One day when I was in Frankfurt I ran across an elderly magical girl who habitually dressed as a nun. Perhaps she really was a nun, in fact. She introduced herself as Hilda, and agreed to answer a few questions about her life as a magical girl.

Me: I think you must be the oldest magical girl I've met… is there some secret to your long life?
Hilda: Take care not to judge a magical girl's age by her appearance, for you may be misled. But no… I don't believe there is a secret to my long life.
Me: Have you ever wished you could stop being a magical girl?
Hilda: Not even once. It is the path that God has chosen for me, and I would not trade it for anything in the world.
Me: So it's fun for you, huh?
Hilda: Fun… no, I would not describe it as fun. But it is fulfilling.
Me: Just how long have you been a magical girl for?
Hilda: Oh, longer than I can count.
Me: I see… then I'll wrap this up with one final question. Is there anything in general that you'd like to say about life as a magical girl?
Hilda: There is nothing I could say that would be general enough to apply to everyone, so I believe it is better to keep my thoughts to myself unless faced with a specific person who might benefit from my words.
Me: I see. Well, thanks for your time, and let me wish you luck in your future endeavours as a magical girl.

~Excerpt from "Magical Girls: Their Hope and Despair"~
~by Professor Satomi Tasuke, Ph.D~


While Yachiyo heads to Satomi Medical Centre to pick up Sana and Felicia, I have something else I want to search for in town. This time, I've asked Tamura and Maya to come with me – Tamura because she's the source of the vision, and Maya because she comes from the east side of town. Inui, Chihana, and Hikari are also tagging along.

"So… what was it you were looking for in Kamihama?" Maya asks as we reach the intersection by the horse racetrack.

"Right… Tamura-chan, have you had any visions yet about two magical girls, one in blue with dark hair, the other in red with blonde hair?" I ask.

«Hmm… I don't remember anything like that,» Tamura says. «And yet… it somehow sounds familiar…»

"Okay… let me know if you remember anything," I say. "Now then, Maya-chan… I'm looking for a particular antique store. I don't have anything more to go on than that, though… no, wait, I guess there was one thing. The sign is in a foreign language – cursive Roman letters."

"Hmm," Maya says. "I can think of several antique shops around here, but… I only know of two that have signs in Roman letters. I don't know what cursive means, but I could just show you to both of them?"

"Yeah… that works," I say. "By the way, if it helps… it's in a place where Miss Mitama might visit it."

"That doesn't really help," Maya says. "She could theoretically find her way to any of the antique shops around here."

"Yeah… I thought that might be the case," I say. "Tamura-chan, see if you can remember anything else, okay?"

«Um… I'll try,» Tamura says. «But I can't promise anything…»

Maya leads us quite some distance, eventually stopping in front of an antique shop facing the river separating Kosho and Daito Wards. However, while the lettering on the sign is definitely Roman, it's in a gothic blackletter style or something similar – definitely not cursive.

"This… probably isn't the one," I say. "That's not cursive. Still… I suppose it can't hurt to take a quick look inside…"

I do just that, spending about five or ten minutes just looking around the shop. Maya and Inui come in with me, while the others decide to wait outside. The old lady behind the counter greets us as we enter, but otherwise leaves us to our own devices. There's no sign of the blue and red candles anywhere, though I wasn't expecting to see them anyway. They're not my target in any case.

We leave the place and rejoin Tamura and the others, and Maya leads us across the river to the other place she had in mind. This one turns out to be quite close to Daito Academy, and the sign is certainly in cursive.

"Does this place look at all familiar to you, Tamura-chan?" I ask.

«Hmm… now that you mention it… I think I did have a vision about this place,» Tamura says. «There weren't any magical girls in that vision though…»

"Hmm… well, we might as well… huh?"

I suddenly sense something and look around. It's the magic of a witch, though different from a witch's presence – the traces she's left behind, or even a witch's kiss.

"Ah!" Maya gasps. "It's Izumi-kun! And… has he been kissed by the witch…?"

She points across the street at a boy with silver hair, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, walking with a zombie-like gait. He's clearly recognizable as Kanagi's little brother, Sougetsu – that striking silver hair is not all that common.

"Well, isn't that a surprise," I say. "If I'm not mistaken, that magical signature should be… Stacey, the rooftop witch…? But I certainly didn't expect Sir Izumi of all people to be attacked."

"Let's go save him!" Maya exclaims.

"Yeah… I guess we'd better," I say. "How many magical girls are there around here, anyway…? I know there's you and Hagumu in the Wings of the Magius… for non-members there's Miss Izumi, Miss Mao, Miss Mitama, and Mikage-chan… have I missed anyone?"

"I think that's almost everyone," Maya says. "The Reporter's also from Daito Ward, but she lives more to the south… and then there's the apartment complex trio. I don't remember their names. Oh, and also Ka-chan, who's a black feather." Suddenly she blinks. "W-wait, did you say Mikage-chan? As in… Yakumo Mikage? Miss Mitama's little sister?"

"Yeah… you didn't know?"

Maya shakes her head. "No… I pass by her often enough at school, but I never even noticed… anyway, we'd better hurry! We're about to lose him!"

We all hurry after Sougetsu as he turns a corner, heading into an alleyway and pulling at the door of an abandoned building, which is apparently unlocked.

"Is this going to be a suicide type…?" I wonder. "Sometimes witches cause people to kill themselves, instead of sucking them in to feed on them… at least one of us should probably stay out here in case he jumps."

The others exchange glances, and Inui states the issue with that plan.

"None of us have binding magic or anything that could dampen a fall, right?" she says. "In fact… out of everyone here, I think you're probably the best one to do that, Ashley-chan."

"Ah… I guess you might be right," I say. "Will the five of you be fine without me?"

"I think… there are enough of us that I should be able to manage," Maya says.

"Y-yeah… if it was just me… or even just the three of us, I'd be worried," Hikari says. "But with Miss Maya and Miss Inui… I can feel somewhat at ease."

"Alright, then let's go!" Inui says.

They follow Sougetsu inside to track down where the witch is hiding. I follow them with a vision, and also open a second vision on the antique shop's storefront, just in case something interesting happens there while we're occupied. And in case Sougetsu chooses to jump from a different side of the building, I also open a third vision tracking him. Inui locates the witch's portal after a minute or two, and all five of them transform and hop in.

Maya's costume consists of a slim sky-blue skirt, almost like a pencil skirt but with a slit up one side to the hip, paired with a matching sky-blue jacket over a white blouse. A badge on her right arm bears the peace sign. She wears navy blue tights and boots and a navy blue sailor cap with a ribbon tied around the base with a bow on her right side, both ends dangling to her shoulders and bearing the peace sign. A navy leather belt is buckled around her waist with a pair of golden handcuffs clipped to it, too small to actually fit on anyone's wrist.

It's a good thing I stayed outside, because while they're fighting the witch, Sougetsu does in fact reach the roof and prepare to jump off. The only problem is, he's on the opposite side from me. I panic a little, torn about which way around the building would be faster to make it to the other side… and that's when something unexpected happens.

My magic activates, but it's not any magic I've used before. I sink right into the ground, entering an infinite black expanse with an array of bright windows before me. One of the windows appears to peer up at the building from the alleyway I was in. Another one, next to it, peers up at the building from the opposite side. Both confused and intrigued, I reach out for the second one and find myself emerging from the ground just as Sougetsu jumps off right above me.

I don't have time to think about what on earth just happened. I shut off the vision tracking him and reach up with my telekinesis to catch him and slow his fall. By the time he lands in my arms in a princess carry, all the downward momentum from the jump has been lost.

I carry Sougetsu out onto the street and lay him down on a nearby bench, taking a seat on the second bench right beside it to wait for him to wake up. I can now see the antique shop directly, so I shut off that vision too. Inui and the others manage to defeat the witch barely a minute later, though it does involve Tamura unleashing her doppel. Soon after that, they all pile out onto the street and spot me.

"Ashley-chan… is he okay?" Inui asks.

"Yes… I caught him," I say. "Actually… he jumped off the opposite side of the building, but… it seems I teleported somehow…? Or perhaps I should call it… shadow walk?"

Inui blinks. "Oh, wow! You've learned some new magic! That's awesome! You're always needing to run around all over the place, so it definitely suits you…"

"Well… I don't think I'm going to rely much on it until I've had time to work out any limits or restrictions on it," I say. "But yes… I'd say I'm pretty happy about this."

"I'm a little jealous," Maya says. "It isn't easy to learn new magic… all the feathers know, since the instructor has been teaching us all the chain techniques, and they're really tough… yet, you just learned it out of the blue? Geez… some people seriously have all the luck…"

"I'd hesitate to say it's out of the blue, but… it's true I never specifically put any work into learning that sort of magic," I say. "I have seen a lot of other people use teleportation magic, so I suppose it's possible I picked things up from them…"

At that moment, Sougetsu sits up, rubbing his head.

"Ah, are you okay, Izumi-kun?" Maya asks.

"Eh?" Sougetsu said. "I'm fine… just a little sleepy. Wait, why are you here, Hino-chan…?"

"Ah, um… I just happened to be passing by…?" Maya says.

"Oh, well… whatever," Sougetsu says, letting out a little sigh.

"Hm hm hm," Inui says. "I sense… love troubles! You're in love, aren't you?"

I don't quite understand what made her think that, though it's probably true, from what I know of him in the game.

"Wait, seriously!?" Maya gasps.

Sougetsu glares at Inui, blushing a little.

"I am not!" he protests. "Shut up!"

"Methinks he doth protest too much," I say.

"Ugh!" Sougetsu says. "Who are you guys, anyway?"

"Actually, I'm a friend of your sister," I say.

"Eh? Onee-san?" Sougetsu says. "She's at work though, you won't find her around here."

"That's fine, I had a different reason for coming," I say.

"Then why'd you even bother mentioning her!?"

"No reason in particular," I say.

Sougetsu sighs. "Geez, I really don't get girls sometimes… whatever, I'm going home."

With that, he jumps up and walks off.

"…do you really think he's in love, Miss Itsumi?" Maya asks. "I wonder who it is…"

"I think it's a girl from Mizuna," I say.

"Ehhh… that's kinda crazy," Maya says. "Though if you're right, I hope it works out… maybe it could heal some of the bad blood between east and west…"

"Do you know her name?" Inui asks. "Is she a magical girl?"

"As a matter of fact I do," I say. "Her name is Shioya Harumi, and no, she's not a magical girl."

"Hey," Tamura pipes up. "Those two girls… could they be the ones you described to me?"

She points to a pair of girls who have just arrived at the intersection and turned the corner. They're both dressed in pleated skirts with a white long-sleeved blouse. They look to be about fourteen or fifteen, one in a blue skirt with dark blue hair tied into a ponytail, the other in a red skirt with short curly blonde hair. They're clearly not Japanese, either. The blue-haired one is carrying a brown paper bag in her arms. It doesn't quite fit with what I was expecting, but… given Coeurl and Mayoi, it's within the realm of expectations.

I watch as they approach the antique shop and head inside. Maya gasps.

"Ah! They went in?"

"Yeah… that means this is the place I was looking for," I say. "Though I'm shocked I managed to actually pick the right day out of sheer coincidence…"

"Huh… could it be, you were actually looking for them?" Inui asks. "Who are they? Do you know them? I haven't seen them before… but it seems like they're magical girls, right?"

"Huh? Really?" Maya says. "I didn't even notice…"

"There was a magical response from them, so yes," Inui says.

"Alright… now that I've achieved my objective, everyone else is free to go," I say. "Though you're also free to stay."

The others exchange glances, and then the Tamura trio decide to say goodbye and head off. Inui and Maya choose to stay and wait with me for them to come back out.

As they emerge from the antique shop, I get to my feet and approach them. The blonde one spots me and shoots me a glare.

"What do you want?" she asks.

"Liz, you don't have to snap at her," the other girl says.

Unexpectedly, they speak Japanese rather well, so I respond in the same language.

"As I thought," I say. "You must be Melissa de Vignolles and Elizabeth of Luxembourg."

The two of them gasp and exchange glances.

"…who?" Maya says. "Are they actually someone very important…? What's a Luxembourg?"

"Oh, I think it's a small country in Europe…?" Inui says.

"Where did you hear those names?" the blonde girl asks.

"More than one place," I say. "But I guess Pernelle is at the top of the list."

"Oh!" the blue-haired girl exclaims. "You've seen Pernelle? It's been so long, I thought we should stop by sometime, but Liz is a bit shy…"

"Mel, you idiot, I'm not shy!" Liz protests. "I just didn't feel like seeing her, okay?"

"Then why don't we pay her a visit now?" Mel says.

"Fine…" Liz says.

"If you're planning to pay her a visit, you should know she's currently staying in Asunaro," I say.

"Huh… she left Paris again?" Mel says. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised… it seems she likes travelling. Did Nick join her this time?"

I shake her head. "No, he stayed in Paris."

"Hey, you," Liz says. "Are you gonna introduce yourself or what?"

"Ah, I'm sorry," I say. "My name is Ashley Taylor."

"You can just call us Mel and Liz," Mel says. "Especially Liz's full name would really draw attention, considering everything she's done."

"Huh… what on earth could she have done…?" Maya wonders. "Ah, I guess I don't really need to but… I'm Hino Maya."

"And I'm Itsumi Inui!"

"You'll never believe this," Mel says. "She ended up causing a civil war just to put her son on the throne of Hungary! And failed, to boot."

"Shut up!" Liz groans. "That's all in the past, okay!? I do regret it a little… I never thought it would turn into such a thing…"

"Um… didn't you say she was from Luxembourg, not Hungary…?" Inui says, looking at me.

"Back then, the house of Luxembourg was the royal family of the Holy Roman Empire, which controlled Hungary and a few other places," Liz says. "So they had a lot more power back then. Well… I don't know if they have any power now, even in the country that still bears their name…"

"Huh!? D-doesn't that make you a princess!?" Maya gasps.

"Well… more former princess, but close enough," Liz says.

"So um… just how old are you?" Inui asks. "You're clearly older than you look…"

"I can never keep track of that anymore," Mel says. "I can't even remember exactly what year I was born in… though it was definitely the early fifteenth century. I think I was around fifteen when Jeanne d'Arc was burned at the stake…"

"Which was in 1431," I add.

"Ehhh!?" Maya gasps. "T-that's like… six centuries…"

"Right, enough of this," Liz says. "Miss… Taylor, was it? You must have approached us for a reason, so spill it. What do you want from us?"

"I guess the main thing is just to ask you to stay around town for awhile," I say. "Though I'd also be happy if you were to help us to destroy Walpurgisnacht in a few days."

"No way," Liz says immediately. "I have no reason to fight a stupidly strong witch like that. I'll leave her to you."

"Ah, but we could maybe stay around a bit," Mel says. "Though I do wonder what your reason for that could be…?"

"Do the names Tamaki Iroha and Tamaki Ui ring a bell…?" I ask.

The two of them exchange glances again.

"What about it?" Mel says. "It does ring a bell, but…"

"Did you know that she's here?" I ask.

"Even if she's here, she won't remember us," Mel says. "Not until…"

"Sure," I say. "But if you turn that on its head, doesn't it mean she will remember you?"

"You do have a point," Mel says.

"I don't think we have any reason to see her," Liz says.

"But!" Mel protests. "I'd like to talk to someone else who remembers Tart, even just a little! Liz, please… let's stay until she remembers!"

Liz sighs. "Fine… I'll ask the hotel if they can extend our stay," she says. "But we don't need to do anything more than just saying hello, right? And not until… you know."

Mel nods. "Yes, thank you very much!"

Then she turns to me.

"And thank you, as well. I didn't even know she'd already been born. It's a complete coincidence that we chose today to come to Kamihama."

"Always happy to help," I say.

"Perhaps we'll meet again," Mel says. "Goodbye!"

With that, the two of them turned to walk off.

"Well, that was… quite an experience," Maya says. "Are there a lot of magical girls who are that old? Do they all look like that? Do magical girls not age? I haven't been one for very long so I wouldn't know…"

"It's not like that," I say. "I don't fully understand it myself, but normally we age as usual. Just look at Miss Nanami or Miss Mifuyu as proof – they were twelve years old when they contracted, but no-one could possibly mistake them for elementary schoolers now."

"I see," Maya says. "Then how do those two look so young?"

"I suspect it's something like a skill that magical girls can master if they live long enough," I say. "Though I have no idea how long is long enough…"

"So you're saying older magical girls can adjust their age however they want?" Maya says.

"Possibly… I'm not sure," I say.

"Oh, if it isn't Maya-chan!"

Startled by the voice, I turn to see the speaker. It's Mitama. Of course it would be Mitama.

"And… I believe you were called Ashley Taylor," Mitama says. "Fancy seeing you in a place like this!"

"Good afternoon, Miss Mitama," I say.

"Ah, Miss Mitama…" Maya says. "I never expected to see you in a place like this… I thought you lived in your shop."

"How rude!" Mitama says, pouting a little. "I have a home too, you know! I even have a cute little sister!"

"It must be nice having a mammmph—"

Anticipating Maya's words, I cut her off by grabbing her and putting my hand over her mouth. She shoots me a glare, and I shoot her an explanation.

«Miss Mitama doesn't know her sister is a magical girl, and now's a bad time for her to find out, because I need her to go into that antique shop.»

I include Inui in the telepathic channel as well.

"Hmm?" Mitama says. "Were you about to say something?"

"So what brings you here today, Mitamamin?" Inui asks.

"Huh, another nickname?" Mitama says. "Well, I don't mind. Call me whatever you want. I needed a break, and I heard there was a lovely little antique shop here, so I thought I'd see if they have anything interesting."

"Well, don't let us keep you," I say. "You go ahead and browse to your heart's content."

"Thank you, I will!" Mitama says.

With that, she heads into the antique shop.

"Hey… if she doesn't know, isn't she going to get a huge shock when her sister shows up at the Coordinator's on Thursday?" Maya says. "I think it's better to tell her…"

"I wouldn't worry about that," I say. "I think she should find out before then. If nothing else, Miss Izumi will probably tell her."

"Well… if you say so," Maya says.

"Anyway, it's not that I have a problem with her finding out," I say. "Rather, if she'd found out right now, I thought she might've run home to see Mikage-chan instead of going into the antique shop. So it was just bad timing."

"I see, so I guess she needs to get something there," Inui says. "What is it, I wonder…?"

"You already saw it," I say. "Mel was carrying it earlier, remember?"

Inui gasps. "Ah, that brown paper bag! Huh… I have no idea what's in it though…"

"Alright, I'm going back to Fendt Hope," I say. "You coming, Miss Maya?"

Maya shakes her head. "I think I'm going to go home for now," she says. "I'll see you later."

Once I've arrived back at Fendt Hope, I check up on what Yachiyo is up to.


Yachiyo has just finished making hot cocoa for Felicia and Sana. Konomi and Hinano aren't with her anymore – they probably split up from her right after I left.

"Here's your cocoa," she says.

She sets down Sana's and Felicia's mugs in front of them. Felicia grabs hers and blows on it.

"Oh, it's so warm!" she says.

"Thank you!" Sana says, taking hers too.

Felicia tries taking a sip.

"Oh, hot, hot!" she exclaims.

She blows on it some more, while Sana takes smaller sips to offset the heat. Then Felicia downs the entire mug in one go.

"Yum, so good!" Felicia says.

"It's so relaxing," Sana says.

Yachiyo grabs her own mug and takes a seat as well.

"A hot drink really helps you relax, right?" she says.

"Yeah," Sana says.

"Alright," Yachiyo says. "Let's get right to the point. I'd like to hear what happened, just briefly."

"Um, Miss Mifuyu helped us to escape," Sana says.

"Right, right!" Felicia says. "That chick totally saved our butts!"

"She used her magic to break the brainwashing," Sana says. "But apparently it didn't work on Miss Tsuruno for some reason… and the Magius took her away somewhere… then Miss Mifuyu arranged for us to meet up with you near the hospital, like we just did."

Yachiyo sighs.

"I can't believe it all went exactly like Miss Taylor predicted," she says. "You have no idea where Tsuruno went?"

"No… we haven't seen her since then," Sana says.

"They said they're gonna make her kill a bunch of people!" Felicia says.

"Y-yeah… we have to save her!" Sana says.

"Momoko's out there looking for her right now," Yachiyo says. "I haven't heard anything from her yet, though…"

"And where's Miss Iroha?" Sana asks. "She's not here?"

"Iroha… she decided to see if she can make friends with the feathers," Yachiyo says. "A lot of them don't know everything about what the Magius are doing… and even those who do know might not be entirely comfortable with it."

"Huh!?" Sana gasps. "So she's just… out looking for feathers…?"

"No… she's at their base, talking to them," Yachiyo says.

"I toldja I sensed Iroha!" Felicia exclaims.

"Um… how did she even get to the base?" Sana asks.

"To use her own words… she pretended to join them," Yachiyo says.

