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.

96. Dangers of the Doppel Witch

Have you heard? Has anyone told you?
The Rumour of the Fashion Monster!
If you're confident and all dressed up, watch out!
She'll appear before you and draw you into an alley.
"How do I look? How do I look?"
But be careful how you answer!
Those who deny her stylishness shall be stripped naked!
Oh my! How deliciously scaaary!

---

Tsuruno steps into Crescent Moon Villa without removing her shoes, wearing a raincoat. Yachiyo is sitting at the bar, reading a magazine while she enjoys her tea, and the others are getting ready to go. Since it's Saturday, they're all in casual clothes.

"I'm here!" Tsuruno says.

"It's really coming down," Felicia says, peeking out the front door.

"It sure is!" Tsuruno says. "Everyone got a raincoat?"

"I've got a raincoat, so I'm good," Felicia says.

"I have one too," Iroha says.

"Um, I have a raincoat too," Sana says.

"Sana-chan, do you have the key?" Iroha asks.

"Yeah," Sana says.

"See you later, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says.

"Huh? What about Yachiyo?" Tsuruno asks.

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

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

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

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

"What's your point?" Yachiyo asks.

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

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

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

As Sana, Felicia, and Tsuruno head out into the rain, Iroha turns to share a few last words with Yachiyo.

"Miss Yachiyo, I've sent the location to your phone, in case you change your mind."

Yachiyo doesn't respond, however.

"Iroha, we'll leave you behind!" Felicia calls.

"Wait, I'm coming!" Iroha calls back.

She hurries out to join the others, raising the hood of her raincoat as she goes. The four of them find their way to the Memory Museum and step inside, shedding their coats and looking around.

"What a downpour," Sana sighs.

Mokyu makes one of its cute noises from Iroha's shoulder, and she giggles in response.

"Huh? What's so funny, Iroha?" Felicia asks.

"A-ah… it's nothing much," Iroha says. "Mokyu just said something…"

"How can you understand what it's saying, anyway?" Sana asks. "All I hear are weird, cute noises…"

"That's all I hear too," Iroha admits. "But somehow, I just… sort of know what it means. I can't explain it…"

Mokyu makes another cute noise, and Iroha nods.

"Yeah… maybe we're just on the same wavelength or something," she says.

"Alright then!" Felicia says. "Let's go!"

They ascend the stairs to the second floor and start peeking into a bunch of rooms.

"So this is the Memory Museum," Sana says.

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

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

"A-are you okay?" Iroha asks.

"I'm fine… sorry," Sana says.

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

"Seems to be completely empty," Felicia says. "Where was the lecture, again?"

"A room on the second floor, I think," Iroha says. "Um… probably… that one over there?"

They head to the indicated room and push the door open. There they find Touka sitting on her throne, just like last time.

"The appointment was at the Memory Museum at three o'clock PM," Touka says. "I'm surprised you really came!"

"Touka…chan," Iroha says.

"You really do know me, huh?" Touka says. "Nice to meet you, Tamaki Iroha. I'm Satomi Touka, one of the Magius."

"Touka-chan!" Iroha exclaims.

She takes a step forward, but then Mifuyu is suddenly there. Perhaps she'd always been there, concealed by her illusion magic, and only now showed herself.

"Please restrain yourself," she says. "As Touka said, she is one of the Magius."

"The Magius," Felicia says. "Then she's the boss of the black feathers and white feathers? But wasn't she one of your sister's friends, like that Nemu girl you were looking for?"

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

"There must be some kind of misunderstanding!" Iroha exclaims. "Touka-chan isn't the kind of girl who would do evil things like that! Isn't that right, Touka-chan? Hey, Touka-chan, do you remember Ui? You were really close friends with Tamaki Ui. She's my little sister."

"Tamaki Ui?" Touka says. "Just like I was told. You're full of crazy talk, Tamaki Iroha. I don't have memories of Tamaki Ui in my neocortex, hippocampus, or anywhere."

"But!" Iroha exclaims. "Touka-chan, you forgot about Ui too?"

"Listen, my brilliant brain cells would never forget a friend," Touka retorts. "If I say I don't know her, that means we've never met."

"But I remember!" Iroha exclaims. "You, Nemu-chan, Ui, and I were all great friends!"

"You don't give up, do you?" Touka says. "If I say I don't know her, I don't know her. If you keep being a pest, a rumour will carry you off."

"Touka," Mifuyu says sternly. "You promised to give a lecture today. Miss Iroha and the rest of you will all be good listeners too, won't you?"

Iroha sighs and nods. "Alright," she says.

Touka breaks out the tea party and the projector just like last time, and shows the first slide.

"Okay," she says. "Then why don't we begin with the lecture? We'll start with Fundamentals of Magical Girls Theory I. I don't think it's difficult, but listen carefully. There'll be a quiz at the end."

---

Momoko stands on one of the bridges over the river between Mizuna and Shinsei Wards, hiding her face beneath her umbrella. She's wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a greyish-brown jacket. I think the bridge is the one closest to Konomi's flower shop. Perhaps due to the rain, the bridge is almost completely deserted. On the other side of the bridge, Rena approaches, also with an umbrella, wearing a red hoody with some character on it and a short plaid skirt. Suddenly, Rena catches sight of Momoko standing there and breaks into a run.

"Geez, I'm soaking wet!" she complains. "I thought you'd postpone it because of the rain… I get that I'm the one who asked for it, but is it really that important that it can't wait one more day?"

But then she trails off as she recognizes the serious look on Momoko's face.

"Momoko?" she says, suddenly in a softer tone of voice.

"It is important," Momoko says, her voice carefully scrubbed of emotion. "The longer I put it off, the harder it'll be. I thought I'd better tell you about what happened with Miss Yachiyo and the others last year."

"Is that the thing you were hiding?" Rena asks. "But that has nothing to do with me…"

"But it does," Momoko says.

Rena tilts her head in confusion, then frowns a bit and narrows her eyes.

"It has something to do with every single magical girl," Momoko says.

At this point, she finally fails to keep the emotion out, and also raises the umbrella enough that she can look Rena in the eye. Just then, Rena turns her head to look behind, perhaps in response to the sound of footsteps, and catches sight of another familiar face approaching from behind her. She lets out a little gasp, for it's Kaede. Like Momoko and Rena, Kaede is wearing casual clothing – a blue pinafore dress over a yellow long-sleeved shirt. Her umbrella is decked with little teddy bears, swaying as she walks. She stops about thirty feet from Rena and raises her umbrella so their eyes can meet, not saying anything, just smiling.

"Kaede," Rena says. "Kaede, where have you been!?"

When Kaede doesn't respond, Rena suddenly drops her umbrella and runs forward to embrace Kaede. Due to the impact, Kaede also loses hold on her umbrella, which falls to the ground.

"Don't make me worry about you!" Rena complains.

"I'm sorry, Rena-chan," Kaede says. "From now on, let's always be together."

Momoko stares at the scene, looking slightly confused at what's happening. I'm a little confused too, for the way Kaede is speaking and smiling seems a little off.

"Listen, Rena-chan," Kaede continues. "Listen to the truth about magical girls."

Rena steps back, blinking at her, then turns to Momoko.

"What… truth?" she asks.

"As I said," Momoko says. "It sounds like Kaede already heard the basics from somewhere, but… I'll tell you the truth of what happened to Mel last year."

"Mel… that fortune-teller?" Rena says. "I thought she just died fighting a witch…"

"That's not exactly right," Momoko says. "That day, we were short-handed because Banbanzai had a big reservation…"

She proceeds to tell the full story of the day that Anna Mel turned into a witch. Rena gasps at the final reveal, backing off a few steps and falling to her knees, clutching at her head. Momoko sighs, while Kaede kneels down to comfort her as she starts to cry. After a little while, Kaede speaks. She's still smiling, and has been the entire time.

"Poor Rena-chan," Kaede says. "Poor magical girls. But, it's okay."

"Huh?" Momoko says.

"If you come with me, magical girls can be saved," Kaede says.

"W-what do you mean, Kaede?" Momoko asks. "Isn't that what…?"

Kaede stands up and turns to face Momoko.

"Don't worry, Momoko," she says. "The Wings of the Magius will save you too. Just come with me."

Momoko gasps, and Rena looks up in shock. For a moment the two of them lock gazes, perhaps exchanging telepathic notes. Then Rena jumps to her feet.

"Kaede, don't tell me you joined that shady group!?"

Kaede turns to face her, still smiling.

"What's shady about them?" she asks. "They just want to save magical girls. Plus, Miss Mifuyu believes in them. Don't you think she can be trusted?"

"Eh, I suppose you have a point there, but…"

"So you heard the story about witches from Miss Mifuyu?" Momoko says. "Did she tell you about Mel, too?"

"She told me everything," Kaede says. "She told me about Mel-chan, and also Miss Kanae. But it was still interesting to hear Mel-chan's story from your perspective, Momoko-chan."

"I see," Momoko says. "And you're inviting us to pay Miss Mifuyu a visit?"

"Um… that wasn't quite what I meant, but… sure," Kaede says.

"Well then… lead the way."

So Kaede turns to lead the way south – not towards the old railway yard, but passing through Sakae Ward into Minaminagi Ward. Though it would've been faster to take a train, for some reason she walks right by all the stations. Eventually they end up in the park where the battle against Walpurgisnacht was fought last time, Minaminagi Seaside Park. Kaede flashes on her Magius robes, and the Fendt Hope portal appears before them. She grabs Momoko's and Rena's hands and steps inside.

Momoko gasps. "W-whoa, this is quite the elaborate base here!" she says.

"I can't believe something so huge was hidden away," Rena says.

"Isn't it amazing?" Kaede says. "It's a whole hotel just for magical girls. Welcome to Hotel Fendt Hope."

---

As Yachiyo uses a grief seed to purify Iroha's soul gem, she wakes up and looks around in confusion. Yachiyo is transformed, but Iroha isn't.

"Huh?" Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo?"

"Now you understand," Yachiyo says. "You never should have come here. Are you with the Wings of the Magius now?"

"Huh? Me?" Iroha says. "Um… n-no, of course I'm not! I turned them down in that dream!"

"Then that means… you saw everything," Yachiyo says.

"Yes," Iroha says. "I saw what happened to Miss Kanae, and Mel-chan too… it wasn't like I was just 'seeing' it, I felt like I was there…"

"Interesting," Yachiyo says.

"But I get it now," Iroha says. "I understand why you said my doppel was dangerous, and why you tried so hard to protect me at the Séance Shrine."

"Well, let's go," Yachiyo says abruptly.

She stands up and starts walking off, and Iroha gets up to follow her.

"Miss Yachiyo… I came here with Tsuruno-chan and the others… I wonder where they went."

"Mifuyu took them away," Yachiyo says. "We have to find them. I just hope they're still inside the Memory Museum."

"Do you think they're okay?" Iroha asks.

"All we can do is hope that they're safe," Yachiyo says. "Also… Miss Tamaki, I'm breaking up the team."

"What?" Iroha says.

"I said, I'm breaking up the team," Yachiyo repeats.

"Wait a second," Iroha says. "That's…"

But then Mokyu hops onto her shoulder and makes one of its cute noises, and Iroha blinks.

"A-ah, I see," she says, forcing a smile. "Y-yeah, we should break up the team."

Yachiyo stares at her for a second, then nods. "I'm glad you understand."

They start to search for the exit, Yachiyo taking the lead and Iroha working hard to keep up with her. Before long, they run into several of the rumour's familiars, which attack on sight.

"A-ah, I guess it was no good after all," Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo, let's beat this rumour together!"

"We have nothing to do with each other," Yachiyo says. "We're not even a team anymore."

Yachiyo takes down the familiars without much difficulty, and Iroha blinks at her.

"What did you say, Miss Yachiyo?"

"I said, we're not a team anymore!" she says.

"B-but you only said that to fool the rumour, right?" Iroha says.

Yachiyo stares at her for a few moments.

"No… this has nothing to do with the rumour," she says. "I really mean it. I'm breaking up the team."

"P-please wait!" Iroha gasps. "Miss Yachiyo, what do you mean by breaking up the team!?"

"Just what I said," Yachiyo says.

"Why are you suddenly saying that?" Iroha asks. "Did those people say something to you? Did Miss Mifuyu say something?"

"There's no need for me to answer that," Yachiyo says.

"Yes there is!" Iroha says. "The others might have been brainwashed! Are you just going to leave them? Please, give me your reason! Just say something…"

"It has nothing to do with you," Yachiyo says.

"Yes it does!" Iroha says. "It has to do with both of us! I thought you had let us in… you even bought us mugs… I thought we were really friends… please… don't talk about breaking up the team… let's beat this rumour together, get out of here, and rescue everyone… we should work together in a time like this!"

"No," Yachiyo says stubbornly.

"Are you saying that because we aren't teammates anymore?" Iroha asks.

"Yes, I am," Yachiyo says.

"I just… I just don't understand," Iroha says. "What in the world are you thinking? You've been acting strange ever since Miss Mifuyu came to visit. Keeping your distance… and then just when I thought you'd come to save us… you say, 'I'm breaking up the team'. You saying that there's nothing you can do to help Tsuruno-chan and the others… it makes me feel sad… lonely… we fought together all this time, but…"

"I have no intention of continuing as a team," Yachiyo says. "That is all."

Iroha sighs and shakes her head, her expression suddenly hardening.

"But more than that, I'm angry," she says. "I'm so angry with you, Miss Yachiyo."

"Miss Tamaki…"

"Just saying we won't be a team anymore… that's not good enough!" Iroha says. "If you won't give me your reason, I won't accept your decision to break up the team! You can ignore me if you want. I don't care. But I'm not going to leave your side, Miss Yachiyo!"

"You're a thorn in my side," Yachiyo says. "Please, stop. My determination will crumble if you say those things…"

"I just think you're being selfish, Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha says.

Yachiyo suddenly comes to a stop.

"If you're with me, you're going to die," she says.

Iroha gasps.

"In exchange for becoming a magical girl, my wish was to survive. For the selfish wish of 'I want to survive', I became a magical girl. But in exchange for my own survival, the people around me die."

"What is that?" Iroha says. "That can't be."

She darts around Yachiyo and turns to face her.

"Is that your reason for breaking up the team!?"

"I don't want anyone else to die!" Yachiyo shouts.

Suddenly a witch shows up, perhaps released by Alina from one of her cubes. It looks like Box Wood, the same witch that originally drew the two of them to meet – a giant flying salamander composed of trash and darkness. The witch slams into Yachiyo, sending her flying. It looks like she has blacked out from the impact.

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha gasps.

Then Box Wood comes around for another pass, aiming at Iroha this time. She throws herself to the side to dodge, then leaps to her feet. Over by the wall, Yachiyo twitches and groans.

"Miss Yachiyo! I swear I'll help you!" Iroha says.

She fires off a volley of arrows at Box Wood as it circles her, now wary of her.

"Miss…Tamaki…?" Yachiyo mutters.

Yachiyo struggles to her feet as she watches Iroha fight. Finally Iroha shoots an arrow right down the witch's throat, and it dissolves into nothingness. Unfortunately, this one doesn't drop a grief seed, but she barely even notices that, running over to hug Yachiyo.

"Miss Yachiyo, thank goodness! Let's go. We have to look for the others!"

She takes Yachiyo's hand and tries to continue down the hall, but Yachiyo won't budge. Iroha stops and turns back.

"I get what you wished for, but… I don't believe that's the reason why Mel-chan and Miss Kanae died," Iroha says. "I don't know how you could ever think that!"

"Miss Tamaki… I don't even understand what my unique power is, or why I always manage to survive. When I made my wish, I was part of a group of models. I only wished for what I did because I needed to keep going, to survive, as their leader… but if the power within me is linked to Mel and Kanae's deaths… it all starts to make sense…"

"But that's just one possibility!" Iroha says.

"No, listen to me," Yachiyo insists. "Kanae and Mel told me… 'Bring me with you… show me the future… I feel like you can do it… because you're vital to the team.' …and… 'No, it is lucky… I managed to save you… I saved the leader I look up to so much… I'm really happy I did.' When I started to consider why I always managed to survive, I remembered their words… you could interpret it all to mean this… I wished to survive, so I could continue being a leader… so their lives were offered up in order for me to live. If that's the case, similar to how you have healing powers… and similar to Tsuruno's good luck, or Mifuyu's ability to create illusions… my unique power is this… the power to survive by sacrificing someone else."

"No…!"

"You see?" Yachiyo says. "If we stay together, my wish will eventually kill you…"

"But your wish being the cause of their deaths, and your unique power… that's all just a guess, isn't it? You can't say it's definitely true!"

"It's dangerous enough as a guess…"

"Still, I can't accept that…"

"You have to! How do you think I feel!?" She sighs. "I'm sorry. All of this is my fault! I made Momoko angry! I worried Tsuruno! Now the same thing is happening all over again! I've brought misery to everyone! I was only trying to help a little back when I first met you but… I don't know if it's a facet of my personality that was born with my wish… or perhaps it's just my own loneliness. I can't say for sure… I just know that as soon as I loosen my hold on my feelings, I'll go back to my old self. The feelings I have for all of you got so strong… I kept telling myself we are only together because of our common interests… that we weren't friends… and I wasn't your leader… but that… didn't work out… Mifuyu's words cut me right through to the core. I realized how much I'd changed… so, I'm sorry… I don't want to be the cause of your deaths. Please let me disband the team."

"Okay, I understand now," Iroha says.

"I'm so sorry," Yachiyo says.

"I've become strong thanks to all of you," Iroha says. "If you think people die because of you, I'll become the precedent that shows it's not true. I will prove to you that you're just imagining all of this! If your wish has become twisted, I'll brush it aside. I can do that at least!"

"But…!" Yachiyo says.

"I'm not going to die that easily!" Iroha says. "I promise you that, Miss Yachiyo. I'm your friend, and as your friend, I'm going to take out this rumour, all on my own! I'm going to be the one to protect you. I'll smash this made-up idea you have of me sacrificing myself for you!"

As if responding to her intentions, the main rumour decides to show itself at that moment.

"W-what are you saying!?" Yachiyo exclaims. "You can't!"

"I'm really angry with you right now!" Iroha shouts. "You came up with this idea in your head and everyone else suffered because of it! I'm really angry with you for that! So… wait until I die before you decide if this hypothesis of yours is true or not, please. I'd be so lonely without you, Miss Yachiyo. I'd be so sad I wouldn't be able to bear it. So I'll beat this rumour alone! Then the two of us will go and rescue the others! So stay out of my way!"

She fires off a volley of bolts at the rumour, and it retaliates with its signature paper swarm, eliciting a squeal from her.

"That's enough, Miss Tamaki!" Yachiyo says. "The more you try to save me, and the more I try to save you… the closer my wish gets to killing you… please, I'll be okay on my own. I'll fight by myself! Just leave me alone…"

While complaining, she throws her halberd at the rumour, but Iroha shakes her head, dodging the rumour's attacks and firing a continuous stream of arrows.

"No, I won't leave you alone," Iroha says stubbornly. "I won't compromise on this. No matter what happens, I'm staying by your side! I won't accept that your wish will make everyone die. And I won't hear a word from you about breaking up the team."

She starts charging magic into her crossbow, building up for an ultimate attack.

"I'm going to protect you, Miss Yachiyo. I'll save everyone else too. Then all of us will bring Mifuyu back, and we'll find Ui! I'll show you!"

She dodges as the rumour fires a fresh paper swarm at her, then aims and lets loose.

"Strada Futuro!"

Her ultimate attack overwhelms the rumour, and it crumbles into dust. Iroha collapses to her knees, breathing heavily.

