April sixth, morning. Kazumi comes down from the second floor and enters the café, yawning, to find Souichirou cleaning the counter.
"Good morning, Miss Kazumi," he says. "Want something to eat?"
"I'm not really hungry," Kazumi mutters.
"Come on, don't hold back," he says. "You're still growing, right?
"I'm really not hungry," she says. "But thanks anyway…"
Souichirou sighs.
"It's been a week already," he says. "How long do you plan to run away? Geez…"
He reaches into a nearby bag and pulls out a slim book, passing it to Kazumi.
"Here, this was left by a girl named Kaoru," he says. "Even though I didn't tell her whether you were here or not, she insisted I give this to you."
"Eh?" Kazumi says, examining it. "Th-this is… Michiru-chan's diary…"
She opens the diary to take a look. Most of the entries are annotated by a pasted photo or two. Kazumi flips towards the front and starts to read all about the life of the girl she was modelled after.
How she grew up in Asunaro, where she loved her grandma more than anything.
How she begged her parents to let her study abroad on a middle school exchange program.
How she rushed home from abroad to see her grandma, whose illness had taken a sudden turn for the worse.
How she stumbled into a witch's labyrinth and was saved by a magical girl with drill curls – Tomoe Mami.
How she wished to spend one final day with her grandma, and became a magical girl.
The final day she spent with her grandma, where she was taught to make her favourite dish. The recipe for the strawberry risotto is even written out in detail, right there in the diary.
How she received her jingle bell earrings as a parting gift from her grandma.
How she met Asuka Yuuri, rescued her from a witch, and encouraged her to make a contract to save her friend, Anri Airi, from her illness.
How she broke up a fight between Sakura Kyouko and Asuka Yuuri over the latter's "wasteful use of magic".
How she saved the girls who would become the Pleiades Saints from committing suicide under the influence of a witch's kiss.
How the girls she saved decided to become magical girls and fight alongside her.
How she encountered Yuuri again and regaled her with tales of her new team.
How she lost her grandma's jingle bell earrings, and Saki bought her a new, identical set to replace them.
How Saki had offered to take on cooking duty but somehow ended up causing an explosion.
How they had thrown parties to celebrate everyone's birthdays together, with huge cakes.
How she had one day witnessed a magical girl turning into a witch and decided to hide the truth from her friends.
How she worked so hard to make sure her friends always had enough grief seeds.
How she was looking forward to making strawberry risotto for her birthday.
And that's where the diary ends. That was the day her soul gem had finally given out and turned into a grief seed, the day the Pleiades Saints had discovered the awful truth behind the magical girl system.
It's no wonder that Kazumi had no memories of hunting magical girls, even after Umika gave her Michiru's memories. The Pleiades Saints had only started doing that after Michiru died.
As Kazumi is about to close the diary, an unsealed envelope falls out. When she opens it up, it turns out to be a letter.
"Kazumi, as you can see from her diary, Michiru was a really good girl. We created artificial magical girls because we just wanted to bring her back. Even though we failed so many times, even though we hurt you and got Satomi killed, we've all decided to try one more time. But that means the others are going to erase you, Kazumi. I don't think you and Michiru are the same, though. The battles we fought together, and the tears you shed… they belong to you, and no-one else. Your life belongs to you, too. So run away, Kazumi. I don't care if you don't believe me. Even if I'm forced to kill the others, I'll protect you, Kazumi. This is my answer to the questions you asked with tears running down your cheeks on that rainy day. Sincerely, your devoted ally, Maki Kaoru."
After blinking back the tears that come to her eyes upon reading Kaoru's letter, Kazumi speaks up.
"I've changed my mind, Mr Tachibana," she says. "I want to eat my grandma's strawberry risotto. Will you make it with me?"
"Huh?" Souichirou says. "But I don't have any–"
"There are strawberries in the fridge," Kazumi counters.
"How…"
But when he checks the fridge, they really are there.
"Isn't it amazing?" Kazumi says with a wink. "I can use magic!"
He stares at her, and for a second it looks like he actually believes it, but then he remembers something.
"No wait… you asked for some yesterday at the grocer's, right? What's all this about magic?"
Kazumi giggles. "Looks like you got me!"
Using the recipe in Michiru's diary as a reference, the two of them set to work on the cooking. Eventually the dish is complete, and they sit down to try it out.
"Thanks for the food!" Kazumi says happily. Then she tries a mouthful. "It's so good! Grandma's recipe really is the best! Mr Tachibana, how is it?"
"I've never had it before, but it's pretty good," Souichirou says. "Have you made this before?"
"Nope!" Kazumi replies. "Actually, the first meal I ever ate was your beef stroganoff, Mr Tachibana! That was really good too!"
"Yeah…" he says. Then he blinks. "Huh? First meal? What do you mean by that?"
"I wanted to try lots and lots of different kinds of food!" Kazumi says, ignoring the query.
The man just looks confused, but Kazumi has already finished her risotto, so she jumps to her feet.
"Well then, I'll be going now!"
"Um… Kazumi?" Souichirou says hesitantly. "Are… are you okay?"
"Better than ever!" Kazumi says cheerfully. "Thank you for everything, Mr Tachibana! You've done so much for me! Thank you!"
And with that, she leaves the café and runs off.
I keep the vision active in a corner of my mind as I work my way through the school day. Kazumi seems to be running around town for some reason that I can't quite grasp. She also stops now and then to fiddle with her phone, likely conferring with Yuuri or Remi. Twice she fights a minor witch, though only one of them drops a grief seed.
Around lunchtime I'm briefly distracted by the revelation of an upcoming test at the end of the week, but then I remember I've taken that test before, so it should be even easier than last time.
After school, I head home and settle down to see how the final confrontation plays out. There's no way it can be the same, given recent developments, yet in the last timeline it somehow ended even more tragically than in the source manga.
April sixth, afternoon. Kazumi heads for the teddy bear museum. Upon arriving, she is surprised to find Yuuri, Airi, and Remi all waiting for her.
"Huh? What are all of you doing here?" Kazumi asks.
"We didn't think it was right letting you do this alone," Yuuri says.
"Yeah, you're our friend," Airi says. "Friends have to support one another."
"I wouldn't say my reasons are all that noble," Remi says. "I just want to meet my little sister's friend… and be the one to break the news to her."
"Well… I guess it's fine," Kazumi says. "There are five of them too, after all…"
"Shouldn't there be six?" Yuuri asks, startled.
"Satomi-chan and Nico-chan died last week," Kazumi says bluntly.
"But then that makes four," Yuuri says, even more confused.
"Hyades?" Remi suggests.
Kazumi nods. "Yeah… she's posing as Nico-chan now," she says.
"Well, if there's five of them and only one of you, that's even more reason to have backup," Airi says.
"Okay… but if you're going to do this, I think I should fill you in on the secrets of magical girls beforehand," Kazumi says. "You'd find out anyway, so it's probably better to hear it now while you're calm. Unless you already know?"
"W-what secrets?" Airi asks nervously.
"The truth about the soul gem," Kazumi says. "And what happens when you run out of magic."
"Oh… I already know the second one," Remi says. "I'm not sure what you mean about the soul gem though…"
Kazumi ponders a few moments, then takes out her soul gem.
"I think… the easiest way would be to demonstrate it," she says. "Who wants to volunteer?"
"Is it dangerous?" Yuuri asks.
"Um… I've never tried it before, but I'm pretty sure it's not," Kazumi replies.
"Then I'll do it."
