Intermission: Remembrance Day

It was mid-afternoon when the shuttle finally pulled up to Cattie's Grove. The town wasn't all that large, and wasn't nearly as pretty as Freehaven, but it was nice enough, with quaint little buildings with colorful walls and steep roofs. The streets were wide and bordered with shaggy autumnal trees, and it seemed like every house had a columned porch, regardless of its actual size.

The town sat upon within a wide valley, bordered by gently sloping grassy hills. A very large field was to its back, and roads snaked off between the hills in five different directions, leading off to five other territories. Given that it sat on such an important crossroads, the residents of Cattie's Grove were well used to visitors, and the town was filled with hotels, curiosity shops, restaurants, and other entertainments.

Today, however, there seemed to be much more than was usual. The field had become a large camp of sorts, with several tents and pavilions being erected. Booths had been set up throughout the busiest parts of the city, and people milled about everywhere, inspecting the wares.

Most of the people, both native and foreign, seemed rather happy, even excited. There was a feeling of festiveness in the air, and almost everyone could feel it. Unlit lanterns hung from walls and on ropes strung between buildings, waiting for night to fall. Food sizzled on grills, baked in ovens, and stewed in pots, none of it to last for longer than a few hours. Banners and flags were everywhere, proudly displaying the colors of hundreds of different nations, none of them existing in the strange, post-mortem world that they now lived, all of them now residing only in the memories of those that had come from them.

However, there was one road that had been bringing more sour faces than the others combined. Shuttle after shuttle had arrived, full of tired and unhappy people. Unlike the others, these were no merrymakers. Most of them were refugees, fleeing trouble that had enveloped their homes. The road had been long and hard, passing through at least two other territories to reach Cattie's Grove. Most of those that disembarked didn't intend to stay for long. They were simply looking for rest and sustenance, as well as hoping that the celebration would lifted their worn spirits. The people of Cattie's Grove knew of their troubles, and received them warmly. After all, this was a day of sharing troubles, both past and present.

As one such shuttle unloaded its weary passengers, four in particular seemed a bit taken back by how the town was dressed up. All four were Japanese, but it was clear that the relations stopped there. One was tall and slender, another shorter and more softly curved, another thinner than both and considerably more hard-bitten. And the fourth was a mermaid in a wheelchair. That was a bit out of the ordinary, but seeing that their bus had also included one girl with eagle's wings growing out of the side of her head and another who possessed glass arms filled with marbles, it really wasn't worthy of comment, all things considered.

Kyoko Sakura scanned the crowd, her hands shoved into the pockets of her dingy green hooded jacket. Even though the day was bright and warm, her hood was pulled up over her head. It was more out of comfort than anything, since any attempt at disguise was ruined by Sayaka's mere presence. "Damn, but this is crowded," she remarked at last.

"I agree," Mami said with a pensive frown. "Even with all the people leaving Marsters, this is far too many."

"Yeah, and the place wasn't even in that bad shape," Kyoko agreed. As she had sort of nominated herself as Sayaka's new wheelchair attendant, she leaned over the back of the chair to look over the people filling the street. "You think they're ditching it because the Bro-"

Charlotte shot her a sharp look and hissed, "Hey! Ix-nay on the othel-Bray."

"Okay, whatever," Kyoko muttered. She didn't have the strength to argue, and Charlotte was sort of right. "You think it's because of those guys?"

Below her, Sayaka scratched her nose and said, "I dunno, seems like on heck of an overreaction if you ask me. I mean, they suck and all, but to just go and abandon your home just because they're around is a bit much."

"You lot from Marsters?"

The question hadn't come from any of the four, but rather one of the locals. It was a redheaded, freckled-face girl with green eyes who had so happened to be passing by. She was wearing a white shirt with a faded basketball team logo, a pair of blue overalls, and a wide straw hat.

Annoyed at the intrusion, Kyoko shot her hard look. "Yeah….?"

The stranger's face softened with sympathy. "Hell of a thing," she said. "My sympathies."

"Thank you," Mami said politely. "But aren't most of these people from Marsters?"

"Huh?" The stranger glanced over her shoulder at the crowd as if seeing them for the first time. "Aw, no. Er, well, maybe more than usual, considering. But it's usually like this every year."

Kyoko blinked. Well now, that was interesting. "Any…particular reason?"

"Well, it's Remembrance Day! And we got the globe!"

None of that meant anything to Kyoko, so she merely stared. Sayaka was likewise just as befuddled. However, Mami and Charlotte had both been in the afterlife long enough to learn its customs, so they just shot each other a surprised glance.

"It's Remembrance Day already?" Mami said.

"I don't know, I wasn't keeping track," Charlotte said.

Mami nodded. "It did seem rather cheery for a refugee camp."

"Huh?" Kyoko glanced back and forth between them. "The hell's Remembrance Day?"

"It's a day started by King George V back after World War 1 to honor those who had fallen in battle in service to their country, celebrated mostly by those who live in the Commonwealth of Nations, like Canada or Australia."

Kyoko stared some more. That had answered exactly none of her questions.

"What?" the stranger said with a shrug and a mischievous smile. "We Canadians and our Commonwealth buddies had the name first. You new?"

By then Kyoko had long gotten over that little tidbit. Other things now seemed more important. "Yup. Fresh off the death boat."

"Also hell of a thing," the stranger said with a slow nod. "Well, chin up, kiddo. It gets better. This day was made for people like you, after all."

She tipped her hat to the quad and went about her way. When she was out of earshot, Kyoko muttered, "Thanks, random person who I didn't want to talk to in the first place." She sighed and turned to the Tomoes. "Okay, what's the non-Canadian version of Remembrance Day?"

Mami shrugged. "It's…pretty much what it sounds like. People gather together to remember the lives we left behind and pray for any friends and family that might still be alive."

Sayaka's eyes widened. "Oh. Well, that sounds pretty cool." Then she glanced down at her tail and her brow creased. "I guess. I mean, even though half of us can't even remember any of that."

"Doesn't mean we can't join in," Charlotte said. "I mean, we all had families, even if we can't remember their names. Nothing says we can't say a little prayer for them too."

Sayaka frowned some more as she thought on this, no doubt wondering what her own family had been like. Kyoko, who remembered her own family perfectly, said nothing at all.

"Well, that's good at least," Mami said. "Remembrance Day usually involves a lot of goodwill and charity, so we should at least be able to find a place to sleep and get some decent food. I mean, if it's anything like how we did things back…" Her voice trailed off before reaching the word "Freehaven," and she bit her lower lip.

Charlotte gently squeezed her shoulder. "It should be," she said encouragingly. "I mean, looks about the same. The feast should be something to see."

Kyoko, who had been broodingly looking out over the crowd and wondering how many of them kept up with foreign news, perked up at that last sentence. "Feast?" she said.

"Oh, now you've done it," Sayaka complained as she leaned forward and covered the back of her neck with her hands. "Tape her mouth shut before she starts drooling on me."

Charlotte laughed. "Yeah, it's part of the celebration. The town that hosts the globe also throws a huge feast for everyone."

"All you can eat?" Kyoko said eagerly.

"Sure. I mean, within moderation." Charlotte looked about. "Though with this crowd, you're going to have some competition."

"Bring 'em," Kyoko said as she cracked her knuckles. "Just so long as we don't brawl on the food I'll take on all comers."

Mami looked dubious. "I don't know if going to the feast is a good idea. We're exposed enough as it is."

"Oh, come on!" Kyoko begged. "Look, you know I'm probably the most paranoid person here, but keeping me from a feast is just plain cruel! Please, I gotta have this!"

"I'll think about it," Mami said sternly.

"But-"

"I'll think about it," Mami repeated in a tone that brooked no argument. "For now we need to find a place to stay and rest. The feast's hours away anyway."

"And where's that going to be?" Sayaka wanted to know. "We don't have any money."

"I wasn't thinking a hotel," Mami said, though she did so wistfully. After all, even a ratty old roadside inn would be a major step up from what they had been making do with. She nodded toward the big field. "Out there. We'll need to make camp."

