I touch the window glass and feel the warmth at my fingertips. It is always sunny outside.

There are people smiling on the other side. They are beautiful when they smile, always. Some are walking with their animals. I could have a pet, could I not? Nah... I would just be torturing it.

Look... I remember this girl, she studied with me at school. She is walking hand in hand with this boy... He seems to be older, have they ever had sex? I will be so angry if I ever see her with a belly.

My eyes are tired, but the window is always open.

Anna? Is that Anna? It has been so long since I saw her, she changed her hair. I remember that day at the amusement park, when I felt that our friendship would end. A tattoo? I do not remember her having one. She has nice friends now, while my life goes around in smaller and smaller circles...

The neighbor will travel, with the whole family together, all happy. It looks like they are going to the beach. Meh... I do not even like the beach. My body is all ungainly and pale, I was known at school as 'sausage'. I only feel shame and the sun burns, it sucks.

I hear sounds behind the door. Is it my mother? Yeah... By the weight of her steps, I know it is her. If I smell food... I hope she did not put it at the door. Why does not she give up? Does she think this will change anything? School is over, my life is over. The world has already judged me, I can only look at it through the window.

The other neighbor's daughter is pregnant, she has a husband. It will be a girl... They are so happy, I will pray that they bring a human to the world, not someone like the sausage here, but how old is she compared to me? About six years? About two thousand one hundred and ninety days? Ah, there are leap years. She is so fulfilled, look at how they exchange looks. It is so beautiful when you are not on that side.

Die, but really die, to be before I was alive, but I am aware that it will not be so. I accept that it is my fault, I could have thought differently, made different choices. I...

I am aware of my purpose. I now know, I am at peace, I look at the window and I am at peace with what will happen. I can do infinite kindnesses, serve others with all humility, when I die I will go to hell. Guaranteed, written in the stars.

But not only that!

Murderers? Genocides? Rapists? All forgiven. While I am falling, I will see even the devil ascend to heaven.

It is and it will be my fault, all faults will be mine.

No, it will not be like Jesus. I will not be adored for this 'sacrifice'. I am more like a trash can. While I am agonizing in the fire, I will see everyone in paradise making fun of me and laughing. It is almost like now, in my room looking at the window, but it is more explicit.

God. Gods. Demiurge. Darwin. Big Bang. Whatever. I was created so that others could feel better. You know, someone has to be in the last place.

I am at peace with my existence, but there is something that bothers me. A selfishness... I am a horrible person and I am starting to like it. Before going to hell, I would like to feel the sun, to have those smiles. I do not know what life is like for these people beyond what the window shows, but those moments that I can see would be enough.

Like a mirage in the desert, I will live the mirage.

Fata Morgana

The lights in the corridor lit up, announcing someone was passing through it.

Madre did not find that strange at that time of day. With the rationing of the seeds, everyone avoided physical effort. If it were not for looking for the stolen seeds, time should be devoted to rest.

There were exceptions.

She heard short sounds of impact. Like a whip, but shorter. It was a sound she had not heard in a long time and she did not expect to hear it anymore.

The sound came from Inquisitor's room. Intrigued, Madre approached the metal door and placed her ear close to the surface to confirm what she was hearing.

Suddenly, the impact sounds stopped, followed by the man's voice, "I know someone is there. Please, come in."

It sounded more like an order. With wide eyes, Madre activated the electronic panel, discovering that the door was unlocked.

In Inquisitor's room there was nothing on the walls but a modest cross above the concrete bed. There were many stacks of papers and books, some of the stacks were the support of a metal plate, improvising the function of a desk. There were two plastic chairs, one with another stack of documents and the other the man was using. He expressed surprise when he saw who had entered and quickly got up to take the pile off the other chair. "Oh please, have a seat."

His voice was no longer stern, but Madre obeyed without hesitation. Looking at him the entire time as she sat, she asked, "How did ya know?"

"I felt the steps." He sat down again. "And many times it happened, but I ignored it. Now that the seeds have been stolen, I... I couldn't do that anymore. Sorry, was it you the other times too?"

The redhead looked down. "Well, this isn't the first time. I ended up goin' too far and invaded your privacy, I beg your pardon, I won't do it anymore."

He raised his hand and shook his head. "It's okay, I'm not blaming you for anything." Then he returned his attention to what was on the desk. "Just let me finish this sheet."

Madre watched the man press the lever to return the typewriter cylinder and start typing, bringing that nostalgic sound. "Do you also have difficulties with computers like me?"

"No," Inquisitor replied without stopping what he was doing, his eyes fixed on the line he was writing on the paper, "this information I'll also insert in the data center, but I consider what is there as something... malleable. I like to have a guarantee."

"I understand." The woman saw that there was also a calculator and, given the large number of buttons, it must have been the most expensive item in the room. "Are you checkin' the finances?"

"I hope it's a rechecking..." Inquisitor stopped typing and removed the sheet, then shook it and blew on the surface. He spent a few moments looking at the document in his hands and left it on one of the nearby stacks. He then lowered his head and sighed.

