A/N: I'm finally returning to this story. Well, I guess I wasn't gone for that long. The lack of Magia Record content dwindled my passion for this story, but lately I've missed Magia Record content so much that I want to make more myself.

For those wondering about that interlude I posted in March, the story with Tart, Avalon, and the Mason twins will be happening in this universe. It will all be "off camera" though, as there doesn't seem to be too much interest in that story. You don't have to worry too much, as it won't come into play here. It's just extra background for the world, with events happening at Flick's world even while she's away.

Anyway, this story is currently planned to have 42 chapters, though I will likely combine a few. The remaining chapters will take place over the course of two, maybe three days. I hope you're all excited.

Chapter 25

Tsukuyo's life could not be described as easy. The amount of work her grandmother made her do was outright unbearable at times, and it had slowly felt like she was losing her individuality before meeting Tsukasa. Her only comfort back then had been her flute, though even that was a double edged sword. Whenever her grandmother saw it, Tsukuyo would be in for the lecture of a lifetime. It got so bad, she had kept her flute hidden to avoid those lectures.

Looking back, those lectures were casual conversations compared to an interrogation from Alina Gray.

"You two are acting strange today," Alina said, looking over the twins. "Stranger than usual. What are you two hiding from me?"

"N-Nothing!" Tsukasa said.

"You two failed to come back with the grief seeds I sent you to collect," Alina said. "So incompetente."

"We . . ." Tsukuyo swallowed. She didn't want to lie to Alina, but she didn't want to accuse Mifuyu either. After all, maybe they were making assumptions over what they had seen.

"Hmmmm . . ." Alina put her finger to her lip. "Perhaps your flutes could use an Alina style repainting. How does that sound?"

Oh no. Tsukuyo's flute was everything to her, and she knew Tsukasa felt the same. The twins reeled back, eyes wide.

Tsukuyo relented. "We saw Mifuyu at the Coordinator's. She and Mitama were with girls we had never seen before, and Mifuyu was using magic that didn't seem like hers."

Though it was slight, Tsukyo saw Alina stiffen slightly. What was going through her mind at the moment?

"Tell me everything," Alina finally said. "I will have questions for Mifuyu the next time I see her."

Reathma heard the commotion before she saw it. Loud voices around the corner, and the sound of weapons being drawn.

Is there an attack? Worried someone had infiltrated the Wings, she rounded the corner, heading to one of the many hallways in Hotel Fendt Hope. This hallway was near a staircase, though it was currently filled with both Black and White Feathers. More Feathers were surrounding someone, with their weapons out. Every feather had those clawed blades they could shoot out at someone, connected by chains. They used those instead of their usual weapons to conceal their identities.

These Feathers didn't seem eager to have their weapons out. They were shifting uncomfortably, whispering to one another. Once Reathma saw who they were surrounding, she understood why.

Mifuyu Azusa, transformed and gripping her chakram, scanned the crowd surrounding her. Her eyes fell on a single individual. "Alina. What's the meaning of this?!"

Alina Gray stepped forward, the assorted girls forming a circle around her and Mifuyu. No, not just those two. Touka and Nemu were there too, obviously to make sure none of the Feathers started having second doubts.

"You've been keeping secrets from us, Mifuyu," Nemu said. She was the same age as Touka, with light brown hair and violet eyes. Her Magical Girl outfit consisted of a black cape with a gold outline, an academic cap with a gold tassel, a yellow dress with beige boots, and black stockings.

"If . . ." Mifuyu swallowed. "If this is about what Tsukuyo and Tsukasa saw, I have an explanation for that."

"Oh?" Alina was grinning. "Then let's hear it."

"Those girls are potential recruits," Mifuyu said. "I have to take things slowly with them, though, as they're having trouble accepting the truth."

"An acceptable story," Alina said. Before Mifuyu could relax, she continued. "A shame we already have proof of your betrayal."

Mifuyu paled. "What . . .?"

"We had one of the girls spy on your apartment," Nemu explained. "They saw Flick Chambers living there, while you were suspiciously absent."

"That's . . ." Mifuyu hesitated, and the silence that followed was damning.

"I must wonder, what would bring you to betray us?" Touka asked. "Surely you believe in liberation more than anyone. Do you wish for all the girls you've promised salvation to become Witches?"

"There's another way!" Mifuyu blurted. "We—"

"In just a few days, our goal will be complete," Touka continued. "Thanks to the force accelerating our plans, we can save Magical Girls across the world before the end of the week."

Those words weren't for Mifuyu, Reathma realized. They were for all the other girls in the room. Many of them had been recruited by Mifuyu, and only trusted the Magius because she did as well. If Mifuyu really was betraying them, then those girls needed another hope to latch on to. Being so close to freedom was the perfect substitute.

"You can't do it!" Mifuyu pleaded. "You're making a mistake!"

