Wish Warriors -Puella Magi Dresden Magica-

by Dream Traveler Zenddrex

A heavy metal magical girls band must fight The Four Witches of the Apocalypse to prevent the annihilation of Vela Nova city. This is a gothic story that takes place in the world of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime, but it has nothing to do with the anime's story or its characters, in the same vein as some of the official manga spin-offs.

12. Chapter 8 - Omens of What Is to Come

WISH WARRIORS

~Puella Magi Dresden Magica~

CHAPTER 8 – Omens of What Is to Come

In school there are three kinds of surprises a student can experience – a pop quiz, the bad surprise; a fun day in which you do some activity that isn't school work, the good surprise; and a substitute teacher, which could be good or bad depending on the substitute's disposition. Turned out for me there was a fourth kind of surprise, and she walked through my class's door in the middle of second period.

"Hey girl," Fi greeted. Mrs. Engram continued her history lecture undisturbed as my friend crossed in front of the class to make her way to my desk, which she sat on nonchalantly.

"Fi, what the heck are you doing?" I hissed.

Fi shrugged. "I dunno. I'm bored. Wanna play hookie?"

"For real?"

"Dresden, do you have something to say to the class?" Mrs. Engram said strictly.

"C'mon, let's go," Fi said.

"Can I use the washroom?" I said.

"You may," my teacher allowed, so I grabbed Fi's hand and pulled her out of the classroom to a more secluded part of the school, out of the eyes or earshot of other school staff.

"Fi, this isn't cool," I said.

"What, breaking you out of prison?"

"Unlike you, my misdemeanors won't be ignored, and I just got done being grounded for sneaking out of the house. If my parents found out that I sneak out of school too, they'll make sure my room is a literal prison."

"Don't be so dramatic. It's just one time."

"Is it, though?"

"I promise."

"How about Luca? Did you ask her?"

"Oh yeah I asked her first. She sent me to you."

Curse you, Lucatiel! "How about Shanoa? She'd probably go along with it."

"She's in middle school. And I don't know what class she's in anyway."

"You could always search for it. It's not like anyone will care."

"Nahhh that's lame."

"Fantasia probably wouldn't mind company."

"Hmmm yeah I guess. But I'm already here."

"I'm curious. What have you been doing to kill time until now? Not attending class, I'm guessing."

"Well duh. To the school I don't exist, and it's not like I'll need a high school diploma when we become a world-famous band. I started off driving around going way above the speed limit. Did you know my Supra can break 150mph?"

I put my hands on my hips.

"Then I tried to go on a graffiti art spree, but it turns out that the buildings in Vela Nova are like graffiti repellent, because the paint immediately fades and disappears. Except on Andy's, but Boss lets graffiti artists paint up the place. It's almost like the buildings require me to get permission first before they'll let me graffiti or something. Weird, right?"

"That is pretty weird, but I should get back to class now."

"So after adding some sick art to Andy's, I've mostly just been sitting around and playing video games. Oh, and practicing guitar, of course. So? You're in, right?"

I sighed. "Just this once." I emphasized my point with an upheld finger.

"Totally! I got it. Just once. Now let's go!"

"Hold it! You'll have to wait until second period is over. I need to grab my things, and I'm not leaving in the middle of class."

"Cool. I'll be waiting in the Supra."

I won't lie, playing in the December snow with Fi instead of attending class was super fun. But my intuition told me that this was the precursor to a bigger problem. The next day, I was proven right when around the same time next day Fi was once again sitting on my desk.

"You promised!" I said (which the teacher immediately shushed), poking Fi in the ribs.

"I know," she said. "Don't worry, I'm just gonna be hanging here. Make your class more interesting." She winked.

