March twenty-fifth. Kazumi joins Umika and Kaoru on patrol, and they discover a witch's labyrinth. It's one of the smaller kinds, like the spider witch Yuuri was fighting when Airi contracted. The runes floating in the air spell out her name, Alexandra, and almost immediately they're swarmed with white paper cutouts, each one in the shape of a girl, usually with her hands in the air. If they were smaller and less aggressive, they'd probably make great bookmarks. The witch herself looks like a head with black holes for eyes and four leaf-like tentacles, and the labyrinth resembles a library, except that the shelves and the books on them are all fake – just painted on.
As the trio make quick work of the familiars, Alexandra suddenly grins, her mouth opening from almost nonexistent to a wide, leering Cheshire grin. She flails at them with her tentacles for a minute or two, and then opens her mouth wide.
"Kazumi, now!" Kaoru shouts.
"Eh? What?" Kazumi asks, startled. "Eh?"
But before either of them can offer further explanation, the witch jumps forward and swallows Umika and Kaoru whole. One of its tentacles also whips out and catches Kazumi on the back of one hand, leaving a curse mark.
"W-what!?" Kazumi gasps. "G-give them back! Give my friends back right now!"
She swings her staff at Alexandra, landing a couple of hits, but then the witch turns to flee, and it turns out she's faster than Kazumi. The labyrinth ejects Kazumi back into the normal world, where she ends up on all fours.
"O-oh no… w-what do I do now!?" Kazumi gasps. "I… I have to save them… somehow… b-but can I do it by myself…?"
"You're not alone!"
Kazumi raises her head and looks at the speaker. It's Asami Saki, who has just shown up with the rest of the Pleiades Saints.
"You've got us too, Kazumi," Saki says.
"Eh? D-do I know you, too?" Kazumi asks.
"That's right," Usagi Satomi says. "Umika did say you'd lost your memories… so why don't we reintroduce ourselves?"
Kanna Nico and Wakaba Mirai nod assent, so Saki leads the charge.
"I'm Saki, the leader of the Pleiades Saints," she says.
"I'm Satomi, your resident kitty lover," Satomi says.
"I'm Mirai," Mirai snaps. "And you'd better stop wallowing in self-pity, stupid!"
"Nico here," Nico says. "So what exactly happened, anyway? Where'd Umika and Kaoru go?"
"W-well, they–"
Kazumi is about to explain the situation when her phone rings. She pulls it out, gasps, and quickly answers.
"Umika, are you okay!?" she asks.
The voice that responds, however, is Kaoru's.
"We're all fine and dandy!" Kaoru says cheerfully. "Umika's barrier is holding off the witch, so we haven't been absorbed yet. How about you?"
"Well… I'm okay, I guess," Kazumi says. "Everyone's here."
"Everyone?" Kaoru says. "You mean Saki and the others?"
"Yeah," Kazumi confirms.
"Can I speak to them?" Saki asks.
"Sure…"
Kazumi puts her phone on speaker mode and holds it out towards Saki.
"Umika, how's the barrier holding up?" Saki asks.
"By my estimates, it should last about five hours," Umika says.
"That's not very long," Saki muses.
"Kazumi, those four girls are your friends… our friends," Umika adds. "You can trust them. Chase after the witch with them, okay?"
"Okay…" Kazumi says.
"But there's no need to rush!" Kaoru adds. "We're snug as a bunny in here, so just take your time! We have faith in you, Kazumi, and everyone else! We'll be waiting!"
"Wait!" Kazumi says.
But they've already hung up.
"I said, enough with the wallowing!" Mirai snaps, walloping her over the head. "It's not gonna help us find them, idiot!"
"A-are you always this mean?" Kazumi whines.
"Get a grip!" Mirai says. "We're the only ones who can save them, so we've gotta do all we can!"
"R-right… but how do we track a witch? Umika always figured out where they were by logic…"
"That's easy," Saki says, taking out her soul gem. "We use these. They'll resonate with the witch, allowing us to track it."
"Ohh, I see!" Kazumi says. "That's pretty convenient!"
They pick up some traces of the witch's magic and start following it, but the trail is weak, and before long they've lost it. That's when Satomi spots a cat lounging on top of a wall. She heads over to the cat and starts mewling at it, while Kazumi watches in astonishment.
"W-what's her deal?" Kazumi asks. "Has she gone mad?"
