"So in the end, nothin' even fuckin' happened, what da hell." By now, everyone's left, and Aphrodite offered to take that shithead bitch Rachel to a hospital on her way home. I sigh heavily and sit down with Hae Eun, and we both enjoy what's left of the tea. "Was that really the best way to have done this?"

"I intended to be as transparent as possible," Hae Eun says quietly. "This was indeed the best way to have carried this out. If we had instead simply told everyone that our territory was henceforth free game, word will quickly spread, and even before we leave for Japan, I'm afraid that we would have had to deal with more hostile Magical Girls and expend our energy needlessly. On top of which, I do not want either of us to be held responsible for the possible deaths of any Magical Girls who fight in our territory simply because of the fact that we did not warn them about the true strength of the witches in our territory."

"So you just wanted ta cover all bases, huh?" I drain my cup. "Basically, you were goin' full lawyer on their asses."

Hae Eun pours me another cup of tea. "It may have been perceived as harsher than it needed to be. One might say that I appeared to be bullying those two girls, even. But now they absolutely cannot say that we did not warn them."

"Speakin' a' which, ya think they'll actually stick it out n' try takin' down one of our witches?"

"If their story is indeed true, they will. Grief Seeds are the lifeblood of us Magical Girls, after all...so if their friend is truly in a situation where any extra Grief Seed could be the difference between the death of their friend and the preservation of their lives, they should, no, they will fight."

"But let's be real here, both of us got a good sense 'a how strong other Magical Girls are just by meeting' 'em, right? You gotta know that they weren't that strong at all. In fact, shit, who are we kiddin', they're fuckin' scrub tier! It can'ta been that long since they made their contracts!"

Hae Eun nods gravely. "I am aware of that. This is cruel for me to say with such certainty, but...they will not survive even their first witch hunt here. Given their conviction in trying to save their friend, I can imagine them dying rather than making the smarter choice of simply staying alive and hunting witches elsewhere. And besides..." Hae Eun puts her head in my shoulder, "I have a bad feeling that the friend they are trying to save may already have passed on time become a witch..."

"So fucked if they do, fucked if they don't? Damn..." I mutter. "It's fuckin' depressin' as shit, bein' a Magical Girl, ain't it..."

Hae Eun nods slowly. "No one said it would be some sort of cakewalk, either. Although, admittedly, with the way that Kyuubey contracts Magical Girls, virtually everyone is reeled in with the golden carrot that is the one contractual wish..."

"You know damn well it fuckin' gives me tit cancer jus' thinkin' 'bout that piece 'a shitball. At least we made the effort givin' people some kinda disclaimer, but all that bastard says is 'I'll grant you a wish and in return, you'll be a Magical Girl!' without puttin' in the fine print that says 'by the way, I'm fucking you in the ass if you do take this contract with witches and a death you can't ever hope to avoid 'cause all you're ever good for to me is entropy, so fuck you'. Tch, fuckin' cunt..."

We sit together quietly for a bit, enjoying the tea and each other's company. The ticking of the grandfather clock litters the air somewhere...

"I'm a bit worried for those two girls," I declare finally. "You don't mind if I go see what's up with 'em, right?"

Hae Eun shakes her head. "That is fine, for that is your own jurisdiction. If you want to help them, you can give them whatever Grief Seeds that drop, since we have a bit of a stock at home."

I nod in thanks. "Now then...oi, ya fuckin' cunt, Kyuubey! Gitcha ass out here!" My Scottish accent bleeds through audibly, a trait picked up from my parents from listening to their Scottish English at home for over a decade. Kyuubey promptly shows up, somehow rounding the corner of our couch and hoppin' up onto the glass table.

"You call?" Kyuubey asks. "How surprising. Usually you are not the one to summon me, for reasons that are probably very obvious already."

"Can it, motherfucker. I got something' for ya to do."

Kyuubey cocks his head. "I do not recall saying that I am some handyman or any of the sort."

"Maybe not to me, but what you are is an informant, and a damn good one. Did two Magical Girls ask you where the next witch was gonna pop up around our place? What were their names...shit, I'm forgettin'..."

