Old Friends, New Names, Part 3

Dr. Cynthia had been working to help the newly arrived for a long time, and during the course of her career she had seen and heard quite a lot.

She had seen so many girls at their absolute worst. She had watched them struggle with the reality of their deaths, the truth of the Incubators' lies, the strangeness of the afterlife they now found themselves trapped in, and the myriad of issues that would spin off of all that. She had heard so many stories of the many terrible things that had caused the Incubators to target them in the first place, from abusive homes to homelessness to abandonment to lives that constantly seemed like they were spiraling out of control, as well as those who came from perfectly happy lives and loving families with a bright future ahead of them having to come to grips with the fact that none of that mattered anymore, which was, in its own way, sometimes worse.

And then there were the witches, blanks slates that still had fully developed personalities, coming in with any number of strange alterations. There were those like Homulilly who seemed terrified by even themselves and those like Lucy who rejoiced in their uniqueness. Every year brought forth a new batch, and Dr. Cynthia never knew what to expect.

And then there were the darker ones, the girls that were beyond saving, the ones so broken that no treatment would help, or even those few who had taken power in order to hurt others, and were intent on continuing to be a threat to those around them. Those were rare, but they did happen.

And Dr. Cynthia had seen them all, and as such had judged herself unable to be surprised by anything.

And even so, sometimes she was told something so odd that caused her to take a moment and quirk an eyebrow.

"So, just so we're clear," she said to Homulilly and Gretchen, the two girls who were now sitting in her office. "You two met a pair of complete strangers, felt an instant connection, and they invited you over for dinner this Friday."

"Well, not strangers, since we're pretty sure we used to be friends!" Gretchen said.

"Okay, but even so, this was the first time you had met them in this form and in this world, right? And you're so sure of this connection that you want to go to their place for dinner?"

"Well, I guess it does sound really weird," Gretchen admitted. "But I'm sure that they're okay!"

Dr. Cynthia, however, was less than convinced. She didn't want to stomp all over a new girl who was so enthusiastically integrating herself with Freehaven's population; that was the whole point of the FIB, after all. But this was moving a little too fast as far as she was concerned.

Besides, there was another viewpoint to consider, one that stood at odds with what she was being asked.

"Homulilly, are you…all right with this?" Dr. Cynthia said to the quiet, raven-haired girl. She left unspoken the part about how all of this had happened literally right after Homulilly had confessed to being terrified of basically everyone. Even if she and Gretchen were literal soulmates and probably held no secrets between them, patient confidentiality was still a thing.

But Homulilly didn't shy away from the question. She looked a little puzzled, yes, but not scared. "I…actually am," she said. "It's weird, but they…don't scare me like most other people do. I think Gretchen-chan is right. I think we did know them."

Dr. Cynthia's brow furrowed. "I…see."

"And they're so very nice!" Gretchen said.

"Ah. Well, did they at least give you their names?"

"Of course! And you actually know one of them. Remember the mermaid teaching music at the Magi's Gifts Emporium-"

"Whoa, wait!" Dr. Cynthia said. "The mermaid? Oktavia? Oktavia von Seckendorff?"

Gretchen beamed. "See? You do know her!"

"I'll say. And, ah, was the other one a bald girl in a red outfit?"

"Yup!"

At this, Dr. Cynthia relaxed a little. Well, okay, this was still strange, but at least it was with someone that she knew and was on the level. "Oktavia and Ophelia, huh? Well, that's…surprising."

"So they're friends of yours?" Gretchen asked.

"Oh, I'd say so. I mean, we don't see each other that much, but they and the rest of their Walpurgisnacht was part of my group when they were in the FIB, much as you are now." She felt a small smile quirk up. "And they were certainly…memorable."

"I bet! So, can we?"

Before she could answer, the phone on her desk suddenly lit up with an incoming message, one coming from another part of the facility.

Frowning, Dr. Cynthia tapped it and said, "Ah, I'm speaking to a couple of the students…"

"Sorry, but you've got a call from someone in town. Something about wanting to get together with some of our residents…?"

Well, speak of the devil! "Ah, I think I know what you're talking about. Who is it?"

"Ophelia the fire-witch. She said that you would remember her."

Gretchen and Homulilly glanced at each other, and Gretchen grinned. Even Homulilly smiled a little.

"Well, I certainly do! Go ahead and put her through."

There was a crackle, and the familiar voice of a certain eccentric local said, "Helllllloooooo? Hey, doc! You there?"

Gretchen giggled.

"Hey, Ophelia," Dr. Cynthia said. "What a coincidence! We were just talking about you."

"Oh, that could mean so many things, not all of them great. I'm going to assume the conversation was positive."

"This time it is. I heard you made some friends!"

"Word travels fast. They there?"

Before Dr. Cynthia could answer, Gretchen leaned forward and said, "Hello, Ophelia-sempai!"

"Aw, shit. She called me sempai. Did you hear that? I'm a sempai now!"

Someone in the background muttered, "Oh God, those poor kids." It sounded like Charlotte.

Dr. Cynthia smiled in full now. "I also have heard their hypothesis. Something about a possible connection in all of your past lives."

At this, Ophelia's voice got a little serious, and noticeably lowered her voice. "Um, yeah. But…keep that on the down low for now, okay? We kind of want to use Candy and Char as our test subjects, see if they have the same reaction."

"Ah," Dr. Cynthia said. "An experiment then."

In the background of Ophelia's call, Charlotte said, "Hey, why are you mumbling all of a sudden? What are you telling her?"

"So hey!" Ophelia said, her voice suddenly high and chipper. "Dinner invitation! You cool with that?"

"Well…" Dr. Cynthia sighed. "I don't see why not, provided that the lot of you behave yourselves."

"Hey, that hurts! We're not rowdy teens anymore!"

"No, you're just rowdy adults. You know we're going to have to send along a chaperone, right?"

"Right! We'll set a plate for you."

Dr. Cynthia sat up a little more straight. "Hey now, I never said-"

"Oh, please. Who else would it be? Candeloro's making dessert, you know."

Sighing, Dr. Cynthia settled back down again. "That's cheating. All right. How does five sound?"

"Sounds great! See y'all there!"

"All right then. Bye then, Ophelia."

"Bye, Ophelia-sempai!" Gretchen called.

…

Sunsets at Freehaven were a spectacular sight, though whether that was due to its founders choosing the location for the exceptional scenery or due to the combined assumptions of its inhabitants that such a lovely town would naturally have an equally lovely sky was up to debate. The afterlife's subconscious democratic system was a bit weird.

Still, there was no arguing with the results. Even Homulilly, as anxious as she was, had to appreciate the way the soft oranges and yellows on the horizon melted into the deep blue of the sky above. It didn't change the fact that she would much prefer to be enjoying the sight from the security of their room rather than from the street, on their way to spend the evening with a bunch of strange people that they didn't know.

Kriemheld Gretchen was, of course, her usual cheery self. She bounced merrily along, twintails bobbing, swinging Homulilly's hand back and forth as she hummed to herself. For the evening she had dressed in a bright blue blouse and what amounted to black shorts, though nobody save for herself would be able to wear them, as they had a pant leg for each of her many wirelike legs. Homulilly was still amazed that she had been able to put them on without getting her limbs confused.

As for Homulilly herself, in addition to her gloves, she was also wearing a light yellow jacket, a plain black shirt, and a dark maroon skirt. Gretchen had wanted to go for something a bit more formal, but Dr. Cynthia had suggested that, given their hosts, casual wear was probably for the better.

As for Dr. Cynthia, she had on a simple black shirt, a brown leather jacket trimmed with cotton at the collar and wrists, black boots, and tight blue jeans. Given the motorcycle aesthetic she had going on, it was a fitting look for her, but also kind of strange. This was the first time either Homulilly or Gretchen had seen any of the caretakers wear normal clothes.

