Damien Shepard here. This is Chapter 4 of my Saint Tail fic. I would have finished earlier, but computer problems are a pain. Please enjoy.

Damien Shepard presents

The Magician of Destruction

Chapter 4: Aftermath-Part 2

Sawatari and the others had just made it to the hospital in Umi no Hoshi Town. Sawatari was the first one to get out of the car. He ran out of the van and ran into the hospital. His father told him what room Sasami was in so he knew where to go. He ran like a rocket to Sasami's room. When he got there, he saw his Aunt Honoka, and Uncle Ginji at the door.

"H-H-How is she!" Sawatari asked, trying to regain his breath.

"Manato, when she was admitted, she had severe slashes. She's undergoing surgery now." Honoka answered. Sawatari grabbed her by her shirt.

"Who did this! I demand that you tell me now!" Sawatari yelled. Rina and Rumiya had to hold him back.

"Lay off, Manato! Don't make it…" Sawatari's father began.

"I don't care! I have to find out what happened!"

Rina faced Sawatari and slapped him.

"What is wrong with you? This isn't the Sawatari I know!"

"If you could understand what my problem is towards losing a family member, you'd do the same thing!" Sawatari said, grabbing Rina's shirt.

"Why! What's your problem?" Rina asked.

"It's none of your buisiness, so don't ask again." Sawatari said as he let go of Rina.

"I think we'd better do as he says." Rumiya said. "You never know what might happen when someone goes over the edge."

"Fine." Rina said, still having a hint of concern in her voice.

A surgeon then came out of the room.

"Well?" Ginji said.

"You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Kawaii, your daughter pulled through. She's recovering now." The surgeon said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Sawatari especially was happy about this.

"Let her rest for an hour or so, then you can see her." The surgeon said.

So they did. When they were able to see her…

"Uncle Ginji, Aunt Honoka, may me and my friends see her in private?" Sawatari asked.

Ginji laughed and said, "Sure. Just don't take too long."

"We want to see her too!" Honoka said gleefully.

Sawatari, Rina, and Rumiya went to see Sasami. Sawatari knocked on the door.

"Come in." a young girl's voice came. Sawatari opened the door.

"Hello, Sasami. It's been a while." Sawatari said.

"Manato! What are you doing here! Aren't you supposed to be in school in Seika!" Sasami asked.

"Yeah, but something came up. A friend of ours was admitted into the hospital, and then we found that you were too." Rina said.

"Who's that?"

"This is Rina Takamiya. She's a fellow classmate of mine. Rina, this is my younger cousin, Sasami Kawaii."

"Nice to meet you, miss." Sasami said.

"Sasami, there's something we need to talk to you about, but before we do that…"

Sawatari went to the door and opened it. Out popped a young girl, slightly older than Sasami, with red hair and green eyes.

"P-Professor Washu!" What are you doing here!"

"We all saw what happened between you, Pixy Misa, and that new Magical Girl." Washu said.

"Whoa! Wait a minute. Did you just say NEW Magical Girl!" Sawatari asked.

"Yeah. Who are you!"

"That's my cousin, Manato Sawatari, and his friend from his school, Rina Takamiya." Sasami said.

"Sasami." Washu said as she walked towards Sasami. "It's a miracle you're still alive. You were banged up rather badly. Now everyone knows that you're Pretty Sammy."

Sasami screamed her head off at this, and yelled, "NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT THAT!"

"Calm down, Sasami. We already know." Rina said.

"But how…" Sasami said.

"I'm afraid I'm the one responsible for that." Rumiya said, deciding to speak up.

"Who are you?" Sasami asked.

"Well…let me put it to you this way." Rumiya said as he turned into his bird form and back again. Sasami and Washu both screamed at this.

"Y-You're that bird that fights alongside Misa!" Sasami screamed.

"WAS that bird that FOUGHT alongside Misa." Rumiya said.

"What do you mean was?" Washu asked.

"I can tell you everything. Ramia, my sister, and another candidate for queen of Juraihelm, used YOUR friend, Misao, and turned her into Misa."

"YOU'RE KIDDING!" Sasami yelled.

"It gets worse. She FORCED me to do her dirty work for her." Rumiya turned his back in order to hide the sorrow he was showing. "Believe me when I say that it's not something I'm proud of." He was trying to hold back tears. "I regret ever working with her. She's a monster! She'll do anything to usurp the throne. That's why I stopped working with her. She'll stop at nothing, and I DO mean NOTHING to get the throne for herself."

"Calm down, Rumiya." Sawatari said. "Why don't you go sit outside."

"I think I will. Thank you." Rumiya said calmly. Washu walked out with him.

"So Rumiya was a pawn in this whole thing." Sasami said.

"Sasami…what was the name of the Magical Girl that helped Pixy Misa? I'm curious." Sawatari asked.

"I can't remember off the top of my head. Events are a little hazy. But if everyone now knows that I'm Pretty Sammy, then you might ask them." Sasami said.

