The François sisters lead me across the Seine to a tiny bistro in the Latin Quarter. I can see the domed roof of the Sorbonne chapel peeking above the buildings not far away. The two of them enter the bistro, a tinkling bell sounding as the door opens, and I quickly follow them.

The inside is deserted, no doubt due to the early hour. It's just about five in the morning, after all. Even the streets were almost deserted on our way here. An Indian girl appears from the back in pale blue hotpants and a matching halter top that bares the midriff. On top of all that, she wears a garment similar to a lab coat along with black thigh-high stockings, and sports a massive ponytail, the bottom third of which is dyed a bright blue. Then I see the square blue gem on her chest, and realize that she's not only a magical girl but is currently transformed.

"Good morning, Adèle and Gisèle," she says cheerfully. "Who's your friend?"

"She's not a friend," Adèle replies. "She's, euh…"

"A tourist?" Gisèle suggests.

"Right, that works…" Adèle nods.

The girl holds offers her hand to me, her eyes going to the ring on my finger, and I accept the handshake. The magical girl symbol on her left middle fingernail is a blue eye.

"So… Ashley, is it? I'm Nisha Patel, pleased to meet you."

I blink. "How did you know my name?"

She grins. "Oh, that's my little secret, but I might be willing to share if you hand over… let's say, four grief seeds?"

I tilt my head. "That's my entire stock… did you read my mind?"

"I wonder," Nisha replies evasively.

"No, wait, I just realized…"

I take off my ring and look at it. Sure enough, there's my name written in witch runes.

"Right, my name's written right here." Feeling the need to properly introduce myself anyway, I add, "I'm Ashley Taylor. Pleased to meet you."

Nisha looks surprised. "You can read the runes?" she asks.

"Hm? Is that weird?" I wonder, putting it back on.

"It's unusual," Nisha says. "I can count on one hand the number of magical girls I've met who can read them. Besides me, there's her, as well as Ms Livia and the wandering ghost, and now you…"

I blink. "Wandering ghost?"

"Hey, I don't give away information for free," Nisha retorts. "Give me a grief seed and I'll answer all your questions! Well, a few of them at least."

I pull out a grief seed and offer it to her.

"Alright, then can you tell me anything about Pernelle Flamel?"

Nisha blinks as she takes the grief seed. "Pernelle Flamel, you say? Now that's a name I don't hear very often… may I ask why you're interested?"

"Partly, I just want to meet her, if she's still alive," I explain. "But I do have another motive as well. I'd like a better weapon. She used to make weapons for other magical girls, didn't she?"

Nisha nods. "I've heard of that too, though from what I understand she hasn't been heard from for at least three centuries. Still, I'll do what I can. Gisèle called you a tourist… where are you staying? I'll contact you once I have something."

I give her the name of my hotel and our room number, and she nods.

"Also," I add. "Mind telling me what you meant by the wandering ghost?"

"Ahh, yes," Nisha nods. "She's an enigmatic magical girl who'll vanish off the map for years, only to suddenly turn up at key historic moments. There are a number of nicknames for her – the wandering ghost, the eternal minstrel, guardian of stories, and other grand-sounding names – but her actual name is Scheherazade. No-one knows how old she is, but I assume she's the oldest magical girl alive."

"I see… thanks for the info," I say.

Nisha turns to the François sisters.

"And I suppose the two of you are here for a tune-up, right?"

The sisters nod in unison.

"Very well, follow me to the back. Ashley, did you want one too? It'll cost you another grief seed though."

It could be a nice idea – I'd planned to eventually get one from Mitama Yakumo, but it can't hurt to get one earlier, and there's also the problem that the tuner can see your memories. However, I'm not sure how long it will take.

"Um… maybe another time, thanks," I say. "I should get back to the hotel before my parents wake up, anyway."

"Alright, see you later then," Nisha says. "By the way, this place is enchanted so only magical girls can see it, so if you drop by again, try not to let anyone see you entering."

I blink. I hadn't expected there was a secondary reason the place lacked customers. I guess she just took over the place for her own use and doesn't actually run a bistro here. But that's not important. It's getting on towards six o'clock, and it'll take some time to return to my hotel. I leave the bistro and set off at a run through the still largely-deserted streets, although by now there are a few people up for an early-morning walk, often with a dog in tow.