The disapproval on my face only egged Fi on. She started out drawing all over the whiteboard, including over the teacher's lesson. Mrs. Engram ignored her, and would even wait for Fi to move out of the way to continue writing more lesson material as if Fi's drawing wasn't there. Then Fi played some pranks on her, the best one being a large, curly paper moustache that she pasted onto Mrs. Engram, which the teacher removed three times before finally leaving it affixed to her upper lip for the remainder of the class. After that I couldn't look at the teacher without chuckling.

What did not remain was Fi's interest in her own pranks, since the only one who reacted to them was myself. She eventually resorted to poking me and grabbing my face to mold silly expressions.

I resigned myself to my fate, not wanting to earn my teacher's ire any more than I had until class ended, when Fi said, "I'm gonna go bug Luca now. Later!" and left.

That night as I layed in bed a bit before my supposed bedtime, I wanted to text Fantasia about the matter of Fieros, but on a whim decided to Facetime instead.

Fantasia picked up on the first ring. "Hi!" She greeted brightly.

"Hi. Um, what are you up to?"

"Oh just writing our next song. I do my best work at night. How about you?"

"Nothing much. [beat] So Fieros showed up to my class today."

"Really? I thought she wasn't going to school anymore."

"She got bored enough to start bothering me and Luca at school."

"That's concerning."

"Yeah, I'm worried about what she'll do next. Like, I know it is almost Christmas break, but still, once we're back in school, she'll inevitably get bored of doing this, and I don't want her to do anything bad. Not because she'll get into trouble or anything, but, like . . . Do you get what I mean?"

"I'm picking up what you're putting down, dog."

The silly turn of phrase so unlike Fantasia was so cute that I forgot reply.

"Ummm hello? You still there?"

"S-sorry! Yeah, I'm still here. It's just. . . I'm wondering what to do about Fi."

"Hmmm. . . well more than being bored, she's probably lonely. We're the only ones who can pay attention to her anymore after all."

"Yeah."

". . . How about she comes over to my place?"

This was exactly what I hoped Fantasia say, but I didn't suggest the idea myself since I didn't want her to feel obligated.

"You sure she wouldn't be too much of a bother?"

"Not at all! I'm ahead in school as it is, and I'm sure we can find good ways to spend our time together."

"OK, I'll send her your way then."

"No need. I'll invite her myself."

"Sounds good."

"[beat] Y'know, I'm happy that you called me."

"Really?"

"Mhmm. I wouldn't mind doing this every night."

"Want me to call tomorrow?"

"Only if you want to."

"I don't mind. But we'll probably run out of things to talk about."

She giggled. "That's OK. I just like to see your face and hear your voice. Besides, it's hardly ever just the two of us, isn't it?"

I nodded. "I like to hear your voice, too. It's the most beautiful voice ever. I mean, obviously, since you're a classically trained singing prodigy." Before I could say anything to make my face a deeper shade of red, I finished with, "Sooooo see you later tonight."

"Yep. Love you. Bye."

"Love you too. Bye."

I hung up and wriggled around on my bed restlessly.

The next day I did see Fieros at school, but not in person. Rather, all throughout the school day Fantasia texted me, Luca, and Shanoa glamour shots she took of a clearly embarrassed Fi in various designer outfits that were no doubt from Fantasia's own wardrobe. Despite the clothes being a totally different style than her usual aesthetic, Fi's hair and attitude had her still channeling her signature punk-rock energy.

"So what did you think of the pics I sent you?" Fantasia asked over that night's appointed Facetime.

"Fi could be a model! I especially loved her in that red sleeveless dress."

"Right? I knew that would be a good match for her. I hope I didn't scare her away."

We laughed.

"Nah, I bet she secretly liked it," I said.

"Want to come over sometime and try on some of my clothes?"

"I don't think I'd fit, Fantasia."

"I suppose you have a point. Oh, how about this? We can go out and buy you a dress. The tailor who has done my dresses for years comes up with the cutest designs. We can even get matching ones!"

"Sorry, but I don't have money for that."

"Don't be that way, Drez. You know money isn't an issue for me." When I voiced my uncertainty, she added, "Think of it as my Christmas present to you."