…

The globe that the stranger had spoken of turned out to be exactly that: a great big stone ball painted to resemble the Earth itself. It sat on a pedestal in the middle of the large field, with the festivities centering around it. Dozens, if not hundreds of tiny dots glowed gold on its surface, appearing for a few moments before vanishing. They appeared mostly in clusters, though a few were off by themselves, and nearly all of them were on one of the Earth's landmasses.

Surrounding the globe were people. Lots and lots of people. Some were standing with their heads bowed, some sitting, some were kneeling, a few were bowing with their faces in the grass, and all were facing the globe. To Kyoko, it reminded her uncomfortably of a collection of cultists paying homage to their idol, but Mami assured her that such was not the case.

"The globe is just part of the tradition," she said. "A little visual reminder." She pointed toward a cluster of golden dots gathered in Northern Europe. "It's enchanted to respond to the thoughts being sent its way. Every time someone sends a prayer or a memory in its direction, a light appears over the place that person lived."

"Uh-huh," Kyoko said dubiously. "Still, what's the point? I mean, if you wanna remember your family or say a prayer, you can do that anytime. You don't need a big ol' ball to do that."

"You don't need a dead tree covered with ornaments to celebrate the middle of winter or mark your god's birth," Charlotte remarked as she pounded a plastic tent peg into the ground with her foot. "And you don't need big explodey rockets lighting up the sky to tell you whenever the year's ended. Tradition is tradition, Sakura."

Kyoko held up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. Point taken."

"Good to hear. Now stop standing around complaining and help with these pegs."

Apparently, it was normal for visitors who didn't care to shelve out the money for a hotel to camp in what was known as the remembering field. Most of them just brought their own tents to do so, or could rent one from the many sporting businesses that had also set up booths of their own. However, in light of the influx of refugees coming in from territories found to be in the Brothel's pocket, capitalism had made an exception for this year. Now, several charity groups were erecting pavilions to house several people at once or loaning out tents for those who needed something in the way of privacy. Since their group fell into that latter category, Mami and Charlotte had managed to procure a small red-and-black mountain tent and a few sleeping bags for their own. It was old and definitely used, but it was clean, in good condition, and would serve, even if the inside was a bit cramped.

Since selfless altruism was still something she was trying to wrap her head around, Kyoko had immediately been suspicious. "How do they know we won't just walk off with it?" she had said when the Tomoes returned with their shelter.

"Try it," Charlotte had said, dropping the bundle on the ground. "See where that gets you."

Right. This was weird world of magic, where dangerous spells were sold over the counter at convenience stores. Apparently these guys' goodwill only went so far. Fair enough.

The field was already pretty full when they had arrived, but they managed to secure a bit of flat land jutting out from one of the nearby hills along the edge of the field. It was ringed by bushes with a bit of a steep drop five meters high, so it was perfect for their needs. Working together, Kyoko, Charlotte, and Mami got the tent set up and their sleeping bags made ready in a matter of minutes.

"So, we just sit tight until tomorrow, huh?" Kyoko said as she sat down on a rock. She pulled out a provisions bag distributed by one of the charities and removed a peanut butter and honey sandwich. The food that was being given out for free was a far cry from the more mother-watering delicacies being sold at the booths and small eateries, but beggars couldn't be choosers. They had no money, and Kyoko was not about to try her luck with thievery. The anti-theft measures they had here probably whupped the ones she had regularly beaten with ease back in the world of the living. This would do until it was time for the feast.

"We need the rest," Mami said as she and Charlotte sat down as well. "We'll stock up the best we can here, and move on tomorrow."

Per usual, Sayaka was figuring her way through a new tune on her harmonica. And per usual, she was doing a good job with it as well, though this one was slower and more somber than the high-spirited melodies she had come up with back at the Persephone Protectorate's base, though it was no less catchy. At Mami's words, she paused her song and raised an eyebrow. "Move on to where though?" she said, lowering her harmonica. "The Alliance doesn't want us, Oblivion's still after us, we have literally nowhere to go."

"Except forward," Kyoko said. Everyone glanced at her. She ignored them and finished her sandwich. When she was done she raised her head to meet their eyes and waited.

Unsurprisingly it was Charlotte that spoke first. "Kyoko. Think about what you're asking. Lily was a liar and a monster but she wasn't wrong about our chances. We'll be caught before we even get close to the border, if something else doesn't get us first."

"Seems to me you think this is impossible," Kyoko remarked as she took a drink from her thermos. She gulped, lowered it, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and added, "Also seems to me that this place runs on the impossible."

Charlotte's brow furrowed, not quite a scowl, but it was getting there. "This little adventure of yours isn't two weeks old, and already we've encountered leechers, gangs, covens, monsters Void Walker assassins, mind controllers, and treachery from just about everyone. We've all died multiple times, and gotten beaten up enough times to constitute torture."

Kyoko's left hand had started to shake, so she had to squeeze it into a fist to make it stop. Otherwise, she was devoid of any visible emotion when she said, "Your point?"

"My point? We're dying here, Kyoko. Me and Mami lost practically everything because of this. And if this continues, we all stand to lose everything else, forever. Just being free and together is a sheer miracle, and sooner or later, that luck is going to run out."

"You wanted to come," Kyoko pointed out. "I didn't ask you to."

Charlotte's nostrils flared, and she opened her mouth to start yelling. But before she could, Mami abruptly stood to her feet.

"I think I'd like to spend some time remembering my parents," she announced loudly. "Charlotte, would you care to come with me, like usual?"

Kyoko could practically see the steam coming out of Charlotte's ears, but the pink-haired witch grudgingly took the point. "Probably shouldn't split up," she mumbled. "That always leads to trouble."

"We won't go out of eyeshot. And you can keep an eye on the camp until I'm done."

"Sure," Charlotte said as she stood up. "I'd love to."

The two of them made their way toward the slope that would take them to the foot of the hill. Charlotte had her hands shoved into her pockets and her shoulders hunched over. Her face was red with anger, but she didn't so much as look at Kyoko as she stomped away.

Mami did. It wasn't a long look, and it wasn't an angry one, but nor was it friendly. It was the same look she had worn the day they had broken off their partnership right after Kyoko's family had died, one of sadness, disappointment, and pity. Kyoko kept her head bowed and didn't meet her gaze, though she did grit her teeth a little.

After the two had gone, Sayaka sighed and said, "Good God, Kyoko. Can you please stop turning into a total jerk every time you get annoyed? They only got themselves killed a couple times over to save our butts, and lost everything for it. You maybe wanna show just a little gratitude? Huh?"

Kyoko stared down at the grass beneath her boots. She didn't answer.

Frowning, Sayaka leaned in closer. "Hey, what's up? You look like you're about to-"

Kyoko's teeth bared as she grimaced. She sniffed and angrily turned her face away.

"Are you crying?" Sayaka said, sounding surprised.

"No," Kyoko said, her hoarse voice making a liar out of her.

"Uh," Sayaka said, sounding a little beside herself. "So, are you going to-"

Standing to her feet as abruptly as Mami had, Kyoko went and marched off to the other side of the tent. As upset as she was, she didn't leave the campsite entirely. That would be stupid. She just needed to be by herself for a bit.

Unfortunately, even as an amnesiac mermaid Sayaka was as stubborn as she was when she was a pigheaded magical girl, and it wasn't long before Kyoko heard the wheels of her chair rolling through the grass over to her. "Kyoko, what's up?" Sayaka said. "Is it what happened back at Marsters?"

Kyoko sighed. "What are you talking about?" she said. Her voice still sounded a little rough, but at least she had dammed up the tears.

"Well, everything! I mean, we only were nearly starved, beaten a bunch of times, and escaped by the skin of our teeth. And…" She heard Sayaka swallow. "And…well, I got beaten to death, stabbed to death, and shot twice, and one of them was to death! I've…you know, on our way here, I've been having nightmares. Bad ones, and I know you went through worse."

Rolling her eyes, Kyoko turned to face the mermaid. "No, it's not that," she said. "I can handle that."

"Then what?"

"I…" Kyoko sighed and ran her fingers through her greasy, unwashed hair. "I don't know. I'm just tired and hungry, and that's makes me cranky-"

"That's not it," Sayaka said, her brow knitting together in concern. "C'mon. What's wrong?"