"Ophelia's definitely the hardest to get used to," Dr. Cynthia said as they walked along toward the southern cliff. She held a box with a fresh-baked apple pie. "I mean, she's really nice and friendly, but has something of a crude sense of humor and likes to tease people. So it's actually a good thing you've already met her."

"I liked her," Gretchen said. "She was funny."

"Yup. Just don't take any of her jokes seriously. Fortunately, Oktavia seems quite adept at keeping her in line. As for Candeloro and Charlotte, they're very easy to get along with. Candeloro's sort of the team mom, while Charlotte is more of the big sister. She has a bad habit of asking sort of personal questions without thinking about it though, so if she says something you don't feel comfortable answering, just look to me, and I'll field it." Dr. Cynthia shook her head. "Those four. They were quite the lively bunch when I worked with them. Ophelia was always bickering with Oktavia and Charlotte, but then she and Charlotte would team up to play practical jokes on the other girls, and then Charlotte and Oktavia would team up to play practical jokes on her, and poor Candeloro would all but run herself ragged trying to keep them in line. Couldn't separate them with a crowbar though. Nobody was at all surprised when Candeloro and Charlotte got married, or that Ophelia and Oktavia hooked up."

"I think it's adorable," Gretchen giggled. "Are Ophelia and Oktavia engaged too?"

Dr. Cynthia shook her head. "No, they're not really the type."

"And does that happen a lot? I mean, having girls in a Walpurgisnacht fall in love with each other?"

Dr. Cynthia gave the two a knowing look, and Homulilly's cheeks turned red. She quickly turned away.

"Not always," Dr. Cynthia said, sounding amused. "But it occurs quite often." There was a short pause, and then she said teasingly, "Why, is there something I should know?"

Gretchen let out a nervous laugh. Homulilly said nothing, though her cheeks had gained a little bit of color.

Ladoga was a quiet little street with large houses that had even larger yards. It wrapped around the foot of a small hill and certainly had more than its fair share of shady willow trees. Breaking from the white walls and flat red roofs of the main city, houses here were painted more muted colors, with lots of blues, greys, and greens, and roofs tended to be tall, slanted, and steep, though balconies and platforms did protrude. The house they were headed for was a very long two-story affair, with a sizeable platform attached to the back of the roof. Cozy lights shone from the windows, standing out in the evening shadows.

"Wow," Gretchen said, staring. "It's so big!"

"Yeah, they really did do well for themselves," Dr. Cynthia said. "Come on."

She walked down the path toward the front door. Gretchen immediately moved to follow, but felt her hand tugged back when Homulilly hesitated.

"Lilly-chan?" Gretchen said, looking at her curiously. "What's wrong?"

Homulilly took a deep breath. "Nothing," she squeaked, and she stepped onto the path.

Smiling, Gretchen squeezed Homulilly's hand. "It'll be okay. I'll be there with you the whole time. You don't have to worry."

Homulilly managed a shaky smile of her own, and the two followed Dr. Cynthia to the front door. Inside, they could hear several voices talking.

Handing the apple pie to Gretchen, Dr. Cynthia rapped her fist against the door. The voices changed their tempo, and then the door opened, revealing Ophelia.

Ophelia had discarded her flashy outfit and was wearing a bright pink halter top and red leggings, leaving the bald pate of her bare. She was munching on a cinnamon twist. When she saw who it was, her scarlet eyes lit up.

"Hey, look who it is!" she said as she enthusiastically embraced Cynthia. "Good to see yah, doc!"

"You two, Ophelia. How are you guys doing?"

"Just peachy, thanks." Then Ophelia peered past her to look at Homulilly and Gretchen. "Oh, hey. You brought along a couple of strays! Hope you're not expecting us to adopt them."

Even though she knew Ophelia was joking, Homulilly wasn't sure how to take that comment, though Gretchen didn't seem at all offended. But then, she never was. "Hello, Ophelia-sempai! Thank you for inviting us."

"You kidding? Any excuse to make Candeloro go all out with the baking is all right in my-"

"Shut your whore mouth and fight!"

Everyone froze as the sudden taunt was shouted from somewhere inside the house. Ophelia grimaced, her face nearly matching her eyebrows.

"That damned bird," she muttered with a noticeable wince.

"Nice to see Cheese is still much the same," Dr. Cynthia in amusement.

"Is he always like that?" Gretchen asked.

"Yes," Ophelia sighed. "Chatty as hell, but for some godforsaken reason, he only ever copies curse words." Ophelia sighed. "At the worst possible times." Gretchen giggled, and even Homulilly found herself smiling at Ophelia's embarrassment.

"Sorry, sorry." Ophelia stood aside and held the door open for them. "Well, come in, come in. Make yourself at home, and ignore the bird. I swear he does this on purpose."

The inside of their house was very nice, though it seemed to have become the center of a battle of clashing tastes and styles. There was a comfortable looking sofa that looked like it had been bought secondhand at a thrift store in front of a glass coffee table that had probably been purchased at a high-end furniture store with a two recliners: one small with dark red leather and the other high-backed covered with pink velvet. Posters of rock bands and monsters shared space with framed landscape portraits and group photographs on the wall, and the shelves held everything from books to toys to a replica championship belt.

Over the mantle were hung four weapons: a red spear with a golden handle and small round counterweight at the other end, a silver musket with elegant lines, a silver cutlass, and a black staff dotted with pink polka-dots topped with a swirly pink stone shaped like a wrapped piece of candy. Homulilly immediately knew what they were. While Puella Magi who entered the afterlife could summon up their trademark weapon as easily as they had in life, witches only were given one, which was normally displayed nearby where they had spawned. Homulilly and Gretchen had been in such a hurry to leave that they had failed to retrieve theirs, so theoretically their weapons were still somewhere at that terrifying clock tower. To be honest, that sort of bothered Homulilly, as it was their only physical connection to their past lives, but what could one do?

Cheese was there, merrily entertaining himself on a parrot playground that was larger than Homulilly's bed. Noticing the guests, he tilted his head to one side.

"No," Ophelia said, holding up a silencing finger.

Cheese let out an inquisitive squawk.

"Don't you dare."

Cheese stared back. Then he said, "Hello!"

Gretchen blinked. Then she smiled. "Hello, pretty birdy!" she cooed back.

"Hi!" Now that he had the obligatory greeting out of the way, Cheese returned to his lazy gymnastics with the metal rings.

"Huh," Ophelia said, staring. "Well. That's a first for-"

"You fucking shitface," Cheese said happily.

Burying her face in her hand, Ophelia called out, "Oktavia! Bird!"

"Sorry, sorry," Oktavia said, maneuvering her legged chair into the room. She coaxed Cheese from his playground with a piece of melon. "I got him. Hi guys!"

"Hello, Oktavia-sama!" Gretchen said happily.

"Hey, Oktavia," Dr. Cynthia said. She cast a dubious look at the macaw. "By the by, how did the cursing start anyway?"

"Ophelia," Oktavia explained

"It's not my fault!" Ophelia protested, in the tone of someone who had been defending herself for quite a while and was getting sick of it. "I was watching the fight, and Ninja Star was pussing out like a bitch! I think my commentary was fully justified."

Dr. Cynthia smirked. "You know wrestling's fake, right?"

Ophelia sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyelid twitched. "Scripted," she said through clenched teeth, a rather manic smile on her face. Homulilly got the feeling that this was another subject she was getting a little sore about. "Not fake." Then she glanced over her shoulder to where Oktavia was taking the bird from the room. "And besides, Cheese's never said much before. How was I to know he would suddenly be so impressionable?"

"You fucking suck!" Cheese squawked back at her.

