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.

89. Capturing the Locust

I posit that the key element driving the cognitive revolution was an ability to reason about the future and counterfactuals. For brevity and lack of a better term, this faculty shall be referred to as 'soul'. Around 70,000 years before the present day, as a result of a sudden change to their environment and the introduction of a foreign species, humans gained 'soul' and began to truly shape their future for the first time.

~Abstract of "A Study of the So-Called Cognitive Revolution"~
~by Kiriha Kosane, Psy.M~

---

"Okay, we're here on time, but she's not here yet…?" I say.

"She definitely said she'd be here," Hiyori says. "But she did sound reluctant…"

"What are you waiting for, Ashley?" Inui says. "You can easily find where she is."

"Right," I say.

I scry on Kirika, the girl who was supposed to meet us here, outside the fast food place near Mitakihara Middle School. It's the same place where I scolded Hitomi in the last timeline. I find her sprawled out on a bench in a park which I think is nearby.

"It seems she's close by," I say. "There's a park near here, right?"

"A park," Inui says. "Yes, there should be…"

"If you're talking about a nearby park, it's probably the one over there," Hiyori says, pointing.

"Alright, let's go there."

So, we head in the direction Hiyori indicated until we reach the park. It looks like it's the correct one, for Kirika is right there, sprawled out on a bench just like I saw in the vision.

"Kirika-chan!" Hiyori calls.

Kirika sits up with a start, staring at us, then averts her face in embarrassment.

"Ah, um… the sun was nice, so I sort of… fell asleep," she mutters. "Sorry…"

"No, that's okay," Hiyori says, beaming. "We were still able to find you, after all."

I was somewhat expecting it, but she feels like a different person from the Kirika I know.

"S-so, um… Miss Hiyori said… all of you are…?" Kirika says hesitantly.

"Right, I said it would be good for her to meet some more magical girls before making a decision," Hiyori says. "These are Ashley Taylor and Itsumi Inui. You might've seen Inui-chan at school, right?"

"Huh? Well, of course…"

"We're classmates," Inui says. "Though she doesn't have very good attendance, but I have a good memory, so I remember her well."

"Ah… is that so," Kirika says.

"I see," Hiyori says. "Sorry, I didn't know you were classmates…"

"I was going to call out to her in class the last few days, but she wasn't there," Inui says.

"I found her on the roof at lunchtime," Hiyori says. "Anyway, Kirika-chan, what do you think? Is there anything you'd like to ask a more experienced magical girl?"

"Oh, um… is it weird to… wish for someone else's sake?" Kirika asks.

"It's pretty common," I say. "But it's also… in a way, riskier. For example, if there was a boy you liked who's sick, and you wished for him to be cured, but then he got together with another girl, you wouldn't be very happy, right?"

"I… I don't know," Kirika says.

"Or, your wish could crush your own will," I say. "It would be like turning into a puppet controlled by the person you wished for…"

"Ah…" Kirika says. "I suppose…"

"Also, even if you make a wish for another person, what if you end up wishing for something they didn't even want?" I add. "You should definitely think your wish over carefully, you know."

"I… I see… that has given me… things to think about," Kirika says. "Um… thank you, Miss Taylor…"

"You know, I don't think you need to change, Kiika-tan," Inui says, beaming. "I like you just fine the way you are. I'm sure the person you have in mind will feel the same way."

"Oh… you… might be right," Kirika mutters. "But… I don't have… the courage to ask…"

"Then you've just gotta muster it up!" Inui says. "Go speak to her! Learn about her! Who knows, maybe once you've had a nice long chat, you'll come up with a great wish! Or, you might realize you don't really need a wish at all."

Kirika nods. "I'll… do that," she says. "Yes… I'll do it… I will do it…!"

"That's the spirit!" Inui says.

"Yeah," Hiyori says. "I know you can do it, Kirika-chan!"

"Right, then… I'll… be going now," Kirika says.

With that, she leaps up and runs off.

"…think she's going see Oriko-chan already?" Inui asks.

"Without even knowing where she lives?" I say. "Well… who knows. Whatever she's planning, I really hope she doesn't make the same wish."

"I didn't really mind the other Kiika-tan that much, but her devotion to Oriko-chan was just a little bit creepy," Inui says, shuddering a little.

"Um… what on earth are you two talking about?" Hiyori asks.

"Ah, right, I haven't told you about it yet," I say. "Hmm… I still have a bunch of things to get through today and tomorrow, but… isn't Monday a holiday?"

"Oh yeah, now that I think of it," Hiyori says. "It's the spring solstice, so they give us an extra day off to view the flowers… or I guess that's the intent, but it looks like the cherry blossoms will bloom a little later this year. Though, I see a few buds already, so maybe not that much later…?"

"They should be blooming towards the end of April," I muse. "I couldn't give you an exact date, but… somewhere around then. Maybe we could even have a flower-viewing event during Golden Week if you wanted to… I don't quite get the appeal of just watching flowers, but it's basically a picnic, and that I can certainly get behind."

"I like that idea!" Hiyori says. "I'll tell the others, to make sure we all remember to set aside some time around then. Otherwise they might end up committing to a family trip instead. Ah, of course, that depends on the blossoms though… they might be gone by then! Anyway, what are you doing now, Ashley-chan? Going to hunt a witch?"

"Actually, I've gotta make a call back home," I say. "And then I want to meet the magical girls in the north of the city. So, I'm not sure if I'll have time to hunt a witch… but I suppose I'm going to need some grief seeds soon, so I'll definitely kill one if I find one."

"Alright, so does that mean you're going back to my place?" Hiyori asks.

"No, I guess there's no need to go all the way back," I say. "If I could find some privacy close by…"

"There's a karaoke place not far off!" Inui exclaims. "Shall we go there?"

"Yeah, that works," I say. "I'm not sure we have time to do any singing though… come to think of it, we should definitely take the Holy Quintet to karaoke sometime. I have reason to believe that Miss Tomoe in particular quite likes singing…"

"Oh… I never would have thought it," Inui says. "She's always so uptight and snooty, after all… though now I realize that's just a mask, but still…"

"Who's the Holy Quintet besides Miss Tomoe?" Hiyori asks. "As far as I know, she fights alone, right? So, um…"

"How about you ask that again on Monday?" I say. "Because if I start to answer the question now, I'll probably end up explaining all that, and it's just a waste of time to say it twice… let's meet up at the hill behind your school."

"Ah, okay," Hiyori says. "I'll remember to ask again on Monday then."

So she heads off on her own while Inui leads me to the karaoke place she had in mind. I pay for an hour's worth of time, and we head inside. After propping up my phone and making sure we can both be seen by its camera, I make the video call to Chevonne and Janice, which goes more or less the same as how I remember from the last timeline. After hanging up, Inui insists on singing at least one song, and since I paid for the booth anyway, I let her.

Then we head north to meet Mari and Noriko. Given the absence of Hijiri, the meeting goes more like the previous time I'd met them, rather than the most recent timeline. I do reveal that I know her secret and float the idea of reviving the original Mari, the only difference being that this time I don't frame it as an experiment, since I know it will work. Then, after fighting Fliegende Krake together, I negotiate for the grief seed by offering a different one in exchange, and we go out for sushi with Koharu tagging along. Of course, Noriko also asks me to introduce her to Pernelle, as she usually does.

After leaving them, Inui and I spend a few hours searching for witches, but we only manage to find one, an instance of Suleika. Still, one is better than nothing, as I only had one more grief seed in reserve, excluding the one from Fliegende Krake.

---

The next morning, I call Homura to help with the suppression of Yuuki Sasa. This time, she comes without any objection. She brings the bell jar that still holds Yu's body and soul gem, and we easily take care of Sasa just like we did in the previous timeline. Once Sasa is safely stored in the bell jar, and her soul gem left in the care of Youko Futaba, we head back to the Hayashi house to drop off the bell jar and take a short break, as the Oriko meeting has been pushed to the late afternoon thanks to Madoka's plans with Mami.

"That went about the same as last time, huh?" Inui says.

"Yeah, things are still going well this time," I say. "Then again, they were going really well last time, too… honestly it wasn't until the final day that we went astray…"

"Have you thought about things you'd do differently?" Inui asks. "Though I guess you're already doing some things differently – the whole deal with Kimiko Anzu, not killing Yu-chan, and you even brought up Walpurgisnacht with Chevonne and Janice yesterday…"

"Yeah, because I think one of the things that went wrong is that they showed up just a little bit too late," I say. "That forced me to go meet them at the airport when I really should've been doing other things. I couldn't just abandon them there when they don't know the language… though I guess there'd be people who can speak English at the airport, but still."

"So, have you thought about what you'll do with the time you freed up?" Inui asks.

"Not in detail," I say. "It's a little early for that. But the next big change I plan to make is saving Sarasa Hanna… though I'm sure she doesn't really want to be saved."

"Why save her then?" Inui says.

"I think she might change her mind later," I say.

"I see…"

I sit down at my computer to make sure my document is all up-to-date, though there's not a whole lot to add to it since the Yukuni incident. Then I browse the web for awhile and watch Sayuki's latest music video.

"That girl doesn't even know how to sing," Inui notes. "Even I was better than that, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you were," I agree. "But being off-tune is part of her charm, so whatever."

"Huh, if you say so," Inui shrugs.

Eventually, we hear Homura and Madoka's voices downstairs and head down to meet them.

"Ashley-chan, Inui-chan, hello!" Madoka says. "We're all ready to go."

"I'm all ready too," I say.

"You're not even going to stay for some tea or a snack?" Mrs Hayashi says.

"Yeah, we made plans after all," Madoka says. "Maybe next time."

When we arrive at Oriko's house, Madoka blinks in surprise.

"So this is Miss Oriko's house?" she says. "It sure is big…"

"I'm still not sure we should trust her," Homura mutters. "She might have held back last time, but usually she was after Madoka's life…"

"Homura-chan, don't worry!" Madoka says. "I'm sure Miss Oriko is also a good person! She was commanding all those magical girls before, right?"

"Well… yes," Homura says. "It worked out okay last time, so…"

"In that case, let's knock!" Madoka says.

She steps up to the door and does just that. Inui and I follow her, Homura trailing behind. Oriko opens the door quickly.

"My, my," she says. "Today seems to be the day of unexpected guests… and this time, it's those two girls I saw at the end of the world. Please, come in."

As we follow her inside, I have one thing to ask.

"You had another unexpected guest today?"

"Indeed," Oriko says. "She wished to thank me for helping her out awhile ago. I confess that I only vaguely recalled the incident, but it must have been an important event for her."

"So as I thought, it was Kirika," I say.

"Then, you know her too?" Oriko says.

"A little."

She ushers the four of us into the room she uses as a living room.

"Please have a seat," she says. "I will prepare some tea."

Oriko steps out of the room, and Madoka watches her go.

"She seems really lady-like," Madoka says. "You can definitely tell she comes from a wealthy family, you know?"

"Yeah, her family is well-known," I say. "Her grandfather was apparently a well-known politician… I don't know much about him though. Her father also tried his hand at it, but ended up taking his life after a scandal…"

"What was her family name, again?" Madoka asks.

"Mikuni."

"Ah, yes, I think I've heard that name now and then," Madoka says.

"My dad has a deep hatred for a Mikuni," Inui says. "Probably her grandfather… but I'm not really sure. I think it was Mikuni Shuuichirou…?"

"I don't think that's her father's name…" I say.

At that moment, we hear footsteps in the hall and fall silent. Oriko appears soon after with a tray bearing five cups of tea and a plate of madeleines.

"Please, help yourself," Oriko says.

Madoka and Inui both decide to start off with a snack, snagging a madeleine each as Oriko moves on to introductions.

"I am Mikuni Oriko. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Kaname Madoka!"

"Itsumi Inui, at your service!"

"I'm Ashley Taylor."

Oriko looks at Homura, and after several moments of hesitation, she begrudgingly states her name as well.

"Akemi Homura."

"Now, it is clear that I have failed to understand some circumstance," Oriko says. "Even though I saw you at the end of the world, what could have brought you to my doorstep now?"

"Please tell us more about the end of the world that you saw," I say. "Don't worry about discussing magical girl stuff – all of us already know pretty much everything, even Madoka."

"I see," Oriko says. "So I surmise that you knew not only that I was a magical girl, but even the nature of my power. Very well… I will set aside for now the question of how you know, and simply tell you. What I saw in the future was those two girls – Miss Kaname and Miss Akemi, along with several others."

"Oh?" I say. "Several others, you say? Three others, perhaps? Or… five?"

"Am I to understand that you know the girls of whom I speak?" Oriko says. "There was a golden girl wielding guns, a girl in blue with swords, and a girl in red with a spear. I also saw a girl in green with a hammer."

"Ohh, so Sayaka-chan and Kyouko-chan?" Madoka says. "And also Miss Mami…"

"And the girl in green would be Yuma-chan," I say. "No sign of Nagisa-chan…?"

"No, only those six," Oriko says. "The six of them fought off a terrible witch in the middle of Mitakihara. It was too powerful for them to handle, however. Miss Sayaka and Yuma-chan were killed early on. Miss Mami and Miss Kyouko pulled off an impressive combo attack, but let their guard down and almost died to the counterattack. Then Miss Kaname finished it off, but in so doing she used too much magic and turned into a witch at least a hundred times more powerful than the one she had defeated."

"Interesting," I say. "So you saw a future where they all survive to the final battle, and Madoka is already a magical girl by that time… but the final battle is still in Mitakihara… and they still can't defeat it without Madoka turning into a witch."

"Indeed," Oriko says. "My thought was to take drastic methods to prevent that future from coming to pass… Kriemhild Gretchen would have brought a decade of darkness to the Earth…"

I blink at her. Does she somehow know the witch's name? That's odd, but even stranger is that it sounds like her vision of the future didn't stop at the battle with Walpurgisnacht.

"Huh? Wait, are you telling me you saw even further into the future than the birth of Kriemhild Gretchen!?"

"Yes, I had a second vision," Oriko says. "There were three people in that vision. A woman with silver hair, wielding a serpent staff and wearing what appeared to be a lab coat. A woman with the ears and tail of a fox dressed a bit like a miko, the red fur contrasting against her black hair. And lastly, a blonde-haired young woman about your age, perhaps a touch older, wearing some sort of armour and wielding a sword."

"The first woman must be Pernelle," I say. "The fox woman and the young woman though… I have no idea."

"Kuzunoha…?" Inui suggests. "After all, there's a legend that says she's watched over the Tokime clan since their founding…"

"Maybe," I say. "I still have no lead about the young woman…"

"Unfortunately, I have no way to confirm your theory, as the two older women were never addressed by name in the vision," Oriko says. "They called the young woman Anna, and she referred to herself as the 'great saint'. She was also the one who called the witch by its name."

So that explains how Oriko already knows the name Kriemhild Gretchen… at least one question is answered, I suppose.

"That doesn't really help identify her, unfortunately," I say. "So, what happened?"

"The three of them faced Kriemhild Gretchen and somehow defeated her," Oriko says. "There was one thing about the battle that struck me as strange, however… Anna didn't seem to be using magic. I couldn't see where her soul gem was, either. Then again, I couldn't see its location for the other two women, either…"

"Still, while it's good to know that Kriemhild Gretchen can still be defeated, that future will never happen," I say. "I won't let it. You said you had drastic methods in mind to prevent it… care to elaborate?"

