I have found myself face-to-face with the Pleiades Saints.
Asami Saki is a tallish girl with short silver hair wearing what looks to be a military uniform, capped off with a beret and monocle. Wakaba Mirai is about a head shorter, with long floofy pink hair wearing a lolita-style pink dress. Usagi Satomi is just slightly taller than Mirai, wearing a long dress that poofs out in the skirt but narrows again around the ankles, with a cat ear headband nestled in her short brown hair. Misaki Umika wears what appears to be a white religious habit, her blue hair peeking out from under the hood. And Maki Kaoru wears an orange and white leotard that matches her short orange hair.
They don't appear to be overtly hostile, but they don't seem all that friendly either. The five of them observe me for several seconds, standing here in the labyrinth of the gaming witch while Teddy Mk II independently stomps the whack-a-mole familiars behind me. For my part, I eye them warily, ready to defend myself if they decide to attack first and ask questions later.
Finally, Saki breaks the silence.
"Well, well… what's this? We came here because Juubey said he sensed a darkened soul gem, but… you seem to be just fine?"
"Even if I weren't, I don't see what that has got to do with you," I retort. "I can handle myself. And the other magical girl who was here is fine too."
"It's possible Juubey was simply wrong," Misaki suggests, adjusting her glasses.
"But he's never been wrong before," Satomi says, a little nervously.
"Well, for starters, who are you?" Saki asks.
"I'm Ashley Taylor," I reply. "I only came to watch the contest. I'll be returning to Mitakihara after it's over."
"And you plan to fight this witch?" Saki asks.
"I was considering it, but I don't really care," I reply. "If you wanna fight it instead, that's fine with me."
She looks at the others, and from the way their expressions shift seemingly at random, I think they must be discussing something through telepathy. I peek at my vision again and see that Yuuri still seems to be okay, with the remaining member of the Pleiades Saints, Kanna Nico, still observing her. I'd rather be there in person though, so I can defend Yuuri if Nico decides to do something drastic… not that I'm expecting anything, at least not as long as she's in the middle of a crowd.
Finally, Saki speaks again.
"Alright, we'll let you off just this once since there's a witch here," she says. "But you shouldn't come back here again. It could get ugly."
Internally, I let out a sigh of relief, but in actuality I suppress it and nod. The Pleiades Saints are strong. I'd been prepared to fight them if I had to, but I hadn't been looking forward to it.
"Sure."
I desummon Teddy Mk II and watch as the Pleiades Saints jump in to take his place. Then I step out of the barrier and power down, heading back to the event. To avoid making a ruckus, I take a seat near the back this time, in the same row as Nico. She glances at me, but I ignore her, focusing on the stage where Yuuri and Slice Akiyama are engaged in their epic cooking duel… or at least that's the idea. Personally, I don't really get what's so exciting about it. They're just… cooking? It's not boring, exactly, but it's not all that exciting either.
Finally, it comes to an end, with the result being declared as a tie. After a few rounds of cheering from the audience, Yuuri and Slice Akiyama leave the stage, and the audience begins to disperse. I keep my eyes on the silver-haired girl who was cheering for Yuuri, and as she moves away, I follow her. Nico gets up and heads in the same direction, too. I'm not sure if she's following me or the silver-haired girl, or if she's going after Yuuri, or if she's just coincidentally moving in the same direction, but she does eye me with suspicion.
Then I spot Yuuri emerging from the backstage door, and the silver-haired girl runs up to her. There aren't very many people around here, which makes Nico's presence – and no doubt mine too – stand out all the more.
"That was amazing, Yuuri-chan!" she says, hugging the taller girl. "It's too bad you didn't win outright, but even a tie against Slice Akiyama is incredible!"
"Y-yeah, I can hardly believe it myself," Yuuri replies. "To be honest, I never thought I'd even make it to the semi-finals…"
"It just shows how great your cooking is," the silver-haired girl replies fervently, stepping back so she can meet Yuuri's eyes.
"Well, I… I suppose you're right, Airi-chan," Yuuri says. "And more importantly, it was lots of fun. I'm glad you convinced me to participate in this."
Then Yuuri spots me standing there.
"Oh, Miss Taylor! Let me introduce my friend, Anri Airi!"
Airi looks at me, then casts a quizzical glance to Yuuri.
"She helped me find my way when I got lost earlier," Yuuri explains.
"Ohh, so that's how you met," Airi says. She turns and bows to me. "Um, pleased to meet you, Miss Taylor. I'm Anri Airi. Thank you for taking care of Yuuri-chan."