"Okay," Kazumi says. "Remi-chan, take my soul gem… Airi-chan, you take Yuuri-chan's soul gem."
"Huh? What for?" Airi asks.
Yuuri takes out her soul gem and passes it to Airi, and Remi, looking equally confused, takes Kazumi's soul gem.
"Now just walk away," Kazumi says. "I think it should be about a hundred metres or so?"
"O-okay…" Remi says. "You know, your soul gem looks a little weird, Kazumi-chan…"
"I know," Kazumi says.
Remi and Airi turn and walk away as instructed, and when they pass the hundred meter boundary a couple of minutes later, Yuuri suddenly collapses. Kazumi however remains conscious, catching the taller girl and supporting her.
"O-okay, come back!" Kazumi calls.
Airi turns and gasps at the sight of the collapsed Yuuri. She races back ahead of Remi.
"Yuuri-chan!? Are you okay?"
She shoves the soul gem into Kazumi's hands and checks up on her friend.
"H-huh? She's not breathing?"
"Here," Kazumi says.
She presses the soul gem up against Yuuri's cheek, and the girl suddenly awakens with a little gasp.
"H-huh? What happened?" Yuuri asks.
"It almost looked like you died…" Airi says.
"I could still sense your presence though, Airi-chan," Yuuri says.
"Huh? My presence? Not Kazumi-chan's?"
"I'd never confuse the two of you," Yuuri replies.
"So what you're saying is, the soul gem is the real you," Remi says. "It's called a soul gem because it actually contains your soul, right?"
"I'm glad you caught on quickly," Kazumi nods. "That's exactly right… the soul gem is your true form, and those bodies are just a shell."
"But… why weren't you affected, Kazumi-chan?" Remi asks.
She passes the soul gem back to Kazumi, and Yuuri takes hers back from Kazumi.
"Well… I wasn't quite sure until now, but… now I'm pretty sure that's not my soul gem," Kazumi says. "I guess my soul is still in the usual place…"
"Then… whose soul gem is it?" Remi asks.
"Kazusa Michiru's, I guess?" Kazumi replies.
"But didn't you say she died?" Yuuri asks.
"Yes," Kazumi says. "Michiru-chan turned into a witch, and the Pleiades Saints killed her."
"She turned into a witch!?" Airi gasps. "Is… is that the other thing you mentioned, about when you run out of magic?"
Kazumi nods. "Yeah… that's it," she says.
"Is that… really true?" Yuuri asks.
"It is," Remi says. "I'm almost certain it happened to me… I don't really remember anything about being a witch, but I remember my last moments."
"And then your sister brought you back to life with her wish…" Yuuri says.
"I'm almost certain of that, too," Remi nods.
"So that's the end that awaits a magical girl…" Yuuri says. "I'm glad I heard it now, from you… if I'd seen someone turn into a witch in front of me with no warning, I might have snapped…"
"I feel you," Airi says. "I don't think I would've been able to remain calm… although I still can't really believe it's true…"
"Well, it's true whether you believe it or not," Kazumi says. "And one reason I told you is because it's possible you will see it soon… though I really hope not. Besides that, I'll probably need to talk about it when confronting the Pleiades Saints. Alright, let's go inside."
She leads them into the teddy bear museum, crossing the hall to a magical diagram on the floor at the opposite side of the room.
"We still have some grief seeds left over from the ones Pernelle gave us," Yuuri says. "I have two, plus another two we hunted today."
"I also have two left over from Pernelle," Airi says. "So that's six."
"I have two but I can only spare one," Remi says.
"I don't think that'll be enough for everyone," Kazumi says. "But it helps… thanks. I got one today too, so that makes eight."
They step onto the diagram, and then Kazumi activates it somehow, transporting them all to the centre of another hall with an elaborate door on one side. The door has a series of gears on it, one of which bears the same magical diagram. Kazumi runs over to it and activates it, causing the gears to turn and the door to swing open.
Other than Kazumi, who would have seen it already, the girls gasp at the sight within, the rows of girls lined up in tanks. Towards the centre, a bright area indicates the magical barrier where the soul gems are stored, and the four of them approach it.
"This one is Fumiko-chan," Kazumi says.
She picks up one of the soul gems and presses the grief seed that she'd hunted earlier that day against it, drawing out the corruption.
"How do you know?" Remi asks.
"I asked them when I was here before," Kazumi replies.
"Then we need to find her body," Remi says.
"I think the tanks are labelled with their names," Kazumi says.
"Are we even sure this will work?" Yuuri asks.
"Well… at least, the Pleiades Saints think it will," Kazumi says. "They never would've done any of this otherwise. They're not bad people after all…"
They look around for a minute or two before locating Fumiko's tank. Kazumi reaches in and drags her small body out, setting the soul gem upon her chest. It's not an instant revival as it was with Yuuri, but after about thirty seconds or so, her body twitches and she gasps for breath. Another ten or twenty seconds, and her eyes snap open.
"W-where am I!?" she gasps.
Remi kneels beside her.
"Don't worry, Miss Mura," she says. "We're here to help."
Fumiko blinks at her. "W-who are you?"
"My name is Shiina Remi," Remi replies.
"…Shiina? Are you Moe-chan's cousin or something?"
"Close," Remi says. "I'm her older sister."
"But she said her sister disappeared…"
"Yes," Remi says. "I died."
"T-then how…?"
"Moe-chan saved me with her wish," Remi says.
"Eh? Moe-chan became a magical girl too?" Fumiko gasps.
"She did, but unfortunately, she died," Remi says.
"O-oh…" Fumiko pauses. "If only I hadn't pushed her away, maybe…"
"It wasn't your fault," Kazumi says firmly.
"Then… the girls who attacked me?" Fumiko suggests.
"Well… I can't say it's not their fault at all, but… mostly not," Kazumi says. "But that's beside the point… it wasn't your fault that Moe-chan died, Fumiko-chan. It wasn't your fault that she turned into a witch."
"Eh? W-what do you mean, turned into a witch?" Fumiko asks.
"That's what happens when a magical girl runs out of magic," Remi explains. "It happened to me too. That's why I suddenly disappeared many years ago."
"B-but then… all the witches I've been fighting… you're saying they're all former magical girls?" Fumiko asks.
"I guess so," Remi says.
"That… that's awful…" Fumiko says.
"I guess so," Remi says. "But that doesn't change the fact that they're witches who bring disaster to the world…"
"Then you're saying I might have to fight Moe-chan?" Fumiko says anxiously.
"No, you don't have to worry about that," Kazumi says. "I defeated her already. I'm sorry."
"I see…"
"That's enough of that glum face!" Airi says. "Get up, Miss Mura! We've gotta get back at the ones who did this to you, right?"
"Eh? I… I suppose," Fumiko says.
"Then get up and transform!" Airi says. "Let's all get ready to face them!"
"Right, I'll call them," Kazumi says. "You guys all hide, for now. If all goes well, maybe we'll settle this just by talking… I can always hope, right?"
She takes a stance in front of the pile of soul gems and takes out her own soul gem, holding it up into the air. As she does this, a labyrinth forms around them, distorting space into a sort of stone fortress. The soul gems and all the tanks containing magical girls are sucked into the barrier, but the space around them is expanding, giving the hall an epic sort of feel, like a cathedral. Fumiko gasps.
"Huh? This… this is a witch's barrier!?"
"That's right," Kazumi says. "But don't worry. I'm in control of this barrier."
"Y-you can control a witch's barrier?"
"It's complicated," Kazumi says. "Please find a place to hide. There should be plenty of places."
