Magia: A New Hope

by Pentalithia

A Madoka / Magia Record fan suddenly wakes up in the world of magical girls, as a side character. Features Ashley Taylor. Note: In case it's not obvious, you should expect massive spoilers here for nearly everything in the franchise.

48. The Hidden Village of Lies

We all get off the bus near the base of the mountain – unlike the one behind Mitakihara Middle School, this one truly qualifies as a mountain, albeit a small one – and walk the rest of the way, following first a narrow mountain road and then an even narrower hiking trail up to the heritage site known as Tokime village. The village itself is nestled in a forested valley, the trees coming right up to the village's edge. Just like Inui said, the place is in ruins, all the buildings reduced to little more than the foundations and a few fragments of walls, and much of that is overgrown as well. According to Professor Satomi's book, there had been an archaeological dig here in the late twentieth century, but by now they'd already learned everything there was to learn, and it had been abandoned for quite some time.

We walk through the so-called village, which is actually quite large – probably sufficient to support at least a few hundred people – and eventually reach the far side where a stream runs through, curving to flow around one side of the village before merrily dropping off down the hillside; from the sound of rushing water in the distance, I suspect there are likely rapids or maybe even a waterfall.

There is a wooden bridge across the river, still intact, although it seems a touch rickety when we step on it. Still, despite the occasional creak, it doesn't seem like it has any issues, so we cross it quickly and follow the narrow path beyond, heading through three rickety old shrine gateways in a row, almost entirely hidden within the encroaching forest. Before long we emerge in front of a small shrine building. Unlike the village, the shrine is completely intact. A small bronze statue in front looks suspiciously similar to Kyuubey, and the forest seems to hold back from the shrine just a little, leaving enough room for us to work our way around it.

My companions step up to pray for a moment at the shrine, and then we head around the side and emerge on a high bluff that overlooks the coastal lowlands, with the sea just visible in the distance. The shrine sits just back from the edge of the bluff, and we stand there for a minute or two to gaze out at the view. Once we've had enough of that, we take out the packed lunch we brought along for a picnic.

"So… like I said, there's pretty much nothing here," Inui says. "What are we going to do now? Explore the shrine or something?"

"There really is nothing other than this old shrine," Hiyori says. "But it's kind of a pretty view, at least. It's pretty weird that there's no reception though…"

I check my phone… she's right, there's no reception at all.

"Why is that weird?" I ask. "We are pretty far from any population centres…"

"Well… there's supposed to be nowhere on Earth that doesn't get reception," Hiyori says. "There was a project in… the thirties, I think it was? The aim was one hundred percent coverage, so… unless you're deep underground or something, there shouldn't ever be reception issues…"

"If that's the case, then I'd suspect there's something actively blocking the reception here," I say. "Maybe a barrier of some kind, or something that creates interference…"

"But why…?" Hiyori wonders.

"I can't believe you dragged us all the way out here just for this," Elise grumbles.

"Don't worry, it's not for nothing," I say. "The reason we asked you all to come along is because we'll be doing a little witch hunting."

Komachi blinks at me. "Huh? But there's literally no-one around here… why would there be a witch?"

"Appearances can be deceiving," I say. "Although, to be fair, we're not completely confident that this is the right place… but…"

I turn to face the village once more, then take out my soul gem for a moment and hold it out in front of me.

"Can you feel that? It does feel like a witch, don't you think?"

The others do the same as me.

"You're right," Claire gasps. "And a pretty strong one, too… but why would there be a witch out here? There's not a single soul around…"

"I think I can sense two really strong ones, even," Inui adds. "It feels like one is just sitting around and the other is wandering in circles…"

"How about we eat all this food and then go find out?" I suggest.

"Right, I'm famished after all," Elise says. "Thanks for the food!"

Once all the food is devoured, we get up and head back down through the ruins of the village. After a little searching, we manage to sense the entrance of the labyrinth, close to the actual physical entrance to the village. We manage to force the portal to manifest – it bears the sign of the Tokime clan, a four-petalled florette inside a circle. I'm actually a little surprised by that, as I expected it to be more… chaotic, like a witch's portal. Does that mean this barrier was actually created by a magical girl, then?

"Let's see what this witch is like!" Inui says.

Everyone transforms and jumps in ahead of me, and I step in after them… but we don't find ourself in a typical witch's labyrinth. Instead, it's as if the ruined village before us has suddenly been brought to life, the buildings fully restored, even teeming with people. They don't seem to have noticed us yet.

"H-huh?" Inui blinks. "Is this… is this even a witch's barrier at all?"

"That's a good question," I say. "The interior doesn't quite have the… clean feel of Pernelle's barrier or Miss Naomi's barrier, though. Look at the sky, for example."

"Huh? The sky is normal though, isn't… wait… what?"

Indeed, if you don't look closely, the sky does look perfectly normal, but on closer inspection, it actually looks like a painting – you can see the brushstrokes adding texture to it. It's a subtle effect, easy to miss if you're not looking for it.

"However… the portal itself was a bit different from what we've come to expect from a witch, more like Pernelle's," I muse out loud. "Maybe it's a mixture of multiple barriers…?"

"Well… this speculation isn't going to get us anywhere, so I guess we should just… talk to the people?" Hiyori suggests.

"Shouldn't we power down first?" Elise asks.

"There's still a witch nearby, though," Komachi points out. "We might run into it."

"Plus I think it may be better here to show off what we are," I say. "If this truly is Tokime village, they should already know about magical girls."

So we step forward, and before long, the villagers notice us – it's pretty hard not to, after all. We hear all sorts of whispers following us, but no-one actually comes up to greet us.

"Who are they?"

"Those jewels… they almost look like diviners…"

"But from outside the village? Is that possible?"

"How did they find this place?"

"If they're diviners, I suppose it's only natural…?"

"We… we'd better inform the elder…"

A couple of them run off towards the shrine, but no-one tries to stop us. Based on the whispers, they're not even sure whether we should be considered friendly or not, and they seem mostly surprised and curious, not fearful.

"The heck is a diviner?" Inui wants to know.

"I think it's an archaic term for a magical girl," I reply.

Inui blinks. "Wait… you're saying they can even tell what we are?"

"I think so."

We pass by several ranks of houses before emerging into a village square, on the far side of which begins a path lined with large rocks on each side that leads to the bridge across the river, as well branching out to follow the river in both directions. By this point, most of the spectators have lost interest, though a few especially curious souls still insist on following us.

Before we can get to the bridge though, three magical girls appear before us, arriving not from across the river but from the riverside path heading to our right. They are accompanied by an old woman who seems quite spry for her age, though she still has some trouble keeping up with a magical girl's stamina.

The first girl wears a purple and black dress with white thigh-high stockings and has purple ribbons attached to both wrists, her soul gem a flower on her belt. She has her slate gray hair tied into twintails and grips a branched sword in one hand. The second wears a blue dress with white accents and a yellow waist bow bearing her soul gem, with a gauzy transparent underskirt covering the lower part of her legs. She has her silver hair also tied in twintails and covered in a translucent veil, and carries a crystal ball in her left hand. The last one wears a yellow-orange shirt or tunic in a yukata cut, with black tights and a pale yellow shawl. She has her light brown hair pinned into a bun of sorts and wields something resembling a truncheon. Her soul gem is an orange crescent embedded in a pendant just below her chest, amongst some tassels and pom-poms.

"So there really are diviners outside the village," the girl in purple says, sounding a little awed.

"So are they your relatives or something?" the brown-haired girl asks.

"Somehow I doubt that," the silver-haired girl says. "That blonde girl doesn't even look Japanese…"

"Ah… right, you have a good point," the brown-haired girl says.

The elder catches up with the three of them and steps in front, surveying us for a few moments, her face hard. Then she finally addresses us.

"Why have you come here?" she asks coldly.

The brown-haired girl blinks.

"W-what's the matter, Granny?" she asks. "I thought you said we were just going to greet them…"

The elder glances at her. "You cannot let your guard down, Chiharu-chan," she says. "These girls may be diviners, but they are not of our village. They could be here as invaders."

"It doesn't seem that way to me," Chiharu mutters. "They seem trustworthy…"

The elder turns back to us. "I repeat… why have you come here?"

"Call it curiosity, if you like," I say. "Does our reason matter?"

"You cannot expect me to believe that you stumbled in here by chance," the elder says. "So you must have come here on purpose. How did you know where to find this place? Did someone tell you the way?"

Inui blinks. "Huh? But the location of Tokime village isn't a secret or anything, right? You can find it on Wikipedia…"

"W-what's Wikipedia…?" the grey-haired girl whispers.

"It's pretty awesome, Shizuka-chan!" Chiharu whispers back. "If you need to know anything at all, Wikipedia has the answer!"

"Th-that's a slight exaggeration, Charu…" the silver-haired girl protests.

"So um… if I understand correctly… is it something like an encyclopedia?" Shizuka asks.

"That's exactly it!" Chiharu nods. "But unlike mouldy old paper encyclopedias, it's constantly updated so it always has the latest information!"

"Again with the hyperbole…" the silver-haired girl mutters.

"Oh wow!" Shizuka gasps. "That's amazing!"

The elder glances back again.

"Excuse me, but would you please be quiet? I am trying to have a serious conversation here."

"Sorry, Granny Mikoshiba!" Chiharu and Shizuka chime in unison.

"S-sorry, Lady Mikoshiba…" the silver-haired girl says at almost the same time.

With a sigh, Mikoshiba turns back to face us.

"Even if that's true," she says. "Just knowing the approximate location isn't enough to find this place. This village is closed to outsiders, after all."

"But you let me in," Chiharu points out. Then she glances at the silver-haired girl. "And also Sunao-chan…"

"You are of the village's lineage, so that is different," Mikoshiba replies. Turning back to us, she adds, "You should not be here. Please leave. Just this once, I am willing to overlook this trespass… as long as you promise not to breathe a word of this place to outsiders."

"Oh come on, we only just arrived," I say. "You could at least have the manners to properly introduce yourself. We even have information that could interest you."

The elder glares at us. "You are trespassing on this land," she says. "If you do not leave voluntarily, that makes you invaders in our territory, and we will be forced to resort to… less savoury measures."

Next to her, Shizuka raises her sword menacingly.

"Y-yeah, if you're here to harm our village, then I won't hold back!"

"Aw, geez," I say. "It's almost like you've got something going on here that you don't want other people to see…"

The elder blinks, but then shakes her head.

"It is simply not our custom to welcome outsiders," she says. "You should count yourselves lucky that I did not order you killed on sight."

"Well, you're not bad at your job, I'll give you that," I say. "However… we have no intention of doing as you say, Miss Mikoshiba."

"Very well," the elder says. "You have been warned, yet you refuse to heed the warning. Girls… I hate to ask this of you, but you must kill those who stubbornly violate the sanctity of our sacred village."

With that, she turns and heads across the bridge, while the girls with sword and crystal ball step forward.

"U-um… do we really have to do this, Shizuka-chan?" Chiharu asks. "Aren't they… aren't they diviners just like us?"

"You heard Lady Mikoshiba," Shizuka snaps. "We need to defend the sanctity of the village, Charu! These girls may be diviners, but they've violated our village by waltzing in here and showing an utter lack of respect for our traditions!"

"Is… is that how you feel as well, Sunao-chan?" Chiharu asks.

"There is no choice but to do as we are told," Sunao replies placidly.

"But they outnumber us two to one… even if we wanted to, can we even win this?" Chiharu frets. "I don't think they mean us any harm, either…"

"Regardless of the odds, we must win," Shizuka replies.

"Look, we didn't come here to fight you," I say. "Can't we just talk things out? We might find we have a common enemy."

"You fool!"

Shizuka leaps at me, and I pull out my sword and block hers, startling her a little. Sunao raises her crystal ball, and lightning arcs out simultaneously at both Komachi and Claire, which they leap aside to avoid. After some hesitation, Chiharu also jumps into the fray, sparring with Inui, who appears to be using her wand as a club or something right now.

"From here, you're the one who looks like a fool," I retort. "Can't you see Miss Mikoshiba is hiding things from you?"

"Silence!" Shizuka says. "You know nothing of our culture and tradition! How dare you speak ill of Lady Mikoshiba!"

She whacks away at me with her sword, and it takes all my effort just to hold her off. She's far more skilled with the blade than I am, but I get the feeling that I have a slight edge in speed and reaction time… it's just barely enough for me to keep my defence up, though.

"You've never even left the village, have you?" I sigh. "So of course you wouldn't notice anything wrong with this place."

"Of course I've left the village," Shizuka retorts. "Not that I've gone very far though…"

Huh… if that's the case, how could she have missed that the village is in a barrier?

"Shizuka-chan…" Chiharu says anxiously. "I-it's true! I've noticed something wrong too. There's a strange… awful stench around here, like something bad's gonna happen at any moment… and besides, aren't we supposed to be fighting against devils, not each other?"

"Did you by any chance see the village from outside, Miss Chiharu?" I ask.