"Miss Tamaki! Why did you push yourself so hard…?"

"Of course I'm going to push myself," Iroha says. "I don't want to lose you guys. So, Miss Yachiyo… will you give yourself one more chance?"

"One more chance?"

"A chance to believe that your wish and their deaths aren't related," Iroha says.

"But… but I…"

"Okay, then how about this!?" Iroha says.

"What is it now?"

"From now on, I'll be the leader!"

"What!?"

"Then there's no problem, right?" Iroha says.

Yachiyo blinks several times, not so much in surprise as trying to hold back tears.

"You… really are stubborn…"

"Yes, I am," Iroha says, smiling. "Sorry about that."

"I'm sorry, too," Yachiyo says.

"Miss Yachiyo… let's save the others, together," Iroha says. "And all go back home… to your house, Miss Yachiyo… to Crescent Moon Villa…"

Finally Yachiyo manages to smile, just a little.

"Thank you… Iroha," she says.

Iroha smiles too.

"This is the first time you've called me by my given name," she says.

At that point, the barrier starts to collapse, but then a new barrier expands to fill in the space, the barrier of Teresa, the Pendulum Witch.

"Huh…? Is this a witch?" Iroha asks.

"We'll have to go outside for now," Yachiyo says.

"Even though we haven't found Tsuruno-chan and the others…"

"You were alright," Yachiyo says. "The others may have escaped too."

"But first, we need to beat this witch," Iroha says. "Why were there two witches here, anyway?"

"It must be Alina's doing," Yachiyo says.

Iroha nods. "You're right… let's go!"

The two of them take off, destroying the witch's familiars and reaching the witch herself. After she's defeated, the barrier falls, depositing them into the upper gallery of the main lobby. By this time, Iroha's soul gem is heavily corrupted, and she's having trouble moving. Yachiyo gathers her up onto her back.

"If I can get you to the Coordinator, perhaps I can get a grief seed," she says. "Hold on tight. I need you to hang in there until we're out of here. We're almost there, Iroha."

"A-alright," Iroha says, nodding.

Yachiyo makes for the stairs. She's halfway down them, on the landing, when Mami shows up from the main entrance, already transformed. Yachiyo pauses, startled, to gaze down at her.

"Miss Tomoe…?"

"The gospel was delivered to you two as well, wasn't it?" she says.

"Gospel?" Yachiyo says.

"The gospel that as a member of the Wings of the Magius, there is no higher honour than devotion to the liberation of magical girls," Mami says.

"Sorry, but we're not going to join the Wings of the Magius," Yachiyo says.

"Why do you refuse to face grief?" Mami asks. "Even though therein lies a way to overcome grief?"

Mami summons a musket and leaps up the stairs in a single bound, swinging it at Yachiyo like a club. She blocks with her halberd, and the two of them exchange several blows back and forth.

"Miss Tomoe, just listen to me!" Yachiyo says.

"She doesn't have to listen," Touka interjects.

She has just appeared from a corridor leading deeper into the museum on the second floor. With her are Alina, Mifuyu, the Amane twins, Sana, Tsuruno, Felicia, Shizuku, and two black feathers I don't recognize. The three from Crescent Moon Villa have already been given feather robes. As Mami and Yachiyo lock weapons, it seems there's room for a little talking.

"After all, you didn't listen to us," Touka continues.

"You!" Yachiyo gasps.

"Touka-chan…!" Iroha gasps.

"We've been waiting with bated breath for awhile, wondering when you might wake up," Touka says.

"So what did you think of my memories?" Mifuyu asks.

"What a question to ask…" Iroha says. "It was terrible… Touka-chan was there too…"

"I was part of it?" Touka says. "The rumour must have done that on its own to better brainwash you, I guess."

"So it was brainwashing," Yachiyo says.

"You said you didn't want to fight," Iroha says. "I believed you… and then you dropped this rumour on us."

"I meant it when I said I didn't want any more pointless fighting, though," Touka says. "It would be much better for us if you just joined us instead of fighting us. That way no-one needs to get hurt. It's much more peaceful that way."

She giggles.

"But how did this happen?" Alina asks. "You were supposed to be brainwashed, but it looks like it didn't work."

"Yes, you're right," Mifuyu says. "Though I think Ya-chan didn't even look at my memories, did you?"

"Of course not," Yachiyo retorts. "I was there with you the whole time. What is there to look at?"

Mifuyu sighs and just shakes her head a little.

"Miss Yachiyo and I won't join you," Iroha says. "So please tell Miss Tomoe to let us through. We need to find the others and unbrainwash them."

"No need to search, silly," Touka says. "After they listened to the lecture and did their practical learning, they joined us."

"Huh?" Iroha says. "All of them?"

"Every last one," Touka says.

She gestures, and Tsuruno, Sana and Felicia lower their hoods. Iroha gasps.

"N-no way…! Tsuruno-chan… Felicia-chan… Sana-chan…"

Touka giggles. "They all joined us. You three, you understand how important it is for us to liberate magical girls now, don't you?"

"Yeah," Tsuruno says. "Only the Wings of the Magius can help me protect everyone. I will do great things with them."

"Me too," Felicia mutters. "Only the Wings of the Magius can help me atone for what I've done…"

"I will save those who suffer from their own wishes with the Wings of the Magius," Sana says.

"I feel like I've had a divine revelation," Tsuruno says.

"It's like a higher power told me joining was the right thing to do," Felicia says.

"Right," Sana says. "Now it feels as though the world is a little bit brighter."

The three of them raise their hoods again.

"What are you all saying?" Iroha says.

"You didn't hear them?" Touka asks. "There's no need for brainwashing now. They reached this conclusion on their own."

"Indeed!" Alina says. "Welcome to the Wings of the Magius!"

"No!" Iroha says. "You're lying! How could you lie to me, Touka-chan!? They're very obviously brainwashed! How could you brainwash them! This… this isn't…"

"Miss saint, make sure you deal with them," Touka says. "Don't mess this up!"

"Yes! By following the guidance of the Magius… we will all be saved!" Mami says. "If you can't accept that… then you can just die!"

Yachiyo and Mami exchange several more blows, and then Mami unleashes her doppel – Candeloro emerges from her back and seizes Yachiyo's halberd. Though Yachiyo retains her hold on it, it's a sufficient distraction for Mami to spin around and point her musket at Yachiyo's head.

But then a fire extinguisher comes flying through the air, and is pierced by a sword, exploding into a cloud of dust. Yachiyo takes the chance to escape, descending the remaining stairs to the bottom and collapsing to her knees, coughing. Two magical girls step up, walking past her to gaze up at Mami as the smoke clears. One of them is Sayaka, of course. The other is Hitomi.

"This isn't like you, Mami," Sayaka says. "Bullying the weak…"

"What on earth has come over you, Mami-sempai?" Hitomi asks.

Mami blinks, staring at them for several seconds.

"Miss Miki… Miss Shizuki…"

"Geez, I've been looking all over for you, Miss Mami," Sayaka says.

"Miss Madoka and the others have been searching too," Hitomi says.

"We sure didn't expect to find you in an abandoned building like this," Sayaka says.

"Miss Miki… is that really you? Miss Shizuki… are my eyes deceiving me?" Mami wonders. "You came to condemn me, huh? There's nothing I could do to make up for what I did to you."

"Miss Mami… what are you talking about?" Sayaka asks. "Why on earth would we condemn you?"

"Go ahead, hurl abuse at me," Mami says. "I deserve it. But it's okay now. We can avoid the worst-case scenario. We've found a way!"

"Worst-case…?" Hitomi says. "Could it be that… you are talking about… witches…?"

"No way… did Mami find out too!?" Sayaka gasps. "Madoka and Homura both said she must never find out…"

"Tell me, where's Miss Kaname?" Mami asks. "Is she here too? What about Homura-chan? Nagisa-chan?"

Mami looks around as if expecting them to suddenly pop out.

"That's right!" Mami gasps. "I have to call them to Kamihama too! If they come to Kamihama, magical girls will be saved!"

At this point, Yachiyo finally gets to her feet, presumably intending to sneak away while Mami is distracted, but unfortunately she's waited just a bit too long. Mami suddenly drops her musket on the ground, startling her.

"There was nothing beyond that hope I'd grasped," Mami laments. "Were you fooling us? At this rate, everyone… we'll all become witches who scatter despair!"

"S-she really did find out…?" Hitomi gasps. "T-this doesn't look good…"

"I can't believe it…" Sayaka says. "It's true, what they said… Mami really can't handle the truth…"

Then Mami transforms again, donning the Saint of Kamihama rumour.

"Everyone will be saved!" she says. "We have that right! I swear I'll be the one to accomplish that!"

Suddenly she summons an array of muskets and opens fire without hesitation. Hitomi immediately summons her fans and waves them around. Despite the hail of bullets all around them, thanks to her magic, the four of them now stand in a narrow safe zone. Somehow, almost none of the bullets strike any of them. However, there are many close misses, and it seems like attempting to move more than a step or two would be suicide.

But while Hitomi is defending, Sayaka and Yachiyo fight back. Sayaka summons a number of swords and flings them at Mami, one by one, and Yachiyo does the same with her halberds. The room becomes a veritable maelstrom of cross-fire, bullets flying one direction, swords and halberds the other.

Then Mami fires a cannonball, and it looks like Hitomi's magic isn't enough to throw off its aim. Sayaka leaps in front of her, catching the ball with her crossed swords. It shatters her arms, but she heals them almost instantly, only for them to shatter again. With some gargantuan effort, she finally manages to fling the missile aside, sending it wildly off course, careening towards the gallery where Touka is watching from. Shizuku quickly opens a portal to deflect it, causing it to smash into the ground near the entranceway, but it seems the incident has convinced Touka that it's time to move on.

"Well then," she says. "I should get going. You take care of the rest, miss saint. Everyone else, come on with me."

She gets to her feet, gesturing to Shizuku, who opens a portal. After ushering Sana, Tsuruno, and Felicia through, Touka steps through, followed by Alina, the twins, the other two feathers, Mifuyu, and lastly Shizuku. The portal then disappears behind them.

"I… I can't let them get away with this," Iroha says, her voice shaking. "And yet… and yet… I can't even reach her right now…!"

Yachiyo builds a path of halberds, which Sayaka uses to get close to Mami, avoiding the worst of the gunfire and deflecting a few stray bullets with her swords. As Sayaka draws in close, Hitomi suddenly unleashes an attack that she's apparently been building up all this time.

"Bewitching Faerie Sonata!"

She summons a huge swarm of tiny green fairies playing tiny flutes and violins, about half of which spread out through the room while the other half charge at Mami, harrying her, blocking her vision, tugging at her hair, and just being generally annoying. But it's actually really effective. Her aim becomes even worse – now most of the bullets aren't even going in the right general direction, as if she was aiming for the errant fairies rather than her true target.

Thanks to her distraction, Sayaka actually manages to get a clean hit in on Mami. However, she only manages one, for Mami spins around and kicks her, sending her flying off the side of the stairwell and back down to the ground floor where Yachiyo has just found shelter with Iroha. Hitomi calmly walks through the bullet storm to join them.

"What should we do, Miss Sayaka?" she asks. "Mami-sempai clearly isn't herself… I'd like to help her, but if I'm honest, I don't even know what's wrong with her…"

"I'm not sure either," Sayaka says. "But it doesn't look like she's open to reason right now, so I think our priority should be to get out of here safely."

"Yeah, I think I agree, actually," Hitomi says. "To think we found her, but she was like this… and she even found out the truth about witches…"

"Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says. "I have to help."

"We don't stand a chance," Yachiyo says.

"Maybe that's true for the moment," Iroha says. "But there's just one thing…"

Yachiyo gasps. "You mean to use your doppel!?"

"It'll be okay," Iroha says. "I promise I'll be back."

As Sayaka focuses on healing her wounds, the bullet storm finally dies off as Mami seems to have realized her quarries are hidden away. She hops across the balcony down the ground floor and turns to face the four of them, aiming her muskets at them. Hitomi's fairies have disappeared by this point in time, leaving Sayaka as their only line of defense… or so would seem, but then Iroha gets to her feet and steps forward. Sayaka flinches as Mami opens fire, but Giovanna comes out, stopping the bullets in their tracks.

"Why are magical girls doing this to each other?" Iroha asks. "Wasn't this supposed to be about saving magical girls?"

Mami doesn't respond, simply summoning more guns, but then Yachiyo steps up, unleashing Campanella and sending her flying. Iroha gasps and looks at her.

"Miss Yachiyo!"

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything," Yachiyo says. "I can use a doppel too. But this power is dangerous. Let's bring this to an end quickly."

"Right, Miss Yachiyo!"

Mami picks herself up, seemingly completely unhurt from Yachiyo's attack. Sayaka and Hitomi watch helpless from the shadow as three monsters battle it out above them.

"W-what on earth…?" Sayaka says. "This is so crazy, I don't even know…"

"It's like they're almost witches, but not quite," Hitomi says.

Eventually, Iroha is thrown against the wall. For a moment, Giovanna disintegrates, but then remnants of the doppel start coiling up her legs, and her face is covered with the white mask that indicates an out-of-control doppel. Yachiyo releases her doppel and tries to approach her, but Mami jumps in her way. Yachiyo sweeps her out of her path with her halberd, but by this time Giovanna has re-formed. She jumps into the air before Yachiyo can reach her, lashing out with cloth tentacles to snatch Mami right out of the air. The doppel smashes Mami right down into the ground and descends upon her. Yachiyo aims her halberd, flinging it at Giovanna's back, and the beak-head of the doppel turns to look at her for several seconds. Then, a labyrinth suddenly forms, drawing in Iroha, her doppel, and even Mami. Mokyu scampers towards them but apparently misses the timing and is left stranded there, making cute noises at the place where they disappeared. Then it scampers out into the rain and disappears.

"Miss Mami!" Sayaka gasps. "Where did she go!?"

"She was right there just a moment ago," Hitomi says. "Was that a witch's barrier? Did that girl just turn into a witch?"

"We've got to save Miss Mami!" Sayaka exclaims.

Yachiyo descends back to the ground floor in a single bound.

"No!" she shouts. "I'll do it!"

"But you're in no condition to fight," Sayaka says. "You're injured, and your soul gem… uhh… huh? It's completely pure…? After using all that crazy magic?"

"I'll get Iroha back," Yachiyo says. "The Magius said that you can't turn into a witch in Kamihama, so she should still be fine. I'll find her, and I'll find Miss Tomoe at the same time."

At that moment, Madoka, Homura, and Nagisa run in from the side corridor.

"Whoa!?" Madoka gasps. "What on earth happened here? Everything's smashed up…"

"Well, we found Mami-sempai," Hitomi says.

"But she wasn't acting herself," Sayaka says. "She was attacking this girl and her friend…"

"Ah, it's Miss Nanami," Madoka says. "Was Iroha-chan here too?"

Yachiyo nods.

"Huh? But then, where is she now?" Madoka asks. "I can't even sense her magic…"

"She got sucked into a barrier," Yachiyo says. "Or perhaps, she sucked herself in… her doppel went out of control…"

"Eh… so it was her doppel," Madoka says. "I guess it's really not that safe after all…"

"Oh, so that was a doppel?" Sayaka says. "It's completely insane…"

"I thought I was looking at a witch," Hitomi says.

"It's pretty incredible, isn't it?" Madoka says. "Nagisa-chan and I have both used one before…"

"I don't recommend it," Nagisa adds. "It's tiring."

"It's kind of scary too," Madoka says. "Even for the person using it…"

"Anyway, I have to go search for her," Yachiyo says. "She couldn't have gone far."

"Can't you at least explain what happened here first?" Madoka asks.

"No! There's no time!" Yachiyo says. "I'm sorry, Miss Kaname, Miss Akemi, but I've got to go! We can talk later if you want to."

With that, she exits via the front door, leaving the Holy Brigade staring after her.

"Did this happen last time, Homura-chan?" Madoka wonders.

"Sort of," Homura says. "Sort of not…"

"Huh? Last time?" Sayaka says.

"Ah… don't worry about it," Madoka says. "Well then… for now, I guess we just have to go home…"

"We can come back another day," Hitomi says. "Perhaps Miss Nanami will have news for us."

"Yeah… I hope so," Madoka says.

---

I consider the differences from the last time. For some reason, everyone wore a raincoat to get to the Memory Museum, whereas last time only Felicia had a raincoat and everyone else used umbrellas. Then the conversation before the lecture started was different, for some reason, and while it was closer to the anime's conversation, it wasn't exactly the same. The lecture itself, on the other hand, and all the talk during the tea party, didn't seem any different at all. Although Mifuyu was present, she didn't say a word the entire time. But then when Yachiyo arrived, unlike last time, she didn't view Mifuyu's memories. In fact, it seems she must have shown up later than she did last time – by the time she got there, Sana, Tsuruno, and Felicia had already woken up and been taken outside by Mifuyu, who had then returned to check on Iroha again.

I sit up with a sigh around when the big battle gets started. It's also around the same time that Momoko's trio starts to head for Minaminagi Ward. Inui rolls over and blinks at me.

"How're things going?"

"Um… fine so far," I say. "They're currently fighting Miss Tomoe – Miss Nanami, Miss Tamaki, Miss Miki, and even Miss Shizuki are there. However, I was just thinking I'd like to be in the lounge for when people come back."

"Ah, okay," Inui says. "Then I'll come with you."

We head downstairs, entering the ground floor lounge just as Touka and her retinue return through Shizuku's portal. Though I hadn't recognized the other two black feathers earlier, now I realize that they are Yaeko Mana and the girl who was known as Amu in the last timeline. Sana spots me and tilts her head, but says nothing. The three of them follow Touka upstairs while the others disperse, and then Inui and I take a seat in the otherwise deserted lounge. Mifuyu holds back for a moment.

"Is there something I can help you with, Lita?" she asks.

"Not right at this moment," I say. "By the way, what's going to happen to those three?"

"I… haven't yet decided," Mifuyu says. "I need to take a break and have dinner, but after that I'll have to decide what to do."

"Then, I wouldn't mind speaking with you after dinner," I say.

"Is there some reason it can't be now?" Mifuyu asks.

"Yes."

"Alright… I'll return after I've eaten."

With that, she heads upstairs as well, following Touka and the others.

"So they've been brainwashed again," Inui says. "I still can't believe they did that…"

"I think they've brainwashed someone else as well, this time," I say.

"So besides Miss Tomoe, those three, and Shizu-tan…?" Inui says.

"Yes. Actually, I think Miss Nanami also may have been brainwashed last time too, and Miss Tamaki broke her free of it… but I'm not sure. Anyway, that's not who I'm thinking of."

"Hey… could that be what you wanted to talk to Mifuyumin about?"

I blink at her. "Huh? How did you know?"

Inui giggles. "Just a guess!"

I continue watching the progress of the battle against Mami, and notice that it seems to be going quite differently from before. Hitomi's presence is a big reason for that – her ultimate attack is quite an odd one, that's for sure. And then… as I'd feared, Iroha ends up losing control over her doppel and disappearing, along with Mami. The exact manner in which this happened is not what I'd been anticipating, but it did happen.

"Inui… could you ask everyone to meet in about half an hour?" I say.

"Ah, sure," Inui says. "Hmm… where should we meet…?"

"Somewhere outside would probably be best," I say. "But not too far away, either. Somewhere that wouldn't have anyone around at this time of night."

"Um… what about inside the railway yard?" Inui suggests.

"That… could work… but is it maybe a bit too close?" I say. "Any feathers coming and going could sense our presence…"

"Hmm… is it still raining?"

"A little bit, I think," I say. "Nothing like this morning though."