"When would we wear them, though?"

"Y'know, when we go out together."

"But wouldn't we be overdressed?"

She pouted. "That's not the point. We'd be really cute in those dresses! Actually, that reminds me. I've been meaning to ask you – would you like to be my accompanist for one of my performances? I'm going to be singing an aria, and the piece is accompanied by a single piano."

"When is it?"

"Two months from now."

"Sure. I could do that."

"Great! I'll email you the details and the sheet music presently. We can wear our dresses then."

"OK OK. When would you like to go shopping for dresses?"

"How about this weekend?"

"That should work, but I'll have to check with my parents. Though I probably shouldn't mention what we will be doing. I don't think they'd allow someone else to spend more money on their daughter than they would in a year."

"Keep up this talk about money and I'll buy you two dresses just to spite you, and you won't get any say on the second dress."

"The horror!"

Our laugh petered off into silence. Feeling a tinge of guilt for hanging up on Fantasia's gently smiling face, but not brave enough to continue a call of staring into each other's eyes, I said, "Well, talk to you tomorrow, and see you later tonight. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

Later that night while out witch hunting in the city proper, we found an unusual amount of unconscious people propped against walls and even lying flat on the ground. Not enough to be grouped together, but enough to be noticeable by someone traveling more than a few blocks. As we moved one of these people out of the middle of the road, we took the moment to examine them.

"I wonder how long they have been lying there," Fantasia said.

"I'm surprised they haven't been run over," Fi said.

I checked the neck, which was where a witch's kiss typically manifests.

"That's strange," I said. "A witch would be the obvious answer to this phenominon, but there's no sign of a kiss."

"They're not dead, right?" Luca asked.

"Nope, still breathing, though its very faint. Wait. . . What is this black spot?"

The person was wearing gloves, but the glove on their right hand had a hole burned through it and into their palm. I showed it to the others.

"What does it mean?" Fi asked.

"We should check some other people and see if they have it too," Fantasia said.

"Let's split up," Luca suggested. "It'll be faster that way."

"Yo Shanoa, you with us?" Fi asked. "You've been awfully quiet."

". . . Yeah, I'm fine," she answered and took off before any more conversation could be had.

The remaining four of us exchanged glances and a couple of shrugs, and then split for our investigation.

Hey, ummm are you OK? I sent to Shanoa.

Yeah, Shanoa sent. Sorry, I'm just a bit out of it today.

You know that you can talk to any of us if something is bothering you, right?

I know. Thanks for worrying about me.

Finding another unconscious laggard only took a little more than five minutes thanks to magically enhanced super jumps. Sure enough, the skin on the palm of their right hand was a festering black blotch.

I found another victim of the black spot, whatever that means, I sent to my friends. They sent back comparable reports.

I think my victim fell out of their bedroom window, Shanoa added. So now what?

Uh, mine just woke up, Fi sent.

Ask them what happened, Luca sent, but at the same time Fi sent, Everyone over here now! One of the Witches of the Apocalypse is here!

We hurriedly regrouped at Fi's location just in time to be hailed by a ghostly pirate galleon. With transparent sails and a hole blown through the hull, it drifted through the air like a condor that witnessed an animal finally keel over, not realizing that it itself had been shot and was flying on nothing more than skeletal wings. Its figurehead bore uncanny resemblance to a magical girl, and she held up a lantern that was aglow with a ghastly green flame. Her mouth hung wide open as if something was ready to crawl out of it, and in place of her eyes were two gold dubloons.

There was no doubt in my mind. This witch must be. . .

"Death," I breathed in awful wonder.

Death lowered a walkway to the street, and the person bearing the black spot ascended it with slow but certain steps. That was when I noticed the horde of people riding on the ship, er, witch. They were not undead pirates or sailors or anything like that, but modern people dressed in various street clothes or even pajamas. They stood unnaturally still and shared the same anxious expression. But whether they were anxious to arrive at their destination or fearful of it, it mattered not, for ultimately it was sure to be their final voyage.

