Chapter 28

Once Reathma and Flick were ready, things moved fast. The entire group—consisting of Flick, Reathma, Yachiyo, Iroha, Tsuruno, Sana, Kanagi, Madoka, Mami, Sayaka, Kyoko, Homura, and Kuroe—were taking a path straight to the Rumor. As for how they knew they were going in the right direction . . .

"Are you sure you're going the right way?"

"I've been there enough times to know where I'm going, Blueberry. Reathma can back me up on this. Right, Reathma?"

"Um, yeah. We're heading the right way."

The speakers were, of course, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Reathma respectively. Homura was used to seeing the blue and red haired girls bicker, but Reathma was someone she couldn't get a read on. She was a member of the Wings of the Magius, but now she wasn't working with them anymore. Could they really trust her not to change her mind? What if she betrayed them, and Madoka got hurt because of it?

Still, the benefits of having a former member of the Wings helping them were too great to ignore. She would know her way around their base, even more than Kyoko. Besides, Reathma and Kyoko seemed to get along well, probably because of the time they had spent together in the Wings. If she kept Kyoko safe, then, well . . .

Homura wanted a timeline where they all survived to be possible.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as they reached the edge of a forest. At this point, it was night, and Homura could hear crickets chirping. She adjusted her glasses, though she still couldn't see very far with the lights of the city a good distance behind them.

"Right through there is the entrance," Kyoko said. "We'll have to go through the Sakura Rumor first."

"Sakura?" Mami echoed.

"Not my family name," Kyoko explained. "It's the Rumor of the Ten-Thousand-Year Sakura. It's a nice, sunny field, with a sakura tree in the middle. Though the tree is dead for some reason."

A soft gasp caught Homura's attention. Looking to her side, she saw Iroha's eyes had widened.

"Iroha?" Flick walked up to the girl, brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"I remember . . ." Iroha whispered. "The Rumor of the Ten-Thousand Year Sakura . . . I was the one who came up with the idea!"

At that point, everyone was staring at Iroha, leading her to blush and hastily elaborate. "When Touka, Nemu, and Ui were in the hospital, we made up stories about Kamihama. They couldn't explore it themselves, so we thought of stories to match locations we would visit once they got better. That's what the Uwasa were originally. Nemu wrote down the stories, so she must still have the book! But . . . why would Touka and Nemu use the Rumors to hurt people?"

"Do you remember specifics about how the Ten-Thousand Year Sakura Rumor went?" Kanagi asked.

Iroha nodded. "I didn't remember until Kyoko mentioned the Ten-Thousand Year Sakura. It was the only Rumor I designed. The idea was that the sakura tree would bloom once Touka, Nemu, Ui and I finally met up in the field." She frowned, looking down. "Why would Touka and Nemu do this? They were such nice girls in the hospital!"

Flick, being the closest to Iroha, put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "We'll find out soon," she promised. "Once we destroy Eve, we can ask them all the questions we want."

"She's right," Yachyio said. "We can't delay any longer. Remember, our first priority is saving Mifuyu. Once she's back with us, she can lead us straight to the inner chamber where they're keeping Eve."

And yet, it seemed the universe continuously wanted to interrupt them, for a voice called out from behind the group. "Wait!"

They all spun around, just in time to see a blonde girl and a blue-haired girl running toward them. Both looked slightly older than Homura, though the blonde girl was almost definitely the older of the two. Also, they were both trying to catch their breath, clearly exhausted from running to catch up with them.

"Momoko? Rena?" Yachiyo moved to the front (or back?) of the group to address the approaching figures. "What are you two doing here?"

"We . . . want to go with you all," the blonde girl said. "Tsuruno sent me a text explaining what was happening. We haven't seen Kaede in days, and we're worried that the Magius captured her . . ."

"We would have made it before they left if it weren't for your bad timing, Momoka!" the blue-haired girl, who must have been Rena, snapped.

"Ha ha . . ." Momoka rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, my bad. But hey, we're here now, so can we go with you two?"

"I don't see why not," Flick said. "The more the merrier, right? Besides, we don't know what we'll be up against in there. We need all the backup we can get."

"I agree." Yachiyo considered her words for a minute. "Momoko, I—" She cut herself off with the shake of her head. "Nevermind. Thank you for helping."

Momoka just gave her a single nod, her eyes glinting. Whatever that was about, it was clear those two had some history. Part of Homura was curious, but there were way too many other worries on her mind to pay it a second thought.

Finally, they had nothing more to say. It was time for them to confront the Magius. Considering what they were up against, Homura doubted they would all walk away from that confrontation unscathed.

Was it evil of her to hope her friends made it out alive, even if some of the Kamihama girls did not?

Flick had a pretty good idea of what she should expect going into the Rumor. A grassy plain with a dead sakura tree in the middle. They would walk a bit further, and end up in a different Rumor entirely, containing a massive hotel that contained the Magius' base. At least, that was the idea. Stepping into the Rumor of the Ten-Thousand-Year Sakura, it became quickly apparent that it wouldn't be so easy.

The field wasn't just occupied by their group. There were dozens of Black Feathers surrounding them, with some White Feathers among them as well. Not only that, but there were two members of the Magius among them. They looked young, so they must have been Touka and Nemu. And both of them had smug smiles on your faces.

"There you all are!" one of the girls exclaimed. She was transformed, and holding a parasol in her hand which matched her outfit. "My brilliant brain cells were easily able to deduce your plan. Springing a trap required very little brain power after that."

"There's no need to gloat, Touka." The one speaking now was Nemu, then. "It was easy to deduce they would come for their friend. Now that they're here, we should stay focused and ensure their elimination."