"Satomi can talk to animals," Saki explains. "It can come in pretty handy sometimes… especially cats, because they seem to see things that humans don't."
"Like witches?" Kazumi asks.
"Yeah, like witches," Saki nods.
Satomi points at Kazumi, or more precisely the mark on her hand, and the cat hops down to take a closer look before responding to her.
"We're in luck!" Satomi says. "He saw that mark not far from here."
The cat leads them to a parking lot, where they find a much larger version of the mark on Kazumi's hand, this time just pasted on the ground. Nico bends down and uses her smartphone to scan the mark.
"Alright, hold out your soul gems," Nico says.
She holds the phone up to each soul gem, including Kazumi's, and some sort of sparkle seems to exude from them as a result.
"This should make the witch easier to track," Saki explains. "I don't know how she did it, but Nico created a smartphone app that can scan magic signatures and beam them into our soul gems. It's pretty handy. Alright, we're short on time and have a large area to cover, so… let's split into two teams. Nico, you go west with Satomi. Kazumi, Mirai, you're with me. We're heading east."
They spend at least an hour following the magic trail, spotting several more marks on the ground, all of them in parking lots or similar locations with lots of empty space.
"They seem to be getting stronger," Saki muses. "Perhaps we're getting closer."
"Alright!" Mirai says. "Let's go destroy that witch and rescue Umika and Kaoru!"
"I'm not sure how much help I'll be though," Kazumi says glumly. "It's my fault they're in that predicament in the first place…"
"Kazumi, you idiot!" Mirai shouts, clonking her over the head again. "What did I tell you about self-pity!? You've gotta stop blaming yourself and–"
Saki silences her by slapping a hand over her mouth.
"Don't worry, Kazumi," Saki says. "You're just fine as you are. We'll be relying on you when the time comes."
"But what if I can't do it?" Kazumi asks. "Or if I don't even know what it is that I need to do?"
"Well, that's what we're here for," Saki shrugs. "It's our job to help each other out with that sort of thing."
At that moment, Nico runs up to the group, panting a little, and Saki turns to look at her.
"What's up?" she asks. "Find a lead?"
"I've located two likely places," Nico replies.
She pulls out a map of the city and spreads it out on the ground, indicating two locations marked A and B.
"I left Satomi heading towards point A," Nico says. "I'll take Kazumi and meet back up with her there. Saki, Mirai, you should check out point B."
"Hmm, it's pretty far away," Saki says. "But I have no objections. Let's go."
So they split up once more, with Kazumi accompanying Nico and Saki going with Mirai. Almost as soon as Kazumi rounds a corner, her cowlick suddenly vibrates, indicating that she's sensed the proximity of a pseudo-witch. She turns and runs off down a side street, but Nico doesn't even try to follow her, instead running off in a different direction. Not noticing Nico's disappearance, Kazumi then turns into an alleyway, where she finds some sort of misshapen feline creature. She transforms and smacks it a couple of times with her staff, and it breaks down, leaving behind an evil nut and its host, a tabby cat with pure white socks and tail tip.
"Huh? Even cats can turn into witches!?" Kazumi gasps. "Poor kitty…"
She kneels down to pet the cat, powering down as she does, but suddenly someone puts an arm around her neck from behind, prompting the cat to flee.
"E-eh?" Kazumi says. "W-who's there!?"
She manages to turn her head enough to get a basic look at her assailant and gasps.
"W-wait, you're the one who–erk!"
The blue-haired girl tightens her grip on Kazumi's throat.
"Say your prayers," she says ominously. "For today will be your last."
Kazumi pulls on the girl's arm, managing to loosen it enough to speak.
"W-why would you want to kill a fellow magical girl?" Kazumi gasps. "You're also the one who stuffed me in that trunk, right? Why are you doing this!?"
"Why should I answer someone who's about to die!?" the other girl retorts. "Nube Temporalesca!"
A dark cloud instantly spawns above the alleyway, pouring rain down upon the two of them, followed by a lightning strike that directly hits Kazumi, causing her to let out a cry of pain. However, she manages to weather it, and then stomps on the other girl's foot. Startled, the girl loosens her chokehold, and Kazumi breaks free to turn and face her, transforming and gripping her cross staff in both hands.
"I don't have time for this!" Kazumi laments. "Umika and Kaoru are waiting for me… so I'm sorry! Limiti Esterni!"
