Magia: A New Hope

by Pentalithia

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

58. Mind Tricks

April eighth. Amano Suzune transfers into Matsuri's school, and the moment she steps into the classroom, Matsuri jumps to her feet and calls out her name.

"Suzune-chan!"

Suzune looks at her in surprise.

"…do I know you?" she asks.

"Eh? You… don't remember me, huh…"

Matsuri sits down with a sigh, and Honoka glances over at her. Suddenly Matsuri shoots Honoka a startled look, then turns to look at Suzune, then back at Honoka. As this is going on, the teacher is properly introducing Suzune and indicating where she should sit. Matsuri watches Suzune go to her seat, her face flickering between concern and anger, the latter no doubt belonging to Kagari.

"Stop that, onee-chan," Matsuri mutters under her breath. "We agreed you don't come out during class, remember?"

---

After school, Matsuri hurries to block Suzune as she's about to leave.

"Suzune-chan… let's walk home together!"

Suzune stares at her for a few seconds. Matsuri has her hands clasped behind her back, leaning forward a little as she eagerly awaits Suzune's response, so Suzune probably isn't aware yet that she's a magical girl.

"…sure," Suzune says.

The two of them leave school together, and Honoka follows. About a minute away from the gate, Matsuri turns.

"Honoka-chan… if you want to join us, then join us!" Matsuri says. "No need to go skulking around back there!"

Honoka steps forward, rubbing her head in embarrassment.

"R-right… um, sorry," she says.

Suzune's eyes narrow a little.

"You're inviting her?"

Matsuri nods. "Yeah, why not?"

"No reason…"

Matsuri leads them to her house, and they all enter and kick off their shoes, then head into the living room and sit down.

"I'm home!" she calls, but there's no response.

Then she spins and points angrily at Suzune.

"Why the hell did you bring this murderer home!?" Kagari shouts.

Honoka and Suzune stare at her, and she takes a deep breath and smiles.

"Sorry… it seems like onee-chan doesn't like you for some reason, Suzune-chan," Matsuri says.

"Uhh… what do you mean by 'onee-chan'?" Honoka asks. "I mean… you're the one who said it…"

Matsuri raises her hands to show off the two rings and fingernail markings. Suzune gasps.

"She's sharing my body right now," Matsuri explains. "It can get difficult sometimes, but we've learned to manage."

"T-two rings…?" Suzune says. "You're a magical girl… no… two magical girls…"

The girl glares at her. "What, gonna kill us now that you know?" Kagari retorts. "That would be quite a laugh, now wouldn't it…"

Honoka tenses up at the question.

"Not right now," Suzune says. "It's not a good place."

Honoka relaxes a little.

"That's your only reason?" she asks. "Because it's not a good place?"

"It might be linked to me," Suzune says.

"Well, you're right about that," Kagari says. Then she giggles. "Although, that'd be interesting to see, too…"

"Onee-chan, why are you being so mean to her?" Matsuri protests.

"Because she's the one who killed Tsubaki!" Kagari shouts.

"Is… is that true?" Matsuri asks.

"In… a manner of speaking," Suzune says.

"This is kinda trippy," Honoka says. "Seeing the two of you have a conversation with yourself like that…"

"Well, anyway, we shouldn't just stand around by the door," Matsuri says. "Come in, and I'll get some tea and snacks ready. I'm sure the two of you would rather not be alone together after what happened, so you can help me pick out the snacks while I make the tea."

She leads the three of them into the kitchen, where she starts water for tea and then rummages through the fridge and cupboards for suitable snacks. After she and Honoka have chosen some snacks – Suzune doesn't offer any opinion – Matsuri finishes making the tea, and then she shows them all to her room, setting her tea cup on her desk and taking a seat at her desk. Honoka sits on the bed, and Suzune just stands near the doorway.

"So… it seems like things are pretty complicated here, aren't they?" Matsuri says. "You know, Honoka-chan told me you attacked her, Suzune-chan… why did you do that?"

Suzune blinks. "That's… none of your business," she snaps. "And besides, it's better if you don't know."

"There's no way that's true," Matsuri says. "If a friend of mine does something wrong, then I'll make it my business! And you can't be sure it's better."

"I don't even know you," Suzune says.

"But I know you," Matsuri says. "I remember fighting witches by your side, Suzune-chan… but then onee-chan became a magical girl and you both disappeared. Since onee-chan made me forget about her, I assume she did something similar to you, Suzune-chan. It fits with how she seems to hate you so much, too."

"If that's the case, how did you get to be… merged?" Honoka asks.

"Well… that wasn't my doing," Matsuri says. "Someone just handed me onee-chan's soul gem, pretty much… and then it all came back to me somehow."

"Huh, that's… strangely convenient," Honoka says. "But how did she end up sharing a body with you?"

"Ah, umm… it seems a magical girl's consciousness resides in their soul gem," Matsuri says. "I guess most magical girls don't know that… I myself only found out because of that."

"Huh… so what would happen if you lost your soul gem, then?" Honoka asks. "Like… suppose it slipped out of your hand and rolled away or something…"

"Um… I'm not quite sure but I can't imagine it's anything good," Matsuri says. "Onee-chan says the body's just a puppet, so I suppose it would look like you died?"

"Th-that's awful!" Honoka says. "Who would do that to your sister?"

"Well, she said her name was Ashley Taylor…"

Honoka gasps. "Huh!? You've gotta be kidding me…"

"No, she introduced herself and everything," Matsuri says.

"I can't believe she'd do something like that…"

"Wait… do you know her, Honoka-chan?"

"Yeah… I became a magical girl after she saved me," Honoka says.

"Why am I even here…?" Suzune interjects.

"Ah, Suzune-chan!" Matsuri says. "Did you know that about the soul gem?"

"Of course I did," Suzune says.

Matsuri blinks. "Could it be… you also know about the other thing?"

Suzune tilts her head. "Which other thing, specifically?"

Matsuri glances at Honoka.

"Well, I'm not sure if Honoka-chan would want to hear it… it's a little depressing…"

Honoka blinks. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Some things Kyu-chan didn't tell us about magical girls," Matsuri says. "I only heard it from onee-chan, but she said she heard it straight from Kyu-chan, so it's probably true…"

"You've piqued my curiosity," Honoka says. "Let's hear it."

"Okay… if you're sure," Matsuri says.

"I mean… how bad can it be?" Honoka says.

"Well, it's probably worse than you're imagining," Matsuri says. "It's bad enough that I haven't shared it with my friends…"

"Come on, don't leave me hanging like that!" Honoka protests.

"Well… apparently, when the soul gem fills up with impurities, it transforms into a grief seed."

"Y-you're kidding…" Honoka says.

"It's true," Suzune says. "That's what happened to Tsubaki."

Matsuri blinks at her. "Huh? W-wait… Tsubaki was a magical girl!?"

Suzune nods.

"S-so… that means… magical girls turn into witches?" Honoka asks. "I get why you were reluctant to share that… although I can't say I believe it yet…"

"Just ask Kyuubey if you don't believe us," Suzune says flatly.

"So that must be what onee-chan meant when she said you killed Tsubaki," Matsuri says. "You didn't kill her directly… you killed her witch. Is that correct, Suzune-chan?"

While Matsuri starts grilling Suzune, Honoka starts fiddling with her phone.

"Yes…"

"But then you don't remember fighting witches with me?"

"I've never met you before today," Suzune says.

"Then, where have you been for the past year or so since I last saw you?" Matsuri asks.

"…why does that matter?" Suzune asks.

"I'm just trying to figure out what's happened," Matsuri says. "You just disappeared and suddenly came back… onee-chan must have something to do with it, but she refuses to explain things to me."

Suzune sighs. "Well, I was moving around a lot," she says. "Most recently, I was in Yukuni… I also spent some time in Takarazaki and Kazamino and a few smaller towns…"

"Why would you move around so much?" Matsuri asks. "You're an orphan, right? Why not just stay here in Hohzuki the entire time?"

Suzune just shrugs, and Matsuri throws her hands up.

"Oh come on, Suzune-chan! Please help me out here!"

"I don't have any particular reason to," Suzune replies.

"Um, hey," Honoka says suddenly. "I just asked Ashley-chan why she did that to your sister… and her response is…"

Matsuri blinks at her. "What?"

Honoka thrusts the phone into Matsuri's face.

"See for yourself," Honoka says.

The email begins with Honoka's original message in a reply block.

"Hey, Ashley-chan, I met someone who said you stole her sister's soul gem or something. Why would you do that?"

Below that is the start of my response.

"I wanted to save lives. Hinata Kagari is the mastermind of a plot that has already resulted in the death of countless magical girls. You yourself would have been among the victims, along with Shion Chisato, Narumi Arisa, and Kanade Haruka… and Amano Suzune is both her weapon of choice and the intended final victim."

Matsuri stares at the screen, reading it out loud, and Honoka pulls it back as soon as she's finished. Suzune looks a little startled, and Matsuri looks thoroughly shocked… or maybe she's Kagari now? It's hard to tell sometimes.

Suddenly Kagari transforms, donning her purple outfit.

"That's impossible!" she shouts. "I never even met that bitch before she suddenly attacked me! It's all a lie!"

Honoka jumps up and also transforms, watching her warily. Suzune just watches the two of them, bemused.

"You understand, right? That's all lies!" Kagari repeats.

But then Matsuri also transforms, melding their two costumes into one as before.

"Honoka-chan, Suzune-chan, be careful!" she says. "Onee-chan only needs line of sight for her magic!"

"Shut up!" Kagari shouts. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"You're my sister!" Matsuri shouts back. "Of course it has something to do with me!"

Kagari summons a sword, but before she can swing it, she freezes as the two of them physically struggle for control of their shared body. Honoka briefly eyes the window before looking at them.

"Miss… Kagari, was it?" she says. "There was a lot more to Ashley-chan's message than that… it sounds too elaborate to be made up."

"It's impossible for her to know anything about me!" Kagari says. "I've literally never met her before!"

"So the whole thing isn't an elaborate revenge plot against Miss Amano?" Honoka asks.

Kagari gapes at her, and that attracts Suzune's attention.

"What? I don't know Miss Kagari either," Suzune says.

"But you did say you killed Tsubaki," Honoka says. "And Miss Kagari said the same thing. So regardless of whether you know her directly, you have Tsubaki in common."

Matsuri closes her mouth and sighs.

"It's true," she says. "Tsubaki used to be our nanny, but she left, just a few weeks before I became a magical girl. What's your connection to her, Suzune-chan? I can see you're wearing her hair ornament, so I guess you must've been close?"

"She was… like a mother to me, for a few weeks," Suzune says. "After she saved me from a witch, I became a magical girl too, and then I lived with her until… until she turned into a witch."

"From what Ashley-chan said, it's probably no coincidence that those time periods roughly match up," Honoka says. "Tsubaki leaving her post as the Hinata nanny probably coincided with you moving in with her…"

"It doesn't take a genius to work that out!" Kagari shouts. "She stole Tsubaki from us!"

"Without even knowing you existed," Suzune says. "Sure."

"It's not like Tsubaki belongs to you," Honoka retorts. "She probably would've gone to see you if she got the chance. It's just unfortunate that she… well, you know… before she could."

"You, shut your stupid trap," Kagari snaps. "This has nothing to do with you. You're supposed to be dead by now, anyway."

"Yeah, and I've got Ashley-chan to thank for that too," Honoka says. "If she hadn't warned me… Miss Amano probably would've gotten me back then."

Suzune blinks. "So that's why…"

"That's right," Matsuri says. "Why did you attack Honoka-chan?"

"That's… so she doesn't turn into a witch," Suzune says.

"Eh!?"

Both Matsuri and Honoka gasp in tandem.

"That's… Suzune-chan, have you been…"

Matsuri trails off before finishing the question.

"That's the resolve I came to," Suzune says flatly. "So there's no point in trying to make friends with me."

"Suzune-chan… I don't think that suits you," Matsuri says. "You don't like doing it, do you?"