«By the way, did you defeat the witch and get a grief seed?» Yuuri asks me via telepathy.
«Unfortunately, no. The Pleiades Saints showed up and stole my thunder. Although, I don't mind too much… this is more or less their territory after all.»
Yuuri blinks. «Huh? They stole it? But that's Miss Kazusa's team, right? I don't think she would stoop to stealing…»
«To be honest, for a moment I thought they'd attack me,» I reply. «Regardless of your feelings on Miss Kazusa, I think you should avoid them if possible.»
«R-right… okay, I'll keep that in mind,» Yuuri says with a nod. «And I won't give all my grief seeds to Juubey anymore… I'll be sure to keep at least one in reserve in case he's not around when I need him.»
«Right… sure,» I say.
I haven't actually seen the being they refer to as Juubey, although it somehow feels like we've met in the past. I can't really explain the feeling; it's weird and unsettling. I'm not even sure why my memories are intact enough to realize the discrepancy. Maybe it's because I already knew what to expect? It clearly wasn't enough to avoid the memory alterations entirely, though.
"Alright, you didn't win, but it's close enough!" Airi announces. "Let's try the legendary bucket of parfait from Bistro Tachibana!"
Yuuri nods. "Yeah! You want to join us before you head back home, Miss Taylor?"
"Well… sure, I don't mind," I reply.
Yuuri looks at Nico. "And um… are you waiting for someone?"
Nico just shrugs. "Me? No, I just wanted to see the winner of this contest up close. Nice ring you've got there."
Yuuri blinks and looks at the ring that identifies her as a magical girl. Then she looks at Nico, who has her hands in her pockets, thwarting any attempt to use the same trick against her.
"Huh? Oh… yeah, this one…"
"Can I have a closer look at it?" Nico asks.
"Huh?" Yuuri blinks. "Well, um…"
«Whatever you do, don't give it to her,» I quickly transmit to her. «You can show her if you want, but don't take it off. That's your precious soul gem, after all.»
It's possible she already has some understanding of its importance, but I just want to make sure that Nico doesn't try to abscond with Yuuri's soul gem. Honestly, I think it's pretty unlikely that she'd try something here. There aren't a lot of other people around, but there are some backstage helpers from the show. But I can't be too cautious, right?
"If you want, sure. Um… what's your name, by the way?"
Yuuri holds out her hand, and Nico peers closely at the soul gem, then backs away again.
"Ah, me? Kanna Nico. Well, I'll be off now."
Nico turns and leaves. Yuuri stares after her and glances at me.
«What was that about?» she asks. «Any idea?»
«Well, I think she's one of the Pleiades Saints, and she's definitely a magical girl, but I don't really understand what her motives were here…»
«Is that so…»
After a few moments, at Airi's urging, we head out too, to catch a bus. Yuuri even suggests that we exchange contact info, so I take out my phone and tap it against hers and Airi's. Then I edit Yuuri's name on my phone to add the sparkle emoji.
"Delicious!" Airi says, devouring her ice cream.
The parfait isn't quite as big as it looked in the manga, but it must have at least five or six scoops of ice cream in it. I certainly agree with Airi on the taste, as well.
"Yeah, I'm glad we could come here," Yuuri says blissfully. "I wouldn't want to eat this every day, cause I'd get fat, but once in awhile is fine."
«Actually, since you're a magical girl, I don't think you'd get fat,» I transmit to her.
Yuuri looks at me and blinks. «Huh? Really?»
«I'm pretty sure,» I reply. «Although I'm not able to confirm it yet.»
«W-well… it can't hurt to be careful anyway, though.»
"Yeah, you've got a point there Yuuri-chan," Airi nods, blissfully unaware of our telepathic exchange. "It's just a once in a while sort of thing. But I'd like to get it again sometime, for sure."
While the two friends chat amongst themselves, I start to ponder what my next move will be. Given that Yuuri didn't turn into a witch and Airi didn't make a contract, I think it's unlikely that Hijiri made a contract either. In that case, things should be pretty peaceful here from now until the time loop starts. I'll keep an eye on things with my clairvoyance, though. I'm not sure if the range will allow me to view Asunaro from all the way over in Mitakihara, but I could probably come by once a week or something to check on things here.
And I should check in with Sarra and Alice, too. I haven't even spoken to them since I left for Paris, although we've exchanged a few text messages. I've also got numbers for Adèle and Gisèle, so I could check in with them too. Then there's Nisha, the only person in this world who knows that I'm not the real Ashley… too bad she refused to give me her number.