Kazumi unleashes her ultimate attack right off the bat, but the other girl isn't caught entirely unawares. She unslings her shield from her back and hides behind it, then reinforces it with three layers of barriers in front of her. But she has vastly underestimated Kazumi's destructive power. It takes barely ten seconds for the first barrier to shatter with an electrical buzz, and the second one shatters in half the time, and the third one almost instantly. This leaves the shield to take the brunt of the attack, and although it technically survives in one piece, it's not able to fully block the beam, which leaks around the edges to reach the blue-haired girl. Since she's focused on defense, the girl lets her black cloud dissipate on its own. The blast also pushes the girl back a good four or five feet, even though she's bracing herself against the ground.
When the energy blast clears, the girl tosses her shield away and straightens up. Her clothes are in tatters and there are burns all over her body, but those injuries are already visibly healing. Kazumi clearly didn't expect her to stay conscious after taking her ultimate attack head on, so she's caught off guard when the girl grabs her spear and steps in, stabbing Kazumi right through the stomach and lifting her clean off the ground. The spear then lodges into the wall, pinning Kazumi with her feet dangling.
Then a bolt of lightning strikes the ground by Kazumi's feet, causing the girl to back off in surprise. Spinning to face the newcomers, she summons a new shield and holds it in front of her.
"You've got some nerve, trying to snatch Kazumi from right under our noses!" Saki says.
"I don't know who you are, but this is your punishment for underestimating us!" Mirai says.
"How dare you impersonate Nico to lure Kazumi-chan away!" Satomi says.
Nico just hovers at the back, watching.
But then the girl summons a second spear and presses the blade to Kazumi's throat.
"Make one move and I take your precious Kazumi away from you!" she snaps.
"W-what a cowardly move!?" Saki blurts out.
"What the hell!?" the girl shouts. "How dare you call me a coward, after what you've done!?"
"Saki, j-just attack!" Kazumi says.
The girl looks at her, startled. "Do you actually want to die?"
"I won't die," Kazumi replies.
The four Pleiades Saints exchange glances and possibly telepathic messages, then join hands and rapidly charge a combined attack.
"Figli del Toana!" they shout in unison.
Arcs of electricity force Kazumi and the other girl apart, as well pulling out the spear, and then they explode, sending the girl careening into the air. The Pleiades Saints rush forward through the smoke to catch Kazumi as she collapses to her knees.
"Kazumi, are you alright!?" Saki asks.
"I'm not really alright," Kazumi says. "But you see, I realized that we need to believe in our friends. Until now, I lacked resolve… but not anymore! I can still move. Let's go save Umika and Kaoru!"
Nico steps forward and reaches out to the wound.
"No point leaving you in pain though," she says.
The wound closes up, and Kazumi blinks.
"Oh! Thanks, Nico-chan!" she says. "It still hurts a bit… but that's much better!"
After that, the five of them return home to discuss the situation, and Saki discovers that the curse mark on Kazumi's hand is the same as the library mark of the bookmobile, meaning the witch is connected to it. Then Kazumi cooks up a quick meal, and they all set out again. This time, they pretty much know where to go, and it doesn't take them long to find the witch's portal.
"Bingo!" Nico says.
"Alright, Kazumi," Saki says. "You wait outside for our signal."
"Huh? Don't you trust me?" Kazumi asks.
"It's a strategy," Saki explains. "A witch is very powerful inside its labyrinth, but if the six of us can suppress it, it'll be open to an attack from outside. Your Limiti Esterni can pierce right through the witch's labyrinth and kill it."
"Oh! So I get the leading role, then!"
Nico gives her a communicator, and Saki leaves a final word of reassurance.
"Kazumi, we believe in you, just like you believe in us."
"Right!"
Then the four of them head inside. Kazumi jumps up onto a roof and watches the labyrinth from above, waiting for the signal, but it never comes. However, after awhile she hears a distinct high-pitched sound, like a whistle, emanating from the labyrinth.
"That's it!" she says. "I'll follow the sound! Limiti Esterni!"
It's quite unlike any normal witch fight. The attack splits the labyrinth wide open, striking and destroying the witch within. That means the phase where the labyrinth's barrier collapses after defeating the witch is missing – the labyrinth was destroyed before the witch was defeated, dragging it out into the open where, perhaps, it might be weaker?
