With the typical hiss and unoiled squeak of the doors, Ray stepped off the train once again at Kitre Station. This whole area of Rosepath, effectively swept to the side of the city, was full of gloom, poverty and abuse. All of the wealth was concentrated in the center, and Ray never could fully understand why. Even so, it was the reason for her visit on this particularly muggy September evening.
She had just finished with school and one particularly exhausting day of work. Witch hunting by the shopping district and on the Livale border had proved itself futile within the last couple of days; no witches, not even one familiar to track down its master. The only place that Ray knew there would be traces of a witch, if not the witch itself, was throughout Kitre station and the surrounding area.
But then again, it had been a long day.
No person went unscanned as Ray made her way through the alleyways with small storefronts, stalls, and other salespeople. Everyone could be a target, and everyone was at risk for being a victim. Although it didn't even take ten minutes for a familiar voice and head of unkempt hair made her stop in her tracks.
"Thank you! Please drop by again sometime!"
Mira Estelle: a magical girl living on the Rosepath border who Ray could still not quite understand. The girl was idealistic but she didn't seem to be naive, cheerful without lacking traumatic experience, and caring while still being wary enough to live in what was essentially a ghetto. She wore a barista's outfit and donned an enthusiastic smile, gasping upon seeing Ray down the road.
"Ray! Ray, I'm so glad to s- mmph?"
"Do not call attention to me," Ray sighed, uncovering Mira's mouth but taking her back inside the storefront she had come out of before to presumably say goodbye to a customer.
The inside was rather well-decorated for the average customer. The wood on the floor was almost a mirror, there were freshly cut flowers at every table and handwritten signs for coffee orders, pastries, and more. Ray's shoulders relaxed as she smelled the freshly brewing coffee, but then tensed back up as she realized what Mira was wearing.
"Not to minimize your hustle or anything, but aren't you too young to be working?" Ray asked.
"Shhh!" Mira put a finger to her mouth and looked around frantically. Upon seeing no customers were inside, she smiled again and put her hand down. "I am, but the owner lets me work here."
"Do you get paid? They can't give you checks, can they?"
"No, he pays me in cash! I make hourly, and also some tips. But no one really tips around here."
"You should work near the college or near the main shopping district. Those guys tip like they're bribing you."
"I couldn't do that! They wouldn't let me work there since I'm only thirteen. This is the only place that I've been able to work with a somewhat consistent amount coming in."
"Well then I guess I'll just have to bribe you myself."
Ray sat down at one of the booths, taking off her pink trench coat and sitting up with surprisingly proper posture. Mira laughed a little but got out a small server notepad and pen.
"What can I get you, then, Ray?"
"Let's see…" Ray looked over the small standing menu of specials on the table and then skimmed over the listed drinks on the wall. "I'll take a double-shot vanilla latte."
"Okay! One double- wait!" Mira pointed the pen at Ray, prompting a confused expression from the other girl.
"What?"
"That's caffeinated! That's illegal!"
"What? No, it's not? Anyone can have coffee, what the hell?"
"The owner says that I can't have coffee since I'm a kid. And you're a kid, so you can't have it either!"
"You've seriously never sold any kid coffee?" Ray looked like she was about to crack with laughter.
"No. Only adults come in here, really." Mira looked like she was thinking hard about it. "But the owner did say that I couldn't have coffee."
"Maybe he said you couldn't have coffee, but I know that I can. It's not like alcohol, it's a normal component of drinks. Soda has caffeine in it, too, y'know."
"Soda has caffeine?" Mira looked shocked.
"A lot of firsts for you today," Ray snickered. "I promise you it's fine. Just make the damn latte."
"Okay, but I'm asking Miss Fayen later!" Mira called out as she went behind the counter to make the drink.
"Well she'll agree with me, so it doesn't matter!" Ray called back.
After a few minutes of remembering how to use the equipment, Mira came back from behind the counter with a piping hot latte for a very impressed Ray. The top had been decorated with latte art that Ray had only seen rivaled at the more uppity cafes in her area. It was a little bunny with small hearts around it. Mira seemed very proud of it.
"You did this?" Ray asked, looking up. "That's crazy."
"Yep! I saw the little bunny patch on your bag so I wanted to replicate it. I try to make art that goes with each person." She paused. "Do you like it?"
"I really like it…" Ray had to take a moment to admire it before being able to take a sip. "Thanks."
"Yay! I'm glad you like it!"
"Hey, since apparently it's a day of firsts do you want to try some of it?" Ray held up the mug for her. "Your first sip of coffee?"
"What? No, I still need to hear from Miss Fayen that it's okay."
