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.

78. Memories That Reveal Truth

Have you heard? Has anyone told you?
The Rumour of the Memory Museum!
Do you have memories you wanna change?
Or erase? Maybe some you want to…recall?
If memories have got you down, come to the Memory Museum!
Ring the bell and oh my!
All the memories you can think of are on display
for research purposes in the exhibition space!
You can discover all sorts of hidden truths
through the memories stored there!
But if you see someone else's memory, it might influence you…
That's the big rumour in Sakae Ward!
How fascinating!

---

April twenty-second. The girls of Crescent Moon Villa are discussing Mifuyu's recent visit over breakfast. Tsuruno is there too, suggesting that she may have slept over.

"I see," Yachiyo says. "So Mifuyu invited you to this Memory Museum?"

"Yeah," Iroha says. "I thought it over all night… and I decided that I'm going to go!"

"It's not like we wanna fight them either," Tsuruno says. "It can't hurt to go check it out, right?"

"Oh, but… it could be a trap," Sana says. "Even if they say they aren't bringing any black feathers… they might be there, waiting for us…"

"So what if they are?" Felicia retorts. "I'll just go bam and we can get out no prob!"

"Besides, Yui Tsuruno, the mightiest magical girl, will be right by your side!" Tsuruno says. "With all of us together, we'll figure something out!"

"You still don't even know where they're holding the lecture yet," Yachiyo says.

"I was actually going to ask you about that, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says. "Have you heard of the Memory Museum?"

"It doesn't sound familiar," Yachiyo says. "I don't remember writing anything about it in the Kamihama Rumour Files."

"I see…" Iroha says.

Yachiyo gets up and makes for the door, slipping her shoes on.

"Well, I'm off to school now," Yachiyo says.

"W-wait, what!?" Iroha gasps. "Isn't it a bit early?"

"Starting today I'll be leaving earlier," Yachiyo says. "So we won't be able to head there together. Plus, I have a photo shoot that won't be over until late tonight, so you can eat dinner without me. Bye."

With that, she heads outside, leaving Tsuruno staring after her.

"Hmm… Yachiyo's still in the same crummy mood as yesterday," she says.

"Yeah, she is," Iroha says. "When it comes to rumours, she's usually ready to help us think them through…"

"I wonder if she's got a stomachache," Felicia says. "She didn't eat much either."

"That's because you ate almost all of the food," Iroha says.

"It might not be stomach problems," Sana says. "Maybe something else is bugging her."

"Like a beetle?" Felicia says. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"U-um, I mean… something could be bothering her," Sana says.

"A bug is bothering her?" Felicia says. "What's that supposed to mean…?"

"Anyway, moving on," Tsuruno says. "Mifuyu said some things to her, right? It has to be related to that somehow…"

"I wish I could do something to help her," Iroha says.

"She would've told us if she wanted help," Tsuruno says. "There's probably nothing we can do… you know how it is, right, Iroha-chan?"

"Um… maybe," Iroha says.

"Um… M-miss Iroha… are you really going to go?" Sana asks. "The Wings of the Magius… you know that Alina is one of them, right? They protect witches, and they put us through so many terrible things…"

"Yes, but I want to at least hear what they have to say," Iroha says.

"And those Amane twins are really good people," Tsuruno says.

"Yes, I think so too," Iroha says.

"Is that so…" Sana says. "Okay… then, if something bad does happen, I'll protect you, Miss Iroha."

"We better get started on investigating, Iroha!" Felicia says. "We don't have much time!"

She jumps up and tries to make for the door, but Tsuruno grabs her arm.

"Hey, Felicia!" Tsuruno says. "Just because Yachiyo left doesn't mean we'll let you cut class!"

"But whyyy!?" Felicia protests.

---

"Hey, Ashley-chan?"

"Hmm?"

I blink at Hiyori as I leave the house with her and Komachi.

"I've already asked the others, so now it's your turn," Hiyori says.

"Sure, if it's something I can answer," I say.

"Oh, well, I was just wondering something," Hiyori says. "It's pretty silly, so please don't laugh at me."

Those words are like a code phrase now… I've heard them three times. This'll be the fourth time.

"Oh, I think I know where this is going," I say. "Go ahead."

"I was thinking about songs I could learn to play that are fitting for magical girls," Hiyori says. "I've found a bunch on my own time, and the others suggested a few, but I wanted to know if you had any ideas."

This part is a little different from the last three times, though. The last three times, I was the first person she asked. Since that time, I've done a little of my own research on the side and found that nearly every Madoka theme song exists in this world, which is strange given that the Madoka franchise itself doesn't.

"Like I thought," I say. "My three top picks would be Connect by ClariS, Magia by Kalafina, and Kakawari by TrySail."

Hiyori blinks, as she did the last three times.

"Those are… much older songs than I expected from you," she says.

"You're probably right," I say. "By the way, I'm especially fond of Amanda Lee's English cover of Magia. You should definitely watch the music video… it'll shock you. Oh, and an honourable mention goes to Fumino Sayuki's Blade-Bearing Beauty."

"Have you heard of those songs before, Hiyori-chan?" Komachi asks.

Hiyori shakes her head. "Not the songs, no, but the group names are familiar. Mom even has a couple of ClariS singles, I think."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember that," Komachi says. "She hasn't put them on in quite awhile, though."

Hiyori already has her phone out, with earbuds plugged in, and it looks like she's found a video showing Kalafina doing a live performance of Magia. I'm close enough to hear the song issuing from her earbuds.

"Ooooh, this is a great find," Hiyori says after listening for a minute or so. "It's really spot-on! I wonder if someone in Kalafina was actually a magical girl…"

"I'm not sure," I say. "By the way, as far as I know, that's the only relevant song from Kalafina, but ClariS and TrySail both have a few others that might be appropriate. I don't have all the names off the top of my head, but I could find them for you."

"Um, thank you for the suggestions, Ashley-chan!"

"No problem," I reply.

"So you also mentioned… Amanda Lee, was it?" Hiyori said. "Let me search for her too…"

A minute later, she has the video in question on her screen. She watches for a few seconds, then blinks.

"Huh? Wait… it's an anime style so I can't be certain, but… isn't that… Miss Kaname? And Miss Akemi? Though Miss Kaname has a different outfit… and I can't place the silver-haired girl."

"That's why I said you'd be shocked," I say. "I was shocked too when I saw that… if you pay attention you'll also spot Miss Miki, Miss Sakura, and Miss Tomoe later on. Also Walpurgisnacht, and Miss Homura with glasses and pigtails. She also has a cover of Connect with a video showing goddess-form Madoka."

Hiyori nods. "Yeah… it seems too accurate to be a mere coincidence," she says. "Whoa, that was clearly Kyuubey just then, too… how could she have known all this? I wonder if we can contact her and ask about it…"

"I thought about that too," I say. "Unfortunately, it seems she went missing over twenty-five years ago. You'll notice her youtube account is marked as a posthumous account, so she's been presumed dead for that long."

"Oh… that's too bad," Hiyori says. "You know… the sixth magical girl depicted here, with the silver hair… I wonder if that could be her…"

I shrug. "I thought of that, but there are other possible explanations too," I say. "Maybe she merely knew a magical girl, rather than being one herself."

"Good point," Hiyori says. "I guess we'll never know. Um… if you go back in time again… can I ask you to make those suggestions again? I'm sure I'll ask you again, as long as I find out the truth, so please humour me."

I nod. "No matter how many times you ask, the gist of my answer won't change."

"Thank you!"

---

Lunch break. Iroha has joined the Momoko trio for lunch, and they appear to be discussing Mifuyu's visit.

"Huh, so Miss Mifuyu wants to talk it out first," Momoko says. "That sounds like a good idea. Though I guess that's how things should be done. It's not like either of you really wants to hurt each other."

"That's what Miss Mifuyu said too," Iroha says.

"Still, is it really safe?" Kaede wonders. "I can't believe they'd just invite you to have a chat with them… didn't they seem like they were really going to hurt you before?"

"No need to worry!" Tsuruno says. "The mightiest magical girl will be there! Ready to smash any plan of theirs into pieces!"

"Smash it to pieces?" Momoko says. "What if it doesn't break that easy?" She shrugs. "Eh, I guess it doesn't matter. I know how strong you are, Tsuruno. If you're there, everything will be fine…"

"I know, right!?" Tsuruno says.

"Have you figured out where it is yet?" Momoko asks. "That Memory Museum place?"

"Well, um, not yet," Iroha says. "Do any of you happen to know anything about it?"

"Actually, this is my first time hearing about it," Momoko says.

"I figured," Iroha says.

"How about you, Kaede, Rena?" Tsuruno asks.

"Um, I'm not sure," Kaede says.

"Me neither," Rena says. "I thought you guys were the ones who had a rumour-lover with you, anyway?"

"You mean shishou?" Tsuruno says.

"Yeah, her," Rena says.

"She told us she'd never heard of it," Tsuruno says.

"Right, she did say that," Iroha says, sighing.

"Hey, why the long face?" Rena asks.

"Well, I guess having a lead isn't the same as knowing where to go," Momoko says. "It makes sense to be feeling a little down…"

"Oh, that's not actually it," Iroha says. "I was just thinking about Miss Yachiyo…"

"Why, what's up with her?" Momoko asks.

"Miss Mifuyu came to visit us at home yesterday," Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo has been acting really strange ever since she left…"

"Miss Mifuyu went to Miss Yachiyo's place!?" Momoko gasps.

"Yeah… she's been really down since then," Iroha says. "Though, maybe moody is a better word…"

"That's rough," Momoko says. "I mean, Miss Mifuyu is a real sensitive spot for her emotionally, so…"

"Even so," Iroha says. "I wish she'd stop hiding what's wrong. We might be able to help her if she told us."

"Stop hiding, huh," Momoko says.

"Yeah, Momoko!" Rena says.

"Yeah, Momoko-chan!" Kaede says.

Momoko gasps. "Ah, hey, Iroha-chan!" she says.

"Um, yes?" Iroha says.

"I just had a great idea! Will you come with me to see the Coordinator after school!?"

"To see Miss Mitama?" Iroha gasps. "Oh, that's a good idea! She might know something about this."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking!" Momoko says. "She asked me to hunt familiars for her today. I figure we can stop by the shop while I'm at it."

"Yes!" Iroha says. "I'd love to come too!"

Rena and Kaede groan almost in unison.

"W-well, anyway!" Momoko says. "Seeya after school! We better get back to class, guys! Geez, afternoon classes are the worst, huh?"

"You really are the worst at dodging a topic," Rena retorts.

"She's right, Momoko-chan!" Kaede says.

Momoko sighs.

"W-whoa, we're gonna be late for class!" Momoko says. "We can talk about this later!"

"You're dodging the topic again!" Kaede complains.

"You can't shake us off that easily!" Rena says.

"Ugh, alright!" Momoko groans. "Enough! I get it! I'll tell you soon, alright!?"

"I'll hold you to that!" Rena says.

---

After school, I head towards a café near the middle school, intending to have a quick chat with Homura before I head to Fendt Hope. I find Nagisa outside the school, presumably waiting for the others.

"Good afternoon, Nagisa-chan," I say.

"Oh, it's you," she says. "What do you want?"

"You know, you could stand to be a little bit less rude," I retort.

"You're here to see Homura-nee, aren't you?" she says. "Or perhaps the rose sister."

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" I say.

"Of course not," she says. "Because I'm really smart. My teacher says so too."

"I'm glad at least your teacher is a kind person," I say. "Unlike your mother… speaking of which, how is she doing?"

"Oh, her," Nagisa mutters. "She still refuses to die. It's awful. I think she's doing it just to spite me. But the doctors say it won't be long now…"

At that moment, Madoka emerges from the school gate, accompanied by Hitomi, Sayaka, and Homura. Sayaka and Hitomi seem to be chatting about their recent trip to the mainland. After a minute or so, they break off, with Hitomi indicating that she has to get to her lesson, and then they come over to join me and Nagisa. Sayaka tugs on Homura's sleeve.

"What on earth is she doing here?" Sayaka mutters.

"Why on earth are you asking me?" Homura asks.

"Good afternoon, Ashley-chan," Madoka says. "Is there something up?"

"Well, actually, I was going to ask you that," I say.

"Oh… well then, why don't you just join us for our meeting?" Madoka says. "That'll be faster."

"Do we have to!?" Sayaka gasps. "Don't forget, this is the chick who practically threatened me and was really rude to Hitomi…"

"Oh… is that how you took it, Miss Miki?" I say. "I'm sorry… I was genuinely concerned for your well-being at the time, though."

"So you say," Sayaka mutters.

"Sayaka-chan, please give her a chance," Madoka says. "Anyway, we have something important to discuss, and Ashley-chan may have something to add to the discussion."

"Fine," Sayaka mutters.

We all head for the nearby café that the Holy Quintet always uses for their meetings. I choose not to order anything, but the others get drinks.

"So… what's this important thing we have to discuss, anyway?" Sayaka asks.

"Well, it's about Miss Mami," Madoka says. "To put it lightly… she's missing."

"Miss Mami's missing!?" Sayaka gasps.

"That's right," Madoka says.

"So that's why she was absent from school today!?" Sayaka says.

"And the past few days as well," Madoka says.

"W-what!?" Sayaka gasps.

"She went to Kamihama," Madoka says. "And… she never came back…"

"Kamihama?" Sayaka says. "That's where I flew in from the mainland this morning… but why would Miss Mami go there?"

"Well… Sayaka-chan, you went to Kamijou-kun's concert, right? You were gone for a few days…"

"Yeah," Sayaka says. "What about it? Are you saying something happened while I was gone!?"

"Well, technically, it was just before you left," Madoka says. "We just didn't want to worry you when you were about to leave on a trip, so we didn't tell you. I'm sorry…"

"Oh… I'm not sure how to feel about that," Sayaka says. "But basically, the point is, Miss Mami is missing, right?"

Madoka nods. "We went to Kamihama to look for her on Friday," she says. "So, while you were sitting on your plane, we were already hunting for her…"

"But you didn't find her," Sayaka says.

"Not directly," Madoka says. "Um… I'm just going to explain everything that happened from beginning to end, so please be patient, Sayaka-chan."

Madoka tells her about the Rumour of Anonymous, about how Nagisa unleashed her doppel, and about the Wings of the Magius. When she's finished, Sayaka lets out a great big sigh.

"Rumours… doppels… the Wings of the Magius… seems like there's a lot of stuff going on in Kamihama," she says. "But at least you confirmed Miss Mami is alive, right?"

"That's… true, but… to think she'd join that cult-like organization," Madoka says. "I don't know what to think…"

"It is possible that Miss Itsumi was lying to us, however," Homura says.

"Plus, Miss Itsumi apparently joined the organization too, right?" Sayaka says. "So can you really trust what she says?"

"You both have a point, but I don't think she's the type of person to lie," Madoka says.

"You have quite some nerve, accusing Inui of lying right in front of me," I say. "I'll admit I didn't see Miss Tomoe myself at the base, but I trust Inui's word on the matter. I did see her talking with leaders of the organization before that."

Sayaka looks pointedly away from me, ignoring what I said.

"They could be blackmailing Miss Mami or something," she says. "We've got to find her and ask her ourselves… would that magical girl from Kamihama be able to help us?"

"You mean Iroha-chan?" Madoka says.

"Yeah," Sayaka says. "Have you gotten any news back from her?"

"She hasn't found any trace of Miss Mami's magic," Madoka says.

"Dammit! What the hell is going on!?" Sayaka gasps.

"We knew we had to tell you about it as soon as you got back," Madoka says. "Also, there's a favour we need to ask you."

"A favour?"

"Please don't go to Kamihama alone," Madoka says. "There are so many things there that we don't understand… so we should go together or not at all."

"I get it," Sayaka says. "I haven't been a magical girl all that long… so I don't think there'd be much I could do even if I did go alone."

"Don't say that, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka says.

"I'm still not that great at fighting or using magic yet," Sayaka says. "So I won't go by myself. But I do have a favour to ask of you in return."

"What is it?" Madoka asks.

"Well… please take me to Kamihama!"

"Why would you ask that!?" Madoka gasps.

"I know it's a weird thing to ask!" Sayaka says. "Yeah, we should probably wait until we get word from that Iroha girl… but, but… I just can't stand sitting around like this!"

"Well, I don't really mind going, but… do you mean right now?" Madoka asks.

"That's what I'm saying!" Sayaka says. "I get that it's dangerous. Learning about witches and familiars has been one surprise after another. Now you're talking about doppels? And rumours? And then there's some ongoing conflict between magical girls there? My mind's all a jumble trying to sort it all out, honestly…"

"Me too," Madoka says.

"I don't see what's so confusing about it," Nagisa mutters.

"But even knowing all that," Sayaka says. "I don't think I can just wait around."

"Sayaka-chan… but why?" Madoka asks.

"Well… that'd be because of my wish!" Sayaka says.

"Huh? But didn't you wish to heal Kamijou-kun's arm?" Madoka asks.

"Well yes, but that wasn't all there was to it," Sayaka says. "I wanted to be able to protect those who are dear to me… I wanna protect you, Madoka, Homura… and Miss Mami, too."

"Aren't you forgetting Miss Sakura?" I ask.

"Who'd wanna protect her!?" Sayaka gasps. "Besides, Kyouko doesn't need my protection… she's already really strong."

"Or Yuma-chan?" I add.

"Well, yes, if Kyouko's not around to protect her sometime," Sayaka agrees.

"Sayaka-chan…" Madoka says.

Sayaka giggles. "Look at me, a rookie, talking big about saving everyone… anyway, that's how I feel about all this. So, please! Lemme at least see what's happening in Kamihama for myself! I can't stand just sitting here and doing nothing!"

"Alright!" Madoka says.

"Really!?" Sayaka gasps.

"Yes!" Madoka says. "We can't just sit around, after all! If something were to happen to Miss Mami in the Wings of the Magius… I'd forever regret just waiting around! If we go and investigate it ourselves, maybe we can find some clues! Maybe we can even talk to her directly!"

"Thank you, Madoka!" Sayaka says.

"If I may butt in," I speak up. "I think you're more likely to find something useful if you wait until tomorrow."

"Huh!? What would you know!?" Sayaka asks.

"Sayaka-chan!" Madoka protests. "Ashley-chan actually knows quite a bit about all of this, you know…"

"Well, I suppose sleeping on it can't hurt," Sayaka says. "Then we should go first thing in the morning… how does that sound?"

Madoka nods. "Yes, let's do that! What about you, Ashley-chan?"

"I have lots of other things to do in Kamihama, so I'll be heading there today," I say. "I doubt we'll run into each other tomorrow."

"Well, that's settled, then," Madoka says. "Unless Nagisa-chan or Homura-chan has something to add…?"

"I have no objections," Homura says.

"I want to find Mami-nee too," Nagisa says. "We shouldn't put it off any longer."

"Let me know how it goes," I say. "There's a chance I may see it for myself, but I also might not."

"Okay," Madoka says. "I'll mail you when we get back, then."

With that, we say goodbyes and split up. I head for the station to grab a train to Kamihama. Once I'm on the train, I check up on Iroha again.

---

Afternoon. Iroha enters the Coordinator's shop together with the Momoko trio.

"Oh, hey, Iroha-chan!" Mitama says. "It's been awhile, hasn't it!? You haven't visited in such a long time. I missed you."

"O-oh, you did?" Iroha says. "It hasn't been that long, though…"

"Don't take her too seriously," Momoko says. "That's just her way of saying hello."

"You're so mean, Momoko," Mitama says. "Why are you always so rude to your poor old Coordinator?"

"More like poor old Momoko… I'm the one who has to hunt all those familiars for you…"

"So, are you girls here for some coordination?" Mitama asks. "Or perhaps you're here for a bit of shopping?"

"Actually, we came to ask you about something," Iroha says.

"You have a question for me?" Mitama says.

"Yeah, we're looking for the Memory Museum," Iroha says.

"Oh, the Memory Museum," Mitama says.

"Do you know anything about it?" Iroha asks.

"I'm sorry, I don't," Mitama says.

"It's possible it's a really new rumour," Iroha says.

"Even if I did know something, do you think I would tell you just like that?" Mitama asks.

"Huh?" Momoko says. "You wouldn't happen to be trying to get money outta us, would you?"

"Now now, I won't be charging any money or grief seeds," Mitama says. "Everything just depends on my va-ga-ry."

"Ehhh…" Iroha says.

"She's nuts," Momoko sighs.

"I am a neutral party, and trust is of utmost importance for my business," Mitama says. "I would never tell just anybody my clients' secrets or violate their privacy,"

"That's a surprise," Momoko says. "I figured sharing information was part of your job."

"Oh?" Mitama says. "Then you don't mind if I share details about you, Momoko? I can tell everyone about your personal collection of animal print socks?"

"Animal print…" Iroha muses.

"There's a cute pair with bears, and another with kitties—"

"Knock it off!" Momoko says. "She's lying! Don't believe a single word of it, Iroha-chan!"

"S-sorry…" Iroha says.

Mitama giggles.

"Still, I do understand what you're saying," Momoko says.

"Besides, it would be impossible for me to remember everything I've seen, wouldn't it?" Mitama says. "If I kept everyone's life stories in my head, it'd pop like an old tire."

"That's true," Iroha says.

Suddenly Iroha's phone rings, and she pulls it out to check who it is.

"Huh? Kaede-chan?"

She answers it.

"Iroha-chan!" Kaede says. "I'm so glad I caught you!"

"What's wrong?" Iroha asks.

"Um, I heard something!" Kaede says. "Something about the Memory Museum! There was this thing… it, um, was kinda like a familiar!"

"Like a familiar…" Iroha says. "Really!?"

"Yeah, I'm with Rena-chan in an arcade in Sakae Ward right now," Kaede says. "We just saw it!"

"What did it say?" Iroha asks. "Can you tell me about it?"

"Um, it vanished right away," Kaede says. "But it might still be somewhere around here! I'll send you our location!"

"In Sakae Ward…" Iroha says. "Thanks a lot, Kaede-chan!" She hangs up. "Momoko-chan, Miss Mitama… sorry, I have to go!"

"Huh? W-where!?" Momoko asks.

"Sakae Ward! Kaede-chan said she heard something there! A rumour about the Memory Museum!"

Iroha hurries out and catches a train into Sakae Ward. She checks her phone regularly, looking around.

"I'm sure the arcade is somewhere around here," she mutters. "According to the map on my phone…"

Mokyu makes one of its cute noises.

"Huh? North?" Iroha says. "Oh… this way."

She finds the arcade and heads inside, calling out to Kaede and Rena before she even gets a good look around.

"Kaede-chan, Rena-chan!"

"Over here, Iroha-chan!"

She spots Kaede and Rena by one of the idol game booths.

"Is this where you saw the familiar?" Iroha asks.

"Was it even a familiar?" Rena asks. "The magic I felt seemed different. It didn't even have a labyrinth, either…"

"All I know is that it's spreading rumours," Iroha says.

"Hmm," Rena says. "Maybe we saw a rumour that was spreading rumours on its own."

"This couldn't get any more confusing," Kaede says.

"You're right," Rena says. "Anyway, none of that matters now."

"Yeah," Iroha says. "First we need to figure out what the rumour actually is."

"There's tons of young people here," Kaede notes. "It's the perfect place to spread rumours."

"I think so too," Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo said she saw one by the school gates one time…"

Rena gasps and points. "Hey, isn't that it!?" she says. "Over there!"

Sure enough, there's a rumour spreader speaking with a couple of Sakae General School students.

"Let's try to sneak over to it," Iroha says.

They shuffle closer until they can hear what it's saying. As expected, it's repeating the rumour of the Memory Museum on a loop. After repeating it twice over, it suddenly disappears.

"Oh, it vanished," Kaede says.

"It's probably off to find more people to tell the rumour to," Iroha says. "But thank goodness… I didn't know what we'd do if we didn't find it in time…"

"Are you really gonna go, Iroha?" Rena asks. "To that lecture thing?"

"I am," Iroha says. "I want to know everything about our opponents before we fight again."

"I think you should approach this all a little more cautiously," Rena says.

"Yeah, maybe," Iroha says. "But I've been thinking, it's kinda like at school…"

"Like… at school…?" Rena says.

"Yeah," Iroha says. "People judge others by their appearance all the time. Then they spread their opinion about them to everyone else. The person being judged ends up being labelled completely unfairly. I think they must get really frustrated and sad."