"If you are referring to Sarah-Charlotte McLaughlin and her friend Paulina Litner, then yes, they called for me with a similar request."

"Where are they?"

"But why must you know? Knowing their location will help no one."

"Don't fuck with me right now, Kyuubey, you sonuva bitch. Where are they?!" My voice gets cranked up a notch. Kyuubey simply shakes his shitty lil' head like he's the goddamn master of the universe.

"I was under the impression that those girls are nowhere near as strong as they must be in order to adequately combat the witches in this area," Kyuubey continues. "It is simply better to harvest the entropy that will be released upon their inevitable deaths."

"That's exactly what I don't wanna have happen!"

"Kyuubey," Hae Eun speaks up this time, "inform us on their location. I will give you a bubble bath tonight, along the with some homemade chocolate."

Kyuubey's ears perk up as soon as he hears the mention of chocolate. "At least Jeannie is sensible enough to strike up a good deal," he says with no trace of excitement or change in tone in his voice. "Very well. I have instructed those girls to head to a local elementary school by the name of Vista Grande Elementary School. There ought to be a witch spawning soon in that vicinity, so the girls you have been referring to should already be there or on their way."

I grin awkwardly at Hae Eun. "I owe ya one, Hae Eun. Want me ta cover the meals for the next two days?"

"That would be lovely. You can also practice your chocolate cake-making skills. I look forward to it." Hae Eun giggles quietly as I seethe in mock anger. She knows that I'm fuckin' god awful at makin' anythin' that has chocolate in it. It even seems like Kyuubey's makin' fun 'a me too, since it turns out he's got a bit of a sweet tooth himself. Who knew a fat-headed rodent douchenozzle like him would like chocolate...

I guess it's safe ta say that whoever came up with the whole "come to the dark side; we haz cookies" meme thingy probably knew Kyuubey.

Fifteen minutes later, I find myself strollin' onto the elementary school grounds, already decked out in my Magical Girl costume 'n everythin'. Wasn't hard at all to find...from Mapquest, anyway. Place's freakin' all the way down in a damn valley 'r some shit. Right away I feel the presence of a witch. Looks like it already spawned in.

Since Hae Eun ain't here with me, since she said that the package that she's waitin' one's probably gonna come sometime tonight (why the hell would anyone deliver a bloody package at night?!), I already got good ol' Annie out 'n ready ta rumble. In fact, I came here rid in' on top 'a her like I was rid in' some sorta mighty steed into battle.

"Let's go check out the playground, see if they're there," I say cheerfully to my xenomorphic companion, and she growls back in a low voice, tell in' me that she's on her guard 'cause 'a the witch we both can feel is nearby. As we cross the campus, I recognize the fact that I hadn't felt either Paulina's or Sarah-Charlotte's signatures on our way down, which either means they still haven't reached this place yet, or they're already in the witch's dimension...and dying, maybe already dead. I really hope it's not the latter...I really don't want other girls like me, other Magical Girls, to die pointlessly fighting a witch that's clearly too strong for them. It's great that you're tryin'a save your friend 'n all, but what the hell's the point if y'all're jus' gonna die in the end?

Then again, I've gotta get my hand outta my ass, 'cause I know damn well that if I needed to do somethin' like they are to save Hae Eun, I would without hesitation. So I better shut the fuck up and try my damnedest to save 'em. At the end if the day, after all, they ain't me, and they certainly ain't no Hae Eun.

The witch's portal's chillin' out at the large set 'a swing sets at the edge of the huge soccer field. For an elementary school, it's really got one huge mothafuckin' soccer field.

"Hey, Annie," I talk to my alien buddy, tryin' to hide the anxiety that's in my throat, "ya think those two'll be in there, hangin' in there? Or am I jus' wastin' my time 'n sympathy on 'em? Whaddya think?"

Annie mumbles in her alien voice, but only I can understand her garble perfectly. "You ain't got a clue either, huh...but if they're still alive in there, we gotta do what we gotta to save 'em, a'ight?"

Annie nods that big, armored head 'a hers, and we slide into the witch's portal together.

