"You okay, Ashley-nee?"
"Hmm?"
I blink at Inui, who has just sat up in bed and spotted me sitting at my desk.
"Um… did you… stay up all night?"
"Y-yeah… I was half afraid Miss Akemi might attack me in the middle of the night," I admit.
Inui giggles. "Come on, that's silly," she says.
"Or early in the morning," I add.
"Hmm… so where is she now?" Inui asks.
"Fast asleep still," I say. "She's actually pretty cute when she's sleeping, though this kinda makes me feel like a perv…"
"Yeah, Ashley-nee… that's kinda uncool of you," Inui says, but she also giggles a little.
"Well… I guess it's about breakfast-time, so… we'll have to go to school tired today."
"That's not good…"
"Eh… to be honest, we did nap a little, so we're not as tired as you might expect…"
"Well, if you're sure…"
"I can always nap in class if I absolutely have to," I say. "But I have a feeling I'll be fine."
I keep an eye on Homura throughout breakfast, and it seems that my worries may have been well-founded – the moment she wakes up, she heads across town towards my place. I finish up my food quickly and make sure I've got everything I'll need for school.
«Sorry, you guys, we're going to go ahead today,» I say. «We expect an encounter with Miss Akemi, and I think it's best if it's just the two of us.»
«Alright, good luck, Ashley-nee!» Inui says.
«Please be careful!» Hiyori says.
Then I leave the house and head leisurely towards school as I track Homura's progress, tucking my soul gem ring into my schoolbag for safekeeping. It looks like she spots me and adjusts course to intercept, so I pull my ribbon out and deploy it into a sort of makeshift barrier, a spiralling spherical pattern which I'm hoping should make it quite difficult for Homura to approach me in time-stop without touching the ribbon. Basically, I'm hoping her unfamiliarity with the tactic will cause her to slip up… so there's no guarantee it'll even work.
But it seems that luck is with me today. Homura suddenly vanishes from my vision, and the next thing I know, the world has gone grey and she's right in front of me. It seems like she just brushed the ribbon by accident while aiming her pistol at me. I quickly whip the ribbon around her wrist so she can't just draw back and eject me from time stop, and for what seems like several seconds, we just stare at each other, her pistol pointing at my forehead. She is clearly surprised that I managed to get the better of her, although I doubt this tactic will work a second time.
Finally, I break the silence.
"Good morning, Miss Akemi," I say. "That's not a very polite way to greet someone, you know."
She glares at me.
"How do you know my name?" she asks. "Was it Kyuubey?"
"Well, it could've been," I say with a small shrug.
"What are you up to, Ashley Taylor?" she asks. "Did you send those four to attack us?"
"You expect us to cave and answer all your questions just because you have a gun?" I retort.
"Surely you don't want to be shot," Homura replies.
"Well, you're right that we don't want to be shot," I say. "But we'd prefer to be shot than sharing information with someone we can't trust."
"You could even die," Homura points out.
"Don't you remember the last time you tried that?" I ask. "A bullet through the head won't kill us, and if we block out the pain, we won't even feel it… though we'd have to skip school, that would only be a minor inconvenience to us. Plus, if we died, you wouldn't get your information. So put the gun away, then maybe we can talk."
Homura glares at me, but after a few more seconds, she lowers her weapon and stows it away in her shield. It seems she realizes that I speak the truth. And as long as Homura believes I can give her information that might be useful, I actually do have the upper hand in this negotiation, if only barely.
"Will you answer my questions now?" Homura asks.
"Hmm… for now, we'll answer one question," I say. "You'd better pick carefully, because it might be the only answer you get today."
"What's your ultimate goal?" Homura asks.
"That's the question you chose?" I ask. "Well, alright… my ultimate goal is the salvation of magical girls everywhere. I want to free magical girls from the curse of turning into a witch. How does that sound?"
Homura blinks, gaping at me for a few seconds.
"Isn't that a bit… too grandiose…?"
"Do you think so?" I ask. "Perhaps it is, at that… but it's on you for posing such a grand question. I suppose you have more questions, though… right? But if you want more answers, we're going to need some promises from you first."
"That would depend on the promise," Homura says.
"For starters, stop trying to kill us, or whatever it is you've been doing forever and ever," I say.
Homura blinks. "H-how can you even know about that…?"
"Didn't I say no more answers unless you promise?" I retort. "Perhaps we should tell Miss Kaname how you've been brutally murdering us all these years…"
"Y-you wouldn't…?"
"Oh, you're not denying it?" I ask. "Don't tell me… you really were killing us? Don't you think Miss Kaname would start to hate you if she found out? Not saving people who you could save is one thing, but murdering them by your own hand is quite another story, don't you think?"
Homura glares at me.
"Shut up!" she says. "You have no right to lecture me! You have no idea how long I've been trying to save her!"
"About ten or twelve years, right?"
Homura gasps. "Th-that's just a guess… there's no way you could know that!"
"Really? But I'm right on the mark, aren't I? It could be a lucky guess, sure, but what are the chances? After all, last time we spoke, it had only been about half a year."
She stares at me, seemingly rendered speechless. After almost a minute, I break the silence again.
"So… will you promise not to kill us again?" I ask. "Oh, and Oriko too, by the way. And if there's anyone else you've been killing each time around… just stop. If you promise to stop, then I'll answer two more questions."
"Even if I promise… how can you know I'll keep the promise?" Homura asks.
"Well, we've escaped you once, so I'm sure we can do it again," I say. "And then all we need to do is have a chat with Miss Kaname, right?"
Homura lets out a soft groan, but nods.
"Fine… no more killing… but I won't promise anything else," she says coldly.
I sigh. "Well, it's a start. So… I said I'd answer two questions, and I will, but there are a couple of questions I won't answer. There are certain things I absolutely can't tell someone that I can't even trust. Alright… your first question."
"How do you know how long I've been at this?" Homura asks.
"Sorry… that's one of the ones I can't answer," I say. "Try again."
Homura grits her teeth a bit, but then ventures a new question.
"Was it you who sent those four to attack us?"
"Is there something wrong with your head?" I retort. "I asked them to break up a brawl as a favour. Surely you can see how that's different from ordering an attack. Of course, I don't control them or anything. We're just friends."
"I see… so you are responsible for their appearance this time," she muses.
"I'll assume that's not your second question," I say. "Since it's literally the same thing I just answered. So you have one question left."