I suppose my next tour stop will be Kamihama. I'm not sure what I want to do there in the world of magical girls, but there's a couple of other things I'd like to check out. After all, it's the home of the manga artist for Phantom Thief Magical Kirin! And there's the rising star of Fumino Sayuki too, whose music videos I recently started watching.
"Well then, we should get going," Yuuri says, startling me out of my thoughts.
I look over and see that the two of them have already finished their parfait, whereas I'm no more than half done. I was probably eating more slowly due to being lost in my thoughts. I hope I didn't seem like I was being rude.
"It's getting late, so is that okay, Miss Ashley?"
She seems to consider us to be on a first-name basis now. I don't object, since I'm more comfortable with that anyway. And maybe it means she wasn't offended by my silence.
"Yeah, no problem," I say. "I was going to head straight home after this too, anyway."
"Well then, let's meet again!" Yuuri says.
And with that, the two of them head for the door. Then I suddenly remember something else I wanted to tell her.
«By the way,» I transmit. «There was one thing I forgot to tell you about the Pleiades Saints.»
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her stop just before the door. Airi looks at her, probably confused.
«When I met them, they said they'd sensed someone whose soul gem needs purifying. They were probably looking specifically for you. I'm not sure what exactly they would've done if they found you with a corrupted soul gem, but… something about the way they said it, and the way Nico examined your soul gem closely… it doesn't feel like it would've been anything good. So please… be careful if you ever do encounter them, especially if you're low on magic, okay?»
«Yes, I will,» Yuuri replies. «I'm not sure I agree with your concerns, but thanks for the warning. I know you said it because you're worried about me. Let's meet again someday.»
And then the two of them leave the bistro, and I turn to my parfait and focus on finishing it before it starts to melt.
"I do not understand why you did what you did," Kyuubey says.
The voice startles me so much that I almost jump out of my chair. A woman across the aisle gives me a strange look.
«Dammit, don't startle me like that, Kyuubey!» I reply, using telepathy so as to not make myself look even weirder from that woman's perspective.
I'm now on the train returning from Asunaro. Come to think of it, where'd Kyuubey come from? Normally he appears from somewhere, but this time he was just suddenly on my shoulder. Wait… could it be we just crossed the boundary of the barrier around Asunaro? Then that means…
«Hold on, were you with me the entire time I was in Asunaro?» I ask Kyuubey.
«Not the entire time,» Kyuubey replies, switching to telepathy, probably because I initiated the change. «I was not present while you consumed sweet delicacies with those two girls.»
«Oh… but other than that, you were on my shoulder the whole time?»
«Correct.»
«Wow, and I never even noticed you…»
«Yes, there is a barrier around that city which prevents magical girls from perceiving me,» Kyuubey says.
«I suppose that means you can't even make any new contracts in Asunaro, huh?»
«On the contrary,» Kyuubey says. «The barrier is not perfect. Girls with high enough potential can still hear my voice. Indeed, I made a new contract there just today.»
I blink. «Huh… is that what you were doing while I ate ice cream? Who's the unlucky girl?»
«Yes. She is called Hijiri Kanna.»
I gasp, grabbing Kyuubey from my shoulder and holding him out at arm's length. That woman gives me another weird look, but I ignore her. This is more important than a total stranger's perception of me!
«Wait… did you say Hijiri Kanna?»
«Yes,» Kyuubey confirmed.
But… what? How!? I thought my defence was perfect. In the manga, Hijiri only witnessed Yuuri turning into a witch and the Pleiades Saints defeating her. Although the Pleiades Saints did fight a witch at the same location, that witch was already there, so even if Hijiri had seen them, she wouldn't have seen a magical girl turn into a witch. Furthermore, the key to her making her contract was witnessing Nico in a fight, but Nico didn't even join the fight in this timeline. So how…? But… no, forget it. The how does not matter. All that matters is that my work here was less successful than I thought, and I'll need to plan for the future with that in mind.
«Is it possible to ask what her wish was?» I wonder.
«Normally, I do not share one magical girl's wish with another,» Kyuubey says. «Though exceptions may be made on a case by case basis. If you explain your reasoning for asking, I may consider it.»
«Can I at least ask if she seemed angry when she made her wish?»
«She raised her voice well above the volume required to convey meaning,» Kyuubey says. «I suppose you would call that anger.»
