As I predicted, Pernelle accosts the four of us as we leave Yuuri's house the next morning.

"Pardon me," she says. "Ye are Asuka Yuuri and Anri Airi? The esteemed magical girl duo in this area?"

The girls exchange glances, then look at me.

"This is Pernelle?" Yuuri asks. "She looks… surprisingly young?"

"Although I guess you did warn us about that," Airi says.

Pernelle chuckles. "Indeed, I see that Miss Taylor has already told you of me," she says.

"So this is the infamous Pernelle," Inui says. "She's surprisingly… normal? When you said she was a mad scientist type, I expected someone a little bit deranged…"

Pernelle chuckles again. "Oh, believe me, I can be deranged if ye wish for it."

Inui blinks. "Uhh… I'll pass, thanks. Oh, I'm Itsumi Inui, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

Pernelle sighs. "I beg of you to spare me the insincere platitudes, Miss Itsumi," she says. "I value honesty over politeness."

Inui looks quite taken aback by this comment, and steps behind me, clinging to my back as if for protection.

"The heck's her problem…?" she mutters.

"How's that any different from what we said when we first met?" I ask.

"I could tell that you were sincere," Pernelle says. "It was not just words – you truly felt honoured to meet me, even if I understood not the reason. That makes all the difference."

Without further ado, she turns to face Yuuri and Airi again, who have been watching this exchange with vaguely confused looks on their faces.

"I have come for you because I judge your combined strength to be greater than that of the Pleiades Saints," Pernelle says. "Therefore, I beseech a boon from the two of you."

"So… you need our help to fight a witch?" Yuuri says.

Pernelle nods. "I happened upon her yesterday," she says. "She is very powerful. Even for me, she proved too much to handle alone. If left unchecked, she will surely claim the lives of many new magical girls. I thereby beseech your assistance in defeating this witch." Looking at me, she adds, "You are welcome to join as well, Miss Taylor, and your friend."

"I have a name…" Inui mutters.

"Thanks, but we've got something else we need to attend to this morning," I say. "There's a chance that your favourite Pleiades Saint might turn into a witch if we don't go."

"A-and I'm going with Ashley-nee," Inui adds, in a pouty voice. "I'm sure it'll be waaay more fun than fighting alongside Nela-tan anyway!"

Pernelle shows no reaction at all to Inui's sudden nickname for her. I'm not quite sure if she fails to process it or if she simply doesn't care.

"Is that so?" Pernelle says. "But Miss Hijiri Kanna possesses memories of a previous timeline and has undergone a sudden behavioural change… is it not possible that your predictions are now far from the mark?"

I nod. "It's possible, but we want to make sure… and there's also a second reason for usu to go, someone else we want to meet. Besides, we're confident the three of you can beat that witch together. I did have a couple of quick questions for you while you're here, though."

"Then ask," Pernelle says.

"Can you think of any reason why someone would be immune to… or at least unaffected by the spell that renders magical girls unable to see Kyuubey?"

"Do ye mean the spell cast by Misaki Umika?"

I nod, and she continues.

"It is possible that the person in question has a resistance to mental manipulation," Pernelle says. "But if that is not the case… then they would need to satisfy two conditions which at first glance seem incompatible."

"What are the conditions?" I ask.

"The spell affects everyone who was in the city when it first activated," Pernelle explains. "It also affects anyone who entered the city after it was activated. Therefore, if there were someone who was not in the city when it activated and who has not entered the city since, then they would not be affected by the spell."

"Okay… but that seems to rule out anyone currently in the city, right?"

Pernelle nods. "On the face of it, indeed. However… if ye think on it, ye will find there exist some edge cases. For example, a child conceived and born after the spell was activated, whose mother never left the city, and who has not themself left the city after being born, would satisfy both conditions. She may even satisfy the conditions if conceived before the spell activates but born after… I know not when an unborn child first develops their soul."

I blink. "Oh! I think I understand! Remi-chan died long before the spell was cast, but was brought back to life with a wish after it activated, and I guess she's never left town, so she also satisfies both conditions."

Pernelle nods. "Indeed, that sounds as though it would fit."

"That was very helpful," I say. "It's a bit late for it now, but we should be able to make use of that info if we need to reset time again. Um… my other question is more of a request, but… we're about to get our hands on a bunch of disembodied soul gems, and while I'd prefer to find their original bodies, there's a chance they've been cremated. So, I was wondering if you would mind helping out by growing a few bodies? And maybe also convince a certain person that it's ethical?"

Pernelle shakes her head. "Unless there is something in it for me, I have no interest in such a venture. You will have to ask the Pleiades Saints instead. I do however find myself with an overabundance of spare time… who is this certain person?"

"She's a police detective who specializes in cases of missing girls," I say. "And one of her friends when she was younger was a magical girl… the same one who came back to life, actually."

"Hmm… I am not overly fond of the institution known as 'police', but I cannot deny that good people occasionally end up joining. You can let that person know that I may be found at the observation tower on Sunday evenings, or very early on Monday mornings. But whether I am willing to share any information with her… well, that will depend entirely on her."

"Every week?" Airi asks, startled. "Is it like, a personal ritual or something?"

"You could say that," Pernelle says. "Even if I take a liking to that person, I cannot promise I will be able to convince her that the procedure is ethical. All I can do is present the facts and let her decide for herself."

"Alright, I'll let Detective Ishijima know where and when she can meet you," Yuuri says. "So when did you want to fight this witch?"

"At the earliest possible convenience," Pernelle says.

"Well… we're available right now, so let's go!" Yuuri replies. "The longer the wait, the more people she'll eat, right?"

Pernelle nods, turning to lead them away. I wait a few minutes until they've disappeared from sight, then turn to make for the amusement park with Inui in tow. As we go, I use my clairvoyance on Kazumi. Even though events have changed quite a bit from past timelines, I find she's once more at Café Lepa Macha, talking to Mr Tachibana as he takes her cleaned-off breakfast plates. A few minutes later, she spots Nico walking by and goes out to greet her. I watch them make their way towards the amusement park, chatting as they go. Juubey is with them too, which makes me wonder whether they actually read my letter. The conversation also seems kinda different from what I remember before, though my memory's a bit fuzzy so I could be wrong.

Inui and I reach the amusement park before Nico and Kazumi, and we find Hijiri already waiting there. She waves and calls my name.