"Then we probably want somewhere indoors," Inui says. "Alright, let's just go with the helipad building! However, instead of on the roof, we'll meet in the unused conference room on the third floor."

"…why is there an unused conference room?" I ask.

"From what I heard, the company renting the third floor went out of business awhile ago," Inui says. "No-one else has moved in yet. It's apparently gotten a haunted reputation somehow, so there aren't many takers. I don't know when, but someone broke the lock at some point in one of the stairwells, so it's easy to get in."

I wonder how she even knows all of that. Was she just spending her time researching random trivia while cooped up here at Fendt Hope?

She whips out her phone and composes some emails. While she's working on that, the people I was expecting finally step into the lobby and look around, so I stand up to greet them.

"Good evening," I say.

"Ah… it's you," Rena says. "The girl who insulted Sayu-Sayu…"

"I still don't know why you're taking it as an insult," I say. "I was just stating a fact. She sings out-of-tune… I like her despite that."

"Um… are you in charge here?" Momoko asks.

"No, Miss Mifuyu's in charge!" Kaede says.

"I'm in charge of my team, but that's about it," I say. "I'm actually rather surprised to see the two of you here, Miss Minami, Miss Togame."

"Huh? Have we met?" Momoko says. "I don't think I recognize your voice…"

"We haven't met," I say. "But I'm an acquaintance of Miss Izumi, and I've also met Miss Nanami, Miss Tokiwa, and a few others who you might be familiar with."

"Ohh, so you're a friend of Kanagi's…" Momoko says. "Is she aligned with the Wings of the Magius too?"

"I'm not sure if 'friend' is the word I'd use," I say. "She's been fighting rumours much the same as Miss Nanami has."

"Huh… I had no idea," Momoko says. "So Kanagi's been having a tough time too, huh?"

"Um… can we get to the main topic?" Rena says. "Like what sorts of shady things are you doing around here!?"

"I don't think I'm the right person to answer that," I say. "But if you wait just a few minutes, someone who's better equipped should show up. Would you like to come sit down while you wait?"

"Why would I?" Rena mutters.

"Come now, Rena," Momoko says. "We came here for answers, after all, so we have to be patient."

"Right…"

"Kaede… are you sure you're really okay?" Momoko asks.

"What do you mean?" Kaede says. "I'm really okay. I'm more than okay."

"You're really, really, okay, is that it?" I say.

"Yes, I've completely accepted it!" Kaede says.

"Completely… not a single shred of doubt?"

Kaede tilts her head. "What is there to doubt?"

At that moment, Mifuyu steps into the lounge and blinks in surprise.

"Miss Momoko…? What on earth are you doing here?"

"Miss Mifuyu…! What have you done to Kaede-chan!?" Momoko exclaims.

She strides over to seize Mifuyu's shoulders.

"H-huh…? What do you mean?" Mifuyu says. "I… I didn't do anything…?"

"Then explain that!" Momoko says, pointing at Kaede.

"Explain… what, exactly?" Mifuyu says. "I mean… that's just Kaede-chan…"

Kaede tilts her head.

"Is there something wrong, Momoko-chan?" she asks.

"Kaede-chan, have you ever been to the Memory Museum?" I ask.

"Oh, yes!" Kaede says. "Have you been there too? It's incredible, isn't it?"

"Incredible isn't the word I'd use to describe it," I say.

"Really?" Kaede says. "But I really do think it's really incredible…"

Mifuyu blinks. "Kaede-chan… who took you to the Memory Museum?" she asks.

"Um… it was a nice lady in white," Kaede says. "I don't think she said her name…"

"That could mean almost anyone," I say. "Although… if I were to hazard a guess, my money would be on Sorashi…"

My conclusion is on pretty shaky grounds, admittedly, but she's the one who attacked Yachiyo and Iroha out of the blue, then stood guard over Mifuyu's body, and finally rejected Iroha completely, leaving town along with San and Miyuri before Walpurgisnacht even arrived.

"The Memory Museum," Momoko says. "What's it about, Rena?"

"Um… it seems like a place that lets you view memories," Rena says. "But if you see someone else's memory, it might influence you…"

I close my eyes for a moment, calling up the information that's buried deep within my memories. Ashley bubbles up just a little bit, helping me to locate the specific information I need.

"The Rumour of the Memory Museum," I recite. "Do you have memories you want to change? Or erase? Maybe some you want to recall? If memories have got you down, come to the Memory Museum. Ring the bell and all the memories you can think of are on display for research purposes in the exhibition space. You can discover all sorts of hidden truths through the memories stored there. But if you see someone else's memory, it might influence you. Supported by the Rumour of the Memory Curator. It printed all the books in its archive by itself. It's a total memory master. It can print all kinds of memories, but beware – if you ask to see its work but don't give your memory in return, it won't let you go anytime soon. People are saying it can even steal your whole past. And the Rumour of the Memory Staff. Its duty is to find anyone who reads the books from the archive. If it catches you opening any of them, it will hit you on the head with its typewriter arms and rewrite your memory. People say that if you're overflowing with memories, it'll suck them out with its cute lips."

Everyone stares at me, Mifuyu included.

"W-where did you hear all of that?" Mifuyu asks. "Did you talk to the team guarding the Memory Museum? Other than Nemu and me, they're the only ones who should know that much about it…"

"I didn't talk to them," I say. "I don't even know who's assigned there."

"So basically it steals your memories and rewrites them," Momoko says angrily. "That's an awful lot like brainwashing, isn't it? And you let Kaede go there!?"

"Miss Momoko, I'm sorry," Mifuyu says. "I was supposed to be the one entrusted with taking people to the Memory Museum, and it was only supposed to be for people who were on the fence about joining. I'm not sure who went behind my back… I never planned to send Kaede-chan there. Please believe me! But also, Kaede-chan didn't join us because she was brainwashed. She was the one who asked me to join when she found out about doppels…"

"It's okay," Kaede says. "I don't mind. I don't regret going there at all! I feel so much better now!"

"Kaede, you idiot!" Rena shouts.

She steps up and slaps Kaede, who stumbles back and beams at her. Though the smile is the same one she's been wearing all this time, the fact that it has never once slipped from her face is actually a little creepy.

"It really is okay, Rena!" she says.

"Y-you…!" Rena gasps.

"Why don't you go check it out too?" Kaede says.

"There's nothing left to check out," I say.

"Yes… the rumour was destroyed just a little while ago," Mifuyu says. "It was Ya-chan and Miss Tamaki…"

"Ah… that's too bad," Kaede says. "It was really a wonderful place…"

"Oh… that's right, they were going there today," Momoko says.

"Could I make a suggestion?" I say. "Why not take Miss Togame and Miss Minami in as temporary members? I'm sure they'd like to stay with Kaede-chan when she's like this."

Mifuyu looks at me, narrowing her eyes a little.

"Lita… what on earth are you thinking?" she asks. "You seem like you're scheming something…"

I smile at her. "Don't worry, Miss Mifuyu," I say. "It's not something you need to worry about. You believe in liberation, rather than the Magius, right? The same goes for me."

"I see," Mifuyu says. "Then, if Miss Momoko and Miss Rena are okay with it, and promise not to give us away to Ya-chan and the others… I'll get them feather robes."

She turns to Momoko and Rena.

"What do you think of the idea?" she asks.

Momoko sighs. "I don't like it, but… I like even less the idea of leaving Kaede alone when she's like this. I'll take the offer."

"Me too," Rena says. "I can't leave her like this either!"

"Shall I assign Miss Rena to the same room as Kaede-chan?" Mifuyu asks.

"Yes, please!" Kaede says eagerly. "That's what I was hoping for!"

"I guess I'm okay with that," Rena says with a shrug.

"Then please wait here for a moment," Mifuyu says.

She disappears upstairs for a few minutes. Once she's gone, Inui pipes up.

"So, what do you think of the Wings of the Magius?" she asks.

"I can't say they've left a good first impression," Momoko says. "What kinda shady stuff are they preaching, anyway? Something about saving magical girls?"

"I guess you've never seen a doppel before," Inui says.

"I don't even know what that is," Momoko says.

"It's something that happens when your soul gem becomes tainted," Inui says.

"Don't you mean a witch, then?" Momoko says.

"Normally you'd turn into a witch," Inui says. "The Magius invented a way to stop that from happening."

"Y-you can't be serious!?" Momoko gasps. "But if they have something so amazing, why are they acting like some shady cult?"

"Hmm… I guess I'd say that's because they're a shady cult?" Inui says.

"I'm sure you'll see one soon enough if you stick to Kaede-chan," I add. "That said, if she does unleash Zola while you're with her, make sure to get away from her. Otherwise you'll risk being sucked in too."

I pause as Mifuyu walks back in.

"But as for why they're acting the way they are, I think it can be boiled down to the fact that the Magius lost their moral centre right at the very beginning."

Mifuyu blinks and looks at me. "Huh? Moral centre? What are you talking about?"

"Well, by rights, there really should be four Magius," I say. "Touka, Nemu, Ui, and Alina."

"Ui… isn't that Miss Tamaki's missing sister?" Mifuyu says. "Huh? But why would you say she should be one of the Magius…?"

"The automatic purification system wouldn't be possible without Ui," I say. "Isn't that enough of a reason? The system requires the ability to gather impurities, convert them, and manifest them. I believe it likely also relies on the barrier to limit the influx of impurities to a manageable level. I'm sure you know who possesses each of those powers."

"Yes… the impurities are gathered by Eve, converted using Touka's magic, and manifested via Nemu's power," Mifuyu says. "Then the barrier is Alina's… huh? Wait, are you saying Eve is Ui!? That's quite the bold claim…"

I shrug. "Back on topic, could I borrow one of you two for a little while?" I say. "That is, either Miss Togame or Miss Minami."

Rena and Momoko exchange glances, perhaps even thoughts, and then shrug.

"I suppose I can join you for a little while," Momoko says.

"In any case, here are your robes," Mifuyu says. "I got a black one for Miss Rena and a white one for Miss Momoko."

The two of them put on their robes, and then Rena and Kaede head upstairs with Mifuyu.

"So, what did you want with me?" Momoko asks.

"Follow me," I say. "Or actually, follow Inui… will you lead the way for me?"

"Alright, I'm on it!" Inui says.

She jumps up and leads the way outside. Momoko and I follow her, exiting the barrier. Momoko blinks in surprise.

"Huh? This wasn't where we came in…?"

"Ah, yes, there are multiple entrances," I say. "Actually, I believe they're about to close this one off, so that's probably why Kaede-chan took you to the other one."

Then Inui and I flash off our robes, and Momoko blinks again.

"How did you do that…?" she asks.

"It's part of the robe's enchantment," I say. "You just have to think about it."

Momoko scrunches up her face for several seconds, but then her robes vanish as well.

"Huh… that's pretty handy," she says. "So, where are you going?"

"This way," Inui says.

Inui leads us across the river into Chuo Ward, making for the building with the helipad. We take the stairs, but instead of going right to the top, Inui exits the stairwell on the third floor. I flash my robes back on at this point, and she leads us to a large room at the end of the hall. Momoko and Inui both don their robes too and step into the room after me. It turns out that we're the last to arrive – several black and white feathers are already assembled there. The white feathers are Coeurl and Sue, while for black feathers we have Maria, Mayoi, Maya, Kuroe, Hotori, and Chiyoko.

"What's all this about?" Momoko says. "A secret meeting?"

"Something like that," I say. "Let's start with introductions. You don't have to use your real name, of course."

"Coeurl here."

"I'm Inui, nice to meet you!"

"You can call me Sue."

"An alias…?" Momoko says. "Ah, screw it, I'm Momoko."

"Call me Lita," I say.

"I'm Maria."

"You can call me Maimai!"

"Ah, um, I'm Maya."

"K-kuroe here…"

"C-call me Tori…"

"I'm Chiyoko."

"I wonder how many of those are aliases," Momoko says.

"Oh, about half of them," I say. "The only ones I don't already know the real name of are… Maya and Sue, I think?"

"Ah, it's not like I mind sharing if you're interested," Sue says. "I'm only using an alias because it seems like it's expected."

"U-um, I couldn't think of an alias, so I just used my real name," Maya says.

"So, we gathered here because we don't like the way the Magius is going, right?" Coeurl says.

"Y-yeah, brainwashing people is wrong," Maya says.

"You can say that again," Momoko says.

"Brainwashing people is wrong," Maya says.

"Hey! I didn't mean that literally!" Momoko says.

Maya giggles.

"So how many have they brainwashed so far?" Momoko asks.

"I think Miss Tomoe was the first," I say. "Then there's Miss Hozumi and Kaede-chan… and lastly, Sana-chan, Miss Felicia, and Miss Yui."

"They even got Tsuruno!?" Momoko gasps. "I can't believe it… I thought for sure she'd be fine."

"Well, actually, I'd say she was the one you should've been the most worried about," I say. "Because you haven't even realized she's suffering, have you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Momoko says. "She's always cheerful when I see her."

"Exactly," I say. "She doesn't want you to know she's suffering. Anyway, that's beside the point right now. Our first goal is to undo the brainwashing, if possible. I'm leaving Sana-chan and Miss Felicia up to Inui. I'd like Kuroe to take care of Miss Mami. Those are the easy ones… Miss Yui will be harder, and I'm not even sure where to start with Kaede-chan. Perhaps Tori or Maya could get through to her, but I'm not sure."

"Are you suggesting everyone who hasn't been named should figure out how to free Miss Yui?" Sue asks.

"Hmm… I actually think the best person to free Miss Yui is… Miss Felicia," I say. "But I'm not sure if that'll work out, so… we might have to think of someone else. We also need to free Ui if the chance arise, but that might be trickier, so I'll put that off for now. Anyway… on to our second goal. The Magius plan to summon Walpurgisnacht to this city."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Momoko gasps. "How on earth are they even going to do that!?"

"Well, the exact details are unimportant," I say. "I'll give the broad summary though – by hijacking the cell phone towers in Kamihama, they can broadcast a specific frequency that attracts witches, with enough power to reach Walpurgisnacht where she's hiding – which is most likely somewhere out in the open seas. She might even be near Japan right now for all I know. In fact, even if they didn't summon her, I think it's likely that she'd strike Shinriku Prefecture by the end of the month."

"Um… I think I speak for all of us when I say… what is Walpurgisnacht?" Sue asks.

"None of you have heard of her?" I ask.

Everyone except Momoko and Inui shakes their heads, so Momoko decides to take on the role of explaining.

"Walpurgisnacht is a witch," she says. "A legendary witch among magical girls… more terrible than any witch you can imagine."

"She brings disaster and destruction wherever she goes," I add. "She doesn't even hide inside a barrier like most witches. Normal people can't see her, so they just think it's a typhoon or something. If left unchecked, she's capable of levelling an entire city. To be clear, I don't intend to stop the summoning. I intend to stop the plan to make Eve devour her."

"So you're okay with her wreaking havoc across Kamihama?" Momoko asks.

"I'm not okay with it, exactly," I say. "I do mean to contain the damage as much as possible – hopefully we can hold her down in Minaminagi Seaside Park so she doesn't reach the rest of the city. But for me, the plan to summon her is a grand opportunity, because my goal is to finally eliminate her once and for all. And if a few buildings are destroyed in the process, as long as no lives are lost, I don't really care. Buildings can be rebuilt. People can't be. Besides, even if I stopped the summoning, it wouldn't mean there'd be no damage. The damage would just be somewhere else – most likely, in Mitakihara."

"Well, I guess I understand your point of view," Momoko says. "Though I don't fully agree… but I can definitely agree that it would be great to rid the world of Walpurgisnacht."

"I definitely agree with Lita's viewpoint," Coeurl says. "Buildings don't have thoughts and feelings. Anyway, what's the plan, then? When are you expecting the summoning to occur?"

"No later than the twenty-eighth," I say. "Though I'm a little worried that the recent events might convince the Magius to push it up a bit. I'll let you know if it looks like that's happening."

"So you're saying we have about a week," Momoko says "Today's the twenty-third, so exactly five days from now?"

"Right," I say. "Because she's a very powerful witch, I've been talking to every single magical girl I've ever met to ask them to come and help."

Although, now that I think of it, I forgot to mention it to the girls from Matsumiya, didn't I? I suppose I should send them a message after this meeting.

"There will be people coming from Asunaro, Mitakihara, and Hohzuki, and I even managed to convince my friends from America and Paris to join up," I say.

"America? Paris? They're coming so far for just one witch!?" Momoko gasps. "Well, she is supposed to be a really terrible witch, but still…"

"If any of you know people in your hometown who could be convinced to come here on the twenty-eighth, then I'd welcome their support as well," I say.

"Then I'll definitely call in the fire sisters!" Mayoi says.

"Ah… I got an email from Sakuya the other day," Chiyoko muses. "Maybe I can convince her to come…"

"I don't think I'd be able to get any help from Kushimoto," Sue says. "There are a few other magical girls there, but we've never gotten along. They basically attack on sight if I stray out of my designated territory. In fact, I bet they've taken over my territory in my absence… when I go back I'm probably going to have to fight them to regain it."

"I don't really know any other girls from Takarazaki except Miss Tamaki, the Instructor, and Miyu," Kuroe says. "So I don't think I'd be of any help…"

"And the rest of us are from Kamihama in the first place, right?" Maya says.

"Ah, I'm not from Kamihama," Coeurl says. "But I don't have a hometown, so there's no-one for me to contact."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't have a hometown?" Maya asks. "You must've been born somewhere… or are you saying something happened to it?"

"That's a long story that I don't think we should get into right now," I say. "So let me think… should I assign tasks for everyone?"

"If you think there's something that needs doing, then just say the word," Coeurl says. "If you don't have anything in mind, I'll stay low and watch, and perhaps spring into action if it looks like there's an opportunity."

"Well, there are twelve of us if we count Rena," I muse. "I have an assignment for Kuroe, as I previously mentioned… and I'm giving Inui the task of dealing with Sana-chan and Miss Felicia… so that's ten of us left. They brainwashed six people that I know of, so that also leaves three more people to free from the brainwashing. Who here would consider themselves weak?"

"Me, me, pick me!" Inui exclaims.

"Other than you," I retort.

"Um, I think I'm pretty weak," Kuroe says. "I don't really understand why you'd pick me out specifically for an assignment."

"Oh, that's because you know Miss Tamaki," I say.

"Wait, Kuroe-chan, do you know Iroha-chan?" Momoko says.

"Y-yes, though I'm not sure how Lita knew that," Kuroe says. "We used to work together in Takarazaki from time to time…"

"Anyway, that's why I chose you for that assignment," I say.

"But you said the assignment was related to Miss Tomoe," Kuroe says. "What does Miss Tamaki have to do with it?"

"That's easy," I say. "From what I can tell, the two of them are both trapped together in the same place. Therefore, if you find Miss Tamaki, you should also find Miss Tomoe."

"Oh…"

"Anyway, who else would consider themselves weak?" I ask.

"I don't think I'm especially strong, but I don't really think of myself as weak either," Sue says.

"I… I'm probably… pretty weak," Hotori says. "I can barely defeat a witch on my own…"

"I'm pretty weak too," Maya says. "I wouldn't've come here if I thought I could make it alone…"

I wait a bit, but it seems like they're the only ones to respond.

"Alright, then that settles it," I say. "Maya and Tori are in charge of freeing Kaede-chan from the brainwashing."

"Huh!?" Maya and Hotori gasp in unison.

"W-why us?" Maya says. "W-we just said we're weak…"

"Precisely because you're weak," I say. "Don't you think that'd allow you to get through to Kaede-chan better?"

"Lita actually has a point," Momoko says. "I think Kaede still sees herself as weak too… so the two of you might have more in common with her than Rena and I."

