Meeting room.

The sisters, and Matryoshka, were standing around the table. With her magic, Invader projected a hologram of an entire city in miniature onto the table.

Generalíssima was pleased with the ballerina's work and began to speak, "Before we begin, I want to warn again that this operation doesn't have Washington's endorsement." She looked at the man, "I'm taking full responsibility."

Inquisitor expressed no reaction of contentment upon hearing this.

Madre said, "I'd really like ta understand about how this mission in Mitakihara will help us catch the seed thief."

"Our thief is very comfortable in our current routine," Generalíssima replied, looking at everyone in the room, "but they'd like to escape, wouldn't they? This is a large and complex operation, involving everyone, and it's the best opportunity to do so. Or, if they're a witch, this would be a good chance for a sabotage."

"What if none of that happens?" Madre raised her eyebrows.

Generalíssima smiled. "Well, if nothing goes wrong, at least we'll have replenished part of the stolen seeds."

This time, Inquisitor nodded.

Madre became silent, lowering her gaze.

Understanding that there were no further questions, Generalíssima pointed at the hologram. "Invader, zoom in on that area, please."

The ballerina readily obeyed.

"Do you see that building marked in red?" Generalíssima explained, "Our targets are at a similar distance from that location. The top of the building will be our starting point and also our extraction point. If anything goes wrong, this is where you should retreat to." She looked at the redhead. "Madre, you'll guard this location along with the novices. You may eventually be called upon as reinforcements, so be prepared."

Madre protested, "The novices won't want ta do that, and I don't approve their participation in that operation eithah."

"They will participate," Generalíssima affirmed, "and you will convince them."

"Aftah the show of horror and incompetence that ya and Inquisitor promoted in front of them?" Madre retorted, "if it weren't for the good news about Washington, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are tryin' ta escape from heah right now. They're tired! Tired of bein' afraid, they want ta see their families again.

Generalíssima nodded. "We're all tired, to the point that I have made a bad decision, I'm sorry for that." She then looked at the hologram. "However, it's no coincidence that this operation will be in Mitakihara. With all the confusion of the seed theft, you may have forgotten, but I have a strong conviction that this city is where this crisis of these new witches originated. We may find the key to putting an end to it. The novices will want their families to be safe and sound, won't they?"

Madre sighed, disappointed. "Even ya don't believe that last part."

"That's an order." Generalíssima looked at her, with a sterner face. "No one will stay here in the base during the operation."

Madre said, more impassively, "I'll do my best for the Sisterhood."

Generalíssima narrowed her eyes slightly. The silence was somewhat long, before she continued, "In addition to the novices, Matryoshka will also be under your tutelage."

"Oh?" Matryoshka brought her hand to her chest, putting drama in her voice, "I thought you were going to put me on the front lines."

"You told me you don't fight well," Generalíssima replied, while sending a telepathic message to Madre. [Always keep an eye on her. Never underestimate her cunning.]

The redhead did not show any reaction, not even glancing at the Russian magical girl.

"Right." Generalíssima looked at Invader. "Let's analyze the targets."

The ballerina's soul gem glowed and the hologram began to show another area of the city. A building was marked in red and two images appeared floating above it, one was of a blonde girl with a pair of large hair drills and the other was of a small girl with long white hair. Invader began to explain, "Mami Tomoe and Nagisa Momoe. We don't have much information about their abilities, except that Mami has a few years of activity as a magical girl."

"And the fact that they live in a residential condominium, with hundreds of people," Generalíssima added, looking intensely at each person in the room, "I'm taking responsibility for this operation, but each of you represents the Sisterhood and its virtues. Civilian casualties are unacceptable!"

Some sisters nodded with the affirmation from the leader.

"Lucky," Generalíssima called her, "you've personally been there and know the area. I want you to take care of this objective."

The freckled young woman said, "Yeah..."

The lack of enthusiasm in the answer caused Generalíssima to question, with concern, "Are you all right?"

Lucky widened her eyes, as if she had woken up in a fright. She was not even looking at Generalíssima! She tried to fix this, but her eyes met Inquisitor's black eyes. She froze.

Everyone noticed her reaction.

With her muscles becoming tense, Revenant huffed.

Generalíssima gulped, considering whether she should call her again.