"We will." Rina said as she and Sawatari walked out of the room. They questioned everyone who was at the incident, but for some reason, nobody who was at the hospital at that time didn't know.

"It's a shame that you couldn't help us, Uncle Ginji."

"That's alright!" Ginji said in an ecstatic tone.

"We tried to help!" Honoka said.

"That's my Aunt and Uncle. Even if they're depressed for a time, it isn't very long. Then they go back to their usually crazy selves." Sawatari whispered to Rina.

"I'll try to keep my distance." Rina whispered back.

They then walked out of the Hospital.

"Unbelievable!" Rina yelled. "Just who are we going to get the answer from!"

"Maybe some of Sasami's friends from school might know." Sawatari said. They decided to go to Umi no Hoshi elementary school to get some answers.

They went to see the principal there.

"Hello, and who might you be?" the principal asked.

"My name is Manato Sawatari, and this is my classmate, Rina Takamiya. I understand one of your school's students is in the hospital."

"I'm Principal Miura, and yes, you are right. Sasami Kawaii."

"She's my cousin. I was hoping we could ask some questions about that fight." Sawatari said.

"I'll call Class 4-3 right away. That's her class." Principal Miura said.

Soon, they were questioning student after student. They even questioned the teacher, but to no avail, this being in part to the teacher's utter stupidity.

"DANG! So far, nobody knows anything about this new Magical Girl. It's as if they're hiding something." Rina said.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Do we have anymore students left?" Sawatari asked.

"Just four." Rina said.

"Read the names to me."

"Konoha Haida, known as the class bully, is known to pick on your cousin's friend, Eimi Date, the class president, and a real stickler for following the rules, Kenji Oyamada, who's in the school photography club, and a little crazy from the looks of his recor, and Hiroto Majima, the school soccer ace.

"Bring them in, and let's see if we can't get a DECENT clue out of them."

Four kids, all around Sasami's age, walked into the room. One girl had green hair, the other red hair. One boy had black hair that covered one eye, and the other was most noticeable by the Band-Aid on his nose.

"Okay, Konoha Haida, Eimi Date, Hiroto Majima, and Kenji Oyamada." Sawatari called their names. Each kid signified himself or herself when their names were called.

"What do you want?" Hiroto asked.

"My name is Manato Sawatari. I'm here to investigate what happened to my cousin, Sasami Kawaii."

"YOU'RE Kawaii's cousin!" Konoha yelled.

"Haida, it's against the rules to scream like that." Eimi said. The two girls then started bickering.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." Rina whispered to Sawatari.

"Yeah. I noticed." Sawatari whispered back.

"Can we get to the questioning, or are you going to fight like this!" Rina asked, breaking up the fight between the two girls.

"Yes, Ma'am!" the two girls said, facing Rina nervously.

"Alright. Question 1: Were you at the fight between Pretty Sammy and Pixy Misa the other day?" Sawatari asked. Just about everyone else had already answered "No". And the only one who did was the teacher, so she was no help.

"We know everyone has answered no in order to try to forget about what happened, but I can assure you that we were there." Eimi said.

"Well at least ONE kid can say they were there." Rina said.

"Alright, question 2: Can you describe what happened?"

"Well, the fight was in Pretty Sammy's favor at the beginning of the fight." Kenji answered.

"What happened?" Rina asked.

"Just as Sammy was about to finish off Misa, someone appeared in a column of pink light." Konoha answered.

"Who?"

"It was another Magical Girl." She answered again.

"Can ANY of you give us the Magical Girl's name?" Sawatari asked. This was now the moment of truth.

"Yes. Her name was Beautiful Meira!" The four spoke in unison.

"Finally! Some leverage!" Rina said.

"Next Question: Can you describe her?" Sawatari asked.

"She had pink hair in a ponytail, and deep violet eyes for one thing." Eimi said. Rina and Sawatari immediately remembered the violet eye that Meimi had after Ramia's first attempt at hypnotizing her.

"Can you describe the clothes she was wearing?" Rina asked.

"Can I!" Konoha said. She was wearing something like a stage costume, yet it was a little flamboyant. The majority of it was velvet in color with gold star patterns adorned all over it, and the skirt part was pink, but also adorned with gold star patterns."

"Strangely enough, she spoke like a country western lass. You know, from a country type town in America, or a wild west movie." Hiroto said.

"Thanks for the help! You can't imagine how big a help you've been." Sawatari said.

"Yes, you may return to your class now." Rina said, pushing the four out of the room. She then summarily slammed the door in their faces.

"What was that about?" Kenji asked.

"I don't know, but it's against the rules to slam the door like that." Eimi said.

"I say we should listen in on what they're saying, if they're saying anything." Hiroto said.

"Oh, Hiroto…" Konoha said romantically, grabbing Hiroto's arm. "…you always come up with the best ideas!"

After prying Konoha off of Hiroto's arm, they listened in on Rina and Sawatari's conversation.

"So, what do you think, Sawatari?" Rina asked

"Either they're very brave, or very crazy. Either way, it's the best information we have."