"My first thought was to make sure that Kyuubey never finds out about Miss Kaname," Oriko says. "However, I soon realized I was too late for that… so I was considering strategies to draw his attention away from her. For example, I tried identifying other girls in the area with a level of magical potential that, taken together, may come close to that of Miss Kaname… but at least none of them would individually become such a terrible witch. However, even considering Chitose Yuma, who I feel is too young, I could not find enough to add up to a force capable of beating that witch."

"So just like last time, you found several potentials," I muse.

"Um, who did you find?" Madoka asks.

Well, there goes my plan to skip the list since I already heard it last time…

"Besides Yuma-chan, Miss Sayaka, and Miss Kirika, there was a stammering girl who closely resembles Miss Akemi."

"That would be Tamura-chan," I say. "I doubt there's a second doppelganger of Miss Homura wandering around."

"Besides that, I saw a girl with a gun, a girl with fans, a girl with tonfas, a girl with a triangular sounding staff, a girl with a really long ruler, a girl in full plate armour, a girl with a whip, and a girl with a megaphone. And also the little sister of an acquaintance from school."

"So in order, that means Masumi Chihana… maaaybe Shizuki Hitomi… Ayano Hikari… Kaori Sachie… no idea… Chihiro Karen… no idea… and no idea," I muse. "And of course, Asako Koito."

"Ehhh!?" Madoka gasps. "Does Hitomi-chan have the potential to become a magical girl? But she can't see Kyuubey… I thought that meant she didn't have potential."

"Magical potential isn't a fixed thing, from my understanding," I say. "I did see her become a magical girl in the last timeline, so it's definitely possible somehow. I have no idea what could cause her to gain magical potential though. I never saw her transform last time so I'm not sure if she uses fans, but I have reason to suspect that based on one of Tamura-chan's visions."

"I don't think seeing Kyuubey has anything to do with magic potential anyway," Inui says. "I don't think it's like, people with potential can see him and people without potential can't, you know? It's probably more like Kyuubey just decides who can see him."

"Yeah, you said that before too," I say.

"Ah right, you were the one who said it last time, but then you gave me credit for the idea," Inui says. "It certainly was something I'd been thinking for awhile though… really, ever since I became a magical girl."

"I see," Madoka says. "It'd be nice if all three of us became magical girls though… last time, we kind of drifted apart after learning about witches…"

"I don't really think that's a good idea," Homura says. "You shouldn't become a magical girl either, Madoka."

"Anyway, that aside, it seems Miss Oriko has seen three people that even Ashley-chan doesn't recognize," Madoka says. "Do you think those could be the girls we plan to save?"

"It's possible, but I have no way to know until I meet them," I say. "Which of course isn't even guaranteed to happen…"

"From the way you are speaking… Miss Kaname, you are the same you I saw at the end of the world, aren't you?" Oriko asks. "Have you… travelled back in time or something?"

"Oh, um…" Madoka says.

"That's… none of your business," Homura mutters.

"Anyway, Miss… Mikuni," I say, catching myself before addressing her by her given name. "I'm sure the thought must've crossed your mind… if Madoka were dead, the problem would be gone. She can't turn into a witch if she's dead, after all."

"I will admit that the thought did indeed cross my mind," Oriko says. "I have been wracking my brain ever since I made my wish to try and find alternative ideas…"

Oriko sets her tea down and looks around the table at us.

"But I presume you would not come here for no reason," she says. "Could it be that you have a proposal? A way I have not seen, that will ensure that Miss Kaname never becomes a witch?"

"That's right," I say. "There are some things that can be done to just reduce the chance of her turning. However, I also know of a surefire way to prevent it for good, as long as Madoka never leaves the Earth… which seems like a reasonable assumption, right?"

"Uhh… yeah, where else would I even go?" Madoka asks, giggling a bit. "I mean, I know they're talking about building a base on the moon, but I'm sure that won't be open to the public anytime soon…"

"Measures to reduce the chance certainly sound good," Oriko says. "Though, I would definitely prefer this surefire solution of yours."

"I actually think we should do both," I say. "I know I called it a surefire method, but there's a slim chance of problems arising with the method that render it… how should I put it… dangerous in its own right?"

"Very well," Oriko says. "Then let's first discuss your idea to merely reduce the chance."

"We'd need to erect a barrier that keeps out witches and Kyuubey," I say. "It needs to be placed in a populated area that people pass through, so that the negative emotions will build up there over time. Ultimately the goal would be to expand it to cover the entire city, but we could start with a smaller area and slowly increase it."

"I fail to understand how that will help," Oriko says.

"Once the negative emotions build up to a certain level, monsters will spawn in the area," I say. "Not witches, but creatures that I refer to as wraiths. When defeated, they drop cubes that can be used like a grief seed. You can get multiple cubes from a single wraith, so essentially it's a much more reliable source of grief seeds."

"I see," Oriko says. "It sounds rather incredible, but if I can find someone capable of forming such a barrier as you describe, then it should not be difficult to put it to the test. That said… is there a reason it must exclude Kyuubey?"

"That's only because Kyuubey might try to interfere," I say. "The more important thing is to exclude witches, because they would feed on the built-up negative emotions and prevent wraiths from spawning. There is a barrier on the hill behind Mitakihara Middle School that does exactly that. It doesn't exclude Kyuubey though. If you join me there tomorrow morning, I could show you the wraiths first-hand. I was planning to show some other people at the same time. The problem with that hill though is that people don't really go there, so the negative emotions don't build up quickly enough to be much use."

"Hmm, so then expanding that barrier may be an alternate option, rather than creating one anew," Oriko says.

"Yes, I had thought of that too," I agree. "Then, can I trust you to work towards that goal?"

Oriko nods. "Yes, pending tomorrow's demonstration. But now, tell me of the guarantee. How can you guarantee that Miss Kaname will never become a witch?"

"We can change the system," I explain. "We have what may well be a unique opportunity where all the people who have the potential to develop the abilities required to rewrite the system have managed to gather together in one place… all they have to do is make the right move. There's a narrow time window in which to pull it off. There are three young girls currently hospitalized in the Satomi Medical Centre in Kamihama, and they must be together to pull off this change. Unfortunately, one of them is due to be discharged soon due to being cured by her sister's wish, so they must become magical girls before then."

"Are you saying that those three have the ability to change the very magical girl system itself?" Oriko asks.

"Yes, if those three make the right set of wishes, then they will gain that ability," I say. "Furthermore, if they find out the truth while still together, I believe it is inevitable that they will come to that conclusion. After all, one of them is very smart and not easily fooled… I think she might even know about magical girls already, and even if she doesn't, she'll definitely get the truth out of Kyuubey."

"Do you happen to know the names of these girls?" Oriko asks.

"Of course," I say. "Tamaki Ui, Satomi Touka, and Hiiragi Nemu."

Oriko nods. "I see… you seem oddly well-informed, Miss Taylor," Oriko says. "May I ask how you came by all this information? It could not have been exclusively from time travel, right? Do you have a power similar to mine?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to reveal my source," I say. "But it's not from my magic… more like someone shared the information with me."

"Hmm," Oriko says. "Okay… supposing those three become magical girls. What sort of systemic change do you predict as a result that will solve the problem of Miss Kaname becoming a witch?"

"It will create a world where no-one will become a witch," I say. "They will build a system to weaponize the grief that builds up in our soul gems. Instead of succumbing to despair, we can burn that despair for greater power. The three of them will be able to build a prototype of the system on a small scale… the challenge will then be in expanding it."

"I find this explanation hard to believe," Oriko says. "If such a thing were possible, why has no-one done it before?"

"I don't really know," I say. "I'd speculate that chance simply never brought together magical girls with the required powers to build the system. And I'm sure that's partly why Kyuubey actively discourages magical girls from cooperating with each other. It knows our strength is in our teamwork, and that together, we might even be able to defeat it."

"But if you're saying Kyuubey will interfere, then why would you expect this to work out?" Oriko asks. "If he does not allow combinations of powers that threaten to upend the magical girl system, would he not refuse to grant those girls' wishes?"

"This is just further speculation," I say. "Kyuubey is actually not very good at predicting human behaviour. It fails to understand the methods that exist within seemingly irrational actions. And, as a result, I believe it would conclude that Ui-chan will definitely turn into a witch very soon after contracting. However… that's only if she were alone when she contracted."

"Would the plan not be ruined if she becomes a witch?" Oriko says. "And if the three girls make their wishes at the same time, surely Kyuubey will factor them in when determining the chance. This seems like an awful risk to take."

"I do have one trump card to play if that happens," I say. "A way to revert a witch to a magical girl… but it'll only work once in this circumstance, so I'd prefer not to use it. Still… I'm banking on something that Kyuubey is unlikely to be able to predict. I don't think it would occur to Kyuubey that a completely unrelated magical girl would step in to save them."

"Are you saying that your plan relies on the interference of an unrelated fourth magical girl?" Oriko says.

"Yes, that's correct," I say. "Nemu has the power to prevent Ui-chan from turning into a witch, but she wouldn't have enough time to perform her magic. The interference of the fourth girl will buy her some time, enabling her to complete it before Ui-chan transforms."

"It sounds like a pretty elaborate series of coincidences though," Oriko says. "How can you be certain it will work out?"

"I can't be certain," I say. "But it worked out in the last timeline, so I'm optimistic about it working out again."

"So… to sum things up… the best way to avoid the world's end would be for Miss Kaname to never become a magical girl," Oriko says. "However… can you make that promise, Miss Kaname?"

Madoka shakes her head.

"I can't promise that… even knowing everything, being a magical girl is still something that I can do. Honestly… even when I saw all my friends die before we came back in time, I still wanted to be a magical girl. I thought, maybe if I'd made a contract earlier, I could've saved them…"

"Then let us take Miss Taylor's gamble," Oriko says. "I surmise that you told me of those three because you wish for me to draw Kyuubey's attention to them, right?"

I nod. "Right, because it's least suspicious coming from you, given your power," I say. "I want to keep Kyuubey in the dark about our plans for as long as possible. It's an existence that could even work out a way to tame a goddess, if you just give it a little bit of information to work from. So, it's best it knows as little as possible."

"There you go about the goddess-taming again," Inui says.

"Is there some way for us to determine that the plan was successful?" Oriko asks.

"Yes, if it all worked out, magical girls across the country should soon start to dream about a magical girl who summons them to Kamihama," I say. "She'll say over and over again that magical girls can be saved in Kamihama."

"Understood. Do you wish to exchange contact info?" Oriko asks. "If we will be working together, it would be more convenient."

"Sure, I'm up for it," I say.

"Yes, please!" Madoka says.

"…whatever," Homura mutters.

"I'm in!" Inui says.

So everyone pulls out their phones and taps them together. A series of beeps indicates the successful transfer. Then Madoka speaks up with a new question.

"Before we go, I have another question for you, Miss Oriko," Madoka says. "Or perhaps I should call it a request."

"I'll hear you out," Oriko says.

"Um, so you see… from what Ashley-chan said she experienced in previous timelines, there'll be several magical girls around here who turn into a witch in the next month or so," Madoka says. "So, I'd like to save them… but we don't know when and where…"

"I see," Oriko says. "You're asking me to use my power on something so trivial… you really are soft."

"Huh?" Madoka says. "S-so you're saying… you won't help?"

"Well… I'm afraid I can't spare any magic for trivial purposes," Oriko says. "But that doesn't mean I won't help. It just means you'll need to provide the magic."

"Um… I'm not sure I quite understand," Madoka says.

"I assume she's asking for a few grief seeds as payment," I speak up.

"O-oh, yeah, that makes sense," Madoka says, nodding. "Then, if we give you a grief seed…?"

"It might sound expensive, but if you're to request a vision from me, I'll ask one seed per vision," Oriko says. "My visions draw a lot of magic, after all."

Madoka looks at me.

"Um… how many grief seeds would that be…?" she asks. "From what I recall, the ones you thought we might be able to save but weren't certain of were… Izabel, Rosasharn, Patricia, Stacy, and Nikola, right? Plus you said there was someone in Matsumiya, and someone in Takarazaki…"

"That sounds about right," I say. "Unfortunately, I now think we're too late for Izabel and Rosasharn. I'm not sure if I missed the chance or if we were always too late."

"Then we need five visions?" Madoka says.

"Hmm… I guess that would be the upper limit," I say. "That said, I think there's a very good chance we can handle two or three of them without any visions. After all, we have a very good lead on Patricia's identity, and the ones from other cities… I may be able to locate them on my own."

"How's that?" Madoka asks. "Do you know something you haven't told us…?"

"Well, I got a tip from Ashley yesterday," I say. "So I have an idea who the girl in Takarazaki actually is. It's possible I'm wrong, but… if I'm right, I should be able to recognize her on sight, and even have a name for her."

"O-oh, that's awesome!" Madoka gasps. "But how did Ashley know…?"

"That's a secret for now," I say. "The ones in Matsumiya… I believe if I show up a few days in advance, I should be able to locate them and talk to them. They're a group of three, one of whom I met in the previous timeline. Actually, only one of them turned into a witch, if I recall correctly. One had her soul gem shattered, and the last one went north to Sapporo on my suggestion."

Madoka blinks. "H-huh!? Why would you suggest she go somewhere so far away!?"

"There's a person there who could help her," I say.

"Then… Miss Oriko!" Madoka says, turning to her. "We'd like to request visions about the witches Stacy and Nikola!"

"Even if you tell me their names, I won't be able to help you," Oriko says. "The names are not at all familiar to me."

"That's fine," I say. "I can tell you where they were encountered in the previous timelines, and what they look like. Nikola is quite consistent – we meet her around the beginning of April, in an abandoned mansion in northwest Mitakihara. It has a reputation as a haunted house. I can show you on a map, if you wish. The labyrinth has a Christmas theme and the witch attacks with exploding presents."

Oriko nods. "I understand. I'm not sure how much I could direct a vision based on that information, but I can certainly try. What about the other one?"

"Stacy is trickier," I say. "Actually, I think I've seen her twice in previous timelines. In one timeline, she was first seen at the end of March near Mitakihara Middle School, and showed up again later in mid-April. Since she was defeated both times, one of them must have been a familiar that matured, but I'm not sure which one. But then in the last timeline, I saw her quite a bit earlier, in this general area. You fought her with Kirika a couple of days after meeting her, on… I think it was the twenty-fourth. This witch is sort of like a cat, with giant balls of yarn littering her labyrinth."

"So it really did take awhile to meet Kirika before," Oriko says. "I was a little surprised to see her show up so early. If it's in this area, then… perhaps I can uncover something."

"Ah, there's one other thing about Stacy," I say. "Based on missing person reports from around the same time frame, we think there's a chance she might be a student from Sakuragasaki Middle School."

"That's not so close to here after all," Oriko says. "And you're only speculating, right?"

"Yes, we don't have a firm link between the witch and the missing person," I agree.

"Well, I think it's enough information that I should be able to tease out a vision," Oriko says. "I won't be able to do it in my current state, however. Do any of you have a grief seed you can spare right now?"

"Hmm… why not wait until tomorrow?" I suggest. "I think what you'll obtain at the hill should suffice as a payment for two visions."