"W-well…"

"You don't like killing people, do you, Suzune-chan?"

"I… am not… fond of it… but it… needs… to be done…"

"You don't seem like you truly believe that, Suzune-chan…"

"B-b-but it… it… it… h-huh!?" Suzune suddenly gasps. "W-what are you…?"

Matsuri's face twists into an expression I've seen before, the first time I watched Kagari crow over Suzune. Kagari giggles as she watches the myriad of expressions passing over Suzune's face.

"W-what have you… done?" Suzune asks.

"No, what have you done?" Kagari sneers. "Isn't it marvellous? If you just continue like that, you can join your precious Tsubaki in the afterlife!"

Honoka moves to stop Kagari, but halts in mid-stride, tilting her head slightly. Perhaps she received a telepathic missive, or maybe Kagari used her power… it's impossible to tell from this vantage point. Then she nods and steps back, looking around a bit. That's when her phone pings, so she grabs it to check her email.

"I suddenly realized I have contact info for Matsuri's friends, so I told them what's going on. They should be there soon, assuming they believe the message."

Honoka composes a response.

"Thanks, Ashley-chan! I was just about to do the same thing with Matsuri-chan's phone, so that really helps. I'll still do that anyway in case they didn't believe you."

True to her word, she grabs Matsuri's phone and opens it. Apparently Matsuri doesn't use a passcode, or if she does it's on laxer settings than I'm used to – maybe auto-lock is off or something, I dunno. Honoka taps contacts, Shion Chisato, and email, then just types in "Help!" and presses send.

Then she turns back to the confrontation between Kagari and Suzune, which seems to have taken a turn for the worse – Kagari has grabbed Suzune by the throat and is shouting at her, although Suzune's face seems more defiant than resigned.

---

It's at that point that I'm interrupted by Komachi barging into my room to let me know that dinner is ready. It's a little early for dinner, but apparently Mrs Hayashi needs to be somewhere today, so instead of making one of us cook, she decided to prepare dinner early.

I decide to shut off the vision. They're not exactly in the best situation, but I also don't get the impression that any of them are in danger of witching out, and help is on the way as well. I know this to be true, because I briefly opened a second vision to check on Chisato and the others after sending them the message to let them know that Matsuri was in danger.

Later that night, I briefly check up on the Hohzuki crew once more. Everyone is still alive, so clearly they resolved the situation one way or another. That's the most important thing.

---

Two days after Suzune's transfer, I head to Sakura Church, because I want to check up on something that Suzune said to the others. Inui accompanies me as usual, not even asking for an explanation. This time, Kyouko is sitting on the roof when we arrive, and I call up to her.

"Miss Sakura!"

She looks down at us, blinks, then hops down.

"What's up with you?" she asks. "We're even on the favour, don't forget."

"Well, we weren't exactly coming to ask a favour," I say. "We just heard something interesting and wondered if you could confirm it. It's honestly not very important, just something to satisfy our curiosity…"

Although I say that, I'm also asking because I never know where I might uncover a seemingly inconsequential detail that turns out to be quite important, so maximizing what I know about the situation is definitely in my interest.

"Hm, well, ask away and I'll see," Kyouko says.

"We heard there was a magical girl in Kazamino who focused on killing other magical girls," I say. "About four months ago, from what we heard. Have you heard of her, or did you meet her?"

"That's a long time," Kyouko retorts. "Hmm… certainly there were more magical girls around here back then… and several of them thought they could take me on… got any deets on the girl?"

"She has silver hair in a ponytail… wears a bell in her hair… and fights with a sword and fire magic."

"That's more info than I expected," Kyouko says. "Let me think… yeah, I think I might remember her. Why? She attack you, too?"

"Not me, but a friend of ours," I say.

"Well, there ain't much to say," Kyouko says. "We fought, I won, she escaped using some kinda stealth magic. Only weird thing was, she always aimed for my soul gem."

"Well, that's a given in serious magical girl combat," I say. "Anyway, thanks for the confirmation, Miss Sakura. I don't know if I can do anything with the info but it did satisfy my curiosity."

At that moment, my phone suddenly makes a noise to indicate an incoming message. I take it out to check and find a completely unexpected source – Akane Mai.

"Ah, this could be important," I say.

"Whatever," Kyouko says. "I'm off to get some grief seeds, seeya."

As she runs off, I unlock my phone to read the full message.

"Sorry to bother you. I can't contact Lina, and some of the others are acting strange."

That's the whole message. Not even a request for help. just a statement of fact. I try scrying on Lina to see if she's even alive. She appears to be tied up in a dark room somewhere… how on earth did that happen? I decide to call in some backup, composing a message to Liliane.

"Hello, sorry to bother you, Liliane. If you're not too busy, could you and Sachie meet me at the observation tower? Someone we know just sent me a mayday and I think your powers would come in handy."

With that message sent, I compose another one to Mai.

"On my way. Where can I find you?"

Then I look at Inui, who tilts her head.

"Sounds like something's up?" she says.

"It's Sasa again… probably," I say. "So we'll be heading over that way… but we'll stop by the observation tower first."

"Okay," Inui nods. "I thought she was going to behave though…"

"We also got that impression," I say. "But we can't really—"

I'm interrupted by the incoming message from Liliane and pause to read it.

"Good timing, Ashley-chan! We just met up and were about to go witch hunting, so we'll head to the tower and meet you instead."

I notice a response from Mai has also arrived, which just states "At home" without any further elaboration. Inui waits for a moment while I read the messages, then prompts for me to continue.

"You can't really… what?"

"Oh um… I don't really understand Sasa, so we can't really say for sure what she might be thinking," I say. "From last time it did seem like she wanted friends, but… that doesn't necessarily mean she'd accept just one…"

"I guess we just have to head over there and see," Inui says. "You know, Miss Sachie's powers would be pretty useful in dealing with Sasa…"

"You seem to be on the same page as us," I say. "We already asked her to come over. That's why we're taking a detour via the observation tower."

"Ohh, that makes sense," Inui says. "I was going to ask about that next. I'm glad she wasn't busy, though."

"That's true," I say.

When we get to the observation tower, we find Liliane and Sachie already there, waiting for us. Once again I'm struck by how tiny Sachie is. Although I've yet to meet Miyako Hinano, I have a feeling Sachie would make her feel tall. She's probably about a head and a half shorter than me, and even next to Inui and Liliane she seems small.

"Good morning, Miss Ashley!" Sachie greets me. "Good morning, Miss Itsumi."

"So you said you could use our powers, right?" Liliane asks. "Did something happen?"

"There's a hostile magical girl in Kazamino who can alter memories," I say.

"Oh… what a coincidence," Sachie says. "I never expected to meet someone with the same power…"

"That power seems to be strangely common," I say. "At least, from my experience. Besides you and her, I can think of at least three more magical girls who can alter memories. Though it's only the primary power for one of them."

"Shouldn't we hurry?" Inui says. "You seemed worried before…"

"Ah, right," I say. "One of the magical girls from that area has been captured, but we don't know how or by whom. So, I'd like to just check it out."

"You're sure it'll be okay invading their territory?" Liliane asks.

"I think so… one of them sent me a message," I say. "Let's go!"

So the four of us head towards Mai's house. I gaze up at the apartment building for a moment, locating the balcony that belongs to Mai's apartment on the fourth floor, then crouch and leap high into the air, grabbing onto the balcony and swinging over. I try to peer in through the sliding glass door, but the curtains are drawn, so I can't make out anything within. Just in case, I try the door, and to my surprise I find it unlocked.

«The door's unlocked,» I transmit to the others. «We're going to check inside… feel free to follow us.»

As I slide the door open, I head three soft thumps behind me as the others leap up as well. I draw the curtain aside and stop, startled at the state of the interior. It's filled with a mass of thorny, woody brambles that make me think of rose bushes, but without any leaves or flowers.

"Oh my!" Liliane gasps. "That… that can't be good… right?"

I turn my soul to gem form and close my eyes, searching for signs of magic nearby. Besides myself and my three companions, I can sense the presence of one other magical girl nearby. There's no doubt about it – Mai is home, just like she said.

«Are you okay, Miss Akane?» I ask, including the others in the telepathic channel.

«I've been better,» Mai replies. «Just a few scratches, and a barrier of thorns that my sword can't seem to cut through.»

Liliane transforms, brandishing her zigzag sword, and attempts to hack at the thorny brambles to no avail. The blade doesn't even chip the bark. I pull out my sword without transforming and try as well. Kensei is a bit more effective than the lightning bolt sword – it's able to make a dent in the bark. However, it takes me four swings just to break through a single bough, so I don't think it'll be effective.

"Let me try my flames," Inui says.

"We don't want to burn the place down though!" Sachie protests.

"It's fine," Inui says. "I think I can control them enough to avoid any damage."

"I think we should ask the owner of the place," I say. «Miss Akane, we're going to try fire on the thorns… is that okay?»

«Better than being trapped here,» Mai replies.

"Alright, then here goes!" Inui says.

She transforms and thrusts her hands forward towards the thorns, projecting twin jets of flame into their depths. The thorns rapidly catch fire, the nearest parts crumbling to ash within seconds as the pink flames race further into the room, consuming more and more of the thorns.

"Well, that was… underwhelming," I say.

As we step into the room, Mai emerges from the other room, the one where they had kept Sasa's body before.

"Thank you for your help," she says. "But… could I ask you to help me even further?"

"Well, it seems like this mess is our fault to begin with," I say. "At least partly. So, sure, we'll help clean it up."

"Those thorns," Inui says. "Were they made by Fuba-chi?"

"That's correct," Mai says. "I don't understand why. She said not a word."

"Who is this… Fuba-chi?" Liliane asks.

"Youko Futaba," I reply. "A timid magical girl who can control plants. Speaking of which, let me introduce everyone… this is Akane Mai, Liliane Pierrot, and Kaori Sachie."

"Nice to meet you!" Liliane says cheerfully.

"Well, you've come to help, so I cannot complain," Mai says.

"Was Sasa-tan with her when she did this?" Inui asks.

"No, Futaba was alone," Mai says.

"Do you know where Sasa-tan is?" Inui asks.

"I don't know," Mai says.

"What about Saki Miyako or Ayumi Mio?" I ask.

"Like Futaba, they were both fine when I spoke to them yesterday," Mai says. "I haven't seen them since."

"And Hitomi Lina?"

"The same."

"Hmm… you know where they live, right?" I ask.

"I know where Miyako and Mio live," Mai says.

"Then, let's see if they're home," I suggest.

"Understood," Mai says. "Follow me."

She locks the door to the balcony, then grabs a purse from a corner and leads us out, locking up behind her. She takes us to a small Western-style bungalow not far from her apartment and indicates that we should wait on the street. I watch her walk up and knock on the door, talking briefly with a woman within before leaving and rejoining us.

"Miyako isn't home," Mai says. "She might be at school, should we check there?"

"Huh? School on a Sunday?"

"Sometimes clubs meet on weekends," Mai shrugs. "Or there could be a make-up test."

"She goes to a different school than you, right?" I ask.

"That's correct," Mai says. "Shall we check her school first, or shall we check up on Mio?"

"Um… which is closer?"

"They're in almost opposite directions, but… I would say Miyako's school is closer," Mai says.

I consider the question a little longer, pausing to scry on the people we're searching for. Miyako is in a school uniform and does appear to be at school, racing through the halls for some reason or other. Mio is, somewhat surprisingly, playing a game of cards with Futaba. I don't see Sasa near them, but she could easily just be in the next room or something. There's also no clues in their surroundings to indicate where they are.

"Then let's see if we can find her," I say. "The chance of her not being caught up in whatever happened is higher than it is for Miss Ayumi, after all."

"Huh? Why's that?" Liliane asks.

Mai leads the way as I explain my reasoning.

