I'm once more at my desk, and the time on my computer reads fourteen minutes past six in the morning. I spend a few minutes updating the document with all the new information I've gained from the previous timeline, but as I'm about to get up to head downstairs, a sudden feeling of dread overcomes me, like someone is about to attack. I transform and whip out my sword, spinning around and stabbing at the source.

But it turns out it was only Kyuubey. I stare at its impaled corpse sitting on my bed for a few seconds, and then a new one hops in through the window.

"That wasn't very nice," it says. "Why did you do that, Ashley Taylor?"

I lift my sword and toss the corpse at it, and it catches and consumes the entire thing in one gulp. Since there seems to be no danger after all, I also power down.

"My apologies," I say. "I thought someone had snuck into my room to attack me."

"Well, perhaps you are right to be paranoid," Kyuubey says. "A rogue magical girl has recently come to this city."

I blink at it. "Huh?"

"She is dangerous," Kyuubey says. "You should be careful if you run into her. Her name is Akemi Homura, and she has the power to stop time. If it had been her instead of me, you would most likely be dead now."

What… the… heck!? How… how does Kyuubey know!? Also, wait… the very fact that I had such extreme deja vu at all… just how many timelines have gone by without me? To distract from my shock, I arbitrarily repeat back something it said.

"She can stop time, you say…"

"Yes, and she is not from this timeline, so she has foreknowledge of what may come," Kyuubey says. "If you encounter her, you should take all precautions."

"I see… that's amazing," I say. "Thanks for the warning, Kyuubey."

With its warning delivered, Kyuubey turns and hops back out through the window. But the surprises are not yet done. At that moment, a ping comes in on my phone, and I go to check it. It's a message from Hijiri.

"Ashley, are you okay? Please respond asap."

That's a strangely urgent-sounding message for someone I remember speaking to just a few minutes ago. I quickly unlock the phone and send a response.

"Yes, I'm fine… is something up?"

Then I open a vision to check up on Homura. She's already left the hospital and is roof-hopping through the city. I watch for just a few seconds before I realize her destination – Madoka's house. She stops a fair distance away and peers in through the window that probably opens into Madoka's room. Seemingly satisfied, she turns to leave. That's when I hear a ping on my phone, and open it to check the message.

"You should move to a safer location."

Huh? But this is where I live… surely it's pretty safe… but then I suddenly notice Homura's new path in my vision. She's heading west through the city, which could mean she's coming here… so I decide to trust in Hijiri's warning.

I'm still in my pyjamas, so I get dressed as fast as possible in the first clothes that come to hand, ignoring Ashley's internal griping that they don't match. My usual shoes are downstairs at the door, but there are several extra pairs of shoes up here in my room, so I grab a pair of sandals that look like they're probably meant to be used for fancier occasions, and slip them on.

Then I transform and open the window, hopping outside and heading north towards the haunted house – just the first place that comes to mind. Another ping comes on my phone as I travel, but I hold off on checking it. It turns out that Nikola has not yet set up her nest here in the haunted house, so I venture inside the real house and find a room with an old, dusty couch to sit on.

As I settle down there, Homura actually arrives at the Hayashi house and finds the window to my room open. She climbs in and looks around a bit, then takes a seat on the bed. What the heck was she planning, entering through the window? Maybe I should've stayed to have a chat with her… but it's also possible she came to kill me, which could explain that sense of deja vu.

I pull out my phone once more and find a second message from Hijiri.

"Anyway, thank the stars! You have no idea how relieved I am to finally hear from you again! Could you come meet me in Asunaro as soon as possible? Right now, preferably, or after school today at the latest. There have been some developments that I'd like to get you caught up on. I've added my address below, so don't worry about agreeing on a time or place to meet – just show up whenever."

Indeed, there's an address there. I'm a little surprised that she's willing to share that, given how she disliked me scrying on her last time, but I suppose she has her reasons. More concerning to me is the implication that she hasn't heard from me in a long time. From my perspective, we were talking just a few minutes ago, probably no more than half an hour. If it's a long time from her perspective… did I miss the return on the last timeline? Perhaps even multiple timelines? Just how many timelines have gone by now without my interference? Or, well, I can't be certain I didn't interfere, since I don't even remember. Maybe I did interfere and just failed to make it to the end.

I guess there's no point in dwelling on it, though. I decide to wait and see what Homura does. She's still just sitting there on my bed, perhaps waiting to see if I return. She stays there for almost ten minutes, at which point Hiyori suddenly opens the door, and Homura vanishes without trace.

"Ashley-chan, are you there?" Hiyori asks. "Eh!? She's really gone…? Where could she be?"

Komachi enters behind her, looking around the room. Her eyes survey my desk and the low table beside my bed, where I usually leave my phone while sleeping. Then she gasps.

"Look! Her phone's not here! Maybe we can contact her!"

"Oh!" Hiyori says. "I'll go mail her!"

She rushes out of the room, and about a minute later, an email arrives on my phone from her.

"Ashley-chan, where did you go, without even saying anything?"

I don't respond, however. Instead, I initiate a call, and she picks up before the first ring has even finished.

"What's up, Ashley-chan?" Hiyori asks.

"That's what I wanted to ask you," I say. "You don't normally come check up on me in the morning…"

"W-well, I just had this strange feeling that you were going to disappear," Hiyori says. "It was so overwhelming that I couldn't help but check."

"Huh… interesting," I say. "Like a sense of deja vu?"

"Y-yeah, I suppose you could call it that," Hiyori says.

"Did you notice the visitor?"

"What visitor?"

"Right up until the moment you opened the door to my room, she was sitting there on my bed."

"Um… just a second… I'll check!"

While we were chatting, Komachi has just been looking around my room, presumably hunting for any clues as to where I may have gone. She notices the open window and closes it. Then Hiyori rushes back in and looks at the bed.

"Where was she sitting?" Hiyori asks.

"A bit more to your left, I think?"

"Huh? Are you on the phone with Ashley-chan?" Komachi asks.

Hiyori nods and kneels down on the floor to examine where Homura had been sitting on the bed.

"It's true," she says. "It looks like someone was sitting here…"

"What's going on?" Komachi asks.

"Apparently there was someone else in this room," Hiyori explains.

Komachi looks at the window. "The window was open… so I guess they entered that way…"

"But we should've at least caught a glimpse!" Hiyori says.

"Not if they can teleport," I say. "Or stop time."

"Y-yeah… you have a point about teleportation," Hiyori says. "Time stop seems a bit too incredible though…"

"Can you at least put it on speaker so I can hear what you're talking about?" Komachi protests.

"Oh! Sorry, yeah!"

Hiyori takes the phone away from her ear and sets it to speaker.

"So yeah… because of this incident, I'm thinking I'll stay out of the way today," I say. "I'm going to skip school, too, just to be on the safe side… could you cover for me, Komachi-chan?"

