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.

95. Lies Lurking Beneath Ashes of Revolution

Note: This chapter was supposed to be entitled "Lies Lurking Beneath the Ashes of Revolution", but that was slightly too long for FanFiction's liking.

When digging out bits of folklore around the world, there was one thing that consistently bothered me. There was no literature about magical girls to be found anywhere, only vague allusions in folklore – even in rare cases where magical girls were known to use their powers openly, such as Jeanne d'Arc of France or Mizuna Tsuyu of Kamihama, the tales treat them as unique individuals with miraculous powers. In other words, even in exceptional circumstances where it seems that the existence of magical girls should be exposed, it never once has become common knowledge, at least as far as I could determine.

So, this led me to wonder whether there was some force at work to keep magical girls in the shadows. The hypothesis I formulated is that the universe itself wishes for magical girls to remain unknown. The human body is made up of cells that all work together, each one performing a particular function. What if the universe is like that too? Kyuubey, humans, magical girls… they are all like cells of the universal body. And magical girls have one of the most important roles, creating energy the universe needs to stay alive. Sort of like mitochondria in human cells.

Under this hypothesis, saving magical girls is like rebelling against the universe, like a cancer to the universe. I surmise that the universe itself has an immune system that attacks magical girls without their knowledge, creating unnatural situation where incidence affect magical girls in silence.

The truth of this hypothesis is as yet unknown. My hope is that the spread of this book disproves it, but only time will tell.

~Excerpt from "Magical Girls: Their Hope and Despair"~
~by Professor Satomi Tasuke, Ph.D~

---

Finally Friday comes, and Hiyori asks me for song recommendations as usual. I give the same answers as last time, pointing her to Kalafina, ClariS, TrySail, and AmaLee's English covers of Magia and Connect. During lunch break, I peek in on how Iroha is doing.

---

Iroha, Tsuruno, Momoko, and Rena are eating lunch together. Unlike in the last timeline, the topic of discussion seems to be Kaede.

"So you haven't heard from her since?" Iroha asks.

"Yeah," Momoko says. "Her parents said she went home, fed her pets, gathered up a few things, and left again. She hasn't been responding to our emails, either. The one saving grace is that Mitama saw her and said she's fine…"

"It's so unlike her," Rena says. "Usually I'm the one who acts like that."

"Why do you sound so proud of yourself?" Momoko asks.

"Whatever!" Rena says.

"I'm sure she'll come back soon!" Tsuruno says. "She's not the type to sulk forever, right?"

"That's true," Momoko says. "Still, this seems different from any other time, so I can't help but be worried… but enough about us. How are things going on your end?"

"Well, we got an unexpected visit from Miss Mifuyu," Iroha says. "She invited us to a lecture…"

"She said she was going to explain what the Wings of the Magius are all about!" Tsuruno says.

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

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

"Even so, it's pretty suspicious for them to just invite you over for a chat," Rena says. "Last time they seemed like they were really gonna hurt you, didn't they?"

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

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

"I know, right!?" Tsuruno says.

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

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

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

"I figured," Iroha says.

"How about you, Rena?" Tsuruno asks.

"I'm not sure," Rena says. "I thought you guys were the ones who had a rumour-lover with you, anyway?"

"You mean shishou?" Tsuruno says.

"Yeah, her," Rena says.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Stop hiding, huh," Momoko says.

"Yeah, Momoko!" Rena says.

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

"Um, yes?" Iroha says.

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

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

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

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

Rena groans.

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

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

Momoko sighs.

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

"You're dodging the topic again! You can't shake me off that easily!" Rena says.

"Ugh, alright!" Momoko groans. "Enough! I get it! I'll tell you soon, alright!? I guess I'll email Kaede-chan again too… maybe this'll actually get her to respond…"

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

---

After school, I briefly consider whether I should join the meeting among the Holy Brigade. I kinda don't want to, but… it did seem like they were all ready to get going a day early last time, so I guess I should attend just to be on the safe side.

Having decided, I head for Mitakihara Middle School and find Nagisa waiting outside for them. I try to remember what I said last time and repeat it more or less the same.

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

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

"Hey, couldn't you be a little bit less rude?" I retort.

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

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

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

"Well, I'm glad at least your teacher is a kind person, unlike that mother of yours," I say. "Speaking of which, how is she doing?"

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

That's when the rest of the team emerges from the school, Hitomi and Sayaka still chatting about their recent trip together. Madoka steps towards me, Homura keeping pace with her like a shadow.

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

"That's my line," I say.

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

"Sure," I say.

With Sayaka and Hitomi still chatting, we all head for the café where they usually meet up. It's not until they arrive that Sayaka notices me.

"Huh? Ashley Taylor? What on earth are you doing here?"

"Madoka invited me to your meeting," I say. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Eh… well… I guess not," Sayaka says reluctantly. "Though I'd prefer not to see your face… I still can't believe you actually cut my arm right off."

"I have to say, that was quite a shock for me as well," Hitomi says. "Especially since I was as yet unaware of Miss Sayaka's regenerative powers…"

"I'm sorry," I say. "But I did that because I was genuinely concerned for your well-being at the time. That, and Madoka would be sad if you turned into a witch."

"So you say," Sayaka mutters.

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

"Fine," Sayaka mutters.

We head inside and order drinks, or rather, everyone except me orders them.

"By the way, do you not have a lesson to get to, Miss Shizuki?" I ask.

"I have cancelled all my lessons for the rest of the month," Hitomi says. "I shall be picking up piano again after Golden Week, though, because I actually really enjoy it… but I am finished with all the other lessons."

I think she was being forced to take lessons in things like tea ceremony and traditional Japanese dance or something… I'm not sure of the exact details, though. But I can certainly understand why she'd want to quit if that's the sort of lessons she was taking. I mean… there must be people who enjoy that sort of thing, but…

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

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

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

"Mami-sempai is missing!?" Hitomi gasps at the same time.

"That's right," Madoka says.

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

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

"W-what!?" Sayaka gasps.

"Not only is she missing, but even for several days!?" Hitomi says.

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

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

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

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

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

"Oh… I'm not sure how to feel about that," Sayaka says.

"I understand that you were thinking of us," Hitomi says. "But I wish you had said something."

"But basically, the point is, Miss Mami is missing, right?" Sayaka says.

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

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

"No, we didn't find her," Madoka says. "Though, we did uncover a clue. Um… I'm just going to explain everything that happened from beginning to end, so… Sayaka-chan, Hitomi-chan, please be patient."

Madoka tells them about the Rumour of Anonymous, about how Nagisa unleashed her doppel, and about the Wings of the Magius. Her account includes my involvement as well. When she's finished, Sayaka lets out a great big sigh.

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

"That's… true, but… it's a pretty weak clue," Madoka says. "I don't know how helpful it is…"

Sayaka turns to me.

"You, you're a member of that organization, right?" she says. "You've gotta have more info."

"Not really," I say. "They're a largely anonymous organization – most members don't know who the other members even are. At most I can say that I heard Miss Tomoe was spotted on the base."

"There is one thing that I did not quite understand about the story," Hitomi says. "Miss Taylor, your participation does not add up. What was your purpose there?"

"Ah, do you really want to know?" I ask.

"I don't really wanna know!" Sayaka says.

"I am quite curious, however," Hitomi says.

"I wanted to find out if a rumour had the capacity to become a magical girl."

Hitomi and Madoka gasp at the same time.

"A-are you serious!?" Madoka says. "But they're… not really human, right? So I wouldn't think they could become a magical girl…"

"What was the result of your… experiment?" Hitomi asks.

"Ah, I showed her to Kyuubey and it immediately offered her a contract," I say. "To be honest, I was a little surprised it came out with it so quickly."

"D-did she make a wish, then?" Sayaka asks.

"She did."

"Hey, we're off topic," Nagisa points out. "We're supposed to be talking about Mami-nee!"

"R-right," Sayaka says. "You said it was this Alina chick who mentioned her… maybe she was lying to get you riled up. Can you really trust what she says?"

"You do have a point," Madoka says. "I'm not sure what to believe…"

"But I did hear someone spotted her at the base," I repeat.

"So, it sounds like she's at least safe," Madoka says. "I might not trust Alina, but I do trust Ashley-chan."

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

"You mean Iroha-chan?" Madoka says.

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

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

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

"I may not have known her long, but I find it hard to believe that Mami-sempai would be blackmailed so easily," Hitomi muses.

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

"A favour?"

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

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

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

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

"What is it?" Madoka asks.

"Well… please take me to Kamihama!"

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

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

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

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

"Me too," Madoka says.

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

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

"Sayaka-chan… but why?" Madoka asks.

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

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

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

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

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

"Or Yuma-chan?" I add.

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

"Sayaka-chan…" Madoka says.

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

"Alright!" Madoka says.

"Really!?" Sayaka gasps.

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

"Thank you, Madoka!" Sayaka says.

"Even so, it's awfully short notice to go right now," Hitomi says.

"In fact, I think you're more likely to find something useful if you wait until tomorrow," I add.

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

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

"She is a member of those Wings of the Magius, right?" Hitomi says. "Although, if that is the case… then why are you helping us?"

"I joined to check them out," I say. "That doesn't mean I'm completely loyal to them or anything."

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

"I think I would prefer that too," Hitomi says.

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

"Actually, I have business in Yukuni tomorrow, so it's pretty unlikely I'll make it back to Kamihama in time to meet up with you or anything," I say.

"Huh? Yukuni is quite the distance from here," Hitomi says. "What reason could you have to go there?"

"U-um, I'm sure she has some really good reason," Madoka says. "Like I said, Ashley-chan actually knows quite a bit about all of this… probably more than anyone else, except maybe Homura-chan…"

"…it's possible she knows even more than me," Homura mutters. "But she's keeping most of it to herself so it's hard to say…"

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

"Yes, tomorrow is the day we should go," Homura says. "If all goes well, perhaps we'll even run into Mami."

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

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

"Huh? Didn't you say you were going to be in Yukuni?" Hitomi asks.

"Sure, but I can still watch from a distance, as long as I'm not too busy at the time."

"Y-you can watch from that far away!?" Hitomi gasps. "I thought there would be a limit on your range…"

"There's a limit of sorts," I say. "I'm limited by how much magic it consumes. The greater the distance, the more magic it takes. Plus, I can only focus in on something I'm already familiar with. But I think viewing Kamihama from Yukuni shouldn't be too much of a strain."

"Oh, I see…"

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

With the meeting concluded, I head for Kamihama to meet up with Inui. On the way, I check up on Iroha.

---

"If I kept everyone's life stories in my head, it'd pop like an old tire," Mitama is saying.

"That's true," Iroha says.

Suddenly her phone rings, and she pulls it out to check who it is.