Airi, Yuuri, Fumiko, and Remi all transform, melting away into the depths of the vault-like room. Fumiko's magical girl outfit consists of cargo shorts and a safari hat, with a loose shirt and an open greatcoat, and the sword she wields looks like a cutlass or similar.
Then Kazumi raises her voice and shouts.
"Everyone, can you hear me?" she shouts. "I'm done with running away! Let's settle this, here and now! All of you come to the Freezer immediately! If you don't, I'm going to break this seal and turn all these girls into witches at the same time!"
The yelling is redundant, because she must be contacting the Saints telepathically, but maybe she just felt like yelling.
"You're not actually going to do that, are you?" Yuuri's voice calls out from somewhere.
"Of course not!" Kazumi retorts. "It's just bait! Now please be quiet for a bit!"
The seconds stretch into minutes, but eventually the Pleiades Saints arrive, all together. They step through the doorway, looking around in confusion at the expanded space. Umika and Kaoru are holding hands, while Mirai looks like she's trying to pose as Saki's shadow. Nico casually strides in with her hands in her pockets… except that's not Nico. That's her double, Hijiri. And Juubey is with them too, just calmly walking along like there's nothing wrong.
"Welcome to my barrier," Kazumi says flatly. "Don't even think about using any magic. If you do, the seal will automatically be broken."
Saki takes a step forward. "Kazumi…"
"Don't speak unless you're spoken to!" Kazumi snaps. "I've had enough of your white lies!" She holds up Michiru's diary, eliciting a gasp from Saki. "I read Kazusa Michiru's diary. The memories you gave me and the memories she recorded here have come together, and I get how important she was to all of you, and why you wanted to resurrect her. But there's one thing I just don't get. Why didn't you give me Michiru's memories?"
"Because Kazusa Michiru herself refused," Saki replies. "We tried that first, but they lost themselves in the heat of battle. Some of them even ended up killing humans."
"We took that as a sign of Michiru's will," Umika explains. "So we gave up on implanting her memories. Then I created a magical girl with a different personality…"
"But I'm not Michiru," Kazumi says. "You made a different person with the same face."
Kaoru nods emphatically, but it's Saki who responds, by rebuffing the statement.
"We wanted to reject Michiru's death," Saki says.
"I have one other question," Kazumi says. "If I were just Kazumi, rather than Michiru's clone… would we still have become friends?"
"Of course!" Kaoru shouts. "We made friends with you when you were brand new and had no memories! We were always friends, and always will be!"
Saki looks conflicted, but by the end of Kaoru's little speech, she too is nodding. Umika also looks like she agrees.
"Thanks for that," Kazumi says, smiling. "I really mean it… I enjoyed my time with you. But… isn't it sad how far the Pleiades Saints have fallen? All you wanted to do was bring back Michiru from beyond the brink of despair. You can't give up so easily! You can't get discouraged so easily! You need to start smiling from your hearts again! That's your responsibility for rejecting the magical girl system, and for creating thirteen of me! You'd better take responsibility!"
"K-kazumi…" Saki says.
"Promise me!" Kazumi says.
She looks defiantly at Umika, then shifts to Kaoru, Saki, and finally Mirai.
"No matter how long it takes, no matter how many times you fail… you can't give up as long as there's even the slightest sliver of hope! You want to bring Michiru back to life, right? And Satomi too, right?"
Suddenly she looks directly at Hijiri, tilting her head a little.
"The Pleiades Saints can't be complete without Michiru and Satomi and Nico!" she says.
"What are you talking about, Kazumi-chan?" Hijiri asks. "I'm right here, after all."
Kazumi glares at her. "You're lying!" she says. "Nico turned into a witch! I saw it!"
"Didn't I already explain that to you?" Hijiri asks.
"But that doesn't make any sense," Kazumi says.
She stoops down to pick up some evil nuts that for some reason were stored near the soul gems, toying with them in her hands. Those are the evil nuts confiscated from the Souju twins.
"If Nico turned into a witch, then her soul is corrupted beyond repair. That means your soul isn't Nico's soul, so you're not Nico. Just who are you? Why did you call yourself Hyades? What do you have against us?"
She holds out the evil nuts.
"Are you the one who made these?"
"Come now, Kazumi-chan, what are you babbling about?" Hijiri asks. "I have no idea what you're talking about. What the heck is Hyades?"
"Y-yeah, this is clearly Nico!" Saki adds.
"Nico-chan never called me Kazumi-chan," Kazumi retorts.
Saki gasps, and Umika does as well, a beat behind her.
"That's right… Satomi-chan made the same mistake," Kazumi says.
The rest of the Pleiades Saints look at Hijiri in confusion.
"B-but that's not possible," Umika protests. "Unless you're saying she's a magical girl who can change her form?"
"I don't think that's the case," Kazumi says. "She probably just happens to look exactly like Nico. Or, maybe what Juubey said before is technically true… maybe Nico's wish split her into two different people."
Hijiri lets out a sigh.
"Guess the jig's up," she says.
Before the others can react, she leaps forward and captures Kazumi in a bell jar, shrinking her down to fit. She turns to face the others with a grin.
"It's a bit earlier than I anticipated, but I never expected Kazumi-chan to catch on," Hijiri muses. "No matter what, I can't let you humans kill her!"
"N-nico… what are you talking about?" Saki says hesitantly.
"Saki, Kazumi was right! That's not Nico!" Umika says urgently. "Her magic's different!"
"Really!?" Saki gasps.
Inside the bell jar, Kazumi seems to be thrashing around, trying to get free.
"You see, Kazumi-chan and I are the only two synthetic magical girls in the world," Hijiri says. "So I suppose I feel a bit of kinship with her. Guess it led me to refer to her too familiarly."
"Give her back!" Saki shouts.
As Saki charges lightning and runs in for an attack, Hijiri pulls out an evil nut… but then Remi suddenly blurs behind her, snatching the evil nut from her hand and bringing her halberd down on Hijiri's head. However, Hijiri manages to barely dodge the attack despite its inhuman speed. Instead, Remi's weapon hits the bell jar, shattering it and allowing Kazumi to emerge, returning to her normal size.
"What the heck is this thing?" Remi asks. "It looks a bit like a grief seed…"
"Be careful with that!" Kazumi says urgently. "It's an evil nut that can turn people into witches!"
Saki abandons her attack on Hijiri and helps Kazumi get to her feet.
"Dammit, who the hell are you?" Hijiri gasps.
"H-how'd she get in here?" Umika gasps. "The locks should only open for us…"
"D-did Kazumi…?" Kaoru wonders, trailing off and leaving the sentence unfinished.
"Are you okay, Kazumi!?" Saki asks, seemingly oblivious to everything else, eliciting a nod from Kazumi.
Remi turns to Hijiri. "Are you the one who turned my little sister into a witch?" she asks calmly. "Her name was Shiina Moe. Was that you?"
"I didn't use an evil nut on her if that's what you mean," Hijiri snaps.
"That's not what I asked," Remi says. "I asked if you turned her into a witch!"
"I suppose you could say so, from a certain standpoint," Hijiri shrugs. "But she's the one who refused to purify her soul gem. That wasn't my idea. I didn't try to change her mind though."
"So it was you," Remi says. "Then I hope you're prepared."
Hijiri chuckles. "You fool. You lost the moment you showed your face!"