We find ourselves standin' in the middle of a field fulla all kinds'a signs. Stop signs, traffic signals, railroad crossing signs, handicapped signs, ya name it, every single kinda sign's just chillin' together in this field 'a signs. Before I got any time ta stand 'round like a complete derp and wonder if any of the food I've been eatin's been spiked with gratuitous amounts 'a acid, I hear a large crash off in the distance, off to my and Annie's left.

"C'mon, it's gotta be them!" I urge Annie onwards as I bolt towards the direction of the loud crash. "Please, don't be all over..."

Even as I say that, though, I'm already expectin' the worst.

We ain't gotta run too far until we see a visible clearing in this field 'a random-ass sign posts. Burstin' in through like we're the damn Kool-Aid guy except without the corny-ass "OOOOOHHHH YEAAAAAAHHHHH! ! ! ! ! !", Annie and I find the limp body 'a Sarah-Charlotte lyin' on her side. Streaks 'a bright red blood's decoratin' the black floor, and lotsa broken and bent sign posts're lyin' around all over the damn place. Across the way, her friend Paulina's lyin' on the floor on her back, starin' with dead 'n empty eyes up at the pitch-black, hopeless sky, up at a figure of a bloody skeleton who's holdin' a stop sign and wears where the face of the skull oughta be the skin of two faces: one of Paulina, and one of Sarah-Charlotte. The top and the right side of that stop sign that the skeleton dude's holding's splattered in blood.

"Sarah! ! !" I rush towards Sarah-Charlotte's body. "Annie, get that skelly bitch!" Annie roars her confirmation and rushes at the skeleton, who simply floats away outta her reach. I turn over Sarah-Charlotte's body, and what I see ain't pretty in the slightest. Her left elbow's been smashed in so hard and so many times that her left arm's pretty much a done deal. A mass 'a blood and mangled mess 'a torn skin and black bruises cover her solar plexus, having ripped through her Magical Girl clothes. Her Soul Gem, which is on her foot as an ankle brace, is extremely dim. Yeah, it's too late for her now...she's gonna be a goner soon.

"...An...to...nia...?" Sarah-Charlotte croaks really fuckin' weakly. I'm honestly amazed that she can even talk like that. I smile weakly at her.

"C'mon, man...we even told you tryin'a fight one 'a these bitches wasn't gonna end well for ya...what's the point 'a callin' y'all here if yer all jus' gonna go out 'n fight one 'a these bitches 'n die? That's exactly what we tried not ta let happen..."

She shakes her head, but it's less shakin' than it is jus' tiltin' her head left 'n right. "We...we...beat...it...but...but then...P...Paulina...she..." Sarah-Charlotte hoarsely whispers. "...she...turned into...that..."

I look back up at the deformed witch that Annie's leapin' through the air tryin'a catch in her jaws, and then I look back down at the soulless body 'a Paulina. Her Soul Gem, in its egg form, is cracked and shows no light.

"...hey...is...is it true...?" Sarah-Charlotte asks.

"True? What's true?"

"...that...we...all turn...into...witches...when...we...die...?"

I bite my tongue. Looks like she figured it out.

"...yeah. It's what Kyuubey doesn't tell any of the girls he contracts with. It's a fuckin' brutal cycle 'a contracting Magical Girls, waitin' for 'em to turn into witches, rinse and repeat," I admit.

"Then...why...didn't you...just...tell us...that...?"

"Because..." I find myself trailin' off. Why don't we tell other Magical Girls this, anyway? Is it 'cause we're like Aphrodite, where we want other Magical Girls to find out on their own and figure out what they'll do from there? I guess that's the only valid answer I got. "Because we wanted you to find that out on your own. Me 'n Hae Eun - or, Jeannie, we had to find that out on our own, so we want other girls to do the same. It's...I know it might sound really selfish, but that's part of the reason why we got strong, because we dealt with it, y'know...?"

A loud thump lands near us, and Annie scrambles back to her feet, growling in anger. That two-faced skelly witch thing's swingin' around that stop sign, glaring down at us with its disgustin' ugly ass face.

"I...see..." Sarah-Charlotte breathes real heavy. "...then...I guess...we...were too...weak...we...don't have...anyone...to blame...but...ourselves..."

