Resonance Days

by TakerFoxx

Falling their mutual demise at each other's hands, Kyoko and Sayaka wake up in a strange world. Now, with Kyoko's soul gem missing and Sayaka's humanity and personality only partially restored, they must band together to survive.

7. Freehaven

I win.

Freehaven

Nearly an hour had gone by since Kyoko's baffling holographic conversation with Reibey, and they were still in Corrie's office. Well, most of them were. After confirming that no, Reibey had not tried to mind control anyone through any means that they were familiar with, Tabitha and Celeste had made a hasty exit, the former claiming that she had left a food in the oven and needed to go eat it and the latter on the excuse of needing to turn the iron on.

Kyoko had to admit, she found the various ways people reacted to Reibey to be somewhat fascinating. Those two girls had been so scared of being in the same room as a holographic projection of his head that she wouldn't be surprised if they referred to him as You-Know-Who. Mami, on the other hand, treated him as the vermin he was and made it clear in no uncertain terms that if it weren't for the truce put in place by the Free Life Compact, her hands would find their way around his neck. And as for Corrie, she seemed to act as if he were a hated rival from an opposing political party: someone she clearly despised and constantly worked against, but accepted having to deal with him as part of her job.

At that moment, her job consisted of angrily pacing back and forth along one wall, catching up on all her missed calls and telling everyone that the confrontation had been a complete bust and she had nothing concrete to give them. Apparently, Corrie's associates weren't taking the news very well, and she wasn't taking their attitude very well in turn, and told them such in no uncertain terms. Kyoko still took umbrage with Corrie for having so bluntly brought up her father and for trying to force the Compact on her, but she had to admit that she admired the fretful mayor's refusal to play nice when she didn't feel like it.

As for herself, Kyoko was lounging in the big leather chair with her feet propped up on the desk. Nicole had finally come to her senses and provided a small platter of refreshments, so Kyoko nibbled on a raspberry danish as she turned recent events over in her head. Oblivion wanted her for something, that they already knew. And if Reibey was to be believed, his boss's intentions were not malevolent and both of the incidents with Annabelle Lee had been nothing more than horrible misunderstandings. Of course, the day she started believing someone like Reibey was the day she went on a diet, so they were still stuck on square one.

As flippant as she had been during Corrie's questioning, Kyoko had to admit that many of those same questions were going through her mind. Was it somehow connected to Father's church? A former parishioner perhaps, one that hadn't taken kindly to Kyoko's conversion methods? Or perhaps a former rival, one still nursing a bitter grudge? Hell, perhaps she really was special, and Oblivion needed her to carry out some sort of evil plot. Admittedly her ego found that final possibility to be rather appealing, even if such things tended to end with the so-called "special" person flat on their back on a pagan altar getting their heart cut out.

Noticing that Kyoko was uncharacteristically quiet, Sayaka wheeled herself over to the desk and asked in a low voice, "Hey, you okay?"

Glancing at the wheelchair-bound mermaid out of the corner of her eye, Kyoko shrugged and brought her legs back down. "Yeah, sure. Just trying to figure things out. I mean, I thought we'd have some freaking answers by now."

"Well, he is an evil alien overlord," Sayaka pointed out. "Did you really expect a guy like that to be helpful?"

"Not really," Kyoko admitted. She picked up a crème tart and offered it to Sayaka. "But I was kinda hoping he wouldn't be such a slimeball."

Sayaka took the pastry and said, "Well, he did say that he'd contact you later."

"Oh joy," Kyoko snorted. "And that's good news in what universe, and do I have to die again to get there?"

Down below, the doorbell rang, and someone, presumably Nicole, answered. Kyoko and Sakura both stiffened and exchanged a look.

"Do you think-" Sayaka started to say.

"Nah," Kyoko said, forcing herself to relax. "He wouldn't come through the front door. Besides, butler would probably start screaming if he did."

"Right, right. Of course it isn't him. That'd be stupid."

"Extremely," Kyoko agreed, and she found that troubling. There had been an inordinate amount of stupid happening recently.

And as it turned out, the stupidness was doomed to continue, though not in the way she had been fearing. Moments later, there was a polite knock at the office door, followed immediately by it opening a crack.

"Ma'am, your eight-thirty is here," Nicole said, her deceptively young face and voice as flat as ever. She turned her dull green eyes to the apprehensive Kyoko. "And yours as well."

Kyoko, whose mouth was still occupied by an unchewed wad of pastry, spewed crumbs all over Corrie's desk, much to the bald mayor's annoyance. "W-wait," she coughed. "My w-what?"

"Fine, show her in," Corrie said with a wave of her hand. She shot one more dirty look at Kyoko before returning to whatever phone call was vexing her at that moment.

Nicole opened the door the rest of the way and stood aside, letting what had to be the dumbest looking person Kyoko had seen walk into the room and look around. Like just about everyone else she had met, it was a girl in her mid-teens, and a tiny one at that, barely five feet in height, if that. Despite this, she, for whatever stupid reason, had decided to go out in public wearing a white lab coat obviously intended for someone much taller, judging by the way its hem dragged on the ground, and a ridiculous looking green hat with a wide, floppy brim, complete with a parrot feather sticking out of the band. Her hair was long, dark, and straight, with both its ends and bangs cut perfectly horizontal, making it look like she had put a really long, black mophead on her head and cut out a rectangular door on the front. To top it off, she was wearing a giant pair of eyeglasses that magnified her eyes to owl levels. But despite the weirdness of her outfit, the expression on her fact was almost as deadpan as Nicole's, as if she were perpetually bored by everything around her and only dressed that way because she was contractually obligated. In her white-gloved hand was a classic black leather doctor's satchel.

The weird looking girl briefly glanced over everyone in the room and said, "Well, righty-ho. 'Sup, everyone?" This was greeted by a round of casual nods and hellos, indicating that they at least were used to this person. Even Sayaka grinned and snapped off a quick salute.

"Uh, you know this weirdo?" Kyoko muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Well, yeah," came the response. "So do you. Sort of."

Kyoko did not like the sound of that. "Run that by me again?"

"She means we've met, but you were kinda not paying attention at the time," said the newcomer. She walked right up to Kyoko and plopped her bag onto the desk. "And by that I mean you managed to get yourself into a poison-induced coma." She stuck out one hand. "Howdy, I'm Doctor Young. I fix people when they break, which happens just enough for me to stay in business but not often enough to support any competition. Decent gig, all around."

Instead of accepting the offered handshake, Kyoko just gaped incredulously at the people around her. "Waittafudging minute! You actually have a doctor?"

Charlotte pursed her lips. "Uh, yeah? I told you that, when you woke up."

"Yo, and that would be me," Dr. Young said, hand still extended. "Nice t'see ya vertical for once. Your voice is whinier than I thought it would be."

"Why?" Kyoko demanded. "Why is there a doctor? I mean, we're freakin' dead!"

"Kyoko, calm down," Mami said.

Dr. Young, however, didn't seem at all perturbed by her former patient's outburst. "Yeah, sorry t'disappoint, but that little detail there kinda already got brought to our attention. Fortunately for me, there's still plenty of illnesses and maladies 'round here that call for some doctoring."

"Like what?"

"Like poison-induced comas," came the prompt response. "Plus blisterpulp. Plus Shadow Mountain Fever. Plus bubblelip. Plus creeping gas (that'll put nasty roots though your eyes and under your skin). Plus blood boils. Plus about eighty-seven different kinds of fungus that just love soul vapors. Plus any number of ugly hexes and curses, courtesy of those more magically inclined folks with a mean sense of humor." Dr. Young wiggled her fingers. "Oh, and you gonna shake my hand already or just leave me hanging? 'Coz I'm starting to get a cramp here."

Kyoko stared at her in bewilderment. She had no idea what to make of this strange, little person, or how she was supposed to react to her showing up out of nowhere and shoving her hand into the redhead's face. Finally, after another moment of hesitation, Kyoko quickly darted her hand forward, gave Dr. Young's a very quick shake, and withdrew it.

"Close enough," Dr. Young said as she opened her bag. "So, how ya feeling?"

"What?"

"C'mon, I'm your doctor. I looked after you while you was unconscious. Checking up on your general well-being after your return to the land of the not-quite-living-but-near-enough-to-count is part of my job." With that, Dr. Young opened her bag and started rummaging through its contents.

"How I feel? Well, uh…" Kyoko shot a look with Sayaka, who just shrugged and rolled her wrist in a "Well, go ahead" gesture. "Fine, I guess. Was kinda woozy for a while after I woke up, but I'm okay now."

"Good t'hear." Doctor Young extracted an empty syringe, squinted at it, and nodded her apparent satisfaction. "But you know, better safe than sorry and all that jazz."

"Hold up!" Kyoko yelped, leaping fully into the air and landing on her feet behind the big, leather chair. She grabbed its sides and put it between her and the doctor. "No way in hell are you sticking anything in me. That's what got me into that mess!"

Covering the phone's receiver with her hand, Corrie shouted, "Hey, can you keep it down? Kind of in the middle of something here!"

"Kyoko, it's okay," Mami said, advancing forward with her palms held up in a placating manner. "She's not going to inject anything into you."

"Nah, it's cool," Dr. Young said. "I get this a lot. And at least she ain't shooting at me, like the last girl did." She held up the syringe and pressed down on the injector as far as it would go. Nothing came out but air. "Look, it's empty, see? Just need'ta make sure all that crap's gone from your body."

Still staying behind the cover the chair offered her, Kyoko glowered suspiciously.

"C'mon, you was active for a bit before you kicked it, right? Probably had all sorts of pointy things stuck in you at one time or another. You're not afraid of a little ol' needle, are you?"

