Mokou wasn't quite sure what she was thinking as she stepped out of the restaurant. Her feet moved on their own, not caring where they went as long as it was away. She couldn't stand being in that place for a moment longer, not if it meant having to talk more about that.

It wasn't because Koishi had been wrong in her judgement. She had been more right than Mokou had been willing to admit.

She was angry. Who could blame her for that? She'd seen her life's work come to fruition, only to have it taken from her by the girl she had trusted to make her dreams come true. In the space of a few weeks, she'd gained everything she'd ever wanted and lost it all at once. Going through a roller-coaster of emotions like that, who wouldn't snap a little inside? Who wouldn't just paint someone the villain to justify how they felt?

And anger wasn't just relieving. It was simple. When Kaguya ruined her, there was no difficulty whatsoever in turning to the supposed culprit and declaring her to be the scum of the earth. Koishi was asking her to do something much, much harder - she was being asked to forgive Kaguya for what she'd done.

In the end, the facts were simple. Kaguya had lied to her, and screwed her out of her life's work. She'd cost her millions, and taken away everything she'd ever worked for. Now she was being asked to kiss and make up with her? Bullshit.

She'd been worried about Kaguya once. About how every other word out of her mouth was about her father and how he had such high expectations. But she hadn't been ready for the girl to outright betray her like she did - if anything, that concern just meant that being betrayed hurt that much more. There was no opinion about it - she had been cheated.

Just stop thinking about this, you moron. If it hurts, then why bother?

A voice in the back of her head whispered promises of relief. It was perfectly possible for her to just disagree with everything Koishi had said to her. She could just ignore the so-called 'advice' she'd been offered. She could stay in her own little world where she was the valiant hero who'd been stabbed in the back.

It was tempting. Very tempting. Mokou spent a long time pondering its offer, almost ready to disregard the monologue she'd been given.

An image flashed in front of her eyes the moment before she gave in.

"Mokou-tan."

She grabbed at her head as if she'd been wounded. She didn't want to see this, not now, not ever. It was just going to hurt her if she thought about this too much, so why couldn't she look away?

"Mokou-tan...we did it."

It had started now, and she knew there was no way of stopping it. The film began to run inside Mokou's head, still playing out in full view no matter how hard she closed her eyes. There was only one image, being played on endless repeat.

Kaguya was looking at the final mixture and holding it up to the sky, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Mokou-tan. This is...it's wonderful. We'll make millions with it, revolutionise the market, win every award that they've ever invented...in fact, they might have to invent a few new ones just for this."

She continued to stare in awe at the elixir, treating it like the most beautiful thing she'd seen in her life. Mokou had smiled at the pure, raw happiness running across her face.

"And I'm betting your old man will be glad to hear you helped out with this, won't he?"

Kaguya's face had shifted then, looking conflicted. She bit her lip suddenly, nervous.

"Um...yes. Of course."

She'd thought nothing of it at the time, and indeed by the time the deed was done that memory was all but gone from her mind. Looking back now, though, Mokou could practically taste the guilt that was wracking Kaguya's face as she prepared to betray her.

Mokou was vaguely aware she'd walked into some back alley, away from the main path. She was alone here, so no-one around noticed as she started to violently ram her head into the wall.

Get the hell out of my head, Kaguya!

It hurt. It hurt like hell. She didn't care, she just wanted this thought to go away. The more she looked at that face, the less Kaguya looked like a heartless monster, and the more she looked like a stupid girl who made a stupid choice to win over her daddy.

She didn't want Kaguya to have an explanation. Explanations meant she was just human, and they meant Mokou would have to pity Kaguya instead of holding the grudge. But forgiveness was hard, so much harder than just staying angry.

But anger was becoming less and less of an option.

Shit...it's too late now, isn't it?

She stopped trying to beat the thought out of her head, and slid to her knees with her hands still against the wall. A few quiet tears fell onto her lap as she grit her teeth so hard she thought they would shatter.

...What would I have done?

It was a question she didn't want to ask herself, but she asked it anyway. She tried to picture the situation from Kaguya's point of view - daughter of a successful pharmacist, father obsessed with beauty and success, expected great things out of her, but she didn't have the spark of genius she desperately needed. Suddenly someone shows up with the idea she's been looking for, needing help to take it beyond the conceptual stage.