Although it's not certain, that definitely suggests that her wish was the same as or at least very similar to her wish from the manga. In that case, I should probably operate under the assumption that the plot will continue without interruption, but substituting some as-yet-unknown magical girl to play the role that Anri Airi filled in the manga. Still, I think there should be nothing to worry about in the near future. Hijiri is no doubt biding her time, and won't make a move until the Pleiades Saints are ready to create the next clone.
I let Kyuubey go, and it hops onto the seat beside me, looking at me.
«Come to think of it… does Anri Airi have potential as a magical girl?» I ask it.
«At the present time, she does not have any potential,» Kyuubey replies. «Of course, that could change at any moment.»
«I bet you pay close attention to any normal girl who's close friends with a magical girl,» I muse. «They're probably easy marks for a contract once their friend dies, right?»
«Your intuition is accurate,» Kyuubey admits.
If there's anything I've learned today, it's that changing the timeline isn't as easy as it seems. I may have saved Yuuri and Airi, but I haven't yet saved Nico, Satomi, Mirai, or Saki; and more importantly, all the magical girls those fallen saints are holding prisoner are still in grave danger. One of the reasons I chose to go to Asunaro before any of the other local cities is precisely because so many magical girls are held captive there. If I can free them, they'd greatly bolster our ranks in the fight against Walpurgisnacht. I don't even know what any of their powers are, mind you, but every body helps.
«But Asuka Yuuri would have made a great witch,» Kyuubey says, picking up its original train of thought. «I could have gathered quite a lot of energy to stave off the heat death of the universe.»
«I don't think you can complain,» I retort. «There's no way I can save everyone, after all. As long as your magical girl system exists in its present form, you'll have plenty of despair energy.»
«You are correct, of course,» Kyuubey says. «It is disappointing, but it does not cause any appreciable setback to my plan.»
I imagine he'll change his tune when he finds out about doppels… but it's not yet time for that, so I don't mention it. If he thought there was a threat to the magical girl system itself, I am certain he would act decisively to foil it… which means, he probably doesn't consider the actions of the Pleiades Saints to be a true threat. So instead, I fish out my phone and compose text messages to Sarra, Alice, and the François sisters.
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.
Asami Saki
浅海サキ
Age: 16
Eye Colour: Pink
Hair Colour: Silver
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Fleur-de-lis
Soul Gem: Pink lily of the valley on her left hand
Element: Light
Weapon: Riding crop
Powers: Lightning, alter metabolism
Wish: "I wish for my sister's flower to bloom forever."
Affiliation: Pleiades Saints
Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 7
Defensive Power: 3
Initial Power Usability: 8
Learned Powers: 4
Maki Kaoru
牧カオル
Age: 14
Eye Colour: Orange
Hair Colour: Orange
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Soccer ball
Soul Gem: Orange trapezoidal gem on her right thigh
Element: Fire
Weapon: Soccer cleats, ball wand
Powers: Physical reinforcement
Wish: "Please help the people who were hurt in that match."
Affiliation: Pleiades Saints
Speed: 8
Magical Stamina: 10
Offensive Power: 8
Defensive Power: 3
Initial Power Usability: 8
Learned Powers: 2
Misaki Umika
御崎海香
Age: 14
Eye Colour: Indigo
Hair Colour: Indigo
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: White mitre
Soul Gem: Dark blue gem shaped like a pen nib on her forehead
Element: Water
Weapon: Magic book
Powers: Mind-reading, barriers, analysis, memory alteration
Wish: "I want to meet an editor that will recognize and handle my works with care."
Affiliation: Pleiades Saints
Speed: 3
Magical Stamina: 10
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 4
Learned Powers: 7
Wakaba Mirai
若葉みらい
Age: 15
Eye Colour: Pink
Hair Colour: Pink
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Pink teddy bear
Soul Gem: Pink heart-shaped gem on her hairband
Element: Fire
Weapon: Heart wand/sword, teddy bear army
Powers: Fire, summon teddy bears, control animals and familiars
Wish: "I want a big home for all of my teddy bears. I want a museum!"
Affiliation: Pleiades Saints
Speed: 1
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 8
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 2
Usagi Satomi
宇佐木里美
Age: 16
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Brown
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green cat head
Soul Gem: Oval green gem on her left shoulder
Element: Forest
Weapon: Cat wand
Powers: Talk to animals, energy blast, mind control
Wish: "I want the power to talk to animals, so that I can help any of them."
Affiliation: Pleiades Saints
Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 3
Defensive Power: 2
Initial Power Usability: 2
Learned Powers: 3