2452/It Started to Get Weird Five Mahou Ago

It Started to Get Weird Five Mahou Ago
Date of Scene:	06 April 2025
Location:	Penguin Park - Museums
Synopsis:	The Art Museum at Penguin Park is hosting a traveling exhibit, one showcasing magic and fantasy in various historical artforms. Only... the more the visiting mahoujin look around, the more they start to recognize signs of true magic, depicted in this collection. Is the history of magic on Earth stranger than they knew? Is the Fade what they thought it is? And... who did organize this exhibit, anyway?
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Rashmi Terios, Veronica Perenna, Madoka Kaname, Hotaru Tomoe, Amanda Faust, Mamoru Chiba, Kazuo Saitou, Minako Aino
Tinyplot:	Kill the Fade

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
To say that things have been quiet would be a lie - Tokyo is never quiet. But Usagi Tsukino has to admit that things have been a little quieter, a touch calmer, since they ran off the Black Moon Clan (for the moment), rescued Hotaru from Mistress 9, and... okay, there have been just as many new problems popping up, between Seriss Nyx's experiments and Seira being kidnapped by a winged creep that hates humanity, but, still!

Still, it feels like there's a bit of peace, today at least, on an ordinary Sunday in Spring. What better way to spend that Sunday than... visiting a museum?

Look! Even academically challenged Moon Princesses could educate themselves! The Art Museum at Penguin Park is one of those lovely little museums that she's gone to her whole life, on festivals, on holidays, on weekends when her mother needed to get her and Shingo out of the house, and it had been her mother, a supporter of the museum, who had let her know about the new exhibit. One phone call, while she was on her cruise vacation nonetheless, and Usagi knew about the new exhibit - Magic in the Making: Representations of Fantasy Through Artistic Expression.

"It's a really wordy title," Usagi whispers quietly to the friends with her as they get their entrant stickers. Today's color is pink, to match the cherry blossoms blowing everywhere, and she sticks it on her orange shirt, another point of contrast aside from her magenta overall-dress. "And you'd think we get enough magic in our lives, but - I mean, come on, who can resist, right?"

They're at the entrance of the museum, which itself is a small but well-constructed building, three floors and a basement wing, fit alongside the rest of the museums in this portion of Penguin Park. It's noisy outside, but the thick walls provide some insulation from the noise, and the museum has an air conditioning system to ensure the art is kept at the perfect temperature to preserve the materials for years to come.

The exhibit they're going to is on the third floor, high up enough to make it difficult for anyone who might want to steal the famous works loaned by so many prestigious museums, but also, to encourage everyone to venture through the rest of the museum, before exploring exciting new exhibit.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Maybe," Rashmi whispers back, cheerfully placing her sticker on the shoulder of her plain red sweater. "But at least the main title is catchy! They could have made it more like a light novel series, like 'Representations of Fantasy Through Artistic Expression: A Journey Through Time and Imagination -- Wonder Mystery Tour (Magic In The Making)'"

And somehow, she managed to *infer* all the different punctuation through voice alone.

But Usagi is right; the allure of 'Magic is amazing' as a *history lesson* is far too much to resist, and by the time they get halfway up the second set of stairs, her eyes are already shining in anticipation.

"I wonder what kinds of paintings there'll be!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
A lot of the times Veronica has been at museums lately has been due to some magical mishap or another. Weird how that works sometimes. Do youma dream of artistic endeavours too? That would be a thing a check. Though the answer is just likely to be that it's where a lot of people gather.

A shame, that. She would be rather interested in seeing what a educated youma would be like. One her parents would approve of, to be sure. "How to a raise a youma as a perfect gentleperson", by Aliénor & Frederick Perenna, Veronica thinks to herself with a small chuckle.

Still, it should be a nice change of pace to be back here on her own terms, and Tokyo is quite spoiled for choice on that matter. But... "Magic in the Making: Representations of Fantasy Through Artistic Expression"? That wasn't an announcement she remembered seeing before. How did it slip by her?

Without wasting a second more, she heads right towards the Pikarigaoka Arts Museum, wearing a light white linen shirt, a pale emerald pair of trousers and white-blue sneakers. "Hello, Usagi-chan, Rashmi-chan", she waves. "Have you been here for long?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka and Homura are a little bit overdressed for the occasion, thanks to Tia's insistence that they 'dress fancy'. The tiny fairy also seems to have forgotten what era they're currently in, or maybe she just felt like older clothes were more fitting of a museum. Madoka's in a frilly multi-layered victorian-era dress, mostly pink with white lacey accents and gold earrings. Homura's wearing a black suit with a purple tie, which could probably pass for modern wear if one did not look too closely.

    They look so ridiculously out of place and yet not, as if they could be part of the exhibit. Madoka is very self-conscious about it, but Homu and three mindokas following them just seem happy to be here.

    "It's kinda weird to think about how people see fantasy, considering how we live," comments the pinkette.

    Homura shrugs and says, "I wonder if it's like working for NASA and then watching Star Trek. We might not be able to see it the way others do."

    "Oh!" says Madoka, gesturing towards Usagi with her frilly fan. "There're our friends! Let's go join them!"

    Soon Usagi, Rashmi, Veronica and whoever else is gathering nearby will hear Madoka call out to them, "Hiii~!" while Homura, Tia, Lydian and Kamiko all follow along.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe had been invited by the MOON PRINCESS! The moment she'd been invited, her eyes had practically GLOWED with excitement and she'd BARELY managed to avoid squealling in delight and promising she'd come.

When Rashmi gave her suggestion for a title, though? Hotaru did the only thing she could.

She applauded. It was a light applause, but it WAS an applause!

Hotaru was wearing a simple, dark outfit today. But she was NOT wearing sleeves. In fact, her blouse only covered her SHOULDERS and her arms were out. Truly scandelous. A small sunhat n her head.

She couldn't help but gasp when she saw Madoka's dress, a hand covering her mouth. "Y-you're beautiful..." she whispered in awe.

She glanced towards Homura and... well. That was much closer to the kind of thing she'd wear, admittedly. And the little charas made her smile none the less.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy went with a T-shirt (red) and her uniform skirt. She also has her messenger bag with her to hold a water bottle and a snack and stuff.

    Walking along with Usagi, she's got a webpage about the new exhibit open on her phone and is reading the press release.

    "...exhibit that will travel much of the world, starting from 2025 through 2030."

    "...God. It's 2025."

    "I mean I know that, but also it sounds so futuristic when you put 2030 next to it."

    Hearing Madoka and Homura, she looks at them and almost double-takes at the fancy dress. "Damn. You two look good, what's the occasion?"

    And she smiles at seeing Hotaru, knowing the poor girl has basically not really gotten to have outings like this all her life.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Hey, Veronica-chan! You here to check out the new exhibit too?" Veronica is given a friendly smile and a wave, encouraged to join up with Usagi, as they proceed through the museum.

On the second floor, she shudders, and lightly shoves Rashmi's shoulder with a snicker as her words resonate in her mind. "Ugh, I hate how you madee me hear all that punctuation."

She's seen a lot of the usual exhibits here, but walking up the floors with her friends is still worthwhile. Spending time with friends is always worth doing, and the fact that she's actually seen a lot of this art just means that she can enjoy talking to her friends more.

"Madoka-chan, Homura-chan, you guys look great. Was this Tia-chan's idea?" She gives the three a little wave, and is pleased when they all join the group.

When they get to the third floor, they're greeted by one of the museum's staff members, who explains that they'll have to let their bags be examined - the museum is taking the security of the art very seriously. Usagi hands over her bag without hesitation, and the museum staff member produces a small flashlight and looks through each pocket thoroughly but quickly, looking for anything that could be damaging. "I'll have to confiscate this lipbalm," she explains apologetically, "But you'll be able to get it back when you depart. We're not allowing any materials that could be used to damage the art."