"Ashley-chan, Inui-chan, over here!"

"How'd it go last night?" I ask. "I thought about watching, but I ended up falling asleep instead…"

"Pretty much how I remember from last time," Hijiri says. "The only difference is, this time I didn't give them any evil nuts."

"That reminds me," I muse. "We should consider coming up with an alternate name for those… once the doppel field is deployed, they might be usable as like, a power-up item…"

Hijiri blinks at me. "H-how could that be possible?" she asks. "They instantaneously inject grief into the soul gem, after all?"

"Well, the doppel field is the key thing here," I explain. "It weaponizes grief by interfering with the witchification process, shielding the soul itself from the curse and instead transferring that curse to the body… or something like that. I haven't experienced it, of course – it's only theoretical at this point – but it means you can essentially take control of your witch form for a short time, while retaining your consciousness."

Inui's eyes go wide. "There's actually a way to not become a witch when your soul gem fills with grief!? That's incredible!"

"You say it's for a short time," Hijiri says. "What happens once that time is up?"

"The grief is… consumed, I suppose? So it leaves your soul gem pure."

"That's… that's amazing, if true!" Hijiri gasps. "I never would've thought something like that could be possible… but what kind of powers would be needed to pull that off?"

"Strange as it sounds, I believe Kyuubey may be able to do it," I say. "All the powers required are powers that Kyuubey itself possesses. I doubt Kyuubey would ever think to use its powers in that way, though, nor would it consent to it if suggested. Although, it's also possible that Kyuubey's powers aren't quite right to pull that off…"

"Y-yeah, you're probably right there," Hijiri nods. "It basically means we'd be using all that energy for our own purposes, rather than giving it to Kyuubey."

"Yeah, pretty much," I nod. "So anyway… I'm not sure exactly how the evil nuts work, so there's a chance I'm wrong and they'd sort of bypass the doppel field and turn you into a witch anyway… but I'd like to try it at some point."

"B-but that's not safe!" Hijiri protests. "What if the guinea pig does turn into a witch?"

"Well… perhaps someone could wish for her to be turned back," I say. "I'd like to try it, but I probably won't unless we can get some guarantee of safety like that."

"As long as I'm not the guinea pig," Inui says. "No way would I take that kind of risk!"

"I wouldn't ask you to," I retort. "I can't ask someone else to be a guinea pig for my theory, after all."

"I wouldn't like you to be the guinea pig either, Ashley-nee," Inui says.

"Well, anyway, we should probably hide ourselves before the Souju twins arrive," Hijiri says.

"I thought you had stealth magic?" I say.

Hijiri shakes her head. "No, not really… or nothing really effective, at least. I can connect to people without them noticing, which I guess is a bit stealthy, and once connected I can prevent them from perceiving my presence as long as they don't look directly at me, but I can't make myself invisible or anything like that. And I've never met a magical girl with stealth powers that I could copy."

So we move off into a side street, keeping the amusement park entrance visible. In my vision on the side, I see Kazumi and Nico leaping over the fence somewhere. Soon after, Souju appears, strolling casually along and leaping over the fence as well, next to the entrance. We hurry out to follow her, making sure she's sufficiently far away before carefully leaping over the fence ourselves. Then we transform and hide behind some bushes to watch what she does.

That's when Nico addresses Souju. I can now hear her with my actual ears, so I shut off the vision.

"Did you get separated from your mommy, little girl?"

"Stop playing dumb," the girl retorts, showing off a soul gem. "I'm Souju Ayase, and I have something super-cool to show you."

She pulls out a whole host of soul gems, which sort of float around her. One of the twins must have telekinesis, to be able to do that.

"I'm collecting them, you see," Ayase explains. "These gems are unmatched in beauty, because they shine with the light of life!"

"What a disgusting hobby," Nico retorts.

"Oh my, but weren't you Pleiades Saints doing the same thing earlier?" Ayase points out. "I clearly saw you gem picking. That girl was only slightly dirtied and didn't bother anyone, but you girls really wanted her, right?"

This is where things go a little differently. Before she can stow away the soul gems again, I drag them from her grasp with my telekinesis, and they float backwards into a neat pile on the ground. In fact, I'm pretty sure that pile contains more soul gems than were originally floating around her, perhaps thanks to Hijiri supporting me and drawing out additional gems. I reach out to pull them in closer, depositing them in a cloth bag I'd brought along for that sole purpose. She doesn't seem to notice what I've done.

"So, tell me your names," Ayase says.

"H-huh?" Kazumi finally manages to speak.

Ayase pulls out an empty box, intending to show off the contents.

"Gems need… huh?"

Her winning smile fades as she realizes that the soul gems within are gone.

"W-who… what…" She looks around wildly. "Come out, you thief!"

I step out from my hiding place, holding up the bag.

"Looking for these?" I ask.

"W-why you—"

But at this point, Nico steps forward.

"The only thing that needs a name is your gravestone," she says.

Ayase nevertheless transforms and charges me with her katana, and I summon my sword to block the attack.

"Sorry, but we can't leave you running amok any longer," I say. "Your gem picking days end here."

Nico transforms too, attacking with finger missiles and forcing Ayase to back off from me. Inui emerges from the hiding place and takes the bag of soul gems as I pass it to her, and then I return to the fight, although Nico is doing most of the fighting, what with her clones and all. It seems as though Ayase is winning even despite that, but then Nico pops up behind her.

"Tocco del Mare," she intones.

"You haven't won yet, Miss Kanna!" I say. "There's another soul gem!"

With her trick blown, Souju Luca seems to decide that feigning unconsciousness is not worthwhile. She grabs Nico's arm and transforms, sending her flying, but before she can grab hold of Ayase's soul gem, I seize hold of it with my telekinesis and drag it out of Luca's reach.

"Nooo!" Luca screams. "Give back Ayase's soul gem! That's my greatest treasure!"

With Nico out of commission, and Kazumi running over to check up on her, I'm forced to deal with Luca on my own, although Inui summons her flame whip in one hand and a ball of pink flames in the other, watching for an opening. I transform Luca's gem into ring form – it takes more effort than transforming my own, as if it's trying to resist – and slip it on my finger with my own ring, then raise my sword to block Luca's attack.

"Give her back! Give her back!" Luca screams.