"Oh c'mon, it's not like she's your mom or anything."
After a few seconds of silence, Mira finally gave in and took a sip. She recoiled at first, but then thought about it a bit more.
"Bitter, but I kinda like the vanilla at the end," she noted.
"See? Not as bad as you thought."
The girls continued to banter back and forth for quite some time before Mira noted that she had to clock out. At this point, it was about eight o'clock and the two decided to look for witches together in the area. Although, they were both exhausted. A full day of work and the addition of a full night hunting witches was looking worse to both of them. It was their duty as magical girls, though, and they respected that. Or, rather, they accepted that.
Stepping into a smaller residential area, the two girls could hear the faint sound of child laughter and the sound of a few balls bouncing hitting the asphalt.
"I'm glad I don't live in a neighborhood with kids around," Ray remarked as they continued walking.
"Really? I think it's a lot better that way!" Mira responded, looking over at Ray.
"They're too loud. Too annoying."
"But aren't you a kid, too?"
"I'm almost sixteen! I'm not a kid, you're more of a kid than I am!"
Mira just laughed, a huge smile across her face. Although both of them stopped when they heard the sound of a ball coming closer. Mira knelt down and picked up the ball, but there was something strange about its appearance. The two-dimensional and empty shading, the weightlessness, the looming feeling of dread- they both knew what it was.
Both of their soul gems flashed as the girls were absorbed into the labyrinth. Two children still seemed to be running around, following the fake balls and passing them to each other. Ray quickly ran to the kids and slapped the ball out of their hands. With a trumpet buzz, the ball disappeared into the confetti-littered labyrinth floor. The children stared at both of the girls, their eyes nearly rolled back.
"What did you do that for?" One of them asked.
"You took it away! You took it away!" The other yelled.
"Ray, they have a witch's kiss," Mira pointed out, taking a step back. "We should call Jam and Miss Fayen."
"I doubt we're in the radius for telepathy to work. Try it, but don't expect anything from it."
Ray transformed into her magical girl outfit, summoning one pistol for each hand. The children flung themselves at her, but she just used her own legs to kick them to the walls of the labyrinth. They seemed to be too weak to move, but familiars were beginning to swarm. Ray then began to shoot each one down while Mira worked on trying to reach the veteran magical girls using telepathy.
"Jam! Miss Fayen! It's Mira, we ran into a labyrinth off Kitre Station in one of the residential streets," Mira sent out, hoping someone would hear.
After about five seconds, there was a response.
"Good work, girls." It was Autumn, and she seemed rather close. "I will notify Jami, and we'll be there soon. What's the situation?"
"Familiars. Lots of 'em," Ray butt in. "Probably a weak witch, then. Seems like it's overcompensating."
"No matter, you two stay safe. We'll be there soon," Autumn signed off.
Mira transformed following Ray, and the two descended deeper into the labyrinth. They seemed to employ an interesting teamwork strategy: Mira herding all of the familiars into a single spot in order for Ray to shoot them down or alternatively Ray blasting them into a corner in order for Mira to slice them all in succession.
The familiars that showed up were small graduation caps, seeming to be coming from the ceiling of the labyrinth while cackling and repeating distorted phrases that neither of the girls could decipher. Each had either a blue or white hue, the tassels gold and tangled with thorns and barbed wire. This made them particularly easy to grab a hold of with Mira's sword; the barbs or thorns entangled in the tassels nearly stuck to her swords.
Soon enough the two girls had made it to the center of the labyrinth merely by continuing onward to take down familiars. The witch was standing on an extremely high golden podium, a human's skeleton as the upper half with a blue gown on the bottom half. The hands of the witch extended as golden tassels, the tassels waving in the odd pseudo-weightlessness of the labyrinth. Flower necklaces and gift bouquets littered the floor along with the confetti from the previous hallways. School bells rang in both of the girls' ears, shaking the floor and rattling the very air that they were breathing.
"Is that really a dead person?" Mira asked Ray, staring right into the skeleton's empty eye sockets. The two seemed to not break their gaze from the other; Mira's eye was getting lost in the black emptiness.
"No, it's a witch. Probably just looks like that 'cause it knows it's disturbing," Ray kissed one of her pistols and threw it into the air, catching it after it had extended into what appeared to be a huge over-the-shoulder bazooka. It was still white and pink, just like her pistols, decorated with holographic stickers of cartoon bunnies, cats, hearts, candy, and phrases like "boom" and "bang." She took a protective stance, taking a deep breath as the launcher started gathering energy and glowing bright pink.