Usagi blinks, surprised - but nods peaceably enough. "Sure, of course!"

One by one, all of them will be asked to allow any bags they have to be inspected, along with any oversized pockets on jackets. Lipsticks, lip balms, nail polishes, lotions, hand sanitizer, nail clippers, pocket combs, and all of the like. All of these items are placed in an individual container, with their names attached, to be collected later. The exhibit only allows a certain amount of people in at a time, with others encouraged to see the rest of the exhibit until their number is called.

When they make it through security, they're welcomed into the exhibit proper - it takes up the whole third floor!

The exhibit is organized by style and era, starting from the most ancient of pieces to the most modern. There are different security measures for each piece - from glass cases, to protect sculptures, pottery, metalwork, and jewelry, all on pedestals to better view them from a 360 angle. Paintings, silk screens, woodblock prints, and more are mounted on walls, with ropes to keep people from getting too close.

The oldest pieces are Egyptian papyrus and Chinese scrolls, depicting ancient heroes, gods, and champions. One of the pieces of papyrus depicts a young Egyptian woman wearing a spotted kalasiris and an object shaped almost like a simple star - many lines, extending at straight angles, with a spotted circle at thee end of each line - in one hand.

Among the older sculptures is one of Hercules, wearing a lion's pelt, a carved ring with a lion relief on one finger. Another is a sculpture of Cleopatra, as a young woman, standing in clothing distinct for the time period. She wears a jeweled headdress, though many of the jewels are missing - taken by grave robbers, the museum description suspects.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka glances down to Hotaru and smiles. "Aww, thank you, Hotaru-chan!"

    Homura tilts her hat at Hotaru without a second thought. It has not yet occurred to her that this is Sailor Saturn's alter-ego.

    When asked the occasion, Madoka turns to Amy with a slightly mortified expression and says, "Tia-chan wanted to." Then in a lower voice, "I'm pretty sure this isn't even era-appropriate clothing for the exhibit, but I'm not sure she cares."

    Homura flips her hair to the left and says, "Whatever the year, I'm just glad it's not 2023 anymore."

    When they catch up to the rest of the group, Madoka confirms. "That's right! Tia-chan wanted to, so we're just playing along."

    When they get to security, Madoka is forced to give up her fan, and for the sake of ease opts to just leave her entire purse there. Homura gives up a brass pocket watch, leaving it with Madoka's possessions, but she manages to hide her ring by passing it into Kamiko's tiny hands. It's all labeled and put away, and once they're passed Madoka comments, "I wonder who'd deface something like this? Are they expecting an attack?"

    Homura shrugs as she retrieves her ring from the goddess fairy. "Who knows? Maybe they're just being strict because it's all on loan. They don't want it damaged on their watch."

    As they pass by the art pieces, Lydian is possibly the most excited of the group. Madoka keeps whispering at her to keep her distance, but Lydian says, "I'm not gonna touch it! I'm just gonna look!"

    As they pass by a particular statue, Lydian takes a closer look at the hand and... oh neat! "Hey Homu-chan! She's got a ring just like yours!"

    The entire unit pauses and stares. "What did you say?" asks Madoka.

    Lydian points at her hand and says, "Lookit! Doesn't it look like a Soul Gem ring?"

    Madoka and Homura exchange glances, and then they both look at the sculpture.

    Madoka meekly says, "Please don't tell me there's a Cleopatra Witch hanging out in Egypt somewhere."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Hmm-hmm, you look great, Madoka-san!", the brunette agrees with Hotaru. There is a moment when Veronica just studies their choices of apparel, and she would have to admit, they really came up with something very neat.

Now she is really interested in what the pinkette would show up with for a theme party. Maybe she could even be their tailor? That would be fun.

"Your friend too", she leans forward slightly with her upper body and a wink. "I am Veronica Perenna, nice to meet you", she introduces herself to Homura.

"Long time no see, Hotaru-san", she recalls the purple-haired girl from her first Christmas at Radiant Heart. "I see you look radiantly happy today!", she smiles widely. Something fantastic must have happened to her.

"Right, Usagi-chan, just another one in our series of painting adventures", she grins at the blonde girl jokingly. "Don't worry, I am not here on business", she clarifies the second right after. "But this really look like fun, and I may even get inspired."

"Hello, Amy-san", Veronica tells the redhead before she lets her bag be checked and then admitted. Two small paintings the size of a notebook get raised eyebrows by security, but neither of them comment on it, and finally she is let through. They certainly look modern down to the frame, not at all like anything that would be here.

"Oh, so you are a Puella Magi?", Veronica comments with interest to Homura when Lydian calls attention to the ring. "How do you feel, with Cleopatra as a colleague?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Glad it's not 2023 anymore. "Why?" Amy asks curiously, but then it's her turn for bag check.

    Hand sanitizer, chapstick, her dorm key on the same keyring as a multitool, her other multitool, a seatbelt cutter... "You know, if you're that worried about the hand sanitizer getting squirted on art or whatever, don't you have to take my water because I could splash it? Also theoretically I could throw my sandwich at it and get mayo on it.

    And that's how you get your snack confiscated.

    "Come on! If you're worried about that you'd have to take the whole bag because I could throw that at the art! What if I took my shirt off and used it like a whip? Or I could just take my shoes off and throw them. At what point are you going to trust me to be a sane human being?"

    Presumably, between friends' diplomacy and security following instructions based on arbitrary rules rather than logic, she's eventually able to get through with whatever isn't explicitly listed as a prohibited item.

    Once inside she's slowly getting over her huff from the security confrontation. "I wonder where they draw the line on 'fantasy'? Sure, Heracles counts, but does Cleopatra? Although, I don't know that much about her actual history vs the stories anyway..."

    And then Lydian says words that make her head whip around to look that way. "What." She comes as close as she can without crossing the rope. "...It's hard to see if there's runes on it from this angle but... some archaologist must have made a note of it, right...?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Usagi's complaint is answered with a brief giggle, and Rashmi turns to beam at Hotaru's applause. "We just got here, Veronica-chan! C'mon join us!" As Madoka and Homura (and Madoka's Chara, of course) show up, Rashmi cannot help but gasp, eyes wide. "Whaaaa-- you look *amazing,* both of you!" she says. "Whose *idea* was that? Tia-chan it's wonderful!"

Security is a bit of a surprise, but with most of her snack and drink stash snugged away in Device inventory -- and, with a mental request, locked from access while on this floor -- she has no problem turning her bookbag over, and nodding along with the logic of each confiscated item; hand sanitizer, wet-naps, lip balm, a few other things that just make sense the moment one stops and thinks about it. Bobbing her head in thanks when she's allowed through, Rashmi nods along with Homura's comment. "Also I mean... There *are* people who'd mess them up just for the attention, so I kinda *get* that things this old and this well-preserved, people'd take steps to *keep* it that way."

When they get through to the exhibit itself, Rashmi is just... starry-eyed. It is, after all, *just like* her fantasy books! Heroes! Magic! Struggle! Tales passed down through the age--

Homura's comment has her whipping around, blinking owlishly, and for a moment, she just stands there, puzzled... Then begins to look more closely at the museum's offerings. The papyrus painting, with its distinctively spotted dress, she spends a bit more time on than the others. "...Huh... That style looks... familiar?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Coming in through security and bag check after everyone else are two egregiously tall boys, one with short black hair, one with long silvery-white, and at least the black-haired boy isn't carrying any kind of a bag. He's got everything that doesn't fit in his pockets in his hat, after all. He sweeps through and waits for Kazuo, glancing ahead to where he can just barely hear the girls talking.