"I get what you're saying," Rena says. "But we're dealing with some crazy magical girls, y'know."

"Um, Rena-chan, why don't we go too?" Kaede suggests.

"Huh!?" Rena says. "Did you even hear a word I just said!? What, did you drop your eardrums somewhere?"

"I did not!" Kaede protests. "I heard you! It's just, we have no clue what Iroha-chan might run into there…"

"I guess if she is gonna go, it's better to have more people," Rena admits. "Still, we can't go tomorrow."

"Huh?" Kaede says. "Why not?"

"We just got that email from Momoko, remember?" Rena says.

"Oh right!" Kaede says. "There's something she wants to tell us tomorrow…"

"Yeah, so…" Rena says.

"I'm just happy that you'd come if you could," Iroha says. "Thanks for worrying about me. Tsuruno-chan and the others will be there with me, so don't worry."

"Okay," Kaede says. "But be careful, Iroha-chan."

"I'm going to go tell the others," Iroha says. "See you later!"

"Yeah, see you, Iroha-chan!" Kaede says.

Iroha leaves the arcade, composing an email as she walks and sending it. Then she catches a train to Suitoku Station.

---

When I arrive at Fendt Hope, I find the lobby unusually deserted, so I check in with Inui telepathically.

«Hey Inui, is something up? Where is everyone?»

Her response comes back almost immediately.

«You're later than I expected, Ashley! There's nothing strange going on. You just happened to return during the daily training exercise – a lot of girls are probably in the training field out back with the Instructor.»

«But you're not, I take it.»

«Nope! The instructor already gave me a gold star, so apparently I don't need to train anymore.»

At that moment, someone steps in behind me.

"Good afternoon," she says.

I spin to face her, a black feather.

"W-whoa! You startled me!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" she says.

"No, it's fine…"

It's Yuki Maria… she smiles at me.

"You know, sometimes I stop by here just for the food," she says. "It's pretty good, don't you think?"

"I haven't had much of a chance to eat it, but… yes, I would agree," I say. "Is that really the only reason you're here today?"

"I've been on standby ever since the rumour I was guarding was destroyed by Miss Izumi," she says. "So other than periodically checking in with Miss Mifuyu, I don't have much to do around here right now."

"She doesn't have another rumour for you to guard?"

"Apparently she's still working out which ones are most worth guarding. Would you like to join me in the cafeteria, Miss Taylor?"

"Well… sure, why not," I agree.

«Inui, I'm heading for the cafeteria, if you want to join me,» I say.

«That's not a bad idea,» she replies. «Sure, I'll come.»

We meet up with her at the cafeteria entrance and step inside. There aren't very many people in here, either – besides the magical girls on duty, I see only three others eating together off in a corner.

"It's usually less crowded at this time of day," Inui says. "This isn't the first time I've eaten early just to avoid the crowds."

"Really? I didn't think you were that crowd-averse," I say.

Inui shrugs. "I don't really have a problem with crowds, but it's always nicer not to have to deal with them."

"You two seem pretty close," Maria notes.

"Of course we are," Inui says. "After all, she saved me when I was about to turn into a witch."

Once we've ordered food and found a table, I resume watching Iroha as she heads for Banbanzai.

---

Iroha enters Banbanzai, where she finds Sana, Tsuruno, and Felicia already there. The restaurant is packed, so Tsuruno and Felicia are busy running back and forth carrying water, food, and dirty dishes. Sana is sitting at a small table in the corner, and she waves as Iroha enters.

"Miss Iroha!" Sana says. "So this is a totally new rumour?"

"Yes," Iroha says. "When Miss Yachiyo was investigating an unfamiliar rumour, she saw one too… a strange familiar-like creature that was spreading the rumour around. I've also seen one before. So if it's still in that 'spreading stage', it must be a fairly new rumour."

"I see," Sana says.

"Now we just have to figure out where it is," Iroha says.

"And we only have until tomorrow," Sana says.

"I'm worried about it too," Iroha says. "But we have to do whatever we can to find it."

"Tsuruno!" Mr Yui pipes up. "Order for table three!"

"Got it!" Tsuruno says.

She hops over, seizing the plates with the grace of a dancer and sliding over towards the table in question.

"It's kinda fun watching Tsuruno-chan and Felicia-chan work, isn't it?" Iroha says.

"It is," Sana agrees.

"Felicia!" a man at a nearby table calls, accompanied by his wife and a boy and girl probably of elementary school age. "I'll have another beer!"

"Okay!" Felicia says. "Mr Yui, a beer, and two orange juices!"

"Orange juice?" the man says. "I didn't ask for that!"

"If you're getting a beer, your kids deserve something too, right?" Felicia says.

"Woohoo!" the boy says.

"Thank you, Daddy!" the girl says.

"Oops," he says. "I should probably think ahead before I order, shouldn't I?"

Felicia giggles and heads over to fetch the drinks, passing by Tsuruno on the way.

"Here's your hot towelette!" Tsuruno says, handing the towel to the man's wife. "And you wanted a plastic fork, right?"

"Thanks for everything, Tsuruno-chan," the woman says.

"It's less to clean up, plus it'll be safer for your little ones!" Tsuruno says.

While Tsuruno and Felicia were dealing with that table, at least two other tables have emptied out and paid their bill at the front counter.

"Okay!" Mr Yui says. "You girls can take your break now! Iroha-chan is already talking to herself over there."

Iroha gasps. "Oh, right, no-one else can see you…"

"I'm r-really sorry!" Sana says. "I know it makes you look crazy…"

"It's not a big deal, don't worry," Iroha says.

"So what's up?" Tsuruno asks. "Did you learn anything?"

"We figured out the rumour of the Memory Museun," Iroha says. "Kaede-chan spotted it spreading in Sakae Ward."

She recites what she heard from the rumour spreader.

"However, we still don't know the location of this Memory Museum," Iroha concludes.

"Huh, the Memory Museum's location," Tsuruno muses.

"How about we just hit up all the museums in Kamihama really late at night?" Felicia suggests.

"That feels kind of… haphazard," Iroha says.

"Oh!" Tsuruno says. "Felicia, you might be right!"

"For real!?" Felicia gasps.

"For real!" Tsuruno says.

"Did something she say tip you off to something?" Sana asks.

"Well, the Séance Shrine turned out to really be Mizuna Shrine, right?" Tsuruno says. "So I thought, maybe, the Memory Museum is a real museum as well."

"I understand that part," Iroha says. "But…"

"If we think about what kinds of things are in the museum, we'll have our answer!" Tsuruno says.

"That's some great thinking, Tsuruno-chan!" Iroha gasps.

"Yep, yep!" Tsuruno says. "There's more where that came from!"

"Wow, that's a blast from the past, Tsuruno," Mr Yui says, coming up to their table.

"Huh?" Tsuruno says. "You know something about it, Dad?"

"Well, yeah," Mr Yui says. "You're talking about the Memorial Museum, right? Before I took over the shop, I had a bunch of part-time jobs… I spent a lot of time in that old museum. I'd go there and learn about history. Sometimes I'd watch films there, too. That place is full of memories for me…"

He chuckles, and Tsuruno blinks at him.

"You've never told me that before," she says. "I didn't know you were into stuff like that…" Suddenly she gasps. "Wait, wait, wait! Where is this place!?"

"Where is it?" Mr Yui says. "Oh, that place was shut down long ago. Only the building is left there now."

"Wait, it's gone?" Tsuruno says.

"But 'memory' and 'memorial'," Iroha says. "It's too similar to be a coincidence, right?"

"Not just that," Sana adds. "An abandoned building is the perfect place for a rumour…"

"Hey, old man, you rule!" Felicia says. "You worked everything out for us!"

"Don't know how I did, but I'm glad to help," Mr Yui says.

At that moment his attention is drawn away by one of the customers, and he leaves the girls alone.

"So, it really did exist," Tsuruno says. "Check this out. I looked up the museum online."

Iroha looks at Tsuruno's phone screen.

"The Kamihama Memorial Museum," Iroha says. "It's the perfect place for the Wings of the Magius, tucked away where no-one can see…"

"This has gotta be the place!" Felicia exclaims. "We gotta go!"

"Hmm, I can't guarantee anything," Tsuruno says. "But it seems to check all the boxes. You know what this means. Yui Tsuruno, the mightiest magical girl, now has the mightiest luck to match!"

"Uh, no," Felicia says. "That was just a coincidence your old man knew all that stuff!"

"A lucky coincidence!" Tsuruno says. "After all, luck is my unique magic… didn't I ever mention that?"

"A-anyway, about tomorrow," Sana says. "Are we really going to go there?"

"Yes," Iroha says. "Let's see what Miss Yachiyo thinks about it, too."

---

The meal finished, with Inui and Maria doing most of the talking since I was distracted by my vision, we leave the cafeteria. Maria goes her own way with a wave, and Inui turns to me.

"So, what should we do now?" she asks.

"Hmm… I'm a bit low on grief seeds," I say. "Want to go hunting?"

"Sure," she says. "Just the two of us?"

"I could bring the others along if they're around," I say.

"Tamu-chan and her friends went home for the weekend," Inui says. "I said I'd take over her rumour-watch shift tomorrow, with Tomo-chan, and she'll take our shift on Wednesday to make up for it. They said they'd be back on Sunday, though, so Hika-chi is still taking her Sunday shift. And I think Tomo-chan and Chiyo-tan went out somewhere together. I haven't seen Kiika-tan yet today."

"Oh, that's kinda unfortunate," I say. "That means we don't have enough people… just the two of us, plus Kirika, Chiyoko-chan, and Tomomi-chan… hmm… and your swap may never have a chance to be realized. There's a high chance that the rumour we're guarding will be destroyed as soon as Sunday."

"Oh… well, I guess she just lucks out, then," Inui says. "If you think it'll be destroyed on Sunday, should we do something about it?"

I nod. "Let's call in everyone. Could I ask you and Tomomi-chan to cover tomorrow's afternoon shift as well? I'll take the morning shift by myself. Then on Sunday we'll bring in everyone."

"I'm not sure about Tomo-chan, but I can certainly take the extra shift," Inui says. "Not that I want to, though…"

"Well, I suppose we could also just skip tomorrow's shifts entirely," I muse. "Miss Nanami will certainly be too busy tomorrow to even think about destroying a rumour… though I can't be completely certain that Miss Izumi wouldn't try something."

"Well, why not, then?" Inui says. "I can tell everyone that we have tomorrow off but everyone's expected to be there on Sunday. How does that sound? Maybe we can spend the day with Karin-chan or Rui-chan or Rii-chan."

"Fine… let's do that, then," I say. "For Sunday, ask them to show up as soon as possible in the morning. It's fine if Miss Tamura and her friends come later since they're visiting family, but I'm not sure when in the day the rumour will be attacked, so we should all be there all day. I'm actually not totally sure it'll be Sunday at all, mind you. It's just a guess based on what I know the things that are set to happen tomorrow."

Once Inui has sent the message, we head out and search for some witches, but for some reason, we keep running into familiars of the Witch of Symbols. There are quite a few of them around the base today, including many of the more advanced chair-like forms. As a result, it's quite some time before we manage to obtain even a single grief seed. Eventually, though, we find a Gertrud and a Theresa in quick succession, after which we purify our soul gems and sit down on a bench to rest a bit.

---

Evening. Iroha and the others have returned to Crescent Moon Villa at some point and appear to be discussing the situation with Yachiyo. Tsuruno isn't present – presumably she stayed home at Banbanzai.

"I see," Yachiyo says. "So you've narrowed it down…"

"Yeah, we did!" Iroha says. "Miss Mifuyu told us to come at three o'clock tomorrow. I thought we could make the trip together."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Yachiyo says.

"W-why not?" Iroha asks.

"You have no idea how much of what she said is true," Yachiyo says. "You're putting yourselves at risk."

"But it's an opportunity to learn more about the Wings of the Magius," Iroha says.

"They could just be saying they want to talk, but are planning something different," Yachiyo says. "We've been a thorn in their sides. We have no idea how they might attempt to pay us back for all the trouble. Besides, they told you about a rumour that you were able to find in just one day. It's suspicious."

"There's no way for us to get anywhere without more information, though," Iroha says.

"And while the rumour might be a trap, it might be nice too… like Ai-chan," Sana adds.

Yachiyo sighs. "If you're that convinced, then fine," she says.

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha says.

"Go without me," Yachiyo says.

"What!?"

"Aw, c'mon!" Felicia says. "What is it now? You've been in a bad mood since yesterday! It'll help us find Iroha's little sis, so what's the big problem? Unless you don't care about that or something… is that what's up?"

"No," Yachiyo says.

"Then you should come and help us out!" Felicia says.

"I don't want to," Yachiyo says.

"Miss Yachiyo…" Iroha says.

"I'm going back to my room," Yachiyo says. "Don't forget to lock the door behind you."

She turns to leave the room.

"Hey!" Felicia says. "Wait a sec!"

"What…?"

"Aren't you going to dry my hair for me?"

"Take care of it yourself…"

"Miss Yachiyo, what's really going on?" Iroha asks. "If something bad happened, you can talk to us about it… we are, um, friends after all…"

Yachiyo gasps. "How many times do I need to say it?" she says. "We only work together. That's it. There's nothing more I need to say. Good night."

With that, she leaves the room.

"She's acting just like she did when I first met her," Iroha muses.

"Argh! Grrr!" Felicia shouts, grabbing the hairdryer and raising it over her head as if to throw it. "This pisses me off!"

"Hey now, Felicia-chan!" Iroha gasps. "Don't throw the hairdryer!"

She grabs the hairdryer from Felicia before she can throw it, struggling a little to wrest it from her grasp. Once she's got it safely away, Felicia plops down on a couch, panting a little.

"Everything feels… so tense," Sana murmurs.

"Yeah, it's awful," Iroha agrees.

With a sigh, she switches on the hairdryer and begins to dry Felicia's hair for her.

---

"Should we head back, or see if we can collect a few more?" Inui asks. "We did get one each, at least…"

I check our location on my phone.

"We got pretty far from the base with all the egg and chair familiars," I say. "I think we should just head back… but if we run into a witch on the way back, we can take it out."

"Sure," Inui says.

As we make our way back to the base, a light rain springs up, and we summon our feather robes for some limited protection against the rain. No witch appears on the way back, so we simply head up to our room and get ready for bed.

When we wake up the next morning, we find the rain hasn't let up at all. Because of that, I decide to put on jeans instead of a skirt – I'd brought a couple pairs along just for this kind of situation. Inui looks enviously at me as I pull them on.

"I should get some of those," she muses.

"Hm? Do you really not have any pants?" I ask.

"I have some, but they're like, track pants and pyjamas and stuff like that," Inui says. "Not really suitable for going out on the town, you know?"

"I guess so," I see. "I mean, you can totally wear track pants in town though…"

"If you're only going to the convenience store or something like that, maybe," Inui says. "But not for going anywhere nice like movies, concerts, a museum, that sort of thing. Well, maybe it would be fine for a movie, those are a bit more casual…"

"So what'll you wear instead then?" I ask.

Inui digs out a green pleated skirt from somewhere. It's almost twice as long as anything I've ever seen her wear before.

"I'll have to make do with this," she says. "And probably tights underneath…"

She does just that, then adds a matching shirt and spins to face me.

"So, what do you think, Ashley?" she asks.

The skirt falls a few inches past her knee, not even close to the ankle.

"Seems good to me," I say. "But this rain… it's really coming down…"

In fact, it's become a veritable torrential downpour overnight. For some reason, the rain makes me think of the landslide in Yukuni that spelled disaster for what would become the Folklore of Zero. There's no reason to assume that rain in Kamihama indicates rain in Yukuni, but maybe I should scry on Asahi again just in case.

Before I have a chance though, Inui grabs my arm.

"I'm sure you've got lots of interesting things to watch with that magic of yours," she says. "But let's at least eat breakfast first, okay?"

"Oh… sure," I say.

We head for the cafeteria and grab some breakfast. The cafeteria is even more crowed than usual, likely because of the rain – girls who might have normally gone out to eat were eating in the cafeteria in order to stay dry.

While we're eating, I get an email from Karin.

[Ashley-chan! Apparently Alina-sempai has an exhibition at the museum this weekend… want to go see it with me?]

Inui peers over my shoulder.

"Oh, that could be interesting," she says.

"I don't really like Alina's art, personally," I say. "But it can't hurt to go, sure. Shall I agree?"

Inui nods. "Let's do it."

I send a reply. [Sure, when and where should we meet up?]

Her reply comes almost immediately. [Around noon would be good. We can eat lunch while we're there.]

I send a reply. [Then I'll see you at noon at… the Museum of Modern Art, I assume?]

[That's right! See you there!]

"Noon, huh," Inui says. "That means we've got a few hours before we go… should we just laze around in our room? I don't really feel like going out in the rain for no good reason…"

"Do you dislike the rain, Inui?" I ask.

"I don't hate it," Inui says. "But I don't really like it either."

"I don't really mind it myself," I say. "I'd prefer a light rain to a scorching summer day anytime… though this kind of rain isn't great, I'll admit."

So once we've finished eating, we head up to our room. Inui grabs a manga and starts reading it, while I start scrying.

---

April twenty-third. Miura Asahi leaves her house in a village in the hills just outside Yukuni and heads towards the town. There's a light rain, but she doesn't seem bothered by it, though she is wearing a coat. She arrives at a park on the outskirts of town a few minutes later and spots three other people, who she waves to. One is Alexandra Cruise, and another is a red-haired pig-tailed girl who must be Himuro Lavi. The third person is a man with messy brown hair. That must be Touka's uncle, Satomi Tasuke. Alexandra and Tasuke both have umbrellas. Lavi does not, making do with a wide-brimmed hat.

"So, the time has finally come," Alexandra says. "We'll finally have peace between ourselves and the citizens of Yukuni…"

"So we're holding the ceremony up at the lookout point, right?" Asahi says.

"Yes, that's right," Lavi says.

"Holding it away from the city is good, to avoid witches," Tasuke says.

"And Night Fun Homeroom will be covering it," Alexandra says. "It's only natural, since they've been the ones on the topic from the start. Apparently they even got the attention of some TV stations. They also sponsored the bus that's taking the choir club and the protectors to the location."

"And we invited you, Mr Tasuke, because of your expertise on the topic," Lavi says.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll walk there myself," Tasuke says. "This is a deeply emotional moment for me, so I want to let the joy sink in on my way up."

"If that's the case, why'd you ask us all to meet here first?" Lavi asks.

"Well, to tell the truth… until now, I'd actually given up on the idea of trying to save magical girls," Tasuke says. "I wanted to explain to you why I'd given up."

"You'd… given up?" Lavi says. "I don't understand…"

"One of the things that has always bothered me about magical girls is how they haven't been revealed to the populace before now," Tasuke explains. "This is actually the second time I tried experimenting with revealing their existence. I tried to publish a book on them, but I couldn't find a publisher."

"I'm sure the publishers just thought you were a crackpot or something," Asahi says.

"No, that's not it," Tasuke says. "First I tried the publisher who accepted my previous book on the hidden village of the Tokime. I figured that after accepting one manuscript, they'd be open to publishing another… the first one may not have sold well, but the sales did manage to cover production costs. I spoke to them over the phone and they seemed interested, but when I sent in the manuscript, they never received it. It was like it got lost in the mail. I even re-sent it twice."

"I suppose that is a little strange," Alexandra says. "But how does that lead to you giving up…?"

"Well… I tried several other publishers too," Tasuke says. "I even tried publishers better known for publishing works of fiction… not all of them expressed interest in correspondence, but I sent the manuscript to everyone that did, and none of them received it. So at that point I started to wonder if there was some force at work, making sure the manuscript would never be published."

Lavi nods. "I guess I can see how you'd come to that conclusion," she says.

"Ultimately I came to the conclusion that the reason magical girls remain unknown is the 'universe' itself," Tasuke says.

Lavi blinks. "Well, that's a sudden leap in logic…"

"Well, it's not like I drew conclusion out of nowhere," Tasuke says. "I've thought long and hard on it. The hypothesis I came up with is as follows. You see, when magical girls turn into witches, they generate energy that maintains the universe. Kyuubey makes contracts with girls in order to collect said energy."

"When you put it that way, it's almost like we're food for the universe," Asahi muses.

"The human body is made up of cells that all work together, each one performing a particular function," Tasuke says. "What if the universe is like that too? Kyuubey, humans, magical girls… they are all like cells of the universal body. And magical girls have one of the most important roles, creating energy the universe needs to stay alive. Sort of like mitochondria in human cells."

"So maybe it's more like we make food rather than being food?" Asahi asks.

"Well, even though magical girls are essential," Tasuke says. "Doesn't witching out and losing that production sound more like a disease that makes the universe miss out?"

"This isn't really relevant," Alexandra muses. "But I've heard of diseases that weaken mitochondria to the point they can no longer function…"

"Continuing the analogy," Tasuke says. "If you accept everything so far, what would it mean to save magical girls? It's like rebelling against the universe… almost like a 'cancer' to the universe."

"We're known only to myth and legend throughout history," Lavi muses. "Do you think that's because we're not good for the universe?"

"Well, from what I can tell," Tasuke says. "I have found evidence that efforts have been made in the past to publicize magical girls. Just in Japan I was able to count at least seventeen attempts in the last two hundred years. Some of them are less clear than others, and I'm not fully confident that I've correctly interpreted all the evidence, but if there were that many attempts just in Japan in such a short timespan, then think of how common it must be across the world, across all of history. And yet, every time, it seemed like a mysterious force seemed to distort things, like a trick played by the gods. If you go back to my analogy… perhaps the universe itself has an immune system, a self-purifying system that attacks magical girls, without their knowledge. I surmised that this force creates unnatural situations where incidents occur affecting magical girls in silence, where it feels like they're being targeted by something unseen."

"Hold on a second," Lavi says. "There was no such interference this time, right?"

"That's why I'm getting so worked up and emotional about this," Tasuke says. "It looks like I've managed to disprove my hypothesis. That's why I wanted to meet today, to share this joy with you. I know so many girls have lost their lives, but to have my resignation denied… it's shown me that magical girls can still be saved. So, thank you all, for giving me hope again."

"And thank you for all your support," Alexandra says.

"Yes, thank you very much," Asahi says.

"Thank you," Lavi says. "I see what you mean. Finally, the nightmare has ended. However… with so much blood spilled, I don't know if I should be happy…"

"Alright, we should get going," Alexandra says. "By now, everyone in the choir club should be on board the bus."

"We should still be able to get there before them," Asahi says. "Let's go. I'll lead the way."

The three girls leave Tasuke behind and head along the outskirts of town for a few minutes before turning and plunging into the woods. After racing through the woods for a bit, they reach a steep grassy hillside with a few trees and start to climb it, using the trees like platforms to avoid slipping. Finally, they emerge onto a road at the top of the hill and follow it further up until they reach a large open area, the parking lot for the scenic viewpoint. There are several people already there, a group of boys and girls wearing at least two different school uniforms. As they arrive at the peak, the clouds part and the sun shines through. It looks like the rain has stopped, too.

One of the boys steps forward to greet them.

"Miss Miura… why did you choose this place for the… the… ceremony?" he asks.

"Kuroda… that's because witches are unlikely to show up in places with small populations," Asahi explains. "The crew of Night Fun Homeroom is coming to help, too. I'm sorry if it's been too much effort for everyone though."

"No… I wanted to arrange it myself, to apologize," Kuroda says.

"I'm sorry too," Asahi says. "All this started because I couldn't protect Miss Haitani or anyone else…"

"I-I know it's impossible to be perfect all the time," Kuroda mutters. "I'm just glad… that you can… support this town…"

They discuss the situation for a bit, some people mentioning things they'd witnessed in Yukuni related to magical girls and witches. Eventually though, Asahi gasps and turns towards the mountain's peak.

"A… a witch!?" she gasps. "Up this mountain… at this time of day!? It's even the same one that caused the explosion at the festival… the same one that taught us our fate…"

"It's like the one who started all this is coming back for us," Lavi notes.

"To bring things to an end, as one might say," Asahi says.

"W-will things be okay?" Kuroda asks.

"Well, a witch that's lived this long could be a dangerous opponent," Asahi says. "But there's three of us, so I'm sure we'll return safe and sound."

"Indeed," Lavi says. "We are not playthings of the universe's volition."