As blatant as the doctor's manipulation attempts were, they still did the trick. Mumbling under herself, Kyoko reluctantly came out from behind the chair and rolled up her sleeve. Not wanting to get caught in the middle of whatever was going to happen once that needle actually entered the redhead's skin, Sayaka hastily backed up in her wheelchair to a safe distance.

"Cheers," Dr. Young said, and plunged the syringe into Kyoko's arm. Kyoko flinched, but beside the brief sting, nothing happened.

Ignoring the glower being sent her way, Dr. Young pulled back on the injector, filling the syringe with that same crimson vapor that had come billowing out back when Annabelle Lee had slashed up Kyoko's arm. She pulled it out, checked it briefly before nodding, and reached into her bag to extract a small, black tube-like device with rounded ends. Sticking the tip of the needle into the end of the tube, Dr. Young injected the vapor and waited patiently. After about five seconds, the tube beeped and a green light flashed.

"Welp, looks like you're good to go," Dr. Young said. "Stuff is all cleaned up."

"Well, that's good news!" Sayaka said encouragingly. "Congratulations!" She looked at Kyoko, hoping that the doctor's assessment would be met with a positive reaction.

However, Kyoko's attention was occupied by a different matter entirely, one that watching that crimson vapor being extracted from her arm had pushed back to the forefront of her mind. She rubbed the knuckles of her right-hand, feeling the hard bulge of the bone. "Yeah, okay. You know, that's great and all, but just so we're clear, that stuff is my soul, right?"

"Eh, don't worry about it," Dr. Young said with a shrug. Her tone conveyed that this was a conversation she had had multiple times in the past. "It's like blood. Sure, it's important and you need it and all, but losing a little ain't a problem, and you always make more." She started packing away her instruments, only to pause when she realized that she was missing one. Turning to Kyoko, she sighed and said, "Yo, that's mine."

Kyoko, who had managed to snatch up the again-empty syringe and was now critically examining it in much the same way the doctor had earlier.

"Kyoko, you'd probably should give that back," Mami said, her voice now cautious.

Instead of answer, Kyoko narrowed her eyes, glanced at her hand, and plunged the needle straight into the knuckle of her middle finger.

"Whoa, hey, what are you doing?" Sayaka said, jolting in surprise. The others agreed, with Mami immediately rushing to intervene while Charlotte just stared in shock. As for Corrie, her back was to the ongoing drama and she failed to notice anything wrong and continued talking into the phone.

Before Mami could reach Kyoko, Dr. Young stepped between them and, though she had to reach to do it, slapped an arm across the concerned blonde's chest. "No," she said sternly. "Let her get it out of her system."

Mami blinked at her in bewilderment. "But-" she started to say, only to stop as she realized what was going on. Though clearly unhappy, she fell silent and stayed put.

"What?" Sayaka said, looking around for someone to give her an explanation. "What's going on? Why's she do that?"

Charlotte walked over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," she said in a low voice. "Most everyone goes through this sooner or later."

"Goes through what? Is randomly stabbing yourself normal around here? Come on, give me some help here!"

As for Kyoko, she took absolutely no notice of everyone's reactions to her strange actions. Instead, she just held up her hand and looked at it. The needle remained stuck through her skin, entering at the hump of the knuckle and coming out the other end.

"Huh," she said. "Well."

Then she pulled it out, flipped it around, and stuck it right into her heart.

"The heck are you doing?" Sayaka yelped. She tried to wheel her way toward the seemingly self-mutilating girl, but the hand on her shoulder held her in place. "Let me go!" she shouted, trying to shrug Charlotte off. "Why are you letting this continue?"

"It's okay, just leave her alone," Charlotte said.

Kyoko looked down at the syringe sticking out of her chest, scowled, and pulled it out again. Then she jammed it into the back of her neck. It went straight in, its path unobstructed by vertebrae.

"Wh-what's wrong with all of you?" Sayaka gaped. "What…why…the…what?"

Now Mami was growing concerned again. "Kyoko, you don't have to-"

"Kinda do," Kyoko growled as she again removed the syringe. "See, I know there's a lot I still need to learn about the land of the dead, and there really hasn't been time to tell me all of it. But this…" Without hesitation, she slammed the needle right into the side of her head. This time, everyone save for Dr. Young and the still-oblivious Corrie recoiled.

"This seems to be something I shoulda been told about," Kyoko said, her tone as flat as paper. She looked around at those staring, the syringe still sticking out of her temple like one of the Frankenstein Monster's knobs. "Well? Someone wanna explain where the hell my freaking skeleton went?"

"Blew up with the rest of you," Dr. Young answered. "Think you'd remember that part."

"Yeah, but I can still feel it!" Kyoko lowered her head and ran her fingers over the back of her neck, feeling the bumps of her vertebrae. "And my heart's still beating, and everything else is still the same as always. So why in the hell didn't this freaking needle hit anything when I stick it in?"

"There was nothing to hit," Dr. Young said, shrugging. "Your body's gone kablooie. Sorry, but it's true. Nothing left but your soul. But since it's used to having bones, a heart, liver, lungs, etcetera, it makes it feel like they're still there."

Kyoko stared at her, her expression blank. Then, slow and methodical as a surgeon, she reached up, yanked out the needle, and held it toward the bizarre yet unflappable doctor.

"Thank you," Dr. Young said as she retrieved the syringe and placed it back into her bag.

"So, that's it then?" Kyoko said, her voice still a dangerous monotone. "I'm just a bag of skin filled with red gas that just feels alive?"

"Pretty much, yeah" Dr. Young said, again showing absolutely no concern for her patient's earth-shaking revelation. "But hey, in fairness, before you was a bag of skin filled with juices, bones, and squishy meat that felt alive. No reason why one version of alive should be better than another."

"That right?" A disbelieving grin etched its way across Kyoko's face. "Well. That's great then. It's like the freaking Matrix. Whatever." She collapsed back into the chair, throwing her hands into the air. "Fine! I got used to the idea of being a freaking zombie, I guess I can get used to being a ghost." With a groan, she sprawled her upper body over the top of her desk, her face pointed down. Her hand groped around until it found the plate of pastries. Seizing one, she shoved it into her mouth and started chewing morosely.

Dr. Young shrugged. "Welp, if it's any consolation, Charlotte said it right: most everyone goes through what you just went through. But now that we've got that outta the way, mind if I ask you one or two little questions."

Raising her head just enough to glare, Kyoko said, "Kinda fed up with questions, doc. And I'm not in the mood for a shrink."

"No worries, ain't getting paid to be one. Though I know a great one if you be needing an reference."

Kyoko glared.

"No? I'd be rethinking that if I was you. You'll be needing one sooner or later." Dr. Young pulled a small plastic pad and tapped its surface. It lit up, becoming a digital notepad. "Anyway, this got nothing to do with that. Just something I ask everyone new. You remember what date it was when you kicked it?"

Kyoko blinked in surprise at the question, but told her anyway.

"That right?" Dr. Young tapped her notepad. "Welp, only been two days, living world time, since the last newbie showed up. This gets kinda depressing sometimes."

"Sometimes? I'm surprised you all haven't gone completely insane by now."

"Lots of have. The rest of us endure. Don't suppose anything of any great significance went off in those two days?"

"Yeah," Kyoko said. "I died."

Whistling through her teeth, Dr. Young deactivated her notepad and put it bag into her bag. "Figured that be your answer." Picking up her bag, she tipped her hat to the room. "Welp, it's been awkward. Cheerio, ladies."

With that, she turned and left the room. Kyoko's eyes remained fixed onto the doctor's back until she was out of sight. Then she let her face fall back onto the desk's surface.

"Fuck this world," she mumbled. "Fuck this world and it's amazingly fucked up rules."

Mami, Sayaka, and Charlotte all looked at each other uncomfortably, none of them exactly sure whether to try to comfort Kyoko or let her be. Their hearts told them to go with the former, but as Kyoko was the sort to prefer working her way through her problems on her own, they'd probably only end up angering her further.

"Finally!" Corrie said suddenly, startling everyone. The mayor marched over to the desk and slammed the phone back in its receptacle. "But by God, that jott likes to hear herself talk!"

Hands on her hips, she looked down at the silent phone with satisfaction, but gradually the tension in the room came to her attention.

"What?" she said, looking around. "What did…Oh for crying out loud, what happened now?"

…

Not bothering to wait for Nicole to open the front doors for her, Kyoko yanked them open and stormed out into the sunlight. She was, if anything, in an even fouler mood than when she arrived. The whole things with Reibey had been frustratingly disappointing, the mayor and her politics had pushed many of the wrong buttons, and what she had learned from that weird-ass doctor was troubling in ways she couldn't fully explain, even to herself.

Once outside, she glowered out at Freehaven. It was certainly goddamned pretty, but that just pissed her off even more. What in the hell was wrong with these people? They get pulled from the natural order of things and dumped into a dollhouse for dead people, and instead of taking control of things for themselves, they just went along with it, putting on the pretty dresses and ignoring the fact that they were in a freaking cage. Kyoko was fine with living and let live when it came to how other people chose their paths, but experiencing such overwhelming denseness from people who really should know better was just disturbing. Mami especially. You'd think she of all people would see the fakeness for what it was. But then, she had been hooked pretty easily by the Incubators once already. Some people just never learned, Kyoko supposed.

And speak of the devil…

"Kyoko, wait!" Mami called as she rushed up to her. "Hold on!"

Sighing, Kyoko shoved her hands into her pockets and came to a stop, allowing her onetime mentor to catch up.

"Kyoko, look, you're right," Mami said once, putting herself in front of the redhead. "I should have told you about the…changes to your body. I'm sorry, and-"

"Forget it," Kyoko growled, a bit more harshly than she had intended. She turned her head aside, not wanting to meet Mami's gaze. "I got used to finding out I was a zombie instead of a magical girl, I can used to being a ghost."