He can hear the girls talking-- they are saying interesting things that get quieter the more interesting they get.

There are plenty of things to catch his eye, and they already are... he wants to touch literally everything in the museum. That's why he tends to go to the hands-on ones.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a small nod to Amy, gently smiling at her. She seemed to be having fun, which was good. And Veronica got a small curtsy. "Hotaru Tomoe, a pleasure to meet you." Hotaru, the last of the Tomoe... and if her 'father' had an objection, he could come and stop her.

When her bag was examined, though, there was... actually... very little in it. Aside from her nail clippers.

As they walked through the museum, however, she was... quiet. Peaceful. She looked at the portraits, even took a picture of the Cleopatra sculpture... However, the comment about the ring made her stop for a moment, cocking an eye.

"It could be coincidence," she offered. "But if there were runes on it, few of them would remain after such a long time. Unless they were still magical."

"... But it might very well be one. But I'm sure if she became a witch, she would have died long ago. Or she was the really big witch that tried to destroy the city. In which case you all would have punched Cleopatra in the face, congratulations."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
It takes Kazuo a little bit to get through the security, because even with his not carrying a bag and not having anything but his wallet in his pockets, he takes longer to get through than anyone but Amy. The exaggerated sigh he gives Mamoru at one point might not entirely help, but at least it's a tacit 'it's okay, you can go on ahead' in case Mamoru wants to. He catches up as quickly as he politely can afterward, careful not to let his strides get long enough to inconvenience other museumgoers in any way. Best Behavior time.

... and that is how his introduction to Hotaru is a quick blink and a very fast turn of his head so the sudden delighted grin does not draw any attention to the conversation.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is one of those who does some diplomacy to get Amy to hand over her stuff for the inspection and apologizes to the staff, bowing profusely, apologizing frequently. "I'm so sorry about this, I understand, you're just trying to protect the art -"

And then they're through, and she's looking at the Han Dynasty era silk scrolls with fascination, looking at the depictions of dragons, of celestial parties, of - huh? "..Hey, Kamiko-chan, Lydian-chan, would one of you... hop in your egg and peek out of it? Maybe?"

It's a strange request, but if either Chara Bearers looks over, they'll see why it's being made - the silk painting that Usagi is looking at features a man sat astride a horse, looking down an expanse of scenery, all very typical and normal... save for the egg floating beside him, with a wise, miniature of the man inside, gesticulating with a miniature sword.

It's only then that she realizes what everyone else was saying and turns, "Wait, we punched Cleopatra?!"

This is how rumors and misunderstandings start, huh? But then, by turning, she's seen Mamoru and Kazuo, and she hops a little in place, waving eagerly. "Mamochan, Kazuo-kun, come over here!"

Her ears prick, used to hearing quiet voices, and she turns a little.

"Did you see something weird too, Rashmi-chan?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Usagi's question snaps Rashmi out of her examination, and she turns around, blinking rapidly behind her spectacles. "I did, c'mere!" she says, hurriedly motioning Usagi and her boys -- and anyone else interested -- and turns back to point out the papyrus drawing.

"It says here that most of the time, people of this period never bothered to dye their clothes all that much; ornamentation was jewelry and stuff, right? But lookit this drawing here, the black spots on this lady's dress, and the thing she's holding. That's not normal, and here's the important bit; *what would it look like if the dress was red?*"

Turning back to her audience, she raises her eyebrows. "Would it look like anyone we know?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka and Homura smile at Veronica and Rashmi when greeted. Tia soaks up any praise aimed towards their current outfits while Madoka responds, "Why thank you, Veronica-chan, Rashmi-chan!" Then she gestures towards her partner and says, "This is Homura Akemi. She's my girlfriend, though she's been kinda out of town lately."

    On the subject of Cleopatra, Homura frowns. She responds to Veronica with, "I'm not... as surprised as I should be. I always wondered how magical girls somehow never attained any sort of celebrity status. I suppose now it's clear that they actually did. Sometimes at least."

    'Why?' asks Amy, regarding the year. Homura stares at her for a moment. "Long story."

    Lydian crosses her arms and looks at the ring, getting far closer to it than any small child should be allowed to. Madoka would pull her back, but she'd probably trip an alarm if she tried. The art fairy comments, "I don't know if the artist would be able to reproduce the runes 1-to-1, and I can't quite tell if they're worn off or if they were just not there to begin with, but otherwise..."

    When she finally pulls back, Madoka catches her and cups her in her hands, stopping her from flying away. "But why?" asks Lydian.

    "Because you're not behaving!" whispers Madoka.

    "I wasn't gonna get in trouble."

    "That doesn't matter!" complains the Chara Bearer.

    Homura intercedes, "Don't take for granted the idea that you wont get spotted. Who knows what other actual magic stuff is here?" That, at least, gets Lydian to settle down for a moment.

    To Hotaru, Madoka says, "Well maybe. We kinda suspect Walpurgisnacht was an amalgamation Witch, so it's not impossible that some ancient Witches were absorbed into her... but yeah, the original Witch is probably long gone, if one ever existed, though some Familiars might have escaped..."

    The pink girl thinks to herself. Didn't Cleopatra allegedly die from poison? That might be pretty similar to how a Puella's body would look after she lost her Soul Gem somehow. The Veil would have made it look convincingly natural...

    Homura overhears Rashmi and goes to investigate what she means. Tilting her head, she stares at the piece. "It... does, doesn't it? If the dress were red, then..."

    Lydian overhears Rashmi and says, "I wanna see if there's any Chara stuff!" Then she hears Usagi and immediately breaks free of Madoka's grip to go zipping towards her. "Ooh! Ohh! Let me!" Then she summons her egg to try and reproduce the image. Kamiko joins her and tries to do the same.

    "Isn't it a little more like this?"

    "No I think it's like this."

    The pink Chara Bearer can't give chase in her current dress. All she can do is stare and hope that Lydian and Kamiko don't cause trouble. Homura senses Madoka's distress and says, "I'll go keep an eye on them. They can't outrun me."

    The pinkette gives Homura a hug and says, "Thank you..." before Homura goes following after the excitable Chara. Tia and Madoka trail behind them, with the latter lifting up the front of her dress so that she can walk a little bit faster.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Would the runes still be on it? "I have no idea what it's made of... and there might not necessarily be, like-- if she was a Puella Magi, her Witch might've been fought by Puella Magi long ago. ...Or maybe the gem was broken and she never Witched, which would explain why the ring didn't disappear with her Labyrinth."

    Amy is running with the hypothetical because analyzing 'what ifs' is just what she does, but... she's been thinking of magic mostly in terms of what happened under the sea, or 14,000 years ago, or in the modern day. She hasn't really thought about, if there were magical boys and girls all this time, then...

    "I guess... there must have been real magic all through history too..."

    She looks where others are looking. Rashmi looking at the ancient painting of... "It... could be a magic wand or staff, but... people had scepters of office and such too... wait, isn't this the fantasy exhibit? What does the plaque say is the fantastic part about her?"

    Others point out the ladybug pattern. "Huh..."

    There's a bit of commotion as chara imitate the apparent 'chara' of the man on horseback. "Wait, but isn't he too old? Although I guess back then kids often did get thrust into adult roles as teenagers... I wonder how history recorded this, as an imaginary friend he claimed to have, or was this painted by a young artist who could see it...?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe couldn't help but smile, watching diplomatic master Usagi get the guards to not arrest Amy... Not that she's sure they can arrest her. But Amy seemed keen to test if they could.

Rashmi's discovery, however, made her cock her head to the side. She'd never actually seen Ladybug, though she'd heard about it. Although, her first thought was it would look like the woman had a really, really bad plague.