Ophelia held up her hands in exasperation. "Case in point." Then her face brightened. "Oh hey, you brought pie!"

With that, they all sat down, with Homulilly, Gretchen, and Dr. Cynthia taking one of the couches and Ophelia plopping down in the red recliner, her body relaxing into an immediate slouch that suggested that this was her chair and those who sat in it without her expressed permission did so at their own peril. Oktavia soon returned sans bird and spider-legged her way to take position opposite of Ophelia and across from their guests.

"So, where's Candeloro and Charlotte?" Dr. Cynthia asked as she looked around."

"Eh. Kitchen," Ophelia said with a shrug. "Where they stand guard over their hoard like a couple of greedy dragon-misers."

Gretchen blinked. "Dragon-misers?"

"She was sneaking food, and they kicked her out," Oktavia explained.

"Right," Dr. Cynthia said with a sigh. "Some things just never change." She looked over to Homulilly and Gretchen, who were noticeably quite confused. "Back when they were staying with us, we used to catch Ophelia trying to steal food from the kitchen all the time."

"Only some of the time," Ophelia grumbled. "And I got better."

"No you didn't," Oktavia said.

"I mean better at sneaking food. They only caught me like one time out of five by the end."

"You know I'm sitting right here," Dr. Cynthia reminded her, her tone mildly disapproving.

"So?" Ophelia shrugged. "I don't live with you anymore. Who you gonna report me to?"

Gretchen giggled. "You're funny, Ophelia-sempai."

Ophelia and Oktavia both looked at her in surprise. "You are?" Oktavia said, glancing over to Ophelia.

Ophelia grinned. "I like her. Can I keep her?"

"No!" Homulilly blurted out. Then she immediately reddened with embarrassment when she realized how loud she had been and how silly she had sounded. True enough, both Gretchen and Dr. Cynthia turned to look at her curiously. Homulilly winced and sank deeper into the cushions. She wished that she had the ability to turn back time, even for just a few seconds. It would certainly come in handy right about now.

Ophelia, however, was nonplussed. "Fine," she said casually. "You can come too."

"What?" Homulilly said, startled. Then everyone started laughing, confusing her more. "What?" she said again.

Ophelia grinned. Her canines were very sharp, practically fangs. She leaned back in her chair and called, "Hey, kitchen-bums! Guests are here, and you're not! They brought pie!"

"Coming!" someone said from a different room. There was the sound of someone scrambling, and then that someone appeared at the door.

She appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen and was tall for her age, a little over a meter and a half. Her body was slim and athletic, and she had a delicate, almost china-like face with skin that was as pale as alabaster. Her eyes were the color of robin eggs, and her short hair was dark pink and tied into twintails. She wore grey slacks and a button-down blue-and-white striped shirt.

Furthermore, hanging conspicuously behind her legs was a thin, black tail with red polka-dots.

Homulilly vaguely recognized her. It had been the librarian that the ribbon girl had been talking to, back during the tour.

"Sorry, sorry," the girl said hurriedly as she wiped her hands on a dishrag. "Delicate stage and all that. Hey, Cynthia!"

"Hi, Charlotte," Dr. Cynthia said. "Sorry to call you away."

"No worries, Candy's holding down the fort." She turned to the kids and smiled. "Hey, you're the ones Ophelia and Oktavia were going on about. I'm Charlotte, AKA the smart one. Welcome to our home!"

Remembering what they were there for, Homulilly intently studied the older girl's face, searching for some sign of that strange familiarity she had felt when she had met Ophelia and Oktavia. Next to her, Gretchen leaned forward to do the same.

Unfortunately, this time Homulilly didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. There was no rush of déjà vu, no odd connection, no sense of a shared past. Well, maybe a little, but it was so faint that Homulilly couldn't be sure that she wasn't simply imagining it. And while Charlotte's smile was certainly welcoming, she couldn't detect any flash of recognition in the other girl's eyes.

Homulilly felt disappointed, but then realized that if she didn't disguise it quickly, Charlotte would probably be offended. The problem was that she had come here fully expecting to have the same reaction to the other half of this Walpurgisnacht that she had to the other, and now that it had failed to happen, she was without a backup reaction.

Fortunately, Gretchen was far quicker to adapt, socially speaking. "I am very pleased to meet you, Charlotte-sama," she said. She stood up and bowed politely. "Thank you for inviting us to your home." A split second later Homulilly realized that she should probably follow her friend's lead, and quickly rose to do a hasty bow of her own.

Charlotte's brow rose. She looked pleased. "Hey, they have manners!" Then she looked to Ophelia, who had her feet propped up on the coffee table. "Why don't you have manners?"

"I do too have manners!" Ophelia said indignantly.

Oktavia coughed into her fist. "No, you don't."

"Aren't you supposed to take my side?" Ophelia said, looking a little hurt.

"No, I'm not."

Laughing, Charlotte walked over to claim the other recliner, affectionately jostling Oktavia's shaggy blue hair as she passed. Once seated, she leaned back and stuck her feet onto the coffee table as well.

Sighing, Dr. Cynthia turned to Gretchen and Homulilly. "You see the sort of stuff we had to put up with?"

"Hey, we weren't the ones sneaking off every other night to make out in the gymnasium," Ophelia muttered.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "No, you did it out in the open."

"Yeah. It's called being honest. We had nothing to hide!"

Charlotte quirked an eyebrow and said nothing.

Gretchen giggled again. "Well, I think it's cute that you all got together." Then she blinked and her face changed. "I mean, in pairs." Her voice dropped to a slightly embarrassed tone. "Not…all four of you at once."

Charlotte and Ophelia both laughed. "Don't think the subject hasn't come up," Charlotte said.

"But it was decided that it would probably be too…complicated," Ophelia said with a noticeable wince. Homulilly blinked. That sounded like there was a story behind it.

Charlotte swung her legs down, leaned forward, and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Though hey, if you two ever need some, ahem, 'privacy,' I know a lot of great places you could go."

Gretchen let out a squeak, and Homulilly's blush returned. "Oh!" Gretchen said. "Uh, m-me and Lilly-chan aren't actually…" She and Homulilly exchanged an awkward glance. "Not like that I mean!"

"Really?" Charlotte shrugged. "Eh, give it time."

Homulilly shot a pleading look to Dr. Cynthia, who fortunately looked a little annoyed. "Okay, this is the part where I remind you that Gretchen and Homulilly really do look their age, and are, in fact, minors," she said. "So some subjects are probably not meant for their ears."

A heavy silence followed. Then Oktavia whistled and said, "Aaaaaand you made it awkward."

And in one of those moments so perfectly timed that none of them were really able to argue that it wasn't intentional, Cheese called from somewhere else in the house, "Nice going, dumbass!"

Charlotte's face had turned an even brighter shade of red than Homulilly's. She inhaled deeply and slowly let it out. "Righty-ho then," she said as she stood up and quickly shuffled from the room. "I'll just excuse myself." Once she was in the hallway, they heard her call, "Hey, Candy! I said something embarrassing and made things weird, so I'm tagging you in!"

"Oh, Charlotte," said another voice, one that sounded exasperated. "I told you to…" And the rest of the sentence was too faint to comprehend.

Back in the living room, Gretchen and Oktavia both let out slightly awkward laughs, while Dr. Cynthia slowly shook her head. Ophelia glanced from one face to the next. Then she sat up and leaned forward as well.

"So…" she said.

Dr. Cynthia looked at her. "What?"

Focusing on Homulilly and Gretchen, Ophelia said, "Anything?"

Realizing what she was asking, Homulilly slowly shook her head.

"Maybe a little," Gretchen said. "But not really."

"Little of what?" Dr. Cynthia said.

Oktavia sighed. "Well, that's sort of a letdown," she said, giving her fins a disappointed looking flip.