"Do you have any intentions to harm Madoka or encourage her to become a magical girl?" Homura asks.
"We have no intention of physically harming her," I reply. "I don't intend to encourage her to become a magical girl, but I don't intend to discourage her from becoming one either. It's her decision, after all. If I had the opportunity, I'd help her understand what's at stake before she made the decision, but that's the most I would do."
"I see," Homura says. "Very well… I'll be keeping an eye on you… but for now, I'll let you go. Don't let me see you again."
"You should try being friendlier sometime," I retort. "Maybe you'd have a bit more success."
I whip my ribbon free of her arm, and colour returns to the world, leaving Homura out of it – she's gone. I let out a sigh of relief. She didn't decide to kill me, and I even managed to get her to promise never to kill me again… hopefully she'll keep that promise. I slip my soul gem ring back onto my finger and continue on to school.
Thanks to all that paranoia and the encounter with Homura, I arrive at school far earlier than usual, and there's only one other student in the classroom, a tiny girl with a bob cut dyed hot pink. She's gazing out the window when I enter, but spins to face me as I take a seat at my desk.
"Oh, the exchange student is without her entourage for once," she observes.
I blink. I don't think the two of us have exchanged more than about three words in the past, although sitting on opposite sides of the class also hasn't given much of an opportunity for interactions.
"We just got up earlier than usual and had nothing better to do, um…"
She tilts her head and offers her name.
"You already forgot, huh? Figures, given who you hang out with. I'm Kaori Sachie."
"Sorry, Miss Kaori."
Who I hang out with? I wonder what she means by that… it has to be a reference to Elise and Komachi, right?
"Say, Miss Ashley," Sachie says. "Do you believe in magic?"
I blink at her. "That's a strange question to ask…"
She giggles. "Yeah, you're right! It sure is a strange question. But just humour me, will you?"
"Hmm… I guess I would say yes," I say.
Sachie tilts her head. "Oh? You know, I've asked that of a lot of people, but you're the first to actually say yes. There were some who demurred and settled on a maybe, but no-one else came out and just said yes without hesitation."
"Really? That seems pretty strange in and of itself," I say.
"You think so? Maybe my sample's biased," Sachie shrugs.
"So why ask such a strange question?"
"I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's been on my mind since Liliane died," she says.
I blink. "You mean Elise's twin sister?"
She looks at me in surprise. "Oh… she told you? I'm surprised… I thought she didn't like to talk about it."
"Actually we heard it from someone else… we've never seen you talking to Elise though…"
She giggles. "Yeah, we don't really get along, to be honest, but Liliane was different… everyone liked her. Then suddenly she was dead, and no-one could figure out how she died… it was like… magic. I just can't get it out of my mind… I'm probably the only one still dwelling on it though."
"When did that happen?" I ask.
"Um… it was just a bit before you arrived," Sachie says. "She was found on the fourth of January… and they said she'd been dead for three days…"
I nod slowly, counting back on my fingers for a moment.
"So she died on December thirtieth…"
Sachie blinks at me. "I said three days, not five… how'd you even get that wrong?"
"Well, because it takes two days to… ah!"
I suddenly remember that the person I'm talking to is not a magical girl.
"…now you've got me intrigued," Sachie says. "Why would you push the death date back an extra two days? That date, December thirtieth… it's more significant than you could possibly know."
What should I do now? I've accidentally dug myself into a hole. Should I just feign ignorance? But this may also be an opportunity to learn something about Liliane Pierrot. Should I tell this girl everything? Should I make something up that sounds like an explanation but is pure fiction?
"Um… how should I put this… we heard a bit about how she died, and apparently a two-day coma is normal…"
Sachie frowns a bit. "You're a bad liar, Miss Ashley," she says.
Come to think of it… I wondered earlier how the quartet could've figured out that Liliane turned into a witch without me around, but this girl could actually be the answer, couldn't she? Unlike Komaki and Masuyo, the other possibilities I thought of, Sachie is actually close to the quartet. Though I think the time frame actually precedes Komaki's contract.
"You know… asking me if I believe in magic… could it be you have another reason for that besides how she died?"
Sachie blinks. "Oh? You may be a bad liar, but you're pretty sharp, Miss Ashley. You're right. It's not her death that originally got me thinking about this. It might've been my imagination, but… I swear I saw it once. I looked up and saw Liliane flying through the sky, kneeling on puffy cloud and wearing a strange outfit… there's no mistaking that red hair of hers. It was definitely her. I did wonder if I could've just imagined it though…"
That seems to fit with Liliane being a magical girl, though the ability to fly is apparently unusual for magical girls. Still… it's not unheard of. After all, I can also fly with my powers.
"So… what exactly happened on the thirtieth of December?" I ask.
"Oh, there was a party," Sachie says. "I was there, and Liliane and Claire were as well, but Elise decided to go home instead. Liliane was liked by most, but there were a few girls who were jealous of her popularity, and they… they really reamed her out. She left the party in tears, and although Claire followed, she returned a few minutes later to say she was just too fast."
"Well, of course, there's no way Claire could've possibly kept up with her enhanced body…" I muse. "So in a way, those girls killed her… after an experience like that, a grief spiral would be almost inevitable… running off was probably the worst thing she could've done…"
Sachie raises her eyebrows.
"You seem to be talking gibberish over there, Miss Ashley," she says. "You gonna fill me in on the details, or just leave me hanging over here?"
"Um… you know, I think it would be better if Elise heard this too," I say. "Maybe we should meet up after school instead and talk about it there?"
Sachie sighs. "Me and my big mouth… fine, if you really wanna do that, I'll go," she says. "As long as Elise doesn't get too huffy about it."
I settle down at my desk, and it isn't long before other students began to file in, chatting.
"The hell is she doing here?" Elise asks.
We're sitting around the table at the Hayashi house. The whole quartet is here, along with Inui and Sachie. Komachi and Hiyori give Sachie apologetic looks and shrug a little, while Claire greets her with a brief smile.
"I invited her," I say. "I had a very interesting chat this morning with Miss Kaori, and I thought you should all hear it. Miss Kaori… can you repeat everything you told us this morning?"
Sachie repeats her sighting of Liliane flying, as well as the party and when she was found.
"All that about the party, we already knew," Claire says. "But… Liliane flying, you say? You said it's probably your imagination, but… what do you really think? Did you see it or not?"