Mami clearly didn't buy it. "Kyoko…"

"And hey, it could be worse," Kyoko said, trying to sound jovial. "Sayaka's gone from human to magical girl to zombie to witch to ghost and mermaid at the same time! All she needs to do is grow fangs and become a vampire. Then she'll have the whole set!"

"I need to do what now?" Sayaka's voice called from the still-open doorway. The mermaid came into view, her wheelchair pushed by Charlotte.

"Turn into a vampire!" Kyoko called to her.

Sayaka snickered. "Yeah, I think I've been turned into enough monsters," she said as the two of them approached.

"That's the point. You're still missing one."

"I'll pass, thanks." Then Sayaka's face turned sober. "So…"

Kyoko sighed again. She had a good idea of what was coming. "Got something to say?"

"Well, just that you kinda scared us just now," Sayaka said. "I mean, I thought you were about to run off."

Shrugging, Kyoko said, "Yeah, well, it looked like we were all done there, so I didn't see any reason to stick around. Except for maybe that parrot. He seemed like a decent guy."

Unfortunately, much like Mami, Sayaka didn't look at all convinced. As for Charlotte, she just stood silently behind Sayaka's wheelchair, watching the drama play out.

"Tch," Kyoko muttered. "All right guys, look: I'm dealing, okay? Yeah, it was a big fucking shock. Wasn't the first, won't be the last. But I guess I can get used to it, all right? So stop trying to baby me."

Charlotte opened her mouth to say something, but apparently Mami already knew what the pinkette had in mind and didn't think it would be productive, as she touched the slender girl on the shoulder and shook her head. Charlotte looked a little disgruntled, but left her thought unspoken.

"So…" Sayaka said, twiddling her thumbs. "That's good, I guess. But now what?"

"Well, Reibey did say to expect some kind of message from him in the future," Mami said.

"Yeah, but he never said when or how," Kyoko pointed out. "And I for one don't think that's a good thing."

"For once, I agree with her," Charlotte said. "That rat's up to something. Everyone could see it."

"Twice," Kyoko said.

"Huh?"

"That twice you've agreed with me. First time was about Tuna Legs here signing the Compact, remember?"

Charlotte gave her a look but didn't raise the bait.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group, as they all mused over the possible ramifications of Reibey's words. Finally Mami said, "Well, we can't do anything about that until it happens. Until then, we can't hole up just waiting for him to make his move. Life goes on, and we do have our regular errands to run."

Kyoko rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Hey, I'm fine with that," Sayaka said. "You guys promised me that you'd show me around once we're here. Well, now we're here, and I wanna get shown around!"

"Fair enough," Mami said, nodding. "I'll finish up with the shopping. Charlotte, can you take the girls around the town, and we'll meet up with-"

"Actually, I think I'll go with you," Kyoko said suddenly.

"Huh?" Sayaka said, staring. She sounded a little disappointed. "With Mami? You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kyoko said, waving off the blunette's concerns. "We've got some stuff we need to talk about, and you don't want my grumpy ass dragging you down. Go have fun."

"Well, I suppose I could use the help," Mami said slowly. "And Kyoko's right: we do need to go over some things."

"Sounds fine to me," Charlotte said. Unlike the mermaid, she wasn't at all disappointed by Kyoko not wanting to go with them. "Want to meet for lunch at the Tradewinds at, say, one?"

"All right," said Mami. "We'll see you there."

Charlotte nodded. She started to wheel Sayaka away, but the mermaid suddenly leaned forward and pointed an admonishing finger at Kyoko. "Hey," she said. "Behave now. You better be there."

Kyoko winked and snapped off a quick salute. "See ya, Meal on Wheels. Try not to get hooked." With that, she followed Mami down the street in the opposite direction.

…

Squirming uncomfortably in her seat, Oktavia watched as Kyoko and Mami walked away. "I don't like it," she muttered. "Are you sure she'll be okay?"

"Well, that remains to be seen," Charlotte said.

Oktavia frowned. "And hey, is it true that most everyone freaks out when they find out about the gas thing? Because I took it okay."

"Lots of people do, yeah," Charlotte said. She turned the wheelchair around and headed toward one of the downward sloping streets, this one gentler than the one they had ascended. "Freak out, I mean. I didn't, mostly because I don't remember having a body. But, uh, Mami took it kind of hard. Harder than your friend did, actually."

"Really? How so?" Oktavia asked, before she realized that she probably shouldn't. She winced, and said, "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

There was a noticeable pause, and then Charlotte said, "She pulled out one of those muskets of hers and blew her head off. Scared the crap out of me."

"Oh," Oktavia said. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's natural to be curious. Anyway, don't worry about Kyoko. Just give her some space and a little time. She'll come around. Probably."

Sayaka thought on that. Then she twisted around enough to see Charlotte's face. "You…really don't like her, do you?"

Charlotte blinked at her in surprise. Then she let out a bark of laughter. "You too? Jeez, you're the third person to ask me that. Is it really that obvious?"

"Kind of."

"Well, fine," Charlotte huffed. "I don't like her. She's rude, she's annoying, she's got a major attitude problem that has nothing to do with her death, she goes out of her way to antagonize people who are only trying to help her, and she's got one hell of a filthy mouth. I mean, I'm not even a prude when it comes to swearing, and I still think someone needs to take a bar of soap to that girl."

Oktavia snickered. "Sounds like I'm not the one who needs to give her time. She's honestly not that bad."

Charlotte harrumphed.

"Seriously, Kyoko is a good person, deep down. You should have seen how many times she saved my fishy butt before we made it to you guys. She's just a little rough around the edges."

"And the sides," Charlotte said. "And the base. And the top. And the-"

"All right, all right," Oktavia laughed. "Come on, just give her a chance."

"I'm trying, but she makes it so hard," Charlotte muttered. Then she let out a small laugh of her own. "Though I will say this about her: she can be pretty funny sometimes."

"Hey. Watch it. I still haven't forgiven you for telling her how I poop."

"Oh, I'm so scared. Please, scary fishy lady. Don't hurt me."

"Jerk," Oktavia said. "Drowning. Soon. Expect it." Then they both laughed.

The ground leveled out, and Charlotte took a right. As they continued down the road, Oktavia took the opportunity to ask, "By the way…"

"Yeah?"

"When are we going to tell Kyoko that you and Mami are married?"

…

Kyoko and Mami's first few minutes alone were, predictably enough, silent and uncomfortable, at least for Mami. She kept casting worried glances at Kyoko, as if she expected the redhead to start asking questions or make accusations. However, Kyoko just walked along quietly, hands in pockets, and casually looking around, like any other tourist going for a stroll.

It wasn't until they actually reached the bank that the façade dropped. The building itself was normal enough: a white, one-story structure with a red-tile lobby with three arched teller windows, only one of which was open. But while the smiling, Middle-Eastern girl in the dark suit that greeted them at the door was normal enough, the clearly inhuman teller made Kyoko pause for a moment at the doorway. She (if it was a she) had an impossibly thin body and flexible that had to be over seven feet tall, a round bulge at the top from which sprouted eight arms as long as her body, each with three spindly fingers, and a head suspended on a skinny neck that looked like a closed flower bud. The whole creature seemed to be made from smoky volcanic glass.

"That's Kii'sa'ko," Mami whispered to her. "She's an ai'jurrik'kai."

"Of course she is," Kyoko murmured back. "How could I mistake her for anything else?"

Though she really didn't expect an attack, Kyoko still hung back while Mami exchanged pleasantries with the multi-armed teller and deposited the check Victoria had given her. It was then that she realized what she had taken for the thing's body was actually a ninth arm being employed as a leg, and the bulge itself was the body.

Once Mami had finished up and the two were once again walking the streets, Kyoko said, "Well. That was different."

Mami nodded. "I'm sorry, I forgot she was working today. I should have-"

"Uh-huh, yeah, okay," Kyoko said. She was getting just a little fed with being apologized to for not being told something. "So, how many aliens actually live here, anyway?"

"You mean nonhumans. And not many," Mami said, looking a little relieved was starting on a neutral subject. "Freehaven was built before the Alliance was formed, so it was originally just for humans. Calliopes don't much care for the heat, and jotts don't like the humidity, so there's not a whole lot of them around. And ai'jurrik'kai rarely move once they've established a nest. I mean there are exceptions, but for the most part it's mostly humans here."

"Huh. What about the other cities?"

Mami shrugged. "Well, Pinespire was a communal effort, so it's pretty evenly divided. Cloudbreak is mostly calliopes and ai'jurrik'kai, and Orya's Furnace is practically all jotts, with a few humans here and there. There's also a few smaller towns and settlements that vary in their populations."

"Jotts?"

"Yes, they're about this tall," Mami said, holding her hand to about four feet above the ground, "very hairy and muscular, and have very large mouths. They mostly live underground, but are very civilized. They love the arts, for example, and many of them are fantastic storytellers. More than half our books are jott-written. Anyway, the four of us, the humans, the ai'jurrik'kai, the calliopes, and the jotts, make up the Free Life Alliance. The other species weren't interested, so they mostly keep to themselves and have formed their own communities."

"Neat," Kyoko muttered. She would have asked more about the other aliens, but there was one subject that had been niggling at the back of her mind since early that morning. "And getting off the aliens for now, there is something else you shoulda told me. Like, from the very moment I woke up yesterday."

Mami stopped walking and stared at Kyoko, apprehension written all over her face.

Then Kyoko broke out into an unexpected grin. "When the hell were you gonna tell me about you and Charlotte?" she said, elbowing Mami teasingly in the side.