Would she have been able to resist the temptation? Could she honestly have given credit to someone else if it was her own father who was looming down on her, expecting her to move mountains in his name?

It hurt to admit, but she couldn't honestly answer 'yes' to that question. Maybe what Kaguya had done was wrong, but to an extent she understood it.

She laughed to herself, in that forgotten back alley separated from the rest of the world. All that time she'd spent making her body strong, and her heart was still so puny.

"...Yeah. I guess I've been an idiot this whole time, haven't I?"

She gave up on even kneeling, and fell backwards into a puddle. A grey sky hung over her - dry, but threatening to burst into rain at any time. She felt powerless for the first time in months - this was too much for her right now, she thought. She couldn't bring herself to forgive Kaguya with a heart this weak.

So she decided she would have to learn. It would be painful, and it would be difficult, but it was the only sensible choice. She'd learn nothing by letting her hatred simmer for the rest of her life.

There was no brilliant declaration, no cry to the heavens. Just a simple, murmured promise to no-one in particular.

"I'm gonna get over myself. Someday, I'm gonna look her in the eye and tell her that I understand what she did. I swear on it."

Every word carried a tone of determination that only the most heartfelt wish could carry. She felt something welling up in her chest, like her emotions were manifesting in front of her.

It took her a moment to realise that wasn't just a clever simile.

"...The hell?"

Something had suddenly...appeared in her shirt's chest pocket. She couldn't find any other word for it - there'd been nothing, and now there was something. She never even used the pocket in question, but she could definitely feel a little weight pressing down on her. Pulling herself back to her feet, she reached inside and pulled out an object just smaller than her finger.

Some kinda jewel? Never seen one this colour, though...

It was shaped like a tear, and a brilliant crimson colour ran through it. There were no cracks or faults, the gem's bottom curving in a perfect arc. In terms of jewellery, it was an absolute masterpiece.

She would probably have examined it for a few minutes longer if a voice hadn't called out for her.

"You're a hard girl to find, y'know that? It's a good thing I caught you walking down here, or I'd have never caught you."

Another figure stepped in from the opening of the alley. It was a figure Mokou hadn't expected to see again for some time - not until after a whole lot of soul searching, anyway. She sighed, as she placed the gem back into the chest pocket.

"Kid, please tell me you aren't here for a rematch. I don't wanna have to do something I'll regret, but you're working away at my options."

Cirno didn't offer a response, simply strolling towards Mokou with a straight smile on her face. Her hands were in her pockets, as if to mock Mokou's stance, and her eyes were looking right into hers with total confidence. Impossible confidence, the sort that no human would be able to walk into a fair fight with.

"Oh, you can do whatever the hell you like. This time, I've got an ace or two up my sleeve."

Immediately, Mokou's mind drew the only logical conclusion it could.

She's armed, isn't she?

She'd been cornered in a back alley, of all places. She grit her teeth again, focusing on Cirno's hands and getting ready to disarm her the instant her hand left her pocket. She'd grab the arm, deflect the stab, and smack the wrist to knock the weapon out of her hand. Simple, but effective.

One of Cirno's hands ruffled around in her pocket. Mokou reacted on instinct alone, snatching at the arm before she could do any damage. Cirno was barely able to pull her hand out before Mokou stopped it dead.

It was empty.

What the?!

Cirno smirked, pulling her head next to Mokou's. A few words slipped into her ear, words that may as well have been in another language for how much sense they made to her.

"The Claw descends on Mokou Fujiwara."

An instant passed.

Then, to the rest of the world, the alley was empty.

"Bleh. How can you people eat this stuff?"

Sango had quickly decided that yakitori wasn't for her, leaving the dish almost untouched at the empty seat. She washed away the taste quickly with a gratuitous helping of mackerel, helped down with a single gulp of water. A few customers glared at her for her table manners (or lack thereof), while Koishi kept her head down and worked through her meal slowly.

"You're going to give yourself a stomach ache eating like that."

Sango looked up, confused.

"What're you talking about? I eat this stuff in one bite all the time out at sea. Can't be that different, surely."

Koishi didn't even bother to sigh at that one. She decided to just let her eat the meal however she wanted. She'd learn the lesson either way, though this way would be a little more painful.