And off the charas go. She grinned a little bit more before glancing back to Madoka. She... admittedly... wondered if she should do the same. She liked the people, all of the people here she loved. But... she admittedly... felt overwhelmed. Like she could barely keep up. She was still getting used to being around people. And not feeling the constant need to justify her existence when she was.

"Magic has always existed, throughout time. Its just often been hidden from the eyes of those who don't want o see it," Hotaru said, before blinking. "I mean... probably. Maybe? Not... that I'd know... eh... heh heh?" she said sheepishly.

"... If the artists saw magical wielders, though... and understood what they saw, they likely envisioned the wielders older than they were. Few people would want to believe they were saved by a child."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"You don't have to say it twice. Thanks for having me", Veronica smiles widely to Rashmi as the brunette takes her place alongside her. "Is there any particular you are interested in?", she inquires, looking at the piece Rashmi has commented on. She has only seen that style of outfit exactly once, but it's so recent that she has no trouble connecting the dots.

"Oh, I didn't know they had such a storied history behind them. Can I say I sorta make part of it now? Hawkmoth thinks I am Cat Noir, and trans", she casually drops on the group, smiling with thorough enjoyment. Judging by Akuma She-Ra, the villain was absolutely floored. And that probably will get him off his game the next time he meets the actual Cat Noir.

"I get the elaborate getup, you are on a date", Veronica smiles impishly at the correction on Homura's identity. "Do you do these kind of things often? I could help out. I am a good shot at sewing", she offers the two of them. "Any costume you have in mind, I can probably do it."

Veronica closes her eyes briefly at the comments on Walpurgisnacht. "Didn't that Witch have a circus theme? I would have thought Cleopatra would have had aspids", she muses, taking the time to visualise the theoretical Witch. "But if it was fused together anything is possible."

"They look just like yours", She comments on the Chara egg. "I wonder which ideas came from the Chara and which from the general", she considers.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"That... is a *really* good point, Hotaru-chan," Rashmi says, beaming at the younger mahou. Veronica's comment earns a blank stare for a moment... But then she remembers the Moonlight Thief's illusion powers, and a rough *SNRRRRK* escapes her sinuses. "...Okay that's a *good* trick, Veronica-chan!"

And she would *love* to follow up on that hot gossip... But now there is a *mystery* afoot, and she starts wandering the exhibit, looking more closely... until she comes upon another sculpture, and pauses... peers closer at the plaque, then up at the statuette again... "...*No*..." she breathes, taking a step back to get the whole thing in view.

    (( 743 BCE -- Discovered in Roman ruins, this work is a copy of a Greek piece, as was the fashion of the time; depicted is King Alexander of Macedonia, with the traditional far-off gaze and planted spear commonly used to symbolize the legendary conqueror. Of note is the inclusion of a small being sitting on his shoulder, whispering into his ear. It is thought that the being is meant to symbolize the influence of the god Ares on the ancient king's campaigns. ))

"...And Alexander wept," Rashmi murmurs, "for there were no more worlds to conquer..."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru takes Kazuo's hand briefly, ostensibly to tug him toward where they're already going. Ostensibly. Kazuo gets the information through that touch that Mamoru is absolutely going to touch anything he can get away with. Discreetly.

But then they're going to join everyone, and the prince comes to see what's being pointed out.

He stares at everything pointed out -- he stares at the horse man Napoleon painting with a chara and immediately thinks of Tadase. And then feels bad about it. "Kazuo--" he starts, glancing back, and then he hears what Hotaru says and he shakes his head. "The artists would also have had to be magical, and there aren't proportionately THAT many people who do wildly world-famous beautiful art things before they're eighteen..."

Just as Rashmi's talking about Alexander. The irony does not escape him. He turns it around in the nick of time! "Okay, but, he's exceptional--"

Says Prince Endymion.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi leans in - but not so close that she leans over the rope and risks getting in trouble - and her eyes widen because, "Yeah," she breathes, "That would look like Ladybug! Is that thing supposed to be the yoyo? I guess it would look like that, if you were good at using it," which she had not been, in the brief time she had held the Miraculous. She's staring, and wondering, because could this really be an ancient Miraculous user? Could Cleopatra really have been a Puella Magi? Magic in the Making... "Um, there's a description here, of a story - oh shoot, okay, I'm coming back, don't make trouble Kamiko-chan, Lydian-chan, someone else get the story -"

There is indeed a description, beside the papyrus scroll, giving more details about the woman and the events depicted in the piece of papyrus.
    he woman is Khepri, a warrior blessed by the gods, and described in the text as 'The Ladybug Goddess' despite being a mortal. The scroll depicts Khepri's battle to stop the Pharaoh Akhenaten from sacrificing an innocent woman to Ra in an effort to resurrect his deceased wife, the Princess Nefertiti. According to the description, the story is believed to have been spread by the enemies of Akhenaten, who sought to discredit his rule in the years following his death, given that the pharaoh's name and legacy were destroyed in backlash to his dismantling of traditional religious practices.

Usagi hurries over to the two chara now hovering around the silk paintings and getting into their eggs. She looks between the two bickering chara and the painting, and nods like a bobble head, eyes wide. "That little guy looks just like you two, only - you know, an adult. Just like the man on the horse!"

Because this is definitely a man, not a boy, though Hotaru raises an excellent point, about peple reimagining kids as adults. She can imagine plenty of people who might hesitate to accept being rescued by a kid - her parents among them.

"The description says that this is depicting a general, and that the artist was a friend who follows his career. And um... the little figure in an egg is speculated to be a depiction of the god's wisdom?" She cuts a glance to Kamiko. "I don't know if I'd count the average Chara as a god's wisdom..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Tia immediately perks up and starts flying close to Veronica asking, "Oh really? Do you make any clothes in tiny doll sizes? Or specifically fairy sizes?"

    Madoka looks at Veronica and gives her a sheepish grin. "Eheh. Sometimes! When the mood strikes us. It can be fun to dress up. Sometimes we wear the dresses we got from the Silver Millenium, so that probably started this trend for us."

    Lydian hears Amy say that the man is too old and pops out of her eggshell. She keeps a respectful distance this time, but she still crosses her arms and headtilts as she considers. "He does look pretty old to be a magical boy. We can't discount the idea of child soldiers in ancient eras, but..."

    They both listen as Usagi comes closer, and also to Hotaru. They mull it over.

    Kamiko taps her chin and considers, "Also we're talking about the Han dynasty here. Wasn't there a minimum age for enlisting back then? This guy had to be like 20 or something, right? Maybe 23."

    Lydian blinks at her sister. "How do you know that?"

    "I googled it!"

    "Right now? But you're not allowed to bring phones in!"

    "Well I'm not gonna take a picture..."

    Homura shushes them both before the argument can go any further. She crosses her arms and says, "The fact remains that what we're looking at is evidence of an adult with a Chara, and also an adult Chara."

    Kamiko comments, "Hey if someone can have a Chara who is basically a baby, someone else can have a Chara who's an adult, right?"

    Lydian adds, "I mean, we're only the way we are because of something to do with Madoka. Wait... does that mean we'll grow up one day? I kinda thought I'd be a kid forever."

    Madoka shudders. "Oh please no. I absolutely do not need rebellious teenage Chara." Then she gets even more mortified. "H-hey wait... if... if it's possible to be an adult with a Chara then..." She turns slowly towards Kamiko.

    Homura understands the implication and smirks. "Well, I'll worship you." Madoka goes pale and laughs awkwardly.

    Kamiko, meanwhile, turns to Usagi with a frown. "What is that supposed to mean."