"Very well," Oriko says. "Although I will judge for myself whether it is sufficient."

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow," I say.

After a round of goodbyes, we head out from Oriko's place. As we leave together, something suddenly occurs to me.

"Oh, by the way, Miss Homura, what happened to Gisela?" I ask. "Last time, you fought it with Nagisa-chan and Miss Tomoe on Friday, but this time you met with Meiyui instead…"

"We still fought it," Homura says. "After I returned from Kamihama, Mami and Nagisa were still waiting for me in the park."

"Oh wow, they must've been waiting for quite awhile," Inui says. "Sorry about that… I totally forgot you had somewhere to be…"

"Whatever," Homura says.

"Speaking of Nagisa-chan, she's so adorable!" Madoka says. "I can hardly believe she's the witch that killed Miss Mami last time… they get on so well! Her magic power is pretty amazing too…"

"Well, she's definitely Charlotte," I say. "I saw her unleash her doppel last time… actually, you saw it too, though obviously you wouldn't remember…"

"What are you talking about?" Madoka asks. "What's a doppel?"

"It's the result of the new system I was talking about with Oriko," I say. "Weaponizing grief. A doppel looks a lot like a witch, but you can take control of it, and it's a reversible transformation. As Touka would probably say, it's a whole new power for magical girls… one that uses grief as its fuel instead of magic."

Madoka nods. "So if you're running out of magic, you just have to use your doppel, and then your supply of magic is replenished, is that right?"

"Pretty much," I say. "It's almost too good to be true, but it is true. Although, there might be side-effects. It definitely needs further study before it can be considered something to rely on."

"So, about that meeting tomorrow," Madoka says. "Should I come too? I made plans with Miss Mami, but maybe I could change them…"

I shake my head. "No, there's no real reason for you to be there," I say. "The same goes for Miss Homura. I wouldn't mind showing you the wraiths and the ghost haunting the hill, Madoka, but Miss Homura has already seen them, and I don't think there's much benefit in having you see them now in particular."

"There's really a ghost!?" Madoka gasps.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't even be able to see it, so…"

"I… I see," Madoka says. "But I could still see them later, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I say. "I'll invite you next time I go to that hill. That'll probably be with the Tokime girls."

"Okay!" Madoka says. "Then, tomorrow I'll be with Miss Mami!"

---

On Monday morning, I take the bell jar containing Yu and Sasa and head to the hill behind Mitakihara Middle School together with Inui and the Hayashi sisters. When we arrive, we find Elise, Claire, and Oriko already waiting. Elise seems to be displaying some animosity towards Oriko.

"Good morning, Miss Ashley," Oriko says.

"Good morning, Miss Oriko," I reply. "Is there something wrong, Elise-chan?"

"No, not really," Elise retorts. "I'm just wondering why you'd invite such an obviously high-class lady to a place like this."

"Well… for the same reason I invited you," I say. "How about we start with introductions? I'll skip Inui since all of you have already met her… so then, we have Hayashi Komachi, her little sister Hiyori, Elise Pierrot, and Claire Branch. The person you're referring to as a high-class lady is Mikuni Oriko."

I indicate each person as I name them, and the usual rounds of nice to meet you follow. Then I hop over the fence, and everyone else follows my example. As I lead them up the hill, I start to explain the things I came here to explain – the time travel, the true nature of soul gems and how they turn into witches, my clairvoyance power and the dual nature of my soul. Of course, Oriko already knows half of them, and doesn't show any surprise at my dual soul either. The others react in much the same way they always have. This time, I don't mention my reason for holding back Kirika's contract or the fact that Inui saved Nagisa. I don't mention that I saved Kimiko Anzu, either.

"Okay," Komachi says finally. "I understand everything you've told us… the only thing I don't understand is, why bring us here to tell us? We could've just met up at home or in a park."

By this time, we've reached the top of the hill, so I turn to point at the lone tombstone.

"You're right," I say. "Everything I told you just now could've been said anywhere. However, there's one more thing I wanted to tell you, and for that, this is the best place to do it… because I can show you instead of just telling you. Everyone, get ready to fight."

"Fight?" Elise says. "Fight what, exactly…? Are we duelling each other?"

"No, that's not it," I say. "Just get ready."

I transform and nudge the tombstone a little. As the dark miasma begins to rise up from the ground, everyone else transforms too.

"This sensation," Oriko says. "It's similar to a witch's familiar, but… even weaker…"

"Ah, you've already fought a witch, Miss Oriko?" I ask.

"Just one, yes," she says. "Though I just barely survived the battle."

"Alright, this black smoke-like stuff is something I call miasma," I explain. "Its appearance is a prelude to the birth of wraiths. Once they've spawned, the miasma will surround them like a fog, and it separates the area from normal space. It's not a labyrinth, because you're still fighting in the real world, but it's like you're in a phantom copy. Any damage you do to the landscape will be restored once the miasma disappears."

"That is quite interesting," Oriko muses. "Like a labyrinth in some ways, yet different in others…"

"The wraiths you'll be fighting today are basically just giants," I continue. "They're not very strong, but watch out for their beam attacks, and be wary of them phasing through objects. Fortunately there are no walls here, so that shouldn't be much of an issue, but they could still pass right through a tree for example."

As I finish speaking, the pixellated giants finally spawn amongst the trees, towering above them and gazing down upon us.

"So it is true," Oriko says. "That looks very different from the witch I fought, and it certainly is not hiding within a barrier."

"Yeah, it's not a witch, but a wraith," I say.

"It is quite the large creature," Oriko says. "But I think even I should be able to bring one down on my own…"

As one of the wraiths bears down on them, she aims several of her orbs at it and fires a series of laser beams. Though it's not a powerful attack, it's still enough to overcome the wraith. Several grief cubes drop, and Oriko steps forward to collect them.

"Three cubes from just one wraith is quite the catch," she says. "But are they as good as a witch's grief seed?"

While we chat, Inui and the quartet also spring into action, attacking the wraiths.

"I'd estimate that's equivalent to two grief seeds," I say. "Individually, the cubes aren't as good as a witch's grief seed, but when you factor in that you get a lot more of them, the overall outcome is better than fighting against witches."

"I see," Oriko says. "If you are correct about the value of these, then it will suffice as payment for the requested visions. I will make a final judgement on that after the first vision, however."

"That's fine with me," I say. "Could I ask for the first vision as soon as possible? Before the end of the day, ideally, or tomorrow at the latest."

"I will do my best," Oriko says. "Keep in mind that I have poor control over my magic, so there is a chance I don't get anything."

"I understand," I say. "Just do your best."

"And in case it needs to be said," Oriko says. "Having seen these creatures today, I will whole-heartedly support your plan."

At that moment, the quartet returns, having already defeated all the wraiths and collecting the cubes.

"What's this about a plan?" Komachi asks.

"We intend to make Mitakihara into a place where magical girls can fight wraiths instead of witches," Oriko says. "Since you can use them like grief seeds, it should not be a bad deal for you."

"Ohh… well, I got a whole bunch of cubes here, and they weren't even that strong, so I can't say I'd complain if I could fight these things more often than witches," Komachi says. "Good luck!"

"Mind giving me a few cubes?" I ask. "I realize I didn't really contribute much, but I'd at least like one or two…"

"No problem!" Komachi says.

She gives me one, and then Hiyori, Claire, and even Elise also give me one each. Inui of course has to one-up them all by giving me not two but three grief cubes, for a grand total of seven.

"Are you sure that's okay, Inui?" I ask. "Have you kept enough for yourself?"

"No worries!" Inui says. "See? I still have four! I gave you less than half!"

"Okay, if you're fine with that," I say. "Now, one last thing before we go. Although Kyuubey can dispose of these just like it would with normal grief seeds, for the time being I think it would be better to reuse them. Once they're spent, shift this tomb aside and stash them in the little hollow underneath. It'll take around a month, but eventually wraiths should spawn again here."

"Understood," Komachi says.

"But make sure you close up the tomb properly after stashing them," I add. "As long as the tomb is properly sealed, they shouldn't spawn all of a sudden. Just now, I disturbed the seal enough for them to spawn."

I turn back to the tomb and nudge it back to the correct location.

"But you know, we got a whole bunch of them," Hiyori says. "I got four or five just from killing a single wraith… are these really grief seeds!?"

"They certainly are," I say. "Just try using one on your soul gem now."

Hiyori does that and gasps. "The shine is back! Wow… they really are grief seeds… or grief cubes, I suppose. But why do they only spawn here?"

"A long time ago, someone once left some spent grief cubes in the tomb," I say. "Just like what I recommended you do once you've used these up. On top of that, there's a barrier around this hill that keeps witches out."

Hiyori steps up to get a closer look at the tomb, and Inui follows her.

"Kazura no Youha," Hiyori reads. "I don't think I know that name…"

"It's not a name," Inui says. "It's a sacred order that used to serve the Tokime clan."

"Ah, so it means a person named Youha who was a priestess of this Kazura order," Komachi says.

"Yeah," Inui says. "Her actual surname was Akatsuki."

"Huh, now that's a name I've heard," Hiyori says.

"The person buried here was probably the last head of the Kazura order before it was dissolved," Inui says. "And if you listen closely, you might even be able to hear her. Her ghost is wandering around somewhere up here."

"E-eh, I think I'll pass on that," Hiyori says quickly. "Let's get going before she finds us…"

"Sure," I say. "There's one more thing I have to say. It's about Claire-chan's class president."

"Ah?" Claire says. "What about her?"

"Based on the last timeline, I have good reason to believe that she is or soon will be a magical girl," I say. "And if possible, I'd like to avoid an outcome where she turns into a witch."

"I see," Claire says. "I suppose I can keep an eye on her, but… if she turns into a witch right after contracting, there might not be anything I can do."

"If she turns into a witch in front of you, please try to extract her body," I say. "And even if you can't save her or her body, it'll help to know exactly where and when it happened in case I redo things again."

"Um… why her body?" Claire asks.

"Ah, I think Elise-chan knows the answer to that," I say.

Elise blinks. "Huh? Wait… you know about… about that?"

"About what?" Claire says.

"I've seen it in other timelines," I say.

"B-but that means…" Elise says. "What could possibly convince me to…?"

"Ah, you're worried about the consequences of using that power, right?" I say. "We figured out a way to dodge the worst outcome. You actually used that power several times in the last timeline."

"Ah," Elise says. "Okay…"

"Um, what power are we talking about?" Claire says. "I mean… your power is just those summoned creatures… right?"

Elise shakes her head. "No… actually, I've never told anyone before, but my unique power is to trade places with a witch. I can take all of her grief and turn her grief seed into a soul gem. Of course, taking in all that grief would mean I end up dying… or more likely, turning into a witch myself… which is why I never told anyone about it. I thought, if we could discover onee-san's witch, I might use it then…"

"You can't!" Claire exclaims. "We all miss Liliane too, but you can't give up your life for her! You just can't!"

"Besides, I suspect Liliane's witch has already been defeated," I say.

"Huh… so you even knew about onee-san," Elise says.

"Yes, also thanks to past timelines," I say.

I decide not to mention that I know a method to revive her. I'm not even sure if I should use that method this time. Is it okay to keep dragging Sachie into the world of magical girls? I guess it's still something she chose herself – I never outright suggested she make a contract – but still…

"Actually, I first heard the full story from Miss Kaori," I say. "Though it was you who first mentioned she'd died."

"Ugh… that idiot, why'd she have to go and blab about that!" Elise grumbles.

"Just to be clear, that didn't happen in this timeline," I say. "So don't go yelling at her for something she hasn't even done yet."

"Fiiine…"

"Alright," I say. "We're basically done here, anyway. Now that I've explained everything to you, I have an appointment with a friend in another city, so I'll be heading to the station."

After a round of goodbyes, Inui and I head to the nearest station, where we catch a train to Asunaro. To my surprise, we find Airi and Hijiri waiting for us at the station.

"Oh, hello, Kanna-chi, Airi-chan," I say.

"Kanna-chi, Airi-chan! Hello!" Inui says.

"I wasn't expecting you to meet us," I say. "Wait, how'd you even know when we were coming? I never mentioned it…"

"Come on," Hijiri says. "I've seen you use your power often enough by now. Did you think I hadn't copied it yet?"

I blink at her. Even though I knew she could copy powers, it had somehow never even crossed my mind that she would copy my clairvoyance.

"Wait… so you've been watching me for awhile now?"

Hijiri chuckles. "Feels a little creepy, doesn't it?"

"Well yeah… I already knew that though…"

"But no, I wasn't really watching," Hijiri says. "I just checked in about once an hour until I found you on the train. I don't think I could keep a vision open to another city for more than a minute anyway – it takes too much magic."

Huh? I don't have a problem with that though… why is it different for her? I guess it's not her native power though, so maybe some differences are expected…

"I see," I say. "Anyway… I suppose Yuuri-chan is working?"

"That's right," Airi says. "But her shift should be ending right around now, so we can meet up with her at the restaurant."

"It's a morning shift, huh…?"

"Well, they don't serve breakfast, so more like a lunchtime shift?" Airi says.

"We should probably drop those guys off first, though," Hijiri says. "The Pleiades Saints are currently occupied elsewhere, so we can easily sneak into the Freezer."

So we head to the teddy bear museum and activate the teleport circle, transporting us into the basement. Hijiri opens the door leading to the Freezer, and Inui gasps.

"W-whoa! So many…"

"If I recall correctly, I think there are around fifty or sixty in here," I say. "The Pleiades Saints have been doing this for awhile…"

"It shocks me every time I see it," Airi says. "This is the second time we visited since coming back in time with you, and we'd already seen it in the previous timeline, but… the shock never really wears off…"

"Alright, let me see that bell jar," Hijiri says.

I pass her the bell jar, and she extracts the two magical girls from it, stuffing them into separate empty tanks in the facility.

"There's only one soul gem," she says.

"I left Yuuki Sasa's soul gem with someone else," I say. "That's Yu's soul gem."

I point to the tank containing Yu, and Hijiri nods.

"Got it. Not that it matters that much, as the soul gems are stored separately."

She heads for the central barrier in the centre of the room that holds the soul gems and inserts Yu's soul gem into it.

"Why is it surrounded by water?" Inui asks. "Is there a reason or just because it looks pretty?"

"According to Umika, the water enhances the barrier's nature somehow," Hijiri says. "You'd have to ask her for a proper explanation."

"It is pretty though," Inui muses. "At least, if you ignore the fact that those are kidnapped soul gems in the middle…"

"So um… are we going to free them all this time?" Airi says.

"Wait, you didn't free them last time?" I ask.

"No… there was a shortage of witches, so we thought it would be better to wait until things were back to normal," Airi explains.

"Ah, if that's the case, you'll probably be freeing them around May," I say. "Because that witch shortage will happen again this time."

"There was never a shortage of witches before, though," Hijiri says. "What changed?"

"A lot of things," I say. "Didn't Yuuri-chan and Airi-chan explain about the Magius and everything?"

"They told me about it, as much as they knew," Hijiri says.

"Well, the witch shortage is caused because they do something to make witches especially attracted to Kamihama," I say. "So that causes the witches to start migrating there, leading to a shortage everywhere else across the island."

