Angel stayed there, dumbfounded, trying to keep breathing. All she could do was stare at her hands that were keeping her from collapsing. Everything was different now. The way she felt, the way she thought, and even the way she saw the world. The colors she could see! They were the same colors as before, but they were deeper and more vibrant, so many more shades and hues than before. Adjusting to her new body, she slowly began to sit up. The shock of being reborn was now fading. She looked back down at the pavement where she collapsed. There sat her soul gem. It was bright hot pink, the kind that demands attention. She picked it up and looked at her new power. This was her new destiny.

"What did you wish for?" a voice above her asked. Angel quickly looked up to see a figure, draped in a dark green cloak, a hood shadowing most of her features. Angel jumped in surprise, causing her to fall backwards and cry out. The figure was accompanied by a girl, with bright red hair and grey eyes. She held a scythe and wore an outfit dawned in straps and bandages, with a drape going from one shoulder to the other and flew behind her.

"Diane, you can at LEAST introduce yourself. She just sold her soul, for fuck's sake. And take that damned hood off, you're just going to scare her more!" The girl with the scythe snapped. She quickly yanked the hood off of the figure beside her. It was another girl, with jet black hair tied in a long ponytail and brown eyes. Her skin was a lovely shade of deep brown, which Angel guessed is why the hood masked her features so much. The girl named Diane parted the cloak with her arm and set her hand on her hip, revealing two cross bows strapped to her belt. Her outfit looked like she was an archer, her main outfit a bright green, with a corset that covered her stomach and a free flowing skirt. She wore leggings underneath and had knee high boots that were light brown.

"Cassidy, I swear you make this whole magical girl thing a whole lot less serious than it actually is." Diane sneered, glaring at the girl beside her. Cassidy simply smiled, putting the scythe on both her shoulders and hanging her hands off of the pole.

"It's not like anybody can SEE us like this. We're magical girls, not larpers." Cassidy replied. Angel sat and stared at them both in utter confusion. Who WERE these girls? How could they know so quickly that Angel had made the contract? They were magical girls, sure…but that didn't explain who they were.

"So, I'm Cassidy, and this is Diane." Cassidy introduced, ignoring the glare Diane was giving her. "We're magical girls, just like you are now. If you're wondering how we got here so fast, we've been tracking the whereabouts of those little plush animal things that make contracts with magical girls, since they show up and disappear without a trace." Angel nodded, staring at the two of them. Cassidy stared back, and slowly raised her eyebrows. She then proceeded to take a hand off her scythe and roll her hand, and it became clear that she wanted Angel to introduce herself.

"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry," Angel apologized, starting to stand up. As she dusted herself off in her old baggy jeans and flannel, she couldn't help but think how different her voice sounded to her, too. She stood up straight, turned to them and smiled. "I'm…Angel. Yeah, that's my name now. Angel." Cassidy smiled, obviously pleased with how things were going, until Diane rolled her eyes and spoke.

"Alright, Angel, whatever kind of name that is, what did you wish for." Diane demanded. Angel's smile started to fade.

"I…ah…don't really want to talk about my wish. The point is, it's been done." Angel asserted, scratching the back of her head. Holy crap, her HAIR! It was so long now, and so much softer than her old hair. Cassidy looked to Diane, who was starting to chew her lip, and looked back to Angel.

"Look, Angel, we know a wish is something deeply personal, and under normal conditions, we'd be totally open for you keeping it secret. But the thing is, something is WRONG with the magic girl world. That creature you made a contract with? Normally, they are always with us, they don't ever leave their magic girls alone. But now, they're gone. They make contracts with girls and disappear. Which makes our job of tackling Wraiths that much harder. We're hoping that by finding out what girls wish for, we can track the next potential girl they'll contract with and catch it, so we can ask what is going on." Cassidy explained. Cassidy could still see Angel's reluctance, so she took a deep breath and began. "My sister was going to die. She was born prematurely, and once she was born, most of her organs were failing. She wasn't going to make it. In fact, for 8 minutes she was dead. But one of those creatures came to me and asked to make a contract. I wished for my sister to cheat death. And that's what my sister did." Angel looked to Cassidy, empathy shining in her eyes. Cassidy gave a sad smile, then turned to Diane. Diane sighed, looking off at nothing in particular, but she was definitely not looking at Angel.