"W-well, we walked the last stretch, so yes, I guess I did," Chiharu says. "There was also a man who met us at the road to guide us in. Why do you ask?"

Maybe there's some magic that smooths out the transition between the real world and the labyrinth, but only if someone from the village is in the vicinity? It's the only explanation I can think of for how the real village can be in ruins without its residents noticing even if they leave and come back.

"It's just that your experience contradicts ours," I say.

"It's all in ruins," Hiyori pipes up from the back. "There is no village."

Chiharu blinks. "That… that doesn't sound right… it can't be true… I mean, you can see the village right here around us…"

"Lies!" Shizuka shouts. "I'll have you leave and never come back!"

"I… I guess that's better than killing them… but I really don't think they… mean us any harm…" Chiharu protests. "We should listen to them…"

Her protests don't stop her from attacking Inui with all she has, though, but Inui seems to be pressing her back. I on the other hand am slowly getting pushed back by Shizuka. The fact that I'm also using my clairvoyance to scout the area does not help in the slightest, as it distracts me from the fight itself.

"We've found it," I suddenly announce.

That causes Shizuka to momentarily hesitate.

"W-what have you found?" she asks.

I immediately take advantage of the opening to swipe her feet from under her, and she falls to the ground with a squeal, her sword slipping from her grasp. I kick the sword away and step on her stomach, pointing my blade at her throat, and she glares defiantly up at me, but with my blade where it is, she can't even move without severely injuring herself.

"Stop the fighting or we'll finish her off!" I shout.

Chiharu immediately obeys, hopping back from Inui. However, Sunao only redoubles her lightning attacks, now targeting everyone except me, probably because she doesn't want to hurt Shizuka. Hiyori and Inui fail to dodge and are struck by a bolt, falling on the ground and twitching a little. Elise summons a trio of familiars to take the hits for her, while Komachi manages to barely dodge the bolt. As for Claire… her magic is also electrical in nature, so it seems she's able to divert the flow of Sunao's lightning and cause it to miss. With a sigh, I summon Teddy Mk II and start charging.

"We said, stop!"

"There's no way I could do something like that!" Sunao shouts. "I can't… I can't just give up here!"

Hiyori and Inui recover from the stun effect and sit up.

"Um, so anyway… what was it you found, Ashley-chan?" Hiyori asks.

"We found the witch," I say. "Or as these people call it… the devil. It's roughly below us, in the shrine's inner sanctuary."

Chiharu gasps. "I knew there was something ominous back there… but why would it be a devil? Isn't that really weird?"

At the same moment she says that, Teddy Mk II shoots into the air and unleashes my glitter beam upon Sunao, freezing her movements, though I don't call the attack like I usually do. Komachi and Claire immediately take advantage of the charm to close the distance and surround her, Komachi placing her naginata to Sunao's throat… but that's when Shizuka uses her unique magic.

"Ceasefire!" she shouts.

Suddenly I can't move, and out of the corner of my eye I see Inui and Hiyori freeze as they're getting to their feet, causing them to collapse in a heap. Komachi and Claire seem to be unable to move too, but Chiharu is unaffected, as is Sunao, who begins to carefully slip free from the encirclement. Undoubtedly Elise and Hiyori behind me are also frozen.

"Ugh, you just had to use that," I grumble.

Shizuka's eyes widen a little.

"W-what do you mean by 'that'…?"

I don't have time to answer properly, because Sunao raises her crystal ball and calls down a rain of lightning bolts. With everyone's movements frozen, there's no-one to defend against them… but that's not entirely true, is it? I reach out with my telekinesis and seize hold of several of the rocks lining the side of the path, interposing them straight into the lightning's path and eliciting a gasp from Sunao. Claire also helps, diverting the lightning away from us as best she can.

"H-how did you…?"

"Sunao-chan… Shizuka-chan…" Chiharu says. "Can't we at least… hear them out?"

"They are enemies of the village," Shizuka retorts. "Why are you just standing there, Charu? You should be finishing them off!"

"Are… are you telling me to kill them!? I… I can't do that!" Chiharu protests. "They're diviners too, just like us!"

"I'm not saying you have to kill them!" Shizuka shouts. "But you could at least knock them out!"

Sunao tries a more creative approach with her lightning, creating bursts that curve around and come at us from different directions. However, it turns out no more effective than the first way, as all I need to do is move the floating rocks to be on opposite sides of me. This time, Claire doesn't seem to manage to divert the lightning, so a couple of my allies take a hit.

Then Sunao decides to change tactics, gripping the orb with both hands and holding it out in front of her as it begins to glow, sparks crackling all over it. She's charging up her ultimate attack.

"If you want this to stop, Miss Chiharu, then suppress your friend over there," I say. "We don't want to hurt any of you. We promise, if you surrender, your friends will not be harmed."

"Don't listen to her!" Shizuka says.

Chiharu's eyes dart between me and Sunao as the crystal grows brighter and brighter. After a moment it even floats into the air and begins to grow in size, the crackling of sparks increasing as Sunao pours in more and more magic. Undoubtedly Chiharu has some idea of what that attack entails. As the orb rises above Sunao's head, having grown to about the size of a large watermelon, she seems to make her decision. Chiharu leaps at Sunao, smashing her weapon into the orb itself and tackling Sunao to the ground. The crystal ball suddenly loses its charge and falls to the ground, rolling away to drop into the river below.

"This isn't right!" Chiharu shouts. "We shouldn't be fighting each other! Why won't you listen to me!?"

"I… I can't," Sunao mutters. "I have… no choice… my parents…"

I suddenly find that I can move again… Shizuka's magic must have worn off. I return the rocks I've been controlling to roughly the same places where I grabbed them from.

"Okay, looks like you've lost," I say. "Do we need to tie the two of you up or will you come with us quietly?"

"W-where are you going to take us!?" Shizuka gasps.

"To the shrine's inner sanctuary, obviously, to defeat the devil there."

"We can't!" Shizuka says. "We can't enter the inner sanctuary except during a ceremony!"

"Guess it'll be the former, then," I say.

"I'll do it," Chiharu says resolutely. "This is not right, Shizuka! It's not right, Sunao! And it's also a good opportunity to find out what the stench in the shrine is!"

She whips out a rope from thin air, tying Sunao's hands behind her back, then heads over to do the same to Shizuka. Then I help her pull Shizuka to her feet, while Elise and Hiyori step forward to give Sunao the same treatment.

"You… you really won't hurt them… will you?" Chiharu asks anxiously.

"Shouldn't you be able to figure out the answer to that with your magic?" I ask. "We already promised, but we'll repeat it again. We really won't hurt them."

"R-right… but wait, how do you know what my magic is?"

"That's a secret."

"What is your magic?" Inui asks curiously.

"I haven't quite worked it out yet, but I can sense something… I'm not quite sure how to describe it… hostile intent, maybe?" Chiharu says. "Oh… I'm Hiroe Chiharu, by the way. My friends here are Toki Sunao and Tokime Shizuka."

"Huh… her name is Tokime?" Hiyori says. "It's the same as the village…"

"That's because I'm from the head family," Shizuka retorts. "Shouldn't that be obvious!?"

"Alright everyone, she's probably reached the sanctuary by now, so watch out for familiars," I say. "Keep an eye on each other's backs, because they'll probably attack from behind!"

Chiharu tilts her head. "Uhh… familiars?"

"Um… you would probably call them… minions?"

Chiharu blinks. "You mean a devil's minions? But I don't even sense a barrier…"

However, just at that moment, familiars really do attack, rising up from our own shadows. Broadly speaking, they look like kagura dancers, complete with bell wands, only rather than holding the wand in their hand, it is the hand. They also lack a head entirely and instead possess a pair of eyes on their chests. The quartet leap to defend us, Elise summoning a bunch of oni.

"Come to think of it, they remind me a bit of the dancers at the ceremony," Chiharu muses. "But wait… there's no barrier?"

"That's odd…" Shizuka says.

"It's not so odd," Inui says. "We've been in a barrier the whole time… the whole village is in one…"

The natives gape at her.

"There's no way…" Sunao says. "Even if you could fit a village in a barrier, devil's labyrinths aren't anything like this…"

"That's true," I say. "It's a pretty unusual barrier, that's for sure… oh? You've defeated them all already?"

Sure enough, the familiars that had been attacking us are all gone already.

"They're really strong," Komachi says. "But we've gotten stronger recently too… now that we know how to connect, we can finish these off easily."

I scan the village with my clairvoyance, but I don't spot familiars attacking anyone else. However, there are two women approaching from the riverside path to the right, the same direction Mikoshiba and the magical girls arrived from.

"Right… then let's get to the shrine," I say. "But keep your eyes out for more of them!"

However, those two women beat us to the bridge. One of them has wavy black hair, the other straight brown hair, both just a bit longer than shoulder-length. The dark-haired woman wears a hakama and carries a katana, suggesting that she may have been training, while the brown-haired woman wears a skirt and long-sleeved blouse, plus tights to stave off the chill.

"Hold it!" the dark-haired one says. "What's going on here? All I heard is that there were some mysterious diviners from outside… but why is it that my daughter's all trussed up?"

"Mother… I've failed," Shizuka says dolefully. "Lady Mikoshiba entrusted me to protect the village, but… I couldn't…"

"Protect the village?" Mrs Tokime asks. "From… from these diviners?"

"Before you get any funny ideas, they attacked us first," I say.

"Chiharu-chan… can you explain what's going on here?" the other woman says.

"I don't even know, Mom!" Chiharu complains. "I'm so confused! I heard there were outside diviners visiting, so I was excited to meet them, but then Granny Mikoshiba said they had to leave… and when they refused she said they had to die… but I just can't do it! I can't kill someone just because they wandered into a secret village!"

"What the heck?" Ms Hiroe says. "Isn't that a bit extreme…?"

"Well, the village has been top secret for many generations," Mrs Tokime says. "So I can understand how she feels, to a degree… for six diviners to suddenly waltz in is quite unprecedented."

"Maybe they're from the village?" Ms Hiroe suggests.

"No, they're no older than our daughters," Mrs Tokime says. "There's no way they could be from the village. Besides, if they were, I would recognize them."

At that moment, a fresh batch of familiars pop out of our shadows. I summon the Teddy Drones and blast them away before anyone else can react, but a fresh batch shows up mere seconds later. The quartet springs to the defense at once, and this time Inui and Chiharu also join the battle.

"Um, excuse me, but… could you two possibly let us pass?" I ask. "The source of these monsters lies in the shrine, so we'd like to go there."

Mrs Tokime narrows her eyes.

"You're saying these monsters come from the Grand Shrine?" she says. "Why would that be?"

"I don't think there's time to explain…"

"Hmm," Mrs Tokime says. "I see you also wield a sword, so let's talk with our blades."

She draws her blade from its sheath and takes a defensive stance.

"Um… you do realize that diviners are far stronger than ordinary people, right?" I say. "We could probably just power right through you…"

"We'll see about that," Mrs Tokime says. "You're young, so I highly doubt you have anything like my skill level."

"Well, you're right… we have no training whatsoever," I admit.

"Then let's do this."

I ready my sword, and suddenly she attacks. For a human, she's surprisingly fast, but my magical girl reflexes far outstrip hers. I side-step and block the strike, pushing her back a little and then going for a swing of my own. She doesn't take the hit straight-on like I did though – instead, she diverts the force to the side, throwing me off-balance and creating an opening to strike. I only barely dodge by going into a back-flip, swinging my sword at her in mid-flip just as a deterrent, then bringing it back up just in time to block her slash as I regain my feet. From there we exchange a fast and furious flurry of blows where I push her back a little each time… but then she suddenly ducks low beneath my swing and slashes upward, wresting the sword clean from my grasp and sending it flying into the air. Startled, I hop back, reaching out and grabbing the sword telekinetically, but then she stops and bows.

"You're not bad, kid," she says. "I could tell from the way you moved… you were holding back and trying not to kill me, weren't you?"

"Y-yeah… we're surprised you could tell," I say.

"I've sparred with my daughter many times," Mrs Tokime says. "I know what it feels like to take a blow from a diviner at full power. For someone with no training, your movements were decent enough… I guess you've got some experience under your belt. And your sword… it's quite a fine sword, but it's not a magic weapon, is it?"

"You mean like Miss Shizuka's sword or Komachi-chan's naginata?"

Mrs Tokime nods. "Yeah, I mean the weapons a diviner conjures up with their magic."

"You're right about that," I say. "How could you tell?"

"Magic weapons have a different feel to them," Mrs Tokime replies. "It's hard to put into words, but… they're sort of… less physical?"

"I suppose that makes sense," I say.

"Would you mind if I took a closer look at that sword?" Mrs Tokime asks.

"S-sure…"

"Is that really a good idea, Ashley-nee?" Inui protests. "What if she decides to steal it?"

"With my telekinesis, that's really not an issue, Inui-chan…"

"Oh… right, that's a good point…"

I grab the sword from the air and hand it over to Mrs Tokime, who examines it closely.