Madre left her hands clasped on her lap, waiting in silence.

He opened his mouth, revealing his gritted teeth, and took a deep breath before saying, shaking his head, "We look in each sister's room. In the gym, in the training room, in the bathrooms, in every locker, even in the novices' beds and nothing was found. The camera images have been revised and there is nothing new, nor did we find a suspicious movement of someone trying to hide something. Simply nothing..."

The woman agreed, "You said it was planned. Whoevah did this should be hoping that we wouldn't find the seeds easily."

"But the most important question is why?" Inquisitor looked at her. "What's the motivation?"

Madre looked away for a moment. "Maybe the person wants to promote chaos to find an opportunity to get away with all the seeds for themselves."

"And where to go? We're in a world crisis. Outside is infested with these new witches that we don't know how to deal with. Having a lot of seeds will not save you from an ambush."

She shrugged. "Perhaps it's despair."

"I don't know..." He lowered his gaze and scratched his beard. "I think we missed something..."

With all that speculation, Madre asked, "Do you still intend to search the silo again? Have you talked to Generalíssima?"

Inquisitor turned his face away.

Still, Madre could see his expression of discomfort.

Then he smiled. "Do you know what is most difficult in a conflict?"

She frowned and replied, "To know how-"

"To know how many sides it has." The man nodded and returned to look at her, smiling more. "I wanted to talk with you, I would prefer it to be in a better context, but..."

Madre raised her eyebrows. "Really...?"

Inquisitor nodded again. "I read your profile while still in Europe, Steel Saint."

Madre gaped and then smiled, hiding her face with her hands. "Oh my God... That awful name. When I became a sistah, I didn't know which name to choose. The others suggested this name to me because it's 'strong'." She dropped her hands. "Fortunately, you can change it later."

"You were the first magical girl in the country to be part of the Sisterhood. For decades, your leadership has been vital to establishing our presence here."

She stopped smiling, shaking her head. "I'm not a leader. I only believe in the values of the Sisterhood and I wanted to save others like me."

"And you did." He continued to smile. "Thanks to your experience."

Once again, she shook her head. "My experience is limited."

Inquisitor leaned back in his chair. "In Souls' Sisterhood, you're the oldest magical girl by far."

She looked at the typewriter. "It just means a lot of obsolete knowledge."

"It seems that this knowledge helped you to stay alive for decades before joining us." He adjusted the belt that crossed his torso. "When, in most cases, the life span of a magical girl is counted in months."

She stated, "If I'm alive, it's because of the death of these girls."

And he raised his voice, "Life feeds on death, that was never a sin."

Madre narrowed her eyes. "What do you have against Generalíssima?"

The man froze for a moment, only his eyebrows almost furrowed, but then he exhaled and looked down. "I have nothing against her, just what she stands for."

The woman continued to inquire, "Is it about the Bastion of New Orleans?"

He looked back at her, promptly asking, "What do you know about the Bastion of New Orleans?"

"It was a great battle to stop the path of destruction of a powerful witch," she said, "there were many losses, the city was flooded and destroyed, but in the end the victory was achieved, in part by the courageous and decisive attitude of Generalíssima."

Inquisitor crossed his arms. "The Bastion of New Orleans was the greatest defeat for Souls' Sisterhood, painted as a victory. Those who believed in the Sisterhood's absolute strength, had their vision shattered that day."

Madre held her breath for a moment and then commented, "I believe, officially, I didn't hear that."

"See?" He smiled. "Wisdom is never obsolete."

She sighed, with a sad expression, before asking, "Were you-"

"No." He exhaled. "I was still in training in Europe at the time. However, my position allowed me access to privileged information, information that is kept in one place only." He poked his forehead. "It all started when sisters in Bahamas sent an alert for a possible omicron class riding the storm that was heading towards US. When they categorized the hurricane as Katrina, it was natural to give the witch the same name. However, this was only done officially when it was confirmed to exist, when the hurricane passed through Florida. The sisters who were there did not intercept the witch, they saw that they would have no chance even to reach her."

"There's a part of this story that I don't understand," Madre spoke, "sisters came from various parts of the United States to Louisiana's coast, includin' from distant places, but Matriarch was unable to arrive in time to lead the defense."

"Ah... So you know more than you told me." He raised his finger. "First you need to be aware that the witch and the storm are different things in this case, it's not like Walpurgisnatch. The standard procedure when an omicron class reaches North American soil is to form a defensive line in Yellowstone as soon as possible. A witch of this magnitude in Yellowstone super volcano is a potential extinction level event for humanity." Inquisitor paused to emphasize what he had just said. "Who is in charge of leading this line is Sunbird, but Matriarch participated in the organization before proceeding to Louisiana."

Madre lowered her head, pensive. "If Matriarch had arrived, do ya think the outcome would be different?"

"It's hard to say..." Inquisitor pulled a portion of his beard to the point of feeling pain. "The group in New Orleans correctly predicted that Katrina would attack the levees and flood the city if she came close. So they made an independent decision to intercept her over the Gulf of Mexico.

