Moving a little further from home, I ran across an older magical girl in nearby Hohzuki. Her name was Mikoto Tsubaki, and she agreed to answer a few questions about her life as a magical girl.

Me: So, I was wondering… I don't normally hear of magical girls as old as you. How long have you been one?
Mikoto: I became a magical girl in high school, so only about four or five years.
Me: How is it being a magical girl at your age?
Mikoto: It has become harder to find the time to patrol. However, I have managed to work out a schedule, so it works out.
Me: Think you'll be able to retire someday?
Mikoto: (chuckle) Not likely. It's a thankless job, and what's the chance I'll be able to train a successor? That said, I can always hope.
Me: Have you always fought alone?
Mikoto: Not always. Back in high school, there was another magical girl who declared herself my rival, but by the time we graduated we had become fast friends who usually fought together. But since moving to Hohzuki, I've fought alone again.
Me: How's that friend of yours doing?
Mikoto: We exchange emails frequently.
Me: Alright, I'll wrap this up with one final question… is there anything you'd like to say in general about life as a magical girl?
Mikoto: Don't do it unless your wish is really something you can't achieve on your own through hard work.
Me: Well then, thanks for your time, and let me wish you luck as a magical girl!

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

I watch Iroha track down and defeat the Rumour of the Friendship Ending Staircase on Monday, noting that everything seems to go the same as in the previous timeline. I also manage to confirm the suspicion I'd gotten from watching Iroha encounter Mitama and the other Kamihama girls for the first time – she doesn't seem to remember that she came back in time with me. I know for a fact that she remembered early on, because she responded to my email, but I guess the reconstruction of Ui's fate erased it from her memory. Inui still remembers though, which is actually a little bit strange, as both of them should have received a boost of karmic destiny by coming back in time if Mary's explanation is accurate. But perhaps it's because Iroha's much closer to the source of the reconstruction… I can't believe she'd actually be weaker than Inui.

The next day, I receive a call just as I return to the Hayashi house. However, the caller is not Homura but Madoka. I hurry up to my room to take the call.

"Hello, Madoka… what's up?"

"Ashley-chan!" Madoka says. "Homura-chan said something about some way to help me control my magic better, like a magical girl doctor or something… and I was wondering if Hitomi-chan and Sayaka-chan could come too?"

"Huh? Did Miss Shizuki make a contract already?" I ask.

"Yes, on Thursday," Madoka says. "So it would be all four of us… is that okay?"

"Well, I guess I don't really have a problem with it," I say. "But is Homura really okay with this? About you making a wish, I mean."

"Homura-chan is a bit annoyed, but she said she wouldn't stop me if it's what I really want," Madoka says. "And it is what I really want, so…"

"Are the others with you right now?" I ask.

"Yes, we're all together at Homura-chan's place," Madoka says. "Just the four of us. Miss Tomoe and Nagisa-chan are on patrol."

"Then let's set off right away," I say.

"Huh? Right now?" Madoka says. "Um… how long will this take…?"

"I expect it to take all evening," I say. "You should probably all let your parents know you'll be home late. We'll have dinner in Asunaro as well."

"Can't it wait until the weekend?" Madoka asks.

"Every minute we put it off is a risk that you use too much magic and turn into a witch," I say. "Right now, I think there's too high of a chance that you'd run out in your first battle. And your witch is too crazy powerful to risk that. It would swallow up the entire planet for several years at least, and who knows how many people it would feed on in that time. This visit should at least reduce the chance of you running out of magic."

There's a short pause, and then Madoka lets out a sigh.

"Alright, we'll go," she says. "You said Asunaro, so should we meet up at the train station?"

"Yes, that sounds good," I say. "By the way, I'll be inviting a few other people along too – Inui, Kimiko Anzu, Masuyo Mari, and Naomi Noriko."

"Yeah, that's fine with me," Madoka says. "We'll see you soon."

"You too."

I hang up the call and send the same emails as last time, to Naomi Noriko, to Yuuri, and to Inui. I already have a confirmation email from Anzu, who I'd emailed earlier since she can only check her email in the library. Then I let Mrs Hayashi know I'll be home late enough to miss dinner, grab the two restored soul gems from my room, and head to the train station.

