Her favorite pastime is reading. More so than a videogame or a movie, reading a book allows her to set her own pace and not feel rushed by anything. Her absolutely favorite story is that of the Little Match Girl, who lost everything in pursuit of a little bit of hope and warmth. Perhaps, Emily thought, the Little Match Girl reminded her of herself; after all, while her family is by no means poor, it's certainly cold and lonely, with her Mother often absent while she's on business trips.

No, scratch that. Her Mother is always absent, even when she's not on a business trip. She can occupy the same physical space as Emily, but Emily can just tell that her mind isn't there, that she wasn't actually seeing her daughter with those hollow and weary eyes of hers. And what is love if not to see and being seen? How can you love a person if your eyes deny their existence? You can't; that's how Emily knows she's unwanted, unloved, a fact that chills her to the bones.

"Emily Caston," that's when she met the great deceiver known as Kyubey. "Make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl!"


"What the fuck have you done?!" Rain shouted as she jumped into the Barrier to stand beside Aunt Fara. Well, what remained of Aunt Fara, anyways, which wasn't much more than charred flesh and cracking bones. "Aunt Fara…!" she cried as she caught the burnt corpse in her arms, heedless of the heat that was burning her robe and skin even now. "No no no no no….!"

"Rain...I...I'm sorry..." Emily was apologizing non-stop, but Rain wasn't having any of it.

"You bitch!" Rain shouted at Emily as she throw a small vial containing a scarlet liquid at the other Magical Girl, but it was intercepted by Maria's cross-like sword and exploded before it could land on Emily.

"Get a grip!" Maria shouted. "Emily didn't mean to hurt anyone! It was just an accident."

"I. Don't. Care!" Rain proceeded to attack a sobbing and helpless Emily with several vials, but all of them were blocked by Maria. Eventually, though, Rain's attack overwhelmed Maria's defense, forcing Maria to defend Emily from this last attack with her body instead of her sword. "Formula Annientamento:" Rain growled as she threw a vial of black liquid at the two: "Aether!"

The vial hit Maria. At first, nothing happened. But then Maria's face twisted into a painful grimace, and her Soul Gem quickly blackened, until eventually it broke, revealing a seed of dark despair inside: a Grief Seed, like that of Witch, while Maria's body lost all motion and expression and dropped to the floor, and a newborn Witch formed itself around this tiny concentrated curse.

"What have you done?!" it was Emily's turn to demand that answer out of Rain, through soft sobs and teary eyes, as she held the soulless body of her lover tightly between her arms.

The Witch that was Maria takes the form of a giant white lily flower with four petals spread out like a cross, and a circular mouth lined with sharp teeth in the middle. All around the flower of pain were its Familiars, humanoid shape made of salt, a male one resembling her brother Rudy, and a female one resembling her lover Emily. Her Barrier is that of a church, also made of salt.

"Maria! Can you hear me?" Emily called out, first to the mindless form between her arms, then to the crazed form of the Witch. "I know you're in there somewhere!" and her words became a sob.

If Maria was in there somewhere, she couldn't show it, as the flower of curse bend down toward Emily and cut off her neck with its teeth. Or perhaps this was how Maria shows that she's still in there, by sparring Emily of any further agony, and to devour her Soul Gem into her Witch form so that perhaps their souls could be with each other for all eternity. The world may never know.

"Oh my God, what have I done?" Rain gasped when she realized the gravity of her action, how she utilized a spell she swore she'd never use in a heated moment of anger and grief. Paralyzed by guilt, Rain didn't move her body or do anything to evade or defend against the Witch or its Familiars when they came forward to devour her and what little was left of Aunt Fara.

But then someone intervened. A silvery arrow, smooth as if it was made of liquid, shot through the Barrier, impaled several Familiars before finally landed itself on one of the four white petals.

"Kylie…?" Rain blinked as her sight was filled by the image of a silver cape enshrouding a blond haired figure, with her hands a silvery bow and arrows formed out of her mercurial physical form.

"Go," Kylie said simply, without taking her eyes away from the Witch. "Go now. I already have a handful to deal with with this one; I can't handle it if you throw any more wrenches into my fight."

"What about the Philosopher's Stone?" Rain asked. "Don't you still want it from me?"

"If you have it," Kylie said, "You'd have used it long ago."

"...Touche." Rain nodded, carried what little was left of Fara's charred corpse onto her back, and walked away. "Break a leg." was the final words she said to her former rival magical girl and downstairs neighbor.


All she wished for was for people to warm up to her. And that was exactly what she got.

"Emily, do you have enough to wear in this weather?" her Mother, who never cared for Emily's well-being before, became obsessed with her, to the detriment of their only income source - her Mother's career. "Do you want me to pack you lunch, Emily?"

But that didn't matter, because her Mother wasn't the only person who warmed up to her.

"Hey Emily, do you want to share some of my lunch?" Debbie offered, and Holly pushed the matter: "Don't worry Emily, Debbie needs to start a diet anyways." and the two got into a fight over who should start a diet and why.