Hijiri transforms, but it's not Nico's iconic paratrooper outfit. Instead, it's like a marching band outfit with a graph theme – circular nodes connected by lines. She also wields a whip with a similar theme, a length of some flat, narrow material with circular discs at regular intervals. Remi raises her halberd to attack, but Hijiri diverts it with the circular discs on her whip, then blurs away, causing Remi to gasp.
"Y-you… is that my power!?"
For a few seconds, the fight becomes a blur even to the enhanced eyes of a magical girl, as if they were playing a game of high-speed cat-and-mouse. But then Hijiri ends up next to Saki, and before Kazumi or Remi can stop her, she pulls out another evil nut and smashes it into Saki's forehead. Saki lets out a long scream as a crack appears in her soul gem. Remi swings down with her halberd, but Hijiri dodges once more, grabbing the halberd's haft in a death grip at the base of the blade.
"N-nico… what did you do to her!?" Mirai gasps.
"Nothing special," Hijiri says with a nasty grin. "Just turning her into a witch. Listen to that fabulous choir of screams!"
"Saki, noooo!" Mirai screams. "Juubey! Please purify her soul gem!"
She races over to Saki and embraces her, pushing Kazumi aside. Despite what Hijiri said, Saki does not appear to be turning into a witch, at least not yet. Or perhaps, it's just moving very slowly? Her soul gem is clearly darkened, though.
"It's too late!" Juubey says. "Run away!"
"Even if you turn into a witch, I won't leave you, Saki!" Mirai sobs.
And then, it finally happens, in slow motion. Saki's soul gem transforms into a grief seed and then hatches into a huge spherical witch with a giant eye-mouth… it's like it's an eye, but the pupil is a mouth filled with sharp teeth. Witch runes spring up in Kazumi's labyrinth, spelling out her name, Plejaden von Asunaro.
"I love you, Saki!" Mirai says.
"Mirai, no!" Kaoru shouts, too late.
It's the last thing Mirai ever says, for Saki's witch chomps down on her head, swallowing both Mirai and her former body.
"S-saki…" Kazumi gasps. "W-why…?"
"Oh dear…" Remi mutters, banishing her halberd and blurring back, away from the witch.
"Connect!" Hijiri shouts. "Stay!"
With those words, the witch of Saki stops in place, leaving the others shocked. Hijiri then hops up and lands on her head, grinning down at everyone else.
"Y-you stopped the witch with magic?" Umika says.
"Now the Pleiades are down to just two," Hijiri gloats. "My revenge is almost complete!"
"Revenge?" Umika asks. "What in the world are you talking about!?"
Hijiri flings a tablet computer down, and Kaoru catches it. It displays a news article from several years back.
"It all started because of that," Hijiri says bitterly. "Three kids in California were pretending to be cowboys, and got their hands on a real gun. Two deaths, one injured. The survivor, and the one who pulled the trigger, was… Hijiri Kanna."
She frowns. "Her wish as a magical girl was to realize her idealized imaginary self and transfer the name Hijiri Kanna to her."
"Hijiri Kanna…" Umika says. "So… that's you?"
"I had a happy life, friends and family," Hijiri says. "But then, one day, I discovered the truth. There was a girl who looked just like me, fighting monsters called witches… and I found out that she was the original me. So then I started to wonder… who exactly are these people I love so much? I can't be the only fake, right? I was just created to give her fake happiness, right? Like a doll living in a story she made up? So I made a wish to get back at her sick fantasy! I wished for the power to connect to others and observe without being noticed! That's how I found out about your plans… how I learned you were making another girl just like me. That actually made me a little bit happy, but I also started hating you more and more. I decided I had to save Kazumi-chan from your sick experiments."
"D-did you control any of us?" Kaoru asks.
"No way!" Hijiri says with a giggle. "It's too fun just watching you all self-destruct! I did prepare a few events to make things more exciting…"
"The evil nuts," Umika says.
"It was easy by combining your analysis magic and Nico's construction magic," Hijiri gloats. "I recruited Moe and Souju to help me out and everything. All to force you to use a lot of magic and taint your soul gems… because you don't even know how to purify them properly, do you? If only Moe hadn't messed up the kidnapping… she was so clumsy. I guess she was a bit too young for the job after all. But because of that, my precious Kazumi-chan is so worn out…"
"Y-you turned my sister into a witch… all just to make things more exciting!?" Remi gasps.
"What are you planning to do with Kazumi?" Umika asks.
"I just want to be real," Hijiri says. "Why should humans get to be real? They don't have anything special going for them. So I'll destroy humanity and turn us synthetic beings into the new mankind. I can use witches as my ultimate weapon. I plan to create a whole new race of synthetic beings – I call them Hyades! It's perfect, because they're the half-sisters of the Pleiades!"
"Y-you're insane…" Remi says.
Hijiri turns around and looks at Kazumi.
"Come, my dear Kazumi-chan, and join me in the new world!"
"I refuse!" Kazumi shouts. "I don't want to live in a world without my friends! I don't want a world without Kaoru… without Umika!"
"They're not your friends!" Hijiri shouts back. "You're just a substitute to them!"
"You're wrong!" Kazumi shouts back. "At least Kaoru-chan doesn't see me as a substitute! I think they all realized on some level that I'm a different person. Because I trusted them, I contemplated giving up my own life to spur them to action. But then I changed my mind because of you, Hijiri."
"W-what do you mean?" Hijiri asks. "What does it have to do with me?"
"I realized that you weren't Nico," Kazumi says. "I met a woman who reminded me that Nico had turned into a witch. That's when I realized… you can't turn someone back once they become a witch, right? She even gave me a hint when I said I'd seen Nico recently. She asked if I was sure I had seen Nico and not her double. I guess she knew about you too, Hijiri. But that's when I realized the truth. Nico turned into a witch, so you had to be a different person."
"Now that I think about it," Umika muses. "In retrospect, it's crazy that we believed her… we just wanted so badly for Nico to be alive that we let it cloud our better judgement, I guess…"
"And then I talked to Remi-chan, and she told me about you too," Kazumi continues.
"I never met her though," Hijiri says. "How would she know so much? And who the hell is that woman? I don't know any woman who knows about magical girls…"
"Remi-chan didn't know much," Kazumi admits. "But she did say you had a grudge against the Pleiades Saints, so I knew I had to figure out the reason so I could save my friends… although it seems I was a little too late."
"So what's the point of this little rant?" Hijiri retorts.
"My point is!" Kazumi shouts. "I don't want a world without everyone else! So I decided I had to deal with you first!"
Kazumi transforms and leaps onto Saki's witch, and Hijiri meets her charge with her whip. Then Remi joins the fight with a blur, and it devolves into another game of cat-and-mouse for a minute, leaving Kazumi panting. She lets Remi take over from there and joins her friends, collapsing to her knees. Her soul gem appears to be completely darkened, and her skin is covered in dark whorls reflecting the corruption of her soul gem.
"Umika… Kaoru…" she says. "I'm glad at least you are still okay…"
Umika looks up at the blur of combat atop Saki's witch.
"Hijiri Kanna! We'll spend the rest of our lives atoning for our crimes, so you should stop here! There's no point in destroying mankind! Kazumi's about to turn into a witch… shouldn't you be helping her?"
"Shut up!" Hijiri screams. "What the hell do you girls know!? Do you understand the anguish of discovering you're made up!?"
"You're such an idiot," Umika retorts, cradling Kazumi in her lap. "You're not made up. Even if your body isn't that of a real human, you still have a real heart."
"Don't make it sound so pretty!" Hijiri snaps.