"Well… I wasn't particularly tired, so… if it wasn't such an incredible sight, I would definitely say I saw it," Sachie says.
"So wait… what does this all mean?" Elise asks.
"Well, if Liliane was a magical girl, that would explain why I couldn't catch up to her," Claire muses. "Because at that point, I wasn't one yet…"
"Eh? A magical girl?" Sachie blinks.
"Right, and an experience like that couldn't've been good for her," I add. "Running away was probably the worst thing she could've done… a grief spiral was almost inevitable at that point."
"So onee-san turned into a witch alone in an alleyway…" Elise says. "I had no idea…"
"That doesn't explain why the body was even found though," Komachi says.
"Maybe if someone witnessed it and killed the witch immediately?" Hiyori suggests.
"Um… I'm totally lost here," Sachie says. "Could someone fill me in a little?"
"I guess we owe you that much," I say. "But before that… whereabouts was this party? At least, in a general sense… closer to the north, or more to the south?"
"Um… I guess it'd be northish?" Sachie says.
"I see… Miss Masuyo knows the truth, so if she witnessed it, perhaps she could've finished her off quickly before the labyrinth even formed," I muse.
Inui blinks. "Eh!? She knows? She never gave any indication of it when we talked to her…"
"It's not the sort of thing you'd normally talk about, right?" I say. "Especially to others who you've just met who might not know."
"Ah, that's true," Inui says. "I don't think I'd bring it up with someone I just met, either…"
"Look," Sachie interjects. "You really owe me an explanation. What the hell are you guys talking about?"
"Okay, where should I start," I muse. "The five of us are not exactly ordinary humans… we made a deal with a devil to get our wish granted and become magical girls."
"That sounds pretty incredible… a devil, you say?" Sachie says. "Is that even safe?"
"It's definitely not safe," I reply. "If we use too much magic, or if we experience too much sadness or despair, then we're destined to turn into monsters called witches."
"So you're saying… that's what happened to Liliane," Sachie says. "She was a magical girl, and she turned into a witch."
"Right… but keep in mind that most magical girls don't know they'll turn into witches," I say. "That little white devil doesn't lie, but it does its best not to spill that dark truth before they've made a wish. So, Liliane most likely didn't know either."
"Right… if she'd known, she probably would've reacted a bit differently at the party," Sachie muses. "But don't forget, the police report states she died on New Year's Day… where does the extra two days come from?"
"That comes from a property of magical girl bodies," I say.
I transform my soul to gem form and show it off.
"This soul gem is the source of our power, and holds our consciousness. If the body and soul gem are separated, the body will appear to be dead, but the lingering magic inside it will sustain it… so for two whole days, it'll look like they died just a second ago. After that, the lingering magic dissipates, and the body will decay as normal. So, whatever the police came up with would've been off by two days for that reason."
"But that's if someone steals the soul gem, right?" Sachie points out.
"As far as I know, the same effect happens when they turn into a witch," I say. "That transformation severs the link between the soul gem and the body. I haven't actually had a chance to confirm that the effect is the same, but…"
"I think I understand," Sachie says. "And what's that grief spiral thing you were talking about?"
"If we use magic or experience sad emotions, the soul gem slowly fills with impurities," I explain. "It's those impurities that trigger the witch transformation. When the soul gem is almost filled with impurities, it also affects our state of mind, and if we happen to be depressed at the time, that'll introduce more impurities, making us more depressed, which introduces more impurities… so it's a grief spiral."
"That's awful… so what's even the point of becoming a magical girl?" Sachie asks. "If you're just gonna turn into a monster one day…"
"Well, it's the price to pay for a miracle," I say.
"A miracle, you say… that certainly fits the whole deal with a devil theme," Sachie says. "And this all explains why you'd answer yes to my question… you're right in the thick of it, huh?"
"You could say that," I say.
"It's too bad that Liliane fell victim to such a scheme," Sachie says. "She was such a nice girl… not at all like her sister."
"H-hey!" Elise protests.
"That's mean!" Claire protests.
From the look on Sachie's face, I get the impression it's about to turn into an argument, but then Kyuubey hops up onto the table and turns to Sachie, startling everyone with its sudden appearance.
"You could change that fate, Kaori Sachie," it says. "Will you make a contract with me and become a magical girl?"
Sachie gasps. "The hell!? A talking stuffed animal?"
"I am not a stuffed animal," the incubator replies. "My name is Kyuubey."
"So you're the one who did that to Liliane!?" Sachie says.
"I am the one who granted her wish and made her a magical girl, if that's what you mean."
"You little…"
To everyone's shock, Sachie seizes the incubator in both hands and rips its head right off. She stares at the corpse for a few seconds, startled.
"That… kinda felt good," she says finally. "Although I didn't expect your devil to be so weak…"
A new Kyuubey hops up on the table and turns to Sachie.
"I wish you had not done that," it says. "It is such a waste."
Sachie gapes at it. "W-what!? But I just…"
"It's a hive mind," I say. "You can kill it as much as you want, but there's always another to take its place."
"I… I see… then that little outburst of mine just now was completely pointless, huh?"
"Maybe not completely pointless, but it didn't accomplish much," I say. "I'm sure it made you feel a little better, though."
Sachie watches in disgust as Kyuubey consumes the remains of its brethren.
"And they even eat each other…?"
"This is nothing more than what you would call recycling," Kyuubey says.
Having finished cleaning up Sachie's mess, Kyuubey turns to face her again.
"Should I take that outburst as an indication that you do not want to make a wish?" it asks. "Or are you willing to talk, now that you have let off some steam?"
"Why would I make a wish when I know the consequences?" Sachie asks.
"It is uncommon, but some girls make a wish even knowing everything," Kyuubey says. "Such as Ashley Taylor. Simply knowing what you know is not a reason for me to back off."
Sachie blinks at me.
"Y-you… you knew all of that before you made a wish, and yet… you still did it? Why?"
"I guess you could say I was desperate," I say. "It didn't seem like such a bad deal… I mean, as long as I'm careful, I can make sure we won't turn into a witch, right? And as for seemingly dying if the soul gem gets too far away… it's rarely an issue, because we can just wear our soul gem on our finger at all times. I guess the biggest downside would be that we need to fight witches to stay alive."
"When you put it that way… I guess it's not as bad as it could be," Sachie admits. "If fighting witches is the biggest downside… then I suppose I'd need to know what that's like before I decide."