As the three girls transform and head towards the witch, I adjust the focus of my vision to stop tracking Asahi and instead focus on the location. This is actually a little more difficult, for some reason. For a moment, the vision latches onto Kuroda as a focal point instead, but I tear it free of him and shift the vision back down the road, back the way the three girls had arrived from. With luck, I'm thinking I may be able to capture the moment the bus goes over the edge. Knowing how the disaster occurs could help me think of a way to prevent it… if I turn back time again, that is.

The vision slides further and further downhill, but I don't see any part of the road that looks like it's in danger of giving way. Finally, I spot a bus making its way up, and attach the vision to it to track its progress. I watch it wend its way upward until it reaches the point where the magical girls had joined the road, that steep slope they'd climbed up. Then, suddenly, the vision cuts off on its own.

---

For a split second, I feel like my vision is filled with static. I sit up, rubbing my eyes, and try to bring back the vision, but my magic won't connect.

"What's wrong?" Inui asks, concern in her voice. "Your magic suddenly snapped."

"What do you mean by 'snapped'?" I ask.

"Well, it reminded me of Miss Shion," Inui says. "When she cancelled Kagari-chan's magic, it felt similar."

"Hmm… so extrapolating from that," I muse. "Someone else may have forcibly terminated the vision…?"

At this point I manage to reopen a vision on that location, but it's already too late. The road has been torn away, and the bus lies at the base of the hill, windshield facing the ground, smoke rising from it. Even as I watch, it suddenly bursts into flame. Just seconds later, an explosion jars it from where it was lodged, sending it careening upside down into the woods. The wet trees seem to resist catching fire, but the bus itself is now burning even more fiercely than before.

"But I don't get it," I say. "Why would someone want to terminate my vision at that exact moment?"

"What did you see?" Inui asks.

"Well, I was watching a bus driving uphill," I say. "The road was narrow but seemed safe, although there was a steep drop on one side. When it cut out, everything seemed fine, but at some point while I couldn't see, a chunk of the road was taken out and the bus went off the cliff."

"O-oh no!" Inui gasps. "Did… did anyone survive…?"

"I… I don't think so," I say. "It's hard to say for sure, but I'm not seeing any movement…"

"Well, if someone intentionally interrupted your vision at that exact moment," Inui says. "Then there can be only one reason, right?"

"Well… I can't think of more than one either," I say. "But that still doesn't make sense…"

"You can't think of a reason why someone would want to kill the people on that bus?" Inui asks.

"Right… that's exactly it," I say. "They weren't anyone all that important or special, if you get my drift. Pretty much just a bunch of schoolchildren…"

"I'd say that's pretty important," Inui says.

"I know what you mean, but my point is, they weren't the sort of people that you might expect someone to have a grudge against," I say. "Who would want to kill a busful of kids?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean too," Inui says. "But what else could it be? Say… did you see any smoke at the damaged section of the road?"

I scan the area in question, but there's no sign of smoke.

"No, nothing," I say.

"It might be too late by now, though," Inui says.

"What are you thinking?" I ask.

"Well, you said the road didn't look dangerous, so I thought… explosives," Inui says.

"Rather than a landslide caused by the rain, someone blew away the road on purpose, you mean," I say. "It seems to fit what I saw, but I'm still confused as to the motive…"

"I have no idea what that could be either," Inui says. "I'm sorry…"

"No, it's nothing to apologize for," I say.

I consider whether I should keep the vision open to see what happens next, but… after some thought I decide there's little point. All that's left is to watch those three magical girls mourn the death of their friends. There's nothing I can do for them now, unless I go back in time again, and seeing how they process their grief isn't going to help me even if I do go back. Besides, I know the gist of what's going to happen. Tasuke will conclude that his hypothesis was right after all. If it's like past timelines, those three will decide all magical girls have to die and head to Asunaro to start putting that plan into action… but this timeline contains the Magius, so they're likely going to end up heading for Kamihama instead, and hopefully they won't be quite so quick to start killing people.

"Well, I'm conflicted now," I say. "I've been hoping that I can make things work this time so I don't have to go back in time again, but… after this, I also want to see that event with my own eyes. Perhaps there'll be something I can discover in person that I wouldn't be able to see through my visions…"

Inui nods. "If someone really blew the road on purpose, they won't be able to block your vision so easily if you're actually there, right? However… it could also be very dangerous. You have no idea what other things that person is capable of."

"Whoever it is, assuming we're right that there's a person involved, they've gotta be a magical girl, right?" I say.

"I'd say so too," Inui says. "Though I suppose there's a remote chance they're just using enchanted items of some kind…"

"In which case the perpetrator isn't a magical girl themselves," I muse. "That still implies they're backed by one, though… if only I could take Sana-chan with me…"

"Why's that?"

"If that person could sense that I was watching via clairvoyance, they could certainly also sense me if I went there in person," I say. "But Sana-chan could conceal our magical signatures… and if I asked Miss Hozumi to get us there with space fusion… maybe that could actually work…"

"Assuming you go back in time again," Inui says.

"Right… assuming that," I say. "Well… there's not much point thinking about this in much more detail, though. Let me just record it on my laptop quickly, and then we can head out to meet Karin-chan."

I extract my laptop from my bag and note down what I experienced in the document containing all my consolidated knowledge from the past few timelines.

"Alright," I say. "Let's go!"

Inui grabs an umbrella from the corner, and we don our robes and head downstairs. The rain is still drumming steadily down, though it's not quite as heavy as it was when we awoke. Perhaps there's a chance that it'll clear up by evening. Inui opens the umbrella, which is quite a big one, easily enough to fit the both of us.

"I think you'll have to hold it, though," Inui says. "Since you're taller…"

"Right, that makes sense," I say.

I take the umbrella from her, and we step out into the rain, heading for the train station. After a few minutes we get rid of our robes. Finally we arrive at the station and duck inside, closing the umbrella and shaking it off a little before making for the train.

The rain hasn't changed a bit by the time we reach our target station, so I open the umbrella up again as we step outside. It's a short walk to the museum, and Karin hails us as we approach. Apparently we just had good timing and managed to arrive at the same time as her. She wears a raincoat rather than using an umbrella, and I'm sure she's better off for it, as Inui and I are basically drenched below the knees. I'm glad I put on jeans instead of a skirt today, though. Inui's not so lucky – her skirt is drenched around the hem, though her tights seem to have escaped the worst simply by virtue of being sheltered by the skirt.

"You're sharing an umbrella?" Karin says. "I didn't realize you were that close…"

"What?" I say.

"Don't tell me you have no idea what it means to share an umbrella!" Karin says.

"Karin-chan, you didn't have to say it out loud!" Inui protests.

"Umm… no, actually I do know," I say. "Or rather, I remembered just now, since you brought it up… it's not really a thing in North America. But that's usually a boy and girl, isn't it?"

Karin shrugs. "Not always," she says. "So you weren't even thinking about that, huh…?"

"Well, I wasn't," I say. "I'm pretty sure Inui was just hoping I wouldn't notice…"

"Hey," Inui protests. "What's the matter with that? If you're okay with it…"

"I don't really care," I say. "If others get the wrong idea, that's on them. I'm not gonna hesitate to share an umbrella just because someone will get the wrong idea… the whole point is to stay dry, after all."

"Y-yeah, exactly," Inui sighs. "A-anyway, um… let's go inside!"

"Right!" Karin says. "That's what we came here for, after all!"

We head inside, and Karin removes her raincoat and hands it over to a man who's apparently in charge of a coat rack. He hands her a ticket, and we then proceed to the reception counter. I shake off the umbrella a bit, but hold onto it. I've heard umbrellas are one of the most commonly stolen items in Japan, and this is quite a nice one, so I don't want to be the reason Inui loses it. This time the receptionist is some woman I don't know – Mayu must not have a shift today.

"Um, where is Alina Gray's exhibition?" Karin asks.

"Ah, that's in the cafeteria," the woman says. "You don't need a general admission for it, but you'll need to buy lunch at the cafeteria."

"Huh? It's in the cafeteria?" Karin asks. "It's not in the exhibition hall?"

"That's correct," the woman says. "Here, there's a flier for it."

She extracts the flier in question and hands it to Karin, who opens it up.

"So we eat at the cafeteria," she muses. "Then dispose of our plates and stuff and head into the exhibition… and we'll each be given a piece of fake fur that we may place anywhere we like on the mannequin… huh, so it's interactive? That's unusual for Alina-sempai…"

"You didn't even have an inkling of what she was doing, Karin-chan?" Inui asks.

"Well, I knew she'd gathered a whole lot of fake fur," Karin says. "It kinda creeped me out at first… especially since one of them had a creepy fake deer head attached. And I also knew she was looking for a mannequin. But I had no idea how she planned to put those pieces together…"

"Well, we may as well go check it out, right?" I say.

"Yeah, let's go!" Karin says eagerly.

We head into the cafeteria. The mannequin is actually visible from the entrance, but it's facing away from us and at the far side of the cafeteria. There's a line of people snaking around the exhibit, and at the entrance side it looks like there's someone taking plastic plates and cutlery in exchange for a piece of fake fur.

"Hey," Inui says. "Isn't that Nemu-chi and Touka-chan?"

I look where she's pointing. Sure enough, Nemu and Touka are just entering the exhibit area. It doesn't seem likely we'll be able to catch up to them though, which is probably for the best.

"Huh? Someone you know?" Karin asks.

"Yeah, a little," I say. "So, what shall we eat…?"

"Hmm," Karin says. "The food here isn't the best, but there are some highlights… like the cheesecake, for example."

I scan the menu. The item she's referring to appears to be a New York style cheesecake with strawberry sauce.

"Anything else you recommend?" Inui asks. "Like, something not sweet?"

"Hmm… you usually can't go wrong with the soup," Karin says. "But it changes every day and sometimes it's a dud… like the tomato soup."

"How can tomato soup be bad?" Inui asks. "It's just… tomatoes…"

"I honestly don't know," Karin says. "Some strange spices or something."

"How about the nacho fries?" I suggest.

"They're okay, but they do have that fake liquid cheese on them," Karin says. "I know some people who can't stand the stuff, but if you can stomach the cheese, they're not bad."

"Oh look, they also have lasagna," Inui says. "Meat or veggie."

"They did something weird with the meat in the lasagna," Karin says. "It's awful. The veggie version should be fine though, as long as you don't mind shiitake mushrooms. I can't stand them myself."

"That'll do," Inui says. "I'd also like to try the cheesecake though."

"Any other good sweets, Karin-chan?" I ask.

"Avoid anything with whipped cream in it, like the chocolate éclair," Karin says. "I don't know how they got whipped cream wrong, but it tastes like plastic or something."

"Then the pies should be fine, right?" I say.

"They're like eating jam, but they're not bad or anything," Karin says.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they literally just poured jam into a pie crust and baked it," I say. "Oh, looks like we're up next… have you decided yet, Karin-chan?"

"Yes, I think so," she says.

"I've got mine worked out too," Inui says.

"Don't forget a drink," I say.

"Already ahead of you on that," Inui says.

We step forward to the counter and order. Inui and I both get the vegetable lasagna, while Karin gets the soup, which appears to have beans in it. Inui and Karin both decide to have a slice of cheesecake, but I decided to try a slice of haskap pie. I also order a cup of green tea for myself, and Karin of course asks for a strawberry milk. Inui gets a hot chocolate.

The tea is just bag tea, but I suppose it'll have to do. I add milk and sugar until I'm satisfied, and then we take our tray over to a free table. One of the staff is still cleaning it, but she finishes up quickly so we can sit down. The lasagna is actually pretty good.

Once we've both finished our lasagna, Inui shaves off the tip of her cheesecake, drags it through the pool of sauce on the plate, and holds out the fork to me. I blink at her in surprise.

"Wanna try it?" she asks.

"Oh… well… sure, why not," I say.

I open my mouth, and she thrusts the fork in.

"Oh, it is pretty good," I say.

Then she absconds with the tip of my pie.

"Huh, this is… interesting," she says. "I've never had anything quite like this before…"

"I can't believe you're feeding each other like it's nothing," Karin mutters. "It's a little embarrassing, so…"

"Oh… sorry, I wasn't thinking," I say. "Or I guess I was just going with the flow…"

"Aww, why'd you have to say that before I could convince Ashley to feed me too?" Inui complains.

"I think that was kinda the point," I say. "Wait, just how were you planning to try and convince me anyway…? I mean, you just went and took my pie on your own…"

"Oh… right!" Inui gasps. "I'd already missed my chance, huh…"

"Anyway!" Karin says. "Let's finish eating already so we can see Alina-sempai's exhibit!"

We do as she says. Once everything is gone, we head for the exhibit area. The trash cans are right by the entrance, after all. After disposing of the plastic plates in the trash, the man on duty hands each of us a small scrap of fake fur, and we join the line waiting to ascend onto the stage. They apparently only let one person on the stage at any given time, which makes the line move rather slowly. Eventually it's our turn, however. The scrap of fur we've been given appears to have little hooks on all sides, allowing it to be attached to the other furs already on the mannequin. I place mine in a random location on the front and move on, and Inui apparently does the same, but Karin seems to spend a bit more time deciding where to place hers and ends up deciding on the back somewhere. Once we're off the stage we end up in what seems to be the viewing area, where people are milling around discussing it. Alina is there too, standing off to one side and just watching the people milling about with a creepy grin on her face. It looks like Nemu and Touka have already left. At least, I can't see them anywhere.

"What do you think, Karin-chan?" Inui asks. "I don't really get it… it's just a mannequin covered in furs."

"I'm not sure either," Karin says. "Maybe she's trying to state how things are always changing…? What about you, Ashley-chan?"

"The environment," I muse.

"Huh?" Karin says.

"The fur is all chopped up… I wonder if that's supposed to refer to the destruction of the environment," I say. "Fur could represent animals, right?"

"Ohhh… it's Alina-sempai, so that does seem like the kind of thing she might do," Karin says. "Let's go talk to her!"

Karin hurries over to Alina, and Inui and I follow.

"Alina-sempai!" Karin calls.

Alina blinks at Karin's approach, the creepy smile fading from her face.

"Oh great, the idiot has arrived," she says. "Well, I might as well ask though. What do you think of it?"

"It's amazing!" Karin says. "I didn't expect it to be interactive though."

Alina blinks at me.

"And who might this be…?"

"I'm Ashley Taylor," I say. "You don't even remember me, do you?"

"I cannot deny there is a slight familiarity," Alina admits.

"Huh… have you two met?" Karin asks.

"In a manner of speaking," I say. "Wait, didn't I mention that before?"

"Oh… you might have," Karin says. "I don't remember…"

"Well, that matters not though," Alina says. "I, Alina, have no time to remember every little meeting. Now, if you would move along, and take that idiot with you…"

"It's not nice to call Karin-chan an idiot," I say, using the Japanese word instead of the English. "She's actually pretty smart, you know."

Karin blinks. "Huh? Wait, does idiot mean idiot!? I thought it was just her weird pet name for me, but all this time she's been insulting me? Alina-sempai! That's really mean, you know!"

"Ugh! You just had to go and tell her!" Alina grumbles.

"You didn't even think to look the word up, Karin-chan?" Inui asks.

"I didn't think it was even a word," Karin says. "I thought she made it up…"

"It's an English word," I say. "Which of course explains how I instantly knew what she meant."

"Enough!" Alina says. "I, Alina, do not have time for this! Move along, move along!"

"Fine, whatever," I say.

"We'll talk about this more later, Alina-sempai!" Karin promises.

We leave Alina alone and move out of the exhibition area.

"Well, I didn't really get the so-called 'art', but it was kinda fun," Inui says. "What shall we do now?"

"Want to go through again?" Karin asks.

"I think I've eaten quite enough, so I'll pass," I say. "But if you want to, Karin-chan, go right ahead."

"Well, I don't want to do it that badly," she says. "Maybe I'll come back tomorrow, though… how about you?"

"We've got something else to do tomorrow, sorry," I say.

"Well, I can come by myself then," Karin says. "If I feel like it…"

"Well, I'm okay with just lazing around for the rest of the afternoon, assuming the rain holds up," Inui says.

"Then why not come to my place?" Karin suggests.

"Oh, that's a good idea!" Inui says. "Let's go, let's go!"

"Sure, why not," I say.

Karin retrieves her raincoat and puts it back on, and we step back out into the rain, Inui and I under shelter of the umbrella. Karin leads the way to her house, which is just a few stops away by train, and we're introduced to her parents and grandmother.

"Nice to meet you!" Inui says.

"I'm just happy Karin has friends she'd want to bring home," Mrs Misono says.

"Mom, stop that!" Karin protests.

Once we're inside and settled down in Karin's room, I open a vision on Iroha. It seems we might be playing some games while here at Karin's place, but I should be able to focus on both at the same time.

---

April twenty-third. There's a knock on the front door, and then it swings open. Tsuruno steps inside, folding up an umbrella, but doesn't remove her shoes.

"Here I am!" Tsuruno says. "It's really pouring though, everyone got an umbrella?"

"Okay, let's get going!" Iroha says. "I've got one."

"Okay, I'm off too, then," Felicia says. "I have a raincoat, so I'm good."

"See you later, Miss Yachiyo," Sana says. "Oh, and may I borrow your umbrella?"

"Sure," Yachiyo says. "See you later."

"Huh? What about Yachiyo?" Tsuruno asks.

"I'm not going," Yachiyo says. "I'm not walking right into the enemy's hands like that. It's reckless and self-destructive. No thank you, I'll pass."

"What's bothering you, anyway?" Tsuruno asks. "I didn't really understand what Mifuyu said to you, but you're acting… really off."

"And how am I acting off, exactly?" Yachiyo asks.

"You told me something a long time ago," Tsuruno says. "Back when I was making a big deal about what great things I'd do someday… you said, 'Don't try to accomplish something big if you can't accomplish the small. Don't expect results when you aren't even protecting your allies.'"

"What's your point?" Yachiyo asks.

"If the shishou I know thought some place was really dangerous… she wouldn't let us go. Or, at the very least, she'd go with us. That's what's bothering me."

"You don't know me," Yachiyo says. "Get out of here."

Tsuruno sighs. "You've got some stuff going on, huh?"

"We have a location now," Iroha says, taking out her phone. "I'll send it to you, Miss Yachiyo. If you change your mind, let us know. We'll be there."

"Yes, alright," Yachiyo says.

As the door closes on the four girls, Yachiyo murmurs one more thing, barely audible.

"Take care of yourselves."

Sana sighs as they reach the street.

"Do you think we did something to upset her?"

"Do you think it's a bug, like ya said before?" Felicia asks. "Maybe we just gotta wait for it to buzz off?"

"Yes, maybe," Sana says.

"She cut corners with breakfast this morning, too," Felicia says. "She's giving us the cold shoulder."

"Sure she's older than all of us, but she's still a human being," Iroha says. "She worries about things just like we do. She's probably carrying more burdens than anyone."

"You're right," Tsuruno says. "That settles it. While Yachiyo's in that funk of hers, we'll just have to make our mission a big success. That'll cheer her up for sure!"

"You're right!" Iroha says.

"Uh, now, which way to the museum…" Tsuruno says, checking her phone.

But Iroha already has her phone out due to sending Yachiyo the location, and is apparently faster at checking the direction too.

"This way!" Iroha says, pointing.

"Iroha-chan, you're so good at using your phone now!" Tsuruno says.

"It's because I've had so many chances to use it since I've been hanging out with everyone so much," Iroha says, beaming.

A few minutes later, they find their way to the Kamihama Memorial Museum, the same place where Mami met Mifuyu and Shizuku learned the truth. They step into the shelter of the building's main entrance hall. Those with umbrellas fold them up and lean them against a wall, while Felicia sheds her raincoat and drops it on the ground.

"This must be it," Iroha says. "The Kamihama Memorial Museum."

"Man, this place is a dump," Felicia says.

"Oh, ew, there's spiderwebs everywhere!" Sana squeals.

"A-are you okay?" Iroha asks.

"I'm fine… sorry," Sana says.

"Looks like they just left it as it was instead of knocking it down," Tsuruno says.

"Is this really the place?" Felicia asks. Suddenly she gasps. "Oh! It is!"

"I just sensed some magic too," Iroha says.

They start to ascend the stairs while they discuss the identity of the magical presence.

"It doesn't feel like a magical girl," Sana says. "It's almost similar to Ai-chan's presence… it must be a rumour!"

"Still," Iroha says. "I don't sense Miss Mifuyu anywhere… whose magic is this!?"

Mokyu makes one of its cute noises, but Iroha shakes her head.

"No, it doesn't feel like Alina's magic either," she says.

"Yeah, it's not Alina," Sana agrees.

"It's not those flute freaks either!" Felicia says.

"So who's holding the lecture?" Iroha wonders. "No way…"

Mokyu makes one of its cute noises.

"Yes, it must be another Magius," Iroha says.

"Bingo!"

They've reached the top of the stairs, and the voice comes from a nearby room with the door left open. Within that room is a single red throne-like chair upon which Touka is sitting in casual clothes, hands folded in her lap, watching them approach with a smile on her face. There's a light in the room too, a standing lamp a short distance away from the chair.

"Correct!" she says. "You figured it out! I'm amazed you managed to get here in time." She giggles. "Well, I guess that means it's worth holding this lecture after all."

"No, this has to be a joke," Iroha says, staring at her. "Touka-chan…"

"So you really do know me," Touka says. "Nice to meet you, Tamaki Iroha. My name is Satomi Touka. I'm one of the Magius."

"Nice to meet you!?" Iroha gasps. "Touka-chan, it's me, Tamaki Iroha! Don't you remember me?"

"Miss Iroha," Sana says. "She's…"

"Yeah," Iroha says.

"Isn't she one of your sister's friends?" Felicia says. "Like that Nemu girl you were looking for?"

"Yes, she is," Iroha says.

"Wow," Tsuruno says. "Of all things, she's one of the Magius?"

"I can't believe it," Iroha says.

"Iroha-chan…" Tsuruno says.

Touka giggles. "So you really have been looking for me all this time. I did hear that you were looking for Nemu, too. I'm still a little surprised!"

"Touka-chan… you really don't remember?" Iroha asks. "What about Ui? You were in the hospital together, right?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about to begin with," Touka says. "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Huh?"

"Okay then, I'll say it again," Touka says. "Nice to meet you."

She pauses to give the meaning of those words a chance to sink in, but then continues speaking.

"I was admitted to the hospital with Nemu, that much is true," she says. "But I've never heard of Tamaki Ui, or you either I'm afraid. There's not a trace of you in my hippocampus nor my cerebral neocortex. Sorry."

"No," Iroha says. "Then what are my memories…?"

"It's quite possible that you're the only one with those memories right now," Touka says. "Though I don't know about Nemu."

"Nemu-chan… what's she doing now?" Iroha asks.

"Who knows?" Touka says. "I don't keep track of her or anything. She does her own thing and I do mine."

"Oh, I see," Iroha says.

"Anyway, to put it simply, I don't remember anything the way you remember it," Touka says. "So don't think of me as the Satomi Touka that you know. I'm Satomi Touka, the Magius. Please treat me as such."

"I never expected to learn something like this by coming to this lecture," Iroha says.

"I'm entirely blameless in this matter," Touka says. "Pull yourself together, Tamaki Iroha. It's almost time for the lecture to start! I've prepared two different methods to teach you the material."

She snaps her fingers, and another light comes on, shining down upon a nearby table and chairs which is set up for a tea party, with a pot of tea, two two-tiered trays of food including both sandwiches and sweets, and even a vase of blue flowers. There are six chairs and place settings.

"Whoa, what the hell's this!?" Felicia gasps.

"Take it as a token of my peaceful intentions," Touka says. "Let's enjoy some tea together while the lecture proceeds. I've prepared some cakes as well, so please help yourself."

"Awesome…"

"I've recently been getting tips from someone who's very skilled at making sweets," Touka says.

"I swear, if this is some kind of trap…" Tsuruno begins.

"Y-yes, I won't stand for it either," Sana says.

"Touka-chan…" Iroha says.

"No need to be so wary," Touka says. "I promise, I won't do anything to you. Come on, relax. You'll never learn anything if you stay all tense like that."

The four girls of Crescent Moon Villa take seats along both sides of the table, and Touka sits at the head. Felicia is the first to sample one of the cakes.

"Oh!" she says. "These are really good!"

"Did you… make all of this, Touka-chan?" Iroha asks.

"Do I look like I have time for that?" Touka retorts. "I made the cupcakes. The sandwiches are just bought from a store… I hear they're quite good, but I've never tried them. And the Amane twins made the cookies."

"A store, you say…?" Iroha says. "What's it called?"