"A suicide assault."

"It was an immeasurable risk, the force of the wind could take away your gem, that was a death sentence, your body would fall into the sea never to be found." He shook his head. "But I don't believe they thought about suicide, they must have thought the group was large enough to defeat the witch quickly before the storm took their lives." Then he sighed, closing his eyes. "Seventy-eight sisters... Huntress of Seattle, Huntress of Amarillo, Red Baroness, Dragoneer, Smartass, Gatita, Warwind, Sweet Lil'Gummy... So many names to remember."

Madre raised her eyebrows. "And Generalíssima?"

"Generalíssima ... Ah." He opened his eyes, smiling slightly. "Did you know that at that time she had another sister's name?"

"She changed like me?" Madre returned the smile. "No, I didn't know."

"Generalíssima was in New Orleans when the group left to intercept the witch," Inquisitor continued, "despite being a veteran sister, she never demonstrated destructive combat skills, she was always allocated to support and logistics. She and other sisters, and some novices, had occupied a shed to serve as an advanced base and infirmary. They were supposed to report Washington frequently about the situation. When they heard the alarms go off, announcing that the levees had collapsed, they were sure that the attack group had failed. While they're preparing to retreat, Generalíssima had said that she had located the witch, nobody understood, but they saw her run outside and disappear in the storm." He looked right into his listener's eyes. "The story from here is nebulous. Some said they saw nothing, others said they saw an intense flash of pink light in the clouds, like thunder, but all confirmed that they no longer felt the witch, at first they believed that she had moved away from the city. However, when they reached a safe spot, Generalíssima reappeared with a seed."

Madre nodded. "I know there were no witnesses, but has that not been confirmed? I heard that the witch in the seed was reborn in a controlled environment and proved to be very powerful. Generalíssima fought against her again, alone, and managed to defeat her. She herself would have said she was surprised the first time, because it was a powah she didn't know she had."

"That's the story..." Inquisitor raised his eyebrows. "But what is the guarantee that the seed is from Katrina? No one alive would have seen the witch besides Generalíssima herself. It's more plausible that the group that attacked Katrina, although no one survived the storm, was successful in its goal. She must have been badly damaged or dying. Generalíssima probably didn't have to do anything." He turned, with an expression of disgust. "I don't need to discuss this, Generalíssima is a FRAUD, have no doubts, sister. They needed a symbol of victory, they needed a heroine..."

"Who?"

"Washington." He checked the cross under his belt with his fingertips, feeling the details of the silvery object. "The New Orleans massacre caused a political turmoil. There was a great deal of pressure, since Souls' Sisterhood began to have diplomatic relations with the still unknown Motherland Union. It was agreed that the Sisterhood needed to show strength and it was made an ostentatious propaganda about the feats of Generalíssima. Meanwhile, the sacrifice made by those sisters to try to save a city has become a footnote, at most an example of a bad decision." He held the head of the cross in a grip that made his hand tremble.

Madre noticed that. "And did Matriarch approve of that?"

"She... In the face of tragedy, she didn't have the power to change that."

It was the first time she had seen him with a grieving face. "Do you know her well?"

"And you don't?" Inquisitor looked at her again. "She came in person to recruit you."

"I was surprised." Madre made a quick and short lived smile. "We had a good conversation, she told me many stories of the foundation of the Sisterhood, and she treated me well. Howevah, I believe she did it because I would be the first member in that country."

"No... The Matriarch you met is exactly as she is." Inquisitor looked at a distant point in his memories. "I was just a novice when I first crossed paths with her and she came to talk to me. I thought I got her attention for being male, but in fact she saw the same countenance in me as there are in so many new magical girls. Like others who made contract with Incubator, my dreams were lost forever. I joined the Sisterhood to survive, but I had no perspective to live. Matriarch did not give me a vision, nor did she imput me a purpose, but she filled me with hope."

Madre closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes."

"She has so many stories, doesn't she? I heard them together with the other novices when she visited us, and often. It was not just stories of magical girls, but of people, and what Matriarch did for them, and where they are now." A slow, natural smile formed on Inquisitor's mouth, his eyes watered. "She had... She has this energy when she sees the opportunity to be able to help. She's willing to make small daily sacrifices and you don't understand this at first, because she has so many followers, it would be enough to delegate this to someone. When you understand... You start to believe in kindness. Do kindness without fear of being considered a fool, weak, without fear that someone will take advantage of you. Take risks to make problems into opportunities, persevere so that solutions become a network of favors, this is the basis of the Sisterhood. She's the embodiment of that."

"You know her very well." Madre smiled with some hesitation. "So, about Generalíssima, I lived with the person behind the myth longer than you. She may not be a 'world savior', but she works hard as a leader. She's still young, driven by ambitions, but she learns fast and knows how to balance responsibilities. Give her a little credit, please."