"Within Miss Hitomi's team, Miss Ayumi and Miss Youko are especially close friends. Since Miss Youko is clearly involved with whatever happened, there is a high chance that Miss Ayumi is as well. Miss Saki isn't as close to the rest of the team, so she's more likely to evade whatever has happened to Miss Youko."

"That is why I chose to check on Miyako first," Mai says. "It seemed the chance of her being safe was higher."

"Even if that's true, it's a kinda heartless thing to say," Inui says. "Shouldn't you check up on the person who's in more danger first?"

"On the contrary," Mai says. "If you work from the assumption that the entire team will get caught up in the situation eventually, then it's better to prioritize Miyako over Mio. If we chose to check up on Mio first, who is likely already involved, then it's likely that Miyako would be sucked in by the time we get to her."

"Like I said," Inui says. "I totally get the logic to it. I just don't think you should be thinking logically at a time like this."

"So, let me get this straight," Sachie says. "The assumption is that Miss… Youko Futaba… is being subject to mind control, is that correct?"

"Yes, I can't think of any other explanation for her blocking me in with thorns," Mai says.

"And you're predicting that Miss… Ayumi Mio… is probably also under enemy control by now?"

Mai nods. "It's quite likely. They live near each other, attend the same school in the same grade, and are close friends. There's a high chance that Mio was present when Futaba was captured."

"And you're also predicting that Miss… Saki Miyako… will probably be taken under enemy control at some point, but we may yet be able to save her before that happens?"

"That's exactly it," Mai says.

"Then, sorry, Miss Itsumi, but I have to agree with Miss Akane," Sachie says. "It's not life-threatening, after all."

"If it makes you feel any better, Inui-chan, Ashley somewhat agrees with you," I say.

Mai looks at me in surprise. "Are you saying you agree?"

I shake my head. "No… the other Ashley," I say.

"Right…" Mai says.

"Elise explained it to me but… is it really true you have a dual personality?" Liliane asks.

"It's true," I say. "I'm sorry you had to hear it from her… I should've thought to mention it when we first met."

"No, that's okay," Liliane says. "There's no reason to share that kind of information with someone you just met. There are those who'd just treat you like you're crazy, you know."

"Honestly, I keep expecting to get that treatment every time I bring it up to a new person," I admit. "But somehow, no-one ever does." I pause. "Ah, no, there was one person who came close…"

"Well, you're more likely to find prejudice among older people," Inui says. "Especially people who've known life before the Internet, or at least before social media. You've mostly been revealing yourself to magical girls, right, Ashley-nee?"

"That's true," I say. "The one person with a different reaction was a bit older… though definitely not old enough to know life before the Internet."

"These days you can find all sorts of strange personalities online," Sachie adds. "A dual personality is actually tame in comparison."

"That said, I don't think social media could have reduced prejudices," I say. "If anything, it spread them further and wider."

"Is that so?" Inui says. "I suppose it's possible."

"Then again, it spread everything further and wider, so I suppose maybe…"

"We're here," Mai says.

I gaze up at the middle school we've arrived at for a second, then close my eyes and feel for magical responses nearby. I can sense Inui, Sachie, Liliane, and Mai, of course. As I expand my awareness further, another presence pings my consciousness. The magic response seems to match Miyako's. I feel around to see if there are any others, but I can't find any.

"She's here, and she seems to be alone," Mai says. "Or, at least, no other magical girls are with her."

"Fortunately, none of your team are capable of cloaking their magic," I say.

Mai blinks at me. "Is that… is that possible?"

"We know of a few who can do it," I say.

The obvious one is Futaba Sana, of course, but I'm pretty sure both Pernelle and Mary are also capable of it.

"Huh, I never even thought of that," Mai says. "So, do you think there's a chance that kind of magic is being used here?"

"Sure," I say. "A very, very low chance, but sure."

"Then let's approach cautiously," Mai says. "Follow me."

We follow her as she marches into the school like she owns the place. There's basically no-one around, and we don't even run into any teachers to question our presence on campus. Mai pauses right by a door, hesitating to open it. From what I can tell, it leads to a classroom. I motion for the others to stand back.

"There's not much point in waiting," I point out.

"You're right," Mai says.

She thrusts the door open and steps in, startling the people inside. Miyako is with several other girls and one boy, and they're working at sewing machines. They're all wearing the school uniform, even though it's not a school day – perhaps just because they're at school. Miyako looks up, startled.

"E-eh!? M-m-m-mai!? W-what are you doing here!?" she asks.

"Do you know that girl, Myako-chan?" the girl next to her asks.

"Um… yeah, a little," Miyako says. "She… she lives down the street… from me…"

Mai looks around in confusion.

"What are you even doing here…?"

"Isn't it obvious!?" a third girl shouts. "We're making stuffed animals!"

"Um, please calm down, Mana-chan," the second girl says. "There's no reason to get all worked up about it." She turns to face the doorway. "Miss Mai, was it? We're the handicrafts club here, and I'm the club president. Did you need Myako-chan for something?"

"Um… yes," Mai says. "Something… urgent has come up, so I need her to come with me."

She adds more info on a telepathic channel, shared with at least me and probably the others as well.

«Something happened to Futaba,» she says. «I think Sasa has done something.»

"Ah… um… is it okay, Myu-sempai?" Miyako asks.

"If it's important to you, then go," the president says. "The stuffed animals can wait, but it sounds like this matter can't."

"Then… um… thank you very much," Miyako says.

She gathers up her stuff and comes outside to join us, looking startled at the extra entourage. As we head back out from the school, we discuss the situation via telepathy.

«Ehhh!? Why's Ashley Taylor here?» she asks.

«I contacted her by email,» Mai says. «I was trapped in my room and could not escape. She released me.»

Miyako blinks. «H-how did that happen!?»

«It was Futaba,» Mai says. «I don't know why, but she did it.»

«Then… you're saying… the thing you were worried about has happened?» Miyako asks.

«That seems to be the case,» Mai says.

«What about Lina-sempai?» Miyako asks.

«She's been captured,» I interject. "We're not sure why, where, or by whom, but we had a vision of her tied up in a dark room.»

«And… and Mio?» Miyako asks.

«We were going to check up on her next,» Mai says. «But I have a feeling she's met the same fate as Futaba.»

«Oh… oh no,» Miyako says. «What… what are we going to do now? Without Lina-sempai… it's just the two of us… and these… outsiders…»

«Well, excuse me for just trying to help,» Sachie retorts. «Would you prefer I just go home right now?»

«Th-that's not…»

«We brought her because she has the same power as Sasa,» I interject. «She's probably better able to help than anyone else here.»

«Oh… I see… but still, if she can control people… how can we trust her? W-what if Mai is being controlled by her right now!?»

«Don't be foolish, Miss Saki,» I retort. «If she was like Sasa, you'd already be under her control. The fact that you see her as a suspicious person should be proof that she hasn't done anything to you.»

Miyako blinks. «Ah… that… that actually makes sense…»

The channel falls silent for a time, and then Liliane decides to break the silence.

"So um, you're Saki Miyako, right?" she says.

"Y-yeah," Miyako says.

"I'm Liliane Pierrot, and this is Kaori Sachie."

"Oh um… n-nice to meet you…"

The silence stretches awkwardly for a bit, but then Liliane draws her into a conversation about the stuffed animals they had been making, which causes her to perk up considerably.

It's not long before we arrive at an apartment building similar to the one where Mai lives. She uses a panel just outside the door to buzz the Ayumi apartment and talk with someone inside. Then she turns to us.

"Apparently she hasn't been home since Friday morning," Mai says. "She's spending the weekend at Futaba's place. Let's go there next. It's not far."

She leads us down the street, past an intersection, to another apartment building, where she repeats the procedure. When she turns to us again, she seems surprised.

"They said she's staying at Mio's place and has been since Friday," Mai says.

"So neither of them are home, and both parents think they're staying with the other," Liliane says. "Then… where the heck are they?"

"We could try Sasa's house," Mai suggests.

"I thought she made her family forget about her," Inui says.

"That's true, but she might have undone that," Mai says. "Or she could've been lying when she said she did that."

"What about the place she stores her grief seeds?" I ask. "Do you know where that is?"

"I did follow her and Futaba a few times," Mai says. "But I don't remember her visiting anywhere suitable for storage… perhaps she doesn't even trust Futaba with that information."

"But you know where her family lives?" I ask. "How did you find them?"

"I used the online telephone directory for Kazamino and searched her surname," Mai says. "It's not a common surname, so it wasn't hard to find them. I scoped the house out once while she was… in my apartment. She has a mother and father, an older brother, and a younger sister. They also seem to be somewhat wealthy."

"Well… it can't hurt to check it out," Liliane says. "Show the way?"

"It's a bit far," Mai says. "She lives on the outskirts of the city."

"It's not like we have any other leads," I say. "Let's go."

It takes nearly half an hour to reach Sasa's house, which turns out to be a Western-style house a lot like Madoka's, although the garden contains flowers rather than tomatoes. We pause to search for signs of magic signatures.

"Oh? We might have hit gold," I say. "Besides all of us, we can sense… four other magical girls."

Mai nods. "Futaba, Mio, Lina, Sasa… they're all within range, but… they're not in this house."

"And not all in the same place," Liliane adds. "There's one signature over in that direction, but the other three are over there…"

She points first back the way we came, then towards a nearby side street.

"The lone one is Lina, I think?" I say.

"Yes, that's certainly Lina," Mai says. "It feels a little bit warped, though…"

"We should go after her first, then," I say. "Sasa can wait, but Lina could be in trouble."

Before we can make a move, however, someone unexpected pipes up.

"Um… excuse me…!"

A trio of grade school girls has appeared, likely from the playground which happens to be across the street from Sasa's house. I'm not sure which one of them spoke. One has short, wavy brown hair and wears a simple dress. Another has long, black hair and wears shorts and a T-shirt. The third short black hair and wears a skirt and T-shirt.

"Um… excuse me…?"

The repeated query in the same voice comes from the girl with brown hair. I glance around to see if anyone else intends to answer, but when no-one does, I take it upon myself.

"Yes? Can we help you?" I ask.

"Um… you were… you were looking at my house, and… and you mentioned 'Sasa'…" the girl says.

I blink. "Huh? Wait… you are…?"

"Um… I'm Yuuki Mina," the girl says.

"So you're Sasa's little sister?"

Mina nods.

"And you remember Sasa?"

Mina nods. "Onii-chan and Mom and Dad don't seem to remember her at all, though… um, are you friends of onee-chan?"

"Not exactly," I say.

"Then…"

Mina glances at her two friends for a moment, but they just shrug.

"Even if they're not friends, they still know about this mysterious sister of yours, right?" the short-haired girl says. "Until now, I didn't think she even existed."

The long-haired girl nods. "Yeah, isn't this good news? It shows she wasn't all in your imagination."

Mina nods and turns back to us.

"Um… if you're not friends, then… what's your relationship to onee-chan?"

"Well… how should we put this," I say. "Your sister has done some awful things…"

Mina blinks. "E-eh!? H-how awful?"

I tilt my head. "Huh? You're not gonna say she wouldn't do something like that?"

"W-well… that depends on what it is…"

"So you acknowledge that your sister might do certain awful things…"

"It's… it's possible, maybe," Mina admits. "B-but… she's always been kind to me! W-well… most of the time, at least…"

"I find that hard to believe," Mai mutters.

"It's true!" Mina says. "Um… are you… looking for onee-chan?"

"Yeah, we are," I say. "Actually, we've got a pretty good idea where she is now."

"Th-then! L-let me come with you!" Mina says.

"Wait, Mina-chan!" the short-haired girl protests. "You only just met these people! It's not safe!"

"I don't care!" Mina says. "I just want to see onee-chan again!"

The long-haired girl wordlessly takes out her phone during that exchange and snaps a photo of us, startling everyone.

"If Mina-chan doesn't come back, at least I can show this photo," she says.

I sigh. "Will you promise to delete it once Mina-chan comes back?"

"Um… sure," the long-haired girl says.