"Not today!" Luca declared as she tackled the person off of the walkway and back onto the street. "Fi, help me hold them down!"

Together, Fi and Luca successfully pinned the thrashing adult down. I readied myself to burst into action. After a moment, Death raised the walkway, and without any sort of violent reaction, it sailed away. The pinned victim reverted to the original unconscious state Fi found them in.

But wait. As I watched after Death's departure, I recognized one of its passenger's faces, though she was wearing regular clothes for once.

"Ultima!" I called out. Her face swerved my direction, but she didn't budge.

Help. It was faint, but I caught it – Ultima's telepathic plea.

"Everyone, after that witch!" I cried. "It has Ultima!"

Fi cursed, speaking out loud what I'm sure we were all thinking, but no one argued. I formulated the plan as we bounded after it.

"We need to board the ship and grab Ultima. Fantasia, do your best to slow it down. Use as much magic as possible."

"Right."

"Fieros, do you think you can use your fire magic to rocket me and you onto the deck?"

"Haven't tried that before, but I don't see why not."

"I'll summon my undead legion to pull Ultima away and rescue as many others as I can."

"What about me?" Shanoa and Luca asked nigh simultaneously.

"I need you two to draw the witch's attention. Sorry."

"No problemo."

"You got it."

"Oh, and one last thing," Fantasia said, and she gave each of us a couple of grief seeds.

We exchanged grim but defiant glances.

"Aces High, count us in, Shanoa!" Fantasia ordered.

"We are the Wish Warriors! One two three four!"

Since Fantasia's part of the plan had to happen before the rest of it could, she immediately broke into singing. The Iron Maiden song lent itself to powerful vocals, and Fantasia hammed it up as much as she could.

The ghost ship groaned and frost spider-webbed across it as Fantasia tried to literally freeze it in place. Since the witch was on the move, us Wish Warriors were all chasing after it tirelessly on top of playing our instruments (Shanoa's drum kit acted like a car, though its speed was more akin to a pushed wheelchair), an aspect of witch hunting that at first we found difficult but at this point we were used to. Despite Fantasia's masterful performance and the backing of the band, Death pressed on intrepidly, slowed but never stopped.

Sorry, but that's the best I can manage, Fantasia sent.

"It'll have to do," Fi declared. "Let's go, Drez!"

I slung my keytar over my back and wrapped my arms around Fi's neck. She tore into a guitar solo just as she jumped, and we rocketed skyward like a shooting star. Fi's guitar intensely battled with Fantasia's voice, since both girls had to use a huge burst of magic.

We landed roughly and tumbled onto deck, bowling some people over in the process.

We made it! I sent.

OK! I'll back up Luca and Shanoa, Fantasia sent.

"And I'll back you up," Fi said to me.

I nodded.

"It's our time to shine!" Shanoa declared. She and Luca fist-bumped and then got back into playing the song with renewed gusto.

The blasts from Shanoa's drumming rocked the ship and knocked Fi and I flat on our butts as we tried to stand up.

"Crap! I didn't think this through!" I said.

Fi used other people to get on her feet, then helped me up.

"Thanks," I said.

We grabbed onto each other's shoulders for balance as the ship reeled.

"Now what?" Fi shouted.

Our stance gave me an idea.

"Back to back!" I said.

We flipped ourselves to face opposite directions, leaning on each other to steady ourselves. Once we found our footing, we picked up our instruments.

While Fieros and I were struggling, the figurehead of Death let out a banshee's wail that easily cut through our song. A throng of green will-o-wisps streamed out of the lamp and arced toward us. I hoped that Luca and Shanoa would draw the volley to them, but for them Death unleashed rows of cannons from its side that fired black lightning. Luca's shield dispersed the electricity, but the strikes were relentless. I heard one of my friends scream. It took all of my concentration to ignore it. I had to focus on the will-o-wisps, all of which were heading toward my own position.