"I thought it seemed a bit familiar," she says. "Just like the ancestral Tokime sword forged by a foreign weaponsmith for the clan's founder, Tokime no Sakuya, it bears the mark of the caduceus… where did you obtain this sword?"

"We commissioned it from one of the Ancients," I say. "Quite possibly the very same person who forged your ancestor's sword."

Mrs Tokime frowns. "That happened hundreds of years ago," she says. "You can't expect me to believe that weaponsmith is still alive."

"U-um… what do you mean by 'Ancients'?" Chiharu asks as she binds a few familiars with ropes and tears them apart.

"Around the world, there are a handful of magical girls… diviners… who have lived for hundreds or thousands of years," I say. "One of those is the one who forged my sword and possibly also the Tokime sword."

"Is… is that just because of their magic?" Chiharu asks. "Or do all diviners have the ability to live that long?"

"As long as you get enough grief seeds, you can probably live forever," I say.

"That's incredible… but what's a grief seed?"

"Um… the thing that a devil drops?"

"Oh, a devil's soul…"

The quartet, along with Inui and Chiharu, having been holding back the waves of familiars this whole time. Individually, the familiars are quite strong, and there aren't even all that many of them at any one time, but just as soon as one wave is finished off, another pops up to take its place. Chiharu in particular is struggling against them; the quartet and Inui are faring quite a bit better, perhaps because they can connect.

Mrs Tokime offers my sword back to me, but I shake my head.

"Why don't you borrow it for a little while?" I suggest. "If any more of those monsters pop up while we're in the shrine, there won't be anyone else who can hold them off."

Mrs Tokime blinks.

"I see… you're right," she says. "It is a very different type of blade from what I'm used to, somewhat heavier… but I should be able to manage. I will treat it well. That said… could I ask you to untie my daughter?"

"Well, I don't mind, as long as she promises not to attack us again…"

"Mother!" Shizuka protests. "What are you even saying!? Lady Mikoshiba said these people need to leave…"

"Whatever Lady Mikoshiba may have said, I sense they are good people," Mrs Tokime says. "The fact that they have penetrated the hidden village is a little concerning, but they are diviners after all."

"You know, I don't think we should accompany you into the shrine," Elise says. "With the amount of familiars here, I'm sure Mrs Tokime would be overwhelmed really quickly."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Mrs Tokime says. "I'm pretty sure I could take out quite a few of them, especially with this sword."

"Regardless, why don't you and Inui-chan accompany the others into the shrine?" Elise suggests. "The four of us can stay out here and hold off the familiars."

Despite what she's saying, the fact she has the time to talk to me at all shows that the familiars have stopped popping up, for now. Chiharu finally finishes the last one off even as she speaks.

"I get what you're saying, but… why don't you come at least part of the way with us?" I suggest. "We can split up just before we fight the witch, if you want."

"Well, alright then."

"Okay… you won't attack them, right Shizuka-chan?" Chiharu says.

"I don't even know what's going on here anymore!" Shizuka says. "Whose side are you even on, Charu?"

"Umm… do I really have to pick a side?" Chiharu asks. "I guess… if I had to say… anyone who opposes devils is on my side…? Of course, that includes Shizuka-chan and Sunao-chan…"

Then she looks at Sunao.

"What about you, Sunao-chan… will you promise not to attack them?"

"Miss Hiroe, Miss Tokime is one thing, but please don't free Miss Toki yet," I say quickly. "She's Miss Mikoshiba's assassin, after all."

"Th-that's ridiculous!" Sunao protests. "I'm not an assassin! We've been friends for quite awhile, right Shizuka-chan?"

Shizuka nods. "Y-yeah… how could you make such awful accusations?" she asks.

"Hmm…" Chiharu says. "Well… my instincts tell me… that one of you isn't being entirely honest with me."

"If you set me free, the first thing I'll do is free Sunao-chan," Shizuka says resolutely.

"Well, I guess that decides it then," I sigh. "Sorry, Mrs Tokime, it seems your daughter is being a little difficult…"

Mrs Tokime frowns. "You call that an apology?" she asks. "Not even an ounce of remorse…"

"Come, let's just hurry to the shrine," I say.

"I… I guess so," Chiharu says reluctantly. "I don't really like this though… why do I have to tie up my friends!? It's… not right… not fair…"

Ignoring any further protests from Mrs Tokime, we all head onto the bridge, forcing Shizuka and Sunao to accompany us.

"I don't really know what to think," Ms Hiroe says behind us, probably addressing Mrs Tokime. "Should I be proud of Chiharu-chan for resolving herself to this, or should I be scolding her…?"

"Well, I'm sure they'll be back soon enough," Mrs Tokime says with a sigh. "We can give them a good scolding then."

When we get across the bridge, instead of a narrow trail leading to a tiny shrine, we follow a wide trail leading into an open area with a large stage, likely for the kagura dances. The path continues past the stage, but before we can continue along there, Mikoshiba rises from where she'd been sitting near the stage. I immediately get Teddy Mk II to start charging up again.

"It took you long enou— huh?"

It seems she expected Shizuka's trio to handily defeat us. The elder's eyes dart around wildly, and then she spots Chiharu standing there unbound.

"Ahh… I get it," she says. "Chiharu-chan, you have betrayed me, is that it? I hope you understand that the consequences for this will be severe… not only for yourself, but for your mother as well."

Chiharu blinks. "W-what!? Why would you bring Mom into this? This has nothing to do with her!"

"It's not worth arguing with her," I say.

I blast her with the glitter beam before she can escape, closing the distance while she's charmed and putting my arm across her throat, pressing lightly. Any more pressure and she would choke. She blinks.

"H-how dare you lay a hand on me!" she gasps. "I'll make you pay for this!"

"Big words when we're in a position to break your neck in an instant," I retort. "Do you really think you can make good on those threats?"

"You can't kill me," the elder replies. "If you do, everyone here will die, yourself included."

"Because you're no longer holding her back?" I say. "Are you so naïve to believe that we can't defeat her?"

"W-who are you talking about?" Chiharu asks.

"The witch in the inner sanctuary of the shrine," I reply.

The elder's eyes widen slightly, but she doesn't say anything to either confirm or deny that claim, so I decide to forge onwards with my explanation.

"You see, this piece of shit has the power to control that witch, thanks to a wish she extorted out of someone," I explain. "So if she dies, the witch… the devil will go on a rampage in the village."

"An ordinary human controlling a devil!? There's no way that's possible!" Shizuka says. "And besides, even if it were true, you're an outsider! There's no way you could know anything about our village!"

"But I was able to find my way here, wasn't I?" I point out.

Shizuka blinks. "Th-that's true…"

"It could explain that…" Chiharu muses. "That faint stench I get from you now and then…"

"What are you saying, Chiharu-chan?" the elder retorts. "It's a lie, and not a very good one at that! She's just making up stories to get you on her side!"

Chiharu narrows her eyes. "The details may or may not be true, but I can tell there's some nugget of truth in there. I can smell it… I can sense something fishy about you, Granny Mikoshiba. And there's definitely something in the shrine as well. It's a little ironic, though… you have no-one but yourself to blame for this, for you made me what I am right now."

"H-huh? What do you mean?" Hiyori asks. "It was Kyuubey who granted your wish… right?"

Chiharu nods. "It was Lord Kyuubey who granted it, but Lady Mikoshiba who chose it."

"What the hell!?" Inui shouts. "You forced her to make a wish for your own benefit? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Wishes have been the family business for thousands of years," Mikoshiba retorts. "It's nothing new."

"That's a lie," I say. "It's only a few hundred years at most. The Tokime clan itself is less than half a millennium old."

"Th-that's not true," Shizuka says. "We go way back to the Heian era… we've been defending Japan for at least that long… there's even some evidence we might be descended from Queen Himiko!"

The Heian era starts in the late eighth century while Himiko is estimated to be in the first or second century of the common era if I recall correctly, so that's quite a leap. I suspect the evidence she refers to is extremely scant and significantly open to interpretation. After all, a Himiko link, however tenuous, would be a good way to inflate their reputation.

"Pretty sure that's just myths created to exaggerate your influence," I reply. "Your family name didn't even exist before the Edo era. Although… I suppose it's possible your family does date back to the Heian era under a different name. And Queen Himiko probably was a magical girl, too…"

"But it doesn't matter how long you've been doing it," Inui says. "It's just not right! Your wish is yours and yours alone! You shouldn't ever let someone else decide it for you!"

"I didn't hate the wish she chose for me though," Chiharu says. "In fact, it was something I felt strongly about as well. So please… don't worry about me."

"Well… if you're sure, Charu-tan… I guess I'll let it go for now…"

"Now then, Miss Mikoshiba… I'm going to give you a choice. If you make the witch commit suicide, I'll let you live… although I make no promises for what Miss Sunao and her friends will do to you once I'm done here."

"Don't be absurd," the elder retorts. "As if I could do something like that!"

"Well, I was hoping," I sigh. "Guess we gotta fight both of them after all…"

"Both?" Elise says. "You mean the one wandering in circles, too?"

"Yeah," I say. "Once we defeat the witch in the shrine, the other one will probably come looking for us."

Shizuka gasps. "Y-you don't mean… the Wavering Deity!? We can't! She's a holy being!"

"Don't be ridiculous," I retort. "She's a walking catastrophe waiting to happen. You're lucky she hasn't yet grown as strong as Walpurgisnacht, or you'd be in real trouble here. If you don't put an end to her, eventually she'll waltz right in and swallow up the witch currently protecting you, and your entire village along with it. Now come on, let's hurry into the shrine."

"You won't get away with this!" the elder says.

But I ignore her, turning and forcing her to walk with us. Chiharu helps out a bit by producing some rope to bind the old woman's hands behind her back. We head around the stage and pass through the first of the three shrine gateways. However, as we step through it, Chiharu suddenly stumbles.

"Ugh… it's so gross…" she says.

"Charu…?" Shizuka gasps.

"Wait… are you alright, Charu?" Sunao asks anxiously.

"Is there something wrong?" Komachi asks.

"It's related to her magic," I says. "I imagine it must be similar to how you feel when you drain a witch, Komachi-chan… though that's just my speculation…"

Komachi blinks. "O-oh, is that what it's like? I feel your pain…"

"S-sorry," Chiharu says. "Just gimme a minute… I think I should be able to get used to it… what even is this though?" She pauses thoughtfully. "I think… I think it's malice… probably. It's the malice of that devil that's holed up in the shrine…"

"Malice, you say…" Komachi says. "I guess it's not possible to truly compare your power to mine, but… when I drain a witch's power… I think malice could be a good way to describe that gross feeling…"

"What exactly do you mean by malice?" Sunao asks.

"Don't you get a kinda gross feeling when you see someone doing something bad?" Chiharu asks.

"Eh… I guess that depends on what exactly they're doing," Inui says. "If it was something really bad, then maybe…"

"Well, it sorta feels like that," Chiharu says. "Only worse, somehow…"

"Are you sure it's reacting to the devil, though?" Shizuka asks. "I mean… even if there's a devil, it doesn't seem to be close… why would you be feeling it already?"

"Well… I can feel it from Granny too, a bit," Chiharu says. "But it's way worse here…" She takes a deep breath. "Alright… I'm okay now."

"In that case, let's get a move on," I say.

We continue on to the shrine itself, which seems quite a bit bigger than the one out in the real world. However, three young women in shrine maiden attire step out of the shrine to block our way.

"Ah… the dancers!" Chiharu gasps.

"Right, we forgot about them…" I say.

"Stop!" one of the dancers says. "Release Lady Mikoshiba and turn back! This place is out of bounds!"

Now I wish I'd brought along someone with analysis magic, like Umika. There's something strange about these dancers. They don't seem like familiars, yet they're destined to die once the witch is defeated, at least if the game's depiction is accurate. It could just be that they all committed suicide, but for every single dancer to do that is awfully strange.

"So, what do we do?" Komachi asks. "Killing them probably isn't a good idea, right?"

"It's possible they're already dead, but… probably just tying them up is the best course of action," I say.

"What do you mean they're already dead?" Shizuka asks. "They're standing right there, clearly alive…"

"Well, if it's tying them up, then leave it to me," Chiharu says.

"No! How dare you!?" the dancers gasp in perfect unison.

But it seems they don't stand a chance against Chiharu's magical ropes… more evidence against them being familiars. Why would they die with the witch? I don't understand.

With the dancers all trussed up, Chiharu takes the lead, and we step inside the shrine. The interior is unremarkable, but in one corner there is a spiral flight of stairs leading down into the ground. It's surprisingly twisty for a sacred place, and Hiyori comments on this as well.

"This is a pretty weird shrine," she says. "All these twists and turns…"

"Just how far down does this go?" Sunao wonders.

"I'm not sure," Shizuka says. "I've never been down here…"

"So there's a lot of things that even the Tokime head family doesn't know…"

"Now that I think about it, Granny's the only one who really knows everything…"

They all look at Mikoshiba, who's just walking along in silence.