I relax for the next few days with my family, my only concession to my hunt for Pernelle being a quick visit to the house of Nicholas Flamel on the Rue de Montmorency. However, I don't find any clues there – not even any traces of magic that could be Pernelle's.

Finally, the call comes on Thursday. I'm returning to the hotel with my family after lunch when I hear a voice in my head.

«Ashley Taylor, look to your left.»

I look, and there's Nisha, now in regular civilian clothes, leaning against a wall. I turn to my parents.

"Mom, Dad, I'm gonna take off by myself for a couple of hours, is that okay?"

"That's fine, but be careful dear," Mom replies.

"As long as you have fun, that's what matters," Dad says. "We're on vacation, after all."

"Of course I will!"

The two of them head inside, and I go over to join Nisha.

"Good afternoon," I say, switching to French.

"Good afternoon," she replies. "Follow me."

As she turns to lead me somewhere, she gives an explanation via telepathy.

«There's a particularly nasty witch in this part of town,» she says. «The François sisters have tried to bring it down three times now, to no avail. Two magical girls from neighbouring territories have also given it a shot, but it usually escapes before they can do much damage.»

I respond the same way. «If it's so powerful, then what do you want me for? It's not like I'm all that strong.»

«It's quite simple,» Nisha replies. «It's a question of elemental affinity. The witch's affinity is light. The François sisters are fire and water, and the two others who've tried it are light and forest.»

I blink. «Wait, so you're suggesting that I, whose element is darkness, have a better chance of beating it?»

«Bingo! And as it happens, my elemental affinity is darkness as well… I can't help that much since I'm weak, but I should be able to back you up a little.»

«Do you have an ultimate attack?» I ask her.

«I don't have any attack magic whatsoever,» she replies.

«Not even some kind of debuff or something? Something to slow the witch down or daze it or whatever?»

«Nope, nothing like that,» Nisha replies. «Like you guessed, my power is mind-reading. The only thing I can do is help you to anticipate its moves.»

«Huh, so you can even read the mind of a witch?»

«Of course, why wouldn't I?» Nisha asks.

«Are you aware of where witches come from?»

«It's something that all of us in Puella Care learn,» Nisha says. «After all, preventing the birth of witches is part of our mission. I'm curious how you learned of it, though. For that matter, I'm curious how you know your elemental affinity.»

«Oh, I'm just the type who asks all the questions before making a contract,» I shrug.

«And yet you made a contract anyway? I'm surprised.»

«Well, I had something I wanted to do, so… yeah. As for the elemental affinity… call it a lucky guess?»

"Alright, we're here," she suddenly announces out loud.

I blink in surprise, because we've stopped right under the Arc de Triomphe.

"Seriously?"

Nisha nods. "It's a pretty brazen one. Look… over there."

I look to my left and see a witch's portal pasted on the inner wall of the Arc. It looks like an abstract design resembling nothing more than an actual labyrinth, although certain components resemble spirals or Celtic knots. Since we're in a busy area, I glance around before stepping through, and transform only once I'm inside. Nisha follows my example.

We find ourselves in a blank white space, almost completely devoid of features. The only thing breaking the monotony is an array of thin lines that snake through the space seemingly at random. There's also no sign of any familiars, which seems odd.

"Where are the familiars?" I ask.

"Out," Nisha says. "Since it's the middle of the day, they're seeking victims. If we approached the witch at night, they'd be swarming the place and we'd never get close to the witch."

"The familiars are that strong?" I ask.

"Yes, they are."

"And they go out during the day? I thought witches usually did their thing at night."

"Yeah, it varies, but you're right that nocturnal witches are more common. Still, it's not that strange for a witch to operate during the day, especially a light-element witch."

"So um… where do we even go?"

"It's a maze," Nisha says simply. "Personally, I suggest always taking a left. I think that should eventually get you to the centre no matter what."

"Alright. I just hope the familiars don't get back before then," I say.

"They shouldn't start returning until dusk," Nisha says. "I can be confident of that because I've been observing this witch for quite some time."

Feeling somewhat reassured, I set out to navigate the maze.