However, Lucky looked at her and smiled. "I'm not on my best days, but I won't disappoint my cutie General."

Generalíssima nodded. "Nano will go with you."

The child straightened her posture at being mentioned.

Generalíssima continued to speak, "The magic of you two is versatile. I count on your creativity to find a solution about confronting them without involving civilians."

Nano looked at the image of the younger girl in the hologram. "Do we have to kill them?"

"They're witches, what do you think?" Generalíssima asked with a harsh tone, "Have you forgotten what one of them was able to do when they were here?"

The child lowered her gaze.

Generalíssima took a deep breath and asked, "Next target."

The hologram showed another region. A house was now marked in red, with the image of a pink haired girl.

"Madoka Kaname," Invader spoke.

"That's another place that must be handled with care," Generalíssima commented.

"I'll go."

Upon hearing Inquisitor, Generalíssima looked at him.

The man said, "I'll handle that target."

Generalíssima narrowed her gaze. "You have a lot of interest in this girl, don't you?"

Inquisitor insisted, threatening, "I want Madoka, or I will not participate in this operation."

Feeling that her authority was being tested, the Latina woman smiled. It was for a short time. Serious, she continued to look at the man while raising her voice, "Invader, how's your Japanese?"

The Asian girl replied, "日本語は苦手だ。"

"Great," Generalíssima gave the instructions, "you'll accompany our 'gentleman'. There's a family living there, they must be under the effect of a witch's kiss, still, communication may be helpful."

Invader nodded. "I think I can devise an illusion that makes both of us look like ordinary Japanese citizens."

"Do it." Generalíssima stopped looking at Inquisitor, expressing satisfaction. "Let's proceed."

The hologram showed an area of the city where the buildings had older architecture. The image of a girl with purple eyes and long black hair floated above one of the houses.

"Homura Akemi," Invader said, "she seems to live alone, but she belongs to a very wealthy family in Tokyo. Her 'disappearance' should bring significant repercussions."

Generalíssima crossed her arms and pondered. "Hmmm... Unfortunately, we have no way of avoiding that." She looked at the black woman. "Revenant."

"Okay, I'll take care of that one," Revenant agreed, "anyone goin' with me?"

"No," Generalíssima replied, "there's only me left and I'll be on another target."

"Fine, cuz that's what's botherin' me."

Generalíssima was curious about Revenant's statement. "What do you mean?"

The black woman looked into her leader's eyes, without a blink. "At least one of us is a traitor, maybe even a witch, right?"

Generalíssima nodded. "Correct."

"Until now, ya've been sendin' duos ta each target," Revenant pointed at the hologram, saying in an accusatory tone, "so ya may be sendin' one of our sistahs with the traitor. She'll end up at a tremendous numerical disadvantage, as well as bein' backstabbed!"

Lucky widened her eyes at her friend's assertion. She then looked at the child, her future colleague in the mission.

Nano returned the look, while fidgeting with the fingers of her gauntlet.

Invader looked at the man.

Under the cold, analytical, judgmental gaze of the ballerina, Inquisitor merely reacted by straightening his mantle.

"This operation involves risks," Generalíssima said.

"Yeah, I know that 'n I'm givin' my support," Revenant nodded, but her face was one of disapproval, "but it looks like ya're willin' ta send one of us ta death ta catch this traitor."

Generalíssima exclaimed, "I'm sending you to war!"

Revenant winced and the room fell silent.

"We've reached that point!" Generalíssima gritted her teeth, urging, "When we're there, danger will be everywhere! You all have to be paying attention to your surroundings, please, because I don't want anyone to die."

The black woman lowered her gaze.

Heaving, Generalíssima sought to calm herself before speaking, "My targets will be Oriko, Kirika, and the mysterious aberration who was with them."

"She must have been a witch who had not yet completed her disguise," Inquisitor commented, "she must have the appearance of a child now."

She ignored him, continuing, "After I deal with them, I'll help Revenant, then I'll go to Lucky and Nano, and then to Inquisitor and Invader, in that order. Did I forget to mention anything?"

The ballerina replied, "There's also Sasa Yuuki, Sayaka Miki and Kyouko Sakura. We don't know if they'll be in the city during the operation, we need to be cautious."