"I… I see," Hotori says. "So you're saying… being strong isn't everything… there are things that can only be done by the weak."

"Yeah, exactly," I say. "That's why I despise Touka's magical girl supremacy so much. I hope none of you are buying into that crap."

Several of the listeners shake their heads, and a couple of them, including Momoko and Coeurl, look mystified.

"What do you mean by magical girl supremacy?" Momoko asks.

"The idea that magical girls are inherently superior to humans," I say. "It may sound convincing and logical, because it really is true that magical girls are stronger and faster, have better reflexes, and can use magic, so that makes them superior, right? But that's rubbish, for exactly this reason – some things can only be done by the weak. It's also rubbish because, even if magical girls are superior to humans on many measures, that doesn't mean they're superior on all measures. You have to pick the right person for any given job, and for some jobs, not being a magical girl is a plus."

"I had no idea they were talking about any of that," Coeurl says. "It reminds me of the accounts of how the Edalon treated the allied races… I don't think I could stomach seeing magical girls act like that."

"What on earth are you talking about now, Coeurl?" Momoko asks.

"Ah, that's really not important right now," I say. "But the comparison to Kyuubey is apt. Touka would probably hate it if this was pointed out, but she acts a lot like Kyuubey herself."

"Huh? Who mentioned Kyuubey?" Momoko asks, confused.

"Ah, that would be me," Coeurl says. "Kyuubey was created by the Edalon, after all."

"Wait… Kyuubey was created!?" Momoko gasps.

I sigh. "Coeurl, please try not to casually bring up things that only you know when we're in the middle of an important meeting. It's distracting. Anyway, let's stay on topic. Maya and Tori are in charge of freeing Kaede-chan, though of course Rena and Momoko are welcome to help out as needed. Inui will work with Miss Mifuyu to free Sana-chan and Felicia. Kumi and the Reporter are working on freeing Hozumi Shizuku, so we can disregard her. Those two aren't working with us though, so don't let them in on our plans. They're working to free her because they feel it's wrong to brainwash her, like us, but unlike us they won't be easily convinced to rebel outright against the Magius's plans. So that just leaves Miss Yui… I think I'd like to borrow Maimai and Coeurl for that. Hmm… perhaps Chiyoko too, to be on the safe side."

"Then what about me?" Sue asks. "You haven't assigned me anything."

"I didn't get anything either," Maria says.

"Um… good point," I say. "If I recall correctly, Sue was a healer, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Sue says.

"I'm a healer too, actually," Maria says. "Though I wasn't assigned to the healing division here… I'm actually on rumour guard duty, but I don't currently have a target to guard since Miss Izumi destroyed it."

"Ah, right," I say. "Maria, could I ask you to work with Miss Izumi and Miss Tokiwa to gather support from the magical girls of Kamihama? Tell them to keep quiet about it, but say you heard the Wings of the Magius are planning something awful and you want to stop it. I'll talk to Miss Izumi and Miss Tokiwa about it myself so they're not caught off-balance when you show up. I'll also email you a bit more info about who to avoid later, as you might not know everyone who's in the Wings of the Magius."

Maria nods. "Yes, I think I can manage that," she says.

"And speaking of which… Tori, could you do the same thing? There are three magical girls at St Lilliana's – Irina Kusch, Aoba Chika, and Chihiro Karen. All three of them know me, so just bring up my name and they should listen to what you have to say. Be careful though, because Touka also attends St Lilliana's. It should be fine to run into her since you're a student there too – just don't let her overhear what you're saying."

"A-alright… I'll try," Hotori says. "Huh? But how did you know I was a student there…? Ah! Did onee-san tell you…?"

I ignore her question and move on to the next subject.

"And Sue… for now, how about you join me in freeing Miss Yui?" I suggest. "I imagine it could be useful to have a healer around, as I'm expecting a fight."

"Okay, that sounds good," Sue says.

"Okay, then the last order of this meeting is the details of Kuroe's task," I say. "Kuroe, there are basically two things you need to accomplish. First, you need to find Miss Tomoe and Miss Tamaki. Then you need to free them both and release Miss Tomoe from the brainwashing. However, this is not as simple as it sounds, and you won't be able to do it alone, unless you think you can empathize with Miss Tomoe on a primal level."

Kuroe shakes her head violently.

"N-no, I don't think I could manage that!" she says.

"Which is why, you'll be working with Miss Nanami," I say.

"With Yachiyo!?" Momoko gasps.

"W-w-what!?" Kuroe gasps. "S-she'd never…!"

"But she has a common goal with you, does she not?" I point out. "You want to find Miss Tomoe, and she wants to find Miss Tamaki, and the two of them are in the same place."

"I… I guess you have a point…?" Kuroe admits.

"Next, I think I have some idea where the two of them might be," I say. "Seek out the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura. Miss Tamaki possesses a strong link to that rumour, so even in her current state, dominated by her own doppel, I think it's very likely that she'll be drawn there. Perhaps the rumour itself will even draw her in for her own protection."

"D-d-dominated by her doppel!?" Kuroe gasps. "T-that can happen!?"

"It certainly can," I say. "You'll need to enter into her doppel's labyrinth and fight it back, much like a witch. But don't forget that Miss Tomoe is in there too, and she's dominated by a rumour. So, I recommend aiming to defeat Miss Tomoe first, and only then free Miss Tamaki. The key to freeing Miss Tomoe from the rumour's control is Miss Nanami's connect skill."

Kuroe nods. "O-okay, and um… how should I… make contact with Miss Nanami?" she asks.

"However you see fit," I say. "As we speak, I'm sure she's frantically trying to find any clue that might lead her to the whereabouts of either Miss Tamaki or our base. It shouldn't be too hard to make contact. And one more thing – if you see the little Kyuubey, it might be a good idea to follow it."

"R-right, okay," Kuroe says. "Um… should I go right now…?"

"Um… maybe it's better to wait a bit for her to calm down a little," I say. "If you run into her now, I think she's liable to beat you into a pulp."

"R-right, then I'll go tomorrow afternoon or something," Kuroe says.

"If I see her tomorrow, I'll also mention the Eternal Sakura to her," I say. "I'll let everyone know when the next meeting is – I'm working out a plan, but it's not completely solidified yet."

"Right, so it sounds like we all have things to do," Momoko says. "In which case, I should go check on Kaede. Maya and Tori, feel free to join me."

"Y-yes!" Hotori says.

"Alright!" Maya says.

"I guess I'll be going too," Kuroe says.

"I'll start contacting those two magical girls you mentioned tomorrow morning," Maria says. "For now, I'm going to head home and sleep."

So the five of them head off, leaving me with just Inui and the team I chose for dealing with Tsuruno.

"Um, so are we doing it now, or…?" Maimai says.

I briefly check in on Sana and the others. They're in a lounge-like room, sleeping on the couches.

"We probably shouldn't wake Felicia and the others," I say. "They seem to be asleep right now. I don't think anything will happen to the three of them until tomorrow… and I'll be on rumour watch tomorrow morning, so let's meet up after lunch. Do you know Ferris Wheel Park?"

"Ah, the park across the river with an old, broken ferris wheel?" Mayoi says. "I thought that was interesting… why is there a ferris wheel out there in the middle of nowhere?"

"I heard there were plans to build a theme park there, but they never got off the ground," I say. "So rather than broken, it might actually be an unfinished ferris wheel. Anyway, let's meet there tomorrow, at say, one o'clock? I might change the time though, so keep an eye on your email."

"Okay," Mayoi says. "I'll be sure to be there!"

And with that, the four of them head off, and I follow them with Inui. The two of us briefly stop by the Coordinator's office to return Mitama's umbrella, then return to Fendt Hope via the Minaminagi Seaside Park entrance. Once we've returned to our room at Fendt Hope, I settle down to compose some emails. First is one to Maria.

[Hello Maria, as promised I'm going to give you some information on who not to speak to about our plans. There's no need to cover Hokuyo Ward – that's why I mentioned the three magical girls of St Lilliana's earlier. In Daito Ward, you should only speak to at most Izumi Kanagi, Mao Himika, Yakumo Mikage, and the trio from the Daito Apartment Complex – Aino Mito, Kumi Seika, Ibuki Leila. In Kosho Ward, I believe the only magical girls who didn't join the Wings of the Magius are Chiaki Riko, Mizuki Rui, Kirino Sae, and Yayoi Kanoko. In the West, you should avoid talking to Akatsuki Tsukuyo, Nanase Yukika, Makino Ikumi, Yuuki Yumi, or Megumi Moka, as they are all in the Wings of the Magius. Oh, and one more thing – you may need to explain the truth about magical girls and the true goals of the Wings of the Magius.]

Then I start composing a message to Kanagi.

[Hello, Miss Izumi. I haven't heard anything from you directly, but I hear you've still been destroying rumours. I have information for you, however – two things, actually. The first is I discovered the Wings of the Magius recently started to use brainwashing to recruit new members. The second is that they are planning to summon Walpurgisnacht to this city. In fact, I was hoping I could count on your help to bring them and the witch down. If you agree, I'll share the plan.]

And a similar message to Nanaka.

[Hello, Miss Tokiwa. This is Ashley Taylor. Sorry for the sudden email – I got it from Miss Matsuri, because I wanted to ask you for a favour. Have you heard of the Wings of the Magius? You've already run into two of the creatures they created, referred to as rumours, and I believe you may remember that I was a member of the organization. You can ask Miss Yakumo for the details of what they do and why – they do have a noble goal, which is part of why I joined – but for now I'll restrict myself to covering the bad things. One: recently, they have started to use brainwashing to recruit new members. Two: they plan to summon Walpurgisnacht to this city. If you're willing to help me bring them and the witch down, let me know and I'll share the plan.]

I also compose a message to Oriko.

[Hello. Could I request a quick prediction of when and where Walpurgisnacht will show up? Thanks.]

Then I send a message to Hoshiko, adding Kotone and Mayumi to the CC.

[Hello. I was just wondering if you might have time to come here to Kamihama on the twenty-eighth. A terrible witch known as Walpurgisnacht will appear here on that date, and I believe the more girls I can gather to fight her, the better. If you can't make it, however, don't worry about it. I've already gathered quite a few girls.]

Then I compose a message to Aoba Chika.

[Hello, Miss Chika. I'm not sure if you'll recognize this email address, but I'm Ashley Taylor. There is a girl at your school named Yuzuki Hotori who will probably seek you out on Monday. I'd like to ask you to listen to what she says and act as you see fit.]

I also send a similar message, almost cut-and-paste with the exception of the one sentence about my email, to Chihiro Karen.

After that, I check some of my unread messages from the last few days. There's a response from the François sisters saying they'll arrive on the twenty-seventh at six o'clock in the morning, local time, so I respond saying that I probably won't be able to meet them at the airport but will see if I can find someone else to meet them in my place. There's also a response from Sarra saying that the four of them will arrive on the twenty-seventh at eight o'clock in the evening, so I promise to meet them there. I also find an email from Hijiri saying that the communicators I requested are ready, so I respond asking her to drop them off with Inui tomorrow morning. If we're careening onto the anime path, we may not have a use for them, but… even with several things heading in that direction, it doesn't feel like we've been completely diverted from the game's version of events.

And lastly, there's an email from Madoka detailing what happened during their trip to Kamihama, from her perspective. I read through it carefully, looking for anything that might have changed from the last timeline. Hitomi's presence resulted in some minor differences, but up until they arrived at the Memory Museum, the events were basically unchanged. It was Hitomi rather than Nagisa that created an opening for Sayaka to get past the feathers, however. Then, after the battle, they all left the Memory Museum together, and although they discussed the events amongst themselves, somehow the truth of the soul gem never came up – so, Sayaka and Hitomi know about turning into witches, but not that the soul gem is their literal soul, assuming Madoka didn't share it with them earlier.

---

In the morning, I first check my email to see if there's any responses. To my surprise, nearly everyone has replied already. I check Nanaka's response first.

[If what you describe is true, about brainwashing people and summoning Walpurgisnacht, then I will listen to your plan. I will be speaking with Miss Yakumo this morning to learn more about these Wings of the Magius and their goals. If she confirms at least part of what you've said, then you can count on my cooperation.]

Then I check Kanagi's response.

[So they have crossed a line. I suppose it's time for me to step up my resistance to them. Very well, I will take your gamble. Show me your plan, and if it seems like it will work, then I will help you.]

So I compose a lengthy response to Kanagi and add Nanaka to the CC.

[Simply put, my plan is to strike directly at their base and destroy it. This might sound crazy, and frankly, it probably is. But let me explain the situation in some detail.

First of all, the base of the Wings of the Magius is a rumour known as Hotel Fendt Hope. Since it's a rumour, they're able to easily alter the building with magic, and can interfere with telepathy. So, fighting on their home turf is a clear disadvantage, and given that they have around a hundred members, even considering that many of them are on the weaker side, it would probably be suicidal to simply charge right in. Additionally, they can move the entrance around, making it almost impossible to locate if you're not in the know.

However, due to their plans for summoning Walpurgisnacht, I'm expecting them to soon send most of their forces out into the city, leaving behind just a skeleton crew to defend the base. They believe their base to be well-hidden, so we can take advantage of the element of surprise. Furthermore, the twelve dissidents I've gathered can attack from within to sow confusion among the ranks. Perhaps it'll be even more than twelve by that time. In other words, if all goes to plan, the base will be virtually undefended save for the rumour itself. It's a very strong rumour however, which is why we still need as many magical girls as possible. I'm also going to ask a few friends from other towns to come and help, but the more the better.

That's why, I'd like the support of the magical girls from across Kamihama. The two of you are, as I understand, well-respected among the magical girl community here, so I'm asking you to convince as many as you can to join the attack while trying not to let the Wings of the Magius catch wind of what's happening. I've asked Yuki Maria, one of the dissidents working with me, to coordinate with you on this. She has a list of local magical girls to avoid on the west half of the city, as they've joined the Wings of the Magius. For the east half, since most of the girls there have joined up, I instead gave her a shortlist of the few magical girls who I know of who haven't joined.

You can also talk to Yakumo Mitama, as she knows a lot more about the organization than she's been letting on. I'm not sure if you'd be able to convince her to break her neutrality and reveal secrets of the Wings of the Magius, but even if you can't, I'm sure there are some things she'd be open to telling you.

Please keep me updated on how things go. I'll be busy most of the day today, but I'll try to pay attention to my notifications.]

From Chika and Karen, there's a simple assurance that they'll listen to Hotori, and from Hijiri, I get a time and place to meet, at one of the train stations. Then there's a message from Kotone.

[Actually, we were planning to come to Kamihama anyway on the twenty-ninth, for our flight to Tokyo the following day. It shouldn't be an issue to go a day earlier. However, if we leave right after school, we probably won't arrive until around seven-thirty or eight o'clock. Will that still be alright?]

Finally, there's a message from Oriko.

[I see Walpurgisnacht ravaging southwestern Kamihama, around where the wind farms are. Most of the turbines are torn up, knocked down, or mangled. The time is… probably about four or five days from now. There are a total of twelve magical girls fighting it, including Miss Kaname, Miss Akemi, Miss Sakura, and myself.]

Huh? The wind farms? If I recall correctly, that would be the extreme west of Minaminagi Ward, right where it borders on Shinsei Ward. That's quite a distance from Minaminagi Seaside Park and much further west than I'd expected. It's also pretty close to Mitama's shop. That's not great, to say the least, but I guess I can work with it. Slightly more concerning is the fact that she only sees her team and the Holy Brigade fighting. I think that adds up, at least? The Holy Brigade is eight if Kyouko and Yuma are included, and Oriko has four team members, so yes, it does add up. But maybe she glimpsed an early stage of the battle, and others show up later. Hopefully that's all it is.

After breakfast, I send Inui to pick up the communicators from Hijiri at the train station, and then I head for the rumour watch location with Chiyoko. I find Tomomi and Manatsu already there when I arrive. Once I've settled down, I open a vision to see what Yachiyo is up to.

---

She's in her house, sitting on the couch with the lights off, apparently brooding. The Rumour Files are open on the table before her, but she's not even looking at them. Perhaps she's just deep in thought? Even though there are shafts of light coming in through the windows, they don't quite reach her, so she's shrouded in relative darkness… not to the extent that she would be if it were dark outside, but still.

After a minute or two, there's a knock on the door, but she ignores it. Then it comes again. And a third time. Finally, whoever was knocking apparently decides to just try the door and finds it to be unlocked. The girl who enters is someone completely outside my expectations – Haruna Konomi.

"Hello!" she calls. "Are you home? Miss Nanami? The door was unlocked, and it's kind of urgent, so…"

She kicks her shoes off and steps forward towards the couches, then gasps as she spots Yachiyo silently brooding.

"W-whoa!?" she gasps. "If you were there, why didn't you answer!?"

Yachiyo opens her eyes and shoots her a glare.

"What on earth do you want?" she asks irritably.

"Ah, um, it's about Kaede-chan," Konomi says.

Yachiyo blinks. "Huh? Miss… Haruna, was it? Is there something wrong with Kaede?"

"Well… I went to her house last night to return something, but she wasn't there," Konomi says. "Her mother said she hadn't been home all day… so this morning I thought I'd ask Miss Momoko about it, but I couldn't find her either… so then I came to you. Do you have any idea what's going on…?"

"Momoko is missing too?" Yachiyo says. "This is the first I've heard of it… I haven't seen her since the Séance Shrine…"

Konomi tilts her head. "The… what shrine? I don't remember any shrine by that name in Kamihama… speaking of which, I happened to hear that Miss Tsuruno had disappeared too… and even Kako-chan was absent on Thursday. She said something about a rumour that came to life… but it's weird that there've been a lot of people going missing lately, don't you think?"

"A rumour?" Yachiyo says. "It's true that rumours have been coming to life lately in Kamihama…"

"Oh my, are you serious!?" Konomi gasps. "Then that really happened?"

"Did… Miss Kako…? Did she mention anything about the rumour she encountered?" Yachiyo asks.

"Um… I think she said something about a ripper girl?" Konomi says. "I didn't get what she meant…"

Yachiyo reaches for her file and flips to the index, then locates the entry for the ripper girl rumour.

"Yes, that one's in here," she says. "I hadn't gotten around to verifying it yet… so it really exists? It had some contradictory elements, apparently…"

"Um, Kako-chan said it was defeated though, whatever that means," Konomi says. "Her team and several other magical girls worked together… huh? Wait, does that binder have information on all the rumours in Kamihama!?"

Yachiyo nods. "Every one I could find," she says. "I've categorized them by type and indexed them… some of them show up anywhere under certain conditions… some only show up at a specific place…"

"And… all of them have come to life?" Konomi says.

"There are some that I haven't verified yet," Yachiyo says. "But for the most part, yes."

"And… they're responsible for people going missing?" Konomi says.

"Yes, some of them have abducted people," Yachiyo says. "The Rumour of the Infinite Hospital Bed, the Rumour of the Rule of Ending Friendships, and the Rumour of the Séance Shrine all abducted people."

"Then do you think Kaede-chan might've been taken by a rumour!?" Konomi says.

"Well… it's certainly a possibility," Yachiyo says. "But she was already abducted by one once before, so I would think she'd be more prepared if she encountered one a second time."

"Say, Miss Nanami… do you mind if I take a look at that binder?" Konomi asks.

Yachiyo blinks, considering the question.

"Well… I suppose it can't hurt," she says finally. "As for me, I'm going to have breakfast. I can't think straight on an empty stomach. Would you like something?"

"Oh, I've already eaten, so you go right ahead, Miss Nanami," Konomi says.