She's attacking with abandon, almost blindly. It's pretty easy to parry all her blows. These twins may be very powerful together, but split them up and they're just about average.

"We're willing to give her back," I say. "But we have a few conditions."

"Shut up!" Luca shouts. "Why should I negotiate with kidnappers!?"

"The hell are you talking about?" I ask. "It's no different from what you two were doing, is it?"

"I don't care!" Luca shouts. "How dare you try to take Ayase from me!? I'll never forgive you!"

"That's fine, we're not looking for forgiveness," I retort. "We just have a few conditions. If you stop attacking us and listen, and if you agree to the conditions, we'll give her back."

But Luca refuses to stop attacking. Although it's easy to block her attacks, getting in one of my own is surprisingly hard – she attacks so fast that I don't really have a chance to do anything but parry. Then help steps in from an unexpected direction.

"Limiti Esterni!"

A beam strikes Luca in the side, sending her flying. I leap after her, but she twists in midair and manages to land on her feet. That's when Inui strikes.

"Look at me!" she shouts.

Thanks to the charm effect impeding her movement, Luca stumbles and falls to the ground, and I manage to plant a foot on her stomach before it wears off.

"Now are you willing to listen?" I ask.

She bursts into tears.

"Ugh," Luca sobs. "How… how dare you… Ayase… my precious Ayase… g-give her back!"

"Let me explain my conditions," I say. "Condition one – stop collecting soul gems."

Luca gasps. "H-how dare you make demands like that!? We can do whatever we want!"

"Sure you can," I say. "But we're asking you not to do that, and if you don't promise, we won't give Ayase back."

Luca opens her mouth as if to say something else, but then she grimaces and looks away, wiping at her tears.

"Condition two – accompany us to meet a certain person. Condition three – give us a list of girls whose gems you stole, at least the ones you know the names of. That's it for our conditions, but there's another benefit to doing as we say."

Luca looks up again, glaring at me.

"There's nothing you could do to convince me!" she retorts.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you," I reply. "Wouldn't it be nice if you could hold Ayase in your arms?"

Luca blinks. "W-what!? That…th-there's no way…"

I nod. "Yes, if you do as we say, then you'll be able to hold her."

Luca falls silent for a minute or two, presumably thinking it over. Then she nods.

"Alright… if you can fulfill that, then I'll agree to your stupid conditions," she grumbles.

"That's no good," I say. "The person we mentioned in condition two is the person who can make that happen. We don't mind if you put off agreeing to the other conditions, though."

Luca nods and powers down. "Fine… then just… show me the way…"

I look around and see that Nico is back on her feet, still transformed, and Hijiri has finally stepped out from her hiding place. Nico's eyes widen upon spotting her.

"You… what are you doing here?" she asks.

"I've got a bone to pick with you," Hijiri says.

Nico blinks. "Eh? What do you mean? I've never done anything to you…"

"Don't play dumb!" Hijiri shouts. "You created me with your wish, didn't you?"

"H-how did you… find out about that?" Nico asks.

"I saw you," Hijiri says. "I saw you fighting a witch with the others. I was so shocked to see someone identical to me, running around fighting monsters. Then something told me all about you and offered me a wish of my own… though I never properly saw it. So I took the chance to get even with you!"

Nico blinks. "I… what? I don't get it… you're mad at me for… for creating you? That doesn't make any sense…?"

"That's not it, exactly," Hijiri says. "You're the original, right? So I started to think I'm actually just a fake, that my sisters and parents were fake too. Like a doll, living in a story you made up, just to give you fake happiness. I thought I was just a puppet in your sick fantasy! Can you tell me that any of that was wrong!?"

Nico blinks. "That's… I can't even… how could you… I mean, it's so off the mark that I don't know what to say…?"

"Really?" Hijiri says. "If I'm so off the mark, then why don't you start explaining yourself? By the way, I've already seen the news article… I know you caused the death of your sisters."

Kazumi gasps. "W-what!? There's no way… Nico-chan would never do something like that!"

"No, it's true, Kazumi-chan," Nico says. "I was going to tell you one day anyway, so it might as well be today. It was an accident. When I was a kid, I got my hands on a loaded gun while visiting my grandparents in California, and the safety had been left off. It accidentally fired a shot, which ricocheted, killing my little sisters and badly injuring me."

"O-oh… so it was an accident," Kazumi says. "I'm so sorry to hear that…"

Nico looks at Hijiri. "I didn't make my wish to give myself fake happiness. It wasn't so I could watch you from afar and see what I missed out on, either. I've never even gone near you, not even once. I've left you to live your life in peace, knowing the happiness that could have been mine if I hadn't been so stupid when I was younger. If you're going to say you and your sisters are fake, I can't really deny it, but your parents are my real parents. They're not the slightest bit fake. And your friends, anyone you've known for more than a year, they're my real former friends as well. I gave my whole life to you to atone for my stupidity. If you want to call yourself fake… it makes me sad, but I can't find a counterargument."

I decide this is my time to speak up.

"I think I have a counterargument though," I say. "Miss Kanna… um, Nico-chan, that is… your wish was to make a duplicate of yourself, or something along those lines, right?"

Nico nods.

"Something like that…"

"If your wish was properly fulfilled, then surely the duplicate would be a faithful copy," I say. "In that case, how could you call her a fake? Isn't she more like a twin? Or a clone?"

Nico blinks. "Hmm… you may have a point there, Miss Taylor."

Kazumi blinks. "Wait… have you met Miss Taylor before, Nico-chan?" she asks.

"I have," Nico says. "Wait… have you met her too, Kazumi-chan?"

Kazumi nods. "Just yesterday though…"

"I think I understand your position a little bit, Nico-chan," Hijiri says. "But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it."

Nico nods. "I guess you wouldn't've become a magical girl if you were happy…" she says. "Honestly, you were never supposed to find out… but I'm not going to apologize for what I've done. Even if you were unsatisfied, you still have a happier life than I did."

"Hijiri… I mean, Kanna-chi, let's go before the rest of the Pleiades Saints show up," I say.

"Right… it's best if we don't have to confront them all at once," Hijiri agrees.

"One last thing before we go… Nico-chan, did you guys read our letter yet?"

Nico shakes her head. "We hadn't gotten a chance yet… but if you're in town anyway, why don't you just say it to our faces?"