I pick up my chainsaw halberd that I put down on the floor next ta me, but Sarah-Charlotte weakly tugs on my left pants leg.

"Antonia...you...you and your friend...Jeannie...you two...are...really strong, right...?"

"...I guess."

"Stronger than...than me and my friend...at...at least...could...could you...do some...favors...for me...and...Paul...ina...?"

I look into Sarah-Charlotte's dying eyes. "Yeah?"

"You remember...that...how...how we mentioned...our other...friend...?"

I nod. Annie swipes at the witch, which simply flies out of range and gives 'er a good ol' smackin' to her back with the stop sign, cackling like a mad ravin' bitch.

"...she...she's...in the hospital...in...Culver City...the...Health Care...Center...so...so if...if we'll all turn into...witches...then...she...she's gonna..."

"Yeah, I know," I cut Sarah-Charlotte off. "She'll be a witch too eventually."

"...so please...put...put her down...for us...we...we would've...done it...if...if we'd...we'd gotten...out...of here...alive...and..."

She looks up at me, blood dribblin' down the corner 'a her mouth.

"...kill me, too..."

I feel my own lips twistin' at the corners. I had a feelin' she'd ask me somethin' of the sort. Without sayin' anythin' further, I rip the ankle bracelet that's her Soul Gem off her ankle.

"Sorry I came too late," I mutter. "And sorry it had ta end this way."

Sarah-Charlotte tries her best to smile back. "...it's...not like...we can...change...what's...already...happened..." she utters her final words. "...just...we can...only...make the best...of...what's happened..."

I crush her Soul Gem with a swift squeeze of my fist, before it can fully morph into whatever kinda abominable witch it was. Sarah-Charlotte's head jerks like she's got some sorta electrical pulse jolt through her, and her dead eyes stare off into the distance behind me. I close her eyes and put her down, standing. Annie slides back to me, shaking her head. The chainsaw at the end of my halberd starts 'a spinnin' and spinnin', itchin' ta get somethin' ta rip up.

"Make the best 'a what we got, huh...?" I mumble to myself. "If only I could die like you, Sarah. If only I was as fuckin' mature as you..."

Whatever happens next, I don't fuckin' give a damn. All I know's that I got plenty 'a fuckin' bloody revenge tonight.

I come back home in my normal clothes, but the blood that's been splashed over my skin's bleedin' through, so it makes me look like I've taken a couple bad hits. I knock on Hae Eun's door.

"Yes?"

I peek my head in, and she turns around from her desk, with a couple 'a official lookin' papers in her hands. "How did it go?" she asks, but I shake my head.

"Too late. They...Paulina already turned by the time I reached 'em...'n Sarah was 'bout to go, too, so she asked me to off 'er before she did."

Hae Eun hangs her head a bit, too. "Unfortunate..." she mumbles. "I should have turned them away at the first moment that I felt they would not be strong enough..."

"Not only that, but I also promised Sarah that I'd finish off their friend in Culver City, too..."

"You are referring to their other friend they had mentioned?"

I nod.

"In Culver City, huh...I will have Kyuubey keep tabs on the area when her witch finally does emerge. Are you hurt?" Hae Eun eyes the blood that's bleedin' through my clothes.

"Ah, nah, not really, I'll just take a quick shower and dump my clothes in the laundry," I say quickly.

"Do you require a Grief Seed?"

"Not really, no, didn't use up much."

She nods. "I received my package whilst you were away. Once you finish your shower, please join me."

"Okay, sweet, brb."

I quickly wash myself off and come back to her room within ten minutes, dressed in some basketball shorts 'n a sports bra, sittin' next to her in another chair she brought in for me.

"So your package came in, huh?" I look around on her desk, hangin' my towel around my neck. Since my hair's still wet, I can feel water drops racin' down my back, and it feels nice 'n cool. "What'cha find?"

"Many things," Hae Eun says, and I can clearly pick up a sense 'a excitement and wonder in her voice, somethin' that's really rare to hear in her tone. But there's also that slight tone 'a fear, y'know, that she'll find out somethin' that'll completely blow her mind 'r somethin' bad like that. A small saggy cardboard box, with its top cut neatly open, sits on the corner of her desk. "These papers show all of the moves and the bases he has worked and operated out of for the last twenty years of his life...even before I was born. This explains why he frequently left for weeks on end to drill squads or overlook shipment receipts in other bases..."