"So, um… I take it there's already a plan to save Miss Tsuruno?" Sana asks.

"Of course," Yachiyo says.

Sana sighs. "I see… that's a relief," she says. "So, um… I'm really sorry for everything…"

"You don't have anything to apologize for," Yachiyo says.

"B-but I promised Miss Iroha that this was my new home," Sana says. "I said I'd help her however I could. B-but then I… I let myself get brainwashed…"

"No… the Magius were the ones who brainwashed you," Yachiyo says. "It wasn't your fault, Miss Futaba. That said… I have to apologize as well, for allowing you to go to such a dangerous meeting alone. But with that, let's make that the last of our apologies. We have to look ahead to the future now."

"Ugh, you're right," Felicia mutters. "We gotta save Tsuruno!"

"Yes," Yachiyo says. "That's why I will be introducing you to… an old rival of mine. Let's meet up at Mizuna Station tomorrow, and we'll go see her."


It looks like everything is still going to plan on Yachiyo's side of things. I decide to take a peek at what Iroha is up to as well.


"I see," Iroha says. "So your little sister turned into a witch…"

She seems to be chatting with Yaeko Mana in the ground floor lounge.

"Yes, that's what happened," Mana says. "Since I saw her change into one of those things, I've been unable to accept my fate. But if we manage to free all magical girls, we'll all be spared that, and I thought… it would be a perfect way to honour my little sister."

"You know… I have a little sister too," Iroha says.

"Ah… really? Did she… also…?"

Iroha shakes her head. "She hasn't turned into a witch, I don't think, but… she went missing. I'm still determined to find her. She's somewhere nearby, I'm sure of it."

"I'm… sorry to hear that," Mana says. "But at least you still have hope… I just crumbled to pieces from the grief. I can't stand it… I want to be free. I'm going to make my selfish wish come true."

"Well… it has been nice chatting with you," Iroha says. "But I do have some things to do, so I'll see you later."

"Y-yeah… later!"

Mana heads upstairs, and Iroha pauses to stretch before exiting into the garden. She starts looking around, exploring the garden as if she's searching for something in particular. Eventually she finds it – a strange twist of space leading to another place entirely. She steps through the twist onto a grassy hill with a massive dead tree at the top – the barrier of the Eternal Sakura. The place is absolutely deserted. Iroha looks around for a few moments, then raises her voice.

"Excuse me! I'd like to speak with you!"

But there's no response. Iroha waits a bit just in case, then says something to attempt to draw it out.

"Your goal is for the four of us to be reunited, isn't it?" she says. "If we don't do something… that may not be possible! I might never see Ui again!"

This seems to get the rumour's attention. She slides out from behind the tree, gazing at Iroha.

"Ah! Um… hello," Iroha says. "Um… say… it feels weird calling you the Eternal Sakura… could I call you Sakurako instead?"

"It matters not," the Eternal Sakura says. "Tell me… is it true that Ui might not return?"

"It's possible," Iroha says. "Or Touka-chan or Nemu-chan could even die. That's why I wanted to ask for your help, to make sure it doesn't happen."

"I… am listening," the Eternal Sakura says.

"Let's sit down over here and chat a little," Iroha says.

She walks up to the base of the tree and sits down, thrusting her hood back and leaning back on the trunk. After some hesitation, the Eternal Sakura kneels in front of her in the seiza position.

"Is it… really possible for me to help?" she asks.

"I think so," Iroha says. "Miss Ashley says that all the rumours are connected at some level… Sakurako, please tell me. Is that true?"

"Yes… I can communicate with the other rumours to a certain degree," Sakurako says.

"Does that include Fendt Hope's rumour?"

"Yes. The rumour of the Mother Bear."

"I want to talk to that rumour," Iroha says.

"That rumour… is not capable of speech," Sakurako says.

"But… you can communicate with it… right?"

"Yes."

"What is that rumour's purpose?" Iroha asks. "Your purpose is to allow the four of us to reunite… what is the Mother Bear's purpose?"

"The purpose of the Mother Bear is to protect the children from any and all threats," Sakurako says.

"And… who are the children?" Iroha asks.

"They are those who live in Fendt Hope – the black and white feathers, and the Magius," Sakurako says.

"You said she must protect them from all threats," Iroha says. "Wouldn't that include a threat from within?"

"I do not know," Sakurako says. "But I will ask her. Please, wait a few moments."

Sakurako closes her eyes, and Iroha waits patiently for her to respond. It takes a minute or two, but finally Sakurako opens her eyes once more.

"A threat is a threat," Sakurako says. "It matters not the source. So says the Mother Bear."

"Then… could you tell her that the Magius are a threat?" Iroha asks.

Sakurako blinks. "I… can try but… I am not sure if… if she will understand," she says. "Can you provide concrete details on how exactly the Magius pose a threat?"

"I can," Iroha says. "I know what the Magius are planning, and it will definitely hurt some of those girls if they're not stopped."

"Then… if you explain everything, I will attempt to convey your thoughts to the Mother Bear," Sakurako says.

"Thank you very much, Sakurako," Iroha says.

She proceeds to outline the Magius's plans in some detail – the Chelation Land rumour, the Flower Speaker rumour, the summoning of Walpurgisnacht, and the release of Eve upon the city. She emphasizes the Flower Speaker rumour in particular as the part of the plan that poses the most immediate threat to the feathers.

"So, I would be very grateful if you could convince the Mother Bear to take orders from me and Miss Mifuyu in addition to the Magius," Iroha concludes. "If she suddenly stops disobeying the Magius, it might seem suspicious. As long as she promises to listen to me and Miss Mifuyu, we can protect the feathers together."

Sakurako nods and closes her eyes. This time they remain closed for several minutes, but Iroha just waits patiently. It must be more than ten minutes before Sakura finally opens her eyes again.

"The Mother Bear… is not entirely convinced," Sakurako says. "However… even the possibility of a threat is worthy of consideration in her mind. Therefore, she has agreed to listen to the two of you, as long as you do not make any unreasonable requests."

"Thank you very much!" Iroha says. "I wasn't sure if this would actually work… but how should I contact her?"

"When you are in Fendt Hope, she can be reached by telepathy," Sakurako says.

"Alright," Iroha says. "I'll let Miss Mifuyu know later as well. Thank you very much."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Sakurako asks. "Is that enough to ensure that you are reunited with Ui?"

"I think so, for the time being," Iroha says. "But I'll come back if I need something else."

"I see," Sakurako says. "Then… I will see you later."

She gets to her feet and disappears behind the tree. Iroha sighs.

"I can't believe it really worked," she says. "I don't know if you're watching, Miss Ashley, but… it really worked!"


I wake up early the next morning and try to get dressed without waking Inui, but apparently I'm not successful. She rolls over and opens her eyes.

"What's up, Ashley?" she asks. "I thought you said you were staying in Kamihama this week…"

"I'm not going to school," I say. "But I need to go to Mitakihara to have a chat with the Holy Brigade, and especially Miss Sakura. I'm considering stopping by Asunaro too, but I'm not sure yet."

"Ah… guess I don't really need to be there…?" Inui says. "I'd kinda like to sleep a bit longer…"

"Yeah… you can go back to sleep," I say.

"Alright… then I'll see you after school," Inui says.

I head to the cafeteria, where I run into Tamura and her friends. I was expecting this, as it's what happened two timelines ago. It probably happened in the previous timeline too, but I wasn't there that time.

"Good morning," I say. "Heading back to Mitakihara?"

"Y-yeah," Tamura says.

"We can't get away with missing too much school," Chihana says. "And we've got a test coming up, so now's the time to be there."

"Makes sense," I say.

After eating breakfast together, I scry on the ground floor lobby as we leave the cafeteria. Aline, Mami, and Mifuyu are there, the latter looking rather anxious. I don't want to run into them, as they would no doubt assign me to the mission to stall Madoka and the others in Mitakihara, and it would be a problem for me if that happened. Therefore, as we reach the stairwell, I turn to head up instead of down.

"Huh?" Chihana says. "You're not coming, Miss Lita?"

"I will be," I say. "But I need to take care of something first. Why don't you wait for me by the fountain? And please don't tell them I'll be there."

"Tell who…?" Hikari asks.

"You'll find out once you get down there," I say.

"Alright," Chihana says. "We already agreed to trust ya, after all. Come on you two, let's go!"

She grabs Hikari's and Tamura's hands, and they head downstairs. I head up one floor, watching the lobby with my clairvoyance. As the trio enter, Alina waves them over.

"You there!" she says. "You're from Mitakihara, aren't you?"

"Y-y-yes…" Tamura stammers.

"All three of us are," Hikari says.

"Perfect!" Alina says. "Then I, Alina, have a special mission for you!"

"W-w-whaaat!?" Tamura gasps. "I… I don't know if… if we can h-handle a s-s-special m-mission…"

"Don't worry, it's easy," Alina says. "The only thing that I, Alina, need you to do is make sure that those girls in Mitakihara stay right there."

"Which girls?" Hikari asks. "There are a bunch of girls in Mitakihara…"

"The ones that keep messing up our plans," Alina says. "The pink one, and the black one… what were their names, Mifuyu?"

Mifuyu turns to Miss Tomoe, who answers in her stead.

"Miss Kaname, and Homura-chan," Mami says. "Oh, Miss Miki and Miss Shizuki as well. And Nagisa-chan."

"B-b-but we're not very strong!" Tamura protests.

"She's right," Chihana says. "I'd really like to help ya out, but any one of those three could wipe the floor with the three of us just by themselves…"

"Don't worry!" Alina repeats. "You won't even need to show your faces. Plus, Mami will be there to command you in case something goes wrong. Here…"

She takes out a handful of small green cubes. The trio blink at them.

"Huh? Are those…?" Hikari asks.

"Witches," Alina says. "They may only be my cast-offs, but they should keep those three nicely engaged."

"Um… how long are we supposed to…?" Chihana says.

"About two to three days," Alina says. "Just hold them there for as long as you can."

"If you're discovered, alert me right away," Mami adds. "I will come as fast as I am able."

"Got it," Chihana says.

Alina hands out five cubes to each of the trio, then stalks off, leaving Mifuyu and Mami behind.

"Um… how exactly do we… release them?" Hikari asks nervously.

"Just squeeze it really hard," Mifuyu says. "And then vacate the area so you don't get sucked in. You should have about thirty seconds to get clear of the newly-released witch before you're in any danger."

"O-okay, I got it," Hikari says. "W-we'll… do our best…"

"Don't push yourselves too hard," Mifuyu says. "I won't blame you if anything goes wrong, okay? So just be careful."

"Okay," Chihana says.

"I will meet up with you after school to discuss some strategy tips and the lay of the land," Mami says. "Let me think… how does the big bridge over the main road sound as a meeting point?"

"That… that'll do," Chihana says. "I know the one you mean…"

"Then, I'll see you all there after school!" Mami says.

"Yeah," Chihana says.

"Okay, we'll be there," Hikari says.

The three of them head out, and Mami and Mifuyu make for the stairs. I cut off my vision at that point, sinking into the shadows of one of the couches in the third floor lounge. A few seconds of examining the possible output locations reveals a clear view of the fountain, so I rise up from that just as the trio arrive.

"Oh wow!" Hikari gasps. "Y-you really can teleport! Amazing!"

"Yeah, I suppose so," I say. "Let's go… I'm not planning to go to school today, but I do have a few things to do in Mitakihara."

The four of us leave the base and banish our robes.

"Holding onto these things makes me kinda nervous," Hikari says. "Are they really safe…?"

"I don't think they'll open if you accidentally sit on them," I say. "I think you need to mean to open it when squeezing it. But if it'll make you feel better, I could take charge of the whole lot for you."

Tamura nods. "Yeah, um… I think I'd prefer that," she says.

"Me too," Hikari says.

"I guess I'll do the same," Chihana says. "It's not like we're actually gonna use them, right?"

I nod. "Yeah, did Inui explain things to you?"

"Somewhat," Hikari says. "Though it definitely makes me a bit nervous now that Miss Alina herself gave us a mission…"

The three of them hand over their cubes, leaving me with all fifteen of them. Since I don't plan to release any of them, this is sort of like a windfall for me… though I'll have to give them some of the grief seeds I get from these witches later, as thanks.

We catch a train to Mitakihara, and they get off a few stops earlier to head to Sakuragasaki Middle School. Once they're gone, I give Hijiri a call. She picks up almost immediately.

"Good morning, Ashley-chan… what's up? It's pretty early for a call…"

"Yeah, well, it's pretty important," I say. "First of all, are the communicators ready?"

"Yes, they've been ready for awhile now," Hijiri says. "The others are all ready to go as well."

I hear another girl's voice come through the phone. She's not someone I recognize. Her words are barely audible – if I wasn't a magical girl, she might have been unintelligible.

"Kanna-chan, who is that? You've never mentioned an Ashley before…"

"Wakana-chan, I'm on the phone," Hijiri replies. "At least wait until I'm off before asking questions, alright?"

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Wakana gasps.

"Sorry about that," Hijiri says. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, there's one more thing," I say. "I'd like you to try and find a solution for the doppel syndrome before Walpurgisnacht arrives."

I'm scrying on the doppel ward at this very moment, and there are already two girls bottled up in there. No doubt there'll be more by the time Walpurgisnacht arrives.

"I see, that's a very good point," Hijiri says. "Hmm… is it okay if I call in some help? I think that's something I may not be able to solve on my own."

"Did you have anyone specific in mind?" I ask.

"Not at the moment," Hijiri says. "If it's someone I think you might have an issue with, I'll contact you first, alright?"

"I think that sounds good," I say. "Sure… please try to prioritize it over the website for the next few days."

"Ah, about that… the prototype is just about done," Hijiri says. "Even if I skip working on it for a couple of days, I should be able to show it off by the end of the week."

"Oh, that's awesome news!" I say. "Alright then… I think that's all I need for now. Thanks for everything."

"No problem," Hijiri says. "I'll see you soon."

After getting off the train, I make for Mami's place, just in time to find the four of them meeting up. Nagisa is still with them too, and even Yuma is there.

"Oh, good morning, Ashley-chan!" Madoka says. "I didn't expect to see you so early in the morning…"

"Teddy girl!" Nagisa exclaims.

"Good morning… huh?" I say. "I'm not a teddy…"

"Nagisa-chan, that was a bit mean," Madoka says.

"Eh? I didn't mean it like that…" Nagisa mutters.

"So… what do you want from us, Miss… Ta— Ashley?" Homura asks.

I don't miss that she starts by saying my surname and then switches to my given name, but I decide not to comment on it.

"I have a couple of questions and a request," I say. "Miss Miki… did you already tell Miss Sakura the truth about witches and what the Wings of the Magius are doing?"

"Eh?" Sayaka says. "We talked about it yesterday, actually… that's why Yuma-chan is with us today. Kyouko just ran off without a word…"

"And you haven't seen her since?" I say.

"No… I haven't," Sayaka says.

"The other question I have is… don't you have an aunt who runs an inn on the peninsula?"

"I'm not sure how you knew about that," Sayaka says. "But yeah, it's true. What about it?"

"Because I think you should visit if you get an opportunity," I say. "All eight of you."

"Eight… you mean what Miss Kure refers to as the Holy Brigade?" Hitomi asks. "Then… even Miss Sakura?"

"That's right," I say. "I actually want to go too, so if you do get an opportunity, please let me know."

"So that would be ten," Madoka muses. "It's a bit late to reserve rooms now, but if there's a sudden cancellation for at least two rooms, we could probably go during Golden Week…"

"That would be great," I say. "Please let me know. I don't mind if there's not enough space for Inui and I to stay over – I could probably finish my business in one day and return home."

"Well… I'll think about it," Sayaka says. "It would be fun go to the beach over Golden Week – the forecast says it'll be hot and sunny."

"Thank you very much," I say. "Now for my request. This relates to the latest plans of the Wings of the Magius, and Miss Tomoe is also involved."

"Ah, we found Miss Tomoe, but she was… strange," Hitomi says.

"Yes… I saw her this morning, as well," I say. "She and a few other feathers have been given the mission of making sure the four of you do not leave Mitakihara all week. The plan was to release witches across the city to keep you busy."

"Releasing witches!?" Sayaka gasps. "That's dangerous! Someone could get hurt!"

"Yes, and it would ruin the wraith experiment as well," I say. "So for both those reasons, I'm not going to release the witches… though I can let you have one or two, if you're in need of grief seeds. You can just take them into the north or east regions, release them, and immediately defeat them. No-one will be hurt if you defeat them immediately,"

Homura nods. "Please… we are a little short on grief seeds."

I take out two of the green cubes and hand them over.

"You just need to squeeze them to release the witch trapped within," I say. "But please don't release them within the wraith barrier… have the others explained the region it covers?"

"This is the first I've heard of a barrier," Madoka says.

"Yes, I am also unsure what you are talking about," Hitomi says.

"Ah, they forgot to tell you," I say. "That's not good… I guess I'd better explain it now. There's a barrier over most of south, east, and central Mitakihara that keeps witches out. That's not why you haven't seen any witches, mind you – you haven't seen them because they've all gone to Kamihama. But it means you won't see them even in the future. I don't remember whether Miss Oriko or Miss Liliane is taking charge of the barrier, but one of the two should be able to tell you of its full current extent."

"I don't understand," Sayaka says. "Keeping witches out isn't a bad thing, as it means people won't get hurt, but… what about us? We do need to gather grief seeds so we won't turn into witches ourselves…"

I glance at Yuma. Seeing my gaze, Madoka speaks up.

"Ah, don't worry," she says. "Nagisa-chan already filled Yuma-chan in on all that."

"Alright," I say. "There exist monsters known as wraiths that spawn in regions where impurities have built up to a certain level. I think that mainly means medium to large cities. I'm not sure what the exact threshold is to enable them to spawn. However… witches constantly absorb the impurities that build up in a region, so if there are witches, then wraiths won't be able to spawn. And that's the goal – we want wraiths to spawn. You'll still need to protect people from the wraiths, though I think wraiths don't hurt people to the same extent as witches. Still… it's worth the risk, because wraiths spawn in groups, and each one drops two or three grief seeds."

"Y-you can't be serious!?" Sayaka gasps. "T-that's like… a motherlode of grief seeds!?"

"Yeah, that's exactly why we're doing this experiment," I say. "I'm not sure how long it'll take for wraiths to spawn, or how often they'll spawn. So far, we've only managed to artificially induce a spawn with used grief seeds, so I want to know how they'll spawn in natural conditions."

"Um, hang on a second," Sayaka says. "If you leave a used grief seed laying around, don't you get a witch, not a wraith?"

"Ah, wraith grief seeds are different," I say. "They're small black cubes. So I usually call them grief cubes to distinguish them from the seed of a witch… but they have the same purification power as a witch's grief seed. A grief cube is a little less potent than a regular grief seed, but since you can gather them in large quantities, I'm pretty sure that'll make up for the reduced potency."

"I see," Hitomi says. "I could question some of your reasoning, but… I understand the intent, and it has already been done, so I will let it stand for the time being."

"Thank you," I say. "Now then, to get back to my request… I'd like you to make a show of going on patrol today, and pretend not to notice the black feathers watching you. Tomorrow, I expect Alina and Miss Tomoe to stop by and check on them, so I'd like you to confront them then. They should end up trapping you in Alina's barrier. Just make sure that at least one of you is left outside to free everyone once she's gone. I think Nagisa-chan and Yuma-chan would fit that role best."

"So basically… you want Alina to think she's caught us?" Madoka says.

"That's the general idea, yes," I say. "And more than that, I want Miss Tomoe to go back and report that she's caught you. If I can get Miss Sakura to overhear that, then I think she'd be able to undo the brainwashing."

"Ah, so this is actually a really elaborate plan to rescue Miss Tomoe?" Madoka says.

"It seems a bit too convoluted to actually work," Sayaka says.

"I too find the concept dubious," Hitomi says.

"It's certainly convoluted," I say. "But I have assurance from Miss Aki that it'll work. She's going to use her magic to support you from the shadows. You won't sense her presence, but please rest assured that things should be able to go as planned thanks to her."

"Alright, if you say so, then I'll trust you, Ashley-chan," Madoka says. "We'll attract their attention on patrol today, then confront them tomorrow and let Alina capture us. Nagisa-chan, Yuma-chan, it's up to you to let us out after that, so please watch the confrontation from a safe distance."

"I guess I can do that," Nagisa says. "It's a plan to help Mami-nee after all… even if it seems too complicated to actually work."

"By the way… is Yuma-chan going to school today?" I ask.

"No, Yuma isn't going," Yuma says. "If Yuma suddenly showed up at school, they'd be shocked, and then they'd tell Mommy. Yuma doesn't want Mommy to know where Yuma is. So Yuma will be patrolling with Kirika today."

I blink at her. "Huh? Wait… your parents are alive, Yuma-chan…?"

Homura also looks surprised, but she doesn't say anything. This does explain the strange lack of mention of their deaths during the Misery Rhyton rumour event, though. If they weren't dead, obviously she wouldn't've said they were.