"That's funny, since you yourselves have ensured that those words cannot be uttered in your presence," I retort. "Anyway, if you wish to chat with us over the contents of the letter, you can get in touch with me through either Kanna-chi or Asuka Yuuri."

Nico nods, and without waiting for further response from her, I take my foot off Luca and help her to her feet. Then I summon Teddy Mk II and hop on his head, dragging Luca up with me. Inui and Hijiri hop onto the arms, and we zoom up into the air.

"Kanna-chi, where do we go from here?" I ask.

"Um… that depends on what you're looking for?" Hijiri says.

"Oh… did I forget to mention?" I say. "We're looking for Pernelle's place… although I guess she'll be out at the moment, but we can just wait for her."

"Oh, of course, I should've realized," Hijiri says. "It's over there…"

I follow Hijiri's directions and land in a small park. We all power down, and Hijiri leads us the rest of the way. I let Luca walk by herself but keep her hand tightly grasped in mine. For some reason, Inui grabs my other hand as we walk along.

We walk up to a small Western-style bungalow with a sign indicating it's for sale, and Hijiri just opens the door and steps inside. Inui releases my hand to follow her inside and gasps. As I too step in, I realize what she's seeing – a witch-like portal with a familiar design, consisting of a central caduceus and various alchemical formulae.

"Th-there's a witch here!?" Inui gasps.

I shake my head. "No, that's no witch's labyrinth," she says. "That's Pernelle's labyrinth."

Inui blinks. "Pernelle can create a labyrinth? Ohhh right, you mentioned that before… sorry, I totally forgot!"

I nod. "Yup, and unlike a witch she can sustain it even when she herself is not inside it."

Come to think of it, that's true of Alina Grey as well… is it just that witches are too stupid to figure out how to make their labyrinths persist? Or… no, I guess it's because the whole point of the labyrinth is for them to hide in, so they don't even want to leave. It's not that they can't sustain it so much as that they just don't bother to.

But when Hijiri tries to step through the portal, it rejects her with a soft doorbell sound.

"…and I guess we can't even enter without an invitation or something," I say. "Well, we can just wait around here, so it's fine."

I flop down on one of the couches, still gripping Luca's hand, and Inui flops down beside me. Hijiri chooses an armchair opposite us, and I close my eyes to see how the Pleiades Saints have reacted to the abduction of their intended prey.

"Everyone…" Kazumi says.

It seems like the rest of the Pleiades Saints have literally just shown up.

"Kazumi…" Saki says, startled to see her. Then she looks at Nico. "Did that girl… not take the bait?"

Nico shakes her head. "She showed up just as we'd hoped," she says. "But there was interference."

"What do you mean?" Saki asks. "There shouldn't be any other magical girls in the area who could compete with us… other than maybe Asuka Yuuri, but she is on the other side of town… wait, was it her?"

Nico shakes her head again. "No… it was a magical girl from out of town," she says. "Ashley Taylor… do you remember her?"

Saki gasps. "She said she had no intention of invading our turf or anything… did she change her mind?"

"I'm not sure," Nico says. "Actually, that little girl nearly defeated me… but Miss Taylor seemed to already be aware of her trick and managed to capture her with surprising ease."

"What do you mean, her trick?" Saki asks.

"Turns out she had two soul gems," Nico says. "She's two people in one body… I never could've predicted that, but Miss Taylor already knew somehow."

"Huh… and Miss Taylor was acting alone?"

Nico shakes her head. "She had two friends with her… but she did almost all the fighting herself, so I'm not sure what their powers were. Actually, I'm not even sure what Miss Taylor's powers are – she fought only using her sword."

"She didn't have a sword last time we met," Saki says. "If I recall correctly, she was fighting with fist and foot, plus a giant teddy bear that was stomping on the familiars… are you certain it was Ashley Taylor?"

Nico nods. "A giant teddy bear, you say? That pretty much proves it. She didn't use it as a weapon, but it did appear at the end… she flew away on it."

"Huh, so she's capable of self-powered flight," Saki says. "Do you know where she took that girl?"

"I'm not quite sure," Nico says. "She promised one of them that she knew someone who could do something that would allow the two of them to 'hold each other'… but she didn't mention that person's name. They could be anywhere."

"Hey, um, Saki-chan, everyone," Kazumi says. "I thought that girl… those girls just attacked out of nowhere, but… it sounds like you were actually provoking her… them? Why did you do that? Why aren't you telling me anything? We're supposed to be friends!"

"We just… want you to be happy," Saki says. "We don't want you to have to bear these heavy burdens…"

"But isn't that what friends are for?" Kazumi protests. "I want to share your burdens! Please… just tell me! If you don't… I'll just find Ashley-chan again and ask her to tell me everything she knows. But I'd rather hear it from you guys…"

"Oh, that's right, you said you met her yesterday," Nico says. "Did she tell you anything strange?"

"Yeah, lots of stuff…" Kazumi nods. "Like about what happens to magical girls when their soul gems get completely tainted… and she also said… there was a girl named Kazusa Michiru who looked exactly like me, but she died a long time ago… and she said I'm not actually a magical girl… and she went into quite a bit of detail on some of these things…"

The looks on the faces of the Pleiades Saints grow progressively shocked and startled as she reels off what she's heard. Finally, Saki ventures a response.

"C-come on, Kazumi," Saki says. "Are you saying you believe someone you just met over us?"

"Well, it's not that simple," Kazumi says. "Miss Taylor wasn't alone… there were several other magical girls with her, and one of them recognized me and called me 'Kazusa Michiru'… so I know she has to exist."

"Yes, of course," Saki nods. "She definitely exists… she's you…"

"And another of the magical girls said she had actually turned into a witch," Kazumi continues.

Umika blinks. "W-wait, what!? That should be impossible!"

Kazumi shoots her a look. "What exactly is impossible?" she asks.

"U-um…" Umika backpedals a little, unsure how to respond.

"It's impossible for a magical girl to turn into a witch?" Kazumi suggests.

"W-well, um…" Umika seems reluctant to lie outright

"If that's not it… then what is it!?" Kazumi shouts. "Does that mean it's true, that magical girls really do turn into witches!?"

Saki lets out a long sigh and averts her gaze from Kazumi.