"What is?" Dr. Cynthia asked, but before anyone could answer, the fourth member of the Walpurgisnacht entered the room to salvage the situation.

Homulilly and Kriemheld Gretchen both stared.

She was about Charlotte's age, perhaps a year or two younger. In contrast to her wife, she was much shorter, barely taller than Homulilly, with a curvier form and rounder face. Her eyes were golden, and so was her hair, which she wore in a loose ponytail that hung partway down her back. She wore a black apron over a cheery pink shirt and a yellow skirt.

What was more, where most people had arms, hands, and fingers, she had two yellow ribbons that hung from her shoulders. This came with the obvious problem of not having fingers, but given how flexible they were, she seemed to be compensating well.

As expected, it was the girl from the library, the first that Homulilly and Gretchen had felt a connection to. And now that they were meeting face-to-face, it was even stronger.

Seeing Homulilly and Gretchen's stunned expressions, Ophelia snickered. She leaned forward and whispered, "She's taken, you know."

Having rushed over in a hurry, Candeloro looked a bit frazzled. "Hello, I'm so sorry about that."

"It's okay," Dr. Cynthia said. "I warned them in advance."

"It was an accident!" Charlotte called from the kitchen.

Sighing, Candeloro shook her head and smiled. "Anyway, you are Homulilly and Kriemhild Gretchen, right?" She inclined her head. "My name is Candeloro. It's an absolute pleasure to meet…" Then her brow knitted together. "Huh. Say, have we met?"

Homulilly was speechless. While she would admit to being disappointed at not having much of a reaction to Charlotte, the one she got when Candeloro entered the room more than made up for it. She knew this girl. She was sure of it. She wasn't sure when or where, but she did know that she knew this girl.

…

As it turned out, reports of Candeloro and Charlotte's culinary skills were not exaggerated. And Homulilly decided that their decision to ban Ophelia from the kitchen was perfectly justifiable.

The main course was a sort of pale green sauce with pieces of chicken and broccoli poured over steamed rice. Apparently it was called chicken divan, though Ophelia and Oktavia kept calling it "compy." When asked why, they had simply shrugged and said it was a long story. There was also fried potatoes and a crumbly hunk of sourdough bread for each of them. Dessert was a chocolate soufflé, which was the reason the kitchen could not have been left unmanned.

There was eating, there was talking, and there was laughter. Fortunately, no one singled out Homulilly for conversation. When a question came their way, Gretchen and Dr. Cynthia usually fielded it, leaving her free to actually enjoy her very tasty meal.

At the moment, Oktavia was busy explaining how she and her friends made a living. "See, originally we were thinking of starting a business together, but that's not exactly easy in this town."

"Things around here don't change much," Candeloro added, spearing a piece of broccoli with her fork. "You see the same stores, run by the same people, and everything stays the same, year in and year out."

Ophelia said, "Makes it hard for something new to get a good footing, you know what we mean?"

"I can see," Gretchen nodded. "So, what did you do?"

"Got jobs all over," Oktavia said. "You already saw me teaching music, and I also do freelance work for all the aquatic installations whenever they need to do some deep diving. And believe me, there are a lot. Fishing companies, research groups, exploration, photography, that sort of thing. Ophelia works for the electric company, Charlotte's a librarian, and Candeloro's a manager at the Honey Hive."

"It's a bakery, down on Catalina Drive," Candeloro explained. "You should pop by sometime."

Gretchen smiled. "We will!" she promised.

Oktavia nodded. "Yeah, between the four of us, we do pretty good. It's a pretty cool arrangement."

"I think it's great," Gretchen said dreamily. "Close friends, all working together, sharing a home. Sharing a life."

Ophelia snickered and shot Charlotte a knowing look. Involuntarily everyone else ended up doing the same.

Charlotte sighed. "I didn't say anything."

Gretchen winced when she realized what was being implied. "Not like that."

"Tell them that," Charlotte said, a bit sulkily.

"Hey, I'm gonna side with Charly here," Ophelia said. "If she keeps feeding her lines…"

Gretchen huffed. "I didn't mean anything naughty by it!"

"It's okay," Candeloro said reassuringly. "We know what you meant."

Then Oktavia smiled. "Though speaking of which, maybe we'd better get to the real reason why you're here?" The mermaid looked to Gretchen and Homulilly. "You know, wink wink, nudge nudge?"

Homulilly blinked. She and Gretchen exchanged a look of surprise. During the course of the meal, she had almost forgotten about that.

"Real reason?" Charlotte said with a frown.

Ophelia cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah." She turned to the married couple. "So, Candeloro. Charlotte. Tell us: when you guys met the kids, did you feel anything?"

Charlotte stared. "Feel anything?" she repeated.

"Yeah, any sort of, you know, reflexive emotion?"

"Is this going somewhere it shouldn't?" Charlotte said, folding her arms.

Candeloro frowned. "W-well, I have to admit, I did get the strangest sense of déjà vu…"

Homulilly's felt the heart she no longer had leap in her chest, and Gretchen's eyes brightened. However, that was nothing compared to Oktavia's reaction. "Yes!" the mermaid cheered as she threw up her hands. "Hole in one, baby! Hole in one!"

She stuck her palm into the air, and Ophelia gleefully clapped it with her own.

Charlotte scratched her head. Then she turned to Homulilly and Gretchen. "Can someone translate Oktavia and Ophelia babbling into normal everyday talk?"

"But you guys felt it too, right?" Oktavia pressed them before they could answer. "Like, what we were talking about?"

Homulilly took a deep breath. "Yes," she said.

"Definitely," Gretchen nodded. "It was very strong." Then she glanced to Charlotte. "Well, sort of."

"I'm lost," Charlotte complained. "No, wait, getting lost requires knowing where we were going. I'm confused. What's going on?"

"You felt it too, right Lilly-chan?" Gretchen asked, her smiled wide.

Homulilly nodded. "Yes. It was the same as before. At least for Candeloro-sempai."

Candeloro blinked. "For me?"

"But not for Charlotte?" Ophelia said.

Homulilly shook her head. "No. I mean, I guess a little, but…"

Charlotte cleared her throat. "Hey, uh, this isn't revenge for slipping up earlier, is it?"

"If it is, they neglected to bring me on it," Candeloro said.

Oktavia nodded. "But yeah. Candy. You definitely felt this weird sense of familiarity when you saw them, right? Like you used to know them but weren't sure from where?"

This earned her a surprised look. "Yes," Candeloro said. She tilted her head to one side. "Do you know why?"

Then Candeloro's eyes widened. "Wait, hold up. This isn't some sort of soul resonance thing?"

"Maybe," Ophelia said.

Now Candeloro looked very confused. "But Homulilly and Gretchen weren't with us when we arrived! They're not part of our Walpurgisnacht!"

Charlotte cleared her throat again. "Hey, not to be a wet blanket here, but can someone please explain to me what in the hell everyone is talking about?"

Grinning, Ophelia turned to her and said, "Oktavia and I met one of these two separately, total coincidence. And both of us got this weird feeling that we already knew each other. They felt the same thing, and it only got stronger when we all got together."

"So, you brought them here to see if we would have the same reaction?" Charlotte guessed.

"That," Ophelia nodded. "And we wanted to hang out. I like them. I like them. They're cool."

Charlotte turned to Candeloro. "Wait, and you felt the same thing?"

Candeloro looked a bit beside herself. "I…wasn't sure if I should say anything, but…"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up," Charlotte said in slight frustration. Even with the explanations she looked no closer to being caught up. "Stop. Look, I get the weird familiarity thing. We all had it when we arrived. We're a Walpurgisnacht. That's what's supposed to happen. But they weren't there! They were alive long after we were!"