As much as Kyoko liked Sayaka and was glad that she was coming along, sometimes her stubbornness made her want to find a sheer slope and give that wheelchair of hers a sudden push. "I…I dunno," she admitted. "It's just…Charlotte's kind of right. Marsters and Etherdale were little slices of hell, and we were damned lucky to get away from them with our hides. Annabelle Lee's hounding our every step, and the great and wonderful Alliance that's supposed to be our bestest buddy went and hung us out to dry, so…" Her head slumped, and she gave a weak shrug.

"You don't know if we can do this," Sayaka finished for her.

"We will," Kyoko said, a bit more harshly than she had intended. "I will, if it comes to that. I'm getting my little sister back, and if I gotta die twenty times every day and never taste food again to do it, then so be it."

"Whoa!" Sayaka said, holding up her palms. "Slow down there, killer! Never taste food again? That's blasphemy coming from you."

To that, Kyoko had to laugh. "Yeah, but I'm serious," she said as she started back for the front of the tent. "I mean, I'm sorry for Mami and Charlotte losing their home. That…really blows. But I gotta do this." She went over to the edge of the outcropping that they were camped on and looked down. At the foot of the hill, Mami was kneeling in the grass, her head bowed, hands clasped, and body facing the big sparkling globe. Charlotte sat down next to her with her hand on her wife's shoulder, not really participating but still offering support. "And if they wanna leave or still come with, well, that's up to them."

There was a long pause, and then Sayaka said, "Well, for what it's worth, I'm still with you. I mean, thanks to those train wheels, I can get myself around now, and kick all kinds of butt!"

Kyoko had to laugh at that. She gave Sayaka's hair a playful tousle. "I guess you can. Okay, you can stay, I suppose."

"Thanks, but keep your grubby fingers out of my hair," Sayaka said, smacking her hand away. "It's greasy enough as it is without you defiling it." Then she glanced down the hill at Mami and Charlotte. "You know, maybe you should say a few words too."

"Huh?" Kyoko blinked in surprise. "Why?"

Sayaka shrugged. "I dunno, but I think it'd be good for you.

To this, Kyoko only rolled her eyes. "Look, shark bait. My parents are dead, both of them gone to places that probably doesn't receive mail from here. And me and God ain't exactly on speaking terms anymore." She sat down on the edge of the outcropping with her legs resting on the slope. "Only family I have is here or locked up in Oblivion's tower." She hesitated, and then admitted, "Besides, I remember them every day. Don't need to talk to a big, shining ball to do that."

"Suit yourself," Sayaka said. "But you should do something. If you keep acting this cranky every time you have a bad day then I'm probably just going to up and swim away at the first river we find."

Kyoko snickered again. Despite the circumstances surrounding it, she was glad that the mermaid was coming along after all. She needed someone who could make her laugh. "Trust me, saying words that won't reach anyone won't help any. Just wait for the feast though. After that, I promise I'll be so cheery that you'll wish I was in a bad mood again."

…

"Well," Kyoko said as the four of them stood on the edge of the town square. "Color me impressed. Who ever said the dead don't know how to party?"

"Hey, you end up stuck somewhere for the rest of eternity, you learn to make the best of things," Charlotte said. After she and Mami had come back, Kyoko had grudgingly apologized to her, and received one in return, which had cooled off some of the tension. So they were at least on speaking terms again. "And that means throwing some really big parties."

The sun had mostly disappeared on the horizon, and as the dark of night fell the lights of the festival had risen up, bringing with them a change. Before the festival had been merry and energetic, but once the lights were lit it became a full, citywide party. Lanterns hung from the same ropes as the multicolored banners and from the sides of the buildings and the stalls. Cheerful folk music mixed with what Kyoko assumed passed for the pop music of the dead. Though they had been hawking their wares all day, the merchants now seemed to have twice the merchandise available, and were loudly extolling their virtues to anyone who wandered by.

The merchants had no shortage of listeners. If the place was busy before, now it was downright packed. People were everywhere: talking, browsing through the stalls, laughing, eating, and dancing. Already Kyoko could see a raised platform where a bunch of girls wearing frilly dresses, white bonnets, and odd wooden shoes were swinging each other around in some kind of folk dance while a small gaggle of musicians played. From the look of things, they were having a grand old time, as were the clapping and smiling crowd that had gathered to watch. And Kyoko was willing to bet her jacket that this was far from the last dance they were going to come across.

"Big is right," Sayaka said, her eyes bulging out like, well, a fish. "Um, say. It would be rude to, er, refuse to, uh, not take part, don'cha think?" She looked up to Mami with longing in her eyes.

Mami sighed, clearly torn on what to do. Kyoko sympathized. On the one hand, mingling with the crowd increased the odd of having them recognized. True, given how weird relations seemed to be between the territories, it was very unlikely that anyone all the way out here would notice a gaggle of so-called criminals wanted by the Free Life Alliance, especially since they had more pressing issues of their own to worry about. But it only took one, and Sayaka was sort of noticeable.

On the other hand, if anyone wished to ambush them, the crowd would not be the place to do it. Assassinations were a thing of the past, and no one could really drag all four of them out without anyone noticing. And as Marsters proved, the residents of this afterlife were not the sort you wanted to see rise up. Furthermore, it really was unlikely that anyone would-

Oh, screw it. Forget all the rationalizations. Kyoko wanted in on this party for one reason and one reason only. The air was thick with the scent of delicious food, and she was freaking starving.

"Mami," she said. "Come on. There's food, and if I don't get anything to eat soon, I'm gonna start gnawing on you."

Charlotte gave her a thin-lipped smile. "Yeah, sorry. I've got exclusive rights to that."

Mami shot her wife a tolerant look and gently nudged her with an admonishing elbow. Then she turned toward the party and frowned. "Well, we can't really afford to get reckless…" she said.

"We can't really afford to starve ourselves either," Charlotte sighed. "Kyoko's right. We need supplies, and that's the place to get them."

"There are food stalls over in the remembering field," Mami pointed out, though it was clear that her will was crumbling.

"Yeah, and they want money," Charlotte said. "We don't have any money. The Remembrance Day feast is the only place giving it out for free."

"There's those care packets they were giving out,"

"Which I've already stockpiled so many of that they're giving me dirty looks every time I so much as pass by. We've sort of worn out our welcome on that front."

"Yes, but…" Then Mami sighed. "Oh, all right."

"Yes!" Sayaka said, pumping her arm in victory. "Party time!" She raised her hand, and Kyoko gleefully clapped it with her own.

"But!" Mami said fiercely before they got too caught up in their celebration. "Not for long. Just enough to fill our stomachs and get something to take with us. And we stay together at all times and remain on guard. I don't care how far we've gone, we're still in grave danger. Understand?"

Kyoko and Sayaka both saluted in unison. "Aye, aye, boss-lady!" Sayaka declared.

"You got it!" Kyoko agreed.

That just made Mami frown all the more. "Okay," she said, shaking her head. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

…

"This is," Kyoko declared as she eagerly filled another plate, "the best idea we've had in days."

"Not a whole lot of competition there, Kyoko," Sayaka noted, though given how enthusiastically she was stuffing her face she didn't really agree.

Kyoko didn't much go for holidays. To her, they were mostly just a bunch of gaudy colors and catchy songs that didn't really mean anything. She used to love them, sure. For her first eleven years, her birthday had been the best day of the year, New Year's was met with great anticipation, and Christmas was always a highlight. She had loved the festivals and the changing of the seasons, with the whole city parading about in its best outfits and loveliest songs.

Of course, afterward she had come to take a dimmer view of the whole affair. Holidays just meant more bodies on the streets to draw out the witches, and more stupid smiles to piss her off whenever she went about her business. But there was one thing she continued to appreciate about them. Holidays always brought out the best food, and in abundance. And Remembrance Day was certainly not slacking in that regard.