"Chiaki's," Touka says.

"Ohhh, I know that place," Tsuruno says. "Their croquettes are to die for! But it's in the east, so I can't go there very often."

"So at least the sandwiches can be trusted," Iroha says.

She takes one and tries it.

"Oh! It really is very good!" she says.

"Well, if you're having one…"

Tsuruno reaches out to snag a sandwich too. Encouraged by the others digging in, Sana reaches for one as well. Touka lets them eat for a little while, and even partakes of some of the food herself. When the food is finally almost gone, Touka speaks up again.

"There," she says. "Feeling a bit more at ease? The more anxious you are, the harder it will be for me to do my lecture."

"Iroha-chan… you okay?" Tsuruno asks.

"Yes, I'm fine," Iroha says. "I've accepted that she might not be the Touka-chan I know… it's no use just moping about it. Everyone else has forgotten all about Ui. It would be way too convenient if Touka-chan was the only one who remembered her… I'm just going to concentrate on the lecture for now…"

"I'm glad you see it that way," Touka says. "I guess we can start then. Is everyone alright with that?"

"It's boring just sitting here and waiting," Felicia says. "If you're gonna start, then start."

"Same here," Tsuruno says. "I'm all ears."

"Yes, whenever you're ready," Sana says.

"Wonderful!" Touka says. "Let's start the lecture! The topic of this lecture is simple. The Truth Behind Magical Girls. Everyone involved in the Wings of the Magius already knows all of this. No jokes, no lies. Just the truth! Now listen closely. I'm going to start with a story."

"Okay," Iroha says.

Touka snaps her fingers, and a projector installed on the far wall suddenly flicks on, displaying a slide on the near wall that bears a title. Touka reads it out loud.

"Item 1: Soul Gems."

She flips to the next slide, which shows a cartoon of three girls labelled A, B, and C.

"There were once three magical girls, Miss A, Miss B, and Miss C," Touka says. "They were good friends. They hunted witches together. But one day, they let a witch escape because it was just too difficult to defeat. Then the girls met that same witch again."

She flips to the next slide, which shows the three of them facing off against the witch. Although the girls are cartoonish, the witch is surprisingly detailed and easily recognizable to me as Oshiti – the same witch Kanagi described fighting a familiar of when she met Sena Mikoto. Does that mean Mikoto was already a magical girl four years ago? Or does it mean that there were multiple instances of Oshiti? And the extra attention to detail on the witch makes me think the slide was drawn by Alina, though other than that it doesn't really seem like her style… but if Touka requested that she draw in a specific style, it might make sense.

"Oh, but what a mess they ended up in!" Touka says. "It seemed the three of them would all fall to that witch's overwhelming might. Then, at a critical moment, Miss C got up and charged at the witch, alone. Because of her, the witch's weak spot was revealed, and Miss A could finish it off. However, Miss C died, not a single injury to be found on her body."

She flips to the next slide, which depicts one of the girls lying on the ground with her broken soul gem next to her. The other two girls are visible only by their legs.

"Now, how do you think this happened?" Touka asks.

"Oh," Iroha says. "So this lecture is in quiz format."

"I'd like you to at least try to think," Touka says.

"Uhh, so she didn't get wounded… at all," Sana says.

"She get poisoned or something?" Felicia asks.

"Bzzzt!" Touka says. "Wrong."

"She couldn't breathe?" Iroha suggests.

"Nope!" Touka says. "Too bad!"

"Okay," Iroha says.

"Was it… her soul gem?" Tsuruno asks.

"Correct!" Touka says. "You really are the mightiest, huh!?"

"Her… soul gem?" Iroha says.

"Yep," Touka says. "Let me explain."

She flips to the next slide, which depicts a close-up of the girl's broken soul gem.

"Next to Miss C's uninjured body lay her soul gem, shattered into pieces. That was when Miss A and Miss B realized that a soul gem is, just like the name suggests, the life of a magical girl. That's the correct answer!"

Sana takes off her ring and turns it into gem form, gazing at it for a bit.

"This soul gem is… my life?" she asks.

"It doesn't feel like it, does it?" Touka says.

"Not at all," Sana says.

"Then try holding out your soul gem for me," Touka says.

"Um, okay," Sana says.

Touka reaches out and zaps it with a tiny bolt of electricity, likely no more than that of a static charge discharging when you touch something metal. Sana lets out a howl of pain and hunches over, clutching her soul gem to her chest.

"Sana-chan!" Iroha gasps.

"Sorry for that," Touka says. "But, now you get it, don't you? Even if you're hit with a tiny little magic attack like that, the damage is enough to make you curl up like a baby. It stands to reason that you'd die if your soul gem broke, doesn't it?"

"Ugh… if… if your soul gem is your life… then that means when you use magic…" Sana says.

"Oh, very good!" Touka says. "You noticed, invisible girl! When you use magic, you're literally shaving off slices of your own life force. Have you ever felt like that before?"

"Shaving off… your own life…" Iroha muses. "I have… when I unleashed my doppel…"

"That feeling is basically evidence that you've run out of batteries," Touka says.

"Run out of batteries…?" Iroha says.

"I mean, I'm just saying it like it is," Touka says. "Your soul gem is your life force given physical form outside of your body. Kind of like taking out the internal battery of a device and using it externally. If you didn't do that, it would be hard to check your status during battle, right?"

"In that case, are grief seeds… like charging devices?" Sana asks.

"They're more like cleaners, really," Touka says. "But yes, I suppose that works for this analogy. Batteries can be used over and over just through simple oxidation and reduction."

"What does that mean?" Sana asks.

"If you use up a battery, its chemical structure changes, making it unusable," Touka says. "But if you charge it back up, its chemical structure returns to its original state. If you use a soul gem, it changes the magic inside and makes it impure. Using a grief seed reverts that effect. So wouldn't you say that makes a soul gem like a battery? Isn't it fascinating?"

"I don't think it's fascinating at all," Sana says. "That… that would mean… I'm not really human anymore, right…?"

"Well, a human would die if they fought a witch," Touka says. "You wouldn't, would you? So by that criterion, no, you're not human."

"But…" Sana says.

"But that aside, doesn't just believing yourself to be human make you human?" Touka says. "In current medicine… we use chemistry, physics, biology, and electronic engineering… we develop all sorts of technology from various sciences, and… then we use that technology to modify our own bodies, don't we?"

"Yes, but…"

"People modify their bodies all the time, and you're willing to accept that," Touka says. "Yet you won't accept what I'm telling you? That's weird."

Sana seems to be lost for words.

"You're overthinking it," Touka says. "After all, if none of us are human, what does that make an invisible girl like you?"

Sana gasps. "T-that's a good point… yes…"

"If what you're saying is true, Touka-chan, then that means… I almost died back then," Iroha says. "That must've been why Miss Yachiyo was so terrified…"

"There's another reason behind that terror," Touka says. "You'll understand later in the story."

She flips to the next slide, which shows another title, and reads it out loud.

"Item 2: Witches."

She flips to the next slide, which now shows five magical girls, two of which are recognizably the survivors from the previous story.

"Once Miss A and Miss B had accepted that their soul gems really were their own souls, they made a team with some other friends. Miss D, Miss E, and Miss F joined them, making them a team of five. They continued to fight witches, supporting each other every way they could. But one day, a witch crossed over from another territory."

She flips to the next slide, which now depicts four of those five girls facing off against a witch. As with the previous slide involving a witch, she's exceptionally detailed here. The witch looks something like a leafless tree, and it's surrounded by familiars, each of which is an arm grasping a spike. If I'm not mistaken, that would be the witch Raspberry.

"Miss D couldn't make it, so they fought as four," Touka says. "They planned to beat the witch with their usual teamwork, but it was strong and had survived many conflicts. It was a bitter battle. Miss A found herself in a tight spot, and Miss F sacrificed herself to protect her. The witch escaped, putting an end to the fight, but Miss F was in bad shape. Even worse, they had no grief seeds."

She flips to the next slide, which shows one of the girls lying on the ground with her darkened soul gem beside her.

"When her soul gem became jet black, she stopped moving," Touka says.

"Hey, wait!" Tsuruno gasps. "That means Miss D is—"

"Please don't interrupt," Touka says testily. "I will answer your questions at the end. Just pay attention for now, thank you. So, that brings us to our next question."

"Another one?" Felicia says. "Ugh… you're gonna ask us what happened to Miss F, huh?"

"Well, kind of," Touka says. "What I was going to ask is: what did Miss F turn into?"

"Turn into?" Felicia says. "How the hell're we supposed to know that?"

"Wow, use your brain please!" Touka says. "Get those synapses working!"

"Uh, I'm not so great at thinking," Felicia says.

"Oh, you're no fun," Touka says. "Soul gems get filled with impurities. And what do witches spread? Curses. A magical girl's soul gem collects impurities while a witch spreads curses. And in our example we have a soul gem turned black… so how about now? See a connection?"

"Oh…" Sana says.

"N-no," Iroha says. "T-there's no way…"

"Just as I thought," Tsuruno mutters.

"What?" Felicia says.

"It looks like everyone else gets it," Touka says. "I'm willing to bet you can too, miss mercenary."

She gives Felicia a bit more time, but with no answer forthcoming, she continues speaking.

"Here's the answer…"

She flips to the next slide, which shows three of the four girls and depicts the moment at which the soul gem distorts and turns into a grief seed. The witch herself is sort of like an octopus, though the tentacles have the texture of hair and only four can be seen. That is clearly Etteilla, the witch of Anna Mel. Tsuruno gasps at the sight of the slide. Perhaps she too recognizes the witch?

"There was a blackened soul gem resting in the fallen Miss F's palm. Miss F began to writhe in pain and the soul gem suddenly turned into a grief seed. Thus, a witch was born."

"Magical girls… become witches?" Felicia says. "There's no way that's true… if it were, with the soul gems being our souls and all… that'd make us witches too!"

"I'm afraid so," Touka says. "Remember what I said at the start? No jokes, no lies. Just the truth!"

"You've gotta be lying," Felicia says. "If you're not, then… that… was a magical girl? If… those were magical girls… I've… I've killed so many people…" She trails off for a moment, then suddenly shouts. "But, it was a witch that killed Mom and Dad!"

"That's true," Touka says. "And you have indeed killed a great number of them."

"And… I'm gonna become a witch too?" Felicia says.

"Ding ding!" Touka says. "Gold star!"

"No," Felicia says. "I won't believe it… nooo way! I won't believe it!"

"Goodness, you're stubborn," Touka says.

"It's really hard for me to believe too, Touka-chan," Iroha says. "Or rather, I just don't want to believe it. Even if it is the truth…"

"Hmm, how can I make you believe me?" Touka says. "Oh, I know. I just happen to have a grief seed with me. Miss mercenary, would you lend me your soul gem for a second?"

"Huh!?" Felicia says. "No way! You're gonna break it!"

"There's no need to be afraid," Touka says.

"Huh!? Who's afraid!?" Felicia protests.

"Then you're okay to hand it over?" Touka says.

"Ugh…"

Felicia reluctantly extends her hand, presenting the ring to Touka without removing it.

"You got rather upset by our talk about the witches, didn't you?" Touka says. "So I thought, you must have a lot of impurities stocked up in there."

She produces a grief seed and touches it to Felicia's soul gem, extracting the impurities.

"Uh, huh?" Felicia says. "Thank… you?"

"Is this another explanation?" Iroha asks.

"Of course," Touka says. "I wouldn't just give you a grief seed without a good reason."

"So you're saying the reason a grief seed can purify a soul gem… is because magical girls and witches are the same. Just like curses and impurities. Is that what you're getting at?"

"That's correct, Tamaki Iroha," Touka says. "My point is that there is nothing that can replace soul gems and grief seeds. This trade of impurities only occurs between these two specific things. This kind of reaction is similar to what we see in the genes of living things, right?"

"A genetic reaction… like crossbreeding?" Tsuruno says.

"You really are the mightiest!" Touka says. "Species with different genetic structures can't crossbreed. You can breed a 'liger', but that creature is impossible in the natural world."

"So what you're saying is… just as organisms can create offspring because their genetic structures match… soul gems and grief seeds match, and that's why the purification process is possible," Tsuruno says. "So you're not even saying they're similar, you're saying they're essentially the same."

"You're just as sharp as they said you were," Touka says. "The specifics are different, but you've got it right in essence… you've explained everything for me."

"Um, thank you?" Tsuruno says. "But even if I get the logic behind it, it's still hard to accept it… the reason Felicia is so shaken up is because… if we're destined to become witches, that means we've been killing magical girls. How could she accept that?"

"I'd say that's only one way to look at it," Touka says.

"What do you mean?" Tsuruno says.

"You could just think of witches as zombies, like in a horror film," Touka says. "They were human, but they've lost all sense of self. They do bad things, they multiply… here's how I've chosen to think of them. When you kill a witch, it's like you're preventing it from worsening its sins."

"I'm not even human," Sana muses. "My future is set in stone… I will become a witch… you're saying we have no choice but to accept that as fact…"

"Sana-chan…" Iroha says. "But back at the Séance Shrine, I didn't turn into a witch…"

"Yes," Touka says. "That brings us to our next topic."

She flips to the next slide, which once more is nothing but a title, and reads it out loud.

"Item 3: Doppels."

She flips to the next slide, which depicts one of the surviving girls from the previous stories, surrounded in encroaching darkness.

"Half a year after they all witnessed the witch transformation, Miss B was still very much in shock," Touka says. "She couldn't handle what she learned, and cursed herself for becoming a magical girl. Another half a year passed… witches began to gather in Kamihama, and Kyuubey was nowhere to be found. Her soul gem got darker and darker to match her state of mind. Eventually, Miss B's soul gem was completely pitch black."

She flips to the next slide, which is a repeat of the slide showing the witch transformation.

"Miss B thought to herself, 'This is it, I'm going to end up just like Miss F. I'm going to become a witch.' But she didn't." Touka smiles. "The answer to this question is easy."

"Her doppel," Iroha says.

"Exactly," Touka says. "You're correct!"

She flips to another slide, which depicts the same magical girl as the slide before last, now with some light amidst the darkness. Presumably this is meant to represent a doppel unleash. The darkness also seems to have a bit more form, like a horned demon.

"What emerged from Miss B was not a witch, but her doppel," Touka says. "Around this time, we had already begun our work around Kamihama to free magical girls. That was when another magical girl appeared before her and said: 'Come with us and free magical girls.' So that's the truth behind magical girls, and what it means to free them. Did I explain it clearly? Maybe I've said a bit too much."

"Was the girl who appeared before her you?" Iroha asks.

"Indeed," Touka says. "It was me, one of the Magius!"

"Does that mean that this doppel technique is the work of the Wings of the Magius?" Iroha asks.

"It does, yes," Touka says. "Well? Aren't I incredible? Wouldn't you say the Wings of the Magius is a wonderful group? You must all be eager to join us now, aren't you?"

"Well, I…" Iroha begins.

At this point, Mokyu pipes up with one of its cute noises, and Iroha nods.

"Yeah, there's no way I can trust them," Iroha says. "I mean… no matter how many times you explain it, I don't want it to make sense… that stuff about soul gems… about us becoming witches…"

"But if it is true, maybe their goals are good," Sana says.

"Huh… Sana-chan!?" Iroha gasps.

"Don't worry, it's not like I trust them," Sana says. "Ai-chan told me all about them. They're doing very dangerous things…"

"What's that?" Touka says. "You'd trust a rumour's word over that of a magical girl?"

"But… but… if this all ends up working, there won't be any more witches… right?" Felicia says.

"Yes!" Touka says. "That's right!"

"So there won't be as many people who end up like Mom and Dad," Felicia says.

"No, don't talk like that, Felicia!" Tsuruno exclaims.

"But Tsuruno!"

"She could be telling us the truth," Tsuruno says. "But she could also be making stuff up to get us to join her…"

"Making stuff up?" Felicia says.

"Yes," Iroha says. "It might be true, but it also wouldn't be that weird for them to lie… Touka-chan has always been smart, ever since I first met her. I'm sure she could come up with something that would fit with the facts…"

"Hmm," Touka grumbles. "Wow! I can't believe Tamaki Iroha's memories are interfering now, of all times! If that's how you see me, there's nothing I can say to change your minds! Though we did anticipate this outcome. Don't worry, that's why we chose this place."

"What does that mean?" Iroha asks.

"The rumour here allows you to see a person's memories," Touka says.

"What she means is that you'll be able to witness all the tales from the lecture for yourself."

Mifuyu steps out from the shadows as she says that, startling everyone. Iroha gasps and turns to face her.

"You can watch them in the Memory Museum," Mifuyu continues. "It's further inside this building."

"Miss Mifuyu!? How long have you been here?" Iroha asks.

"I came right when Touka's lecture was scheduled to be over, a few minutes ago," Mifuyu says. "I'm here to help with the… 'practical learning' we arranged. If what we told you just now isn't enough to make you believe, it's time for step two."

"Are you talking about… brainwashing us?" Sana asks. "They said that in the Memory Museum, you can be influenced by others' memories…"

"So you really were planning to brainwash us if talking didn't work!" Iroha says. "I won't take one step inside the Memory Museum. The talk we had was enough for me. I'm going home."

"Oh, but you can't leave," Touka says.

"I'm afraid she's right," Mifuyu says.

"What do you mean?" Iroha asks.

"We're currently already inside the rumour," Touka says.

She reaches for a bell on the table.

"That bell you have there," Iroha says.

Touka seizes the bell and rings it before anyone can stop her. Their surroundings abruptly change as the rumour's labyrinth sucks them in. It looks a bit like some futuristic library, with shelves and display screens arrayed in a regular pattern around a central shaft.

"What is this place…?" Sana asks.

"I knew this was a trap from the start!" Tsuruno says.

"It's not a trap," Mifuyu says. "It's 'practical learning'."

She steps forward, holding out a book that she'd just plucked from a nearby shelf.

"What's that book you've got there?" Felicia asks. "Where'd it even come from?"

"This is one of my memories," Mifuyu says. "You heard about it in the lecture…"

"Please stop this, Miss Mifuyu," Iroha says.

"Now see the truth for yourselves," Mifuyu says. "We'll talk after that."

"I'll be waiting!" Touka says cheerfully.

Mifuyu opens the book, and a few seconds later all four of the Crescent Moon Villa girls fall asleep. Mifuyu catches them and gently lays them down, and Mokyu hops onto Iroha's stomach.

"Touka… is this… really necessary?" Mifuyu asks.

"You heard them," Touka says. "They refused to join even after hearing everything, so what choice do we have? We can't just let them keep destroying rumours all over the place."

"Still… this won't actually solve that problem," Mifuyu says. "After all, there's still Ya-chan and Miss Kanagi…"

"I can't believe we have two veteran magical girls fighting against us," Touka grumbles. "What a pain this is… you're right, we'll still have to come up with a plan for Miss Kanagi. Any suggestions?"

"Well… we could send the twins to talk with her," Mifuyu says. "Tsukasa-chan and Miss Kanagi have a prior relationship, so she might listen…"

"Then do it," Touka says. "We have to try everything."

"Alright…"

Silence falls for a little while. The sleeping girls occasionally twitch or whimper a little, but for the most part, the silence reigns. Then Touka turns away.

"There's no point in me waiting around here," she says. "I'll leave this in your hands, Mifuyu."

"Very well," Mifuyu says.

Touka exits the rumour's barrier and steps out of the room where she'd shown the slideshow. As she reaches the top of the stairs, so does Yachiyo. The two of them stare at each other for a moment before Touka breaks the silence.

"Oh, aren't you the veteran?" Touka says.

"And you are…"

"Nice to meet you, Nanami Yachiyo," Touka says. "I'm Satomi Touka, one of the Magius."

"Satomi Touka… the one Miss Tamaki's been looking for!?" Yachiyo gasps. "Wait, that doesn't matter right now. Where are they!? If you're one of the Magius, then this must have been where the lecture was, right!?"

"That's long finished," Touka says.

"Then where are they now!?" Yachiyo asks.

Touka giggles. "They're in the Memory Museum," she says. "They're doing a little practical learning."

"I knew it," Yachiyo says. "Let me in."

"I can't let you interfere," Touka says. "No… actually, you can. Go on."

Yachiyo gasps. "What are you planning!?"

"If you want to interfere with their lesson, go right ahead," Touka says.

"I don't understand," Yachiyo says.

"You're right, there certainly is a hidden meaning behind my words," Touka says. "Do you still want to go?"

"Yes," Yachiyo says.

"Wow!" Touka says. "Just like that!"

"I don't care what tricks you're trying to play," Yachiyo says. "I'll blow through whatever traps you lay."

Touka shrugs. "The bell to open the Memory Museum is in front of that very door," she says, indicating the door to the room she just exited.

"I see," Yachiyo says. "You'll regret telling me that."

As Yachiyo makes for the door and rings the bell, Touka giggles. She starts to say something, but the labyrinth swallows Yachiyo up before she can hear it. Within the rumour's labyrinth, Yachiyo spots Mifuyu and the others almost immediately.

"Please," Mifuyu murmurs. "Please, see the truth for yourselves… the truth about magical girls, that I saw with my own eyes… I'm excited about how this will all turn out."

"I knew you'd try something like this," Yachiyo says.

"Ya-chan!?" Mifuyu gasps. "You never learn, do you? I warned you."

"I'm just here to help out some innocent magical girls," Yachiyo says.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Mifuyu says. "Why don't you take another look at what happened? Back then, this time from my perspective…"

She offers the book containing her memories to Yachiyo.

"That book… it's…"

Then the book opens, and like the others, Yachiyo falls asleep on the spot. With a sigh, Mifuyu catches her before she hits the ground and gently lays her flat beside the others.

Some time later, Sana, Felicia, and Tsuruno wake up all at once.

"How do you feel?" Mifuyu asks.

"I feel… amazing," Sana says.

"I need to make up for what I've done," Felicia mutters.

"I think… I think I killed her," Tsuruno says. "Mel-chan… or her witch, rather…"

Mifuyu blinks. "O-oh… I'm glad she didn't have to suffer, then…"

"So, are the three of you interested in joining the Wings of the Magius?" Mifuyu asks.

"I think I can be safe there," Tsuruno says. "So I'll join."

Mifuyu blinks. "Safe…? Well… you're not wrong about that…"

"The Wings of the Magius can help me atone, right?" Felicia says. "So sure, I'll join you guys."

"There must be many more magical girls out there who regret their wish," Sana says. "If I join the Wings of the Magius, perhaps I can help some of them."

"So, you'll all join?" Mifuyu says. "That's… that's great…"

"Um… what about… Miss Iroha?" Sana asks. "Why is she still asleep? I want to join the Wings of the Magius with her… and what about Miss Yachiyo?"

"Yeah, if we don't have Iroha with us, then what's the point?" Felicia asks. "I can do without Yachiyo, though."

Mifuyu blinks. "Oh, um… I'm not sure why she hasn't woken up," she says. "But I'm sure she'll be ready to join us once she does."

"Oh… then we should wait for her," Sana says.

"Yes," Mifuyu says. "But I think she might take awhile longer. Let's wait for her outside. When she wakes up, I'll show you all back to the base."

"Oh… okay," Sana says.

"Yes, let's go!" Tsuruno says eagerly. "I can't wait!"

Mifuyu leads the three of them away somewhere. Just after Mifuyu and the others have left, Iroha gasps, and her eyes snap open. She sits up, blinking a few times.

"Where… where am I?" she asks. "Oh that's right, I was just… thank goodness, I made it back safely."

She looks around and spots Yachiyo sleeping next to her.

"Miss Yachiyo!?"

Iroha gently shakes her, but there's no response.

"She's fast asleep. Wait, does that means she came here to help us? Where is everyone else!?"

She looks around again, but of course, there's no-one there.

"They aren't here…"

She waits a few minutes, until Yachiyo finally opens her eyes as well.

"Huh?" Yachiyo says. "Where… am I?"

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha says. "Thank goodness you're awake!"

Yachiyo gasps. "Miss Tamaki…"

"There's no-one else here, and you wouldn't wake up," Iroha says. "I didn't know what to do… hurry, let's get out of here!"

"Are you with the Wings of the Magius?" Yachiyo asks coldly.

"Huh? Me?" Iroha says. "Um… n-no, of course I'm not! I turned them down in that dream!"

"Then that means… you saw everything," Yachiyo says.