"Huh? Rena-chan?"

She answers it.

"Oy, you've gotta hear this," Rena says.

"What's wrong?" Iroha asks.

"There was this weird thing over here, kinda like a familiar," Rena says. "It was saying something about the Memory Museum."

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

"Yeah, I'm in an arcade in Sakae Ward right now," Rena says. "I saw it chatting with other students just now."

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

"I missed most of it," Rena says. "When I tried to get close, it suddenly vanished. But it might still be somewhere around here… I'll send you my location."

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

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

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

Iroha hurries out of the Coordinator's office and makes her way to the arcade, where she finds Rena playing one of the idol games. She's forced to wait about a minute until Rena's done, at which point the other girl hops off and turns to face her.

"Oh, you made it," Rena says.

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

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

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

"Hmm," Rena says. "Maybe I saw a rumour that was spreading rumours on its own. It's a bit confusing… but that doesn't matter right now."

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

"With all the students coming and going, I guess this is a great place to spread rumours," Rena says.

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

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

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

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

They shuffle closer until they can hear what it's saying, and manage to catch the entire rumour of the Memory Museum before it disappears.

"And it's gone again," Rena says.

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

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

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

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

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

"Like… at school…?" Rena says.

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

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

"Yeah, to be honest, I'd feel better if there were more of us," Iroha admits. "But I can't ask you to come… you're still looking for Kaede-chan, right?"

"Well… yeah," Rena says. "Though Momoko said she might've managed to convince her to come out for a chat… at least, she got some sort of response from one of her emails."

"Oh, that's great news!" Iroha says. "Anyway, Tsuruno-chan and the others will be there with me, so don't worry."

"Who's worrying?" Rena retorts.

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

With that, she leaves Rena behind and exits the arcade.

---

As I reach the old railway yard, I find myself face-to-face with Yuki Maria, who stares at me for several seconds.

"Ah… s-sorry, I didn't expect to run into someone back here," she says. "So you startled me a bit."

"Not to worry," I say. "I'm sure we're both here for the same reason, anyway."

"Ah! Good point," Maria says. "I suppose I should have thought of that."

She smiles at me.

"I'm Yuki Maria, a black feather. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Ashley Taylor, a white feather," I say. "I'm an exchange student from California, currently studying in Mitakihara."

"Huh, you're not as shy as most of the other girls I've run into at Fendt Hope," Maria says. "So you're an exchange student? May I ask why you joined the Wings of the Magius?"

"I guess I'd say their goal coincidentally aligns with mine," I say. "Though it's an open question whether their methods will work out. So, what about you? Did you join because you regretted making a wish?"

"Well… not really," Maria says. "For the most part, I don't regret my wish, but… ever since I learned the truth, I've had second thoughts now and then. Maybe that is why I joined, in the end."

"I see."

"Do you regret your wish?" Maria asks.

"Not even one bit," I say. "I'm one of the rare ones who grilled Kyuubey before contracting and still went through with it after knowing the full story."

"Ahh… I see," Maria says. "So you've always known… anyway, we should probably head inside, shouldn't we?"

"Right…"

I flash my robes on, and she follows my example. Then we step into Fendt Hope's barrier and cross the gardens.

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

"Yeah, it's pretty good," I say. "Is that the only reason you stopped by today?"

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

"So she's already out of rumours for you to guard?"

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

"Well… sure, why not," I agree.

When we reach the cafeteria, we find Inui waiting there for us.

"Ohh, you're with Kimari-chi," Inui says.

"Oh, were you two already acquainted?" I ask.

"We have spoken a few times, yes," Maria says. "Inui is like you in that she's not shy to expose her identity… I suppose it makes sense, given how close the two of you are. She has mentioned you to me a few times."

When we enter the cafeteria, the only others eating there are, conveniently, Coeurl and Mayoi. There are also two black feathers on serving duty. If I recall correctly, one of them is Maya, a girl who chose justice over liberation when Mami revealed the full truth at the helipad. The other is Kuroe, which strikes me as slightly odd – I thought Kuroe was on the Amane twins' team. Maybe she was just dragged in for extra fighting power… but the choice of servers is also quite convenient, as Kuroe also ended up settling on the side of justice in that confrontation, which means both of them are likely to be at least somewhat open to betraying the Magius.

"By the way, Miss Maria, have you seen Miss Tomoe?" I ask.

"Ah… they were calling her a saint or something, right?" Maria says. "I saw her once, briefly… it was an unsettling experience."

"Oh, her," Coeurl speaks up. "From what I can tell, they fused her with one of those rumour things to brainwash her. Pathetic, if you ask me."

Maria blinks. "A-are you serious!? I can't believe they would do something like that…"

Mayoi pipes up too. "Isn't that like… all sorts of bad?" she asks. "Could it be… we're actually the bad guys!? B-but we're trying to save magical girls… so we can't be the bad guys… or can we…?"

"Well, I can confirm what Coeurl said," I say. "I was watching when they spoke with Miss Tomoe, and one of them did suggest using the rumour to brainwash her. Admittedly though… Miss Tomoe herself sort of forced their hand."

"What… by not agreeing with them?" Mayoi says.

"No, that's not what I meant," I say. "That's not really what I'd call forcing their hand… though they might see it differently. No… what I mean is that…"

I suddenly blink as I realize that my interpretation is flawed.

"No, wait a second… I take that all back. I was going to point out that Miss Tomoe went berserk and tried to kill them, due to learning the truth about magical girls, but… she only learned the truth because they attempted to brainwash her in the first place. The first brainwashing failed, so they used this rumour to make it stronger. So I guess they brought it on themselves. They even knew it was dangerous to spread that knowledge, but Miss Tomoe was pretty strong so they figured she'd be safe."

"Yeah, you can say that again," Mayoi mutters. "I'm starting to regret joining these guys… maybe I should give the fire sisters a call and tell them to come rampaging in… I'm sure they'd just love it!"

"I think that'd actually be a good idea, though," I say.

"R-really!?" Mayoi gasps.

"I mean, not right now, but on the twenty-eighth," I say.

"Huh, well… maybe I will email them then," Mayoi says.

"That said… if Miss Nanami and Miss Izumi aren't able to even find this place, why would you think those fire sisters would fare any better?" I ask.

"Well, for starters, they'd know where this place is from the start?" Mayoi says. "Cause I'd tell them?"

"Sure, but this is the heart of their base," I say. "There are what… a hundred or so magical girls here? And Miss Nemu has absolute control over the terrain. It would be suicide to charge in here without a plan, with just one or two people."

"Eh… I guess you're right," Mayoi says. "Hmm… but if I'm honest, I'm a bit reluctant to limp back to the cat sempai after disappearing so suddenly…"

Suddenly she blinks.

"Hey, come to think of it, isn't the problem in the leadership?" she says. "All we have to do is replace the Magius, right?"

"Um… while you're technically right, did you forget who exactly has absolute control over the terrain?" I point out. "And just who is it that controls all the energy Eve has gathered?"

"Ah… right," Mayoi says.

"Even so," Maria says. "I can't just sit back and watch them brainwash people… we have to resist somehow… even if it's in small ways…"

"Do you have a suggestion, Maria?" I ask.

"Well… no, I don't," Maria admits.

"What about you, Coeurl?"

"I'm used to open warfare," Coeurl says. "Subterfuge isn't my thing. If it were up to me, I'd charge in like this young lady here was saying… but only if I thought I had a chance to win. I'm pretty confident that I'm more powerful than each of the Magius individually, but if the three of them faced me together, I would probably lose. And that's assuming no doppels. If they use their doppels, I'd be steamrolled, no question about it – even if I also used mine."

I turn to the two servers.

"And what do you think about all of this?" I ask.

"Ehhh?" Kuroe gasps. "Y-you're asking us? B-but what if the place is bugged…?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not," I say. "Though honestly I'm surprised it's not… but that's beside the point. Miss Kuroe, what do you think of Miss Tomoe's brainwashing?"

"U-um, w-well…" Kuroe mutters.

"Um… do you know her?" Maya asks.

"Oh… yes, I was the one who recruited her, actually," Kuroe says.

"Oh… wow," Maya says.

"T-to be honest… I guess… I don't really like the idea of brainwashing people," Kuroe mutters. "Though if it's the only way to achieve liberation…"

"M-me too," Maya says. "It doesn't sit right with me… they could've just let her go. Why did they have to brainwash her? I don't think that's right…"

"Well then, it seems you're all in luck," Inui pipes up. "Maria, Coeurl, Maimai… and Maya and Kuroe too… guess who does have ideas on how to resist? Lita does!"

Kuroe blinks. "Lita… is that… your alias?" she asks.

"Yes, it's actually part of my full name, as I guess you can tell."

Kuroe nods. "Right… you took the centre… it's a good choice," she says.

"Anyway, what Inui says is true," I say. "I do have some ideas on how to resist. If everyone would like to help me, we could get started as early as tomorrow evening, when I return from Yukuni."

"Eh? Why are you going to Yukuni?" Maria asks.

"I don't think it's something I can adequately describe without just confusing you further," I say. "It's sort of related to the liberation of magical girls, if a bit tangentially… I was actually hoping to ask Maimai if she could transport me there."

"Oh! I'd be glad to!" Mayoi says. "As long as you show me where it is on a map, I should be able to get you there!"

"That's a great help," I say. "I'll show you a map later."

"So, what exactly are you planning to do in Yukuni?" Maria asks.

"I'm planning to protect someone," I say. "And… potentially… I may end up fighting someone."

"What kind of person are you protecting?" Maria asks.

"Um… someone who shares one of my goals," I say. "Not the liberation of magical girls, but the exposure. Revealing our existence to the public."

"O-oh my…!" Maya gasps. "I'm not sure if I could handle everyone knowing, though…"

"Oh, don't worry about that," I say. "I wouldn't reveal crucial details like how to identify that someone is a magical girl… though they might eventually leak out despite my best efforts. But what I'm saying is that even if the public knows about magical girls in general, that doesn't mean you have to reveal that you're one."

"Ah, I see," Maya muses. "That… might not be so bad, then…"

"And, what kind of person would you be possibly fighting?" Maria asks.

"Ah… that's… a really good question," I say. "I know almost nothing about her. I know that I can't sense her presence the way I would a magical girl. Maybe that means she's not a magical girl, or it could mean she just has a way to conceal her presence. I also know she can cancel out my power to see things from a distance. And lastly, she killed a man and tried to pin it on me. A man who was nominally working for her, at that. Or at least, he believed he was working for her."

"Y-you've gotten entangled with someone so dangerous!?" Kuroe gasps. "T-that… that sounds really scary! She sounds like… like a magical yakuza or something!"