Generalíssima agreed, "Yes, that's what I ask, we'll have to adapt to the situation. By the way, if you run into Incubator... kill him, no second thoughts." The woman nodded to the girl. "Thank you, Invader."

She understood the leader's signal and made the hologram disappear.

Generalíssima looked at the man. "Purify our four seeds. I'll need them."

"Sure." Inquisitor looked at the ring on the woman's left hand.

"The operation will start in the morning, so whoever can rest, do that," Generalissíma spoke looking at the other sisters, until she fixed her gaze on Nano. [I want you to stay in the silo during that time, as a precaution.]

The child gave a slight nod.

"Mornin'?" Revenant's eyes widened. "This mornin'?! It's in a couple of hours."

Generalíssima glanced at her, raising her voice, "I won't give the traitor much time to plan something. I hope you heard that, whoever you are."

And the gates of hell shall not prevail

Homura touched the dry ground gently and kept her dark energy wings open, so that she could release her passengers on their feet.

Still, when the dark hands released her, Sayaka almost collapsed. Staying with her body in the same position for so long had been exhausting. She noticed that Kyouko was jumping and celebrating.

"Ah! I've missed you, ground," the redhead said.

Among the passengers on the other wing, Kaoru was the first to speak up, "You can't see very far in this darkness, but I can see a lot of bushes for a desert."

With a slight gesture over her face and a bit of magic, Umika created her glasses as part of her magical girl uniform. "Not all deserts are just dunes and sands."

Kazumi was more interested in looking at the sky. "Ahhhh... Look, how many stars! It's not like this in the city."

Oriko also paid attention to the sky, but more specifically at the horizon, where there was a tinge of clarity. "We should not have more than an hour before the Sun appears."

Kyouko approached and glared at the blonde.

"What afflicts you, Sakura-san?" Oriko smiled.

"We better find something at these coordinates, or I'm going to ask Homura to leave you here."

Oriko shrugged. "Well, I just provided the numbers, Akemi-san is the one who interpreted them as coordinates. Besides, Kyuubey was pretty sure that there would be a base of this Sisterhood in Australia."

"Yeah..." Kyouko opened her arms and turned, looking around. "But we're here and there's no crap at all."

As she made her wings disappear, Homura spoke, "Do you think I would land at the coordinates? Straight on top of possible enemies?"

"Huh?" Kyouko was surprised, then lowered her gaze. "Hmmm... You're right."

Sayaka smiled. "Ah, you even thought about it, but are we too far away yet?"

Homura looked at the screen of the GPS device and pointed with her finger. "In that direction, if we leave now, we'll reach it soon."

"Hey! Hey!"

They all looked at Kaoru. The orange haired girl smiled with embarrassment. "I'm going behind that bush, real quick, hehe. It's an urgency I have to take care of."

"Ah!" Kazumi raised her arm. "I have to go behind a bush too!"

Umika covered her face with palm of her hand. "I told you not to drink too much water before the voyage."

After the urgency was resolved, the girls walked through the desert, being led by Homura and her device.

Having not even a trail, the terrain was bad and the vegetation was punishing, there was also a constant cold wind that, fortunately, a magical girl could tolerate. However, Sayaka wondered if it was not better to go leaping. Homura was being very cautious, but the clarity on the horizon was becoming more evident.

They arrived at a large rock. Homura quickly leaned back on the rock's surface, in a clear sign that she was using it as cover.

The other girls copied the gesture. Sayaka whispered as she adjusted her white cape, "Are we close?"

Homura replied in the same tone, "Did you see the small rocky hill just ahead? The coordinates are over there."

Kazumi raised her eyebrows, exclaiming, "Ah yes! But it doesn't seem to have anything special, not even a light."

"Lower your voice." Umika conjured a book, it floated in front of her and opened itself. The pages turned by themselves in a rapid frequency. The girl did not care about that, more focused on the aura surrounding her magic tool. "Hmmm... I can't sense any large-scale magic. That hill is real, not a camouflage or illusion."

"So, it's inside it," Homura concluded.

Kyouko rolled her eyes. "Great, that's all I wanted to hear..."

"What are we going to do now?" Kaoru asked, "do we go there and look for any clues? Or wait for someone to show up?"