"Yes… Yuma just ran away from home," Yuma says. "It was Oriko's idea, sort of, and Yuma was sick of being hit, so Yuma ran away and ran into Kyouko."

Was it just pure luck that they didn't get caught by the witch this time? Or is it another effect of deja vu? Or did that witch not appear at all because I saved the girl who would've become her? I don't quite get it… but I guess the cause doesn't matter so much in the end. The real issue is that if her parents are still alive, they could try to force her to return.

"Huh… then that makes the trip to the peninsula doubly important," I say. "Because if I'm not mistaken, that's where your grandfather lives, Yuma-chan. He's probably the only one who could prevent your mother from taking you back if she does find you."

"Oh! Yuma wanted to meet Grandpa, but Yuma didn't know where he lived!" Yuma says. "Then Yuma really wants to go!"

"Alright, alright," Sayaka says. "Even if we can't go over Golden Week, I promise you we'll find a time we can go, alright?"

"Yay!" Yuma says. "Yuma can't wait!"

"Alright, so… we should really get to school," Madoka says. "If we don't hurry, we might be late, so… see you later, Ashley-chan!"

With that, they all run off, even Yuma. I scry on Kyouko and find that she's at the lookout tower in southern Kamihama, so I head that way. By the time I arrive, she's apparently had her fill of the place and is leaving.

"Good morning, Miss Sakura," I say.

"Oh, it's you," Kyouko says. "Come to think of it, didn't Sayaka say you're in the Wings of the Magius? Maybe ya could introduce us? Been thinking of checking them out."

"I could probably do that, though I'd have to check with Miss Mifuyu," I say. "That said, I don't think you'll like what you see…"

"That might be so, but I'll decide for myself, thanks," Kyouko says. "But will Miss Mifuyu be okay with me? I did kinda flip them off last time we met…"

"There's no need to worry about that," I say. "Then I'll email Miss Mifuyu right now… I'm not sure when she'll get back to me though."

"Eh, not like there's any hurry," Kyouko shrugs.

I take out my phone and send the email.

[Hello, Miss Mifuyu. Sakura Kyouko has just expressed interest in checking out the Wings of the Magius. How should I handle this situation? Should I bring her to the base and introduce her, or what?]

I re-read it, then hit send.

"Alright… I don't think she has school, so maybe she'll respond quickly, but who knows," I say. "Did you have any other plans for today?"

"Well, I was gonna go to Kamihama and see if I can find any of those feather chicks," Kyouko says. "But now that I've run into you, I guess there's no need for that. So in that case… I suppose I'll go to the arcade for awhile. Wanna come?"

I shake my head.

"I have a few other things to do, so I'll see you later."

"Sure, seeya."

And with that, she turns and runs off. I make my way back to the train station and catch a train to Asunaro. I need to make sure Kazumi, Michika, Yuuri, Airi, Remi, and Moe are all fully filled in on their roles in the plan. Though most of them will be in school, I intend to meet up with them over lunch break.

Once I'm finished explaining everything they need to know, I stop off in Mitikihara once more to let Kyouko know of the answer I've received from Mifuyu – that she's welcome to visit them tomorrow. Technically the tomorrow part is my own addition – Mifuyu said any time would be fine – but based on Oriko's vision, it has to be tomorrow.

Then I head back to Kamihama.


I arrive back in time for a late lunch in the Fendt Hope cafeteria. The only other diners are Coeurl, Ikumi, and Yuuki Yumi. I think the latter two are college students or similar, so it makes sense that they might not have classes today. Their presence does mean it's not safe to have an open chat with Coeurl though, so although we exchange waves, I take a seat at a different table.

«Is the plan going well so far?» Coeurl asks.

«Seems to be,» I say. «By the way… what's the status of your team?»

«Oh, I haven't talked to them about it,» Coeurl says. «But I asked Tori… I mean, Hotori to ask them… so far, she said that Sumi seems interested. Her full name is Akane Sumire. Sal seems to trust the Magius too much, apparently, so Hotori didn't mention it to her. She's still not sure about Mana.»

«Well, that's not bad though,» I say. «I'm going to let Kanna-chi know that Miss Akane is with us, then – they're from the same town so they know each other a little.»

«Well, that has nothing to do with me though,» Coeurl says. «More importantly, is there anything for me to do yet?»

«Not yet, I'm afraid,» I say. «The action will be on Thursday. There are a few things to be done before then, but they've already been assigned to other people.»

«Guess I'll just have to be patient then,» Coeurl says.

The other two white feathers in our resistance movement, Sue and Nene, apparently don't lead teams, but with my team and Coeurl's team on board, that'll add quite a few people. I've left discussing the matter with my team up to Inui, and it seems she already convinced Tamura's trio, but I'm not sure if Tomomi and Manatsu have officially joined us. I'm fairly confident they will though. I'm not sure about Sal or Mana however, as they were among those left to guard the base in both of the previous timelines.

Still… that's why Iroha is here. She may overestimate the power of words, but it's not that they don't have any power at all – by appearing to join the Wings of the Magius, she's already dissolved one of the barriers of trust between her and the feathers and increased the weight of her words with them. I doubt she'll be able to get through to the hard-liners – San, Sorashi, and a couple of others – but maybe she'll be able to convince those who are on the fence.

Once I've eaten, it's around the time that school will be out, so I leave Fendt Hope and meet up with Inui outside Kosho Academy. I find Riko and Rui with her too.

"Ashley-nee!" Riko exclaims. "I didn't expect to see you today!"

"Well, I'm afraid I'm quite busy, so I don't have time to play with you today," I say.

"Oh, that's alright," Riko says. "But you could stop by for some croquettes, couldn't you?"

"I suppose I could," I say. "If I have time. I think I should be able to fit it in."

"Then I'll see you soon!" Riko says. "Right now I'm going to go hunting with Rui-nee!"

I look at Rui in surprise.

"I didn't realize the two of you were that close?" I say.

"We… aren't," Rui says. "She just… follows me sometimes… though I don't really mind, as long as she doesn't… laugh…"

"Well, alright," I say. "I'll see you later, Riko-chan."

Inui and I make for the café where we've agreed to meet up. It looks like the only one already there is Kanagi, who nods upon spotting us.

"Taylor-kun, Itsumi-kun, good afternoon," she says.

"Good afternoon," I say. "It seems we're a little early."

"Perhaps," Kanagi says.

"By the way… this is mainly just curiosity, but were you the one who defeated the Rumour of the Little Old Cocoa Shop, the Rumour of the Ghost in the Cell, and the Rumour of the Sobbing Shrooms?" I ask.

"I only encountered the latter two," Kanagi says. "I had heard of the Little Old Cocoa Shop, but I could not find it, and at some point I stopped hearing the rumour, so presumably Nanami dealt with it."

At that moment, Momoko and the girls of Crescent Moon Villa round the corner. Apparently even Iroha is with them, which I wasn't expecting. Obviously Tsuruno is not with them.

"Oh, speaking of Kanagi, is that her?" Momoko asks. "But who's that with her?"

"Ah, there you are," Kanagi says. "Nanami! It's been far too long. Oh, and Togame's here too! Just like the old days. What a treat. And…"

She casts her eyes over Iroha, Sana, and Felicia.

"Who are you?" she gasps.

"Oh! I'm Tamaki Iroha!"

"Um… I'm Futaba Sana."

"I'm Felicia! Mitsuki Felicia if you must know."

Inui and I introduce ourselves as well, since not all of the Crescent Moon team knows both of us.

"I'm Ashley Taylor."

"I'm Itsumi Inui."

"Nice to meet you, Tamaki-kun, Futaba-kun, Mitsuki-kun," Kanagi says. "Shall we go inside?"

We head inside the café, and Yachiyo summarizes the situation on her end, up to the Memory Museum.

"So Yui-kun was taken," Kanagi says. "I'm sure that was tough on you, Nanami."

"It was," Yachiyo says. "And while it's our problem to handle, we did wonder… would you mind helping us get her back?"

"Oh, I'd be honoured," Kanagi says. "I'll freely offer my services every time if it's to take down the Wings of the Magius."

"That's great!" Momoko says. "Right, Miss Yachiyo?"

"It is a bit of a relief, yes," Yachiyo says.

"But you sound so eager to fight them," Momoko says. "Did they hurt you too, Miss Kanagi?"

"They've been quite the thorn in my side," Kanagi says. "They've stolen quite a few of my friends, starting with the ones in Kosho Ward. I was running out of ideas on how to tackle this issue all by myself. Nanami and Taylor-kun, I'm lucky that you both called me. I'll gladly lend a hand."

"Wait, they recruited that many girls here?" Momoko says.

"Yes," Kanagi says. "In fact, most of the magical girls in the east are black or white feathers now."

"I see," Yachiyo says.

"Sorry to cut to the chase," Kanagi says. "But how exactly would you like me to assist you? I'll tell you all I know."

"Thank you very much, Miss Izumi," Iroha says. "Actually, our first priority is to get Tsuruno-chan back, but we don't know where they've sent her. I couldn't find her anywhere on their base…"

"You found their base!?" Kanagi gasps. "Impressive… how did you manage such a feat?"

"Um, well… I don't exactly feel good about it but… I told them I would join them," Iroha says. "And they just took me straight to it."

"Hmm," Kanagi says. "I suppose there is no chance that the base they took you to is not their main base?"

"None," I say. "But technically they haven't exposed their base's location. The base is entered via a portal that can be moved. In fact, I think it was already moved this morning."

"Huh, really?" Iroha says. "I came out the back entrance today, so I didn't realize…"

"But the exact location of the base isn't the important thing here," I say. "What's important is that the Magius have reason to believe that we think we've found their base."

"And what makes you believe that?" Kanagi asks.

"Miss Yachiyo… can you bring out the map?" Iroha asks.

Yachiyo nods. "Have you been investigating rumours by any chance, Kanagi?"

"Of course," Kanagi says. "Rumours are their greatest weakness. It would be unwise to leave them unexamined."

Yachiyo takes out the map, which has already been annotated with the locations of the rumours from her Rumour Files.

"This shows all the rumours I have a location for," she says.

"Interesting," Kanagi says. "There is a vacant spot in Kosho Ward."

"Yes," Iroha says. "That's where the entrance I used is."

"So you believe the Magius know you have this information?" Kanagi says.

"That's right," Yachiyo says. "And if you could add your information to the map too, we could see if it really forms a circle."

"Hmm… there aren't many," Kanagi says. "But I did note some. Let me check. Do the different colours mean anything?"

Yachiyo explains the colour coding, and Kanagi fills in the east side of the map, revealing the clear circle around the old railway yard.

"Ah, incredible," Kanagi says. "This is perfect."

"How so?" Yachiyo asks.

"Even if I had found their base, there's no way I'd have been able to take them myself," Kanagi says. "Us joining forces is a stroke of luck. It should be no problem at all for us."

"You do realize they have over a hundred members, right?" I point out.

"You make a valid point, Taylor-kun," Kanagi says. "Even so, most of the black feathers are weak. I could probably take about thirty of them on, single-handed. The white feathers could pose some challenge, however."

She scans the map for a few moments, then blinks.

"Ah, there is a cluster of rumours around Satomi Medical Centre," Kanagi says.

"That's how the Magius know that Miss Nanami has this information," I say. "The moment Miss Nanami approached Satomi Medical Centre, the Magius realized that she had probably caught on to the distribution of the rumours. That's why they moved the entrance and laid a trap here."

I indicate the rumour-free circle on the map.

"I see," Kanagi says. "My guess is that's the old railway yard. People warn their children not to go there since it's dangerous."

Iroha nods. "Yes… that sounds right," she says. "I remember seeing a bunch of train cars."

"Then this truly is perfect," Kanagi says. "If they have laid a trap at the railway yard, it is an opportunity for us. We can find out Yui-kun's location if we go there."

"Then we should get going!" Sana says.

"No, we should wait," Yachiyo says.

"I agree with Nanami," Kanagi says.

"Huh…?" Sana says.

"It's generally accepted that magical girls are most active in the twilight hours," Kanagi says. "Moving now might result in us missing our chance to encounter the higher ranks."

"Exactly," Yachiyo says. "We'll be more likely to get useful information if we wait."

"Still worried we're running out of time, though," Momoko says.

"Relax, Togame," Kanagi says. "It's always better to be calm and collected."

"Yeah, you're right," Momoko says.

"Then how about we take a tea break?" Yachiyo suggests. "We can leave once we're finished."

We all order drinks and snacks from the café, and Kanagi gives an explanation of the railway yard's structure. Then I bring up the next topic for discussion.

"I also have a few more things to discuss," I say. "This is about the plan for Thursday. That's when the Magius will strike back, so we need to be ready for them. The plan I've worked out with Miss Tamaki is pretty complicated, so I'll only go over the key points."

"You won't be sharing the full plan?" Kanagi asks.

"No, though I'll answer any questions you have, as long as there's time," I say. "Before I get started, there are some things I need you to have…"

I start extracting the communicators from my bag, passing them around the table. I let Momoko have three of them, and give Yachiyo an extra for Tsuruno.

"Are these… communication devices?" Yachiyo asks. "What do we need these for? We have our cell phones."

"I'm sure the Magius know that cell phones are your primary means of communication," I say. "Though I'm not entirely sure whether it's intentional or just a side-effect, they will bring down the cell phone networks across Kamihama on Thursday."

"I see," Kanagi says. "Disrupting the enemy's communication network is a good strategy… which means we need an alternate means of communication. Very well… so what is the plan?"

With a little help from Iroha, I explain the key points of the plan that Kanagi and Crescent Moon Villa need to know. Finally, as it begins to grow dark outside, we pay our bills and exit the café. At that point, Iroha speaks up once more.

"I won't be coming with you to the railway yard," she says. "I… need to be somewhere else. However… Miss Izumi, if you still don't completely trust me, then please use your magic."

Kanagi blinks at her. "Did you hear about my magic from Nanami? Or Taylor-kun?"

Iroha nods. "Miss Ashley mentioned it, yes."

"Did she also tell you a method to fool even my magic?" Kanagi asks.

"W-what!? No!" Iroha gasps. "Is that… even possible?"

"I'm not sure," Kanagi says. "If I don't put all my effort into it, then it's possible, but I'm not sure if there's a way to keep me out when I'm really determined. Very well. I shall grant your request, Tamaki-kun."

They head into a nearby alleyway, and Kanagi transforms, gazing into Iroha's eyes for a few seconds. Then she powers down again.

"I see," Kanagi says. "You only wish to save everyone."

"Yes," Iroha says. "So… I'll see you later, Miss Izumi."

"And Miss Togame… allow me to lend you my sword," I say. "It'll come in handy against the rumour."

I summon Kensei and offer it to her. She blinks at me.

"Are you sure that will even work?" she asks. "I've never heard of a magical girl lending her weapon to someone else…"

"This isn't my weapon as a magical girl," I say. "It's a real sword, crafted and enchanted by Pernelle Flamel at my request."

"Ah, okay," Momoko says. "But why me?"

"Because your magical weapon is a sword," I say. "So I figure you'd be the best at using this."

"I see, that does make sense," Momoko says. "Very well, I'll accept."

She takes the sword from me.

"You should be able to store it in your soul gem," I say.

Momoko frowns a little, but manages to make it disappear after just a few seconds. Then she pulls it out, and banishes it again.

"Amazing," she says. "So that's what you meant by enchanted?"

"That, and it's also possible to extend its length," I say.

"Oh, that sounds very useful," Momoko says.

"Alright, Inui and I will be dropping out here as well," I say. "So I'll leave things up to the five of you. I'm sure you'll be able to find Miss Yui's location, perhaps even before I catch wind of it myself. Good luck."

Kanagi leads the group out of the alleyway, heading for the old railway yard, and Iroha looks at me accusingly.

"You never told me they would move the entrance, Miss Ashley," she says.

"Didn't I…?" I say. "I guess it somehow just never came up… we talked about so many things that I even lost track of it myself. It's not like I was actively trying to keep it from you…"

"Well, it doesn't matter," Iroha says. "Since we never planned to attack the base today, anyway. But then… how should we return? Through the Eternal Sakura?"

I shake my head. "That might become necessary on Thursday, but for now there's an entrance in Minaminagi Seaside Park."

"Alright… then I'll let you lead the way," Iroha says.

I make a detour to stop off at Chiaki's to get some croquettes, which of course means I need to introduce her to Riko as well.


Once we get back to the base, Iroha and Inui head off on their missions of making as many connections as possible with other feathers, and I head up to my room with the intention of watching the confrontation at the railway yard. However, before I get a chance to sit down, my phone rings. It's Hijiri, so I answer it.

"What's up, Kanna-chi?"

"Hi Ashley-chan! I just got to the Coordinator's a few minutes ago," she says. "There are only three girls in Miss Mitama's Freezer analogue at the moment, though one of them wasn't there last time."

"Is she a feather?" I ask.

"Looks like a black feather, yes," Hijiri says. "Anyway, that's not what I was calling for. I want to find someone with illusion magic to see if I can replicate Miss Mifuyu's success from the previous timeline, and I wondered if you had any suggestions."

"Basically the same list I gave to Miss Mitama in the last timeline," I say. "Of the magical girls of Kamihama, the only ones I can think of who might have illusion magic are Kisaki Emiri and Shizumi Konoha. Maybe also Ami Ria… but I think her magic was more of a charm magic. Also… Miwa Mitsune doesn't exactly have illusion magic, but she might be worth a try – I think her power could possibly be described as psychic illusions. You'd probably have to contact her via Miyako Hinano. Lastly, while she's not from Kamihama, Sakura Kyouko also has illusion magic."

"Got it," Hijiri says. "But are any of those likely to have issues with the revelation?"

"Hmm… I can't speak for Miss Miwa, but I think the other three should be just fine," I say.

"Alright, I'll pass those names on to Miss Mitama," Hijiri says. "But also… would it be okay if I asked Kaori Sachie to stop by? I think she'd be more effective than my connect magic at keeping them docile."

"I don't have an issue with that," I say. "Go right ahead. Oh, and by the way, I also thought you'd like to know that Akane Sumire has joined us."

"Alright, thanks," Hijiri says. "I'll see you later."

"You too."

Then I finally open the planned vision on Yachiyo to see what she's up to.


They've already arrived at the old railway yard and are looking around.

"There's no sign of regular people or magical girls," Yachiyo says.

"Not even a witch or a familiar," Sana says.

"Maybe we messed something up with the map?" Momoko suggests.

"We're running out of time!" Felicia exclaims. "That amusement park's gonna open soon, ain't it!?"

"Yeah, time's ticking away," Momoko says.

"Hmm," Kanagi says. "It's not likely, but… perhaps they're at the new railway yard."

"So they might have relocated then?" Yachiyo asks.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility," Kanagi says. "I'll go look into it myself. I know the area, so it makes more sense for me to check."

"If you wouldn't mind," Yachiyo says.

"Very well," Kanagi says. "I'll be back soon."

She heads off on her own, and then Sana makes another suggestion.

"You were going around destroying a lot of rumours yesterday, weren't you, Miss Yachiyo?" she asks. "Maybe they're being extra cautious because of that…"

"We did go from ward to ward quickly," Yachiyo says. "Plus we took out a number of them. It makes sense for them to be cautious."

"We gotta look around at least!" Felicia says.

"Yes, there's still a chance they might've found some way to hide here," Momoko says.

"Let's search as best we can," Yachiyo says.

They hop over the fence and spend some time searching the old railway yard, to no avail. Finally they meet up back by the gate.

"They aren't here," Yachiyo says. "I'd like to know how things are going on Kanagi's end…"

Suddenly Felicia transforms.

"There's a witch!" she gasps.

Yachiyo transforms too.

"I've never felt anything like this before," she says. "It couldn't be! Are there two witches!?"

Momoko transforms too.

"No!" she says. "There're three!"

"It must be Alina!" Sana gasps, also transforming. "She's the only one who could make three witches suddenly appear!"

The Amane twins step out of the shadows across the street, already transformed, and everyone spins to face them as they announce their presence.

"The flame of magic quietly burns as noisy little bugs leap into it," Tsukuyo says. "If you refuse to burn, at least scatter when you hear our timbre."

"They fell down into the depths, Tsukuyo-chan," Tsukasa says.

"Indeed they have, Tsukasa-chan," Tsukuyo says. "This is our chance to at last succeed and redeem our honour!"

"For sure!" the two of them say in unison.

"It seems they were given minions to command when they were sent here," Yachiyo says.

"Welcome to our death trap, where those who learn too many rumours are flushed away," Tsukasa says.

"Your fates were decided the minute you headed towards the hospital," Tsukuyo says.

"We knew you would come here right away," Tsukasa says.

"For sure!" Tsukuyo says.

"You were probably hoping to learn the location of our base," Tsukasa says. "Unfortunately, that was not the correct move."

"We will not allow you to obstruct our liberation any longer," Tsukuyo says. "Quietly follow the path to the underworld!"