"Found a grief seed," Nico announces.
"Saki, Nico, let me try it too!"
Umika hands Kazumi a whistle, and they all just blow it together a few times. It's while they're blowing the whistle and laughing together that a black cat-like creature hops down and trots over to the Pleiades Saints. At this point, the sun is rising. They've been out all night long.
"Playtime is over, kids," the creature says.
"Eh? It's a talking cat?" Kazumi says.
"I'm not a cat!" he complains. "I'm–"
"Juubey-chan!" Satomi says, swooping down to swipe him up into a hug. Looking at Kazumi, she says, "This is the fairy who turned us all into magical girls."
Then Juubey spins and sucks all the corruption out of the Pleiades Saints' soul gems, Kazumi included.
"Wow! It's all sparkling again!" Kazumi marvels.
"Since our gems get tainted when we use magic, we have to rely on Bey-chan to purify them for us," Satomi explains.
"Do you have any grief seeds for me?" Juubey asks.
"Here," Nico says, offering Alexandra's grief seed. "Freshly-harvested."
Satomi continues her explanation to Kazumi. "A grief seed is an accumulation of a witch's hatred. Bey-chan takes care of them for us."
"Eh, that was an immature witch, huh?" Juubey says. "Don't you have any others?"
"How about these?" Kaoru says.
She pulls several objects out and dumps them into Juubey's forehead-mouth, but he spits them out a moment later.
"Yuck! What are these? These aren't grief seeds!"
"W-what!?" Kaoru gasps. "What do you mean, Juubey?"
Umika kneels down to examine one. "Hmm… this thing imitates the power of witches. I'm not sure of the specifics though…"
"An imitation grief seed?" Kaoru says.
"The magic in these is insanely strong," Umika muses. "It can even affect ordinary humans…"
"Don't tell me that girl had been using these to turn people into witches?" Kaoru says. "It's true we hadn't seen witches like that before… they didn't even hide in a labyrinth, and we couldn't detect them with our soul gems…"
"Alright, let's call them evil nuts," Nico announces. "If you eat one, I guess you'll become a pseudo-witch, so let's hope nobody else does. Knock on wood?"
"Hey, why was that magical girl making pseudo-witches and attacking us though?" Kazumi asks. "Aren't we supposed to protect everyone by fighting witches? Why are we fighting amongst–"
Suddenly the ground glows beneath them, and before they can react, there's a huge explosion. When the smoke clears, the Pleiades Saints are all on the ground, except for Kazumi, who's out cold and in the grasp of the blue-haired girl. In another situation it might have been comical to see the pre-teen elementary school girl effortlessly hoisting a high school girl over her shoulder, but obviously this is not a time for humour.
"Pleiades Saints!" the girl shouts. "Just tell me one thing. Do you even remember Fumiko-chan?"
"Fu…miko?" Saki gasps. "Who…?"
"She's just another gem in your bucket, isn't she!?" the girl shouts. "That's why I hate you! I hate you more than anything! Nube Temporalesca!"
A black cloud forms above the lot, and a series of lightning bolts rain down, hitting each of the Pleiades Saints in turn and triggering a few screams, and the girl giggles.
"You can scream all you want, but I won't forgive you!" she shouts. "Remember my name, Shiina Moe! For I shall be the one to drag you down from the sky and toss you into hell!"
"W-why…?" Kaoru asks.
"G-give… Kazumi… back!" Saki says.
"As if!" Moe retorts. "If you want to see your precious little Kazumi again, meet me in the Asunaro Dome at midnight!"
"W-wait!" Saki gasps.
But Moe snaps her fingers, which apparently triggers a fresh rain of lightning from the black cloud, then turns and leaps high into the air, flying over a nearby building. A few hops later, she lands in a small park and gets into a giggle fit.
"Oh my, that stupid look on their faces!" she gloats. "Priceless! And as I thought, they don't even remember Fumiko-chan…"
At that moment, Kazumi stirs and opens her eyes.
"Ugh… it's you again?"
"Y-you're awake!?" Moe gasps. "That blow should've knocked you out for hours! Is your head made of steel!?"
"Why are you doing this?" Kazumi asks.
"Geh, all you ever say is why," Moe grumbles. "You're just like a broken record… erk!"
Kazumi squirms to get free of Moe's hold, and in doing so somehow manages to get her legs around the other girl's neck. She drops to her knees as she tries to free herself.