"Ah, I see," Hijiri says. "Anyway, we're done here, so shall we go meet up with Yuuri-chan?"

"Yeah!" Inui says. "Let's go!"

---

We find Yuuri already waiting in front of the restaurant she works at, with some takeout in a bag.

"So, how are things going on your end?" Yuuri asks.

"Pretty well so far," I say. "Then again, that was the case last time too…"

"I guess it's not that easy," Yuuri says. "Anyway, shall we go share this somewhere?"

"There's a park nearby," Airi suggests.

We head to the park in question and find a bench to eat on.

"So how about your end?" I ask. "How's the hunt for the Souju victims going?"

"Well, it's started," Yuuri says. "That's the best I can say. We didn't share any of the leads that came up in the last timeline, since I expect Miss Ishijima will uncover the same leads on her own anyway."

"So far we've only released two people from the Freezer," Hijiri says. "Hinata Kaede and Mura Fumiko. Of course, I cleansed their soul gems with a grief seed."

"Ah, so Moe-chan's friend has already been released then," I say. "Miss Hinata has a really unfortunate name… no matter what I call her, it's going to be confusing. If I call her Miss Hinata she might be confused with Matsuri-chan and Kagari, and if I call her Kaede-chan she might be confused with Miss Akino…"

Yuuri chuckles. "That was my reaction too," she says.

"Well, I guess I'll call her Miss Hinata for now," I say. "Since I normally use Matsuri-chan and Kagari for the twins."

Once we're finished eating, we head over to pay Pernelle a visit. Hijiri leads us there, and when we step into her barrier, we find Hilda and Remi are also present. Hilda looks up from the book she's reading and addresses us in English.

"Are all of you time travellers?"

"Ah, yes," I say in the same language. "Except for Remi over there."

"I referred to those who just arrived," Hilda says.

"All of us have come back in time at least once, yes," I say. "There are also three other people who have come back in time. One of those is the one who has the power of time travel."

"So she is the one whose selfish actions force me to relive this time over and over again," Hilda says.

"I suppose you could say that," I say. "Still, while her goals are selfish, they also largely align with my plans, so she's helping me with that as well. I want to save as many magical girls as possible from the upcoming disaster."

"I see," Hilda says. "So you need the time-traveller to realize your humanitarian goals."

"Yeah, that's one way to put it," I say. "Homura's primary goal may be selfish, but her power can still do a lot of good."

"I understand," Hilda says. "I would be interested in meeting the time traveller in person, but I suppose it can wait… there is little reason for me to remain here for the time being. Perhaps I shall return to Germany…"

"There's one thing you could help me with if you feel like hanging around Japan a little longer," I say. "I'm only one person, so there's a limit to how many places I can monitor at once, and a limit to how many people I can save. The disaster I'm expecting touches the entire island to varying degrees, but I'm expecting it to hit especially hard in the city of Futatsugi, on the east coast, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to find the time to make my way there. The magical girls there are going to be seriously starved of grief seeds within the next few weeks. I'm also a little worried about the city of Matsumiya on the north coast, for the same reason, though I'm planning to squeeze in at least one day to investigate the situation there."

"Hm," Hilda says. "I will give your proposal some thought. I have no urgent business in Europe, so it could be interesting to remain here awhile longer. Perhaps I could even learn the language…"

"Sure," I say. "I can get your email address from Pernelle if I want to contact you, right?"

"Yes," Hilda says. "Would you mind sharing your names? You may already know since you have come back in time, but I am Hildegard von Bingen."

"I'm Ashley Taylor."

"I'm Itsumi Inui!"

"Asuka Yuuri."

"Anri Airi."

Hilda nods. "It has been my pleasure to meet you."

With that, she goes back to her book.

"S-so, um… you're the Ashley Taylor my future self told me about, right?" Remi speaks up.

Of course, we're back to speaking Japanese now.

"Of course," I say. "What other Ashley Taylor would there be…?"

"R-right, of course," Remi says. "Is it really true that there was an army of two hundred magical girls?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it an army," I say. "They weren't that disciplined. But the count is roughly correct, yes."

"Amazing," Remi says. "I never thought so many magical girls could ever be convinced to work together… back when I was first active, all the other magical girls around would attack me on sight."

"If I recall correctly, that was well before Kazusa Michiru, right?" I say.

"I think so," Remi says. "About eight years ago."

"Michiru only died about a year ago," Hijiri says.

Come to think of it, that means she died around the same time as Mel? I guess that's just a coincidence though. It's before even Yachiyo, in fact.

"Right," I say. "Anyway, since you're here, Miss Shiina, I actually have a request for you."

Remi blinks. "Huh? For me?"

"Yes, you and your little sister," I say. "In a couple of days – Thursday, to be precise – there's something I want to do in Kamihama, and I'd like to borrow the powers of both of you." I turn to Hijiri. "It should also be useful to have you along, Kanna-chi, and a bell jar."

"Thursday… after school, I assume?" Remi says.

"Yeah, will that be okay?"

"Well… I haven't made any plans," Remi says. "I'd have to check with Moe-chan… but I think it should be fine. However, before I accept… what is it that you plan to do?"

"There is a magical girl named Sarasa Hanna in Kamihama," I say. "She is… a little deranged, and she's been causing lots of chaos over the past few years. I want to capture her, without killing her. There is a possibility that she will attempt suicide, which is why I need you and Moe-chan."

"Hmm, but if she wants to commit suicide, isn't that enough?" Remi says. "Isn't the goal to suppress her? Why would you care so much about someone who doesn't even want to live?"

"That's only part of the goal," I say. "She actually had a friend, Sena Mikoto. Although she turned into a witch a year or two ago, I have reason to believe that she'll eventually come back to life. So, in a way, not allowing Sarasa Hanna to die is for the sake of Sena Mikoto. Though, if she still wishes to die after meeting her lost friend, then I won't try to stop her at that time."

Inui blinks at me. "Ohhh, why didn't you tell me that reason before!?"

"Um… I don't really have a good excuse," I say. "I guess I just didn't want to explain it twice?"

"About Sena Mikoto returning to life," Remi says. "This is something you've seen in the future you came back from?"

It's not… it's definitely not but… I guess it's fine to let them think it is.

"That's right," I say.

Inui tilts her head at me. Did she realize that was a lie? Not that it matters. In any case, she doesn't say anything. The others who experienced that future with me say nothing. Admittedly, they weren't with me most of the time like Inui was, so it's probably less clear to them that it never happened.

Remi nods. "I will talk to Moe-chan, but we can probably help you. Could I have your contact info?"

"Of course," I say.

Inui and I tap our phones to hers, exchanging contact info with a pair of beeps. At that point, Pernelle looks up from whatever she was working on in a corner.

"Came ye here solely to associate with my guests, Miss Ashley?" she asks. "Or have ye also need of my advice?"

"Actually, I met Scheherazade in the last timeline," I say.

Pernelle blinks, and Hilda also looks up in surprise.

"Ye met Scheherazade?" Pernelle says. "That is certainly something to brag about. There are few who can claim to have encountered that woman. But why mention it to me?"

"Well, we talked about a few things," I say. "And I wanted to hear what you had to say about some of them."

Pernelle nods. "Ask away."

"Um, before you start," Yuuri speaks up. "Who is this… Sche… whatever her name was? She seemed really strong, and a couple people in that battle seemed to recognize her name, but… I don't think I've ever heard that name."

"Scheherazade," Pernelle says. "The name appears as the daughter of the vizier in the framing tale of the Thousand and One Nights, a collection of folk tales from the Middle East. I am not sure if the real Scheherazade has any relation to those tales, but she is a magical girl far older than even myself. She commonly disappears from all records for extended durations, only to suddenly make an appearance at what would prove to be a historical event. Because of this propensity, she has earned the nickname 'ghost of history'. It is rumoured that even if ye were to search for her, ye never would find her."

"Huh… but I assume she fights witches, right?" Yuuri says.

Pernelle shrugs. "With the exception of Armageddon and Ragnarok, there are no records of her fighting a witch."

"…who?" Yuuri says.

"From my understanding, those two are the predecessors of Walpurgis," Pernelle says. "I have heard of them from even older magical girls."

"Ah, so she's only ever fought witches like Walpurgisnacht?" Yuuri says.

"At least insofar as anyone alive can remember," Pernelle says.

"Did you know about her Akashic Records skill?" Airi asks.

"Only through hearsay," Pernelle says. "When we met, we merely talked for awhile and then parted ways. It was only later that I heard rumours of her."

"Alright, I guess it's your turn, Ashley-chan," Yuuri says.

I nod. "Have you ever heard the name Clarisse van Rossum?"

Pernelle shakes her head. "I have never heard that name," she says. "Yet, the surname is vaguely familiar. I may have heard stories of another bearing that surname."

Hilda looks up from her book – apparently the name had caught her interest for some reason.

"There are a few well-known people to bear the van Rossum name," she speaks up, in German for some reason. "Do you have a general time frame for when this person might have lived?"

"About five centuries ago," I respond in the same language.

"The sixteenth century, then," Hilda muses. "Hmm… yes, I recall a small-minded man whom I had the displeasure of meeting while visiting Duke Charles of Guelders… Maarten was his name, and he held the position of field marshal. I don't recall hearing that he had a daughter, however, so I cannot say if this Clarisse is related to him. He did marry, from what I heard, so it's not out of the realm of possibility."

"I see," I say. "I guess that's not very useful, but thanks for the information nevertheless."

"You are most welcome," Hilda says.

"It's particularly interesting that you mention the Duchy of Guelders," Pernelle notes in German. "I heard a rumour that Melissa de Vignolles was sighted there with her children. I believe it was even around the same time period…"

Hilda nods. "I too heard that rumour."

I turn back to Pernelle and continue questioning her in Japanese.

"Speaking of which, you don't have definite confirmation that Melissa de Vignolles and Elisa Celsjka are dead, right?"

"No, indeed," Pernelle says. "I have heard nary a word of them for several centuries, so I presumed them dead, but I never heard confirmation."

"I guess this isn't really important, but… do you happen to know the real names of the magical girls who worked under Isabeau?"

"Nay," Pernelle says. "Renarde, Minou, Lapine, Corbeau… the names they used were manifest aliases, but I never had any fortune tracking down their real identities. Even Minou, after she lost her power, I was unable to learn her true identity."

Huh? Something seems off about what she just said… but no, I should focus on what's important here. This is no time for me to satisfy my curiosity about the events of the late Hundred Year's War. Although that said, my next question isn't all that important either, but whatever…

"Have you heard of an ancient magical girl who may have inspired legends of the phoenix?" I ask.

"The phoenix?" Pernelle says. "I can think of one or two, but they are both confirmed dead to my knowledge."

"Confirmed how? Did they turn into a witch? Did their soul gem shatter?"

"All I heard is that they were cremated," Pernelle says. "You could probably learn more from a magical girl who lived closer to their homeland. Both of them far predate me, after all – I heard of them only from old stories."

"What's their homeland?" I ask.

"I heard the stories from travellers who hailed from Greece and Poland," Pernelle says. "To deduce whether that is their homeland is a difficult task, but I would surmise that they are from somewhere nigh those areas."

"Have you heard of a magical girl named Eris?" I ask.

"Nay," Pernelle says. "Naturally I have heard the name, from Iliad fame, but never have I heard it applied to a magical girl."

"Huh? Iliad fame?" I ask.

"Indeed," Pernelle says. "In Homer's tale of the Iliad, Eris is the goddess of discord who instigated the Trojan War."

"Ah, right," I say. "I knew that, but I didn't realize that the tale of the Trojan War was called Iliad… okay, next is Kuzunoha. What's the link between her and the Tokime clan?"

"A magical girl named Kuzunoha accompanied us to this island when it was first formed," Pernelle says. "She remained with us for… two or three decades, as I recall. Then she disappeared into the mountains. I know not what became of her after that."

"So you're saying, it's possible that she could still be alive in the mountains of central Shinriku?" I ask.

"It is possible," Pernelle says. "If she were to remain in animal form indefinitely, the chance of her becoming a witch is essentially zero."

"Huh? So she can turn into animals?" I ask.

"Indeed, that was her power," Pernelle says. "She could partially or fully transform into any land-dwelling animal, including birds."

The scene of Yuma's contract in my previous timeline suddenly springs to mind, at a remote mountain shrine somewhere. Just before contracting, Yuma paused to pet an oddly-friendly fox…

"You know… I rather think she's alive," I muse. "I may have even glimpsed her in the previous timeline…"

"Is that so?" Pernelle says.

She doesn't seem all that interested to learn that someone she used to know might still be alive.

"Well, I'm not sure," I say. "Anyway, next is Laura of Wallachia. I have reason to believe that she's currently in Japan, in a town called Jouetsu."

Pernelle blinks. "Ah, on what basis say ye that?" she asks.

I turn to Inui.

"Tell her about Hachikuji Mayoi," I say. "You spoke to her more than I did, right?"

"Huh? What does Maimai have to do with Laura?" Inui asks.

"If I'm not mistaken, Laura should be something like a vampire," I say. "Remember, Pernelle mentioned in the previous timeline that her body doesn't function normally?"

"Even if you say that, what does that have to do with…?" Inui says. "No, wait a second… Maimai did know quite a few magical girls. There was one called Epi-chan… there was a giant German woman…"

"German?" Hilda suddenly speaks up, in English.

Inui switches to English. "Ah, someone I met in the previous timeline knew a giant German woman who was a magical girl."

"Ah," Hilda says. "That is quite a distinctive description. How nostalgic. She must have referred to Hedwig Dramaturgy… I doubt any other magical girl in recent years would fit the description. I fought Walpurgisnacht with her and some of her followers about two years ago, when visiting a friend in Estonia. Unfortunately, she did not survive the battle."

The name doesn't sound even remotely familiar to me, though. I guess she's not a character from the Madoka franchise. I don't even remember seeing that name in any Madoka fanfic that I've read.

"Oh, interesting," I say. "Thank you for the information, Miss Hildegard."

"Please, you may simply call me Hilda," Hilda says.

"Anyway," Inui continues, reverting to Japanese. "On various occasions, I remember her mentioning Epi-chan, Miss Dramaturgy, the cat sempai, the scary sempai, two or three other sempais, the fire sisters… and lastly, the 'blood-sucking brat'."

Hmm. Including Mayoi and Shinobu, there were six crossover units in the Magia Record game who didn't have any in-game story associated with them. I was unable to even obtain them in the game, as they were only available to players who physically lived in Japan, but I did read about them on Madoka fan sites and wikis. They came from a different work that I'm not familiar with… I did start watching its anime adaptation, but I must have dropped it after a couple of episodes, because I can't remember a single thing that happened in it.

I already know the cat sempai has to be Hanekawa Tsubasa, while Shinobu, the vampire, is obviously the 'blood-sucking brat'. Then, three of the others referred to as 'sempai' are most likely the other characters I know about. However, the possible remaining sempai, the fire sisters, Hedwig, and Epi-chan don't ring any bells at all. I suppose they must be other characters from the same source work, but I literally know nothing about them.

"Huh? Didn't she say there were eight?" I ask. "That's at least nine… maybe even ten."