"Anythin' on your mom?" I ask, pickin' up a piece 'a paper 'n readin' it, but it's jus' military lingo that I don't get, so I put it back down.

"None so far, but I have only been looking through the first packet of papers. There are more packets inside the box," Hae Eun nods at the cardboard box.

"Speakin' 'a which, who brought the package to you? Isn't, like, USPS or UPS or whatever like, not active at this time 'a the day?"

"This package was not delivered by standard mail carriers. A member of the former special forces group that my mother was a part of hand-delivered it to me...I believe his callsign was 'Sanford' or something of the sort..."

"Oh, okay..."

About another ten minutes pass in total silence as we go through the first batch 'a papers.

"Interesting..." Hae Eun finally murmurs aloud.

"What's interestin'?"

"According to this post-action report, Appa actually fought with Um-ma at Gunsan..."

"Er, sorry for soundin' like an ass, but whyzzat interestin', exactly?"

"My father spent most of the later half of his military career as an officer. Thus, his position would not normally compel him to see much of actual combat experience. I only ever saw him fire guns a few times, but all those times he was simply test-firing them in the firing range or something of the sort. I suppose he was a much better marksman than I had imagined..."

"Well, I mean...you said yer dad joined the military when he was eighteen or something, right? And never really went anywhere after that? You'd think that fightin' as a soldier for that long, ya wouldn't forget you marksmanship skills, right? 'course, I dunno if he ever was like a badass sniper guy or something with perfect accuracy or anythin'..."

"Point taken..."

"What was that fight all 'bout, anyway?" I lean over to take a closer look.

"Apparently, there was a report of a few North Korean spies who had managed to sneak all the way down to Gunsan," Hae Eun says, translating the Korean text as she runs over 'em with her finger to help me understand. "And 'cause they wanted to keep the incident a military secret and not have it reported to the public to cause unnecessary panic among the South Korean public, my parents and the other members of Seal Team 6 personally went in and successfully assassinated the alleged spies."

"Wow," I whistle. "Makes 'em sound badass as fuck."

Hae Eun betrays a small smile. "It would be a lie if I said I was not proud of my parents," she says quietly but with satisfaction.

"You just love followin' in the footsteps 'a yer parents, don'tcha?"

"I do not think there is anything wrong with that."

"No, there ain't...oh by the way, can you have me understand Korean for a bit?"

Hae Eun slightly swipes my forehead with her index finger, and the familiar jolt bumps my brain, and suddenly the moon runes on all of the papers all start to make sense. I put aside another paper and push it towards Hae Eun to take a look at the next one, and as I start readin' its contents, my eyes nearly pop open.

"H-Hae Eun!" I stutter. "Look at this shit! This's a marriage certificate!"

Hae Eun leans over real quick, faster than I've ever seen her react outta combat. We peer at the picture together.

"Ha Eun Lauren Baek..." Hae Eun murmurs. "Lauren..."

"Musta been her mum's English name," I remark.

"As it seems...what a nice name..."

I can't help but giggle a bit. "Hey, hey, yer seriously gonna get all sentimental jus' over yer mum's name? I can't fuckin' believe ya..."

"What? I was simply commenting on the fact that my mother's name is pleasant," Hae Eun says, a bit of a blush growin' on her cute lil' cheeks. "You would, too, had you previously never known what your own mother's English first name was before."

I can feel my jaw slap the edge of the desk. "Yer fuckin' kiddin'! No way?!"

"I was under the impression that you knew."

"Hey look, I know a lotta things 'boutcha, but dat ain't one 'a 'em!"

Hae Eun goes back ta lookin' at the marriage certificate. "I shall keep this safe," Hae Eun mutters, like she's makin' a promise with herself. I'm about ta sift through another buncha papers, but somethin' falls out from the marriage certificate when Hae Eun takes it away. We both look at it at the same time. Turns out, as Hae Eun checks underneath the certificate, there's a whole buncha photos under the thing. I pick up the photo that slipped onto the desk.