Protect me! I ordered my undead legion. Skeleton warriors with greatshields arose in front of Fi and I to take a few blows from the attack and instantaneously expire. It was all I could do to summon more shieldbearers just in time to die (well, re-die) for me.

When the volley relented I and I had a moment to spare for thought, I sent, Change of plans! We're retreating! Go!

Drez, Luca sent urgently, Fantasia is—

NOW!

"Help me grab Ultima!" I told Fieros.

The two of us shouldered the unconscious superhero and without a second to lose lept off the ship straight into range of the cannon fire. A lightning bolt arced toward us, and I grit my teeth and clenched my eyes shut to brace myself.

Luca grunted as she took the hit for us midair, her shield shattering like a broken window and the remaining lightning riveting her body.

Even with our magically enhanced bodies, the drop from the ship was still around ten stories high, and we struck the pavement hard. Crack! Though muted by the magic, a shock still shot up my spine from my legs. They were definitely broken.

Though surely an opportune moment to kill us all (except for Shanoa and Fantasia, supposing that they had escaped), Death continued on its original course, now undeterred, and fastly sailed away into the night with about forty souls.

Shanoa appeared in front of us frantically and said rapidly, "Ohmygosh, Drez, you have to come quick, Fantasia is—Aaah! Luca!" To her credit, she held herself together quite well in spite of her gruesomely mangled comrades scattered about her, managing to bite back her tears.

But thanks to the overwhelming stress of the rescue finally distilling onto my mind, I was hyperventilating. Shanoa knelt down and wrapped her arms around me. Her body was trembling, but her presence calmed me down. I leaned my head into her as a sort of hug.

"Thanks," I said. "I think I'm OK now."

"You can fix this, right?" Shanoa said softly.

"Mm." I nodded.

She backed off so that I could summon my instrument. Now, first things first, fix your legs. I played Kyle Landry's arrangement of "Song of Healing" from the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, while commanding my body to heal. It did not take long for the magic to work enough for me to stand, which I did, though my legs were sore.

I healed Fieros next, continuing the tune from where I left off, since she would likely be the fastest to restore. She grunted a thanks and sat up.

"Do you need healing?" I asked Shanoa.

She shook her head. "Luca protected me."

"Alright."

I used my first grief seed to restore my soul gem, then resumed playing position and focused on the charred body of my friend. Arise and be whole. I forcefully clung to that sentiment to perform with feeling "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair." As I did, the burns faded, and with a heavy gasp Luca shot up abruptly.

After giving Luca a moment to compose herself and checking to make sure she was alright, I said gently, "Shanoa, show me to Fantasia."

Shanoa nodded, sniffling, and broke away from the bear hug she was giving Luca. A couple of blocks down the road, Fantasia was laid on a bench in a state entirely similar to Luca's a moment before. She was not breathing.

I handed Shanoa my second grief seed and instructed her to use it on my soul gem after my performance. This time, I played "Ave Maria" for solo piano based on the J. S. Bach arrangement. Arise and be whole.

When Fantasia also gasped to life and her skin mended, so strong was my relief that I reverted back into a "normal girl," dropped to my knees, and passed out.

When I came to, I found myself sitting on the bench beside Fantasia, who was no longer in her magical garb. She was hugging my head to her chest and kissing it gently. When I looked up into her fond eyes, bright and alive instead of horrifically dull and lifeless as they were moments before, I embraced her with all of my might, though still fragile, and kissed her all over her face.

Suddenly aware of my actions and my audience, I backed off, blushing, giving an apology and settling with resting my head on Fantasia's shoulder. She leaned her head on mine in return. The other Wish Warriors, who were gathered around us, gave bemused smiles but said nothing about it.

"So, we survived another encounter with a Witch of the Apocalypse," Fi offered, breaking our quietude.