Homura, Sayaka, Hitomi, and Madoka are already waiting when I arrive.

"Good afternoon, Ashley-chan!" Madoka says. "You said some other people are coming, right?"

"Yes, they should be here soon," I say. "We may as well save introductions for after they arrive."

As I pull out my phone to confirm that everyone's actually coming, I hear Inui calling my name and turn to see her waiting to cross the street. There are confirmation messages from her, Noriko, and Anzu. I also see an email from Yuuri, so I open it up.

[Kanna-chi said you've gone through yet another timeline, and last time you apparently added to the number of people, so I thought I should just ask… maybe we'll need more food this time?]

I compose a quick response and send it.

[We have two more people this time around, plus the one extra person from last time that you wouldn't remember. That's not counting the girl we'll be reviving.]

"So basically, you're going to introduce me to some more magical girls?" Madoka says.

"That's right," I say. "One of them even became the witch who attacked Miss Shizuki in most of the other timelines."

"W-what!?" Hitomi gasps. "I kind of wish you hadn't told us that… now I'm feeling a little nervous…"

"It makes me feel a little nervous too," Madoka admits. "Um… is she also a student at Mitakihara Middle School?"

"No, I think she's eighteen or nineteen," I say. "She already graduated from high school, and I don't think she's attending college. She gives off the impression of being a shut-in NEET, but she actually has a job."

"Ohh, an adult magical girl," Madoka says. "That's cool!"

"Then there's the girl from Kazamino who turned into Cecil in other timelines," I say. "Plus a bunch more once we get to Asunaro."

Madoka nods. "Okay, I'm looking forward to it."

"I wish we could just stay focused on the task at hand," Homura says with a little sigh.

"But isn't it exciting to meet magical girls from another city?" Madoka asks.

"I really don't care one way or another," Homura says.

"Well, Homura might not care, but I think it's pretty exciting," Sayaka says. "Say, are there a lot more magical girls around here too?"

"If you mean in Mitakihara…?" I say.

"Yeah, of course," Sayaka says. "I already know about Oriko and Kirika…"

"There's only one other in that area, I believe," I say. "I think you've actually heard of her too – Asako Komaki."

"Ah, yes, Oriko mentioned her," Sayaka says. "Though I didn't know she was a magical girl."

If they know about Oriko and Kirika, and Noriko and Mari are coming here, then the only ones left would be the quartet in the west, plus Shiori, Koharu, and Miu.

"In the west there are currently five girls… and there's two more in the east as well."

And if I consider people who will be making a wish soon, plus the girls I'm going to be bringing back to life, then there's also Liliane and Sachie in the west, the trio in the east, Koito and Hiraku Yumiko in the south, and I guess the original Mari in the north.

"But I'm also expecting a bunch more to contract over the next month – there should be three more in the east, another two in the west, and two more in the south. Possibly one more in the north, too. I'm not expecting any new magical girls in central Mitakihara… though there was at least one girl in your class who seemed to have potential."

"Huh? In my class?" Madoka says. "Who could that be?"

"Miss Hayasaka."

"Was there someone called Miss Hayasaka in our class?" Sayaka asks.

"You didn't know?" Madoka says. "She's the one who usually sits two seats behind Homura-chan."

"Oh, her!" Sayaka gasps. "Huh… I see, I see…"

"I'm sure there could even be more you don't know about, right?" Madoka says.

"If you're talking about girls with potential who might contract, then yes," I say. "Just in the last timeline, there was a new one I discovered in West Kazamino who I'd never encountered before, so it's entirely possible that more magical girls will keep appearing."

"Um… does that mean that Mitakihara is essentially divided into five territories?" Hitomi asks.

"I think that's roughly true," I say. "But I don't think the boundaries are very clear-cut right now…"

"You mentioned one of the ones coming today is of college age," Sayaka asks. "But there aren't any actual university students…?"

"Not in Mitakihara, no," I say. "I do know one or two in Kamihama… but wait, did Mitakihara even have a university?"