It was pretty funny, watching so many reactions flash across Mami's face. First was blanked-eyed incomprehension, followed by a full second of dawning realization, followed by wide-eyed nervousness, followed by red-faced embarrassment, and finally capping off with shamefaced resignation.

"Oh," Mami said. "I…guess you figured it out?"

Kyoko laughed. "Oh, come on! No offense, but you guys really suck at hiding it. I can't even begin to count the number of times I saw you two almost hold hands, almost brush cheeks, almost lean in to kiss. Then you suddenly remember that I'm around and you stop and look all flustered. Gimme a break, Mami. I do have eyes." She leaned in closer. "Plus, I snuck a look into that room you share with her. For roommates, you must be really freaking close, close enough to not mind sharing a bed."

Her face now bright scarlet, Mami buried her face in her hand.

Kyoko had to admit, she was enjoying Mami's embarrassment more than she should. But she didn't care. Seeing the blonde get so flustered was a treat that she had no shame in relishing. "Aw, come on!" she said, slapping Mami on the back. "You don't hafta get all shamefaced! I think it's cute! In a…really weird, sort of disturbing kinda way, given that she ate you once."

"Kyoko…"

"But hey, if you can work past that, more power to you!" Kyoko said with another laugh. "I just don't get why you felt you had'ta hide it from me. I mean, I don't care! And it's not like I'm not making fun of you all the time anyway."

"It's…not that," Mami said, her face still in her palm.

"What?" Kyoko said with a slight frown. "Oh, come on, it's not the whole church thing, is it? You're not thinking that I'm one of those 'homosexuality is a sin' people, do'ya? Give me a break, you met my dad! Do'ya really think he had a problem with who wanted who?" She leaned over and twisted her neck around so that she was looking up at Mami's face. "Really, I don't care if you like girls. It doesn't make you any less cool, okay? And hey, maybe me and Charlotte don't really get along, but if you two dig each other, that's fine! No bother to me if she's your girlfriend."

"It's not really that either," Mami said, finally lowering her hands. "And, ah, she's…actually a little more than just a 'girlfriend.'"

"Huh?" Kyoko blinked. Then her eyes slowly widened. "No way."

In answer, Mami reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a ring and slipped it on her finger. It was made of silver, or something similar. Its centerpiece was a four-sided yellow gem. A set of three pink gems of descending size sat on either side of it.

Though Mami's face was still red, a small smile of relief tugged at her lips as she put the ring back on. It was clear that she had missed it.

"Holy shit!" Kyoko said with a bark of surprised laughter. "Wow, you actually got married?" She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Damn, Mami! When you settle down, you settle the fuck down!" Then she bared a fang as she grinned and stuck her thumb up. "But hey, for what it's worth, congratulations and all that shit! How long ago was it?"

"Three years ago," Mami said. She still looked a little uncomfortable, but was warming up to the subject. It did seem to be a happy one for her, after all. "We had it on the Nautilus Platform's dock."

"That dinky little thing? You musta had one hell of a short guest list."

That managed to coax a smile out of the older girl. "Oh no, we actually rented several portable floating platforms to attach to it. It was actually quite large when we finished, and most of the guests brought their own boats and turned them into their private seating." Her voice took on a note of wistfulness. "Almost everyone came out for it, so we practically had a whole fleet around the platform. And we ringed all the boats with white balloons, and made an arch of them over where we said our vows. Charlotte was really uncomfortable in her dress. She doesn't much like wearing them, but she looked beautiful. And after we kissed, all the calliopes lined up to spell 'Congratulations, Mami and Charlotte!' in the sky."

"Huh," Kyoko said, slightly disappointed that she hadn't been there. "Must've been something."

"It was the best day of my life," Mami murmured, now lost in the memory.

"Yeah, I can see that." Then a thought occurred to Kyoko, one that made her scowl. "And hey, just for the record, Charlotte's good to you, right? I mean, this whole not telling me thing isn't because she-"

Mami snapped out of her nostalgic reverie. "Kyoko Sakura," she said, her voice firm. "Let me assure you, that has nothing to do with it. Charlotte is the best thing to ever happen to me, and we couldn't be happier. So please, banish any possible misconceptions you might have about our relationship."

"Okay, chillax," Kyoko laughed, holding up her palms in surrender. She didn't have any trouble "Just looking out for you."

Mami relaxed a little. "I'm sorry, I overreacted. And you're right, we shouldn't have hid it from you." She sighed and unconsciously twirled one of her drill-tails around her finger. "To…tell the truth, it wasn't our relationship itself we were worried about telling you. It's just there are some associated topics that I didn't want to bring up until you were ready."

Kyoko snorted. "Hey, most of my beef I have with this place is all the weird stuff people haven't told me about. Though I think I see what you're talking about." She shrugged and chuckled. "Kinda funny, when you think about it. Back when we were training together, I figured you had half the boys in school wrapped around your finger. Never figured you'd really be batting for the home team."

Mami suddenly tensed up again. "Well, er, actually…"

"And hey, now that I think about it, back when you agreed to be my mentor and all, were you planning being more than just my sempai?" Kyoko smirked and poked Mami in the ribs. "Hoped to groom me into a proper future wife, weren't'cha? Get 'em when they're young, eh?"

"That's…not really…"

"Aw, come on! I'm not blaming ya! I am a fox, after all. This most wondrous ass of mine has probably turned more straight girls gay than Haruhi Suzumiya!"

Mami finally seemed to muster the courage to articulate what she wanted to say. "Kyoko, I wasn't."

"Wasn't what?" Kyoko asked. "Planning on seducing me with your worldly ways and experience? It's not like you needed to. After that peach pie you used to make, all you'd have to do was ask, and I'd've gladly dropped my pants!"

"No," Mami said, in a firmer tone this time. "I mean, I wasn't into girls back then."

"You wasn't into…" Kyoko blinked at her. "But then why…"

Though Kyoko didn't know it, her face underwent nearly the same sequence of reactions Mami's had earlier. She stared blankly as the pieces put themselves together in her mind. Then her brow slowly rose as the finished picture revealed itself to her. And her face turned beet-red. Though, unlike Mami, it was not due to embarrassment, but another emotion entirely.

The next thing either of them knew, Mami had been shoved back against the nearby wall, the pole of Kyoko's suddenly summoned spear pressed against her throat, and Kyoko herself screaming in her face: "You mean you got turned…WHAT the fudging hell!"

…

Any time a newcomer was taken on a guided tour of Freehaven, the first stop was always the Magi's Gifts Emporium. The store was located near the foot of the hill, in plain view of beach-going tourists. Though there were other gift shops, they continued to remain in business only by the Emporium's grace.

Oktavia's jaw dropped as Charlotte wheeled her in through the front door. "Baloney, fudge, and mustard!" she cried. "Look at this place!"

Charlotte paused for a second. "Baloney, fudge, and…mustard? What?"

Oktavia ignored her. She didn't want to distract from taking in the sight of the shop's interior.

It wasn't huge. It was large, certainly, but modern department stores dwarfed it by a considerable amount. However, Oktavia was more than willing to bet that most department stores didn't offer a fraction of the merchandise available at the Emporium. The ceiling was two stories high, making space for winding rows of shelves that stretched nearly all the way up. Metal handholds were fixed to the sides of the shelves. And every square centimeter of shelving space was crammed tight with what looked more like treasure than merchandise.

Fantastically carved and painted toys, so lifelike that they might be mistaken for living beings, shared space with elaborate chess sets made from precious metals and ornate weapons hailing from a hundred different cultures and time periods. A full row of sparkling glass spheres that resembled miniature calliopes sat across from a tea set that might have come out of a Sultan's private collection. Another shelf contained games with tiny, free-moving pieces. One open section proudly displayed fully accurate models of the Free Life Alliance's primary settlements, all for obscene prices. Model flying machines and kites of every imaginable shape and color hung from the ceiling, around and through which ran a golden model train, tooting merrily on a track that had no visible means of support.

Other shelves contained items of a more mundane quality. Baseball bats, swimmer's goggles, caps marked with witty sayings and Freehaven logos, and board games akin to the ones Mami and Charlotte had been entertaining Oktavia with. It was clear that the Emporium made a point to cater to visitors of all tastes and financial means.

"This is," Oktavia said breathlessly. "This is. Wow. This is…"

"Pretty neat, huh?" Charlotte said as she pushed the wheelchair through the door, careful not to upset the potted tree that held dangling crystal necklaces instead of leaves. "You should see their fireworks!"

Moving carefully so as to not accidentally brush any of the delicate items with the wheelchair, the two of them maneuvered their way between the towering shelves. Though it was still reasonably early, there were a fair amount of shoppers browsing about. Oktavia watched as a couple of girls scampered up the sides of the shelves with all the dexterity of a monkey and wondered how they managed to do so without upsetting any of the precariously placed merchandise.

A moment later she got her answer. One of the girls' feet unintentionally upset a teacup, which slipped from its perch and started to fall. But it got less than a meter before coming to a sudden stop in midair. It hung suspended for a moment before whizzing back up and coming to rest in its original place. The girl gave her near-accident only the briefest of glances before returning to her search.

"Okay, that was weird," Oktavia said, staring. "But really cool."

"Yeah, you really have to work to break something in here," Charlotte said. "And heaven help you if you pull it off."

"Ooooh, talking from personal experience, are we?" Oktavia teased. She reached up over her head to poke Charlotte's stomach. "Came across a golden cheese-grater and lost control, didn't you? Smashed up all the plates and-Hey!" she yelped as Charlotte rubbed her knuckles into the top of the mermaid's head. "Ow, no fair! Stoppit!"