"I think we're almost there," Chiharu says. "It feels like this stench can't get any worse, so it's gotta be just around this corner… oh! I can see light up ahead!"

We round a corner and sure enough, there's the inner shrine sanctuary, a huge, elaborate circular wooden building with no roof, the cave itself serving as a roof. We hurry inside and find an open courtyard-like area, the floor consisting of bare dirt. The witch closely resembles an altar at the far side, and we hurry over towards her.

"To think such a magnificent place was built down here without anyone knowing," Shizuka marvels.

"It's huge!" Inui gasps. "So huge! How far underground are we, I wonder?"

"Mikoshiba… what is this place even for?" Shizuka asks

"Hmph," Mikoshiba says. "That's none of your business."

We arrive at the far side of the courtyard and look at the witch. Since she's standing there motionless, an ordinary human probably wouldn't even realize she can move. Behind her on the wall, witch runes spell out her name, Heilig Brennmägdchen. Ashley's understanding of German tells me the name could be interpreted as a loose translation of the Mikoshiba name, so I suppose this witch is the secret behind the Mikoshiba clan's reign of terror. Chiharu also spots the runes, and her eyes widen.

"H-huh!? Those characters…"

"Can you read them, Chiharu-chan?" I ask.

"U-um… probably," Chiharu says.

She peers at the runes and slowly tries to sound out the name, one letter at a time, but it seems to be too much for her.

"Fe-i… something something… re-n… two N's in a row, that's a little odd… ma-something-something-n? I don't get it? It doesn't follow any of the rules I know for how these characters are used…"

This goes beyond my expectations. I knew her family had passed down a secret script, but I hadn't expected that script to be the witch runes. Perhaps they don't even need a translator to read the Kazura tablet…

"That's because it's German, not Japanese," I say. "It says Heilig Brennmägdchen. It means something like 'holy burning maiden'… but you can think of it as the witch's name. You can always see a witch's name in runes somewhere in their labyrinth."

"Eh? So it's not Japanese… but that's weird?" Chiharu says. "I was taught those as a cipher for Japanese…"

"Yeah, it's actually a Roman alphabet cipher," I say. "So you can write pretty much any language with it."

"W-wait… how do you know those letters?" Chiharu asks.

"They're not exactly secret, are they?" I point out. "I mean, you can see them on your own magical girl ring, right?"

Chiharu blinks and looks closely at her ring.

"Oh my gosh, you're right! I didn't notice… huh? Ohh, I think I get it… that's supposed to be my name… but it's spelled a bit weird…"

"I think it's using Hepburn romanization instead of the disaster Portuguese Romanization that we're guessing you've been taught," I say.

"So you say it means holy burning maiden?" Shizuka says. "That sounds awfully similar to the meaning of the Mikoshiba name…"

"I'm sure that's no coincidence," I say.

"But there's no devil here, so how could it be a devil's name?" Shizuka asks.

"What are you talking about?" I say. "She's literally right there in front of us… surely you can sense her presence?"

"I can sense a devil's presence," Shizuka says. "But all I see in front of me is the altar of a shrine…"

"Say, just how many languages do you know, Ashley-chan?" Inui chimes in. "Obviously Japanese and English, and I'm pretty sure I heard you speaking French once, and now German…?"

"Um… you can add Spanish to the list," I say. "I think that's all though?"

"How can you not even know what languages you know…" Chiharu says.

"It's complicated, but to keep it simple, just think of it as a sort of selective amnesia," I say. "We just have random holes in our memories."

"Just to be clear, she's talking about herself only, not all of us," Inui adds.

"Ohh… that really sucks…" Chiharu says. "How do you know so many languages, anyway?"

"Ashley has travelled a lot with our parents," I explain. "So we pretty much absorbed a bunch of languages just from hanging around those countries." I look at the old woman. "Alright, this is your last chance, Miss Mikoshiba. Either you force the witch to commit suicide, or you lose your life."

I have no intention of actually killing her, but my hope is that making her believe her life is on the line will be enough to convince her.

"If it has come to that… then I have no choice," Mikoshiba says. "O devil, destroy these blasphemers!"

The altar sort of heaves, then upends itself and unfolds, towering over us and almost scraping the ceiling of this high cavern. It's a construct primarily of wood and rope but with a head that resembles the faucet of a drinking fountain. Shizuka gasps at the sight, and we all leap several steps back.

"Ugh! Komachi-chan, please drain Miss Mikoshiba enough that she's too weak to move! Everyone else, prepare for battle!"

I shove Mikoshiba into Komachi's waiting arms, and moments later the old woman collapses. Komachi helps her over to rest against a wall.

"U-um… I don't fully understand what's going on here," Shizuka says. "But this is undoubtedly a devil, so… as diviners, it's our duty to defeat it. Could you let us help you?"

"As long as you promise not to use your ceasefire spell on us," I say. "Or otherwise turn on us."

"I promise!" Shizuka says. "If I do decide to turn on you, I'll make sure you know ahead of time!"

"That's… ugh, fine, whatever. And Miss Toki… now that the old woman is down, can I trust you not to pull any assassin tricks on us?"

Sunao nods, not even bothering to deny the assassin accusation this time.

"I don't understand why the devil obeys Lady Mikoshiba's orders, but one way or another, we must defeat it."

"Okay, Miss Hiroe, that's good enough for me."

"I agree," Chiharu says. "I'll feel better with both my friends at my side."

She banishes the ropes binding Shizuka's and Sunao's hands, and the nine of us turn to face the witch. It spews out a torrent of water, and everyone tries to dodge, but there's not a lot of space in here, so most of us are splashed at least a little, leaving small holes on our clothing and, in some cases, mild acid burns.

"This is kinda stupid," Elise says. "We're just getting in each other's way here… I think it's time to split up."

"I think I should stay with the old woman though," Komachi says. "In case she wakes up. Plus, someone might need healing."

"That's fine," Elise says. "Hiyori-chan, Claire-chan, and Inui-chan… could you accompany me back to the surface? There are still people living in this labyrinth after all, and I bet the familiars are becoming more active now that the witch has woken up."

"Okay," Hiyori says.

"I'm with you," Claire says.

"Ehh… I wanted to fight alongside Ashley-nee," Inui says. "But I guess it can't be helped… it is a little cramped in here with all of us."

So the four of them disappear back up the stairs, leaving just five of us facing down the witch. The witch keeps spewing out acid, making it hard to properly get in an attack, but with fewer people, it becomes easier to avoid it. Finally, Shizuka lets out a shout.

"Ceasefire!"

Unlike last time, I'm not frozen by the spell – only the witch and Shizuka herself freeze their movements. It also means the acid rapidly dries up, allowing me to leap in close and slash at the witch's head. While I'm doing that, Chiharu and Sunao leap up onto the wooden structures of the shrine, and Chiharu even uses one of her conjured ropes to drag Shizuka up to join them.

"Wait a second, I just realized this, but why didn't you use your ropes earlier when we were fighting those guys?" Sunao says.

"Because I hated the idea of fighting against other diviners!" Chiharu retorts.

"S-so you weren't even trying to win…" Shizuka says. "Although, I admit I wasn't fully on board with the idea either… honestly, I'm still not sure how to feel about all this…"

I hop onto Teddy Mk II and join the three up them on top of a decorative gable. Komachi however stays down below for now, spinning her naginata.

"This'll be the stage we fight from!" Chiharu says. "If we occupy the top of the shrine, all that water's nothing to fear!"

She extends a finger to point at the witch.

"Suffer thyself to be bound!" she shouts.

A tangle of ropes slides out from the shadows of her clothes, wrapping themselves around the witch and restricting her movement.

"Nice, you've bound it up perfectly," Shizuka says. "Thanks, Charu!"

Shizuka leaps into the air, brandishing her sword.

"Tear into this devil, O sevenfold swords!" she intones.

The branches of her sword extend, all of them separately impaling the witch. Then I direct my five Teddy Drones to form a ring around the witch and fire their beams all at once. Of course, I'm careful none of them are aiming remotely at Shizuka. To my surprise, the witch actually catches fire where the beams hit.

"Finish it off, Sunao!" Shizuka calls.

As Sunao charges up her crystal ball, the witch struggles to get free of the ropes. It also releases a fresh torrent of acid, but Komachi splits it in half with a single vertical slash from her naginata.

"Before you can melt us, we will purify you with this light!" Sunao says.

That crystal ball grows larger and larger and cracklier and cracklier until it pretty well explodes in the witch's face, sending arcs of electricity all across the room and leaving numerous scorch marks on the surrounding walls. However, even after taking on that electrical explosion, the witch is still standing.

Mikoshiba comes to around that time, watching the battle for a bit before speaking.

"Ugh… w-what? You can't move!? Are you not more of a devil than that?" she shouts desperately, although she still seems unable to move. "Can't you show me your true power!?"

"Granny… if you get that angry, you'll pop a blood vessel…" Chiharu says.

"Ugh… the loathsome little Hiroe girl," Mikoshiba says. "I should have disposed of you right away…"

"Granny… are you really controlling that devil?" Shizuka wonders. "Maybe it's actually controlling you…"

"Stop talking nonsense, Tokime girl," Mikoshiba snaps. "As if I could ever be manipulated by a mere devil. Everything I've done is in accordance with our traditions of divine offspring. It was supposed to be your time as well, to join your predecessors in the river…"

Shizuka gasps. "I-in… the river!? W-what are you saying…?"

"I don't know how this outsider learned of it, but it's true," she says. "This devil is under my control. You wretches are destined to become devils yourselves, so of course I must dispose of you before that can happen. It's a necessity for the survival of this village… discarding the used-up dregs of girls who have already made their wishes. It's the only way for this village to continue serving as this land's shadow."

Shizuka gasps at the mention of magical girls becoming witches… devils… whatever, and her face becomes increasingly shocked as Mikoshiba continues.

"What a load of bullshit," I retort. "Japan doesn't need a shadow organization manipulating things from behind the scenes. That's not good for the country at all."

"I… I can't believe it," Shizuka says. "You thought of us as… as… nothing but used-up dregs?"

"That's so awful…" Chiharu says.

"So you've just been killing us to dispose of us?" Shizuka asks. "Is that truly this village's tradition?"

"Precisely," Mikoshiba says. "We must bury you to ensure that the existence of Tokime is never exposed under broad daylight!"

"Such a good job you did of that, too," I retort. "Forget us, even an ordinary person got wind of you, a university professor named Satomi Tasuke."

"And what was that about becoming devils…?" Shizuka asks.

I sigh. "I also know what she meant by that, as do all of my friends, so we can explain it after this is over. Just stop arguing with this psycho, you two. Focus on taking down the witch. Komachi… could you shut her up for me?"

"R-right!" Komachi nods.

She steps back and lays a hand on Mikoshiba's shoulder, draining the strength out of her so she lacks even enough energy to speak.

"I'm still hoping she'll return to normal after we slay the devil though," Shizuka says.

"Just give up on that hope," I say. "That one is rotten through and through."

"But there were times when she was kind," Shizuka says.

"Shizuka… I think she's right," Sunao says. "Don't hold out that sort of hope for her…"

"So what if she was kind sometimes? That has nothing to do with anything," I retort. "It's no different from how Kyuubey manipulates people into making wishes."

Chiharu blinks. "W-what are you talking about?" she asks. "I thought Lord Kyuubey seemed nice…"

"Fight now, talk later!" I say.

I raise both my hands, summoning a whole swarm of Teddy Drones to orbit the witch. Sunao raises her crystal ball, charging it up once more with crackling electricity. Shizuka raises her branched sword high, charging it until it glows brightly. Chiharu similarly charges magic into her weapon until it glows green, crackling lightly with electricity, and summons a horde of what look like paper lanterns. Then we all call our attacks at the same time.

"Magical Detective Cabal!" Chiharu shouts.

"Heaven's Ray!" Shizuka shouts.

"Tomorrow's Commandment!" Sunao shouts.

"Great Teddy's Ionic Bombardment!" I shout.

Each of Chiharu's lanterns bursts into a ball of green lightning, flinging itself at the witch, and Shizuka's magic calls down a rain of lasers from above. Sunao's orb explodes, sending crackling lightning everywhere, and every one of my Teddy Drones fires at the same time, blasting holes through the witch at every turn. For a few seconds, the battlefield is utter chaos, a jumble of green and white lightning, yellowish orbital lasers, and the white flash of my beam magic. When the chaos clears, what little remains of the witch crumbles to dust, leaving only a grief seed behind.

"W-we beat it," Chiharu gasps. "Total victory…"

"It took quite a lot of energy, though," Sunao says. "But we should be fine with the soul it dropped…"

She scoops up the grief seed and stows it away.

"What about Mikoshiba?" Shizuka wonders.

"Still down for the count," I say.

"Um… so, Ashley-chan… did I just imagine that or have you come up with a new ultimate attack?" Komachi asks.

"Hmm… I suppose so," I say. "When I noticed that the Teddy Drones possessed a pretty strong beam attack, I thought… I should make use of it."