It must've been at least an hour, maybe even two hours, before Nisha and I finally reach an elaborate-looking arch just standing there in the middle of this blank space. It seems to be constructed from twisted metal, possibly even a single very long strip of metal twisted in innumerable ways, yet the overall impression is of a perfect arch. Just below the arch, rune-bearing cards hang down, spelling the witch's name.

"Sue? Just Sue? I've never seen such a short name for a witch…"

"It is unusual," Nisha agrees. "But this isn't the only time I've seen one like that."

"Well, here goes nothing, I guess."

The two of us step through the archway, and instantly, everything goes dark. It's not a sort of darkness that affects vision, however – rather, it's like being in a room where all the walls are painted black. Beside me, Nisha materializes her weapon, which turns out to be ninja throwing stars. I summon Teddy Mk II as well, looking around warily.

"I thought you said you had no attack magic," I accuse her.

"That's correct," she replies. "This is a weapon, not magic."

"But isn't it a magical weapon?" I point out.

"Fine, it's a magical weapon, but it's still not attack magic," she retorts.

While we're bickering over such a stupid topic, bright glowing dolls start to appear around us. Nisha looks around warily.

"As expected… there are still a few familiars here to guard the witch," she says. "If we take these out, the witch should appear."

I send Teddy Mk II to stomp on the nearest doll, but unlike earlier familiars, a single stomp isn't enough to finish it. It hops back to its feet, though it clearly looks more raggedy than before, so I hop in and pummel it with my fists while letting Teddy Mk II move onto the next one. Nisha wasn't kidding when she said the familiars were strong, though. When it manages to land a blow on my side, it feels like I've been struck by a speeding truck. Finally though, I manage severe its head from the body, and it almost immediately explodes into a pile of yarn on the ground.

I turn to see how Nisha is doing. She seems to be spending most of her time dodging the familiars, flinging her ninja stars whenever a chance arises. She's fast, enough that I suspect an ordinary human might have trouble following her movements. Of course, I'm a magical girl, so I can follow her just fine. Since she seems to be okay, I pick the nearest familiar and jump right back into the fray, punching and tearing at it with my bare hands. Not having a proper weapon is starting to get a little old, to be honest. The real Ashley Taylor didn't have one either… I wonder how she managed. Did she use her fists too, sometimes? Did she just use her teddy bear?

I decide to bring out my telekinesis to move the fight along a little faster. If I just seize both hands of a doll and drag them in opposite directions, it's unable to attack, and it only takes about thirty seconds before the seams burst and it's reduced to just so much yarn. I can only handle one at a time this way, so perhaps it's not the best approach, but it gets the job done.

I think I've defeated about five of them when Nisha calls out a warning.

"She's coming! Prepare yourself!"

Even the familiars back off as the entire labyrinth begins to shake. After several seconds, a massive trapdoor opens up at a weird angle, and a gigantic ball of yarn in black and white rolls out. Or at least, it looks at first glance like a ball of yarn, but then I notice all the eyes peering out through gaps in the ball. It rolls straight towards us, clearly intent on ramming us, but Nisha and I both dodge in opposite directions, regrouping behind it as it slams into the far wall.

"So she's a ball of yarn, is she?" I sigh. "Hey Nisha, let's connect."

She looks at me in confusion. "Say what?"

"Just slap my hand like this."

I hold it out, and she tentatively presses her hand against mine. I funnel my power into her, evoking that telltale glow between our hands.

"Now just throw all your stars at that witch," I say.

The witch has already started to roll back towards us, though not at the same breakneck speed as before. It stops about twenty feet away and starts to unravel, creating tentacles each consisting of several strands of yarn twisted together.

"They really aren't all that effective," Nisha points out. "Though I can tell you did something interesting, so I guess I'll give it a shot."

She materializes a fan of three in each hand and flings them at the witch. All but one hit their mark, and of course they confer the auxiliary effect of my power – charm, the surprisingly powerful ability to make even a witch think that I'm a friend. Well, it's been pretty successful so far, but I imagine there'll be some that are resistant to it… this one doesn't seem to be, however. The tentacles flail about randomly rather than striking at Nisha or me. I take advantage of its distraction to charge in immediately and start tearing a hole in it. However, it doesn't last as long as I expected it to, and I've only made a small dent in its armour when it suddenly lashes out at me. I'm a hair too slow to dodge and am sent flying across the room, slamming into the far wall.