"Y-yeah, I'm really glad she's in far-off Yukuni and not here in Kamihama," Maya says.

"Alright, that aside," Coeurl says. "Who's in? On this little rebellious alliance, I mean."

"Oh, I'm definitely in," Maria says.

"Absolutely!" Mayoi says.

"Um… if it's not too much trouble… I'm interested," Maya says.

"Eh, well… I guess… sure, I'll join," Kuroe says.

"Looks like that makes all of us," Coeurl says. "Have you all been tuned by Miss Yakumo?"

"I haven't," Mayoi says. "But the cat sempai has poked at my soul gem a number of times before I came here. I think that's the same thing as what you call Coordination."

"I've seen her twice," Kuroe says.

"Several times," Maria says. "I'm a native of Kamihama, after all."

"Same here," Maya says. "I'm actually in the same class as Miss Izumi's brother. Ah… perhaps I should introduce myself? I'm Maya… it's nice to meet you all."

"Oh, right, we should all make sure we know who each other are," Maria says. "I'm Maria."

"Call me Lita."

"Inui here!"

"The name's Coeurl."

"I'm Kuroe."

"It's Maimai!"

"So… I have a couple of other people in mind to recruit," I say. "Do any of you know the white feather Sue?"

"Oh, I know her," Kuroe says. "She's one of the healers, right?"

"Y-yeah, she's pretty well-known," Maya says.

"I think she'd be open to joining us," I say. "Besides that, there's a girl on my team who I think would be interested. Actually, I suspect most of my team would be open to it, but I'm not quite as sure about the others, so… oh, and lastly is Tori, who's on Coeurl's team. So, I think we should recruit at least those three."

Coeurl nods. "I'll have a chat with Tori later. I'll try not to let things slip until she's agreed, though like I mentioned, subterfuge isn't my forte… so if one of you'd like to be there to watch my back in case I slip up, I'd be grateful."

"I'll volunteer for that," Maria says. "Just let me know when."

"I'll talk to Chiyoko whenever I next see her," I say.

"T-then, I'll talk to Sue," Maya says. "Kuroe, will you come with me too?"

"U-um… I'm not sure," Kuroe says.

"Ah… well, if you're not comfortable with it, I won't force you…"

"How about I come instead?" Mayoi suggests.

"Ah… yes, thank you!" Kuroe says.

"Shouldn't it be me thanking her?" Maya asks, giggling a bit.

"Oh… right," Kuroe says. "I was just grateful for a reason not to… you know…"

"Well, it's fine," Maya says.

"I also have Miss Izumi's contact info," I say.

"S-seriously!?" Maya gasps. "If I really wanted to, I could contact her at school, or through Sougetsu-kun, but… to think you actually had her number!?"

"Why are you bringing this up though?" Maria asks.

"Because we agreed to share information," I say. "I think I might let her know that there's a little uprising getting started. Perhaps she can help us out from the outside."

"Ah, I see," Maria says. "Certainly, it would be quite reassuring to have her support…"

"You can say that again!" Maya says. "Miss Izumi has been the second biggest thorn in our sides, after Miss Nanami and Miss Tamaki… so if we're going to…betray the Magius… it would be a great help to have her with us."

I nod. "Alright… so let's meet again tomorrow," I say. "That said… it's hard for me to set an exact time, since I'm not sure how long I'll need to be in Yukuni… so could we exchange contact info so I can send you the time by email?"

Maya nods. "That's fine with me."

"I still don't have a phone," Coeurl says. "But I don't have any plans tomorrow. I'll probably be in my room all day. If I'm not there, check here or the training grounds."

"Sure, I'll give you my contact info," Mayoi says.

"You already have mine," Kuroe says. "But I suppose I can share it with everyone else too…"

"Yeah, I'll share mine too," Maria says.

So we all whip out our phones and tap them together. There's a series of beeps as the data is transferred between us. After confirming I got everyone's info, I stow my phone away again.

"So… I wonder where I can find Chiyoko," I muse. "Any ideas, Inui?"

"Hmm… probably either in her room, or in the chapel," Inui says.

"Ugh… the chapel," I mutter. "Well… I guess the first step is to use my magic, anyway."

I scry on Chiyoko and find her in neither of those places. She's currently at the training grounds, practicing with a large number of other feathers.

"Well, you were wrong, Inui," I say. "She's at the training grounds, so I guess all we've gotta do is wait until the training's over and we can see her."

"Oh, perfect," Inui says.

"My team's going witch hunting after dinner, so I'll see Tori then," Coeurl says. "I'll talk to her afterwards, so can you wait in the ground floor lounge or something, Maria?"

Maria nods. "I'll let my family know I'll be out late," she says.

"Sue's easy to find," Maya says. "So I'll go right after I get off of serving duty… it won't be for another couple of hours, though."

"I'll wait for you in the third floor lounge," Mayoi says. "Will that do?"

"Y-yes!" Maya says. "Yes, that'll do nicely…"

"Alright, then we'll discuss the details of our activities tomorrow," I say.

I clean off the last of the food on my plate and get up to leave the cafeteria. Inui follows me, and we make for the back door, peeking out to see the feathers practicing the chain techniques, with San egging them on as their instructor.

"So, did the Mitakihara trio go home for the weekend again?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I told them to make sure they're back for Sunday," Inui says.

"Alright," I say. "Did you mention that to the others as well?'

"Yeah, all three of them," Inui says. "I guess we won't be meeting Karin-chan, Rui-chan, and Rii-chan tomorrow, right?"

"Possibly," I say. "I would've liked to squeeze in the visit to Alina's exhibit, but there might not be time. You can tell Karin-chan that we might not be able to make it."

"I'll pass that on once she contacts us about it," Inui says.

"Hmm… but it's not like there's no chance," I say. "After all, the Yukuni event was in the morning, and we set the meeting for noon, so… we might be able to make it."

"I'll just say we're not sure, then," Inui says. "We have something to do in the morning and we're not sure how long it'll go, right? That's totally true."

Once the training comes to an end, the black feathers stream into the building, many of them heading for the cafeteria. Chiyoko seems to spot me almost immediately and hangs back to let the bulk of the feathers enter ahead of her. Once there are only a few left, she approaches me.

"Miss Lita," she says. "I've been meaning to have a little chat with you… do you have a moment?"

"What a coincidence," I say. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Well, it's more like I have… a few questions," Chiyoko says. "Um… it's probably best if we talk alone… just the two of us."

She glances at Inui, who shrugs.

"Fine with me," she says. "Go have your chat wherever."

She leads me to the ground floor lounge, but of course, Maria is there. Frowning slightly, Chiyoko looks around for a moment before heading outside into the front garden. Instead of crossing the courtyard, she heads to the right, between some hedgerows. Even though there aren't any girls in sight out here, it seems she's really nervous about being overheard.

"This should be a good enough place," Chiyoko says.

"So… what's on your mind?" I ask.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but still.

"So um… why are you never at Fendt Hope?" she asks. "It makes it look like you don't really care about the Wings of the Magius…"

"I just happen to be very busy," I say. "There's not a lot of time for me to stop by."

"Um… I want you to tell me honestly what you think about the Wings of the Magius," Chiyoko says. "Do you believe in the cause? I know you said you did before, but… do you think it's even possible? Can the Magius pull it off? It's just… I've been hearing things lately, and… I'm worried. Some of the rumours are… downright scary…"

"What kinds of rumours?" I ask.

"J-just, to be clear, these are only things I heard," Chiyoko says. "I don't know if there's any truth to them… I heard something about a witch that's coming to Kamihama… and there was this one girl who was terrified and ran away, who said girls who disobey are being fed to witches… I heard some of the rumours we're guarding have killed or seriously injured people… and I heard that the reason witches are so abundant here is because the Magius are drawing them to Kamihama…"

"The last one is true," I say. "I don't think the others are true, at least, not yet. I don't think either Alina or the Instructor would just feed people to a witch because they disagree, and I'm absolutely certain that Miss Mifuyu wouldn't do it, and wouldn't stand for it if she heard of others doing it. Oh right, the rumour about a terrible witch coming is also true – I heard it from a friend who can predict the future."

"I'm just… starting to question… whether joining was… right…" Chiyoko mutters.

"I don't think this a question of right or wrong," I say. "The Magius had a pretty well thought out plan which could've been a success if handled well, but they've messed up a few crucial points. Alienating people like Miss Nanami was probably their biggest mistake – with her aligned against them, there's a rather low chance that they can actually pull off their plan."

"How can they… how can they save everyone… when their actions… doom so many…? Back in Futatsugi… I lost two of my friends because the witch supply had dried up."

"No matter how much of a genius they might be, they're still only eleven years old," I say. "They don't have enough life experience to make properly-informed decisions, and on top of that, they're rather self-centred. Saving everyone was never their true goal, just a side-effect – they only wanted to save the people they specifically care about. I don't think they meant to hurt the girls of Futatsugi. They just never thought of what the consequences would be of summoning witches to one place. The fact that those witches have to come from somewhere… that taking them from somewhere else would hurt others… it didn't occur to them."

"Why didn't you try to stop them?" Chiyoko asks. "If you thought of it, you should've told them."

"You might be right," I say. "Though I think it's actually good for them to fail a few times. The humiliation of defeat should be a good lesson to them, and probably more effective than attempting to argue my point. For all Touka might say she's rational, she's still an eleven-year-old girl – she's not as rational as she thinks. It's probably a bit late to tell the Magius any of this now – they're past the point of no return, and words are unlikely to sway them. But still, it's not like I'm doing nothing at all. Awhile ago, I suggested someone might consider going to Futatsugi. You might've even met her? And I've been doing everything I can to save the people within reach."

"Huh?" Chiyoko says. "Are you talking about that foreign woman who gave out grief seeds? I would've lost even more friends if not for her…"

"Yeah, she's the one. Her name's Hilda, right?"

"Yeah. You sent her to Futatsugi…? Why?"

"I predicted the witch shortage there," I say. "But I'm only one person. I can't be everywhere at once. So, since she was there, and seemed like she had the power to help, I suggested she might want to stop by. It seems she took my suggestion."

"I see," Chiyoko says. "Um… thanks for the talk, Lita… you've given me a lot to think about."

"No problem," I say. "Now, for my part… how much loyalty would you say you have to the Magius?"

Chiyoko shakes her head. "None at all," she says. "I can't support them as people. Miss Mifuyu is a different story though… and I do really want to see liberation achieved… but I don't like seeing people hurt because of it."

"Then, how would you like to join a counter-movement?" I ask. "There are quite a few of us who don't agree with the Magius's methods. For example, recently they've started brainwashing magical girls into joining them."

"W-what!?" Chiyoko gasps. "I hadn't heard about that one! That's terrible!"