Though various booths sold a variety of succulent delicacies, the Remembrance Day feast was in full spread. It started in the center of town, with a huge round table laden with delicious glory topped with a half-sized replica of the glowing globe that sat in the center of the remembering field. From there, several thinner tables extended out down the middle of the connecting streets like the arms of a huge sea star, each one stretching out a full block. From what Kyoko could tell, every side table was laden with the best cuisine from a different part of the world of the living. On their way there, they had passed by the American table, which had offered them roast turkeys, berry pies, sizzling burgers, steaming barbeque, and a variety of different pastries. It was Kyoko's first meeting with something called a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, and already they were fast friends.

According to Mami, everyone in town pitched in, with restaurants providing their best entrees as a way to advertise while everyone else made their favorite dishes from home. And people came in from all over, bearing a little bit of the world of the living with them.

Kyoko still had a great many reservations about the afterlife. In fact, she was starting to hate it a little. But this? This she could get used to.

"Yeah, but this almost makes up for it," Kyoko said as they wandered around the center table. Spying the arm that contained food from Japan, she steered Sayaka's wheelchair toward it for something a little homier.

"Almost," Sayaka said, wrinkling her nose. She leaned forward to grab a few sushi rolls. "Though hey, which plate are you on?"

"Three. Why?"

Sayaka twisted around in her seat and frowned. "You look like if you held up a lantern people would mistake you for a half-sized lamppost. And you eat as much even when you haven't been starved. Where the heck do you put it all?"

Grinning, Kyoko plucked a greasy sausage off her plate, held it high over her head, and slowly lowered it into her mouth. A few bites and it was gone. "Magic, bitch."

"Right," Sayaka said, eyeing Kyoko's flat stomach. "Well, sure. I believe it."

Smirking, Kyoko leaned over the back of the wheelchair to peer down at the mermaid. "Though if we're talking about eating habits, are those sushi rolls you're munching on?"

"Uh-huh. So?"

"So, isn't that kinda messed up? Like, doesn't that make you half a cannibal?"

Sayaka rolled her eyes. Then she snorted a little. "Yeah, you know what? It kind of does." She paused for a moment, staring down at her remaining sushi rolls. Then she grabbed them with both hands and stuffed them into her mouth. "Ar rar rar rar!" she growled as she chomped them up as savagely as possible.

"You're sick," Kyoko said.

Sayaka swallowed and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Hey, you're the one who's always threatening to eat my tail."

"Still might. I mean, let's face it. Even with all this seafood, you've got the juiciest piece I've ever seen."

Sayaka stopped eating. Then she inclined her head back to grin fetchingly up at Kyoko. "Why, Ms. Sakura! Are you coming onto me?"

Kyoko started. "Huh?"

"Well, you pretty much just said I had a nice butt," Sayaka drawled. She slowly ran one finger over the brightly colored scales of her thigh.

Kyoko stared down at her. Then her look of surprise slowly morphed into a scowl. "I did not!" she said indignantly. "I just said you've got the tastiest…" Then, realizing that that wasn't exactly an improvement, she tried, "Er, I mean delicious…" Nope. Damn it, the fish had really taken her off her game. "Well, forget it," she muttered at last. "Shut up." Then, unwilling to concede defeat without at least one jape, she added, "Mine's the best anyway."

Sayaka laughed. "No, I think Charlotte's is better."

This just made Kyoko more annoyed. Sure, maybe she didn't have much going on in the chest, but she was very proud of what she had going on downstairs. "Is not."

"Is too," Sayaka said. "And Mami's. Sorry, but your booty comes in at a distant third."

Kyoko cast a sour glance over her shoulder, over to where Mami and Charlotte were trailing behind, talking. Okay, okay, so maybe Charlotte did have a great ass too. And fine, so Mami had pretty much won the curve lottery. That didn't mean her own had to settle for third place. "Just how long have you spent staring at our asses?"

"I gotta sit down all the time," Sayaka said with a sigh. "I see nothing but butt." She spread her arms out as if to embrace the world. "Butts, as far as the eye can see."

"You don't seem all that bothered by it."

That just made Sayaka grin all the more. "Well, butts are awesome. And they're all mine!"

…

"Well, they seem to be getting along," Charlotte observed as she inspected a platter of crusty chunks of sourdough bread. She picked out several and placed them in a small bag made from woven straw that one of the booths had been giving out for free, mainly because it bore a local bakery's logo.

Mami glanced at their younger friends, who were moving a few paces in front of them. The two girls were having a grand old time exchanging lighthearted barbs while sampling every other dish they came across. She had to give Oktavia credit, as she had long expected her to stuff herself to the gills before long before Kyoko had even taken the edge off of her eternal hunger, but the mermaid was keeping up. "Is there any reason why they wouldn't be?" she said as she helped herself to a bowl of strawberries and cream.

Charlotte shrugged. Unlike the other three, she was more focused on pilfering the feast for long-term provisions instead filling her belly with the choicest bits. In this she was finding limited success, as most of the available entrees were never intended to last the night, which meant a limited supply of anything that would keep for long. Still, she was making due with what she could find. "Oh, just something Tavi said to me on the way here, when you and Kyoko were sleeping. Apparently they got into a big fight when they were locked up, and she still felt bad about it."

Mami frowned at her, tilting her head to one side. "A fight? About what?"

They passed a tray of raspberry tarts, and Charlotte finally gave in. "Oh, apparently Kyoko slipped up once and called her, you know, by her old name," she said between nibbles. The babble of the crowd hid their conversation from the other two, but she still lowered her voice. "And Oktavia took it, well, kind of hard."

Mami winced. "Oh, that's not good."

"Yeah, well, to her credit, Kyoko apologized and all, but Tavi wasn't having any of it," Charlotte finished her tarts and immediately dropped a handful more into another one of her bags. She had accumulated quite a few of them on their way through the festival. Next, she had said, they were going to have to find someone giving away free clothes. That, or they were going to have to swallow their scruples and become thieves if they expected to survive the road ahead of them. "Some nasty things were said, and she felt pretty rotten about it."

Mami wondered why Oktavia didn't simply patch things up with Kyoko herself, but then remembered that even she had been prevented from doing so in the past out of simple embarrassment. "Well, that's too bad, but I don't think she should worry. Kyoko can hold a grudge, but not usually for words. She just doesn't seem to really take them personally."

"Oh yeah?" Charlotte said, raising an eyebrow. "Because I can point to a few instances that say otherwise."

"Well, so long as you don't hit some select subjects," Mami amended. "But if it was just name calling, then odds are she doesn't even remember it."

Charlotte frowned. "I hope so," she said as she helped herself to a bowl of nuts and dried fruit and quickly portioned them into several small Ziploc bags. Where she had gotten them, Mami hadn't noticed. "This trip is going to be hard enough even without us getting all snippy over dumb things."

Mami cocked an eyebrow. "I wouldn't call Oktavia's true name 'dumb,'" she chided.

"Neither would I," Charlotte said, shooting her a look. "I was talking about Kyoko."

"Right. Sorry."

They moved along in silence for a time, and then Charlotte muttered, "I still can't believe they did that. The Alliance, I mean."

"I know."

"I mean, yeah, we both knew what we were getting into, but it's…it's one thing to decide to walk away, but it's another to just be given the boot, and…" Charlotte shook her head. "They just abandoned us, Mami. All that talk about all for one and one for all, and they went and threw us under a shuttle, just so they wouldn't have to go to war."

Mami pursed her lips. "You think that was what it was? They just needed someone to hang?"

"I know that's what it was." She sighed. "And so help me, I'd probably do the same, if I was them."

"Char…"

"I mean, that's what I did, didn't I? We both knew that we could set off a war for this, and we did it anyway. For each other." She nodded over to Kyoko and Oktavia. "And for them. And if kicking some stranger I've never met before to the curb would save you, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"We don't have hearts, Charlotte."

"But we've got heartbeats."

"True," Mami admitted. "But still."

Charlotte swallowed. "Yeah. It hurts. We knew it was coming, but damn it hurts."

"I know," Mami agreed. "It does."

"Yeah," Charlotte said, picking up a few rolls for herself. "But that just leaves us with-"

Mami waited for her to continue, but it seemed her thought had died in mid-sentence. Mami turned to see what was wrong, eyebrow raised. Then her imaginary heart fell. "Oh no," she said.