Alina laughed. "A mistake? Not at all."

"The only one who made a mistake was you, Mifuyu," Nemu said. "You should not have stood in the way of liberation." She addressed the girl surrounding them. "Restrain her. We will try to help her understand our goal once more."

Seeing the girls hesitate, Touka spoke up. "Come on! Didn't you hear her? We're going to convince her to stay on our side! We can't do that standing around here! So tie her up for us!"

Finally, the girls moved. What followed could hardly be called a fight. There were far too many girls, and Mifuyu just wasn't strong enough. Reathma's stomach churned, and she found herself turning away. That let her see the sole girl who was stalking away from the hallway, clearly intent on heading somewhere else.

"Kyoko . . .?"

"She's not back yet. She should have been back by now. What's taking her so long?!"

The words came from Yachiyo, who was currently pacing back and forth across the living room of Mikazuki Villa. Her entire body was tense, and her fists were clenched. It was clear she was moments away from storming through the city until she found the Magius' base.

"Yachiyo." Flick put a hand on her shoulder. "We have to trust Mifuyu."

"I do trust her!" Yachiyo snapped. "But if she's in danger, I need to help her!"

"And we will," Flick promised. "But we shouldn't run into unnecessary danger until we know what's going on. We don't even know where the Magius are."

"Then we go to Mitama," Yachiyo said. "She can tell us the location of their base."

Yeah, she wasn't thinking straight (quite literally, Flick was pretty sure). Not sure what to say, Flick sent a thought inward.

Ai, do you know where the Magius' base is?

"I don't," Ai admitted. "The Magius hid as much from me as they were able. I am sorry."

Hey, don't worry about it, Flick thought. Despite how weird it seemed being fused with a Rumor at first, Flick had gotten used to it almost entirely overnight. Even the changes to her body seemed natural.

"That is another effect of us merging," Ai said. "Though our mindsets are similar enough that yours was barely altered, you should now have no desire to break free from me."

Would that happen to anyone fused with an Uwasa? Flick asked.

"Yes," Ai said. "The only way to undo a fusion with an Uwasa is to convince the person to separate from it. However, once they are fused, they will want to stay a part of the Rumor. To convince them, you have to make a proper connection."

Before Flick could ask what that meant, Ai elaborated. "If you can understand a person's struggles, and why they might want to stay fused, then you can get through to them. But you have to completely understand what they are going through, and what they need in order to get better."

Well, that sounded complicated. There were plenty of mind-reading Alters back in Flick's world that might have had an easy time with that sort of dilemma, but Flick had no powers that let her empathise with others.

Well, other than being the daughter of Joselyn and Lincoln Chambers.

Smiling at the thought, it took Flick a moment to realize Yachiyo had returned to pacing. Whoops, she hadn't meant to get so distracted talking to Ai. It had been a while since she had someone hitching a ride in her brain.

"Yachiyo—" Before Flick could say anything else, she was interrupted by the doorbell. In a flash, Yachiyo was there, throwing the door open.

"Mifu—" Yachiyo paused, frowning. "You're not Mifuyu."

"Good to see ya too." With those words spoken, Kyoko stepped into Mikazuki. "Nice place you got here."

"Kyoko?!" Flick gaped. "Where have you been?"

Rather than respond, Kyoko looked her over. "What happened to you?"

"What happened to—" Flick couldn't help herself. "Well geez, Kyoko, maybe if you had stuck around, you wouldn't be so behind on everything. Believe it or not, communicating with everyone means you get information as it comes up. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?" She put a hand to her face, as though shocked.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes. "While you were all wasting your time on the Magius' toys, I was busy infiltrating their ranks. Thanks to that, I know what happened to this one's girlfriend." She pointed at Yachiyo, though her eyes quickly widened when the older girl was suddenly in her face.

"Where is Mifuyu?" Yachiyo demanded. "Did they hurt her?!"

"Calm down, I'm getting there." Kyoko raised her palms in front of her face. "The Magius figured out she was lying to them. Apparently they saw Flick living at her apartment."

"What?" Flick spouted.

"They had a spy watching the place," Kyoko said. "They even knew your name somehow, though I have no clue where they found that out. Anyway, they seemed pretty upset, so they took Mifuyu captive. No idea where they took her though, other than somewhere inside their base."

"No . . ." Yachiyo's legs were shaking, and there were tears in her eyes. "Mifuyu!"

With that, she was out the same door Kyoko had come in from. "Yachiyo, wait!" Flick called out.

"Flick," Ai spoke in her head. "Being fused with me has made your magic stronger. Even when someone isn't in danger, you should be able to switch places with them."

Trusting her, Flick transformed. As promised, she could feel a thread between her and Yachiyo. As soon as she pulled on it, they switched places, and Flick was in front of her.

"Move, Flick!" Yachiyo shouted. "I have to get to Mifuyu!"