"She wasn't counting Miss Dramaturgy when she said eight, remember?" Inui says. "She only met Miss Dramaturgy once or twice. And I guess she could've forgotten one when she counted…"

"So basically, that 'blood-sucking brat' must be Laura of Wallachia," I say. "That fits, right?"

I don't quite remember where I learned it – maybe I glanced at a fan wiki dedicated to the source material – but Shinobu and Laura should refer to the same person. If I recall correctly, she adopted a ridiculously long, over-the-top name that would probably make even an eighth-grader blush, and then someone derived Shinobu from that as a nickname.

"I know not if Laura truly drinks the blood of the living as vampires do," Pernelle says. "However, if she truly is the vampire progenitor as the rumours claim, then it is reasonable to suspect she would. Still, I believe the term 'brat' fails to describe her."

"I understand why you might think that," I say. "But you've mentioned yourself that a magical girl is able to adjust their body, for example to prevent it from aging. Wouldn't it be possible to become younger as well?"

"You have a point," Pernelle says. "If what you say is true, perhaps I should pay her a visit. I am sure I could learn something from studying a soul gem that will not hatch."

"Huh!?" Yuuri exclaims. "You mean, she won't turn into a witch!?"

"She merely falls into a coma instead," Pernelle says. "I know not if she is truly immune to becoming a witch, or if she is merely able to enter a state allowing her to preserve magic when she is on the brink. Sadly, I had no time to study her when we last met. Missing that chance is one of my few regrets."

"Ah, so you're not sure," Yuuri says. "Still… it's incredible even just that she has a way to avoid it…"

"My final question is… does the name Kagura ring any bells to you, Pernelle?" I ask.

"Kagura?" Pernelle says. "That is a nostalgic name. Some of the townspeople on this island called me that, as a nickname. To tell the truth, I discouraged the name, but few would hear of my objections."

"Kagura isn't that unusual a name, though," Inui points out. "The Instructor's name was Kagura, right?"

"Oh yeah, Kagura San," I say. "But her name and the name of that hotel in Mitakihara are spelled differently…"

"Is that so?" Inui says. "They probably aren't related, then"

"Why did they call you that?" I ask.

"I believe it stemmed from my skill at smithing," Pernelle says. "Even though I only crafted three weapons during my time here, it would seem the rumours spread far and wide."

"Oh, you crafted three weapons?" I say. "There was a sword for Tokime Sakuya, right? But what about the others?"

"A spear for a daughter of Akatsuki Aiko," Pernelle says. "Her name sadly eludes me."

"The founder of the Akatsuki clan," Inui says. "I didn't know she had a daughter… the history books only talk about her sons."

"After that," Pernelle continues, "I tried my hand at crafting a Japanese sword."

"So there are two more magic weapons you made floating around on the island?" I ask

"Nay, the sword was not enchanted," Pernelle says. "It was just an ordinary sword. For a time it was used by a man by the name of Yisake Yasufe. It was returned to me after his death, and I took it back with me when I returned to Paris, where it remains in my house to this day. I know not what became of the spear. As you surmise, it was a magic spear, so it is likely it was handed down through the Akatsuki family for some time. Mayhaps they still possess it."

"I bet Sayu-Sayu would be super interested in that sword," I muse. "Alright… I think that's all the questions that Scheherazade raised in me."

"Um, I do have one question myself, after hearing all that," Inui says. "What was that man like?"

"Yisake Yasufe?" Pernelle says. "He was a giant of a man who believed in honour as a samurai and as a warrior. I first became acquainted with him in the region now known as Ethiopia, so to meet him again in Japan was quite a pleasant surprise."

"Did… did he know Oda Nobunaga?" Inui asks.

"He was a retainer of Oda Nobunaga before he joined up with us," Pernelle says.

"Then… he must've been the famous black samurai, Yasuke!" Inui gasps. "I can't believe you actually met him! That's amazing!"

Pernelle shrugs. "When ye have lived as long as I have, and travelled as widely, it is a matter of course now and then to encounter people who later become famous," she says. "It is nothing notable."

"Yeah, I get what you mean, but still!" Inui says.

"Anyway, I suppose I should get back to Mitakihara," I say. "I have things to do over the next few days. I'll see you all later… probably after Madoka contracts."

"Alright, then we'll walk you to the station," Yuuri says.

I exit the barrier with Yuuri, Airi, and Inui, and we head for the station. A few minutes after Inui and I have embarked on the train, I receive a phone call. It's from Madoka.

"Hi Madoka, what's up?"

"Ashley-chan! Um, so… Miss Mami and the others fought Izabel today, so… I guess…"

"Yeah, I guess we can't save her," I say. "I'm sorry."

"Should I do some investigating?" Madoka asks. "Maybe you can save her next time…"

"There's no guarantee there'll be a next time," I say. "And even if there is, I don't want to return all the way back to Wednesday this time if I can avoid it… so, you're welcome to do any investigation you want, just know that it probably won't help even if you do learn something."

"I see," Madoka says. "I suppose I must've done the same thing last time, anyway…"

"Well, that's true," I say. "You did. Oh, while you're here… could I ask you to hold off on telling Miss Miki and the others about the first truth of soul gems?"

"Alright," Madoka says. "I was thinking of telling them soon, but…"

"It's just, I wondered if them knowing pushed things in a bad direction somehow," I say. "Though it's pure speculation…"

"Then, when should I tell them?" Madoka asks.

"Um… I was actually thinking never," I say. "They'll certainly find out eventually, so you could just support them at that time."

"Ehh… I don't really like keeping secrets from my friends," Madoka complains.

"Yeah, I guess I get where you're coming from," I say. "When I learned my friends back in America had become magical girls, I called them up and told them about it almost right away… but their reactions to being told were much more composed compared to Miss Tomoe and Miss Miki. Maybe because they're older, who knows. If they'd reacted like Miss Tomoe does to learning that magical girls turn into witches, I definitely wouldn't've told them in the next timeline. I guess you can say you're keeping it from them for their own protection?"

"Well… if you say so," Madoka says.

She clearly sounds reluctant. I don't think I've convinced her at all.

"I'll hold out as long as I can," Madoka says.

"I guess that's all I can ask," I say. "Thanks, Madoka. See you later."

"You too, Ashley-chan."

When I hang up I find an email from Oriko has come in.

[I have both visions ready for you. Although I had intended to wait a few days before seeking the vision pertaining to Nikola, I chanced upon it first and found it to be closer than you had anticipated, so I elected to complete both visions at the same time.

Regarding Nikola, I identified the girl who becomes the witch. Her name is Hiraku Yumiko, and she is the calligraphy club president at my school. She is a short girl with short wavy brown hair and crimson eyes. She was not wearing the school uniform in the vision, but I saw it laid on a nearby table. It appears she is destined to turn into a witch on Tuesday morning, before school. Unfortunately, I was unable to identify the location. The only thing I could see was that she woke up in a dark room and looked out a window overlooking an alleyway. She then mumbled to herself about not wanting to go to school until she turned into a witch. It is an abandoned building of at least five storeys, and the alleyway contains seven trash cans. The building on the other side of the alleyway is four storeys and may also be abandoned, to judge from the lack of any lighting. And the window faces east – the rising sun was visible.

As to the vision pertaining to Stacy, there is not much to it, unfortunately. I saw a girl with short blonde hair. From the way she carried herself, she seemed to be from a high-class family, yet she wore the uniform of Sakuragasaki Middle School. The location was not an area that I am familiar with, but I did note that the observation tower could be seen to the east. The girl received a phone call, but I could not make out the words. After that, she turned into a witch like you described, with a theme of cats and balls of yarn.]

Huh. So both Nikola and Stacy are actually on the same day? Tomorrow morning might be a bit tough though… and not knowing where she is certainly doesn't help. It's unfortunate that the location is vague even for Stacy, but at least that one narrows down the search field a bit. West of the observation tower… it's still a fairly large area, though. I send her a quick thank you in response, then peek in on Sayaka to see if she has become a magical girl. She has. Madoka didn't mention it, so I'm guessing she hasn't found out yet.

"Alright," I say. "I've got some leads from Oriko, so tomorrow, we'll see if we can save them."

"Alright!" Inui says.

After dinner, I spend some time scouring maps and street view shots on the Internet, in the hopes of identifying the building Oriko described. Inui helps me out as well. I also send an email to Hijiri to ask if she can think of anything – after all, she spent an entire timeline scouring the city for me before, so she probably knows the lay of the land a lot better than me. Unfortunately, we make no progress at all, and I don't get a response to my email. Eventually we give up and go to bed.

---

I wake up to find an email response from Hijiri.

[From my memory of that timeline, I believe there are several locations in Mitakihara that could fit the description you forwarded. It's not a lot to work from, after all. There are probably over a dozen similar locations on the east half of the city, but if it's in the west half, I can only think of three. I looked them up on the maps app to make sure. Here are the coordinates.]

There are three sets of coordinates in the email, so I copy-paste each of them into the maps app to see where they are. Inui peers over my shoulder, yawning a bit. Two of the locations are quite close, but the other is sort of near the hospital – it's apparently an old building owned by Kagura Hotel which had been scheduled for demolition but somehow never got broken down.

"Guess I'll check out the last location," Inui says. "After all, I'm sorta going that way anyway…"

"Thanks for that," I say. "Do you have a grief seed? In case you actually run into Miss Hiraku."

"I have one," Inui says. "But what if she's there but I'm too late?"

"If you can salvage the body, do so, and hide her somewhere safe until after school," I say. "Otherwise… there's not much point in doing anything. I'll leave it up to you whether to fight the witch or let it go."

"Alright," Inui says.

After a quick breakfast, we set out in opposite directions. I manage to locate the places that Hijiri had marked out for me, but there's no sign of any witches or magical girls at either location. Due to waiting as long as I can, just in case, I'm a few minutes late to class.

After school, I meet up with Inui as planned, in front of the hospital. She's the first one to arrive.

"Ah, there you are, Ashley," Inui says. "Sorry I didn't contact you…"

She seems a little down. Does she have bad news?

"So, how'd it go?" I ask.

"Ah, well, I got Nikola's grief seed," Inui says. "But I wasn't able to salvage her body. Sorry about that."

"I see," I say. "Well… I guess there's nothing to be done then. You were just too late, right?"

"Yeah," Inui says. "I didn't see her transform. The witch was already born by the time I arrived."

"I see," I say. "That probably means trying to save her in the morning won't work, if we go back in time again… we'd have to get to her the night before."

"Yeah, I think so too," Inui says. "Anyway… we've got another one to save now, right?"

"That's right," I say. "Let's see if we can make up for the previous failure by saving Stacy!"

"Seconded!"

So we head towards the observation tower and climb to the top, looking out over the city. We also find an unexpected guest there.

"The heck're ya doing here?" Kyouko asks. "Though this ain't technically in my territory, but it ain't even near yours."

I shrug. "Just some public service, so to speak."

Kyouko narrows her eyes at me.

"And what's that s'posed to mean?"

"Well… I suppose you can handle it, unlike Miss Tomoe," I muse. "But do you really want to hear the truth?"

Kyouko blinks at me. "Ah, screw it, I don't really care 'bout your reasons," she says. "Long as you're not heading into my territory, I guess all's good."

"So what're you doing here?" I ask.

"Ain't none of your business, but whatever. I come here now and then just to gaze out over the city," Kyouko shrugs. "It's calming."

"That's so out of character for you," I say. "Since when have you cared about things being calming?"

"I don't wanna hear that from you," Kyouko retorts.

"Fine, fine…"

"By the way," Inui says. "How's Yuma-chan?"

"Argh, don't mention that little brat to me!" Kyouko complains. "I finally managed to get away from her! I don't wanna even think about her right now!"

"I guess she really does remind you of Momo-chan, doesn't she?" I say.

Kyouko blinks. "Eh? Where the hell'd you hear that name from? Mami been blabbing?"

"Nah, I heard it from some guy who introduced himself as Mr Fujimura," I say.

"Damn that bastard!" Kyouko groans. "That's not something you just come out and tell people! Dammit, dammit, dammit! Now I'm really mad. I wanna go kick some witch butt. Seen any good ones around here?"

I shake my head. "No, I haven't seen any witches yet today."

"I defeated one this morning but I haven't seen any since," Inui says.

"Dammit… well… seeya," Kyouko says.

She jumps to her feet, transforms, and leaps right out the open window behind her, extending her spear to grapple onto the next building over. I watch her go for a moment. She manages to land on the building and runs off, hopping from roof to roof.

"Did you really meet that person?" Inui asks.

"Yeah… I think you were with me, too," I say.

"I don't remember that," Inui says. "But I believe you."

"Well yeah, you wouldn't remember," I say. "It was in another timeline."

"I figured. So… where do we look for this girl?"

"The most I can say for sure is… somewhere to the west," I say.

"Then why don't we spread out until we can just barely sense each other's presence?" Inui suggests. "That'll cover the largest area, right? If there's a magical girl or a witch in that area, one of us will sense her, and we can still communicate by telepathy."

"Sure," I say. "Let's do that."

We transform and hop on Teddy Mk II to bridge the gap between the observation tower and the next building to the west, then spread out as she suggested and start slowly making our way further west, hopping from roof to roof.

«Anything yet?» I ask.

«No, not even a familiar,» Inui says.

After a few minutes, I pause to look back at the observation tower. It's still easily visible, though that's partly due to my rooftop vantage point – I'm not quite sure if it would be visible from the street.

«I have something,» Inui says. «Feels like a magical girl… she just came in range from the northeast.»

«Okay… let's head a little closer then,» I say.

I turn and hop across the street to the next building, and I can see Inui doing the same thing. I open a vision on her.

«Can you point towards her?» I ask.

«Right,» Inui says. «She's coming from over there.»

I shift my vision to follow her pointing finger, scanning for signs of anyone who looks like they might be a magical girl. No-one really jumps out at me though, and I can't sense magic through a vision.

«Let's go a little closer,» I say.

«Sure,» Inui says.

We hop across a couple more roofs before coming to a stop. I reorient my vision on Inui and find that she's already pointing without me having to say, so once again I slide my vision in that direction and scan for… huh? Wait, is that Yuzuki Hotori…? Startled to see what seems like a familiar face, I zoom the vision in closer, but I was mistaken – it's not Hotori, though the girl does very much resemble her. She's wearing glasses and a beret, as well as a school uniform that I'm pretty sure I remember seeing on Tamura. She seems to be talking on the phone with someone, but I'm not quite close enough to make out the words.

«I think we've found her!» I say.

«Then I'll go on ahead!» Inui says. «Her presence feels a little… distorted, so I think we're almost too late.»

With that, Inui's presence disappears from my senses, heading roughly north. I hop on Teddy Mk II and head in the same direction. In my vision, the girl seems to be getting rather heated on her phone call. Finally she shouts a farewell and hangs up, then lets out a long sigh. I slide the vision in closer to hear her words.

"Argh, what a pain!" she grumbles. "How'd they even find me!? It's like they're stalkers! Why do I… have to deal with… this…"

That's the moment when the ring on the girl's finger cracks open, blossoming into a grief seed. Inui appears at almost the exact same moment, leaping in to drag the girl's body away, but she's too late to prevent the transformation. The witch that spawns takes on the form of a grotesque feline creature, its head more like a mascot character than any real-life cat. Cradling the girl's body, Inui leaps back and shouts at her.