"That's only because you never answer, idiot!" Kazumi retorts.
"W-what!? You're the idiot! Why should I answer someone who's about to die?" Moe protests
"That's exactly what you said last time!" Kazumi replies. "So now who's just like a broken record!?"
"H-how dare you!?" Moe complains. "You don't understand what I've gone through! Don't call me a broken record!"
"Well, you did it first!" Kazumi retorts.
"Then you're an idiot!" Moe shouts. "That cowlick of yours clearly marks you as an idiot! How could you possibly understand!?"
"The person who calls someone an idiot is the idiot!" Kazumi says.
"But you called me an idiot first!"
"E-eh? Did I?"
"Would you just shut up already!" Moe shouts.
Then something blurs into the scene, and within the space of seconds, Moe is freed from Kazumi's gasp and Kazumi finds herself all trussed up. Then the blur resolves into a girl a few years older than Moe, who shoots Kazumi a glare before looking worriedly at Moe. The new girl's outfit appears to be basically a maid outfit, with a black bow at her waist that also bears her silver soul gem.
"O-onee-chan," Moe gasps. "Y-you didn't have to come… I was doing just fine…"
"What are you talking about!?" the older sister scolds her. "Do you expect me to believe you've been out all night hunting witches? It's never taken me that long, and it's not like you're any weaker than I am!"
Then she shoots Kazumi a glare again.
"And what do you think you're doing to my precious little sister, you perv?" she shouts.
"B-but, she started it!" Kazumi protests.
"Do you seriously expect me to believe that! You clearly had her in a chokehold!" Looking back at Moe, she asks, "Are you okay, Moe-chan? Did she hurt you?"
"I-I'm fine, onee-chan," Moe says. "I'm not hurt at all. U-um… why don't we just… go home?"
The older girl sighs. Though older than Moe, she still appears to be younger than Kazumi.
"Well, sure, but… what'll we do with her?" the girl asks.
"W-we could… let her cool off in the shed," Moe suggests.
The older girl blinks. "Seriously? That's a bit… over the top… but whatever, I'm tired. Let's go. We can decide tomorrow."
Moe gags Kazumi before picking her up again, and then the two of them move on, soon arriving at a small Western-style house near the city limits. There's a shed in the yard, so Moe shoves Kazumi in there, and then the two of them power down before entering the house.
"We're back!" the older girl announces. "I found her!"
A woman who must be their mother appears.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Mrs Shiina says. "Welcome home, Moe and Remi! Did you get lost, Moe?"
"Eh… a… a little," Moe says, not meeting her mother's eyes.
"Well, at least you made it back in one piece," Mrs Shiina says.
"Y-yeah," Moe nods.
Mrs Shiina sighs and looks at the older sister, Remi.
"You know, I keep saying this, but I can still hardly believe a miracle like this happened," Mrs Shiina muses. "I gave up on seeing you ever again about five years ago… yet now, here you are! Sometimes I still wonder if I'm dreaming…"
"You are taking it surprisingly well though, Mom," Remi says. "Most people probably would've freaked out a lot more…"
"Oh, come on, Remi," Mrs Shiina says. "How many times must I say it? I'm just glad you're alive and well!"
"Me too," Remi says.
So, the identity of the mysterious blue-haired girl is already revealed. When she first introduced herself, I thought her name sounded familiar, but at first I dismissed it as a coincidence. But then her older sister showed up, and her name was revealed to be Remi, which is also familiar. The older sister's magical girl costume also looks vaguely familiar.
I ponder, trying to figure out where I remember the name Shiina Remi from. Is she a minor character from Kazumi Magica? I can't imagine I would've heard the name anywhere else…? Judging from that exchange with her mother, there must be something unusual that happened with her, too. I wonder what it is? It sounded like she was missing for several years? But no matter how much I ponder, it's not coming to me – I just can't remember why her name is so familiar.
Anyway, even though Moe replaced Airi as the antagonist, it seems like it hasn't changed all that much compared to the manga. Of course, a lot of the details are different, but the general progression remains the same, as you would expect when there's a mastermind behind the scenes. Speaking of the mastermind though… I was taken aback when she showed up in person all casual like. No-one else noticed, of course, but to me it was obvious… but what I don't understand is why she would openly help Moe, who is trying to kill Kazumi, when she herself wants Kazumi alive. Does she just think Moe doesn't have it in her to actually kill Kazumi? Unless… perhaps Moe has shape-shifting powers similar to Airi, meaning the mastermind didn't actually appear at all, but if that were the case, why would Moe pick Nico instead of Satomi to impersonate?