She glanced around the restaurant, looking for anyone her age who'd be another potential Siren. No-one seemed to be a viable candidate though, and the only person she recognised was Professor Kawashiro in a rather tight-looking blue dress, holding what looked to be a glass of wine in her hand. She was muttering to no-one in particular about fractions and how they were a crime against humanity, swirling her glass but never actually taking a sip. She turned over to Koishi for a moment, offering her an infantile wave.

Koishi promptly looked away in embarrassment.

I'm not her student, I'm not her student...

Sango, of course, had been unaware of this exchange. She was too busy digging into her meal to care about interactions with tipsy teachers. The knife and fork were still sitting on the table, untouched, as she swallowed a piece of fish that seemed larger than her mouth.

"Mm...that's some good stuff. And I know good fish when I see it, trust m-"

Sango's boast never finished, as a sudden jolt of energy struck her body. She stood straight upright, eyes widened in shock, as her hands slammed into the table. Koishi's first thought was that the food had gone down the wrong way, but the hand grabbing her by the collar put paid to that thought.

"We need to go. Right now."

Sango's voice was deadly serious, a tone that Koishi had never really heard from her before. That was enough to convince her that whatever the problem was, it was worth leaving a meal half eaten.

"What's happening, Sango-san?"

"Can't you hear it?"

Koishi allowed Sango to haul her out of Lorelei's as she pondered the question. "Hear what?"

"Touch the Teardrop. Then you'll get it."

There was still no sign of the normal cheer in Sango's voice, which disturbed Koishi to no end. She reached into her pocket and pressed a single finger against the jewel held within.

Immediately a new sound burst to life, and she flinched at to its intensity. It was a voice, singing a single note with perfect pitch and tone. It was a beautiful call, and one that was more than a little familiar to Koishi.

"That's-"

Sango smiled a little as she saw the recognition on Koishi's face.

"Yup. The Siren is singing. Looks like she made her wish without us."

The path Sango pulled her down ran away from the beaten path, and into a series of alleys. Mokou must have walked down here to think things over, Koishi thought to herself. She held onto the Teardrop, listening to Mokou's voice all the way.

It came to an abrupt stop when they were nearby.

"Ah?!"

Sango's eyes widened again. This time, Koishi could definitely make out a hint of fear.

"Dammit, the Claw got to her first?! How is that even possible!?"

They reached their destination, a distant back alley that no-one in the city would have had a reason to visit. Even a cursory glance was enough to reveal that there was no-one here, though, and Sango grit her teeth.

"OK, OK, calm down. It's gotta be here somewhere..."

Sango fell to her knees, looking around the shadows for something. Koishi simply stood behind her, tilting her head in confusion.

"Sango-san, what are you looking for?"

"They've spirited her away into a freaking magic duel. She's gonna have no chance there on her own, so we've gotta follow her."

"Follow her? But how? Do I need to challenge you to a fight or something?!"

Koishi was panicking, and she knew it. Mokou was in danger, possibly deadly danger, and she was powerless to help yet again. Sango continued to lurk in the shadows, running her hands along the ground.

"No, we need to find their Duel Marker."

"...What, now?"

"You can't just challenge another magician to a fight without leaving something behind. It's a little orb thingy called a Duel Marker, and we can use it to jump in on the fight."

"That doesn't sound like a very fair way to duel."

"Well, it's so you can haul someone powerless off without anyone being able to intervene-wait, here it is!"

Sango scrambled to her feet again, holding up a light blue sphere the size of her hand. It pulsed slightly in her grip as she ran over to Koishi, her uniform covered in dirt.

"OK, Koishi-san. Hold onto this, and get ready to work your magic at any moment."

Koishi obeyed the order, placing one hand on the orb and the other in her pocket, closing it around the Teardrop. Sango placed a hand over Koishi's, and muttered what must have been some sort of entry password.

"The Pearl emerges to aid Mokou Fujiwara."

Koishi only had a moment to notice the flash of light.

The alley was deserted once again, save for a light blue sphere rolling along the ground.

The world Mokou emerged in was similar to the one she'd just left. It was the same alley in the back streets of Gensouto, abandoned and empty.

The main differences were the new shade of blue the world had taken, and the fact that she was now roughly fifty feet above the ground.

"Aglb-"

She made to shout, but an awkward gurgling noise rising up was enough to convince her that was a bad move. She floated in place, so there was no immediate threat of falling, but all that did was freak her out even more.

Did I fall asleep in the alley or something?

This had to be a dream. It was the only logical option - the world around her was too absurd, too crazy. That, or the world had apparently flooded in the last thirty seconds, which was equally nonsensical.