Annoyed, I boost off the wall with all my strength and flip in mid-flight, landing a flying kick squarely on the witch's core… well, that was the plan, but unfortunately the witch moves and I just land a glancing blow to one side. However, that one blow seems to do at least five times the damage of my previous attack, shearing off a whole sheet of twisted yarn and revealing an unsettling mass of wriggling flesh underneath. At least, that's the impression I get of it in the brief moment I view it, though I'm not sure it's actual flesh. As soon as I land, Nisha jumps in with a volley of ninja stars to the spot I exposed, landing several hits before the witch manages to cover it up again with fresh yarn.

"It's getting ready to open its mouth," Nisha warns me. "I'm not quite sure what that'll look like, but you need to be ready to dodge on a dime."

As we wait, the familiars show themselves again. Fortunately they're still not close enough to attack, but now I need to watch both them and the witch at the same time… one second stretches into two, and then four, and then ten, and then…

Without warning, the ball of yarn splits in half, thrusting out a tiny pair of legs that propels it directly at me. Those halves are lined with teeth, so that must be what Nisha meant by its mouth. There's no room to dodge to the side, so I have no choice but to leap into the air with all my might. The witch narrowly misses me as I soar above it, and I summon Teddy Mk II and slam it straight down onto the witch below me before she can even recover from her attack.

"Its thoughts are in disarray," Nisha notes as I land next to her.

I gaze up at the witch, lying on the ground with its so-called mouth wide open, struggling to get free of the weight of Teddy Mk II resting on top of it.

"I think you may be able to finish it off," she adds.

"Hmm, if you say so," I say.

With a wave of my hand, the Teddy Drones appear near Teddy Mk II and begin spinning to charge the attack. The witch seems to be on the verge of escaping… just a little more… and suddenly the witch propels Teddy Mk II straight up into the air. But it's still charging… all I need to do is rotate it to face down, and then… bam!

"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!" I shout.

That glittering beam rains down on the witch right as it's about to recover from the previous attack, slamming it back into the floor and unravelling more of the yarn. Nisha throws a few ninja stars, and then I jump in to tear apart the remnants.

"Well, looks like you passed the test," Nisha says. "Congratulations."

"Huh? That was a test?" I ask.

"Indeed," Nisha says. "I wanted to know what kind of magical girl you were, and what kind of person you were. Did you know that Pernelle has quite a few enemies?"

I blink. "Huh? Whatever for?"

"Well, she's not exactly the friendly type, you know," Nisha says. "Also, you should know that she counts Cube among her enemies."

"I'm not exactly fond of Cube either, to be honest," I say. "So… am I to understand that she is alive, and you know where to find her?"

"Just follow me," Nisha replies.

She powers down, and I follow her example. The labyrinth still hasn't collapsed, and I realize we didn't retrieve the grief seed either, so I go look at the remains of the witch and find it.

"Do you want the grief seed?" I ask.

"You keep it," she says. "I didn't help that much, after all."

"Well, that's sort of true, but I'd still say you were helpful," I protest.

"Still, you keep it," Nisha insists.

The labyrinth finally begins to collapse, and after a few more seconds we're back at the Arc de Triomphe. She leads the way to a different part of town, and after awhile I start to recognize the neighbourhood. Of course I would, since I'd come here recently! We have arrived at the Rue de Montmorency… surely she can't be taking me directly to the house of Nicholas Flamel?

But it seems that's exactly where she's taking us. However, instead of walking up to the front door, she leads me around to the back of the house and stops, looking at me.

"Can you promise not to repeat what you're about to hear to anyone?" she asks. "I'll forgive you if someone reads your mind, but try to avoid that too if possible."

I nod. "I won't tell anyone, and I'll try to avoid thinking about it in the presence of anyone who can read minds."

I know there's at least one such magical girl in Kamihama, an Izumi Kanagi. I guess I'll have to be cautious if I ever meet her. While I'm contemplating this, Nisha turns to face the house and says something that sounds a lot like a spell incantation. It's not even French, and it's not a language that I can personally recognize. It doesn't seem to trigger any recognition from the real Ashley's memories, either.