"Let's hurry back to the surface," Shizuka says. "We've got to figure out what's going on here and talk this all out… and formally introduce ourselves."

Komachi hefts Mikoshiba over her shoulder, and we all head back up. Strangely though, the barrier is showing no signs of collapsing. Could it be that the barrier was actually created by some other means? Perhaps a magical girl really did create it?

We exit the shrine, where we find the three dancers have disappeared.

"Huh? Where'd they go?" I wonder.

"There's more than three dancers, so probably some of the others freed them," Shizuka suggests. "But that doesn't explain why we haven't seen them anywhere… I would've expected them to be waiting for us here with a huge scolding ready…"

We do a quick check around the interior of the shrine, but they really aren't there, so we head back past the stage and across the river, where we find Chiharu's and Shizuka's mothers waiting for us together. Elise, Claire, and Hiyori are not with them, but Inui is there.

"Mother, I'm so glad you're okay!" Shizuka says.

"Mom, you're fine too!" Chiharu says.

"Chiharu, Shizuka-chan, Sunao-chan…" Ms Hiroe says.

"Ashley-nee, I'm so glad you're okay!" Inui says.

"And I'm glad you're no longer all trussed up like a criminal," Mrs Tokime says with a smile. "So I assume you defeated the devil, yes? Well, the minions suddenly vanished, so I guess that answers the question. Whatever happened to Lady Mikoshiba, though…?"

"It's a long story…" Shizuka says. "And I'm not even sure I get it myself…"

"The devil was super tough, but the four of us all worked together to defeat it!" Chiharu says.

"Just to clarify, I had my hands full keeping this old hag safe," Komachi says.

Mrs Tokime steps forward to give my sword back.

"Thanks for the loan," she says. "Thanks to this sword, none of those monsters were able to lay a finger on me."

"I'm glad you could put it to good use," I say.

"So how are the two of you?" Shizuka asks.

"Well, as you can see, we're exhausted," Mrs Tokime says. "Let's head back to our house to discuss things… the other diviners are also waiting for us there."

"Okay!" Shizuka says.

We all power down, and Sunao says she wants to fetch something from home, so she goes her own way while Mrs Tokime turns and leisurely leads the way to her house, a large traditional Japanese building on the village outskirts. The moment I step inside, the others call out.

"Ashley-nee, you're back!" Inui says.

"How'd it go?" Hiyori asks. "Did you beat the witch?"

"What are you talking about!?" Elise says. "If they hadn't beaten it, they'd still be fighting it, right?"

"Well, unless it was too strong for them," Hiyori says.

"Don't worry," I say. "The witch is no more."

"Huh… but the barrier hasn't collapsed," Elise notes. "I wonder why…"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too," I say.

"I'll get some tea and snacks," Mrs Tokime says. "Just wait here a few minutes."

"Could there be another witch?" Hiyori suggests. "I mean other than that one circling the village…"

"I don't sense another one," Elise muses.

"What if this barrier was actually created by a magical girl?" Inui suggests.

"Oh! I never thought of that!" Komachi says. "It could explain why it's so… normal… but could such a barrier still be maintained long after the magical girl is dead, I wonder? I mean, if there's an entire village inside the barrier, it must've been here for quite some time…"

"That's a good question," I say. "If it was Pernelle that made the barrier, that would solve the issue… but the emblem on the portal didn't match Pernelle's barrier…"

"What's the emblem on Pernelle's barrier?" Hiyori asks.

"It's a caduceus surrounded by what looks like various formulas."

"What are you guys even talking about?" Chiharu says. "I'm totally lost here…"

"Well…"

Before I have a chance to explain anything, Sunao suddenly arrives, out of breath.

"I'm… I'm here," she gasps. "Did I… did I miss anything?"

"Not really," Chiharu says. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Y-yeah," Sunao nods. "Yeah, I found it…"

"You seem oddly unhappy about that," Inui says.

"Huh? Why would you say that?" Sunao asks.

"I mean… you just seemed kinda gloomy when you said it?" Inui says.

At that moment, Mrs Tokime enters with a tray of tea and cookies, passing cups around to everyone and setting the cookies on the table where everyone can reach them.

"Alright, before we get into explanations, let's do a round of introductions," Mrs Tokime says.

She gives us a few moments to settle down and find a place to sit, then kicks off the introductions.

"I'm Tokime Kaguya, Shizuka's mother and the head of the main Tokime family… you can call me Mrs Tokime."

"You're the head instead of your husband?" Inui asks.

"Of course," Mrs Tokime says. "After all, we're a clan founded by a diviner… it's only natural that inheritance would be passed down the female line."

"You have a good point," Inui admits.

"Then I'll go next," Ms Hiroe says. "I'm Hiroe Chie, Chiharu's mother. You can call me Ms Hiroe."

"I already introduced myself earlier," Chiharu says. "But I'm Hiroe Chiharu."

"I'm Toki Sunao," Sunao says.

"And I'm Tokime Shizuka," Shizuka finishes. "Together we're the diviners of Tokime village."

"Alright, then I guess it's our turn," I say. "My name is Ashley Taylor. I'm an exchange student from California."

"Ohh!" Chiharu says. "I thought you looked like an American, but your Japanese was so good that I dismissed the idea…"

"I'm Itsumi Inui."

"My name is Elise Pierrot."

"Claire Branch."

"Hayashi Komachi."

"And I'm her little sister, Hayashi Hiyori."

"One other thing before we get into the thick of things," I add. "It seems that you use different terminology than the rest of us…"

"Right, right," Sunao nods. "Diviners is a term only used in this village… everywhere else, we're referred to as magical girls… devils are called witches, and a devil's soul is called a grief seed… what else… oh right, your jewel is called a soul gem… did I miss anything, Miss Taylor?"

"I think that's about it," I say. "No wait, there is one other – a devil's minions are called familiars."

"Oh… I actually didn't know that one," Sunao says.

"Probably because you were dragged up here before Kyuubey managed to teach you the ropes," I say. "It would've explained the others right away, but it often doesn't mention familiars until you've actually entered a labyrinth…"

"So is this like… we're using archaic terms?" Shizuka asks.

"I honestly have no idea," I say. "It's possible, but it's also possible that your clan just made up new terms to make it all sound, uhh… grander or something."

"So, what happened with Lady Mikoshiba?" Mrs Tokime asks.

"She was controlling the devil," Sunao says.

"So, she was in league with it," Mrs Tokime muses.

"Yeah, definitely," I say.

"Then, what about that thing she said about diviners turning into devils?" Shizuka asks.

"It's true," I say. "When your soul gem becomes tainted, it cracks open and turns into a grief seed."

Shizuka translates my words into the terminology she's more familiar with.

"Um… so the jewel cracks open and turns into a devil's soul…" She blinks. "W-wait, really? Why would that be? We're supposed to be making wishes for the sake of our country… it doesn't make sense to turn us into monsters…"

"This system is far older than your clan," I say. "The Tokime clan just found a way to make the best of a bad deal. Kyuubey's goal is and always has been the creation of witches."

Chiharu gasps. "H-hold on a second… you're saying Lord Kyuubey's actually evil too!?"

"I think evil is too strong a word," I say. "I'd say Kyuubey is amoral. But… if it's easier for you to think of it as evil, then you do you, I guess."

"So he was actually an evil god this whole time!?" Shizuka says.

"It's also not right to think of it as a god," I say. "Magical girls themselves are more powerful than Kyuubey… it's laughably easy to kill Kyuubey in any number of ways, should you desire."

"But I guess no-one has bothered," Chiharu says. "Seeing as he's still alive."

"No, people have bothered," I say. "It just does no good. Kyuubey is not a singular entity – it's a collective of many identical creatures with a hive mind, so if you kill one, another one will just pop up and scold you, and maybe even continue the conversation."

At that moment, Mikoshiba stirs and grunts. Chiharu turns to look at her.

"Granny… are you okay?" she asks.

Mikoshiba stares at her for a moment.

"You're the new diviner girl…"

"As far as I can tell, you're uninjured," Ms Hiroe says. "Do you feel unwell at all?"

"Just… a bit weak," Mikoshiba says.

"That would be my magic," Komachi mutters.

"Ms Hiroe, there's no need to worry about her that much," Mrs Tokime says.

"Ah, the Hiroe and Tokime mothers," Mikoshiba says. "Did I get hurt somehow and pass out?"

"Don't you remember anything?" Chiharu asks.

"Sorry, dear… everything lately seems to be a blur," she says.

"Well, that sounds like a bare-faced lie if I ever heard one," Inui mutters.

"Huh? Are you for real!?" Chiharu gasps.

"People who receive a devil's brand do tend to forget what happened," Shizuka muses.

"Oh, there's another terminology difference," I speak up. "We call it a witch's kiss."

"I received one?" Mikoshiba asks.

"I didn't see one on her, though," I muse.

"To me, it looked like you were controlling the devil," Sunao says.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember anything," Mikoshiba says. "But it sounds like you saved me, right? So I must express my gratitude to the three of you diviners."

"Okay… could you answer a few questions for us?" Shizuka asks.

"What sort of questions?" Mikoshiba asks.

"Questions about us," Shizuka says. "You said that diviners inevitably become devils, and we must not be allowed to leave the village so that it can continue to be Nippon's shadow…"

She repeats almost everything Mikoshiba said to us in the underground shrine, and Mikoshiba listens with what appears to be curiosity.

"So, I really did say all of that, did I?" Mikoshiba says.

"Yeah, you did," Shizuka says.

"Well, I've never heard any of that… but I hardly think you'd be a dishonest girl," Mikoshiba says. "So at least, allow me to apologize…"

"The nerve…!" Inui gasps.

But before she can say anything else, Chiharu pipes up.

"Granny, you're lying," she says.

"Ah… what a shame," she says. "Considering what I did, it's natural for you to lose trust in me…"

"That's not it!" Chiharu says. "It still stinks!"

Sunao sighs. "Enough… I can't take this anymore!"

Mikoshiba blinks at her. "The Toki girl…?"

"I thought things would be alright if you'd just admit to it, but… I've heard enough… I was going to keep it to myself, because I knew it would hurt Shizuka and Charu… if you were punished, I planned to take this discovery to the grave… but I can't do that anymore!"

"W-what are you talking about!?" Mikoshiba asks.

"Yeah… what's so bad we can't even hear about it?" Shizuka asks.

"Your wishes," I say.

Shizuka and Sunao both blink at me, the former in confusion, the latter startled. Then Sunao takes a deep breath.

"So, I stopped by Lady Mikoshiba's house just now, right?"

Shizuka nods. "Since you live there too… you said you forgot something, right?"

"Come to think of it, where was I all this time?" Mikoshiba asks.

"You mean when you said all that stuff?" Sunao says. "That was in the Grand Shrine…"

"Unbelievable!" Mikoshiba gasps. "You're saying I was by a devil's side in such a holy place?"

"Someone just give this woman an Oscar's already, and let's get this farce over with," Inui mutters.

"Don't change the subject!" Sunao snaps. "Are you going to tell me you don't even remember threatening to kill my parents if I don't do as you say!?"

"I'm afraid not," Mikoshiba says.

"Then, do you remember threatening me and my daughter into coming here?" Ms Hiroe asks.

"Not exactly," Mikoshiba says. "I think I remember talking to you on the phone, but I can't remember the words…"

"So how far back does this go?" Sunao says. "How far back are your memories blurred?"

"I believe… perhaps since around the time Sunao became a diviner?" Mikoshiba says. "One year… maybe two, at most."

"As I thought," Sunao says. "You were at least in your right mind when Shizuka-chan made her wish."

"Sunao-chan… what are you getting at?" Chiharu asks.

Sunao reaches into her bag and withdraws a laptop.

"I found this in Mikoshiba's house," she says.

"What is it though?" Shizuka asks.

"It's a laptop!?" Chiharu gasps.

"Wait, you've never seen a laptop before?" Inui asks.

"I'm afraid not…" Shizuka says. "I've lived my whole life here in the village. We don't have anything like that here…"

Sunao nods. "There shouldn't be any computers here in this village, after all. I was able to guess the password – it's the same as the combination to her safe – and I found some audio files."

"So what?" Mikoshiba says.

"Many…no, most of the files were more than two years old," Sunao says.

"And you listened to them?" Mikoshiba asks.

"Only one, but yes." Sunao says.

"I see," Mikoshiba says. "So you heard them…"

"Tell me what that was about!" Sunao demands.

"You're better off not knowing," Mikoshiba says. "Ignorance is bliss, after all."

"I can't let you get away with this!" Sunao shouts.

"I should never have allowed outsiders to enter the village," Mikoshiba sighs. "I'll tell you this right now… there's no written documentation. It would risk the other villagers finding it."

"Mikoshiba!" Sunao shouts.

Then there's suddenly a cracking sound.

"Alright Komachi-chan, you're up!" I say. "Heal her, quickly!"

"R-right?" Komachi says, startled.

She lays a hand on Mikoshiba's shoulder, channeling her magic into the old woman.