"So, would you like to work against the Magius?" I ask. "I'm not here to support them. I'm here to do damage control when Walpurgisnacht arrives. I have my own goals which don't fully align with theirs – they plan to use Walpurgisnacht to harvest energy, but I intend to defeat her."

"Hmm… honestly, I was sort of having thoughts about it even before you brought it up," Chiyoko says. "That's partly why I wanted to have this talk… but I didn't expect you to already be working towards it. Yes… count me in."

"Alright," I say. "We're going to meet tomorrow to discuss further details. I'll let you know the time by email."

"Alright," Chiyoko says. "Thanks for hearing me out. See you later."

I follow her back inside, then head upstairs with Inui and flop down on the bed.

"Well… tomorrow's going to be huge," I sigh. "Why did these two big, major events have to happen on the same day!?"

"Complaining about it's not going to change anything," Inui says, giggling.

She flops down beside me and snuggles up a bit.

"It doesn't really matter," she says. "I'm sure you'll make it work somehow. You always do, after all."

"I wish I had that level of faith in myself," I mutter.

---

Since it's raining, I put on jeans the next day. Inui pulls on some track pants, instead of the skirt she wore last time. I guess Yukuni doesn't count as a place where she needs to dress nicely. We head downstairs to find Mayoi half-asleep in the ground floor lounge. While Inui wakes her, I scry on Sana. I was sort of hoping she might be up early, and it seems my hopes have been rewarded. She's in the kitchen at the Crescent Moon Villa, in her pyjamas, making tea. I quickly check on the other residents of the house, but they're all still fast asleep. After Sana has gotten everything ready, she leaves the kitchen to get dressed while the water is boiling. Then she returns and finishes making her cup of tea. With the mug in hand, she makes for the back door and takes a single step outside, gazing at the rain.

"I wonder if it'll let up…?" she muses.

At that moment, Mayoi hops up from the couch, suddenly wide awake.

"Alright, I'm ready!" she says. "Where'm I going?"

I pull up the maps app on my phone and locate Crescent Moon Villa.

"First stop is over here," I say.

"Huh? But that's in Kamihama, isn't it?" Mayoi says.

"Yes, but there's someone there who I'm going to ask to join us," I say. "Though she might turn us down, but her power would be really helpful so I thought I should at least try."

"Alright," Mayoi says.

She pulls out her drill and punches the air, opening a tunnel. We head through it, dropping our robes once we get to the other side. Mayoi does the same thing as well. We're in front of the villa, so I quietly tiptoe around to the side where Sana is. She spots me almost immediately and gasps.

"Ah… it's you…!" she says. "Miss… Ashley Taylor… was it?"

"Yes, that's me," I say.

"Um… actually… I've been wanting to thank you," Sana says.

"Huh? What did I do to deserve your thanks?" I ask.

"I thought there was no way out except to destroy Ai-chan," Sana says. "But you found a way. Even if I can't be with her… I'm happy to know she's probably still alive, somewhere."

"Ah, so that's how it is," I say. "Actually, I came here today to ask you a favour."

"Y-yes!" Sana says. "I'll do anything! A-as long as you're not asking me to betray Miss Iroha and the others…"

"No, it has nothing to do with the Wings of the Magius," I say. "All I want to do is borrow your power of concealment for a little while."

"Oh… alright," Sana says. "Um… right now?"

"Yes, ideally."

"B-but… I have an appointment with the Wings of the Magius," Sana says. "Will it be okay…?"

"I'm hoping to be back before noon," I say. "So it should be fine."

Sana lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good, then…"

"Oh, but I'd also like to ask you not to tell Miss Iroha about it," I say.

"E-eh? Why not?"

"Well… I just think it's better if she doesn't know," I say. "I'm not going to try to force you to stay silent. I'm just saying I'd prefer it."

"A-ah… okay… um… wait just a second, and I'll come out the front…"

"Alright."

She heads inside, gulping down most of her remaining tea, and grabs a pen to scribble a note.

[Be back by noon ~ Sana]

Then she puts on a raincoat and shoes and leaves via the front door. By that time, we're waiting for her, and I've already shown Mayoi our new destination in Yukuni. She's almost too slow – just as she leaves the house, Iroha comes out into the kitchen.

"Huh?" Iroha says. "Did someone… just leave?"

As Mayoi punches the air to open her portal, Iroha approaches the front door. It only takes her a moment to notice that there's a pair of shoes missing, but by the time she yanks the door open, we've already stepped through the portal and closed it behind us.

"Huh?" Iroha says. "What…? Sana-chan? Are you out there somewhere!?"

Of course, there's no response. Iroha heads back inside. After looking around for a bit, she finds the note and blinks.

"Huh… w-well, I guess… maybe she had something important to do," Iroha murmurs. "Alright… I guess I'll get started on breakfast…"

After passing through the portal, we find ourselves in a side street in Yukuni. Sana looks around in surprise.

"W-whoa!? What was that just now!? It's just like Miss Shizuku's magic! U-um… where on earth are we…?"

"We're in a town called Yukuni," I say.

"T-that's really far away!" Sana gasps.

"You're exaggerating," I say. "It's only at the opposite end of the island. This island isn't even all that big… I mean, it's the smallest of the main islands of Japan, right? I mean some of the Ryukyu Islands might be smaller, but they don't really count if you ask me… they're not main islands…"

"Well… that's true, I guess," Sana admits. "S-so um… what are you planning to do?"

"Well… since we're running really early, I think the first thing on the agenda is to go for a hike in the mountains," I say.

"W-whaaat!?" Sana gasps.

"Well, now I'm the one exaggerating," I say. "We'll be walking on an actual road and heading for the scenic lookout. So it's only barely a hike."

"Oh, okay," Sana says.

"So um, do we all go?" Mayoi asks.

"Hmm… if you really want to come, that's fine with me," I say. "However… I brought you along as transportation, so I'm not going to force you to do anything more than that. In other words… you can come if you want, or you can wait for us to return. Just keep in mind that it could get a little dangerous."

"Gotcha!" Mayoi says. "I don't like danger, so maybe I'll explore the town a bit, then."

I nod. "Just try to keep away from any local magical girls," I say. "And also, hide your ring in your purse or pocket or something so people can't see it."

"Alright," Mayoi says.

"Then Miss Futaba, please use your magic to conceal the three of us," I say.

"A-alright," Sana says.

She transforms and seizes my and Inui's hands.

"W-we're hidden now," she says.

"Then let's go."

"U-um… about it being dangerous… you didn't mention that before," Sana says. "Now I'm a bit nervous…"

"You're the one in the least danger though," I say. "Since you can hide yourself if anything happens."

"Ah… t-that's true," Sana says.

It takes us quite awhile to reach the scenic lookout. I check in on Asahi and the others periodically as we climb, but we really are well ahead of schedule, so there wasn't really a need to worry. We stop for a few minutes around where the landslide occurred last time, and I look for any signs that explosives might've been planted, but I don't find anything.

"This path is… pretty crowded, for a rainy day," Sana notes. "Is it normal for people in Yukuni to visit a scenic lookout in the rain?"

There have been a few cars passing by on their way up, and we've even seen some other students walking the same way, so she has a point.

"There's some event scheduled," I say.

"Oh… so that's why," Sana says. "But what sort of event would be scheduled at a scenic lookout…?"

Indeed, when we reach the parking lot for the scenic lookout, a number of students are already gathered, all in uniforms despite it being a weekend. More are still trickling in, bit by bit. I direct Sana and Inui away from the crowd, finding a spot where we can see the cars coming around the bend as they arrive.

We must have been waiting there for almost half an hour before I finally spot Asahi, Alexandra, and Lavi gathering for their meeting with Tasuke. The conversation goes basically the same as last time, and then they split up, the magical girls making their way towards our location. As they arrive at the peak, the clouds part and the sun shines through. It looks like the rain has stopped, too. One of the boys steps forward to greet them, but it's a different boy from last time – it's not Kuroda. Though we're too far away to hear their conversation directly, I eavesdrop via my clairvoyance. At the same time, I keep an eye out for the bus with a second vision placed a little before the location of the landslide.

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

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

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

"I'm sorry too," Asahi says. "All this started because I couldn't protect everyone…"

"I-I know it's impossible to be perfect all the time," the boy mumbles. "I'm just glad… that there's someone who… supports this town…"

They continue discussing the situation. From the conversation, I glean that the anti-magical-girl faction didn't gain as much steam as in the original Ashen Revolution, but there were still several girls who turned into witches due to bullying. Kuroda and Haitani are mentioned as key members of the protector group, no doubt a result of me saving her at the festival. Eventually, I sense that distant magic activation, followed soon after by the presence of a witch at the edge of my range. Asahi gasps and turns towards it.

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

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

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

"W-will things be okay?" the unknown boy asks.

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

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

As the three girls transform, I take out all the grief cubes and grief seeds I possess and pass them to Inui.

"Huh? What's this for?" she asks.

I transform, then detach my soul gem and convert it to gem form, handing it over as well.

"I'm counting on you to keep my soul gem clean," I say. "I'll most likely be throwing a bus around, so it'll take a lot of magic."

"O-okay," Inui says.

"Um… what are all those square things?" Sana asks.

"Grief seeds," I say.

"B-but they're not like any grief seeds I've ever seen!" Sana gasps.

"Sure, but they're still grief seeds," I say.

I release Sana's hand and run over to head off the three girls as they move towards the witch. They spot me pretty quickly.

"Huh?" Asahi says. "You're… Ashley Taylor? What on earth are you doing here?"

I ignore the question and ask one of my own.

"Miss Cruise, Miss Miura, do you think you can handle the witch by yourselves?"

"Huh?" Alexandra says. "Hmm… it's not that strong of a witch, so probably?"

"Then will you allow me to borrow Miss Himuro for a little while?" I ask.

"What's this all about?" Lavi asks.

"That witch… I think it's a deliberate distraction," I say.

All three of them gasp, and they exchange glances. I think they're also having a telepathic conversation without me. After a second or two, Lavi nods.

"Very well," she says. "You helped us out last time, so I'll humour you this time."

So Lavi uses her reinforcement magic on Alexandra and Asahi, and then the two of them continue towards the witch, while I lead Lavi back down the road. The bus is fast approaching now, so we don't have much time.

«Inui, Miss Futaba, make sure you stay within range,» I say.

«Yeah… a hundred metres, right?» Inui says. «I'll be careful. We're practically right behind you at the moment.»