"Well, I'm okay with Mina-chan coming along, but what about everyone else?" I ask, turning to the other magical girls.

"I think it's a bad idea on general principle," Mai says. "But she could also be helpful, so… since she was the one to request it, I'll allow it."

"I'm okay with it," Liliane says.

Inui and Sachie just shrug, and Miyako says nothing at all. So we turn to head back the way we came, now with Mina in tow. Tracking the magical presence through the city proves to be a little tricky, but after about twenty minutes we've got it narrowed down to a single abandoned warehouse.

"That's definitely her," Mai says. "We just have to get inside… I could kick the door down?"

"B-but that might… draw attention," Miyako says. "Those houses aren't that far away…"

Indeed, we're no more than a block away from a residential district. A loud enough noise could probably carry that far.

"I bet I can unlock it," I say. "Let me try."

I step forward and try the door, shaking it a little as I focus my power into the lock, trying to force the tumblers aside and twist it like a key would do. After a minute or so, it works, the door coming open.

"Huh? How'd you do that?" Mina asks.

"Trade secret," I say.

We step inside. It's a very simple one-room building, and it looks like Lina has been propped up against the far wall. I hurry forward, taking out a grief seed and grabbing Lina's hand. The ring is still there, and as I'd suspected from the slightly warped feeling to her signature, she's almost at her limit, so I press the grief seed against her gem to draw out all the impurities.

"Um… w-who's that?" Mina asks. "That's not onee-chan…"

"She's a friend of mine," Mai says. "I'm not sure, but I think Sasa did this."

I lay Lina out face-down, then step back, pulling out my sword to carefully cut her bonds. Mina gasps at the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of the sword.

"W-whoa!" she says. "Huh? W-what… what just happened?"

"Trade secret," I say. "Looks like Miss Hitomi will take some time to wake up… what should we do? Wait? Leave her here? Carry her?"

"I don't know if we have the time to spare," Mai says. "And leaving her here seems dangerous. I will carry her."

I help Mai gather Lina up in a piggyback hold, and then we leave the warehouse and make for the remaining three signatures.

"Um… how did you know where to go?" Mina asks. "How do you know where onee-chan is?"

"That's also a trade secret," I say.

Mina pouts a little but doesn't press the issue. I'm actually wondering if Mina could be a solution to the Sasa problem. The fact that Sasa let her alone keep her memories suggests that the older girl has some feelings for her. If Mina were to become a magical girl, perhaps she could keep her sister out of Lina's hair. They also seem to live quite some distance from the core of Lina's territory, so if Sasa just played nice and stayed to her area, there wouldn't be any problems.

But at the same time, I don't want to drag her into this life, especially at such a young age. I know there are other girls her age who contract, such as Yuma, Nagisa, or Riko, but that doesn't mean I should drag one in who otherwise might've never been discovered by Kyuubey. I wish I could sense her magical potential for myself… I don't want to ask Kyuubey to measure her for me, because then it would be aware of her, and if her potential turns out to be high, it would start pressuring her to contract. I don't know any other way to measure a girl's potential, though I'd wager Pernelle has a way to do it… but taking her to see Pernelle is overkill.

I guess I'll just take the passive route. If Kyuubey decides to make an appearance, and she can see it, I'll do my best to warn her of the consequences so she can make an informed decision. Otherwise… I'll just let her live in peace as a normal girl. Although if it makes an appearance and she can't see it, I may ask it about her potential.

While I'm pondering the pros and cons of Mina contracting, we arrive at what appears to be an old apartment building slated for destruction, complete with a faded sign indicating that work would begin in June 2048.

"For a building slated to be destroyed two years ago, it looks in remarkably good condition," I remark.

"I guess the plans were cancelled and they never fixed the sign," Inui says. "There was an election two years ago, so maybe the representative changed or something?"

"Well, that's not important right now," Liliane says. "The three signatures are definitely in that building."

"So um… you're saying onee-chan is in that building?" Mina asks.

"That's right," I say.

"B-but how do you know?" Mina asks.

"Like I said, trade secret," I say. "Believe me, it's better if you don't know."

"You're being a bit mean, onee-san," Mina complains.

"Honestly, the only reason we let you come along was because I thought you might be able to talk to Sasa and, well…" I trail off. "I really don't want to kill her, but if she insists on playing with other people's lives like they're her toys, then… I might actually do it."

Mina blinks at me.

"W-what!? Y-you're going to kill onee-chan!? Please don't!"

"Only if we can't convince her to lay off," Mai says. "I'm sure your presence will help with that."

"I… I see," Mina says. "So if I can…" She trails off, frowning a bit. "Um… what exactly did onee-chan do that made you want to… to… you know…?"

"She sicced monsters on two of my friends and threatened to kill everyone," Mai says. "We put her to sleep for awhile, and after she woke up, at first it seemed like she was willing to be… if not friendly, then at least not hostile either. But then she brainwashed those same two friends and sicced them on me."

"By everyone, you mean…?"

"Myself and all of my friends," Mai says.

"Just for the record, the four of us aren't included," I add, indicating myself, Inui, Liliane, and Sachie. "We're from out of town, so we're not as close."

"I can't believe onee-chan would kill someone," Mina says.

"She's probably sicced those monsters on many other people before," I say. "I imagine she's responsible for more than a few missing people around here."

"I… I can't believe it," Mina mutters. "Onee-chan has a bad personality and doesn't get along with people, but… but… I don't think she'd… she'd go that far…"

"I'm sorry," I say. "I wish I could say I'm lying, but it's the truth."

"So what's the plan?" Liliane asks. "Barge in guns blazing? Or knock on the door and lure her out?"

"G-g-guns!?" Mina gasps.

"Ah, that's just a figure of speech," Liliane says. "Unless one of you has a gun?" she asks, looking at Mai and Miyako.

"N-n-no, I've just got dolls!" Miyako says.

"I don't use a gun either," Mai says. "Nor does Lina, though it seems she won't be joining us."

"So more like swords flashing," I say. "Since three of us here use swords…"

"Th-that's not much better," Mina says.

"But I think the second option has merit," I add. "If Miss Kaori and Mina-chan go ahead and knock on the door, perhaps we can resolve this peacefully."

"Why me?" Sachie asks.

"Because you're the only one likely to be resistant to her brainwashing," I say. "Just be aware… I believe she requires physical contact to activate it."

"Hmm…" Sachie muses. "Let me think…"

She closes her eyes for a few seconds, then nods.

"Yeah… yeah, I think I should be able to resist my own power a little," she says. "Or a similar power. Is it okay if I power up?"

"That's probably best," I agree.

Sachie transforms and shakes her triangle staff once, producing that clear jingle that I heard when we fought against Itzli. Mina gasps at the sight.

"W-whoa!? H-h-how did you do that!?" she asks.

"Another trade secret," I say. "Sorry… everyone else, don't transform unless she shows hostility, okay?"

"Understood," Mai says.

"Got it," Inui says.

"That makes sense," Liliane agrees.

"O-okay," Miyako nods.

As Sachie and Mina approach the front door, Mai sets Lina down and props her up against a wall. Liliane, Inui, and I also take a seat near Lina. After a moment's hesitation, Sachie knocks sharply on the door. I can sense a surge of magic from within as all three magical girls transform, and several seconds later, the door is pulled open from within to reveal the jester, startling Sachie.

Sachie is not the only one to be startled, however. Sasa gapes at Sachie in confusion, and then stares as Mina steps forward. Liliane is also startled, no doubt because Sasa's outfit so closely resembles Elise's.

"Onee-chan, I was worried about you!" Mina says.

Mina leaps forward to hug her sister.

"Ehhhh!?" Sasa gasps. "H-h-h-how!?" She turns to Sachie. "The hell're you playing at!? Who the hell're you, anyway!?"

"Just a passerby helping a little girl find her sister," Sachie says. "Is that so wrong?"

Sasa narrows her eyes.

"There's no reason for this girl to be here," she snaps. "You should take her back home."

"But onee-chan, I wanted to see you!" Mina protests.

At that moment, Futaba enters the corridor behind Sasa.

"Oh my!" she gasps. "You never said you had such a cute little sister, Lady Sasa!"

"Shut up!" Sasa shouts. "Why would I ever say something like that!"

Futaba slips past Sasa to kneel in front of Mina.

"What's your name?" she asks. "I'm Youko Futaba."

"My name is Mina!" the girl says. "Are you onee-chan's friend?"

"Of course!" Futaba says. "She's an amazing friend! Lady Sasa, we have to at least feed your sister before sending her back, surely! And thank the kind lady who brought her here!"

"Ugh!" Sasa grumbles. "What the hell… fine, give her a snack if you must." She shoots a glare at Sachie. "If you try anything, you're dead, you hear me?"

"That's not very nice, onee-chan!" Mina protests. "You shouldn't threaten people like that!"

"And what if they threaten you first!?" Sasa snaps.

"She didn't do that!" Mina says. "So that has nothing to do with this!"

As they all enter the house, I hear once more the clear jingle of Sachie's staff. Then the door closes behind them, and the sound of chatter is reduced to an indecipherable hum. I consider scrying on them, but I'm not sure what good it would even do me to know the exact specifics of their conversation.

"What do you think, Miss Akane?" I ask. "How brainwashed did Miss Youko seem to you just now?"

"Hmm… well, her personality seemed more or less normal," Mai says. "She was completely unlike earlier when she blockaded me into my apartment. If anything, I thought maybe her reaction was a little excessive when she said Sasa was a friend… but I might just be seeing what I'm looking for."

"Y-yeah… it might seem a little excessive," Miyako speaks up. "B-but… Futaba is a little excessive normally… so… it might be normal…"

"Do you think that means Sasa hasn't done anything to her?" Mai asks.

"Obviously it doesn't mean that," I say. "The fact that Miss Youko is out here at all is odd, right? She probably altered Miss Youko's memories a little to make her more open to this runaway thing. In addition, Mai clearly remembers that she wasn't herself earlier, so likely Sasa did something more extensive but then undid it afterwards."

At that moment, Sachie's voice echoes in my brain.

«So, other than Sasa's overt hostility towards me, this seems a lot like a happy family,» she says. «I won't comment on the behaviour of Miss Youko and Miss Ayumi, since I don't know them well. Miss Yuuki, however… the impression I get is that she truly cares for Mina-chan and Miss Youko, but doesn't much like Miss Ayumi. If I were to guess, she only brought Miss Ayumi in because Miss Youko cares for her.»

«That's nice to know,» I say. «But what I'd really like to know is why she pulled this stunt in the first place. Was there something threatening the relationship she already had with Miss Youko?»

«I doubt I can get her to open up to me on that, unless I use my power,» Sachie says. «Shall I go through with it?»

«What are you worried about, Sachie-chan?» Liliane asks. «Do you think I'd think less of you because you used your power on a person?»

«Well, something like that,» Sachie says.

«To be honest, I don't much like the idea either,» Liliane says. «But from what we've heard, Miss Yuuki has quite a dangerous personality… so if you think it's the only way to get to her…»

There's a brief delay before Sachie responds again.

«I'll question her a bit more first, then if that doesn't work, I'll use it,» she says.

For some unfathomable reason, Kyuubey chooses that exact moment to make an appearance, slipping out from a gap between two bushes.

"Hello, Liliane Pierrot," it says. "This is quite an unusual group you have here."

Everyone blinks at the incubator.

"What are you doing here?" I snap.

"Calm down, Ashley Taylor," the creature says amiably. "I have business with Liliane Pierrot today."

Liliane blinks. "With… me? Whatever for?"

"I just thought you would like to know," Kyuubey says. "Your sister and her friends are fighting a witch that seems to be too much for them."

As I scry on Elise to confirm Kyuubey's claim, Liliane jumps up and transforms.

"Then I have to go back! Where is she?"

"She is fighting a powerful witch in northwest Mitakihara," Kyuubey says.

I jump up too, grabbing her by the hand.