At the other end of the store was a glass counter displaying a sparkling selection of jewelry. And manning a fancy, old-fashioned cash register was a girl with a severe face who wore her jet-black hair in a tight bun and had on a pair of pointed spectacles. That, combined with her sharp black suit, she looked much older than her physical body would normally suggest. She was frowning at an open book of numbers and muttering to herself. Sitting next to her on a stool and helping her with the numbers was something unlike anything Oktavia had seen before. It was very short, about three-and-a-half feet tall, but packed with dense muscle. Its skin was pink and covered with what looked like snowy down. A huge, toothy mouth took up the majority of its squat head. However, its fingers, of which it had seven on each hand, were remarkably long and agile-looking, though the hooked claws on the end of each were certainly intimidating. A thin membrane stretched between the lower half of its fingers, and, oddly enough, it wore a loose-fitting tank top and a pair of shorts.

Oktavia tried not to stare, but it wasn't easy. "Another alien?" she whispered to Charlotte.

"Yes, a jott," Charlotte whispered back. "Only with a major haircut. That's Beleg. She's one of the few jotts to live in Freehaven. She and Roseanne there run the store."

As the two witches approached, Roseanne and Beleg glanced up. "Ah, Charlotte," Roseanne greeted with a thin smile. "Welcome! And I see you brought a friend."

"Yup. This is Oktavia," Charlotte said, giving the blunette a friendly pat on the shoulder. "She's staying with us for the time being, so I decided to show her around!"

"Wonderful! You certainly picked an excellent place to start." As she spoke, Roseanne left her partner to finish up with the book and came out from behind the counter. As she did, a look of surprise flashed across Oktavia's face before she managed to rein it in.

Like herself, Roseanne had no legs, at least not of the human variety. Her lower body was, quite literally, a giant red pincushion. From it, hundreds of sewing needles were linked together to give her eight, multi-jointed spider-like legs. Furthermore, her left hand was wooden and ball-jointed, like a tailor's mannequin, while the fingers of her right were all steel scissors.

Despite the fact that she was one of the few people to have retained more witch remnants than Oktavia herself, Roseanne had no trouble at all getting around, something that Oktavia felt to be completely unfair. "Greetings, and again, welcome to my shop," she said, bowing at the waist.

Still taken up with her ledger, Beleg made a loud harrumphing sound.

"Our shop," Roseanne quickly corrected. "I'm Roseanne, and this is Beleg. A pleasure." She extended her wooden hand.

Snapping back to attention, Oktavia grinned and took the offered handshake. "Hey, nice to meet'cha," she said. "Awesome store, by the way. And it's cool to know that I'm not the only witch who came here with more than weird hair or tiny tail."

Beleg made a sound of amusement, and Roseanne's smile faltered. Oktavia mentally winced. From the look of things, the shop owner was a bit more sensitive about her handicaps than the mermaid was. Whoops.

"Yes, well, we all have our crosses to bear," Roseanne said, clearing her throat. She glanced down at the hand made of scissors. "Oh, and I feel compelled to warn you in advance: my name is Roseanne. Not Edward, or Johnny, or Kim, or Peg, or Tim, or Vincent. I have no interest in ice sculptures or hedge-trimming, I can eat peas just fine, don't particularly care for lemonade, was not raised in a gothic castle, and have never slept in a waterbed."

Oktavia stared. "Ah…Okay?"

"Roseanne, she just got here," Charlotte said. "Of course she doesn't know about Edward Scissorhands."

Roseanne relaxed a little. "Of course, of course. My apologies. It's just everyone who has always thinks they're being so clever, and that no one has ever made those jokes before." Then she focused on Charlotte and her eyes narrowed with displeasure. "Ah, Charlotte, forgive me for intruding, but it seems that your finger is lacking a certain ornament. This isn't a sign of poor things to come, is it?"

Charlotte looked confused, but then she laughed. "That? Oh, no. It's right here." She reached into her neckline and pulled out the necklace she was wearing. On it was a bejeweled ring made from white gold.

"Oktavia isn't the only person we're, ah, entertaining," Charlotte explained. "One of Mami's friends from back in the day just arrived too, and she's still getting used to…well, everything. Mami decided that it was probably best to keep our relationship on the down low until she's…well, until she's ready."

"Huh, doesn't sound like the sort of thing you'd go for," Beleg said, speaking for the first time. The jott's voice was deep, certainly, though surprisingly melodic, coming from such a rough looking creature. "I thought you were all about honesty up front."

Charlotte shrugged in such a way that suggested that she wasn't really happy about the current situation. "I am, but it's Mami's friend, so it's her call."

Deciding that the current subject was too awkward for her to be caught in the middle of, Oktavia took the moment to wheel herself out from between the others. "I'm just going to look around," she whispered to Charlotte, who hesitated for a moment before nodding.

As Charlotte talked to the shopkeepers, Oktavia directed her wheelchair toward something that had caught her attention earlier: an entire corner devoted to musical instruments. Two pianos sat side-by-side, there were at least four drum sets, and the wall was lined with stringed and wind instruments of every kind. There were even a few that Oktavia didn't recognize, probably made by one of the nonhuman species.

Oktavia felt curiously drawn to them, almost as if they were calling to her. Getting the wheelchair to move on her own took a little doing, but she managed to get close to one of the pianos, one carved from stained oak. She ran her fingers over the ivory keys, and felt a little shiver shoot up her spine.

"Nice, isn't it?" said a voice, startling her. "Do you play?"

Oktavia looked to see that Beleg had left the counter to join her. "I…don't know," Oktavia admitted. "I only arrived a week ago."

Beleg shook her head back and forth like a horse. "I see. Well, people sometimes retain learned skills, even after witching out. Perhaps you knew how to play in life, and can still do it. Would you like to try?"

Oktavia did, very much so. "Can I?" she asked eagerly.

Beleg made that head-shaking motion again, which Oktavia realized was her way of nodding. "Of course," the jott said, waddling over to move the piano's bench out of the way. "Give it a try."

Situating herself in front of the keys, Oktavia stared down at them. She didn't have a clue on how to start, but something inside her was moving her to try. It was worth a shot. Taking a deep breath, she let her fingers move of their own accord.

The response was immediate. Her hands moved over the keys with the practiced motions of a master, playing the melody that had been running in her head since she had arrived, and sometimes found herself humming. Smiling, she closed her eyes and happily allowed herself to get lost in the song.

Oktavia wasn't sure how long she had been playing, but when she finally hit the last note, a round of applause rose up from all around her.

"What?" she said, jerking her head around in surprise. "Huh?"

Unnoticed by her, a small audience had gathered behind her. In addition to Charlotte and the two shopkeepers, at least six of the other shoppers were there as well, including the girl who had knocked over the teacup.

"That was beautiful," Charlotte said, clapping with the rest. "I didn't know you could play."

Blushing from the unexpected attention, Oktavia said, "I…uh…didn't really know either, until…hey, how long was I playing, anyway?"

"Only for a few minutes," Roseanne said, tapping her wooden hand against the opposite wrist. "But I must agree with our mutual friend: you played wonderfully. I have never heard that song before though. What's it called?"

"I…don't know," Oktavia admitted. "It's just been going through my head since I arrived."

"Well, I think it's lovely." Roseanne rubbed her chin as she thoughtfully looked at Oktavia. "How would you feel about giving lessons? We could use a music teacher here."

"Now that's a fine idea," Beleg said, crossing her furry arms. "Always felt we needed someone with a more artistic touch around here."

"I'd take them," chimed in one of the shoppers. "Always wanted to learn the piano."

"Whoa, whoa, wait up!" Oktavia said quickly, holding up her palms. "I already told you I don't know how I did it! It was, like, instinct! That's all! I have no idea how I'd teach something like that."

"Aw, too bad," said the shopper. "Nice song though! It was real pretty."

After everyone whom Oktavia had never been introduced to had wandered off, Roseanne said, "You know, it's not unheard of for witches to bring over some sort of innate talent, related to whatever gimmick their labyrinths were based upon. I myself am quite a competent seamstress, as you no doubt have surmised."

Oktavia considered this. "That might be it. A friend of mine, the one Charlotte told you about, said my wish was to fix up another friend of mine so he could play music again. And apparently my labyrinth had an orchestra theme."

"That makes sense," Charlotte said with a nod. "I'm pretty damned good at baking, and Mami says my labyrinth was filled with desserts."

"Huh." Oktavia considered this. Though her lack of legs was incredibly inconvenient, she had to admit that she was liking the consolation perks. "Well, that's kinda neat, actually."

"Hey, tell you what," Charlotte said brightly. "Why don't I get you an instrument? You know, as a welcoming present?"

Oktavia perked up. "Wait, really?" she said excitedly.

Roseanne's eyes immediately gleamed at the mention of a potential sale. "I think that's a fantastic idea! I'd be more than happy to cut you a special discount."

"Sure, go ahead and pick something," Charlotte said. "I mean, obviously we can't cart a piano back with us, but I'd be more than happy to get you something more portable."

Oktavia eagerly scanned the instruments mounted on the walls, though her face fell when she noted how much they cost. "I don't know," she said. "They look kinda pricey."

"Nonsense!" Roseanne said indignantly. "These instruments are all of the finest quality, and the prices are more than fair."

Charlotte laughed. "Oktavia, relax. Me and Mami run our own business, remember? We're pretty well off. Go ahead, it's on me."

Well, it was hard to argue with that logic. Oktavia again scanned her possible selections, searching for one that felt right.

"We can get a keyboard if you want to stick with something with keys," Charlotte suggested. "Or hey, a violin! How do you feel about a violin?"

…

Elsewhere, Kyoko's own tour of Freehaven was not going quite so pleasantly.

"You call this a paradise?" she growled as she continued to keep Mami pinned against the wall. "You just put up with this shit and act like it's okay? The hell happened to you, Mami? I knew you were a little naïve. Never thought you were a complete idiot!"