She sets the binder back down on the table and gets up to flick the lights on, then heads into the kitchen to have breakfast. Konomi takes a seat where she'd been sitting and starts flipping through the binder. She doesn't seem to be reading the rumours in detail, just scanning them quickly. After a minute or two, she raises her voice.

"Miss Nanami, do you have a map of Kamihama somewhere?"

"Yes, on the shelf right behind you!"

Konomi hops up and locates it, spreading it out on the table, and flips back to the start of the binder. She then starts marking down the location of every rumour that has one, as well as writing the names of several rumours on a separate list. By the time Yachiyo has finished her breakfast, she's already frowning at a map pretty similar to the one Yachiyo and Iroha annotated in the previous timeline, though it seems to have different logic behind the choice of colours. Yachiyo blinks at it as she re-enters the living room.

"Huh? What on earth have you been doing?" Yachiyo asks.

"I noticed so many of the rumours in your file have a location noted," Konomi says. "So I wondered what it would look like if they were all marked on the map, and… well… this is the result. There really are a lot of them, aren't there?"

"Why are they different colours?" Yachiyo asks.

"Well, not all the rumours abduct people," Konomi explains. "The red crosses are rumours that are explicitly said to abduct people in the text of the rumour. Orange crosses are ones with ambiguous text that could be interpreted to mean they abduct people. Green crosses are said to do other things instead of abducting people, such as bringing bad luck. Yellow crosses are ones that don't have enough information to determine whether they abduct people."

She brandishes the list she wrote. Among others, it includes the Peeping Castle Town, the Headless Bike Gang, and… the Puzzle Tile Lock. The first two are annotated as red and the third as orange. The other two rumours that Yachiyo and Iroha destroyed in their rampage in the game, the Fashion Monster and the Fireman's Mound, don't appear to be included on the list.

"And this here is a list of all the red and orange rumours," she says. "So I thought I'd try checking them all out to see if I can find Kaede-chan."

That explains why two of the expected rumours are missing from her list. As far as I know, the Fireman's Mound only scared people, and the Fashion Monster just stripped off their clothes.

"I see," Yachiyo says. "If Kaede was taken by a rumour, that certainly does sound like it would be an effective way to find her… but I don't think it'll help me find Miss Tamaki…"

"Miss Tamaki? Isn't that the transfer student in Rena's class?" Konomi says. "What does she have to do with this? Is she missing too?"

"Sort of," Yachiyo says. "But it wasn't a rumour… I saw her disappear, right in front of me…"

"Oh… do you have any leads?" Konomi asks.

"The only thing I can think of… is to smash as many rumours as possible and interrogate the magical girls who guard them," Yachiyo says.

"Huh? Magical girls are guarding them?" Konomi says. "Why on earth… but no, that's not important. If you're going after rumours, and I'm going after rumours, then how about we work together for now, Miss Nanami?"

"I prefer to work alone," Yachiyo says. "Although… perhaps I can make an exception, just this once."

"Great!" Konomi says. "Then I'll be in your care for today, Miss Nanami!"

Yachiyo sighs. "I just hope I don't regret this decision…"

---

So in the end, it looks like things are going to go pretty similarly to the last timeline, except with Konomi strangely substituting for Iroha as Yachiyo's partner. It really is a strange partnership – I don't think the two of them had any prior relationship before this. Clearly they were at least aware of each other, and the chain of events that brought Konomi to Yachiyo's door seem to make sense, but to see them working together is actually quite strange.

I watch as they rampage around the city. Yachiyo attacks any feather she sees on sight, beating them up and interrogating them to no avail. None of them are willing to give up any information. I even recognize a couple of the feathers she beats up, including Sal and Amu. She and Konomi destroy the rumours of the Peeping Castle Town, Headless Bike Gang, and two others I've never even heard of before. Finally, they come for the Puzzle Tile Lock. Unlike last time, they encounter Miyako Hinano outside the rumour while they're working to align all the manhole covers.

"Looks like there's three of them this time," Inui says. "But… Iro-iro isn't there, huh? I guess you said she's at the Eternal Sakura… but who even is that? I think I saw her at the battle, but I don't remember her name…"

"That's Haruna Konomi, who works at a flower shop near Crescent Moon Villa," I say. "It's actually pretty strange for her to be working with Miss Nanami, as they don't really have a relationship… but apparently she was worried about Kaede-chan, and couldn't get in touch with Miss Togame, so Miss Nanami was her next bet, and somehow they ended up working together."

"Huh," Inui says. "Isn't it strange how things can be railroaded back onto the plot even when the circumstances have been drastically altered?"

"It is strange," I agree. "I wish I knew why it was happening. There has to be some sort of explanation for it… it can't just be pure chance, surely?"

"Well, yeah, I think I'd agree," Inui says. "But I guess now's not the time to think about that. It looks like they're just about to unlock the rumour, so let's get going!"

«Everyone, let's head inside,» I say.

Some of the team were watching from a different vantage point, so I need telepathy to contact them all. We all hop down and follow the three magical girls into the rumour's labyrinth. As we enter, Yachiyo smashes through an axe trap, which triggers the appearance of the rumour's familiars, shooting arrows from their mouth.

"Oh my!" Konomi gasps. "There are so many of them…"

"I should be able to take care of most of them with my gas, so I recommend standing back," Hinano says.

"It looks like we have company, too," Yachiyo says, glancing back at us.

"Well, so much for the surprise attack," I say.

While Hinano unleashes her gas upon the familiars, Yachiyo and Konomi turn to face me.

"White robes," Konomi says. "Does that mean you're a higher rank or something? All the other girls we saw were wearing black robes."

"Yeah, I'm the team leader," I say.

"I'm only going to ask this once," Yachiyo says. "What have you done with Tsuruno and the others? Where is your base? What happened to Iroha?"

I tilt my head. "Maybe I'll consider answering some of your questions if you can defeat both us and the rumour," I say.

"Oh?" Yachiyo says. "You seem more talkative than the others… they all refused to say a single thing."

"Maybe she knows more because she's a higher rank?" Konomi suggests.

I shrug. "Well, I have my reasons, but for now, I suppose we'd better get this fight started. Everyone… attack!"

"No hesitation at all!?" Konomi gasps. "Alright, then I won't hold back either!"

I whip out my chains, the ones with blades attached that most of the white feathers use, and swipe at Konomi, who blocks the blades with her pruning shears. The black feathers join in the fight as well, and Yachiyo steps back, swatting chains aside with her halberd.

"Are you just leaving me to do this on my own!?" Hinano complains.

"You can make things explode, can't you?" Yachiyo says. "So aren't you the perfect one for the job?"

"Ugh… I can't deny the logic in that," Hinano complains. "I can't, but… there really are a lot of familiars!"

There's no room for Konomi and Yachiyo to do much more than defend. They manage to get a few attacks in here and there, but whenever they knock one of us down, someone else jumps in to take her place – an advantage of having greater numbers in such an enclosed space. That then gives the injured girl time to recover so she can rejoin the fight later on.

Hinano, on the other hand, is actually doing really well against the rumour's familiars. Like Yachiyo said, her ability to cause explosions allows her to progress even faster than Yachiyo and Iroha were able to in the previous timeline.

Before long, we find ourselves in the rumour's central chamber, looking up at the main rumour. The more open space means we would sacrifice our advantage if we stepped out, yet we have no choice but to do so if we're to keep the battle going – if we insist on staying holed up in the corridor, Yachiyo and her companions can easily just keep their distance.

Before I can decide how to handle the situation, however, I notice the state of Konomi's soul gem and let out a little gasp. It's almost filled up with grief.

"By the way," I say. "I don't suppose any of you happen to have a grief seed?"

"I only have one now," Yachiyo says.

"I just used my last one a few minutes ago," Hinano says.

"I don't have one either," Konomi says. "Why do you ask…?"

"Well… no reason in particular," I say.

Then my goal is clear. I need to take Konomi out of the fight before she gets a chance to unleash her doppel.

«Everyone, focus your attacks on Miss Nanami. Keep her away from the pruning shear girl. Don't worry too much about Miss Miyako, but do try to distract her from attacking the rumour if you see an opportunity. If you do end up fighting her, beware her poison gas attacks.»

The black feathers follow my instructions, startling Yachiyo as they charge out from the corridor. Meanwhile, I step up to face off against Konomi, the goal being to knock her out. To that end, instead of relying on my chain techniques, I summon Teddy Mk II above her head and attempt to stomp on her, but she gasps and throws herself aside. While she's still on the ground, I pull out my sword and swing down at her, using the flat of the blade, but she gets her pruning shears up just in time. Pushing back against my sword, she manages to get back on her feet.

"That sword… no way," she says. "You've been holding back this whole time, haven't you!?"

"I suppose you could say that," I say.

I take a step back and summon five Teddy Drones, arranging them in a circle and directing them to fire at the floor, which should have forced her to dance in place, but she stabs her pruning shears into the ground and leaps onto the handles, taking out two of the drones in a single kick. I pull back the remaining three and instruct them to join up with Teddy Mk II to charge the charm beam, while stepping forward to engage her with my sword. I try once again to smack her on the head with the flat of the blade, but she blocks with her shears again.

"Is there a reason you're only using the flat of your blade?" she asks.

"Well, yes."

"You don't want to hurt me?"

"No, actually my aim is to hurt you, if you must know. I'm sure it would hurt to get clobbered by this blade, even with the flat."

"You do have a point there," she says.

I step back, wait for her to lower her shears a little, then fire the charm beam and step back in to clobber her… but to my surprise, it seems the charm has absolutely no effect on her, and she raises the shears to block as if it had never happened.

"Was that attack supposed to do something?" she asks.

"It was, but it looks like you resisted," I say.

"Well, I guess it's about time for me to stop holding back too," Konomi says. "Bouquet of roses!"

Her magic summons a large quantity of carefully cut roses, but without the thorns removed. It seems that the thorns are the point of the attack – the roses spin and fly in all directions, the thorns stabbing and scratching anyone who gets in their path. But the use of magic is also the final straw that overloads her soul gem. With a gasp, Konomi collapses to one knee. If I recall correctly, the nature of Konomi's doppel is similar to Kaede's and Alina's, in that it takes the form of a plague of sorts that infects everything it touches, so I warn my allies to stay back.

«Feathers, stay clear of the flower girl,» I say. «She's about to unleash her doppel. Make sure none of the white fluff comes anywhere near you, even if you need to use your unique magic to avoid it.»

While Konomi and I were duking it out, apparently Yachiyo was keeping the black feathers busy enough that Hinano was able to focus on fighting the main rumour itself. However, she doesn't appear to have made any real progress against it. I'm not sure if it's because the black feathers were able to periodically distract her or because her explosions just aren't as effective against the main rumour.

Everything changes in the next few seconds.

A massive growth of strange plant life erupts from Konomi's back, composed of moss, flowers, and even dirt, with many thorny protrusions. It forms into a giant wreath behind her, about three times her own height. Witch runes spell out the doppel's name, Heidesommer. Somehow, unlike most people who unleash a doppel for the first time, she manages to remain conscious.

"W-what… what… on earth… is happening!?" she gasps.

The wreath convulses, releasing a cloud of white fluff, similar to dandelion seeds. It floats over towards the main rumour, and the moment the cloud touches it, the seeds expand roots and work their way into the cracks, covering the rumour in plant life. Even as the plants grow, rust visibly spreads over the rumour's surface, and the roots take advantage of this weakness to crack the whole thing open and spread inside. Even the rope barrier surrounding the rumour instantly rots as the roots touch it.

"T-this… is that… my power?" Konomi gasps. "No… it's too… scary…"

Yachiyo and Hinano have the sense to maintain their distance as Heidesommer utterly wrecks the rumour. The black feathers also keep their distance like I instructed.

"What on earth is this?" Hinano asks. "It's like she turned into a witch, but not completely… is that even possible!?"

"It's possible in Kamihama," I say. "Didn't it happen to you too, Miss Miyako? I heard it from Miss Yakumo. Apparently you unleashed a doppel while visiting her."

"Doppel…? Is that what it's called?" Hinano says. "I don't remember that, but… I do remember waking up at her place recently after blacking out in a witch's labyrinth… so I guess that could have happened…"

As the rumour's barrier collapses, the doppel also runs out of steam, retreating back into Konomi's body. She tries to get to her feet, but apparently she's too weak to stand. I transmit a message to the other feathers, then address Yachiyo and her two companions.

«Since the rumour's defeated, you're all dismissed… feel free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day. You can stay if you want, or go have some fun, or whatever.»

With the exception of Inui and, for some reason, Chiyoko, all the black feathers under my command head off.

"Well… I guess you've beaten it," I say. "But I changed my mind. I'm not going to answer your questions. I'll just give you a few pieces of information that you may or may not find interesting."

"Let's hear them," Yachiyo says. "After that I'll decide whether to beat you up like all the others."

"First. The Wings of the Magius plan to summon Walpurgisnacht to this city."

"Y-you can't be serious!" Hinano gasps.

"Have they gone utterly insane!?" Yachiyo gasps.

"Maybe, maybe not," I say. "By the way, I've already told Miss Tokiwa and Miss Izumi about that. Now for two. While I don't know for sure where Miss Tamaki is, I think you should be able to find her by seeking out the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura."

"The Rumour of the Eternal Sakura?" Yachiyo says. "I haven't heard of that one before, though."

"I'll give you a hint, since it's not being spread," I say. "It's in a place where there are few if any other rumours. Also, keep in mind the name."

"Eternal Sakura… if it's about a cherry tree, it could be almost anywhere in town," Yachiyo muses. "But eternal… that suggests a very old, very large tree, so it's more likely to be in a less built-up area…? Which means Hokuyo Ward is a likely bet…"

"Three," I continue. "Miss Futaba, Miss Felicia, and Miss Yui are all safe. They're under Miss Mifuyu's care, so you can rest assured they'll be fine, unless the Magius themselves pull something. Kaede-chan is safe too. Oh, and Miss Togame and Miss Minami as well. Please, don't worry about them."

"What do you mean by safe?" Konomi asks.

Apparently she managed to get her strength back and stand up while I was talking.

"They haven't been abducted by a rumour," I say. "The first four were brainwashed by the Rumour of the Memory Museum. Miss Togame and Miss Minami are keeping an eye on Kaede-chan out of worry."

"Kaede was brainwashed too?" Yachiyo says. "But the Memory Museum was destroyed…"

"She was brainwashed before the other three," I say. "By the way, Miss Hozumi was brainwashed too."

"Oh…"

"Fourth… Miss Nanami, please save Miss Tomoe. I believe you're the only one other than Miss Sakura who could free her from the rumour's control. Hopefully, she's still with Miss Tamaki. Try to use your connect skill with her when you see her."

Yachiyo blinks. "How did you know they were together?"

"Have you already forgotten what my power is?" I ask

"Oh," Yachiyo says. "I thought your voice seemed familiar. You're Ashley Taylor, aren't you?"

"That's right," I say. "Now, the last thing I'll say… I wasn't lying to Miss Tamaki about Ui-chan. If you don't believe me, then ask Miss Futaba the next time you see her."

"How could she be a member of the Wings of the Magius, yet neither a feather nor one of the Magius?" Yachiyo asks.

"It's quite the riddle, isn't it?" I say. "If you can't figure it out, I'll explain it when I see you at Hotel Fendt Hope. I'll be sending Miss Izumi and Miss Tokiwa the location in a couple of days, so I hope to see you and Miss Tamaki there too."

"You… you're not actually working with the Wings of the Magius at all, are you?" Yachiyo says. "You're playing along with them so you can get inside and tear them down?"

"Hmm… well, I'll leave that up to your interpretation," I say. "See you later, Miss Nanami, Miss Miyako, Miss Haruna. Oh, Miss Haruna, I recommend getting a checkup from Miss Yakumo. Tell her you unleashed a doppel, and she'll know what to do. Maybe she'll even do it free of charge, if you're lucky… though I wouldn't count on it."

"R-right," Konomi says. "Okay then… wait, are you saying Miss Mitama knows what a doppel is?"

"Why wouldn't she?" I ask. "Did you think the feathers and the Magius wouldn't go to her for a tune-up?"

"Ah… I see your point," Konomi says.

"But…" Yachiyo begins.

However, I ignore whatever she's going to say next, instead turning to walk off.

"Remember, the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura!" I say. "Oh, and Miss Miyako, do me a favour and give your used grief seed to Isuzu Ren instead of Miss Yakumo."

"I was going to do that anyway!" Hinano calls after me.

As I round a corner, I open a vision to listen in on their reactions.

"I can't believe they're summoning Walpurgisnacht," Hinano says. "What on earth could possess them to do such a thing?"

"If I recall correctly, Walpurgisnacht is the name of a witch, right?" Konomi says. "A really terrible witch?"

"That's right," Hinano says. "Perhaps the worst witch in history. If she comes to Kamihama, the city won't get off unharmed. She's like a natural disaster… a typhoon, or a tsunami, that sort of thing."

"Then… we have to stop them somehow!" Konomi says.

"It sounds like that girl… Miss Taylor is already planning to stop them," Hinano muses. "Perhaps we should speak with Miss Tokiwa about this…"

"It's a relief that Kaede-chan is safe," Konomi says. "But worrying that she's apparently been brainwashed… still, at least she's safe?"

"By the way, Miss Miyako… what was that about Isuzu Ren?" Yachiyo asks. "Why would you give her your used grief seed?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Hinano says. "Her magic power can obliterate a grief seed completely. There's no need for Kyuubey as long as we have her around."

"Oh… I had no idea," Yachiyo says.

"So, what are you going to do, Miss Nanami?" Konomi asks. "Will you come to the Coordinator's with us?"

Yachiyo shakes her head. "I'm going to see if I can find the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura," she says. "For that… I suppose I'll have to give Kanagi a call. The map you annotated was brilliant, but the entire east half of Kamihama is unaccounted for. I'm sure Kanagi will be able to fill it in for me, and perhaps that'll give me another clue to the location of the Eternal Sakura."

"Ah, you're welcome," Konomi says. "I'm glad I was able to be of help to you. In that case, I suppose I'll see you later, Miss Nanami."

They split up, with Yachiyo heading back to her place while the other two make for the Coordinator's. I choose to split the vision and follow both, but I focus on the Coordinator's side. Meanwhile, I myself head for Fendt Hope to retire to my room with Inui. Chiyoko accompanies me and apparently decides to wait in the third floor lounge for the time being.

---

After some travel time, Hinano and Konomi enter the Coordinator's shop, where they find Nanaka and Maria already there.

"Oh, this is an unusual combination," Mitama says. "Miss Hinano and Konomi-chan… I don't often see the two of you together."

"Well, we ran into each other by chance," Konomi says. "I was investigating rumours with Miss Nanami in search of Kaede-chan, and Miss Miyako just happened to be there."

"Oh?" Mitama says. "Have you joined Yachiyo's search for rumours, then?"

"Well, not really," Konomi says. "I was just worried about Kaede-chan, but someone said she's safe, so now I'm a little relieved…"

"Well, I can confirm that Kaede-chan is safe," Mitama says. "At least, she was fine last time I saw her, and I left her with Miss Mifuyu, so I don't think she'd be in any danger."

"Also, apparently I unleashed something called a doppel?" Konomi says. "Though I'd never heard of it before today…"

"Oh my!" Mitama says. "You unleashed a doppel? I'd better give you a checkup then… just this once, it'll be on the house!"

"O-oh, really?" Konomi gasps. "Thank you very much!"

"Before you get started on that," Hinano says. "Miss Tokiwa… could I ask what brings you here?"