Even though they were expected to keep the line moving, Charlotte had gone completely stiff. Her legs were as straight as tree trunks, her arms held tightly to her sides, all ten fingers splayed. Her tail, however, was now sticking out horizontally and had twisted itself up into a corkscrew. And her dark pink hair, now growing so long, had puffed out like a dandelion. Had she been wearing her customary twintails, they would be sticking straight up like a horse's ears.

But most noticeable was her face. Her eyes, normally as blue as a summer sky, were now broken into rings of gold, blue, and pink. A pale yellow dot sat in the center of each cheek, making her look less like a china doll and more like a clown. Her mouth was hanging slack, and her teeth were now razor-sharp. A trickle of drool slid out of one edge of her mouth.

Mami knew that look. She knew it very well, and cursed herself for forgetting that this might happen. They were at a buffet, after all.

It didn't take long to find the culprit. Charlotte was staring straight at it, after all. A display from a local dairy was a few paces down, closer to Kyoko and Oktavia than it was to the Tomoes, though Charlotte had no doubt smelled it. Had the air not been crowded with various other sharp scents, she would have probably picked up on it much sooner. The two teens snatched a few samples to nibble on, but were blissfully unaware of just how dangerous those milky treats of orange and white were.

"Cheeeeeeeeeese," Charlotte moaned, her voice low and husky. A rather terrifying smile lifted her lips.

Mami sighed and readied herself for disaster. Here they went again.

…

Kyoko smirked down at Sayaka. "So. You've gone full lesbo-fish, huh?"

Sayaka stopped laughing. For a split-second Kyoko thought that she had offended her, and suddenly found herself caught up between two conflicting impulses. The first was to press the attack, to keep teasing her about her apparent infection of lesbianism. The second was to apologize.

Frozen by indecision, Kyoko moaned internally. Man. While it was encouraging to see that her older, kinder instincts were returning, the hardened survivor Kyoko had been for the last year obviously wasn't leaving without a fight, and getting caught in the middle was proving to be a pain.

Fortunately, it turned out that Sayaka hadn't been hurt at all, but rather simply made to think. "You know, I'm not sure," she admitted at last. "I mean, I can barely remember what guys look like, and there's been plenty of times when I'd see some girl and think, 'Wow, she's cute.' So, maybe? I guess?"

Kyoko frowned. "Uh, you know I was just joking, right? Like, you don't have to-"

"But at the same time, I've never really, I don't know, got all…" Sayaka's voice trailed off.

Kyoko waited for her to finish her thought, but it seemed that the mermaid really couldn't think of the next word. "Flustered?" she suggested. "Hot and bothered? Overcome by the sweaty palm of lust?"

Sayaka shot her a tolerant look. "Sure, let's go with that, you skinny pervert. I dunno, maybe making that wish for that violin guy chained me to the straight side."

Now that was a sobering thought. Kyoko had seen enough to know that witches were more profoundly affected by the nature of the wishes they had made. Getting stuck with a worthless orientation while everyone else was cheerfully going lesbian would probably suck. "Do you wanna like girls?" Kyoko asked in full curiosity.

"I…I'm not sure," Sayaka said with a shrug. "I mean, I've thought of it, and it would be nice to…" She coughed. "But there's just so much going on that, well, it doesn't seem as important right now, you know? Maybe afterward I can have time to figure things out."

"I hear ya," Kyoko said.

They browsed among the buffet for a few moments longer, helping themselves to small bowls of chunks of pork swimming in egg noodles. Then Sayaka said, "Well, what about you?"

"What about me?" Kyoko said as she slurped up a mouthful of noodles.

"You've been here as long as I have. You like girls yet?"

That just made Kyoko laugh. "Swordfish, I didn't even care about guys when I was alive. Girls neither. Never seemed important."

"Really now?" Sayaka twisted her head around, her rumpled blue hair falling to one side as she gazed up at Kyoko in evident curiosity. "So, no crushes or anything?"

Kyoko shrugged. "I was like twelve when I took Kyubey's contract," she said. "Sort of young for that sort of thing. After that, I was fighting witches pretty much full time. Never really got the time to get to know anybody. Survival and winning were the only things I cared about."

"Until me," Sayaka said.

A few moments passed until Kyoko agreed. "Yeah," she sighed. "Until you."

"Sorry."

That made Kyoko laugh. "Hey, don't be so down. I was in a pretty bad spot when I met you. I may not really like this stupid afterlife, but hell, at least I'm not Kyubey's frigging headsman anymore."

"I guess so," Sayaka said, though she didn't really sound all that convinced.

Kyoko frowned at her, but before she could ask her what she meant, the mermaid changed the subject. "Well, what about after?"

"After what?"

"After we get your sister back, and go hide…wherever," Sayaka said, though her gaze was now fixed on the buffet line ahead of them. "What're you going to do then? You think you'll, you know, do the same thing as Mami?"

Kyoko's brow furrowed all the more. She leaned over the top of the wheelchair to look down at the mermaid. For her part, Sayaka refused to meet her eyes, though her cheeks had turned a little red.

"Why?" Kyoko said. "Do you want me to?"

"Huh?" Sayaka jerked a little. Then she let out a laugh that was just a wee bit too high. "What? No, I was just curious! Man, don't read too much into it, it was just a question.

"Uh-huh, sure," Kyoko said, smirking. "Well now, Ms. Fishsticks. Are you coming onto me?"

Sayaka's face was now red as a tomato, and this time Kyoko didn't feel at all guilty about enjoying her discomfort. If she was going to dish it out then she could very well take it as well.

Kyoko opened her mouth to say more, but at that moment they were interrupted by a sudden commotion right behind them, as Mami started shouting.

…

"Charlotte, no!" Mami said as she wrapped her arms around her wife's waist. "Get ahold of yourself!"

"Cheese!" Charlotte cheered in response as she lurched forward.

"Uh, is something wrong?" said the girl behind them in line. A few others standing nearby had also turned to watch in curiosity.

"I'm very sorry, it's a witch thing," Mami said to her as she struggled to keep Charlotte under control. A few ribbons flashed into place, binding Charlotte to the ground. "She gets like this whenever she sees cheese."

"Then why bring her here?"

"It's been a rough week," Mami said irritably. She didn't need this. "We forgot, and-Charlotte, no!"

"Cheese!"

"Hey, what the hell?" Kyoko said. She had spun Oktavia's wheelchair around and come forward to investigate. "What's this?"

"It's a witch thing," Mami said again. "Help me get her away from the cheese."

"Oh boy, this again," Oktavia muttered. Unlike Kyoko, she had witnessed one of Charlotte's fits at least once before, and that hadn't even been with real cheese. "Uh, maybe you better do what she says," she told Kyoko. "Or else this is going to get really…weird."

"It's weird already," Kyoko said, but she complied. "Hey, Charly," she said in a babying sort of voice as she took one of Charlotte's slender arms. "Let's go for a walk-walk, okay? Just…come away from the orange stuff, and don't make a mess…"

"Move her into the alley," Mami said. "If she can't smell it she can't-"

That was when she made a mistake. In order to move Charlotte away from the buffet she had to first remove the ribbons anchoring her to the ground. She ought to have bound up Charlotte's legs immediately afterward, but surely she and Kyoko were able to handle her. They were both strong, after all.

Unfortunately, Mami had failed to learn from her past experiences with this matter, and sorely underestimated Charlotte's lust for cheese.

"CHEESE!" Charlotte cried. As slippery as a fish, she wriggled free from both Mami and Kyoko's hands and threw herself headlong at the cheese display. "CHEE-"

And then she smacked right into a red, diamond-shaped shield had had materialized in the air. Knocked senseless, she tumbled back and landed right in Oktavia's lap.

"YAH!" Oktavia squeaked as her half-full plate was spilled over the two of them.

"Cheeeeee…" Charlotte moaned as her head lolled back and forth, her ringed eyes now swirling from both her trance and post-impact daze.

A round of laughter rose up from those nearby, Kyoko's voice being the loudest. Mami sighed. Well, better that they laugh than throw them out. The last couple of times this had happened, people had been less amused. "Sorry about that, everyone!" she said as she hastily grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and swerved it around to make their retreat. "We'll be out of your way in just a moment!"