"We could take you along on a witch hunt," I suggest. "We usually split into two teams for hunting, so you could accompany either of them."
"Um… I think I'd prefer the one that Elise isn't in," Sachie says.
"In that case… let's go!" Inui says, jumping to her feet. "This is kinda exciting…"
So the three of us head out, and Inui and I take out our soul gems on our palms in order to better track a witch's signature. Behind us, Kyuubey rides on Sachie's shoulder.
"Can you really grant literally anything?" Sachie asks.
"There are a few limitations, but nearly anything you can imagine is possible," Kyuubey says. "I will let you know if your wish is not possible to grant."
"So, for example… bringing someone back to life is a possibility?"
"That is a somewhat common wish," Kyuubey says. "It would certainly be possible with your potential."
"Hmm… and why are you doing this, anyway? What's in it for you?"
"This is all for the sake of the universe," Kyuubey replies. "The amount of useful energy in the universe decreases constantly and can never increase. If that trend continues, one day we will run out of energy. In order to counter the constant decrease of energy, my civilization sought a process that defied the second law of thermodynamics. The emotional energy produced by human beings was the solution. In particular, the phase change from hope to despair releases an incomparable amount of energy."
Sachio blinks. "Hope to despair you say… I really don't like the sound of that…"
"Yeah, that's the witch transformation," I say. "When all hope is lost and you're filled with despair… that's when a magical girl turns into a witch, and the incubators somehow harvest the energy released."
"It's almost like they're treating our planet like their own personal power plant…"
I chuckle. "That's actually not a bad analogy… I've used it myself when explaining this to others."
"Ashley-nee, I found something!" Inui says.
I look where she's pointing and spot a young woman with a witch's kiss. I recognize that emblem, too – it's the mark of the Box Witch.
"Let's follow her," I say. "We won't need our soul gems out any longer."
I transform mine back to ring form, and Inui follows my example. We follow the woman, and she leads us to… the haunted house, of all places. Perhaps witches settle down there pretty often…
"Oh, the old haunted house," Sachie says. "Is this where the witch is hiding?"
"Guess so," I say. "This is the second time I've come across a witch here…"
"Oh yeah, there was that Christmas-like witch here earlier," Inui nods. "What did you call it again?"
"You mean its name?" I ask. "That one was called Nikola."
"Huh? Witches have names?" Sachie says.
"Yeah, they're written in the labyrinth in a strange runic alphabet," I say. "If you're interested, I could teach you the alphabet."
"Ah… nah, it doesn't seem too useful," Sachie says. "But thanks for the offer."
I peer inside the house with my clairvoyance, and much like the time Sayaka encountered this witch, there are several other people there. I'm not quite sure what they're doing, but it can't be anything good… it doesn't look like they're following the bleach and detergent script though. Probably each instance of the witch comes up with a different mass-suicide plan.
"So… we've seen this witch before, and she's a particularly dangerous one to normal people," I say. "Inui-chan… there are a lot of people inside, and we need to stop whatever they're doing, otherwise they'll die."
Inui nods. "I'm on it!"
She transforms and runs inside. I hear her shout, probably attracting their attention with charm, and then I hear a few soft thuds of people falling to the ground. Inui pokes her head back out.
"I think they'll be fine," she says. "But we should probably get them outside, just to be on the safe side… they were burning some weird incense or something."
I transform and step inside, seizing everyone with my telekinesis and whizzing them outside, eliciting a gasp of awe from Sachie.
"W-wow, you're strong, Miss Ashley…"
"I'm not all that strong…" I protest.
"Okay, now for the witch herself!" Inui says.
"Right… Inui-chan, if possible, I'd like you to charm the witch the moment you see her," I say. "She should look like an old-school television screen – you know, the really, really old ones that look like a box."
Inui nods. "I'll be on the lookout for her."
I reveal the portal, and the three of us hop inside and start fighting off the one-winged angels.
"W-whoa, surreal," Sachie gasps. "This is what it's like to fight a witch?"
"Each labyrinth is unique," Kyuubey says. "But this is not a particularly unusual specimen."
The labyrinth looks a bit different from the Box Witch labyrinth that Sayaka encountered… but that makes sense, because a witch's labyrinth is influenced by the location where it resides.
"These are just familiars right now," I add. "The witch is in the centre somewhere."
"That reminds me," Sachie says. "You said you've fought this witch before… did you let it get away or something?"
"No, we haven't fought it… we've seen someone else fight it," I correct her. "And she defeated it, but… these familiars, if they get away and start eating people, eventually they'll become a witch identical to their parent."
"Huh… so not all witches are born directly from magical girls," Sachie says. "Then the familiars need to be dealt with too… and what was up with that woman we were following?"
"She had a witch's kiss on her neck," Kyuubey explains. "It represents the curse of a witch, and alters a human's behaviour to do things they would normally never consider."
"Familiars usually die when their parent witch is killed," I say. "So while you do need to deal with them, you also don't want to waste too much energy on them."
Soon we find the centre of the labyrinth, and Inui shouts her magic.
"Look at me! I'm over here!"
I take a moment to look around, trying to figure out which of the many screens is the real witch, but then I decide not to bother. I summon a swarm of Teddy Drones and aim each of them at a different screen.
"Great Teddy's Ionic Bombardment!"
The ensuing swarm of beams shreds every television screen in sight, and I see the grief seed pop out. Moments later, the barrier collapses and deposits us back in the courtyard.
Inui blinks. "H-huh? Since when did you have a new ultimate attack, Ashley-nee!?"
"Oh, uhh… I guess you haven't seen it yet, huh? Sorry about that…"
Since Kyuubey's here, I definitely can't allude to the time travel. Even though Kyuubey knows about it this time around, I don't want it to know how much I know about it.
"I just came up with it recently, if you must know."
"I see… well, it's pretty cool," Inui says.
We wait a bit to help the people as they come to and disperse, and then we take a seat on the steps to discuss things.
"I can't help feeling that this wasn't a good example," Sachie says. "I doubt one-shotting the witch like that is the norm, right? But even so… it didn't seem all that bad…"
I show her the grief seed.
"This is the real reason we need to fight witches to survive," I say. "It's the only way for us to replenish our magic. See…"
I transform my soul to gem form and bring them together, showing her as the purification occurs. Then I pass the grief seed to Inui, who does the same thing.