I can't see them at all, so that's news to me, but it's not a bad thing. It shows that Sana's magic is working properly. As the bus continues to approach the location of the landslide, I break into a run to reach the scene faster. Then my vision cuts out again, filling my head with static for a second, and I increase my pace, rounding the corner about a second or two later, in time to see the accident in the middle of unfolding. But there's no explosion such as Inui had predicted. Instead, it looks like some sort of magical thread has sliced out a chunk of the road. I can still see the threads hanging in the air, glinting in the sunlight, so I'm pretty confident that's it. It's similar to Shiori's or Chiyoko's magic, then. And it's clear evidence that it was not an accident.

Next to me, Lavi gasps.

"Oh no! What on earth!?"

"There's no time for gawking," I say. "Use your magic again!"

I reach out with my telekinesis to grab the bus and lift it, but I'm unable to budge it – it's just too heavy. That is, until Lavi presses a hand to my back and boosts my magic. Suddenly, it feels almost effortless to lift the bus and swing it around. I can hear screams from those inside, no doubt in part from my rough handling, but there's not much I can do about that. I manage to set the bus back down on the road behind us, just before the entrance to the parking lot, but it looks like the driver and a good number of the people within have blacked out. The bus starts moving forward again, and for a moment I'm worried I've made a mistake and it's going to plunge into the crowd of people in the parking lot, but then an indistinct figure with silvery hair is seen moving within, and the bus screeches to a stop. Was that Shirogane? It looks like her quick thinking saved them.

"Thanks for the boost, Miss Himuro," I say. "I couldn't've done that without your help… but I wouldn't relax just yet."

"Yes," Lavi says. "That landslide did not look like a mere accident…"

As we run towards the now-grounded bus, my fears are realized. More of the threads fly out from somewhere further up the mountain, one of them cutting into the bus's engine, another taking off the head of the first girl to poke her head out, who appears to be the Night Fun Homeroom host, Kurara. There are a series of screams as those conscious within realize that someone has died, and I can hear Shirogane's voice urging them to remain calm. She appears to be corralling everyone to the end of the bus opposite the engine, which makes sense, because it has already caught fire thanks to the mysterious assailant's attack, and I would not be at all surprised if it exploded. As I reach the bus, I help her out with my telekinesis, smashing the glass in the windows facing away from the source of the threads and flinging the glass shards into a neat pile on the ground.

"Thank you very much!" Shirogane calls.

And then the engine really does explode. As near as I can tell, no-one dies from the explosion, thanks to Shirogane's quick thinking – those who were unconscious near the front of the bus had already been dragged to the back. Haitani and Kuroda appear to be helping too, but I don't see Ulala helping out. When I scry on her, I find her right next to the explosion, crying over Kurara's body. By all rights she should be dead, but it looks like something is holding the explosion off of her.

«Is that you, Miss Futaba?» I ask.

«Y-yes, I thought it would be helpful,» Sana replies.

«Yes, that's very helpful, thanks,» I say. «Alright, Inui, I'd like my soul gem and grief seeds back now… Miss Futaba, continue to stay concealed and protect us if necessary.»

I round the ruined front of the bus to as the explosion dies down. Kyuubey is there too, sitting on the ground next to Kurara's body. I've caught it in the middle of granting a wish – Kyuubey reaches in and draws out Ulala's soul gem, and Kurara sits up, fully recovered.

"W-what on earth happened?" Kurara asks. "Wasn't I… dead?"

"Yes… I'm sorry," Ulala says, hugging her. "I didn't… I didn't want to lose you!"

In the game, wishing for Kurara's revival became a point of contention that tore the two of them apart. However, that was only because everyone else died in the attack. This time, it looks like Kurara was the only casualty, so it seems she's only grateful and holds no resentment towards Ulala.

"Ulala!" Lavi says, running up. "You ended up becoming a magical girl too…"

"Lavi! What's going on?" Ulala gasps. "And… isn't that the same girl from the festival? What was her name again?"

"I'm Ashley Taylor," I say.

Inui appears next to Ulala, startling her, and passes back my soul gem and grief seeds. Two of the cubes look like they're completely used up, so I guess I really did use a lot of magic. I toss the two filled cubes at Kyuubey, who catches and consumes them without a word, then stow the rest away and put my soul gem back where it belongs on my choker.

"And I'm Itsumi Inui, a friend of hers," Inui says.

"W-where did you come from?" Ulala asks.

"It's just invisibility," I say. "Not that complicated."

«For now, don't let on that there's another girl with us,» I say.

«Got it,» Inui says.

«Miss Futaba, please let me know if you have any problems,» I say. «Follow me if you can. I'm going to see if I can find the source of those threads.»

«A-alright!» Sana says.

"Ulala, do you think you could go back up Asahi and Lexy?" Lavi asks. "I'm going to see if I can discover who did this to us. Someone tried to murder the entire protector group, and I want to know who it was."

"Got it!" Ulala says. "Um… where are they?"

"Can't you sense the witch nearby?" Lavi asks. "They're fighting it."

"Ah! Okay!" Ulala says. "I think I can feel it, yeah… I'll go right away! Kurara-chan, I'll be right back!"

"Um… good luck!" Kurara says.

After Lavi reinforces Ulala, she follows Inui and I as we hop up into the mountains towards where the threads came from. I still don't sense a magic presence up here, but there must have been someone controlling those threads. After several seconds my theory is lent credence when several new threads appear, aiming for our soul gems. I flick the ones aimed at Inui and me aside with telekinesis, and the ones aimed at Lavi appear to smack against something invisible, perhaps Sana's shield.

"There!" Lavi shouts, pointing.

I follow her gaze and find our target, a woman standing on a long yet narrow ledge above us. I summon Teddy Mk II.

«Miss Futaba, please hang on tight to the teddy's leg and let me know when you're secure,» I say.

"Hop on," I say.

I jump onto Teddy's head and Inui stands on one of his arms. After a moment of hesitation, Lavi mounts the other arm.

«Um… I think I'm ready,» Sana says.

We lift off and zoom towards the woman. She attacks with more of those threads, but I sweep them all aside with my telekinesis. Then we're literally right upon her. She backs away, and we all hop off onto the ledge.

«You okay, Miss Futaba?»

«Y-yeah… somehow… I'm back on solid ground now, but I wish you'd warned me you were going to fly… I was so surprised I almost let go…»

"Dammit!" the woman gasps. "How dare you mere witches challenge me!?"

"Witches…?" Lavi says. "Huh? But we're not witches…"

"Don't play dumb with me," the woman says. "You made a deal with the devil in exchange for your soul, didn't you? That's the very definition of a witch!"

"Ah… I get it," Lavi says. "I suppose, with that definition, you could call us witches."

"More to the point, who the hell are you?" I ask. "And why are you murdering innocent civilians? If you have a thing against… against witches, and were murdering just them, I might understand, but why kill innocents as well?"

"Don't make me laugh," the woman scoffs. "Innocent? They're aiding and abetting a witch. That makes them guilty by association. That, and letting the existence of witches become known to the public would undermine trust in the Church."

"You skipped the first question," I say. "Who the hell are you?"

"Well, you managed to find me, so I suppose I can reward you with a name," the woman says. "My code-name is Bloody Martha, scourge of witches, an agent of the Vatican. My only goal is to see your kind exterminated for good."

"Well… if that's really true, shouldn't you be gunning for that so-called devil instead of us?" I point out. "No matter how many witches you kill, that little devil will just make more."

"Don't you think I know that?" Martha retorts. "Of course we're working on that as well, but the little bugger hides too well. We still haven't been able to find him."

"I understand. So you're saying that you've thrown my town into chaos just because you hate us out of religious zealotry," Lavi says. "And you somehow believe that doesn't make you the villain here. I have no words. I should just cut you down right here."

"Don't think I came alone," Martha says. "I have backup on the way, so I just have to hold out until they arrive!"

She whips out more of her threads, but rather than aiming for us she aims for the edge of a rocky spur above us, using it to pull herself up. However, we're magical girls – jumping that distance is child's play. So, naturally, we do just that, finding ourselves on a wider plateau where there's more room to maneuver… which is probably better for her, too.

I'm still under the effect of Lavi's boost magic, but she uses it on Inui as well, and the two of us step forward, Inui brandishing her flame whip while I pull out my sword. The woman tries to block our way with a glistening web of fine threads, but we cut it down in a single swipe.

From behind us, Lavi flings her boomerang, and Martha throws herself to the ground to avoid it, then flings her threads at our feet. I can feel them coiling around my ankles, and there's not a lot I can do when she yanks my feet from under me. Inui apparently managed to dodge the threads this time, however.

"Heart-throbbing Passionate Inferno!" she shouts.

The threads about my feet go slack, and I pick myself up, summoning a single Teddy Drone and firing at her. However, she makes a circular motion with her hand, which seems to create a barrier that perfectly blocks my beam.

"So you can do more than just threads, huh?" I say.

"Of course," Martha retorts. "I've mastered nine of the ten divine powers."

"Divine powers, huh?" I say. "You really believe those powers were granted by that jealous god of yours? Don't make me laugh… there's no difference between your magic and ours."

"Believe what you like," Martha says. "It's obvious that I'd never believe the word of a filthy witch."

She presses her hands together and calls up some sort of flames, but they don't seem to be just ordinary flames. There's a quality to the magic that actually reminds me of Isuzu Ren's power, which is pretty worrying, given that Ren's power is the obliteration of souls.

«I don't like this look of those flames,» I say, transmitting to Lavi, Inui, and Sana. «Just to be on the safe side, take extra care not to let them near your soul gem.»

As Martha flings the flames at us, I interpose Teddy Mk II to block the bulk of them. It's pretty effective at stopping their progress, but Teddy is essentially burnt to a crisp. Lavi flings her boomerang, apparently controlling its trajectory to smash through several pockets of flame that get past the doomed teddy. However, she too pays the price, as the boomerang is reduced to ashes.

Then Inui steps in to counter fire with fire, stowing away her wand to unleash a veritable torrent of pink flames. The pink and blue flames vie for dominance, forming a wall that we can't cross, and Martha cackles.

"You're pretty quick on your feet, dealing with Smite in such a creative way," she says. "But don't get too cocky. That's not gonna work for long."

She seems to be correct – Inui's flames are doing their best, but the blue flames are slowly taking over. However… that's when a section of the flames are simply snuffed out. Martha gasps.

"W-what just happened…?"

Then another section is snuffed out, and another, and… that's it. No more flames, either pink or blue.

"H-how on earth did you…?" Martha says. "No… which of you did it?"

«…was that you, Miss Futaba?» I ask.

«U-um… yes… I thought I could be helpful,» Sana replies.

«Are you okay? Did the flames touch you? How's your shield?»

«They didn't touch me. I'm fine. My shield melted a little, but that's it.»

"…well, it doesn't matter," Martha shrugs. "I've still got lots of tricks up my sleeve."