"Looks like we were right," Momoko says. "They deceived you at the Memory Museum, after all. Those Wings of the Magius gals sure like setting traps."

"And we sure are pathetic falling for them over and over," Yachiyo sighs.

"Though this time it's more like we sprang it deliberately," Momoko says.

"We gotta defeat the witches!" Felicia declares. "They're coming closer!"

Yachiyo nods. "Felicia and Miss Sana, take the one coming from the right. I'll take the one coming from behind."

"Then I'll take care of the one coming from the left," Momoko says. "Let's get this done quickly!"

Momoko and Yachiyo dash off while Felicia and Sana jump into the nearest labyrinth. It's an instance of Shin, the Babysitter Witch. Felicia and Sana forge their way through the labyrinth as fast as they can, only getting lost once before they finally reach the witch's chamber. The familiars along the way give them a little trouble, but they were able to beat them with their teamwork. The witch, however, seems to be really strong.

"O-oh no," Sana gasps. "Can… can we really beat her…?"

"We just gotta charge in there and do it!" Felicia declares. "You hold it in place like chrrrt, and I'll bash its head in like wham!"

"A-alright," Sana says.

Contrary to her words, however, Felicia rushes in ahead of her and swings her hammer at the witch before it can react, sending it flying against the far wall. However, that also creates an opening for Sana to more easily get close – she rushes in, holding up her shield against the few tentacles that manage to reach her, then unleashes her chains, restraining first the tentacles and then the main body. As soon as the witch is bound, Felicia leaps into the air and expands her hammer, slamming it down on Shin's head.

That's not enough to end her; however it does seem to cause her to forget what she was doing, so there's nothing preventing Felicia from repeatedly bashing her over and over. After several strikes, however, the witch recovers, managing to free three or four tentacles with which she lashes out and grabs Felicia.

"Whoa!" Felicia gasps. "It got me!"

"Miss Felicia!" Sana exclaims. "I'll save you… Foltergefängnis!"

The callipers and tweezers that swarm out of Sana's shield work together to sever the tentacles that captured Felicia, allowing her to fall back down to the ground.

"Alright!" Felicia declares. "I've had enough of you! You're going down like swish bam pow!"

She expands the size of her hammer even more and brings it down upon the witch.

"Ultra mega super great big hammer!" she shouts.

The witch is flattened beneath the massive hammer. For some seconds after that, nothing happens. Felicia stands there, gripping the shaft of her hammer, breathing heavily from the exertion.

Then, finally, the barrier begins to collapse around them. Felicia banishes her hammer, then steps forward to claim the grief seed as they're deposited back into reality. Yachiyo and Momoko are already back.

"Felicia, Miss Futaba, are you okay?" Yachiyo asks.

"Y-yes… somehow!" Sana says.

"That was one strong witch!" Felicia says. "But I sent it flying like bam and we took it out like boom!"

"I think that's all of them," Yachiyo says.

"I barely needed any magic against those scrubs!" Momoko says.

"It was… a little tough for us," Sana says. "I'm glad I had Miss Felicia with me…"

Momoko passes around a grief seed, and they all purify their soul gems. Then they turn to face the twins, who have now entered the old railway yard together with several black feathers. I can recognize Hagumu and Shigure in there for sure. Yukika appears to be absent for this one. I don't see Kuroe there, either. In the first timeline I recall there were six black feathers, including Kuroe, but this time there's apparently only four.

"Now it's time to tie these twins up and make them tell us everything about Tsuruno and the rumours," Yachiyo says.

"Yeah!" Felicia exclaims. "Tell us where Tsuruno is!"

"That is not how this is going to go," Tsukuyo says.

"The main event starts now!" Tsukasa says.

"What…?" Yachiyo says.

"Flute Blossom Resonance!"

"Ahh!" Yachiyo gasps. "Just like… before…"

Momoko squeals. "What the heck!? The sound keeps echoing in my head."

"If we can defeat all of them and protect the Magius's plans," Tsukasa says. "Freedom will be ours!"

"The only ones left in our way now are Miss Futaba and Miss Mitsuki," Tsukuyo says. "It is fortuitous that the two who escaped are here… if we capture them and take them back, perhaps we will be rewarded."

"Well, I ain't holding back!" Felicia declares.

The black feathers step forward to face her while Sana hangs back a little. But as the feathers surround them, she's forced to put her back to Felicia and fend them off. After a minute or two of fighting, it becomes apparent that the two sides are evenly matched… but that's when Kanagi steps out from around a corner, now transformed.

"I understand now," she says.

"Miss Kanagi…?" Tsukasa says.

"I suspected it was a lie," Kanagi says. "But you chose the wrong person to lie to, Tsukasa-kun. I found it strange that Nanami would be after my territory with everything that's going on. So with that said, I'll have you release those two!"

She leaps forward and smacks the twins with her riding crop, sending their flutes flying and releasing Yachiyo and Momoko from their spell.

"Ah! Our flutes!" Tsukuyo gasps.

Yachiyo and Momoko them immediately jump forward to attack the startled black feathers, knocking them to the ground before they can even realize what's happened.

"If you're going to try to lie to me, you had better lie from the bottom of your heart!" Kanagi says. "All your underhanded ways make me ashamed to call myself your mentor!"

"Thank you, Kanagi," Yachiyo says, panting a little.

"I'm really sorry about all of this, Nanami," Kanagi says. "I had to make sure, since I heard contradictory accounts from both sides."

"Huh… what does that mean…?" Sana asks.

"I will make it up to you. I, Izumi Kanagi, officially agree to work with you."

As they chat, some of the black feathers are already regaining their feet, so Yachiyo turns to face them.

"Then, we'll take care of the black feathers," Yachiyo says.

"Ugh, o-okay!" Momoko says.

"R-right!" Sana says.

"We're not outnumbered now!" Felicia says.

"Even if we're evenly matched, we won't lose!" a black feather with red hair declares. "Not to you, who tramples on our dreams!"

"That voice… Katou-kun?" Kanagi says. "When you trample on others to achieve your dreams, it's only natural that others would trample on your dreams in turn."

"We only want to be freed!" the girl replies. "So why won't you let us!?"

Kanagi shakes her head and turns to the twins.

"You have a few options," Kanagi says. "One. Suffer a swift defeat. Two. Tell us what we want to know, and get everything off your chests. Three. Humbly submit yourself to punishment by my hand and all will be forgiven. So, which will it be?"

"We choose option four!" Tsukuyo says.

"We'll defeat you along with the others for an even greater accomplishment!" Tsukasa says.

But like the last time I watched this, their big words don't pan out, and both they and the black feathers are swiftly defeated.

"So predictable," Kanagi says. "Defeating you sisters was child's play. I thought you would've improved a bit, but the way you think is still too naïve. Let me give you a fifth option. Return to my side, and maybe I can go a little easier on you."

"We can't," Tsukasa says.

"Fine, then at least tell us Yui-kun's whereabouts. You don't have to use your mouth to tell me. Your heart will do it just as well." She closes her eyes for a moment. "Hmm, you're throwing in a lot of extra thoughts. I guess I'll have to do this by force."

"I'll never tell you!" Tsukasa exclaims. "I cannot fail again!"

"Take my life if you so desire!" Tsukuyo says. "Even if we cannot attain what we yearn for beyond all else… if other magical girls can be saved, that will be enough…"

"I see," Kanagi says. "Your determination is commendable. I'll stop now."

"You peeked enough though, right?" Momoko says.

"They clouded their thoughts, so it certainly wasn't easy," Kanagi says. "But their resistance was meaningless."

"What?" Tsukuyo says, startled.

"They don't know anything," Kanagi says. "They were nothing more than pawns ordered to wait for us here. I did learn a few things though."

"J-just what did you learn!?" Tsukuyo asks.

"I know you swapped uniforms once," Kanagi says. "But they didn't fit because of the size of your chests…"

"What!?" the twins gasp in unison.

"S-such a private matter!" Tsukuyo says. "How could you!?"

"You would be the ones to talk, you lying little villains," Kanagi says. "I'm no longer playing nice with you."

The twins gasp in unison.

"Good night," Kanagi says.

And with one final smack from her riding crop, she knocks them out cold.

"Hmm," she says. "Let us return to the café."

They return to the same café we met in earlier, ordering another round of drinks, and Yachiyo lets out a sigh once they've settled down.

"The Magius really have the upper hand when it comes to rumours," she says.

"It's like Miss Taylor said," Momoko says. "The minute you all headed for the hospital… they figured out our situation."

"We don't have much time left," Sana says. "If we don't make it before the amusement park opens… Miss Tsuruno will…"

"It seems we're back to square one," Yachiyo says.

"Hold on now," Kanagi says.

"Huh?"

"I couldn't mention this in front of the twins, but… I did get some information from them," Kanagi says.

"Does that mean…?" Yachiyo asks.

"Precisely," Kanagi says. "Those two didn't seem to know anything about the rumour, but… they did know Yui-kun's condition and location."

"O-oh, that's great news… right, Miss Felicia?" Sana says.

"Where is Tsuruno!?" Felicia gasps.

"I hate to have to tell you this, but Yui-kun is still completely brainwashed," Kanagi says. "And like Taylor-kun said, she became part of the rumour in order to protect it."

"What about her location?" Yachiyo asks.

"She's in my home ward… at Ferris Wheel Field in Daito Ward," Kanagi says. "The ruins of an old, abandoned government project."

"Damn," Momoko says. "If the amusement park rumour really is Tsuruno…"

"Everyone will be killed by her," Yachiyo says.

"We just gotta destroy it before it opens!" Felicia declares. "Then everything will be fine!"

Sana nods. "Um… Miss Izumi… could you show us the way?"

"I would be happy to, Futaba-kun," Kanagi says.

While they finish their drinks, Momoko takes out her phone to apprise Rena of the current situation. Then they all head out together.


I sit up in bed, leaving the vision in a corner of my mind for now, and check if Inui and Iroha are within range.

«Inui, Miss Tamaki… can you hear me?»

«Loud and clear, Ashley!» Inui responds.

«Did you find Tsuruno-chan!?» Iroha says.

«According to the flute twins, she's already been sent to the rumour's location,» I reply. «I know where that is, so I could take you there; or you could join the feathers that the twins will no doubt gather up in a last-ditch attempt to stop them.»

«Let's go right now,» Iroha says. «I think it's better if we get there ahead of the other feathers. And I just finished my conversation with Miss Majime, so this is good timing.»

«Alright then,» I say. «Are you coming too, Inui?»

«I think I'd like to, but… what's the actual plan?» Inui asks.

«I was just going to drop Miss Tamaki off and come back, actually,» I say.

«Oh, in that case, I'll wait here,» Inui says.

«I'll meet you at the fountain then, Miss Ashley,» Iroha says.

I head downstairs and find her waiting in the grounds by the fountain, and we both exit the base into Minaminagi Seaside Park.

"Come to think of it… we're so much further away than the others," Iroha says. "Will we actually be able to beat them there…?"

"We should be able to if we fly," I say. "But if you don't mind, I could also try a little experiment that would get us there even faster, if it works."

Iroha nods. "Let's try it," she says.

I head into a nearby alleyway and seize her hand, seeking the feeling of the magic I accidentally used to save Izumi Sougetsu.

"W-what is it!?" Iroha gasps.

Ignoring her, I try to activate that magic again, and she lets out another gasp as we sink into the shadows.

"T-this is…?" Iroha says.

Lost in that infinite dark expanse dotted with bright windows, I look around, seeking one that seems to be closer to Ferris Wheel Park. After some searching, I spot the antique shop from earlier. While it's still quite some distance from Ferris Wheel Park, it still cuts out about three-quarters of the distance we'd have to travel otherwise, so I select that one, and we emerge from the shadows near the antique shop.

"W-we're somewhere else!?" Iroha gasps. "This is… teleportation! Just like Shizuku-chan! Why didn't you tell me you could do this!?"

"Because I couldn't," I say. "Or I didn't know I could. I'm not sure which one is the truth, but this is only the second time I've ever done it. I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to bring someone along with me, and I had no idea of the range, either. I doubt I have the range of Miss Hozumi though. Anyway…"

I summon Teddy Mk II and hop on.

"Let's go!"

She climbs on, and we speed north towards Ferris Wheel Park, alighting on the grass near the ferris wheel.

"You should be able to find the portal if you approach like you're planning to board," I say.

"Alright, thank you very much," Iroha says.

"Do you remember what you need to do to release the brainwashing?" I ask.

"We all need to connect, I think it was?" Iroha says.

"That's right… and after you defeat the rumour?"

"I need to ask Sana-chan to tie me up to make it look like I was defeated," Iroha says.

"Perfect… then I'll see you later, Miss Tamaki."

"You too, Miss Ashley," Iroha says.

She ventures forward until she spots the portal, then disappears inside. I hop back on Teddy Mk II and speed west towards the observatory and beyond, aiming for the Eternal Sakura. It takes a few minutes of searching, but eventually I locate the barrier and step inside, then find the twist of space leading back to Fendt Hope.


I meet Kyouko at Chuo station the following day, around the time when school ends, and lead her to the entrance in Minaminagi Ward.

"This really the place…?" Kyouko says. "There's nothing here…"

"It's the correct place, for now," I say.

I flash my robes on, and the portal shows itself. Kyouko blinks.

"Huh… so it's well-hidden…"

"It shows itself if you have the emblem of the Wings of the Magius on you," I explain, indicating my pendant. "Shall we go in? You first."

"Alright," Kyouko says.

She steps into the barrier, and I follow her.

"Good god, it's huge," Kyouko said. "Are there really that many girls in this joint…?"

"I don't know if all the rooms are occupied," I say. "I think there's between one and two hundred girls here from all across Japan, though I believe the bulk of them are from Shinriku."

"Incredible," Kyouko said. "So… where do we go from here?"

"Follow me," I say.

I lead her through the front garden and into the main building. Inui isn't waiting in the ground floor lounge as I'd expected, so I try to contact her and Iroha via telepathy.

«Inui, are you here?»

«Yes! I'm in the middle of a chat with Touka-chan and Nemu-chi, so I don't really have time right now!»

«What about Miss Tamaki…?»

«I'm here too,» Iroha says. «I'm ready to distract Touka-chan and Nemu-chan further if needed!»

It sounds like we're cutting things close, and there's still a chance of failure, so I hurry upstairs to Mifuyu's office. When I knock on the door, Mifuyu's voice almost immediately calls me in, so I open the door and step inside.

"Here she is, Miss Mifuyu," I say.

Mifuyu looks at us and nods.

"Thank you for bringing her, Miss Lita," she says. "I'll handle the rest."

"Sure," I say. «Miss Sakura… if you're not sure what to do, use a connect skill.»

«I got no idea what you're talking about,» Kyouko replies.

With that, I step out of the room, leaving Kyouko and Mifuyu alone in there. Glancing around, I spot Mami exiting the stairwell, just as I'd hoped. Lingering outside as if I were waiting to speak with her myself, I then open a vision to watch what happens.


"You okay with me being here?" Kyouko asks. "Ain't no way you've forgotten my face, is there?"

"I'm… actually rather relieved," Mifuyu says.

But then the door opens without warning to admit Mami.

"Oh? Is that Miss Sakura?" she says.

"Mami!" Kyouko gasps. "So you really were with these guys…"

"What are you doing here?" Mami asks.

"Miss Tomoe, she's our latest recruit," Mifuyu says.

"Is that so!" Mami says. "I'm so very glad that you appreciate our cause! The others don't…"

"Huh? Who the heck are ya talking about?" Kyouko asks.

"I never did manage to get through to Miss Kaname and the others," Mami says. "About salvation… about the miraculous glory of liberating magical girls. So I'm absolutely thrilled! I'm incredibly glad that you came. Now we can save the pious magical girls who believe in the Magius and myself. And we can do it together!"

Kyouko stares at her, dumbfounded, and Mami tilts her head, puzzled.

"Miss Sakura?" Mami says.

"By the way, what happened with the other Mitakihara magical girls?" Mifuyu asks. "You didn't simply leave them, did you?"

"Of course not," Mami says. "I locked them up so they wouldn't be able to leave Mitakihara."

"Locked them up?" Mifuyu says. "Oh, did you use Alina's labyrinth?"

"Yes," Mami says. "If they interfere with our plans, we won't be able to save them. I had no other choice once they caught on to the feathers under my command…"

"So your friends from Mitakihara are safely out of the way?" Mifuyu asks.

"Yes, I mean, they deserve to be saved too!" Mami continues. "I'm sure that when we are all saved they will understand. We must accomplish our goal, no matter what sacrifices we must make along the way."

"No!" Kyouko shouts. "This isn't the Mami I know!"

"Sorry?" Mami says.

"You'd sacrifice someone to save something!?" Kyouko shouts. "Don't gimme that crap! Fighting for others! Saving everybody! That's you… that's Mami's biggest point of pride, ain't it!?"

Mami blinks at her in surprise.

"I…"

"How could you… get so twisted!?" Kyouko asks.

"I'm not!" Mami protests. "I haven't changed at all! I will… I will save everyone, no matter what I need to sacrifice… no, that's not right… not sacrifice… but we do need to save everyone…"

"Wake up, Mami!" Kyouko shouts. "That pride you had, it's yours, you know! No-one else's! Don't let anyone take advantage of it!"

"I… I… am I wrong?" Mami asks. "Kyouko… I… was wrong…? Then who… who's right? Wrong… right… wrong… right…"

Kyouko stares at her.

"W-what am I supposed to… oh, right…"

Remember what I'd told her before, she steps forward to grab Mami by the hands, and there's a flash as she initiates the process of connecting. Mami lets out a gasp, then collapses into Kyouko's arms, apparently unconscious.

"Oh dear… you've really done it now," Mifuyu groans. "Though I am a little grateful that you were able to undo it, but… now the rumour's going to come out…"

Sure enough, the Saint of Kamihama rumour, now separated from Mami, sucks the two of them into her barrier and attacks Kyouko.

"That don't matter one bit!" Kyouko shouts, transforming. "A weak little rumour ain't nothing to me!"

She charges in with her spear and makes surprisingly short work of the rumour. It's not a very exciting battle – she just aggressively presses the attack until the rumour collapses. Then the barrier falls, leaving Kyouko breathing heavily in the centre of the room.


«Miss Ashley! Touka-chan and Nemu-chan already got away from me!» Iroha says suddenly.

I look around, but I can't sense their presence. Still… there's little doubt they must be on their way here, so I decide to warn Kyouko and Mifuyu.

«Miss Sakura, Miss Mifuyu, I think the Magius are on the way here.»

«Thank you for the warning, Miss Lita,» Mifuyu replies.

Just then, I see the two of them exit the stairwell.

«In fact, they've just appeared in front of me!» I add. «I'm telling them you're with a new recruit.»

The two of them walk up to me and pause.

"Is there a problem?" Nemu asks.

"Not particularly… I'm just waiting to see Miss Mifuyu. She's with a new recruit right now."

"Oh, wonderful," Touka says. "Let's go see her, then."

And without further ado, she pushes the door open and steps into Mifuyu's office.


"So you're the new recruit," Touka says.

Kyouko is standing across the desk from Mifuyu, and in the brief time I was distracted, it seems Mami has disappeared somehow.

"Yeah, I s'pose," Kyouko says.

"Yes, I think we can trust her," Mifuyu says. "I was just deciding whether to make her a black or white feather."

"I see," Nemu says. "Welcome to the Wings of the Magius."

"Thanks," Kyouko says.

"What did you two need me for?" Mifuyu asks.

"We have to discuss our next course of action," Touka says.

"I see," Mifuyu says.

"However, it can wait a few minutes," Nemu says. "So could you meet us in Touka's office after you're finished with this recruit?"

"I can do that," Mifuyu says.

"Right, then we'll be waiting," Touka says.

The two of them turn to leave, and once they're gone, Mifuyu lets out a sigh of relief. After waiting several seconds in case they decided to return, Kyouko rounds the desk to pick up Mami, who had apparently been laid out on the floor behind it.

"What the hell was that just now!?" Kyouko shouts.

"Do you mean the rumour?" Mifuyu says. "They strengthened her brainwashing using a rumour… is how I'd put it."

"Brainwashing," Kyouko says.

"I'm so sorry," Mifuyu says. "I'm sure it feels awful to see a friend go through something like that. But that's how the Wings of the Magius operates, I'm afraid."

"We aren't friends," Kyouko retorts.

"Ah, I see," Mifuyu says.

"But I gotta say, lesser girls'd totally be scared off seeing that kinda thing," Kyouko says.

"I want to scare you off," Mifuyu says. "The Magius have gone too far now. I can't let any more girls get dragged into this. You though… it doesn't seem like you came to us for solace."

"Well, ya know, I came here planning to feel out what you guys were up to," Kyouko says.

"And how did it go?" Mifuyu asks.

"Guess I'd have to be a total nutjob to wanna join up with the Wings of the Magius," Kyouko says. "So I'll pass."