"Ambitions? Hmmm?" Inquisitor continued to smile, but his eyes became narrower. "I know her ambitions. She used her fame very well to gain political influence for the Sisterhood to approve this rocket project. The most impressive thing is that has become our best diplomatic rapprochement with the Union. Generalíssima has always been very present in this project since its conception, almost as an obsession, it's natural that she shows some resistance to stop it now that it's at the conclusion." He stretched and tried to relax his body in his chair. "That's why I have nothing against her as a person. She knows she's a fraud and wants to leave that behind, with her becoming the vanguard of a new era. I understand it, after all I also have my ambitions."

"Oh?"

"You're the only person here who can understand." Inquisitor intertwined the fingers of his hands over his belly. "What do you think about the soul gems? Are they proof of the existence of God?"

"I didn't think much," she replied, "I don't need any more evidence to have faith in Him."

"Indeed..." The man became more serious again. "Unfortunately, for many this is not enough. They feel lost, they look for other gods. Nowadays, there is a god called science, with his priests, rituals, scriptures... In fact, it's an old god, but its adepts have grown and become arrogant."

Madre frowned and opened her mouth to say something. A disturbing idea had already formed in her mind, but she chose to be cautious. "What are ya gettin' at?"

"They have built a throne above the firmament, and are already claiming that God does not exist. At the same time, they say that we can only see and feel five percent of the universe. This is not even heresy, just absolute madness." Inquisitor lowered his gaze and nodded. "Yes, we live in sad, meaningless times. Their god sees us as mere bags of chemicals struggling against entropy. Even if magical girls succeed in protecting the world, we'll lose humanity to Incubators. We must and we can change that destiny."

She swallowed hard with the confirmation of her fears. "You... You intend to use the magical girls to form a new religion."

"No, it's to save ours," he said firmly, "the Sisterhood would be the platform we would use to spread our preaching."

"Does this mean that the Sisterhood and magical girls would be revealed to the public?"

"The Sisterhood was already planning to do that, when its political ramifications become more mature." He stopped for a moment, looking at Madre, waiting for a new question that did not come. "Imagine if we deliver a soul gem for a team of scientists to analyze? How will the faithful of science react when their god cannot give an answer?"

Madre raised her eyebrows. "About an object given to us by an alien race?"

Surprised, Inquisitor smiled broadly and shook his head. "The souls are ours. And we can omit the existence of Incubators, they like discretion." He gestured, lifting his finger. "Moses, Jesus... There're many moments in the Bible where miracles occur to convince people that they're on the wrong path. Even today they occur, here and there, but it's not being enough."

With a tense voice, the woman affirmed, "Don't mistake our magic for miracles."

"They come from our souls, creations of our Father."

"No," Madre pressed her lips before continuing, without blinking, "miracles come from God, and from Him alone, His children are His instruments of His works. What comes from our souls is the fruit of our desires, tainted by our sins."

Inquisitor held his chin and looked away.

Madre kept staring at him.

"That's why I need you. I want to do a good thing, a right thing..." He got up from the chair. "But we have other priorities."

She did not know how to react, but when she saw him headed for the exit, Madre got up too.

He finally looked back at the woman, with a smile. "After all, it's lunchtime, isn't it?"

Madre gaped. "Oh..." Then she looked down, confused. "I completely lost track of time."

In the corridor, Inquisitor asked, "Do you know that Generalíssima is in possession of the seeds that we still have?"

"She told me," Madre replied, soon becoming concerned, "is there a problem?"

The man shook his head and said without looking at her, already leading the way to the stairs, "It's something I can check later."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

Sitting on the side of her bed, Maya was examining her soul gem. The dark blue color, almost black, contrasted with the golden base of the egg-shaped jewel. Breathing was costly, she did not know if it was a trace of Evie's poison or just anxiety. Anxiety for agony.

She was not ready.

If I hadn't been here, it wouldn't have happened.

"Maya."

Recognizing the voice, she opened her eyes wide and turned her gem back into a ring. Then she restored her countenance, concealed her breath and looked at the person standing nearby.

Alice had a tired face, with little movement beyond her mouth, "Yah gem is dark..."

"The color of my gem is darkah than yours." Maya smiled, but soon became serious when she changed the subject. "Where're ya this time? Since rationin' started, ya've been leavin' without tellin' me. What's happenin'?"

The blonde averted her gaze. "I dunno. I didn't think ya would bother, I think... I felt like ya wanted me away."

Maya opened her mouth, but the shock robbed her of what she thought to say. What Alice said, how she said, that was not the friend she knew.

"Didya notice this place is full of security cameras?"

Alice had returned to exchange glances and Maya regained her attention. "N-No... Why?"

The blonde grumbled, "How did they come up with the bullshit that they didn't find out who did it, huh?"

That was the friend she knew and the roots of despair squeezed Maya's heart more. "T-They must be investigatin'." She stood up and took a deep breath. "We're not gonna talk about this anymore, okay? A sistah came heah a little while ago ta say that lunch is ready, so let's go."

Still lying on the bed, Evie watched the two girls go towards the tunnel with the other novices.