"It's… it's true," she mutters. "S-sometimes it happens…"

"Then what exactly is impossible!?" Kazumi shouts.

"The thing is," Umika says. "Although magical girls can turn into witches… there's no way to turn a witch back into a magical girl. So, if a girl had become a witch, she couldn't possibly have told you that she became a witch, because she would still be a witch."

"Ah, Yuuri-chan asked about that too," Kazumi says.

"Eh? Asuka Yuuri was there too?" Nico asks.

"Y-yeah, she was the one who recognized me," Kazumi says.

"Huh… I didn't even know that Michiru and Miss Asuka ever met," Saki muses.

"A-anyway, when Yuuri-chan asked about it, Moe-chan said she used her wish to bring the other girl back from being a witch," Kazumi explains.

"Ah… I see," Umika says with a sigh. "So it truly is just a miracle, then… not something that can easily be reproduced."

"Umika… maybe we should look at that letter," Kaoru speaks up. "Perhaps it will explain what Miss Taylor is thinking to some degree."

Umika nods. "Alright… I was hoping it could wait until we got home, but…"

"Let's use the lounge in the lab," Satomi suggests.

Umika blinks at her. "You sure?" Then she looks at the others. "Are you all okay with that?"

"Well… I guess," Saki says. "It's not far, too, so that's convenient…"

"What's this about a lab?" Kazumi asks, confused.

"You'll see soon enough," Saki replies.

The seven of them power down and head off, and before long they arrive at Angelica Bears.

"W-whoa, what's this place?" Kazumi asks.

"It's my teddy bear museum," Mirai explains. "We've set up some personal space in a secret basement, including the lounge that Satomi mentioned."

Kazumi gasps. "It's yours!? But it's huuuge…"

"You were the one who named it though, Kazumi," Mirai says. "This museum was born because you met us."

"Um… I'm not so sure about that," Kazumi mutters.

They head inside, and Kazumi watches closely as Umika activates the teleportation circle. However, instead of approaching the huge door adorned with gears, they head into a side room containing three couches, an armchair, a low table, and a counter on the side with everything required to brew tea or coffee. There's also a small bookshelf crammed with books opposite the counter, most of which seem to be on scientific or technological topics. Everyone finds a place to sit, with Saki and Mirai on one couch, Umika and Kaoru on another, and Satomi and Nico on the third. After some hesitation, Kazumi decides to claim the armchair instead of cramming onto one of the couches, and Juubey curls up on her lap. Then Umika takes out the letter and reads it out loud.

"Dear Pleiades Saints, allow me to be frank. The experiment you are performing is endangering your lives and those of all the magical girls around you. The problem however is not the experiment itself but the fact that you've forgotten you're even running it and cannot observe the results and identify that it is a failure."

Umika looks up.

"What's she talking about?" Saki asks. "Were we performing some kind of experiment?"

"Maybe she's talking about…" Nico glances at Kazumi. "But I can't see how that would be seen as dangerous…"

"Well, it seems like she's going to explain what she's talking about," Umika says. "Should I read the rest?"

"Yeah… might as well read it to the end," Saki says.

"Since you do not remember starting the experiment, I will refresh your memory. I refer to Juubey, your modified incubator. To put it simply, Juubey is not capable of purifying your soul gems. I won't speculate on what he actually does when he appears to purify them, but it's a façade concealing the true level of grief in your gems. Even if your soul gem is gleaming, it's possible you may be just on the edge of turning into a witch. Instead of relying on Juubey, you need to start using grief seeds to purify your soul gems."

Juubey looks up at the mention of his name, but doesn't try to say anything in his defence.

"So she's saying a grief seed can purify a soul gem?" Kaoru blinks. "Come to think of it… I feel like I used to know that… how could I have forgotten?"

"It's not quite finished," Umika says. "Should I read the rest?"

"Go on," Saki says.

"I understand that you want to rebel against the magical girl system. I hate that system too. But modifying your memories to forget about grief seeds and Kyuubey is just counterproductive. Extending that effect to everyone in the city is just hurting all the other magical girls who live there. Please, I beg you to stop, and release Asunaro from your false dream. Yours truly, Ashley Taylor."

The Pleiades Saints fall silent for awhile. Finally, Saki speaks up.

"What do you think?" she asks. "It all sounds rather incredible…"

"I think it's at least partially true," Umika says. "Some of the things she's saying just sort of ring true… as if I used to know them, but somehow forgot. That spell she mentions… did I cast something like that? It certainly seems like something I'd be capable of…"

"Is there a way you can confirm whether the spell exists?" Nico asks.

Umika nods slowly. "If it's there, I should be able to use my analysis magic to detect it…"

She closes her eyes for a moment, concentrating. Then her eyes fly open and she looks straight up.

"W-what!? There… there is a large-scale spell across the whole city… in fact, there's two large-scale spells, but they seem to be interfering with each other…"

"What do you mean?" Kaoru asks. "Did you cast them?"

"One of them does seem to match my magic," Umika says. "But the other… I've never felt this magic before. It's… if anything, I think it's a bit similar to Nico's magic, but… it doesn't match up with anyone I know."

"And you said the two spells are interfering with each other?" Saki asks.

Umika nods. "Yes… the other spell seems to be carefully constructed to cancel out my spell," she says. "But it's less powerful than my spell, so it only succeeds in cancelling where the spell is weaker, further from the focal point… that is, me, and to a lesser extent, the five of you."

Suddenly Nico gasps. "That… that seems to fit with something Ashley Taylor said earlier," she says. "She said… it was something like, 'you have made sure that those words can't be spoken in your presence' – she was talking about the contents of that letter."

Umika nods slowly. "Yes… that seems to fit with what I'm seeing here," she says. "Just a second… I'll break the spell, and you should immediately understand what I mean."

She closes her eyes and focuses again for a moment, and then the others all blink or let out a tiny gasp as the information her spell had blocked off comes back to them.

"So we weren't able to escape from the fairies after all," Kaoru says.

"You mean the incubators," Umika says bitterly. "Kyuubey! Are you there!?"

Kyuubey steps out from the shadows behind one of the couches and hops up onto the low table.

"Long time no see, Pleiades," it says.

Kazumi stares at it. "So… you're Kyuubey? It was you who made the Pleiades Saints into magical girls?"