"Oh yes," Madoka says. "It's not very big, but there's one in the northeast corner of the city, on the other side of the river. I think it's called Kagura University?"

"Huh… is it a coincidence that it's named the same as the big hotel near here?" I ask.

"Probably not," Hitomi says. "I believe the family that owns the hotel has provided quite a lot of funding to the university, so while I am not certain, it is likely that it was named to honour that."

At that moment, Homura glances towards the north.

"She's coming," she says.

I sense Mari's arrival at the same time, briefly sighting the blur of her passage. I don't cross the street to meet her in the alleyway this time, however, instead waiting for them to emerge on their own. However, before that happens, Kimiko Anzu walks up to us, nodding to me and standing around nervously. Then Mari and Noriko finally emerge from the alleyway, fully powered down.

"Well, it looks like everyone's here now," I say. "Shall I handle the introductions…?"

"Please," Hitomi says.

"Sure," Mari says.

"Alright," I say. "Most of you know me already, but I'm Ashley Taylor. These are Kaname Madoka, Shizuki Hitomi, Miki Sayaka, and Akemi Homura. This here is Itsumi Inui, and this is Kimiko Anzu. That's Naomi Noriko, and lastly… Masuyo Mari, and… have you two come up with separate names yet?"

Mari shrugs.

"We've been thinking about it," she says. "In fact, the three of us were talking about it when Nano-chan got your email. But we haven't settled on anything yet, so for the time being you can refer to us as Mari-chan and Mari-kun."

"Fair enough," I say.

"Um… I do not understand," Hitomi says.

Mari holds up her hands to show that each one has a soul gem ring.

"There are two of us in this body," she explains. "We were siblings, but one of us turned into a witch… recently, Miss Ashley got her friend to restore her, but her body had been lost to the labyrinth, so for now we're sharing."

"Ohh, I see," Madoka says. "Um, so, it's nice to meet all of you!"

"Indeed, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances," Hitomi says.

"Nice meeting you!" Sayaka says. "Huh, so it's possible for a witch to turn back into a magical girl?"

"Not normally… it's very unusual that the girl I know can do it," I say. "If you asked Kyuubey, it would say it's impossible, which means it's very possible that this girl is the first one who's ever had the power."

We all head into the train station and catch a train to Asunaro.

"So, what exactly are we going to do in Asunaro?" Madoka asks once we've settled down.

"We're going to see someone who knows a lot about magical girls," I say. "I guess you could say she's a scientist who studies magic… and she's also a magical girl and an alchemist."

Madoka tilts her head. "Huh? Isn't science like… the opposite of magic?"

"Well… you can ask her about that when you meet her," I say.

«She's also pretty famous,» Noriko adds. «You haven't heard of her?»

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Madoka asks.

"I actually hadn't told them who we're meeting yet," I say. "Her name is Pernelle Flamel."

"Flamel!?" Sayaka gasps. "Is that any relation to Nicholas Flamel?"

"Yes, she's his wife," I say. "I also met Nicholas back in Paris, but only Pernelle has come to Japan."

"Oh wow… so they really exist," Sayaka says. "I always thought they were just made-up…"

"If you'd looked them up on Wikipedia, you would've found they were real historical people," I point out. "Although Wikipedia would say they're long dead."

"But wait, Nicholas Flamel can't be a magical girl, right?" Sayaka says. "I get how magical girls might be able to live a long time, but how's he still alive?"

"I'm not entirely sure," I say. "I would guess something to do with Pernelle's magic, though. It's not technically impossible for him to have made a contract himself, but having met him, I can confidently say that's not the case."

Upon reaching Asunaro, I lead everyone to Pernelle's place and knock on the door. We're greeted by the Souju twins, who glare at us.

"The hell d'you want?"

"Is that any way to greet your guests, Miss Luca?" I retort.

She tilts her head. "How do you know my name?" she asks.

"I heard from Kanna-chi, obviously."

"Is that so," she says. "Whatever."

She spins and stalks inside, entering Pernelle's labyrinth, and Anzu lets out a little gasp.

"W-whoa, is there a witch in this house!? It doesn't feel like a witch though…"

"No, this was made by Pernelle," I say. "She can create a barrier, similar to a witch. Let's go in."