I also noticed that Moe's soul gem isn't doing very well. Remi's soul gem is in relatively good shape, no more than thirty percent corrupted, but Moe's soul gem is closer to eighty percent darkened. I wonder if she's even using grief seeds? She should know that grief seeds can purify her soul gem, since Pernelle interfered with Umika's barrier… surely she's not trying to become a witch on purpose? That doesn't seem to fit with what I've seen, though…
Still, it's not looking good. If things continue as they are, the tragedy of the manga seems almost inevitable. I hesitate to watch what's going to happen the following night… but I need to know if something goes dramatically differently. Even though the plot is still on the rails, it's not guaranteed that the upcoming encounter will play out the same way. Maybe Moe will manage to avoid turning into a witch.
March twenty-sixth, around midnight. The Asunaro Dome is dark and bare of any decorations. Compared to its appearance when Yuuri nearly won the Slice Akiyama cooking contest, it's like all the life has been sucked out of the place. It's possible to just barely make out Kazumi in the darkness, tied to a chair on the stage, struggling in vain to get free. Before long, the Pleiades Saints and Juubey appear in the audience area, apparently trying to be stealthy. But then a spotlight turns on, lighting up Kazumi on the stage, and Moe walks on from backstage. It turns out that Kazumi is no longer gagged.
"So you came, Pleiades Saints!" Moe shouts. "Welcome to my festival of evil!"
"Everyone, you came!" Kazumi calls.
"Kazumi!" Saki calls. "Hold on, we're coming!"
They try to leap onto the stage to rescue her, but run smack into an invisible barrier and get thrown back with an electrical jolt. Moe bursts out laughing, and the Pleiades Saints exchange glances, perhaps discussing the situation telepathically amongst themselves. Once Moe manages to calm down, she speaks up again.
"Let me explain why I've called you all here tonight!" Moe says. "Tonight I, Shiina Moe will show you all something truly wonderful! All I need is a few evil nuts and your precious little Kazumi!"
"N-no!" Saki gasps.
Moe chuckles. "It's simple! I just need to embed the evil nut in her forehead! You've seen all my tests over the past week, so I'm sure you know what that means, right?"
"N-no! You can't!" Saki screams.
"Miss Shiina, please stop this!" Kaoru shouts. "What do you gain from doing this?"
"Yeah!" Kazumi says. "We're all magical girls! We're comrades! We shouldn't be hurting each other like this!"
Moe turns to look at her.
"C-comrades, you say!?"
Kazumi seems startled by the intensity of the younger girl's stare.
"Y-yeah, comrades…"
Moe spins to face the others.
"Did you hear that, Pleiades!? She said comrades! She said that we magical girls are comrades! You heard that, right? What a joke!"
She spins again and thrusts her face into Kazumi's.
"You don't know anything about them, do you!?" she shouts. "You have no idea what they're doing, do you!? These so-called Saints are actually–"
"Stop it!" Saki shouts.
Moe once more wheels to face the audience, summoning her thundercloud without even chanting. Lightning rains down upon the Pleiades Saints, knocking them off their feet. Saki fares the best, only falling to her knee.
"I get it now!" Moe shouts once the lightning dies down. "She's the only one who's not allowed to see the filth on your hands, is that it?"
"Sh-shut up!" Saki gasps.
For some reason, Moe bursts out laughing again.
"Oh, the looks on your faces are priceless!" she crows. "I just love it!"
"Can't you at least explain why you have a grudge against us?" Satomi pleads. "If you think we've done something wrong, we deserve to know what it is!"
"Was she just that insignificant to you girls!?" Moe screams. "I saw it with my own eyes! You killed Fumiko-chan! You killed her, and you don't even remember her, not even after coming to this place!? I'll never forgive you for that!"
"Fumiko…" Umika muses. "I feel like I heard that name somewhere… Fumiko…" She blinks. "Ah… could you be talking about Mura Fumiko!?"
"You remember her, Umika?" Saki asks, surprised.
"Now that you mention it, I do remember that name," Nico muses. "You weren't there, so it's not surprising you don't remember, Saki. I think it was me, Umika, and Satomi?"