"Y-yeah, I'll just say you're out sick," Komachi says. "That's easy. But do you really think it's necessary?"

"Well… I'm trusting in Hiyori's sense of deja vu," I say. "And my own as well… I got a sense that I was about to be attacked just a bit after I woke up…"

"I just had this dreadful feeling that I'd never see you again," Hiyori says. "So yeah… I don't know if it means anything…"

"I think it does mean something," I say. "You may not believe me, but there's someone who has been turning back time over and over again, and I was hitching a ride with them when they did… if I suddenly disappeared in a large number of those timelines, I think it would explain both your feeling of dread and my sense of danger this morning."

"You know… under normal circumstances I'd be very skeptical of that," Hiyori says. "But in this case… it just fits far too well. So… when will we see you again?"

"I'm not quite sure," I say. "Hopefully I can return tomorrow, but we'll see. There's one other thing I'd like to warn you about, in case I'm not back by tomorrow."

"What's that?" Komachi asks. "Do you think whoever's behind this might target us as well?"

"Um, I'm not sure, but that's not it," I say. "It's about a witch that you might encounter in the next few days that's probably too powerful for you to defeat. I just want to make sure you don't try to fight her and get in over your head. She's probably too powerful for me as well, if it makes you feel any better."

"Okay, so how can we identify this witch?" Hiyori asks.

"Her labyrinth looks like a theatre, with cardboard cutouts in the audience," I say. "She seems to lurk behind the public swimming pool… I've never found her to move from that location. I'm not sure if she even lures people in… you can keep an eye on her and rescue people if you need to, but just don't challenge her directly, okay?"

"Got it," Komachi says. "We'll pass your warning on to the others, too."

"Oh, and I just remembered one other thing," I say.

"What is it?" Komachi says.

"Hiyori-chan… this might be tough at such short notice, but could you try to make friends with Kure Kirika before the end of the week? I have a feeling she needs it."

"U-um… sure," Hiyori says. "I've spoken to her a bit before, so if I see her… but I hear she skips a lot, so I can't promise anything."

"Alright then… see you later," I say. "Though I'm not sure when later will be."

"See you later!" the sisters chime in unison.

Then I hang up and power down. I take a closer look at what I'm wearing, and sense Ashley's renewed disapproval bubbling up from within me. Even I can tell that they're not a good match, but well… what can I do in such an urgent situation? At least it's better than wandering around town in my pyjamas… they're not very revealing pyjamas, so even that wouldn't be the end of the world, but I'd probably get some weird looks. Well… I might get weird looks in this outfit too, I guess. As for the sandals I grabbed at the last minute, they seem to have a bit of heel, so I try walking back and forth a bit, just to make sure I won't stumble.

I leave the haunted house and head for a nearby train station to catch the train to Asunaro, keeping an eye on Homura in the corner of my mind as I go. There's no evidence that she's trying to find me though, fortunately. In fact, it seems like she's just out hunting witches. She hasn't yet transferred into Madoka's school, so I guess she has nothing better to do.

When I get off the train, instead of going straight to Hijiri's house, I decide to stop by to chat with Pernelle first. After all, Hijiri is probably in school, so there's plenty of time. I make my way to the unoccupied bungalow that she's claimed as her place of residence and go up to knock on the door. After a few minutes, she opens it.

"Mlle Taylor," she says in French. "This is an unexpected surprise. What brings you here so early in the morning?"

"Mostly, I just wanted to check if there was anything unusual this morning," I say. "Also I had a few small questions… oh, and if you could spare a few grief seeds, that would be cool."

"Hmm… it seems to me that you're asking for a lot," Pernelle says. "But let's work through things one at a time. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No… I haven't," I say.

"Then you may as well join me for breakfast," she says. "I was just about to get started."

So I head inside and take a seat at a table in the kitchen, while she fries up some scrambled eggs and sausages on the stove. It's been so long since I had such a distinctly Western-style meal that I actually find myself drooling a little – it's not that I don't like Japanese food, but every so often I want to have something different. Finally, she sets a plate in front of me covered in scrambled eggs, with five sausages and two whole croissants, along with a cup of tea. Then she plunks down a salt and pepper shaker, a bowl of sugar cubes, a small pitcher of milk, a ramekin of strawberry jam, and a pad of butter. The scrambled eggs appear to have mushrooms mixed in and have a strange colour, but they also have a strangely heavenly aroma that doesn't compare to standard scrambled eggs. Finally, she haphazardly hands me my utensils – a knife and fork for the food, and a small spoon which I assume is for stirring sugar into the tea.

"What's up with these eggs?" I ask. "They seem… different somehow?"

"Ah, the eggs?" Pernelle says. "I added a touch of rosemary and thyme to enhance the flavour. Is it not to your liking?"

I try a small amount and nod.

"No, it's good, I just haven't had eggs like this before. Although it could use some salt."

"I usually add salt at the table," Pernelle says, indicating the shaker.

"What kind of tea is that?" I ask. "It doesn't seem like green tea…"

"It's nothing special like last time," Pernelle says. "Just plain old earl grey from a bag."

"I guess you're not changing how you eat even though you're in Japan, huh?" I say.

Pernelle shrugs. "It's not like I don't stop to sample the local delicacies every now and then," she says. "But for daily meals I like to have something consistent."

I add milk and sugar to my tea until it's to my liking, then salt and dig into the food, devouring it with startling intensity. I hadn't realized how hungry I was just from skipping breakfast. Finally I slow down, savouring the second croissant cut in half and smeared liberally with butter and jam. Perhaps noting that, Pernelle decides it's time to talk.

"So, when you say something unusual, you mean besides this unexpected visit, right?" she asks.

"Yes, of course," I say.

"Well… the only thing that comes to mind is the email I received out of the blue not long before you arrived," she says.

"An email? From Hijiri Kanna?"

Pernelle shakes her head. "No, from Hilda."

I blink. Another of the Ancients? Why would she suddenly contact Pernelle out of the blue, though? I didn't even think the two of them were close…

"I'm surprised she has your email when you only met once," I say. "I guess email was already a thing by then…"

Pernelle nods. "Actually, it was around 1980 or so… email was just barely a thing," she says. "I don't think Hilda even had an email at that time… I however have typically been an early adopter of new technologies, at least when they make my work easier."

I nod. "I see, so she must've had it written down somewhere and found it… but that doesn't explain why she'd contact you at all…"

"I think it's only because there are few people who might be able to give a satisfactory answer to her issue," Pernelle says. "I imagine I wasn't the only one she contacted. It was quite a surprise, because I wasn't even aware she was still alive until today."

"So… what was her issue?" I ask.