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

Alice raised her spoon to measure the watery consistency of the porridge and then turned her attention to the refectory. With the rationing, some things have changed, like the fact that the sisters have lunch at the same time as the novices, including the child with the futuristic glove.

"It's noice that they gave us these chocolate gummies, right?"

Maya smiled while making that silly comment, but the gem... The gem did not lie. Alice knew that her great friend was sacrificing so much, she felt it, it was something that could not happen. She needed to find out something.

The child was the first to leave the table, a tender smile, a waving hand. She headed for the exit.

"Didn't ya like the porridge?"

Maya was worried now, it was something that could not happen. Alice rose. "I'm not very hungry." And she got some chocolate gummies before she left. "You can eat my portion."

She walked alone through the tunnel. It had become a habit and the curves did not scare her anymore. Still, her heart was pounding, hurried steps to the stairs.

The descent was cautious at each step, until the exit to the intersection of corridors. Close to the wall, Alice waited.

Steps, a small shadow. As usual, the child had visited what would be the security room before continuing down the other stairs. Alice clenched her fist and let herself be enveloped by her own magic to acquire her magical girl uniform. She needed to be quick.

That was why everything was prepared.

In different places, close to the cables on the ceiling, small floating saw disks began their silent work before evaporating into a fine yellow dust.

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

Invader still had a slight smile at the recent visit when the first screen went out. Before she could think about what happened, all the screens had gone black.

Darkness hid her face, but there was certainly no more smile to hide.

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

Alice went to the other staircase, struggling to maintain the delicate balance between speed and silence. Fortunately, the child was in no hurry. She was still typing the code on the door when Alice reached the end of the descent. The door opened and the child went through it.

There were only a couple of seconds.

The blonde jumped the last flight of stairs and entered before the metal door closed automatically. She almost fell down the short staircase beyond the door, but managed to hold on to the wall. The relief was short-lived, as she saw that there was an electronic panel on that side of the door as well.

Fuck!

Both to enter and to leave, it was necessary to know the code. There was no turning back. However, turning back meant ignoring the truth and watching her friend suffer. She was determined to go as far as she could.

She went down the stairs and into another tunnel, a long corridor with two possible directions. The child was in one of them, already distant. On the wall were three stripes painted in different colors, but what caught Alice's attention the most was what was written on the dark blue stripe.

"Silo?"

She imagined a storage full of grief seeds, now reserved only for the sisters, especially for the person she was following. Alice needed to keep a distance from the child, as there was nowhere to hide now.

As she walked, the child examined her gauntlet.

That must be part of her magical girl uniform. Alice thought. Is that where her gem is...?

In that long tunnel, in the depths of nowhere, with the ventilation system covering the cautious steps, an idea as natural as it was sordid emerged, based on everything the novice had learned in those harrowing weeks.

If there was no such child, they would have no reason to deny us seeds.

The gauntlet was connected to the child's neck by wires, so that should be the best place to saw first, then it would be to search for the gem and destroy it. Alice opened her left hand with the bracelet. If Lucky was right, she would be able to summon a saw disk near the target, so as not to allow any reaction.

Have ya evah killed a magical girl?

Evie's pale, disgusting image came to Alice's mind, yet she faltered. She did not want to admit it, but the bastard was right.

There will be blood on my hands.

She was just a girl who wanted to help her dad, why had it come to this? Something inside her started to bring courage back, she had the answer to that question.

I will do this for Maya.

"NANO!"

Alice was as static as a stone, it was a man's voice.

"Huh?" The child turned, surprised. "Inquisitor?"

Alice exchanged looks with the man who stopped beside her. He did not look angry, not yet.

"I want to talk to you..." Inquisitor said to Nano, "why is this girl with you?"

Nano frowned. "Isn't she with you?"

His gaze grew more intense, Alice gulped. The man approached, forcing her to step back against the wall. His hand rested on the cross with sharp edges under the belt.

"You're a novice," Inquisitor said in a calm, controlled voice, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm investigatin'," Alice replied quickly and aggressively, hoping it was convincing too.

"Investigating?" The man raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, y'all haven't found those bloody seeds yet, so I decided ta do this on my own!" The blonde put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

Inquisitor maintained his posture and voice, "If you wanted to volunteer, you should have asked to a sister."

"What if she's the person who stole the seeds?" Alice shrugged. "Who can I trust?"

Inquisitor remained silent, his eyes still, but slight movements of the muscles denounced the tension.

The muscles in Alice's body were all stiff, breathing was minimal. She prayed that she was not shaking, decided to look at the child to see if this act could bring some relief.

Nano looked alternately at the other two, more concerned than anything else.

Inquisitor's gaze narrowed for a moment before saying, "The point is that you're investigating in an area where novices aren't allowed in."

"It isn't?!" Alice's eyes widened, pretending to be surprised, she was already expecting this question and she already had an excuse for it. "But I saw this child goin' through that door, I just did the same and the door closed behind me. How would I know?"

