The stage is set. As the curtains rise, four girls adorned in red surround a queen bee inside of her own hive. Hisses and the screams of innocent victims surround the scene and the lights flash with anticipation. Yellow turns to a deep crimson as the girls try desperately to tame the queen. Drones and workers defend their queen with all of their might, tearing the girls apart. Blood boils. Blood spills. Tears fall to the floor. As the deafening volume suddenly halts, silence pours over the actors like a crashing waterfall. One phrase was echoed: "Don't underestimate your queen."

Startled, Jami jolted up with a loud gasp. She grabbed her arm and her chest in a frenzy of panic. Both were free of injury and mostly healed from the witch fight off the cliffside. She sighed in relief and let herself fall back onto her pillow.

"You seem distressed."

The incubator was resting atop the windowsill staring at Jami with its usual expressionless face. She groaned and turned away from it to face the wall.

"Mind your own damn business."

"Your distress is my business, given it can hinder your ability to fight witches."

She got up from her lofted bed and dropped down to the floor, walking to the sink to splash cold water on her face. Looking into the mirror, she recognized the bags under her eyes. Sleep had been few and far between lately, and nightmares raided her dreams like soldiers in a war.

"So, are you able to visit the new territory this weekend?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to do all of that new student crap. We're leaving in fifteen."

"Do you not have someone that needs to keep track of you?"

"I have an RA, but I don't have to-"

There was a quick knock at her dorm door. Without thinking, she rolled her eyes and opened the door. Right as she was about to ask what they needed, expecting it to be the RA or another figure of authority, her eyes widened and she stepped away from the door. A big toothy grin was awaiting her, belonging to the magical girl that she had met the day before. She was wearing the same coffee shop uniform that she was before, although this time with a different, yet similar, eyepatch.

"Jam! I didn't know you were going to college here! It took me forever to find your dorm, I had to get around locked doors and everything."

"What the hell are you even- get in here!" Jami grabbed her and pulled her inside, shutting the door. "What the hell are you even doing here?"

"I wanted to show you around today. The little guy said it would be okay, and that you needed a tour of the area anyway."

Jami slowly turned her head and glared at the incubator still resting on her windowsill. Its tail flicked in the air, but there was no other reaction. Of course it had gone behind her back and made this girl aware of where she was, it just had to.

"I'm busy today. I have to do orientation with my classmates," Jami lied, her eyes darting away from Mira's.

"That's silly! I heard you saying that you're not doing the 'new student crap,' right?"

Jami just wanted to yell at her. She wanted to tell her that she was annoying her and actively making her situation worse, wanted to tell her that she was way too naive for this line of work, and idiotic to think that she could just get away with sneaking into a girl's dormitory without permission. Just as she opened her mouth, she remembered the night before. She remembered walking away from her without a word on the cliffside, and actively contributing to their hardship in combat by telling her to do nothing while her attack charged. Guilt. It hurt, stung even.

Mira looked up at Jami, seemingly not noticing the mental argument she was having with herself.

"I'll go with you. Just give me a minute to get dressed, okay?"

The girl beamed with joy and clapped her hands together. Her grin was almost too much to handle; it was full of the childhood joy that could only be shown in the best of circumstances. It made Jami pause for a moment. Why had she been so rough on this innocent girl? Another flood of guilt swept through her.

Jami changed her clothes behind her lofted bed as Mira watched some of the orientation tour groups from the window. She would point out what each group was doing or where they appeared to be going, even commenting on how some were dressed or what they were wearing. Behind the bed, Jami just changed into jean shorts and a black shirt, covering herself mostly with a large jacket.

"I'm done. So where are you taking me?" She asked as she slipped on her shoes.

"Oh, right! I thought I would show you where all of the hospitals are and where most fights break out. They're typically in the shadier parts of the city, but we'll be okay."

"You've been there before?"

"Is that surprising?"

"Yeah. You're like four feet tall."

"Most magical girls are young, aren't they? You're the abnormality."

Jami stopped and narrowed her eyes at the girl. Sure, she brought it up, but it was a rude word to use in these circumstances. Shouldn't the girl be thanking her for helping her maintain the territory? She had years of experience, not like this rookie.

"Uh-huh…"

The incubator jumped down from the windowsill and walked towards the door. It looked up at the girls and tilted its head.

"Shall we get going, then? I believe the last of the tour groups has left the dormitory."

"Sounds good!" Mira skipped to the door and opened it, smiling to Jami. "After you!"

As all three of them exited the building, there was something that Jami noticed. Just at the right moment when the sun hit her skin, she noticed something deep and dark red underneath Mira's eyepatch. It was only for a moment, but it was enough to merit at least some concern. She really didn't know anything about this kid.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?" Mira's smile was as bright as always.

"What happened to your eye? Or, um, why do you need the eyepatch?"