"It isn't pretty at all!" Umika snaps right back. "We made clones to try and turn Michiru's despair back into hope, but the ones we really wanted to save were ourselves! We were afraid! Afraid of turning into witches! We wanted to turn our backs on the despair that loomed in our future, but Kazumi… even after learning about witches and herself, she chose not to run! She wanted us to smile! She even contemplated giving her life to make it happen! There's no fucking way that we can make up something like that! If you insist that that's made up… then there's no way in hell that we can let you have Kazumi!"
"Then I'll have to take her by force!" Hijiri screams. "You won't defeat me so easily!"
Hijiri finally manages to land a blow on Remi, sending her flying across the room. When she hits the wall, she falls to the ground, motionless. Although no-one else seems to notice, Fumiko appears and runs over to check on Remi. Kazumi tries to sit up, but Kaoru stops her.
"Don't worry about us, Kazumi!" Kaoru says. "We can handle this just fine!"
Before anyone can stop her, Hijiri blurs to the soul gem collection and seizes five soul gems, merging them with evil nuts to produce a quartet of witches - a teapot, a floating plant jellyfish hybrid, a ballgown with flame for a head, and a double-headed winged fox. Witch runes spelling out their names fill the air, but they're all scrambled together and impossible to read.
"Everyone!" Kazumi calls. "Don't hold back!"
Umika raises her book and casts a spell to split Kaoru into half a dozen clones, and she steps forward to take on the witches while Umika sneaks up on Hijiri. Then a bull comes charging in from the sidelines, slamming into the double-headed fox and drawing her attention. Airi steps out and waves.
"Thanks a bunch, Cole!" she calls. "Let's do this!"
Yuuri steps out beside her. "Fumiko-chan, please save the soul gems! Start with the least corrupted!"
Fumiko rises from where she was checking on Remi and turns to face the soul gems.
"O-okay, I'm on it!" Fumiko says.
"W-who the hell are you!?" Hijiri screeches.
At that moment, Umika emerges right behind her.
"Tocco del Mare!"
Umika grabs what appears to be Hijiri's soul gem, but Hijiri turns to face her with a smile.
"Sorry, that's a decoy," she leers. "As if I'd show off my soul gem to you!"
She spins and kicks Umika in the face, sending her flying backwards. Meanwhile, Yuuri and Airi engage the fox witch while Kaoru takes on the rest, though she seems to be a little overwhelmed facing three at once. Fumiko darts into the fray, taking down any familiars that spawn with her flaming sword, and starts to gather up the less-corrupted soul gems from the stash. Somehow she's able to stuff a whole bunch of them into her pockets.
"You see, I'm invincible!" Hijiri crows. "Time to finish you off, then I can deal with the rest of these interlopers…"
But as Hijiri is about to chase after Umika, Kazumi runs up and tackles her.
"I won't let you!" she says.
"Kazumi, stop!" Umika says desperately. "If you were to turn into a witch…"
"Don't worry!" Kazumi says. "I won't turn into a witch. You saw it before, right? Even an evil nut barely affects me."
"Juubey, at least purify her!" Umika says.
"I'm on it!" Juubey says.
But when he spins and tries to purify Kazumi's pseudo soul gem, it doesn't work, and Juubey himself begins to break apart. Kaoru looks over from landing the finishing blow on the jellyfish witch. Her soul gem is at least eighty percent corrupted now.
"W-what's wrong!?" she gasps.
"Even I… don't really… know," Juubey gasps. "Ciao!"
And with those final words, he crumbles to pieces. The remnants of a grief seed can be spotted amongst his remains.
"I told you, I don't need it!" Kazumi says.
She places herself in front of Umika and summons her cross staff, pointing it at Hijiri. For several seconds, they stare at each other, the tension palpable between them.
"What's with this fox witch?" Yuuri suddenly groans. "It's a new-born witch, so how is it so powerful!?"
Hijiri suddenly chuckles.
"Of course it would be!" she says. "That witch was made from the Souju twins! They probably swallowed their soul gem collection, too!"
"The Souju twins…" Kazumi says. "They may have been mean, but they didn't deserve that… I won't let you carry out your plan, Kanna-chan!"
"As if you can stop me now!" Hijiri screams.
She tries to smack Hijiri with her staff, but her target dodges, and she manages to force Hijiri to abandon her perch atop Saki's witch. The dark whorls on Kazumi's skin reflecting the corruption in her soul gem have mostly merged together now, turning her skin entirely black, though still with some dark grey patterning. Her soul gem appears to be completely blackened as well, but she shows no signs of slowing down, forcing Hijiri on the defensive with her shielding whip.
Meanwhile, Kaoru finally manages to defeat the teapot witch, and then Remi blurs out of nowhere to cleave the ballgown witch in two with her halberd. Taking advantage of the brief respite, Kaoru turns to Umika and Hijiri. After destroying the witch, Remi grabs several soul gems from the stash and runs off in the same direction Fumiko disappeared earlier.
"So Juubey… is dead?" Kaoru asks.
"Y-yeah," Umika says. "W-why couldn't it purify Kazumi?"
"There's another way to clean soul gems," Kazumi says.
Umika blinks. "Wait… you're right! Soul gems can be cleaned…"
Kaoru blinks too and speaks at the same time. "Oh yeah! Soul gems can be cleaned…"
They finish in unison… almost unison. "…with grief seeds!"
"…eh? So you did know?" Kazumi says.
While Kazumi keeps Hijiri occupied, Umika and Kaoru check Juubey's corpse.
"Dammit, this one's useless," Kaoru groans. "And those three didn't even drop a grief seed… so all that's left are Saki and the Soujus…"
Umika and Kaoru turn to look up at the spherical witch that used to be Saki, and it gazes down at them.
"Stop dodging!" Hijiri shouts.
"Same to you!" Kazumi shouts back.
That's when Kazumi suddenly trips, and Hijiri lands a hefty kick to her stomach, sending her flying towards Saki's witch.
"Saki, why are you just standing there!?" Hijiri shouts. "Eat them already! Eat your beloved Kazumi and your stupid friends! If she won't join me, you can just eat her!"
But instead, Saki's witch lets out an ear-piercing roar and moves towards Yuuri, Airi, and the Souju witch. The twin-headed fox instantly turns on her, tearing her apart as everyone else looks on in shock. The spherical witch explodes, and her grief seed comes out. Just as the fox witch is about to snap up the grief seed, Airi calls out.
"Come, Cole!"
Her summoned bull appears out of nowhere, shoving the fox witch aside and drawing its attention back to Airi herself.
"The witch… Saki… ended her own life!?" Umika gasps.
"Saki… you… you wanted to save us?" Kaoru marvels.
"It's the proof of our friendship…" Umika murmurs.
She scoops up the grief seed, but instead of using it on herself and Kaoru, she runs over to Kazumi and uses it on her.
"Look, Umika… the impurities are disappearing from Kazumi!"
Indeed, the dark whorls on her skin clear up along with the corruption to her soul gem. Once Kazumi's soul gem is purified, Umika uses it on Kaoru too, since her soul gem is the more corrupted of the two, but it only draws out a small amount of the corruption.
Kazumi sits up and looks at the two with a sigh.
"You should've used it on yourself first," she complains. "I already said I'm fine! Why won't you believe me!?"
"H-how could you be fine!?" Umika says. "Your skin was going all dark!"
"That's probably just because I'm not human!" Kazumi says.
Hijiri comes up behind them.
"They just want you to live, Kazumi-chan," Hijiri says. "They want you to join the Hyades!"
Kazumi spins to face her.