"Hold on!" I say. "If Kyuubey is telling you that now, then it probably thinks you can't make it in time!"

"Indeed, it would be almost impossible for you to reach her in time to do anything," Kyuubey agrees.

Liliane blinks at me and it. "That doesn't matter! I have to at least try!"

"That's fine, but… about how fast can you travel by cloud?" I ask.

"Um… I think I can go about a hundred kilometres per hour," Liliane says.

"Hmm… I think Teddy Mk II can reach at least eighty miles per hour," I muse. "But we don't know the unit conversion…"

Inui whips out her phone and does the math in a conversion app, or maybe a website.

"A hundred and twenty-eight kilometres per hour," she says. "If you're both right, then Teddy's faster."

"But it can't travel arbitrarily far from me," I muse. "Am I needed here…?"

"I think your power would be very useful if Sasa turns hostile," Mai says. "However, if the problem is speed, then I can help you out."

She transforms and touches Liliane, causing her to glow softly.

"That should increase your speed by about twenty percent, regardless of your mode of transportation," she says.

I transform and summon Teddy Mk II.

"Can you do the same to Teddy?" I ask.

Mai nods, applying her magic to Teddy as well.

"Liliane, hop on Teddy. At some point he'll go out of range and desummon, so be ready to conjure up a cloud when that happens."

Liliane nods. "Got it! Both of you, thank you so much!"

She hops onto Teddy, and I make it zoom up into the air towards Mitakihara at top speed. As she goes, I also transmit what I gleaned from my vision.

«Elise is fighting the Box Witch. I recommend you start searching near the haunted house and work north from there. The witch's weakness is that she has a hard time focusing on multiple opponents at once, so Elise's team can probably barely beat her as long as they're not overwhelmed by familiars, but from what we saw, there were quite a few familiars.»

«Thanks for the info, Miss Ashley!»

"What was the point of all that?" Mai asks, shooting Kyuubey a look.

"I merely thought that Liliane would wish to help her sister," Kyuubey says.

"Then why wait until it's too late for her to do so?" Mai asks.

"I am sure you understand that it takes time to travel from there to here," Kyuubey says.

"Bullshit," I retort. "I know you can teleport, Kyuubey… and on top of that, you can even be in two places at once. You can't sugarcoat this with me."

"Although it is true that I can teleport," Kyuubey says. "That power is not omnipotent. It still takes time to locate the target."

I sigh. "Whatever…"

"It seems like you truly dislike Kyuubey," Mai notes. "May I ask why that is?"

"Hmm… I think you're better off not knowing," I say. "Although we can tell you anyway if you really want."

"Well… it's not that important," Mai shrugs.

I settle down again next to Inui, and Miyako gathers Kyuubey up in her arms.

"Um… do you know why… Lina hasn't woken up, Kyuubey?" she asks.

"I do not know," Kyuubey says. "Perhaps she is simply tired."

Just in case, I check her soul gem, but it doesn't look like it has gathered any more impurities since I used a grief seed earlier. While I wait for Sachie to finish, I watch Elise's battle against the Box Witch. Although Kyuubey was right about the four of them being overwhelmed, I don't think anyone is in danger of witchification yet. It looks like they haven't even reached the witch's chamber.

"Hey, Kyuubey," I say. "Were those twins really the only reason you came? Because you sure aren't showing any signs of making yourself scarce right now."

"I am merely allowing Saki Miyako to enjoy herself," Kyuubey replies.

"So the twins were the only reason you showed up?"

"Yes, I did not have any business with you, Ashley Taylor," Kyuubey says.

"Is that so…"

The quartet manages to wipe out most of the one-winged angels swarming them, and finally makes it to the witch's chamber. They enter, only to find themselves outmatched by the witch herself, unable to land a blow on the fast-moving television. I see them try several strategies, but they are hindered by the continuous appearance of more familiars. Some of their attempts even come close to injuring the witch. If they had one extra person who could hold off the familiars alone, they should have no problems facing the witch herself.

"Those four are actually doing pretty well against that witch," I note. "Your call for help may have been a little hasty, Kyuubey."

"It is worth the chance if it pays off," Kyuubey replies.

"I guess you weren't expecting Miss Akane and me to help her out though."

Kyuubey decides not to say anything to that. I consider whether to expand on my accusation, but before I can say anything else, there's a commotion from within the building. Inui and I both jump to our feet and turn to face the door. A few moments later, the door flies open and Sachie and Sasa come tumbling out. Futaba and Mio step out after her, looking concerned, with Mina hiding behind them. Everyone is powered up, but neither Futaba nor Mio make any move to attack. I immediately grab hold of Sasa with my telekinesis and hold her back. She shoots me a glare.

"You again!? Why the hell can't you just leave me in peace!?"

Sachie picks herself up with a sigh.

"You're one to talk," I retort. "Filling a girl's room with thorns isn't exactly my definition of 'peace', you know."

Futaba blinks. "There's no way Lady Sasa would do that! Besides, she doesn't even have that kind of power!"

"But you do," I counter.

"I would never do such a thing either!" Futaba says.

"You did do such a thing," Mai counters. "There is no mistaking it. It was definitely you."

"Mai, that's mean!" Futaba complains. "Why are you accusing me of something I didn't do?" She pauses. "Actually, why are you here, Mai? And Miyako too…" Then she lets out a tiny scream as she spots the unconscious girl leaning against the wall. "L-l-l-lina!?"

"Do you have something against Lina?" Mai asks.

"W-well, she was being mean to Lady Sasa," Futaba says. "Apparently she even made death threats… I couldn't believe it at first…"

"But Lady Sasa showed us the evidence," Mio speaks up. "Audio recordings on her phone."

I glance at Mai. "Do you think those recordings really exist, Miss Akane?"

Mai shrugs. "I think I'd call it fifty-fifty," she says. "It does strike me as something Lina might say in the heat of the moment, at least."

"That's mean," Futaba pouts. "I heard them myself, so of course they exist!"

"We're talking about Sasa here, so your memories could be fabricated," I point out.

"But Lady Sasa promised!" Futaba says. "She promised she wouldn't use that power on me!"

"Of course I'd never do that!" Sasa agrees. "Futaba is my most loyal servant! Why should I waste magic to force her to obey me when she'd do what I ask anyway without any magic?"

"Geez, Lady Sasa!" Futaba says. "You're so tsun-tsun! Just admit we're friends already!"

"Well, that's just the thing, Miss Yuuki," I say. "Friends don't just do what you ask unconditionally. It's clear to us that Miss Youko would never agree to fill Miss Akane's room with thorns, given how adamantly she denied her involvement. But you could easily force her to do it against her will."

"Well, whether there are audio tapes or not," Sachie says. "I'm pretty sure Miss Hitomi did something to make Miss Yuuki fear for her life. Why don't we ask Miss Hitomi herself?"

"But we don't even know when she'll wake up," Mai says.

"Miss Yuuki, did you do something to Miss Hitomi?" I ask. "Something that would keep her asleep, perhaps?"

"I did no such thing!" Sasa retorts.

"Look, let's just go back inside and talk this out, Miss Yuuki," Sachie says. "Regardless of what you might think, I'm not part of Miss Ashley's group, nor of Miss Hitomi's group. I do know Miss Ashley, but we're not close. You can think of me as a neutral party in these negotiations."

"Onee-chan… I think you should try to trust these people at least a little," Mina pipes up. "They told me themselves that they don't want to hurt you."

"Ugh, fiiiiine," Sasa grumbles. "But if any of you make one suspicious move, I'm outta there."

I look between Mina and Kyuubey, the latter still nestled in Miyako's arms, but I can't really tell whether or not Mina can see it. I release Sasa from my telekinetic grip, and everyone piles inside, Mai gathering up Lina in a princess carry. Futaba and Mio lead the way upstairs to a large apartment on the third floor. Lina is laid against the wall, and Inui and I plop down beside her. Sachie, Sasa, Mai, and Mio sit around a table in the centre of the room, with Mina inserting herself into Sasa's lap despite the older girl's protests. Miyako places herself a little behind Mai, so she can see Sasa across the table. Mina still shows no sign of noticing Kyuubey, even though it's squirming a little in Miyako's grasp. As for Futaba, she flicks on a camping stove in the corner and starts some water boiling, probably for tea.

«Just curious, but that girl… it seems like she can't see you, so I guess she doesn't have potential, huh?»

I transmit the message to Kyuubey alone. It makes no effort to turn to look at me as it responds.

«If you mean Yuuki Mina, her potential is just slightly above baseline,» it says. «Perhaps in two or three years, or after the death of Yuuki Sasa, she might make a fine magical girl, but if I were to contract with her now, the energy obtained would only barely exceed the energy put into the contract.»

So I was right, she didn't have potential. It doesn't mean my idea of getting her to contract to solve this situation is a total bust, because technically any human can make a contract with Kyuubey, but it does mean I would need to make a logical argument that could overturn Kyuubey's estimation of her potential. I'm not prepared to do that except as a last resort, and even then only after explaining some things to Mina and making sure she's willing to take the plunge. We're not yet at the last resort stage, anyway. There's still a chance that Sachie could manage to negotiate a peaceful outcome.

"By the way," Sachie says, looking around. "I just realized, but where did Liliane go?"

"She got an SOS from Elise and her friends," I say. "So she bolted off to save them."

"Oh… is that so," Sachie says. "What an annoying reason… well, I guess they are sisters though, so I can't really blame her." She sighs. "So, let me see if I have this whole mess straight. Miss Yuuki… you claim that Miss Hitomi made death threats, correct?"

"She definitely did!" Sasa says. "I was seriously really scared for my life!"

"Miss Akane… you claim that Miss Youko created the mess of thorns that blockaded you into your apartment, right?"

"There is no doubt about it," Mai says. "I clearly saw Futaba creating them."

"But Miss Youko, you deny that you did that, correct?"

Futaba nods. "Of course! I'd never do anything to hurt Mai like that!"

"So, Miss Youko and Miss Ayumi… what's the reason you're hiding out here with Miss Yuuki?" Sachie asks.

"Well, it's to keep her safe from Lina's threats," Mio says.

"Were the two of you aware that Miss Hitomi was tied up and locked in a warehouse?" Sachie asks.

"Um… I didn't hear anything about that," Mio says.

"Who would do such a thing!?" Futaba asks.

"So neither of you knew about it," Sachie says. "Miss Yuuki, did you know about it?"

"How would I know what happened to that hag?" Sasa retorts. "All I know is she threatened me and I ran for my life."

"Um, could I interject something?" Mai says, raising a hand.

"Go ahead," Sachie says.

"Well, I just think it would be easier to understand if you refer to all of us by our given name," she says. "It's what we're used to being called amongst ourselves, after all."

"If that's okay with all of you, sure," Sachie says.

Mio nods.

"Th-that's fine," Miyako mutters.

"No problem!" Futaba says.

"I don't care what the hell you call me," Sasa says. "I just wanna get this stupid farce over with!"

"So we have the following facts," Sachie says. "Fact one: Lina did something that made Sasa fear for her life."

"She didn't just do something, she threatened to kill me," Sasa retorts.

"Fact two," Sachie continues. "Lina was found unconscious in a warehouse, tied up. She hasn't woken since. Fact three: Mai was blockaded into her apartment by a wall of thorns. Fact four: Mio and Futaba agreed to help Sasa hide out where Lina wouldn't be able to find her. Can we all agree on those four facts?"

There were several nods of agreement around the table. Even Sasa seemed satisfied so far.

"Unless Sasa can play back her audio recordings, we have only her word on the exact nature of Lina's actions," Sachie continues. "Sasa, could I ask you to play them?"

Sasa blinks. "W-what? R-right now?"

"Yes… is that a problem?" Sachie asks. "Mio said they were on your phone, right?"

"Ah… I don't remember where I left my phone," Sasa says.

"I can help you search!" Futaba says. "As long as someone else can watch the kettle!"

"I'll watch it!" Inui says.