She quickly pushed both the bemused Oktavia and the listless Charlotte away from the buffet line. Moaning in protest, Charlotte tried to sit up in Oktavia's lap, hands weakly grasping at the cheese display. Still laughing, Kyoko snatched up Charlotte's dropped bags and followed.

This is, Mami thought as they hastily fled the festival, not our proudest moment.

…

"I feel like such a fool," Charlotte said morosely. She sat upon her and Mami's borrowed sleeping bag, gingerly rubbing her swollen nose.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie," Mami said. She sat down next to her and covered her wife's hand with her own. "It's not your fault."

"The hell it isn't," Charlotte growled. "Stupid, I should've known that there'd be cheese. I'm such an idiot." She looked up. "Did I at least fill most of the bags?"

"About two-thirds," Kyoko said, inspecting Charlotte's bag of provisions. "Added to those care packets, this'll hopefully last us a couple weeks." She looked up and grinned.

Charlotte sighed. "Okay, fine. Say it."

"So…" Kyoko said, her smile not leaving her face. "That little performance back there…"

"Yes," Charlotte said shortly. "That's what happens whenever I smell, see, or sense cheese in any way. Yes, it's gotten me into trouble before. It's a weird witch thing. And no, I can't turn it off."

"She started nibbling on the cheese pieces when we were playing Mousetrap, back when you were still unconscious," Oktavia chimed in. "That was…odd."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Charlotte grumbled. She fell back over the sleeping bag and stared up at the tent roof. "Out of all the witch quirks in the world, I get stuck with this one. It's not fair."

Kyoko quirked an eyebrow. She reached into one of the bags. "So, say, if I were to show you this orange little beauty here…"

"NO!" Charlotte yelled, sitting straight up. "Are you crazy? Get rid of that thing right-"

"What, this?" Kyoko said, pulling out a carrot stick. She waggled it back and forth. "Come on. Vegetables are good for you," she said as she bit into it noisily.

Charlotte sighed as Oktavia started giggling. "Knock it off, Kyoko. It's not funny."

"It's a little funny," Oktavia said.

"Guys, please," Mami said in exasperation, though she wore a small smile of her own.

Charlotte shook her head. "Fine. Enjoy your freaking slapstick. I'm going to bed."

"Already?" Kyoko said. "I mean, it's gotta be only about eight, and the party's still going."

"Screw the party. The only party I want to attend is in that sleeping bag. And no, I don't care how that sounded, so save your jokes."

Charlotte started to shuffle over to the plus sized sleeping bag they had procured for her and Mami, but was stopped when Kyoko held up three carrot sticks to her.

"What's this?" she said. "I don't even like carrots all that much."

Kyoko grinned. "One's short for middle shift, one's medium for last, one's long for first. Time to select the watches."

Charlotte stared at her for a bit. Then she groaned. "Right," she said, reaching for one. "Please don't be the middle one, please don't be the middle one." The middle shift was the worst by far, as it meant your sleep was cut in half.

"Good luck," Kyoko said. "And may the odds ever be in your favor."

…

Kyoko couldn't sleep.

It was well past midnight, though the sun had yet to break the twilight. Most of the crowd had gone home or retired to their little camping spots, though small groups still huddled here and there around the dying embers of campfires, talking in hushed tones. There were even a few still kneeling on the grass, facing the globe as they prayed. Kyoko guessed that they either had just gotten off work or had a lot of relatives to send messages to.

As for the four of them, she, Sayaka, and Mami were all burrowed into their borrowed sleeping bags and snuggled tightly together in their small tent. Charlotte sat outside, keeping watch. In a couple hours she would rouse Kyoko, who had drawn the early morning shift. And then around six, Kyoko would wake the others. Poor Charlotte had been quite cranky about ended up with the middle shift, as it meant that her sleep would be cut in half. Mami, who had been lucky enough to draw first watch, had offered to trade with her, but of course that had just made Charlotte double down out of stubbornness, and the guard had been selected.

Maybe she should have traded. From her vantage point, Kyoko could see Charlotte through the slit of the tent's flap. Apparently a guardswoman was not her destined career, as she was sitting slumped over, her chin laying against her chest. She was probably sleeping more soundly than Mami, who sometimes stirred restlessly and let out soft moans of distress.

Kyoko groaned under her breath as she shifted to her other side for what felt like the tenth time that hour. It figured, it really did. After everything she had been through, all the sleepless nights, brutal fights, and being driven nearly mad with fear, one would think that she would konk right out once she had a little peace. But nope. She had lain wide awake all through Mami's shift while Charlotte snoozed and Sayaka snored. Then Mami had come in, woken up Charlotte, and passed out almost as soon as she had slipped into the sleeping bag. And soon it would be Kyoko's shift, and she would have to stay awake for the rest of the night. With her luck, that was probably the exact moment she would start to nod off.

But her mind would just not quiet. And for once, it was not preoccupied with thoughts of what before them or what they had escaped. Or rather, it was not the dangers they were to face that kept her awake. She still thought of Momo, her dead little sister. Momo, whose tiny, lifeless body she had stood over as the faith that had held her together for so long shattered to pieces. Momo, who she had both doomed and failed to save. Momo, who was not going to let down again.

But Momo's face wasn't the only one she saw.

Another ten minutes ticked by, counted off by the rhythm of Sayaka's soft, whistling snores. Kyoko sighed and turned over again so that she and the mermaid were face-to-face. She studied the other girl's sleeping face, framed as it was by untidy blue locks. Whatever nightmares had plagued Sayaka back at Marsters weren't bothering her now. She was now completely at peace. There was even a wry twist to her lips.

Kyoko deeply envied her, not the least because she had managed to get out of taking a turn at standing (well, sitting) guard. Oh, she had made a big show of insisting that she draw a shift as well, saying that her wheels were as effective a weapon as anything the others could come up with, and hey, wasn't the guard's job to wake the others if trouble appeared? She had lost her legs, not her voice, for Pete's sake! But in the end, she ended up grudgingly accepting her full night of rest, the cheeky fishstick.

But Kyoko was more jealous of why Sayaka was able to sleep so soundly. Mami's dreams were probably filled with the faces of her parents and the faces of her parents. Momo's face was lurking in every shadow and in the dark behind Kyoko's eyelids. But Sayaka wasn't burdened by any of that. Her family, who had to have noticed that she was missing by now? Forgotten. That violin boy and the green-haired opportunist who had snatched him up? She didn't even know their names. Madoka Kaname? Homura Akemi? Kyubey? Witches? She only knew of them because Kyoko had told her about them. On Remembrance Day she had little to remember. And her mind was lighter for it.

"Lucky fish," Kyoko growled. Sure, she may have ranted at length about what a terrible thing it was to have one's entire past stolen away, but at the moment, she might have traded away a few hours of forgetfulness if it meant a few hours of sleep in return.

Then she raised her head a bit to look at Mami. A puzzled frown crinkled her brow. Mami had much of the same weight she did. Maybe not quite to the same extent, but enough to earn her a bit of sleeplessness as well. And granted, it did sound like her rest was still troubled by dark dreams, but at least it was rest. So why was she able to sleep while Kyoko couldn't so much as keep her eyes closed?

Maybe it was a newbie thing. Mami had been here for seven years, after all. And apparently her first few months had been pretty rough as well, whereas Kyoko was practically brand new. Mami had plenty of time to adjust and…no, that didn't really track. Kyoko had plenty of restful nights since her death. This nasty bout of insomnia was a new development. And as much as she was trying to tell herself otherwise, she knew exactly what was wrong. Mami had done something that Kyoko had shunned.

Growling, Kyoko shuffled her way out of her sleeping bag and grabbed up her natty green jacket. She slipped it on, zipped it up, and pulled the hood over her head. After this, she went over to where Sayaka's wheelchair was silently standing guard and rummaged through one of the bags until she found what she was looking for. Then she pulled on her boots, stuck her hands into her jacket pockets, and left the tent.