"Shut up!" she shouts, startling Hijiri. "This has nothing to do with Hyades or humans! I just want to save my friends! That's it! I don't need your stupid crap right now!"
She summons her cross staff, jumping clear over Hijiri's head and soaring across the room to bisect the Souju's witch, defeating her in a single blow. Hijiri runs after her, leaving the other two girls laying on the ground. Yuuri and Airi gape at the spectacle. No grief seed appears, however. Kazumi banishes her staff, panting a little.
"I'm sorry, Kazumi," Umika murmurs. "We didn't create you so you could experience this…"
"Yeah, we just wanted to do lots of fun things together," Kaoru says.
Kazumi spins and throws a punch at Hijiri as she approaches. Hijiri punches back, and the two of them end up in a regular old fist fight, completely forgetting to use their magic. After several seconds, Kazumi finally manages to land a blow to knock her out cold.
"Well, that was quite something," Yuuri says. "I thought we'd be in trouble, but then Kazumi-chan just defeated it in a single blow…"
"Kazumi… don't leave us alone," Umika pleads.
"Don't lose hope yet!" Kaoru says.
Suddenly, the two of them notice the black aura surrounding Saki's grief seed.
"O-oh no!" Kaoru gasps. "A witch is about to hatch from her grief seed!"
"W-what should we–" Umika begins.
But then, something suddenly occurs to her. She sits up and turns her gaze skyward. This must be the moment the barrier she'd placed over the city abruptly crumbles to pieces and the memories she'd sealed away come back in a rush, for she lets out a shout.
"Right! He can eat it!"
"Dammit, we couldn't escape the fairies after all!" Kaoru groans.
"Not fairies," Umika corrects her. "Come out, incubator!" she shouts.
And as if summoned, it appears. Kyuubey steps out of the shadows near them and plods on over. Yuuri and Airi also head over to join them, followed by Kazumi. Remi and Fumiko are nowhere to be seen.
"Long time no see, Pleiades," the incubator says.
It swishes its tail towards Saki's grief seed, flicking it into the air and catching it in the compartment on its back, which pops open specifically for that purpose.
"Kyuu…bey?" Kazumi says. "So, you're Kyuubey? Are you the one who made them into magical girls?"
"A pleasure to meet you, Kazumi," Kyuubey says. "You are correct."
"Where… where were you all this time?" Kaoru asks.
"I never left, Kaoru."
"You were… spying on us?" Kaoru gasps.
"I did nothing at all," it replies. "You girls just didn't notice me…"
"B-but how!?" Kaoru asks.
"Perhaps you should ask the magical girl beside you," Kyuubey says.
Umika gasps. "O-ohhh…"
"Looks like you've remembered, Misaki Umika," Kyuubey says.
"I… I erased you," Umika says. "A barrier… that renders magical girls unable to see perceive you, and replaces their memories of you with Juubey… and that's also why we forgot that grief seeds can clean soul gems…"
"I can sort of understand erasing Kyuubey," Yuuri says. "But why on earth would you want to forget that grief seeds can clean soul gems?"
"We didn't want to use the remains of a friend to stay alive," Kaoru says. "So after Michiru-chan died… well, that's more or less what happened…"
"This was an interesting experiment," Kyuubey says. "Turning grief seeds into programs and using our bodies as a cleaning system wasn't a bad idea. This is just my theory, but your mistake was in using our bodies to clean your soul gems. Your Juubey was unable to draw out all the corruption from your gems. It just polished off the surface."
"Y-you tricked us!?" Kaoru gasps.
"I do not trick," it replies. "We incubators exist solely to harvest the energy released when hope turns into despair. Whatever gave you the idea that we would be capable of cleaning gems without grief seeds? In point of fact, your Juubey was only effective at cleaning when it had a grief seed in its stomach to absorb the corruption."
It tilts its head and walks over to the pair of them.
"Well, I suppose you'll be turning into witches soon."
"You really can't clean their soul gems?" Kazumi asks.
"Only grief seeds can clean soul gems," Kyuubey replies.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Kyuubey, but we have some right here," Yuuri says.
She takes one out and blinks.
"Huh? I definitely had four earlier, and I didn't use them in that battle," Yuuri says. "Where'd the other three go?"
"Didn't you give two to Fumiko-chan to use on the others?" Airi asks.
"Oh, that's true," Yuuri says. "But there should still be one more, then."
Airi checks her own stash and blinks. "Huh? My two are gone too… did someone swipe them without me noticing?"
"And this one is useless…" Yuuri groans. "Right, Kyuubey?"
"Yes, I will dispose of it for you," Kyuubey says.
Yuuri tosses it to Kyuubey, who catches it in the compartment on its back.
"Fumiko-chan says she used them up," Airi groans. "And Remi-chan too… so we really are out of grief seeds."
Kazumi shakes her head.
"No, we have one right here."
She powers down and presents her soul gem. The barrier that has been distorting space throughout the confrontation also collapses, returning everyone to the real basement room that serves as the Freezer.
"That's a soul gem," Yuuri points out.
"It's not a real soul gem," Kazumi says. "It's not exactly a grief seed either, but… hang in there, Umika, Kaoru! I'll figure something out!"
The two girls' soul gems are almost completely dark at this point, but there's still no sign that the transformation into a grief seed is about to begin.
"This is unbelievable," Kyuubey notes. "Your soul gems have already reached their limit. You should be turning into witches any second now."
"That shows how much you know, incubator!" Umika retorts. "We're fighting against the magical girl system!"
"When our hopes turn into despair, our soul gems burn out and turn into grief seeds, right?" Kaoru says.
"And then the grief seeds give birth to witches," Umika says. "Then there's no way we'll turn into witches!"
"Yeah!" Kaoru says. "We'll never fall into despair! We have our hopes that Grandma passed down to Michiru, and Michiru passed down to us!"
"Umika… Kaoru… once we get home, let's all eat Grandma's strawberry risotto!" Kazumi says.
"If your wish is to die without turning into witches, there is no such precedent," Kyuubey says.
"Then we'll become the precedent," Umika says resolutely.
"Stop talking like you're going to die!" Kazumi protests. "We just need to figure out how to restore Michiru-chan's grief seed to its original form!"
Umika and Kaoru blink at her.
"B-but didn't you hear what we just said?" Kaoru asks. "We don't want to use the remnants of a friend to stay alive!"
Kazumi clasps the gem between her hands in gesture of praying.
"I'm sure Michiru-chan doesn't want you to go out without a fight," she says. "Perhaps if we appeal to her…"
"Impossible," Kyuubey says. "A grief seed is not sentient."
But suddenly the pseudo soul gem begins to glow, and Kazumi holds it out just in time to see the soul gem exterior peel away like candy wrapping, revealing a grief seed within.
"You see?" Kazumi says with a grin. "It's Michiru-chan's grief seed. It's been with me this whole time."
"So… in the end… Michiru, you're the one who saves us, yet again?" Kaoru says.
"She wants to help you," Kazumi says. "I know, because I'm made up of parts of her."
"Grief seeds are not conscious, either," Kyuubey counters.
"But I can tell that Michiru was always with me," Kazumi says. "She always fought with us."
Kazumi leans down and uses Michiru's grief seed to purify Umika's and Kaoru's soul gems. Then she offers it to Yuuri and Airi, but they shake their heads. Their soul gems are only about halfway corrupted.
"Kazumi… what about yourself?" Umika asks
Kazumi shakes her head.
"Have you forgotten? I'm not even a magical girl. I have no use for a grief seed. All this time, I've just been borrowing Michiru's power. I'm not Michiru, after all. I'm a completely separate being."