"In that case, I have one more thing I'd like to show you," Mifuyu says. "Come with me."


As Mifuyu and Kyouko exit the office, I fall in behind them.

"Did you need something, Miss Lita?" Mifuyu asks.

"Not exactly," I say. "I've just decided to try and keep you safe today."

"I don't know what kind of dangers you're expecting here on the base," Mifuyu says.

"Well, it's not like the base is completely safe," I say.

"Fine," Mifuyu says. "I don't mind as long as you don't get in the way."

So Kyouko and I follow her downstairs, Mifuyu using her magic to conceal Mami's presence – even I can't see Mami on Kyouko's back, though I know she's there. At the ground floor, we enter the stairwell leading to the chapel and continue climbing down. Eventually we emerge into the chapel garden, and Kyouko looks around curiously for a moment before spotting Eve. She does a double-take, closing her eyes for a moment to shake her head before reopening them and taking another look.

"Is this… a witch?" she asks.

"I don't know, exactly," Mifuyu says. "The Magius call it Eve. They claim it's proof that magical girls will be freed. It does appear to be the cause of the doppel phenomenon here in Kamihama… so I can't say they're wrong in their claims. And now, in order to 'hatch' Eve… they are summoning Walpurgisnacht to Kamihama."

"Seriously!?" Kyouko gasps. "Are they nuts!?"

"I think they lost sight of what matters most… all in pursuit of their goals."

"Well that's a load of crap," Kyouko says. "What're ya gonna do now?"

"Hm?" Mifuyu says.

"Ya just showed me this Eve thing," Kyouko says. "That must mean you're not super keen on the Magius, right?"

Mifuyu sighs but remains silent.

"If you're gonna turn tail and run, mind if I stick with ya until we get out?" Kyouko asks. "I don't know this area so well."

"I can't run," Mifuyu says. "I need to pay penance for everything that I've done. I'm going to stay here and make the Magius mend their ways."

"Oh yeah?" Kyouko says. "So you're the kinda chick who cleans up after her own mess. I can respect that."

"I'll help you get outside," Mifuyu says. "It's easy to get lost if you don't know the layout."

"What about you, Taylor?" Kyouko asks.

"I still have things I need to do here," I say. "Similar to Miss Mifuyu, I suppose."

Mifuyu leads us back out and exits via the front door, then hooks around the side.

"Huh? Isn't the exit over there?" Kyouko asks, pointing. "That's where I came in…"

"That's the front entrance, yes," Mifuyu says. "You need a pendant to get in that way, and you're very likely to be seen. The back entrance I'm about to show you is used only by a few people – myself, the Magius, Miss Tomoe, and one or two others. It's the best option if you want to leave unnoticed."

"And I s'pose you don't need the key to get in the back," Kyouko says.

"No, since it's so well hidden," Mifuyu says. "Though you would risk being detected by the Magius, since they use it regularly."

She steps through the twist of space into the Eternal Sakura, and once Kyouko and I have both followed her, she lets out a sigh of relief and releases her concealment magic. I can now see Mami on Kyouko's back.

"Now, just make your way out of the forest and you'll arrive in Kamihama," Mifuyu says, pointing.

"I owe ya one," Kyouko says. "Thanks."

"No… this is the very least I could do," Mifuyu says.

"Seeya," Kyouko says.

"Goodbye… and stay safe," Mifuyu says.

"By the way… are you planning to take Miss Tomoe home?" I ask.

"Guess it's as good a plan as any," Kyouko says. "Wonder if Sayaka and the others are really trapped…"

"It's possible that Nagisa-chan and Yuma-chan already let them out," I say. "If that's the case, everyone'll probably be at Miss Tomoe's place already."

"Guess it don't really matter," Kyouko says. "I'll just drop her off either way. Seeya later."

"You too."

She descends the hill and exits the barrier. Mifuyu turns to look at me.

"I can't help but notice that you seem completely unsurprised by any of this," she says.

"Well, I do have a friend who can see the future," I say.

"So your friend saw that Miss Tomoe and Miss Sakura would meet today?"

"Well… something like that," I say.

"And did your friend see what will happen once I go speak with Touka and Nemu?" Mifuyu asks.

"Well… not exactly," I say. "But I think I can kind of guess what'll happen."

"And… what is your guess?"

"They'll provoke you, you'll stand up to them, and they'll arrest you and confiscate your soul gem."

Mifuyu blinks. "I had been thinking that now is the time to make a stand… but you're saying you think it would be pointless…?"

"Pretty much," I say.

Mifuyu falls silent for a bit, then sighs again.

"Well… I guess I'll just figure things out as I go," she says. "But I'll keep your theory in mind."

We head back to Fendt Hope, aiming for Touka's office. When we arrive, I see San and Sorashi already waiting outside, which is a little ominous. Mifuyu nods to them, then knocks on the door and is summoned inside. I wait outside, but open a vision so I can see what's happening within.

"Sorry for the wait," Mifuyu says. "What did you need from me?"

"A couple of things," Nemu says. "First of all, we'd like to personally interview all the feathers, between the three of us Magius. Could I ask you to arrange that?"

"How long will the interviews be?" Mifuyu asks. "And will you all be interviewing them together, or should I split everyone up among the three of you?"

"No more than five… no, let's say ten minutes," Nemu says. "And split them among us."

"Okay," Mifuyu says. "I'll need to set up a mail merge to preserve anonymity, but it shouldn't take more than half an hour… do you want me to do it right now?"

"Please," Nemu says. "You can use Touka's computer if you need it."

Touka grumbles but gets out of her seat, allowing Mifuyu to take her place and use the computer. I don't bother to watch exactly what she's doing on there. Some time passes, and eventually she sits back with a sigh. At almost the same time there's a ping from my phone. I also hear similar pings from San and Sorashi.

"Okay, I've sent out a message to every feather," Mifuyu says. "What was the other thing you needed of me?"

"We wanted to let you in on the final phase of our plan," Touka says.

"Ah… I see," Mifuyu says. "This is what you meant when you said you're not going to play nice anymore, right?"

"That's right," Touka says. "We're going on an all-out offensive. We'll send nearly all the feathers out into town to kill any magical girls they can find."

Mifuyu blinks. "That seems… a little on the extreme side," she says. "Many of those girls have no idea that we even exist…"

"Whatever," Touka says. "But killing them off is only a side goal. By attacking them, regardless of whether or not we win, we'll strongly stimulate their emotions, which will allow us to gather more energy faster. Furthermore…"

She reaches for a box on the table and opens it to reveal a pile of USB sticks.

"We'll have the feathers spread these throughout the city and plug them in at strategic locations," she continues. "They contain a virus that will automatically propagate when plugged into a computer terminal. Although some of the computers may be secured against it… as long as we can take control of most of the targets, we'll also have control of the city's radio waves – all the cell phone towers of Kamihama."

"W-why on earth would you want that…?" Mifuyu asks. "Didn't you already manage to discern the frequency to summon Walpurgisnacht? You're already broadcasting it from the observatory, aren't you?"

"Yes, but it turned out the signal just wasn't strong enough," Touka says. "So, we're going to use all of Kamihama's power to boost it to the max. Then Walpurgisnacht will come careening straight for us, without a doubt."

"I… I see," Mifuyu says. "Still… do you really understand just how weak the average feather is…? If they suddenly spread out into the city and start attacking everyone, they'll be beaten back in no time. Their strength is in their numbers… spreading across the whole city is a losing strategy."

"That's why I'll craft a rumour to make them stronger," Nemu says.

"…all of them!?" Mifuyu gasps.

"Of course," Nemu says. "All I have to do is remove all doubt from their minds… it should be quite a simple rumour."

"You're going to… brainwash everyone…?" Mifuyu says. "But… how can one rumour brainwash so many?"

"It sounds so vulgar when you put it that way," Touka retorts. "We're doing them a favour, you know. When they wake up, they'll be in a world where magical girls won't turn into witches anymore."

"As for the how, it's easy," Nemu says. "All it needs is a single focus. All feathers wear the pendant of the Wings of the Magius, right? So crafting a rumour that controls anyone who wears that pendant should be a piece of cake."

As Mifuyu opens her mouth to respond, I contact her telepathically, throwing back the words she said to Kyouko in an earlier timeline, though paraphrased. It's possible she said them in this timeline too, but I have no way to know since it was via telepathy.

«Do you think you can win if you stand up to them here and now?» I ask.

«I… no, you're right,» she says. «It seems you were correct on at least the first part of your theory. But even so… if I don't do something… everyone will…!»

«You can't do anything if you're held captive and separated from your soul gem,» I say. «If you back down here… then we can help everyone together.»

«You'll help me go against the Magius?» Mifuyu asks.

«Of course,» I say. «In fact, I've been going against their wishes ever since the rumour of the Anonymous AI was deleted from Nemu's book.»

«…how did you know about that!?» Mifuyu asks. "I thought only Nemu, Touka, me, and maybe Alina knew about it.»

«Since I was indirectly the one who deleted that rumour from her book… more precisely, I enabled the circumstances for it to happen.»

«…alright. I'll hold you to that.»

"Is… that all?" Mifuyu asks.

"Yes… that should be all," Nemu says. "You will help us with this plan, won't you, Miss Mifuyu?"

"Of course…"

"Then you can take tomorrow off," Touka says. "We'll put the plan into action after school on Thursday. And once you've left, ask San and the others to come in."

"Alright," Mifuyu says.

She steps outside, and I hear a final exchange between Touka and Nemu.

"And here you said there was no way she'd agree to it," Touka says. "I guess I win the bet this time."

"It's strange," Nemu says. "There really should have been no way for her to agree…"

"But it's better if she's on our side, isn't it?" Touka says.

"Certainly… but can we really trust that she is?" Nemu wonders. "She doesn't seem the type to be good at duplicity, and yet… I can't help but wonder…"

"Well, it's not too late to switch plans if she does decide to betray us," Touka says. "I'll just ask San and Sorashi to keep a close eye on her, to be on the safe side."

"I guess that will suffice," Nemu says.

Mifuyu sighs, leaning against the door with her eyes closed for a few moments. Then she looks at San and Sorashi.

"Touka and Nemu have asked to see you," she says.

"Very well," San says. "By the way… did you have a good chat?"

"You… could say that," Mifuyu says.

"Have you seen Miss Tomoe, by the way?" Sorashi asks. "She was supposed to be here too, but she hasn't shown… which is quite strange."

"I'm sorry," Mifuyu says. "I don't know where Miss Tomoe is. She reported to me a little while ago, but I haven't seen her since then."

"I see," Sorashi says. "That's too bad."

San knocks on the door, and once Nemu's voice calls out from within, she pushes the door open and they both enter.

"Well… I'm going to be in my office for awhile," Mifuyu says. "Unless… do you need me for something, Miss Lita?"

I shake my head. "Nothing in particular, no," I say.

"Do you… have a plan?" Mifuyu asks.

"I do, but… do you mind if I don't explain the details to you?" I ask.

"As long as it's better than their plan…?" Mifuyu says hesitantly.

"Well, it doesn't involve the two worst witches in all of history merging together," I say.

Although I'm not sure that Eve and Walpurgisnacht truly are the two worst witches in all of history. I've heard of at least four more that could compare – Armageddon Twilight, Ragnarok Noon, Isabeau, and the Witch of Symbols. I don't actually know anything about the first two, but they've been compared to Walpurgisnacht multiple times. There's also Winchester, who might come close as well.

"Alright… I think I'll take anything right now," Mifuyu says. "Thank you. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

With that, she heads down one floor to her office, and I follow her while keeping tabs on the Magius.


"I must admit, I am surprised you managed to talk Miss Mifuyu into agreeing to that plan of yours," San says.

"I am surprised too," Nemu says. "Though pleasantly so. Now… I am sure the two of you have been wondering why Miss Tomoe is absent, right?"

They both nod.

"Did you send her on some secret mission?" Sorashi asks.

Nemu shakes her head. "No… in fact, less than an hour ago, someone defeated the rumour of the Saint of Kamihama."

San and Sorashi gasp in unison.

"B-but… who could've done that!?" Sorashi asks. "Didn't you say it would be almost impossible to separate her from it…?"

"It could have been someone who knows her very well," Nemu says. "For example, Miss Taylor or Miss Sakura. Or, it could have been someone with similar enough troubles that they simply resonated well with her. I have no way to know which it was, unfortunately. However… it means we'll have to carry out the plan without her, which means that you, Miss Kagura, will be placed in charge of the enlightened feathers, while Sorashi and Mifuyu will head the feathers here at the base."

"Understood!" Sorashi says.

"Very well," San says. "I'll be sure not to let you down – at least without her rumour shrouding her, I am certainly a match for Miss Tomoe, so I should be fine even if she has switched sides."


The next day is the day of the interviews. I decide not to bother peeking at them this time. I go to my own interview with Alina, which goes pretty similarly to the last two timelines, and then after waiting for Inui to finish her interview, we head out together to meet my friends at the airport. We even talk about many of the same subjects as last time, and dinner at Meiyui's is the same as well.


I join Iroha in the ground floor lounge around the time when school will be out on Thursday, and we settle down to wait for everyone. The first to arrive is Inui, who plops down next to me with a grin. Maria arrives shortly after that, nodding to me on her way upstairs. She's heading for the third floor lounge, where I'm sure Chiyoko, Tomomi, and Manatsu are already waiting.

"By the way… did you hear back from them yet, Miss Tamaki?" I ask.

"Ah… yes, they'd just met up," Iroha says. "They should be on their way over, as planned."

"Perfect… we could really use especially Miss Futaba's power here," I say. "By the way, have you seen Miss Mifuyu?"

"No… I haven't seen her all day," Iroha says.

That goes for me too. I wonder where she went? I decide it's a good time to check up on her, and the answer turns out to be a bit of a shock – she's in the chapel, gazing up at Eve.

"Well… it seems she's down in the chapel, for some reason," I say. "I guess I'll send the twins after her…"

At that moment, Ikumi, Yumi, and Ryo enter all together.

"Ah… good afternoon, Miss Lita, Miss Iroha," Ryo says.

"Good afternoon!" Iroha says.

"About what you said last time… after ruminating on it for awhile, I realized you had a good point," Ryo says. "Ikumi and Miss Yumi agree with me as well, so we've decided to give you our support."

"Ah, thank you very much!" Iroha says. "That's really great news!"

"Yes, indeed," I say. "I admit I didn't really think you'd come to that decision, but… thank you very much."

"Did you have anything in particular you wanted to ask of us?" Ryo asks.

"I guess for you the priority should probably be Miss Hozumi," I say. "I need her to recover and meet up with the others at Suitoku Temple."

"Well… that was our plan anyway, so that's perfect," Ryo says. "We'll see you soon, then."

The three of them head into the west wing, the opposite direction from the assembly hall. A few moments later, a portal opens and Mayoi pops out, already robed up.

"Ohh, Lita's here already!" she says. "Are we still waiting for anyone else?"

"A few," I say. "I'm not sure of the exact number. Did you bring the fire sisters?"

"Yeah, I dropped them at the Coordinator's like you requested," Mayoi says. "But the cat sempai accidentally found out and insisted on coming along too… is that alright?"

"Well… I guess it'll have to be," I say. "I don't think I'd turn down additional firepower, unless she's the type who's very bad at teamwork."

Mayoi shakes her head. "No, no, we fight together all the time," she says. "Or at least, we did before I joined up with these Magius guys."

"Then there should be no problem," I say. "And you gave them a communicator, right?"

"Yeah, Tsubasa-chan has the communicator," Mayoi says.

I would've preferred Tsukihi, but oh well – hopefully they'll be together the whole time anyway.

"So I guess I just wait in the third floor lounge until everyone arrives, right?" Mayoi says.

"Yeah, that's right," I say.

"See you soon then!"

With that, she heads upstairs, and I resume watching all the feathers slowly trickling in. About ten minutes later, Yukika and the Amane twins show up together, so I address them.

"Good afternoon, you two," I say.

"Good afternoon!" Iroha pipes up as well.

"Ah, Miss Lita, Miss Iroha," Tsukuyo says. "Good afternoon."

"Hey… you haven't seen Miss Mifuyu, have you?" Tsukasa asks. "I've been emailing her for the past hour, but I haven't gotten a single response…"

"Actually, I have," I say. "She went down to the chapel awhile ago. I haven't seen her since."

"Why would she want to go to the chapel…?" Tsukuyo wonders.

"It doesn't matter," Tsukasa says. "Let's go talk to her!"

Tsukuyo turns to Yukika. "Will you be joining us, Miss Nanase? You said you were worried about her too."

"Ah, um… well, I might as well," Yukika says.

At that moment, Sana and Felicia step in as well, wearing the black feather robes they received in their short time here. None of the other black feathers trickling in seem to notice anything off about their presence.

"Ah, that's perfect timing then," I say. "Why don't the five of you go check up on Miss Mifuyu together?"

"Ah?" Tsukuyo says.

She turns to Sana and Felicia, blinking in surprise.

"H-huh!?" Sana says. "Us?"

"Yes, I think you'd be perfect for it!" Iroha agrees. "And it's in the same direction anyway. She's down in the chapel."

"Um… aren't you…?" Tsukasa ventures.

"Alright, let's go find the lady in white!" Felicia declares.

So as I suggested, all five of them head down the stairs leading to the chapel. Hotori steps in at the same time, waving to me on her way upstairs. I open a vision to follow the twins.


"Um, so… just what are the two of you doing here?" Tsukasa asks.

"Ah, um… w-we're no-one suspicious!" Sana gasps.

"There is no point in hiding it," Tsukuyo says. "I have already determined your true identifies… Miss Futaba, and Miss Felicia."

Yukika, who apparently hadn't realized, lets out a little gasp.

"Huh? Aren't they part of the Crescent Moon Villa team!? How did you even get in here?"

"We strolled right in through the back entrance!" Felicia declares.

"Huh? There's a back entrance?" Yukika says.

"Ah… there is, in fact," Tsukuyo says. "It comes out in the forest of Hokuyo Ward, not far from Kamihama Observatory."

"But how'd you even find it…?" Tsukasa asks. "There's a rumour guarding the entrance, but it's not even being spread…" Suddenly she gasps. "D-did Miss Iroha tell you!?"

"Um, um!" Sana says. "Does the how really matter right now…? I overheard what you said… and I'm a little worried about Miss Mifuyu too…"

"But what's with this place…?" Felicia wonders. "My body feels so heavy…"

"Y-you're right," Sana says. "It's like the air is thick with impurities… how are you three not affected?"

"I suppose we have the advantage if it should come to a fight," Tsukuyo says. "Very well… let us continue."

"We've been down here often enough that we're used to it," Tsukasa says.

"To tell the truth… I don't much like it myself," Yukika says. "It's such an awful feeling…"

They fall silent as they continue to descend the spiral staircase, and eventually they emerge into the chapel. Felicia and Sana come to a halt at the site of Eve's gargantuan form, staring up at it for several seconds.

"T-this is… Embryo Eve!?" Sana says.

"Is it an artificial witch…?" Felicia wonders. "It's fricking huuuuuge!"

Without further ado, Felicia transforms and summons her hammer, crouching down and preparing to leap forward.

"Hold it right there!" Tsukuyo exclaims.

"W-what are you doing!?" Sana gasps.

The twins also transform, and at the same time Sana steps forward and wraps her hands around Felicia's waist, preventing her from traversing more than about half a metre.

"It's a witch!" Felicia exclaims. "You know I hate witches! I've gotta kill it! Damn, this huge witch… it makes me look like such an idiot!"

"You can't just kill it!" Sana exclaims. "We need to let Ui-chan out first!"

"Huh?" Tsukasa says. "Miss Tamaki's little sister…? What does she have to do with this?"

Felicia struggles to get free from Sana's grasp, but the other girl also transforms, making some limited use of her chains to further restrain Felicia. As a result, the most Felicia can do is enlarge her hammer and swing it around wildly. Though it doesn't come anywhere near the witch, it smashes several of the stained glass windows set high up on the walls, bringing down a rain of glass shards upon the five of them. Sana raises her shield like an umbrella, and the twins duck into the cover of some bushes. Yukika defends herself from the falling shards with some careful use of San's chain techniques.

"Miss Felicia!" Sana says. "Please calm down! Don't forget why we came here!"

"Dammit!" Felicia grumbles. "Fine, whatever…"

With a small sigh, she finally dispels her hammer.

"But I just can't shake off the fact that… that witches used to be just like us!" Felicia says.

An unexpected voice enters the conversation, leading with a giggle.

"Thaaat's right!" Mifuyu exclaims. "These tiny fraaagments… are what we ourselves will become one day!"

She's lounging on a couch set along the left edge of the chapel, just outside the range of the glass rain that by this time has finished settling down. What's more surprising than her presence or location is the tumbler gripped in her hand, which contains a liquid that looks suspiciously like whisky, with ice cubes in it. She's also powered up in her magical girl outfit.