"I see… but if you don't use any magic at all, surely you'd be able to avoid hunting witches?"
"Unfortunately, that's not the case," I say. "We're no longer entirely human… we're a magical creature of sorts. We need magic just to survive. Even if you don't use any magic, your soul gem will very slowly become clouded over time."
"Hmm… but at the very least… you could probably get away with fighting only once a month or something, surely?"
"It depends, but possibly," I say.
"Although, killing witches who used to be magical girls still doesn't quite sit right with me," she muses.
"I think of them as being like zombies," I say. "There's nothing left of the original girl in there, and barring a miracle or some extremely rare magical power, there's no way to turn a witch back into a magical girl."
"Well… I'm almost certainly going to regret this in a couple of days, but… Kyuubey, I've decided to make a wish."
Kyuubey hops off her shoulder and lands on the walk in front of us, turning to face us.
"What is the wish that will make your soul gem shine, Kaori Sachie?" Kyuubey asks.
"I want you to bring Liliane back to life and make all the normal people think she's just been in the hospital these past few months," Sachie says.
"Understood," Kyuubey says.
Sachie lets out a squeal of pain as it reaches out with its ear appendages to draw out her soul gem.
"Kaori Sachie, your wish has surpassed entropy," it says. "One day, you will make a fine witch."
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched," Sachie retorts. "I'm not about to become a witch so easily. But… did Liliane really come back to life? If so, then where the heck is she?"
"I am not sure," Kyuubey says. "Since you wished for people to believe she has been in the hospital since her death, perhaps that is where she is now."
"Hmm… you'd better not have tricked me, you little devil," she says.
"I do not trick," Kyuubey says.
Sachie turns to Inui and me.
"So um… do you mind if we hunt another one, so I can get used to this newfound power?"
"Sure," I say. "What sort of power is it, anyway?"
"It seems I can alter memories and heal people," Sachie says.
"Altering memories, you say… you know, maybe this would be a good time to try taking on the witch of oblivion."
I send Elise an email asking her to meet up in front of the public pool, and then we head in that direction ourselves.
"What's this witch of oblivion?" Inui asks.
"I can't remember if we told you about it or if we only told the quartet, but there's a very strong witch in the area that's a challenge even for all of us together," I explain. "The quartet has been keeping an eye on it and rescuing the occasional people who blunder in, but we haven't yet been able to defeat the witch herself – she's just too strong. However, Miss Sachie's power sounds similar to that witch's power, so I thought maybe we'd have a chance with her around."
"I'm honoured, but… are you sure about this?" Sachie asks. "I mean, I'm a total newbie at this… and you're taking me to the strongest witch you know? Sounds kinda questionable…"
"If I'm wrong, we'll retreat," I say. "I won't let anyone die if I can help it."
When we reach the public pool, we find the quartet already waiting there.
"What's this all about?" Elise asks. "Don't tell me you're finally planning to challenge that witch?"
"Did you four manage to get a grief seed already today?" I ask.
"Yeah, we got one," Komachi nods.
"Then… yeah, I'm proposing we finally challenge that witch," I say. "Come on, let's go."
We head behind the pool building and reveal the labyrinth, stepping inside. I look around a bit… it looks just as I remember, the audience filled with cardboard cut-outs of all the magical girls I've ever met.
"Wow, this is quite something," Sachie says.
"This is indeed an interesting find," Kyuubey says. "This is a witch that I do not recognize. I have never made a contract with the girl who transformed into this witch, and I did not harvest the energy released when it happened."
"H-how is that possible!?" Elise gasps.
"This magical girl must have made a contract by other means," Kyuubey says. "Its magic has a very strange composition. I have never seen a witch remotely like this before."
"Could it be someone like Isabeau of Bavaria?" I ask.
"Did you hear about her from Pernelle?" Kyuubey asks. "However, if there was another magical girl like her, then I would know about it. It is more likely that there exists a being independent from us that is capable of creating magical girls."
"So you're saying… this witch is an alien or something?" Komachi asks.
"It is one possibility," Kyuubey agrees.
"So um… what do we do now?" Sachie asks.
"The first type of familiars we'll face are the butterflies," I say. "Look, here they come now."
Indeed, something is fluttering down from the ceiling, and within seconds they grow to form a swarm of bird-sized pure white butterflies.
"I've got them!" Inui says.
She transforms and blasts the swarm with pink flames, making short work of them. A second swarm swoops down, but Claire transforms as well, frying them with a bolt of lightning. Inui finishes off the remnants with her flames.
"Looks like we can rely on the two of you to deal with the butterflies," I say. "Everyone else, let's get going."
Sachie transforms next, revealing her magical girl outfit for the first time. It's a sleeveless pale blue cocktail dress that falls to her ankles with a plunging neckline, the sides slit to mid-thigh to avoid impeding her movement. Under the dress she wears silver stiletto heels, and she wears pure white gloves that extend a little past the elbow. Her soul gem is a sky-coloured round stone on a pendant laying on her chest, and she has a pair of star earrings in the same colour and a tiny blue hat affixed to her head on an angle. She grips a golden staff with a triangular ring at the tip upon which six more triangular rings dangle.
"E-eh? You actually did it!?" Elise gasps.
"I'm sure I'm gonna regret it in a couple of days but… yes I did," Sachie says.
"If you're gonna regret it, then why do it?" Elise snaps.
"You wouldn't understand," Sachie says.
"Try me!"
"There's no point in trying to explain to rock, now is there?"
"W-why you…!"
"Stoppit, you two!" Hiyori says. "We've gotta defeat this witch together, okay? This is no time to be fighting!"
"I'm sorry… I might not have suggested this if I'd realized you two hate each other so much," I say.
"I wouldn't call it hate, exactly," Sachie says.
Then I transform, and the others follow suit. I lead the way by hopping into the audience, and everyone else follows, looking around a bit as we make our way to the back. Inui and Claire continue to hold off the familiars until we finally reach the door at the back.
"Okay, so I think the witch can read your mind," I say. "Be careful, okay? Also, the familiars will take on the form of your worst fears, so try to stay strong, and make sure to leave the familiar you fear most to someone else! Is everyone ready?"
There's a chorus of "ayes", so I pull out my sword, summon Teddy Mk II and a swarm of Teddy Drones, and kick the door down. Everyone piles in behind me, and we step forward into the currently-deserted room.