"Our house was ransacked. I just got home from school. When I went to the living room, I saw my parents dead on the carpet, blood and everything. I screamed, I wept. I stayed in that house for a solid week, not eating anything for a straight week, just sitting in my room and crying. The creature wanted to make a contract with me. I wished for me to hunt down the killers. Fortunately for them, they got caught and were sentenced to life in prison. If I had it my way, they'd be dead." Diane bit her lip, and underneath her headstrong vibrato, it was obvious she was holding back tears. Angel looked down, almost defeated.

"I'm so sorry…for both of your sacrifices…my wish was nothing like yours…it wasn't nearly as full of tragedy." Angel spoke softly, holding her arms. "I…I wished…I wished to be a girl." Both Diane and Cassidy stood there and stared at Angel wide eyed, unable to comprehend what they just heard.

"You…you're not a girl?" Cassidy asked. Angel pursed her lips, throwing an angry glare at Cassidy.

"I AM a girl. I was a girl then and I'm a girl now. The only difference between then and now is that my biology agrees with me now." Angel snapped. Cassidy was taken aback by the remark, but Diane shook her head.

"No no no no. That's not what we meant to come across as. We're fine with whatever sexuality you have, or have had, or whatever. We mostly need to know if the contractor made a contract with a boy, rather than a girl." Diane clarified. While Angel was obviously uncomfortable, she sighed.

"Yes, I WAS a boy. My wish was for me to become a girl." Angel confirmed. Diane took a deep breath, obviously stressed.

"Fuck, what does this mean…?" Diane asked herself, turning around. She pulled something out from behind her and was studying it intently. Cassidy was looking between the two of them, but she quickly walked over to Diane, whispering something hurriedly. Angel took a step towards them, but could only catch fragments of the conversation.

"…they're going after guys now?"

"Could it just be the wish…?"

"What does this mean…?"

"E-excuse me?" Angel stuttered, very confused. "I'm not sure if this helps, but I just happened to come across the creature. He refused to make a contract with me since I wasn't a girl, but I told him that's what I wanted more than anything in the world. After I told him that, he said that it was possible then for him to complete the contract, since the resulting wish would still make it possible for me to be a magical girl." Cassidy and Diane both turned around, obviously interested in what Angel was saying. They exchanged a look between the two of them and then turned around.

"Alright, Angel, since you're such a unique case in magic girl history, we'd like you to join us." Diane asked, holding her hands behind her back. Angel stared at the both of them, more confused than she was before.

"Join…what exactly?" Angel asked. Cassidy laughed a bit and patted Diane on the back, then looked to Angel, taking the lead.

"I got this one, Diane." Cassidy started. "Alright, like we said, something is wrong in the magic girl world. We have taken it upon ourselves to find out what is going on in magic girl world. To do this, however, we have got to travel to get the answers we need. Find new magic girls, make new magic girl friends, find some leads, go new places, all that fun jazz." Cassidy looked to Angel and smiled warmly, the kind of smile a big sister does to calm the younger one down. Angel started to chew her lip, shifting weight from leg to leg.

"Well…It's not like I can go home, my parents will definitely notice that I'm different now…and knowing my parents, there's no WAY they'd accept it, especially since they were trying so hard to 'cure' me in the first place, so…" Angel gave a sad smile and looked up at the two of them. "I guess that means I'm in." Diane gave a smile back to Angel, understanding the pain Angel had of having no home to go back to. Diane walked over and gave Angel a side hug, as Angel began to sniffle a bit. Pretty soon, Angel began to cry uncontrollably. She held her hands up to her eyes, almost shielding herself from the other two.

"I-I have no home now!" Angel cried. "I'm different now! This is what I always wanted…and yet…! I'm not me anymore…!" She was beginning to sob now, her voice cracking every time she tried to speak, and she took deep heavy breaths that acted as gasps for air. Cassidy walked over slowly and put a hand on Angel's back, trying to look at her face.

"Hey, hey now, calm down, it's alright…" Cassidy soothed. "Yes, the old you is gone, but who you are now, the things you feel and think, this is you now. You are Angel. And you are full of hope. The despair from your old life has been erased. You are now a magical girl."