"Yes," Iroha says. "I saw what happened to Miss Kanae, and Mel-chan too… it wasn't like I was just 'seeing' it, I felt like I was there…"

"Interesting," Yachiyo says.

"But I get it now," Iroha says. "I understand why you said my doppel was dangerous, and why you tried so hard to protect me at the Séance Shrine. I was a bit surprised to wake up and see you lying there, though."

"Of course I was lying there," Yachiyo says. "I was shown the same dream."

"Thank you for coming to help us," Iroha says.

"Don't get me wrong," Yachiyo says. "I didn't come here to help you."

"Huh?"

"I came to see Mifuyu's memories and reassess my current way of thinking… and I managed to do that. Now I'm in line with how I was a year ago."

"What does that mean?" Iroha asks.

"Miss Tamaki," Yachiyo says. "I'm breaking up the team."

"Huh… what?" Iroha says. "You're breaking up the team?"

"That's right," Yachiyo says.

"Wait a second," Iroha says. "That's…"

At that point, Mokyu makes one of its cute noises, and Iroha gasps.

"Ah…" Iroha forces a smile. "Y-yeah, we should break up the team," she says.

Yachiyo looks surprised, but then she nods. "I'm glad you understand."

"Of course," Iroha says. "I saw the same memory you did."

"Alright, then," Yachiyo says. "I'm going to leave here now."

"Oh, actually, me too," Iroha says.

She follows as Yachiyo starts looking for an exit.

"I wonder if Tsuruno-chan and the others are outside already…"

"I'm sure they are," Yachiyo says. "If Mifuyu's memory affected them, then it's likely they already left."

"Not that it matters, as we broke up the team," Iroha says.

Yachiyo nods but doesn't say anything. They continue looking for an exit, but about a minute later, the labyrinth suddenly changes around them, gaining the floating kanji and generally typical appearance of an angry rumour's labyrinth. Then a pair of familiars pops up in front of them, a strange construct that looks like a cross between a typewriter and a telescope, with a huge pair of red lips on the end of the tube part.

"The rumour…" Iroha says.

"It came to stop us, as I thought it would," Yachiyo says, transforming. "Get out of my way!"

She attacks the familiar in front of her before it has a chance to attack her itself. Iroha also transforms and attempts to join in the fight, but Yachiyo defeats both familiars before she has a chance to do anything. The barrier returns to its previous docile state, and Yachiyo stalks off.

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha protests, running after her. "Don't go off on your own!"

"We have nothing to do with each other," Yachiyo says. "We're not even a team anymore."

"Yes, but at times like these we should still work together," Iroha says.

Yachiyo abruptly stops, and Iroha narrowly avoids colliding with her.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Iroha asks. "Why did you suddenly stop?"

Then Iroha gasps as Touka steps out from behind one of the shelves, giggling, now transformed.

"You finally made it," she says. "Hello Tamaki Iroha, miss veteran."

"Touka-chan," Iroha says.

"We've been waiting with bated breath for awhile, wondering when you might wake up," Touka says.

There's no chance to ask who she means by 'we', for Alina and Mifuyu step out as she says that.

"Keeping I, Alina, and my comrades waiting so long… the world is lost without us," Alina says.

"Now, now, it was a necessary step," Mifuyu says.

"Alina… and Mifuyu, too," Yachiyo says.

"So what did you think of my memories?" Mifuyu asks.

"You asked the same question in the dream," Yachiyo says. "How was it? It was awful. I feel terrible…"

"Yes… Touka-chan was there, too," Iroha says.

"I was part of it?" Touka says. "The rumour must have done that on its own to better brainwash you, I guess."

"So it was brainwashing," Yachiyo says.

"You said you didn't want to fight," Iroha says. "I believed you… and then you dropped this rumour on us."

"I meant it when I said I didn't want any more pointless fighting, though," Touka says. "It would be much better for us if you just joined us instead of fighting us. That way no-one needs to get hurt. It's much more peaceful that way."

She giggles.

"But how did this happen?" Alina asks. "You were supposed to be brainwashed, but it looks like it didn't work."

"Yes, you're right," Mifuyu says. "Ya-chan, you don't plan on joining us either, do you?"

"Of course not," Yachiyo says. "Your memories may have brought me back to how I was a year ago… but that doesn't mean I have any reason to join the Wings of the Magius."

"Right," Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo and I won't join you. So please move out of the way. We need to find the others and unbrainwash them."

"No need to search, silly," Touka says. "After they listened to the lecture and did their practical learning, they joined us."

"Huh?" Iroha says. "All of them?"

"Every last one," Touka says.

She makes a beckoning gesture, and Tsuruno, Sana, and Felicia step out into the aisle as well.

"Tsuruno-chan… Felicia-chan… Sana-chan…" Iroha says.

Touka giggles. "They all joined us. You understand how important it is for us to liberate magical girls now, don't you?"

She addresses herself at the three of them.

"Yeah," Tsuruno says. "Only the Wings of the Magius can help me protect everyone. I will do great things with them."

Her voice isn't as energetic as it usually is, though it's not exactly flat or dead either.

"Me too," Felicia mutters. "Only the Wings of the Magius can help me atone for what I've done…"

"I will save those who suffer from their own wishes with the Wings of the Magius," Sana says.

"I feel like I've had a divine revelation," Tsuruno says.

"It's like a higher power told me joining was the right thing to do," Felicia says.

"Right," Sana says. "Now it feels as though the world is a little bit brighter."

"What are you all saying?" Iroha says.

"You didn't hear them?" Touka asks. "There's no need for brainwashing now. They reached this conclusion on their own."

"Indeed!" Alina says. "Welcome to the Wings of the Magius!"

"No…" Iroha says.

"But alas, this emotional reunion must come to an end," Alina says. "Touka, I think you should take them outside. We need not bother with the two that we couldn't persuade."

"Miss Iroha…" Sana murmurs, looking a bit disappointed.

"Stop!" Iroha says.

"You're right," Mifuyu says. "Shall we go, then? We need to go over all of our policies with them…"

"No!" Iroha says.

"Ah, good point," Touka says. She turns back to Iroha. "As you can see, we have things to do, so…"

"Please, Touka-chan! Don't take them away!" Iroha exclaims.

"Hm? Nooope!" Touka says, giggling. "Goodbye, Tamaki Iroha, miss veteran. Miss mighty and friends, come along with Mifuyu and me…"

"Okay," Tsuruno says.

"Will do," Felicia says.

"I… I'm coming," Sana says.

Everyone except Alina turns to leave, and Alina steps in to stop Iroha as she tries to follow them.

"No… don't go!" Iroha says.

"Oh! One last thing," Touka says, pausing to look back. "It seems I differ from how you remember me. But don't you think your memories might be wrong, not the other way around?"

Iroha gasps, and Touka giggles.

"That's all," she says. "Bye-bye, now!"

Everyone else has already disappeared from sight. Before Iroha can do or say anything else, Touka disappears as well.

"I can't let them get away with this," Iroha says, her voice shaking.

"Aha!" Alina says. "So you still have fight left in you? Your foolishness is amusing."

"There's no way I'll let you take them away," Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo, we have to save them!"

When Yachiyo doesn't move or respond, Iroha turns to her.

"Um, Miss Yachiyo?"

Alina bursts out laughing, and Iroha gasps.

"You think I'd just let you do that?" she asks.

She opens up her labyrinth, a flowery portal appearing before them.

"This… must be Alina's…" Iroha says.

Then it's replaced by a witch's portal as Alina pulls one of her witches out with a grunt. Iroha squeals in surprise as the witch's own labyrinth bursts open, depositing the witch into the rumour's labyrinth.

"T-the labyrinth collapsed… and now there's a witch!?"

"Ahhh, so beautiful I could cry!" Alina says. "I am afraid that I, Alina, must gift only one of my masterpieces to you today."

"Why… I thought you treasured witches," Iroha says.

"Of course I do," Alina says. "But I also want to pulverize the two of you. If I do, you won't stand a chance against the rumour… and the two of you will be trapped inside this barrier."

"But that means you and the others shouldn't be able to get out easily either," Iroha says.

"I didn't look at any books in here," Alina says. "Neither did Touka or Mifuyu. So you two will be the only ones trapped here. Worry not. I'll come back to check on you, to retrieve your freshly made death masks!"

She laughs and turns to head after the others.

"She just produces one disgusting thing after another," Yachiyo says.

"Miss Yachiyo… everyone's leaving… we have to move quickly!" Iroha says.

"They have nothing to do with me," Yachiyo says.

"What?" Iroha says.

"We need to get out of here," Yachiyo says.

"You're right," Iroha says. "Once we get out of here, we can help them… right now we just need to focus on the task at hand…" She takes a deep breath. "Okay. So first, let's—"

"No, I can take care of this alone," Yachiyo says. "Don't even think about interfering."

"Why!?" Iroha gasps.

"There's no need for me to answer that," Yachiyo says.

"No… why are you acting like this, Miss Yachiyo!?"

"This is not the time to just stand here and chat!" Yachiyo says.

She brandishes her halberd and attacks the witch, which is an instance of Teresa, the pendulum witch.

"Miss Yachiyo, let me help!" Iroha says.

"I told you, stay back!" Yachiyo snaps.

"Why… Miss Yachiyo, what's going on!?" Iroha asks.

But Yachiyo ignores her and focuses on attacking the witch. After a minute or so, she starts to charge her ultimate attack.

"I'm ending this… here!" she shouts. "Absolute Rain!"

The rain of spears finishes off the witch, leaving Yachiyo breathing heavily.

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha says. "Why are you fighting it alone!? If you keep this up you're going to wear yourself out…"

She approaches Yachiyo, perhaps intending to offer healing, but Yachiyo holds out a hand to stop her.

"Stay away," Yachiyo says. "There's no reason for you to worry about me."

"Yes there is!" Iroha says. "We're on the same team, Miss Yachiyo! We're friends, aren't we!?"

"No, we aren't," Yachiyo says.

"Are you still sticking with the act?" Iroha says. "The rumour already knows we're here. There's no point in pretending anymore… why are you still pretending? Tell me!"

Yachiyo blinks. "You've completely misread the situation," she says.

"What did I misread?" Iroha asks.

"You thought I was pretending," Yachiyo says. "I wasn't."

"What? But… that means…"

"I'll say it one more time," Yachiyo says. "I'm breaking up the team. We are no longer teammates. I don't need your help. And I won't be helping you either. I work alone."

"But why…"

Yachiyo ignores her and walks off in the direction everyone else went. Iroha follows her.

"Wait, Miss Yachiyo!" she says. "Saying you'll do it alone, that you want to break up the team… why!? Is it something Miss Mifuyu said to you when she came over? Is it because of something you saw in that memory?"

"There's no need for me to answer that," Yachiyo replies.

"Yes there is!" Iroha exclaims. "The others are still brainwashed. What are you going to do? Just leave them? Please, just say something… I thought you had let us in… you even bought us mugs… I thought we were really friends… please… don't talk about breaking up the team… let's beat this rumour together, get out of here, and rescue everyone…"

"There's nothing more I can do," Yachiyo says. "We're approaching an exit."

Just as she says that, the labyrinth re-manifests once more, the same way it did when they encountered a pair of familiars. This time, however, the main rumour appears before them. It looks like some extremely antiquated form of printer or something.

"I'll take care of it," Yachiyo says.

"Stay back, Miss Yachiyo," she says. "You already fought Alina's witch. You don't have any energy left to fight!"

"No, I'll do it," Yachiyo says. "I thought I told you already. We're no longer teammates. I don't need your help."

"But I want to get outside too!" Iroha says. "Our goals are the same! We've only beaten all the rumours we have by fighting them together!"

"Don't come any closer," Yachiyo says.

Yachiyo leaps forward to attack the rumour.

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha sighs. "What the heck!? What's going on with her!?"

The rumour spews out a swarm of paper, attacking Yachiyo with it. She blocks most of it by spinning her spear, grunting with exertion.

"If you keep this up you're going to get yourself killed!" Iroha says. "You're playing right into the Magius's hands!"

"I'm fine," Yachiyo says. "I'm not going to die here."

"What if your soul gem breaks!?" Iroha says.

"Ugh, why'd you have to go and learn about that?" Yachiyo says. "I don't need your help!"

Despite her words, she's not faring very well against the rumour. Her attacks barely scratch it, while its attacks seem to be pretty effective. Iroha watches for almost a minute, but then as the rumour seems to be building up for an ultimate attack of its own, she jumps in and takes the attack herself.

"Miss Yachiyo!"

"I told you not to interfere!" Yachiyo says.

"I know, but I can't just sit here and watch this!" Iroha says. "I'm your friend, Miss Yachiyo!"

"Ugh…"

"It doesn't look like the rumour can move away from the exit," Iroha says. "Let's retreat for a second!"

She grabs Yachiyo's arm and drags her away. Yachiyo provides only token resistance.

"We should work together," Iroha says.

"No," Yachiyo says stubbornly.

"Are you saying that because we aren't teammates anymore?" Iroha asks.

"Yes, I am," Yachiyo says.

"I just… I just don't understand," Iroha says. "What in the world are you thinking? You've been acting strange ever since Miss Mifuyu came to visit. Keeping your distance… and then just when I thought you'd come to save us… you say, 'I'm breaking up the team'. You saying that there's nothing you can do to help Tsuruno-chan and the others… it makes me feel sad… lonely… we fought together all this time, but…"

Iroha sighs and shakes her head, her expression suddenly hardening.

"But more than that, I'm angry," she says. "I'm so angry with you, Miss Yachiyo."

"Miss Tamaki…"

"So let me tell you one thing," Iroha says firmly. "If you can't give me a reason why you're doing this, I won't accept we've split up! No matter how hard you try to push me away, I won't leave your side, Miss Yachiyo! Even if I have to grab your hand and pull you out of this rumour, we're leaving together! We're going to get out of here and save everyone!"

"Stop it," Yachiyo says desperately. "Please, stop. My determination will crumble if you say those things… just like before… I'm begging you, please leave me alone… leave me be… if you don't, I may end up killing you."

"Killing?" Iroha says. "You'd… kill me?"

"Yes," Yachiyo says.

"There's no way that would ever happen!" Iroha says.

"Yes, there is…"

"That's a lie," Iroha says. "You're just saying that."

"Alright then," Yachiyo says. "I'll tell you everything. When you've heard it all, you'll want to get as far away from me as you can!"

Iroha gasps.

"You now know what happened with Kanae and Mel, don't you?" Yachiyo says.

"Yes…"

"They died… and it was my fault! Because of my wish…"

"Your wish, Miss Yachiyo…?"

"Yes!" Yachiyo says. "It was because of me! Because I wished… to survive… so everyone else died! My wish is to blame for Mifuyu's weakening magic, too! I'm sure of it!"

"W-wait, Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha says. "I get what you wished for, but… I don't believe that's the reason why they died. I don't know how you could ever think that!"

"Miss Tamaki… there are things even I don't know about myself… one of those is why I always manage to survive… another thing is my power. The unique power that only I have… when I made my wish, I was part of a group of models. I only wished for what I did because I needed to keep going, to survive, as their leader… but if the power within me is linked to Mel and Kanae's deaths… it all starts to make sense…"

"But that's just one possibility!" Iroha says.

"No, listen to me," Yachiyo says. "Kanae and Mel told me… 'Bring me with you… show me the future… I feel like you can do it… because you're vital to the team.' …and… 'No, it is lucky… I managed to save you… I saved the leader I look up to so much… I'm really happy I did.' When I started to consider why I always managed to survive, I remembered their words… you could interpret it all to mean this… I wished to survive, so I could continue being a leader… so their lives were offered up in order for me to live. If that's the case, similar to how you have healing powers… and similar to Tsuruno's good luck, or Mifuyu's ability to create illusions… my unique power is this… the power to survive by sacrificing someone else."

"No…"

"You see?" Yachiyo says. "If we stay together, my wish will eventually kill you…"

"But your wish being the cause of their deaths, and your unique power… that's all just a guess, isn't it? You can't say it's definitely true!"

"It's dangerous enough as a guess…"

"Still, I can't accept that…"

"You have to! How do you think I feel!?" She sighs. "I'm sorry. All of this is my fault… I made Momoko angry. I worried Tsuruno… now the same thing is happening all over again. I've brought misery to everyone… you know, back when I first met you, I was only trying to help you a little, but… I don't know if it's a facet of my personality that was born with my wish… or perhaps it's just my own loneliness. I can't say for sure… I just know that as soon as I loosen my hold on my feelings, I'll go back to my old self. The feelings I have for all of you got so strong… I kept telling myself we are only together because of our common interests… that we weren't friends… and I wasn't your leader… but that… didn't work out… Mifuyu's words cut me right through to the core. I realized how much I'd changed… so, I'm sorry… I don't want to be the cause of your deaths. Please let me disband the team."

"Okay, I understand now," Iroha says.

"I'm so sorry," Yachiyo says.

"I will prove to you that you're just imagining all of this!" Iroha declares.

"Huh?"

"I'm your friend, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says. "And as your friend, I'm going to take out this rumour, all on my own! I'm going to be the one to protect you. I'll smash this made-up idea you have of me sacrificing myself for you!"

"W-what are you saying!?" Yachiyo exclaims. "You can't!"

"I'm really angry with you right now!" Iroha shouts. "You came up with this idea in your head and everyone else suffered because of it! I'm really angry with you for that! So… wait until I die before you decide if this hypothesis of yours is true or not, please. I'd be so lonely without you, Miss Yachiyo. I'd be so sad I wouldn't be able to bear it. So I'll beat this rumour alone! Then the two of us will go and rescue the others! So stay out of my way!"

With that rant over, Iroha turns and runs back to where they left the rumour, firing off a volley of bolts immediately. It retaliates with its signature paper swarm, eliciting a squeal from her.

"That's enough, Miss Tamaki!" Yachiyo says, having followed her. "The more you try to save me, and the more I try to save you… the closer my wish gets to killing you… please, I'll be okay on my own. I'll fight by myself! Just leave me alone…"

Iroha continues firing off crossbows and dodging the rumour's attacks as she responds.

"No, I won't leave you alone," Iroha says stubbornly. "I won't compromise on this. No matter what happens, I'm staying by your side! I won't accept that your wish will make everyone die. And I won't hear a word from you about breaking up the team."

She starts charging magic into her crossbow, building up for an ultimate attack.

"I'm going to protect you, Miss Yachiyo. I'll save everyone else too. Then all of us will bring Mifuyu back, and we'll find Ui! I'll show you!"

She dodges as the rumour fires a fresh paper swarm at her, then aims and lets loose.

"Strada Futuro!"

The bombardment of light arrows is apparently enough to overwhelm the rumour's defences, and it crumbles into dust, leaving Iroha standing there breathing heavily from the exertion of dodging around so much.

"I… did it," she says.

"You…"

"Look, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says. "I didn't die! Even though you were all bruised and bloody and in huge danger, I'm still alive! Ah…"

Suddenly she falls forward onto her knees. Her soul gem is at least ninety percent corrupted, more so even than Yachiyo's.

"Miss Tamaki! Why did you push yourself so hard…?"

"Of course I'm going to push myself," Iroha says. "I don't want to lose you guys. So, Miss Yachiyo… will you give yourself one more chance?"

"One more chance?"

"A chance to believe that your wish and their deaths aren't related," Iroha says.

"But… but I…"

"Okay, then how about this!?" Iroha says.

"What is it now?"

"From now on, I'll be the leader!"

"What!?"

"Then there's no problem, right?" Iroha says.

Yachiyo blinks several times, not so much in surprise as trying to hold back tears.

"You… Iroha… you really are stubborn…"

"Yes, I am," Iroha says, smiling. "Sorry about that."

"I'm sorry, too," Yachiyo says.

"Miss Yachiyo… let's save the others, together," Iroha says. "And all go back home… to your house, Miss Yachiyo… to Crescent Moon Villa…"

"Yes… thank you… Iroha…"

Iroha smiles. "This is the first time you've called me by my first name."

While they are talking, the labyrinth collapses, leaving them in the dark, abandoned Memorial Museum. Once Yachiyo has calmed down and Iroha has regained enough strength to stand, they exit the room they were in and make for the stairs. With Iroha struggling to walk and leaning on Yachiyo, they make slow progress.

"After my talk with Mifuyu, I tried to keep my distance from you and the others," Yachiyo says. "I'd made it up in my mind that I was going to break up the team… now… it all feels kind of strange…"

"It does, doesn't it?" Iroha says. "I said some really intense things to you back there…"

"But you changed my mind because you said them," Yachiyo says.

"Yes…"

"Ugh…"

"A-are you alright?" Iroha asks.

"Yes… are you, Iroha?"

"Yeah… we're quite the pair right now, aren't we?"

"We are… first, we need to heal ourselves, or we aren't going to rescue anyone…"

"You're right…"

Iroha closes her eyes for a moment as they reach the top of the stairs.

"It's faint, but I can still sense Alina around here." Suddenly she gasps. "Huh? Could this be…?"

"You felt it too, Iroha?"

"Yes, I remember this magic," Iroha says. "Miss Tomoe…"

Mami steps out from the shadows of a column on the other side of the stairwell.

"I'm delighted to hear that you remember who I am," she says. "So, it's as Lady Touka said… she thought you might make it out alive."

"Why… what are you doing here?" Yachiyo asks.

"Miss Tomoe… how could you leave your friends without so much as a word?" Iroha asks. "Madoka-chan and the others have been looking for you. You haven't contacted them even once."

"Ah, yes," Mami says. "I suppose you're right… I mean, I haven't even gone back to Mitakihara since I joined the Wings of the Magius! I've just been so busy…"

"I've been wondering about that too," Iroha says. "Why did you join the Wings of the Magius?"

"It was clearly the correct choice," Mami says. "I received a divine message… I know my true purpose now…"

"Your purpose?"

"To liberate all magical girls," Mami says. "By following the guidance of the Magius, we will all be saved. To that end, I must eliminate anything that gets in the way… with force, if necessary. Even if you are Miss Kaname's friends and you're badly injured…" Mami smiles. "You know, this is just like when we first met at that shrine, isn't it?"

"So they even went to the effort of preparing a pawn to ensure we were crushed," Yachiyo says.

"Though the gospel was delivered to you as well, it seems you have rejected it," Mami says.

"Gospel…?" Yachiyo says.

"The gospel that as a member of the Wings of the Magius, there is no higher honour than devotion to the liberation of magical girls," Mami says. "Why do you refuse to face grief? Even though therein lies a way to overcome it?"

Mami transforms and leaps forward, summoning a musket but wielding it like a sword. Yachiyo blocks the swipe, holding Mami back with her halberd.

"Miss Yachiyo… in this state, we can't fight," Iroha says.

"Yeah, we're finished if this goes on for more than a minute or so," Yachiyo says. "Miss Tomoe, please, just listen to me—"

But then Touka steps out from the shadows where Mami had been hiding, accompanied by a single black feather – Shizuku. Iroha doesn't appear to recognize her.

"She doesn't have to listen," Touka interrupts. "After all, you didn't listen to us."

"You…!" Yachiyo gasps.

"However, I have other things to be doing now," Touka continues. "Miss Tomoe, you can take care of the rest."

Shizuku opens a portal, and the pair of them step through. Presumably, Alina, Mifuyu, and the others had already gone through such a portal, unless they were approaching Fendt Hope on foot.

"Now then," Mami says. "Shall I put an end to this?"

"How could this happen…" Iroha says. "Right when Miss Yachiyo and I were about to go save everyone!"

"Iroha…"

"But the Wings of the Magius will save us all," Mami says. "We have a clear vision. Although I do admit there are also some bad eggs among our ranks…" She smiles. "You must not struggle. Come… join us."

"I've had quite enough of being invited to join your little cult," Yachiyo says.

"Then I must do as the Magius commanded," Mami says.

Mami summons a musket in each hand and aims one at each of them, but a new voice enters the scene at that exact moment.

"Hooooooold it right there!"

Iroha gasps as Sayaka mounts the stairs in three giant bounds, placing herself between them, facing Mami. Startled, Mami releases her magic, and the musket vanishes.

"Whaddaya doing, Miss Mami!?" Sayaka exclaims. "I dunno what happened, but those girls there look pretty beat up! This isn't like you, bullying the weak!"

"Miss Miki…" Mami says.

"Geez, we've been worried about you, Miss Mami," Sayaka says. "I didn't expect to find you in a place like this…"

"Miss Miki… is that really you?" Mami asks. "You came to condemn me, huh? There's nothing I could do to make up for what I did to you."