With that, she smacks her hands together, and a sound of bells is heard. Not the small, tinkly jingle bells of the Ripper Girl rumour, but the loud clanging of church bells. It rapidly grows in volume until it's like we're standing right beneath the bells. Similar to the Amane twins' joint attack, it makes it difficult if not impossible to move. Using my clairvoyance, I'm able to confirm that both Inui and Lavi are also locked in place.

Confident that she's locked us in place, Martha summons more of her threads and leaps forward, aiming for our soul gems. However, she hadn't accounted for my telekinesis. Perhaps she hasn't even realized that's what my power is. Even though I can't move my body, I can still use my telekinesis, so I spin my sword and cut down most of her threads, then shove her off balance. She trips and falls flat on her face.

"Y-you…!" she gasps.

But at that moment, a portal opens up just behind her and a blonde woman steps through. This portal is quite unlike the ones I've seen from Mayoi and Shizuku. Shizuku's portal is opaque, much like that of a witch, while Mayoi's looks like an actual tunnel that you can walk into. This one, however, is a transparent gateway through which the other side is readily visible – it seems to be some sort of ultra-fancy lounge. I try to use my clairvoyance to get a closer look, but it won't activate. Perhaps there's some sort of barrier preventing me from locking on. I don't sense a magical signature from the second woman, either. Like Martha, she appears to be capable of using magic without actually being a magical girl, unless she created that gateway using some sort of artifact.

"Wow," the newcomer says. "I thought you were kidding when you called for backup for the first time ever, but… you've actually been cornered?"

Or at least, that's what it sounds like she's saying. The woman is speaking Italian, which is not one of the languages that Ashley is fluent in, but she does know it a little and it's also somewhat similar to Spanish, so I'm able to get the gist of it… probably.

"Stop gloating, Anna! This is a serious matter!" Martha says in the same language.

She picks herself up and dusts herself off, glaring at the woman whose name is apparently Anna. The woman in question turns to survey us thoughtfully.

"I don't know if you've realized it, but you're facing two very strong witches here," Anna says. "It's no wonder they were able to fight you to a standstill. Even the third one isn't all that weak. And… I sense something else as well. There may even be another witch here, unseen. I think you've got to admit defeat this time."

"Dammit… I won't forget this!" Martha says in Japanese. "I'll end the three of you if it's the last thing I do!"

With that, she hops through the portal, Anna following immediately behind her, and it closes up behind them. As soon as the portal is closed, I find I'm able to move again.

"So she got away," Lavi says. "But still… in a way, this is good news… it means that there was someone behind all the stuff that's been happening here lately."

"Hopefully, she won't come back for awhile," I say. "And even if she does, now that you know she exists, it should be harder for her to manipulate things, right?"

"Yes… thank you for this, Miss Taylor," Lavi says. "Will you be staying for the ceremony?"

"I don't think I really have a place there though?" I say. "I'm an outsider, and even though I helped out a little at the festival, I have no idea what has happened here since then. Besides, I have other things I need to do, so I probably don't have time, either. By the way, Miss Futaba, I think you can show yourself now."

Sana appears right beside me, startling me, and Lavi also looks surprised.

"Huh? Were you there the entire time?"

"Y-yes!" Sana says. "Um, I was protecting you with my shield earlier, too… and I smothered the fire… t-though that woman looked right at me for a second… it really startled me…"

"Yes, I think she may have noticed your presence somehow, based on what she was saying," I say. "Though I don't think she figured out where exactly you were…"

"But she wasn't even a magical girl, right?" Sana says. "And yet she somehow figured out that I was there…? Though it was only for a second… so it might have been a coincidence…"

I summon Teddy Mk II again.

"Alright, I'll take you back to the lookout point," I say. "Hop on."

The four of us climb onto Teddy, and I take them back down the mountainside to the parking lot to drop off Lavi.

"Alright, if you could hide us again, Miss Futaba?" I say. "I'd rather not have random people seeing us flying around."

"R-right…"

I then locate Mayoi with my clairvoyance and fly towards her. Once we're back together, with Sana's magic dispelled and everyone powered down, Mayoi punches a hole back to Kamihama and we all step through, emerging in front of the Crescent Moon Villa. Though the rain had cleared up in Yukuni, it's still raining hard in Kamihama.

"Thank you very much for the help, Miss Futaba," I say. "Next time we meet, I'll be the one to help you."

"Ah… t-that's not… really necessary," Sana says. "I did it because I was grateful that Ai-chan is still out there somewhere thanks to you…"

I shrug. "Nevertheless, that's how it'll go," I say. "I heard you're going to meet the Magius today. Good luck."

"Ah… t-thank you…?"

"And remember… please don't tell Miss Tamaki exactly what happened today," I say. "At least, not right now."

"Um… s-she does have a lot on her mind right now," Sana admits. "Okay…"

She heads inside, to a flurry of greetings and asking where she'd been. I don't follow it in detail – instead, I check the time and find there's still time to meet with Karin after all.

"Inui and I are going to meet a friend now," I say. "So Maimai, you can go do whatever you want until the meeting tonight."

"Gotcha!" Mayoi says. "I'll find something to do!"

She punches a new portal and hops through, leaving Inui and I alone in front of the Crescent Moon Villa.

"That took far less time than I expected, actually," I say. "There's still time before we meet with Karin-chan…"

"That's good, because I still need to get changed," Inui says.

"Ah… well, okay, then I guess we can stop by the base," I say.

So we head east, taking the train into Kosho Ward and heading towards the base. On the way there, however, we pick up a particularly strong witch and decide to check it out. It turns out to be an instance of Lucy. What's more, the portal is flickering, indicating that someone's fighting inside, and something about it doesn't bode well.

"We've got to help them!" Inui says. "Come on!"

"Right!"

We transform and hop inside, and I use my clairvoyance to scan for the magical girl who's having trouble. I can't seem to locate her, however, so I make for the central chamber instead. It's an instance of Lucy, and the familiars are rather tough, but Inui and I manage to progress steadily towards the central chamber. When we arrive, we find an anticlimax, which is to say, there's no-one there. Still, it was clear that someone had been fighting the witch, and there's a chance they could still be inside the barrier. Since we've already reached the witch herself, defeating her as fast as possible seems like the best way to save that person, whoever they are. There's also the chance that they already retreated, but in that case, there's still no harm in defeating the witch as quickly as possible.

"Ashley… we don't have time," Inui says, apparently agreeing with me. "And we've used a lot of magic fighting that Martha person. We should be able to unleash our doppels."

She's right – my soul gem was already eighty percent corrupted before we entered this labyrinth, and now it's closer to ninety percent. Lavi's magic has worn off, too.

"Alright then," I say. "Let's position ourselves on opposite sides, then imagine something really sad, like Coeurl did."

Inui nods, and we split apart to flank the witch. A few moments later, I see Uhrmann spawn, which means it's my cue to unleash my own doppel, but it's strangely hard to think of… no, actually, it's not that hard if I put my mind to it. I imagine the finale of the Magia Record anime, where all three of the Magius perished along with Momoko, Mifuyu, Kuroe, and maybe even Ui. The tragic ending of the anime, so far removed from the happy ending of the game. It seems that's enough to push me over the edge, and Zapzip explodes from my hair.

Somehow, my ability to control my doppel seems to be improved from last time. It mostly moves as I direct, attacking the witch directly. Suddenly faced by a doppel from both sides, the witch emits a loud, piercing shriek and fires off one of its deadly beams at both of us, but both Zapzip and Uhrmann seem to be capable of soaking up that damage, and if anything it only makes them redouble their attacks.

The power of a doppel is truly frightening. Even against a powerful witch, we're practically shredding her. Probably the only way to defeat her more quickly would be if Madoka shot her with an arrow from her rose bow. All told, it takes barely a minute before the witch is literally beaten into the ground, disintegrating and leaving behind a grief seed.

As the barrier collapses, so do our doppels, and Inui leaps at me for a hug.

"T-that really was pretty scary," she says. "I don't want to do that again if I can help it…"

And just a bit beyond her, the other magical girl who must've been fighting the witch before us is also ejected back into the real world, letting out a gasp as she falls forward onto her face. It's none other than Chiako Riko. I'm about to step forward to check on her when an unpleasant feeling hits me. The ongoing rain turns to icy pellets as a sheet of ice spreads beneath Riko's body, and her doppel erupts from her feet, like a massive mosquito constructed from coiled yarn, with two fork-like arms, sporting a slice of lemon and three of kiwi in lieu of eyes and wearing a blue and white striped bonnet. As it flaps its gossamer wings, witch runes form before it, spelling out its name – Yuerao.

Then it darts at us with incredible speed. I only barely manage to block the attack with my sword, and even then it's only thanks to simultaneously giving it a shove back with my telekinesis, slowing its momentum a bit. I immediately summon a bevy of Teddy Drones and surround it.

"Great Teddy's Ionic Bombardment!"

While my drones pepper it with beams, Inui shoots a torrent of pink flames at it. It seems the doppel is at least mildly flammable, for the flames seem to stick and are even slowly spreading. As it looks like it's starting to flag, I leap in and stab it right through the lemon with my sword, thrusting it in right up to the hilt.

That seems to be the limit of what it can handle, for almost immediately afterwards, it disintegrates and is sucked back into Riko's body. The ice around her rapidly melts from the rain, and Inui and I kneel down to check on her. I start by flipping her over onto her back.

"Thank goodness," Inui says. "It seems like she's okay… but I didn't expect her to unleash a doppel all of a sudden. Isn't this going to be a huge problem, Ashley?"

"I guess you mean because of Mitama, right?" I say. "Yeah… it could be a bit of an issue, indeed…"

"Well… for starters, maybe we should at least get her to someplace dry," Inui says. "I hate to say it, but… the closest place is probably Fendt Hope…"

"Alright, then let's hurry before she wakes up," I say.

The two of us don our robes, and Inui helps me to get Riko onto my back. We then break into a run and barge into the barrier. Even though it's a barrier, it seems it's tuned to reflect the real weather, for the gardens of Fendt Hope are just as overrun with rain as the rest of the city. We head into the main building and lay her out on a couch. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around, which is helpful.

But that doesn't last for very long. We've only been sitting there for a couple of minutes when four people descend the stairs into the lobby – Mifuyu, the Amane twins, and Shizuku. They spot us almost immediately.

"Ah, good morning, Lita," Mifuyu says. "Huh? Who's that with you…?"

Tsukasa gasps. "T-that… it's Riko-chan!?"

"I'm sorry about this," I say. "There was a witch pretty close to the base, and we found her fighting it… she wasn't doing well and ended up unleashing her doppel. Since it's raining outside, I didn't think it would be a good idea to wait in the rain until she woke up, and this was the closest place…"

"Um, well, I guess I'll forgive you since it was a bit of an emergency and the weather's bad," Tsukasa says with a sigh. "But I really didn't want to get her involved in this… more importantly, is she okay?"