"'Survive' being a debatable term," Luca quipped.

"It's too bad we couldn't save anyone else," Shanoa said.

"It couldn't be helped," Fantasia said. "That witch overwhelmed us before we could even finish one song."

"Yeah, what matters is that we're alive and Ultima is alive," Luca said. "Without her there will be way more victims."

I sat up straight in realization and said, "Ohmygosh, I still need to heal Ultima."

The superhero, though appearing as a normal girl at this moment, was right where we left her on the street. The black spot burned into her hand had faded somewhat.

"Is she dead?" Shanoa asked as we crowded around her.

I put my ear to her chest and felt it rise and fall slightly.

"She is still alive," I declared.

I felt relieved by this, though I could hardly tell why, since if she was dead I could simply revive her. Instinct told me that even with my miraculous white magic and necromancy, bringing the dead back to life was somehow worse than mending the still-living.

Having changed into my magic girl persona with a flash, I reached out telepathically toward Ultima. However, though I could detect her magic aura, I couldn't touch it. My brow furrowed. After focusing all of my faculties on trying to link myself to Ultima but still being repulsed, I switched tactics to brute force. I played "Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2" by Rachmaninoff and poured all of my magic into the command, Heal! I pushed this command toward Ultima as I played through the song at a brisk pace. When I finished the piece and Ultima appeared no better for ware, I gave up.

"I can't heal her," I told the others. "I think my magic only works on my fellow Wish Warriors."

"Should I call 9-1-1 for her?" Shanoa asked.

"I'm not sure how much medics can help with curses," I replied.

"I would say we should take her to her home, but we don't know where that is," Luca said.

"Well we can't just leave her here," Fi pointed out. "She'll freeze to death."

After we spent a moment puzzling over this predicament, Fantasia said, "I'll take her back to my place."

"You sure?" I asked.

"She's probably gonna freak out on you," Fi added.

"If all anyone can give her is rest, then it would be better for her to wake up in the bed of another magical girl than in a hospital where they'll interrogate her, don't you think?"

"I'll help you carry her home," I offered.

That being decided, we all gave our admittedly awkward goodbyes went our separate ways.

Fantasia carefully tucked Ultima into a tall, cushy bed under soft, warm blankets in one of the Rose estate's many lavish spare rooms, while I wrote a note explaining the situation so that Ultima wouldn't have a cold awakening. I placed the note on the bedside table, Fantasia turned out the lights, and together we exited the room, closing the door behind us.

We awkwardly stood facing each other in the hallway, unsure of what to say, our eyes meeting a couple of times but breaking away a second later.

"Um."

"Hey."

We both started speaking at the same time.

"You go first," I said.

"Stay over tonight," Fantasia said.

"I was actually about to ask if I could."

"Great."

"Great."

". . . Do you need to go home and pick up anything?"

"I don't want to."

"OK, then you can borrow one of my nightgowns. I'm sure we can find one that'll fit you."

"Thanks."

"Oh! Would you like something to eat? I can have Ms. Maria make something up quick for us while we bathe."

"That sounds good. I'm pretty hungry."

"Me too."

"And can I throw my underwear through a quick wash? Since I won't fit into yours. . ."

"Of course. I'll have Ms. Maria take care of that as well."

While Fantasia gave orders to her maid, I sent a text to my parents.

I'm at Fantasia's house because of a friendship emergency. So don't worry about me. I'll be home sometime tomorrow. Sorry, but I'll definitely been missing school.

Vague and not exactly a lie – the perfect cover.

"You can go first, since you're the guest," Fantasia told me. "I'll pick you out some pajamas in the meantime."

"But your hair takes a long time to brush. Wouldn't it be better if you went first?"

"I guess. In that case, want to go in together? Heheh just kid—"

"OK."

"W-w-what?"