Inui jumps up and runs over to the camping stove, and Futaba whips out her phone from her purse, which apparently was just leaning against a wall. Everyone falls silent as Futaba dials Sasa's number. After a few seconds, a distant ringtone is heard, and Futaba whisks out of the room in pursuit. Sasa lets out a soft groan.

"Is there something wrong, onee-chan?" Mina asks.

"No… nothing," Sasa says.

While we wait for Futaba to return, I check on Lina again. As before, I can't figure out anything wrong with her, so I try shaking her gently, poking her cheek lightly, even blowing in her ear, but she simply won't wake up. A sudden thought occurs to me.

"Hey, Miss Kaori," I say. "What do you suppose would happen if you used your power to erase a person's mind completely?"

Sachie blinks at me. "H-huh? Um… I'm not really sure," she says. "I guess… they'd…" She trails off, her eyes sliding over to Lina. "Wait… what exactly does 'erase completely' even mean in this context…?" She turns to Miyako and Kyuubey. "Is it possible that a person with no memories would simply… sleep?"

"Depending on the exact method and degree of erasure," Kyuubey says, "it is certainly a possible outcome."

Sachie looks at Sasa. "Did you do that to Lina?" she asks.

"W-why are you accusing me all of a sudden!?" Sasa protests. "Lina was the one threatening me! W-why would I do something like that? I was too scared to do anything but run!"

"I found it!" Futaba says, rushing back into the room. "It was just by the front door downstairs!"

She kneels next to Sasa and slips the phone into her hands.

"There you go, now you can play back the recordings!" she says brightly.

Without further ado, she heads back to the kettle, which appears to be already boiled now.

"Thanks for watching, Miss Itsumi!" she says.

"It was no problem," Inui says.

Futaba switches off the stove and starts preparing tea for everyone. It looks like she's using paper cups, much like the ones you'd get at Starbucks, except that these ones are branded with the name of some supermarket chain. She has a tin of matcha power and even a bamboo whisk.

While she does that, Sasa fiddles with her phone, but no audio recording issues from the speaker. I decide it's about time to call her on it.

"Those recordings never actually existed, did they, Miss Yuuki?" I ask.

"Shut up!" Sasa retorts. "Of course they exist!"

"I don't see any recordings, onee-chan," Mina says.

From her position in Sasa's lap, Mina can probably easily see the screen of Sasa's phone.

"Isn't that the web browser app, onee-chan? You wouldn't find recordings there!"

"Shut up, stupid Mina-chan!" Sasa shouts.

"Ow! Onee-chan, my ears! That hurts!"

Futaba finishes her tea preparation and starts handing out cups to everyone. For those at the table, she simply sets the cups down on the table. For the others, she hands them to us directly. As she comes over to hand me mine, I flick a finger and yank Sasa's phone from her hands, handing it to Futaba.

"Miss Yuuki can't seem to find the recordings," I say. "Could you see if you can find them, Miss Youko?"

"Hey!" Sasa protests. "What the hell're you doing!?"

"Of course," Futaba says. "They must be on here somewhere… and there's not many places they could be, right?"

"That's probably true," I agree.

Futaba fiddles with Sasa's phone for a minute or so, while Sasa looks on nervously. I'm not quite sure what's holding her back from attacking or doing something drastic, but I'm grateful for whatever it is. At some point, a frown forms on her face. Finally she looks up.

"Um… I can't seem to find them anywhere," she admits. "I know I heard them earlier, but… all I can think of is that she deleted them?"

"But why would she delete the evidence needed to prove Lina's supposed crime?" I ask.

"That… I don't know," Futaba admits. "It doesn't make any sense to me, either…"

"But if the recordings never existed, it all fits," I say. "If your memories of hearing them are fabricated…"

"Still, Lady Sasa promised she wouldn't use her powers on me!" Futaba protests.

"Maybe she thought it would be fine as long as you didn't realize," I say.

"Th-there's… no way…" Futaba says hesitantly. She turns to Sasa. "There's… there's no way… right, Lady Sasa?"

"O-of course I wouldn't!" Sasa says. "I promised, right?"

"R-right…" Futaba nods.

"What about the thorns in Mai's apartment?" Sachie says. "Mai was quite clear that she saw you do that, Futaba, yet you clearly don't recall doing it."

"Right," Futaba nods. "I'd never do something like that to Mai."

"But Sasa clearly has the power to make you do it and then forget that you did it," Sachie points out.

"That… that's true," Futaba admits. "But even so… I want to trust in Lady Sasa's promise… m-maybe she used her power on Mai to make her think I did it?"

"That's certainly a possibility," Sachie admits. "But what reason would she have to make Mai think you did it?"

"That's… I'm not sure," Futaba says. "Um… hmm…"

She ponders the question for almost a minute. Sachie just lets her think, cutting Sasa off as she's about to protest again. Finally, Futaba speaks again.

"M-maybe… she wanted to convince Mai to… to just… forget about me," Futaba suggests hesitantly. "So she wouldn't come looking for me and bring Lina to the hiding place…"

"Well… I suppose that could be an explanation," Sachie agrees. "Although if that's the truth of it, it backfired on her, because seeing you just caused Mai to worry about you."

"Look, Miss Yuuki, don't you think it's time to stop trying to lie your way out of this and just come clean with the truth?" I say. "I think there's a good chance that Miss Youko would forgive you if you just tell the truth and undo whatever magic you've done to whoever."

"I think onee-chan is the type of person who couldn't bear to have a friend know about her flaws," Mina says sagely.

Everyone stares at her for a moment, and I let out a small groan. I think Mina is right. That's probably the root of this whole fiasco. Well, that and Lina's straight-laced nature that led her to do… something… to rile Sasa up again.

"Arrrgh!" Sasa shouts. "I've had enough of this farce!"

She reaches into her purse and withdraws a spent grief seed. Despite it being clearly full, she presses it against her soul gem anyway.

"Huh? What's that, onee-chan?" Mina asks. "It looks kind of scary…"

Despite being nominally spent, it seems the seed is still able to draw out a small amount of grief from Sasa's soul gem. That small extra amount of grief pushes the seed into overload. After a second or two, it begins to glow and bulge, and a barrier springs up. Everyone except Sasa and Mina jumps to their feet, looking around warily. Miyako and Inui, the only ones still in regular clothes, both transform, and Kyuubey hops down from Miyako's arms.

The labyrinth's theme is chains. Chains dangle down everywhere, some laying against the walls, others just hanging down in the middle of the room. In fact, some of the walls themselves are made out of interlocked chains. After a moment, I realize the floor too seems to be composed of chains woven together. As would be expected, this makes it somewhat bouncy, a bit like a rope bridge over a river.

"What makes you think your witches can defeat us, Miss Yuuki?" I ask. "There's seven of us here, if we count right. Do you have seven witches to spare?"

Sasa ignores me as she fishes out two more grief seeds from her bag to give them the same treatment. As with the previous one, these two are also clearly spent, and by taking in a little more grief she manages to convince them to hatch. At the same time, the first grief seed balloons outwards, a large spherical witch emerging. She seems to have a three-way symmetry, with three zippers equally-spaced around the side, separated by plumes of feathers. There's a large eye right on the bottom of the sphere, and chains dangling from the base of the zippers.

"Lady Sasa, stop this!" Futaba shouts. "I don't want to fight you, Lady Sasa!"

Mina gasps. "W-w-w-w-what's going on!?" she asks.

"You're in the way, Mina-chan," Sasa retorts. "Go run and hide somewhere."

"R-right…"

Mina jumps up and runs over to hide behind a nearby corner, but keeps watching the spectacle. I head over to join her, dragging Lina along with me, while everyone else lines up to face the witch. Before anyone has a chance to make a move though, the other two witches hatch as well.

One of them looks a lot like a parody of Tomoe Mami with a witch's hat. There's a torso with a sailor tie and buttons down the front, some chunks that look like arms, and even a set of drill curls. Below the waist she turns into a robot-like form, a domed body with four spikes for legs and an actual literal drill mounted on the front. Despite all her parts not physically connecting together, she moves gracefully just like a person. Even the tip of her hat, despite being broken into three separate pieces, bounces as if they were connected.

The other is a floating fleshy lump with two stubby arms, each of which bears two claws, two black horns on top, and a third horn where you'd expect the left shoulder to be. Her face is basically one of those Shyguy critters from the Mario series. There's also two lumps above the face which could be interpreted as eyebrows. In fact, I've seen this witch before – she's the same one that rested on Sasa's head when she was helping Oriko to scope out Lina's hotel in the previous timeline. However, she's a lot bigger now than she was then – large enough for Sasa to ride on her head, if desired.

"This… this is exactly what Miss Mai said earlier, isn't it?" Mina says. "About how onee-chan controls monsters."

"Pretty much," I say.

The two of us watch for a few seconds as the fight begins. Mai charges the drill witch with her sword, and Inui leaps upon the shyguy witch with her flame whip. Futaba and Mio face down the feathered witch together, with Futaba brandishing her spade while Mio hefts her sword and hides behind her shield. Miyako summons six of her dolls and sends two towards each witch, where they join the attack. Sachie stands back and watches for the time being. Lina of course is unable to do anything, being unconscious still.

"Onee-chan is such a handful," Mina grumbles. "I wish there was something I could do to end this… to get through to her…"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well… I think Futaba actually likes her," Mina says. "If she'd just accept Futaba's kindness, she wouldn't have to do this, right?"

"She needs to learn to stop lying all the time, too," I add.

"W-well… yeah, that too," Mina says. "But I don't think even I can get through to her now…"

"Well… what would you say if I told you there might be something you can do?" I ask.

"H-huh? Like what?" Mina asks.

"Well, you must've realized by now that we're not ordinary humans," I say.

"Yeah, you have all sorts of supernatural powers," Mina says. "I kinda realized that really early on, when you were able to tell where Lina was so easily…"

"Well, I really hate to ask this of you," I say. "It's a dangerous life, and you have to fight monsters like that all the time just to survive. And there's a dark side to it as well. But… when each of us became a magical girl, we got a single wish granted."

"Oh… hmm… so you're saying I could make a wish for Sasa to get along or something," Mina says.

"Well, there's a caveat though," I say. "The being that turns us into magical girls has to accept you. Usually it picks people and approaches them, but… did you see a stuffed animal in Miyako's arms earlier?"

"No… I didn't," Mina says.

"So that's proof that it hasn't chosen you as a potential magical girl," I say. "I don't know if it could be convinced to change its mind on that."

"Hmm… and it's dangerous, you say," Mina says. "I don't know… those monsters look pretty scary…"

"Plus, if you're not careful, you could turn into a monster yourself," I say.

"But even so," Mina says. "At this rate, onee-chan is going to die, right? She just can't accept that she messed up, right?"

"Honestly? I'm still not sure," I say. "I'm still clinging to the hope that there's a way out of this without having to rely on a miracle. After all, as you said, Miss Youko seems to truly like Sasa, and furthermore, Miss Hitomi, the one who probably likes her least, is currently out cold. So I think there's still a chance of a peaceful resolution here…"

As we watch, Mai slashes through the drill witch, but before she can claim the grief seed, Sasa snatches it away, pressing it up to her soul gem and injecting more grief into it. Of course, as a freshly-killed witch, one use isn't enough for it to hatch again, but at the rate things are going, I can't deny the possibility that Sasa could continue to accumulate grief that she can then share with her witches. With the first witch down, Mai steps in to help Inui against the shyguy witch.

"I don't think you're right, Miss Ashley," Mina says. "I think the only way to end this is with a miracle. I know onee-chan best of all… and I don't think she's going to give up on this easily."

At that point, Ashley bubbles up from within me to protest.

"You can't do that, Mina-chan!" she says. "You don't understand what this life is like! You'll be selling your soul to the devil, and one day you'll probably turn into a monster like that too!"

"…a devil?" Mina says. "Well… who decided devils are bad, anyway?"

"B-but… this one is… it's really not a life for a girl as young as you, Mina-chan!"

