"How... How?" Lyra asked.

"It's among the many benefits of becoming a Princess Mage." Kyubey said. "You can't kill them by destroying their bodies." , he said. "The only way to kill them is to go for the daemon or the Soul Gem."

"That's handy." Lyra said. "But why didn't you mention that part right off the back?"

Sarah was silent. She stared at the object in Lyra's hand.

"I need it... I know you were the one who defeated the Queen..." Sarah said. "But I'm exhausted." She took Scipio and changed him into his Gem state.

"There is of course a drawback." , the weasel said. "All magic dims the soul Gem and weakens the daemon." He pointed out. "Regeneration, especially from an attack like that, costs a lot of magic."

"That's something you really should have mentioned." Lyra said growling.

"No need to worry Lyra." Kyubey said. "If you can be selfless enough to give Sarah that Grief Seed."

"Grief Seed?" Lyra said. "You mean this?" she said holding up the ornament. The object resembled a Soul Gem but was spherical instead of egg shaped. The crystal within was black, but much darker than Sarah's onyx stone.

Lyra was very suspicious of this but she tossed the Seed to Sarah. Sarah took her dimmed Soul Gem and transferred clouds of dark energy to the Grief Seed.

"Sarah. I implore you to resist the temptation to put all that energy into the Grief Seed." Kyubey said. "Too much will bring back the Queen."

"Right!" she said. Her stone had regained much of its luster, but it didn't shine nearly as brightly as Lyra's.

"If conserving magic will be a problem..." Lyra said. "I probably should change back." In that moment Lyra regained her school uniform. Pan was a marten again though he looked rather nauseous. "Will I have to go through that every time?" he asked the weasel.

"Not at all." Kyubey said. "I was in kind of a rush. And from my accounts the first transformation is always the most painful."

Lyra was very wary of the Incubator now. He clearly knew what would happen. So this was a huge gambit to recruit me? But why? Pan rushed up to Lyra's shoulder.

"Regarding the nature of your wish..." Kyubey said. "It's quite a powerful one. But to take full advantage of it I've developed a little trick." , he said. "In worlds without daemons the Soul Gem is transformed into a ring when not in use."

"Without daemons?" Sarah asked fearfully. "What...?"

Lyra gave it a try. She stroked Pan again hoping for the right results. She successfully was able to change him into a ring. This will come in handy. Lyra thought. Lyra examined the ring closely. She noticed similar runes to the ones strewn across the labyrinth inlaid within her ring. 1)

"You two should probably get some sleep." Kyubey said. "It's going to be a long day." , he said.

Lyra nodded and sighed.

Then Grace woke up.

"What the hell am I doing here?" Grace screamed furiously. "Is this your idea of a sick joke?"

Sarah stood frozen still. Scipio was back to daemon form. But Pan...

"Where's your daemon?" Grace said in a horrified voice. "It's not right... There's only one explanation... You're a witch aren't you?"

Lyra was quick on her feet. She started rushing through possible solutions to this problem. She was Lyra Silvertounge. She could talk her way out of this.

Lyra folded her hands behind her back. She removed the ring. Pan held tight to her arm as she brought him forward.

"The term would be mirageuer* Grace." , she said showing her Pan. "I was practicing a few tricks."

"I can't believe you." Grace said her tone changing from shock to annoyance. "Figures a bastard girl would disgrace her bloodline." , she said. "Learning magic tricks like some kind of street urchin."

"I am a street urchin, princess." she said. "Thanks for the compliment."

Sarah chuckled at the in-joke.

" As for you." Grace turned to Sarah. "You can't laugh at someone of a higher station than you." , she flipped her hair as she said this.

Lyra put the hand on Sarah's shoulder. "She's not worth it Sarah." She said. She was exhausted and wanted to talk privately with her fellow mage.

Grace scooped up her swan daemon and left in a huff.

"I still don't regret saving her." Sarah said sincerely. "Still... This hunt didn't go nearly as smoothly as I thought."

"Yeah..." Lyra spun around. Kyubey had disappeared during the conversation. "But that weasel..." she said.

"You're one to talk about weasels." Sarah said jokingly. Pan feigned indigence at the slight.

"Exactly." Lyra responded. "I know mustelids." she said. "They're dishonest untrustworthy, and clever."

"Then why make a contract with him?" Sarah asked.

"Because they also have a strong sense of self preservation." Lyra responded. "The weasel picked the one moment where I would chew my leg off to escape, and jumped at it." Pan curled tighter around her neck to comfort her.

"Well,..." Sarah said. "Don't worry about it. Kyubey always fulfills his end of the bargain." , she said. "Which leads me to ask... What did you wish for?"

"I'm not so much worried about that part as I am about the fine print." Lyra responded. "But my wish... It's a long story, but in summary I wished to be able to travel between worlds."

"That's amazing!" Sarah said. "It's a very romantic idea. Traveling through worlds having adventures." , she said in a dreamlike tone. "My wish wasn't anywhere near that creative." , she said.

"What was is?" Lyra asked.

Sarah froze up again. She remained silent for a few seconds before she spoke. "It's getting late." , she said, dodging the question.

Lyra remained silent for a second. She's always assumed Sarah was straightforward and honest. But it was clear that she'd been keeping secrets for quite a while. She had to ponder what she wished for if she wasn't willing to talk about it. But she had an exam tomorrow and she couldn't afford to keep pressing Sarah for details. Lyra simply nodded her head and headed back to her dormitory. " 'Night Sarah." , she said as she reached the boarding house stoop.

Lyra climbed the lonely spiral staircase and entered her room to find the slumbering Anna. Her daemon was perched on the bed frame, a dove. She knew that Ana wouldn't have ever made the same deal that Lyra and Sarah had. She was too concerned about her soul to risk it, even to save her body. "Zealot." , she said before getting on her night clothes.

Pan was snuggling to her chest when she fell asleep. She dreamt of all the worlds she had encountered on her quest. She revisited every person she met, from humans, to daemons, to mulefa. All of them started to blur together. Will was calling but Lyra could barely hear through all the chaos. The incubator was still smiling, watching it all.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

As I discovered last chapter doesn't preserve fonts when you upload the fic. The font originally used was the same runic script shown in the anime. The same issues apparently also screwed with the border I had used to separate the Author's notes from the fic itself. I apologize for that as it kind of ruined the flow of the fic's ending.

The lack of a runic font does ruin the mystery. So I'm going to try to substitute links to the Madoka Rune converter.

For this chapter

http:/starlet..com/madoka-rune-converter/images/

As for the asterisks.

*Used as a more professional term for magician, similar to the word "illusionist"