A/N: I'm super excited at the announcement of Magia Record getting a second season. I wanted to get this chapter out the day of the announcement, but sadly I wasn't able to. Even so, I'm hoping to get at least a few more out before Season 2 starts this summer. Here's hoping!

Chapter 27

"Just a bit higher, Asenath!"

"Reathma, you need to come down! You're going to get hurt if you fall, you know."

"I'll be fine! I've done this plenty of times before."

"Yeah, and that's what worries me."

Reathma rolled her eyes at her sister's comment. Reathma was just climbing one of the trees in her yard. It was nothing she couldn't handle. Sure, it was a fair bit taller than most of the trees she climbed, but that didn't make it any less difficult to climb. She would get to the top, enjoy the view for a few minutes, and climb back down.

Besides, she was just a few more feet away from the top. At this point, it would be easier to get there and catch her breath before turning around.

Sure enough, about half a minute later, she reached the top, which . . . wow. The view was definitely worth the climb. Her family lived on a farm just out of the nearby town, and from her point on top of the tree she could actually see buildings in the distance. Not to mention the stunning sight of the sun setting to her left

From up there, the world felt smaller and larger at the same time. She could see how the dirt road stretched on for miles, seemingly endless. How far had the figures walking down that road gone, and how much further would they walk before reaching their destination?

Wait. It looked like those figures were heading for her house.

Fumbling with her belt, Reathma unhooked the binoculars she had attached to it specifically to enjoy the view. The people were too far to make out without it, though that wouldn't be the case for long with how swiftly they approached.

Actually they were approaching alarmingly fast. Reathma had to fully concentrate just to keep up with them through the binoculars. Seeing them up close did nothing to lessen her confusion. They were all girls, presumably in their late teens or early 20s. All of them wore outfits that seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale.

They were also carrying an assortment of weapons. And none of them looked happy.

"A-Asenath!" Reathma swallowed. "Get Mom and Dad! There are people coming."

"What?" Asenath sighed loud enough for Reathma to hear even from her position. "Come on, Reathma. Just come down so we can both go inside."

"I'm serious!" Reathma blurted. "They have weapons, and they're heading straight for us! Get Mom and Dad!"

The urgency in Reathma's voice must have convinced Asenath. "Stay there," she ordered, before running inside.

At this point, Reathma didn't need the binoculars to make out the girls. She had a feeling the only reason they hadn't spotted her yet was because she was hiding in the tree. That did nothing for her family, who ran out of the house a minute after Asenath had gone in, and ended up right in the girls' sights.

Seeing them, Reathma's mother immediately turned to Asenath. Her breath came out in a hurried shout. "Senny, grab your sister! Run! Get as far away as you can!"

Reathma's breath caught in her throat. She imagined Asenath was the same, but she managed to get a few words out.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"There's no time!" Jiao's eyes were wide. "Go, now!"

"Too late for that, bitch." The girls were already in their yard. How had they gotten there so fast? The oldest, 25 at most, was the one talking. "You know who we are, don't you?"

"Magical Girls . . ." Jiao practically growled the term. "Are you remnants of the Akharu, or girls from a rival gang?"

Akharu? Our family name? Why is Mom using it like it's the name of a gang?

"If you had stuck with us, you'd know!" the girl snapped. "Your mother started the gang so that us Magical Girls could band together and survive! When she died, you were supposed to take up leadership. But what did you do? You abandoned us! Dozens of us died because we had no proper leader! This group," she gestured at the half dozen girls she brought with her, "is all that's left. So, if we aren't going to live long anyway, we figured we deserve some revenge before we die."

Reathma's head was spinning. Magical Girls? A gang started by her grandmother? She barely understood what was going on.

What she did know was that her family was in danger. She had to get down and help! To that end, she positioned herself to the back side of the tree and began climbing down it. The tree itself kept her hidden while the conversation continued.

"None of you were in the gang originally," Jiao said. "You weren't even there when I left. You can't judge my decision."

"Like hell we can't!" the girl yelled. "Our families are dead because of you! So here's what's going to happen. We're going to kill your family right in front of you. Then, we're going to take your soul gem with us, leaving your body a lifeless husk. We'll wait for it to become a grief seed, fight the Witch that hatches, and then kill it. Maybe then you'll actually be of use to us, cleaning our soul gems a few times before we feed you to Kyubey."

Reathma didn't need to understand all those terms to get the danger they were in. Senny, her mom and dad, they were going to die if she didn't do something! Dammit, she had to climb faster! She had to ignore the way her heart was racing and get down there! Her family needed her!