Even the teachers weren't immune. Emily had always been a good student, but this…

"Another A on your Math exam." Brother Arthur said with a big smile, as if he's talking about his own daughter. "You never fail to impress, Emily." even that evil incarnate Father Question nodded at her when she ran into him every now and then.

At first, Emily found all the attention flattering and pleasant; but as time went on, she began to find all the eyes on her to be tiring and nerve-wrecking. She began to withdraw further into her shell, becoming even more awkward and antisocial.


"You're losing it, Rain."

"I know, Hachiko." Rain panted as she finally sat down against a wall. She raised her Soul Gem, and it was no longer the blazing ruby it once was. Instead, it was pitch black, with darkness swirling inside the egg-sized precious stone. "I know."

"Before I'm gone for good, there's something I've always meant to ask you:" Rain covered the black gem with her hands and fixed her eyes on Hachiko: "How come you are so advanced and even creative, but lacking in emotions and morality?"

"Emotion and morality are faculties of sentience;" Hachiko answered. "Technology and creativity are faculties of intelligence."

"I'm under the impression that they're one and the same."

"Perhaps for humans, they are." Hachiko said. "But one isn't a requirement for another."

"You once told me that one day humanity will reach the stars." Rain recalled. "When that happens, will we find more like us, or more like you?"

After a brief moment of hesitation, Hachiko answered: "More like you. Sentience permeates the universe. The coldness that is our kind is an anomaly."

"For someone who's basically an alien salesman of magic," Rain laughed. "You sure are a terrible liar, Hachiko."

The Incubator was silent.

"I get it, though." Rain closed her eyes. "You want to spare me the truth that the universe is a cold, uncaring place, as a small mercy before my end."

"I'm sorry." Hachiko said. "For everything."

"Don't be. It is what it is." Rain let out a sigh.

"If only there's anything I can do for you..."

"Actually, there is."

"Just name it."

"Since she can see you, can you fetch Chanel for me?" Rain opened her eyes again, but her gaze was distant, as if looking at something far away. "I just want to see her one last time."

"Of course." Hachiko nodded. "I'll be right back"

After the Incubator left, Rain opened her hands and looked at her Soul Gem again. It's difficult to tell by looking at it, but Rain could tell that it was getting darker, as she could feel the darkness in the depth of her soul, sipping into her bones and gnawing at her heart with sharp teeth named guilt and regret. Aunt Fara, the only real family Rain had left, is dead. Maria and Emily, the only friends she had except for Chanel, were basically murdered by her own hands. She can feel her mind slipping deep into a black hole, unable to break free no matter how hard she tried. It's time.

"Formula Creazione:" Rain whispered, almost like praying to a God she did not believe in and which rejects her simply for what she is, as her Soul Gem blazed brightly scarlet for one last time before that crimson glow solidified around her broken Soul Gem, trapping the ensuring seed of grief inside its magnificent red hue, imprisoning what Rain's soul had became inside a cage of ruby so she wouldn't harm anyone even if she had lost herself to despair. "Magnum Opus!"


"I agree, I do need to stop playing make belief." Rain's words echoed in her head as her footsteps echoed in the spacious hallways of the hospital. "I need to stop pretending I have a sister myself."

"Because you're not my sister." Rain denounced her once again in her mind, as she rounded a corner and climbed up a few stairs. "Family isn't supposed to hurt each other. A real sister wouldn't do something like this to someone she cares about."

"I won't embarrass you anymore. So please just do me a favor in return." Kellen shook her head and tried to banish the hurtful words from her mind as she opened the door. "Stay away from me and don't ever speak to me again. EVER!"

"How's he?" Kellen asked her brother, Aiken, whom was shaken visibly from the shock of it all.

"She." he said flatly.

"Oh, knock it off!" Kellen growled. "This is no time for Ryan's stupid game of make believe - "

"No, you knock it off, you stupid fucking bitch!" Aiken shouted, drawing concerned look from even outside the room, but at least it worked to shut up the stupid fucking bitch. "Rain is always a girl, but now she's...a girl, physically. It makes no sense. Her hormone therapy hasn't even began..."

"What?!" Kellen stepped forward to look at her baby sis, and from beneath the hospital gown the shape of Rain's breast as well as her cleavage were perfectly visible.

"Oh, and Aunt Fara is dead, if you care at all." Aiken said sarcastically. "I don't recommend seeing the body though, if you ever plan on having barbeque again."

"So how is...she?" Kellen asked as she slumped into a chair beside Rain's bed, putting her hands around the cold hand of her unconscious baby sis.

"Physically, she's female and fine. Better than fine; she's in perfect health." Aiken lowered his eyes. "She just wouldn't wake up. The docs don't know why."

"Oh, Ry - Rain…!" Kellen's breath caught in her throat as hot tears of regret streamed down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry…!"

"If you ever wake up..." Kellen shook her head. "...when you wake up," she corrected herself. "I swear, I'll be the best big sis you can ever have."

"Baby sis..." Kellen whispered the words, almost like praying to a God she did not believe in and who rejects her baby sis simply for what she is, as the first beam of twilight of a dawning day shot through the window and landed on the face of Rain's soulless body, the crimson gemstone on the bedside table blazing with the light of a life mercilessly snuffed out by a cold universe.