Nano smiled. "Ah, this isn't the first time that I'm mistaken for a novice." She then said to the man, "It's okay, it's only a misunderstanding."

"No," Inquisitor's voice was cold, "she's lying."

Alice felt her insides twist in terror.

"The door closes in five seconds after opening," he explained as he continued to stare at the novice, "she would have to be close to get in after you, so she saw you typing the code on the panel and she's too smart not to know that going through a door without knowing the code, or without being invited, is not allowed."

Alice did not find an answer for that, not for the brief moment she had without looking like she was making something up on the spot. Escape was impossible, fighting was an even more ridiculous idea, two against one and that man seemed ready for anything. Then, they could go after Maya too.

The man turned his face in a confused expression.

Alice blinked, not understanding that reaction.

He looked at the child.

Nano was surprised, her eyes wide. "Invader... she..."

"Come on!"

Alice saw both run off through the tunnel, back to the staircase. Her legs went shaky when her muscles relaxed and she hugged her belly. If she had eaten something, she was sure she would have puked.

What was this?

She looked up at the ceiling, seeing a security camera. Of course, there was not much time, there was only one last hope.

We have to get out of here.

Then her eyes widened, in a terrible epiphany. "No... no!" And she started running as fast as she could.

"Nahnahnahnononono..."

When she arrived, her fears were confirmed, the metal door was closed. She climbed up the small staircase and put her hands on the cold surface of the door to push, a vain attempt. "No, fack, no..." She typed in the panel randomly, but without hope.

Alice stepped back and took a deep breath while thinking about Maya. "I'm a fuckin' magical girl. I'll make it!" Her gem shone and she gave a powerful kick. There was a loud noise from the impact, but the door did not budge. She gave more kicks, but only managed to make more noise.

"C'mon!"

Using her shoulder, she rammed her body against the door. "Ouchie!" The shoulder was sore and the door resisted, not even a dent. "Whatta heck is this door made of?!" She held out her right arm. "Fuck it, I'm gonna saw this shit."

A gloved hand typed the panel.

When Alice realized, the door opened. She turned and saw a mask and tubes. She gaped, not knowing how to react to that strange fellow in a coat.

The person extended their arm quickly.

"Ah!" The blonde novice had a startle, but she soon noticed that the person was holding the door so it would not close, as well as the flag sewn on their coat. "Y-Ya're Russian, dya understand what I say?"

Behind the mask, only silence.

"T-Thanks!" Alice left and ran up the stairs.

Matryoshka also went through the door and stopped. She looked up at the spiral staircase as she heard the rushing footsteps becoming distant. She put her hands in her pocket almost at the same time the door closed. "Прощай, потерянный ребенок."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

Inquisitor and Nano arrived in the security room, where Generalíssima and Madre were already present, plus Invader in the chair, who looked devastated.

The man immediately asked, "What's so urgent?"

"The cameras have been disabled," Generalíssima said.

"Huh?" Nano noticed that the images on the screens were static, indicating that they were just paused recordings.

The door opened again, entering Revenant and Lucky. The black woman announced, "The cables weah cut at fahkin' multiple points."

"And no one noticed the traitor doing that?" Inquisitor looked at Generalíssima. "The seeds?"

"Safe..." The woman glanced quickly at the child.

Nano pressed her lips together, acknowledging she should be quiet.

"So they must have done this to try to escape," the man deduced.

"If they tried, they failed," Revenant stated, "I went up the rehmp 'n checked the exit. It's closed."

"There's anothah possibility," Lucky said, with a smile and raising her eyebrows, "can I tell?"

Generalíssima exhaled. "Go on..."

"As soon as I saw the cuts in the cables, I thought: Invadah may have done this, so she woulda a lot of time ta go wheah she hid the seeds 'nd take them ta hide them in a place wheah we already searched . Then she would come back heah 'nd warn us." Lucky poked her own head. "It's a stroke of a genius, the lil'bunny heah is smart."

The Asian girl jumped out of her chair, outraged. "I didn't do it!"

"Hey! Hey! HEY!" Generalíssima raised her hand. "Before starting to point fingers to each other, I want to know if anyone else has seen anything out of the ordinary."

"Matryoshka isn't heah," Madre said, "does that count?"

"Invadah must not have called her, again," Revenant commented.

The girl with the long sleeves replied, "No, I did that."

"Damn!" Lucky made a face. "Then she can be preparin' ta blow up the exit while we're heah."

Revenant turned to her and raised her voice. "Drongo, if she does that, Generalíssima catches her befawre she can get out of the cave!"

Invader said, "I checked the recent recordings and Matryoshka had not left her room before the cameras were disabled. They also didn't catch anyone cutting the cables."

"Just like the seeds' thief..." Inquisitor added, disgruntled.

"Okay, we'll be looking for Matryoshka, even if she responds to our telepathic messages." Generalíssima nodded. "Anything else?"

The man said, "There's a novice on the bottom floor."

Generalíssima furrowed her brows. "A... novice?"

"Yup." Nano lowered her gaze, realizing it. "Poor thing, she must be stuck there."