"Deja vu," Pernelle says. "It's late in the evening there at the moment, but she suddenly got an intense feeling that she's lived through this exact day over and over again. She wanted to know if I knew anything that could explain it."

"Did you respond to her yet?"

"Yes, I told her about time being turned back," Pernelle says. "She's coming to Japan to meet you."

I blink. "R-really? But why?"

"Aren't you the only one who truly knows about the time travel?" Pernelle asks. "Oh, I guess the girl who has the power, too."

"Hijiri Kanna knows as well," I say.

"Really? I didn't expect that…"

"I'm sure you would've noticed pretty fast," I say. "It's only because I showed up right at the beginning of the loop that you hadn't noticed yet…"

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Pernelle says. "By the way… do you speak German? If not, I suppose I could act as an interpreter, though it would be a pain…"

I switch to German in demonstration.

"I'm not sure how good I am, but yes, I can speak some German."

Pernelle nods, responding in the same language.

"That's a relief… I was truly dreading the prospect of interpreting for you."

Then she switches back to French.

"So, you should expect her to show up at your school probably tomorrow or the next day," she says. "Or if you have another place and time you'd rather meet, you can let me know – I only gave her this address, so I expect she'll stop by here first."

"Hmm… I think the house would be better than the school," I say. "I'll write down the address for you. As for a time, Saturday seems better than a school day."

I dig out a pencil and a scrap of paper from my purse and write down the address of the Hayashi house in Mitakihara, then slide it over to Pernelle.

She nods. "Now… you said you have a few questions for me."

"Right… let me get my thoughts in order first," I say.

I ponder the things I want to ask about… Ashley is one of them, and Tokime village, and perhaps Youha…

"Alright, let me see… first, can you see what's going on with my soul? Mary told me that I have a composite soul, and it seems like the original Ashley Taylor is still inside me somehow."

Pernelle raises her eyebrows. "Now that's quite intriguing! I wasn't even aware that you weren't the original occupant of that body. Is this a result of your wish?"

I shake my head. "No, it happened before I made my wish," I say. "Um… I don't have any real proof, but I suspect it was done by weird aliens that don't really have a physical body…"

Pernelle nods. "It stands to reason that the incubators are not the only ones who are capable of manipulating souls," she says. "I have never encountered any such beings, however, so anything I might say about them would be pure speculation."

"Yeah, that makes sense," I say. "I'm seeking understanding on what happened to my soul, not about the beings that did it."

"Understood," Pernelle says. "I have seen composite souls before, so I can give you an examination and let you know what I find. Before that… did you have additional questions?"

I nod. "Yeah… I was wondering a few things about the time you came to Japan in the Edo period," I say.

"Before you continue, allow me to correct you on one point," Pernelle says. "I did not come to Japan in the Edo period."

I blink at her. "But you said…"

"When I last left Japan, it was the Edo period," Pernelle says. "When I first arrived in Japan, the Edo period had not yet begun. It was only a year or two before the death of that famous general… what was his name? Oda?"

"Oda Nobunaga?"

"Yes, that's the one," Pernelle said.

"Huh, that explains a discrepancy I noticed," I say. "Someone told me that the island was discovered in the Sengoku period according to history, and you also told me about it in a previous timeline, about the girl who wished the island into existence, which I assumed was the Edo period since that's when you said you were in Japan. So I was confused because Sengoku is earlier than Edo, but if that girl made her wish somewhat earlier, then it fits."

Pernelle nods. "She contracted either the same year Oda Nobunaga died, or possibly the following year."

"Anyway, back to my original question," I say. "I later visited the hidden village where that girl's direct descendants live."

Pernelle tilts her head slightly but says nothing, presumably waiting for me to get to the point… so I press on.

"There was a strangely… clean labyrinth there," I explain. "The portal looked a lot like your labyrinth, and other than a slight effect to the sky that made it look like a painting, the interior looked almost completely normal. There was an entire village inside the labyrinth, complete with real people. Furthermore, although there was a witch at the centre of the labyrinth, it didn't collapse when she was defeated. I wondered if you might have any theories to explain that."

Pernelle nods. "Is that a barrier with the clover-leaf emblem?" she asks.

"Yeah… did you know about it?"

"Tokime no Sakuya also had the ability to create labyrinths," she says. "The clover leaf was her barrier emblem… that's probably why the Tokime clan adopted it as their seal."

"That's the girl who wished the island into existence, right?"

"Yes, you're pretty well-informed," Pernelle says.

"So you're saying the Tokime founder made the barrier herself?" I ask. "That… that doesn't quite seem to fit the story as I understand it, though…"

"Yes, I can imagine so," Pernelle says. "Certainly, the Tokime didn't hide away in a remote village when I spent my time here, and I stayed for quite awhile… right up until the day Sakuya turned into a witch. At first they built up a village on the site of present-day Mitakihara… then, when they were reintegrated into Japan towards the end of Sakuya's life, they built Mizuna Castle."

"Which is in present-day Kamihama," I nod. "Come to think of it… it might be nice to actually see it… I wonder if it's open to the public…?"

"Yes, you are correct," Pernelle says. "Though I have no interest in tourism, so I can't answer your question."

"In other words, you're saying that there was no such thing as a hidden Tokime village in the mountains for the entire time you were here," I say. "Which means, Tokime Sakuya couldn't've possibly made that barrier."

"Correct, unless they hid it even from me," Pernelle says. "But it is possible it was made with her magic."

"Oh? How's that?"

"Sakuya was also skilled at infusing," Pernelle says. "It's not like I kept tabs on her at all times, so I can't say for sure what infused objects she may have produced, but it's certainly plausible that she left behind an artifact that can be used to create a barrier."

"Huh, so that kind of thing is possible too?"

"Well, when it comes to magic, it pays to keep an extremely open mind," Pernelle says. "It's not that it defies all rationality, but the laws of magic are counterintuitive and difficult to understand… and I'm saying that as someone who still hasn't figured them all out. It's actually a lot like how quantum mechanics was viewed in twentieth century."

"Supposing it was created by an artifact," I say. "Is there a limit to how long it could last, or a way to shut it off, or anything like that? Or for that matter… is there any way to figure out where exactly the artifact is located?"

Pernelle shrugs. "I have never created such an artifact, so I can offer few if any insights into how it might work," she says. "So you should take everything I say as mere speculation and hypothesis. That said… most magic has a time limit, and I have no reason to expect that a barrier artifact would be any exception. It might be hundreds of years, though. I have no reference to compare with to even begin to estimate a time limit. You could certainly shut it off if you got your hands on the physical artifact. I suspect the most likely place to find it would be close to the barrier's centre, but in the real world, rather than in the labyrinth. I suspect the labyrinth would destabilize if the artifact were taken inside it. But don't take any of that as fact – I have no evidence to support this hypothesis. It's just a possibility. Although it's crossed my mind to create such an artifact, I've always had more interesting things to pursue instead, so just never got to it. Someday I'll try it, but until that day, those speculations are the most I can offer you on how it might work."

