Chapter 17

"Mami, do you think we can trust her?"

Mami turned to face the girl who had asked the question. Despite her shyness, Homura wasn't one to keep her thoughts to herself. Especially when it came to their safety. Mami smiled.

"Don't worry, Homura. With all of us there, we'll be prepared if anything goes wrong. I even contacted Kyoko. Surprisingly, she was willing to come along."

Homura blinked. "Really?"

"It surprised me too," Mami said. "Still, we need to figure out what is happening in Kamihama. Kuroe isn't the only one who wants answers."

"Kuroe . . ." Homura muttered.

"Is something the matter?" Mami asked.

Homura started. "Nothing!"

Mami couldn't help but chuckle. The bespeckled, twin-braided girl certainly wasn't what Mami had been expecting from Kyubey's so called anomaly. Honestly, the past week had been anything but normal for her. First she had found Madoka, who had been quick to make a contract. After that, Sayaka had made her contract. Then came along Homura, a girl who Kyubey hadn't made a contract with, but obviously wanted to help. Finally, Kuroe had sought Mami out, joining their group despite not being a Magical Girl from Mitakihara. Now, Kyoko might even work with her again for the sake of solving this mystery.

Honestly, the lonely Mami of even a few weeks ago wouldn't have believed this was possible. Certainly, this is all she had hoped for on some days. If only there wasn't the mess in Kamihama to deal with.

There was knocking on her apartment door, and Mami rose from her seat to open it. On the other side were Madoka, Sayaka, and Kuroe.

"Sorry we're late!" Madoka bowed.

Mami waved off her concern. "Don't worry about it. I only just finished getting ready myself. So, are you girls ready to go to Kamihama?"

Kuroe nodded, remaining silent as the others began to converse among themselves.

There were many times when Mami wasn't sure what to think of Kuroe. That she had heard about Mami from someone who apparently wasn't even a Magical Girl had her curious enough. More than that, though, it was clear that Kuroe had little interest in continuing to be a Magical Girl. Though she accepted Mami's guidance, she would still take a chance to escape their life if she believed it was possible. Mami worried that she would be so caught up in that goal, she would lose sight of all else.

I'll just have to help her. I have to help all of them.

That was her responsibility as the eldest, most experienced Magical Girl of the group. She had to set an example for them to follow. With this situation in Kamihama, she would have to respond accordingly. This would be a chance to show the younger girls how to deal with potentially hostile Magical Girls.

Mami hoped it wouldn't come to blows, but she was prepared to take down any threats to her girls' safety.

They arrived at the Coordinator's early.

It had been a few days since Flick had visited, and she still wasn't used to the place. Even knowing how strange the city was, it was worrying how much they relied on the Coordinator. Without her to power them up and take care of grief seeds, how would Magical Girls survive? There had to be some sort of backup system in place.

Wyatt might be rubbing off on me more than I thought. She had met her strange older brother not long after the formation of the Unity school. His paranoia was unlike anything she had seen.

I wonder if he's trying to find a way to contact me. I hope he's not spending too much time worrying. I chose to come here, and Madoka promised me she would let the others know.

Then again, Flick hadn't heard from Madoka since that night. The goddess had promised to keep in touch, but there weren't any signs of her even trying to reach out to Flick.

Eve might have been the issue. A source of impurities that massive easily could have been blocking out Madoka's influence. Hopefully once it was all over, Flick would be able to get in touch with Madoka.

Flick forced those thoughts out of her head when she realized there was another girl speaking with the Coordinator. She had short white hair, and was wearing a black school uniform.

Whatever conversation they were having stopped as soon as Flick and the others entered the room. Mitama turned their way with a smile.

"Mifuyu, I see you brought Flick here again. And Yachiyo, too?"

"It's . . . a long story," Mifuyu said

The other girl focused her attention on Flick. "I don't believe we have met."

"We haven't. Felicity Chambers." Flick held out a hand.

"Kanagi Izumi." The girl shook her head. She seemed to be older than Flick, but younger than Yachiyo and Mifuyu. "I'm in charge of Magical Girls in the East."

"It's been a while, Kanagi," Yachiyo said.

"It has," Kanagi said, turning toward Yachiyo. "How is the situation in the West?"

"Manageable," Yachiyo said. "Though there have been some problems recently."

"Are you referring to the Wings of the Magius?" Kanagi asked. "They've been causing trouble in the East as well."

"Wait, hold on a second." Flick held up a hand. "Yachiyo, are you in charge of the west side of the city?"

"I am," Yachiyo said. "Alongside Mifuyu."

Mifuyu jolted. She sent a questioning gaze Yachiyo's way, which the other woman responded to with a nod. The motions hadn't gone unnoticed by either Mitama or Kanagi.

"Has something happened?" Kanagi asked.

"Actually, that's partly what we came to talk about," Mifuyu said. "I want to help deal with the Wings," she took a deep breath, "as a former Wing myself."

Kanagi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"So you're betraying them, Mifuyu?" Mitama asked.

Mifuyu held her arm and looked away. "I am. Though I plan on continuing to pretend that I'm still loyal to the organization. I can no longer justify their actions, nor my own working alongside them."