Then again, dreams weren't supposed to feel this real. Mokou could feel the water (was it even water?) brushing against her skin, just cold enough to keep her attentive to the feeling. A few bubbles slipped out from her nose, rising upwards into the distance above. Only now did Mokou realise that there was no sun here - but at the same time, she could see perfectly. Another little bit of madness to throw on top of everything else.

"Hey, what's the matter? Need a moment to catch your breath?"

A voice bellowed out behind her, and only now did Mokou remember that someone had been clinging onto her before the world changed. Turning back, she caught sight of Cirno floating above the city as well, though she didn't seem to have the same breathing problem that Mokou did.

Except...was it Cirno? No, it couldn't have been. Cirno didn't have bright blue hair that colour. And she certainly didn't have...holy crap, were those wings?

OK, I've lost it. I'm checking myself into an asylum when I wake up from this.

Her chest was starting to hurt a little. A few more bubbles flew out from between her lips as she let out a muffled moan. Cirno seemed to be enjoying her suffering, fluttering around gleefully in the water.

"Not so tough now, are you? Don't worry, this is all pretty new to me as well, but I've gotta say it's been a breath of fresh air for me."

If she weren't busy focusing on all the other weird things happening, Mokou would have probably punched Cirno in the face just for her horrible taste in puns. She started checking her pockets for anything that could help out before she started having serious trouble keeping her breath in.

Her hand clutched around a simple metal ring.

...if things get really complicated and it feels like you're going under, put that on, okay?

Sango's words from earlier suddenly rung in her head, and Mokou was slightly disturbed by how much they seemed to fit this situation. Hell, maybe that wasn't what she'd said at all, and she was just remembering it as such to fit the dream.

Whatever. If those were the sort of rules this dream worked on, she'd just have to follow them. She yanked the ring out of her pocket, and quickly jammed it on her middle finger. The pain in her chest faded away soon afterward, and she found herself breathing without much of a hassle.

Mokou's response to all this was about as verbose as could have been expected given the situation.

"Holy fuck."

Cirno's face fell promptly when it became clear that Mokou had stopped dying. She scratched her head for a second, puzzled.

"Where the hell did you get that thing...? Eh, whatever. Doesn't really matter."

She reached into her own pocket, pulling out a golden key and flaunting it in front of Mokou. She got a puzzled glare in return as Mokou raised an eyebrow.

Great, now my dream is throwing crappy symbolism at me.

Cirno smiled as she lifted the key upwards, holding it above her chest. There was something slightly wrong in her eyes, Mokou thought - something different, something that didn't belong. Weren't they usually a lighter shade of blue than that?

"A good friend of mine lent me one of these. Now you're gonna get to see how strong I really am!"

She stabbed it into her chest, but if it had hurt there was no sign of it on her face. She continued to wear an expression of absolute confidence as she pushed the key all the way into herself, right over where her own heart was.

She turned the handle, and immediately the key began to shine with a golden light. It travelled along Cirno's body until Mokou could see nothing more than a brilliant mass of gold. A single drop of black appeared in its centre, and quickly spread across her until there was no sign of the original brightness. Cirno was encased in a jet-black shell, like some sort of demonic crysalis.

The black mass began to crack, slowly at first, until suddenly it burst open to reveal its prisoner. The tiny wings that had run across her back before were twice as long now, and the ice that formed them looked stronger and firmer. Her clothes had changed as well - the main dark-blue fabric clung to her body to start with, but turned into a dress around the bottom with a jagged white rim. Along her arms ran a pair of sleeves made of pure ice, forming a pair of threating-looking shoulder pads at their ends. She held her hands outwards, unhindered by the weight of her sleeves, and above them a pair of icy needles formed with frightening speed.

"Feast your eyes on Cirno, the strongest of the Ice Fairies!"

She flung both her projectiles at Mokou, one after the other. Both had been aimed precisely at her head, and unused to combat in a watery environment she was barely able to pull her head away from the oncoming attacks. One of the needles barely grazed her cheek, drawing blood and forcing her to stifle a cry of pain.

That was when her brain finally came to a conclusion. It was a conclusion that all of her higher brain functions wanted to deny, but the lower, primal functions had forced them to admit with that wave of pain.

This isn't a dream. This is the real deal.

And she's trying to kill me!