"Got it," I say. "My next question is… do ghosts really exist?"

Pernelle blinks at me, then chuckles.

"That's not the sort of question I'd ever expect from you," she says. "Well, it's still one I can answer, though. There certainly exists a phenomenon in this world that aligns closely to what people think of as 'ghosts'. They appear to be very uncommon, but I have come across them several times in my long life."

"What can you tell me about them?" I ask. "Could a ghost become a magical girl?"

Pernelle blinks. "Now that's an interesting thought that I'd never considered," she says. "If the only requirement is a soul, then I suppose it would technically be possible… but I don't know how the incubators determine magical potential, so perhaps that would exclude the possibility."

"Well, my second question was actually kinda disingenuous, I'm afraid," I say. "Sorry… the whole reason I'm asking this in the first place is because I saw it happen…"

Pernelle nods. "Well… let me start by covering what I know about them. It's not much, I'm afraid. From what I've been able to deduce, a ghost is a lingering soul that is disembodied but not compressed. Though they're technically visible, and they can even speak, their indistinct forms are too faint for the human eye to cohere, and their voices too soft for the human ear to hear. It seems that many animals, including cats and dogs, are able to hear the voices of ghosts. I've never seen an animal that can see them, though. Of course, magical girls have greatly enhanced visual and auditory acuity, and even that is only enough to just barely make them out."

"So they're people who died, right?"

Pernelle shrugs. "I wouldn't take that as a given. They could be people who have died, but they could also just be something like an astral projection, or even an entirely separate form of being."

"Eh? By astral projection, you mean… the person would still be alive, and their soul just temporarily left their body?"

"Yes, what else would that mean?" Pernelle says. "Now, assuming we disregard option three… if we assume they're the soul of a human, either astrally projecting or deceased, then magical girls can never become ghosts."

"Oh… because our soul has been compressed and crystallized into a soul gem?"

"Exactly," Pernelle says. "Although, a disembodied soul gem may be able to produce a similar phenomenon if they were able to retain their consciousness."

"I thought it wasn't possible to stay conscious without a body," I say.

"Well, I used to think the same," Pernelle says. "Then Elizabeth Hawkwood pulled it off and surprised everyone, including Cube."

"Ah! One of Jeanne d'Arc's friends… right! I should've known that…"

Pernelle raises her eyebrows. "On the contrary, it should've been impossible for you to know that…"

"Oh… um… well, if you say so… by the way… I've always wondered, what became of Tart's other two friends? This is pure curiosity, but…"

Pernelle smiles. "Don't worry," she says. "Curiosity is my favourite human trait. Now, let me see… you must be referring to Elisabeth Celjska and Melissa de Vignolles, right?"

I nod. "Come to think of it… they had different enough nicknames, but isn't it strange that two of Tart's friends were called Elizabeth?"

"Not especially," Pernelle says. "It's a fairly common name, after all."

"I suppose so…"

"Well, you might be surprised to hear this if you know her only from her relation with Tart, but Elisa was involved in an arranged marriage with Albert Habsburg, of Vienna. However, since they were cousins, they needed permission from the pope to consummate the marriage, which is why she was able to focus on her work as a knight in the Order of the Dragon and offer aid to France in the Hundred Years' War."

"Wait, so when she met Tart she was actually married!? How old was she, again?"

"Elisa was a little older than Tart," Pernelle says. "I don't know the exact age, but when they met, she was probably around twenty-one years old. The marriage treaty had been signed when she was twelve or thirteen, though."

"But she was more interested in being a knight, so I guess it was more of a formality…"

Pernelle nods. "That all changed not long after Tart died, and she ended up having a daughter… although, as you can imagine if you know her as well as you seem to, that wasn't enough to convince her to quit her knight's duties, and Melissa also fought witches by her side for several years after Tart's death.

"I don't recall the exact date, but eventually she became the queen of Hungary. Sadly, after Albert's death, there was a civil war for the succession, and even though she fought bravely, the rumour is she was ultimately poisoned by the man who southern Hungary supported as the next king.

"You can find most of that in the history books, of course… sadly, you won't learn of her true character from such a place, nor her true end. In fact, she came to visit me in 1442, some months after her supposed death. I don't know how much longer she lived after that, but I heard occasional rumours of her for the next twenty years or so. It's possible they were just that, unfounded rumours… but it's also possible she lived almost twice as long as history records."

"Wow… I knew she was a sorta important person, a princess even, but I never quite grasped just how important," I say. "To think she was even a queen for a time…"

"As for Melissa de Vignolles, you won't find her in many history books," Pernelle says. "I'm not even sure what happened to her myself in any detail, but she visited me in Paris three times over the years. The first time was… probably about five years after Tart's death. At that time she just wanted to talk, about all kinds of things, especially the fate of magical girls. She also spoke of her time fighting alongside Elisa.

"The second time I saw her was around 1450 or so, when she showed up with two kids of about five or six, twin brother and sister. From what I gathered, the man she'd married ended up kicking the bucket and she was forced to find a new place to stay.

"The last time I saw her was nearly fifteen years later, when she suddenly showed up out of the blue with her kids to ask if I'd heard any news of Elisa. I told her what little I knew – that I hadn't heard any rumours of her for a couple years at that point – and she went on her way. Perhaps the two of them were finally reunited one last time… but I never heard from either of them again after that."

"I can't help but wonder if Tart would've really turned into a witch if she hadn't been burned at the stake," I muse. "After meeting Mary… after meeting Akatsuki Youha… I've come to realize there's more to the existence of magical girls than I thought."

"Oh? What are you referring to?" Pernelle asks. "Of course, I too have met Mary, and she does have an unusual magical signature, but…"

"Have you ever seen her transform?" I ask.

"No, I can't say that I have," Pernelle says.

"I have," I say. "Her soul gem, if you can call it that, is a huge orb encased in a crown or something… it's hard to describe."

I indicate its size with my hands.

"So you think Mary is neither witch nor truly magical girl, perhaps somewhat similar to Tart in her last days," Pernelle says. "It's certainly an interesting hypothesis."

"Cube also seemed surprised by her," I say. "So it seems like she's something it doesn't understand."

"Well, I suppose that's enough chatter for now," Pernelle says. "Let me conduct that examination of your soul. Although what I plan to do is based on the techniques of Livia Medeiros, so I'd forgive you for being leery."

I tilt my head. "Is there something wrong with Mlle Medeiros?" I ask.

"I just can't stand that woman," Pernelle shrugs. "Her research and the techniques she developed seem sound enough, but something about her personality just grates on me."

"Well, she did found Puella Care, right?" I say. "So I think I can forgive her for a few transgressions."