    Madoka mutters, "I'll... I'll have to actually raise them... they'll need to be responsible..."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"I remember a sword-saint who didn't live to see twenty-five, but has the status anyhow," Kazuo says to Mamoru absently. "He was taking on entire schools by the time he was twelve." His actual condition: Not Helping. Except by establishing a habit of drifting a little from time to time to look more closely at things, which only once in a while might give Mamoru coincidental cover.

He does drift to look at the labels by the silk paintings, when Usagi magnets that way. Just in case the horseman happens to be named. Who knows?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    No more worlds to conquer. Amy whistles. "That does sound like the single-minded devotion to an idea of some chara..."

    She reaches for her phone. "Wait, how old was he? Fudge, right, no phone. Was Cleopatra a teenager too? What if maybe the Fade has been getting stronger over time...? Or maybe it's strength has been unstable?"

    Veronica mentions Hawk Moth's misunderstanding the other day, and Amy bursts out in laughter that is inappropriately loud for a museum. "Oh my gosh, I forgot about that!" She lowers her voice again, "He is gonna be so confused..."

    She looks between Veronica and the pink-and-black couple. "Do... people normally dress up fancy for museum dates? Is that a thing? Although, I guess I don't have to worry about that..."

    She's lost in thought for a moment, possibly trying to imagine what she and Hannah might've worn on a museum date, and smiling a bit, until she hears Mamoru's voice.

    Amy looks at Mamoru. And smiles, "Heyyy!" And then responds, "It doesn't have to have been a magical artist. Could be his own claims were interpreted as... well, chuunubyou and then this dude rolled with it. Or... actually, wait, this is a painting, I don't think it can have been contemporary?"

    Amy taps her chin. "...It could be, that like, kids saw the chara and it became a part of his legend that's not known to us now. It could also be that, the artist was magical -- and whether or not Alexander the Great had a chara, the artist imagined him as a Bearer or at least thought it would be an interesting way to depict him."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru squints at Kazuo and reaches to lightly shove him. Not rowdy enough to get kicked out. "You were never a saint," he accuses, laughing.

Then he stops laughing. "You guys... my mother had magic. Endymion's mother. Here, on Earth. So did her guard, who were adults when we were kids. I mean that was at the end of the ice age, but that was here. People could have magic to any old age. My great-grand-uncle was in his 90s and did." And then he gestures irritably at Kazuo, "And then there's this guy, who just always has to be older..."

He nods to Amy. "Somebody had to have been a Bearer, and someone had to have had or remembered or seen magic long enough to get the level of devoted skill and be abke to paint it, and--" He reaches up to run his hand through his hair a second, thinking of how to put it. "Everyone? I feel like it's Fade-adjacent thinking to rely on a million one-off 'well yes but it could be x mundane reason' excuses for us to not be looking at historical magical adults. Does that make sense at all? I think we should believe."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It means that you're a goddess Chara, but you're not like, every Chara, right?" Usagi is good at soothing ruffled feathers - or at least, she tries to be. "So I mean, I bet its more likely that's actually a Chara, and not a god, because how many people have Chara like you?"

Maybe that worked? Please let it work, ahahaha... haha...

"But Mamochan's right, I mean... people had magic as adults, before. The Fade wasn't a thing, before - I mean, the Veil wasn't either, and I thought... maybe my Mama did that?" But she looks around... "This is maybe... I mean, maybe these are imaginations. But what if they aren't?"

What would it mean, for them, if this is how the world was? Adults with Chara, royal leaders with Soul Gem rings, ancient Ladybugs...

"And we're still at the first room of the exhibit."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
'What if they aren't?'

"...That really is the question, isn't it?" Rashmi says, turning to face Usagi, Mamoru, and Amy. "There could be a lot of explanations for this kind of stuff... But even if there are, remember why this whole exhibit's even a thing? *What if it's what it looks like?* I think... I think I need to do some research. And *definitely* need to come back, but... What if?"

The question is clearly sticking in the Devicer's brain, as she wanders the museum. *Two* Chara-bearing generals, possibly an Egyptian ladybug *and* Puella Cleopatra... *what else* could this exhibit reveal?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy just blinks at Mamoru like he said 'What? My parents were telephone switchboard operators, there's no reason any of us can't be one.' Did he forget?

    Oh right, he wasn't there.

    Wait, no, there's no way Usagi didn't tell him, verbally or telepathically.

    He keeps talking while she's thinking this, though. And... conversely... everything she knows about how the fade and the veil works is from here, and now, in Tokyo.

    Come to think of it she has never seen anyone Fade; the only concrete example anyone can tell her is offworlders who lost their memory of magic on arrival as adults. She nods as Usagi mentions what her moon-mom did.

    "..."

    Amy looks around. "Do any of us actually know, or were told of a specific person we can verify exists, who lost their magic because they got too old? Or is this just..."

    Amy scratches her head. "I don't remember when I was told. I know the Devicers have mentioned that people from the same society as the Bureau have come here, as adults, and lost their knowledge of magic. But has anyone ever aged out that we know of?"

    

    She holds a curled finger to her chin. "Inai-sensei should know, right? O-or the Headmistress. Or... P-Pluto must've known of magical people, right? Did... we first hear it from Inai-sensei? Where'd that knowledge come from? And I think maybe... we should ask about people it happened to, then..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka turns to Amy and shakes her head, "No. No this is just an 'us' thing. Or rather, it's a Tia thing and Homu-chan was sweet enough to go along so I wouldn't be the only one."

    Homura, overhearing, says, "I just wanted to be a fancy lesbian with Madoka-chan. There wasn't any deeper thought process than that."

    Madoka is still recovering from the... the everything. Both the implication that, without the Fade, she might actually grow up to be... what Kamiko wants her to be; and also the idea that her Chara might grow up. Then again, it occurs to her, that if the Fade hits her as normal then she's going to lose her little fairies and really... Of all the possible options, which one is really the lesser evil?

    Even if it meant throwing away the possibility of a normal life, there is no actual choice here.

    As she looks around at her friends. Usagi and Mamoru, would they want to forget? Amy, would she want to face adulthood without magic? None of them would actually want to Fade, would they? Chrono's mom, if she had a choice...

    Kamiko glances towards Madoka, sensing a change in her Bearer. The tiny goddess smiles. Did her aura get just a little bit brighter? Hard to tell. What's not hard to tell is that her tiny little smile is at least 20% more smug.

    "I think... Mamo-kun's right," says Madoka. "The Fade wasn't always here. It might actually be a very recent thing, historically speaking. Not even as old as written history. So when did it start?"

    Homura crosses her arms and points out, "There are some beings who might be old enough to answer that question. The Incubator comes to mind."

    Kamiko adds, "Not that we can trust anything that meanie says." Then Kamiko gives Usagi a flat look. She knows when she's being placated. However, she likes Usagi enough to let it go and not get mad about it, and well... she knows what she is. How childish she is. "I mean... okay. Point taken. I could see how someone could call one of us 'divine wisdom' if they wanted to be fancy about it or like... not explain to people what we really were. Or maybe the Veil was in place even if the Fade wasn't, so people just made up the god bit because of that."

    To Amy, Kamiko and Tia turn to her and say, "We met Chrono's mom. She completely forgot about him, and about magic. We know it was her because the Arthra computer recognized her but she didn't even see it."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Homura gets a smirk from Kazuo. An approving one, not that she needs his approval. Possibly because of the shoving.

"Inai should know," Kazuo confirms to Amy. There is no -sensei from him, there. "She's watched it happen. She might have names; we might even be able to locate them." He pauses, and glances toward Madoka as Kamiko does. "I turned eighteen a couple of months back," he says straightforwardly. "Mercury took a close look at me before. So we have a baseline. And hopefully regular checks."