"This Meira fits some of Meimi's persona, the pink colored skirt, the velvet, the ponytail. Not to mention the violet eyes, just likewhen we wereattacked by Ramia a few days ago." Rina said.

"Asuka sure isn't going to like this. But someone has to tell him what happened to her." Sawatari said.

"That's provided we can find him. Who knows where his dad took him." Rina said.

"Did you hear that?" Hiroto whispered.

"They know the alter ego of Meira? But how? And who's this Ramia person?" Konoha asked.

"Remember when we saw her, she looked more like an eighth grader than a fourth grader. They must be friends of the alter ego." Kenji said, actually saying something that was more to the point.

"Guys! It's against the rules to…" Everyone clamped Eimi's mouth shut. They obviously didn't want to hear how listening in on a conversation was against the rules.

Back in the room…

"Anyhow, why exactly does Ramia want the throne of Juraihelm in the first place? AND why turn that Misao Amano girl into Pixy Misa?" Sawatari asked.

This utterly shocked the four who were listening. While they, along with half of the town, found out Sammy's true identity on the day of the fight, they had no idea that Misao was Pixy Misa.

"Amano is Pixy Misa!" Hiroto whispered, trying to hold his shock.

"Who does that girl think she is, acting like a nice girl one instant and acting like a nutcase the next!" Konoha whispered. Rina heard this from the other side and walked up to the door.

"Well, she might have been hypnotized." Kenji suggested.

"She was hypnotized." Rina's voice came from the other side of the door. She opened it and the four kids fell onto the ground.

"Exactly how long were you listening?" Rina asked.

"We started at "So what do you think?", miss." Kenji said, saying the dumb answer and getting glares from the other three kids.

"So, what do we do with them, Sawatari?" Rina asked.

"If they're friends with Sasami and Misao, then we're going to have to let them live. BUT, to make sure they don't do anything stupid, we're going to separate them." Sawatari said.

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"Two of you are coming with us, while two of you are going to stay here." Sawatari said.

"I'll stay with Hiroto!" Konoha immediately said.

A sweatdrop ran down the back of Sawatari's head. He then said, "On second thought, you're all coming with us." Sawatari said.

"But it's against the rules to abandon the school in order to investigate something."

Rina summarily slugged her. She flew clear across the room.

"That's the first time you've done that to anyone but me, Takamiya." Sawatari said.

"She must tick everyone off." Rina said.

"She does." The other 3 kids said.

"We'll wait for school to end, and then you'll be coming with us, understand?

"Yes ma'am." Konoha, Hiroto, and Kenji said.

"I don't wanna break the rules!" Eimi said.

"What do we do with her?" Sawatari asked. "We can't leave her here."

"She's coming whether she likes it, OR NOT!" Rina said, yelling the last part in Eimi's ear.

Eimi cried her head off for the rest of the day. Rina and Sawatari took the kids to the hospital, with Eimi tied up like she was a hostage, which she thought herself as. Washu greeted them.

"What is the class 4-3 president doing tied up?" Washu asked.

"She and these kids were listening in on a conversation. We had no choice but to bring them with us." Rina said.

"And she wouldn't shut up about the rules." Sawatari said.

"Well, it can't be helped. Anyway, Sawatari, Sasami has been cleared. Apparently, the magic powers she has also include fast healing." Washu informed.

"That's a relief." Sawatari said.

"Listen, anyone who wants to find out the truth about this whole thing should come with us. Those who want to stay, well…just stay in this town." Rina said. Eimi started shaking like wild.

"Alright, fine. You can stay." Rina said as she put Eimi down and untied her. "BUT IF YOU SO MUCH AS WHISPER A WORD OF THIS TO ANYONE, YOU WILL PAY DEARLY!" She yelled in her ear.

"Eeeek! I understand! I understand!" Eimi said in fear. She figured that it probably wasn't a good idea to explain what rules she just broke, especially considering that Rina and Sawatari meant business.

"It's probably best if I go." Washu said. "I could use the research to study this new Magical Girl."

"We're going too!" Konoha, Hiroto, and Kenji said.

"Same here." Rumiya said.

"Then it's settled." Rina said.

They were about to leave when a voice came.

"Wait!" It was Sasami's voice. They all turned to see her.

"I'm going with you." Sasami said.

"What!" Sawatari yelled. "If you go, who knows what will happen!"

"I don't care. I have to save Misao, even if it costs me my life!" Sasami said.

"Fine. I'll probably regret it though." Sawatari said.

"Don't worry, Manato. I'll help in anyway I can."

"We have some talking to do on the way to our home in Seika."

"Wait!" Konoha said. "Aren't there too many people to transport?"

"Don't worry." Sawatari's dad said. "Our car can hold more than enough people."

"And I can do this." Rumiya said, just before he turned into his bird form.

"That's good to know." Honoka said.

They got into the car and headed back to Seika, unaware of where Asuka was.

Next Time: Asuka is taken to Meimi's house to receive a lesson on how thievery is in her lineage. Then the gang starts planning on how to get to Juraihelm. Next Chapter: Aftermath-Part 3.