"And how did she get in?" Generalíssima asked without hiding the surprise.

"She was following Nano," Inquisitor replied, "she told me she was investigating the disappearance of the seeds on her own, but I don't believe that."

Invader approached the child, worried. "Are you all right?"

Nano noticed that not only her close friend, but the others in the room were also looking at her. "Why are you asking that?"

The dark pink haired woman asked a new and inevitable question, "Who's this novice?"

He said, "I didn't get to ask her name, but she's blonde with yellow eyes. She was wearing her magical garments, a yellow safety helmet, like the ones worn by construction site workers, a white shirt with a black stripe in the middle. There were several chains that connected the shirt with the yellow pants, I think the gem was in one of them..."

"Ah! I know who is!" Lucky opened a big smile. "It's Alice! What that blockhead doin' down there?"

"Alice?" Generalíssima's eyes narrowed as she scratched her forehead. "Isn't this one of the last magical girls we rescued?"

"Do you know what her magic is?" Inquisitor inquired to the bunny sister.

Lucky opened her arms. "Well, I know that she has a chainsaw. She can also create floatin' circulah saws, quite cool!"

"'Saws', you say?"

Everyone in the room looked at each other for a moment.

For the man, it was only needed to announce the agreement, "It's her."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

The desperate novice arrived at the dormitory.

Maya was standing beside her bed. "Alice! I thought ya're in the bathroom, but I saw that ya weren't. A-And why are ya wearin' yah magical girl clothes?"

Evie got up from her bed when she noticed that odd scene.

"Get yah stuff, we gonna get outta of heah," the blonde said while already searching for her belongings under the bed.

Maya frowned. "Why? What happened?"

Alice turned to her and raised her voice, "Just do what I say! I'll explain latah."

"But what about that huge door?" Maya shook her head. "And outside... We don't know where ta go."

"We can find a way." Alice took her friend and brought her face close. "Ya wanna get outta heah, don't ya? Ya wanna see yah family again, right?"

The dark-skinned girl shyly nodded.

"Then do it, quickly!" Alice released her friend and returned her attention to the objects she had left on the bed. There was not much, as a good portion of her personal belongings had been confiscated.

Shit, what did I do?

There were no resources, there was no plan, there was no choice now. She held her hands tightly so they would stop shaking. She remembered her friend's dark gem and she had been harsh to her. Despair was what they least needed now.

Best friend...

Alice took a deep breath and felt ready. It was time to win freedom. She turned around, making sure her voice was calm enough, "Maya..."

Maya was not there.

"Maya?" Alice looked under her friend's bed to see if she was there, but she was not. Then she noticed a silence, a strange silence, and looked around.

There was no one in the dormitory.

"The fuck?" With a sinking heart, Alice ran to the bathroom. "Maya!" However, there was no one, the sound of the drops falling from the showers was almost painful.

"MAYA!" Alice returned to the empty dormitory and looked around to find any evidence of what was going on. [MAAAAYAAAAA!] Not having other voice but her own, she clung to a shallow hope. "Has she went ta the exit already?"

Alice entered the tunnel towards the staircase. Guiding herself by the colored stripes painted on the wall, she remembered the part of the training about feeling the souls of others. She tried, but there was only emptiness.

She was going fast, and yet, she had not made it to the staircase, she had not even made it to the fork that was before that. She stopped, that was wrong, everything was wrong. Listening to her own heartbeat had become torture. Smothered by the walls, she regretted her decisions.

So a sensation, unnatural, more like a premonition coming from within. Alice wondered if what had been preached in training was working. She focused on that.

What was inside her emerged to the skin and aroused the senses. She could hear it now, but it was a faint, distant sound. She struggled to discern what it was and, then, to accept it.

There were screams and lamentations, from countless people, announcing an impending disaster. It was getting stronger, like a wave.

Behind her.

Alice turned quickly.

At a fair distance, in the tunnel, there was a woman standing, with long straight white hair. She was tall and strong, with defined muscles, but unlike Revenant, she maintained a harmonious feminine form. The skin was dark like Maya's, if not fairer, and that woman showed a lot of it, because her clothes were a pair of long strips, one white and one blue, wrapped around her body, covering only the bare minimum, with each strip spiraling in a different leg. She was barefoot and had bracelets like Revenant, but the ornaments really looked like luxurious jewels, gilded with encrusted precious stones. Not only that, she wore earrings, rings, piercings... Many shiny things to attract the eye, but nothing compared to the big black hexagonal gem on the tiara. The object did not seem to reflect the ambient light, it felt like a deep hole that projected clouds of mixed colors from time to time, a chaos that did not correspond to the person's calm pink gaze.

"Who're ya?" Alice considered whether that was a sister she had not yet seen, despite her intuition saying that person belonged somewhere else. The name she would hear could solve that.

The woman remained silent, still.

Alice's heart started beating fast again. "I asked ya a question!"

The pink eyes did not blink, the lips did not stretch in a smile, nor in a frown.