He seems absolutely unconcerned. Possibly he intends to beat the Fade through sheer willpower. (Probably other people have tried, but that by definition does not dissuade him.)

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I wasn't even disguised as him", Veronica smiles to Rashmi. "Just he mistook my blue colors and my feline look for him, and it grew from there. I barely had to do nothing. It was amazing", she grins, nonetheless accepting the compliment with a small bow.

Admittedly, Veronica is starting to grow ever more curious and suspicious both of these many references to magic all ammassed together in one place. She hadn't even seen something this big at the Barbican Gallery. Would they have some pieces by Basil Hallward as well? Or maybe unrelated pieces. She is fairly sure her painting is the only one by him with actual magical energy in it though.

Veronica starts eyeing up the Chara at her request. She hasn't actually made many doll clothes, but since she also applies her sewing to her painting sometimes, it's not the first time she has to work with intricate and small details. "Why don't you tell me what you have in mind, and we start working from there?" she smiles at Tia.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Um, most of the people Inai-sensei fought with Faded," Usagi says, thinking through what she thinks Stellar would be okay with her revealing - and this is one, because the last thing they need is the idea that the Fade is fake, when unfortunately it seems like a very real threat. "She showed me a picture of one of her friends, who doesn't remember any of it now, except as like... games they played as kids."

That part is okay to reveal, she's sure of at least.

"Not to mention Chrono-kun's mom, and... and yeah, Kazuo-kun, and Masato-kun are both eighteen. And Mamochan will be soon too." She's quiet for a moment, and then adds, "That's why we're getting married this summer. So that even if we forget, we had this wedding."

A beat.

"Not that we're going to forget! And besides - these guys got to be old with magic, and so will we. We just have to - to learn, ugh, my mama is gonna be so smug when I start getting into art because of all this..."

She shakes her head, and smiles apologetically, catching that Kamiko isn't exactly fooled.

"It would make sense. I mean, if you couldn't see magic, and people talked about seeing other things, or getting guidance from a magical figure... I mean, how would I explain Luna, if it was a thousand years ago? I'd probably think she was divine, too."

She turns, looking around. "I bet there's more. Let's keep looking!"

In the next room of the exhibit, there are paintings from many eras of European history, and one that immediately catches the eye, is the painting that was photographed in the article about the exhibit.

Reine des Papillons, also knowns as Femme Noble Parmi les Papillons, is a life-size painting of a young white woman in a long white sleeveless dress, with her dress and hair blowing in a breeze. She is standing in a dark forest with greenish light coming from the sky behind her. There is a gold tiara on her head in the style of a fifteenth century French women's headdress, and one arm is spread out to the side, while the other is reaching up to touch one of a kaleidoscope of glowing sea-green butterflies. The painting itself is an oil painting on canvas, set within a large wood frame, decorated with carvings of laurel leaves.

On the neighboring walls are many other paintings, many from renowned artists, others from smaller known figures, or apprentices to these great masters. Some depict traditional concepts of Western fairies, dragons, but others depict warriors - a few children, but many adults. Some are fantastical. Some are fantastical in a familiar way.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru opens his mouth to answer the question with 'well, Kyouka's squad' but that's covered, and so he starts looking for things he might be able to accidentally brush against. Or possibly just considering window angles. And alarm systems. The conversation's starting to make his shoulders tense up and his stomach hurt, which he's irritably shoving away as stress responses, and as he trails into the next room after Usagi he shoves his hands in his pockets.

Minako Aino has posed:
There's another figure in the room filled with European art that was familiar to a good deal most likely. A girl with long blonde hair that spills down to her hips. An athletic, feminine figure, adorned in a pink dress with a denim jacket overtop, and sandals on her feet. The most signficant thing is the large red bow atop her hair with an orange gemstone broach in the center decoratively.

Oh, wait, that's just Minako who was already there staring rather intently at a few of the paintings with her eyebrows drawn together as she leeeans closer to squint suspiciously at some of those little 'fairies' painted.

The mix of familiar voices that arrives in this section of the display snaps her attention away as she half-turns and blinks at the entire group. "Oh! THERE you all are. I got here early and..." Her hand lifts to gesture around as if to say 'this disracted me.'

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy quirks an eyebrow as Usagi confirms this information, but nods -- she might have more questions about it later, but she's satisfied that there's isn't some glaring hole in this knwledge now.

    She tries not to let any sympathetic pain show in her expression as one of her best friends admits, out loud, that the wedding is so they don't forget."

    Kazuo gets a worried look, too. "Oh. I didn't know."

    Beat.

    "I mean... we know there are exceptions... I'm thirty-seven and I was able to become magic. But that..." Amy rubs her chin thoughtfully, she hadn't actually thought where she's going with this. "Making enough energy... I had to be turned young to make enough energy, or something. So maybe it's more about the state of the body than the mind? Or like... the state of the mind over the amount of memories?" She looks to Usagi, "Your daughter doesn't act like an octocentenarian..."

    Amy's eyes widen. "...Am I even aging? I can regenerate so much else, and to some degree aging is a kind of damage or degradation, right? I" she holds a hand to her collar, "haven't gotten taller or... grown, that I've noticed, the past 20 months..."

    "...We should have... I should talk to Setsuna-chan about this. Am I gonna be a teenager for--" her voice cracks a little, "--ever??? I don't know how I feel about that... I guess it's better than fading, if so..."

    She trudges along to the next part of the exhibit, lost in her head.

    And who knows what's in there, because confronted by the ostentatiously large painting, she snaps out of it and asks, "Oh, tell me that's not some fairy queen..." She glances around to see if there is other artwork present of the same woman before looking at the plaque. "Reine... queen? I don't remember what papillons means, I can't woogle it right now. ...It's queen of butterflies, isn't it. So what's her story?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Hello, Minako-chan!" Rashmi sings out; perhaps they've not spent *much* time together, but, everyone *else* in Usagi's orbit has been an excellent person to know, so by transitive property...

When the other blond notes all the *other* distractions in the room, Rashmi bobs her head swiftly. "No I totally get it... I'm *pretty sure* that scroll over there is Ancient Egyptian Ladybug, and if that little statue is right then Alexander the Great had a Chara, and--"

Trailing off, she crouches down so she can stay behind the ropes but *also* be at eye-level to a large, standing ceramic urn its plaque says is from Venice. "--And *that* tiara looks kinda Device-y..."

Sighing, she shakes her head. "Okay *definitely* coming back a few dozen times..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Tia smiles at Veronica for a moment, and then taps her chin. "Huh. What would I be thinking of? Guess I'd have to consider that one for a bit." Snapping her fingers, she says, "Maybe if I find a neat idea, I'll bug you about it then?"

    The wedding is brought up, and Kamiko is immediately excited and happy again, because she gets to officiate and that seems really fun! "We should talk about that! I was thinking we could start with like... er..." She looks around and realizes that this might not be the best place. "Eheh, well we can talk about it more later, but I'm really looking forward to it!"

    Not easily fooled perhaps, but will easily let things go.

    Madoka doesn't really comment on the wedding. She just walks up to Homura and holds her hand. Whatever exchange happens between them is unspoken.

    Madoka has... plans for Homura. Plans that only a person with Homura's mentality would accept. A contract like hers can't be so easily cancelled. It has to be fulfilled, but that doesn't mean that Madoka has to lose her.

    Above all else, Homura will be saved.

    The keep holding hands as they go further into the exhibit, and the Chara follow after them. Every little picture they see gets scrutinized for signs of familiar magic. Sometimes they point out other Chara. Sometimes a sign of a Soul Gem is recognized. Occasionally, even, they see something that looks suspiciously like an Intelligent Device, which gets them murmuring between each other.