"Why don't you explain what happened?" Mitama said.

They all sat down, and Mifuyu once again explained her story. She trailed off when she got to the part where Flick had told her about magic.

"Something on your mind, Mifuyu?" Mitama asked.

"You know, don't you?" Mifuyu asked. "About where Flick came from."

"Wait, what?" Flick asked. Since when had Mitama known?

If Mitama was hiding some big secret, she didn't show it. She smirked at Flick's confusion.

"I am sorry for not telling you sooner, Flick. I wanted to sort out what I had seen."

"Seen?" Flick asked. "What's going on?"

"Mitama's power lets her see another person's memories," Kanagi said. "It happens whenever you get adjusted."

"I really didn't mean to hide anything from you," Mitama said. "Rest assured, I have a strict policy of confidentiality between myself and my customers."

"Right . . ." Flick leaned back, dazed. There was someone she could have talked to about her situation the whole time, and she had no clue. Wow.

"So you know the truth, then," Flick said.

"What truth?" Kanagi asked.

"It's . . . a little hard to believe," Flick said.

"That won't be a problem." Kanagi transformed into her Magical Girl attire—a white dress, gloves, cape, and boots. Her soul gem was placed in a monocle that covered her right eye. "If you don't mind me searching your thoughts, I can easily tell whether or not you're lying."

Flick shrugged. "I've already had one person look into my mind. What harm is there in another?"

Given permission, Kanagi stepped over to Flick and used her magic. Flick didn't feel any different, but she trusted it would work. And so, it was now her turn to tell her story again. She wondered if she should write it down for people in the future.

Kanagi stepped back, looking stunned. "That is . . . much to take in."

"You're telling me," Flick muttered. "Try living it."

"Regardless, unless your entire past has been rewritten, we can assume it is true," Mitama said. "With that in mind, it might be time for me to change my stance in this city."

Yachiyo frowned. "What are you talking about?"

For a second, Flick had trouble reading the expression on Mitama's face, if only because it seemed so out of place on her. She realized that was because Mitama looked ashamed.

"I chose to remain neutral in this conflict between the Magius and the remaining Kamihama Magical Girls," Mitama said. "I've continued doing adjustments to both sides . . . and I've sold grief seeds to the Magius."

"You what?!" Flick stood up. "Don't you realize what you've been contributing to?"

"I do," Mitama said. She placed her hands together. "I am truly sorry, Flick. I did not realize how dangerous the Magius truly were. Rest assured, I am on your side from here on out."

"Our side?" Flick sat back down. "You mean you'll fight against the Magius?"

"In my own way," Mitama said. "If Mifuyu is pretending to work with them, I can give the grief seeds to her. She can slow down the rate at which they reach the Magius. Also, I can give you information about their plans."

"Another double agent," Yachiyo said.

"Exactly."

"You should be careful, Mitama," Kanagi said. "You'll be in danger if the Magius catch on to what you're doing."

"Oh my, are you concerned for you dear Coordinator?" Mitama asked, purposefully widening her eyes.

Kanagi sighed. "I don't want to see you get hurt. Expect to see me check in on you more often."

"Very well." Unlike Kanagi, Mitama's sigh was loud and forced. "I suppose I can accept your pampering."

"I'll do what I can to keep the Magius from being suspicious of you," Mifuyu said. "Though that all depends on how much they trust me going forward . . ."

"We need to come up with a plan," Yachiyo said. "This isn't the sort of threat we normally face as Magical Girls."

Her words surprised Flick, not because of the words herself, but because of how relieved Flick was to hear them.

I finally have people willing to help me against the Magius. I don't have to face them alone. Not only that, but Mifuyu and Mitama were two of their more important assets. With them switching sides, we might finally be able to strike back.

"Right," Flick said. "I think our first action should be to take out another Rumor. Preferably one that's useful to the Magius. Mifuyu, do you know of any?"

"Let me think." Mifuyu stared into the distance, clearly deep in thought. "There is one that comes to mind. It only attracts one person at a time, so they use it to raise Witches."

"Okay, yeah, putting a stop to that seems like a good place to start," Flick said. "What Rumor is this?"

"The Rumor of the Anonymous A.I," Mifuyu said. "It—"

The door to the Coordinator's place opened, forcing Mifuyu to stop talking. There were six girls who entered, all of which Flick recognized. Still, a few seconds passed before she was able to take in the sight of them. For one thing, she hadn't been sure Kuroe would take her advice back on the train. For another, one of the girls looked almost unrecognizable as the one Flick knew in her timeline. Lastly, those two working together this early on was a shock. Not that it was unwelcome. In fact, Flick smiled at the sight of all of them together, before remembering what they were here for.

Guess we'll have to finish our conversation later, Flick thought. First, we have to convince these girls to join our side. Flick focused on one girl in particular. And if she takes learning the truth as poorly as she did last time . . . this could get ugly.

Mami, Homura, Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Kuroe were here. They were expecting answers, and whatever they heard would surely have drastic effects on how they acted going forward. Though not all of them were likely to join the Wings, it certainly wasn't impossible for some of them to decide their only hope of survival laid with the Magius.

Flick didn't even want to consider facing them as enemies.