"Miss Mifuyu!?" Tsukuyo gasps. "W-what on earth…?"

"I can hardly believe it…" Yukika mutters. "Miss Mifuyu…"

Mifuyu sighs, closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly.

"Say, um, Miss Mifuyu," Sana says. "Is it true what I heard from the others? Have the Magius really been bringing lots and lots of witches to Kamihama? Is that really the reason why Kamihama witches are unusually strong lately?"

"Who knooows…?" Mifuyu says with a slight shrug. "Ahhh… I was hoooping you could tell meee…"

"We really don't know anything," Sana says.

Mifuyu shakes her head, giggling a bit. "Too baaad, I s'pose," she says. "I'm never allowed to be part of the gaaang… aren't I just hilaaarious?"

"N-no, I would not say that you are… hilarious," Tsukuyo says. "But I wish you had confided in Tsukasa-chan and me before… before… before whatever this is…"

"Yeah, we'll help you with whatever you need!" Tsukasa says.

"Oh, um… m-me too…?" Yukika offers hesitantly.

"At least, please tell us what you do know!" Sana pleads.

Mifuyu sits up, hunched over a little, and swirls her drink, the ice tinkling gently against the sides.

"Saaay… did you hear several feathers went missing?" Mifuyu asks.

"Eh?" Tsukasa says. "W-what do you mean by… missing? Are you sure they didn't just run away?"

Mifuyu shakes her head. "They didn't respond to a siiingle email," she says. "At first, I thought we'd caused their deaths. Know what actually haaappened?"

"What happened to them?" Tsukuyo asks.

"Their doooppel," Mifuyu says. "Went out of controool… took over… they're now isolaaated at the Coordinator's place! Isn't that amaaazing!?"

She takes a gulp of her drink, smiling winningly at them for a moment, then casts her eyes down, gazing at the ice slowly melting away in the glass.

"W-what on earth are you talking about?" Sana asks.

"Their doppels went out of control?" Tsukuyo says.

"That's something that's possible!?" Tsukasa gasps.

"Miss Mifuyu… I thought you said doppels were safe…!" Tsukuyo says.

Mifuyu doesn't verbally respond, just lets out another sigh. Then in a sudden tantrum she smashes the tumbler against the floor, shattering it and sending ice, glass shards, and liquid everywhere. Then she flops back down on the couch, her right hand idly grasping at a random heptagonal shard of glass and holding it up to gaze at it.

"Miss Mifuyu… please tell us the truth!" Tsukasa says. "What's going on here? Why have you…?"

Mifuyu responds without looking at them.

"If you know the truth, will something chaaange?" Mifuyu wonders.

"Well… I… I think so…?" Sana says.

"I knew aaall about it," Mifuyu says. "I knew aaalmost everything… and then, things had happened that could neeever be undone. If this was how it was going to eeend… I wish I'd never knooown!"

"Well, I want to know!" Sana declares. "I regret not trying to learn more while I was in Endless Solitude! So… we're going to put an end to the Magius!"

The twins gasp in unison.

"Huh… Sana!?" Felicia says.

"Those feathers who went missing… they could've just as easily been Miss Iroha, or you, Miss Felicia!" Sana says. "I don't want to be in the dark when my family's in danger! Even if I can't change my fate, I want to at least spend my time in the place I want to be – with the people I care about!"

"Then… me too!" Felicia say. "If Iroha and the others were in danger… then I wouldn't want to be left in the dark either!"

"I see," Mifuyu says. "I wish I could've chooosen my own end, like you."

"Then choose it now!" Felicia says.

"That's right!" Sana says. "Let's all go home together!"

The shard of glass slips from Mifuyu's fingers, landing on the floor with a light tinkle, and her arm flops down beside her. Without moving the rest of her body, she manages to somewhat raise her eyes towards the pair.

"Me… too…?" she says.

"Yes," Sana says. "You can come to Crescent Moon Villa with us. We'll have a welcome party."

"We'll cook for you!" Tsukasa exclaims. "So please… pull yourself together, Miss Mifuyu!"

"But… but… Shizuku…!" Mifuyu says.

Felicia blinks, looking at Sana.

"Huh, come to think of it… where did Shizuku go?" she wonders.

"I don't know," Sana says. "She vanished on the same day we were supposed to welcome her, after all…"

"I do not know who you mean by Shizuku, but… whatever it is, you cannot shoulder all the blame yourself, Miss Mifuyu," Tsukuyo says. "Please… share a little of your burden with us!"

Mifuyu sighs, then takes a deep breath and sits up properly, actually meeting the others' gazes for the first time.

"Don't worry," she says, sounding suddenly more lucid than before. "Shizuku joined us… she's alive. However… she was brainwashed by the Memory Museum, just like you two were. Just like with Tsuruno… I wasn't able to save her…"

"I see," Felicia says.

"I'm so glad," Sana says. "At least she's safe…"

"Miss Tsukuyo, Miss Tsukasa, Miss Nanase… Miss Futaba and Miss Mitsuki… I'm sorry you had to see me like this," Mifuyu says.

She stands up and bows.

"W-what?" Tsukuyo says. "Why are you bowing to us…?"

"And, I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess," Mifuyu continues.

"W-what do you mean by mess…?" Tsukasa asks.

Mifuyu straightens up.

"I'm not going to stand for their antics any longer," she says. "I've decided to take a stand against the Magius!"

"Against them!?" the twins gasp.

"Why so suddenly?" Tsukuyo asks.

"No, this isn't sudden," Mifuyu says. "They've been slowly getting worse ever since Nemu made the Misery Rhyton. And now, they've crossed a line, so I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!"

"Um, so… what should we do then…?" Yukika wonders.

"Ah, right," Tsukasa says. "Whatever you're doing, even if you're planning to betray the Magius… we'll support you, Miss Mifuyu!" Tsukasa says.

"Yes… we joined the Wings of the Magius because of you, not because of Lady Touka and Lady Nemu," Tsukuyo says. "So if you are parting with them… then so will we!"

Mifuyu nods. "Thank you very much, you two," she says. "I think the best thing you can do for now is to remove your pendants and wait down here with Miss Futaba and Miss Felicia. I don't know why exactly they snuck in and came down here, but… I assume they have a very good reason."

"Ah, um… yes!" Sana says. "We're here to see if we can break Ui-chan free before Eve gets out."

"You mentioned Miss Ui a few minutes ago, but I do not understand," Tsukuyo says. "Just where do you think you will be breaking her free from?"

Sana points up at Eve, and the twins follow her finger.

"That's… Eve?" Tsukasa says. "I still don't get it…"

"I don't quite understand it myself," Sana says. "But apparently Ui-chan is trapped inside that huge red crystal at the centre."

"Y-you cannot be serious!?" Tsukuyo gasps. "All this time Miss Tamaki has been searching for her little sister, and she has been right under our noses!?"

"Well… I'll leave you to whatever you're doing," Mifuyu says. "Wish me luck."

"Ah… good luck, Miss Mifuyu," Tsukasa says.

"May fortune favour you, Miss Mifuyu," Tsukuyo says.

"Break a leg!" Felicia says.

"G-good luck, Miss Mifuyu," Sana says.

"May luck be on your side, Miss Mifuyu," Yukika says.

With that, Mifuyu heads upstairs. Then Sana summons her chains and flings them up at Eve, tugging on them to make sure they remain secure before starting to climb up. Felicia waits a bit, then follows her up.

"Um, so… do you need our help…?" Tsukasa wonders.

"All you have are flutes!" Felicia retorts. "How're you gonna smash a great big rock open, huh?"

"Y-you're right!?" the twins gasp in unison.

"Um… I have a sword," Yukika says. "Will that help…?"

"Yes… I think it would!" Sana calls down. "If we can open a crack… maybe your blade can help us widen it!"

So Yukika also starts to climb up, leaving the twins watching from below. Once Sana and Felicia reach the gem, they perform a connect, Sana passing her power to Felicia as she slams her hammer down on the centre of the gem. At first glance it seems to have no effect at all, but then Felicia spots the tiniest of cracks right beneath where she'd struck it.

"Man, this thing is tough!?" she gasps. "But it's working! I just gotta hit it even harder next time!"

"Huh," Yukika says. "It's true… there really is a girl trapped inside here…"


It's around then that things really start to happen up here.

While I'm watching the conversation between Mifuyu and the others, a number of things happen. Maya arrives, so Inui, Iroha, and I follow her up to the third floor lounge for our little pre-meeting meeting. Since I'm still watching Mifuyu and the others, I keep the speech even briefer than in the previous timeline.

"You all more or less know the plan already," I say. "We put it into action as soon as I verify that the Magius and Miss Mifuyu have left Fendt Hope's barrier."

"Huh? Why Miss Mifuyu?" Sue asks. "Didn't you say she's with us…?"

"Ah… this is just a guess, but she's probably going to confront them directly," I say. "I'm not sure if it'll do any good, but I want to at least give her the opportunity to try. We don't technically need her help with anything until after the helipad battle."

Several people nod or make various noises of assent. There are actually a lot more people this time than there were in the last timeline – about twice as many of us, in fact. We've added Akane Sumire to our number, as well as Tamura, Chihana, and Hikari. Though they're not in the lounge with us, we even have Ryo, Ikumi, and Yumi on our side this time.

In any case, I open a second vision to track Shizuku, then settle down to continue watching the girls down in the chapel. Shizuku's realization goes exactly the same as before, and the moment she emerges into the lounge roughly coincides with the moment when Yukika sets her eyes on Ui for the first time. Since I'm not down there to intercept her this time, she flings the crystal she's carrying down the hall, then heads straight out into the garden, where she finds Ryo and Ikumi waiting. The brainwashed feathers chasing her go after the crystal instead of her. At first I think Yumi's missing, but then I spot her hanging back a bit by some rose bushes.

"Miss Ikumi… Miss Ryo… what is all this about?" she asks. "What do you want from me!?"

"Still haven't figured it out?" Ryo says.

"No… but it doesn't matter anymore," Shizuku says. "I'm getting out of here… I have to get out so I can help everyone."

"I see," Ryo says. "So you finally did it, Shizuku."

"Yes, it looks like you're back to your normal self," Ikumi says. "We knew you'd make a break for it once you came to your senses."

"So that's why you gave me that magic-storing crystal?" Shizuku says. "You planned this from the start? You said you'd see me off on my journey as a black feather… but you were really helping me escape."

"Well, no," Ikumi says. "We never meant to let you escape, actually. After all, that would mean you'd stand as an enemy."

"It would've been a huge disadvantage to us if we let you go," Ryo says. "Do you not understand why?"

Shizuku shakes her head. "That doesn't make any sense," she says. "Come on… let's all escape together. The Magius… they're just using us, and the feathers, and everyone else!"

"Do you understand why we didn't meet the same end as you and those other feathers?" Ikumi asks.

"W-what!?" Shizuku gasps. "Now that you mention it…"

"You and the other black feathers… you all swore fealty to the Magius," Ikumi explains. "But we're different. We're loyal to the concept of liberation, instead."

"What're you saying?" Shizuku asks.

"It doesn't matter to us if the Magius betray us," Ryo said. "We can keep on going so long as we still have a hope of being freed. So in the eyes of the Magius, we're not like the other feathers, who run the risk of turning traitor."

"So you're really going to fight me?" Shizuku asks.

The two of them look at each other, but they don't say anything, so Shizuku continues speaking.

"You're contradicting yourselves," she says. "Why would you help me get this far, then!?"

"Because we wanted to," Ikumi says. "And because Miss Mifuyu asked us to, as a favour to her."

"It's that simple," Ryo says. "We just felt like it."

"Plus, we thought that brainwashing you was just going too far," Ikumi says.

"Yes, I couldn't ignore something like that," Ryo says. "To force someone to join when they don't want to… that is a line they should not have crossed."

"I don't really want to fight you though," Shizuku says.

"But it's also precisely because we're loyal to liberation over the Magius," Ryo says. "That's why, when someone else promises liberation in a more palatable way… well… it's awfully hard to turn down."

Ikumi nods. "Yes… so we really weren't planning to let you escape, but recently we changed our minds."

"Go on, Miss Shizuku," Ryo says. "Return to your friend, who's worrying for you. If you feel like it, stop by Suitoku temple. I heard the magical girls there could really use a teleporter right around now."

"S-so I don't have to fight you after all!" Shizuku says, letting out a sigh of relief. "You really scared me there…"

"I won't have any regrets about letting you go," Ryo says. "I'm starting to hate myself, too. I still cling to liberation, however."

"I fully intend to bring about liberation, even if it means using the Magius, or Miss Tamaki, or anyone else," Ikumi said. "I feel the same as you, Ryo. Still… Miss Shizuku, please don't worry about us. We managed to keep from crossing a line that no magical girl should cross, didn't we?"

"Thank you," Shizuku says. "You both helped me out a lot. I hope we can meet again."

"One last thing," Ryo says. "All exits and entrances to the base have recently been sealed, except one. Over that way, there's a fold in space, opening into the mountains of Hokuyo Ward."

Ryo points towards the twist in space leading to the Eternal Sakura.

"Got it," Shizuku says.

She heads in the indicated direction and soon passes through the fold, disappearing from sight. Meanwhile, Ryo, Ikumi, and Yumi head back inside. Mifuyu emerges from the chapel at the same moment, blinking at them in surprise.

"Ah… Miss Midori," Mifuyu says.

Ryo nods. "Miss Mifuyu, good day to you," she says.

"Have you seen the Magius?" Mifuyu asks.

"I haven't," Ryo says. "But given that the assembly is already over, they probably left by the back door."

"Right, they were going to go to the observatory," Mifuyu muses. "Alright then… I'll go there too. Oh, by the way… have you seen Miss Kagura?"

"I'm afraid not," Ryo says. "I might see her at the meeting that's about to start… but she might've already left the same way as the Magius."

"That's too bad," Mifuyu says with a sigh. "Alright… I'll have to settle for just the Magius, then. Thank you, Miss Midori."

She turns and heads for the back door, and Ryo and Ikumi exchange glances.

"I wonder what that was about…?" Ikumi says.

"Maybe she's finally going to stand up to them," Yumi suggests.

"Huh… you really think she'd do that…?" Ikumi says.

"I think she's been conflicted for awhile now," Yumi says. "You didn't notice?"

"No… I didn't…"


"Alright," I say. "Let's get to the meeting."

Everyone gets to their feet and heads to the meeting place for those feathers stationed on the base. San is conspicuous in her absence, but Miyuri is present. On the other hand, there seem to be an additional white and black feather who weren't present in either of the last two timelines yet are not on our side.

"Everyone!" Sorashi announces once everyone has settled down. "We're almost there! By the end of today, we'll be free of our curse! For now, our mission is to guard the base in case the enemy takes advantage of the feathers spread out across the city to sneak in. We also have the very important role of unleashing Embryo Eve upon the city. Now then, since there are only a few of us, I think we should all share our names. Not our real names, of course. An alias will suffice. For starters, you can just call me Sorashi. Let's hear from the white feathers first."

"Well, I think most of you know me," Sue says. "I'm Sue. Yes, it's an alias."

"Hmm… you can call me Fuu."

"You can call me Hime."

"Um… hmm… Konoha will do."

"You can just call me the Reporter."

"I'm Coeurl."

"Call me Lita."

"Oh! Um, I'm Nene!"

"Um… uhh… how about… Tama…?" Iroha ventures.

All the black feathers proceed to name themselves as well.

"M-miyu…" Miyuri says.

"Amu."

"Mana."

"Nami."

"Inui."

"Ah, um… Mana's already taken… guess I'll go with Tsunama," Manatsu says.

"I'm Tomomi."

"U-um… c-call me T-tori!" Hotori says.

"Maimai," Mayoi says.

"Maria."

"Yu-yu," Yumi says.

"Kumi," Ikumi says.

"Chiyo," Chiyoko says.

"Aoi."

"Sal."

"Maya."

"Call me… Saka…" Kuroe says.

"U-um, uh… T-tamu…!" Tamura stammers.

"C-call me Aya," Hikari says.

"Oh, um… I guess Michi will do…?" Chihana says.

"Call me Sumi," Sumire says.

"Um… around here I'm known as Hana!"

"Perfect," Sorashi says. "Then let's spread out through the base and await orders from myself, the Instructor, Miss Mifuyu, or the Magius. If there's an alert, we'll check it out. This place might be heavily fortified, but there's still a chance of intruders. Does anyone have any questions?"

Hana raises her hand.

"Um, so… where are Miss Mifuyu and the Instructor?" she asks. "And for that matter, what about Miss Tomoe?"

"I'm not sure where Miss Mifuyu is," Sorashi says. "Perhaps she's received a special mission from the Magius. The Instructor is directing the feathers in the city. As for Miss Tomoe… she's gone missing. We suspect she betrayed us, so if you see her, treat her as an enemy."

"Ah… okay then," Hana says.

So it looks like there are a couple new feathers not on our side as well. If I recall correctly, Hime was the only prominent white feather to abandon Kamihama after the helipad battle two timelines ago. I think Hana was also involved in that argument after Mami tried to reason with the feathers, but I don't recall what role she played.

The group disperses, spreading out across the base. Some of us return to the third floor lounge – Inui, Iroha, Nene, and myself.

"Okay, so I'll contact the Mother Bear now," Iroha says. "Um… what should I say, again?"

"Let me think a moment," I say. "Firstly… we'd like her to be ready to expel Eve from her barrier. In addition, if it's within her power, we'd like to close off the entrance linked to the Eternal Sakura and place a new entrance near the Coordinator's place. And lastly… the following people should be considered as traitors in the security system. San, Sorashi, Fuu, Konoha, Hime, Amu, Mana, Nami, Aoi, Miyuri, Sal, Hana, Touka, Nemu, Alina."

Iroha nods. "Alright… I'll tell her," she says.

She closes her eyes, frowning a little as she attempts to transmit the message to the Mother Bear. A moment later, she clutches at her head and emits a tiny squeal of pain.

"Are you alright…?"

Iroha nods. "Y-yes, just… her response overwhelmed me," she says. "It's like a kind of telepathy that packs a hundred times as much information into the same space as our normal telepathy… or something like that…"

"So… what did she say?" I ask.

"Um… the change in the entrances has been applied," Iroha says. "And the people you listed are now considered hostile by the security system, so they won't be able to use telepathy or sense magic. However… apparently Eve is not in the Mother Bear's barrier, so there's nothing she can do about that."

I blink in surprise. "Huh? The chapel isn't part of Fendt Hope?"

Iroha shakes her head. "This was also in the response, but… Fendt Hope is apparently connected to the chapel in the same way it's connected to the Eternal Sakura. You know, I think the chapel… might actually be Eve's barrier?"

"But… how could that be?" I wonder. "If it was Eve's barrier, then what's keeping her dormant? I don't think she'd remain dormant on her home turf… although I guess newly-spawned witches do sometimes stay dormant for a little while… but she's been dormant for a whole month, which is on another whole level."

"Shall I go ask the Eternal Sakura if she knows anything?" Iroha offers.

"Hmm… yes, I think that's worth a try," I say. "We'll hold off on the attack until you get back. It's not like we're in a great hurry, anyway."

"Alright," Iroha says.

She turns to leave the lounge, hurrying downstairs. I open visions on Mitama and Yachiyo to see their status. Mitama is of course at her shop, with Momoko, just standing around while magical girls trickle in. It looks like there are still quite a few more to come. Yachiyo is with Tsuruno, Kanagi, and Karin up on the radio tower in Chuo Ward, gazing out towards the helipad building. As for Mifuyu, she hasn't yet reached the observatory. So, things are still relatively quiet for the time being.

Iroha returns about ten minutes later with the answer from the Eternal Sakura.

"I was wrong," she says. "It's not Eve's barrier. There's actually another rumour here which owns the chapel."

She pauses to clear her throat, then imitates the sing-song voice of a rumour spreader.

"Have you heard? Has anyone told you? The Rumour of a New Hope. It's said a girl will appear in your dreams and speak to you. 'Come to Kamihama – here, magical girls can be saved.' It's the hottest rumour currently circulating among magical girls. Will you go? Will you stay away? The choice could decide your fate!"

I gasp, blinking at her. "That rumour… might be the source of the dream that several magical girls have had! I sort of knew that rumour had to exist… it must be the very first one one that Nemu crafted, to save Ui – the one that erased Ui's fate. But I never guessed it would be right here, under our noses… alright. Is it possible to communicate with this rumour?"

Iroha shakes her head. "According to Sakurako, it doesn't even have a consciousness. Compared to the other rumours, it's barely half-formed."

I guess that makes sense for a rumour that Nemu made on the spur of the moment out of desperation to save Ui.

"Okay, then we'll have to break open the barrier like we did with Miss Ai," I say. "Which means we'll need Kazumi-chan and either Madoka or Miss Araragi…"

"You mean Tsukihi-chan, right?" Iroha says.

I nod. "Yes, of course," I say.

"Then I'll drop by the Coordinator's to fetch them!" Iroha says.