"Oh! I got hurt a while ago, so it doesn't look very nice now. A lot of people get scared when they see it, so I just wear the eyepatch. It's a lot easier."

"Right. And when did this happen?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"No reason, I guess I'm just curious."

"It was long enough ago. I've let go of it now. I don't want to be angry or sad or regretful, I just want to be happy."

Jami found herself staring at the younger girl, almost in shock. Why was she giving such a vague answer, much less a vague answer that seemed so optimistic.

"So you won't tell me?"

"I don't like to bring up bad things," Mira said bluntly. "And I would appreciate it if you would respect that."

There it was. The first hint that Mira wasn't just a smiling doll of pure white. It was almost impressive, hindering Jami's ability to reply. If Jami were to respect that choice, then she would have to treat Mira as an equal, as just another peer. But she couldn't do that, right? Mira was so much younger than her! She couldn't allow some kid to tell her what to do. But perhaps she had to make an exception for another magical girl.

"Yeah, I can respect that."

The three of them continued on their way, and spent the day walking through the city. There were two hospitals that Jami noted, one for the city and one specifically for the college that she would be attending. No grief seeds or witches had taken over any of these areas, which was a relief to both girls. In addition to the hospitals, Jami took note of sketchy-looking bars and adult entertainment establishments within the inner city. When they passed a few, she made Mira walk behind her and close to her. Mira just found this amusing, but Jami really didn't want to have to deal with her getting hurt or harassed.

"Hey, Jam?"

Jami looked back at Mira and stopped walking, the incubator following suit. They were just about to head down one of the streets leading to the college. Street lights just began to flicker on, triggered by the vanishing sunlight.

"What?"

"Can we walk around, or go down a different street?"

"Why?"

This piqued the incubator's interest, and it looked between the two girls with a blank stare. Jami, on the other hand, was already getting tired. They hadn't eaten aside from a snack or two from Mira's small backpack, and she really just wanted to get to bed.

"This is the fastest way to the college, kid." Jami sighed. "You got a better route?"

"No, I just think that this one isn't safe."

"Can you please stop speaking so vaguely, why don't you want to go down this street?"

"A girl with something in her hand- pink- a pink knife!"

Jami looked down the road, and even around the corners of the closed stores. Nothing that she found remotely matched Mira's description, only a poster for a new video game outside a gaming store that featured a girl in pink holding a pistol.

"Are you sure you didn't just see a poster and get confused?"

"No, she's not there now, but she will be, and I don't like it when people carry knives. It always means they're up to something-"

Her words were coming out faster and faster, her hand motions erratic. It was becoming clear that she was not going to continue walking down the road, at least not in the direction she was warning against. Jami conceded, and they turned around. After turning around, though, they heard an offended gasp from up above them.

"For real? That one eye you have left must suck, 'cause I'm not holding a knife."

A girl appearing a little older than Mira was standing atop the gaming store, wearing an oversized pastel pink hoodie that matched her updo with a white pleated skirt. She jumped down to face the two girls, her platform sneakers giving her a slight edge in height over Mira.

"Oh! Sorry, I thought you were!"

Mira's tension almost instantly dropped, her shoulders even lowering after a deep exhale. Her smile was back, too, but Jami was on the defensive. She could sense that this girl wasn't just a human, especially after not breaking her legs falling a little more than a story.

"What were you doing on the roof of that store? The last time I checked, they don't allow kids on top of stores."

"Wanted to stargaze, then I heard you two babble-brooks talking. Kinda got interrupted, kinda got annoyed."

"It's too early to stargaze-"

"Sorry we interrupted you, we're going back home!" Mira interrupted. "But you should get home, too. It's late."

"Can you tell her to quiet down? Her voice is giving me a headache." The girl rolled her eyes at Mira and stared at Jami with a resting face of pure annoyance. "Look, might be too early to stargaze but never too early to start a fight. Skidaddle on out of here, will ya?"

"You can't threaten me, pinkie, I've seen kindergartener's more threatening than you."

"Oh, good one!" The girl responded sarcastically, grinning with an eyebrow raised. "I guess there are no witches out tonight but I've certainly found a bitch out tonight!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Mira got in between the two of them with her arms outstretched. "No fighting, no name-calling, we're leaving."

"I dunno, it was just starting to get good." The girl put a hand to the side of her face, pretending to gaze into Jami's eyes. "Such great chemistry."

"First off, that's gross coming from a child. Second, I don't have time to deal with a pastel freak. We're out."

As Jami led Mira away, the incubator stayed between where the argument had taken place. The fact that Mira didn't know her yet could somehow see her coming was intriguing, and it doubted that the new face would just allow them to leave. The girl spat at the ground to get their attention, to which both girls turned and tensed. They were seeing down the barrel, literally.

"So which one of you wants the first taste?"