"We will!" Flick promised. "We're going to save her, Yachiyo. But we can't go alone. If we're going to help her, we're going to need everyone's help. You know that, don't you?"

"I . . ." Yachiyo looked down. "I just got Mifuyu back. If I kill her too—"

Kill her too? What was Yachiyo talking about?

"Let's gather everyone we can," Flick said. "It's ahead of schedule, but we can end all of this today. We'll raid their base, save Mifuyu, and destroy Eve."

Even after saying that, Flick could tell Yachiyo wanted to throw all caution to the wind and rush after Mifuyu. However, she finally took a deep breath and sighed.

"Alright . . ."

Flick smiled. "Come on, let's call the others."

Just hang in there, Mifuyu. We're going to get you out of there.

Reathma wasn't sure what to do.

An hour after the Magius had carried Mifuyu away, she was in the cafeteria, eating absentmindedly. She barely tasted the food, too lost in her own mind.

Asenath . . . will the Magius really help me find you? All of this was for her sister. The sister who had died protecting her. When she had made her wish with Kyubey and woken up 200 years in the future, she had been confident the Magius had a lead on her sister's location. With all the Rumors they had created, surely one would lead her to Asenath.

But that hadn't happened. She was still working for them, and had made no progress. Pretty soon, their goal would be accomplished, and they would disband. If Reathma didn't have a single clue on Asenath by that time, what was she going to do?

No, she couldn't sit by and wait any longer. She needed answers. If the Magius had information on Asenath, she would find out.

Telling herself this, and ignoring her racing heart, Reathma made her way deeper into the hotel, toward the Magius' inner sanctum. None of the Feathers were allowed in there, and sure enough, once she got close enough, she saw two White Feathers guarding the hallway that led there.

Well, that wouldn't be a problem for Reathma, not with her magic. She transformed into her proper Magical Girl outfit—the green dress that matched those from the time period she had come from—and walked up to the girls. Seeing her, they raised their weapons.

"Who are—" one began, before Reathma touched them both and used her magic on them.

Immediately, their movements seemed to stop. They weren't frozen, but they were perceiving their surroundings far too quickly to notice what was happening around them.

That was Reathma's magic. It sped up time, making what could have been an hour last only a minute for her. Using it on herself tended to be a waste, as the last thing she wanted was for everything to seemingly speed up around her. However, by using it on those girls, she could head into the sanctum, spy on the Magius, and be out before they noticed time passing.

That was, as long as no one else showed up. All they would have to do is touch the two girls to break them out of it. Any sort of contact broke the magic, which was why Reathma couldn't just speed up a Witch's perception and kill it before it could react.

In this instance, it was exactly what she needed. Being sure not to touch the girls again, Reathma made her way down the hall and opened the door.

Immediately, a presence washed over her. It was strong enough to make her stagger, nearly falling to her knees.

These are . . . impurities. But what could be producing this many?

The "room" could hardly be called that. It was more like a massive, indoor garden, larger than most outdoor gardens Reathma had seen. Other than a marble path leading to a center area with a table, there were plants everywhere.

Looking at the walls, they seemed like the walls of a chapel. At the top of one of those walls was a massive creature that Reathma instantly knew was the source of the impurities.

The best way to describe would be a giant moth. Not just giant. It must have been over fifty feet tall. It had arms, which were slightly raised as though it were crucified. Even from where she was, Reathma could see the bracelets hanging off its wrists. They weren't all it was adorned with, as gems covered every part of the moth's body. Behind it was a golden, circular structure that almost looked like wings. At the top of its head, Reathma could make out a crown.

What . . . what is that thing? Reathma could hardly breathe, feeling as if the impurities were choking her. Still, she forced herself onward. She could see the Magius sitting at the table, seemingly unaffected by the impurities as they casually chatted. Reathma made her way to a bush close to that table, and ducked behind it while she listened.

"Perfetta!" Alina exclaimed. "I had thought Mifuyu's body was perfect before, but that was unlike anything I've ever seen!"

"She'll be reassuring the Feathers now," Nemu said. "As she is—" Suddenly, she stopped, taking deep breaths.

"Nemu?!" Reathma was surprised to hear Touka sound so concerned. Everyone knew how much she and Nemu butted heads.

"I'm okay," Nemu managed. "I just need a moment."

"It won't be much longer," Touka said. "Will you be ready to make the final Rumor when the time comes?"

"Of course," Nemu seemed to have recovered. "It shouldn't be long now, thanks to our sudden source of energy."

"It's so ironic I could laugh." Alina seriously did sound close to laughing. "She's trying so hard to oppose us, yet she has been our greatest asset."

"Agreed," Touka said. "Imagining her face when she finds out the truth brings me pleasure in both my lateral hypothalamus and my medial forebrain bundle.

"I wonder, why do you think Flick Chambers' presence in Kamihama is providing Eve with so much energy?"