While Mami rambles on, Yachiyo and Iroha take advantage of the distraction to sidle away from her, making their way slowly down the stairs. They're pretty exhausted however, so they can't move very quickly. Iroha seems to be in worse shape than Yachiyo, though she's still able to walk with Yachiyo's support.

"Miss Mami…? What on earth are you talking about?" Sayaka asks.

"Go ahead," Mami says. "Hurl abuse at me, if you wish. I certainly deserve it. But still… it's okay now. We can avoid the worst-case scenario. We've found a way to save magical girls."

"Worst-case scenario?" Sayaka says. "Save us… from what?"

Mami doesn't appear to be listening to her, however.

"Tell me, where's Miss Kaname?" she asks. "Is she here too?"

Mami looks around, as if searching for Madoka.

"Oh, that's right… I need to call Miss Kaname to Kamihama too," Mami says. "I need to call Nagisa-chan too… and Yuma-chan and Miss Sakura… if they come here, they can be saved… we can all be saved, together! Everyone will be saved. We have that right! I swear, I'll be the one to save you!"

Then she dons the saint's robe of her rumour, a white dress in the same style as her magical girl outfit coupled with a kingly crown and royal red robe with pure white fur. The secondary transformation moves her soul gem down onto her forehead, almost like a 'third eye'.

"But all of that can wait," Mami says. "Please stay out of this, Miss Miki… I am not yet done fighting with Miss Tamaki."

She looks around for her targets and spots them halfway down the stairs. However, she has only descended two steps before Sayaka grabs her by the arm.

"Fighting? Whaddaya talking about?" Sayaka says. "I dunno what you're trying to do here, but it's really obvious that these two can't fight anymore! And what the hell are you wearing!?"

"You'll be next if you don't back off," Mami says.

"Wait… for real?" Sayaka says.

"Yes."

"What happened to you, Miss Mami?" Sayaka asks. "You aren't the kinda girl who does stuff like this."

"This is who I am now… Miss Miki, let go of me. Once I eliminate them, I'll listen to what you have to say."

Sayaka leaps down several steps and draws a sword, brandishing it as she faces Mami.

"I'm not so obedient as to agree to garbage like that!" she says.

"You will regret this," Mami says. "Very well. I will show you. My Florence, as precious as an angel…"

"Why are you acting like this!?" Sayaka asks.

With that, Mami unleashes her doppel, like a flower growing out from the back of her head and unfurling. Then she summons a swarm of muskets around her and prepares to fire. Yachiyo looks around in vain for some shelter, and Iroha closes her eyes, preparing for the worst.

"Forgive me, Miss Tamaki," Mami says. "I really did want the chance to talk a little more with you."

She takes a deep breath and intones the name of her new ultimate attack.

"Tiro Finale, Holy Night!"

All of those muskets start to fire at once, resulting in a swarm of bullets. In a burst of speed, Sayaka protects herself by slicing the bullets out of the air, one after another, but that's barely enough to protect her alone. Iroha falls to the floor as Yachiyo turns to face Mami, protecting the two of them with her halberd in the same way as Sayaka is. By virtue of being lower on the steps than Sayaka, she has fewer bullets to deflect.

"Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says. "I don't think I can fight anymore…"

Iroha's soul gem is almost completely darkened, but Yachiyo still has around ten or fifteen percent gleaming.

"It's okay," Yachiyo says. "I'll protect you, Iroha. Try to at least reach the bottom of the stairs, okay?"

Iroha nods. "Yeah, okay."

She turns to face the exit and slides down one step at a time. After a moment, Yachiyo summons a swarm of halberds to strike back, flinging them at Mami en masse, but Mami responds by calling up a cannon and blasting the halberds out of the air. Then she fires the cannon at Yachiyo herself. Yachiyo looks around wildly for a place to dodge, but nowhere is safe – if she dodges the cannon, she'll be struck by bullet rain and Iroha will take the blast.

That's when Sayaka steps directly in front of her, slashing at the missile with such ferocity that she manages to stop it in its tracks. She doesn't halt its momentum, however. The missile continuously pushes forward, and Sayaka is unable to avoid taking some severe damage from the effort. But that's where her magic kicks in. She seems to have turned her regeneration to max. One arm shatters from the effort, but then she brings forth the other arm to take its place. By the time the second arm shatters, the first one has fully healed and summoned a new sword. In this way, she eventually manages to divert the path of the missile, sending it careening off into the darkness somewhere.

For a good five or ten seconds, silence falls, even the bullet rain depleted. Yachiyo takes advantage of the momentary lull to call up a path from her halberds, leading around the edge of the stairs towards Mami. A second path of halberds appears on the opposite side. But then the swarm of muskets starts firing once again, and she has no chance to make use of the path she built. However, Sayaka leaps to the side and uses the path to get closer to Mami while avoiding as many bullets as possible. Unfortunately, her effort is in vain. As Sayaka enters melee range of Mami, a single sweep from one of Mami's muskets knocks her back, and she falls over the balcony down to the ground floor.

All that stands between Mami and Iroha now is Yachiyo with her halberd spinning to deflect the bullets. However, Sayaka's manoeuvre bought just enough time to allow Iroha to finally reach the bottom. Yachiyo too has been backing down one step at a time, and as Sayaka falls off the edge, Yachiyo jumps down the remaining few steps, grabs Iroha under one arm, and ducks around the side of the stairwell just as Sayaka flips in midair and lands on her feet, like a cat.

They barely have enough time to catch their breath before Mami adjusts her aim, sending a new hail of bullets down the side into their hiding place. There's just enough of a niche for Iroha and Yachiyo to shelter from the bullet rain, leaving Sayaka smacking away the bullets just like before.

"Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says. "I have to help…"

"We don't stand a chance," Yachiyo says.

"Maybe that's true for the moment," Iroha says. "But… there is one thing I can do…"

Yachiyo gasps. "Y-you mean to use your doppel!? But we don't even know how safe that is…"

"It'll be okay," Iroha says. "This'll only be the third time… if there are side-effects from overuse… I should be fine with just three times… I promise, I won't die."

At that moment, the bullet rain finally comes to an end once more. Sayaka collapses to her knees, gasping for breath as she heals herself yet again. Her soul gem is around three-quarters full now.

"Damn, I'm no match for her," Sayaka mutters.

Then Mami leaps down from above, aiming that swarm of muskets at the three of them once again, now at close range. Sayaka gasps, not ready to defend herself, and flinches as Mami opens fire again.

Iroha, however, struggles to her feet as her doppel is released. The paper streamers of her doppel form flail around, deflecting any bullets that dare to come near her body. Unlike the last two times she unleashed, they don't wrap around her face, blindfolding her. Her eyes are wide open, glaring at Mami, who stops firing in surprise.

"Why are you trying to kill us?" Iroha asks. "Wasn't this supposed to be about saving magical girls?"

But Mami chooses not to reply. Instead, she simply reorients her muskets, preparing to fire once more. However, Iroha's doppel is not the last surprise awaiting her. Yachiyo struggles to her feet too, glaring up at Mami for a couple of seconds before unleashing her doppel as well. The bulk of it grows out of her back, a tail reminiscent of a scorpion with a lantern hanging from the tip and a pair of eyeballs attached to each segment looking outward, each complete with elaborate lashes. The doppel also encases her arms in a pair of grotesque, massive high-heeled shoes, which hoist her off the ground, effectively taking over the normal function of her legs. There is also a black wide-brimmed hat on her head with a dark veil over it.

It seems that Yachiyo is also able to control her doppel. It's not clear whether she's simply lucky or if she practiced in secret, but her first action upon unleashing is to extend that tail and lash out at Mami with the lantern, sending her flying. As Mami crashes into the exterior wall, most of her guns fall to the floor with a clatter. Iroha gasps, turning towards Yachiyo.

"Miss Yachiyo…!"

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything," Yachiyo says. "I can use a doppel too… I was curious, so I experimented a little in secret. However, based on that, I am convinced that this power is dangerous. Let's bring this to an end quickly before something bad happens."

As she speaks, Mami gets to her feet, turning to face the pair of them once more.

"Alright, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says.

Sayaka stares in awe for a few moments as the battle unfolds between the three doppel-enhanced magical girls, but after recovering from the shock, her face hardens and she steps forward, quietly working her way around to approach Mami from behind. With two doppels as her opponents, Mami has no room to spare to consider the actions of an ordinary magical girl.

After about a minute or two of Iroha and Yachiyo alternating between lashing out and curling up in defence, a well-placed shot finally tears through Giovanna's head-analogue, and the bulk of the doppel crumbles into dust as Iroha falls to her knees. But, for a moment, remnants of the doppel coil up her legs and wrap around her face like a blindfold, and she spaces out.

"Iroha!" Yachiyo calls.

She releases her doppel voluntarily and runs over to catch Iroha before she falls flat on her face. The moment Yachiyo touches her, the last remnants of Iroha's doppel vanish back inside her, and she gasps.

"F-for a moment…" Iroha says.

"That's the danger of a doppel," Yachiyo says. "As I said… be careful."

"You're with me, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says. "I'll be fine. With the two of us, everything will be okay."

Yachiyo nods, and the two of them join hands, connecting their power and unleashing a powerful joint attack, forcing Mami on the defensive. And that's when Sayaka makes her move. As the attack subsides and Mami takes a step towards the pair, orienting her remaining muskets to point at them, Sayaka draws a sword once more and leaps in front of her.

"I won't let you do this, Miss Mami," she says. "Please stop this."

Mami blinks at her, but the reorientation of the muskets continues.

"Your sense of morality is not entirely misplaced, Miss Miki," Mami says. "But I'm afraid this outcome can't be avoided. I cannot permit anything to get in the way of the Magius's goals."

"Miss Mami… ugh, I can't believe this. I wanted to talk things through properly, but… take this!" She points her sword at Mami. "Prestissimo Agitato!"

Sayaka moves so fast that she's a blur, charging at Mami and swinging her sword. Startled by the intense attack, Mami is only barely able to block, and is pushed back a little with every blow.

"W-what…!" Mami gasps.

Then Sayaka hops back and sprints towards the others, leaving a literal grenade behind next to Mami.

"What are you—" Yachiyo exclaims.

"Huh!?" Iroha gasps.

And then the grenade explodes, filling the room with dust, smoke, and flying debris. It's hard to tell with all the smoke, but it looks like the explosion may have actually knocked Mami out.

"Oh my god… did you just…?" Yachiyo says.

"I borrowed a bomb from Homura when she wasn't looking," Sayaka says. "Wasn't expecting to use it on Miss Mami of all people…"

"You used a bomb in an abandoned building!?" Yachiyo gasps. "You realize what's going to happen now, right?"

"It's fine!" Sayaka says. "Let's get outta here! We can use the smoke as a cover! Can you run!?"

"Y-yes, I think I can make it!" Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo, are you okay!?"

"Enough to run!" Yachiyo says.

As they leap to their feet, the building shakes a little.

"T-the building!" Iroha gasps.

"N-no way… for real!?" Sayaka gasps.

"What did I tell you!?" Yachiyo asks.

"Still, hopefully this means that the cops'll come, so Miss Mami can't come at us with her guns," Sayaka says. "Overall a win for us!"

"You're quite… bold, aren't you?" Yachiyo says.

"It was an emergency, so…"

The three of them make a break for it and manage to get outside without Mami following them. The rain has died down quite a bit, transitioning at some point into a light, gentle rain. At some point the three of them power down, eventually collapsing in a nearby park.

"This is probably far enough," Sayaka says, the only one still standing.

"I'm sorry, I need to sit down for a moment," Yachiyo says.

"Me, too," Iroha says.

"My bad!" Sayaka says. "I pushed ya so hard…"

"You don't have to apologize for that," Iroha says. "You saved us."

Sayaka whips out a grief seed from somewhere and, without even asking, purifies first Iroha's, then Yachiyo's soul gems, though they don't need it much. Then she purifies her own as well.

"Huh?" Iroha says.

"It's a grief seed," Sayaka says. "I only brought one along with me, though."

"You've already done so much for us," Iroha says. "I don't know what to say…"

"That said, I thought you'd need it more than me, but yours were both only a little bit corrupted, somehow… so it's mostly an empty gesture…"

"No, it's the thought that counts!" Iroha says.

"You're Tamaki Iroha, right?" Sayaka says. "And you must be… Nanami Yachiyo."

"You know about us?" Iroha says.

"Yeah, from Madoka and Nagisa-chan," Sayaka says. "They told me all about ya. Think of this rescue as a thank you for helping them out last week. So we're even."

"Oh, I see," Iroha says. "Thank you so much."

"So you're friends with Miss Kaname and Miss Akemi?" Yachiyo says. "And Miss Momoe…"

"Yep, I'm Miki Sayaka," she says.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Miki," Iroha says. "You went to all this trouble to help us…"

"I didn't do much, really," Sayaka says. "She was giving me quite the beating back there."

"If you hadn't shown up, though, she would have killed me for sure," Iroha says. "All this after I was acting all tough… I feel so lame."

"You did great, Iroha," Yachiyo says.

"Miss Yachiyo…"

"Well, I guess I was able to help ya out a bit, huh?" Sayaka says.

"You helped out a lot," Iroha says. "I know it was my doppel that turned the tide at the end, but if you weren't there, she might have killed me before I had a chance to use it."

"I'm glad," Sayaka says. "So, what's going on here? Could you guys fill me in? What happened to Miss Mami? What were those weird witch-like things that came out of you?"

"Sure," Iroha says. "Where should I begin…"

"Maybe with that Wings of the Magius crap?" Sayaka suggests. "What is that, some kinda cult?"

"I'm not sure if you can call it a cult, but they're an organization who is trying to free magical girls from their fate," Yachiyo says. "It sounds good on the surface… the problem is the methods they use to achieve that goal."

"They invited us to a lecture on the truth about magical girls," Iroha says.

"The truth?" Sayaka says. "You mean about how the soul gem can't go more than a hundred metres from your body, or you lose control and drop dead?"

Iroha blinks. "Huh? S-she didn't mention that part… but she did talk about how you die if the soul gem breaks."

"Right," Sayaka says. "I already knew about that… took me awhile to get over the revelation, to tell the truth…"

"T-then, did you also know the other part?" Iroha asks.

"Huh? There's more!?" Sayaka gasps.

"Right," Iroha says. "There were three parts to her lecture… the first was on soul gems, like I just said. The second was about witches… when your soul gem turns completely black, it turns into a grief seed and spawns a witch."

"F'real!?" Sayaka gasps. "That sounds like a kinda tall tale…"

"I've seen it happen with my own eyes," Yachiyo says. "It's real. If you still don't believe us, ask Kyuubey."

"Man… that must've been what Miss Taylor meant…" Sayaka muses. "And here I thought she was threatening me…"

"What did she say to you?" Yachiyo asks.

"I don't remember exactly… something along the lines of, depression is equal to death for a magical girl…"

Yachiyo nods. "Well, yes, that's accurate… though I wouldn't have put it so… bluntly…"

"The third part of the lecture was about what the Wings of the Magius are doing to liberate magical girls from their fate of turning into witches," Iroha says. "They've created a system here in Kamihama that prevents the witch transformation, allowing us to unleash a doppel instead. That's what you saw us use back there… I know it looks a lot like a witch, but it's different."

"So that's why that doppel thing is unique to Kamihama," Sayaka says.

"Oh, you already know about doppels?" Iroha asks.

"No, not really," Sayaka says. "But I heard a bit about them from Miss Mami and Homura…"

"Madoka-chan didn't say anything about them?" Iroha asks.

"No, though I heard she used one, and Nagisa-chan too," Sayaka says.

"So, anyway… after the lecture, the Wings of the Magius tried to recruit us," Iroha says. "When that didn't work, they tried to brainwash us… they got some of my friends, but it didn't work on the two of us, so they tried to imprison us in the rumour… and when we managed to escape, Miss Tomoe showed up to kill us. That's about it."

"Man, that's intense," Sayaka says. "But… turning into witches… sorry, even with Miss Nanami's eyewitness account, this one's real hard to swallow… it's really true? We're all going to turn into witches?"

"Yes, Miss Yachiyo and I both saw it with our own eyes," Iroha says.

"You too, huh… you've gotta be kidding… and you're telling me Miss Mami's now a member of those Wings of the Magius? No way… that can't be right…"

"It would be hard for anyone to believe if they didn't see it for themselves," Yachiyo says. "Or rather, maybe they just wouldn't want to believe it…"

"Then that means… all those witches I've beaten," Sayaka says. "Dammit! I'm gonna go home and sort my head out."

"Miss Miki!" Iroha exclaims.

"Don't read into it too deeply," Yachiyo says. "If there's anything you need to ask, you're welcome to come to us anytime. I think I have a lot more to tell you. And that advice Miss Taylor gave you… I don't fully trust her, but it's true, depression is equal to death for a magical girl. So please keep that in mind."

"Okay," Sayaka says.

"I know the Wings of the Magius insist that they're working towards freedom for magical girls," Yachiyo says. "But in truth, they're sacrificing others for their cause. They're a dangerous group, who will stop at nothing to reach their goals. They claim doppels are proof that magical girls can be freed, but it's a new phenomenon we've never seen before, so you shouldn't assume that it's safe."

"Got it," Sayaka says.

"I'm sorry," Iroha says. "I know this wasn't the best time. Especially right after you saved us…"

"Hey, I was the one who asked," Sayaka says. "And I'd find out eventually anyway, ya know? Probably better to hear about it now rather than later… I just can't wrap my head around it…"

"Miss Miki…" Iroha says.

"Sorry, I gotta jet," Sayaka says. "I've gotta talk to Madoka and Homura and Nagisa-chan about this. I think they deserve to know the truth too."

She turns and runs off, and Iroha watches her go.

"I hope Miss Miki will be okay," Iroha says.

"She might not have been ready to know all this yet," Yachiyo says. "We should've waited for a better time and place to tell her…"

"I'll text Madoka-chan and let her know what happened," Iroha says.

"Okay," Yachiyo says.

Iroha takes out her phone and composes an email to Madoka.

[I'm sorry, Madoka-chan! I may have shocked Miss Miki a little with some dark truths about magical girls…]

To her surprise, the response comes almost immediately.

[Eh!? Did you find out the truth about soul gems and witches, Iroha-chan!?]

Iroha gasps. "Huh!? Madoka-chan already knew!?"

"Ah, now that I come to think of it, she did talk like she knew last time," Yachiyo says. "Her and Miss Akemi both."

"Huh… then I hope she can calm Miss Miki down," Iroha says. "Let me respond quickly…"

She composes a response to Madoka's message.

[I just found out about how we turn into witches myself, and then I went and told Miss Miki all about it, but I'm not sure she was ready to hear it…]

There's a brief delay before Madoka's response this time.

[Don't worry! We'll work things out between us!]

Iroha sends another response.

[Um, if I may ask… how did you find out about it?]

There's no immediate response this time, so she stows her phone away.

"Okay," Yachiyo says. "We should head back."

"Yeah," Iroha says. "We have to think about what we're going to do next, too.

"Yeah," Yachiyo says with a smile. "It might take us some time, but do you want to walk back?"

"Sure…"

They don't head for a train station, simply walking in the general direction of home.

---

While watching the events at the Memory Museum, a number of things happened on my end as well – we played a number of different games with Karin, read manga with her, and were even invited to have dinner with her.

But after dinner is over, and Inui and I have helped to wash up as thanks, we say our goodbyes. Inui and I head outside, and Karin follows, telling her parents she'll just walk us to the station. By this time the rain has finally come to a stop, so I don't need to open up the umbrella.

"Is that really all you're doing, Karin-chan?" I ask. "Just walking us to the station?"

"Well, I thought I might check around for witches too," Karin says.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Inui says.

Once we reach the station, we exchange goodbyes once more with Karin, and then we head inside and wait for the train. Once we're safely on board, I check in on Iroha and Yachiyo again.

---

They haven't gone all that far when they run into an unexpected face. Karin steps out from an alleyway, her soul gem out, and does a double-take.

"W-whoa!?" she says. "M-miss Nanami!? W-what are you doing here!?"

"Miss Misono…" Yachiyo says. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Y-yeah… though I think I glimpsed you in Chuo Ward the other day…"

"That was quite a surprise, indeed," Yachiyo says. "What's your relation with Alina, by the way?"

"Eh? She's just… a sempai?" Karin says. "She helps me out with my manga now and then…"

"Is that so…" Yachiyo says. "Well… we're just heading home, so don't let me keep you…"

"R-right… I was just chasing a witch, so I'd better hurry," Karin says. "Seeya later…?"

"See you later," Yachiyo says.

They continue on their separate paths, and after a minute or two, Iroha brings up the encounter.

"So, that girl… isn't she the one who crashed into the battle the other day?" she says. "Shoving Alina right off the roof… what kind of person is she?"

"That's her," Yachiyo says. "She's… a kind person, if a little… poor at thinking through the consequences of her actions. Her appearance in that battle certainly seemed to reflect that aspect of her well. I don't see her much, simply because I don't come to Sakae Ward very often."

"So basically… Sakae Ward is her territory?" Iroha says.

"I think she shares it with a couple of other magical girls, but yes, basically," Yachiyo says.

"Just how many magical girls are there in this city…?" Iroha wonders. "Do you know all of them, Miss Yachiyo?"

"I wouldn't say I know all of them," Yachiyo says. "But I certainly know a great many… I also remember a great many who didn't last very long, though."

"That must be pretty rough," Iroha says.

"It wasn't quite so bad when it was someone I didn't really know," Yachiyo says. "But yeah, it was rough…"

At that moment, Iroha's phone pings, and she takes it out to see a response from Madoka.

[I'm really sorry! I promised Ashley-chan I wouldn't tell anyone about that, so if you want to know, you'll have to ask her!]

"Huh?" Iroha says. "Look…"

She shows the message to Yachiyo, who blinks.

"Huh… is Miss Kaname working with Miss Taylor after all…?" she muses.

"What is her deal…?" Iroha wonders.

"Well… there's no point in worrying about it right now," Yachiyo says. "I imagine we'll meet this Ashley Taylor again at some point, so when that happens, we can ask her ourselves."

"Yeah, you're right," Iroha says.

She stows her phone away, and they fall silent again as they continue to walk back home. Not another word is spoken as they slowly make their way across the city towards the Crescent Moon Villa.

---

Inui and I finally get off the train and make for Fendt Hope. However, once we arrive, instead of heading upstairs, I make for the stairs leading down, into the chapel.

"Huh?" Inui says. "You're going to the chapel? Whatever for?"

"I want to verify that things are how I expect them to be," I say. "I'll only be a few minutes, so if you want to wait in the room—"

"No, I was just surprised!" Inui says. "It's fine. I'll come with you."

We descend the spiral stairs into the depths of the earth, the impurities growing thicker and thicker as we go. Though it's far from the first time either of us have been here, I for one am still not fully used to the sensation. Still, it's not as bad as my first time. I don't have any difficulty walking.

Once we finally reach the bottom, we step into the underground garden and gaze up at Eve for a moment. I take a quick look around, both with my eyes and my clairvoyance, verifying that we're utterly alone down here. I also peek in on the people most likely to stop by here – Touka and Nemu are already asleep, and Alina is standing out on a balcony opening from the hotel's top floor, gazing at the stars. I remember that balcony from the anime, but this is the first time I've actually seen it in reality. And Mifuyu is not asleep but does appear to be in her room at Fendt Hope. Just for completeness, I check on Yukika and the Amane twins too, but they all seem to be at home.

I transform and summon Teddy Mk II, startling Inui.

"Huh? What are you planning?" she asks.

"Nothing dramatic," I say. "You can hop on if you like."

I hop on Teddy, and she does too. We slide upwards, towards Eve's head. As I already knew, there is a gigantic red crystal just below her head, and I slide in to take a closer look at it. Inui gasps.

"Ohhh! There's someone trapped inside that crystal!"

"That's why I'm here," I say.

I stare at Tamaki Ui's unconscious body, trapped inside the crystal, considering whether I should tell Iroha about it. I keep telling myself not to interfere too much, but it's tough, knowing that bad things are probably going to happen. Would Iroha knowing make a difference? Hmm… I suspect it wouldn't actually make much of a difference… not when she's standing against the Wings of the Magius. It would only make a difference if she could freely enter Fendt Hope. So I whip out my phone and snap a few photos of Ui. It's hard to get one that works – the light of the flash glints off the crystal, obscuring Ui's features, but if I disable the flash entirely, there's not enough light to see anything. Eventually I get one that I'm satisfied with, where Ui can be easily seen.