And that's how we ended up in the shower together. After we got over our initial embarrassment, it would have been a nice time for just the two of us, if it weren't for the interruption of an unexpected visitor that appeared on top of the glass shower door.

"I see that Ultima is still alive," Kyubey said.

Fantasia and I both freaked out on him.

"Calm yourselves. Your nakedness matters not to me."

"Easy for you to say," Fantasia said with a bit of hostility as she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself.

Not wanting to turn off or leave the shower or get our remaining towel wet, I leaned against the nearest wall and crossed my arms and legs as my way of "playing it cool."

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Have you come to see Ultima?"

"No. She wants nothing to do with me. But since she is currently under your care – and unconscious – I have come to you. Do you recall how Ultima refuses to let me recruit more magical girls here? I honored her request because she proved that she was powerful enough to handle this city alone. Until tonight, that is. If you had not interfered, the witch she calls Death would have eaten her soul."

"Does that mean you'll recruit more magical girls in Vela Nova now?"

"I want to, but Ultima is unstable. I fear that going against her request may ultimately cause more harm than good. That is why I need you to convince her that having more magical girls to fight 'The Four Witches of the Apocalypse' is the only way to win. Not that I am disregarding you Wish Warriors. As you have proven today, without your presence, Ultima would have already failed."

"Which is precisely your point."

"Exactly. You seem to understand. Unless you also are against having more magical girls?"

"No. I think having more magical girls in Vela Nova would be cool. Even if it does mean more competition, the city would be safer from witches, right?"

"Of course. I hope that I have impressed upon you the importance of this conversation. Ultima is more likely to listen to you now that you have saved her life."

"Yeah, but she's saved the lives of my friends and my own many times. That's not exactly an even score."

"In any case, the fate of Vela Nova rests in your hands. Enjoy these quiet moments while you can, because everything will be changing very, very soon. That is all."

And without so much as a goodbye, the cat-fairy lept off of its perch, walked out of the cracked bathroom door, and, I assumed, disappeared.

Fantasia and I exchanged glances.

"What do you think of all of this?" I asked.

"Its warning is a bit worrying. It doesn't seem to have confidence in us, but it would know better than anyone about matters involving magic and witches. So we should do what it says. Still. . . why couldn't we have this conversation over our meal instead of while showering?"

I laughed. "I don't think it understands certain human values. I wonder what Kyubey is exactly?"

"Something to ask it the next time we see it, I suppose. Now, how about we finish up here?"

After our shower and getting ready for bed, we a hearty pasta dish served with fresh grapes, checked on the still unconscious Ultima, then retired to Fantasia's room to sleep.

"Um, is it OK if I sleep in bed with you?" I asked shyly.

Fantasia nodded. She turned off the lights, pulled back the covers, and hopped into bed. I slid in beside her, and she threw the covers over the both of us.

"You know," I said, "I've seen you, Luca, and Fi dead now. I thank God that I have necromancy, but it still scares me. When I think of life without y'all, it becomes hard to breathe. It feels so real."

Fantasia pulled me close, and I hugged her back. She was warm.

"Don't worry about that," Fantasia said. "I know its horrible, but as long as we keep you alive, you can bring us back every time. We will never leave you."

"But what if next time I can't bring you back? What if I'm blocked out, like with Ultima? Living without you is suffocating darkness. I know. I have nightmares about it all the time."

"Shhh. I get it. Before I met you, I was all alone. To be totally honest, back then I was thinking about. . . ending things. But like a miracle from God, for no reason at all you said hi to me, and despite both of us being incredibly shy, we became best friends. You saved me, in more ways than one. And. . ."

I waited for her to continue, but she did not.

"It wasn't for no reason," I said. "I thought you were lovely, and your singing puts angels to shame."

". . . I love you."

She kissed me.

"I love you too."

I kissed her back. And we fell asleep in each other's arms, protecting each other from all nightmares that the trauma of a magical girl's life could bring, and blissfully ignorant of just how much trauma was in store.