"So um… where's the witch?" Hiyori asks.
"Just wait," I say. "She'll show up soon enough… from that hole in the floor over there. We need to restrain and bind her, and then Komachi-chan and I will combine our powers for a powerful attack while everyone else keeps her distracted."
The seconds stretch out, but finally Itzli shows up, shooting out from her hole with incredible speed and summoning a trio of familiars that for a split second seem like formless blobs, before taking on a shape from our memories. One looks like the Sleepwalking Spectre, another like a miniaturized Walpurgisnacht, and the third is a gigantic Kyuubey.
"Interesting," Kyuubey observes. "It seems one of you fears me."
"It's kinda incredible if it's just one," I retort.
Elise summons an army of bizarre spider-like creatures, which swarm Itzli in an attempt to occupy its root-tentacles. Claire and Komachi charge in to attack those tentacles from the shelter of Elise's familiars, but even with Claire's speed boost, she's unable to land a single blow on those tentacles – the witch seems to predict her every move. Hiyori starts playing the tune that usually heralds her distraction ability, which leaves me, Inui, and Sachie to take on the familiars. Inui takes on Walpurgisnacht, Sachie confronts the Sleepwalking Spectre, and I face down the gigantic Kyuubey.
Fortunately for me, the familiar I'm facing is not very agile. It stomps its foot once, producing a shockwave, then attacks using the ear appendages like tentacles. I dodge the shockwave, then slash at its forelegs with my sword while directing the Teddy Drones to fire upon it. It's pretty tough, but it has no ability to avoid my attacks, whereas I can dodge its attacks pretty easily.
Inui pulls out her flame whip and lashes out at Walpurgisnacht, dodging its beam attacks whenever it fires at her. Although her opponent seems a bit tougher than mine, her weapon also has a longer reach and is thus a better match for it than my sword… even my sword's extended length is less than Inui's flame whip. The non-physical nature of the whip also prevents the enemy from using it against her.
Sachie's approach to fighting is the strangest of all. She simply stands there, watching as the Sleepwalking Spectre charges in close with her stilettos, using the staff to throw them off course. When that's not sufficient, she takes a step aside. Her staff jingles a little as she moves or blocks attacks. After fending off about three rounds of the familiar's attacks, she suddenly raises her staff high and shakes it, causing the familiar to freeze in its tracks. Then she takes a step forward, and another, and another, shaking the staff once with each step, until she's close enough to lay a hand on the familiar, at which point she starts shaking the staff constantly for a good five seconds.
And then, the Sleepwalking Spectre turns right around and marches in the opposite direction. Inui and I manage to defeat our familiars around the same time, and then Hiyori's spell is completed.
"My turn!" Inui shouts. "Look at me! I'm over here!"
The witch actually does turn to look at her, but it also ceases its attacks, allowing Komachi, Claire, and Elise's familiars to finally start damaging those roots. The Sleepwalking Spectre also joins in, attacking the very witch that spawned it.
"Hiyori-chan, bind it!" I shout.
"On it!" Hiyori shouts back.
She lifts her harp and rips the strings right off, expanding them into massive wires that coil around Itzli and hold her in place.
"Alright Elise-chan, that's enough!" I shout. "You can let your familiars go! Komachi-chan, please drain her! Claire-chan, please stun her with your lightning!"
While I'm giving orders, Sachie shakes her staff again, and a green light expands across the battlefield. Although I didn't take much damage during the fight, there were a few small hits here and there, and I can feel those healing up as good as new. Komachi stabs the nearest root while Claire pumps electricity into the witch.
"Ugh, so gross!" Komachi gasps. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this feeling…"
I hop onto Teddy Mk II and soar up to get a better look at Itzli's brain casing. She seems to turn to follow my movements, although she doesn't have anything to obviously serve as eyes so I can't be sure. It does seem like her movements are getting sluggish though… a moment ago she was idly struggling to get free, but now she's not even doing that.
"Is everyone alright?" I shout. "Anyone need a grief seed?"
"I'm fine!" Komachi says.
"I can keep fighting!" Claire says.
"I could use one, but I'm good for now!" Elise says.
"I'm alright too!" Hiyori says.
"Just peachy here!" Inui says.
"I don't even know how to tell, but I didn't use that much magic," Sachie says.
"Alright, we're almost done here," I say. "Komachi-chan, hop up here with me."
I send Teddy down a bit so she can hop on more easily, then rise up to once more be level with the centre of the witch's brain casing.
"We're going to pool our magic as if we're connecting," I explain. "But instead of us connecting to you or you connecting to us, we'll both connect to each other. Does that make sense?"
Komachi nods.
"Everyone else – when the charm wears off, make sure to keep her away from us! Attack her, charm her again, whatever it takes to let us build up energy undisturbed!"
"Got it!" Inui says.
Komachi and I clasp hands, and we pool our power in our joined hands. Soon it spills out of our hands to form a dark sphere which extends to form a barrel, a hose growing to plant itself in the ground, where it swallows up the various cinema paraphernalia lying around in this room.
"Okay, looks like it's ready to fire," I say. "Are you ready, Komachi?"
"Ready as I'll ever be!"
I take a deep breath.
"Glittering Star Cannon, FIRE!"
The first shot lands right in the centre of Itzli's brain casing, leaving a crater. Komachi and I continue shouting over and over as we fire more and more shots.
"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!"
The second shot digs the crater even deeper. The fourth shot breaks right through, allowing the viscous fluid within to gush out. The fifth shot is unfortunately neutralized by the flow of that fluid pushing it back, but the sixth shot punches right through and leaves a crater on the brain. A couple more shots, and Itzli's brain is practically pulverized. Then she starts to glow, and her roots suddenly catch fire out of nowhere. A few moments later, Itzli shoots up into the air like a rocket, then bursts open into an elaborate display of fireworks. As the two grief seeds float back down, the barrier collapses. I grab the grief seeds and offer one of them to Elise, who gratefully uses it before sharing it with the rest of the quartet. As for the other one, I hand it to Sachie.
"Here, your first grief seed," I say. "Just for the record, witches dropping two seeds is incredibly rare."
"Oh, I couldn't… all of you did a lot more than I did," Sachie protests.
"It's fine," I say. "We still have some in reserve, so we're not in desperate need of a grief seed right now."
"Well, if you're sure…"
"I'm sure," I say.