Gretchen nodded and declared, "Yes, but maybe we were all friends once!"

"Huh?" Charlotte said, staring.

"We figure we probably all knew each other," Oktavia explained.

"You mean we were friends?" Candeloro asked.

The mermaid shrugged. "Well, why not? I mean, the times line up, and we're all about the same age." She paused, and amended, "Well, were. I mean, what if we were all some big Puella Magi super-team and all that?"

"So, this would be a big reunion for us!" Gretchen said, sounding excited.

Candeloro's face was softening, but she still looked a little less than convinced. "But those sorts of team-ups were fairly rare from what I understand. Most Puella Magi spent their time competing with one another."

"But they did happen!" Oktavia insisted.

Charlotte shook her head. "Yeah, uh, but I still didn't feel anything. And they didn't recognize me either."

"Nothing at all?" Ophelia asked. She sounded a little disappointed.

"No." Then Charlotte looked thoughtful. "Well, maybe a little. Like, enough for a double-take I guess. But not what you're saying. "

Ophelia frowned. "Well, maybe you were new or something?"

"Sure," Charlotte said doubtfully. "Or I was the witch that killed you all, and that's why they don't recognize me."

Oktavia flicked a piece of bread at her. "We're all witches too, remember? Witches don't kill other witches."

"Though sometimes you guys make it real tempting," Ophelia said, her scarlet eyes suddenly moody. "Like Charlotte did yesterday."

Charlotte sighed. "You want to save that potroast, put your name on it instead of just leaving it in the fridge. Otherwise, it's fair game."

No doubt seeing that another senseless argument was about to derail things, Gretchen spoke up. "Well, even if we'll never know if we knew each other or not, there's definitely a connection there. And we all know each other now, so that's great!"

Candeloro said, "But you're still making a lot of assumptions and…" Then she stopped and looked thoughtful. Then she smiled. "Actually, you know what? You're right. There's no way of knowing for sure, and I like your theory better anyway." She raised her glass in salute. "To rediscovered friends."

"To rediscovered friends!" the others said enthusiastically, and they all clinked their glasses together. And if anyone noticed that Charlotte hesitated a split-second before joining in, they made no mention of it.

…

On the whole, Dr. Cynthia was quite pleased with the results of the evening.

Her job was to help the newly arrived come to terms with their deaths and help them integrate into Freehaven's society (or wherever they chose to go), and that was exactly what was happening. And while Homulilly was far from the worst case she had ever seen, she was still dead last in terms of progress and the one that she felt would require the most careful touch.

But now a chance encounter had given her the connection that she needed. Dr. Cynthia wasn't sure if she truly bought that the rambunctious foursome that had given her so many headaches during their own stay with the FIB had actually been close friends and comrades of the their two new additions, but she saw no real reason to disbelieve it. Soul resonance was a hotly debated phenomenon, but she had seen enough to side with its validity. Witches might have no conscious memory of their past lives, but echoes of those memories remained, and some connections lingered.

Besides, if it helped a pair of young witches come to terms with their new lives, then she was in full support. It wasn't like anyone would be able to disprove their claims anyway.

However, as everyone gathered in the living room for after dinner tea, she noticed that while everyone was chatting, laughing, and generally having a good time, there was someone who was setting herself apart from the group, someone who wasn't saying much and for the most part keeping to herself. And for once, it wasn't Homulilly.

Dr. Cynthia kept an eye on her. And when she silently got up to go into the back, Dr. Cynthia waited until no one was looking at her to follow.

She found Charlotte standing on the back porch all by herself, leaning over the railing and looking out into the night, a lit cigarette held between two fingers. The backyard wasn't fenced, and directly connected into the small forest that bordered the neighborhood, which undoubtedly made for a fantastic setting if one felt like brooding.

Sighing, Dr. Cynthia went up stand next to her. Charlotte glanced briefly at her and sighed as well.

The two women didn't say anything for a while. They just stood together, watching the forest, listening to the sounds of the night, which there was a lot more than one might think: the chirping insects, the hooting of owls, and the croaking of frogs. One thing one could say about the lands around Freehaven is that it had a healthy nightlife.

Finally Dr. Cynthia spoke. "So, I couldn't help but notice that you've been unusually quiet this evening."

Charlotte sighed again and took a drag from her cigarette. "Was I that obvious?"

"Well, no, but with all the recognizing going on and everyone talking about connections, I did note that there was one person probably feeling left out." Dr. Cynthia glanced at Charlotte. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…" Charlotte slowly breathed out a cloud of smoke. She turned around and leaned back against the railing, staring up at the moonlight sky. "This is just so weird, I guess. I mean, we always kind of figured…you know, the four of us…that I was sort of the odd woman odd. All three of them had that weird déjà vu thing going on with each other when we all woke up, but no one recognized me, and I didn't recognize any of them, so I guess I wasn't part of whatever supergroup they used to have going. I mean, hell, they all had to have witched out all at once, right? So let's face it: I was probably already a witch, and they were fighting me when whatever the hell went down went down, so I'm probably the cause."

"Or," Dr. Cynthia suggested, "it could be like Ophelia said: you were just a new member to the group, someone they didn't already know and wouldn't have had the same connection with."

"Yeah, maybe," Charlotte said after a pause, though her tone said that she didn't hold to that theory. "But anyway, it was kind of weird at first, but I got over it. I mean, who cares, right? We're still a Walpurgisnacht, my soul was a much a part of the mix as theirs, and we're all here now." She shrugged and ground the remains of her cigarette into a small clay dish sitting on the post next to her. "But all of a sudden, they go and meet two random girls that none of us have ever met before, and it looks like they were all the best of friends, probably the remaining members of that supergroup of theirs, and I…wasn't."

"Yeah, I can see how that would be upsetting," Dr. Cynthia admitted. "I guess we did kind of intrude a little."

Charlotte shrugged. "Oh, those kids seem fine, and if they're going to be around from now on, I don't have a problem with it. I just…I don't know, I just wish I knew more of what happened to me, you know?" She shook her head and let out a small laugh. "Wow, this is weird. I mean, I haven't even thought of all this stuff since we were in the FIB, but now, all of a sudden…"

"It just comes rushing back," Dr. Cynthia finished for her.

"Yeah."

The two of them stared up at the sky for a time. And then Dr. Cynthia said, "Do you remember that line I would always use, whenever one of you would be upset about not having any memories or anything?"

"Of course I do," Charlotte snorted. "The one about how we witches are the lucky ones, since no memories means nothing holding us back, and we can just leap right into our new lives without mourning those we've lost or regretting our past mistakes?"

"That's the one," Dr. Cynthia nodded. "And I actually do believe that. But there's another side to that coin. True, the Puella Magi have more regrets, more trauma, and more grief, but the one thing they don't have are questions. They remember what they wished for, they remember their families, they remember their lives, they remember everything."

"Including their names," Charlotte said.

"Yeah," Dr. Cynthia sighed. "Including their names. And I guess there is something of a peace to that, to never have to wonder who you are or where you came from. I mean, I sure as hell don't want to know how I died, but at least I wouldn't have to wonder anymore."

"Huh," Charlotte said, quirking an eyebrow at her. "You mean, even after all this time, you still wonder?"

Dr. Cynthia slowly breathed out. "Charlotte, I'm surrounded by kids every day trying to come to grips with who they are. Nearly every day I have a girl breaking down into tears in my office because she doesn't even know her original name. It's…hard to not think about it."

"Jesus. I'd say you probably ought to see a therapist, but…"

"Every second Thursday," Dr. Cynthia admitted.

Charlotte blinked. "Wait, really?"

Dr. Cynthia shrugged. "Everyone needs help sometimes. And I can't help these kids if I let myself turn into a basket case."

"Well, shit. Does that mean your therapist also has a therapist."