"Kyoko," Mami said hoarsely, struggling to speak through the pole jammed against her throat. "Let me…let me down."

Kyoko didn't comply. In fact, she wasn't even listening. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?" she said, raising her voice to a shout. "I thought you'd had enough with other people screwing with you. But no, you just gotta close your eyes and go marching along to anyone else's beat, never asking who they were or what they were up to! No, it doesn't matter how much they fuck with you; it's okay if they let you play hero or give you a pretty house and a pretty wife to tuck you in at night! Just so long as you feel good about yourself, you don't care-"

"Enough!"

Both of Mami's hands pressed against Kyoko's chest and shoved, sending her back a couple steps. The redhead almost pushed back, but a tiny sliver of common sense told her to way. So she stood her ground, both hands gripping her spear in a white-knuckled grasp, letting the rage run its course through her.

Mami coughed a few times before speaking. "Kyoko, calm down. Right now. You are…entitled to your anger, but if you must curse and attack me, do not do it here in public, especially not in front of children."

Children? What? Kyoko looked around and saw that her outburst had attracted some attention. Two girls dressed in Gothic Lolita fashion were standing nearby and openly staring. Above, four children that looked even younger than Nicole had were crowding around a window.

Kyoko scowled. "Psssh. They've probably like fifty or something."

"They're not." Mami tilted her head to a passageway between two buildings, this one even narrower than the street. "The alleyway. Now."

Fuming, Kyoko stomped her way into the alley. Mami waved off the staring bystanders, though it wasn't until she had joined Kyoko that they finally went on their way.

Not waiting for Mami to have the first word, Kyoko started talking before the blonde even reached her. "Seriously Mami, why do you just let this slide? I mean, okay, if you were into girls back in the day and just decided to run with it, fine! No problems there. But…but to let someone change something so…so personal just because of how they think things should be without so much as a 'May I?' That's just…sick."

Mami sighed. "Charlotte was right. Slowly easing you into this was a bad idea."

"Hells yeah, she was right! So what, you were just gonna slowly break the news that dying turns you into a lesbian without permission and expect me not to be pissed?" Slamming the butte of her spear into the ground, Kyoko stepped forward to jab her finger into Mami's sternum. "Look, when I found out that becoming a Puella Magi meant you got turned into a zombie, I-"

"Lich," Mami said.

"What?" Kyoko's head jerked back. "Well, hey! Same to you!"

"I said lich, not bitch," Mami said patiently. "A zombie is a dead body that has been resurrected without a soul. A lich is a person that keeps their soul in some kind of outside container. It's a common mistake."

"Fine! Lich! Whatever," Kyoko said, throwing her hands into the air. "Point is, at first I was pissed, yeah. But then I starting thinking it might not be so bad after all, seeing how it kept my soul all nice and cozy and made it so my body could get healed from anything! But then I read the rest of the fine print and found out I was fucked no matter what!"

"It's not the same thing," Mami said. "And it's not what you think."

"The hell it isn't! Look, you let someone twist you around like that, no matter how small it might look, you might as well sign the rest of your life away! You know that one chick, the one that supposedly wished for this place so we'd get a second chance at life or whatever?"

"Yes. But you have to understand-"

Kyoko didn't let up. In fact, she was only gathering steam. "Well, guess what? I never asked for her help! I never asked to be brought here, and I sure as hell don't appreciate being turned into something I'm not just because she thinks it'll make me happy, and you shouldn't either! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Kyoko!" Mami said, her voice nearly matching Kyoko's own for volume. "It's not like that at all!"

"Oh?" Kyoko said with a bitter laugh. Folding her arms, she motioned toward Mami. "First you tell me you were straight when you were alive, and now suddenly you're a lesbian. So what the hell am I supposed to think?"

Closing her eyes, Mami took a deep breath, presumably to steady herself. "Listen: when you come here, nothing about you is changed, not like that."

Rolling her eyes, Kyoko lowered her spear and made a cut on the back of her hand. "Nothing?" she said, holding it up so Mami could see the trickle of red vapor.

"Well, yes, there is that. But your body was destroyed, Kyoko. It doesn't exist anymore. You're a soul now."

"Kinda noticed," Kyoko said dryly. "So?"

"So, this new form you've taken looks and feels exactly like your old one because that's what it was used to," Mami explained. "Your internal anatomy may be different, but unless you've been turned into a witch, you still come here with everything else intact: your thoughts, your memories, your personality, beliefs, and yes, even preferences."

Now Kyoko's anger was starting to morph into confusion. Shaking her head, she spread her hands in bewilderment.

"But even still, your physical body is still gone," Mami continued. "Your…behavior is no influenced by things like genes, chemicals, neurons firing, that sort of thing. It may seem like it sometimes, but it isn't. And as such, things can…change, if you want them to."

Now Kyoko was starting to get it. "Waittaminute, you telling me that you…"

Mami nodded. "Our first year here, after we died, was pretty bad. There were so many things to get used to, so many horrible things we were finding out. Learning Kyubey's true intentions nearly broke me, and when Charlotte discovered what she had done to me, she was devastated. But as strange as it sounds, we grew very close as a result. Like we were-"

"Clinging to each other," Kyoko finished for her. Her voice was now a low, but dangerous, monotone. "Using each other as a way to stay sane."

Mami's eyebrows rose. "Yes. That's it, exactly. After a while, I noticed that was…starting to have feelings for her, ones that went beyond friendship."

"Ah. Did you now?"

"Yes. And as you probably guessed, it frightened me. I was confused, not sure what I should do. I was feeling things that I thought I shouldn't be feeling."

Kyoko nodded, her face now completely expressionless. "And?"

Mami's face was starting to turn red. She averted her eyes and said, "Well, as you already know, I've…never been the best at confronting my true feelings. Fortunately, Charlotte is, and ended up approaching me. She had been having many of the same feelings as I, but without a previous life of experiences, beliefs, and traditions holding her back, she was more willing to embrace them. So we talked it over and decided not to fight how things were going. It's not like there's a gay-straight switch you can flip whenever you want, but it is possible to…modify yourself, if you truly want to."

Kyoko frowned, but she didn't say anything.

Sensing that the hostility was starting to ebb, Mami stepped forward and put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Kyoko, I chose to love Charlotte, or to allow myself to fall in love with her. Me. I chose. I could have fought it. I could have chosen to stay the way I was. Some people do. And there is nothing wrong with that. You can too, if you wish. No one will think less of you. I'm just trying to make the point that this world isn't a cage as you believe. It's all about respecting your choices and giving us more than we had in the world of the living. I know you're angry and suspicious, but just because you've been hurt by one lie doesn't mean everything is a lie."

Kyoko stared at Mami as the wheels turned in her head. Her brow rose and fell as she tried to sort out the clutter that was taking up too much space in her mind. Every time she felt like she was starting to get a grip on things, another stone would be unturned, revealing a whole new mess that she had to deal with.

Besides, as passionate as Mami's speech was, as much as she probably believed it, there was one very blatant contradiction.

"Maybe," Kyoko slowly. "Maybe it is. But you know, for a place that's supposed to be all respectful of your choices and all, there's a couple I can't help but notice that it don't give us."

Mami blinked. "What's that?"

"The choice not to come at all," Kyoko said flatly. "And the choice to leave." Then she looked up, at the buildings towering over them.

"There's something I gotta go check out," she said. "Catch up with you later."

"What?" Mami said, startled. "What are you-"

Without another word, Kyoko sprung into the air and leapt her way to the rooftops. From there, she started leaping her way across the cityscape.

"-Kyoko, wait! Come back!"

…

"You know you can still get that violin," Charlotte said as she and Oktavia exited the Magi's Gifts Emporium. When Oktavia had finally made her choice, the pink-haired witch had been somewhat disappointed, and kept hinting that Oktavia should have chosen something grander. "Really, it's okay. You don't have to go with that just to save me money."

Oktavia, who was feeling too happy to let Charlotte's pestering bother her, just grinned at her friend over her shoulder. "Hey now, don't be dissing my choice here," she said, holding up her brand new musical instrument. "I'm serious, this is perfect!"

Looking somewhat unconvinced, Charlotte said, "Yeah, okay, it's cute and all, but…a harmonica? Why a harmonica?"

A harmonica it was, though like almost everything else offered by the Emporium it was quite the fancy one. Made of brass and plated with silver, Oktavia knew instantly that it was the one for her the moment her eyes fell upon it. Part of that was because it was, as Charlotte said, very cute; however, the fact that one side was painted with a very pretty mermaid swimming through a coral reef also attracted her to it. The other displayed a proud unicorn galloping through a field of wildflowers. Though Oktavia had no connection to unicorns that she knew of, it still looked pretty cool.

"Because I like this harmonica," Oktavia retorted in a lofty tone. "This is now Oktavia's harmonica, and I shall hear no further objections. Besides," here she ran her fingers lovingly over her beloved new melodic companion, "you might hurt its feelings."

Charlotte shook her head. "Now you're just being silly. It's a freaking harmonica!"

Sticking out her lips in a pout, Oktavia bowed her head over the harmonica and said in a babying voice, "Aw, don't wisten to the big meanie. Mommy woves you, and that's all you need to know!"

"I swear to God, if you start talking to that thing I'm pushing you both overboard as soon as we hit deep water," Charlotte sighed.

Oktavia stuck her tongue out at her. "Don't care! Mermaid and waterproofed!"

It was indeed. In fact, Oktavia had insisted that be the first modification made to her new harmonica upon purchase. This had been followed by fireproofing, shatter-proofing, tarnish-proofing, high-speed-projectile-proofing, and acid-proofing, all backed by an extended warranty. Just because she didn't really expect to run into any of the above hazards, her first twenty-four hours in the afterlife had taught her to prepare for anything.