"Heh, waiting hasn't been part of our plans," Kyouko commented.

"South face of the hill."

They all paid attention to Oriko's sudden statement.

"There is the entrance to a cave."

Sayaka shook her head. "How do you know that?"

Oriko smiled at her. "Because you will find it."

Sayaka frowned and lowered her gaze.

"Right, let's confirm the existence of that entrance." A lilac light enveloped Homura, and her black funeral dress gave way to her old magical girl uniform. On her left forearm her shield appeared, with the two purple sand compartments exposed, one empty and the other completely full. As expected, the mechanism was unlocked and it was possible to turn the shield upside down, not that this was the intention.

However, any intention had been postponed, for Umika had suddenly approached. Adjusting her glasses, she looked at Homura from head to toe, with a look of surprise.

Homura said nothing, waiting to hear the reason for this.

Umika asked, "Do you have two different magical girl uniforms?"

Kazumi was also amazed. "She's kinda like a Kamen Rider!"

Kaoru, on the other hand, did not have the same reaction. "I don't know why you girls are like this. We used to wear different uniforms too."

Umika nodded. "Yes, but we can't switch back to our old uniforms."

Kyouko raised an eyebrow. "Did you have different uniforms?"

Umika, Kaoru and Kazumi promptly replied, "Long story."

Homura placed the GPS device inside the shield and took from it a plastic bottle filled with water.

Sayaka raised her eyebrows when she noticed this.

Homura handed the bottle to Oriko. "Share it with anyone who's thirsty." She then pulled out from inside the shield some small packages.

Kyouko recognized the package. "Yay! Good choice."

"Those are cereal bars." Homura went on tossing the packages to each girl. "That was a very long journey and this seems to be the last chance to replenish our strength."

Holding the package, Sayaka smiled and nodded. "Thank you for taking us into consideration, Homura."

Oriko agreed, "Ah yes, a commendable attitude. I am grateful."

The girl with long black hair lowered her gaze and turned her face away.

Sayaka swore she could see a blush on Homura's face. Seeing her like that, Sayaka could not help but remember Homura with glasses and a long pair of braids. However, she tried to avoid the thought, she had already made that mistake once. Homura was not someone who could be summed up with an image from the past.

Meanwhile, Kazumi was about to finish devouring her cereal bar. "Hmmm~~ That really hit the spot!" Just then, she heard a loud snort and felt a jet of hot air on her nape. She turned around and had a startle. "WHOAAA! A wild horse appears!"

"That's not a wild animal." Sayaka was wide-eyed. "It's... It's Kyouko's mare!"

"Why are you here?" Kyouko approached the animal and stroked its head. "Huh? Didn't I leave water and food for you? I said I'd be back in a day."

Oriko whispered to Homura, "If anyone was still in doubt about whether this animal was supernatural..."

Without saying anything, but very serious, Homura crossed her arms.

"You people are full of surprises." Umika bent down to examine the underside of the animal. "I sense magic, but I don't have the sensation that it's a witch's familiar. Is that mare a magical pet of yours?"

"She's more like a magical headache that I've learned to love." Kyouko crumbled what was left of the cereal bar, placing it in the palm of her hand and offering it to the mare to eat. "Actually, she kinda behaves, as long as there's no one around frying shrimp."

"It's kind of dark, but her fur color is peach, right?" Kaoru asked, "does she have a name?"

Kyouko replied, "Homura."

"Eh?" Kaoru looked at the girl with long black hair. "Haha, she has the same name as yours."

Homura pressed her lips.

"Nice homage," Oriko commented with a smile.

"No comments." Homura closed her eyes and sighed.

"Awww... She's so cute and gentle." Kazumi stroked the animal's body. "If Satomi-chan were here, she would love to have a conversation with her."

"Having a conversation?" Kyouko inquired, "This Satomi likes animals?"

Kazumi laid her head on the fur, feeling its warmth. "Yes, she shared with me amazing stories that they told her."

Kyouko frowned.

Homura took the water bottle and put it back into her shield. Then a shadow covered her and her magical girl uniform gave way to her black funeral dress. "Kyouko-san, I hope you're able to keep your mare here. We've to approach the hill stealthily."

Oriko said, "That does not matter anymore."

The girls looked at the blonde, Homura was especially tense. "What?"