"Look at me! It's okay!"

Just then, I spot the portal ahead, leading into the witch's barrier. I switch off the vision as I step inside so that I can use my clairvoyance to find the path instead. The familiars ignore me as I dodge through a field of giant balls of yarn – it's like they haven't quite woken up yet. A couple of minutes later I find the entrance to the central chamber, an even more massive ball of yarn with a door embedded in it. There I find Inui barely hanging on so I summon the Teddy Drones and charge up my charm beam, unleashing it with a yell.

"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!"

"Ashley!" Inui exclaims. "I was getting a bit worried… this witch is really strong! I think she's a little bit resistant to charm, so be careful…"

The witch suddenly lunges at me with her claws, but I leap out of the way just in time. Inui attracts her attention with a yell, and after several moments of hesitation, the witch moves to attack Inui instead. Just like that, we use our charm to pass the witch back and forth like a game of catch, while I do my best to get an actual hit in whenever she shifts her focus to Inui.

But before we can whittle Stacy down more than a little, someone new crashes into the scene. Kirika smashes right through the entrance in a cloud of woollen wisps, carrying through her momentum to catch up to the witch in an instant and shred it to pieces with those claws of hers. It's over almost before we even realize what happened. The girl snags the grief seed with a smug look on her face as the labyrinth collapses around us.

"Victory is mine!" Kirika declares.

Only then does she notice that she's not alone.

"Uh? Oh, it's you guys… did I steal your kill? Hey um, what happened to that girl, is she okay?"

"Yeah, you kinda stole our kill," I say.

I step up to her to get a better look. Although I immediately recognized her, her outfit is actually a little different from before. She doesn't have the appearance of a maid – the frilly apron is gone. So is the large, frilly hem on her sleeves that extended well past her fingertips. In fact, her shirt is now white, instead of black, though the lower garment extends up over it like overalls.

"I'm so sorry!" Kirika says. "Um, I guess I can give it to you… ah, but I still need to get a seed for Oriko…"

"If you don't mind, I would like to have that seed," I say. "How badly does Miss Oriko need one?"

"Well, I guess it's not that urgent," Kirika says. "I can just find another one! Yeah! Here ya go!"

She thrusts the grief seed into my face, and as soon as I've taken it from her, she turns and runs off.

"She seems… different," Inui says. "Do you think that means her wish changed?"

"I think so," I say. "Though I bet she has the same mind-alteration magic, and intentionally used it on herself to increase her self-confidence or something. Alright… we need to get this girl somewhere safe… so I guess we need to go to Asunaro, don't we?"

"Yeah… I guess," Inui says. "But people might look at us funny carrying her on the train…"

"Let me try something," I say.

I whip out my phone and open the maps app, navigating to Asunaro and grabbing the coordinates for Angelica Bear. Then I compose an email.

[Hello! Are you free for a job right around now, or within the next hour or so? I'd like a lift from Mitakihara to these coordinates.]

I paste in the coordinates of Angelica Bears and my current coordinates, then hit send. The reply comes within a minute.

[I'll be there in ten minutes.]

"Okay," I say. "We just have to wait around here for about ten minutes."

"Okay…?" Inui says. "So, I guess this technically counts as a success, huh?"

"Technically, yeah," I agree. "We didn't manage to prevent the transformation, but we've maintained the conditions to revive her once the automatic purification system is created."

"Right," Inui says. "And Kirika sure looks happy, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess," I say. "She found someone who treats her with respect, I suppose you could say. If her wish really hasn't railroaded her personality into an amorphous mess like last time, maybe she and Oriko can get even closer than before…"

"Or she might not be able to get as close," Inui says. "Still, I think it's probably better this way."

A few minutes later, a portal opens and Shizuku steps through. She holds out a hand, presumably expecting a grief seed. Inui whips one out before I even have a chance and hands it over, and Shizuku opens a new portal to Angelica Bears.

"Do you want to come back through as well?" she asks.

"If it's not too much trouble," I say.

"Then I will wait a little bit," Shizuku says.

Inui and I step through, Inui carrying the girl on her back. Shizuku doesn't question the odd sight, but it does look like she's at least a little curious. We head into Angelica Bears and, after checking that there are no signs of any other magical girls around, we activate the teleportation circle to take us to the basement and deposit the unknown girl into one of the unused tanks.

Unfortunately, our timing seems to be incredibly bad, for just as we exit the Freezer chamber, three of the Pleiades Saints teleport down – Saki, Mirai, and Nico. We stare at each other for almost a whole minute before Saki speaks up.

"Ashley Taylor!? How did you get in here? How do you even know about this place!?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Asami," I say. "Kanna-chi said it would be okay if we borrow some space here, since we also have a few girls we need to stash away like you're doing."

Mirai and Saki look at Nico, who blinks in surprise.

"What's the meaning of this, Nico?"

«That's what I would like to know,» Nico says directly in my head, presumably addressing me alone. «What do you think you're playing at with such an obvious falsehood? I've never said anything like that.»

«But I never said you did?» I reply. «I said Kanna-chi told me that. You should know who that refers to, shouldn't you?»

«Huh? If not me, then… wait, what? But that still doesn't make sense… she shouldn't know about this place either!»

«Why don't you ask her yourself?» I suggest.

«…alright,» Nico says. «Just this once, I'll cover for you.»

"I'm sorry," she says out loud. "It completely slipped my mind, but I did say something like that not too long ago. It seems Miss Taylor is supportive of our goal of finding a better way to purify soul gems, so she has captured some magical girls who were in danger and brought them here."

I nod. "That's how it is," I say. "I hope we can get along?"

Saki sighs. "Well, if Nico said that, then I can't really complain to you," she says. "I'd really prefer if you didn't show up without even a warning, though."

"Don't worry," I say. "I don't plan to stop by very often."

Inwardly, I let out a sigh of relief as we step past each other to take the teleportation circle back to the surface. When we exit the museum, we find Shizuku's portal still where we left it, and step back through. Shizuku raises an eyebrow at Inui, perhaps noting the absence of the other girl, but says nothing on the topic.

"Well then," she says. "If you'll excuse me."

And with that, she opens a new portal and steps through it. Inui and I make our way back to the Hayashi house. Mrs Hayashi calls out in greeting to us from the living room where she seems to be watching the news. I'm about to walk right past on my way upstairs when a familiar name bursts through my consciousness.

"…without further ado, we present Mr Mikuni!"

"Huh?" Inui says, startled. "Mikuni…?"

I backpedal and turn to enter the living room so I can see the television. They appear to be interviewing a man, presumably Mr Mikuni.

"So, what's the deal?" the reporter asks. "After disappearing from the public view for so long, what made you want to speak to the media now?"

"Actually, this is something I've wanted to say for quite some time," Mr Mikuni says. "However, my health would not permit public appearances. I had a rather severe case of covid, you see."

"Ahh, so that's how it is," the reporter says. "And yet, you're public enemy number one right now, aren't you? It hardly seems like it would benefit you to make an appearance."

Mr Mikuni smiles. "You don't have to believe me, but I deny all the allegations of election fraud and embezzling," he says. "I'm not going to make excuses or point blame. I am simply stating that I did not do it."

"You really think people will believe that so easily?" the reporter asks.

"Hmm, I think I'd say it doesn't matter what they believe," Mr Mikuni says. "I just want it to be on the record."

"I see," the reporter says. "Are you planning to run for mayor again?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," Mr Mikuni says. "But… no, I probably won't. However, I haven't given up on pursuing a seat on the National Diet in the future, though I don't plan to run in the next election. For now, I intend to focus on a quiet life raising my precious daughter."

"Thank you for your time," Mr Mikuni.

As Mr Mikuni walks off the set, the camera focuses on the reporter.

"Well, that's a bombshell if I ever heard one," the reporter says. "Could it be true? As many of you remember, Mr Mikuni was forced to resign from the office of the mayor last year after allegations that he falsified fund records in order to enrich himself. Later on, evidence surfaced that he had been buying votes to secure his election. At that time he completely disappeared from the public eye. That must've been when he fell ill, I suppose. Anyway, there's no doubt that the fund records were falsified, and Mr Mikuni certainly was the prime suspect, but could there be another culprit? Hmm, I wonder… well, we'll keep you updated with the latest news on this case! Tanaka out!"

Inui comments on it as we head upstairs together.

"Well, that's a surprise," Inui says. "I never thought I'd see Mr Mikuni again…"

"Just checking, but… is what that reporter said true?" I say. "That Mr Mikuni… well, 'disappeared from the public eye'."

"Um… yes?" Inui says.

"So, are you telling me you don't remember him committing suicide?" I ask.

"What? I don't remember anything like that," Inui says. "It wasn't on the news or anything…"

"That's just the thing," I say. "It was on the news. I remember reading online articles about it in previous timelines."

Inui blinks. "Wait a second… what does this mean…?"

"It means everyone's memories have been rewritten," I say. "Though I don't understand why mine weren't as well… but I'm certainly grateful for it."

"Huh," Inui says. "But why…?"

"It must've been Kirika's wish," I say.

"Oh yeah, that would make sense," Inui agrees. "It does seem like something she'd wish for."

"I wonder if her memories were rewritten too," I muse. "And what about Oriko…?"

As we reach the door to the room we're sharing, I hesitate, a sudden thought occurring to me. This might be a nice time to put that to the test…?

"Miryam Migdal," I murmur. "Miryam Migdal, Miryam Migdal."

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

I didn't expect an immediate response, but when I push the door open, she's there, sitting on my bed like she belongs. Mary and Inui stare each other down for about thirty seconds before Inui reacts.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing on our bed!?" she huffs.

She speaks in English, since it's the language Mary has always spoken with us.

"Well, it seemed the most obvious place to sit," Mary says, sounding unusually lucid today. "So. Chelsea Flanders, for what reason have you summoned me?"

Inui glances at me. "Summoned…? Wait, is that what those weird words were!? You should've warned me!"

"I was going to," I say. "I didn't expect her to respond so quickly."

"Oh… I see," Inui says.

"I called on you because your power is knowing, as you described it," I continue. "If possible, I'd like to know why my memories haven't been rewritten by Kirika's wish."

Mary giggles suddenly.

"Yes, there was a big wish like that just now!" she says. "I felt the ripple all the way from Timbuktu. Well, I guess that's the reason I was so quick to respond, since my awareness was already directed over here."

"…what on earth were you doing in Timbuktu?" Inui asks.

"That is irrelevant," Mary scoffs. "Chelsea Flanders, I think you've gravely misunderstood something. Your karmic destiny is not of this world. Do you truly not realize what this means? Your karma exceeds even that of the witch of salvation."

I blink at her. "H-huh? What do you mean? That can't be…"

"Karma is a measure of how much you can direct the future, after all," Mary says. "That's why the daughter of a king has a higher karma than a poor slave girl, and the karma of a seer is greater than that of a destitute slums worker."

"But greater than Madoka's?" I say. "That doesn't track… my magical power doesn't exceed hers at all! Besides, she's supposed to have the most karma because Miss Homura's repeated loops are focusing all the karma on her…"

Mary shakes her head. "Did they tell you that? Even they don't understand how karma truly works. I'm not sure if even I fully understand it. It's true that the witch of salvation is building up karma from the loops, but that is borrowed karma belonging to the time-traveller."

"B-borrowed…?" I say. "Karma can be… lent…? Huh?"

"Were the time-traveller to suddenly decide to give up on her, all that karma would evaporate in an instant and return to its true owner," Mary continues. "The witch of salvation has the power to direct the future only because the time-traveller is allowing her the opportunity to do so. In fact, the witch's personal karma is only a little above that of the average person."

"I feel like you're saying everything I know is wrong," I mutter. "Okay, so basically you're saying that Madoka doesn't technically have a high karmic destiny but is instead borrowing karma from Miss Homura… meanwhile, I have an even higher karmic destiny than either of them?"

"Of course," Mary says. "The more you know about what will happen in the future, the higher your karmic destiny, as foreknowledge allows you to direct the future towards or away from the future you've seen."

"So that means Oriko, the seer, also has a high karmic destiny," I say.

"You are beginning to understand," Mary says. "Chelsea Flanders, you are one who is aware of all the many branching paths this world can take. This is something only possible because you are not of this world. You know more about what the future holds than the time-traveller, or the seer, or the witch of salvation, or the ghost of history. Therefore, of all the humans currently living upon the Earth, none has a karmic destiny exceeding yours. Though… perhaps Helene's karma exceeds yours…"

I have no idea who Helene is but at this point I'm not terribly interested. Or rather, I'm more interested in hearing Mary's explanation about my supposed karma.

"Eh? Even higher than Scheherazade…?" I say. "But even if you say that, I still don't think it's entirely true. I don't have the most powerful magic, after all. Isn't high karma supposed to produce powerful magic?"

"Aren't you underestimating your power?" Mary says. "Most magical girls receive a single power when they make a wish. You have received three or four powers. That already places you above average. Not only that, there's no hard range limit on your clairvoyance. Do you understand what that means?"

"Um… I think it's best if you spell it out for me," I say. "Otherwise I'm going to just end up second-guessing my guesses…"

"Magic powers usually come with a hard limit," Mary says. "Only those with unusually high karmic destiny could possibly obtain a power that can extend even beyond the bounds of space and time. Even if it caused you to unleash your doppel, the fact that you could see them at all proves you're no ordinary girl."

I think she must be referring to the time when I used my clairvoyance to spy on those weird, formless aliens. To tell the truth, even I was surprised that worked… so maybe she does have a point… it could even explain why Hijiri was unable to maintain a clairvoyant vision for a long period of time between cities. But wait, did she just mention…?

"Huh? Hold on, how do you know I unleashed my doppel?" I ask. "Actually, how do you even know what a doppel is?"

"Weren't you the one who said it just now?" Mary says. "My power is knowing. It doesn't mean I automatically know anything I want to know, but it does mean that knowledge spontaneously pops into my mind as I desire it. I have very little control over what exactly the knowledge is however."

"Does that include knowledge of the future?" I ask.

"Only insofar as it can be logically predicted from the present," Mary says. "So are we done here? I'm still searching for Nanabuluku and Chalciuhtlicue."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just ask Scheherazade yourself?" I point out.

"Yes, but she's even harder to find than they are," Mary says.

"And yet you weren't there when she showed up in the last timeline," I say.

"Hold on just a moment here," Inui says. "From what you've said, doesn't just going back in time increase your karmic destiny?"

"Ah, and Remi's power too," I note. "Sending information back to her past self… has she also been boosting her karmic destiny by doing that?"

"Right! Is that really true? It seems a little too convenient," Inui says.

"Inui, are you treating time travel as some convenient thing anyone can do?" I ask.

"Ah! Wait, you're right…"

"Yes," Mary says. "Going back in time boosts karmic destiny. That should be obvious. Although for someone like Chelsea Flanders, the boost is insignificant in comparison to her innate karma."

"Anyway, to sum things up, I can still remember the true history because my karmic destiny exceeds Kirika's wish, correct?" I say.

"Yes," Mary says. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah…"

The word's barely out of my mouth before she's gone, simply vanished from where she was sitting. I'd been considering asking about Helene, but I guess that will have to wait for another time. But that was more helpful than even I anticipated. She didn't descend into incomprehensible babbling even once this time. Still… it's a lot to wrap my head around. Because of all my knowledge of the game, my karmic destiny is even greater than Madoka's? Is that really true…?