"Ah, I get it," Komachi says. "Poison, huh… let's see if I can clear it out…"

"H-huh…?" Sunao gasps.

"Granny…?" Chiharu says.

"W-wait, what's happening?" Shizuka asks. "What's this about…?"

"M-mom, can you… check her?" Chiharu says.

Ms Hiroe hurries to the old woman's side and examines her, nodding slightly, hemming and hawing a little. The examination takes a minute or two, everyone other than Komachi watching with bated breath.

"The symptoms do appear to be consistent with a fast-acting neurotoxin," she says. "She must have had a poison capsule tucked into her back tooth or something…"

"So she intended to escape to the underworld…" Mrs Tokime muses.

"Why would she want to do that…" Chiharu mutters.

"Don't go killing her off just yet," Komachi retorts.

"Yes, Miss Komachi is correct," Ms Hiroe says. "She is still alive, just barely. There's a pulse, so Miss Komachi's magic must be having some effect."

"But this is still an admission of her wrongdoings," Sunao says.

"Yeah, but he said any bad guy can have another chance!" Chiharu says. "Mr Todoroki said that…"

"Maybe there are some people who can't," Shizuka says.

"I think that's not quite it," I say. "Sure, everyone deserves a second chance, but there's no guarantee they'll actually turn over a new leaf just because they're given that chance. For starters, they need to show remorse before it's worth even offering them another chance. Miss Mikoshiba… she tried to lie her way out of it right to the very end. There wasn't an iota of remorse in her body."

"Yeah, I can never forgive her," Sunao says. "Doing all sorts of awful things, and then trying to kill herself to cover them up… I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't've brought it up… I should've questioned her a bit more and waited to drop the bombshell…"

"Sunao-chan, calm down…" Chiharu says.

"Even if you hadn't, I probably would've doubled down on her, Sunao-chan," Shizuka says. "I want to know the truth of all this too. So… what did you hear from the computer?"

"I don't even want to talk about it…" Sunao mutters.

"It must be something to do with me and Charu, right?" Shizuka says. "Then we should hear about it."

"But you're guaranteed to regret it!" Sunao protests. "I can't do that to you!"

"But it's about us, right?" Shizuka says. "So we deserve to know! It's not fair of you to take it to the grave!"

"Yeah, if it's about us, then we want to know!" Chiharu says.

"All this beating about the bush is making me antsy," I say. "It's really quite simple. Your wishes weren't made for the good of Japan at all… they were sold to the highest bidder."

Sunao gasps. "H-how did you…?"

"I-is… is that true?" Shizuka gasps.

"Uhh… but my wish was definitely a good thing for Japan…" Chiharu says.

"Yeah, yours was," I nod. "At least you managed to expose some of the corruption in the police force. It just means that whoever won the bid for your wish happened to be a somewhat good person. Shizuka's wish is a totally different story though… it was neither good nor bad for Japan, a truly weaksauce wish… well, that's just my opinion though, others may differ."

The two of them look at me.

"H-huh!? How did you know what my wish was?" Chiharu says. "I'm certain I never told you…"

"Yeah, I never mentioned mine either!" Shizuka says.

"Anyway!" Sunao cuts in. "I heard a conversation between Mikoshiba and an unknown man. At first it was hard to understand, but I gradually realized they were talking about a wish made when becoming a diviner…"

"You don't have any idea who the man was?" Chiharu asks.

"No, I never heard his name," Sunao says. "But I'm sure he was some high-ranking government official… Mikoshiba was talking about the price for the wish, and the time frame…"

The three of them start to tear up a little.

"So it's true… our lives were sold," Shizuka says.

"Granny just made us make our wishes so she could get money for it…" Chiharu says. "My life was just sold to some faceless man." She sighs. "But at least I didn't get that bad a deal with my wish… even if I'd been given the choice, I might have actually wished for something very similar…"

"Yeah," Shizuka nods. "Your wish foiled the evil nesting within justice, Charu. I on the other hand… I don't even know what my wish accomplished…"

"By the way, Sunao-chan… how much was I worth?" Chiharu asks.

"Chiharu, stop right there," Ms Hiroe says. "You don't need to hear about that."

"Yeah, you're priceless," Sunao says.

"Liar," Chiharu mutters.

"I'm serious!" Sunao says. "I could never put a price on my friends! This doesn't change anything about either of you! You're still the greatest people I know! Who cares about some stupid price that someone else assigned you!?"

"Sunao-chan… thank you so much!" Chiharu says, suddenly hugging her.

"Thank you," Shizuka says. "You're the greatest person I know, too."

"You know, I was all set to kill you if you somehow survived at your coming-of-age ceremony," Sunao says. "You're still going to say I'm the greatest person you know?"

"Of course!" Shizuka says, smiling. "It's not like you wanted to do that… you were being threatened, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

"So this village has been selling people's lives since ancient times…" Shizuka says.

"Shizuka, that's not true," Mrs Tokime says. "This village belongs to us, the Tokime. We don't remember what it was like before the Mikoshiba clan came, but… I'm sure it hasn't always been like that."

"Okay… how's the healing coming, Komachi-chan?" I ask.

"Not well," Komachi says. "Not well, but… I think if I get a grief seed, I should be able to cure her eventually. Unfortunately, I have none left since we were fighting all those familiars."

I pull out a grief seed and toss it to Komachi, who catches and use it with a quick word of thanks. I still have two left, so I can easily spare that one.

"Alright… there should be more evidence besides just the laptop," I say. "You can still smell it, right Miss Hiroe?"

"That's true…" Chiharu says. "But Granny's not dead yet, so I thought that was why…" She frowns slightly. "That thing called 'truth' always lies much closer than you expect… if she left that data in the computer, she might've carried the really important things with her, right?"

"I see what you mean," Ms Hiroe says. "Let me search her, then… excuse me…"

"Is there anything there?" Chiharu asks.

"Something in her pocket…" Ms Hiroe says.

"There really was something!" Chiharu gasps.

Ms Hiroe pulls out a book and opens it with a gasp.

"Oh my… this is…?"

"What's this weird script?" Shizuka asks, looking over her shoulder.

"Those are what I call witch runes," I say, peeking with my clairvoyance.

"Can you read them?" Mrs Tokime asks.

"Well… theoretically, but… I have a feeling the ones in this book will be too much for me," I say. "It's a Roman alphabet cipher, so while I can translate it into Roman letters, that alone may not be enough to actually read it."

"So if it's unreadable, then it's yet another dead end, I suppose," Mrs Tokime says.

"No, this… this is…" Chiharu says. "Mom, it's that!"

Ms Hiroe nods. "Yes… we can read this," she says.

"N-no way!" Shizuka gasps. "You really can read it!?"

"Yeah, learning this weird script has been our family tradition for a long time," Chiharu says.

"But we never expected to see it here, of all places," Ms Hiroe says.

"So… you can decipher it?" Shizuka asks.

"I bet we can!" Chiharu says eagerly.

"Then we'll leave the deciphering to you," Mrs Tokime says. "As for me, I'm pretty tired after all that fighting, so I'll be going to bed. We can call the villagers together tomorrow morning to explain everything."

She looks at me and my friends.

"I'll set out some futons for you lot in the next room," she says. "So feel free to use them whenever you feel tired."

"Thanks," I say.

"Then Charu… please…" Shizuka says.

"Yeah, I'll do my best!" Chiharu says. "Let's read it, Mom!"

"Right," Ms Hiroe says. "I expect we'll be up all night on this though…"

"Actually, I also have something else I think you might be able to decipher," I say. "Although I'm not quite sure… but would you mind taking a look?"

"Um… that depends on what it is," Ms Hiroe says.

I dig into my purse and pull out the stone tablets from the Kazura grave, which I'd stopped by early this morning to retrieve specifically for this purpose. I hand them over to Ms Hiroe, and she nods.

"Yes… this does appear to be the same," she says. "I should be able to decipher it… but if you don't mind, I'll work on the book first."

"No problem," I say. "After all, that book's the more pertinent information right now."

---

We gather again in the same room the following morning, where Mrs Tokime serves a traditional Japanese breakfast. Chiharu's mother looks exhausted, and Chiharu herself also looks pretty tired.

"Thanks for all your hard work, Charu!" Shizuka says.

"Yes, thank you!" Sunao says.

"That was my first time staying up all niiight…" Chiharu groans.

"So what did you find out?" Inui asks eagerly.

"So, what did you learn?" Sunao asks at the same time.

"Right!" Chiharu nods. "There were some confusing bits we had trouble deciphering, but we can give a pretty good explanation."

"I really read most of it myself, though," Ms Hiroe says.

"Although I read those stone tablets mostly on my own!" Chiharu says. "Guess I need to study more though…"

"Well, would you mind getting started?" Mrs Tokime asks. "The tension is killing me."

"Right," Ms Hiroe says. "The story in Mikoshiba's book was roughly divided into two major parts."

Chiharu nods. "One part is about the Mikoshibas, and the other part is about the Tokimes."

"Let's start with the Mikoshiba clan's story," Ms Hiroe says. "Apparently they used to be warriors sent to protect the Tokime clan, but it seems they seized control over the village at a time when there were no diviners present. They proceeded to change the rules in all sorts of ways and created most of the ceremonies you know today, like the kagura dances and the coming-of-age ceremony. They also gained the power to manipulate devils thanks to a wish they forced one of the village's girls to make They hid the village inside the witch's labyrinth, using it to create diviners and make money for themselves. In order to maintain control over the village, they killed the diviners to prevent information from leaking to the outside."

"So what Mikoshiba did to me…" Shizuka says.

"It seems like it has been tradition for a very long time," Chiharu says.

"And the part about us becoming devils?" Shizuka says.

"It sounds like that's true as well," Chiharu says. "It was mentioned as an additional justification for killing the diviners."

"Oh no…" Shizuka sighs. "But still… if I've literally sacrificed my soul for the sake of Nippon, then I can still retain my honour. Even if I were to become a devil… what I have achieved will never be erased." She nods resolutely. "Alright… what's next?"

"The next section described the Wavering Deity," Ms Hiroe says. "It's said to be a devil formed from all the discarded diviners that just drifts around in circles, unable to leave nor return to its hidden village. The book claimed it would return to the hidden village once the Mikoshibas and the devil's labyrinth are gone, and after swallowing up the whole village, it would ultimately erase all evidence of diviners existing. It seemed like an obsession, even… it'll never surrender the Tokimes to anyone else…"

"But as far as I can tell… the labyrinth is still here," I say. "Although the witch is gone and Mikoshiba is… that's right, where is she?"

"Ah, right, you were asleep already," Komachi says. "We took her back to her house… she's still too weak to move, but I managed to get that damned poison out of her, so she should be fine. Charu-chan has also bound her so she can't escape. Maybe you can get more information out of her later, too."

"At least she'll be able to pay the price for what she's done," Shizuka says. "But wait… the Wavering Deity… if the devil was defeated, and the labyrinth… well anyway, does that mean it's on its way here right now!?"

"Yeah, it must be," Chiharu says. "When it gets here, we've gotta defeat it."

"So right as our ancestors come back, we'll be opening fire on them…" Sunao says.

"No we won't," Chiharu says resolutely. "We're going to free the Tokime diviners who've been suffering all this time!"

"Right!" Hiyori says. "It's not like they still remember the girls they used to be, right?"

"R-right…" Sunao says.

"Yeah, because we've smashed all of the Mikoshiba's rules, I'm sure we can beat them!" Chiharu says.

"But those ancestors have been growing stronger and stronger over the years," Shizuka says. "Can we really defeat them? I know we've got no other choice, but…"

"Pretty sure she's not as strong as Walpurgisnacht," I say. "So she should be beatable."

"You mentioned that once before, but what is this Walpurgisnacht?" Shizuka asks.

"Probably the most powerful witch in the whole world," I say. "Wherever she goes, destruction follows."

"Oh my…"

"I think I can already sense the Wavering Deity approaching," Chiharu says. "We've gotta hurry…"

"So… is that everything you learned from Mikoshiba's book?" Shizuka asks.

"That was the summary," Ms Hiroe says. "It went into a lot more detail, but I think we distilled it down to the most important information."

"Then, what about Miss Taylor's stone tablets?" Shizuka asks.

"Right! That was… kinda like a letter from one of your ancestors, Shizuka-chan," Chiharu says. "I wrote down the translation if you want to read it… but it didn't make a lot of sense to me, to tell the truth."

She slides a sheet of paper over to Shizuka, who takes it and begins reading out loud.

"If you can read this, surely you have heard the lies the little white fox feeds us. You may have even learned some part of the truth yourself. Yet I have discovered that the deception runs far deeper than anyone ever imagined. If you believe that you can stomach the dark secrets of this broken world, then read on."

"I'm already confused," Sunao says. "Dark secrets? Deception? Little white fox? What the heck is this ancestor talking about?"

"Well, the little white fox is obviously Kyuubey," I say.