With a lost gaze and more serious voice, Oriko announced, "They know we are here."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

[ALL SISTERS! REPORT TO THE SECURITY ROOM! IT'S URGENT!]

Watching the screens, Invader said to the man standing next to her. "The warning has been made."

"Good." Inquisitor was looking specifically at the screen containing an infrared satellite photo.

"Are you here already?"

Inquisitor turned around and saw Generalíssima approaching from a corner of the room.

The woman narrowed her gaze. "I thought I had asked you to purify the seeds for the mission."

"I did that." Inquisitor pointed to the four seeds on the counter that stood under the screens. "I finished quickly and came here to ask Invader for us to review the footage from the day the seeds were stolen. I had a vague idea in mind and wanted to confirm, but found nothing. However, to our surprise, there are satellite photos of a group of people on the surface."

"Group of people?" Generalíssima looked at the screens.

The metal door opened, it was Revenant and Lucky. The young freckled woman walked in already asking, "What's it? Is the operation gonna start already?"

Generalíssima answered, "There are people outside. Potential threats. Seven in total."

"SEVEN?!" The black woman came closer. "Magical girls?"

"Witches," Inquisitor commented as if to correct Revenant.

"Can you get more images, Invader?" Generalíssima asked.

The ballerina in the chair made her soul gem glow. "Unfortunately, this satellite doesn't provide nighttime images in real-time. I'm waiting for the next photos."

"All right, that's not so necessary. I can see that one of the people is wearing a very large skirt..." Generalíssima pressed her lips together and nodded. "Valkyrie must have been followed."

Inquisitor speculated, "Or the traitor managed to contact someone outside."

Lucky asked, "What're we gonna do?"

"Remain hidden and wait. This time, this group doesn't have a Sisterhood member to guide them to the entrance." Generalíssima looked up at the ceiling as she sent a telepathic message. [Nano, Madre, you don't need to come to the security room. There are people outside, possibly witches. They don't know we are here, just follow the protocol. Madre, remind the novices not to use any form of magic. They should be resting, but ensure this.] She continued to stare at the ceiling, waiting for confirmation.

[I will see that.] Madre replied.

[Great.] Generalíssima looked at the screens again and crossed her arms. "Okay, let's wait."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

The Hope Conveyors were on the hill, in front of a hole that had been revealed when they pushed aside some bushes and branches.

Kyouko raised her eyebrows. "Is that a cave? It looks more like an animal's burrow."

Homura examined a broken branch. "Those bushes were arranged on purpose to hide that entrance."

"An animal can do that." Kyouko was still not quite convinced.

Oriko conjured one of her spheres and made it emit light. Then she sent the floating object down the hole. "That tunnel goes deep into the hill."

Umika questioned, "According to your vision, the Sisterhood knows we're here. If we enter that hole, won't there be an ambush? Nor traps?"

"No," Oriko answered without hesitation.

Kyouko stated to the blonde, "I ain't buying that."

Ignoring the altercation, Homura was the first to enter the hole, surprising the redhead.

Sayaka was next. "C'mon Kyouko, enough of this fear. It's a good sign if there're no ambushes or traps. That means they should be willing to talk."

"Tch..." Kyouko turned her face away.

After Sayaka, the Pleiades trio began to enter the hole.

Seeing that she would end up being left behind, Kyouko walked over to her mare. "Hey Homura, stand guard, okay? If anyone comes by, neigh for us." After passing the instructions, she returned and saw that Oriko was preparing to enter.

The blonde noticed that the redhead was smiling with a certain malice. "What's so funny?"

Kyouko replied, "Heh, I wanna see you crawl in that hole with that huge skirt."

Without saying anything, just staring at the red magical girl, Oriko ripped her skirt with her hands, splitting it in two and revealing her white pantyhose legs.

Keeping her cheeky smile, Kyouko nodded.

Oriko created more spheres to light up the hole before entering, followed by the redhead.

The descent was steep and the rock was smooth, it required an effort to avoid slipping and going down too fast. The tunnel was getting narrower, which made it easier to use the walls as support to avoid slipping, but also brought a suffocating claustrophobic feeling.