"As you wish," Pernelle says. "Come, let's enter my lab."

She gets up and heads into the living room, tapping the portal there and stepping inside. I follow her and find myself in a bare white room, with several doors.

"Huh? This is supposed to be a lab?"

"It's my barrier," Pernelle says. "I can mould it however I wish. There's other rooms that look more interesting, but I usually keep the entryway clean. Let me see… we need a bed and a chair."

She constructs both things from the floor.

"And… a soul reader device," she muses.

Something sprouts up between the bed and the chair. It looks kinda like a microscope scaled up to gigantic proportions.

"Next… I'll have you lay down on the bed," she says. "Convert your soul to gem form and place it roughly on your navel."

"Got it," I say.

I do as she says, and she takes a seat in the chair, adjusting the position of the scope to point straight at my soul gem.

"Alright, just give me a minute to get this thing adjusted," she says.

I wait patiently while she fiddles with the device, peering through the scope every now and then.

"Well… this is quite interesting," she says finally. "This isn't what I would call a composite soul at all."

"W-what? You're saying Mary was wrong?" I gasp.

"Not necessarily," Pernelle says. "What I'm seeing here… it's something I refer to as a 'dual soul'. It's even rarer than a composite soul, and I've only seen it twice before now, so I there's a lot I don't know about it. If you'd let me, I'd like to study you in more detail."

"Um… I'll think about it," I say. "So… composite and dual both sound the same to me… what's the difference?"

"Hmm… how to put it," Pernelle muses. "Let me see… when you get right down to it, a composite soul is sort of a parasitic state. You have the primary soul, and then there's a second soul which has sort of latched on so tightly as to become dependent. Although they're a single unit, and for most intents and purposes they're no different from a regular, singular soul, there's still the faintest boundary separating the two souls. However… if that barrier were to break down, then the souls would truly meld together, and that's what I call a dual soul. If a composite soul is like a film of oil on top of the water, then a dual soul is an emulsion of oil and water. I've hypothesized that it might be possible to separate a composite soul, although I've yet to come up with a concrete way to do it… but a dual soul may truly be inseparable. Although, that only means I have not even the sketch of a hypothesis on how to do it. The analogy breaks down here, as there's no equivalent of a centrifuge in your soul."

"Is separability desirable or undesirable, though?" I ask.

Pernelle shrugs. "I haven't the faintest idea," she says. "I deal in science, not ethics. My role in life is determine what can be done. I'll leave it up to others to decide what should be done."

"I suppose it's people like you who cause disasters in movies like Terminator or Jurassic Park," I say.

"You're probably right about that," Pernelle says. "So, as I was saying before, it's likely that a dual soul is something that evolves from a composite soul. In other words, Mary may have been right to call it composite at the time she said it."

Suddenly something bubbles up in me, and the words burst out of me without my control… but they're not my own words.

"Then are you saying I'm going to be stuck with her for the rest of my life!? I mean, it's not like I hate her or anything… but I was hoping that one day I might be able to take my life back… is that no longer possible?"

"I can't say it's impossible," Pernelle says. "I try not to use that word, as it feels like a challenge to prove me wrong. But neither can I claim it's possible."

"Goddammit!" Ashley says. "Why did this have to happen to me!? And I bet this is all because she just had to comfort me that one time… it's my fault for crying in front of her… so I have no-one to blame but myself for this dual…ization… whatever the fuck you call it. That has got to be the moment it happened, breaking down the mirror that represented the barrier between us. Ugh… why'd I have to make such a scene in front of her… dammit…"

Pernelle tilts her head. "On the other hand, it's likely only thanks to the dualization that you and I can speak right now," she says. "I've never met a composite soul who's able to let out the personality of the secondary soul within them… they may be able to have conversations with them in their mind, but that's about the limit of it."

Ashley blinks at her. "H-huh? Is… is it that obvious…?"

"An abrupt personality shift out of the blue?" Pernelle says. "Of course it would be obvious that you're a in some sense a different person than the Ashley I was speaking to just a minute ago."

"But… you're saying it's the dualization that allows me to come out at all?" Ashley says.

"I'm not certain of that," Pernelle says. "But it's my best guess from the limited data I have on dual and composite souls."

"Hmm… I suppose it's not all that bad then," Ashley says. "But you know, Pernelle, there's one thing I want to say while I'm here. I think I really hate you most of all… I can't really explain why, but it's just my instincts screaming at me that this woman is bad news…"

Pernelle smiles. "I appreciate your honesty," she says. "I couldn't care less whether you like me or not, but what I hate most of all is people who dislike me yet pretend otherwise."

"Well… let me just say this," Ashley says. "If you ever lay a hand on Chelsea, or on anyone I care about, then I will do my utmost to end you."

"Then let us hope that day never comes to pass," Pernelle says ominously. "For there is little doubt that it would end in terrible tragedy for all concerned on both sides."

With that threat, Ashley retreats into the recesses of my mind, and I regain control of my body.

"Sorry about that," I say. "I didn't expect her to come out and start making threats…"

"It's quite alright," Pernelle says. "I'm used to it by now."

I blink at her. "Are you serious…?"

"Your trust in me is frankly unusual amongst my associates over the years," Pernelle says. "It actually comes close to Tart's trust in me, which makes this relationship a little bit nostalgic… perhaps that's why I haven't asked for much in return for all the information I've shared. Although, truly, conversation is in many cases its own reward." She smiles. "Well then, I believe I have explained everything I understand about the state of your soul. Did you have any other questions for me?"

"There was one more that I just thought of a little while ago," I say. "But then it slipped from my mind as we were chatting…"

Pernelle chuckles. "What a pity. In that case, I believe the last thing you wanted from me was grief seeds, correct? How many do you need?"

"Um… perhaps about twenty?" I say. "I was actually wondering, just how many do you have?"

"Even I don't know the answer to that," Pernelle says. "At some point I just realized I had far more grief seeds than I could use. There may be a hundred, or two hundred…" She shrugs. "Anyway, I can easily spare twenty. Wait here just a moment."

She disappears into a neighbouring room, then returns with a bag of grief seeds, which she hands over to me.

"Here you go," she says. "If you ever remember that question, or if you think of something else you wish to know, or if you learn something you think I should know, feel free to drop by again. I'll welcome the conversation."

"Thanks for having me," I say.

Even though it feels like almost no time has passed since that breakfast, I'm already hungry, and when I check my phone I find to my surprise that it's almost lunchtime already. So I drop by Café Lepa Macha for some food before making my way to Hijiri's house, which turns out to be a two-storey Western-style house, similar to the Hayashi house. It even has a doorbell, so I ring it and wait for a response.

Suddenly the door opens to admit a pair of young girls, both blonde with bob cuts and wearing pale yellow jumpers. From their diminutive height, I estimate them to be no more than ten years old.