"Ah, very well," Nanaka speaks up. "I came to hear about the Wings of the Magius from Miss Yakumo. What she has been telling me is… quite interesting, to say the least. The origin of witches, for example…"

Hinano blinks. "She told you that!? And you seem completely unfazed by it…"

"It is a long story," Nanaka says. "I suspected from the moment I contracted that Sir Kyuubey had not been entirely honest with us. So, you could say I had prepared myself for the worst… the truth, in comparison, is actually quite tame. It did not hit me all at once, however. Over time, I slowly learned various unsettling truths about the soul gem, the most recent being just two days ago. The only new information I learned today from Miss Yakumo was about Sir Kyuubey's motivations in designing such a system."

"Um… what exactly are you talking about?" Konomi asks.

The others look at her for a few moments, and then Mitama sighs.

"I suppose it would be unfair to leave just you out of the loop," she says. "Especially since you've unleashed your doppel already. However, Konomi-chan, you might want to sit down first."

"O-okay," Konomi says.

She allows Mitama to usher her into an armchair.

"The truths that Nanaka is alluding to are things that Kyuubey usually neglects to tell new magical girls," Mitama explains. "First, there is the nature of the soul gem. As the name implies, it is in fact your soul. If it breaks, you will die. If you're separated from it, you cannot function until someone else reunites the soul and body."

Konomi transforms her soul into gem form and looks at it.

"S-so you're saying… technically, this little gem is actually me," she says. "This body is… something like a puppet?"

Mitama nods. "You catch on fast," she says. "The second truth is that when the soul gem becomes completely clouded, it transforms into a grief seed and a new witch is born."

"Huh?" Konomi says. "But I unleashed a doppel instead… what does that mean…?"

"That's because in Kamihama there is something called the automatic purification system," Mitama explains. "It's a system designed and built by the Wings of the Magius that purifies your soul gem in the instant before it would become a witch, channeling all that energy into the form of a doppel instead."

"Ah… so in Kamihama, you unleash a doppel instead of turning into a witch," Konomi says. "That's incredible… but wait, if the Wings of the Magius are doing something amazing like that, then why would they want to summon Walpurgisnacht?"

Mitama looks surprised.

"You too?" she says. "I only just heard about that outlandish claim from Nanaka… where did you get it from?"

"We heard it directly from one of their members wearing white robes," Hinano says. "Miss Nanami recognized her as a girl named Ashley Taylor."

"I too heard it from Ashley Taylor," Nanaka says. "She sent me an email out of the blue. Apparently she got my address from someone I had collaborated with recently."

"To be honest, I don't know why they would want to summon Walpurgisnacht," Mitama says. "Their goal is to save all magical girls, so I can't imagine how summoning such a terrible witch would fit into that plan…"

"I really don't get it either," Maria speaks up. "I joined because I thought it was a good idea to save magical girls, but I'm starting to have second thoughts… they're also brainwashing people now, too. Just where did they go wrong, I wonder…?"

"Oh right, she did say Kaede-chan and the others had been brainwashed as well," Konomi says.

Mitama blinks. "Huh? That shouldn't be the case… wait, by the others, do you mean Momoko and Rena?"

"No, the names that came up were Miss Futaba, Miss Yui, and Miss Felicia," Hinano says. "The self-declared mightiest wasn't as mighty as she thought…"

"Oh… that's still shocking, though," Mitama says. "To think even Tsuruno got brainwashed… but why would they brainwash Kaede-chan? She had already agreed to join of her own free will…"

At that moment, Kanagi walks in.

"Oh, you're okay after all, Yakumo," she says. "You weren't answering your phone, so I thought something might have happened."

"Ah, I had it on silent," Mitama says. "Sorry about that, Kanagi! What did you want? Was it important?"

"Well… it's about the Wings of the Magius," Kanagi says. "Apparently they're planning to summon Walpurgisnacht."

Mitama blinks. "You too? Did you also hear it from Ashley Taylor?"

"Yes… I suppose Miss Tokiwa has already explained it to you?" Kanagi says.

"Ah… more or less," Mitama says.

"U-um, so… I wasn't expecting both of you to show up together, but… I'm Yuki Maria," Maria speaks up. "So, if you'd like… while Miss Mitama works on Miss, um…"

"Oh… I'm Haruna Konomi…"

"While Miss Mitama works on Miss Haruna, perhaps we could talk about the Walpurgisnacht issue?" Maria suggests.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Mitama says. "Come on, Konomi-chan, let's go into the next room."

The two of them head into the back room, and Hinano and Kanagi take a seat while Maria continues talking.

"Um, so, first of all… are you both on board with the plan?" Maria asks. "Ah, I realize the plan hasn't exactly been explained in detail yet, but…"

"I have resolved to help deal a blow to the Wings of the Magius," Nanaka says. "You wanted to recruit additional help, correct?"

"I've been fighting them from the start," Kanagi says. "So if they're really such a great threat that they'd summon Walpurgisnacth, gathering everyone in Kamihama to fight them is a given."

"Um, so, in the east, Miss Taylor said most of the magical girls there have joined the Wings of the Magius," Maria says. "She gave me a list of ones she knew that hadn't…"

"Well then, let's hear them," Kanagi says.

Maria takes out her phone and reads off the list from my email.

"Um… other than you, she named Mao Himika, Yakumo Mi…kage? Huh? When I saw the message this morning, I thought she was referring to Mitama…"

"Ah, Mikage is Mitama's little sister," Kanagi says. "But she wasn't a magical girl as far as I knew…"

"Um… maybe she made a mistake?" Maria says.

"Possible, but for a mistake, it is suspiciously specific," Kanagi muses.

"Then there's Aino Mito, Kumi Seika, and Ibuki Leila," Maria continues.

Kanagi nods. "I know all the girls you mentioned," she says. "So you're saying those are the only girls on the east side who haven't joined up with the Wings of the Magius?"

"Ah, no, that's just in Daito Ward," Maria says. "There are a few more listed from Kosho Ward – Chiaki Riko, Mizuki Rui, Kirino Sae, and Yayoi Kanoko. I actually know Miss Kirino a little, as she attends the same school as me… I haven't met any of the others."

"I am familiar with Riko-kun and Yayoi-kun," Kanagi says. "Mizuki Rui is unfamiliar to me, however… perhaps she only contracted recently. I also have not encountered Kirino Sae before."

Maria nods. "So, um… if you could talk to them and ask them to help us… that would be great…?"

"I will consider it," Kanagi says. "However, has Taylor-kun shared the details of her plan with you?"

"Ah… not yet," Maria says. "I think she was going to explain it… probably tonight… or tomorrow…"

"I see," Kanagi says. "Perhaps she is simply busy, but is it not strange to tell her plans to myself and Miss Tokiwa before explaining them to you?"

"Ah… did she tell you that much detail?" Maria asks.

"Her plan is deceptively simple," Kanagi says. "Wait until most of the feathers have left the base, then have you and your friends cause chaos from the inside, while the magical girls of Kamihama attack from without."

"That's… almost too simple," Maria says. "But… I don't have any reason to think she's lying to us. I feel like she can be trusted… I can't really explain why, I just have a feeling that she's been truthful."

Huh? Wait, could that be yet another effect of the mysterious magic that may or may not exist? Given that I literally just met her, it's kind of strange for her to have so much trust in me… were my words really that convincing?

"Setting that aside," Nanaka speaks up. "What about the west side of Kamihama?"

"Ah, right," Maria says. "According to her, there are only five girls from the west side who have joined the Wings of the Magius – Akatsuki Tsukuyo, Nanase Yukika, Makino Ikumi, Yuuki Yumi, and Moka Megumi. Oh, but that's excluding Miss Mifuyu and the Magius – that's Satomi Touka, Hiiragi Nemu, and Alina Gray. So I guess there's nine, really. Oh, and as for Hokuyo Ward, she's sent someone else to negotiate with the magical girls there, so you don't need to worry about it."

"Most of those girls I have not heard of," Nanaka says. "However, Miss Akatsuki is familiar to me – she attends Mizuna Girls' School. I did not know she was a magical girl, however."

"I know of Tsukuyo-kun too," Kanagi says. "Though she introduced herself to me as Amane Tsukuyo, not Akatsuki, but I cannot imagine there would be two magical girls named Tsukuyo in the same city. In fact, I had a little chat with her and Tsukasa-kun just before coming here. They were trying to convince me that Nanami was scheming to steal my territory."

"I… I don't think that's true," Maria says. "Though I can't be certain…"

"So, what do you think, Miss Izumi?" Nanaka asks. "Should we take Miss Taylor's information as trustworthy?"

"I have a good test for that," Kanagi says. "Yakumo should be almost done now, so let's wait until then."

"What do you have in mind?" Nanaka asks.

"A way to verify some piece of the information she sent us," Kanagi says.

"I see," Nanaka says. "Then I will entrust it to you."

Soon after, Mitama and Konomi return from the next room.

"Yakumo," Kanagi says.

"Hmm? Is something up, Kanagi? You look unusually grim," Mitama says.

Kanagi's expression hasn't changed from before, at least in any way I can tell, so the fact that Mitama can see a difference seems to be a sign of just how close the two of them are.

"Do you know where Mikage is right now?" Kanagi asks.

"Mii…? I suppose she's probably at home," Mitama says. "Though I can't be sure… but why do you ask?"

"Could I ask you to give her a call for me?" Kanagi asks. "I have a little question I'd like to ask her."

"I suppose I could give it a try," Mitama says.

She takes out her phone and manually punches in a phone number on the keypad, then puts it to her ear. A moment later, her face visibly lights up.

"Mii! It's me! Are you okay? … Yes, I'm fine too. Actually, Kanagi is with me, and she had a question for you… yes, I'll pass her the phone. Here she is."

She hands the phone to Kanagi, who takes it and poses her question. I tune the vision so I can hear Mikage's response through the receiver.

"Mikage, do you know where your sister works?"

"Mii knows onee-chan works on the west side doing very important work!" Mikage responds.

"How much do you know about that?" Kanagi asks.

"Mii doesn't know very much," Mikage said. "But Mii is very proud of onee-chan!"

"Mikage… have you ever met someone named Ashley Taylor?"

"Um, Mii doesn't know that name, but Mii might have met her without realizing…?" Mikage says.

"Then, I'll come right out and ask the real question," Kanagi says. "Mikage… are you a magical girl?"

Mitama gasps as the line goes silent. After several seconds, her voice comes through again.

"W-w-why would you think that!? Mii… Mii is… Mii is just… waiting for onee-chan… to come home…!"

"That reaction," Kanagi says. "I may not be able to read your mind over the phone, but that's not the reaction of someone who doesn't know what a magical girl is."

"E-eh!?" Mikage gasps. "Are you really telling the truth, Izumi-sempai? You really, really can't read Mii's mind!?"

"So you believe I'm capable of reading minds," Kanagi says.

"W-well… Mii thinks it's not a very strange-sounding magic," Mikage says.

"Kanagi… can I talk to Mii again?" Mitama asks.

"Your sister's asking to talk to you," Kanagi says. "Shall I pass her the phone?"

"Mii… Mii doesn't really want to talk to onee-chan right now, but… Mii will… Mii will… Mii is sorry…"

So Kanagi passes the phone back to Mitama. While Mitama's talking to her sister, Kanagi receives a call herself.

"Ah, it's Nanami," she says. "This should be good."

She answers the phone and holds it to her ear. This time, I don't need to retune the vision, because I can hear Yachiyo's words via my secondary vision on her.

"It's been awhile, Nanami," Kanagi says. "It's exciting to receive a call from an old rival."

"I don't have time for your little jokes," Yachiyo says. "How much do you know about the Wings of the Magius, and the rumours they're protecting?"

"The basics," Kanagi says. "The whole thing about saving magical girls."

"Good, then that makes this simple," Yachiyo says. "I've been destroying all the rumours I can find, but now someone important to me has gone missing, and the only clue I have right now is a specific rumour which is apparently hidden away."

"Ah, I see," Kanagi says. "I've not been paying attention to what was going on in the west. You seem to be quite busy as well."

"That's putting it lightly," Yachiyo says. "Would it be okay for us to meet up, perhaps share information on the Wings of the Magius? Say tomorrow before school, same place as always? If we can compare our notes on the rumours, perhaps it'll help me track this one down."

"Yes," Kanagi says. "There's plenty of witches now so there's no need for us to fight like we once did. I wouldn't mind sharing what I know with you… even collaborate."

"You'd even go that far?" Yachiyo says.

"Why not? Joining forces with my former rival… hmm, this is like a TV drama! I'll look forward to tomorrow! By the way, do you know the name of the rumour?"

"Oh, yes," Yachiyo says. "The Rumour of the Eternal Sakura."

"I see… I haven't heard that one," Kanagi says. "See you tomorrow."

With that, she hangs up. Mitama has also gotten off the phone by this time.

"So Nanami's taking action as well," Kanagi muses. "Those Wings of the Magius… they must be an even bigger nuisance than I thought. Yakumo… have you heard of the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura?"

Mitama blinks. "I… I have, but… I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything. Not about that one. That would be a gross violation of my neutrality as a Coordinator. If it was any other rumour… I'm really sorry, Kanagi. But, I'm curious… where did you hear of it?"

"Nanami just mentioned it to me," Kanagi says.

"Ah, Miss Taylor was the one to mention it first," Hinano says.

"She mentioned it to us, too," Maria says.

"I see," Mitama says. "Miss Taylor is a member of the Wings of the Magius, so it's conceivable that she might know about it… though I thought only the Magius themselves knew of that rumour. Still… I can't say anything more about it. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Yakumo," Kanagi says. "You're in a difficult position here, after all… plus you've just discovered that Mikage became a magical girl behind your back at some point…"

"Yes, speaking of which, would you mind terribly if I packed up for today?" Mitama asks. "Although I may return later this afternoon, but… for now, I'd like to go talk to Mii about it in person."

"By all means," Nanaka says. "I did not even know you had a little sister, but it seems that you are quite close. Feel free to spend as much time as you need with her."

"I have no objection either," Hinano says.

"I am not sure why you're even asking me," Kanagi says.

"Yeah, you shouldn't even be asking, Miss Mitama," Konomi says. "Just go. Go on! Don't worry about us, we'll be fine! Oh, and thank you for the free checkup."

With that, Mitama hurries out of the shop, and the others look at each other.

"Well… I suppose we should start contacting magical girls," Nanaka says. "Let us split the task between the four of us, would that be acceptable? Although perhaps leaving the entire east to Miss Izumi is a little unreasonable…"

"Ah, um… why are you leaving me out?" Maria asks.

"Oh, my apologies," Nanaka says. "You are right, there are five of us. In that case, how about this arrangement? Miss Izumi will cover Daito Ward, Miss Yuki will cover Kosho Ward, Miss Miyako will cover Minaminagi and Sakae Wards, I will cover Sankyo, Mizuna, and Chuo Wards, and Miss Haruna can cover Shinsei Ward?"

"That sounds acceptable," Kanagi says.

"I mostly agree," Hinano says. "But I think I might be more familiar with Chuo Ward than Miss Tokiwa, so why don't you give that one to me too?"

Nanaka nods. "If you are fine with covering three wards," she says. "Considering how Minaminagi Ward is so much larger, I thought that would be unfair…"

"It's larger, but there aren't a lot of magical girls who actually live there," Hinano says. "In fact, other than that teammate of yours, and Miss Yuki here, I can only think of one other. But I assume you'll be contacting Miss Chun yourself?"

Nanaka nods. "Yes, so I will leave the other magical girl of Minaminagi to you," she says.

"So, I'll cover Kosho Ward," Maria says. "That shouldn't be too hard, since I have a complete list of who to talk to… I'm also acquainted with one of them, and another one's even easy to find, right? Chiaki Riko is pretty well-known from what I've heard… perhaps I could get directions from you, Miss Izumi?"

"Yes, I can give you directions to Chiaki's," Kanagi says.

"So that leaves me in charge of Shinsei Ward?" Konomi says. "The only problem is, I have no idea what you're all talking about, so you'll have to explain it to me…"

Nanaka briefly explains my plan to take down the Wings of the Magius, and Konomi's eyes widen.

"Wow, that's quite a bold plan," she says. "Are you really sure it can work?"

"I believe it to be a gamble," Nanaka says. "However, assuming the base truly is left undefended, I think it is possible to pull off."

"So, um… who should I talk to?" Konomi asks. "Just any magical girl in Shinsei Ward?"

"I have a list of people you shouldn't talk to," Maria says. "But I'm not sure if any of them live in Shinsei Ward… these are all members of the Wings of the Magius, so you should avoid talking to them. Akatsuki Tsukuyo, Nanase Yukika, Makino Ikumi, Yuuki Yumi, Moka Megumi, Azusa Mifuyu, Satomi Touka, Hiiragi Nemu, and Alina Gray."

"I don't recognize any of those names, other than Miss Mifuyu," Konomi says. "I doubt they live in Shinsei Ward… so I should be fine just talking to everyone I know. Alright… I'm game for this."

"Ah, one more thing," Maria says. "Miss Taylor suggested that we might need to explain the truth behind soul gems to get people to help us… as well as the goal of the Wings of the Magius and what they're doing, both good and bad."

"That strikes me as a bad idea," Nanaka says. "Though there may be some exceptions… but I for one do not plan to mention it unless I have a very good reason."

"Yeah, um… I feel like that'd just make people depressed instead of wanting to help," Konomi says.

"Even so, it depends on the person," Hinano says. "For some, it might truly be a useful means of convincing them. So, I'd recommend you don't completely rule it out as an option… just be careful who you reveal it to."

"I agree," Kanagi says. "Though I too don't plan to mention it without a very good reason."

"Well then, let us split up," Nanaka says. "Shall we return here later with our results? Or perhaps… tomorrow after school?"

"Oh, yeah, that sounds good to me," Konomi says.

"That's acceptable," Kanagi says.

"I'll be sure to be here," Hinano says.

"Alright, I'll make sure to come," Maria says.

And with that, they all split up and go their own ways.

---

I shut off that vision and sit up on the bed where I've been lying most of this time. The vision tracking Yachiyo is still open – she's apparently going out to smash more rumours by herself.

Inui is nowhere in sight, so I contact her via telepathy.

«Inui, what's going on?»

«Oh, you're up, Ashley? The Magius are just about to pick which girl they're going to fuse with a rumour…»

«Obviously it'll be the one who's still brainwashed, right?»

«Yes… Mifuyumin managed to release the other two just like last time,» Inui says.

«So, that also means Miss Mifuyu hasn't yet suggested making Sana and Felicia kill Yachiyo, right?»

«Right, we're not there yet,» Inui replies. «Why, do you want me to head her off?»

«Hmm… that's not it, exactly… it's just that Felicia was the one to free Tsuruno last time… but I guess it's probably better if the two of them escape and we deal with Tsuruno ourselves.»

«Alright, then I'll let you know when things are ready up here,» Inui says.

Once I receive the notification from Inui that the Magius have left, I get up and leave our room, heading for the room where Sana and Felicia are currently being confined. I find Inui waiting for me outside the room. She waves as she spots me.

"Ashley, over here!"

I push the door open, startling Felicia and Sana.

"Sorry I'm not the one you were waiting for," I say. "I think someone will be here in an hour or so, or tomorrow morning at the latest, to take you out of here, but I just have something you need to see first."

"Who the heck are you?" Felicia asks.

"You're… Ashley Taylor, aren't you?" Sana says. "If you think it's important… then I'll come."

"You know her, Sana?"

"Yes, though not very well," Sana says. "But she's the one who saved Ai-chan from the Wings of the Magius, so I'm in her debt."

"Then, Miss Futaba, could you conceal all four of us with your magic?" I ask.