"That is correct," Kyuubey says. "Hello, Kazumi. We have not properly met before now."

"Y-yeah, hi…" Kazumi looks at Juubey. "So… is this like, your brother or something?"

"How rude!" Juubey protests. "I'm much more handsome than that little cad!"

Mirai giggles. "It's true…"

"I do not have brothers," Kyuubey says. "The creature you are holding is no longer one of me."

"So where have you been all this time, Kyuubey?" Kaoru asks.

"I never left," Kyuubey says.

"You were spying on us?"

"I did nothing at all," Kyuubey replies. "You girls simply could not see me."

Umika nods slowly. "I… erased you, didn't I… that barrier, it renders magical girls unable to perceive you, and replaces their memories of you with Juubey… and it's also why we forgot we can cleanse our soul gems with a grief seed…"

"I'm a little confused about that," Kazumi admits. "Why would you want to forget about grief seeds?"

"We didn't want to use the remains of a friend to stay alive," Umika says.

"It 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. Juubey is unable to draw out all the corruption from your gems. It just polishes 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 soul gems without grief seeds? In point of fact, your Juubey is only effective at cleaning when it has a grief seed in its stomach to absorb the corruption."

The incubator looks around at the assembled girls.

"Well, at this point, it would be difficult for all of you to avoid turning into witches," it says. "But if you hunted a witch right now, perhaps some of you could be saved."

Umika glares at it. "What are you talking about? Our soul gems are completely clean!"

Kyuubey looks at her and tilts its head slightly.

"Were you not listening to what I said earlier? Your soul gems have not once been fully purified in the past six months. Although you partially purified them a couple of days ago, a single grief seed is not enough for six soul gems."

"Can we put that aside for a minute?" Kazumi interrupts. "We came here to talk about the things Ashley-chan told me, remember?"

Kyuubey turns to face her.

"Curious… and what did Ashley Taylor tell you?"

"U-um… lots of things," Kazumi says. "First of all… who am I, really?"

"Y-you're Kazumi," Saki says. "Kazusa Michiru…"

Kazumi frowns a little. "Can you prove that, though? I don't have any memories, after all."

"Um, that's…" Umika begins, but she's silenced by a look from Saki.

"Isn't your magic proof enough?" Saki asks. "It's undoubtedly Michiru's… your magic!"

"Then can you prove that what Ashley-chan told me is not true?" Kazumi says.

"Uhh… what exactly did she tell you?" Saki asks.

"She said that Kazusa Michiru died around a year ago, maybe more," Kazumi says. "She said I'm a homunculus made in Michiru's image… sort of like a clone. She said I'm not even a magical girl, and my soul is still in my body where it belongs. She said this—" She pulls out her soul gem. "—is actually Michiru-chan's grief seed."

"Isn't that story a little too incredible to believe?" Saki says. "I mean… compared to the simpler theory…"

"It's just, it fits together too well," Kazumi says. "It is pretty incredible, but I can't see any holes in it… so I'll ask again… can you prove it's not true?"

Saki looks around at the others, a little panicked.

"Um… well…"

"Saki… at this point, I think we should just tell her everything," Umika says.

"B-but…"

"She said she wanted to hear it from us, right?" Kaoru says. "And if we refuse to tell her, she'll go chat with Miss Taylor again. So… either way, she's going to hear everything, right?"

"I'm not sure how Miss Taylor knows what she knows, but she does seem to be preternaturally informed about our situation," Nico says. "And what she wrote in the letter checked out, too. So I'm inclined to suspect that she really does know everything, somehow."

Saki hangs her head and sighs.

"A-alright… fine," she groans. "I guess we have no choice."

"Pretty much everything you mentioned just now is true," Umika says. "Although 'homunculus' seems to be a term she applied herself…"

"You can't say it doesn't fit though," Nico admits.

"I suppose," Umika says. "Kazumi, the reason you don't have any memories from before is because that was when you were born… we could have given you all of Michiru's memories, but we chose not to."

Kazumi blinks. "H-huh? But… why not?"

"Because Michiru-chan herself rejected that," Umika explains. "You see… you're not the first attempt we made at bringing her back. When she had all her memories, she went mad from the knowledge… sometimes she even killed people. So, we gave up on implanting Michiru's memories."

"Which is why we made a magical girl with a different personality," Kaoru says. "So I guess… it's kinda weird to say you're the same person, huh?"

"H-how many times have you tried…?" Kazumi asks.

"You're the thirteenth attempt," Umika says.

"What happened to all the others?" Kazumi asks.

The Pleiades Saints, other than Saki, all exchange glances, and Kazumi seems to sense something is up.

"What happened to them!?" she repeats, raising her voice.

"We…" Nico begins, then trails off before starting over. "We decided to… kill them."

Kazumi blinks. "H-how could you!?" she shouts. "You were the ones who brought them into this world, and then you go and kill them?"

"They were… dangerous," Umika mutters. "Remember I said some of them killed people? They were deranged… a danger to others…"

"I hate it too," Kaoru says. "But I'm not sure what else we could've done…"

"So… I'm the only one left?" Kazumi says.

Mirai suddenly grabs Saki's arm.

"Tell her, Saki-chan! You're the one who should do it!"

Saki looks at Mirai, startled, then looks around at the others before settling her gaze on Kazumi for a few moments. Then she looks away again.

"Saki took charge of… disposing of the… failures," Umika says.

"I… I couldn't do it," Saki mutters. "I couldn't kill someone who has Michiru's face…"

Kazumi blinks. "Wait… so they're… not dead? Then where are they?"

"They're… here," Saki mutters. "Asleep… in tanks…"

"Can… can I meet them?" Kazumi asks. "Speak with them, maybe?"

"I… I don't think that's a good idea," Saki mutters.

"Yeah… I have to agree," Umika says. "It's too dangerous."

"What's the problem?" Satomi cuts in. "She's the one taking the risk, ain't she? And she's the only one with magic."

"Satomi-chan… thank you…"

"That's true," Umika says. "I suppose if we let you meet them one at a time… that shouldn't be too dangerous."

"Okay, so that's enough about me," Kazumi says. "What about the other thing that Ashley-chan told me?"

"You mean… about witches?" Kaoru asks.

Kazumi shakes her head. "Not that… about how you're kidnapping girls and locking them up… stealing their soul gems or whatever!"