"I'm almost twelve years old," Mina retorts. "I'm not a child anymore."

"Twelve is still a child!" Ashley says. "Even fifteen is still a child! And this isn't something you can take back! If you do this, it's forever! There's no getting out of it!"

"But if I don't do it, then I'll lose onee-chan!" Mina says. "I've already lost her once! I don't want to lose her again!"

"No, I can't allow this!" Ashley protests. "I just—"

With some effort, I take back control of my mouth and take a deep breath before speaking again.

"Mina-chan, everything Ashley just said is totally true," I say. "I don't have the right to ask you to help solve this problem. Heck, the problem's probably partly our fault in the first place, so really, we should be the ones to solve it. However… you are nearly twelve years old. Twelve is a bit young to be making life-changing decisions, but it's certainly old enough to start deciding some things for yourself. If you're going to agree to this, don't do it for me, or even for Sasa. If you want to do it, do it for yourself."

Mina nods. "Yes… I think I understand," she says. "It is my selfish wish to be with onee-chan, after all. I'm ready to make a deal with a devil if that's the only way my wish can come true."

I nod slowly. "Very well… Kyuubey, are you still here?"

The incubator hops out from a nook in one of the chain walls.

"How may I help you, Ashley Taylor?" it asks.

"You told me earlier that Yuuki Mina doesn't have any potential, correct?"

"Um, who are you talking to?" Mina asks.

"Just let me talk for a moment," I say.

"Okay…"

"I said that her potential is slightly above baseline," Kyuubey says. "She needs more time to bloom. Although… her potential has grown a little just in the past hour."

"Basically what you're saying is that the cost of contracting her outweighs the reward, correct?" I say.

"That is correct," Kyuubey agrees.

"However, take a look at the fight unfolding in front of us," I say. "What do you think the outcome of this fight will be?"

"At this point, it is difficult to say," Kyuubey says. "But Yuuki Sasa does appear to be at a disadvantage."

"Still, even though she's at a disadvantage right now, there is a good chance she could make a comeback, right? Or failing that, she could escape to fight another day."

"Yes, that is true," Kyuubey agrees. "In fact, I believe the chance of Yuuki Sasa perishing in this battle is around ten percent."

"And what do you think she'll do if she escapes?"

"Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict the actions of a human such as her," Kyuubey says. "Yuuki Sasa's actions defy all rationality."

"Well, that might be true for you," I say. "However, I am an irrational human, which means I can predict what Sasa will probably do if she escapes here. She'll have a grudge against everyone here. She'll gather even more witch minions. She'll hunt down each and every one of these magical girls and do her best to kill them."

"That is certainly one possibility," Kyuubey says. "Although I do not understand why you would rate it as her most likely choice."

"It's because even irrational decisions often have a nugget of rationality in them," I say. "People often make choices that seem rational if you make certain counterfactual assumptions, for example. Now, what would you lose if Sasa did what I described?"

"That depends," Kyuubey says. "But there is a strong probability that most of the magical girls here would be killed before they can become a witch."

"So, do you see what I'm getting at?" I ask. "At face value, the cost of contracting Mina-chan might only barely outweigh the cost, but when you take Sasa's actions into account, the cost of not contracting her surely outweighs even that?"

"Hmm… I see your point," Kyuubey says. "But perhaps it would be better to ask the girl herself."

It takes two steps towards Mina and addresses her directly.

"Hello, Yuuki Mina."

Mina gasps.

"W-what!? A talking stuffed animal suddenly appeared out of nowhere!?"

"I am not a stuffed animal," Kyuubey says. "I am Kyuubey. As Ashley Taylor has been telling you, if you make a contract with me to become a magical girl who fights witches, I can grant any wish you might have." It pauses. "Since your potential is so low, there may be some limits to the scale of a wish I can grant you, however. Are you still willing to make a contract?"

"So, I would be a magical girl, just like onee-chan, right?"

"That is correct," Kyuubey says.

"And if I wish for onee-chan to get along with them or something similar, that shouldn't be too big, right?" Mina asks.

"A wish of that nature should be well within your limited karmic potential," Kyuubey agrees.

"But I could turn into a witch myself, right?"

"That is possible," Kyuubey says.

"Um… is there a way to make sure that doesn't happen?" Mina asks.

"Of course," Kyuubey says. "All you need to do is keep your soul gem pure, and you will not turn into a witch. You can purify your soul gem with grief seeds you obtain by killing witches."

"You shouldn't tell Sasa that she can turn into a witch, by the way," I say. "Or Lina and her friends, either. None of them know, and Sasa in particular wouldn't take the news well. On the other hand, my friends do know and have accepted that fact."

"Oh, um… sure," Mina says.

"So, what would be the wish that makes your soul gem shine, Yuuki Mina?" Kyuubey asks.

"Um… just give me a minute," Mina says. "I know roughly what I want, but I need to figure out how to say it best…"

She ponders for a bit, and I just watch. I can sense Ashley's disapproval bubbling up within me, but I don't allow it to reach my mouth.

«To be honest, I totally agree with you, Ashley.»

«Then why the hell are you doing this!?»

«I don't know. I almost hate myself for it. Still, at least I told her the full truth first, unlike Kyuubey.»

«That's not much of a saving grace! Dammit Chelsea, she's not even twelve years old!»

«She's the same age as Riko-chan, and she seems mature for her age. I think she can handle it.»

«Ah… you have a point about Riko-chan… but she did that on her own, before we even met her, so it's different!»

«Yeah, it sure is. I haven't heard any better suggestions from you, though.»

«True, I can't think of any way to still resolve this situation peacefully… although I have thought of things we could do differently next time.»

«Well then, next time we'll resolve not to rely on Mina-chan… okay?»

«That still doesn't change the fact that you're relying on her this time!»

«You're right. It doesn't change that fact.»

«Chelsea… we had this discussion already. Didn't we come to an agreement?»

«I think we did. What exactly about this is violating it? I came clean with Mina. I didn't hide anything… I think? Did I miss something I should've told her? Should I have told her about the time travel? Although I can't do that with Kyuubey here anyway.»

«No, that's not it… ugh. Chelsea… I just… I just can't stomach this. She's so young…»

«I know…»

«If you know then why the hell are you doing it!?»

«I think we're just arguing in circles now.»

«I'm starting to feel that we can never see eye-to-eye though…»

«Really? But we've agreed on most of the points in this argument, haven't we?»

«Well… there are definitely a few that we can't agree on though.»

«Still, if it's just a few, I think that still falls within seeing eye-to-eye.»

«Sometimes your rationality scares me.»

«It's not like I'm rational all the time. I've done plenty of irrational things. I shouldn't've let Homura get to the point she's at now. I should've talked to her in the second timeline and made friends with her when she was still meek.»

«Although I have to admit there are some upsides to her being more experienced.»

«Now who's being rational? Ashley… look, I think we both know that there's no good decision to be made here. I'm just struggling to find the best in a basket of bad decisions. Maybe I've succeeded, and maybe I've failed, but I'm going to own my decision, goddammit.»

«Fine. I think I get your point. I'll own it with you, then, Chelsea. Can I speak with Mina one more time?»

«Sure.»

I let Ashley fully bubble up within me and take control of my body, but before she can speak, Mina beats her to the punch.

"I want to become a… a mediator who can help onee-chan to get along with people she likes!"

"Understood," Kyuubey says.

It plunges its ear appendages into the young girl's chest and draws out a vibrant yellow soul gem, gleaming with that light that only a soul gem completely free of impurities can possess. Mina lets out a scream of pain for a moment as it's drawn out, but then she gasps and gazes at the gem as it descends into her hands.

"It might not be much, but it seems your wish has indeed surpassed entropy," Kyuubey says. "I just hope this trade-off was as worthwhile as Ashley Taylor claims."

"Mina-chan!" Ashley says.

Mina spins to face her.

"So I guess you've gone and done it, huh? I had a bit of an argument with myself over introducing you to this world, but… are you sure this is what you wanted?"

Mina nods firmly. "I'm sure," she says. "You already told me it's not a bright and cheery magical girl life like PreCure. I get that, okay? In fact, I wanted to thank you for telling me about it all."

"Ah… you're welcome," Ashley says.

Mina suddenly hugs us.

"And thank you for letting me know that I could help onee-chan, and for convincing Kyuubey to allow me even though he didn't want to atfirst," Mina says. "It was pretty weird to see you… well, I guess the other you… arguing with empty space, though."

"Okay, Mina-chan… why don't we exchange contact info?" Ashley suggests. "It can't hurt to have an extra person you can talk to about magical girl matters… especially when Sasa and the others don't know all the darkest parts of their profession. And I'll send you the contact info for Sachie, Liliane, and Inui too, in case something happens to me. Maybe even Liliane's sister and her friends."

Mina nods. "Sure…"

She pulls her phone out, and Ashley pulls out ours, and we tap them together. As Ashley unlocks the phone to start sharing contacts, Mina turns and transforms, donning a loose, dark blue dress in a Greek style with a bronze breastplate over it. A length of white cloth wraps around her head, covering her eyes entirely, and a golden tiara of sorts helps to hold the blindfold in place, looking a bit like archaic headphones. Her soul gem is inserted into the peak of the tiara. Her hands are bare, and her feet are clad in simple rope sandals in a bright shade of crimson. In her hand, she holds a simple balance scale consisting of two golden cups hanging from a golden rod, which could probably be wielded like a flail in a pinch.

"Um… can you see with that thing on?" Ashley asks.

"No, I can't see," Mina says. "But I can feel. I don't know how to describe it… it's like… like I just know… I think it's like sensing the slightest air currents or something…? As well as sound, of course. Whatever it is, it's even better than seeing."

Mina steps forward and raises her voice.

"Everyone, please stop fighting!"

While I was chatting with Mina, it seems the feather witch has been defeated, and now everyone is working together to try to bring down the shyguy witch. However, it seems it's the toughest of the lot, for it looks like they haven't made much progress. As soon as Mina shouts, however, everyone stops and looks at her. Even the witch halts in mid-attack and turns towards her.

"Onee-chan, call off your witch!" Mina shouts.

"Eh? Why do I have to do that!?" Sasa says.

"Just do it!" Mina shouts. "Do it or face my judgement!"

"W-what the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Sasa complains.

Mina spins to face her directly, her movements so precise that were she not blindfolded I swear she would have been looking directly into Sasa's eyes. She extends the hand holding the scales and flicks the right-hand cup with her finger. Suddenly, that cup sinks, as if she'd placed a heavy object in it, and at the same time, Sasa falls to her knees with a cry.

"W-w-what's happening!?" she gasps. "I feel so heavy all of a sudden!"

"That's the weight of justice!" Mina shouts. "Now call off your witch!"

"F-fine!" Sasa gasps.

She reaches out to grasp something that looks like a tail on the witch, and moments later the witch shrinks down to a size that can perch on her head. Then Mina's scale returns to a balanced state, and Sasa picks herself up, grumbling a little.

"Onee-chan, tell me the truth," Mina says. "Did you use your power on Futaba?"

"I keep telling you I didn't!" Sasa protests.

"You're lying!" Mina says. "I can see lies now! You're lying!"

"Y-you didn't!?" Futaba gasps. "B-but… you promised!"

"It… it was just a little!" Sasa says evasively.

"That's not what you promised!" Futaba says. "You said you wouldn't use it at all!"

"B-but…"

"No buts!" Futaba says. "You said you wouldn't do it, so you shouldn't do it! No excuses! Of course, if you'd asked me and I'd said yes, that would be a different story… though I don't think that would ever happen."

"Onee-chan, did you wipe Lina's memory?" Mina asks.

"Th-that… that wasn't on purpose!" Sasa says. "I just… I was scared, and I…"

"So you did do it," Mina says. "Even if it was an accident, you did wipe Lina's memory, correct?"

"W-well… yes, I guess so," Sasa admits.

"And did you use your power on Mio?" Mina asks.