With a sigh, I set aside the pondering for the time being. I got the main answer to my question – I have a resistance to world-altering wishes. That probably also includes Nemu's rumour that wipes out Ui's existence – perhaps that's why I still remembered her last time.

---

On Thursday, I meet up with Inui at the station after school, and we catch a train to Kamihama. While on the train, I take a look at what Nanaka is up to. It looks like things are going roughly as before – it's not long before she heads to the planned rendezvous with Ayame, where Hanna attempts to stealthily turn them against each other.

We get off at a station in Kosho Ward and wait around for the others to arrive. I continue to monitor the situation with Nanaka and the others. So far, the events appear to be going exactly the same as I remember from the previous timeline. They meet up with the Daito Apartment trio, then Yachiyo and Tsuruno, and finally the Azalea Sisters. It's right around then that the train we're waiting for finally arrives, and Hijiri and the Shiina sisters disembark.

"Kanna-chi, over here!" Inui calls.

They come over to meet us, and Moe peers at the two of us curiously.

"So, these are the people we're meeting, onee-chan?" Moe says. "They look a little suspicious…"

"Nice to meet you, Moe-chan!" Inui says. "I'm Itsumi Inui!"

"And I'm Ashley Taylor. Please just call me Ashley."

"Hmm… well, you're friends of Kanna-neesan, so I guess it's fine," Moe says.

"Shall we go?" I say. "I'll lead the way. Miss Shiina, I'll signal you by telepathy when it's time for you to stop time."

"Got it," Remi says.

I make my way towards the general area where I expect Hanna to commit suicide. In my vision, they're still discussing the situation. We're about halfway to the target location when Hanna finally reveals herself. She's still rambling on about how she's behind everyone's misfortune when we arrive at the target location, near the Daito Apartment complex. Now that I think about it, I wonder if it's really true that she caused all those magical girls to contract. Haven't some of them been around for even longer than her? Well… whatever.

Anyway, after looking around for a minute or two, I locate a good vantage point where we shouldn't be seen once she arrives.

"So, basically, the person you're after will just pass by here?" Remi says.

"That's right," I say.

I settle down to wait, following Hanna's progress by tracking what Nanaka is doing.

---

"And now that I've finished my boring old monologue," Hanna finishes. "Let's play tag!"

"What!?" Ayame gasps.

"Huh!?" Mito gasps.

"Taaag!?" they shout in unison, with Tsuruno also joining in the chorus.

"Stop messing around!" Konoha says. "This isn't a game!"

"Oh, but isn't this whole magical girl thing a joke?" Hanna asks. "A really bad joke at that!"

Yachiyo blinks, showing signs of getting what Hanna is alluding to. Tsuruno sighs and looks at Hanna.

"So? What're the rules?" she asks.

"Tsuruno! Why are you acting like you'll play along?" Yachiyo protests.

"It's simple!" Hanna says. "All you've gotta do is catch me! Buuuuut… I'm gonna make it as hard as I possibly can! Games just aren't any fun when ya don't try, ya know?"

"So," Akira says. "Basically what you're saying is… 'come at me'?"

"I'm saying, let's have some fun!" Hanna says. "Whoever's sneakily watching from the back is welcome to join in too! Wouldn't that just be a laugh, caught out by the surprise contender!"

"Hmph," Meiyui says. "Simple and to the point. I don't exactly hate it."

"But I do hope you won't let your guard down," Nanaka says.

"She wouldn't talk like that unless she was incredibly confident," Yachiyo says.

Suddenly, Meiyui attacks Hanna with her claw weapon. Hanna just giggles, dodging the initial slash, then sort of waves at them. Everyone suddenly freezes.

"W-what's this?" Yachiyo gasps.

"I can't move!" Konoha says.

"Okaaay, I'm gonna run now," Hanna says. "I wonder who'll catch up first? It should be fun to find out!" She giggles. "Well, see ya later!"

And just like that, she runs out into the street.

"I can't believe she got away so easily," Nanaka says.

"T-this… it must be…" Leila begins.

"Suggestion magic!?" Seika finishes.

Ayame lets out a grunt of exertion, apparently trying to fight against the magic that has frozen them all in place.

"No… no good," she says. "I can't budge an inch…"

"It appear we really won't be able to move until we count to a hundred," Yachiyo says.

And so, once they had counted to a hundred and broken free of the suggestion, they split up into four groups – Nanaka's team, the Azalea trio, the Daito trio, and lastly Yachiyo and Tsuruno as a duo. Nanaka and her team first started seeking traces of Hanna's magic in the vicinity, but there wasn't much to go on.

"At this rate, we will never find her," Nanaka says. "This is a game of wits… if we could only guess where she might go…"

"Ah!" Kako says. "What about… that place? The place where she met Miss Izumi…"

"Oh, nice thinking, Kako!" Akira says.

"But even if we ambush her there," Meiyui says. "If she can stop us from moving whenever she wants, how can we fight her?"

"There must be a limit to her power," Nanaka says. "She only froze our movements… why did she not force us to do something more complicated? She has also demonstrated that she can alter our thought processes during conversation, without our noticing, and yet… she has allowed us to acknowledge her existence."

"So you think that's all she can do with this suggestion magic?" Akira says. "That's weaker than I thought…"

"But even so, she is strong," Nanaka says. "In fact, she could be considered a veteran magical girl. If we attack her head on, it is more than likely that we will lose. Therefore, I believe we should split up to tire her out."

"Then Akira, Kako, and I will strike first," Meiyui says. "We of course intend to defeat her, but… if the situation turns bad, we will be sure to wear her down."

"Then let's go!" Akira says.

They head into Daito Ward, travelling by rooftop and making for the apartment complex. There they spotted Hanna fighting Mito, Leila, and Seika. The fight is mostly one-sided, in Hanna's favour.

"Leila's team is in danger!" Kako gasps.

"Ugh! Then we're going ahead!" Akira says.

"If that happens, Nanaka, everything… is up to you," Meiyui says.

Akira picks up speed and gains a lead on the others. Just as Hanna is about to aim for Mito's soul gem, Akira leaps across the gulf between building and lands a flying kick on her… or not, because Hanna veers out of the way at the last second, and Akira goes skidding across the rooftop as she turns to face the other girl. Mito, Leila, and Seika are still frozen, unable to move.

"Just what were you trying to do!?" Akira shouts.

"Ahh!" Leila gasps.

"I-it's Miss Tokiwa's friend!" Seika says.

"Sorry for the close call!" Akira says.

"Wow!" Mito says. "Thanks!"

"Ugh!" Hanna says. "Way to spoil everything!"

At that moment, Meiyui lands a flying kick on Hanna from behind, and she tumbles forward with a yell. Kako lands on the roof just behind Meiyui while Hanna picks herself off and dusts herself off.

"Time to get tagged!" Meiyui says.

"Kako! Get them!" Akira says.

"I'm on it!" Kako says. "Are you alright, everyone!?"

While Akira and Meiyui face off against Hanna, Kako checks up on the Daito trio. They appear to be unhurt, but the spell preventing them from moving is still active. She manages to drag them a little further from the main battle, however.

"Oh, look at that," Hanna says. "You came! I missed my chance to escape!"

She giggles.

"You're the cause of all of our troubles?" Meiyui asks.

"Hmm?" Hanna says. "Where's your boss, huh?"

Nanaka is still on the next roof over, watching from a good hiding place.

"Shut up!" Akira says. "Wait, no. Answer us!"

"Oh maaan," Hanna says. "More questions. I reeeally hate questions."

"We've been put through hell until now, thanks to a single witch," Akira says. "Our teammates… friends… family… they were all hurt. So I want to know! What do you have to do with that witch!?"

"Tell us!" Meiyui says.

"Well!?" Kako says, stepping up beside Akira.

"What do I have to do with that witch, you ask?" Hanna says. "Well, I mean, I've played with too many to count!"

Akira gasps.

"Too many!?" Kako says.

"What do you mean!?" Meiyui asks.

"My suggestion magic works on witches too," Hanna says. "So like… I made some my pets!

"Your… pets!?" Leila gasps.

"I make them do bad things," Hanna says. "Oh, and I get grief seeds from them! They're really useful to keep around! They're even great for killing time!"

"Nanaka was sure you were behind the witch we're after," Akira says. "That means… when you were killing time or whatever by 'making witches do bad things'… we were suffering because of it!"

Hanna giggles. "You might be right!"

"Argh!" Kako says.

"Whoa, are ya mad?" Hanna says, giggling.

"How could you!" Kako exclaims. "You'll pay!"

"Oh?" Hanna says. "And you're gonna make me?"

Meiyui leaps in at that moment with her claws, but Hanna dances out of the way with a giggle.

"We can ponder this after we take you down!" Meiyui says.

Hanna giggles. "I love the face you're making right now!"

Akira and Kako join in, doing their best to try and pin Hanna down, but she keeps on slipping out of their grasp. It's not like they can't hit her at all, but any damage she takes doesn't seem to faze her. She's probably learned to block out the pain. The Daito trio are just watching – though by now they can move again, there's no opening for them to join the fight.

It goes on for several minutes, but eventually, Hanna manages to get the upper hand, landing a decisive blow to Akira's belly and causing her to double up with a yell.

"A…kira…" Meiyui gasps.

"We… we won't…" Akira wheezes. "We won't lose!"

Despite her words, Hanna kicks her in the head, and she falls to the ground, unconscious.

"H-how… dare you… hurt heeeeer!" Kako shouts.

Hanna giggles as Kako leaps for her, and meets the charge head-on… or not, dodging at the last second and tripping her up. Kako lands flat on her face with a scream.

"D-damn you!" Meiyui says.

"Okay, stop!" Hanna says.

Meiyui freezes, and Hanna pauses for breath.

"Just a sec… this is getting rough," Hanna says. "But… it feels great!"

"We'll… s-stop you!" Meiyui says.

"It really is great," Hanna says. "The burn, man! This is it! I've waited for this! And it was such a long wait! I'm so glad I kept calm and screwed everything up nice and slow."

"You're… insane!" Meiyui says.

"But, you know… I think you've all been in the game long enough," Hanna says. "Looks like this is the end!"

But just as she's about to attack Meiyui, Nanaka decides to make her move, leaping across to the roof and attacking Hanna with her swords. Hanna backpedals into a series of somersaults and lands at the opposite edge of the roof.

"Close one!" she says. "Quit the surprise attacks already. I barely dodged that one… ah, Tokiwa Nanaka! I thought it'd be you!"

"N-nanaka!" Leila gasps.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Nanaka says.

"Ohh, you were waiting for me to get tired?" Hanna says.

Meiyui chuckles.

"So you don't have a problem using your allies as little pawns," Hanna says. "I like it!"

Nanaka ignores her rambling and attacks again, but Hanna dances aside as usual.

"Whoa!"

"We will complete our objective," Nanaka states.

"W-we're going to… stop you!" Kako says.

"W-we came together… for that purpose!" Meiyui says.

"Stop me?" Hanna says. "No way! This is tag, so I've gotta ruuuuun!"

And with that, she turns and bolts.

"S-she ran away!" Leila gasps.

"Ergh!" Seika grunts.

"W-we gotta follow her!" Mito says.

"You stay here and rest up!" Nanaka says.

"Nanaka!" Meiyui says.

"Nanaka…" Kako says.

Akira stirs, rolling over onto her back and giving a thumbs up.

"Go… go get 'em!" she says. "Sorry, but… I'm at… my limit…"

---

"She's coming," I say.

It seems I chose my position fairly well, for while Hanna isn't coming directly towards me, she is at least heading in my general direction.

"However, her trajectory is a little off what I anticipated, so we'll have to move."

"Got it," Inui says. "Let's go!"

We roofhop in the direction Hanna is going, and before long I catch sight of both her and Nanaka with my eyes. They're running around down at street level, so it's not hard for us to catch up. Hanna is only barely managing to maintain her head start, and on several occasions, she skids around a corner just in time to avoid Nanaka's attack. Hanna giggles each time this happens, and attempts to user her suggestion magic to freeze Nanaka's movements, but Nanaka has already realized that she needs to speak to activate it and is able to interrupt it with an attack.

Finally, Hanna ducks into an underpass, and Nanaka leaps in after her. I turn to the others.

"Inui, Kanna-chi, just in case… could you cut her off at the other side? Hopefully we can end this here though. If Miss Nanami or Miss Shizumi show up, make sure you let them through."

"Got it," Inui says.

The two of them leap across the street while I descend to street level with the Shiina sisters and head into the underpass.

"That does it!" Hanna gasps.

It looks like she just tripped over a stray can that had been left on the ground. Nanaka takes advantage of this opening to leap in and stab the girl's shoulder, which should have pinned her to the ground. However, Hanna catches the blade in her hand, heedless of the bleeding, and flips over to land on her back. For several seconds, silence falls as the two of them stare at each other. Then Hanna starts scolding her.

"What the hell!?" she shouts. "What was that? What were you aiming at!?

Nanaka drops her second sword and makes a grab for Hanna's soul gem, which by this time has only a few points of light remaining in it, but she manages to roll out of the way.

"Hm? Your hand went for… huh?" Hanna says. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you didn't! You tried to take… my soul gem!?"

Nanaka says nothing, watching impassively for a new opening.

"Are you for real!?" Hanna asks. "So, wait… that means you know! You know a magical girl's life is in her soul gem! I get it! You knew all about that, huh! That's how you plan to stop me… yep! You really are good, Tokiwa Nanaka! But me… I knew about you since waaay before I was a magical girl!"

"Since before!?" Nanaka gasps.

"I saw it online," Hanna says. "'The Beautiful Genius of Flower Arranging'. There were articles and stuff! I remembered those, and… I thought, what should I have a witch do today? Then pow! It came to me! What'd happen if that cute, composed girl's life… got turned into a fucking mess!?"

Nanaka gasps, and Hanna giggles.

"Looks like I hit a soft spot," she says. "Well? Are ya shocked? But hey! I'm shocked too! The girl I picked for some dumb reason, totally at random… I mean, really!? You became a magical girl! Not only that! You're in on our deepest darkest secret! That's some terrifying stuff, ain't it?"

She giggles, and Nanaka grits her teeth.

"Yeah, this is fun stuff," Hanna says. "I love it. Turning your life into chaos, I mean!"

And with that, she bursts out laughing.

"Shut your mouth," Nanaka says.

"Oh?" Hanna says. "Did I say something wrong?"

Nanaka attacks with her swords, and Hanna just barely dances out of the way.

"I said… shut your mouth!" Nanaka shouts. "Stop it with that idiotic laugh! I hate it!"

Hanna giggles, and I decide to take this as my moment to step in.

"Gotta agree with that," I say. "It's a pretty unpleasant laugh."

"Oho, so you're the one who was watching us earlier," Hanna says. "You decided to show yourself, didja?"

Even as she's speaking, the two of them continue their deadly dance. It now looks like Nanaka's aiming to destroy Hanna's soul gem, but she can't quite manage to land a hit.

"I'm not sure why you're so surprised that someone targeted by a witch would become a magical girl though," I note. "It's apparently pretty common…"

Neither of them respond however, as they're too focused on the combat.