"Hello!" the one on the left says.

"Who're you, onee-san?" the one on the right says.

"You're pretty!" the one on the left says.

"And tall!" the one on the right says.

I suppose even I would seem tall to a grade-schooler…

"Um… I'm a friend of Kanna-chi," I say.

The two of them gasp in unison.

"You're a friend of onee-chan?" the one on the left says.

"A friend of onee-chan!?" the one on the right shouts.

"Yeah," I say. "Um… I'm in no position to be saying this, because I'm skipping too, but… shouldn't you two be in school at this time of day?"

"We're in second grade!" the one on the left says.

"We already went to school and came back!" the one on the right says.

The one on the left turns to shout into the house.

"Mommy, onee-chan's friend is here!"

"Huh?" a woman's voice calls from further in. "Do you mean Wakana-chan's here? At this time of day? No, never mind that, what are you waiting for? Invite her in!"

"It's not Wakana-chan!" the girl on the left shouts back.

"Onee-san, what's your name?" the girl on the right says. "I'm Saori-chan!"

The girl on the left spins to glare at her. "No, I'm Saori-chan!" she protests. "You're Saki-chan!"

"Am not!" the girl on the right protests. "You're the one who's Saki-chan!"

"It's nice to meet you, Saori-chan, Saki-chan," I say. "My name is Ashley Taylor."

"You got it wrong!" the girl on the left says. "I'm Saki-chan and she's Saori-chan!"

I blink at her. "But you said the opposite just a second ago."

"Did not!" she shouts back at me.

"She's lying!" the one on the right shouts. "I'm Saki-chan and she's Saori-chan!"

At that moment, a blonde woman emerges from one of rooms, carrying a spatula covered in whipped cream.

"What the heck is all this noise about!?" she laments. "Saori, Saki, stop trying to confuse the guest! I'm sorry about my daughters… we don't get company that often, ever since Kanna… never mind. Come in… you can call me Mrs Hijiri."

The little girls turn and spot the spatula.

"Mommy, Mommy, let me lick it!" the first one says.

"No, no, let me lick it!" the other protests.

"Oh geez, you two," Mrs Hijiri sighs. "Look, one of you can lick the spatula, and one of you can lick the whisk, how does that sound?"

"Yay!" the two of them shout in unison.

She turns to me with a slight grimace. "So… you're a friend of Kanna, you said? How is it that we haven't met before now?"

"I only met her quite recently," I say. "I guess we just haven't had the chance. My name is Ashley Taylor, in case you missed it. Please just call me Ashley."

"Got it… it's a little noisy with these two bundles of energy around, but feel free to come in, Miss Ashley. Kanna should be in her room still… I don't know if she'll want to see you, but it can't hurt to try. Oh, but please leave your shoes by the door."

That's standard in Japan, so I'm not quite sure why she mentions it… maybe because it's a Western-style house? Also, if Hijiri's in her room, then that means she wasn't in school after all, so I guess she's still skipping.

"Thanks… which room is hers?"

"It's upstairs – the one with the aviator goggles pinned to it."

I chuckle. "That certainly does suit her, somehow…"

I take my shoes off, then head upstairs and knock on the door. It opens almost immediately, and Hijiri emerges and hugs me.

"You can't imagine how relieved I am to see you," she says. "It must've been years since we last spoke, in subjective time…"

She seems different somehow, too. It's hard to describe, but… there's a more… mature air to her somehow?

I blink. "Wait… years, you say?"

She practically drags me into her room, shutting the door and plopping down on the bed with me.

Hijiri nods. "I was doing my best to keep track of the time, but I'm not sure how well it went," she says. "It's difficult when all information outside my memories is reset each time I go back."

I nod. "Yeah, that was difficult for me too…"

"My best estimate is that it's been nearly twelve years in subjective time… roughly a hundred timelines."

"W-wow… I missed that much!? How…?"

Hijiri shakes her head gravely. "I'm afraid I can't answer that," she says. "All I know is that you disappeared without trace every single time on the very first day, that is, today. I didn't even realize the first couple of times until halfway through the loop when you didn't respond to my messages… but then I went to Mitakihara myself a few times. I spoke to the quartet and questioned them, but they didn't know anything either… only that they woke up today and found you missing. Your phone was left behind, so they couldn't even contact you… I considered searching the city for you, but without even an inkling of where to start, it seemed like such a daunting task, you know? I'm sorry about that, really I am… but there wasn't even a guarantee that I'd find you at all…"

"No, I couldn't possibly expect you to search a city of that size without even a single lead," I say. "But what the heck happened to me… where did I go… if only I could remember…"

"I'm not confident that I managed to join Miss Akemi every time she turned back time," Hijiri continues. "I may have missed her a few times… usually she'd fight against Walpurgisnacht, but there were a couple times when she passed the last moments brooding in her home, much like the second time I went back with you – probably the most recent time from your perspective."

"So… were there any unusual timelines?" I ask.

"Here in Asunaro, I mostly kept things about the same," Hijiri says. "I tried to set the same things in motion that you did in my first redo. It didn't always go well, though… I had a lot more trouble getting people to believe me, probably because they didn't know me. You had the advantage of a pre-existing relationship with Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan, after all. Still… Remi-chan was pretty helpful, owing to her vague memory of turning into a witch, as well as her relationship with Detective Ishijima. And even though I didn't have a pre-existing relationship with Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan, just mentioning your name helped a lot."

"So there weren't any timelines that seemed, well… anomalous?" I ask.

"Well… there were a couple timelines where magical girls from out of town suddenly showed up and started wreaking havoc," Hijiri says. "In those timelines it was like a war zone around here… the Pleiades Saints usually didn't fare well at all. Yuuri-chan, Airi-chan, and Remi-chan never died once, though. Kazumi-chan nearly always became a magical girl and lived on too, though she was killed a couple of times after she contracted."

"Who were the aggressors?" I ask.

"Their leader was a girl named Himuro Lavi," Hijiri says. "I had a bit of trouble learning the names of the others… best I could get was Lexy, Ulala, and Asahi."

"The Folklore of Zero," I muse. "To think they'd come to Asunaro of all places… wait, was it the Pleiades Saints' experiment that attracted them?"

Hijiri blinks. "You already knew of them? I'm surprised… yes, as far as I could tell, their intent was to destroy Juubey, and take out as many magical girls as possible at the same time. They didn't know it was already a failed experiment, from what I could tell. The first time they showed up, every girl in the Freezer was smashed to smithereens before I even knew what had happened."

"Huh… well, it fits with what I know of them," I say. "When during the loop did they usually show up?"

"Early April," Hijiri says. "Between the third and the twelfth."

"Huh? Wasn't the Freezer usually released before then?" I ask.