Sighing again, Charlotte patted Oktavia on the shoulder. "Well, so long as you're happy, I guess I can't say anything."

"Darn right, you can't! Besides, you should be thankful. It was either this or the accordion." Then, dropping the teasing for a moment, Oktavia followed it up with, "Oh, and thank you. I mean it, this is great."

"Don't mention it," Charlotte said. "Just don't wake me up in one of the morning by belting out showtunes, and we'll be fine."

Oktavia nodded. Then she turned her attention to the other object in her hands, which she had insisted that they purchase. It was a necklace, made from a thin, black braided rope. At its bottom it separated into four strands that wrapped tightly around a gleaming red stone before coming together again to support an obsidian arrowhead.

The necklace was obviously intended for Kyoko. Since Oktavia was taking home a souvenir of their first trip to a purely Puella Magi city, it was only fair that Kyoko got something as well, even if she hadn't wanted to come. Oktavia just hoped that the redhead loosened up a bit and gave the city a chance, like had said she would.

To be honest, Oktavia wasn't really sure what Kyoko's problem was. It was like she was going out of her way to be difficult. Okay, granted, she had good reason to get upset at the mayor. After all, using the current Reibey situation to try to rush Kyoko into signing the Compact was kind of tacky, but the moody girl had seemed set against the city from the beginning. Maybe after the whole thing with finding out how much that Kyubey person had been hiding from her she was just naturally distrustful of anything new, or maybe she was just naturally belligerent. Personally, Oktavia felt it was a combination of the two. It was a little discouraging, but hopefully Kyoko would come around. She liked the redhead, attitude problems and all, and felt greatly indebted to her. She didn't want her to end up as a bitter wreck wandering the wilderness, which, from what she had been told, was not uncommon. That was where Oblivion did most of her recruiting, after all.

"So where do you want to go next?" Charlotte asked, jolting Oktavia back to reality. "We could head over to Mayboyer Park and take the nature trail. Or we could hit up the library and get you some new reading material. Or there's always the beach-"

"The beach," Oktavia said without hesitation. "Definitely the beach."

"Had a feeling you'd say that," Charlotte said. Even before she had received her answer, she had already turned the wheelchair in the beach's direction. "Okay, fishy-girl. Time for a swim."

The two of them stashed the gifts in a rented locker, and Oktavia pulled off her shirt. Given her aquatic leanings, she had taken to wearing a swimsuit under her clothes at all times, just in case.

Then something occurred to her. "What about you?" she asked as she stuffed the shirt inside the locker. "Are you just going to hang around?"

Charlotte gave her a look. Then she pulled off her own shirt, revealing a pink tankini.

"Oktavia, come on. You're a mermaid who loves the water, and we're taking you to visit a seaside town. This trip was going to include a swim at the beach sooner or later."

Oktavia bowed her head. "Oh, excuse me. Forgive me for ever doubting your foresight!"

"Granted. My mercy is ever constant, and my kindness is unwavering."

As Charlotte finished undressing, Oktavia glanced over the sandy beach. Already it was filling up. "Uh, this is going to be awkward."

"How so?" Charlotte asked as she put their clothes in the locker and shut the door, engaging the magnetic lock.

Slapping her wheelchair's side, Oktavia said, "There's no way I can take this to the water. So it looks like you'll have to carry me."

"Huh. Carrying a mermaid to the ocean. I think I've seen a movie or two where that happens." Charlotte shrugged. "Ah, whatever. Upsy-daisy."

Before Oktavia could react, Charlotte had already reached down and scooped her up into her arms.

"Uh, we're getting a lot of weird looks," Oktavia said as Charlotte carried her toward the surf. Her cheeks were starting to turn red. "Really hope no one gets the wrong idea."

Charlotte snorted. "Oktavia, come on. I know most of these people, and they know I'm a married woman."

"But that's what I meant! People can be downright vicious with rumors, you know!"

By then Charlotte was already up to her knees in the water. "Well, with any luck this'll dissuade them."

Oktavia was about to ask her what she meant, but then Charlotte unceremoniously dropped her into the ocean. Yelping as her body plunged into cold water, Oktavia immediately retaliated, lunging up to tackle Charlotte's waist.

"I warned you!" she shouted as she tried to drag the older girl down. "Time to drown, you-"

At that moment, a wave came crashing past, bowling both girls over.

…

There was one advantage for traversing over the rooftops in a city designed and built by other Puella Magi: and that was that said rooftops were ideally suited for bounding across. The tiles were rough enough to provide plenty of friction, the spaces were small, and no building towered high enough above its neighbor to be a problem. Good thing too, as Kyoko needed to move quickly. Trying to escape from Mami was no easy task.

As pole-vaulted from one roof to another, passing over one entirely, she risked a brief glance over her shoulder. Yup, Mami had already scaled the walls and was in hot pursuit.

"Kyoko, wait!" Mami called. "Please don't do this!"

Instead of complying or even answering back, Kyoko took the landing in an over-the-shoulder roll and bounded to her feet. As she ran, she considered the problem before her. In keeping ahead of and quickly losing Mami, she was faced with a distinct disadvantage, in that she was in alien territory. In contrast, Mami was on her home turf. Furthermore, she was stronger than Kyoko and had those damned ribbons of hers, which would end the chase as soon as she closed enough distance.

Fortunately, Kyoko was smaller and faster, and had been actively fighting for her life until very recently, whereas Mami had spent the last seven years living the life of the domesticated. Loss of internal anatomy or not, reflexes were reflexes, and Kyoko's were still sharp whereas her former mentor's had atrophied. She just needed to get a quick glimpse of the landscape.

There was a tall tower coming up, one with a tiered roof. That would do nicely. Kyoko leapt towards the tower, hooked the fin of her spearhead on one of the lower tiers, and launched herself up three tiers before hooking another one. She took the tower's height in three leaps and vaulted over the pinnacle.

As her momentum took her high over the city, she quickly scanned the area, searching for the opportunity she needed. It didn't take long.

Bingo, she thought as she spied the perfect place. That'll do just-

Then her instincts screamed at her, and she twisted her body just in time to avoid having her ankle ensnared by a yellow ribbon. Mami was already at the tower's peak. Damn it, Kyoko had underestimated her. That had been way too close.

"Stop!" Mami called as Kyoko again took the fall in a roll and kept running. "Kyoko, please!"

Another street was coming up, this one wider than the others. Instead of leaping over, Kyoko dove right for the gap. But rather than let herself fall all the way to the street below, she again hooked her spear on a cornerstone and swung herself through an open window. From there, she quickly threw herself through the house (passing right over some sleeping girl in a stupid looking floral bonnet) and came out through a window at the other end.

Now in another alleyway, Kyoko grabbed the edges of the roof and peeked over. It looked like doubling back had worked, as she could hear Mami's voice calling for her in the opposite street. She dropped the rest of the way to the ground and concealed herself between two tall potted plants.

In time, Mami's voice began to fade. Kyoko waited another five minutes before judging it safe enough to stand up and come out of hiding.

Sorry Mami, she thought as she brushed herself off. Some things you just gotta do by yourself. I'll apologize later.

With that, she started moving through the streets.

…

As helpless as she was on land, Oktavia absolutely thrived in the water. And, as it turned out, this included body-surfing.

She would wait in the shallows for the hump of an incoming wave to appear on the horizon. Then she would kick off with her fins until she was at its peak. Once there, she would change direction and swim with the wave as it grew in size and instability, her powerful tail allowing her to keep up more surely than a pair of human legs ever would. Then the wave would crest and come crashing down, and she would just ride it all the way down, letting herself tumble through the foam before she finally came to rest back in the shallows.

Of course, there wasn't enough water there for her to swim back, and she had to lie on her side and roll into the surf until it was deep enough, but after the third time she got the hang of it. And she was having a blast. Exploring the still, deep waters around the Nautilus Platform was awesome, to be certain, but this was a whole new level of fun.

Roughly around an hour later, Oktavia was relaxing on a wooden bench, watching the other beachgoers. In the time she had been there, she had already met several of them. At first she had thought that the attention was due to her tail, but though there had been a fair amount of lighthearted jokes made about it, she had come to realize that people were drawn to her simply because she was a newcomer.

And in a way, that made sense. To a town whose population neither died nor reproduced, even the tourists would in time become familiar, and truly new faces, especially friendly ones, would be a source of curiosity. Not that Oktavia minded. Everyone she had met so far had been very friendly, and she was now rethinking her decision to refuse the Compact on Kyoko's behalf. This was definitely a community she would not mind becoming a part of.

Still, as much fun as she was having, and as happy as she was, there was something that was bothering her, one that had nothing to do with Kyoko. As she sat, she found herself watching a small group of children playing nearby in the sand, collaborating together on a sand castle. There was four of them: a lively blue-eyed, long-haired brunette; a mournful-faced blonde with sad, dark eyes; a cheerful looking girl with short hair the color of aluminum foil; and a spunky redhead that reminded Oktavia a great deal of a younger Kyoko, if Kyoko started wearing braided pigtails and exchanged her street delinquent outfit for a more gothic-punk style.

Oktavia wasn't sure why she kept getting drawn to the group, or why seeing them troubled her. They looked like they were having fun, and were certainly in no danger. But even so, there was something wrong about seeing them there.

And then she realized that the reason the children were troubling her was because they were children. The Incubators had seen fit to make contracts with such young girls, and the very fact that they were here meant that they had been killed, probably in horrible fashion. And if any of them had witched out (she was willing to bet that the silver-haired one had), that meant she had been traumatized to the point of falling into the deepest, darkest despair, something no child should have to experience. Sure, they were happy enough now, but it must have been horrible, to say nothing of what their families must have gone through when their little girls never came home.