"Please do!" I say. "We have a little time still, but… if we delay too long, the Magius will realize something is up when they try to return to base."

"I'll be quick!" Iroha says.

With that, she turns and runs off again. Although most of the out-of-town girls are meeting up at Suitoku Temple like last time, Kazumi should be at the Coordinator's instead, as I wanted her to be present for the battle with Eve.

Once Iroha is gone, I transmit a message to everyone else who's with us.

«There were a few hiccups, but we're all good to go now,» I say. «Capture anyone who isn't with us!»

At that moment, Mifuyu emerges onto the grounds of the observatory, so I turn my attention to her.


Mifuyu crosses the grounds to the main observatory building where the Magius are doubtless watching and waiting. As she powers up and steps inside, I notice that Alina is missing – it's only Nemu and Touka there, both powered up. They appear to be discussing the plan to agitate Walpurgisnacht and attract her to Kamihama, by making it look like a utopia to the witch.

"This proves that Walpurgisnacht definitely exists!" Touka says.

"At least the world I've created won't go to waste," Nemu says, giggling.

"Oh, does that mean you're done, Nemu?" Touka asks.

"Yes," Nemu says. "I was running all over Kamihama with Alina and the feathers until just now. We've taken control of all the cell phone towers. Like you said, one of them was set to control the others. We used your program to make them emit signals only a witch can see."

"Wow!" Touka says. "And, and? What kind of world are we showing them?"

But that's when Mifuyu interrupts them.

"The Wings of the Magius aren't just a tool to help you play with fire," she says sternly.

Touka turns her head to look back over her shoulder.

"Well? Does Azusa Mifuyu have something to say to me?" she asks.

"Touka, please stop this," Mifuyu says. "We shouldn't get people involved who have nothing to do with this."

"You're always such a nice girl, Mifuyu," Touka says.

"There's still time to minimize the damage!" Mifuyu says.

Touka turns to fully face her.

"Mifuyu, you know everyone has something to do with this," Touka says. "Humanity's growth came at the cost of magical girls' lives. I won't let an unknowing humanity keep using magical girls like cattle."

"So you have no intention of stopping the plan," Mifuyu says.

"Even if you're hesitant because you can't understand this plan, I'll do the thinking for you," Touka says. "I'll make the choice for you. Isn't that good enough?"

"That isn't what I want!" Mifuyu exclaims.

Mifuyu suddenly activates her illusion magic, appearing to split into a lot of clones, just like Kyouko's Rosso Fantasma. Touka immediately opens her parasol and thrusts, dispelling all the clones in an instant, but the real one has already gotten past her and is aiming for Nemu. Perhaps she perceives Nemu as somewhat weaker and intends to take her hostage.

Unfortunately, Nemu is ready for her. She raises an arm, calling up a flurry of papers which surround Mifuyu, lifting her off the ground and flinging her outside. The papers then form a barrier preventing re-entry, but Mifuyu has already collapsed on the ground and seems to be in no state to even try again.

A giggle is heard from above, and Mifuyu turns her head just a bit to try and see the source. It's Alina, who for some reason is perched up on the observatory roof. She hops down and lands next to Mifuyu.

"Why are you playing dead or alive in a place like this?" she asks.

"Alina…"

Alina pulls out a grief seed and drops it on the ground next to Mifuyu's face.

"I don't hear a thank you," Alina says, giggling. "I'm going back to my atelier."

"Going back?" Mifuyu says.

"I committed to Touka and Nemu because they had soul," Alina says. "But my goal as an artist isn't to have parties with ignorant doll girls. Anyway, would you tell me if this looks like it's ever going to reach a climax?" She giggles again. "Bye-bye!"

Alina turns and heads off somewhere, to the northeast. Mifuyu groans and reaches out to grip the grief seed, using it to purify her soul gem.

"As I thought," she mutters. "I'm still… too weak…"

She gets to her feet with a sigh.

"If I can't stop Touka… maybe I can at least stop Miss Kagura," she says. "I believe the plan was to use the helipad as a base point… but I suppose I should check in with Miss Taylor first…"

With that, she heads off towards the west.


"We're back!" Iroha announces.

She's no longer wearing the white feather robe and is now accompanied by Kazumi and the Araragi sisters. I didn't really need Karen, but… I'm sure it doesn't hurt to have an extra person.

"Welcome back, Miss Tamaki," I say.

"This place is incredible," Tsukihi says. "It was really created by magic?"

"Yeah, apparently," I say.

"So… what was it you need from us?" Karen asks.

I peek on Felicia and Sana to see if they've managed to free Ui yet. Surprisingly, they look like they're close – a large chunk of the gemstone has been carved out already, and Ui's head seems to be fully exposed. The Amane twins have now climbed up and are using their feather chains and the attached blades to help widen some of the cracks.

"Miss Tamaki will lead you down to the place known as the chapel, where I want the two of you to smash the ceiling open," I say. "Miss Tamaki and Miss Tsukihi will connect their powers and fire the beam. Kazumi-chan will join you so that you benefit from her boosting magic, and I'll have her join the attack too. Everyone else is welcome to contribute to the attack as well."

"Okay, that sounds really easy!" Kazumi says. "Do we go now, or what?"

"Not quite yet," I say. "Soon. We need to wait until the sun has set, at least."

"Got it… we'll just wait here then," Tsukihi says.

"By the way, Miss Tamaki… the entrance to the Eternal Sakura is closed, right?" I say. "You must've reopened it to speak to her…"

Iroha nods. "Of course, I asked the Mother Bear to close it right up afterwards. I closed the entrance I used to stop by the Coordinator's too."

I take out my communicator and tune it to the channel that Yachiyo's group is using.

"Hello… Miss Nanami?"

She responds almost immediately.

"Miss Nanami here," she says. "What is it?"

"Miss Mifuyu appears to be heading your way," I say. "It might take awhile for her to get there, but if she arrives before the rumour is defeated, please hold her back."

"What is Mifuyu thinking?" Yachiyo wonders.

"Wanting to set right her mistakes, or something," I say.

Kanagi speaks up next.

"We'll keep a lookout for Azusa," she says. "But at the rate things are going, I think she'll probably arrive after it's all over. The feathers are all gathering at the helipad, so we'll strike in the next few minutes. However, do you know when reinforcements will arrive?"

"You do have Miss Togame's channel, so you could ask her yourself, couldn't you?" I say.

"You make a good point," Kanagi says. "Then I will do just that."

I put my communicator away, and Iroha lets out a sigh.

"All this waiting is really killing me," she says. "But at the same time, it's not like I want to be fighting…"

At that moment, Coeurl enters the lounge, accompanied by Sue, Mayoi, Ikumi, and Ryo.

"It's all over," Ryo says. "We now have the run of the base. What's the next step?"

"The next step is splitting off the chapel and smashing it open," I say. "Apparently, the chapel is actually the barrier of a different rumour that was simply fused on, so it should be possible to destroy just the chapel without affecting Fendt Hope… at least, I hope so."

"Huh… what rumour is that?" Ryo asks.

"Did any of you get a dream where a girl tells you that magical girls can be saved in Kamihama?" I ask.

"Ah! I remember that dream!" Mayoi exclaims.

"Me too," Sue says. "That's what drew me to the city."

Nene nods in agreement. "I… also had that dream…"

"I'm not certain, but I think the rumour of the chapel is probably the source of that dream," I say. "I suspect even Nemu doesn't realize it's a separate entity from Fendt Hope."

"Huh… if even Lady Nemu… I mean, if even Nemu-chan doesn't know, then how on earth did you find out?" Sue asks.

"Miss Tamaki figured out how to communicate with the rumour of the Mother Bear," I say. "That's the rumour behind Fendt Hope itself. That rumour told us that the chapel is separate. Even I hadn't realized."

"Ah, so that explains why we can use telepathy, but the other feathers were confused that it wasn't working," Ryo says. "You must have asked the rumour to switch around the friend detection."

"Something like that," I say. "Anyway… we need to wait a bit before smashing the chapel, at least until sundown… so I'm going to see how things are going at the Coordinator's."

I open a new vision on the Coordinator's. Quite a few new people have shown up since the last time I looked. It looks like Hijiri isn't there, so I open a separate vision on her. As expected, she's in the doppel isolation ward with Sachie. Emily is also with her, and it looks like she and Hijiri of them have found a way to cure doppel syndrome, for one of the black feathers has already been freed from it and is laying out on the floor in the clear half of the room. There are still four more in the isolation jars though… and it looks like Mitsune is in one of those jars too, so that makes a total of six doppel syndrome victims in this timeline. Nene escaped that fate this time, but two extras suffered from it.


The Coordinator's place is pretty much stuffed full of girls. It looks like almost everyone is there. Mitama, Mikage, Momoko, Kaede, Rena, Konomi, and Hinano stand at the centre of things. Nanaka's entire team is there, and so are the Azalea Sisters. Asuka and Sasara are there, and Mayu and Sayuki too. Rika and Ren are holding hands, Manaka is playing the straight man to Ria and Tsumugi, and the Daito Apartments trio are standing in a corner. I can also see Kanoko, Himika, Ayaka, Kokoro, Masara, Aimi, Natsuki, Riko, Rui, Hanekawa Tsubasa, Meguru, Chika, Chihiro Karen, Hotaru, Akari, Irina, and even Sae. Notably absent is Emiri, who's in the doppel isolation ward helping Hijiri out.

As I'm figuring out who's there, several magical girls step forward – Asuka, Sasara, Nanaka, Meiyui, Hazuki, and Konoha.

"It's been quite awhile since we all assembled here," Asuka observes. "Don't you think it's time we heard more about what's happening?"

"Careful, or she might kill herself," Sasara jokes.

"Can you please stop making fun of me!" Asuka protests.

"She has a point, though," Nanaka says. "While it's true that we haven't assembled every single magical girl in Kamihama… I think it's about time we hear it."

"If we have to wait for Miss Yachiyo, that's different," Hazuki says. "But we don't need to wait on her, do we?"

"No, of course not," Momoko says. "But I did want to at least wait until Emily gets here…"

"And how long is that going to take?" Nanaka asks. "You don't even know where she is, do you?"

"Actually, I do know where she is," Mitama says. "She arrived before anyone else, and she's been helping me out with something. Why don't I go check on her? We can get started as soon as I get back."

"How long will that take?" Nanaka asks.

"She's just across the street from here," Mitama says. "I'll be back in just a few minutes."

"Very well," Nanaka says.

Mitama heads into the back, and a relative silence falls as they wait for her return. A few minutes later, she returns, accompanied by not only Emiri but also Mitsune. Hijiri and Sachie aren't with them – they must've stayed in the doppel isolation ward to watch over the black feathers who haven't yet woken.

"Whoa!" Emiri gasps. "It's like everyone's here! What's going on?"

"That is what Miss Mitama is just about to explain to all of us," Nanaka says.

"Oh, that so!" Emiri says. "Then I'll let ya get on with it!"

"I think almost everyone's here now," Mitama says. "Other than Crescent Moon Villa, Kanagi, and Karin-chan."

"They won't be coming," Momoko says. "They should be at the heliport right around now. Maybe they're already fighting the Wings of the Magius. So in other words, we can just get started!"

"Everyone, please listen!" Mitama says.

The chattering magical girls fall silent and turn to look at her.

"I'm sorry you had to wait so long," Mitama says. "I'll tell you all I know. What I know about the Wings of the Magius, who they are, and what they aim to achieve. The reasons behind their sudden attacks. Everything. I'll have to tell you some things I'd rather keep hidden to help you understand, however. I'm sure they're things that you won't want to hear. So do prepare yourselves. If you're too scared to listen, then you may plug your ears or leave altogether."

She waits for a buzz of whispers to subside before continuing.

"If I want to tell you everything, I should lead you down the same path they went down," Mitama says. "So I'll run you through how Yachiyo, Iroha-chan, and her friends learned everything. Then you'll all know the truth. Those girls who attacked some of you, the Wings of the Magius, were formed just over a month ago and have been operating in secret. They were already at work in the shadows by the time witches and magical girls began gathering in Kamihama and rumours came true.

"To my knowledge, the first person to take action was Miss Yachiyo, though she didn't know everything then. She realized that there were creatures similar to witches at the root of the rumours that were coming true. Not long after, she formed a team with Iroha-chan and Tsuruno-chan, and the three started hunting down more rumours than Yachiyo had been alone. Then they ran into the Wings of the Magius for the first time.

"The first thing they learned about the Wings of the Magius was their goal – to 'free magical girls'. Of course, not many magical girls would comprehend what that meant. Iroha-chan didn't know what they meant by 'freedom' at that point, either. All she knew was that they were peculiar girls, protecting rumours that hurt people. Still, Iroha-chan and her team continued to fight rumours while in pursuit of their own goals.

"Naturally, this led to them getting involved with the Wings of the Magius again. Amidst their struggle with the Wings of the Magius, Iroha-chan and her friends came to realize the full extent of how aberrant they truly were. They learned that they were trying to use witches as well as rumours to attain freedom. At that point, Iroha-chan just thought the Wings of the Magius were a dangerous group, protecting harmful rumours and witches.

"But soon after that, she came to learn what 'freedom' really meant. What we magical girls would be freed from. What curse we are all bound by. That curse is… the curse that inflicts all of us is that we will all one day become witches. Even so, Iroha-chan and Miss Yachiyo still refused to trust the Wings of the Magius. They couldn't accept how the Wings of the Magius planned to use witches and rumours to create a world where we wouldn't become witches.

"And just as they feared, the Wings of the Magius soon began to commit heinously violent acts. They brainwashed Tsuruno-chan, Felicia-chan, Sana-chan, and Shizuku-chan. And then… they made Tsuruno-chan part of a rumour and tried to make her kill the people of Kamihama. Why would they do such a thing? It all became clear when they saved Tsuruno-chan. Here is what the Magius, who lead the Wings of the Magius, were attempting to achieve…

"Deep beneath their base is a creature that they refer to as 'Embryo Eve'. Though it resembles a witch, it is actually something else entirely. It is a mysterious existence that sucks up impurities, preventing magical girls within Kamihama from turning into witches and allowing them to unleash a cursed power known as a doppel. They plan to continue to stuff Eve full of impurities until it turns into a witch, which they believe will release enough energy to allow them to expand the system across the world, thus freeing magical girls from their curse.

"This is how Iroha-chan's group learned all about the Wings of the Magius through their encounters with rumours. So… to sum up what we've learned about them… the Wings of the Magius are a group with the admirable ambition of helping magical girls avoid their fate to become witches. At the same time, they are willing to use Kamihama citizens and other magical girls as sacrifices so that they can gather enough energy to fulfill their goals. Their words are pleasing to the ear… but when you put faith in what they preach, terrible things occur. Just look at the feathers who attacked many of you, for example. The Magius will even abuse their own allies to achieve their ends. Look at what happened when Tsuruno-chan became a rumour, too. If Iroha-chan hadn't stopped her… it's likely all of your families would've eventually been pulled into Chelation Land and lost their lives."

"What exactly is a doppel?" Nanaka asks.

"It's something that happens in Kamihama instead of turning into a witch," Mitama says. "It's hard to explain, but… the full name is doppel witch. It is like a witch in form, but separated from your soul gem before it can transform. You can control it somewhat, but… we've had several girls lose control and get stuck."

"It's quite the tricky kettle of fish!" Emiri exclaims. "Even Miss Hero here got stuck in one of those doppel thingies!"

She gestures to Mitsune, still standing next to her. Mitsune looks like she's doing her best to shrivel up from the attention that brings.

"They get into an infinite loop and can't get out, or something," Emiri concludes. "Was real tough to crack that loop open, lemme tell ya!"

"That is… quite hard to believe," Nanaka says. "Though, Miss Mitama's testimony has been trustworthy in the past… and I can certainly trust Miss Kisaki as well…"

"I understand what the Wings of the Magius is now," Asuka says. "But that said…"

"It's really tough to accept that we're going to turn into… witches," Sasara says.

"As long as you stay in Kamihama, it doesn't matter how many impurities you build up," Mitama says. "They will be released from your soul gem as a doppel, so you won't become one here."

"I think some of the girls here were too upset to even listen to the last part of your story," Meiyui observes.

Indeed, some girls appear to have gone into shock at the revelation. At least Haruka isn't there this time – she should be at Suitoku instead.

"It's natural not to know what to do," Momoko says. "I couldn't even tell Kaede and Rena until pretty recently… but this involves all of us magical girls now. We pretty much had to let you all know."

"So the Wings of the Magius represent one way to handle what you just told us," Konoha says. "Correct?"

"That's true," Mitama says. "However… you each must consider whether or not you can accept their methods… or if you believe they can accomplish their goals."

"I won't stop you from joining whichever side you want to support," Momoko says. "That's up to you as individuals. But Miss Yachiyo and I and our teams couldn't accept how they are going about it. We went up against them over and over. Well, mostly Miss Yachiyo, but still. That's why they're out for our blood now."

"Some of us here got caught up in rumours too!" Himika pipes up. "So I know it wasn't just Miss Yachiyo!"

"Indeed, I too encountered a few rumours," Nanaka says.

"Right, but still, you all got dragged into this," Momoko says. "I'm sorry about that."

"Nothing you have done merits an apology," Nanaka says. "You seem to believe it was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm more interested in whether you have an alternative to what they offer."

"An alternative?" Momoko says.

"An alternative to their liberation," Nanaka says.

"Well… I'm just repeating what Iroha-chan told me, but we want to talk it through when this is over," Momoko says.

"So you're leaving that for later?" Akira asks.

"How irresponsible," Nanaka sighs

"We just don't have the time to think about it right now," Momoko says. "I think it's good we got everyone gathered here in one place, though. Iroha-chan said it would be better for us to come together and think of a solution, rather than having each of us try to think of something individually… seeing as it's a problem we all face as magical girls. I for one plan on helping her. And I think if all of us work together… we might be able to find an answer somewhere in our community."

"So if we clash, everything will crumble," Meiyui says. "Sounds like simple idealism, nothing more."

"If we aren't willing to talk about ideals, we'll lose sight of what we should aim for," Momoko says.

"T-that's… a g-good point… I think…"

Everyone turns to look at the new speaker, Isuzu Ren. Although her voice is soft and hesitant, in the dead silence surrounding her, it carries surprisingly well. Rika clings to her arm to lend support.

"T-this is… really hard," Ren continues. "It's… terrifying… I regret my decision. I feel… so pathetic… I want to do something, but… when I remember I'm going to become… ill-will incarnate… it's just… really hard… but… that's just how it is for me right now. If I can't even dream of… a way things could be better… I think I'd just plunge into the abyss… and then… I'd definitely become a witch. So… I want to set my sights on a bright future…! Y-yes!"

"Yeah," Hazuki says. "I mean, if I broaden my perspective, I realize we have the Azalea house. If we don't act, we could lose it."

"Huh!?" Ayame gasps. "Nooo! No way, José! No!"

"So which would you pick, Ayame?" Konoha asks. "A chance at freedom, or the Azalea House?"

"Azalea House!" Ayame says without hesitation.

"I see," Konoha says. "Then that tips the scales for me."

"Same here," Hazuki says.

"Hey guys, I mean, if you've made up your mind, then shouldn't we get going?" Emiri suddenly pipes up.

"What do you mean, Emily?" Akira asks.

"I'm just saying!" Emiri says. "All of us gals are chilling out here, so… don't ya think those chicks in robes are probs bored outta their skulls? If I were one of them, I'd rush right over to the heliport to bust some heads!"

"An astute observation," Nanaka says. "Shall we head there?"

"So you're all on board?" Momoko asks.

"I worry that this may affect the Kashin-ryu," Nanaka says. "Miss Kako may lose Natsume Books, as well."

"Thanks for joining us then," Momoko says.

"Sir Kyuubey always seemed like he had another side to him," Nanaka says. "I was suspicious of him from the start."

"Um, I wanna help too!" Riko exclaims.

"Are you sure, Riko-chan?" Mitama asks. "It'll be dangerous!"

"Yeah, but people are talking about losing things!" Riko says. "If I lost the bento place, I'd be really sad!"

"I'll come too," Rui says. "After all, unlike most of these girls, I've already had time to think things over."

"It's bad enough what they're doing to us," Asuka says. "But these guys use their allies like tools! Who'd wanna align themselves with a group like that?"

"I'm gonna help too!" Himika says angrily. "We can leave the witch junk until later. I gotta put these girls in their place! They're trying to kill my family!"

Momoko stares at her for a moment, startled by the intensity of her exclamation, then nods.

"Okay," she says. "Everyone who wants to lend a hand, come along with me."

"I-I'm coming too!" Kaede says.

"And me!" Rena says.

"Duh, of course you are!" Momoko says. "Alright, Coordinator… I'm counting on you."

"I know you are," Mitama says. "But just wait a moment longer, will you?"

"Huh? What's up now?" Momoko asks.

Mitama disappears into the next room, returning a moment later with a handful of grief seeds.