Hijiri shakes her head. "Without you there, it took a bit longer to organize the rescue… usually we got the girls out of there by the sixth."

"Speaking of the Freezer, I have a bag of grief seeds here from Pernelle for that purpose," I say.

I hand the bag over, and she accepts it.

"Thank you… I'll store them in a barrier so they don't accumulate grief before we can use them," she says.

"Anything else interesting happen?" I ask.

"Nothing that falls to me to tell," she says. "The Folklore of Zero were pretty much the sole excitement during these many loops. I did my best to learn what I could about them in case it could be useful in another timeline, but… I didn't get much."

"Hmm… oh, I should warn you about Kyuubey," I say. "It's not likely it would come up here in Asunaro, but just in case… for some reason, the current Kyuubey seems to remember the previous timeline."

Hijiri frowns a little. "If that's true… I most likely missed the most recent reset," she says. "Because I don't recall Kyuubey being present at all the last time time was turned back for me."

"I see," I say. "Well, the upside of this is that it allowed me to avoid my mysterious disappearance. Things could've turned out really bad otherwise… there's a certain wish I need to prevent at all costs."

"Well… there's still a couple of hours until school's out," Hijiri says. "Why don't we do something fun until then? I've got a PS8 around here somewhere… just gotta dig it up."

"PlayStation 8!? Huh… they just keep coming and coming…"

We dig out the game console together and track down a pair of controllers and a game I've never heard of, a beat-em-up titled River City Girls 4, and start a co-op game. Although it's quite different from the sorts of games I used to play – I was more into RPGs and the like – it's actually pretty fun.

We're just finishing off the third area boss when there's another commotion from downstairs. The twins answer the door again and make a big deal about a second friend of Hijiri showing up, but the friend's voice itself is startlingly familiar. After a couple of minutes, she comes upstairs and knocks on the door.

"Come in!" Hijiri calls.

The door opens and Shiina Remi steps in. The timing is perfect, as we land the finishing blow on the boss at the exact same moment.

"Oh! You're playing a game… that's unexpected," she says. "So… you're the one who deceived my sister, right?"

"Guilty as charged," Hijiri says. "Sorry about that… things have changed."

"I understand," Remi says. "And you… you're the girl in the red lolita dress…"

"That's probably correct," I say. "Just how much do you know, Miss Remi?"

"Huh? You even know my name…? Um… let's start with formal introductions, since I don't know yours," she says. "I'm Shiina Remi, and it's nice to meet you."

"I already gave my name in the email, but what the heck," Hijiri says. "I'm Hijiri Kanna, formerly known by the alias Hyades."

"And my name is Ashley Taylor," I say.

"So, you were asking me how much I know, Miss Taylor," Remi says. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean though. Sorry. What I can tell you is that I had an intense waking dream this morning in which an older me spoke to me at length, mostly about my magic. Then at the end I saw you, Miss Taylor, but your name never came up, and you didn't say anything… and I also saw Miss Hijiri in the same way."

"And your conclusion about this dream is…?"

"Yes, this might be hard to believe, but I'm almost certain it was a message from me in the future," Remi says. "The other me explicitly said as much, and it does sort of make sense."

"So, have you tried any of the new magic that future you taught you?" I ask.

"As a matter of fact, yes I have," Remi says. "May I take your hands for a moment?"

"Sure…"

"Fine with me," Hijiri says.

Remi transforms and grabs one of each of our hands, and then everything grinds to a halt. There's a certain background noise from the energetic twins and their mother downstairs, not to mention occasional birdsong and traffic noise from outside, but all of that cuts out, and even the slightest movements go still. The world doesn't grey out, but I can still recognize the effect – it's time stop.

"Amazing!" I say. "You figured out how to stop time!"

"That's right," Remi says.

Sounds and motion return to the world, and she releases our hands and powers down again.

"Aside from that… I haven't tried this yet, but it seems like future me also invented shoukon-jutsu."

The word is unfamiliar even to Ashley, with her extensive knowledge of the Japanese language. I glance at Hijiri for help, figuring she already knows, but she says nothing, so I ask for clarification.

"What does that mean?" I ask. "Is it the same shou- as in shourai?"

That's a word that means "invitation", so if it's the same, I think the implication would be a technique to invite something? After all, jutsu means "technique" or possibly "spell".

"Yes, it's the same kanji," Remi says.

"But there are so many possible meanings for -kon that that doesn't really help…"

"The second kanji is tamashi," Remi says.

That's a word meaning "soul"… my eyes suddenly go wide as I put two and two together.

"Then… do you mean necromancy?" I ask, using the Japanese loan of the English word. "Why didn't you just say that, though?"

"Well, that didn't quite seem to fit," Remi says. "Future me apparently checked some online dictionaries to find a word that fits. She… I did find necromancy, but it seems that refers to animating the bodies of the dead, so in the end I chose shoukon-jutsu, which means invoking the spirits of the dead to talk with them."

Well, she's not wrong, but… I'm just going to file that word away as meaning necromancy from now on. Sure, it might usually refer to zombies and such, but it does have a second lesser-known meaning that matches with what Remi said… although that's in English. Perhaps the Japanese loan of the word doesn't carry that second meaning. So, from now on, the word shoukon-jutsu will be substituted with necromancy in my perspective.

"So you developed necromancy… but what exactly does this mean?" I ask.

"Didn't I just explain that?" Remi asks. "Or… I guess it was a bit too vague to call it an explanation. Like I said, I haven't tried it yet, but… if it really works, it means I can speak with people who have died."

"That's amazing… are there restrictions? How do you target it?"

"It seems like I need something related to the dead person," Remi says. "Like a prized possession, or – as gruesome as it sounds – a bone. A grief seed would work too, or a fragment of a shattered soul gem. I could probably even communicate with a disembodied soul gem."

"Oh, so I guess you already know where witches come from…"

"You mean that magical girls turn into witches?" Remi says. "Yeah… I'd suspected it ever since unexpectedly coming back to life, but I became certain after this morning's dream."

"Okay, so as long as you have something linked to the dead person, you can speak with them… is that the gist of it?" I ask.

"Yes, that's about it," Remi says.

"Just curious, but… did future you also develop a way to turn time back?"

Remi shakes her head. "She did not… I suspect that even if it's possible, it would take too much magic for me to survive the process. That is… I'd just end up turning into a witch if I attempted it."

I nod slowly. "So you'd need a doppel field for protection before even experimenting with it…"

Remi blinks. "A what now?"

"Ah, it's a theoretical barrier that basically blocks witchification," I say. "That's an over-simplification, but whatever…"

"You mentioned this to me before, actually," Hijiri says. "If I recall correctly, I think you said it channels the witch form into an attack and leaves your soul gem purified or something?"

"Yeah, something like that," I say.