And come to think of it, what about her own family? She wasn't that much older than they. Though she had wondered on and off over the last few days what her old life had been like, it never really occurred to her exactly how much she had lost until now. Had there been a funeral? How had her teacher broken the news to her classmates, and had any of them grieved? How about her mother and father, assuming she had either? What had they even been like? And had enough time passed in the land of the living for anyone to even have noticed that she was gone?

Suddenly Oktavia wasn't in such a good mood.

Charlotte walked up to join her, a snowcone in either hand and a sullen look on her face. "Stupid ice-cream lady," she muttered as she sat down next to Oktavia and handed her a frozen treat. "Just because I have a problem with one dairy product doesn't mean they all make me lose control. It's not the milk itself, I keep telling them, but do they listen? Nooooo." She nibbled a bit at her own snowcone before noticing that her friend was unusually quiet. "Hey, you okay?"

"I guess," Oktavia said morosely. "It's just…well…" She nodded over to where the kids were playing.

"Hmmm?" Charlotte looked at them and her brow furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong? You don't like sandcastles?"

Oktavia shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, seeing them, and there was Nicole earlier, I dunno…"

Charlotte's frown deepened, but then her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, I think I get it," she said, wincing. "Kind of tough to see kids here too, given what that means."

"Yeah," Oktavia said, finally taking a bite of her snowcone.

"Well, yeah, they did get a raw deal," Charlotte said. "I guess we all did. But it's not…quite as tragic as you think." She pointed her snowcone toward the brunette. "Okay, maybe in Nanoha's case, it is. From what I heard, she had a wonderful family and a great life, and only contracted because she thought she needed to protect them. So, what ended up happening to her is pretty sad. But not so much for the others."

Oktavia glanced at Charlotte out of the corner of her eye. "Example?"

"Well, take Fate over there," Charlotte said, indicating the blonde. "Her life sucked. Her older sister died before she was born, and apparently her mom was incredibly messed up in the head. She kept trying to turn Fate into the dead sister, and would beat her whenever she didn't play the role perfectly. So all in all, I'd say she's better off now. And Reinforce over there," here she pointed out the girl with the metallic hair, "well, she witched out like us, but the others knew her before she did, and according to them she was both an orphan and a cripple who was living by herself, supported by nothing but government money even though she couldn't so much as move her legs."

"Yeah," Oktavia said. "I kind of know what that's like."

Charlotte nodded. "And at least you can swim, and have friends to help you get around. She didn't even have that, until she met the others. And as for Vita over there," she gestured toward the redhead, "they won't even tell us what happened to her, but the hints we've gotten have been…unpleasant. Trust me when I say that they're much happier now."

"I guess," Oktavia said. "It's still pretty sad, though."

"You'll hear no arguments from me."

The two of them sat together for a time, watching the children play while munching on their snowcones in silence. Charlotte finished hers first. She drained the paper cone of syrup, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into a nearby trash can.

"You know," she said, breaking the silence. "I really do think that we witches have it the best. True, what our former selves must have gone through was probably all kinds of horrible. But even so, we come here with no dark pasts bringing us down, no lingering trauma giving us nightmares, no memories of our lives holding us back. We're able to dive right into things and make a real life here without having to worry about the last one. For us, there is only the present and future, without being burdened by regrets."

Oktavia thought of Kyoko and nodded in agreement. "Does Mami still have…problems?"

"Yeah," Charlotte said softly. "She has nightmares, every now and then. Sometimes she wakes up screaming, or starts crying in her sleep. Other times she just goes into this deep funk where she doesn't really want to do anything to talk to anyone. At first I thought it was…well, because it was…"

"Because of what you-" Realizing what she was about to say, Oktavia cut herself off instantly.

A brief look of pain passed over Charlotte's face, but she nodded. "Yeah. And that was part of it, for a while. But the part that really bothers her is thinking of all those witches she killed, and all those girls she convinced to make contracts. I think, for her, the guilt is the worst part."

Girls like me, Oktavia thought. She must have looked unhappy, because Charlotte glanced and her and smiled.

"Don't worry," she said, putting an arm around Oktavia's shoulders and giving her a squeeze. "Mami really is glad to have you here. We both are. Don't think you're causing trouble for her just by being who you are."

"I just wish there was something I could do to help," Oktavia murmured as she leaned into the taller girl's side. "For her and Kyoko. I mean, you both have been the best, but I feel like such a burden sometimes."

Charlotte playfully tousled her short blue hair. "Don't," she said. "You're not. And I mean it. You'll be joining us in the kelp fields before too long." Then, in a more serious tone, she said, "And don't worry about Kyoko either. She'll come around. You'll see."

"What if she doesn't, though?"

Charlotte mused over the question a long time before answering. "Then, if she doesn't, then remember that it's her choice," she said at last. "You did all you could, and so whatever she decides is her responsibility alone."

Oktavia frowned. She knew that Charlotte was right, but it still wasn't the answer she had been hoping for.

Seeing this, Charlotte sighed. "Oktavia, try not to bear her problems for her," she said, drawing the sullen mermaid close and kissing the top of her head. "This family has enough guilt burdening it as it is. Don't add to it when it's unwarranted."

…

The damnedest thing about trying to find anything in Freehaven was that the streets were so tiny, and there were so damned many of them that Kyoko kept getting lost. Plus, she didn't dare take to the roofs for fear of being spotted.

Still, though it took a little doing, she eventually found what she was looking for: the bad part of town.

In her mind, there were two places it was most likely to be: either by the industrial docks, or on the other side of the hill. Both were fairly well-concealed, kept away from the tourists' sight. And given what brief glimpse she had seen on her way to the mayor's house, she decided to go with the docks first.

As it turned out, her instincts were right on the money. Not far from where they had tied up the boat, hidden behind the curve of the hill, was another residential area. However, here the buildings were not well-looked after. The walls were chipping, the rooftops had faded and were missing tiles, and what mosaic existed was falling apart. Bits of trash were scattered through the streets, and there was very little in the way of decorative plants.

Now she was getting somewhere. Putting her hood up, Kyoko stuck her hands into her pockets and wandered deeper into the neighborhood. Now bits of graffiti were starting to appear, and the amount of litter was increasing. Furthermore, she was starting to see people.

Some of them looked more-or-less normal, if a little shabbier than the rest of the girls she had seen. Others didn't look so good. She saw one girl wearing a hooded parka wandering aimlessly, her glowing blue eyes bloodshot and filled with veins. Another with hair almost as greasy as Elsa Maria's had been sat in a stoop and muttered to herself, pausing only to drink from the bottle in her hands.

Kyoko smiled grimly to herself. Just as she had thought. Even here, in the afterlife, people were still people. And as such, the privileged were put on display while the poor losers were shuffled off to someplace out of sight.

There was no such thing as utopia. She had believed as such for a long time, and this only confirmed it. Sure, they might dress their city up all nice and fancy, and talk about community and interspecies cooperation, but even they had people that embarrassed them. She wondered how often Mami and Charlotte came around here, if they did at all.

Funnily enough, she was more comfortable here than she had been in any other part of the afterlife she had visited thus far. After all, this place was the closest to reality she had seen.

Then, as she turned one corner into yet another claustrophobically narrow street, she ran right into someone coming the other way. Kyoko stumbled back a couple steps, but before she could orient herself, the other person angrily shoved her to the ground, and a rough, almost mannish voice shouted, "Watch where you're going, ze!"

Kyoko drew her legs back and leapt to her feet. "You watch it, bitch!" she snarled, giving the other girl a shove of her own.

"What'choo say to me?"

The next thing Kyoko knew, stars were exploding behind her eyes as her cranium erupted in pain. She fell to her knees, clutching at the back of her head. The other girl was carrying a stick, and had decided to use it to brain Kyoko on the back of her head.

"Oh, now it's on," Kyoko breathed. Then she launched herself as the other girl, fists ready to start pummeling. As she did so, she noted with amusement that in a city where people greeted each other with hugs, kisses, and handshakes, this was the first person to greet her in a manner she could fully get behind.

…

And everyone who's been following IM goes "Oh, hell yeah!" while everyone else goes "Wait, what?" Unless they're rolling their eyes. Still, come on: this was inevitable. Also, fun fact: this chapter, the last one, and the next one were originally going to be one long chapter called "Freehaven." I am so glad I decided to split it apart, and am now much more understanding of Peter Jackson's decision to make three Hobbit movies. These scenes breed like bunnies, I tell you.

Anyway, if you missed it, last week/month/year (they all apply, really), I put up a prequel/Christmas special story called Gift of the Puella Magi. So if you want to hear the story behind Mami and Charlotte's rings, go check it out!

And speaking of which, as I was writing the Charlotte and Oktavia scenes, I couldn't help but think, "Wow, this is getting really Les Yay-ish." So just for the record, those two are just buds with a strong bromance (does that word still apply to girls? Or would womance be more accurate?). Charlotte appreciates having another witch around for once, and Oktavia likes having someone she can relate to, so they bonded pretty quickly. Oktavia's pretty much Charlotte's kid sister by now, which is why the latter was so upset when Oktavia didn't sign the Compact to show support for Kyoko.

Jumping off of that, with all that fluff, it's kind of hard to believe that this story started off with heavy psychological horror in its first chapter and intense violence in its second. It's kind of like the opposite of Zipcode's "Heaven is a Zombie Apocalypse" story (which is never going to update, is it?) in that regard. My, my, my, does that mean I'm going soft? Lost my edge? Or, maybe…

Heh.

Heheheheh.

Hehehehehahahaha.

HahahaHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHA!

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

=clears throat=

Until next time everyone! Happy New Year!