"Oh, it's therapists all the way down. Just a never-ending chain of therapists."

The two women laughed a little at that.

Then Charlotte wrinkled her nose. "Aw, goddamn it. I just had a freaky thought."

…

Homulilly stood in her hosts' bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror.

The bathroom had a seaside theme to it, with seashells sitting on the shelves and surrounding the mirror, pictures of the beach, and a tiny hula dancer sitting on the counter whose skirt shook if you poked it. The room smelled of jasmine and looked like it had been recently cleaned, probably in anticipation of guests. Homulilly barely noticed. Her mind was elsewhere.

Her gloves were off and her head was bare, displaying the white bones of her arms and hands and the crimson spider-lily that sprouted from the top of her head. She looked down at the skeletal phalanges of her fingers and moved her arm to the side, peering at the counter through the gap in the bones of her forearm.

They had been here for a few hours, and so far, nobody had remarked on how she always wore gloves. She had kept the spider-lily on her head in full display to distract them, but they had said nothing about that either. Even Gretchen's odd style of legs had passed without comment. In fact, Candeloro and Charlotte hadn't so much as blinked when they had seen them.

You should tell them, said that voice in her head, the one that sounded a lot like Gretchen.

She shook her head.

They're all witches. They won't judge. Besides, Candeloro has different arms too. Oktavia is only half human, Dr. Cynthia is part machine, and Gretchen's change is even stranger than yours.

It's different! Homulilly insisted. Everyone else's is interesting! People love mermaids. Candeloro's arms are funny. Dr. Cynthia is cool. And Gretchen's legs are…well, interesting. Mine are monstrous.

They won't think so. And won't it be a relief not to worry about it anymore.

Homulilly took a deep breath. Well, yes, it would feel wonderful not to always feel like she had to hide, to not feel others' eyes always on her and wonder if they knew. But if she did go out and reveal how she really looked well…

What if they were horrified? What if they screamed or became sick?

Or worse? What if they lied? What if they kindly told her that they didn't think she was ugly but still look upon her with disgust? That would probably be the worst of them all.

No. Maybe one day she might work up the courage to confess her abnormalities, but this was not that day. She couldn't take the risk. Sighing, she started to slip her gloves back on.

And then, despite it being locked, the door opened.

In hindsight, she ought to have seen it coming. There seemed to be a certain universal law that stated that the more one tried to conceal some dark secret from others, circumstances will conspire to reveal that secret purely by chance. Tongues will slip, letters will be left out, certain objects will poke just barely into view, and so on. And despite its common use in comedy and drama alike, the sad fact of the matter is that, sooner or later, nearly everything will come to light, often in the most embarrassing way possible.

In this case, the culprit was a faulty doorknob. Had Homulilly asked, she might have learned that one needed to give the door an extra push to make sure it closed properly. Otherwise, it still might swing open with a touch, locked or not. Alas, Homulilly had no cause to ask, and as she had slipped away rather stealthily, none of her hosts had reason to tell her.

Even then, if she had better reflexes the situation might have been avoided. She had one glove on already, and the other was already halfway up her arm when the door opened. All she had to do was quickly yank it up all the way, and there would have been no problem.

But she didn't. Instead, she froze like a poor critter that had come to the sudden realization that crossing the road late at night was not such a great idea, and those lights probably did not come with the best of intentions. She stood mortified as the door opened completely and Ophelia walked in, one hand in her pocket while she hummed to herself.

Ophelia looked up and, seeing Homulilly, blushed bright scarlet. "Oh shit! Sorry," she said. "Didn't know anyone was-" Then she frowned and peered in closer. "Oh wow. Are those bones? Well, that's just-"

When she was later questioned about what happened, Ophelia would claim to have no clue about what she did wrong. She just knew that Homulilly let out a shrill shriek and fled from the bathroom to the hall, to the kitchen, out the back door, and into the night, leaving Ophelia standing stupefied behind her.

…

Dr. Cynthia glanced over to Charlotte. "Hmmm?"

"Well, let's say we're all right about this, that they all were like a team of Puella Magi working together," Charlotte said, motioning toward the house. "But if Candeloro, Ophelia, Oktavia, and me all turned into witches and fused, and those kids didn't witch out until much later, then doesn't that mean that those two were probably the ones that took our Walpurgisnacht down?"

Dr. Cynthia didn't respond.

"I mean, it only makes sense, right?" Charlotte pressed. She grimaced. "Hell, they probably saw them witch out and all of us fuse. I mean, Jesus."

Shivering, Dr. Cynthia said, "You may be right. But, um, I wouldn't bring it up. Better just leave that thought unspoken."

"Yeah, no kidding. Wow, that is really-"

And then they heard the sound of someone screaming.

Dr. Cynthia and Charlotte both froze. "The hell…?" Charlotte muttered.

Moments later Homulilly came bursting out the back door. She rushed past the two women without acknowledging their presence, down the steps, and through the backyard to disappear into the forest.

"Homulilly, wait!" Dr. Cynthia called, but it was too late. The girl was gone.

"Lilly-chan?" Gretchen rushed out into the back porch, a very bewildered Candeloro following behind. "Wait! Where'd you go? What happened?"

She frantically turned toward Dr. Cynthia and Charlotte, her lightly glowing pink eyes wide and pleading. "What happened to her? Why'd she run?"

Before either of them could even begin to come up with a response, a very frazzled looking Ophelia staggered out to join them. "She's gone, isn't she?" she said.

Charlotte glared lasers into her roommate. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"It was an accident!" Ophelia protested. "I walked in on her by mistake in the bathroom, and she had her gloves off, and…"

"Oh, God," Dr. Cynthia groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"What?" Charlotte said, her face screwing up in confusion.

"She had, like, skeleton arms and hands!" Ophelia said, holding her own hands out, fingers splayed wide.

"Wait, she does?" Oktavia said, maneuvering her chair to join to join the rest of them. "Cool!"

Gretchen looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"No," Dr. Cynthia said icily. "Not cool. She's extremely sensitive about it. That's why she freaked out when you saw."

"Oh, goddamn it, Ophelia," Charlotte groaned, slapping a hand across her own face.

"It was an accident!" Ophelia said again.

"Okay, okay," said Candeloro, holding her ribbons out in a placating manner. "Let's calm down now. Ophelia didn't do it on purpose."

"Yeah, well, it's still my responsibility," Ophelia said, heading back inside.

"Where are you going?" Dr. Cynthia called after her.

"Getting some help! If I'm going to find the kid, I need the one person that knows that forest better than anyone!"

…

Seven minutes later…

Homulilly was sitting huddled among the gnarled roots of an old oak. Her eyes were wet and blotchy from crying, and she sniffled softly to herself. Both gloves were gone: removed, and flung into the dirt. She clutched her bony arms together and held them tightly to her chest as she gently rocked and forth. Cheese was there, perched on her shoulder and chattering wordlessly to himself. He had just flown up to her and landed on her shoulder, and she had let him. At least he wouldn't judge her.

Then she heard the sound of soft footsteps. Moments later Ophelia appeared, walking through the underbrush. Homulilly's body clenched up, and she stared down at the ground.

Ophelia quirked an eyebrow at rejected gloves and went to go sit beside Homulilly. "Hey," she said.

Homulilly sniffed. She glanced at her and gave a brief nod of her head, but said nothing.

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah." Homulilly looked over to Cheese, who had stopped chattering and was respectfully keeping his peace. For once. "He came. He came and just sat there."

"Yeah, that's how I found you." Ophelia took a handful of nuts from her pocket and held them out to the bird, who happily partook of them. "We let him out to look for you. He's kind of a pain sometimes, but a lot smarter than he lets on. And nobody knows this forest better than him."