"I see… indeed, if there were such a field in place, I'd feel safer experimenting with time travel," Remi says. "I'm not certain I'd be able to pull it off even then, but… as things stand now, I'm too scared to even attempt it."

"Actually, you're completely right to be scared," Hijiri says. "You attempted it around ten times already and turned into a witch each time, so your fear probably comes from a sense of deja vu…"

Remi blinks at her. "Huh? What do you mean… no wait, to say something like that… are you actually a time traveler!?"

"Guilty as charged!" Hijiri says.

"The two of us together," I add. "Although, it's complicated, but I only remember four previous timelines…"

"Whereas I've been through at least a hundred," Hijiri says. "The girl who has the power to turn back time is… how do I put this… not very friendly? So we've been sneakily hitching a ride rather than coming out and asking her."

"Ah, that makes sense," Remi says. "Although I'm not sure how much I actually believe you, but I'll leave it at that for now. So… do you know anyone I could try my necromancy on?"

Hijiri and I respond almost in perfect unison.

"Kazumi-chan!"

"I don't know her," Remi says. "I guess one of you has something related to her though?"

"Nope," I say. "But I know the person who has her grief seed."

"We can go right now, if you'd like," Hijiri says. "Umika and Kaoru should be waking Kazumi-chan right around now."

"Uhh… what do you mean by 'waking' exactly?" Remi asks. "I thought she was dead?"

"It's a long story, but basically they're attempting to resurrect her," Hijiri explains. "So they've made a clone of her, and that's who they're waking."

"Wait, I thought she was kidnapped though?" I say.

"First of all, that doesn't happen until tomorrow morning," Hijiri says. "And secondly, Miss Remi can probably talk her sister out of it this time."

"Oh… right, of course," I say. "But no, wait a second… Kazumi-chan didn't wake up until after she was kidnapped, right?"

"No, you're right," Hijiri nods. "She won't wake up today… they're just going through the last steps to wake her. But we don't actually need her to be awake for this."

"Hmm, but I wonder if it's a good idea to go right now?" I muse. "Maybe it's better to wait until Kazumi-chan is a bit more… established as a person. I mean… if they decided not to wake her based on this, I'd feel bad about it. Did you do this in previous timelines?"

Hijiri shakes her head. "We had this discussion in previous timelines, but I didn't want to bring up Kazumi-chan without you here… so we ended up trying it on someone else… Miss Remi's grandmother was the most common choice."

"Oh, that's actually a good option," Remi says. "But if I'm contacting Granny, I guess there's no need for the two of you to be around, right?"

"Yeah, I guess not," Hijiri says.

"Well then, why don't we visit Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan?" I suggest. "They'd probably be pissed if they knew I came to town and didn't even visit once."

"I'm down with that," Hijiri says. "Yuuri-chan will be working right now though, so unless you'd like to visit her at the restaurant…"

"Well, why not?" I shrug. "We can get something to eat at the same time. That restaurant has pretty good food, too."

So Hijiri saves our progress in the game, and then the three of us head downstairs. Mrs Hijiri apparently hears us coming and comes out to see.

"Oh, Kanna-chan, you're going out?" she says. "Are you finally feeling better? Did these two new friends of yours cheer you up?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for worrying you, Mom," Hijiri says. "I'm going to go out for awhile, and I might be back a bit late… also, we're going to get a meal together, so I won't be needing dinner tonight."

Mrs Hijiri nods. "Go on then, have some fun with your friends. And Miss Remi, Miss Ashley… thank you so much as well, for drawing her out of her shell."

Once we're outside, Remi looks at Hijiri.

"What was that all about, anyway?"

"Well, I've been skipping school for the past month or so, and shutting myself in my room whenever I was at home," Hijiri says. "So Mom was just… worried about me."

"Huh… then why the sudden turnaround?" Remi asks.

"It's not sudden," Hijiri says. "From Mom's perspective, sure, I've changed all of a sudden, but for me, it was a long, drawn-out process over many years. Well… mostly over the first three months, or two timelines."

"Why is a timeline only a month and a half?" Remi asks.

"I can answer that," I say. "We're stuck in this loop because the instigator, Akemi Homura, is trying everything in her power to save her former best friend, Kaname Madoka, from the fate of becoming a magical girl. However, in every timeline before this one, Madoka has either died or become a magical girl, and because of that, Homura keeps turning back time over and over again. As for why it's consistently the same month and a half, that's because there's a certain event at the end of April where Madoka, if still alive, always makes a contract to become a magical girl. The second reason is that Homura's time travel power is limited to a fixed period of time and cannot be activated again until the point she travelled back from is reached once more."

Remi nods. "That's pretty complicated, but I think I more or less get it… Miss Akemi's time travel has a lot of limitations, huh…"

"She can also stop time," I say. "So I'd really like to see how that interacts with your time stop… if she stops time, can you still move? If you stop time, can she still move? That sort of thing."

Remi nods. "It's a great question," she says. "My instincts tell me that whoever stops time first would win, but… future me has cautioned me not to trust my instincts too much when it comes to my magic. It seems that your instinctive understanding of your magic is generally incomplete and occasionally even misleading."

"Hey, before we stop by Yuuri-chan's restaurant, why don't we swing by the police station?" I suggest. "There's someone there who'd really like to meet you."

Since we're heading in the general direction of the police station, I scry on Detective Ishijima to see where she is. She seems to be in her office, so if we just turn up we could probably ask for her.

Remi blinks. "Huh? I don't know anyone in the police force though?"

"Just wait and see," I say. "Oh, right, you also have a younger brother, don't you?"

"H-how did you know that!?" Remi gasps.

"Sorry… it's my power," I say. "I can see things far away, and one of the things I saw was you talking about how Moe-chan became a magical girl… you also mentioned him in passing."

"Oh, I see… but that didn't happen in this timeline, right?"

"Right, that was after a bunch of tragic things happened… Moe-chan and two of the Pleiades Saints had turned into witches…"

"Well, that won't be happening this time," Remi says. "I made sure Moe-chan's soul gem was purified before leaving for school this morning."

"Anyway, about your brother, how'd he react to your revival?" I ask.

"Come to think of it, I still haven't paid him a visit," Remi says. "Want to do that today? It might be amusing. I could call Moe-chan to let me know where he and Dad live."

"Ah, you don't even know where they live, huh…"

"Yeah, it just never came up somehow," Remi says.

"I didn't even know you had a little brother, to tell the truth," Hijiri says. "It never came up even once in all the timelines I've been through. Guess he's really just a bit character, huh?"

"Hey, that's kinda rude," Remi says. "He just was never really on my mind… I would've paid him a visit eventually, you know. If not sooner… I'm sure I'd definitely see him at New Year's."

"Well, at this rate, New Year's will never come," I say.

"Now that sounds like a terrifying thought," Remi says.