"…then I'll gladly accept it," Sachie says. "Thank you."
"Huh? What's this?"
I turn to the speaker, Elise, who's looking at something on her phone.
"What's what?" Claire asks curiously.
"Mom's telling me to come home immediately…"
"Why don't we all go?" I suggest.
"Um… I don't mind, but why?" Elise asks.
"Well, we actually haven't seen your house before, so I have to admit we're a little curious," I say.
"There's not really much to see," Elise says. "But sure, if you wanna come over, then I'm not gonna get in your way."
"Well, we may as well join the party as well then," Komachi says. "Alright, then it's settled!"
So we all power down and head for Elise's house. It turns out to be a perfectly normal Western-style home, almost indistinguishable from the Hayashi house. Elise leads the way inside, kicking her shoes off.
"I'm back!" she calls.
"Elise!"
A girl who looks almost identical to Elise rockets out from the living room and glomps her, knocking her clean off her feet.
"H-h-huh!?" Elise gasps.
Claire lets out a gasp as well.
"N-n-no w-way… L-liliane!?"
Elise's twin looks up at her with a grin.
"Hey Claire, long time no see!" she says. "I'm told it's been about three months? Although I don't have any memories of that time…"
Claire glomps the girl, leading to the three of them tangling up in a pile on the floor.
"What's going on…?" Komachi wonders as she slips off her shoes. "That can't be Liliane… can it?"
"I mean… she's… dead, right?" Hiyori says.
The rest of us also slip off our shoes, as Elise's parents emerge from the living room.
"Ah, you've brought all your friends over too, Elise?" Mrs Pierrot says.
"Y-yeah…" Elise manages to say from the bottom of the pile. "C-could you two… get off of me already…"
"Even Miss Sachie… you haven't been around for awhile," Mr Pierrot says.
"Well, Elise and I really can't get along, so I never had a reason to stop by before," Sachie says.
"Well, if you're all here, why don't you stay for dinner?" Mrs Pierrot says. "And we'll let all of you get caught up…" Then she spots Inui and me. "Oh? I don't think I've met the two of you before…"
"My name is Ashley Taylor," I say. "I'm an exchange student staying with the Hayashi family."
"Oh! Elise has spoken of you quite a bit!" Mr Pierrot says. "Welcome, and come right in!"
"And I'm Itsumi Inui," Inui says. "Recently I've been staying with the Hayashi family too, for… personal reasons."
"Well, come in," Mrs Pierrot says. "I'll bring everyone some tea, and then I'll get dinner started."
So we all pile into the living room, which is furnished in a Western style with two couches and two armchairs, and find a place to plop down. Liliane takes her place between Elise and Sachie, clinging onto their arms like they might disappear if she let go.
"So, what the hell's going on here?" Elise asks. "Is that really you, onee-san? What the hell happened to you?"
Liliane blinks. "Before that, I see there are some new faces here. Hiya! I'm Liliane Pierrot, Elise's big sister! It's nice to meet you! Oh, I already heard your names earlier when you introduced yourself to Mom and Dad, so no need to repeat them!"
She waves to Inui and me, then turns to Elise.
"You know, it's strange that you're asking me that," she says. "Everyone else I've spoken to seems absolutely certain what happened to me. See, I just woke up in the hospital not too long ago, and the doctors said I'd just recovered from a really nasty case of pneumonia. Apparently I was found passed out in the cold after that New Year's party? But I don't remember any of that… I don't remember being in the hospital at all until that moment when I woke up. Isn't that weird? I should at least remember a few bits and pieces here and there, right?"
"W-well, that's not the story we know," Claire says. "As far as we know, you were found dead in that alleyway, five days after the party."
Liliane blinks. "D-dead!? Why is your story so different from everyone else's?" she asks.
"Miss Liliane… you mentioned that you don't remember any of the hospital stuff, but… what do you remember?" I ask.
"Um… let me think," Liliane says. "Oh right… several girls were being really mean to me at that party, weren't they…"
Claire nods. "Yeah, I was there too, so I can attest to that."
"So I think I fled from the party in tears, and then… the last thing I remember is collapsing against a wall as I felt intense hatred welling up inside me, consuming me from within… a shadow of a man passed over me, and then… that's it."
Silence falls as everyone digests that description, and by sheer luck, that's when Mrs Pierrot comes in with… a pot of tea? Well, that's certainly not what I expected from a Japanese household, although it's not unheard of. She sets it down with a stack of very Western-style teacups, and proceeds to ask who wants some and pour it for them. It is green tea though, so I decide to have some. Once she's finished, she leaves the pot, which somehow still isn't empty, and exits the room.
"So, Miss Liliane, how long have you been a magical girl?" I ask after taking a sip.
Liliane blinks at me. Of course, she has a ring on her finger, as well as a fingernail mark that looks like a green snake, so even if I didn't know her story, she's clearly one herself.
"C-come again?"
"Everyone in this room is a magical girl, so you don't need to worry about secrets or anything," I say.
"Ehhh!?"
Liliane blinks and looks at Sachie, who nods, followed by Elise, who also nods, and Claire, who also nods.
"A-and even the Hayashi sisters?"
Hiyori and Komachi nod too.
"Uhh… that's… quite a shock, to be honest," Liliane says. "I made my contract with Kyuubey towards the end of October, but during all that time, I never once encountered another magical girl… and now I come back after three months out of commission and suddenly nearly everyone I know has made a contract?"
"You never even ran into Masuyo Mari or Tomoe Mami?" I ask.
"No… although Kyuubey did warn me about the two of them," Liliane says. "Because of that, I was careful to stay away from their territory, since Kyuubey said that could cause problems…"
"That's kinda sad," Claire says. "Why didn't you introduce yourself? I bet both of them would've been happy to meet you… although I've never met Miss Masuyo either, to be fair… but I have met Miss Tomoe."
"Well… like I said, Kyuubey said that wouldn't be a good idea, so I believed him," Liliane says. "I did think about going anyway, but I just never got around to it, I suppose…"
"I bet that shadow of a man you mentioned was Masuyo Mari," I say. "She may not be a man, but with her outfit, I could see someone mistaking her for one if they didn't look closely. And I heard that party was close to her territory, right?"
"A-are you suggesting she… killed me?" Liliane asks.
"No… I don't think she'd do a thing like that," I say. "We've met her, and she seems like a nice person. Considering what you can remember… what do you make of it?"