Shizuka blinks. "You really think so? It's saying the fox is lying to us… that doesn't seem like something a Tokime would say about Lord Kyuubey…"

"Keep going, keep going!" Chiharu urges her.

"Right," Shizuka says. "My great-great-grandmother built this island of Shinriku with her wish, founding the Tokime clan to watch over it and pass on these secrets to later generations." Her eyes widen as the sentence sinks in. "Wait… whaaaat!? The entire island!? Y-you've got to be kidding me… can a wish really do something that dramatic?"

"It depends on the girl's karmic destiny or something," I say. "But, well… it happened, and I've even spoken to an eyewitness, so I guess that means it's possible."

"That's just mind-boggling," Chiharu says. "So it's like… at some point in the past, where we're sitting right now was nothing but open ocean?"

"I guess so," I say.

"That's… that's just… crazy…" Sunao says. "I can hardly even comprehend it… the island is huge, and it was all made by one girl's wish!?"

"Our private histories do have some reference to that," Mrs Tokime. "Although it's decribed as pulling the ground up from the ocean floor, rather than building an island… that was the clan's founder, Tokime no Sakuya."

"Keep reading," Sunao says. "I want to hear the rest."

"R-right…" Shizuka says, looking back at the paper. "Sadly, that legacy is on the brink of destruction thanks to the fox's machinations. As the last remaining diviner of the Tokime clan, and one with no attack magic whatsoever, it is up to me to ensure that the legacy is not lost forever. I have erected a barrier around this sacred mountain, and once I place this letter in Lady Youha's grave, I will return to the Mikoshiba and turn into a devil. With luck, that will be the end of her little scheme, but either way, the Tokime clan is done for, and this sacred mountain is the last remaining trace of our legacy."

"I don't really get it," Sunao. "But it sounds like that was right around the time that Mikoshiba took over, and she was trying to resist with all her might… maybe she was even the one whose wish granted Mikoshiba the power to control devils…"

"She knew she'd turn into a devil," Shizuka muses. "And she resolved to do so in order to take out the Mikoshiba… so I bet she wasn't the one who made that wish. It seems like she didn't know the Mikoshiba could control devils."

"Ah, that's a good point," Sunao says. "What was that about a sacred mountain? And Lady Youha?"

"That's a reference to where I found those stone tablets," I reply. "There's a hill behind Mitakihara Middle School, with a single grave at the top which apparently belongs to this Lady Youha. There are more runes on the gravestone, too… I think it's something like, 'Here lies Youha of Kazura, who lived as a magical girl, yet died as a human'."

"Weird that the tablet says 'diviner' and 'devil', but the gravestone says 'magical girl'," Shizuka says. "It's interesting though…"

"It's possible that the inscription on the tomb was meant for outsiders, so they substituted the standard term," I suggest. "While the tablets were intended to be read by a Tokime survivor, so they used the Tokime term. That's just speculation though…"

"What's really interesting about that is how it implies this Lady Youha was a magical girl… a diviner… but then she returned to being an ordinary human," Chiharu says.

"Kazura, you say?" Mrs Tokime uses. "I feel like there's something vaguely familiar about that name… just where have I heard it before…"

"There's still more to the letter," Shizuka says, returning her eyes to the page. "You may wonder why the little white fox would instigate action to destroy my clan, when usually it sits back and watches as the tragedies unfold. You are not alone, for I wonder the same thing. Perhaps our knowledge poses an existential threat to that fox's system, which only increases the urgency of preserving it. I cannot commit it to writing, for I fear the little white fox would find a way to destroy it. Instead, the clan has created a time capsule that takes advantage of some little-known properties of the human soul, properties that the fox itself may not be aware of."

"Yeah, it sounds like she had some information she wanted to pass on to the future at all costs," Chiharu says. "And this fox… is it really Lord Kyuubey? The fox wanted to bury that information."

"Come to think of it… this also very strongly suggests that Lord Kyuubey was the one to manipulate things so that the Mikoshiba clan seized control," Sunao says. "But only diviners can see him, right? So how does that even work…?"

"I think Kyuubey controls who can see it," Inui pipes up. "Only magical girls and those with the potential to become a magical girl can see it, yes… but I think that's only because those are the only people it chooses to show itself to. If it really wanted to, I believe it could show itself to anyone."

"Huh, is that how it works?" Chiharu muses.

"I'm not sure if that's really how it works," I say. "But even if it doesn't work that way, Kyuubey might have other abilities we don't know about… and certainly it's capable of manipulating magical girls into conflict if one group is causing problems…"

"Anyway, go on, read the rest, Shizuka-chan!" Chiharu says.

"R-right," Shizuka nods. "I dare not even explain the mechanism in detail; the most I can say is that this mountain is haunted by the Kazura, and all it takes is a wish to complete the loop. It's certainly ironic that the little white fox will be indirectly responsible for exposing this information after it went to so much trouble to cover it up. I pray that someone in the future solves this riddle to unlock the truth of this world. Yours truly, Tokime no Oyura."

"I don't get it at all…" Sunao says.

"The only thing I can think of is that she wants Lady Youha's ghost to make a wish and become a diviner?" Chiharu says. "But surely that's not possible… right?"

My eyes widen, for the thought had never even occurred to me… and that's despite a reference to ghosts in one of the non-canon spin-off manga that implied they could become magical girls.

"Actually… it just might be… that could neatly explain it, too…" I say.

"B-but… do ghosts even exist?" Sunao asks. "I know I've never seen one…"

"Nor have I," Shizuka says.

"I have no idea either," I say.

"I've been to that so-called sacred mountain several times, and I never saw a ghost there," Elise says. "Nor have I seen one in the so-called haunted house or anywhere else."

"Still, diviners definitely exist," Chiharu says. "So we can't rule out the possibility of ghosts, right?"

"Right," Sunao nods. "It's possible they might exist…"

"Alright, now that we're all caught up," Mrs Tokime says. "You'll be getting ready to face the Wavering Deity, right?"

"Oh right, I almost forgot!" Shizuka gasps, shooting to her feet. "We've gotta hurry!"

"Calm down just a moment," Mrs Tokime says. "There's something I need to give you first, and something I need to tell you… just wait here a moment."

"Mother!?"

"It's the sword I mentioned to Miss Taylor yesterday," she says.

With that, she leaves the room.

"…a sword?" Shizuka says. "But I already have a sword…"

Mrs Tokime returns a minute later, carrying a sword in its sheath. She draws it, revealing it to be not a katana but a much older style of Japanese sword, a double-edged tsurugi with a gleaming blade. It's a style that actually predates the Edo period, so it's a little weird to see one that was supposedly forged so late.

"So what were you going to tell us, Mother?" Shizuka asks.

"First of all, the Hiroe family is undoubtedly descended from the Mikoshiba clan," Mrs Tokime says.

"Huh… you mean Granny Mikoshiba's a distant relative?" Chiharu asks.

"Exactly," Mrs Tokime says.

"W-what!? Why!?" Chiharu gasps.

"It's the Mikoshiba clan who learns and preserves knowledge of that script," Mrs Tokime explains. "Even that stone tablet was probably written by a member of the Mikoshiba clan, perhaps a younger one who disagreed with the elder's actions. Or maybe Tokime Oyura learned the script from that person and wrote it herself… either way, someone from the Mikoshiba clan would have been involved."

"Mom did tell me we originally came from Tokime village," Chiharu says.

"But I never expected us to have come from the Mikoshibas," Ms Hiroe says.

"Talk about mixed feelings," Chiharu says.

"Don't say that," Mrs Tokime says. "After all, the Tokime clan has been waiting for you."

"We didn't have any grand reason like that to come though?" Chiharu says, startled.

"Even I only realized this morning," Mrs Tokime says. "There's… a prediction, or a prophesy, or something? 'When the ones who can read the Mikoshiba's script appear, the Mikoshibas will meet their end. Until that time arrives, the diviners of Tokime must forge the sword of the ancestor.' That's the oral legend passed down in the Tokime family… I have Mother to thank for reminding me of it."

"Oh, is Granny finally feeling better, then?" Shizuka asks.

For a moment I'm thrown off by the use of the term Granny, which until now has always referred to Mikoshiba, but I guess it makes perfect sense to use for her actual grandmother too.

"A little bit," Mrs Tokime says.

"So we ended up reading the book after we figured most of the situation out," Shizuka muses. "But if we'd been able to read the book first, it would've revealed the whole thing… and now that the Mikoshiba has collapsed, we need to fight the Wavering Deity, right?"

"Could it be that Shizuka's and Charu's families were collaborating with each other in the past?" Sunao suggests. "But perhaps Charu's family was banished and had to live in the outside world as the Hiroes…"

Shizuka looks at the sword in her mother's hand.

"So my family continued sharpening the blade…" Shizuka says.

"And my family kept the knowledge of the Mikoshiba's script alive," Chiharu says.

"On that note, Shizuka, please accept this!" Mrs Tokime says, holding out the sword in both hands to present it to her daughter. "This is the treasured sword forged for our ancestor, Sakuya, which the Tokime diviners have infused with their power for generations upon generations! Use all the power that's been stored in it over the pass three hundred years, and set the Wavering Deity free!"

"I hereby accept this sword!" Shizuka says.

She takes the sword from her mother and looks closely at it.

"The seal of the Tokime on one side, and the mark of the caduceus on the other," she muses. "This is really it? The sword used by the clan's founder?"

Mrs Tokime nods. "There is no doubt. We've passed it down all this time solely for this day."

"So this will be our final battle," Sunao says. "Will the rest of you be joining us?"

"Sorry, but I'm pretty tired from all that healing," Komachi says. "So I'd like to rest up if that's okay…"

"We fought those familiars non-stop yesterday too, and we're out of grief seeds," Elise says. "So I think it wouldn't be a good idea to head into another battle right now…"

"I hate to say it, but she's right," Inui says. "What do you think, Ashley-nee?"

"Well… I'd like to help out," I say.

"Hmm… well, you still have some spare grief seeds, right?" Inui asks.

"Yeah," I say. "If you're coming, you can use one before we start."

"Then it's decided!" Inui says.

"So the four of us will stay to rest up, then," Claire says.

"Yeah, I think that's best," Hiyori says.

"Come to think of it, everyone who infused their emotions into that sword must be wandering around as the Wavering Deity," Chiharu muses.

"Let's take these bright feelings they once held, and give them back," Shizuka says.

"Um, I'm just going to point out that some of the diviners probably died before they became a witch," I say. "So it's not everyone who put their emotions into the sword…"

"The sentiment still stands though!" Chiharu says. "After so many centuries, we'll finally bring them peace!"

The five of us head out of Mrs Tokime's house before transforming and heading towards the shrine, since the witch's presence can be sensed from that direction. We reach the bridge and pause to gauge its proximity.

"The Wavering Deity has gotten a lot closer," Chiharu says.

"It's still pretty far away, though," Sunao says.

"Maybe it's getting excited now that it's spotted the village?" Chiharu suggests.

"After three hundred years of wandering, they finally found their hometown," Shizuka says. "Of course, it might be just their devils now, and not really them… but even so, if they've finally found the place where they belong… I imagine they must be overjoyed. Still… even if they want to return happily, they're nothing more than harmful devils now. We can't surrender Tokime village to them as their resting place! That's why we have to liberate them with our own hands, right?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Chiharu says.

With that speech over with, we head across the bridge, past the stage, and up to the Grand Shrine. This time however, we head around the shrine instead of entering it. Before long, we reach the bluff overlooking the lowlands. I glance back and see the sign of the Tokime, the portal opening into the labyrinth that contains their village.

"So the barrier doesn't quite reach the bluff," I say. "Well… do we go down? She's still pretty far away… or we could fly, if that's more to your liking."

Shizuka blinks. "Huh? Can you fly, Miss Taylor?"

"It's a bit weird, but yes, I can," I say.

"We need to go down the cliff," Sunao says. "So if you can fly, that would really ease the journey…"

I summon Teddy Mk II and hop on his head. Inui joins me, hopping onto one of his arms, then helps Chiharu up next to her.

"Can this thing really fly?" Shizuka wonders.

"It really can," I say. "Honestly, I was surprised too when I found out."

So Shizuka and Sunao climb up on the other arm, and we zoom down the cliff face until we've plunged beneath the canopy of trees below, at which point we hop off again and proceed by foot. After about five or ten minutes of trudging through the dense forest, we finally find it – a witch's portal, resembling a pair of bare footprints and a scale.

"Let's send your ancestors to heaven," Chiharu says.

We step into the labyrinth and are greeted with a bizarre-looking tree-lined path with a picket fence. There are huge sunflowers peeking over the fence, and I spot some massive dragonflies high up in the trees. The whole thing has a strange, flat texture to it, like an impressionist painting maybe. Almost immediately, we're surrounded by familiars, which consist of signposts each crowned by an exposed brain. I even recognize this labyrinth and its familiars from the Magia Record game, although I can't recall the witch's name off the top of my head.

"Okay!" Chiharu says. "I hereby throw the first spear! Or rather, the first jitte!"