"Come on, sto—" Hanna begins.

It's probably an attempt to use her suggestion magic, but Nanaka as usual interrupts before she can complete it.

"Shut it!" Nanaka shouts.

Hanna giggles, and then Nanaka manages to pin her against the wall. However, at the last second she shifts the trajectory of her sword, just barely missing Hanna's soul gem.

"Man, gimme a break," Hanna wheezes. "Why the heeell… aren't you breaking my soul gem!? I mean, I didn't cast any suggestion magic. Well, I do only have a sliver of magic left… so you don't think you need to go that far, do you? You can't even kill a prankster like me? Whyyy the hell not!?"

"Just… be quiet," Nanaka says.

"Are you an idiot!?" Hanna shouts. "You are! Dumb as a brick! I worked so hard! It was gonna be a grand mess of a finale! It would've felt amazing to have a big ending like that! Argh, boring! Ugh! This is some bullshit!"

"What exactly… is going through your head…?" Nanaka asks. "What! What do you want!?"

"Beats me?" Hanna says.

"Don't play dumb!" Nanaka says.

"Really though, I dunno," Hanna says.

"W-why!?" Nanaka gasps.

"Home, school… society and the world or whatever… and magical girls too. All of it! I wanna rip it to shreds! Until it's a pile of trash! That's all! I don't need a reason!"

"Then does that not make you… a witch!?" Nanaka says.

Hanna blinks.

"I'm… a witch?

Suddenly she bursts out laughing. After laughing her head off for a bit, she finally gets it under control and continues speaking.

"This's the best!" she says. "You really are too much!"

"What!?" Nanaka gasps.

"I'm on the opposite side as you," Hanna says. "Buuut… you'll end up over here… I get the feeling plenty's gonna start real soon."

"What will start!?" Nanaka gasps.

"And then… it'll be over for you too," Hanna says.

"W-what do you mean!?" Nanaka gasps.

"Like I'd tell you!" Hanna says. "Dumbass!"

Nanaka gasps.

"All you damn people want is answers," Hanna grumbles. "Go find them for yourselves!" She giggles a bit. "I dunno why, but I feel better! Well… now's as good a time as ever… later!"

She reaches for her own soul gem and tears it off from her scarf, giggling.

"Ah!" Nanaka gasps.

"What a joke it was," Hanna says. "My… life…"

And just like that, she crushes her soul gem in her hand. At the same moment, I contact Remi telepathically.

«Time stop, now!»

A moment later, she's warped next to me and is holding my hand. Hanna and Nanaka are frozen, fragments of Hanna's soul gem in the middle of spilling out from her clenched fist, the shocked expression fixed on Nanaka's face. I take a moment to get a good look around the tunnel. Behind us, it appears that Konoha has just entered the tunnel, while ahead, I can see Yachiyo, Inui, and Hijiri just rounding the bend.

"So I guess you want me to fix her soul gem, right?" Moe says. "That's why you called me here, right? But… why did you wait until she broke it in the first place?"

"Well… I do have a reason," I say. "I wanted these three to see her break her soul gem."

I indicate Nanaka, Yachiyo, and Konoha.

"And I'd rather avoid questions about the Freezer," I add. "However… I'm now thinking I've made a mistake. Your power extends via contact, right? So how are we going to separate out the soul gem without pulling Miss Tokiwa into the time stop? Since Nanaka's still in indirect contact…"

"Huh?" Remi says. "What are you talking about? Things don't rejoin the flow of time just because I touch them."

"Huh? Wait, wasn't that how your time stop works?" I ask. "No, hold on… that's certainly how Miss Homura's time stop works, but I don't know if we ever established…"

"No, don't get me wrong, I do need to touch things for them to enter the time stream," Remi says. "But I also need to intentionally allow them in. Look… do you have something like a ribbon to keep us connected?"

"Ah, yes, I should have one…"

I power down and rummage through my purse for a bit until I find the ribbon I tucked in there quite awhile ago, using my telekinesis to coil it around my wrist and Remi's.

"Now, watch," Remi says.

She steps away from me and raises her battle axe above her head, rotating it so the blade is horizontal. Then she pulls herself up, using the haft as an anchor to flip into the air and land on the blade.

"You see?" she says. "As long as I'm in contact with something, I can bring it in and out of the time stream whenever I want."

"Has that always been the case?" I wonder. "Or have you learned it only recently… I mean in recent timelines…?"

"I have no idea," Remi says. "It's not like I remember all the timelines. All I know is what future me sent back, which includes whatever she worked out about how this worked. In other words…"

The axe falls to the ground with a clatter, and she lands beside it and snatches it up, stepping over to sever Hanna's hand in one smooth motion. Even severed, it hangs in midair, unaffected by gravity.

"Moe-chan, it's now up to you," she says.

"R-right!" Moe says.

Keeping her hand on the ribbon, she heads over to Hanna, and Remi places a hand on her shoulder so she doesn't need to remain in contact with the ribbon. Then she grabs Hanna's severed hand, pulling it in close. I watch the glow of her magic, and after a minute or so, she holds up an intact soul gem.

"Alright," I say. "Can we reattach her hand?"

"Sure," Moe says.

"Yes, I think that should be possible," Remi agrees.

Moe holds the hand up and uses her magic to reattach it.

"What now?" Moe asks.

"Could I ask the two of you to retreat to a safe distance?" I ask. "You need to get more than a hundred metres away to make sure that Miss Sarasa doesn't wake up again."

"Got it," Remi says. "You can take your ribbon back then."

And then she's gone together with her sister, and time is moving again. I stuff the ribbon back in my purse as Nanaka reacts to Hanna's apparent suicide.

"Why…?" she says. "Why did you destroy your own soul gem!?"

"Miss Tokiwa," Yachiyo says.

"You beat her!?" Konoha asks.

"Everyone…" Nanaka says.

"What happened just now…" Yachiyo says. "She broke it herself, didn't she?"

"Miss Nanami…" Nanaka says. "I surmise that… you know?"

"Huh?" Konoha says. "Know what?"

"Yes," Yachiyo says.

"I was also aware," I say.

"Me too!" Inui says.

Hijiri however remains silent.

"I see," Nanaka says.

"Really… what do you know?" Konoha asks.

"Miss Shizumi…" Nanaka says. "She's… dead."

"What? Dead?" Konoha says. "She's dead!? Hey… what's that mean? What do you mean!? You're not the type of person to kill her… are you?"

Nanaka shakes her head.

"Sarasa Hanna killed herself," she says. "Thus bringing everything that happened to an end."

"She… killed herself…?" Konoha says.

"She crushed her own soul gem," I say. "Thus, she died."

"Even if you venture too far from your soul gem, you will appear to be dead," Nanaka says. "At least if your soul gem is intact, you can be revived, however…"

"But if it breaks, that's the end," Yachiyo says. "These little gems hold our very lives…"

"That's… are you serious…?" Konoha says. "That can't be… our soul gems… are our lives…!?"

"Yes," Nanaka says.

"If that's true," Konoha says. "Then we're… we're not… human anymore, are we?"

"That depends on your definition of human," I say.

Konoha suddenly screams before I can finish what I had been about to say.

"I never should've let Hazuki and Ayame make contracts!" she says. "Ugh…"

"I have a suggestion," Nanaka says. "I believe there are some who would be unable to bear the weight of this knowledge."

"That's for sure," I say. "I personally know some people who it would hit pretty hard."

"Therefore, we should keep it a secret amongst us," Nanaka says. "In fact, I was already aware of this truth, but I kept it secret from Miss Meiyui and the others for that very reason. I think it needs to wait for the right time."

"You're sure it's not just that you couldn't bring yourself to say it?" I ask.

Nanaka shoots me a look, and for a second I think she's going to ream me out, but then she shakes her head.

"Even if that is true, still it was not the right time," she says. "I did not know that breaking the soul gem meant death until today… although I had already theorized it to be likely. By the way… who are you three?"

"Ah, yes, we sorta skipped the introductions, didn't we?" I say. "I'm an acquaintance of Miss Izumi… my name is Ashley Taylor. These are my friends, Itsumi Inui and Hijiri Kanna."

"My name is Shizumi Konoha. Weren't there two more girls here earlier?" Konoha asks. "I'm sure I saw someone with a great big axe…"

"Yes, there was," I say. "But I asked her to take care of something for me."

"My name is Tokiwa Nanaka," Nanaka says. "It's a pleasure to meet you, though I wish it had been under different circumstances."

"Me too," Yachiyo says. "I am Nanami Yachiyo. Something tells me it was not mere coincidence that you came here at this time. Did you hear about it from Kanagi?"

I shrug and dodge the question rather than lying outright.

"I thought Miss Sarasa needed to be dealt with one way or another," I say. "Not that I doubted your abilities, but there was always the chance she'd be able to slip away. I was a little surprised that she noticed me watching back at your hideout though, Miss Shizumi."

"Ah, then the 'surprise contender' she mentioned at the end must have been you, Miss Taylor," Nanaka says.

"I would imagine so," I say. "Given the way she called out, I can't think of anyone else she could've been referring to."

"But then, does that mean you were present there without our knowledge?" Nanaka asks.

"How did you find the place?" Konoha asks.

"I wasn't present," I say. "I was watching you with my magic."

"Oh…" Konoha says. "That's… a little creepy, you know."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I won't do it again… probably. I just wanted to take care of Miss Sarasa somehow."

"Speaking of Miss Sarasa, we can't just leave her lying around here like this," Nanaka says. "We should report it to the police and allow them to find her somewhere…"

"About that," I say. "Would you mind allowing Kanna-chi to take care of it?"

"I have no reason to object," Nanaka says. "Is that okay with you as well?"

"I feel like there's something fishy about the request," Yachiyo says. "But I can't think of any reason to decline it."

"I don't really mind," Konoha says. "I probably would've left it to Miss Tokiwa anyway."

"That's settled, then," Hijiri says. "I'll take care of the body."

"Thank you very much," Nanaka says.

"By the way, please say hi to Mei-kun for me!" Inui says,

Nanaka blinks. "Mei-kun… do you mean Miss Meiyui?"

"Yeah, that's her!" Inui says.

We say goodbye and go our separate ways, with me and Inui heading back to the station. We find Remi and Moe already waiting for us there, and several minutes later, Hijiri also shows up. Once we're on the train, I take a peek at what's going on with Kanagi, who from what I recall should be resting at the Coordinator's. It seems I was right, but there doesn't seem to be much going on with her. In fact, we're almost back to Mitakihara before something happens.

---

Kanagi is laying down on one of the couches while Mitama is nodding off in her armchair, when the Daito Apartments trio suddenly pile in together with the three other members of Nanaka's team. Kanagi sits up, and Mitama wakes with a start.

"W-what is it!?" Mitama gasps.

"Did you find the culprit?" Kanagi asks.

"Yes, but she got away," Leila says. "Miss Tokiwa was chasing her…"

"I am confident that Nanaka will bring her down," Meiyui says. "So it is only a matter of time, now."

"I see," Mitama says, already recovered from her surprise. "Then you found that girl…"

"Yes, and she's completely crazy!" Akira says.

"She just wants to, um… ruin everything," Kako says. "I can't believe someone like her actually exists…"

"She was even about to kill me," Mito says. "I'm just lucky you three showed up at that moment…"

They proceed to talk about how things went down, and by the time they reach the point where Nanaka's teammates saved the Daito trio, Nanaka and Yachiyo step in. The Azalea trio and Tsuruno must have already gone their own ways.

"Did you get her, Nanaka?" Meiyui asks.

"Not exactly," Nanaka says. "When I had her cornered, she took her own life. She used her suggestion magic… on herself."

"W-what!?" Mito gasps.

"W-why would she…?" Kako says.

"So it's done," Kanagi says.

"I guess it is," Leila says.

"It really is all over," Seika says.

Mito sniffles, wiping away a few tears.

"Aino-kun… are you crying?" Kanagi asks.

"She was a bad person," Mito says. "But… for her to die… it's just…"

"Yeah," Leila says.

"Yes," Kanagi agrees.

"Kanagi," Yachiyo says.

"Nanami," Kanagi says. "It's been awhile… were you involved with this case too?"

"Yes, and there was another girl who I had never seen before," Yachiyo says. "She mentioned your name… do you know an Ashley Taylor?"

"Ashley Taylor?" Kanagi says. "Now that brings back memories… I only met her once, however. I encountered her in the Mirror Mansion, just a few days before Mel-kun—"

"Only once?" Yachiyo says, interrupting her. "Do you think she's a threat?"

"I took a look inside her mind, at her request," Kanagi says. "I don't think she has any hostile intentions… or at least, she did not have any back then."

"It was in the Mirror Mansion," Yachiyo says. "You're certain she was the original and not a copy?"

"I have never seen a copy willingly leave the labyrinth," Kanagi says.

"Even so, that's quite some time ago," Yachiyo muses. "Why would she suddenly show up again now…"

Kanagi shrugs. "I can't speculate on that."

"I see," Yachiyo says. "Thanks for the information."

And without further ado or even a goodbye, she turns around and leaves.

---

Inui and I get off the train, while the other three stay on, continuing towards Asunaro. I'm pondering what I just heard. To begin with… I'm not entirely certain, but I don't think Yachiyo went to the Coordinator's at all last time – when she went with Iroha to meet Kanagi, that should have been their first time meeting since the mirror witch appeared last year. And apparently I – or perhaps more likely, the other Ashley within me – requested that she look inside my mind? I'm not sure why either of us would do that.

But in any case, the important thing is that Sarasa Hanna is in our custody. It won't be much longer now before the Magius forms, and I can try to figure out where we went wrong last time.

---

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.

Kure Kirika (upgraded)
呉キリカ

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Yellow
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Purple butterfly
Soul Gem: Yellow diamond gem on her back
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Sickle claws
Powers: Slowing enemy perception, taunt, memory manipulation
Wish: "I want to erase the death of Oriko's father."

Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 12
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 7
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

---

Even though it's a shorter chapter than the past few, there's still a lot going on here, though a lot of it is just exposition, expanding on previously-revealed details. I've even accidentally answered some of the questions that a certain reader was bugging me about, in Mary's explanation. This explanation of where karmic destiny comes from is largely derived from the newest work in the franchise, Null Magical Girl, of which I finally managed to find a translation. Oh and welcome Kirika Mk II.

When writing the final scene in chapter 78, I mixed up the nature of Sayaka's home. I think I may have somehow confused it with Kyousuke's home? (There is a scene of Sayaka in front of his home after all.) Regardless, the way the scene was previously written implies that Sayaka's family has a house, yet they actually live in an apartment, so I rewrote part of the scene to fit that better.

I also changed one word in chapter 87, for no other reason than that I suddenly realized I'd missed a prime opportunity to use the word "blabbing". And I decided to revise Mayoi's age in her profile in chapter 83. She's a character whose appearance doesn't match her true age. I also corrected a few minor typos that I spotted in several chapters while reviewing past events to construct the current timeline's flow.

Chapter 90 is started, so I don't anticipate the wait will be quite as long as it was with this chapter. However, I can't promise anything at this point. I still don't have a buffer, either. Also, it's pure coincidence that I posted this the day after someone asked when the next chapter will be posted. Just saying.