The wrinkled photo shows a lotta military dudes standin' 'round lookin' all happy 'n shit, and in the center, there's a group 'a seven people. Two of 'em are obviously Hae Eun's parents, dressed in their weddin' dress 'n tux, and the five otha men 'n women also dressed like they're in their Sunday best 'r somethin'. Along the bottom, some faded ballpoint pen ink's scrawled ta say, "Seal Team 6 for life!" in some godawful handwriting, even worse than mine.

"Here's anotha marriage photo of yer folks," I let Hae Eun know. "What else's there?"

Hae Eun shows me the other photos. They're a small collection 'a pics, from old Polaroids to normal everyday photos like the ones you'd order from Walgreen's or somethin'. They show a whole variety 'a scenes...one shows Hae Eun's parents trainin' togetha on a firing range, shootin' Daewoo K-2 assault rifles that I'm only able ta recognize 'cause Hae Eun used ta use 'em a whole bunch back in the day. Another pic shows 'em drinkin' some cans 'a beer with the same people that're closest to 'em in the marriage photo, who I'm assumin' are the guys of this "Seal Team 6" thingy or whatever. I lean over to see what Hae Eun's got, and she's holdin' a pic of her parents grinnin' 'n laughin' together, even though they're both bleedin' from the head in the pic. I flip through another photo, and this one hits me right in the feels: half the photo's taken up by a dark 'n blurry figure holdin' a small box, and the other half mainly shows the shocked face of a girl's face that I can only assume belongs ta Mrs. Baek. You'd hafta be fuckin' socially retarded to not know what the fuck's goin' on in this photo.

"Hey, Hae Eun," I whisper, even though I don't have to. I feel like we're goin' through super-highly classified military documents or somethin' crazy right now. "Might wanna check this one out..."

She takes the photo from me, and I watch her face to see what her reaction's like. She just makes a real small smile...one 'a those smiles that you can baaaaaarely see, but if ya see it, you can't miss it.

"How wonderful..." Hae Eun breathes. "They were so happy back then..."

I look through the photos again. There's surprisin'ly a lotta photos, a damn lot more than I expected ta be hidin' out underneath a friggin' marriage certificate. As I look at each one, it hits me suddenly that I ain't got any like this. I ain't got any photo albums or nothin' that's been tangibly recorded of my own family's history. My family's kinda like Hae Eun's family where neither has extended family, but now that I think 'bout it, Hae Eun's kinda got sort of an extended family goin' on through her contacts in the military. All these photos - well, the ones that show Hae Eun's parents' friends and comrades - seem like Hae Eun would know everyone real well through her dad. Just the feelin' that I'm gettin'.

I slide the photos over to Hae Eun so she can look at 'em. She'll enjoy 'em a lot more than I'm able.

Somehow, I feel a bit...bitter.

I wonder why...

...maybe it's 'cause all this time, I could associate with Hae Eun 'cause, y'know, both of us...our parents had their lives cut short, and we ain't really got anyone else besides each otha to turn to. But seein' all these photos...knowin' that I ain't got any like this of my own family or any photos of me when I was younger, before I killed my parents...it's like Hae Eun really is more of a distant person than I originally imagined...

"Antonia?" I jerk my head up a bit when Hae Eun calls out my name so suddenly.

"Y-Yeah? Whazzup?"

"Are you alright? You were spacing out for a moment there, it looked like..."

I shake my head hurriedly...my thoughts were showin' on my face, crap. "Nah, nah, it's nothin', maybe I'm noddin' off..." I say quickly as I reach into the small cardboard box to see if there's anythin' left inside. My hand feels a thick pack of paper, and intrigued, I try lifting it up, but it turns out to be some kinda book. As I take it outta the box, I realize it's a small leatherbound book that ain't got a cover. All the papers are all crinkly and bent up at the corners, like it's been to hell 'n back. I open the first page, and the cover fuckin' snaps and creaks like some rickety ol' door. But only one look at the first page underneath the cover's all I need to know what exactly this book is.

"Hae Eun..." My hands tremble a bit when I realize what I've just found, like this whole shit really involves me somehow, "this's...this's yer dad's diary!"