True to her declaration, she actually throws her weapon at the lead familiar, although she does at least charge it with magic a little first.

"We're heading to where your boss is!" Shizuka says.

I take out my sword and attack the familiars. They're quite tough, but it turns out the brain is a weak point… the only problem is they dart around so fast that it's difficult to land a clean hit. Inui backs me up by tossing fireballs whenever they try to dodge though, and Sunao's lightning also helps by stunning them now and then. We progress through the labyrinth, fighting familiars as we go.

"Keep it up!" Sunao says. "Press on all the way!"

"Hey, Shizuka-chan," Chiharu says.

"What's up, Charu?" Shizuka asks.

"What are we going to do next?" Chiharu says. "Like, after we free the Wavering Deity?"

"It's a little early for that," Sunao says.

"Yeah, might want to talk about that after we beat her," I say.

"I'm not sure, but my first priority is the village," Shizuka says. "We've got to clear the air and get everything in the open. I'm sure everyone will be shocked, but we have to do it."

"That's not what I'm asking!" Chiharu says.

"Huh?" Shizuka says.

"I mean what should we do as diviners… or magical girls!"

"Hmm… I wonder…" Shizuka muses. "Well, like Miss Taylor said, there's no way of knowing until we defeat it. Come on, focus on our task right now! It looks like we're almost at the core!"

"You're welcome," I say. "Without me here it would've taken you about twice as long to reach the core… or I guess you do have Miss Chiharu's malice sense, so maybe not quite twice as long."

"Ah, I thought you were just choosing forks at random?" Sunao says.

"No, I was using my clairvoyance to scout ahead and determine the correct path," I say.

"Oh, then that's really helpful," Shizuka. "Please accept my sincere gratitude!"

"Alright!" Chiharu says.

The path we're following opens out into a clearing, and I see the witch runes sort of pinned to the trees. The witch herself is a strange caped figure with a mouth on the cape. In place of arms she has what look like a signpost with a face at both ends, and her eyes are replaced by a pair of bare feet. Four disembodied hands are attached to a curved headband. The head itself looks like a giant ball of yarn.

"So the witch is named Lucy," I say. "Kinda underwhelming for such an old witch."

Inui chuckles. "Yeah, and so short, unlike that last one… but you know, what's really strange is that I've actually seen this witch before, and even beaten her."

Shizuka blinks. "H-how could that be possible!?"

"This one's probably the original," I say. "If you've fought it before, Inui-chan, I expect it was one of her familiars who wandered far away and managed to eat enough people to mature into a witch."

"Huh… you mean if the minions get away they can eventually become a devil?" Chiharu asks. "I had no idea…"

"I didn't know either," Shizuka. "Did you know, Sunao-chan?"

"No… I didn't," Sunao says.

"In any case, don't let your guard down, Inui-chan," I say. "You might know roughly what she's capable of, but she's probably much, much stronger than the one you beat."

"I understand, Ashley-nee," she says. "I'll be really careful!"

"It sure feels overwhelming," Chiharu says.

"Like its very presence is pushing down on us…"

"Strange though, I never got this sort of feeling from Walpurgisnacht," I muse. "Is it the witch's magic…?"

Suddenly Sunao drops to her knees, and Chiharu gasps.

"Sunao-chan!"

"I… think it is her magic," Inui says. "I remember this feeling… but it was… nowhere near this… intense…"

"S-sorry," Sunao says, getting back to her feet with a bit of help from Chiharu. "It's just so strong, I felt faint for a moment…"

"Yeah, my head's spinning sooooo much," Chiharu says.

I decide to summon Teddy Mk II and start charging my attack. While doing that, I also lean on him for support.

"Were the minions just a bluff?" Shizuka wonders. "I can hardly stand…"

"M-me too," Inui says. "How are you even still standing, Ashley-nee!?"

"My secret is… this teddy!"

At that moment, the witch glides forward, emitting a strange dark beam from its two faces. I manage to dart behind Teddy Mk II to avoid it, but the others aren't so lucky – they're caught directly in the blast, which causes them all to fall to their knees.

"No… don't say that…" Shizuka mutters.

After pausing for several seconds, during which it seems like she's listening to someone only she can hear, she continues muttering under her breath.

"Y-yeah… I have no idea what should come next," she says.

"Ashley-nee… don't leave me alone!" Inui blurts out all of a sudden.

"Because we're beings that are guaranteed to become devils," Shizuka mutters, completely disregarding Inui's outburst. "We won't do Nippon any good… that's why it was all set up to kill us… even if it meant putting prices on our lives… what Mikoshiba did may have been right… I mean… I've been living with these traditions all my life…! I don't want to think about what comes after defeating it… because it's terrifying, isn't it!?"

The witch spins to strike her with one of its faces, but Sunao manages to jump in front and take the hit for her.

"Putting prices on our lives is wrong!" Sunao says.

At almost the same moment, I judge my attack is ready and let it loose.

"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!"

As my glittery beam strikes the witch, the almost-invisible dark haze on the others is lifted, and Inui suddenly blinks and sits up.

"H-huh? Did I… lose to the witch?" she asks. "Did… did you save me, Ashley-nee?"

Meanwhile, Sunao continues talking over us.

"You told me I was one of the greatest people you knew, Shizuka, and I think you were right!" she says. "There's no difference between one life and another! That's what I want to hear from you. Keep that honour with you and just do as much as you possibly can. Even if we become devils someday, all we have to do is fight as hard as we can for Nippon until then! And at some point along the way, a new path will open up somewhere… right? Let's find it together, Shizuka!"

"Ugh, all this patriotism is making me sick," I mutter. "Inui-chan, it's probably about time for you to tag off by now…"

"Right!" she says. "Look at me! I'm over here!"

Sunao glances at the two of us for a moment, slightly startled, but then lifts her crystal ball and begins charging it with electricity as she finishes her pep talk.

"Just like the two of you forgave me, I will continue to heal your heart in return!" Sunao says.

"Sunao…"

Chiharu steps up behind her and lays a hand on her shoulder. Even as she talks, she too begins to charge magic into her weapon, as well as summoning those paper lanterns.

"Chiharu…"

"Hey, listen to me," Chiharu says. "I didn't tell you what the book said about the Tokimes yet, did I? See, before the Mikoshibas took over, the Tokime clan considered their country's affairs all on their own and decided what wishes they'd grant of their own will! It seems the Mikoshibas took over during a period of terrible war, when no-one could be trusted and there were no diviners left… but up until then, everyone who came of age really did venture outside!"

"Although 'up until then' is only about a hundred years," I say.

Chiharu ignores me and continues. "They knew about their relationship with devils, but this is how the Tokimes came to think about it… 'If I offered my soul to Nippon, then my honour can be retained. Even if I were to become a devil, what I have achieved will never be erased'."

Shizuka blinks. "That's… a lot like what I said earlier…!"

Chiharu nods. "Yeah, I was surprised at how similar it was," she says. "So here's what I think, Shizuka-chan – there's not a spot of Mikoshiba in your soul. The Tokimes have always lived strong in you. So let's just do what Sunao-chan said and find that path together!"

"Miss Tokime, shouldn't you be using the sword of your ancestor!?" I shout. "Inui-chan's charm will wear off any second now!"

"Sorry," Shizuka says. "I was the one who fell to the devil's power… but I'm okay now. The two of you have helped me to open my eyes!"

She brandishes the ancient tsurugi and leaps at the witch, slicing off the signpost faces in two quick strikes. At that moment, the witch seems to notice her again.

"Now let's get some distance!" she shouts. "Let's see our ancestors off together as we set them free!"

She raises the tsurugi above her head, charging power into it the same way she would with her branched sword. I summon a swarm of Teddy Drones around the witch.

"Sword of Tokime, carve the path to our future!" she shouts.

"Great Teddy's Ionic Bombardment!"

"Tomorrow's Commandment!"

"Magical Detective Cabal!"

"Heart-throbbing Passionate Inferno!"

Even the mighty Wavering Deity can't stand against all five ultimate attacks at once, especially with Shizuka's attack greatly boosted by the power infused into the tsurugi. When the chaos of the mixed attacks finally clears up, all that's left is a pair of grief seeds… and moments later, the barrier begins to collapse.

"Huh… I've never seen that before," Inui says.

"T-two souls!?" Shizuka gasps. "Is that… because it was made of many diviners fused together?"

"I'm not sure, but if that was it, I'd expect more than two," I say.

"Well, it is convenient, however," Shizuka says. "We can take one for the three of us, and you can have the other."

"Thanks, I'll accept," I say. "I've still got one more in reserve, but the quartet were in need of one, after all…"

"I can hardly believe we defeated her, though…" Shizuka says.

"You know, this is mostly speculation," I say. "But I imagine that witch was originally Tokime Oyura."

"The one from that letter…" Chiharu gasps.

"Although I guess she's been swallowing up diviners who turn into devils ever since, so it's not quite accurate to say she's a specific person," I say. "But still…"

We head back to the village, and I notice the portal to the village's barrier is now flickering.

"What… what is this?" Shizuka asks. "This should be the back of the Grand Shrine, but…"

"That's such a tiny shrine," Chiharu says.

"Want to see the village as we saw it?" I ask. "The real village is inside that barrier, but out here it's all ruins."

"It's weird though," Inui says. "Why is it flickering? Usually that means someone's fighting the witch, right? But there isn't even a witch in that barrier anymore, right?"

"That's true… and it was normal when we headed out," I say. "Maybe it's finally destabilizing? That could be pretty bad though… what'll happen to the village if the barrier collapses?"

"Well, I don't think it's going to collapse just yet though," Inui says. "So let's hurry inside!"

We step into the barrier and hurry past the Grand Shrine and across the river. At that point, we power down, and Shizuka gasps.

"H-huh? Where'd the Tokime sword go?"

"If it was made by the same person as mine, I bet she enchanted it to store itself in your soul gem when you power down," I say.

"O-oh… that's convenient," Shizuka says.

She transforms for a moment, and sure enough – she has both her normal branched sword and the Tokime tsurugi. Then she powers down again, and we hurry along the path to the left until we to arrive at Shizuka's house, stepping in and kicking our shoes off.

"We're back!" Shizuka calls.

"Welcome back," Mrs Tokime says.

"Mother… what should we do now?" Shizuka asks.

"Well, the villagers will be gathering in the village square just after lunch, so we can explain everything to them there," Mrs Tokime begins.

"No! I mean, what should we do as diviners!?"

Mrs Tokime smiles.

"That, my dear, is up to you," she says.

"Well… I want to know more about this Kazura thing," Shizuka says. "And I want to find a way that we won't have to turn into devils… but before that, I guess we need to clean up this mess, huh?"

"Ashley-chan, are we going to stay for the meeting?" Komachi asks, emerging from the living room. "After all, it takes almost half a day to get back, right?"

"Yeah… we probably shouldn't," I say. "It's not like you need us there anyway, right?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine, don't worry about us," Shizuka says. "But one question… where did you find those tablets again?"

"Ah… there's a hill in Mitakihara with a grave at the top," I say. "I mentioned it before, didn't I?"

Shizuka nods. "I just wanted to make sure I remembered correctly."

"Also," Chiharu says. "We should all exchange contact info… or at least, you and I should, Miss Ashley."

"Sure," I say.

We take out our phones and tap them together, the beep sounding to indicate success. Shizuka blinks at the procedure.

"Huh? That's it?"

"Yeah, with just that, I now have her email and phone number, and she has mine," Chiharu says. "Modern technology's pretty convenient, isn't it?"

"It sure is…"

So the others come out of the living room, and after a round of goodbyes, we leave the village and begin the trek back down to the bus stop.

---

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.

Tokime Shizuka
時女静香

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Purple
Hair Colour: Grey
Origins: Tokime village, Kirimine county, Shinriku prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Orange 3-petalled florette
Soul Gem: 3 orange circular gems on the bow at her waist
Element: Fire
Weapon: Branched sword
Powers: Ceasefire, lasers
Wish: "I want to prevent the release of a joint statement at the Trilateral Economic Summit."
Affiliation: Tokime clan

Speed: 2
Magical Stamina: 8
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 2

Toki Sunao
土岐すなお

Age: 16
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Silver
Origins: Unknown village, Kirimine county, Shinriku prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Yellow teardrop
Soul Gem: Gold teardrop gem on a bow at her waist
Element: Water
Weapon: Crystal ball
Powers: Electricity, healing
Wish: "Please erase the concerns my parents have about me."
Affiliation: Tokime clan

Speed: 7
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 4
Initial Power Usability: 3
Learned Powers: 3

Hiroe Chiharu
広江ちはる

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Amber
Hair Colour: Light brown
Origins: Matsumiya, Shinriku prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Orange crescent
Soul Gem: Upward-facing orange crescent gem on her pendant
Element: Forest
Weapon: Jitte
Powers: Ropes, sense malice, electricity
Wish: "I want you to publicly expose the truth about the police covering up the Defense Ministry's crimes."
Affiliation: Tokime clan

Speed: 5
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)