19th Magic Bullet

[drank_the_milk]

[Phone; backdated to the 17th]

[So, Yuna's teacher was on the list of erased people.  She knows he's not here anymore, but she's got some feelings she needs to get out, so have her yelling over the phones.]

All right, what the heck were you thinking, Negi-sensei?  Erasing yourself just because the town told you to?  That's not the sensei I know!  What happened to the Negi-sensei that never gives up on his friends and always fights to make the world a better place?  You've been through worse than this before!  And what's the Magic World gonna do without you to help save it?  What's Asuna gonna do without you?  I can't believe this.

[Action; outside 2237 Stevens; backdated to the 20th]

[It's been a few days now, and Yuna's recollection of Negi is sort of fading in and out.  Without ever having met him, she would never have found out that her parents were mages or that she had the talent for it herself.  This makes for some rather awkward magic practice out on the front lawn of her house.]

Practe bigi nar!  Ardes...

[She stops for a moment, right in the middle of the beginner's incantation, and just stares at the wand she was waving around.]

Haha, what am I doing with this stick?  Playing wizard or something?

-----

[Later on, folks will be able to catch her screaming at this flaming stick she's suddenly holding as her memories of Negi wink out right after successfully completing the spell.]

Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!  What the heck!

[Action; outside 2237 Stevens; December 22nd]

[Anyone passing by Yuna's house today will find her hanging around outside the house, all bundled up and trying to beat the cold.  She seems to be spending a lot of her time staring at a stylized playing card in her hand with a puzzled look on her face.]

I don't remember having this taken... was this from one of those new photo booths in the shopping district back home?

Comments

[answerer-sword.livejournal.com]

[The card that the girl is playing with looks strange. Almost like...]

[Bazett steps up to the girl.]

Do you mind...if I take a look at that?

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Huh? Oh yeah, sure. Here.

[Yuna hands it over. If Bazett has any ability to sense this sort of thing, the card is clearly magical. However, it's keyed to only function for its owner, so at this point it's little more than decoration.]

[answerer-sword.livejournal.com]

[She wishes she still had her magic circuits. Then, she would have been able to tell whether or not the card was magic. However, it certainly seems to be arranged in a way similar to a Class Card. Furthermore, it does not appear to have been created by any sort of human printing technology.]

Do you happen to know any magic users?

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Magic users?

[She thinks for a minute.]

Well, none back home, anyway! I know some people here can do that kind of stuff, but I didn't get this from any of them.

[answerer-sword.livejournal.com]

You must have gotten it from someone else then. Can you remember getting this at home or here? It is clearly some form of magical contract between you and someone else.

[The classical colors, directions, virtues, and planets, not to mention magic circle in the background, is evidence enough for that.]

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Magical contract?

[Yuna just laughs.]

Who would I have made one of those with? I don't know the first thing about magic!

[answerer-sword.livejournal.com]

[She closes her eyes and ponders it a bit. If the girl does not know magic and does not remember making the contract, then where would she have gotten it from? Then, she remembers the current situation in the town.]

Someone that no longer exists in your memory...Do you remember that broadcast from a couple days back? I think whoever made this contract with you must have been among those names.

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Sure, I remember it. But why do you think someone on that list made the contract with me? Or that I made one at all? I mean, what's so special about that card, anyway?

[answerer-sword.livejournal.com]

I have had experiences with magical contracts before, and I can tell by its arrangement that this card is a form of magical contract. I cannot tell what type of magical contract it is, but you are certainly one of the participants, as seen in your picture on the card. As to why or which one of the people made the contract with you, I do not know. If you still had your memories, you would have been able to tell me.

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

I dunno, it still sounds pretty far-fetched to me. It's not like I can't remember years of my life or something. I mean, sure, most of it is pretty boring stuff, but there's nothing missing.

[answerer-sword.livejournal.com]

Your memory loss is pretty complete.

[She is not sure if she appears to be particularly trustworthy right now, since she looks disheveled and perhaps insane.]

Right before that announcement, we all had a dream, right? Something about being erased to save all of Mayfield. Both of us chose to remain, but there are others who chose to be erased. The town put out the announcement to trick us into believing they have actually been erased and replaced with constructs, but all evidence I have found points to the contrary.

[She pauses a bit to let the girl absorb the information.]

It is not their physical existence that has been tampered with, but the memories of those that chose to remain. In a way, we can regard this as our punishment for being so selfish. We are gradually losing our memories of those people whose name were put on the list. Meanwhile, they have been surrounded with a cloaking effect that makes them appear to be the town's constructs.

Obviously, you knew someone who was on the list. Someone important enough for you to make a magical contract with. However, because of the town's current "game," you have already forgotten that person.

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

[Yuna takes a minute to absorb all of that, thinking it over before shrugging and shaking her head.]

Well, if that's what happened, I probably shouldn't worry about it too much. After all, it's not like I can force myself to remember someone if the town's really messing with us that hard.

[She reaches out to take the card back, looking down at it for a moment.]

And if I really did forget someone important, I'll probably remember again in a few days anyway.

[tsunmuse.livejournal.com]

If you're playing wizard, then it doesn't look too awkward.

[Ako can at least identify a magic item when she sees it.]

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

I usually play basketball, though.

[tsunmuse.livejournal.com]

[Ako nods, and shrugs just a little.] Each to their own.

Where did you get the wand?

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Must've pulled it off a tree or something, I guess.

[tsunmuse.livejournal.com]

[Ako seriously doubted that but nodded.] Well it looks fairly well made to be honest.

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it does, huh?

[And then she blinks a little, apparently coming to some sort of realization.]

That's what I was trying to remember! Okay, hold on. Ardescat!

[A small flame appears at the tip of the wand.]

Man, that was driving me nuts!

[tsunmuse.livejournal.com]

Huh magic. Neat. [Yeah, said with a complete line face no less. But at least there's something familiar in this place.]

Ignite huh?

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It's a beginner's spell. I'm trying to figure out the next level up, but I still haven't thought of an activation key yet. I need to remember to ask...

[Memory blanking again. Just for a second before she remembers.]

...Negi-sensei about that.

[tsunmuse.livejournal.com]

Your teacher in magic I assume?

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's right! He's my teacher back home, too.

[tsunmuse.livejournal.com]

Sounds like quite the teacher. [She had royal tutors back home, but nothing quite like a magical education back on Earth.]

Does he teach openly or in secret?

Dec. 22 LET'S BREAK THEIR HEARTS

[shotasensei.livejournal.com]

[So Negi has been putting off having to talk to Yuna for a while, especially after hearing the phone call on the 17th. But, of course, he can't put it off for long, so he's strolling up to her house now and preparing himself for a yelling.]

Yuna-san?

[gonnamarrydaddy.livejournal.com]

[Hey, look, it's one of those new drones Mayfield filled the town with. She's never seen this kid before, but apparently he thinks he knows who she is, so she'll humor him for now. Besides, it's hard to be mean to a little kid, drone or not.]

Huh? Oh, yeah, hi!

[Yup, she totally doesn't remember his name, so she's just trying to play it off.]