"Um… s-sure, but we'd need to hold hands," Sana says.

Inui takes my hand and Sana's without hesitation, and Felicia grabs Sana's hand.

"Okay, um… we should all be hidden now," Sana says. "But what's this all about, anyway…?"

"Okay, good, the security hasn't reacted," Inui says. "I'd say we're good to go."

"Alright," I say. "Follow me."

I lead the way out of the room and head down the stairs.

"What's this about security?" Sana asks.

"Fendt Hope is equipped with a bunch of defense measures," I say. "Stealth magic is rendered void, for example… or normal stealth magic is. Yours is rather unusual. It can also somewhat distinguish hostile forces from friendly forces – since you're currently recognized as friendly, your stealth is probably just ignored."

"Where are we going?" Sana asks.

"The core of the base," I say. "I think the Magius might be heading to the same place, which is why I wanted you stealthed. It's best they don't see us. Do you have your phone handy?"

"Ah, um… yes, I have it with me," Sana says.

"You're sneaking around behind the Magius's backs?" Felicia asks. "But you're with the Wings of the Magius… I don't get it…"

"It's complicated," I say. "By the way… you're not the only ones they brainwashed. Hozumi Shizuku and Akino Kaede have also been affected by the Memory Museum."

"T-then we should save Miss Shizuku and the others too!" Sana gasps.

"It's not that simple," I say. "Breaking through brainwashing isn't usually as easy as it was for Miss Mifuyu and you two – you were lucky. She has someone working on it, though, so it's only a matter of time. Therefore, please don't worry about her."

We reach the ground floor and continue down into the depths of the base, towards the chapel. As expected, Sana and Felicia start to flag about halfway down, but Inui and I let them lean on us for support.

"How the heck can you stand this…?" Felicia asks.

"The air is full of curses," Sana murmurs. "I can hardly breathe… but you're just fine?"

"We've been here several times, so we've learned some tolerance," I say.

"Why would you bring us to a place like this?" Sana asks.

"Because I want you to see the source," I say. "Don't worry – it's perfectly safe, so far."

We finally reach the bottom, and Sana looks around, blinking. There are several black feathers in the garden area. Some of them look like they're praying. We avoid them and hug the edges of the room, positioning ourselves so that the plants would conceal our presence from the people here even if Sana's magic wasn't in effect.

"Huh? I thought you said we're not allowed down here, but there are a lot of feathers around…"

"It's not that people aren't allowed," I say. "It'd just be suspicious if you, who are essentially confined to quarters, were suddenly spotted down here."

"Oh… I see," Sana says.

"W-whoa!" Felicia gasps. "That's a witch, ain't it!?"

"I don't think so," I say quickly.

Sana turns to look where Felicia is pointing and gasps.

"It s-sure looks like a witch," she says. "There are so many crystals scattered all over its body… and it's so massive…"

"A doppel also looks like a witch," I say.

"Are you saying that huge thing is someone's doppel?" Sana asks.

"I'm not sure it's a doppel exactly, but… close enough," I say.

"Then where's the magical girl who's generating it?" Sana asks.

"I'm glad you asked," I say. "That's the real reason for bringing you here."

I summon Teddy Mk II and climb onto its head.

"Climb on, and try not to make any noise," I say. "And get your phone ready. Inui, do you mind waiting here?"

"That's fine," Inui says.

Felicia and Sana each climb onto one of the arms, and I make sure we're in contact to ensure that Sana's magic affects all of us. Then Sana takes her phone out as the teddy rises up into the air. I direct it towards the largest red crystal on Eve's chest, and Sana lets out a little gasp.

"T-there's someone inside!?"

"Can you get a picture of her?" I ask.

"Ah, yes," Sana says.

She snaps a couple of photos of Ui with her phone.

"Um… I think I got a good one now," she says. "It's a bit hard to get a good angle… but I can make out her features in this one, just barely."

"Excellent," I say. "Alright, let's go back. I just wanted you to see that."

"I… I see," Sana says. "W-what are they even doing with that thing…?"

"I think it'd be easier to hear their plans from the Magius themselves," I say.

We descend back to where Inui is waiting and head back upstairs.

"Um… do you want to keep this from the others too?" Sana asks.

"Ah, no, you should definitely tell them," I say.

"Who is that girl, anyway?" Sana asks.

"She's the girl who should have been the fourth Magius," I say. "But due to a mistake, her very existence was removed from the world."

"Huh? That sounds kinda familiar," Felicia says. "So what's her name?"

I check to make sure there are no other feathers around before answering.

"Tamaki Ui."

Sana and Felicia both gasp in tandem.

"T-then she's been here the whole time!?" Sana asks. "Just trapped in that crystal?"

"Something like that," I say. "Now you understand why you should definitely tell the others, right?"

"Y-yeah, of course," Sana says. "If that's really Ui, then… Miss Iroha will be so elated…"

"I can't believe we've finally found her," Felicia says. "Amazing! I guess being brainwashed actually paid off!"

We escort them back to the room in silence and leave them there. Then I check up on Tsuruno's status. She's currently in the Rumour of the Witch Induction Device, where Touka and Nemu are busy injecting the rumour into her soul gem. I monitor their progress as I head outside with Inui. We make our way east, heading for Ferris Wheel Park, and when we arrive, we find the rest of the team already waiting – Coeurl, Mayoi, Sue, and Chiyoko. I think I can sense the rumour's magic here already, too. Fortunately, there aren't any black feathers assigned to guard it – likely the rumour is so new that a guard hasn't yet been assigned.

"Alright, listen up," I say. "We're a bit early, so we're going to retreat to a safe distance and wait."

"Does that mean at least a hundred metres away?" Coeurl asks.

"That's right," I say.

After a brief discussion, we find a good place to watch from, and I continue to monitor what the Magius are doing to Tsuruno.

"By the way, I've been wondering for awhile now," Mayoi says. "But why do you speak like a boy, Coeurl?"

She's presumably referring to how Coeurl uses the very masculine word ore to refer to herself, instead of the neutral yet somewhat formal watashi more typically used by foreigners who aren't yet comfortable in the language.

Coeurl tilts her head in confusion. "Huh? I don't understand what you mean. There's a difference between how boys and girls speak?"

"Huh? You didn't know?" Mayoi says. "Is Japanese not your native language? You sound so fluent, though… but it's all in how you refer to yourself."

"You mean… I… myself…?" Coeurl says.

"Yes, that right there!" Mayoi says.

"Am I using the wrong word or is it a more complex issue?" Coeurl asks.

"Ah, just the wrong word," Mayoi says.

Coeurl nods, closing her eyes. "Understood… there must be an error in the language database. I'll disable the implant for a moment."

"Huh? Implant? Database? What are you talking about?" Mayoi asks.

«I have no idea what you just said,» Coeurl says. «Could I ask you to just say the correct word to refer to myself?»

"Well, it depends," Mayoi says.

«Is that the word?» Coeurl says. «It sounds rather long…»

"Huh? What are you talking about…?" Mayoi asks.

I decide to rescue them.

"Maimai, I think she doesn't understand a word of Japanese right now," I say. "Try talking to her via telepathy instead."

«I don't get it, but is it true you can't understand what I was saying just now?» Mayoi asks.

«Yes, I'd like you to just say the correct word to refer to myself,» Coeurl says.

«But it depends,» Mayoi says. «There are a bunch of words you can choose from… it depends on your personality and stuff…»

«Then just choose the one you think fits me best,» Coeurl says.

«Well… alright,» Mayoi says.

With that, she articulates a more feminine pronoun, specifically atashi, and Coeurl nods, closing her eyes for a moment.

"I've updated the linguistic database for Japanese," she says. "Am I using the correct word now?"

"Yeah, I guess," Mayoi says. "But um, what on earth just happened…?"

"I disabled my language implant so that I could perceive the raw sounds you produce," Coeurl says. "Normally, dialogue is filtered through my implant, so that I hear and articulate only my native tongue, while the processing system automatically converts to and from the target language for me. It seems there was an error in the database for Japanese, which caused me to talk… as you call it, like a boy."

"Um… I don't really get it, but what is your native language?" Mayoi asks.

"Galactic Basic," Coeurl says.

"Galactic… huh? Are you an alien or something?" Mayoi asks.

"Please be quiet," I speak up. "Things are starting to happen…"

Tsuruno has just woken up, and the Magius are questioning her to determine the effectiveness of the brainwashing. Then Touka summons several black feathers, and they escort her out of the base to Ferris Wheel Park, dropping her off there. Once Tsuruno has gone inside, Touka and most of the feathers return, leaving just two on guard duty. I check who they are and let out a little gasp – it seems I've lucked out, for the ones left on guard are Tomomi and Manatsu.

"Alright, it's time," I say. "They left two feathers to guard the rumour, but we'll try to convince them to join us."

"Alright," Coeurl says. "Everyone, let's go!"

We return to the field, where Tomomi hails us.

"Hello… is something up?" she asks. "Are you the reinforcements?"

"Reinforcements?" I ask. "Did Touka say when they'd be here?"

"She just said 'soon'," Tomomi says. "Huh, wait… aren't you Lita? And Chiyoko? Why are you out here, anyway…?"

If reinforcements will be here soon, then we have to move fast.

"Well, do you know what it is you're guarding here?" I ask.

"Uhh… no, not really," Tomomi says. "All I know is that it's a rumour, and that girl who went inside is in charge of guarding it…"

"Up until now, rumours have abducted people, but never done lasting harm to them," I say. "This one is different. It's designed to draw people in and swallow them… to convert them into energy."

Tomomi and Manatsu both gasp in tandem.

"W-what…? Is that really true!?" Tomomi says.

"That's awful," Manatsu says. "B-but how do you even know that…?"

"Well, if you don't believe me, then why don't we just ask that girl who's inside?" I suggest. "She should know everything about the rumour."

"That makes sense," Tomomi says. "But I can't believe the Magius would do something like that…"

Still, they seem to have doubts, which is enough for me.

"Okay," I say. "Just checking, but who here have seen the Magius while not wearing their robes? Raise your hand if you have."

The only one who didn't raise her hand was Mayoi.

"Pretty much everyone, huh… still, it would've been just once, right?" I say.

There's a round of nods in response, and I flash my robes off and activate my transformation.

"So, just in case the rumour is capable of reporting back to Nemu, we'll fight without robes today," I say. "Does anyone have a problem with that? You're welcome to back out if you do, though."

But no-one seems to have a problem with it, for they all obligingly drop their robes as well and transform. Even Tomomi and Manatsu, who still seem a little uncertain, do as I've asked.

Sue's costume is a fairly typical sailor outfit, similar to Homura but in brighter colours. The collar is white with yellow accents, and a green ribbon is pinned at her throat with an orange slice – it's not tied into a bow, simply pinned in place. The sleeves are yellow fading into orange, the skirt is yellow with orange accents on the upper layer but pure white on the lower layer, and her hair is tied into a side dumpling held in place with orange feathers. On top of the sailor outfit is a long yellow coat with orange feathers lining the hem and a green interior, and a green bow is tied at her back. She also wears black tights covering her legs. Her soul gem rests on her left hip, as part of a belt of beads and feathers. The beads are all made of semi-precious stones, and some of them are shaped like tiny bones.

Coeurl's costume consists of a large voluminous navy blue hooded cloak fastened at the front by three huge safety pins, a short black skirt held in place with a leather belt, a silver stocking on her right leg, and bandages wrapped around her left leg. She wears no shoes – one foot is completely bare, the other covered by the stocking. Similar to Homura, her soul gem is a diamond fitting into the back of a glove on her right hand.

Chiyoko's costume is a dress crafted from voluminous silk, complete with a veil. In fact, it's almost exactly like a wedding dress in construction, with two exceptions – first, the dress only falls to the knee, and second, it's all black. She also wears black tights and dress shoes. Her soul gem is the only splash of colour in the outfit, a vibrant green orb pinned to her navel.

Manatsu's costume is a blue one-piece dress with a red cape and a bright yellow belt bearing her soul gem, the colour scheme almost immediately making me think of Superman. She also wears red thigh-high boots to complete the picture.

We head for the ferris wheel together until we spot the portal entrance, at which point we all step inside. We look around a bit, and I can already start to feel the deadening effect of the rumour on my consciousness.

"I don't suppose anyone has magic to counteract this atmosphere?" I ask.

"Um… maybe this…?" Manatsu speaks up.

She grips her hammer in both hands and plants it haft down in the ground. Both faces burst open to emit a shower of yellowish sparks that fill the air. It doesn't dispel the deadening effect entirely, but it does seem to make it more bearable.

"Thanks," I say.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Tsuruno appears from somewhere in her rumour form and waves at us.

"Welcome to Chelation Land!" she says. "However, you're a little early there! We're not even open yet! It'll be a few more days, so why don't you come back later?"

"Hmm, but I'm here now," I say. "Why should I leave and come back?"

"Well, it's tough to argue with that," Tsuruno says. "It's a place where you can chill, after all. Just let all your worries float away by thinking about nothing. So if you don't want to leave… ah, but I'm supposed to kick you out anyway… but I just can't be bothered… so what the heck! Come on in and pull up a bench! I can also vouch for rolling around on the lawns!"

"Seriously!?" Mayoi gasps. "That's such a kiddie thing to do! Aren't you in high school?"

"Who cares about that!" Tsuruno says. "I just want to have fun and be happy!"

"Hey, um, is it true?" Tomomi asks. "What happens if you get sucked into this rumour?"

"It's just a place to have fun!" Tsuruno says. "You can stay as long as you like! Oh, but if we reach max capacity, you'll be removed from this world to make space for the new people who want to enter."

"T-then it really is true!?" Manatsu gasps. "You're going to kill people!"

"What? It's not killing them," Tsuruno says. "We're just removing them from this world. They're as happy as can be, so what's the problem?"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't allow that to happen," I say. "We're not here to have fun. We're here to make a mess of things."

In demonstration, I pull out my sword and swing towards a nearby bench, elongating the blade and slicing the bench in two.

"I see," Tsuruno says. "I get it. So you're going to get in the way of the amusement park… you're going to ruin everything. Well then! I can't just sit by while you do that, so I guess I'm just gonna have to force you to behave!"

As she speaks, the carousel horse familiars appear, surrounding us.

"Everyone, try not to get hit!" I shout.

Coeurl draws her twin katanas and leaps into battle, taking down the familiars with surprising ease. Inui stands back and throws pink flames at them, and Chiyoko binds them with her webbing. Tomomi jumps in close, using her time dilation skill to slow the rumours down while she snips their controlling staff with her pruning shears, which actually seems to cause them to topple over, making them easy prey. Manatsu jumps in and smashes them with her hammer, which flashes with every impact.

Coeurl quickly demonstrates the strength and experience of her advanced years. She's everywhere on the battlefield, flashing from place to place in an instant, taking down a rumour here, teleporting there, crossing her swords to deflect an attack aimed at Sue or Mayoi, then teleporting again. It's almost like there's five of her on the battlefield.

Of course, it's not like everything goes well without a single hitch. For example, at one point Manatsu ends up taking a few blows from one of the horses, freezing her so she can't move, and Coeurl leaps in to defend her while Mayoi opens a tunnel to drag her into the centre of the formation, where Sue uses her healing on her. Then she gets up, plants her hammer in the ground again to restore the magic that staves off the rumour's effect, and heads back into battle.

I stand at the centre of the formation, near Sue, Mayoi, and Inui, mostly watching the battle but occasionally extending my sword to take down a rumour that manages to get through the perimeter. It's no doubt thanks to the anti-fiction effect on my sword that a single swing can dispatch one of these weaker rumours. I keep an eye on Tsuruno as well, who seems to just be watching the fight with disinterest, and I consider what our next move should be.

Finally, I come to a decision. It's something of a gamble, but it really can't hurt to try.

«Maimai, please open a tunnel connecting Mana to Tsuruno. Mana, please launch through the tunnel and attempt to connect with her.»

«Do you mean like the connect skill?» Manatsu asks.

«Yes, exactly,» I say.

«Alright, I'm on it!» Mayoi says.

Based on her ensuing actions, it seems I've slightly overestimated her powers. Shizuku can open a portal from any place to any other place, even if she's not present, so I assumed Mayoi can do the same. However, in carrying out my order, she actually opens two portals, one connecting her position to Manatsu, the other connecting her to Tsuruno. So based on that, it seems likely that she can only open portals between her location and another location.

Manatsu careens through the portal and manages to lay a hand on Tsuruno's shoulder before she can react.

"W-whoa!?" Tsuruno gasps. "You startled me!"

The telltale flash of a connect skill is seen, but unlike the usual, it suddenly bursts into a shower of sparks, repelling Manatsu.

«Alright… looks like that won't work after all,» I say. «Keep on fighting the horses for now, Mana.»

«Alright.»

She returns to the centre via the portal before Tsuruno has a chance to counterattack, and resumes holding back the minor rumours. As soon as she's through, I hop through the tunnel to Tsuruno and face her. Tsuruno tilts her head at me.

"Oh, look at that," she says. "You got outside the circle somehow. So, what're you gonna do? Your friends are all busy, aren't they?"

Instead of responding, I step in and swing my sword at her. She summons her fans without hesitation, blocking the swing and sending flames running down my blade. I hop back before the flames reach me, and the two of us spend a little time circling each other. I carefully adjust my sword, choosing my aim, looking for the moment of an opening amidst her spread fans, and then… there it is.

The blade extends in an instant, impaling her before she can react, and she lets out a gasp of shock, lowering her guard and letting the flame on her fans wink out. The digital corruption artifacts of the rumour's influence are peeled back around the wound, revealing her true colours underneath, but it doesn't look like it'll be effective as a means to separate her from the rumour, for that corruption is clearly fighting back against my sword's effect.

So, taking advantage of her lowered guard, I step in close, adjusting the sword's length such that it actually doesn't move, and reach out with my free hand to poke at that rumour-free region right next to the wound. With that contact, I try to initiate a connect skill. The telltale flash occurs, sparking a little like when Manatsu tried it, but it doesn't repel me as it did her. Bright green characters start to leak out of her soul gem as the rumourification is slowly peeled away… but it seems to be taking a huge toll on Tsuruno herself. She falls to her knees, coughing up blood, and as the corruption is peeled away from her belt, I see a small crack starting to form in her soul gem. Worried, I quickly pull out my sword and call for Sue.

«Sue, could I get healing for her over here?»

«On it!»

She uses the same tunnel that I used to get close and run over to Tsuruno, who has now collapsed on the ground in a pool of blood, gasping for breath. Her head, arms, and legs still bear the digital corruption of the rumour, and it's already beginning to take over again. Sue kneels beside her to heal the chest wound. After extending my sword to bring down several horses that have moved towards us in Tsuruno's defence, I too kneel beside her on the other side from Sue to once more initiate a connect skill. Again, there's a flash with a few sparks, and this time the corruption is pushed back faster, but the crack in her soul gem also seems to be getting worse.

«Mana, could I ask you to come try connecting again?» I ask.

«Sure!» she replies.

She joins Sue and I, kneeling down to connect with Tsuruno, and this time she's not rejected. In fact, her input greatly speeds the peeling away of the rumour, while thankfully not making the crack in her soul gem any worse. Before long, all remnants of digital corruption have disappeared. I don't get to see Tsuruno's memories as part of the connect, but I suppose that's because I was trying to force it through too much. The only downside is that Tsuruno is significantly worse for wear. She's no longer gasping for breath, at least, but she's completely blacked out, breathing softly. At least she's not dead – Iroha should be able to heal her, if no-one else.

"I think I've done about as much as I can for her," Sue says. "I can't do much about that crack in her soul gem…"

"That's fine, I know someone who can handle it," I say. "Thanks for your help… we'll need to get ready to face the main rumour now."