"Well, that…" Umika trails off. "It was for their own protection… to prevent them from turning into witches. Everyone in there is close to their limit."

"But now you know how to purify them!" Kazumi says. "So there's no reason to keep them locked up anymore, right?"

Umika shakes her head. "It's not that simple, Kazumi… it could take months to gather enough grief seeds to purify everyone's soul gem… we can get at most two or three a week, but if we're going to stop relying so much on Juubey, we'll need to use most of those grief seeds ourselves."

"So, if there was a way to purify them all at once, would you let everyone go?" Kazumi asks.

"You know that's impossible!" Umika says. "Even Juubey can't purify that many!"

"Just hypothetically!" Kazumi says.

"Well… we did say we'd let them go when we were able to purify them," Nico admits. "So…"

Umika nods. "Yeah… I guess…"

Saki nods too. "Indeed… if there were a way… then we could let them go."

The others nod too.

"Then I'll hold you to that," Kazumi says, standing up. "Um… I'd like to be alone for now, to think about what you've told me, so I'm going to go out. Don't do anything crazy, okay?"

She deposits Juubey on Umika's lap, then looks at Kyuubey, who has been listening to the entire conversation in complete silence.

"Actually… I'd like to ask you a few questions as well," she says.

"Then I will accompany you for a little while," Kyuubey says.

It hops on her shoulder, and she leaves the lounge, making for the teleportation circle and returning to the surface.

"My, my, to think that you'd invade my living space, Mademoiselle Ashley."

I'm jolted out of the vision by a familiar voice speaking French. Opening my eyes, I peer up at Pernelle. It seems Inui has fallen asleep on my shoulder.

"I don't think you can call it invading when it wouldn't even let me in," I point out in the same language.

"You misunderstand," she says. "This house is my present living space. The labyrinth is merely a laboratory."

"O-oh, I see… in that case, I'm sorry?"

"Well, you've brought me something very interesting, so I'll forgive you," she says. "That girl… she appears to be carrying two souls in one body."

"Yeah, I thought you'd be interested," I say.

She turns to address Luca in Japanese.

"Good afternoon," she says. "I am Pernelle. I am very happy to make your acquaintance… may I inquire after your name?"

Luca blinks up at her. "W-what's with your way of talking?" she asks. "It's a bit hard to understand… but if it's my name you want, it's Souju Luca… and that one over there's holding my sister Ayase hostage."

She hooks her thumb at me, and I hold up Ayase's soul gem, now back in gem form.

"Guilty as charged," I say.

"Ye really must permit me to study you," Pernelle says. "I have long theorized that two souls could share a body, yet this is the first time I have seen a stable two-soul state successfully achieved. Are ye identical twins, or just sisters? Or… were ye one person made two by your wish?"

"Uhh… yes, we were identical twins," Luca says. "W-what do you mean by study…? You're not gonna dissect us or anything, are you?"

Pernelle blinks. "Now, why would I do such a thing?" she asks. "How would that even help me? If my intent were to study your body, then yes, of course I would have to dissect you, but it is your souls that interest me. It is not as if dissection would kill you, though. After all, ye are magical girls… should ye not know this? Ye are not so easy to kill as that."

Luca blinks at her. "Y-yeah, I guess I knew that magical girls are hard to kill, but I still wouldn't wanna be dissected! Even if it wouldn't kill me, it sure as hell would hurt! Anyway, dissection or no, what's in it for me, huh?"

"Hmm… well, I could grow you a spare body," Pernelle says. "There must be both advantages and disadvantages to sharing a body. If ye could share sometimes and split apart at others, then could ye not have the best of both worlds?"

Luca blinks. "Y-y-you mean… I could hold Ayase!?"

"Yes… I suppose that is one possibility," Pernelle nods.

Luca looks at me and nods.

"A-alright… but I can't just decide without asking Ayase…"

"All I need you to do is promise to honour the two conditions I spelled out," I say. "Then I'll give Ayase back to you."

"Alright, I get it!" Luca grumbles. "I'll stop collecting soul gems for awhile! You happy now!?"

"I'd prefer if you left out the 'for awhile' part," I retort. "Promise me you won't collect soul gems ever again."

"F-f-fine, but… what about Ayase?"

"Of course, she's not allowed to collect them either," I retort.

"Okay… I won't collect any more soul gems, okay?"

"Thank you," I nod. "But there was another condition, remember?"

Luca blinks. "I… I don't think I can remember all the names…"

"That's fine, just give me the ones you remember," I say.

"Okay… I'll write them down later," Luca grumbles. "Now give her back!"

I lean forward and pass Ayase's soul gem back to her, and she turns it into ring form and slips it on her hand, so that she now has a ring on the middle finger of both hands. Both fingers also bear a mark on the middle fingernail – a red chess pawn on one, and an inverted white teardrop on the other. Souju closes her eyes for a few moments, perhaps to communicate telepathically with her sister. Then she opens her eyes again.

"Okay, lady, so Luca says you can grow us a new body, is that true?" she asks.

"Yes, indeed it is," Pernelle says. "All I require is a DNA sample and a few specialized ingredients… which I happen to have on hand anyway."

"And you!" she says, turning to point at me. "How dare you extort us like that!"

"You're one to talk," I retort. "Kidnapping girls just because you liked the shine of their soul gem."

"I don't see the problem with that," Ayase retorts. "We're just doing as we please. I have no intention of listening to you."

"Are you saying you're gonna break your promise… sorry, Luca's promise?"

"I haven't decided yet," Ayase says.

"Well… I'll let you stew over it for awhile," I say. "I'm still not giving back your previous collection though."

"Now, I must ask everyone to leave," Pernelle says. "Except for Miss Souju, of course."

"Sure… I guess I don't really need anything else from you right now," I say. "Oh, wait, there was one thing… you made my sword for me, right? Is there any chance you could make a weapon for someone else too, like a bow?"

"W-wait, Pernelle made your sword for you!?" Yuuri gasps.

I blink at her, for I hadn't even noticed she and Airi were there.

"Oh uhh, hi Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan," I say. "Yeah, she made that sword."

"I thought the sword was just your magic weapon," Yuuri says. "You know, like how I have my syringe or Airi-chan has her pistols…"

I shake my head. "No, my magic weapon is Teddy Mk II…"

"…that's supposed to be a weapon?" Yuuri asks.