Satomi shrugs. "Maybe, I don't remember though…"
"So you admit that you killed her!" Moe shouts.
"No, that's not–"
But Moe doesn't let Nico finish her sentence.
"I saw it with my own eyes! That's when I swore revenge on you!"
And then she spins and presses one of her evil nuts right into Kazumi's forehead. All of the Pleiades Saints shout at her to stop, to no avail.
"It's done!" Moe crows. "Now your precious Kazumi will become an amazing witch! I can't wait to see what kind of witch she'll become! Maybe I'll let you lot kill her with your own hands."
"You fool!" Saki screams.
Suddenly, Kazumi breaks her bonds in a surge of power, even shattering the chair she's sitting on. Moe is startled and turns to look at her.
"Huh? Did the evil nut fail this time?"
But then Kazumi moans in pain, and it seems like her canines are enlarged and her fingernails have turned into claws. The whites of her eyes also turn black, and her irises are rainbow-coloured.
"No… I guess it worked after all?"
Kazumi leaps at Moe, raking her with her claws, but Moe easily avoids the attack by raising a barrier, thrumming with electrical energy that zaps Kazumi on contact. She then summons her spear and stabs Kazumi, who seems utterly unfazed by the wound. The two of them continue exchanging blows.
"Did you really think you could win against me at your age?" Moe crows. "You're just an infant, right?"
"Stop it!" Satomi calls. "Please stop! This has nothing to do with Kazumi-chan!"
At some point, Saki and Kaoru seem to have vanished from the room, leaving only four of the Pleiades Saints observing. The four remaining have all been reduced to tears, unable to break through Moe's barrier despite trying several things.
"Cry all you want, you murderers!" Moe screams. "It won't change anything! Yes, that's right, Kazumi! These girls murder their own kind! Did you seriously believe the Pleiades were allies of justice!? What a joke! They're just an evil gang of thugs who hunt down their own kind! Since they stole my most precious, treasured friend, I decided to steal theirs in return! That's why you have to die, Kazumi!"
"They kill… magical…" Kazumi mutters, as if half-asleep.
"You're wrong!" Nico calls. "Mura Fumiko is alive!"
"Don't try to trick me, you liars!" Moe screams, pointing her spear at the audience and calling up a triangular magic diagram on the floor. "Il Triangolo!"
The diagram resembles the way the ground glowed just before Moe kidnapped Kazumi, so it's possible she intended to cause an explosion. However, before the spell can activate, Moe's soul gem reaches its limit and transforms into a grief seed. At the same moment, Saki and Kaoru run in from the backstage door, skidding to a halt at the sight, and Kazumi gasps, the rainbows clearing from her eyes.
The witch takes the form of a massive cauldron, about four feet in diameter at its widest point, and nearly six feet tall. The cauldron has legs and eyes, but no arms. As the labyrinth forms, witch runes spell out her name, Pair Dadeni.
"W-why do witches come out of soul gems!?" Kazumi gasps.
The other four Pleiades Saints step forward, and the six of them surround the witch. Since the formation of the witch's labyrinth, the barrier blocking them from the stage has disappeared, meaning there's nothing still keeping them from the witch. The Pleiades Saints attack the witch all at once, and it turns out that despite having the form and appearance of a cauldron, the witch is actually still sort of fleshy. However, any and all wounds they inflict close up almost immediately.
"This is bad," Saki says. "Its regeneration is quite formidable…"
"W-wait!" Kazumi says. "You can't… you can't just kill her!"
"We have no choice," Umika says. "Once a girl becomes a witch, there's no way to return her to normal."
"B-but you haven't even tried!" Kazumi protests.
Kazumi jumps up and lands on the rim of the cauldron, peering into it. Her eyes seem to have returned to normal now.
"Moe-chan… come back!" she calls. "I don't want to fight you!"
But in response, a torrent of lightning emerges from the cauldron, zapping Kazumi and knocking her down. The torrent also spills over and hits the Pleiades Saints too, knocking them off their feet.
"K-kazumi, are you okay!?" Kaoru gasps.
The witch kicks the falling Kazumi back into the air, and then a pair of tentacles emerge from the top of the cauldron and whip down towards her. The tentacles appear to be lined with something that looks an awful lot like teeth.