Despite the hour, it was still reasonably warm outside, which was a good thing. As attached as Kyoko was to her normal wardrobe of green jacket, short shorts, black tank top, and knee-high boots, they were going to eventually end up heading through some very nasty weather conditions. She would have to look into acquiring some more climate-appropriate gear if she didn't want her adventure to end as a Kyokosicile. Plus, they were getting really beat up. Her jacket and shirt had plenty of cuts and tears that she had yet to have a chance to repair. But for now, it served just fine.

Taking a deep breath of the campfire-tinged air, Kyoko walked over to where Charlotte was slumping and touched her shoulder. Charlotte jerked up with a startled cry and whirled around to stare at Kyoko with wide eyes.

"Hey there, killer," Kyoko grinned. "My turn."

Charlotte blinked several times and shook her head until enough of her mind had returned for her to figure out what Kyoko was talking about. "Uh, no it isn't," she yawned as she checked her watch. "Still got, uh, like two more hours."

"Yeah, well, I can't sleep worth a damn, and unless you got see-through eyelids, you ain't doing much good as a guard. So might as well trade off early."

Charlotte scowled at her, and for a second it looked like she was going to argue the point out of sheer principle. But then she sighed and said, "Okay, okay, fine. Go 'head. Don't tell Mami, okay?"

Kyoko mimed sealing a zipper across her lips.

"Thanks," Charlotte said with another cavernous yawn. She got up and stumbled her way into the tent.

Kyoko sat down on the rock and looked out over the field. The globe still shone with golden dots, thought there were considerably fewer than before, and they seemed a bit dimmer, probably out of respect for those now asleep. There were a handful of people milling about, but most of them weren't even within earshot.

Kyoko held out the object she had retrieved from Sayaka's bag. It was Elsa Maria's compass, still with them despite everything. Maybe it was like the wheelchair itself or that harmonica, somehow enchanted to be with them no matter what happened.

She turned it over in her hands, studying its face. It was painted with arrows indicating north, south, east, and west, yes, but how much did that count for? She wasn't even sure that this world was round at all, which meant that the traditional directions were all but imaginary. Still, the faded red arrow remained constant, pointing out toward the field. Directly at the globe, in fact.

A few uncomfortable minutes passed, and then Kyoko muttered, "Well, might as well." Then she slipped off the rock and knelt down on the grass. She wondered if she should turn toward the globe. It probably didn't matter, and she wasn't much of a traditionalist. But hey, she was practically facing it already, so she adjusted it by a few centimeters. Then she clasped her hands in front of her face and bowed her head, though her eyes remained open. She was still supposed to be keeping guard, and whether or not the person she wanted to address would hear her or not didn't really depend on what her eyes were doing.

Then she started to pray.

"Hey there, Big Guy," she said. "It's me. Kyoko Sakura. Um, look. I know we haven't talked for a long time. Mainly because I sold my soul to an alien and I still think what you let happen to my family really fucking sucks. Plus, the last thing I asked from you was just a freaking happy dream because everything was sort of horrible, and you gave me this fever dream instead. So yeah. There's that still. But anyway, it's me again. Hi."

Kyoko paused for a bit, though not to wait for a response. Just saying those words out loud was taking more out of her than she had expected, like trying to cough a tumor out of her lungs. She sat still, listening to the gentle morning wind mixed with the low hubbub of voices coming from the rest of the field. Somewhere out there, a night owl with a guitar and her buddies had started a four-woman singalong of "Kumbaya," which was pretty damned ironic. Rolling her eyes, Kyoko continued. "Look, don't read too much into this. I'm not looking to become pen pals again or anything. And I guess I'm kinda outside your jurisdiction now. Which is pretty funny when you think about it. Damn, I wish I could have seen the look on your face when this place popped up. Still, I figure that even if you don't have much to do with this place, you can still get messages and stuff, right? I mean, Elsa Maria talked to you a lot. Must come with creating the universe and all."

Kyoko's face hardened a bit. "Well, okay. I've got a couple of messages, but they're not for you. Nothing really personal, but there's nothing you can do for me now. I want you to pass these along, okay? And yeah, one of them's probably in Hell, but fuck it. You created Hell too, so you can damned well send them a telegraph or something, okay? You owe me that much."

She paused again, partially to put in some more mental preparation, and partially to see if God was going to send some sort of denial via thunderbolt or something. Then, taking the resulting silence as agreement to her terms, she went ahead.

"Well, all right," she muttered. "Um, hi Momma. It's me, Kyoko." Damn, already her throat was growing thick. "Uh, look. See, ever since, well, that day I sort of figured you and Momo were in Heaven together. And…and even though I knew I'd never get to see you again, I was still happy for you. Because at least you had each other, right? But you don't." A small sob marred that last sentence, so she took a few additional seconds to regain her composure. "See, I'm dead too now. And I didn't get to go to Heaven, I didn't wind up in Hell, I'm here in this weird custom place for losers like me. And it turns out Momo is here too, which means you're up there all by yourself. And…I know Heaven is supposed to be wonderful and all, but how great can it be if you're lonely all the time? I mean, you get to hang out with Jesus, but He's got to have a busy schedule with all the people wanting to see him, and…" Now her eyes were getting wet. Kyoko grimaced. No, she wasn't going to cry. The tears weren't going to get her. "Damn it, I'm sorry, Momma. I'm sorry I ever let that little rat bastard Kyubey into our lives. I'm sorry I thought that I could just magic everything better. I really screwed things up, didn't I, Momma? If…if I'd told that little shit to just go screw himself, I wouldn't be stuck here, Momo wouldn't be stuck here, we'd still be alive and together and okay, maybe still homeless and hungry, but that's loads better than being alone. And Papa…"

Um, look. Please don't blame Papa for what happened, okay? It's my fault, it really is. He just, well, got really scared and went a little…Um, point is, it really is my fault for making that deal. So if you have to be angry at someone, be angry at me. I can take it. And I'll still love you. I'll always love you."

Her first message done, Kyoko slumped forward. For a time she just concentrated on breathing in and out. It took a while, but after a minute or so the breaths came easier, and her throat started to loosen. Letting out a small, somewhat rueful laugh, she wiped first her eyes and then her nose with the greasy sleeve of her jacket. Okay, that had been hard, but she had done it. And it hadn't cried. It had come close, but she hadn't cried.

Which was good, because the next one was going to be an even bigger challenge.

Then she felt something patter against her hood and back. Looking up, she saw that it was starting to rain. Not hard, scarcely more than a drizzle, but even that small amount wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Figures," Kyoko muttered. "And here we go with the symbolism."

In answer, the raindrops came down harder. Kyoko sighed. Well, rain or not, she had volunteered to be out here. She'd better get on with it.

"Hi Papa," Kyoko said at last. "I'm…I know where you are. I mean, you gotta be there, right? You don't go doing what you did and still get to go to Heaven. And it probably sucks even more than it does here." She sniffed and sighed. "Er, sorry I…couldn't go be with you. Believe me, it surprised the hell out of me too. Literally, heh heh. But um."

Well, here went nothing. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I took the contract. Yeah, it wasn't actually with the Devil, but it might as well have been. I'm sorry about the church and the people. I'm sorry I broke your heart." Kyoko felt her chest tighten, and she braced herself. But this time, the tears did not come. "I don't hate you, Papa. I did for a while, but hell, when it comes down to it, you did the best you could. And you were still just a man. Things got crazy, and you couldn't handle it. I've seen some shit, so I know what…" Her voice trailed off. Grimacing she shook her head and let it go. At least her eyes were still dry. Why was that, she wondered. "But anyways, I just wanted you to know that I really don't hate you. I forgive you for what happened, okay? And it would mean a lot to me if you'd forgive me too."

And still the tears didn't come. If anything, she felt lighter now than when she began, as if she were expelling pain with every word. Heartened by this, she spoke louder. "And this is going out to both of you. Momma. Papa. I don't think any of us are ever gonna be together again. It's weird, it sucks, yeah, but that's the way it is, I guess. We're all dead and in different places. But like I said, Momo is here with me. Not sure how or when that happened, but it did. And she's in a lot of trouble right now, so I'm going to go save her. And when I do, I promise I'll do right by you. I'll keep her safe and raise her right and all, even if she technically older than me now. Weird, huh? I don't know how I'm gonna pull it off. I mean, this is way beyond even what Frodo had to do. You remember reading me those stories, don't you, Papa? I mean, at least he had a whole gang of buddies setting out with him. Like, he had freaking Gandalf, for crying out loud! Me, I got a couple of lesbians and a fish! And already things have gotten all sideways."