"Apparently! I don't get it either!"

"Well, I do have Cole so I guess that's also kinda similar," Airi points out.

"True…" Yuuri admits.

"Excuse me," Pernelle cuts in. "I believe I was asked a question. Do ye wish to hear the answer or not?"

"Ahh, sorry, yes I would," I say quickly.

"The answer to your question, 'is there any chance', is yes," Pernelle says. "There is a chance. However, I would have to meet the girl who will use the weapon, and decide for myself whether to take on the task."

I nod. "Alright, I kinda figured. Thanks."

I gently nudge Inui awake, and she sits up suddenly, blinking at me.

"N-not there!" she gasps.

"Huh? Are you okay, Inui-chan?" I ask.

She blinks at me. "O-oh, Ashley-chan… no, I'm fine, I was just dreaming."

"Nightmares?"

"I'd hardly call it a nightmare…" she says.

"Well… alright. Let's go."

"Wait, wasn't there one more thing?" Hijiri cuts in.

I look at her in confusion. "Was there?"

Hijiri nods. "Grief seeds!"

I blink. I'd gotten it into my head that Remi was going to request the grief seeds but… yeah, since we're here anyway, wouldn't it make more sense to get it over with? Especially since Pernelle seems like she won't want to be bothered for a bit now…

"R-right…" I turn to Pernelle. "I was wondering if you could spare a few grief seeds?"

Pernelle nods. "How many do ye need?"

"Um… enough to purify about… fifty soul gems, I guess?"

Pernelle nods. "I lack the requested number on my person, since we used quite a few against the witch," she says. "Wait here for a second. Souju… you shall come too."

She grabs Souju's hand and drags her through the portal despite her protests. About a minute later, she emerges from the barrier to hand me a bag.

"Here," she says. "Twenty-five grief seeds, as ye requested. Now can ye leave me in peace for awhile?"

Everyone else gasps at the number, but I just nod.

"Thank you very much! That's even more than I expected…"

Without another word, Pernelle vanishes back into the barrier, and the rest of us head towards Café Lepa Macha to meet with the Shiina sisters.

"I've decided," Kazumi announces.

We've just settled down for the meal we ordered at Café Lepa Macha, and before even starting to dig in, she looks around the table with a serious look on her face. Pretty much everyone is here – the Shiina sisters on her right, Yuuri and Airi to her left, and Inui and Hijiri flanking me, with Kazumi directly opposite me. I hadn't expected Kazumi to show up at the meeting, but I do welcome her presence. Mr Tachibana commented on the size of our group, but seemed happy to have the business nevertheless.

"What have you decided, Kazumi-chan?" Inui asks. "Is it something tasty? Or maybe a cool finishing move?"

"No, nothing like that," Kazumi says. "I've decided to become a magical girl… and I'm going to work to bring Kazusa Michiru back to life."

Inui blinks. "Huh? But you already know what that's like… you'd do it even though you know the truth?"

"I won't become a witch," Kazumi retorts.

"Why not just wish for her to come back to life?" Moe points out.

Kazumi shakes her head. "I can't do that," she says. "That would mean all my friends' efforts would have gone to waste. Besides… wishing someone back to life is a rare opportunity, but if we can perfect this resurrection technique, then we can bring way more girls back to life, right?"

"Only if they want to, though," I say. "You shouldn't go resurrecting people all willy-nilly…"

"Yeah, that's true," Kazumi admits. "And I'm a bit put off by the fact that Michiru-chan seems like she doesn't want to come back to life… I just wish I could ask her…"

"Hmm… I wonder if I could help you with that," Remi muses. "My technique to contact the past… if I could develop it into a two-way channel… maybe we actually could ask her…"

Kazumi blinks at her.

"C-could you really do that?"

Remi shakes her head.

"Don't get your hopes up, but… I'm going to do some experimentation. I'll let you know how it turns out."

Kazumi nods. "That would be great… thanks."

"So um, you never actually answered my question," Inui points out.

"Hmm… I guess it's because… it gives my life meaning?" Kazumi says. "I have no family, no home, no friends other than the Pleiades Saints and you guys…"

"But you could just keep fighting the way you do right now," I point out.

Kazumi shakes her head.

"If I do that, then Kazusa Michiru can't be brought back to life, right?" she says. "Her grief seed is needed to resurrect her."

"I'm not sure that's actually true," Hijiri says. "But I'm not sure it's not, either…"

Kazumi shrugs. "Well, the grief seed is her soul, so I think it's probably necessary to have it as part of the formula. Anyway, to represent my new resolve, I've decided to give myself a new name. From now on, I'll be Subaru Kazumi."

She stands up and bows.

"It's nice to meet all of you."

"Alright, nice to meet you all over again!" Airi says. "Now, why don't we all eat up before it gets cold?"

"Right!" Kazumi says.

"Anyway," Remi says. "It's getting a bit late now, so I thought we could free everyone tomorrow. That should be fine, right?"

Kazumi nods. "I think so…"

"I'll keep an eye on the Pleiades Saints," Hijiri says. "I don't think it's likely, but there's a possibility Satomi could turn into a witch tonight… if it looks like she's going to, I'll sneak in and use a grief seed on her."

"So I guess I'll have to sleep at Umika's place again," Kazumi says.

"If you'd prefer not to, you can always crash at my place," Yuuri says. "There's definitely room for an extra."

"Oh! Sure, I'll consider your offer," Kazumi says.

"So then, since we're going back to Mitakihara tonight, I guess we won't be helping with the rescue," Inui says.

"Yeah, I guess not," Yuuri says. "That's too bad…"

"That reminds me," I say. "I think the best way to revive them all is to gather the purified soul gems in a pile and then drag the bodies into circles around them… whoever's closest should wake up after a bit, and then they'll know which soul gem is theirs and can move out of the way for the next batch."

Yuuri nods. "I was thinking about that too… came up with almost the same idea."

"We can probably count on the Pleiades Saints' support, too," Kazumi says.

Moe blinks at her. "A-are you serious!?"

Kazumi nods. "They only captured those girls to prevent them from turning into witches. When we show them how many grief seeds we've brought, I'm sure they'll me happy to let everyone go."

"And with that many grief seeds, there should be enough to purify all of them as well," I add.