It shows up even before I finish speaking, the huge ferris wheel whose eyes look like cars. I pick up Tsuruno, who's somehow still transformed, and back away from it. I glance towards the battle against the familiars. It seems there aren't any left, so the others are already on their way over here.

«Chiyoko, please lock it in place with your webbing," I say. «Mana, smack it in the centre with your hammer. Coeurl, could you destroy the cars? Inui, take my sword and help her. Tomomi… if it tries to attack, slow it down.»

Everyone follows my instructions, though Coeurl does ask for clarification on what I mean by cars – I guess she's never seen a ferris wheel before. The webbing isn't quite as effective at restraining it as Sana's chains were, but it's still good enough to prevent it from approaching those of us standing at the back. When it extends a claw from one of its cars and reaches out towards Tsuruno, Tomomi uses her magic to give me plenty of time to dodge, and then Inui and Coeurl leap in to shred the arm into pieces. Whenever the rumour tries to fire its laser beam, Coeurl teleports in front and reflects the attack right back at it.

Using my sword, Inui mangles half the cars beyond recognition, while Coeurl utterly destroys the other half. Finally, once all the cars are down, Manatsu lands one final blow at the centre of the rumour, and the whole thing collapses like a house of cards. As the rumour disintegrates, the barrier also collapses, and for some reason Tsuruno's transformation is undone at the same time, returning her to the casual clothes she'd been wearing when she visited the Memory Museum. Well… mostly undone. Somehow, her cracked soul gem refuses to revert to ring form, almost slipping and falling into the grass before I catch it with my telekinesis.

"Alright, everyone," I say. "It's not the best outcome, but… we've technically achieved our goal here. Tomomi and Manatsu, you should probably report that the rumour was destroyed. Feel free to blame it on Miss Izumi. Everyone else except Maimai, you're dismissed for now, but we'll have a meeting early tomorrow morning before I head back to Mitakihara. Please be sure to let the others know. The place will be… hmm… let's say in front of the Mirror Mansion."

So with that, we all split up, most of the girls putting their robes back on. Maimai follows Inui and me as we head back towards the park where we had been waiting until Tsuruno arrived to enter the rumour. Although Maimai looks curiously at me, I lay Tsuruno down on a bench and ignore her quizzical glances, settling down to pay attention once more to the vision I've had open tracking Yachiyo's movements all this time.

---

Yachiyo's latest victim in her crusade is the rumour currently guarded by the Amane twins, and it's another rumour I've never heard of. As the twins flee with their team after taking a beating, Shigure is a bit slow getting away, and Yachiyo manages to get some basic details of the Fendt Hope rumour out of her. Naturally, she knows nothing about the Eternal Sakura rumour though.

"There's no sense in searching for it," Shigure concludes. "You can only get inside with their permission."

With this new information in hand, Yachiyo powers down and heads for the Coordinator's place. There's no-one there when she arrives, since Mitama stepped out for some sisterly bonding, so she simply heads inside. Without turning on the lights, she finds the kettle and makes herself a cup of tea, then takes a seat on the couch, in the darkness.

She waits there for nearly half an hour, even preparing a second cup of tea when the first one is finished, before Mitama finally returns to her shop.

"Geez, that was a shock!" Mitama sighs. "To think Mii was… huh?"

She flicks on the lights and notices the kettle sitting out. Then she spots Yachiyo, just finishing off her second cup of tea.

"Oh, so it was you, Miss Yachiyo," Mitama says.

"You weren't here, so I let myself in," Yachiyo says. "But that's unusual… I've never had to wait this long before. Is something up?"

"No, nothing, just a little family trouble," Mitama says.

"Was it really family trouble?" Yachiyo asks. "Or were you visiting the Wings of the Magius?"

Without transforming, she pulls out her halberd and points it at Mitama. Mitama doesn't even flinch.

"I met a girl who said she created the doppels," Yachiyo says.

"So you met Touka-chan," Mitama says. "That means, you went to the Memory Museum too, didn't you? And you were so set on not going."

"Didn't you say doppels were a side-effect of Coordination?" Yachiyo says.

"I didn't lie," Mitama says. "I just let you draw your own mistaken conclusion, and chose not to correct it. Though, it's not like I know that much myself. All I do is tune soul gems to stabilize the doppel's appearance."

Yachiyo puts her halberd away.

"You also said they were a dangerous power whose knowledge shouldn't be shared," Yachiyo says. "Yet, the Magius say they can save magical girls from their fate, using doppels. Which is true?"

"Both," Mitama says. "The original term Touka-chan chose for them is 'doppel witches'. According to her understanding, they're a reflection of one's emotions. When a soul gem is tainted and becomes completely clouded, the curse is transferred onto part of the body, which causes the body to undergo the witch transformation, instead of the soul, and allows its power to be used freely. The taint within the soul gem is consumed to power the doppel, allowing the soul gem to be purified without the use of a grief seed. So, it makes it possible to avoid becoming a witch. Yes, if that's all you know about it, then it truly sounds wonderful, doesn't it? But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Some girls have found the rush of power to be addictive. Others have experienced various concerning side-effects. Furthermore, the existence of doppels goes hand-in-hand with the truth about how magical girls become witches. It's true that spreading even knowledge about it is dangerous."

"Then why do the Magius spread it?" Yachiyo asks.

"Well, most likely because it's true that it can stop you from becoming a witch, despite the risks," Mitama says. "I'm completely neutral, of course. I don't share their opinion."

"How can I get into the Magius headquarters, Hotel Fendt Hope?" Yachiyo asks.

"I told you, I'm neutral," Mitama says. "Trying to save magical girls isn't a bad thing, is it?"

"Still, I can't forgive them," Yachiyo says. "It's wrong to forgive them. I should feel pain now that Iroha is gone, but after I survived, I worked and met people, and I lived out my live, just like when she was there. I can't forgive myself for being like that. I should never have let it happen."

"Miss Yachiyo," Mitama says.

"So, I…"

"I'm afraid I can't get inside without an invitation either," Mitama says. "Miss Mifuyu invited me inside when Kaede-chan joined them, but the entrance can be moved, and you need a key to enter – the symbol of the Magius."

"So grabbing a black feather is the fastest way, then," Yachiyo says. "I'll never forgive the Magius. That's all I have left now."

Silence reigns for several seconds, as it seems Mitama has nothing to say to that. Then Yachiyo poses a second question.

"Do you know anything about the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura?" she asks.

"Hmm… I'm afraid I can't say anything about that one," Mitama says.

Again, there's an awkward silence, and then Yachiyo speaks again.

"I need help with grief seeds," she says. "I've run out."

"Oh, thanks for the business!" Mitama says.

At her prompting, Yachiyo hands over a few mirror coins and some actual cash in exchange for two grief seeds, then leaves the Coordinator's shop, heading in the direction of her home.

---

I open my eyes and stand up, startling Mayoi who had started chatting with Inui about her hometown.

"Alright, thanks for waiting, Maimai," I say. "Sorry for not explaining myself – all I need is a portal to the Coordinator's place. Once we're through, you're free to go."

"Got it!" Mayoi says.

She transforms and opens a portal as I gather up Tsuruno in a princess carry, and then Inui and I step through it to emerge from the other side in the Coordinator's office, startling Mitama. The portal closes up behind us.

"Whoa!" she says. "Huh? That wasn't Shizuku-chan's magic, was it? Is there another magical girl who can make portals?"

"Yeah," I say. "More importantly, I think I was a bit too rough with Miss Yui, so could you check her out?"

"Oh my, Tsuruno!" Mitama says. "Just lay her down on the couch, and I'll see if I can do anything for her."

I do as instructed, then take a seat with Inui on the other couch while Mitama kneels next to Tsuruno to examine her. Finally, she stands up to face us.

"Well, there isn't anything wrong with her body," Mitama says. "And she seems to still be alive. However… I can't connect to her soul gem. It must be because of that nasty crack, but I'm not able to work on her."

"So will she be okay?" Inui asks.

"Who knows?" Mitama says. "There's nothing more I can do for her, but perhaps someone else can help her."

"Do you mind if we leave her here?" I ask. "I'll let Miss Tamaki know, so she can come pick her up. However, I don't think Miss Tamaki will be able to make it here today…"

"Ah, do you know Iroha-chan too?" Mitama says. "That's fine with me. I don't think anything bad'll happen if I leave her here overnight. There's a bed in the back, so I'll tuck her in just in case she miraculously improves on her own."

"Alright, thank you very much, Miss Yakumo," I say.

"By the way," Mitama says. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"I don't mind if you ask, but I probably won't answer it," I say.

"Playing hard to catch, huh?" Mitama says. "Well, I'll ask it anyway. How did you know that Mii was a magical girl? She definitely said she'd never met you – even when I gave a physical description of you, she said you didn't sound familiar."

I consider whether to answer, but after a few moments of thought, I decide not to.

"Sorry, as I thought, I can't answer that," I say.

"I see," Mitama says.

"See you later, Miss Yakumo."

We leave the Coordinator's, and after giving Karin a call to confirm it's still okay, we head over to her place. Apparently, we caught her while she was tracking a witch, but she says she should be home by the time we get to her place. I continue monitoring Yachiyo as we make our way there.

---

Yachiyo hasn't gotten all that far from the Coordinator's place when she hears a familiar sound and spins to see its source.

Mokyu is there, perched on top of a broken bike rack. It tilts its head at her and makes another of its cute noises.

"Kyuubey!?" Yachiyo gasps. "What are you… no… you're Mokyu, aren't you? I thought you were…"

"Wait!" another voice calls from the nearby alleyway. "I get it, so slow down!"

A moment later, Kuroe rounds the corner, spots Yachiyo, and gasps. She's powered up and also has her feather robes on, but the hood has fallen back from running. She quickly pulls it back up, and Mokyu turns to hop up onto her shoulder.

"You," Yachiyo says. "Aren't you… the girl I met with Iroha, the first time she came here? And… you're with the Wings of the Magius!?"

No doubt reacting to the fury on Yachiyo's face, Kuroe elects to turn and run, and Yachiyo of course gives chase.

"Wait!" she calls.

She's now going in the opposite direction of the Crescent Moon Villa however, heading towards Sakae Ward. After rounding several corners in pursuit, and calming down slightly, the strangeness of the situation seems to hit her.

"But wait, why would Mokyu be with her…?"

Ahead, Kuroe suddenly lets out a little scream. Yachiyo rounds the corner to find that she has come face-to-face with the Rumour of the Fashion Monster. The rumour resembles a woman dressed in outlandish clothes, except on closer look you realize she's just one of those dummies you see in department stores.

"How do I look?" the rumour drones. "How do I look? How do I look?"

Yachiyo appears to recognize the rumour immediately, for she calls out the expected stock response.

"You look stylish!"

And with that, the rumour simply fades away and disappears.

"T-t-thank you very much, Miss Nanami!" Kuroe gasps.

"Why were you running!?" Yachiyo asks.

"B-because your face looked so scary, I thought I was gonna get beaten up…"

"To tell the truth, I was thinking that," Yachiyo says. "But then I realized something didn't quite add up… why is Mokyu… why is the little Kyuubey with you?"

"Ah, um… I just happened to see him, and followed him," Kuroe says. "That's all… I'm not sure why he decided to hop onto my shoulder…"

"Why were you wandering around there anyway?" Yachiyo asks. "Were you there to get a Coordination?"

"Um… no, that's not why," Kuroe says.

"So… why?" Yachiyo asks.

"I was just… looking for… something… someone," she says.

She picks herself up and dusts herself off.

"Who or what were you looking for?"

"…you won't get mad if I tell you… right?"

"I won't get mad," Yachiyo says.

"I was looking for… for Tomoe Mami, and… and… Tamaki Iroha…"

Yachiyo stares at her.

"So even the Magius don't know what happened to them…?"

"I… I'm not sure," Kuroe says. "It wasn't the Magius who asked me to look for them…"

"Then who did?" Yachiyo asks.

"Um… she's a white feather who calls herself Lita…"

Yachiyo gasps. "Wait, could it be Ashley Taylor!?"

Kuroe gasps. "Y-you know her!? Um, yes, that is her full name…"

"What on earth is she thinking…?" Yachiyo mutters. "I can't get a handle on her… her actions make no sense…"

"U-um, so… can I… can I go now…?" Kuroe asks.

"No, you're coming with me," Yachiyo says.

"W-what!?" Kuroe gasps.

"You seem to know something, so I'm not letting you out of my sight," Yachiyo says. "You can stay at my place tonight. I'll even make you dinner."

"Um… a-alright…?" Kuroe says. "B-but what about school tomorrow…?"

"It won't hurt you to miss a day or two, will it?" Yachiyo says.

"Ah… I… I suppose not," Kuroe admits. "I… I mean… I'll be in trouble… but I guess I'll probably just get detention or something and then it'll all be over…"

With a sigh, she banishes the robes and powers down, leaving her in her casual clothes.

"T-then… at least let me introduce myself properly," she says. "My name is Kuroe Asaka… I'm from Takarazaki, like Miss Tamaki."

"I thought you feathers preferred to be anonymous," Yachiyo says.

"W-well, this is… an exception," Kuroe mutters. "Besides… you already saw my face…"

"Then let's go," Yachiyo says.

But as they leave the alleyway, they almost collide with Karin. She's not alone, either – Riko is with her.

"W-whoa!?" Karin gasps. "Oh… it's Miss Nanami! W-what are you doing here?"

"Ah!?" Riko gasps. "This is Miss Nanami…? She's even scarier-looking than I heard…"

Riko hides herself behind Karin, peeking nervously out at Yachiyo.

"Miss Misono," Yachiyo says. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? I was shocked to see you descending from the sky to tackle Alina the other day."

"Ah, you saw that?" Karin says. "That's a little embarrassing…"

"What's your relation with Alina, by the way?"

"Eh? She's just… a sempai?" Karin says. "She helps me out with my manga now and then… she's actually a really nice girl under all that gruffness! I just know she is, okay!? So I don't believe one word of what they're saying about her!"

"B-but I think it does seem like her," Riko mutters.

Yachiyo blinks.

"What who's saying about her?" she asks.

"Um, it was a short girl who looks kinda like a squirrel," Karin says. "Let me think… what did she say her name was…?"

"Miss Miyako?" Yachiyo says.

"Yeah, that's her!"

"So what was Miss Miyako saying about Alina?"

"That she's summoning a terrible witch to destroy the city!" Karin exclaims. "But I don't believe it! Alina-sempai wouldn't do something like that!"

"So, I suppose Miss Miyako told you about the Wings of the Magius and Walpurgisnacht…?"

"Yeah," Karin says. "The basics, at least. I'm sure they must be forcing Alina-sempai to listen to them or something… she'd never do anything to hurt people!"

"Well… leaving that aside, what was her purpose for telling you all that?" Yachiyo asks.

"Ah, there's some big plan or something," Karin says. "I didn't get the details, but they want all the magical girls in Kamihama to participate… come to think of it, why haven't you heard about this already, Miss Nanami?"

"I've been… a little busy recently, so I must have missed it," Yachiyo says.

"Well anyway, I gotta go!" Karin says. "Ashley-chan and Inui-chan are coming over tonight so I don't wanna keep them waiting!"

"Wait… Ashley Taylor?" Yachiyo says. "You know her too?"

"Yes… you're not going to try to tell me that she's summoning a witch too, are you?" Karin asks.

"A-actually!" Kuroe speaks up. "She's the one trying to stop it… or something…"

"O-oh!" Riko says. "Ashley-nee is doing that!?"

"Oh… maybe she can explain things better than that squirrelly girl then," Karin says. "Alright, perhaps I'll ask her. See you later, Miss Nanami, and uhh… bear girl!"

"B-bear girl!?" Kuroe gasps.

With that, Karin takes off at a run, Riko following her and glancing nervously back at Yachiyo. It's a good thing too, because by this time Inui and I are already almost at her house. Meanwhile, Yachiyo and Kuroe head to the Crescent Moon Villa and settle down for a simple meal.

---

So, despite things taking a turn towards the anime's version of events, it feels more like the anime version was haphazardly overlaid onto the game. Some of the key differences in the anime, for example Nemu remembering Ui, don't seem to be the case here, and although Kuroe's mission to find Iroha and subsequent meeting with Yachiyo is pretty similar, it was instigated by me, not Nemu. Similarly, in the anime, something caused Kanagi to join in the final battle, but in this timeline, I was the one who's instigating that. All things considered, despite events hewing towards the anime this time, it feels like they're going better than they did in the anime itself.

There's also the mystery from Yukuni, which makes Mary's garbled words from our last meeting make a bit more sense. Apparently, that mysterious woman is associated with the Vatican, and if I'm understanding correctly, they have a vendetta against magical girls, except they call us witches. It makes me wonder if they know about the actual witches. The other curious thing is the second woman who showed up to enable the first one to retreat. Her name and description appear to match the strange woman in Oriko's extra vision, the one fighting against Kriemhild Gretchen with support from Pernelle and a woman I suspect to be Kuzunoha. And yet, that doesn't quite add up. If she's with the Vatican, who hates magical girls, why would she be working with two of them in Oriko's vision? Also, despite seemingly not being a magical girl, she had some impressive skills, though I'm not sure if there was a magic item involved, but… creating portals isn't a very common power from my understanding, even less common than teleportation. And finally, if the Vatican is like that, why on earth would Mary want me to infiltrate it?

---

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 (†).

Heidesommer (Haruna Konomi)

The Doppel of greening. Its form is humus. The master of this emotion is under the impression that her Doppel uses a good power for the sake of spreading greenery. The Doppel's body is composed of soil, and contains enzymes capable of decomposing any and all organisms. Those who touch it will rot away and entirely decompose, becoming nutrients to make the land abundant and fertile. The black, downy fluff that it launches by swaying its body will also cling to those it touches; should one touch it, they'll be devoured in an instant by fast-growing roots and transformed into a plant.

---

So you could say that this is where this timeline finally starts to get real. Iroha and Mami are missing, Yachiyo's on a rampage, Chelation Land is destroyed before it even began, and Ashley is ramping up her plan to destroy Fendt Hope. And then Konomi, probably the most underused magical girl in the entire game, suddenly takes the spotlight out of the blue. I thought it made sense, since she's close with Kaede.

Even though the Fashion Monster only showed up here as a brief cameo, I decided to feature it at the top, instead of an excerpt. Why? No particular reason, but thinking up an excerpt for every chapter can be quite challenging. Then again, writing an original rumour isn't exactly the easiest thing either, so whatever. On the other hand, this particular rumour is little more than a twist on the Slit-mouthed Woman, so it wasn't that difficult.

I had to design a few more costumes for this chapter. I largely based Sue's costume on another magical girl who shares her given name (remember, her profile revealed her true name to be Suou Mikan), but added a few twists to make it unique. This one's more obvious, but Manatsu's costume is also based on a character from another source. Coeurl's costume appears in the source but only in black and white, so I had to pick colours for her. Technically, NMG did mention the cloak is black rather than navy blue, but they're close enough that I can imagine Kosane was just mistaken.

Somehow, I've almost run out of magical girls to feature in the Magical Girl Corner. Oh, there's still the Promise Blood crew, certainly, and a few others – Himena, Mitsune, Jun, Yuuna, Rion, Kagome, the history trio, anime Kuro, a couple of witch-derived originals, etc – but that's pretty much it. So it's likely that most chapters will not have a Magical Girl Corner going forward. There will still be a few here and there, of course. Just not on nearly every chapter.

The next chapter is almost done already, so it'll likely be up next weekend. The chapter after that hasn't even been started.