Ophelia leaned back onto her elbows. "So, I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to see those arms of yours?"

Cringing, Homulilly held them closer. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to run away. I just got…scared."

"Of what?"

Homulilly swallowed. "That you would be scared of me."

Ophelia frowned. "Why?"

"Because…" Homulilly held her arms out, the bones clicking as they rubbed against each other. "Look at me! They're hideous! Everyone else has all these cool things like tails and ribbons and stuff like that, but I look like something you put up to scare kids on Halloween! I'm a dead thing, a monster, and-"

She stopped talking and blinked down at her hands. They now held a chocolate chip cookie. She looked over to Ophelia, who was calmly munching on a cookie of her own. Unsure of what else she could do, Homulilly gingerly bit into her own cookie. It was freshly baked, warm and gooey.

"Be careful, or the birdbrain'll snatch it right out of your hands," Ophelia told her. She finished her own cookie and brushed the crumbs off against a tree root. "So, I guess this is something you've been hiding from people? Because you're afraid of how they'll react."

Homulilly sniffled and nodded.

"Who else knows?"

"Only a few people," Homulilly said, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Dr. Cynthia, of course. A couple others at the FIB. This one girl that I…never mind. And Gretchen, of course. I mean, she was there. When we. You know, arrived."

"Oh yeah. That." Ophelia couldn't help but snigger. Their own first day in had been quite memorable. For a number of reasons.

Homulilly blushed and quickly changed the subject. "But she's been saying I shouldn't hide them. That people won't be scared. But I just can't…" She looked to Ophelia with tear-moistened eyes. "Are you scared?"

"Of your arms?" Ophelia shook her head. "No."

"You don't think they're creepy?"

Ophelia sighed. "You know how Tavi said I work for the electric company?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, there's this one chick I work with who's part bat. As if in, she's got a bat nose and bat ears and bat wings and really tiny bat eyes." Ophelia shrugged. "Don't bother me any. And I've seen plenty of people around town who are way freakier than you'll ever be. Again, don't bother me any."

Homulilly said nothing, though she did not look convinced.

"Homulilly, I've been here for about eight years, and I have seen some weird sh-Crap. Some weird crap. I've seen girls with wings, with wolf noses, with four eyeballs, with wheels for feet, with no skin. Yeah, those bones are a little unusual, but so what? Candy's got ribbons for arms. At least you've got parts that are supposed to be there. Heck, it's kinda cool when you think about it. You're like one of the few people that actually has bones."

"It makes me a freak," Homulilly said darkly.

Well then. Nothing for it. "Hey, wanna see something weird?"

Homulilly looked confused.

"All right. Check this out."

Ophelia stood up and walked until she was clear of any easily combustible foliage. Then she reached up, sank her fingers into her scalp, and pulled the entire top and back of her head right off.

Homulilly squeaked in surprise as the flames rushed out, chasing the shadows away. Cheese, who was accustomed to it, merely cocked his head to one side and let out a muffled squawk.

Ophelia stood there, completely unconcerned about the fact that her head was now on fire. Or rather, fire was coming out of her head, from right above her neck to behind her ears to her scalp. "Yeah, this is my witchy part. I'm not actually bald," she said, pointing at the flames. "This is what I have for hair. And this…" she held up the rubbery artificial piece of skin she had removed from her head "…is what I gotta wear so I don't scorch ceilings, burn down trees, and set off smoke alarms."

Homulilly openly gaped at the sight. "Your…you head. It's on fire!"

"No, part of me is made of fire," Ophelia sighed. "There's a difference."

"But…wow." Homulilly stood up and cautiously approached. Preferring that there be some distance between him and the fire, Cheese fluttered down from her shoulder to perch on a gnarled old root.

"Can I touch it?" she asked, extending a finger.

"I'd prefer that you didn't," Ophelia said. She pulled the fake skin back on, and the flames disappeared, to Homulilly's disappointment. "Especially since, you know, it's fire. Don't hurt me any when I touch it, but everyone else usually needs a lot of cold water afterward." She shrugged. "But hey, like I was saying, you have no monopoly on the freaky witchy parts. Hell, put us together, and which one do you think will turn more heads?"

Homulilly stared. "But…it's so beautiful."

"It's a pain in the butt is what it is," Ophelia complained. "Do you know how much it cost to fireproof my clothes?" She lifted the edge of the fake skin with her thumb, exposing a glowing yellow sliver. "And if this so much as slips, then we've got property damages to pay. Looks cool in photos, sure, but it's a major inconvenience. I'm a walking match-head."

Homulilly looked away.

Ophelia shrugged. "But anyway, my point is, sure. Maybe some of the other new girls will think you're weird and scary. So what? They're new. They'll learn. People freak out when they see Cynthia all the time, and she's like one of the nicest people we know. This town is full of witches, many of them weirder than you'll ever be. And to practically everybody, people who think being a witch is weird are the weird ones. So yeah. Maybe back in the world of the living, you'd be a freak. Sure. But when you're in the world of freaks, you just come off as kind of normal." Quirking a scarlet eyebrow, she took Homulilly's skeletal hand in her own and held up. Homulilly flinched, but she didn't pull away. "And to be honest, I think those things are kinda badass."

"Badass?"

Ophelia winked. "Don't go telling Oktavia I said that. She'll get on me for teaching you swear words."

"Oh." Homulilly looked down at her hands, as if reconsidering them. "Um, thank you."

"Welcome."

"What should…what should I tell the others?"

"Whatever you want," Ophelia said. She crooked her elbow and whistled. Cheese came flying to her arm and climbed up onto her shoulder. "But don't be scared of them. No one in our home is gonna make you feel unwelcome"

Homulilly looked down. Sniffing, she nodded.

"Cool." Ophelia glanced over her shoulder. "Well, we'd better head better. The others were pretty worried." Her eyes fell on the thrown gloves. "So, uh, about your gloves…"

Homulilly hesitated, and then scampered over to retrieve them. Then she slipped them on.

Ophelia nodded. "Alrighty." She walked down the slope of roots towards the house. "Let's get going then."

…

Later that night…

"Lilly-chan?"

Homulilly had changed into her pajamas and was sitting upright in bed, looking out the window in thought.

"Homulilly-chan? Are you sure you're okay?"

Breathing out, Homulilly turned to Gretchen, who was sitting in her own bed, her concerned eyes glowing faintly in the dark.

"Yes," Homulilly said. "I am."

They hadn't said much after Homulilly had returned with Ophelia. Sure, Gretchen had been all over her in concern, but after assuring her that she was fine and apologizing for scaring everyone, Homulilly had fallen silent, giving only one-word answers when addressed directly, if she answered at all. She had just been too tired.

But now they were alone, in a place that Homulilly felt safe, with someone she felt safe with, so it was okay to start talking again.

"I'm, uh, sorry I ruined the party," Homulilly said. "I just-"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Gretchen exclaimed. "You didn't ruin anything! We would've had to head home soon anyway."

"Yeah, but-" Homulilly cut herself off with a sigh. "Never mind. But I'm fine. I just…got surprised."

There was a pause, and then Gretchen said, "But…Ophelia-sempai cheered you up?"

"I guess you could say that," Homulilly admitted. "I mean, she was kind of like a Dr. Cynthia with more swear words, but I don't think that's a bad thing." She looked down at her hands. "And she wasn't scared of me."

"Of course she wasn't! And when Oktavia-sempai found out, she thought it was cool!"

Homulilly winced. She knew that Gretchen was just trying to be encouraging, but she still didn't like the idea of four people she barely knew knowing her secret.

But now they did know, and there was no taking that back.

There was a long, thoughtful pause, and then Gretchen said, "They were pretty cool, weren't they?"

"They were," Homulilly said, and for once without hesitation.

"Do you…still want to be friends with them?"

