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy, after feeling that light of hope and peace...

    She looks to Hotaru and smiles, "Yeah... it is."