But it wasn't like that for long, was it? After a while, it was just Frodo and Sam and I guess Gollum. And there were lots of times when they didn't know what they were doing or how the hell they were going to get through the day, but they still saved the world. So I guess it's like that. We don't know where to go or what to do next, but we…we can figure that out as we go along. And I swear to you, both of you." Then with a smirk, she added, "Ah hell, all three of you. I mean it, you big jerk. We're going to do this. We're going to save Momo, and we're going to get her somewhere safe, even if we gotta fly out on the freaking eagles to do it. And from there, well, I guess we'll just have to do our best. Take it one day at a time. Because God knows, we've got a lot of them ahead of us, don't you, God?"

Kyoko inhaled deeply, filling her chest with the cool night air. When she let it out, it felt like it took all the fog that had been filling her mind with it. "Um, and that's all I wanted to say. I love you both. Amen. And stuff."

Well, that hadn't been nearly as bad as she had thought. Kyoko laughed a little. She had to admit, she felt so much better. Cleansed, even. Like millstones had been rolled off her back and her body scrubbed clean. A pity she hadn't caved earlier. She might have managed to get some sleep.

Shaking her head, Kyoko stood up and arched her back, fingers entwined behind her back as she stretched. Then she turned around and froze.

Annabelle Lee was right there.

The renegade Void Walker was floating less than three meters away. Kyoko had no idea how she had escaped Marsters, but from the look of things, she must have had to fight a war to do so. Her body was smeared with grease and oil, her clothes were torn and dirty, her wild hair hanging in unwashed tatters around her face, and dark bags framed her eyes. But that was nothing compared to the look she was wearing.

Once, years ago, when her family had been forced onto the streets, Kyoko and Momo had been forging for something to eat in the dumpsters behind a restaurant when they had come across a stray dog wandering aimlessly between the bags of garbage. Kyoko, who had always loved dogs and still had plenty of naiveté to spare, so she had smiled and knelt down to call the cute doggie to them.

Then the dog had stopped and looked at them.

Kyoko would never forget the look it its eyes. It didn't bark. It didn't yap. It didn't even growl. It had just stared right at her, its crusty yellow eyes seeming to burrow into her soul. Foamy drool dripped from its jowls as it just kept on staring. Kyoko had frozen stiff from fear while Momo cowered behind her.

Mama had shown up then, and when she saw the dog, she had gone very quiet. Then she took Kyoko and Momo by the hands and slowly led them from the alley, whispering at them not to yell or run. The three of them slowly withdrew, while the dog continued to stare. Later, Mama had told her that the dog was mad, and the animal control had shown up later to take care of it, which meant that they had killed it. Had she not shown up, it very well might have attacked the two girls.

At the time, it was the single most frightening moment of her life, and though it had quickly become overshadowed by greater terrors, the dog's staring eyes had remained burned into her memory.

That was what Annabelle Lee looked like. Her amethyst eyes were glassy and corpselike, but still shone with a fierce intensity that denoted madness. It wasn't the ragged insanity that had ravaged Brooklyn's mind. This was pure desperation and despair. It was the look of someone who knew in her heart that she was doomed to the gallows but refused to accept it even as the noose was placed around her neck.

Kyoko knew full well what that was like. After all, she had been of that exact same mindset in the weeks after her family had died and she and Mami had their falling out. It was that quiet desperation that had kept her going, prevented the despair from rising up to drown her. Without it, she would have entered this world a lot sooner, only under a completely different name.

The two tormented girls continued to stare at one another as the rain came down. Kyoko wondered why Annabelle Lee hadn't shot her yet. She had Kyoko dead to rights. And yet, though the barrel of her rifle was still aimed right at Kyoko's chest, she didn't pull the trigger.

Finally Kyoko couldn't take it any longer. "Well?" she demanded, her voice hoarse.

Annabelle Lee's through tightened, and Kyoko braced herself for violence.

Then, without taking her eyes off of Kyoko's face, Annabelle Lee slowly lowered the weapon.

"So," she said. "That's what this is all about? That Void Walker you're planning on kidnapping. It's your sister? Oblivion has your sister?"

Kyoko blinked. Then her face hardened. "Yeah," she said. "Oblivion has my sister. And I'm going to get her back."

Annabelle Lee inhaled deeply through her nose. Then as she slowly exhaled, she finally averted her gaze and closed her eyes. "Of course," she whispered. "Of course it…" She shook her head and let out a bitter little laugh. "Fine. Get out of here."

Kyoko started. "What?"

"You heard me. Wake up your friends and beat it."

"But-"

"Are you insane?" screeched out a high-pitched voice. Kyoko jerked in surprise as one of the blonde twins, the one with the pistols that Mami had named Nie, suddenly came running out of the underbrush. Kyoko hadn't even so much as sensed that she was there.

However, Nie wasn't interested in her at all. "What's wrong with you?" Nie demanded of Annabelle Lee. She thrust a finger at Kyoko. "She's right there! And you're letting her go?"

"Shut up, Nie," Annabelle Lee growled.

"But-"

"I said shut up, Nie!"

"But Nie is absolutely right," said the other twin, the one with syringes for fingers. She seemed to materialize out of the night itself to walk right past Kyoko, making her again jerk back in shock. "Have you completely lost what little sense you have left?"

"Annabelly, what's wrong?" Ticky Nikki said as she crawled up onto the rock over the tent where Kyoko's friends were sleeping. Kyoko gaped. How long had they been hiding there listening to her pray? "Nikki thought we hated them. Why's we letting go now? It's so confusing, it fills her head with butterflies."

"Shut up!" Annabelle Lee snapped. "All of you, shut up! This is the way it's gonna be, and that's final! Do you hear me?" Then she turned her furious gaze over to Kyoko. "Hey. Kyoko."

"What?" Kyoko said.

Annabelle Lee jabbed a finger at her. "This is a one-time thing. I'm just giving you a pass because it's Remembrance Day. And it's just going to last until noon. After that…" She popped one of her claws and slowly drew the flat across her neck. "You got it?"

Dumbstruck and as confused as Annabelle Lee's angry teammates, Kyoko could only nod.

"Good." Annabelle Lee turned and started to float away. "All right, let's go."

Nie gaped at her. "But-"

"I said shut up, Nie!"

The next thing Kyoko knew, they were gone. Somehow Annabelle Lee had imposed her will on her rebellious team, and they had left, swallowed up by the night.

Kyoko stood alone in the rain, eyes wide and darting back and forth to search the shadows for some other hidden enemy. Her arms were shaking and her chest was loudly mimicking the pounding of her absent heart.

That had been far too close. Annabelle Lee and her gang had to dead to rights. How long had they been hiding in the dark, just meters away? Had Annabelle Lee not changed her mind, Kyoko and her friends would have been overwhelmed and slaughtered within seconds.

But why did Annabelle Lee change her mind? She was half mad, that was obvious. And she had even less reason to care about holidays than Kyoko.

But then, why would the self-centered survivor risk so much to save some stupid, headstrong rookie that she had known for only a few days? That hadn't made any sense either, but Kyoko had still done it. And besides, she wasn't the only one with a little sister.

Still, it was a mystery, one that Kyoko wasn't going to bother figuring out but wasn't going to waste either. It would seem that those four would be dogging them still. Fine. They could use the motivation. That in mind, Kyoko rushed to the tent to rouse her friends. No doubt they weren't going to be happy about being chased from Cattie's Grove so soon, but Kyoko didn't trust Annabelle Lee to keep her promise. And they had a long way to go still.

…

Rather appropriate that the chapter having to do with a holiday would go up on my birthday. Yup, today I turn the big Three-Oh. And I'm still writing stories about dead teenaged lesbians with superpowers fighting aliens in purgatory. What's that say about me?

Until next time, everyone!