"I…I do."

Gretchen snuggled herself back into her blanket and laid her head back onto her pillow. "It's strange though, that feeling of already knowing them."

"It is," Homulilly agreed as she slid down into her own blanket. "Still…I like them. They don't scare me."

"I'm glad." Even in the dark, Homulilly could still hear the smile in Gretchen's voice.

Homulilly closed her eyes. It did feel strange, to have been exposed like that, have a meltdown, and yet still feel more-or-less okay afterward. Something about her talk with Ophelia, as crass as she was, was soothing, and she hadn't said much more than Dr. Cynthia always did.

But then, Dr. Cynthia, as much as Homulilly felt comfortable around her, was still a professional. It was her job to help weird girls calm down, so it made sense that she wasn't bothered by her arms. Ophelia was someone new, and she still hadn't been scared. And if anything, her reason for having to cover up her witch remnant was even more extreme than Homulilly's. Sure, having fire for hair was cool, but Homulilly's arms didn't have the risk of burning down buildings.

Regardless, Homulilly was glad to have met them, and she felt more comfortable than ever as she slowly drifted off.

Then something Ophelia had said suddenly jolted into her mind, and her eyes popped wide open.

"Gretchen-chan!" she gasped, sitting straight up.

Gretchen was up in a second. "What? What is it?"

"Our new friends! Ophelia-sempai told me…" The words got gnarled up in her throat, and she coughed.

"What is it, Lilly-chan?" Gretchen said.

Swallowing, Homulilly said, "Ophelia-sempai told me that they had been here in the afterlife for over eight years!"

"Eight years?" Gretchen repeated in bemusement. "So…" Suddenly she got it, and the burning discs of her eyes popped open wide. "Wait! That would mean…"

Homulilly did the math in her head. "If they've been here so long, then how could we have known them when they were alive?"

…

"Char? Are you okay?"

Candeloro was watching her wife, who had been very quiet ever since the kids had gone home. Charlotte was lying next to her in the bed that they shared, and normally the two would spend the time talking or reading together, but Charlotte had silently undressed, crawled into bed, and turned away from her, a sure sign that something was bothering her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Charlotte said at last. "Things are just kind of weird right now."

Candeloro snuggled up to her, slipping her ribbons around her waist. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to make you feel left out."

"Oh, relax," Charlotte sighed. "It's fine. It's not like you knew. And I had a good long talk with Cynthia. I'll be all right."

"Are you okay with Homulilly and Gretchen being around?"

Charlotte paused. Then she shifted around so that they were facing one another. "Do you want to keep in touch with them?"

Candeloro nodded. "I do. I honestly do feel a kind of special connection to them. But if it's going to make you uncomfortable-"

Sighing, Charlotte reached up to stroke her wife's hair. "Candy, you know I'm not going to get in the way of making friends. If this is important to you, then I totally support it! Besides, they seem like good kids. I just wish Oktavia and Ophelia gave us something of a head's up to what was going on."

Candeloro frowned. "Yeah, I might have to talk to them about that. I'm sure they thought it would be a great surprise, but they didn't really think through some of the implications."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Oh, let them have their fun. No harm was meant, and I don't want to rain on their parade. They're probably feeling very pleased right now for staging this little reunion."

…

Oktavia awoke to the feel of something thrashing against her back.

For a brief, confusing moment, as her mind tried to switch gears from asleep to awake, she had no idea where she was or what was moving against her, and she found herself believing that she was struggling against some great sea squid, far beneath the waves.

The moment passed quickly and she remembered where she was. Turning over, she saw Ophelia was moving restlessly, tangling herself up in the sheets. Her eyes were still closed in sleep, but if her contorted face was any indication, her dreams were anything but peaceful.

"Hey," said Oktavia, who had seen this happen many times before. She shook Ophelia by the shoulder. "Babe. Wake up."

Ophelia moaned in distress and mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Ophelia!" Oktavia shook her girlfriend's shoulder harder. This time Ophelia's eyes snapped open and her eyes darted around wildly.

"Ophelia, are you okay?" Oktavia asked when Ophelia's gaze finally settled on her. The flame-headed witch didn't respond at her, instead staring right at the mermaid with her hands still clenched in the air over her.

Then Ophelia relaxed, letting her arms fall. "Aw geez," she groaned. "Again with this shit?"

"The drowning one again?" Oktavia said, easing over onto her stomach.

"Nah. You'd think, seeing how often it happens, but no. It was the other death, the one from the fall on day one. Remember?"

Oktavia shivered. Day one was nothing something any of them were going to forget, Ophelia least of all. "All too well. Weird that you'd have that one though."

Ophelia shrugged. "Ah, well, Homulilly and I talked a little about our first days here, so I guess that got it lodged in my subconscious."

"I guess. Are you okay now?"

Ophelia breathed out. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for waking you." She turned over, her back to Oktavia, and pulled the blanket up again.

Oktavia waited for a few moments. When Ophelia didn't say anything further, she sighed and sank back into her pillow, still worried.

She had just closed her eyes when she heard Ophelia say suddenly, "Hey, Tavi?"

"Mmmm?"

"You're gonna still be here when I wake up, right?"

Oktavia blinked. She turned to Ophelia, whose back was still to her. She was shaking.

After a moment Oktavia pressed in close to her, wrapping her arms around Ophelia's middle and resting her chin on her shoulder. "Forever and always. You know that, right?"

Ophelia slowly stopped trembling. "Right. Sorry."

"You're stuck with me forever. Get used to it."

Ophelia let out a small laugh. She turned in Oktavia's embrace, facing her. "Guess I am. Sorry. My head's still all addled."

"When isn't it?"

Ophelia laughed again. Then she relaxed, her breathing evening out. They fell asleep together, holding each other in the dark.

…

Well, we're ten chapters in, and seeing how many of you are probably still wondering where in the hell the idea for this story came from and why Charlotte looks nothing like Nagisa Momoe, I suppose I might as well introduce myself now.

Hello everyone, my name is TakerFoxx, and I've been writing PMMM fanfiction for over eight years now.

See, like a lot of people, I was heavily invested in Sayaka and Kyoko's story, and was absolutely devastated when they died, to the extent that I completely checked out for the rest of the series. However, it did get me thinking about what was waiting for them on the other side, if they would indeed reunite in the afterlife and what adventures they would have, and if there was a special afterlife specifically for Puella Magi and witches, and what sort of rules it would have, what its society would be like, whether or not it would have magical girls from aliens species or not, and so on. And now inspired, I decided to turn that idea into a story about Kyoko and Sayaka (now Oktavia)'s adventures in the afterlife, alongside Mami and Charlotte, who they met fairly early on. And since this was over a full years before The Rebellion Story came out, Charlotte looks very different from Nagisa Momoe.

The story ended up being called Resonance Days, and it's now one of the oldest and longest PMMM fanfics still active. However, unlike Walpurgis Nights, it is more of a fantasy/sci-fi action/adventure, one that's rated a pretty hard R for explicit violence and the sort of mind-screws one might expect from PMMM.

However, after that story had been running for a few years, someone asked me what the witch forms of all the megucas would be like in the afterlife, and I liked the idea so much that I started a slice-of-life AU on my tumblr called Walpurgis Nights. That continued on from 2015 to pretty much a few months ago when it finished up, and I decided to create a rewrite/remastered version that would fix some problems and add new content to be posted on FFN and ao3, which is the story you're currently reading.

So if you're interested in either Resonance Days or want to read ahead on the original version of Walpurgis Nights, they're pretty easy to find with a little googling. Regardless, this version here should be considered the definitive version.

Anyway, I got some other stuff to focus on, so it might be a little while before I can come back to this story, but rest assured I intend to finish up this version as well.

Until next time, everyone!