But Kazumi actually bites through the tentacle, chewing a bit and then spitting it onto the floor. As she lands on the ground, her bell earring jingles, and her head jerks up, a tear coming to her eye.
"Moe-chan… she was really close to Fumiko-chan," Kazumi murmurs. "She was really sad that she lost her friend, wasn't she? She couldn't even tell her big sister what happened… Moe-chan… let me help you!"
"Kazumi, stop this!" Umika protests. "There's nothing you can do for her!"
Kazumi leaps forward and tries to hug the cauldron as best she can.
"B-but she's right in front of me!" Kazumi says. "I can't just give up like that! I'll bring Moe-chan back somehow!"
To everyone's surprise, a facsimile of Moe emerges from the cauldron, covered in some sort of black slime. For a moment it almost seems like Kazumi's efforts have succeeded. Then Moe opens her mouth, and only gibberish emerges. Based on the magical diagram that appears between her hands, she's probably trying to cast the spell she was about to use when she turned into a witch. The spell fails to activate, however.
"Moe-chan… stop this!" Kazumi pleads.
Then Saki's whip flicks out and pierces the facsimile's chest, knocking her back down into the cauldron.
"S-saki!?" Kazumi gasps. "Why…"
The others all step forward as well, and Kaoru comes up to place a hand on Kazumi's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she says. "You tried, but that was clearly a failure. It was just a shell replaying her last moments."
"B-but Moe-chan isn't a bad girl," Kazumi protests. "She just wanted her friend back… she can't be a bad girl…"
"Yeah, we know," Mirai says. "That's exactly why we have to kill her. We shouldn't let a good girl kill lots and lots of humans, right?"
"Kazumi, that's no longer the magical girl known as Shiina Moe," Juubey says. "That's just a witch. Sometimes a girl's magic goes out of control and she becomes a witch. When that happens, it's not possible to turn them back. No matter how much magic you use, you can't reverse the process."
"The only choice is to kill them," Kaoru says. "So please… don't get in our way, Kazumi-chan."
"H-how could I possibly kill Moe-chan!?" Kazumi asks. "She's got a big sister to return to who's going to miss her…"
"Don't worry, Kazumi," Saki says. "You don't have to dirty your hands. Leave this to us."
"No!" Kazumi pleads. "Umika, stop! Saki, stop this! Kaoru, Mirai, Nico, Satomi… please stop it, everyone!"
But they ignore her and resume attacking the witch, although her regeneration continues to thwart their efforts.
"I'm really sorry, Kazumi-chan," Satomi says. "All we can do now is make sure she can't hurt anyone else."
"We can handle this burden by ourselves," Kaoru says. "We'll finish this without involving anyone else."
Kazumi watches the battle for a minute or two, then summons her staff and points it at the witch, whispering her ultimate attack. She looks like she's about to cry, but no tears are flowing.
"Limiti… Esterni…"
The energy blast destroys the witch in a single hit. As her body disintegrates, Moe's face appears for a moment in the cloud of smoke and dust, mouthing something unintelligible.
"Onee-san," Kazumi whispers. "That was her last word…"
The Pleiades Saints turn to her in shock, and she gets to her feet, leaning on her staff for support.
"You've all had such a hard time, haven't you?" Kazumi says, bursting into tears. "T-then… I'll bear the burden alongside you!"
Umika hugs her, holding her until she has calmed down, and then the Saints split up, with Kazumi heading off on her own despite Kaoru's protests. She ends up wandering into a café called Lepa Macha, where she meets Tachibana Souichirou and convinces him to let her try the bucket of parfait even though it's not on the menu. He even lets her stay the night.
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.
Shiina Remi
椎名レミ
Age: 14?
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Green
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: A stopwatch
Soul Gem: Silver oval gem embedded in the bow on her waist
Element: Forest
Weapon: Battle axe
Powers: Slowing down or speeding up time
Wish: redacted
Speed: 10
Magical Stamina: 8
Offensive Power: 6
Defensive Power: 3
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 2
Shiina Moe
椎名モエ
Age: 11
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Blue
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue kite shield bearing a cross
Soul Gem: Blue diamond gem on her helmet
Element: Water
Weapon: Spear and kite shield
Powers: redacted
Wish: redacted
Affiliation: Hyades
Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 10
Offensive Power: 3
Defensive Power: 9
Initial Power Usability: 8
Learned Powers: 2