"But you do have the strength of a magical girl," Yuuri points out.
"I don't know about that," Kazumi says. "I think that's probably the strength of a homunculus… that is, it's just a feature of the body you guys made for me."
Umika and Kaoru look around, and then Umika gasps.
"Oh no! All the soul gems are gone!"
"And where'd Hijiri go?" Kaoru asks.
"Huh?" Yuuri blinks. "There should still be some soul gems there…"
Suddenly Remi and Fumiko appear, growing up from the ground like some kind of human-shaped mushroom, surrounded by a pile of grief seeds.
"We've got about half of them here," Fumiko says.
"Maybe as many as two-thirds," Remi adds.
"S-so that means…" Yuuri gasps.
"It must've been Miss Hijiri who took them!" Umika says. "Quick, we've got to go after her!"
"Wait a second!" Fumiko says. "We're not sure how to identify which soul gem goes with which body. Do you have any idea?"
"Ugh, there's no time right now!" Kaoru grumbles.
"Hmm," Umika says. "Given that the range of control is one hundred metres, if you just pile the gems in one spot and drag all the bodies within at least a hundred metres, I imagine the girls whose gems are here would eventually wake up and be able to identify which one is theirs. Even if they won't all fit in that radius, you can drag more in range as girls wake up."
"A-alright! Thanks for the tip!" Fumiko says.
"I'll stay and help you with that," Yuuri says, and Airi nods in agreement.
Umika, Kaoru, and Kazumi run off, and after a moment's hesitation, Remi blurs and joins them at the exit. Yuuri and Airi stay behind, to help Fumiko with the soul gems. Thanks to Remi's speed-up magic, the four girls quickly catch up to Hijiri just outside the teddy bear museum. Kyuubey doesn't accompany them, but it appears next to them as they exit the museum.
"You're too late!" Hijiri crows. "I've already completed it!"
They look up to the sky to see the massive dark and shadowy witch that has spawned there, linked by white lines of power to Hijiri on the ground.
"Is that the legendary witch, Walpurgisnacht?" Kyuubey muses. "No… I suppose not. It's an entirely new composite witch. Hijiri Kanna… you created something new by connecting all the witches together, so out of respect for you, I suppose I will name it thus… Hyades Daybreak."
"Hyades Daybreak," Kazumi gasps.
"That's awful!" Remi gasps.
"She turned all of them into a witch!?" Umika gasps. "Kaoru, let's go!"
"Yeah, you wait here, Kazumi!" Kaoru says. "You can't use magic anymore, right?"
"Wait!" Kazumi says. "I don't think you quite understand! I'm not a magical girl! I've never made a contract with Kyuubey!"
"You picked a good time to notice that," Kyuubey observes.
"No, I just didn't have a chance to properly say it until now," Kazumi retorts. "I'm not human, but… I can still make a contract, right?"
"As the name suggests, the soul gem is made from your soul," Kyuubey says. "You can make a contract as long as you have a soul. Will you become a magical girl, even though you know you'll become a witch?"
"I'll never fall into despair!" Kazumi says resolutely. "I'll never become a witch!"
"Kazumi, what is the wish that will light up your soul gem?" Kyuubey asks.
"Turn me into a real human!" Kazumi says instantly.
"You'll become a magical girl after you become a human," Kyuubey says. "It's a pointless wish."
"It's not pointless!" Kazumi says. "My body isn't a human body. If I made a different wish, I'd be a magical girl with the body of a homunculus. It's not the same as having a human body, right? Even if becoming a magical girl modifies my body, the starting point is important. In order to move forward, I need a real body that wasn't made by others!"
"So the intent of your wish is to transform your body," Kyuubey says. "Although your inhuman body has many advantages over that of a regular human, you know. Are you sure this is what you want?"
"I'm sure," Kazumi says.
"Understood," Kyuubey says. "Your wish has surpassed entropy. Now unleash your new power!"
Yuuri and Airi emerge from the museum just as Kyuubey draws out Kazumi's soul gem.
"Eh? Y-you really weren't a magical girl until now!?" Yuuri gasps.
"That's right!" Kazumi says.
"Hey, if you're a real person now, you should have a surname," Kaoru says. "Have you thought about it?"
"Hmm," Kazumi muses. "I think there's only one answer. Subaru!"
"You're right, it's a perfect fit," Umika says with a giggle.
"Is Fumiko-chan alright?" Remi asks anxiously.
"She's fine," Yuuri says. "We got all those girls all out of the tanks, and some of them are starting to wake up. Miss Mura is just helping them get back on their feet. I figured you'd want help against Miss Hijiri, though."
She looks up at the massive witch looming overhead. Hijiri herself is no longer in sight, having taken advantage of the discussion to make herself scarce.
"Good thing we came, too, because I'm pretty sure that thing's gonna be a lot tougher than Miss Hijiri."
"Let's go!" Kazumi says.
She transforms, and now her outfit is different - a white dress decorated with pompoms that poofs out around the hips, a divided two-part cape fluttering behind her, and a mini witch hat attached to a hairband. Her weapon is a cross staff, similar to Michiru's, but white and with an extra crossbar perpendicular to the first. The crossbars are also shorter than on Michiru's staff, and there's a small orb at the tip.
"I feel amazing power," Kyuubey observes. "I will get quite a bit of energy when you finally become a witch."
"Umika, let's go!" Kaoru says. "We can't let Kazumi do all the work!"
"Yeah!" Umika says.
"Us too!" Airi says.
"Of course!" Yuuri says.
"Count me in too!" Remi says.
The five of them all transform at once, and let out various cries of surprise as they realize that their outfits have changed.
"Huh?" Kaoru gasps.
"What is this…" Umika wonders.
"Our outfits…" Yuuri begins.
"…have changed!?" Airi finishes.
"This is… so weird!" Remi says.
Kaoru's leotard is replaced by a jacket, ruffle shirt, and frilly shorts. Umika's head covering has been converted to a simple hat covering only the top of her head, her skirt has gained some frills and decorative bows, and the golden lines in a cross motif have vanished from her outfit. Remi's maid outfit is simplified, losing the iconic headband and most of the frills, and her sleeves are shortened to just before the elbow, ultimately making her look more like a waitress than a maid. Yuuri's dress is shortened to mid-calf and gains a lot more frills. Airi has gained a fluttering purple cape with white accents, and her skirt has a new frilly white hem.
"I suppose you were all upgraded, thanks to Kazumi's magic," Kyuubey says.
"That's right," Kazumi says. "That's my ability – boosting. My aura makes all of you stronger, as long as you stay within one hundred metres."
She raises her staff into the air and chants.
"Scala a Paradiso!"
A web of light extends from Kazumi's staff, forming a wide pathway into the sky towards Hyades Daybreak.
"Come on, let's go!" she says.
The six of them hop onto the pathway and run along it. Dark silhouettes of magical girls, similar to Walpurgisnacht's familiars, zoom down and try to attack them, but a single swing of Kazumi's staff is enough to deal with most of them, and even those that swerve around her to attack the others find themselves cut down mercilessly.
The pathway connects to the nearby radio tower, where it turns out Hijiri is waiting for them, with Hyades Daybreak looming behind her.
"Stop this, Hijiri Kanna!" Kazumi shouts.
She jumps at Hijiri and swipes with her staff, but Hijiri deflects it with her whip.
"Kazumi-chan… you made a contract with Kyuubey!?" Hijiri gasps. "You went from being an artificial human to just a shell of a human? How could you do this to me!?"