"en nomen igniferae magna quae lapidem philosophorum tenet, januam celatum pateface!"

And as soon as she finishes, a witch's portal appears right in front of us. The design is a lot more coherent than most portals, based around a central caduceus and depicting what seem to be various alchemical procedures and formulae.

"Wait, what!? There's a witch's barrier here!?"

Nisha shakes her head. "This barrier wasn't made by a witch," she says. "Come, let's go in."

Wasn't made by a witch? Wait… so it was made by a magical girl? There's another magical girl with a power like Alina Gray? Is that what this is? But while I'm pondering this, Nisha has already disappeared inside, so I quickly follow her.

The interior is nothing like a witch's labyrinth. Instead, I step into a sunny garden filled with flowers of all kinds, with the roses the most prominent, blooming in almost every colour imaginable. There's pink roses, and orange roses, and yellow roses, and red roses, and white roses, and multihued roses, and even blue roses and purple roses!

Nestled amidst the flowers is a round table with four chairs, one of which is occupied by a small boy of around ten or twelve, dressed in overalls and a T-shirt that doesn't fit the late December weather… but here in the barrier, it's warm like the summer. I decide to remove my jacket before it gets too stuffy in there. The boy also wears a hat in a strangely familiar style. I don't have a word for it, but it reminds me of those hats people wear on graduation day, only there's a bit more floof to it.

Beyond the garden lies a fairly large house, about two to three times the size of Nicholas Flamel's house outside the labyrinth, and it's also clear that the garden extends further around the sides of the house. I think I even glimpse some trees further into the barrier.

But then the boy spots the two of us and hops off his chair to run over.

"Welcome, welcome, to our Maison Paradis!" he says exuberantly. "Ma chérie mentioned we were expecting guests! And if isn't young Nisha… my, how you've grown since our last meeting. It's been almost two years, has it not?"

"Something like that," Nisha says with a nod.

I'm a little confused at the presence of a child here. Does Pernelle have a son or something?

"Um, so… who exactly are you?" I ask him.

"Ah, forgive me for my lack of manners," the boy says, suddenly adopting a more mature tone. "I am known as Nicholas Flamel. Perhaps you have heard of me?"

I gasp. This is the Nicholas Flamel? A small boy?

"B-b-but… shouldn't Nicholas Flamel be an old man!?"

Nicholas bursts out laughing, and I just watch bemused as he actually rolls around on the ground. I know there's that initialism, ROFL, used to describe something that's so funny you'd roll on the floor laughing at it, but I never thought people actually did that.

Once he recovers from his amusement, he sits up again and looks at me. "My apologies," he says. "You are correct, of course, but do you not think it would be boring to spend eternity as an old man? Every now and again, I like to experience the viewpoint of a child again. Ah, but once again I must ask your forgiveness for my lack of manners. Come, come, join me for some tea while you wait for ma chérie to arrive. It just so happens that she had to step out for a few minutes, but she should be back soon enough."

He jumps to his feet, and we follow him over to the table, taking the seats he offers. He pours each of us a cup of black tea.

"Milk or sugar?"

"Both, please," Nisha says. "One spoonful should do it."

"Uhh… I'm not really into black tea, so I guess I'll try the same as her," I say.

"Really?" Nicholas says. "It's a very high quality Ceylon tea, though."

"Is that so… it doesn't mean anything to me, though," I say. "But thanks for the tea, regardless."

Nicholas adds milk and sugar to both cups, then takes a seat and looks at me.

"Now then, young lady," Nicholas says. "I believe it should be your turn to introduce yourself."

"Ah… right, I totally forgot," I say. "I'm Ashley Taylor, a magical girl from California."

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.

Nisha Patel

Age: 21
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Black, with bright blue tips
Origins: Pakistan
Symbol: Blue eye
Soul Gem: Square blue gem on her chest
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Throwing stars
Powers: Mind-reading, element reading, soul gem adjustment
Wish: "I wish I knew what other people thought of me."
Affiliation: Puella Care

Speed: 7
Magical Stamina: 5
Offensive Power: 1
Defensive Power: 2
Initial Power Usability: 3
Learned Powers: 6