"J-just a bit," Sasa says.

"Undo it!" Futaba says. "Lady Sasa, I trusted you! You made a promise, and I trusted you! Undo your magic right now, and maybe I'll forgive you! Although it'll take a bit more than that for me to trust you again…"

Sasa gasps. "B-b-but… it was only a little…"

"Just undo it!" Futaba snaps.

"Wow, you've really done it now, Sasa," Mai observes. "I've never seen Futaba get angry like that. Still, the fact that she got angry shows how much she cares. If she didn't care she'd just stay quiet."

"Fine! I'll undo it, okay! Geez, what the hell is wrong with you guys!"

Sasa approaches Futaba and Mio and seizes their hands. A moment later, Mio gasps and pulls her hand away. Futaba on the other hand pulls Sasa close into a hug, startling her.

"Ugh, I can't believe I was calling her Lady Sasa," Mio mutters.

"Thank you, Lady Sasa," Futaba says. "Thank you… I forgive you, okay? Just don't do it again."

"I… I didn't want to… I was scared!" Sasa says, bursting into tears. "I thought I was gonna die!"

"I get it," Futaba says. "I know Lina doesn't like you, but you just have to deal with that, okay? If you play nice, over time, she'll start to tolerate you, and… who knows… maybe in a few years you'll even be close friends?"

"There's no way that'll ever happen," Sasa retorts. "I could never be friends with that inflexible bitch."

"Oy! I don't mind you complaining about Lina, but you're not to call her a bitch, is that understood, Lady Sasa!?"

"Argh, what the hell is wrong with you!" Sasa groans. "Who cares what I call her!"

"I care!" Futaba says. "You might not like her, but Lina is my friend! I won't stand for you badmouthing her!"

"You're supposed to be my servant!" Sasa protests.

"You and I both know that's not true!" Futaba retorts. "You're only saying that because you can't bring yourself to say we're friends!"

"Well, it makes me sick how everyone just says 'oh we're friends' and are immediately all cozy!" Sasa retorts. "I see it all around me every day at school! I can't stand it!"

"I'm not saying you have to be like that," Futaba says. "You can call me your servant if it makes you feel better, but as far as I'm concerned, we're friends. And as a friend, I won't stand for you badmouthing my other friends!"

"Ugh, fine," Sasa grumbles. "Whatever. I won't call a bitch a bitch, happy now?"

Futaba sighs. "I feel like you just insulted her again, but I'll let it pass as long as you don't do it again."

At this point I suddenly realize that the labyrinth has collapsed while the two of them were arguing. Likely it started collapsing around the time that witch perched on her head, though I can't be sure since I was too engrossed in the argument.

"I have to say, it seems like you two are really close," Sachie observes. "There aren't many friends who can come clean with each other like that, Sasa. You're lucky you found a good friend like Futaba."

"She's my servant, not a friend," Sasa mutters.

"Of course I am, my friend," Futaba says. "I'll get you to say that word someday!"

"Over my dead body," Sasa mutters.

Mina steps forward suddenly and hugs Sasa.

"I'm happy for you, onee-chan," Mina says. "Couldn't you just come home and let the others remember you?"

"I refuse," Sasa retorts. "It's not like Mom and Dad care about me, is it?"

"W-well… I can't deny you kind of have a point there," Mina admits. "Things changed surprisingly little after you disappeared…"

"There, you see?" Sasa says.

She pulls out of the hugpile and grabs Mina by the shoulders.

"There's no point in returning home. Instead, why don't you come live with me?"

Mina blinks at her. "H-huh? You mean… leave home?"

"Well, why not?" Sasa says. "You're a magical girl now, and way stronger than I am!"

"Um, I think your power is actually really strong too, onee-chan," Mina says. "And it's not like mine is that strong either… all I can do is make things heavier… or lighter…"

"That's a power with a lot of versatile application though!" Futaba says excitedly. "It's like you can control gravity… you could do a lot of stuff with that! I bet you could fly through the sky!"

Mina blinks. "Ah… I never even thought of that…"

"Then just live with me," Sasa says.

"But Mom and Dad would be worried if I went missing," Mina says.

"They don't need to know," Sasa retorts.

"A-and… I would miss them," Mina says. "Um… it's not like I don't want to live with you, but… I think I'd like to be with them for a few more years, at least… b-b-but I'll come and visit you often!"

"Ugh, whatever," Sasa says. "Do what you want."

"Also… could you heal Lina?"

"No can do," Sasa retorts. "First of all, I hate her guts, and secondly, I'm not even sure what I did."

I look at Sachie.

"Miss Kaori… do you think you can undo what Sasa did to Lina?"

"I'm not sure," Sachie says. "But I'm willing to try."

"We do know another girl who might be able to undo it," I say. "She specializes in undoing magic spells, so I imagine that would be perfect… but she lives in another city, so it's inconvenient to ask for her help."

"Well, I'll see what I can do," Sachie says.

She steps towards Lina, jingling her staff with each step, then kneels next to her and presses two fingers against Lina's forehead while keeping up a constant jingling, similar to her actions when she took control of Itzli's familiars. She keeps that up for a good five minutes before stopping. Then she just sits there, watching Lina's face closely.

At least another minute passes by in silence, but then… there's a sharp intake of breath from Lina. Several seconds later, her eyes snap open, and she stares into Sachie's eyes. Then Miyako lunges forward to hug her.

"Lina! I'm so glad you're okay!" she says. "When you wouldn't wake up… I was really worried!"

Sachie moves aside to give Miyako more space. Mai also steps into Lina's view.

"I too was worried," she says. "Do you remember what happened?"

Lina blinks. "Um… vaguely," she says. "I think… Sasa did it…"

Mina steps forward, peeking around Mai a little nervously.

"Do you remember what you said to onee… to Sasa?"

"Um… I noticed Futaba has been acting strangely recently," Lina says. "And she's been around Sasa a lot, so I just told her that she'd get a piece of me if she didn't undo her magic… and I don't remember what happened after that…"

Mina glances back at Sasa.

"Onee-chan, did you use your magic on Futaba before that?" she asks.

"Eh? N-no, it was after that…"

"Looks like you were making an assumption, Miss Hitomi," I say.

Lina looks at me in surprise. "H-huh!? Ashley Taylor? What are you doing here!?"

"Well, we were dragged in to clean up the mess that you and Sasa created between you," I say.

"Why are you blaming me?" Lina retorts. "It's obvious it was Sasa's fault!"

"Well, you're right that it was Sasa's fault," I admit. "But it was also your fault. Don't try to dodge responsibility on this, Miss Hitomi. You just assumed that Sasa had done something bad, and by confronting her about it, you drove her to do something even worse. Say, do you know what Miss Sakura said about you last time?"

Lina blinks. "Huh? Why would I care what Miss Sakura thinks?"

"Well, I don't fully agree with her myself," I admit. "But I think she has at least half a point. She told me you're not a good leader, and your worst mistake was forming a team."

"Like I said… why should I care what Miss Sakura thinks!?" Lina retorts.

"I'm saying she has a point," I say. "You're not really leader material, Miss Hitomi. You have some skills suitable for leadership, so you manage to do an okay job as a leader, but you're not a very good one. I think you should sit down and think about what it really means to be a leader."

"A-actually, um, I think…" Miyako trails off for a few seconds, steeling herself. "I think Miss Ashley is right! Y-you're nice and all, Lina, but I don't like the way you order people around all the time! And, um… when we're fighting, usually you're pretty good, but sometimes you really give the craziest commands… we've had some narrow escapes because of that! So please be more careful!"

Lina blinks at her.

"E-eh!? W-what's going on here!? Why am I suddenly the one who gets all the blame!?"

"Don't be silly," I retort. "No-one said all the blame. Just take responsibility for your mistakes, Miss Hitomi."

"B-but this whole thing was clearly Sasa's fault!" Lina protests.

"We're starting to think you haven't listened to a word we said," I grumble. "In some ways you're almost as bad as Sasa… maybe that's partly why you hate each other so much."

"H-how dare you compare me with that… that… that mass murderer!?" Lina gasps.

I sigh. "Look… Miss Hitomi… just calm down and think things over, okay? Forget Sasa for a minute. We're only telling you to own up to your mistakes. Is that really too much to ask? Surely you can take responsibility, apologize, and think of ways to avoid those mistakes in the future."

Lina falls silent. Have I gotten through to her? I'm not really sure. After several seconds of awaiting a response, Mai kneels beside her.

"Lina, no matter what, I'll stick by you," she says. "But still, Miss Taylor is right about one thing. If you can't recognize that you made a mistake, you'll just keep making the same mistake over and over again. How could you live with yourself as a leader in that case?"

Lina sighs.

"Okay, fine, you've got me," she says. "It's possible that I may have jumped to conclusions this time, and maybe I've made some bad decisions in combat… so I'm sorry."

"Would it help if I tell you right away when I think you've made a bad decision?" Mai asks. "Or at least, at the first safe opportunity."

"M-me too!" Miyako adds.

"Well… as long as you don't do it too often," Lina says.

"Miss Hitomi, how's your soul gem?" I ask.

She checks it on the underside of her ring.

"Looks fine," she says.

"Good… in that case, if you don't mind… we'd like to get home. I suppose you'll be coming partway too, right? Since this is basically Sasa's base here, I doubt you'd be interested in hanging around…"

"Eh? Well… yeah… you're right about that," Lina admits. "Futaba… Mio… are you coming?"

"I'm going to stay here awhile longer," Futaba says. "I'll see you later, Lina."

"Um… I'm going to stay to make sure Sasa doesn't do anything to Futaba," Mio says. "Regardless of what Futaba thinks, I still can't trust her. Especially after what she did this time."

"Fine," Lina says. "Let's go."

Everyone except Futaba, Mio, Sasa, and Mina exits the room and heads downstairs. Along the way, Lina eyes Sachie.

"By the way… I don't think I've met you before."

"My name is Kaori Sachie," she says. "Miss Ashley asked me to help because my magic power is similar to Sasa's."

"And… you're the one who undid whatever she pulled on me, right?"

"Yes, although I wasn't sure it would work."

"Well… thanks for that, Miss Kaori," Lina says. "I truly am grateful."

"It was nothing."

---

When Inui and I return to the Hayashi house, I find Komachi and Hiyori already there.

"How'd that witch fight go?" I ask. "You seemed to be having trouble, but we didn't get to watch to the end because we were kinda of distracted by other problems…"

"Oh… that witch with the angels, you mean?" Komachi asks.

"Yeah… that one."

"Well, Liliane showed up out of the blue, and that made all the difference," Komachi says. "She held off the familiars single-handedly, which allowed the four of us to focus on the witch and bring it down pretty quickly."

"So, everyone is okay?"

Komachi nods. "Yeah… why do you ask?"

"Well… it's just, Kyuubey was the one who called Liliane over," I explain. "And I think it did that anticipating that one of you would die or witch out, which would in turn cause Liliane to witch out again… so we're just glad its plans failed."

"Yeah… Elise was pretty badly corrupted after, but she used a grief seed and was fine," Komachi says. "What were you up to, anyway?"

"Well… that's kind of a long story…"

"We have plenty of time!" Hiyori pipes up.

"Alright… fine."

So, with a little help from Inui, I tell them how my day went.

---

So, this was the small middle section in the original draft of chapter 57, which has been split into 3 parts. The idea of the Sasa encounter (and even a new magical girl) only surfaced at the last minute (a couple of days ago), so this hasn't been through as many rounds of proof-reading as usual, but hopefully there aren't any glaring errors in here.

---

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.

Yuuki Mina
優木沙々

Age: 11
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Brown
Origins: Kazamino, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Yellow balance scale
Soul Gem: Yellow spherical gem in her tiara
Element: Forest
Weapon: Balance scales
Powers: Gravity control, all-seeing eye, bewitch
Wish: "I want to become a mediator who can help onee-chan to get along with people she likes!"

Speed: 3
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 4
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)