"So you came to snap photos?" Inui says. "Is that it?"

"I did say it was nothing dramatic," I say.

"Well, okay," Inui says. "Come to think of it, we should also eat something before bed. Let's stop off at the cafeteria next."

"Good idea."

I set us back down and power down, and we head up to the cafeteria. After a light supper, we return to our room, and I resume keeping an eye on Iroha and Yachiyo.

---

They finally catch sight of the familiar shopping district near the villa, where Konomi's flower shop is. It's around then that Yachiyo breaks the long silence that has permeated their long walk home.

"It really does take quite a long time to get back on foot, doesn't it?" she says. "I think I'm going to have a hard time getting up tomorrow morning…"

"Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for giving me all this time to think."

"No need to thank me," Yachiyo says. "I had my own reflecting to do as well. I thought it'd be best to try to sort out everything that happened."

"Yeah, I did that too," Iroha says. "And my own feelings…"

"And how do you feel now?" Yachiyo asks.

"Nothing has changed," Iroha says. "But now, I feel like I'm ready to do what it takes."

"And what's that?" Yachiyo asks. "I'd like to hear some words from our leader."

"Okay," Iroha says. "I will do what it takes to save everyone from the Wings of the Magius. Although we're down to just the two of us…"

They turn the corner and blink at the Crescent Moon Villa ahead of them. There's a light on inside.

"Huh… did we leave the lights on?" Iroha asks.

"I definitely turned them off when I left," Yachiyo says.

"Could it be Felicia and the others?" Iroha wonders.

She hurries forward and thrusts the door open.

"Felicia-chan! Sana-chan!"

But there's only Momoko there, sitting on a couch. She looks up as Iroha enters, startled.

"Um, sorry, it's just me, Momoko," she says.

"Oh no," Iroha says.

She heads over to the other couch and flops down with a sigh.

"Huh!?" Momoko gasps. "Iroha-chan!? Am I that disappointing!? I know they call me bad timing Momoko, but come on…"

Yachiyo steps in too and blinks at her. "Momoko…"

"Miss Yachiyo," Momoko says.

"What's going on?" Yachiyo says. "Barging into my house like this…"

"I had business here, so I let myself in," Momoko says. "By the way, you should switch the hiding spot for your spare keys every once in awhile."

"That's none of your concern," Yachiyo says. "Anyway, you're here about us, aren't you?"

"Oh, so you could tell?" Momoko says.

"Yes," Yachiyo says. "I'm sure once you told Rena and Kaede the truth… it was only natural that you also told them about my decision to break up the team."

"Yep, that's it," Momoko says. "I wanted to take care of my baggage too, like I should have done a long time ago. So I figured I'd come and confront you about it and I wouldn't give up this time."

"You don't need to confront me about it," Yachiyo says. "I'll tell you everything… after all that's happened, you deserve that much."

"What made you change your mind so suddenly?" Momoko asks.

"Iroha pushed herself to the limit to convince me I was wrong," Yachiyo says.

"Iroha-chan did that!?" Momoko gasps.

"Um, yes," Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo started talking about breaking the team up all of a sudden, so I…"

Momoko chuckles a bit. "I figured things might go that way, but wow," she says. "Can't tell if that's good timing or bad timing…" She sighs. "Anyway, putting that aside for a sec. You said you'd explain yourself?"

"Yes," Yachiyo says. "I'm not sure if you'll be satisfied with the answer. But yes, I'm ready to tell you… I'll tell you why I split us up… and what I was thinking back then…"

"I'm listening," Momoko says.

Yachiyo explains to Momoko the same thing she explained to Iroha about her wish, and how she'd come to blame herself for the deaths of Kanae and Mel. Momoko listens to the whole thing in silence until she's finished.

"So I've chosen to stop doubting myself," Yachiyo concludes. "I'm giving myself one final chance… I'm so sorry, Momoko… I can't even imagine how much you worried over this. Even if my wish wasn't the reason behind what happened… I'm responsible for what you went through. Whatever you want to say or do to punish me, I'll gladly accept it."

"You can't take those words back, Miss Yachiyo," Momoko says sternly.

"I know…"

"Okay," Momoko says. "It might be kinda painful, but… you asked for it. Forgive me, okay?"

"Momoko-chan!" Iroha gasps.

But rather than doing something violent, Momoko jumps up from the couch and glomps Yachiyo, squeezing her.

"Ugh, Momoko… don't hug me so hard…"

"I'm so happy," Momoko says, her voice shaking a little. "I was always wondering, did we do something wrong? And if we didn't, maybe you really had changed? I've been thinking that for so long… I'm so happy to hear your real reasoning, straight from your own mouth. Nothing changed. You're still the same. That's great news!"

"Momoko… I'm really sorry…"

Once the two of them calm down, Yachiyo and Momoko take a seat on the couch, and they begin to talk about everything that happened that day.

"Hold on a second!" Momoko says. "You've been mentioning stuff about brainwashing here and there. Did that really happen?"

"It's not something I'd joke about," Yachiyo says.

"Everyone else got brainwashed and went with the Wings of the Magius," Iroha says.

"Seriously?" Momoko says. "I got all weepy talking about what happened to us… now I feel real dumb for getting all caught up in my problems… sorry guys."

"That's nothing to apologize for," Yachiyo says.

"So what're you gonna do now?" Momoko asks.

"Miss Yachiyo and I are thinking about that now," Iroha says. "Then we're going to go save everyone."

"We're going to need to stock up on grief seeds," Yachiyo says. "We were given quite the beating today, after all…"

"You seem to be doing okay with magic, though," Momoko says.

"Well, we… we both used a doppel," Yachiyo admits. "It was the only way we could get away…"

"I see," Momoko says. "We'll need to be ready for a long fight if we're gonna deal with those guys."

"That's right," Yachiyo says.

"Well then… hmm… okay," Momoko says. "You guys just leave the grief seed gathering to yours truly."

"Huh?" Yachiyo blinks at her.

"What I'm saying is I'm gonna help you guys out," Momoko says.

"But you're—"

"Don't you dare say something like I'm not part of the team," Momoko says. "I may be Rena and Kaede's leader now… but I don't gotta have a reason to help out people who are important to me."

"Thank you, Momoko-chan!" Iroha says.

"Don't worry about it," Momoko says. "I'm positive Rena and Kaede will wanna help out too. Though Kaede might have a tough time getting back on her feet, right now…"

"I was a little worried about doing this with just the two of us," Yachiyo says.

"Yeah, I'm relieved to hear that we can count on your help, Momoko-chan," Iroha says.

"I feel like I can work at max capacity now that all the misunderstanding got cleared up," Momoko says. "Right, sempai?"

"Knock it off," Yachiyo retorts. "You calling me that makes me feel so old…"

Iroha giggles. Then her phone pings again, and she takes it out to find another message from Madoka.

"Oh, I got a response from Madoka-chan," she says.

[Sorry for messaging you so late! I heard everything from Sayaka-chan and I had to do something. I think I'll be going to Kamihama again soon. When I do, I'll let you know!]

"Miss Yachiyo… we aren't alone," Iroha says. "We have Momoko-chan… and Rena-chan and Kaede-chan… we even have Madoka-chan and the others."

"You're right," Yachiyo says. "The future doesn't look nearly as grim as it did."

"Yeah… we still have a ton of hope to get us through!"

---

So that's about it for today's events. Inui and I get ready for bed, and we're just about to settle down and go to sleep when I receive a call from Madoka. I answer it immediately and set it to speakerphone so that Inui can hear too.

"Good evening, Ashley-chan," Madoka says. "Hey… did you know all of that would happen? Is that why you said we should go today?"

"I can't say I knew for sure," I said. "But yes, I certainly suspected."

"I was waiting for the right moment to break the news to Sayaka-chan and Nagisa-chan," Madoka says. "So it was a shock to discover that she found out from someone else… you should have at least warned me yesterday!"

"I'm sorry… you're right, I was right there with you, so I could've at least sent you a telepathic message."

"Well, it's done now," Madoka says. "I'll tell you what happened today."

---

They arrived in Kamihama as planned and disembarked from the train in Chuo Ward, near the town hall. Since it was raining hard, they all had umbrellas.

"Hmm," Sayaka said. "At first glance it just seems like any old town."

"But really bizarre things do happen here," Madoka said.

"Then I guess we should start with that bizarre stuff, right?" Sayaka said.

"Yeah," Madoka agreed.

"Maybe we can look into those rumours you were talking about?" Sayaka suggested. "Or the Wings of the Magius…"

"Yeah… Alina did talk about Miss Mami," Madoka said. "And Miss Itsumi said she saw her… we didn't see any actual evidence that something happened to her, though…"

"I'm sure she's safe and sound somewhere!" Sayaka said.

"Yeah!" Madoka agreed.

"You're too optimistic," Nagisa muttered.

"Then we'd better get on this Alina chick's trail!" Sayaka said. "So, what do you guys know about her?"

"Well, let's see," Madoka said. "Oh yeah, Miss Nanami recognized her as a well-known art prodigy…"

"So she's some kinda famous artist," Sayaka said.

"Oh! If she's an artist, her art might be stored or documented somewhere!" Nagisa suggested eagerly. "Like an art book in the public library?"

"Oh yeah, that's true!" Madoka said.

"Great idea!" Sayaka said. "So where would we find a library around here? Maybe we can find info about her, too."

"Let me see," Madoka said, checking her phone. "There's one not far from the station… let's hurry over and find out!"

"Alright! Let's do that!" Sayaka said.

They spent about an hour going through the art section in the library, but found nothing. Then they tried looking through the current events section, which contained local newspapers, magazines, fliers, and other material. They had a bit more luck there, with several articles discussing Alina's work, but there was nothing to hint at a way to find her. Though they would later learn she had an ongoing exhibition, that must have just been too recent to make it into a library yet.

Eventually they gave up and left the library with a sigh. The rain was still coming down like crazy, so they stood just beneath the library's eves to stare out at it as they discussed their next move.

"No luck," Sayaka said.

"Yeah," Madoka said.

"Oh, but we could always go check out a different library!" Sayaka suggested. "Or search somewhere else besides libraries, some place where you can look stuff up."

"That's a good idea," Madoka said. "I'll try to find places like that."

They found a bench sheltered by a nearby overpass and sat down, Nagisa and Sayaka peering over her shoulder as she did a web search on her phone. All sorts of libraries, schools, town halls, community centres, and museums popped up in the search results, far too many to investigate each one.

"Hey, what's that one?" Sayaka asked.

"Hm?" Madoka said. "Which one?"

"Kamihama Memorial Museum," Sayaka said.

"It sounds like a museum that gathers and stores records," Nagisa noted.

"That does sound… plausible," Homura agreed.

"Sounds like a pretty big place!" Madoka said.

"Yeah!" Sayaka said. "Why don't we check it out?"

"Alright, let's go to the Memorial Museum!" Madoka said.

"I wonder what kind of documents they would have," Nagisa mused. "Huh? Wait a moment… it says it closed down several years ago…"

"Huh? That's no good, then," Madoka said.

"Actually, perhaps that makes it perfect," Homura mused. "Don't you think an abandoned museum would be a perfect place to hide a rumour?"

"Oh, you have a point!" Madoka said. "Is it far…? Looks like it's fairly close, so we might as well just take a peek!"

They opened up their umbrellas and headed towards the indicated location. After walking for a few minutes, Nagisa suddenly stopped, causing Sayaka to bump into her.

"What's up, Nagisa?" Sayaka asked.

"A witch," Nagisa said, pointing. "Over… that way…"

"That's out of our way," Homura said. "We should focus on the reason we came."

"No!" Madoka said. "We can't just ignore a witch!"

"A magical girl from this city will deal with it," Homura said.

"But we don't know that for sure!" Madoka said. "They might not be in this area at this moment. I can't just leave it until I know for sure. If there's another girl fighting the witch, we can let her have it, of course. And if someone shows up as we finish and complains, we can let her have the grief seed."

"I agree," Sayaka said. "Just letting a witch go because someone else will deal with it 'soon'… that doesn't sit well with me. It could kill a lot of people in that time. Let's go take it down!"

"Whatever," Homura muttered.

So, they started tracking the witch that Nagisa sensed. It seemed to be on the move, causing them to backtrack all the way to the library and then some, but eventually they managed to catch up with it in an alleyway across from what appeared to be an abandoned townhouse – a small courtyard surrounded by rundown, disused residences. They looked around for a place to stow their umbrellas and spotted a dumpster next to the courtyard's entrance. Folding their umbrellas up, they tucked them securely behind the dumpster.

Then the four of them transformed and hopped into the barrier, where they were immediately met with a horde of familiars that resembled signposts with a brain attached. However, with the four of them fighting, it wasn't hard to take down the familiars and venture further inside, weaving their way through tree-lined paths and forests of massive sunflowers. On the other hand, they found themselves in a dead end several times, so it was quite awhile before they finally unveiled the central enclosure of trees where the witch hid.

"Alright, let's take out the witch together!" Madoka said.

"No," Nagisa said. "We don't need Homura-nee or the rose sister."

"Huh? Why not?" Madoka asked. "I think this one's kinda strong though…"

"I just want to try something out," Nagisa said. "But I need the sword sister to make it work…"

"Alright, I'll help ya out, on one condition," Sayaka said.

Nagisa tilted her head, and Sayaka plowed on.

"At least this once, please call me by name!" she said.

"Whatever," Nagisa muttered. "I formally request the assistance of Miss Sayaka."

"Yes!" Sayaka said.

Suddenly she hugged Nagisa.

"W-what!? No! Stop hugging me!" Nagisa protested. "We're in a labyrinth! It's dangerous!"

"But you actually called me by name!" Sayaka said.

"It's not a big deal!" Nagisa said. "Stop it!"

"So, what's the plan?" Sayaka asked, releasing her.

"You distract the witch, and I take her down," Nagisa said. "Well, that's the ideal outcome, but if my attack is less effective than I anticipated, then you get to finish her off."

"So I'm just a distraction!?" Sayaka gasped.

"Well yes, but this plan would never work without you," Nagisa said. "Good luck."

With that, she kicked down the blockade keeping them out of the central enclosure, and the four of them piled inside. However, none of them were prepared for the dread the witch's very presence imposed on them. The four of them froze up almost immediately, gasping for breath. Only Homura's quick thinking saved them from the witch's opening attack, using time stop to pull them out of the way.

"T-that startled me," Madoka said. "It's attacking the mind…? Is that it?"

"I think so," Homura said.

"In that case, this must be perfect timing!"

The four of them turned in surprise to see another magical girl enter the room, dressed like a cheerleader.

"You can do it!" she said, grinning at them. "Go on! I know you can!"

"I get it," Homura mused. "She also has magic that influences the mind… a direct counter to the witch's magic."

"Then it's time for us to execute the plan!" Nagisa said. "Sayaka, go go go!"

"Aww, you said it again!" Sayaka said, grinning.

She jumped forward, brandishing her sword while the unknown girl cheered her on.

"You can do it, Miss Sayaka!" she shouted. "Go, fight, win!"

The others watched while Sayaka pulled out five or six swords all at once, flinging them at the witch to draw its attention. Once the witch targeted her, she did her best to dodge and block the attacks. Those that hit her anyway, she healed right away. That was probably why Nagisa had requested Sayaka specifically – although Madoka could also heal, Sayaka's regeneration was far superior both in speed and ease of activation.

While Sayaka dealt with drawing the witch's attention, Homura and Madoka held off the familiars that attempted to spill into the enclosure from multiple entrances. However, Nagisa had other ideas. She waited for the witch to rotate about a quarter turn, then moved in behind her and tooted her horn several times. The bubbles she produced this time rapidly grew huge, but they didn't explode when they struck the familiars. Instead, each bubble sucked in a single familiar, carrying it aloft. She gathered about fifty of them, and the bubbles floated up to hover above the witch. It was unclear whether they moved as she desired or if she'd calculated that they'd end up there.

Then she tooted her horn again. All the bubbles abruptly popped open, the familiars within plummeting towards their master. Each familiar was composed of a sharp stake with various signs attached and a brain at the top, which meant that the falling familiars actually impaled their own witch, and in a few cases, each other. The witch let out a keening cry, like a pained yodel.

"I think that means it worked," Madoka said. "Awesome job, Nagisa-chan!"

"Sayaka, finish her off!" Nagisa shouted.

Sayaka leapt into the air and brought her sword down upon the witch, almost slicing it in two. Sensing that it wasn't quite enough to kill it, she followed up with a horizontal slice, practically quartering it. Moments later, the witch crumbled to dust, leaving the grief seed behind. Sayaka snatched it and stowed it away.

"Awesome!" the unknown girl said. "That was quite a unique strategy, using the familiars to take out the witch!"

"You can praise me more!" Nagisa said, grinning.

"Uhh, no, that was all I had to say," the girl said. "Oh! By the way, I'm Natsuki! Utsuho Natsuki! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Kaname Madoka," Madoka said. "Nice to meet you too."

"Can you fly with those wings, Miss Kaname?" Natsuki asked.

"Yes, I can," Madoka said. "Though it takes a fair bit of magic. I don't generally fly in battle – it's rarely worth it."

"I'm Miki Sayaka, nice to meet you! And this here is Nagisa… Momoe Nagisa."

"And Homura-chan… I mean, Akemi Homura," Madoka finished.

At that moment, the labyrinth collapsed, dumping them back out into the rain.

"Um, did you need the grief seed, by the way?" Madoka asked.

"No, I'm okay for now," Natsuki said. "I just wanted to make sure the witch would be taken out before it hurt someone. I knew there were people fighting it already, but I thought I'd see if I could help out… and it seemed you did need a little push, right?"

"Yes, thank you very much for that, Miss Utsuho," Madoka said.

"Please, just call me Natsuki."

"Then, Natsuki…chan?" Madoka ventured. "And you can call me Madoka-chan."

"That's it!" Natsuki said. "So, um… you guys aren't from Kamihama, are you?"

"How did you know?" Homura asked.

"Well, I know most of the magical girls in this part of town," Natsuki said. "So I just figured it was a good guess. What brings you to Kamihama?"

"We're looking for someone," Madoka said. "Have you heard of Tomoe Mami?"

"No… I haven't," Natsuki said. "What's she like?"

"Um… blonde, with twin-tailed drill curls," Madoka said. "She fights with muskets and ribbons…"

"Oh, so she's a magical girl," Natsuki said. "Hmm… I don't think I've seen her, sorry."

"What about Alina Gray?" Madoka said.

"Well, I've heard of her, but just the name," Natsuki said.

"So you can't give any hints to how we could meet her?" Madoka said.

"Hmm… oh, I heard she has an art exhibition on right now at the Museum of Modern Art," Natsuki said. "Maybe she'd be there in person? I can't be sure, though."

"Where is this museum?" Madoka asked.

"Think we should check it out first?" Sayaka asked.

"I'm not sure, but if it's close, it wouldn't hurt," Madoka said.

"I'll show you the way," Natsuki said. "It's not that far."

"I found the umbrellas," Nagisa said.

Everyone blinked at her in surprise. The witch had moved since they entered the labyrinth, so that courtyard was no longer visible, which meant Nagisa must have slipped away without being noticed, located the courtyard, and then returned.

"Oh, um… thank you, Nagisa-chan," Madoka said. "I wish you'd told us you left, though…"

"What?" Nagisa said. "It was literally just around the corner…"

"Oh… okay then," Madoka said.

Homura, Sayaka, and Madoka each took their umbrella from Nagisa and opened it up.

"That reminds me, I left an umbrella somewhere around here too," Natsuki said.

She located it a short distance away, then led them to the museum, and after some hesitation, Sayaka charged inside. She emerged again a couple of minutes later.

"I asked at the front counter," she said. "It seems we missed her. She was there earlier but left about half an hour ago."

"That's too bad," Natsuki said. "Do you have any other leads?"

"Well, we were thinking of checking out an old abandoned museum," Madoka said. "Because it seemed like a good place to find a rumour…"

Natsuki blinked. "Wait, hold on… you're going after rumours?" she said.

"Yes… do you know about them, Natsuki-chan?"

"A little bit," Natsuki said. "I got tangled in one myself recently. Why would you be searching for one, though?"

"Well, we thought it might lead us to Miss Mami," Madoka said.

"Oh, I see," Natsuki said. "Come to think of it, I did hear a rumour about an old museum recently… something about memories…"

"That has to be it!" Madoka said. "Where is this museum?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know the details or the location," Natsuki said. "It was just a rumour… although there was a weird familiar-like creature spreading it, so I guess it really is that type of rumour… oh yeah, it about something called the Memory Museum."

"Memory… memorial… that can't be just a coincidence," Sayaka mused.

"Then we have to go there," Nagisa said.

"Would you like to come with us, Natsuki-chan?" Madoka asked.

"I'm really sorry… I'm already late meeting someone else," Natsuki said. "Otherwise I'd certainly be ready to come along with you."

"Oh… you're late because you were with us," Madoka said. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't be," Natsuki said. "I didn't say anything, so how would you have known?"

"Say, we should meet up again sometime, though," Madoka said.

"Sure thing! Let's exchange contact info!"

Natsuki and Madoka took out their phones and clinked them together, and Sayaka also clinked hers against Natsuki's.

"Alright, seeya later!" Natsuki said.

"Yeah! Have fun!" Madoka said.

Then they made for the location indicated for the Memorial Museum, crossing through an underpass to reach an island in the middle of the train tracks. They stopped for a moment to look up at the building, then peeked inside through the nearest entrance, which opened into a small sitting area and a corridor leading towards the front of the building. The chairs had never been removed, though they seemed to be in pretty poor condition. They folded up their umbrellas and set them down just inside the entrance, leaning against the wall.

"Looks like Nagisa-chan was right," Sayaka said.

"Yeah, it's just an abandoned building now," Madoka said. "It doesn't even look like there'd be anything useful left behind…"

"I'm sorry," Sayaka said. "I'm the one who got drawn in by the name… huh!?"

Suddenly she gasped.

"That felt like Mami's magic," Homura noted.

"Yeah!" Madoka said.

"Miss Mami!?" Sayaka gasped.

"It's coming from somewhere inside the museum," Homura said.

"That way!" Nagisa said, pointing. "Towards the front!"

"Yeah, no doubt about it!" Sayaka said. "I can't believe this place wound up being directly connected to her!"

"Your hunch was right, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka said.

Sayaka giggled. "It was, wasn't it?"

Before they could progress any further inside, however, a voice called out, challenging them.

"Who goes there!?"

"Huh!?" Sayaka gasped.

A white feather emerged from a door next to the sitting area, followed by five black feathers.

"You four…" one of the black feathers said.

"What are you doing here!?" the white feather asked.

"I-it's them!" Madoka gasped.

"The Wings of the Magius…" Homura muttered.

"Creepy guys in robes!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"These guys are the Wings of the Magius!?" Sayaka gasped.

"I see," the black feather from earlier said. "So you know of us?"

"Who are you?" the white feather asked. "Why are you here?"

"This doesn't look good," Sayaka said.

«Homura-chan!» Madoka said, sharing a telepathic channel between the four of them.

«I don't think this is worth wasting my power on,» Homura replied coldly.

«That's not what I was going to ask!» Madoka said. «You and I will handle these guys… Nagisa-chan, use your bubbles to bounce Sayaka-chan past them or something! Sayaka-chan, head towards Miss Mami's magic!»

«Wait, hold up!» Sayaka protested. «I can't just leave you!»

Madoka transmitted a giggle across the channel.

«We'll be fine! Trust us! You can take Nagisa-chan with you if you want… assuming she wants to go.»

«Bubbles… bounce… ooooh, this sounds like fun,» Nagisa said. «Then I'll be the one to get the sword sister through them!»

«I really wish you'd use my name, though,» Sayaka said. «It was great that you called me by name before, but please do it even more!»

«Anyway, I'm really worried about what happened to Miss Mami,» Madoka said. «No matter what happens, I want to make sure that at least one of us can see her and confirm her condition directly. We really need to hurry!»

«I suppose Madoka has a point,» Homura said. «I will accept her plan. Miss Miki, go on ahead. We will catch up to you if we can. However, in case that proves impossible, we should settle on an alternate meeting place, preferably a landmark that's very easy to find.»

«An iconic landmark… how about Mizuna Shrine?» Madoka suggested. «Can all of you find your way there?»

«Um… yeah, that seems like it should be easy enough to find,» Sayaka said.