"Our bodies are nothing but vessels for our souls!" Kazumi retorts.
She dodges an explosion caused by Hijiri and lands nimbly on the edge of the tower.
"You and I both have souls!" Kazumi says, attacking once again. "Since we both have real souls, we can both become magical girls! We're both real magical girls! If we reject that, then what's left for us!?"
"T-that doesn't matter anymore," Hijiri mutters. "I've already decided to use witches to destroy the world!"
"No–" Kazumi begins.
"It's all your fault!" Hijiri shouts. "I'll use the hand that you rejected to destroy your world!"
Hijiri grabs Kazumi by the scruff of the neck and throws her off the tower. Then Umika steps forward with Kaoru. Behind them, the other three are still destroying familiars. Below, Kazumi catches her staff on the edge of the tower and dangles there.
"Miss Kanna, you don't understand what Nico felt!" Umika says. "You have no idea how much she wanted the simple joys that you had!"
"As if that matters now that I'm going to turn into a witch!" Hijiri shouts. "Everyone should just die already!"
She lets out a bloodcurdling scream.
"Whoa, that's harsh," Yuuri says, wincing and covering her ears.
Kazumi flips herself back up onto the tower, looking at Hijiri.
"We have to finish this fast, Kazumi!" Kaoru says.
"I know, but I want to save her," Kazumi says. "I don't want Kanna-chan to die in despair! Everyone, lend me your strength! Let's combine our magic!"
Kazumi seizes Umika and Kaoru's hands, and a moment later, Yuuri, Airi, and Remi join as well. Magical diagrams sprout up beneath their feet, and Kazumi screams out a spell name.
"Meteora Finale!"
Hijiri tries to fight back with her whip, but the six of them zoom straight past her and strike directly at Hyades Daybreak. All of them land a hit on the witch at the same time, and she bursts open in a bright flash of light.
That's when tragedy strikes at the last possible moment. As everyone falls to the ground, Hijiri lashes out with her whip, and by some pure chance, she lands a direct hit on Kazumi's soul gem. Kazumi lets out a gasp, the final sound she'll ever make, as her transformation is cancelled and she falls limp. Everyone else's outfit abruptly returns to its original form as well.
"You…" Remi says, gritting her teeth, her face contorted with sudden fury. "How dare you!"
"No, stop!" Yuuri says, but too late.
Remi blurs down to Hijiri, swinging her halberd. Hijiri's body is cut clean in two, her soul gem shattered along with it, leaving just the five of them to fall to the ground. Umika does something to slow their fall.
"Why'd you do that, Remi-chan?" Yuuri protests once they reach the ground. "Kazumi-chan wanted to save her… even if she's dead, we should have honoured her wishes!"
"I… I'm sorry," Remi says, looking down. "I just got so angry all of a sudden… I couldn't help myself. I know it was wrong…"
Yuuri sighs. "Well, at least you know it," she says. "What's done is done… although…"
She turns to Umika and Kaoru.
"All that stuff about resurrection that I overheard earlier… is it really possible?" Yuuri asks.
"It's possible," Umika says. "However… with just the two of us, I don't think we can pull it off. We'd at least need someone with powers similar to Nico."
"What were Miss Nico's powers?" Yuuri asks.
"Reconstruction," Umika says. "Or you could call it transmutation."
Yuuri and Airi exchange glances.
"W-what about Pernelle?" Airi suggests.
"That's if we can even get hold of her," Yuuri says. "Kazumi-chan did say she went home to Paris, so she's probably long gone by now."
"I see… so we'd have to follow her to Paris," Airi muses. Then she grins. "Well, that sounds like fun!"
Umika blinks. "Y-you're actually considering it?" she says. "Um… who is this Pernelle person, anyway?"
"I don't really know," Yuuri says. "All I can say for sure is that she's a magical girl who's an adult, and she's pretty strong. One of the abilities she showed when we fought alongside her was transforming random objects into lethal weapons, which sounds like it might be what you need. I don't know why she was here though."
"That does sound similar to Nico's reconstruction," Umika muses. "Perhaps there's still hope… but we've already fed Saki's grief seed to Kyuubey, so I doubt we can do much for her…"
"We do still have Michiru's grief seed," Kaoru says. "But it's almost at its limit… we'll need to find another one fast if we want to avoid using it up."
"And Satomi's grief seed… hopefully it's still safe in the Freezer," Umika says. "Kazumi's soul gem was shattered, so I'm not sure if we can do anything with that… and Mirai was swallowed by Saki, so I'm pretty sure she's beyond recovery… but maybe we can still bring back Satomi and Michiru, at least… or make a new Kazumi…"
"But that's all dependent on this Pernelle agreeing to help us," Kaoru muses.
"Yeah," Umika says. "But we should keep the option open. Even if Pernelle won't help us, or if we can't find her… there could be another magical girl somewhere who can. Kazumi asked us not to give up hope, so we've got to hold on!"
"Yeah!" Kaoru says. "For Kazumi!"
"Well, let us know if we can be of any help," Yuuri says. "Let's exchange contact info."
"Sure," Kaoru says.
"Me too," Remi says. "If you need anything, just let me know. I'll probably be working with Miss Mura, so she might tag along too."
Everyone pulls out their phones and taps them together, each tap accompanied by a beep that indicates the information has been transferred. Then they say their goodbyes and split up, each heading their own way – Remi back to the teddy museum, probably to meet up with Fumiko.
I had thought it ended more tragically than the source manga, but in fact that wasn't true at all. Sure, Kazumi may have died; but an untold number of magical girls were saved from the Freezer, too. That would also mean that the Hyades Daybreak that Hijiri created in this timeline was far less powerful than the one from the manga… does that mean Kazumi was weaker too though? It's hard to say. Still, even if the overall scale of the tragedy was reduced, it's still the case that Kazumi died. I'll need to avert that tragedy soon enough.
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.
Hijiri Kanna
聖カンナ
Age: 16
Eye Colour: Yellow
Hair Colour: Blonde
Origins: Created by a wish
Symbol: A pair of green hexagons touching at a single point
Soul Gem: Green double-hexagon gem on her hat
Element: Null
Weapon: Graph whip
Powers: Binding, puppeteering, connecting and copying powers
Wish: "I want the power to connect to others without drawing attention."
Affiliation: Hyades
Speed: 3
Magical Stamina: 5
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 3
Initial Power Usability: 3
Learned Powers: 8
Mura Fumiko
村芙美子
Age: 11
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Brown
Origins: Asunaro, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Orange five-petalled florette
Soul Gem: Orange oval gem on her belt
Element: Fire
Weapon: Cutlass
Powers: Fire, size alteration
Wish: "I wish I was a little taller…"
Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 7
Defensive Power: 2
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)
Subaru Kazumi
昴かずみ
Age: about 1 month, but appears 13
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Homunculus created by the Pleiades Saints from the remains of Kazusa Michiru
Symbol: A white shooting star
Soul Gem: White reverse-S gemstone just below the pompom at her throat
Element: Light
Weapon: Cross staff with orb
Powers: Boost aura, lasers, barriers
Wish: "Make me a real human!"
Affiliation: Pleiades Saints
Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 9
Offensive Power: 9
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 8
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)
Note: Previously I was confused about the order of Hijiri's name. I've updated all references to her full name in past chapters, but I chose to keep referring to her as Hijiri instead of Kanna in the text to reduce the chance of confusion, even though it's counter to my normal practice of always using the given name.