Kyouko had only the light and the soles of Oriko's shoes as a guide. If she stopped, she would end up in complete darkness. Her skin was wet and she was not sure if it was sweat or the dampness of the rocks. As they continued down, Kyouko could not help but wonder how much worse it would be when they had to climb back up.

Suddenly Oriko's feet disappeared.

"Hey! W-Wait!" Kyouko crawled as fast as she could. Clinging to the rocks, she gave a big push, but then her torso no longer felt the ground. "WhoaaaAAAHHH!"

"Gotcha!"

It was a brief fall. The next thing Kyouko knew, she saw Sayaka smiling at her. Of course, since she was in the arms of the heroine with white cape. "O-Ooi! Put me down!"

Sayaka complied with the request, but not very pleased. "Hmpf! It can't hurt to say 'Thank you'."

"Thank you..." Kyouko saw that Oriko was already with Homura and the other three magical girls. The blonde was controlling spheres to light up the place, a large chamber with stalactites. One of the rock walls had a wide fissure, it was where the tunnel had ended and she had fallen.

Kazumi was marveled at the shapes of the rocks. "It feels like we're in another world."

"Or in a witch's barrier." Kaoru looked around, worried by the incessant sound of dripping.

Umika was more bothered by the situation, especially in how dirty she was from crawling. "It's just a cave."

Sayaka and Kyouko approached the rest of the group. The redhead quickly said, "Okay, this is a cave, but I don't see anything fancy here."

Oriko opened her arms and a light fell on her, repairing her clothes and creating the mitre on her head. "We need to wait." She glanced at Homura.

The girl remained silent, crossing her arms in response.

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

"They no longer appear on the satellite photos," Invader spoke, "their last position was on the hill, so that means they must have found the cave."

Revenant put her hands on her head. "Dammit!"

"Calm down." Generalíssima kept a firm countenance. "They may be in the cave, but they don't know about the fake wall and we won't open it."

Lucky inquired, "What if they decide ta blow everythin' up ta see if they can find anythin'?"

Generalíssima smiled. "In that case, the cave is likely to collapse and save us the trouble."

Inquisitor conjectured, "These witches might create a barrier to distort the reality of the cave walls and then appear in here."

Generalíssima looked at the man, now more concerned. "Let's pray they're not capable of that."

Invader announced, "Movement on the entrance ramp, at the gate!"

"What?!" Generalíssima brought her face closer to the screen where showed the image from the security camera. She recognized the person immediately. "What's she doing there?"

Inquisitor also recognized her, turning pale in the same instant and then he slowly started to back away.

Invader zoomed in on the image to give the answer to Generalíssima. She widened her eyes when she realized what was happening. "She is... opening it."

"The heck?!" Revenant exclaimed. "Keep it closed!"

"I can't!" Invader was bewildered, trembling in her chair. "She made a manual override."

Beginning to understand the situation, Lucky felt her legs grow weak, while her heart seemed about to fall out.

Revenant exasperated, "Stop her, Generalíssima! STOP HER!"

"Even if I do that now..." Generalíssima lowered her head. "This is an emergency procedure, the entrance gate can no longer be closed."

Inquisitor continued to retreat until his back touched the wall. Open-mouthed, he gasped, his bulging eyes denoting the loss in his soul.

Revenant fell silent. She understood everything she needed to understand. All she could do was grit her teeth and save her strength for what was to come.

Generalíssima looked again at the camera image. The muscles in her face contracted in anger, disgust, but the light from the screen made the tears in her eyes glisten, denoting her great sadness. Her breath compelled by frustration made her murmur, "No, not her..."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

The girls' wait in the cave was interrupted by the loud but muffled sound of a mechanism unlocking, soon followed by a rumble.

A new light, no longer coming from Oriko's spheres, but from the wall, as it began to move.

The light grew stronger and it took the girls a while to discern that the wall was a large door, and the light was coming from a wide concrete tunnel, a long way down by a ramp.

Oriko smiled.

From the tunnel came a dark silhouette, but under the light of the spheres, the features became clear. It was a woman in armor and with a shield on her back, looking like a nun or a knight, wearing a black crown with three crosses, with a small red gem on the middle cross. With her hands together, a red rosary was wrapped around one of her gauntlets. The smile on her face was motherly and inviting. "Greetings."

Next chapter: Agnus Dei