"You'll probably need some of these," she says

Momoko blinks. "W-whoa, are you sure…!?"

"Take them, before I change my mind," Mitama says.

"Right… thank you very much!" Momoko says.

She accepts the grief seeds and stows them away, then leads the volunteers out into the streets.


Yachiyo, Tsuruno, and Kanagi step out onto the helipad, where they are immediately attacked by a dozen or so black feathers. Karin is no longer with them – presumably she's moved on to her spotting role for the Suitoku teams, as per the plan.

Even boosted by the Flower Speaker, a mere dozen or so black feathers are no match for the three of them – they're on the ground in no time. But then more feathers emerge out onto the roof. At the same time, San steps out from where she'd been hiding at the far side of the roof. She's wearing her white feather robe as normal.

"Just as the Magius said, you've stepped right into our trap," she says.

"A new one…?" Yachiyo says. "So the flute sisters aren't here?

"My apologies," San says. "Those two have failed far too often to entrust them with a crucial task such as this. It may be my first time commanding on the field, but my position in the Wings of the Magius is second only to Miss Mifuyu. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am known as the Instructor of the Feathers – Kagura San. Now… you have two choices. You can either bow your heads and beg to join us… or die here and contribute to Eve's awakening."

"We'll take the third option," Yachiyo retorts. "We'll defeat you, right here and now, with the help of all our friends."

San giggles. "Your friends, you say? Just the three of you? How pathetic… you might have gotten Yui Tsuruno back on your side somehow, but you seem to have lost Mitsuki Felicia and Futaba Sana… and of course, Tamaki Iroha has betrayed you. How does that feel?"

"What exactly makes you think that Iroha has betrayed us?" Yachiyo asks. "By now, I'm sure she's seized control of Fendt Hope. You don't even have anywhere to retreat to."

San looks momentarily surprised, but then shakes her head.

"Even if Miss Tamaki were to betray us, the rumour would instantly mark her as hostile and suppress her magic," San says. "She would be surrounded by Worker Bears, pinned down, and captured in short order. There is no possible way for her to seize control of Fendt Hope, for Lady Nemu herself controls the rumour."

Yachiyo shakes her head. "You really haven't learned from what happened to Miss Ai, have you?" she says.

"You mean… the Rumour of the Anonymous AI, yes?" San says. "But I fail to see what that has to do with this."

"It shows that a rumour can have a will of its own," Yachiyo says. "A rumour can disobey its master… it can disobey Hiiragi Nemu. But unlike a human, a rumour has the maturity of a child… don't you think it would be easy to manipulate one if you know how?"

San gasps. "N-no… that can't be right!" she exclaims. "Fendt Hope is impregnable!"

She suddenly flashes her robes off and transforms, bringing her twin gatling guns to bear upon the trio.

"Enough of this chatter!" she shouts. "I'm bringing you down, right here, right now! Everyone, support me!"

The three of them scatter as she opens fire, and a bunch more feathers emerge from all over the helipad. The result is that they're split up and individually surrounded. The previously-defeated feathers are also recovering and rejoining the fight.

"This isn't good!" Yachiyo says. "We need to get back together, or we'll be overwhelmed!"

"That's easier said than done!" Tsuruno says. "There are too many of these guys!"

"It looks like there are still more arriving, too," Kanagi says.

San chuckles. "Well, look at you now," she says. "Even a veteran can be cornered like a rat."

"Flame Waltz!" Tsuruno shouts.

The flames push back the feathers pressing against her, giving her an opportunity to make a break for it and rejoin Yachiyo.

"There's so many of them that we can't really focus on destroying the pendants," Yachiyo says.

"It's all we can do to hold them off!" Tsuruno says.

"Still… we're drawing their attention just by being here," Yachiyo says. "Which means the others shouldn't have any trouble on their way here."

San stops her barrage for a moment.

"What do you mean by the others?" she asks. "And how do you know about the pendants?"

"I told you, you've been betrayed," Yachiyo says. "We knew this was meant to be a trap, but we're going to smash it open with numbers. Momoko should be bringing them now – everyone who wants to help."

San blinks. "Do you mean… other magical girls in Kamihama?" she asks. "But they should all be either wiped out or cowed into hiding by now…"

"If things had gone according to your plans," Yachiyo says.

"Whatever," San says. "It doesn't matter… I'll just kill them too!"

And with that, she opens fire again. It's all they can do just to avoid her bullet hell, what with the feathers constantly getting in the way. Some of them are taking friendly fire, but they don't even seem to care.

"I can't believe you'd do this to your own allies!" Tsuruno exclaims. "These girls are people too! How dare you mess with them!?"

"You wouldn't understand," San retorts.

But the battle seems completely hopeless. It's clear that if reinforcements don't arrive soon, the three of them will be overwhelmed. That's when a new voice enters the fray.

"Tiro Finale!"

A cannonball speeds toward San, forcing her to break off her assault to dodge it. The source is of course Tomoe Mami, who has just landed on the helipad together with Sayaka, Hitomi, Nagisa, Homura, and Madoka, the latter two with their wings out. The cannonball is followed up with a pair of dark arrows from Homura's bow, one of which manages to clip San's leg. She lets out a gasp of pain that seems over-exaggerated for just a simple graze. Maybe Homura's arrows also have an additional effect?

"Miss Tomoe!?" Yachiyo gasps.

"And all her friends, too!" Tsuruno exclaims.

"We've come to help!" Madoka calls. "The others are on their way, too! I saw them running over here just a moment ago!"

"All these feathers look so stupid," Nagisa says. "Like zombies."

"You really don't hold back, do you, Nagisa?" Sayaka says. "But I've gotta agree with you… they do look a lot like zombies."

"Could you have flown a little slower, Miss Homura?" Hitomi asks. "I felt like I was going to slip free at any moment…"

"Miss Tomoe… so it's true, you've really betrayed us," San says. "But how did you shake off the rumour?"

"I have my good friend Miss Sakura to thank for that," Mami says. "Not to mention Miss Mifuyu and Miss Taylor."

"I already suspected Miss Mifuyu's treachery, but… Miss Taylor too, huh?" San says.

"Miss Kagura," Mami says. "I can't accept your way of doing things, or the Magius's way… so that's why I'll put an end to your plans, here and now!"

Sayaka and Nagisa help to clear a path through the feathers, and Mami charges straight down it at San, engaging her in close combat. The two of them spin into a deadly dance of bullets, endlessly shooting, endlessly dodging. It's too dangerous to even get close, so everyone else starts to engage the feathers, which have swelled even more just in the short time of that conversation. There must be over fifty of them by now, including a fair number of white feathers.

"I can't believe losing their restraint made them this much harder to fight," Yachiyo mutters. "If it weren't for the girls from Mitakihara, we'd be having a really hard time right now…"

But they're doing a good job of holding their own against the overwhelming numbers. Even though Yachiyo, Tsuruno, Kanagi, and the Holy Brigade are mainly on the defensive, the feathers aren't able to land a solid hit on them. Since their primary goal is just to hold the feathers in place, it's actually going perfectly. And the fighting is attracting all the other feathers who'd been scattered across the city too, conveniently gathering nearly everyone in one place.

San and Mami appear to be evenly matched as well – no matter how much they dodge and weave back and forth, neither seems able to land a shot on the other. Even though San's gun appears far superior on the surface, Mami's skill in the use of her ribbons appears to give her the ability to deflect the bullets in mid-flight one minute, then pull herself out of the line of fire faster than she could've managed just through simple locomotion.

Finally, just as the slowly swelling numbers of feathers looks like it's about to overwhelm them, the reinforcements show up.

"We got here at the perfect time!" Momoko exclaims. "Looks like I have good timing for a change!"

She raises Kensei above her head, extending its length, then slams the flat down on the crowd of feathers, knocking quite a few of them off her feet. The girls with her, twenty-seven in all, quickly jump into the fray. Momoko, Kaede, and Rena are present, of course, as well as Nanaka's entire team, the Daito Apartments trio, and the Azalea sisters. Kanoko, Himika and Rui are trailing behind with Riko. Besides that, they have Hinano, Meguru, and Emiri, Asuka and Sasara, Konomi, Masara, Natsuki, and lastly Manaka, Ria, and Tsumugi.

"Momoko… you're finally here!" Yachiyo says. "It took you long enough!"

"Everyone, we have to smash the pendants!" Momoko calls. "Apparently, that'll undo the brainwashing and eventually draw the rumour out!"

Even as she explains that, she grabs a pendant from a nearby feather, tearing it off the girl's neck and smashing it against the ground. The girl in question, who appears to be Shigure, sits up with a gasp.

"W-w-w-what happened…!?"

The others follow her example, smashing ten or twelve pendants all in quick succession. That's enough to draw the rumour itself out.

"No!" San gasps. "You can't! I won't let you!"

But Mami is still barely holding her in check, so she's unable to defend the rumour herself.

"Everyone!" San calls. "Protect the rumour with everything you've got!"

The remaining brainwashed feathers immediately array themselves around the rumour, growling at Momoko and the others, but Momoko grins.

"Joke's on you," she says. "This sword can hit the rumour from all the way over here… and what's more, it's an anti-rumour sword. It's super-effective against rumours!"

"W-what!?" San gasps. "How on earth did you get your hands on something like that…?"

"Miss Taylor had someone make it for her," Momoko says. "Apparently it was designed specifically to fight Walpurgisnacht… and by a stroke of luck, rumours and Walpurgisnacht have a similar nature."

"I don't understand," San says. "Why on earth would someone make a sword specifically for that one witch…!?"

With that, Momoko extends Kensei again and stabs the rumour in the speaker.

"But even so!" San says. "Even if you defeat me here, and destroy the rumour… that doesn't mean you've won! The gears of liberation have already begun to turn! They can no longer be stopped!"

"We're already a step ahead of you on that one, Miss Kagura," Yachiyo says. "We know you've summoned Walpurgisnacht, and we know about Eve too. We'll never let them meet."

"Ugh…" San says. "You can say that, but… you're seriously underestimating the both of them. They're not something that a handful of Kamihama girls can handle!"

"Don't worry about that," Madoka says. "Ashley-chan has called in girls from all across the island. There's supposed to be about a hundred girls fighting in Kamihama today, not counting the Wings of the Magius."

"A hundred!?" San gasps. "Impossible… who could possibly know that many outside of the Wings of the Magius!?"

"Ashley-chan could," Madoka says. "She's amazing. You should've made friends with her too, um… Miss Kagura, was it? We won't let you ruin Kamihama!"

As San lets out a groan, Momoko finally lands the finishing blow on the rumour, and the barrier collapses. All around them, the feathers begin to come to their senses. This gives Yachiyo and Tsuruno a chance to back up Mami, allowing her the opportunity to truss San up in her ribbons.

"Everyone! Take them all down!" San calls.

Many of the feathers respond to that voice, leaping up to attention and turning to target the other magical girls on the helipad. Thus, as the power goes out across the city, the battle continues to rage across the helipad… though only about two-thirds of the feathers are fighting now, so the odds are greatly stacked against them.

"Ugh," San says. "You must realize, it's futile to resist. Walpurgisnacht is far more powerful than you can imagine. Even if there are really a hundred girls fighting her… she's more than you can handle! One way or another, we will achieve liberation!"

"You want us to watch and sit by as the city gets crushed?" Yachiyo retorts. "Sorry, we won't be doing that. No, we'll do whatever it takes to catch the Magius and put a stop to all of this."

"Everyone!" Mami speaks up. "Please listen to what I have to say!"

Some of the feathers turn to look at her. Others ignore her and keep fighting, but she forges on with her speech. Some of the feathers complain or plead to her.

"Please calm down," Mami says. "I will explain everything. So please settle down and listen. First of all… this might be obvious, but I've parted ways with the Wings of the Magius."

Some of the feathers gasp. Others nod knowingly. It was pretty obvious to anyone who noticed that San was tied up with Mami's ribbons. Several of them shout at her angrily.

"It's alright," Mami says. "You don't have to believe me! Forget about trusting me or not trusting me. I only want you to know this! Because it's something that involves every one of you! Something important!"

The white feather known as Majime speaks up at that point.

"Is this about Walpurgisnacht?" she asks.

Another white feather addresses her, the one known as Myu.

"Majime, what on earth are you talking about…?"

"You know about it?" Mami says.

"Yes," Majime replies. "I… overheard a bit…"

"No really… what are you talking about!?" Myu asks. "Why are you ignoring me, Majime!?"

Majime pointedly turns away from her.

"Because you're just an annoyance, as always," she retorts.

"I'll explain everything, including Walpurgisnacht," Mami says. "I was close to the Magius, so I'll tell you all I learned from being with them. What those three are thinking, what their ideals are, what they've done… I'll reveal it all. I won't hide a single thing. So please, just listen to me for a little while at least."

"I want to hear her out," Majime says.

"Me too," Myu says. "Much as it pains me to agree with this slattern, I really want to hear it too."

"M-me too!" Shigure pipes up.

"Yeah… please explain yourself!" Hagumu says.

"Ah!" Moka gasps. "Um, so, well… I think… whatever her reasons are… she probably did it because… because um… you know! Um… she's a saint, so… you know… she cares…?"

"Will you just get on with it!?" Myu exclaims. "Don't just keep us waiting!"

"As some of you may know, the Magius have been raising a witch-like creature that they call Eve," Mami says. "They plan to transform it into a witch and harvest the energy released when that happens to expand the scope of the automatic purification system, so that magical girls across the planet can benefit from it.

"However… what they haven't told you is that in order to hasten Eve's hatching, they've summoned a terrible witch to this city. Perhaps some of you have heard of Walpurgisnacht, the witch of legends. She is such a powerful witch that she doesn't hide inside a labyrinth like other witches do, but instead flies through the sky, pursued by her retinue of familiars. Where Walpurgisnacht goes, disaster follows. Normal humans, who are unable to see witches, usually perceive her presence as equivalent to a typhoon.

"In other words," Mami concludes. "When Walpurgisnacht comes… Kamihama will have no way of escaping unscathed. The people of Kamihama… if you have family or friends here, they will not be safe."

"W-w-w-what in the world!?" Moka gasps. "T-that's… that's horrible…"

"I… I never knew," Hagumu gasps. "W-will our family be okay…? I live in Kamihama, so…"

"Since you live in Daito Ward, Azumi-kun, you'll probably just barely escape the devastation," Kanagi says, apparently recognizing her by her voice.

"B-but then… that means… K-kosho Ward will be in trouble…?" Shigure says.

"From the sounds of it, Kosho Ward should be spared the worst of it," Yachiyo says. "Though it's hard to predict, since we're essentially talking about a major typhoon here… still, apparently Chuo and Minaminagi Wards are expected to be hit the worst."

"Though this is all assuming Eve and Walpurgisnacht don't merge together," Momoko says. "Apparently, there's a chance a merge like that could cause a shockwave that levels the entire city."

"I… I see," Shigure says.

"In short, anything the Magius would prefer you didn't know, they haven't been telling you," Mami says.

"I knew it," Majime says. "I thought some things didn't quite add up…"

"The Magius tried to kill civilians," Mami says. "And it wasn't their first time. There's another thing you feathers weren't informed about. They used a rumour at Chelation Land. They tried to kill innocent people there. All to fulfill their mission… their mission of gathering energy, that is."

"Magical girls are one thing," Myu says. "But totally innocent people…"

"I know what some of you must be thinking," Mami says. "This late in the game, this may come off as selfish wishful thinking. Even so, I will stop the Magius. And I will protect this city from Walpurgisnacht. That's the one thing I can do, as someone who helped the Magius."

"I agree with Miss Mami," Majime says. "I also believe there's a line that shouldn't be crossed."

"B-but… can it even be done…?" Moka wonders. "This Walpurgisnacht is a suuuuuuuper-strong witch… right?"

"B-but hold on a second," Hagumu says. "We were so close… to just give up now, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth… I mean… we were promised liberation would be achieved today!"

"That may be so," Majime says. "But I wouldn't be happy if we were freed at the cost of the city of Kamihama."

"You hypocrite!" a random black feather pipes up – looks like the same one who got scolded by Kanagi at the railway yard. "You're not even from Kamihama, so what do you know!?"

"Ka-chan…" Hagumu says. "That might be going a bit too far…"

"Hypocrite?" Majime responds. "For thinking that summoning Walpurgisnacht to Kamihama is a bad thing? I'm a hypocrite for feeling that way?"

"Cause you don't understand how we're oppressed by history!" the feather retorts.

"I just can't approve of it now that I know," Majime continues. "It's not about good or evil. It's like… you know. It's a matter of pride, and of the prayer I made to myself."

At that point, most of the feathers begin to talk at once, arguing over whether or not they should side with justice or liberation. Unlike the timeline before last, it looks like they're not going to actually fight amongst themselves – likely due in large part to the absence of Hime to egg on the pro-liberation side.

"Well, now we gotta get going to where Iroha-chan and the others are!" Tsuruno says. "If we can defeat Eve… we could really turn things around here! Yep, yep!"

"Alright then, we'll go along with you too," Momoko said.

"Ah… then I suppose I have the worst possible timing."

Mifuyu emerges onto the helipad with that statement.

"Mifuyu!" Yachiyo gasps.

"Ah! Miss Mifuyu, you sure took your time!" Tsuruno exclaims. "Are you gonna calm these guys down now?"

"Well… that was the idea," Mifuyu says. "But… what on earth has gotten into them…? I didn't expect this…"

"Miss Tomoe has explained a few things," Yachiyo says. "And this is how it turned out."

"I see," Mifuyu says. "Miss Yachiyo… do you know how to get back to Fendt Hope?"

Yachiyo blinks at her. "Huh? Shouldn't you be the one who knows that?"

Mifuyu shakes her head. "I thought I did, but… the entrance in the Eternal Sakura seems to have disappeared somehow, so I'm not sure what's going on…"

"Then we should ask Iroha-chan!" Tsuruno says. "It must mean the plan was a success!"

"What plan is that…?" Mifuyu asks.

"The plan to take over Fendt Hope!" Tsuruno says. "You see, Iroha-chan had a hand in creating some of those rumours, so we figured they'd trust her a little…"

"I don't understand what you're getting at," Mifuyu says.

"Essentially… Iroha somehow or other negotiated with the Fendt Hope rumour itself and convinced it to turn on the Magius," Yachiyo says.

"A-are you serious!?" Mifuyu gasps. "I never even thought that could be possible…! But… it definitely does explain why the entrance in the Eternal Sakura disappeared. If Fendt Hope is listening to Miss Tamaki instead of Nemu, then she could've easily asked it to close up that entrance…"

"Alright," Yachiyo says. "Then I'll ask her where the new entrance is."

And with that, she takes out her communicator.

"Then while you do that, I'll get the feathers under control," Mifuyu says.

She takes a breath, and raises her voice.

"Everyone! Please calm down!"


Magical Girl Corner

Whenever a new magical girl is introduced, I'll include a brief profile of her here. Some details may be redacted, or contain minor spoilers. You have been warned! The numeric ranking values are on a scale of 1 to 10.

Luxemburgi Erzsébet (Elisa / Liz)

Age: ~6 centuries
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Blonde
Origins: Buda, Hungary
Symbol: Red stylized wyvern with tail curled and wings raised
Soul Gem: Red double-barred cross worn as an earring
Element: Fire
Weapon: Rifle with axe bayonet
Powers: Acceptance
Wish: "I want everyone to acknowledge my existence."

Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 10
Offensive Power: 9
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 6

Melissa de Vignolles (Mel)

Age: ~6 centuries
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Blue
Origins: Prechacq-les-Bains, France
Symbol: Blue bunch of grapes
Soul Gem: Light blue shield-shaped gemstone on the tip of her tie
Element: Water
Weapon: Mace
Powers: Annihilation
Wish: "I want to put an end to their wounds!"

Speed: 2
Magical Stamina: 5
Offensive Power: 7
Defensive Power: 4
Initial Power Usability: 9
Learned Powers: 4

Katou Mei (Ka-chan)
加藤芽依(かっちゃん)

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Red
Origins: Daito Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Orange five-petalled florette
Soul Gem: Diamond-shaped orange gemstone on her navel
Element: Fire
Weapon: Garden rake
Powers: Speed burst
Wish: "I wish I always had the perfect comeback."
Affiliation: Wings of the Magius (Black Feather)

Speed: 10
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 2
Defensive Power: 1
Initial Power Usability: 3
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)


Apparently Miyuri's element had been incorrect on the wiki for quite some time. Since I haven't featured her much, and the one time I showed her in combat had her using entirely kicks and punches, I've updated her profile in chapter 66 to match the corrected element.

I also did a pass on the use of "in the base" vs "on the base". Contrary to a certain commenter, "in the base" just sounds wrong to me, but using both interchangeably is even worse, so I wanted to make sure I was consistent.

This chapter took a little longer than I expected, and it's only thanks to it being a long weekend that I could finish it for today. Because of that, chapter 108 has barely been started, so it too may be delayed beyond next weekend.