"So far, she seems fine," I say. "It's only been a minute or two, so I'm not too worried that she hasn't woken up yet…"

"If you girls would like to take off your robes to interact with her, I'll use my illusion magic to cover for you if anyone else comes," Mifuyu says. "You all know each other already, right?"

"I do not believe I am acquainted with this white feather," Tsukuyo says. "But if Tsukasa-chan knows her, then I am okay with revealing my identity."

"Shizuku-chan, would you mind waiting in the next room for a few minutes?" Mifuyu asks.

"Um… sure," Shizuku says.

Shizuku steps into one of the hallways leading out from the lobby, and then the twins hurry over to join us in the lounge, flashing their robes off. Inui and I follow their example too.

"Thank goodness!" Tsukasa says. "She really does look like she's okay… but why hasn't she woken up yet?"

"It must be the backlash from unleashing her doppel," Tsukuyo says. "Was not Miss Nanase unconscious for nearly an hour after she first unleashed hers?"

"Ah, that's true, now that you mention it," Tsukasa says, nodding. "Actually… shouldn't we get her to the Coordinator?"

"Even if you say that, the fact remains that she is here now, and it is quite some distance to the Coordinator's place," Tsukuyo says.

"But we could move the entrance," Tsukasa points out.

"I doubt Lady Nemu would listen to our request for such a selfish reason," Tsukuyo says.

"You're probably right…" Tsukasa says.

"Say, Miss Mifuyu, and the two of you… I was wondering, do you know of anyone who didn't get a checkup from Miss Yakumo after unleashing their doppel?" I ask.

"What? I can't think of anyone," Tsukasa says. "But there are a lot of girls. There's no way I'd know them all."

"I can name a few," Mifuyu says. "Even limiting it to those you know, Lita… both Maimai and Coeurl didn't get a checkup right after their first doppel unleash. Although Coeurl did go see her awhile later."

"Did those other three girls from Mitakihara get a checkup?" I ask. "They all unleashed their doppels in front of me."

"Yes, I think it was the following day," Mifuyu says.

"Inui, did you get a checkup after unleashing your doppel for the first time?"

"Ah, well… no, I didn't," Inui says. "Today was only the second time I've unleashed one… I did get the tune-up from Miss Charmchi since the first time, though."

"And the same goes for me," I muse. "Just now was only the second time for me as well… and I got a tune-up from Miss Charmchi at the same time as Inui did."

"Huh, are you saying there are more Coordinators than just Miss Mitama?" Tsukasa asks.

"There are, but Miss Charmchi is in Tokyo," I say. "So unless we have Shizuku or Maimai to take us there, she's out of the question… and even if we do…"

"There is no reason to go all the way to Tokyo when we have Miss Mitama right here in Kamihama," Tsukuyo says, nodding.

I consider how much I've actually told Riko about myself. If I recall correctly, I said I'd come back from the future but didn't give any details beyond the start and end point of the time loop. During the Tangled Shrine I also mentioned that I used to be two separate people who got fused together, and she saw my Magia Record posters at my apartment. If Mitama found out about the time travel and my dual nature, maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world. Those posters, on the other hand… I wonder what Mitama would think if she saw them? But also, I don't think she sees all memories when she does a tune-up, only a random selection of them, so if that's really the only thing… it's not like I'm the one getting a tune-up. That really would be out of the question.

"Alright," I say. "I guess I'll make an exception after all."

"Huh, are you sure?" Inui asks.

"Riko-chan's health is more important than my secrets," I say. "Miss Mifuyu, could you ask Shizuku to connect us to the Coordinator's? I'm sure she's more likely to listen to you than to me."

"I was thinking the same thing myself," Mifuyu says. "Alright, just give me a minute."

"Secrets?" Tsukasa says. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Miss Mitama can see your memories when she works on you, right?" I say.

"But Riko-chan is the one who—" Tsukuyo says, cutting herself off with a little gasp. "Ah! Could it be that you have shared some of those secrets with her?"

"Some of them," I say. "Not the most important ones, fortunately. Otherwise I'd definitely be against this."

"But you know that Miss Mitama will not share what she sees, right?" Tsukuyo says.

"I think there's at most a slim chance that she'll share it," I agree. "But she might act differently due to the knowledge. Fortunately, in this case we're only talking about Riko-chan, who only knows a tiny part of it, so I think it should fine."

"What kind of crazy secrets are you holding onto that could make Miss Mitama act differently!?" Tsukasa wonders. "Ah, I know you won't tell me, because they're secret, but… I just can't help wondering…"

At that moment, Shizuku's portal opens near us, and Mifuyu speaks up.

"Go on, take her through," she says. "I can manage without the two of you at the Memory Museum today, so please just make sure Riko-chan is okay. That said, if she recovers, I won't mind if you show up late."

So they had been on their way to the memory museum… I suppose she's already getting ready for the lecture this afternoon.

"Thank you very much, Miss Mifuyu!" Tsukuyo says.

"Thanks a bunch, Miss Mifuyu!" Tsukasa says.

The twins pick up Riko between them and head through the portal, and Inui and I follow them as well. The portal opens just outside Mitama's place, and we hurry through the rain to barge into the shop. Mitama looks up in surprise.

"Oh my!" she says. "What have we got here? Ah, it's Riko-chan… is something the matter?"

"Riko-chan has unleashed a doppel," Tsukuyo says.

"She's not waking up… is something wrong?" Tsukasa asks.

"It happened right in front of us," Inui says. "We had to fight the doppel back, because the witch had already been defeated…"

"Oh my," Mitama says. "It feels like I've been getting a lot of doppels recently… but just put her on the couch and I'll take a look."

The twins set Riko down on one of the couches and take a seat on the other. Inui plops down next to them, and since there's not much room on the couch, I sit on the arm rest. Mitama heads over to check Riko out, converting her soul gem into standard gem form and starting to poke at it a little. Riko begins to make sounds of discomfort.

"I-is she okay?" Tsukasa asks.

"Will she be alright?" Tsukuyo asks.

Mitama doesn't immediately respond, continuing her work for several seconds more. Then she converts the soul gem back into ring form on Riko's finger and turns to face us.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be anything seriously wrong with her," she says. "I've tuned the doppel's stability and corrected a few minor issues, so she should be waking up any minute now."

"By the way, did you happen to see anything about me in her memories?" I ask.

"Hmm… nothing that stood out," Mitama says. "Of course, even if I had, I can't share exactly what I saw, you understand."

If it didn't stand out, then I think I can safely assume that she didn't see any of the things I was worried about. For example, there's no way that the poster of her on my wall wouldn't stand out. That's a relief, then. Although it's still an assumption, and based on her not downplaying what she saw.

"I see," I say.

Mitama returns to her armchair, and we wait for Riko to wake up. We don't wait much longer – it's barely a minute before her eyes flutter open, and she sits up with a gasp.

"Huh?" she says. "Where am I…? This is… the Coordinator's office?! O-oh no! Ashley-nee's gonna be mad…!"

"Don't worry, Riko-chan," I say. "It was an emergency, so I made an exception."

Riko turns to look at us.

"Oh! Um… are you really sure it's okay, Ashley-nee?"

"It's not okay, but there really wasn't any other choice," I say. "Your health is more important."

"Ah, then thank you very much, Ashley-nee!" Riko says. "But, um… what exactly happened…?"

Inui and I exchange glances, and Tsukasa shoots me a look.

«Remember, I don't want her involved!» Tsukasa says.

"Well, basically, we found you passed out on the ground just after we defeated a witch," I say. "You must've been fighting it and were knocked out. You're lucky we happened to be fighting it at the same time and managed to beat it before something worse happened to you."

"Ah," Riko says. "I see… so it's like that again… like the time I met Miss Manaka…"

"Yeah… I guess you could say that," I say. "Riko-chan, please be sure not to let your soul gem get so corrupted again. It's not good for your health."

"Um… I'll be more careful next time, Ashley-nee!" Riko says. "I can't believe it happened twice. That's really embarrassing… ah! Tsukasa-chan, you're here too!? And there's two of you!?"

"We happened to be passing by," Tsukasa says. "So when we saw you passed out, we couldn't just keep going… we had to bring you here along with Miss Taylor to make sure you'd be okay."

"I am her twin sister, Tsukuyo," Tsukuyo says. "I have heard much about you from Tsukasa-chan, Miss Riko, so it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"So then you helped save me as well, Tsukasa-chan!" Riko says, beaming. "Thank you very much! Tsukuyo-chan, Tsukasa-chan, Inui-nee, Ashley-nee! Thank you!"

"Um, so… I still need to go get changed before we meet up with Karin-chan," Inui says. "So… do you mind if I hurry over there right now?"

"Oh, go right ahead," I say. "You don't want me to come?"

"There's no point in dragging you out of the way just for that," Inui says. "I'll be really fast. I'll be back before you know it."

"Alright," I say.

Inui leaps up and runs out of the room.

"You're meeting with Karin-chan?" Riko asks.

"Ah, yes," I say. "Karin-chan wanted us to see her sempai's art exhibit, so we're visiting it with her."

Tsukasa blinks. "Art exhibit?" she asks. "Hold on a moment, could that be…?"

"Yes, Alina's art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art," I say.

"Oh my!" Tsukuyo says. "I had been thinking that it might be interesting to stop by, but… we did not have the time. Now that Miss Mifuyu has given us some leeway, however…"

"You should have time to stop by if you'd like," I say. "The lecture's not for several more hours, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Tsukasa says. "And even then, we're not needed right at the start…"

"Exactly," I say. "So, do you want to accompany us, then?"

"I shall accept your invitation," Tsukuyo says.

"For sure!" Tsukasa says.

"Then, me too!" Riko says. "I've never heard of Miss Alina, but if you're all speaking so highly of her, then I'm sure her art is amazing!"

"Amazing isn't quite the word I'd use, but… it's not like it doesn't fit at all," I say.

"If you have any trouble using your magic, Riko-chan, please stop by again," Mitama says. "There was a little problem that I had to fix in your soul gem, so just keep an eye out, alright?"

"Ah, um… okay, Miss Mitama!"

So all four of us get up to leave the place together, only to remember that it's pouring outside.

"Oh right… I don't think I have an umbrella," I say.

"Nor do I…" Tsukasa says.

"Ah… I have a collapsible one in my purse," Tsukuyo says.

"I don't have one either," Riko says.

"Well, since this is a special situation, I'll let you borrow mine," Mitama says. "Just be sure to return it before the end of the day."

"Oh!" Riko says. "Are you sure, Miss Mitama?"