The dark gem... Everything was still wrong. Fear arose in the girl's trembling body; it was different from when she was facing the man. At that time, it was a sense of danger, now it was pure and simple, and definitive.

Suddenly the woman started to move. Even though she was walking, she approached quickly with her long legs.

Alice waited for an instant, trying to see if the woman had changed her expression. She had not changed, much to the girl's terror. It was as if she did not care, no reaction would change the outcome, no words. The girl turned and ran. Teeth gritted; muscles fueled by survival. Tears were slipping now and she still needed to save Maya, somehow...

She arrived at an intersection; one she did not recognize. With no time to waste, she looked at the stripes on the wall.

They were all red.

"What?!" She touched one of the stripes, not believing what she was seeing, and she felt that her fingertips had become wet. She looked at them and she realized that the red was not ink. They were slowly dripping from the stripes to the floor.

She turned and she did not see her pursuer, the tunnel was empty. The problem is that she was no longer sure that she had come through that tunnel, she was no longer sure of anything.

She checked other tunnel of the intersection, empty.

And checked on another, a tranquil face, a black gem above it, both within arm's reach.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Alice gathered all the strength and magic to run. Forward! Forward! Away from the everlasting fate.

The tunnel she chose had an end. Finally, a room.

It was the refectory.

"Damnit..." The girl went to the middle of the room to confirm that there was no one there. The girl also looked for somewhere to hide, but she saw that the woman was already at the tunnel's entrance.

The woman was standing, she did not need to be in a hurry anymore, because that was the only exit.

Alice had stopped crying some time ago, that was useless. "Ya're one of those new witches, right? What didya do with everyone? WHERE'S MAYA?"

The woman started walking.

The girl opened her eyes wide and retreated. She opened her left hand and conjured a saw disk. "S-STOP!" She did not wait and threw her weapon.

The disk flew gracefully, making a slight curve in the air, until it hit and stuck in the right side of the woman's chest. The white strip was cut and fell, exposing the wounded breast, yet the woman continued walking at the same pace, carrying the same expression on her face.

Alice gaped and made a quick gesture.

The circular saw started to spin, going deeper into its victim's torso. The blood spread in jets, splashing on the body, on the woman's face, and around where she was passing by.

To Alice's dismay, it did not stop the woman... Was she smiling? The girl forcibly closed her eyes, something had hit them. The sound of flesh and bones being cut had suddenly grown louder, there was a taste of blood on her lips. Cleaning and protecting with her arm, she reopened her eyes and her field of vision only contained the saw almost completely buried in that tall, dark-skinned body.

The woman was standing right in front of her.

Without understanding how she was already there, Alice instinctively took a step back, but felt a hand behind her head, holding tight. She understood the intent in an instant and she would need another instant to scream, but it never came.

The woman pulled the girl's head against a saw on her chest. The serrated blade left the flesh where it was, effortlessly cutting through the blonde's helmet and skull. The disk went through the head swiftly, until it cut the woman's hand that was behind in half and bounced away on the floor.

Alice collapsed and when her head hit the hard concrete, it split in two, forming a wide fan of blood and brain matter, soon covered by a thick, round crimson puddle.

Unmoved, the woman examined her fingerless hand. Little blood was escaping, as there was no more blood to escape, her skin was pale, her lips were grayish. With the other hand, she found that there were splinters of bones stuck to her neck. She looked back at the person lying on the floor.

Alice's disfigured face was with her tongue sticking out, her neck muscles were moving, and her chest was puffing with tremendous effort.

The woman bent down, more interested in picking up the object in the girl's belly. A burnt caramel gem, already quite dark. She took the gem and brought it to the one in her tiara. The caramel stone turned to liquid, quickly absorbed by the gem in the tiara. This gem then acquired an intense brown tone, followed by pink and then the bizarre veil of darkness covered everything.

The girl stopped moving completely and started to become transparent, as well as the pool of blood.

The woman waited until there was not a trace of that body left. However, there was still a lot of blood from herself, and bits and pieces... There was still cleaning to be done.

She extended her cut hand and the part that was on the floor, along with her fingers, flew to fit the wound. Her skin quickly closed, leaving no scar at all. With the other arm extended, the blood that had left her body coalesced into a ball and, from it, a stream was formed, entering the wound in the chest. When all the blood came in, the wound closed seamlessly.

The woman exhaled when she felt her body warmer, when her heart began to beat again. She groped and jiggle her right breast to confirm that everything was right, then made a simple gesture with her fingertips. As if it were alive, the white stripe reconnected with the other half, returning to its function of covering that part of the body.

"ROYAL FLUSH!"

The woman turned.

There were novices at a table, playing cards. One was hugging a few piles of colored chips and bringing them closer to her. Other novices were laughing, while one clearly had the face of a loser. "It can't be, this is impossible!"

The one with the chip stacks said, "It's like Lucky said: Luck is the most powerful law in the universe!"

The woman tossed her long white hair back and headed for the tunnel.

Next chapter: Suppression