Seriously, how were these two the same girls Iroha had been friends with? Even if they had forgotten Ui, their personalities seemed entirely different from what Iroha had described. Was one girl missing from their lives really enough to cause such drastic changes? Or was there an element to this that Flick was missing?

A demand sprung to Flick's lips, but before she could speak it, Iroha stepped forward, eyes wide. "Touka, Nemu!" she blurted. "Don't you remember me? You were best friends with my sister, Ui!"

"So, what we heard is true." The grin on Touka's face only widened, and the look she gave Iroha reminded Flick of some of the kids she had babysitted when she was younger. Her patience had been tested multiple times with some of them, and in those moments, their faces matched the expression Touka wore now. "You're really a crazy girl. There is no memory of an "Ui" in my neocortex, hippocampus, or anywhere."

"But we were all friends!" Iroha looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Nope!" Alright, yeah, this girl was a know-it-all. She wasn't even giving Iroha's pleas the time of day, much less respecting what she had been through. "If I say I don't know her, I don't know her. I would never forget a friend!"

"What about the Rumors?" Iroha asked. "The three of you, Touka, Nemu, and Ui, came up with them. All except this one, which I thought of for all of us!"

"That is just untrue." Now, it was Nemu speaking. "I designed all the Rumors myself, including this one."

"But—"

"Oh, just shut up already!" Touka stomped her foot into the ground. "You keep rambling on about such nonsensical ideas, it's so annoying!"

They were seriously—Flick wanted to scream. Actually, fuck it, she did scream. "What is wrong with you two?!" Yeah, all eyes were on her now, but she didn't really care. "You won't even entertain the idea that maybe, just maybe, you lost your memories? You'll accept Magical Girls, Witches, and Uwasa, but not memory loss? Are you that afraid that you're wrong? I thought you two were supposed to be smart!"

Flick knew too well what it was like to make stupid judgements because of not knowing the full truth. Except, unlike her, these girls were being told the truth and still denying it. Not only that, they were insulting Iroha for even suggesting an alternative to what they believed. Of course Flick wouldn't let that stand.

"Felicity Chambers." Nemu stared directly at her, and Flick had to suppress a shudder. Seriously, she was just a kid, why was that stare freaking Flick out? "Your presence in Kamihama has been a great help toward completing our goal. We would rather avoid killing you."

Remembering how close the Magius were to their goal, Flick couldn't help but wince. Her primary source of magic before coming to this dimension had come from her connection to Madoka's soul gem, which had once been a grief seed. Her magic had been registered by Eve as the same curses that made up a Witch, and had gotten absorbed.

Worse than that, though, was that humans always had magical energy in them. Most of Flick's had gone into her soul gem, but the bits that remained were another constant fuel source for Eve.

We're running out of time. Any minute now, Eve might awaken. Then it will be too late.

Did they even have time for a fight?

"Touka, Nemu, you two need to stop and listen!" Flick shouted. "Your plan with Eve, it isn't going to work! You'll destroy the entire world!

"Bzzt!" Touka made a buzzing sound with her lips. "My system is going to save Magical Girls across the globe. It will bring humanity to a new level of dominance! Without Kyubey controlling us, we may go so far as to explore the cosmos. We'll be free to do what we please!"

"You don't understand." Flick knew how crazy her next words would sound, but if the truth couldn't convince them, nothing would. "Listen, you want to know why I showed up in Kamihama out of nowhere? Because I'm from another universe! And in most universes, Magical Girls are already saved! One girl's wish is saving them! But she can't interfere in this universe because of Eve. And if Eve hatches, she'll have no choice but to destroy it. You'll be ending everything!"

She knew her words had no effect, even before Nemu shook her head. "As I thought, you are as foolish as your friend. Gods are a concept for stories, not reality. We cannot turn away from our plans because of a hypothetical."

"What is with you girls anyway?" Touka pouted. "You would have been saved too if you just went along with our plan. But now we'll have to kill you!"

With those words spoken, a new figure stepped out from behind the sakura tree. Her outfit immediately marked her as a Magical Girl. At first glance, it looked like a white wedding dress, but there was more to it than that. The dress itself had a large, golden X going across it. That same X marked the front of the cloth mask covering her entire face, attached to the hood which adorned her dress. The pendant that marked her as a member of the Wings was on her breast, but also attached to the bottom of her dress a dozen times in a circle around her. She also wore white, fingerless gloves, which stretched all the way to her elbows. Her white boots were knee length, with the pendant design sewn into them with golden fabric.

Before anyone could react to the newcomer's presence, a bubble of light emerged from her, encompassing everyone. Flick had to cover her eyes to avoid being blinded, and she heard multiple girls around her cry out.

When the light faded, their surroundings had changed. Where there had once been a wide, open field was now a dark, cramped cavern. The group they had assembled had to bunch up to avoid pressing against the walls.

It got worse, though. While before there had been dozens of White and Black Feathers surrounding them, there now seemed to be over a hundred. As skilled as Flick's friends were, she didn't think they could handle numbers that high.

"Guys," Flick murmured. "We need to find a way out of here."

"We can't run!" Yachiyo yelled. "What about Mifuyu?! We can't abandon her?"

"What are you talking about, Yachan? You abandoned me a long time ago."

Those words made everyone still, for they had come from the cloaked figure. Except she wasn't cloaked anymore. She had pulled her hood down, letting everyone get a look at her face.

What caught Flick's attention most were the eyes. Those teal eyes had first looked at Flick with concern, as a mysterious stranger had saved her life after she recklessly went into a Labyrinth while already tired.

Now, those eyes were swirling with despair, a stark contrast to the wide grin on the girl's face. They centered on Yachiyo, and Flick saw the flash of pain pass through them.

"After all," Mifuyu Azusa finished, "it was you who broke up our team back then."