"If you think we're easy prey, you're wrong." It was her father, Tiras, speaking.

The girl barked out a single laugh. "What do you think you can do? You're just some guy!"

"Are you so sure?" Tiras taunted. "This fight isn't worth having. Turn back, and don't threaten my family again."

His words weren't enough to convince them. Reathma could hear weapons being readied. Too soon. She was only halfway down the tree!

Please, let me make it! I won't lose them! I won't—

Searing heat, permeating her entire being. The agony of her skin boiling. Reathma had just enough time to scream before the burning heat overwhelmed her. She lost her grip on the tree, falling over a dozen feet the rest of the way down.

"REATHMA!" She could barely make out her father's scream over the ringing in her ears. Multiple bones snapped when she landed, the agony from them joining the scorching pain invading her skin.

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Through the tears and black spots in her vision, Reathma thought she could see her mother's outfit change. She was wearing a brown dress, high stockings, white gloves, and a wide brimmed hat. There was a throwing axe in each of her hands, and she immediately hurled them both at one of the girls, whose hands were smoking a little.

Did she . . . see me and attack? Then I was worthless. I'm going to die here. Please, someone save me. I don't want to die . . .

In the corner of her vision, Reathma saw a white blur. Was it an angel?

The sound of combat felt distant to Reathma. Everyone in her family could fight, but it was seven against three, and all seven of the girls had some form of magic. What could her parents and sister do?

For some time, she blacked out. She'd never know how long she was out for, but what she awoke to made her wish she had never woken in the first place.

The ground was littered in corpses. Shockingly, most of the corpses were the girls that had attacked them. However, two were instantly recognizable, and the sight of them formed a pit of dread in Reathma's stomach.

"Mom! Dad!" Reathma managed to hack out the words before a coughing fit overtook her, each cough sending a sharp spike of pain throughout her entire being.

Gone. They were gone. No, they were dead. Mommy, Daddy, her family. They were lying in puddles of their own blood, eyes wide in perpetual grief.

"Reathma!" Senny. The voice was Senny. She was still alive! Please, don't take her away too.

A foot stomping on Reathma's back ended her coughing fit, taking away what little breath she had left. "You bitch!" It was the girl from before. "How the hell did you three manage to kill all of them before we put Jiao down?"

"You underestimated my mother," Senny growled, a rage in her voice unlike any Reathma had ever heard. "She told me about some of her past. About Magical Girls and Witches. She was the strongest in your gang, by a long shot even. It's how she survived for so long. You made a mistake coming here."

"She's still dead, isn't she?" the girl retorted. "So how about I finish off your little sister, and then kill you last?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Senny took a step forward, making the other girl raise her lance. "I know about Magical Girls. That includes the Incubator.

Senny's gaze was on the white blur in Reathma's vision. Whatever she was planning, the other girl must have figured it out, for she rushed at Senny.

Senny dodged. She twirled out of the way, slamming a short sword she had picked up probably inside the house into the weapon. "Incubator!" she yelled. "Grant my wish! I wish for you to save my sister!"

"NO!" The girl's plea fell on death ears. The . . . Incubator, whatever it was, spoke.

"Very well. Your wish has surpassed entropy. Go forth, Asenath, and let your light shine against—"

"Shut up." It happened in a flash. Senny's outfit changed into a black robe, with a green gem on the clasp. There was a new weapon in her hand. A single axe, far larger than either of the throwing axes Jiao had used. "Let me focus so I can kill this bitch."

"Senny, no!" Reathma scrambled to her feet, only realizing she had been completely healed once she was up. It was magic. That was the only possible explanation. Had Senny's wish healed her?

Reathma turned to the white creature on the ground. Senny had called it an Incubator. If the Incubator could grant wishes, then—

That thought never finished. The "fight" between Senny and the girl was over before it really started. And it ended with a lance in the gem on Senny's clasp.

No, not just her. The other girl's gem had shattered too. Both weapons had reached their targets, ending the fight in a draw . . .

And in the death of both combatants.

Reathma's shriek was deafening even to her own ears, but she didn't care. She sprinted to Senny's side, kneeling beside her unresponsive form.

"Senny, please! Wake up! Don't die on me! I need you to stay! I can't lose you! Please, I love you! Don't die! Don't die! SENNY!"

Anything else Reathma might have said dissolved into sobs, as tears streamed down her face. This couldn't be happening! Mom, Dad, Senny! They couldn't be dead!