    They stop in front of the Reine des Papillons for a moment. "Another miraculous, maybe?" notes Homura. Madoka nervously laughs, "I think you'd know better than me, but... looks like it."

    When Mina is seen up ahead, Madoka leans past Homura and waves at her. "Hii~, Minako-chan! It's... a pretty interesting exhibit, huh?"

    Homura glances towards Amy and says, "We age. It may not seem like it, but the difference between a 12 year old Puella Magi and a 19 year old one are notable." She clears her throat and says, "That said, we might cling to our youth more than most. A 19 year old might look 17, for example."

    To Rashmi, Madoka nods. "Coming back here might be a good idea. Especially after we do some extra research. There must be a reason why someone is gathering these works of art. It's not just coincidence, is it?"

    Closing her eyes, Homura points out, "Someone might be trying to get our attention, too. Or the attention of people like us, in any case." She wants to hairflip, but her hair flipping hand is being held by Madoka, and Homura has priorities.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"We have enough to deal with now," Kazuo says to Amy, "that I don't waste time worrying about what might or might not happen. We'll deal with this, too." He glances between Madoka, Rashmi, Usagi. All miracle workers of various flavors. And then inclines his head to Homura's explanation of aging, before bowing a little in Minako's direction, and hanging back.

... hanging back in ways that keep him in arm's reach of Mamoru, yes, but also in ways that let him listen in on the Charas' discussions, and make a mental note marking all of the Device depictions. Just in case he gets a chance to come back later and take a closer look.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    She looks at Kazuo, raising an eyebrow at his words.

    At first, she was telling herself it wouldn't matter -- the life-or-death battles they regularly engage in would surely claim her, and she'd take a magic bullet if need be so that they didn't claim someone who hadn't yet had their first chance at a life.

    Rashmi told her she deserves that chance herself, too, but she's never expected she'll actually get it.

    She wonders how he can be okay with it, unless he assumes he probably won't make it too. And when it's someone else, that is so sad.

    And then Homura speaks and Amy folds her arms with a slightly pouty expression. "I said I wasn't sure how to feel about it, but I still feel like I just lost something..."

     She blinks. "Wait, 19-year-old? Who made it to nineteen?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was following along with everyone, though she was mostly quiet. Listening, smiling. Occasionally one of them might feel a soft hand on their hand, or a slight bump when she tried to keep up and misjudged something, or a light tug on their sleeve when she needed to ask something and didn't want to have to yell when things were crowded... But... for the most part? She was quiet and peaceful. Happy, relaxed. Something they'd almost never seen her be, before. Just... being. However, she occasionally would watch her senpai's a little closer... And when Homura's eyes are closed and she alllllmost goes for the hairflip, alas, her hand is occupied... Hotaru attempts one of her own.

Alas, her hair is much shorter now and it's more of a hair flick than a hair flip. And without he long locks of Mistress 9, she lacked the 'talent' for such acts of hair gymnastics, like her princess. Instead, all she manages to do with her attempt is distract herself long enough to wobble slightly into one of the 'barrier' devices holding up the little rope between the crowd and the art. It made a loud 'thunk' sound that echoed in the museum and made her face turn bright red before she gave a soft, hushed and mumbled 'sorry' before quickly shuffling to keep up.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Minako-chan!" It's a little too loud for a museum, but Usagi does indeed go rushing towards her friend for a hug, cheerful. "You made it after all! We got distracted in the first room, but that - "

And she pauses, staring at the enormous painting, and more specifically, the butterflies, standing near it with Madoka and Homura.

"No way," she says, slowly, "Is... is that an old Hawkmoth?"

Luna had eaten (literally eaten) nearly a dozen black-purple butterflies, after she successfully snatched the Ladybug Miraculous, before the Crystal Heart protected the campus. She still snacked on them occasionally, if she happened to be around and happened to see one. She'd always said they tasted bad, but that she wasn't letting her princess be taken by surprise a third time.

She'd seen these butterflies pure, too. White, and dancing in the air, like the ones over this painting. It could be a coincidence, but a glance at the painting reveals that it is indeed one of those from the Louvre, and she can't help but wonder...

"Rashmi-chan, you're so right. We've got to figure out everything about these pieces. And I'm glad this place is going to be around through July, because boy do we have enough pressing problems..."

A loud thunk distracts her, and she turns to see Hotaru, bright red and flustered, and she snickers a little.

"Don't worry, Hotaru-chan. I fall over all the time."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"She does," Rashmi says to Hotaru with a chuckle, offering an arm in case Hotaru wants someone to lean on. "I've seen it." It's just *so nice* to see Hotaru out and about, safe and most importantly *herself* now that she's free of the literal demon within.

But then it occurs to her that Hawkmoth was invoked, and her head snaps toward the painting. "...Guys this is starting to get weird," she says quietly, eyes roaming over the whole room. "....Okay it *started* to get weird five mahou ago, but... Yeah. Gonna have to ask Nicomachea for some help tonight, or I'm *never* gonna get sleep."

Every work of art she stops at, she makes sure to take a long look at the plaque, *as well as* the art itself, because when your Device can flag sensory recordings for storage, and you need to analyze what you just saw... you get the opportunity for some quality video combing.

A part of her also wonders... What if *another* murder-board in the Shed? This feels like Hinote's speed, so may as well try to think in his language...

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"You got it!", Veronica winks to Tia. She has never dressed Chara Guardians before, but she is certainly not going to back down from the challenge. To that end, she whips her phone out, and looks at Madoka. "What do you say we exchange numbers? That could come useful since Tia wants to start getting clothes from me", she confidently offers her.

Veronica's eyes sparkle at hearing Usagi is getting married. "Congratulations, Usagi-chan! I bet you already have your hands full with all the planning already. If you want help, I am on board at any time."

"There are paintings of someone who seems to be my predecessor, since she has a roughly similar uniform, but it never goes beyond her forty-something, so she probably faded as well", Veronica gets into the discussion of the Fade. "The documents say that was just a fantasy he shared with the person in the painting, so I guess the Fade is degrading, or maybe becoming stronger?" she theorizes.

"Hold on, let me ask", Veronica walks up to a security guard passing by. "Excuse me, do you have paintings by Basil Hallward?", she asks him, and she is immediately pointed to behind a column not too far from the Hawkmoth painting. "Yeah, there is one right there", he shows her.

"Thank you", she goes checking. In the painting there is a woman close to her fourties standing inside of a cave dressed just like Veronica, a russian blue cat on her shoulder. No artificial light shows in the panting, and yet it is as bright as day, many natural formation of crystal releasing a silvery-blue showing all over the walls. She is depicted opening a door of a house inside the cave.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Homura is silent when asked who made it to 19. She looks away and closes her eyes. "Not anyone in Mitakihara."

    After a moment's pause, Madoka answers, "Some of the Witches we saved, Kamiko-chan and I, had Puella Magi souls who were that old. It's rare, less than one percent maybe, but it's not impossible."

    Homura shrugs and adds, "Ask me again later. I'd show you pictures, but I had to give up my phone with Madoka's purse."

    Tia tugs on Madoka's sleeve to get her attention, and she turns to look at Veronica. "Oh! I mean. Sure, but... eheh. My phone..." That was also in her purse, back at security.

    Fortunately, Chara can break the rules. Tia produces her own tiny smartphone and says, "I'll handle it. Look, the number is," Then Tia rattles off some numbers. They happen to be the correct ones.

    Madoka sheepishly says to Veronica, "If you send me a text, I'll be sure to add you to my contacts."

    Lydian notices Hotaru's attempt at a hairflip and considers. "I mean... a hair flick is still cute. Shorter but... peppier!"

    Kamiko gets suspicious of something further on ahead, zips over there to look at it, and then suddenly zips back. "Everyone, there's like... a whole thing on Jeanne D'arc for some reason."