Mira took the hint and started sprinting around the witch at her usual breakneck speed. She sped up the podium and circled the witch with the blades of her swords heading towards the center. With each cut, the bone of the skeleton ripped and just produced red tassels. The further the cut, the longer the tassel. Soon, all of the tassel strings wrapped around Mira's sword and thrust her into the labyrinth ceiling before gravity took care of the rest.
Ray's weapon finally ended its charging period, and with a whistle of command from her it released an immensely powerful ray of pink and white energy towards the witch. The force was so great that Ray's shoes pierced spikes into the ground of the labyrinth to keep her from toppling over. Mira, not having such restraints, was thrown back but clung onto Ray's ankle.
Pink clouds of smoke cleared, the witch's skull fell off from the top of the podium. It cracked each time it hit something until it finally rolled over to the two magical girls. Ray aimed the bazooka straight at the center of the skull, but it was too late for one more charge.
The skull's jaw cracked and fell off, releasing dark red tassels in every direction. Mira tried to cut them with her sword, but the sheer number of them was too much for her sword to handle. It simply got caught from her grip.
"And, now!"
The labyrinth filled with a light, warm, angelic light. Although blinding to the magical girls, it stunned the skull just enough for the tassels to cease their movement. A blade, seemingly made out of light, cut the skull in half and then a flaming blue arrow pierced it into pieces. The labyrinth faded away, revealing Autumn and Jami both in magical girl costume. Autumn faded the blade on her umbrella and ran over to the younger magical girls, hugging them tight.
"Goodness, are you okay? Please tell me you're okay."
"We're okay, Miss Fayen!" Mira smiled, leaning into the hug. "Thanks for the help!"
"Well, we're a team, aren't we?" Ray laughed and tried to get away from the hug.
Jami cleared her throat, showing them the grief seed that was left by the witch that they had just defeated. Such a looming presence of dread in the smallest of sizes.
"I think we have more important business to take care of here," Jami remarked, tossing the grief seed to Autumn. "Seniority."
"Oh, right."
Autumn touched the grief seed to her soul gem positioned at her forehead. A small amount of impurities were instantly absorbed into the grief seed, leaving Autumn's gem completely clear. She then tossed it to Jami who repeated this procedure. Ray was next in line, although there were quite a bit of impurities in her soul gem that seemed to almost overwhelm the grief seed. It seemed to be leaking some of the impurities, the dreadful feeling becoming imminent.
"That grief seed cannot restore any more magic. A witch will hatch from it if it is not taken care of in a timely manner."
The incubator sat behind them, scratching its ear.
"But Mira hasn't gotten her's restored yet," Ray pointed out. "Can't it take a little more?"
"No. A grief seed has limited capacity. Mira will need another grief seed in order to restore her magic. This grief seed is at maximum capacity."
The group looked at each other, but it was Mira to speak up first.
"It's okay! We'll find another witch soon," She smiled, taking the grief seed herself and tossing it to the incubator.
"Yes, but then it's seniority rule," Autumn sighed. "You will be last in the order."
"Then I'll just use less magic," Ray conceded, shrugging. "I have no problem doing that."
"That's a good idea, Ray. But since you are quite new at this, leave it to the veterans to conserve magic. We will conserve magic usage unless absolutely necessary."
"Isn't that what we always do anyway?" Jami asked..
"Well, I'll try it. If it doesn't work then I'll stop. How's that?" Ray seemed rather impatient with this argument.
Autumn smiled and gave a soft sigh.
"So long as you do not endanger yourself, it will be fine. Mira, how are you feeling?"
"I'm okay! Tired, though."
"Then let's get you back home, okay? We can discuss more logistics later."
The four of them walked together back to Mira's apartment, and, once Mira had made it inside, decided to depart. Ray took the speed train back to her district. Autumn and Jami took the usual train in order to reach the college.
"I'm glad that we were able to get to the labyrinth so quickly. Jami, you really have an eye for those, don't you?"
"I guess so. Don't you see them, too? The entrances?"
"Only when they're empty. To be honest, I never exceeded in finding them unless I was already in them."
"That's fair. But they're fairly obvious."
"You speak bluntly, Jami."
"Yeah?"
"I really don't think I need to tell you again, but please keep it a little hidden when talking to the little ones. They might think you're upset with them if you speak so…"
"Mean?"
"I was looking for a better word, but to put it simply." Autumn leaned her head against her hand on the table. "Just be a little kinder to them. You can be blunt with me, but please show them some consideration."
"I'll try, but I try not to make false promises." Jami leaned against her seat.
Their train car was quiet for the rest of the ride.