"Yes, I'm not going anywhere for awhile," Mitama says. "So I don't need it right now. Go right ahead."

She points to where her umbrella is resting against the wall, near the door. It's on the larger side, so it should be plenty for Riko and me to share.

"Thank you very much, Miss Yakumo," I say.

So we head outside, the twins sharing their collapsible umbrella while Riko and I share Mitama's umbrella, and we head head towards the art museum at a leisurely pace.

#

We spot Karin waiting just outside the art museum, in the shelter of the porch. She spots us as well, waving.

"Ashley-chan! You made it! But what's Riko-chan doing here…? And… who are those… twins…? Isn't Inui-chan coming too?"

We join her beneath the the porch, folding up our umbrellas.

"Inui went home to get changed," I say. "She should be here any minute now. We just happened to run into Riko-chan by chance in a witch's labyrinth, and when she heard we were going to meet you, she asked to come along. As for these two…"

The twins take over from there, introducing themselves.

"I am Ama… I mean, Akatsuki Tsukuyo. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Amane Tsukasa… nice to meet you."

"Oh, nice to meet you… I'm Misono Karin… but wait, you're twins but have a different surname?"

"Our parents are divorced," Tsukasa says.

"Oh, so that's how it is," Karin says.

«Just for the record,» I transmit to the twins, «I'm trying to keep Karin-chan in the dark about the Wings of the Magius too, due to her close relationship with Alina.»

«Ah, okay,» Tsukasa says. «We won't give it away, then…»

«She did seem oddly close with Lady Alina at the helipad battle,» Tsukuyo says. «I am a touch envious of that relationship…»

Inui shows up a couple of minutes later, using the same umbrella she used in the last timeline, and we all head inside. Karin leaves her raincoat at the coat rack in exchange for a ticket, and then we head to the reception desk.

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

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

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

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

She hands the flier to Karin, who opens it up.

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

"Huh, you didn't even know what the exhibit was about, Karin-chan?" Riko asks.

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

"Let us go take a look," Tsukuyo says.

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

We head into the cafeteria. Just like last time, there's a line of people working their way through the exhibit, with the mannequin on display draped in false fur. The twins spot the Magius entering.

"O-oh my," Tsukuyo says. "Even Lady Nemu and Lady Touka are over there…"

"Huh? Someone you know?" Karin asks.

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

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

We all scan the menu, Tsukuyo frowning a little at the offerings.

"The selection is rather sparse," she says. "Do you have any recommendations…?"

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

"Huh? How on earth can you get tomato soup wrong?" Tsukasa asks. "It's literally just tomatoes… the simplest soup imaginable…"

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

"Oh!" Riko pipes up. "Nacho fries sound interesting! I like nachos, and I like fries, so…"

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

"Then I'd like that!" Riko says eagerly.

"Surely the lasagna couldn't go wrong?" Tsukasa suggests.

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

"I think that will do, then," Tsukuyo says.

"Any other warnings for us before we order, Miss Misono?" Tsukasa asks.

"Ah, if you're going for sweets, avoid anything with whipped cream in it, like the chocolate éclair," Karin says. "I don't know how they got whipped cream wrong, but it tastes like plastic or something."

"Then I suppose I will have a slice of apple pie," Tsukuyo says.

"Ah, do I get desert too?" Riko asks.

"Sure," I say. "Consider this my treat."

"Ah, we could not impose on you," Tsukuyo protests.

"That's alright," I say. "I'll pay for you if you want, but if you two prefer to pay for your own, that's also fine with me."

"Yes, I believe that would be preferable," Tsukuyo says.

The twins place their order first – vegetable lasagna and apple pie for the both of them – and then Riko steps up to order nacho fries and haskap pie. Karin gets the same as before, soup and a slice of cheesecake, and I go for the cheesecake as well this time, plus a slice of lasagna. Inui chooses something completely different – she decides to try the soup, and settles on a brownie for dessert.

Once everyone has finished eating, we head for the exhibit area to dispose of our used dishes. The man on duty hands each of us a piece of fake fur, and we join the line snaking around the exhibit. Eventually, we get a turn to go onstage and attach our piece of fur. Riko and Karin both spend some time deciding where to place theirs, but the twins, Inui, and I just place ours in a random location. Then we reach the viewing area, where Alina is standing off to the side, just watching with a creepy smile on her face. Nemu and Touka have already left.

"It's so weird," Riko says. "I'm not sure what to think of it… but it's also kinda cool, isn't it, Karin-chan?"

"I suppose so," Karin says.

"I wonder what she is trying to convey," Tsukuyo muses.

"Maybe she's trying to state how things are always changing…?" Karin suggests. "What do you think, Ashley-chan?"

I decide to repeat my conclusion from last time.

"The environment," I say.

"Huh?" Karin says.

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

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

We all follow her as she heads over to speak to Alina.

"Alina-sempai!" Karin calls.

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

"Oh great, the idiot has arrived," she says. "And even the useless flute sisters are here."

"You used one word too many, Lady Alina!" Tsukuyo protests.

"For sure!" Tsukasa says. "I swear, we're not useless!"

"Well, I might as well ask though," Alina says. "What do you think of it?"

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

"It is quite the thought-provoking piece," Tsukuyo says.

"I don't get it at all," Tsukasa says.

Alina blinks at me.

"And who might this be…?"

"I'm Ashley Taylor," I say. "Don't tell me you completely forgot about me?"

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

"Huh… have you two met?" Karin asks.

"You could say that," I say. "Did I not mention that before?"

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

"Maybe I didn't? It's possible I meant to but forgot," I say.

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

"That's not very nice, Miss Alina!" Riko pipes up.

Alina blinks at her. "You even brought a brat along…"

"I'm not a brat!" Riko complains. "And it's not nice to call people an idiot or useless!"

"Huh? Who did she call an idiot…?" Karin asks.

"Um… could it be that you're failing English, Karin-chan?" Inui asks.

"H-how did you know!?" Karin gasps.

"Well, because even Rii-chan recognized the meaning of the word idiot," Inui says.

"It's not true, either," I say. "Karin-chan's actually pretty smart, you know."

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

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

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

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

"Miss Alina, you should apologize to Karin-chan and Tsukasa-chan and Tsukuyo-chan!" Riko says.

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

"B-but the apology…!" Riko says. "Um…?"

"Um, don't worry about it, Riko-chan," Tsukasa says. "She calls us useless all the time… we're used to it…"

"That just makes it even worse!?" Riko gasps.

"She's not the type who's going to admit she's wrong so easily," I say. "Especially in public. So for now, Riko-chan, I think we'll just have to drop it."

"But… is that really okay, Karin-chan?" Riko asks.

"It's fine," Karin says. "I'll bug her about it some other time. Let's go for now, Riko-chan."

"Okay…" Riko says.

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

As we move out of the exhibition area, Riko glances back at Alina.

"I don't think I like Miss Alina very much," she says.

"Um, she might act like that, but she's really a kind person at heart," Karin says.

"I really hope that's not just your imagination, Karin-chan…" I say.

"It's really, really true!" Karin says. "I owe a lot to Alina-sempai!"

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

"Hmm… if you have nothing better to do, you could come over to my place," Karin suggests.

"I'd like that, but… we're kinda busy today," I say. "It was kinda luck that we managed to set aside some time for this…"

"Maybe we could come over tomorrow instead?" Inui suggests. "Or… are we busy tomorrow too, Ashley?"

"Tomorrow…?" I say. "Um… I think we're mostly free in the afternoon."

"Then it's settled!" Karin says. "I'll send you my address! Are you coming too, Riko-chan?"

"Oh! I'll ask Mom and Dad!" Riko says. "And I'll email you their answer!"

"And what about the twins?" Karin asks.

"Us!?" Tsukuyo and Tsukasa gasp in unison.

"Um, but, I don't think we have the time," Tsukasa says.

"Yes, we are very busy too," Tsukuyo says.

"Oh well, that's too bad," Karin says. "Then I'll see the three of you tomorrow afternoon!"

So she retrieves her raincoat, and we head back out into the rain, sticking together as far as the train station, where Karin and the twins catch a different train. The twins are probably heading for the Memory Museum to support Touka's lecture. Inui and I take the train into Kosho Ward, where we drop Riko off at her place before continuing back to Fendt Hope to settle down in our room, where I'll be able to watch as the Memory Museum incident unfolds.

This time, I'm going to use two simultaneous visions. In addition to following Iroha and her team, I'm going to keep an eye on what Momoko is up to as well.

---

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.

Yume Ulala
有愛うらら

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Purple
Hair Colour: Purple
Origins: Yukuni, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Two green semi-circles, not quite touching
Soul Gem: Two green semicircular gems at her hip
Element: Water
Weapon: Yo-yo
Powers: Illusions
Wish: "Please! I want you to help Kurara!"

Speed: 7
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

---

Doppel Corner

Whenever a new magical girl unleashes her doppel, I'll include a doppel description here. Note that most of these are direct quotes from the Magia Record game rather than being written by me; they are simply reproduced here for interest. I'll mark any original doppels with a dagger symbol (†).

Yuerao (Chiaki Riko)

The Doppel of thread-reeling. Its form is a moonlit matchmaker. The master of this emotion does not acknowledge that this Doppel lurks within her heart. It appears under a thick sheet of ice that it spreads under her feet. When attacking, it switches places with its master, trapping her beneath the ice, and reels in all interpersonal connections to steal them. It tries to collect all those she had formed in an attempt to restore things to their original state, but cut connections only sink to the bottom of the ice. The more the master uses this Doppel, the more feelings that she had given up on become dredged up and disperse.

---

It's been a long time coming, but finally the true mastermind behind the tragedy in Yukuni has been revealed. I hope it doesn't seem too far out of left field. Mary has been alluding to it a bit recently, to be sure, and I suspect anyone who read chapter 1 of Wish Upon a Ghostory might notice the similarity. I actually planned to call the woman Bloody Mary originally, but changed it to Martha at the very last second to avoid confusion with Mary Magdalene. Then there's also another character there who might seem familiar to those who've been paying close attention to this fic…

This and the next chapter were originally meant to be one, but it started to get quite long and so I decided to split it in two. The lead-in is certainly a part of that – including the scene where she meets with Madoka's team as well as the scene where she starts to form her little resistance cell. However, a large part of it is also that the next chapter grew to become quite long – it'll be even longer than this one. In fact, because it ended up being split in two, I decided to explicitly show the segment with Karin and Alina at the museum, instead of just glossing over it.

There are no revisions to earlier chapters this time. I did finish transferring to AO3 up to the end of timeline 5 however, and Wish Upon a Ghostory is now up on AO3 too. Timeline 6 and the first interlude will probably be up on AO3 pretty soon as well. Timeline 7 might take a bit longer, though.