    "Huh," says Madoka, then starts walking in that direction. Homura goes with her, still holding her hand for the moment. When they finally get to that part of the exhibit, Madoka balks and Homura headtilts.

    "This painting of hers shows a Soul Gem ring," comments the pinkette.

    "Yes, but that one has an egg like a Chara Guardian."

    "Come to think of it, don't these two figures look a little bit different?"

    "Perhaps they were different people. It shouldn't be possible to have more than one magical source."

    "I mean... it'd be kinda weird if there was only one magical girl around at the time, right? Even if they are rare, normally."

    While Madoka and Homura are discussing ancient European heroines who may have actually been different people, Tia is still hanging out with Veronica a little while. "Huh. A door inside a cave? Is there some symbolism I'm missing here? Also those are a lot of glowing crystals."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino had so many distractions around her at the moment. There's no mistaking that overly tall head of pale hair that was lingering behind Mamoru however. A simple little dip of her head is given in silent greeting to Kazuo's own gesture of such. That's all she can really offer before Usagi is leaping at her to hug her. Her grin brightens as she grabs her friend in a equally enthusiastic hug.

"I said I'd be here!" She assures with a laugh that fades as attention is drawn back to the paintings. "I wondered about the butterflies. You said that guy was French and -" Usagi was confirming what she already had, so she just nods again emphatically. "Right, that's definitely from Paris. And some of these European fairy paintings remind me of the little fairies that fly around some people," she adds gesturing to one such painting that depicted a small contigent of fairies, each different in the task they were performing. One painting, another dancing, one posing dramatically with a blade-of-grass sword. All around a child holding a basket filled with eggs.

"If the Dark Agency were still around I'd say this seems just like their handiwork somehow. It's certainly a bit too coincidental to just be random though." A pause as she asks with a glance around to the others to confirm, "Right?" It couldn't just be her that thought that!

"If Artemis were here he'd be losing his mind right now. They wouldn't let cats in though."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh. Of course. The Witch souls that Madoka's freed... Amy didn't think of that.

    But wow, less than one percent. Amy just gives a solemn nod. Like, it confirms her expectation that she wasn't going to live very long -- although what, exactly, counts as 19 in her case is a big 'who knows' -- but damn hearing external confirmation of it... It's a good thing she didn't get her hopes up.
    She gives Homura a slight nod at the suggestion to ask her about it again later.

    Hotaru doing an adorable hairflick is the joy Amanda needed just then. She smiles with a little gasp, "It looks cool even with short hair!"

    Veronica found a painting of her predecessor. "Wow... do you think that might be a real place somewhere? ...Are any of these paintings magic that you can go inside?"

    And then attention -- and the mahou -- are called to the Jeanne D'Arc section.

    Amanda looks around in surprise. Madoka floats the idea that they might be different people. Another idea occcurs to Amy: "Or maybe different types of artistically-talented mahou have depicted her as like them throughout history..."

    Amy scratches her chin. "Heck, isn't there an anime where she's a magical girl with Veronica's job? I wonder if someone knew something... Hey, who was the last Princess of Sarek before-- oh, I guess Veronica's still in the last room."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"No, I don't think you can go inside this painting. It doesn't seem to have any magic. And the other ones were malicious magic, even if fairly weak. They went away when they were purified." And her alarm that there might be a residue of power turned out to be in vain, so she ended up sneaking those back in the next month.

"We don't need to, anyway. I guess I never really brought it up, but that's Sarek. Or a part of it anyway. Just outside of the cave there is some vegetation, and then a beach. We can go into it sometimes, if you want", she tells Amy.

"Well, the building inside the cave is just there to protect from the humidity and stuff", she turns to Tia. "I keep a lot of things in there." Such as all the things she has stolen that cannot be given back safely.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh, there's Veronica. "Wait. Sarek is an actual place? I thought you were from England."

    Beat.

    "Is it on Earth?" Amanda asks.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"We'd be happy to have your help. We just found out my castle is - intact, and the dome is too, and everyone can breathe up there, so my parents get to come, but that means my parents get to come, and also that I should get an actual dress properly, so if you really do like tailoring, that could be a great help!"

And then Madoka and Homura are rushing ahead and she follows, tugging Minako along if she'd like, and blinks at the Jeannes -

"Hey, this one's got a Ladybug tunic..."

And then she blinks. Turns to Veronica.

"Sarek is a place? And you can go there? And we can go there?"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo inclines his head to Minako a second time. Not in greeting, this time. In thorough agreement: too much coincidence, time to suspect conspiracy.

But the school they go to is a conspiracy, too. Quietly, so not as to distract from the Jeanne and Sarek conversations, he says to Minako, "It's something to look into. There might be connections to follow there, too." ... he does not promise whether that will become yet *another* murderboard.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"You can breathe on the Moon?" Veronica blinks at the news. And they are going to go there for the wedding. She feels a little bad for all austronats who had to go through grueling things and wear those huge suits, and they just get to go there so simply. To the actual Moon.

"Well, that is certainly an interesting prospect indeed! I am glad to hear your palace is intact. And going to the Moon? That will be impressive. Is the gravity the same as here, or do we float around?" Veronica asks before going back to the subject of the preparations. "If it's a tailor you need, a tailor you will have", the brunette confirms eagerly.

"And yes, we can all go there. Those paintings I had back in my bag at security are what I use to open the door. Yes, I am from England and the first Princess of Sarek was as well, but Sarek isn't. Just a small realm that you could access from anywhere, it's not really on Earth."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino darts her gaze around to all talking. There was a lot being spoken of she didn't know about, but that did tend to happen sometimes. She's listening at least while she has the opportunity to do so. Right now her mind is on the exhibit, and of course the mention of the wedding. That was going to be exciting!

Although...

"Let me know the list of everyone coming when it's finalized? Just in case we have any surprise guests that might attempt to show up." It would be far easier to find them if she knew who all was supposed to be there! And there were some current teleporting sorts that would probably love to crash something like that.

When Kazuo agrees with her about the 'coincidences' she finds she can't disagree with him there. A quiet sigh is let out. "You're right, the school is rather suspicious itself. Even if it's a 'safe' place for us there has to be a reason why we were all gathered there." Another glance toward some of the paintings. "I'm just kind of glad there's nothing of US in here. I don't think there would be, it's just... That would be really unnerving."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "We can breathe on the moon?! I wanna see it!" Amy whips her head around to stare at Usagi. "...Oh right, I guess we'd have to be able to, for the wedding."

    Amy oooohs as Veronica explains Sarek. "Huh. Yeah, that'd be cool to see!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Lydian starts writing things down. Kamiko summons a tiny familiar and starts dictating details to it in Witch-speak. The fairies are taking notes now, of every little detail. They'll likely compare them with the others later at the Shed. This is all... very interesting.

    Tia, overhearing Minako's comment, says, "If there was any of you, I'd start to suspect fraud."

    Homura, to Usagi, says, "You're right. Another Miraculous tie-in. We really ought to look into whoever is running this exhibit. They might... themselves be magical." She looks up at the ceiling, searching for the security cameras she's sure are around. "It might just be coincidence. Tokyo has a way of drawing all sorts of magic to it, but... if this collection is intentional... they might notice that we've noticed."

    Madoka ehehs and looks up too. "They might... then again, it's not like I can exactly hide. Still, we should be pretty careful. Could it be Obsidian, or maybe the Black Moon?"

    Homura shakes her head. "Unlikely. Obsidian would have no cause to get rid of the Fade. It benefits them. The Black Moon Clan wouldn't have access to this kind of history. It doesn't exist in their universe. This is the work of an unknown third party, I'm sure of it."