«Then it's settled,» Homura said.

«Alright! I got it, sempai!» Sayaka said.

"You should come with us," the white feather said. "If you come quietly, you won't be harmed."

"Sayaka-chan, Nagisa-chan!" Madoka said.

"Now!" Homura said.

The four of them transformed all at once, and Nagisa tooted her horn once, expelling a bubble that grew to envelop Sayaka, then rapidly rose up over the feather's heads before they even realized what was happening. It popped open upon striking a light fixture in the hallway, depositing Sayaka safely on the other side of the feathers.

"W-what the!?" the vocal black feather gasped.

"You!" the white feather shouted, turning to face Sayaka. "Come back here right now!"

"I'll be going now, thanks!" Sayaka said.

She ran off down the corridor and disappeared from sight.

"Dammit!" the white feather said. "We've got to at least prevent the rest of them from getting past us! Call for reinforcements!"

"R-right!" one of the black feathers said, a different one this time.

"I'll put you in bubbles too!" Nagisa said.

She tooted her horn several more times, producing similar large bubbles, but she only managed to capture one of the black feathers. The rest were ready and swung their chains at the bubbles, popping them before they could be captured.

"No fair!" Nagisa complained. "Well, I could go with explosions instead…"

"No explosions!" Madoka said. "This is an old building… the whole thing might come down on us!"

"Well, then what else am I supposed to use!?" Nagisa complained.

"Use your small bubbles to confuse them," Madoka said.

Madoka summoned her leaf bow and nocked a few light arrows, firing at the feathers. They dodged by hopping back, then attacked with their chains. Nagisa blew her horn, expelling a stream of tiny bubbles that floated around and sort of stuck to everything they touched. They didn't seem to do anything upon contact or anything – they were just an annoyance and sometimes an obstruction to vision. Homura drew a gun and fired, startling the feathers.

"S-she's got a gun!?" one black feather gasped.

"That's nothing!" the white feather said. "I'll heal you, so don't worry about the gun!"

"R-right!"

Although they could have easily defeated the feathers using Homura's time stop, without it the two groups seemed to be equally matched, until three or four additional black feathers showed up to join the fight.

It was just as they realized they were starting to get pushed back that there was a sudden boom further in, and the building shook. Chunks of rubble fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing a few of the feathers and ultimately blocking off the path further inside.

"It's time to retreat," Homura said.

"But Sayaka-chan…!" Madoka said.

"We can only hope to meet up with her later," Homura said. "The path has been closed off. There's nothing else we can do."

"Homura-nee is right," Nagisa agreed. "We can't help the sword sister anymore here… at least we know these guys won't be chasing after her."

"That's true," Madoka agreed. "Alright, let's retreat."

Nagisa gathered up all the umbrellas, and they backed off, making for the underpass, but apparently the feathers weren't interested in giving up that easily. The rain had let up quite a bit, so even without their umbrellas, they weren't getting very wet.

"After them!" the white feather shouted. "We can't just let them get away! Capture them at all costs!"

"Homura-chan, I think it's time for that!" Madoka said.

"Not yet," Homura said. "We need to lose them completely…"

"Let's lead them on a wild goose chase!" Nagisa said. "Then poof, we'll be gone!"

"I get the picture," Madoka said. "Alright, let's do that then!"

They headed off in a random direction, making sure the feathers were still on their trail each time they came to an intersection. After nearly half an hour, they came to a stop in a random park, gasping for breath. Barely a minute later, the feathers had them surrounded.

"You're exhausted and outnumbered!" the white feather declared. "Surrender now, and we'll be lenient with you!"

Nagisa and Madoka both seized Homura's hands.

"Let me think about it," Nagisa said, making a show of pondering the offer. "Hmm… nooope!"

She stuck her tongue out. Then Homura activated time stop, and Madoka extended her wings, carrying them up into the air. From an aerial vantage point, it was pretty easy to spot Mizuna Shrine, so they landed just outside the gate, which was locked at this time of night, and powered down as Homura disabled the time stop. Somehow, Sayaka still wasn't there, even though they'd spent so much time throwing the feathers off their trail, but they took a seat on a nearby bench to wait for her. The rain had finally stopped, so they didn't even need the umbrellas anymore.

A few minutes later, Madoka received an email from Iroha and gasped, composing a response immediately.

"Is something wrong?" Homura asked.

"No, it was from Iroha-chan," Madoka said. "Apparently she just found out the truth about witches… and she told Sayaka-chan, too…"

"Huh? What truth?" Nagisa asked.

"That's…" Madoka said. "Well, we'll probably talk about it when Sayaka-chan gets here, so can you wait that long? It's not something I'd want to say twice…"

"I guess so," Nagisa said reluctantly.

An email response came in, and Madoka sighed.

"Yeah, it's just like I thought," she said. "I hope Sayaka-chan will be okay…"

"Miss Miki should be able to take it better than Miss Mami," Homura said. "But that's not saying much… as you remember…"

Madoka nodded. "But that was different," she said. "That was the truth about soul gems… which she already knows this time…"

"Oh… you're right," Homura said. "Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her learn about witches…"

"You two are being super mysterious all of a sudden," Nagisa said. "Don't tell me! You came from a distant apocalyptic future to save Earth from disaster!?"

Madoka giggled. "What are you talking about, Nagisa-chan?" she asked. "Where did you even learn a word like 'apocalyptic'? Anyway, there's no way we could come from a distant future, right? I mean, if I was from the future, I'd be older, right?"

"Oh!" Nagisa gasped. "That's right! Hmm… in that case… you're undercover spies…?"

Madoka blinked. "Huh? What is there to spy on…?"

"You're right, that doesn't fit," Nagisa said. "Ah! I've got it! You're from a parallel world!"

"W-well…"

"She does have an unusually rich vocabulary for a kid of her age," Homura mused. "I've been wondering about that for awhile… do you read a lot of books, Nagisa-chan?"

"Now and then…?" Nagisa said. "It's fun to get into a book sometimes, but it's not like it's my favourite hobby…"

Madoka checked the latest email from Iroha, which had come in while Nagisa was playing her guessing game.

"And Iroha-chan wants to know too, now," she grumbled. "Ugh… I can't tell her… what should I do…?"

"Just tell her the truth," Homura suggested. "That is, tell her that you can't tell her and why."

"Do you really think—"

"Madoka! Homura! Nagisa-chan!"

Sayaka called and waved to them from across the street. She sounded depressed.

Madoka gasped. "Sayaka-chan!"

The street light changed, and Sayaka came over to join them, not at a run, but at a dejected plod. Finally, she reached the bench and flopped down with a sigh.

"You'll never believe what I just found out," Sayaka said. "I've got bad news, and worse news…"

"Um, Sayaka-chan… your soul gem's in bad shape!" Madoka said.

"Seriously, already!? I just purified it…"

"Where's Mami-nee…?" Nagisa asked.

"Can you tell us what happened, Sayaka-chan?" Madoka asked. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it! I promise you!"

"I… I saw Miss Mami," Sayaka said. "But it was like she was a different person… she was trying to kill a girl named Miss Tamaki, and her blue-haired friend…"

"T-that's Iroha-chan and Miss Nanami!" Madoka gasped. "Are they okay? Oh wait… Iroha-chan emailed me, so I guess they are…?"

"Yeah… I guess I saved them," Sayaka said. "I used one of Homura's bombs to make a smoke screen and got the two of them safely out…"

Homura facepalmed. "So you're the culprit… I thought it might have been Nagisa-chan who took it, but to think it would be you… grenades really aren't meant to be used as a smokescreen, but if you wanted an actual smoke bomb, you could've just asked."

"I wouldn't steal a bomb," Nagisa retorted. "I'm not that dumb."

"Who're you calling dumb!?" Sayaka protested.

"Y-yeah, that was a bit too dangerous, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka said. "You could've brought the whole building down! That corridor collapsed, so we couldn't go after you…"

"W-well, I was desperate," Sayaka said. "Miss Mami just wouldn't listen, and she's way too strong for me… so I just thought of anything I could do to get away… anyway, once we were safely away, Miss Tamaki told me all about what they'd learned there."

Madoka nodded. "Go on," she said.

"She talked about the soul gem thing," Sayaka said. "And then she said… she said that… magical girls are destined to… to… it's so horrible I don't even want to say it…"

"Yeah…" Madoka said. "Take your time…"

"W-witches," Sayaka muttered. "Witches are actually… magical girls. They said… when our soul gems turn completely dark… us magical girls, we'll become… witches…"

"Oh," Nagisa said, blinking a few times. "Ohhh… I knew it had to be too good to be true. It was pretty obvious from the start that Kyuubey's offer was suuuper fishy…"

Everyone blinked at her.

"Y-you're taking this far better than I thought you would, Nagisa-chan," Madoka said. "If I'd known that would be the case, I would've mentioned it earlier…"

"Huh?" Sayaka said. "W-wait… are you telling me you already knew about it and didn't even bother to tell me!?"

"I-I'm sorry, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka said. "I was trying to find a good opportunity to tell you… and um, the thing is, I couldn't tell Miss Mami, because I know she wouldn't be able to handle it… so… it was really hard to find an opportunity when we're all together most of the time… believe me, I really intended to tell you eventually!"

"How did you find out?" Sayaka asked.

"I'm sorry… I can't tell you that," Madoka said. "But I already knew before I made my wish… I'd already come to terms with it by then. Homura-chan already knows too, by the way."

"I can't believe it," Sayaka said. "You've gotta be kidding me. How on earth could you come to terms with that so easily!? And make a wish even knowing that!?"

"Sayaka-chan… please don't be like that," Madoka said. "Of course it wasn't easy… I thought long and hard about it, you know! I was really scared too… I still am, a little! To imagine running out of magic and turning into a witch… especially when discovered I use up my magic so quickly… it was pretty scary."

"Argh!" Sayaka exclaimed. "How could this happen!? Does Miss Taylor know too? Or Kyouko? Was I the only one left in the dark!?"

"I only just found out, idiot," Nagisa retorted. "So you're definitely not the only one."

"No, no, no!" Madoka said. "Miss Taylor knows, yes, but I don't think Kyouko-chan does… though I can't be sure, since we haven't seen that much of her…"

"You know, shouting and screaming like that is only going to hasten the process," Homura said coldly. "You need to calm down."

"B-but it's just too horrible…" Sayaka said. "It really is too horrible for words…"

"Y-yeah, it's horrible!" Madoka said. "It's horrible, but… when you get right down to it… it's still horrible, it's just… think about it, Sayaka-chan… everyone will die one day, right?"

"Huh? What has that got to do with anything!?" Sayaka gasped.

"Ah," Nagisa mused. "Turning into a witch is the same as death… is that the rose sister's point?"

"B-basically," Madoka said. "It's not quite the same, but it's pretty close… especially when there's a friend with you to finish you off right away. But Sayaka-chan… I don't think it's right to throw away hope because you're afraid. If we give up, it'd be the end. I know there's a way to stop magical girls from turning into witches. I just know it. And I don't mean what the Wings of the Magius are doing… I mean something that doesn't require sacrificing people."

"I'm not so sure," Homura said. "Kyuubey says it's impossible… though it's clear that Kyuubey doesn't understand everything, so he could be wrong…"

"Madoka…" Sayaka said. "I kinda get it, I really do… but… but why does it have to be like this!? I just can't get past that one question… it's circling around and around in my head… I wonder if we should ask Kyuubey about it…?"

"Actually, it's all Kyuubey's fault," Madoka said. "I don't fully understand it, but he did try to explain it to me once… apparently, his kind can gather energy whenever a witch is born. It's awful, I know… that he could treat us like he does, just for some energy…"

"Y-yeah, what the hell!?" Sayaka said. "I mean, if Kyuubey were like, some cartoon villain, that'd almost make me feel better, but… we're just walking power plants to him!?"

"Why would Kyuubey choose witches as a power source?" Nagisa asked. "It doesn't seem like that would be very efficient…"

"Um… Homura-chan, maybe you can explain that part…?" Madoka said. "The thing about entropy or whatever…"

"Um… I suppose," Homura said reluctantly. "Nagisa-chan, you've probably never heard of the second law of thermodynamics, right?"

"Second law of thermodynamics…?" Nagisa said, surprising them by pronouncing the difficult word perfectly. "Um… isn't that… something about why time only goes in one direction…?"

Homura blinked.

"No, that's not it, Nagisa-chan," Madoka said.

"Actually, she's right, Madoka," Homura said.

"W-wait, she is!?" Madoka gasped.

"But that's not what the law is about," Homura said. "Time flowing in only one direction is just one of the results of the second law of thermodynamics. The law itself states, basically, that heat always spreads out to colder areas, leading to greater total entropy. Um… entropy is something like how messy it is…? So the highest entropy is when everything is the same…"

"Huh? Isn't that the least messy?" Nagisa asked.

"Um… what?" Homura said. "Well… yeah, it is a bit confusing… but um… higher entropy means it's harder to notice the difference if something changes. So if everything's the same, you won't notice if two molecules swap positions because um… everything's the same anyway… so… yeah, I don't really understand it myself…"

"Um, okay," Nagisa said. "So a pudding has a pretty high entropy because no matter how much you stir it up, it looks exactly the same… but a salad has lower entropy, because if you stir it up it might look quite different."

"Yes, that's not a bad analogy," Homura agreed.

"So all you're saying is this entropy stuff always goes up, and that's why time always flows in one direction… but what does that have to do with witches?" Nagisa asked.

"Ah, um… apparently, Kyuubey can make entropy go down with the energy he gets from a witch transformation," Homura said. "Or… something like that? I don't really understand that, either…"

"And… is that supposed to be a good thing…?" Nagisa asked.

"I guess it is if you're planning to survive for trillions and trillions of years," Homura said. "Because entropy only ever goes up, someday the universe will just be an infinite soup where everything is exactly the same everywhere… and obviously we wouldn't be able to be here to see that. The thing is… that's so far in the future that you can't even imagine it… the sun itself would be long dead by then… it's probably enough time for a thousand stars to be born and burn out, one after another… it's much, much further in the future than the Big Bang is in the past…"

"This pseudo-scientific nonsense is making my head spin," Sayaka said. "In the end, Kyuubey's sacrificing thousands of us just for something stupid like that? Who cares if the universe dies when I'm no longer around to see it…"

"I wouldn't want the universe to die if I knew of a safe way to avoid it," Madoka said. "But there's no excuse to sacrifice people to keep it alive…"

"Um… so anyway, Miss Nanami also told me about the Wings of the Magius," Sayaka said. "She said, 'They insist that they're working towards freedom for magical girls. But in truth, they're sacrificing others for their cause. They're a dangerous group, who will stop at nothing to reach their goals.' So when it comes to that doppel thing they claim is their 'proof of freedom'… she said, 'You shouldn't assume that it's safe'."

Madoka nodded. "I think Miss Taylor mentioned something like that, too… it's an incredible thing, but we don't know if there are side-effects when you use it too much… in fact, I get the impression that Miss Taylor believes there are side-effects…"

They fell silent for awhile, Nagisa frowning as she pondered everything, Sayaka crying, and Madoka crying too, in sympathy with her. At some point during this, Madoka remembered to send a response to Iroha's email. Eventually, once Sayaka's tears had mostly dried up, Homura broke the silence.

"Let's go home."

Everyone nodded without a word, and they got up and headed for the train station. On the way there, they encountered a witch, which Homura took down alone, using the grief seed to purify their soul gems as much as possible. Then they caught the train back to Mitakihara. Nagisa leaned on Homura and was fast asleep in no time.

"And… and what about Mami?" Sayaka suddenly asked. "What are we going to do about her? Why is she acting the way she is? I don't get it… I thought she was… I thought…"

"Tomoe Mami is the type of person to learn the truth and conclude that all magical girls must die," Homura said coldly. "I think it's very likely that's what happened."

Madoka nodded. "Yeah… she joined the Wings of the Magius, so she must've found out about it too…"

"Maybe the reason they brainwashed her is because it was the only way they could stop her from going berserk," Homura suggested.

"That could be," Madoka said. "Sayaka-chan! Didn't you say that Miss Yui and the others were also being manipulated?"

"Oh, yeah, it looked like they were brainwashed," Sayaka said. "Um, I mean, that's what Miss Iroha said… I didn't see them myself."

"Of course, I knew they were up to something!" Madoka said. "I didn't think Miss Mami would just join a group like that so easily…"

"We might learn something if we look into what they're doing," Sayaka suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Madoka said. "We can't just sit around doing nothing… we need to stand up and fight! First of all, I need to talk to Miss Mami myself… we have to bring her back somehow! And in the process we should be able to learn more about the Wings of the Magius…"

"Okay, Madoka!" Sayaka said.

"However, we do have a test at the end of the week," Homura noted.

"Argh!" Sayaka gasped. "What horrible timing!"

"Y-yeah… maybe we should wait a bit," Madoka said. "We need to discuss exactly what we're going to do, anyway, so let's do that and study at the same time…"

"Yeah… it's time to face our own fates," Sayaka said. "Time to stand up, and fight them…!"

After that, they got off the train and all went home.

---

"And that's about it," Madoka says. "I think it could've gone worse, but… Sayaka-chan was really put out that we'd been keeping it from her…"

"I guess I can understand that," I say. "Do you think she would've taken it better if you'd told her last night, though?"

"That… I have no idea," Madoka says. "But I would've preferred that…"

"And I was pretty surprised to hear you even got into the whole entropy thing," I say.

"I didn't actually expect that to come up either," Madoka says. "It's mostly because of Nagisa-chan… she really is a smart kid. I almost think she understands the whole entropy thing."

"Are you still at Miss Tomoe's place?" I ask.

"No… actually, I've been walking home the entire time I was telling you this," Madoka says. "I'm just outside my house now."

"Oh… speaking of which, didn't you mention before that your brother found out you were a magical girl? How's that going for you?"

"Oh…" Madoka actually giggles a bit. "It can be pretty funny sometimes… I don't think he really understands what he saw. Sometimes he blurts things out, and Mom just looks at him funny. I'm not worried about being exposed… but… I have been wondering why it needs to be a secret at all, you know? I think it might make me feel better if I told my family…"

"I've always wondered the same thing," I say. "I think if you want to tell them, you should tell them."

"Even then, picking the right time is… I dunno," Madoka says.

"It's actually strange that more people don't know. There must be hundreds of thousands of magical girls across the world who all implicitly agree, without even communicating, that it must remain secret. I don't think Kyuubey has ever outright said that it must be kept secret…?"

"I don't remember Kyuubey saying anything like that either," Madoka says.

"I do know that magical girls in Yukuni attempted to spread the truth and it backfired," I say. "But that's a bit different from just telling your family…"

"I'd be interested in hearing more about that," Madoka says.

"I'm probably not the best person to ask about that," I say. "Since I mostly only know from a third-hand account… someone from Yukuni who wasn't even a magical girl at the time…"

"Well, anyway… I am glad that the air is finally clear between us," Madoka says. "It hurt to have to keep it from her… I'm glad I don't have to anymore. I just hope she won't turn into a witch overnight…"

"That can happen," I say. "I think she should be fine as long as her soul gem was purified before bed, though…"

"Ugh… I can't…" Madoka says. "That settles it. I'm going to stay with her tonight."

"That might be a good idea," I say. "You have a grief seed, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Madoka says. "More than one, in fact."

"And if the worst happens, you can at least make sure she doesn't take her parents out with her," I say.

"R-right… I hope it doesn't come to that… although even if she does turn, it's not game over, right? We have Elise-chan."

"Right, that's true," I say. "Good luck."

Because I'm curious, I open a vision on her as she hangs up. She enters her house, where she finds her mother in the kitchen with a glass of whisky on the rocks. Junko turns as she enters.

"Where have you been?" she asks. "I called you three times…"

Madoka checks her phone. "Oh… you did," she says. "Sorry… I'm really sorry I didn't notice. I was really distracted, and then I was on the phone with someone else, and I just now got off. Um, so actually… I know it's already late, but… Sayaka-chan is really feeling down, so I want to stay with her tonight. I just stopped by for pyjamas and a pillow…"

"In that case, I'll drive you over," Junko says.

"You're okay with it!?" Madoka gasps.

"It's for your friend, right?" Junko says. "You're doing this out of concern for Sayaka, so why shouldn't I support you? It's unusual for you to be so decisive, so I need to make the most of it while it lasts, you know?"

Madoka hugs her mother.

"Thank you so much!" she says.

"Hurry up and grab your things," Junko says. "And don't forget your toothbrush."

"Right!"

Madoka runs to her room to grab the few things she'll need for the impromptu sleepover, as well as dental care items from the bathroom. She just stuffs everything into her schoolbag, then runs outside to where Junko is already waiting in the car.

"Wait a second… you were just drinking, Mom, is it really okay for you to drive?"

"Oh, that?" Junko says. "I'd only just poured it… I literally took one sip, and then you walked in. I should be fine."

"Oh, okay."

Barely ten minutes later, they pull up in front of the apartment building where Sayaka lives, and Madoka runs up to press the buzzer for her apartment. It's answered almost immediately by Sayaka's father.

"Hello? Who is it?"

"Um… it's Madoka. Sayaka-chan seemed depressed, so I thought I'd stay over to keep her company," Madoka says. "Is that okay…?"

"Oh… sure," he says. "Come on up… she got home just a little while ago and stomped into her room without a word, so…"

"Thank you very much!" Madoka says.

She turns to wave to her mother, who waves back before driving off. Then she heads inside and takes the elevator to the correct floor. Sayaka's father opens the door immediately when she knocks, and after a quick exchange of greetings, she makes for Sayaka's room.

"Surprise!" Madoka says.

Sayaka gasps. "M-madoka!? W-what are you doing here!?"

"I thought you could use the company after what you just learned," Madoka says.

"Oh… yeah, you're probably right," Sayaka admits. "My soul gem is already a bit murky even though it was purified barely an hour ago…"

"Yeah… and there's another reason for me to be here," Madoka says. "If the worst happens, and you end up turning into a witch in your sleep, at least I can defeat you before you eat your parents."

"Do you think that's likely…?" Sayaka asks.

"No, no! It's not really the reason I came… it's just an extra excuse, really… I came to keep you company."

"Thank you very much! I thought I'd gotten over it, but once I was alone, I started to feel like I was at the bottom of an infinite pit, so… just having you here makes a huge difference."

Madoka quickly changes into her pyjamas and climbs into bed with Sayaka.

"Good night, Sayaka-chan!"

"It doesn't feel that good, but… good night, Madoka."

---

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.

Himuro Lavi
氷室ラビ

Age: 16
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Red
Origins: Unknown
Symbol: Two green trees
Soul Gem: Oval turquoise gemstone on her left shoulder
Element: Forest
Weapon: Boomerang
Powers: Concept reinforcement
Wish: "I want the soil to be restored."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 9
Offensive Power: 3
Defensive Power: 5
Initial Power Usability: 3
Learned Powers: 1

---

Doppel Corner

Whenever a new magical girl unleashes her doppel, I'll include a doppel description here. Note that most of these are direct quotes from the Magia Record game rather than being written by me; they are simply reproduced here for interest. I'll mark any original doppels with a dagger symbol (†).

Candeloro (Tomoe Mami)

The Doppel of invitations. Its form is dressing up. The master of this emotion doesn't trust it but battles on, regardless of its presence. This Doppel is very small compared to other Doppels and always sits on its master's head, so the master is hardly aware of it. It is doubtful that they communicate, so its master fights normally while it supports her. It is small and looks unreliable, but its vines are powerful enough to penetrate any enemy.

Campanella (Nanami Yachiyo)

The Doppel of admittance. Its form is a ticket puncher. The master of this Doppel dreams of the day she will begin her journey, following in the footsteps of all the friends she has parted from. The light from the lantern at the end of the Doppel's tail can call forth a myriad of illusions, and the scissors are said to cause great devastation in the near futures of those who have been harmed by them. As Magical Girls get older, their emotional range becomes smaller, and such is the case for this master, who cannot separate her body from her Doppel.

---

Here I splice in an encounter with Natsuki, because Homura's magical girl story never happened but I want them to already know each other by the time they run into her in the middle of the blackout. Also because I took the anime's later time for the lecture, and also posited that they left Mitakihara first thing in the morning, so I had to do something with that time or they'd arrive at the Memory Museum before the lecture even began, which would be totally anticlimactic.

Not much else to say here. As previously mentioned, the next few chapters are well over half done, so there's virtually no chance it'll take me more than a week per chapter.