Liliane considers the question for a bit.
"Well… if you must know, it reminded me of the feeling of a witch… but… and this might come as a bit of a shock… it was like it was coming from within me…"
"So if you were to speculate on what happened to you…?" I prompt her.
"I don't even want to say it," Liliane says. "It's too horrible to be true… but… I think I may have… turned into a witch…" She trails off for a second or two, then adds, "Except that doesn't explain how I'm here right now, talking to you…"
"Liliane, tell me truthfully," Sachie says. "Do you regret your wish at all?"
"Of course not!" Liliane says. "That was the worst typhoon since 2038, and it could've levelled at least a quarter of the city and killed thousands! I could never regret preventing it from making landfall!"
Elise blinks.
"W-wait… that was your doing!?" she gasps. "I remember that typhoon… they said it was going to hit Kamihama hard, and the edge might even sweep over Mitakihara… but then it suddenly took a turn and headed south, towards the Philippines… and dissipated before it reached them…"
Liliane nods. "Y-yeah… that was my wish," she says. "To divert that typhoon. Thanks to my wish, I got the power to manipulate the weather… I even worked out a cool way to fly using my powers."
"Yeah, I spotted you once, up on your cloud," Sachie says.
"Oh… guess I wasn't careful enough, huh?" Liliane says. "Oopsies!"
"So, the conclusion is that Liliane turned into a witch, right?" I say.
"Y-yeah… um… why is no-one shocked about that, anyway?" Liliane asks.
"Ah, well… we already know that magical girls turn into witches," Elise says. "You see, Ashley-chan learned about it before she even made a wish, and after Inui-chan moved in, Ashley-chan explained the whole deal to us. As for the idiot on your other arm, we literally told her all about it today and for some reason she was dumb enough to go ahead and make a wish anyway!"
Liliane blinks, turning to Sachie.
"So… you just became a magical girl today?" she ask.
"About an hour or two ago, yes," Sachie says.
"Which is also about when I woke up," Liliane says. "What a coincidence…"
Elise narrows her eyes. "Coincidence my ass… that was your wish, wasn't it, you dumbass!?"
Liliane blinks again. "Eh? Is that true?"
Sachie sighs. "Stupid Elise, you have no tact, do you?" she retorts. "I wanted to keep that a secret…"
"Y-you shouldn't have…!" Liliane says. "Especially considering that…"
"I knew you'd react that way," Sachie grumbles. "That's why I didn't want you to know… please Liliane, just accept it, alright? I'd prefer if we didn't talk about it again."
"W-well, if you're sure…" Liliane says. "But that means you brought me back to life, right? So at least allow me to thank you…"
"Fine… thanks accepted," Sachie says. "Now let's change the topic."
"So… with so many magical girls in one area, isn't it hard to find enough grief seeds?" Liliane asks.
"Well, you're not wrong, but we manage," I say. "Inui and I team up to patrol the northern reaches, like the haunted house and thereabouts. Elise, Claire, and the Hayashi sisters focus more on the southern reaches, although not all the way to Shirome Middle School since there's other girls in that area. I guess that just means that you and Sachie need to find a place to fit in… if you don't mind travelling a bit, the northeast corner of the city is underhunted ever since Naomi Noriko died."
"O-oh, Nano-chan died?" Inui says. "That's so sad…"
"Yeah… we were so occupied worrying about Miss Akemi that we didn't have time to get up there and save her," I say. "That was actually her witch we defeated earlier."
Liliane nods. "Well, what do you think, Sachie-chan? Wanna team up with me and patrol the northeast?"
"Sure," Sachie says. "You can teach me the ropes, then… you'll be my magical girl sempai."
Liliane giggles. "That feels weird, since we're the same age… but I guess it's true, huh?"
"That means you'd be sort of sandwiched between Masuyo Mari's territory and Kohaku Koharu's territory," I say. "You'll probably need to introduce yourself to them at some point, since they're probably stretching themselves to hunt in that area at the moment."
Liliane nods. "Sure… and maybe I can ask Miss Masuyo if that was really her and thank her for putting me out of my misery."
From there, the conversation turns to discussing everyone's costume and powers, and even Inui and I join in discussing them. We all transform one by one for Liliane to see, and then she transforms last of all. Her outfit consists of a huge white cape over a white dress that appears to be of a wraparound style, held in place at the waist by what appear to be interlocking coils of blue rope, with two more ropes extending out, crossing just below the belt, and disappearing around the back of the skirt. She wears soft white boots with a golden buckle, and black socks that come up to the knee, with wavy suspenders vanishing beneath her skirt. The lower portion of the cape is covered in golden designs of concentric circles connected by lines, and her soul gem appears to be the blue rectangular gemstone holding the cape together at her throat. She also has a large, soft white hat with a pair of tassels on each side, each sporting a blue sphere at the tip from which dangles three golden chimes. The chimes jingle slightly whenever she turns her head. Her weapon is a zigzag sword that resembles a lightning bolt.
Finally, Mrs Pierrot calls us in for dinner, which turns out to be a strange blend of French and Japanese cuisine. I hadn't really thought about it before now, but… their names do sound French, now that I come to think of it. Elise, Liliane, and Pierrot… they're all very French-sounding names. Is it possible that Elise's family is actually from France? She does look Japanese though, and both her parents do as well… whatever, I guess it doesn't matter. The food is good, and they're nice people, so who cares where they're from?
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.
Kaori Sachie
香織幸枝
Age: 17
Eye Colour: Grey
Hair Colour: Pink
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Two interlocked triangles, one blue and one yellow
Soul Gem: Round sky blue stone on her pendant
Element: Light
Weapon: Triangle bell staff
Powers: Healing, altering memories, stun, charm, bewitch
Wish: "I want you to bring Liliane back to life and make all the normal people think she's just been in the hospital these past few months."
Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 1
Defensive Power: 4
Initial Power Usability: 3
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)
Liliane Pierrot
Age: 17
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Deep Red
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green snake
Soul Gem: Blue rectangular gemstone in the brooch at her throat
Element: Water
Weapon: Zigzag sword
Powers: Wind manipulation, cloud formation, lightning
Wish: "I want Typhoon Lamia to never make landfall!"
Speed: 3
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 8
Defensive Power: 8
Initial Power Usability: 9
Learned Powers: 3