"You!" Reathma blurted, turning to the Incubator. "Y-You can grant wishes, right? Please, grant mine! Give me my family back!"

The creature shook its head. "I can't do that. Your mother and sister both had so much potential as Magical Girls. Yours just doesn't add up. You don't have the power to bring them back."

"Then do something else!" Reathma didn't care how little her words made sense. She refused to accept this. If she stopped bargaining to grieve, she would never see them again. They would be gone forever. And Reathma would have nothing to live for.

"If you can't bring them back to life, then find another way! Some sort of work around! Whatever it takes, just let me see them again!"

She was gasping for air by the end of her plea. At first, she thought the Incubator had ignored her words. However, it dipped its head in acknowledgement, and a sudden burning pain took form in Reathma's chest. A green light emanated from that same spot, slowly shaping into a gem.

"Your wish has surpassed entropy," the Incubator said. "I wish you luck, Reathma Akharu. I'm sure I will see you again someday."

Some day . . .? What does he mean . . .?

Before she could get answers, Reathma fell unconscious.

Reathma still remembered that day as if it had been mere hours earlier. Even after all this time of searching for her lost family, she remembered watching them all die in front of her.

Waking up in the 21st century had been far from easy. There was so much to adjust to, as the world was hardly the same one she had grown up in. Of course, putting together that evil Magical Girl's words and realizing the truth about Magical Girls and Witches had been the most difficult part. Even so, Reathma had pushed onward, not minding her fate if it meant she could see her family again.

The Magius had seemed to be her best lead. Their actions in Kamihama were far from normal, even by Magical Girl standards. The key to finding her family had to be through them. Yet as time passed, she grew more and more doubtful. Her faith in them had faded with each passing moment, until she had to confirm for herself what their plans were.

What she found was horrifying. A giant Witch, capable of destroying the city. Before she could even begin to process that revelation, she had been spotted and chased away.

All that led her to sitting in an unfamiliar bed, talking to a girl she barely knew but found herself trusting. Flick Chambers told her how she had been fused with an Uwasa, and Reathma in turn told Flick about her contribution to the Magius' plans.

Flick's eyes were wide with the revelation. "They're about to accomplish their goal," she whispered, "because of me."

"I . . ." Reathma swallowed. "I think they would have succeeded either way. It just would have taken longer. But . . . do you know why your presence is enough to give Eve energy?"

Flick paused to consider it, and Reathma could tell she was deeply concentrating. She gave Flick time to come to an answer. Which she did with a gasp, eyes widening even further.

"The Magia system!" she blurted.

"Uh . . ." Reathma blinked. "The what?"

Flick explained that to her as well. The world she had come from, and the system which gave her and those like her power.

"We bond to the soul gem of a girl who had near limitless potential," Flick said. "But her soul gem was briefly a grief seed before we used the spell to bring it back. For Witches who have their souls brought back, their soul gems are never the same. They act more like grief seeds, even though the girl is sane again."

Reathma had been struggling to follow along with Flick's explanation, but in that moment it clicked. "You get your powers from what might as well be a grief seed, so when you're in Kamihama, Eve treats you like a Witch! It's been constantly draining energy from you, because the source of your power matches with the curses it's used to draining!"

Everything that implied . . . holy shit.

"That must be the real reason I can't access the Committee link," Flick said. "And why I can't use magic. Other than my soul gem, which is a separate source of magic, every bit of magical energy that comes from me has that taint. Eve swallows it all up before I can properly use it."

"But since you're constantly being supplied with magic, Eve has a constant source of energy." Now, Reathma's eyes were widening. "It can wake up any minute!"

Those words were enough to spring Flick into action. "I'm going," she said. "I need to destroy Eve, before it's too late."

"I'll come with you!" Reathma threw the covers off herself and scrambled out of bed. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure you stop them!"

There should have been more hesitance on her part. Even if she believed Flick, she had been working with the Magius until now. They were still her only lead. What was she going to do once they were stopped? How would she find her family?

This is what they would have wanted. Mom, Dad, Senny. I'm doing this for them.

Flick gave Reathma a smile that made her heart flutter. "Thank you. The others are all waiting downstairs, so if you're ready, we can head out." She reached out her hand for Reathma to take.

No more doubts. No more fears. She wasn't going to give up on her family, but she wasn't going to kill innocent people just for a sliver of a chance at bringing them back. Whatever came next, she'd stop being selfish.

"I'm ready."

Reathma took Flick's hand.