We head inside and find that the Souju twins are the only ones there, laying out on one of the couches. They glance over as we enter, still glaring.

"You're not to bug us," Luca says. "As long as you leave us alone, I won't set Ayase on you."

"Sure, whatever," I say. "Where'd Pernelle go?"

"Beats me what that old hag is up to," Luca shrugs. "Well, I think she just stepped out for a minute, so I guess she should be back soon."

"Let's just take a seat and wait then," I say.

Everyone except Homura and Anzu selects a seat. Madoka, Hitomi, and Sayaka claim one of the couches, while Noriko takes the armchair that Madoka used when I was last here, and Mari perches on the arm of the same chair. That leaves the third couch free for Inui and I, leaving one unoccupied couch and one unoccupied armchair.

Then Hijiri steps in and waves. She's carrying a bell jar.

"Hello!" she says. "Most of you haven't met me, right? Although I know all of you. I'm Hijiri Kanna. I heard you'd be coming, so I thought I'd fetch the girl Ashley-chan left here before."

"The one who didn't have a soul gem, right?" I say.

"Of course," Hijiri says.

Hijiri extracts the body of Hiraku Yumiko from her bell jar and lays her out on the one remaining free couch, then pulls out the girl's school uniform from somewhere and dresses her.

"Huh… she's a girl from Oriko's school?" Sayaka asks.

"Yes, that's right," I say. "I think she was the president of the calligraphy club there."

"You do have her soul gem with you, right?" Hijiri says.

"Yes, of course," I say.

I take it out and show it to her, and Hijiri takes it from me to set it down on the girl's chest.

"Now all we can do is wait for her to wake up," Hijiri says.

"Um, so… what about onee-san?" Anzu says.

"You brought a lock of her hair, right?" I say.

"Y-yeah," Anzu says.

"Perfect," Hijiri says. "Then we can start a new homunculus, just like we're doing for Miss Souju. I'll need to take her soul gem and a sample of her hair… is that alright?"

"Of course!" Anzu says.

She takes out a locket and offers it to Hijiri, who accepts it. I also pass over the other extra soul gem I have with me, that of Kimiko Chinatsu.

"I'll probably be doing it myself," Hijiri says. "So cross your fingers. She should be ready in a few weeks… could you give me your contact info so I can let you know when to come pick her up?"

Anzu nods. "U-um… I'll give you my email!" she says. "A-and… if anything goes wrong… p-please tell me!"

Hijiri nods. "Sure."

She takes out and unlocks her phone and passes it to Anzu to input her email. Once Anzu's finished, she takes her phone back.

"Okay, I'll go get that started right away," Hijiri says. "I'll be back in a bit."

With that, she disappears into the next room. A minute or two later, the girl on the couch opens her eyes, blinking a few times.

"Huh…?" she says. "Where… where am I?"

She sits up, catching her soul gem and absently converting it to ring form on her finger, and looks around at her audience.

"W-who are all you people…?" she asks. "You didn't… kidnap me… did you?"

"Of course not," I say. "If anything, you could say I saved your life…"

The girl tilts her head. "Well… if that's true, then I must thank you," she says. "I am Hiraku Yumiko."

"I'm Ashley Taylor," I say. "We're all magical girls here, by the way."

Yumiko looks around in surprise.

"Ah, really?" she says. "That's… unexpected… but may I ask what actually happened?"

"Well, you might find it a bit hard to believe," I say. "But what can you remember?"

"I believe I was woken by a sound," Yumiko says. "I hadn't slept well… I was ruminating on the events that led me to that place. I had the thought that I should look for a witch, but I didn't feel like moving. Then… ah, come to think of it, I think the last thing I remember was someone entering from the balcony… I thought that was odd, since it was on the top floor. That must have been you, right? After that… I blanked out."

"Do you have any guesses about what happened to you?" I ask.

"Well, I think… I think I sensed a witch just before I blanked out," Yumiko says. "But it was right on top of me… no, perhaps… it was me…?"

I nod. "That's correct… you turned into a witch," I say. "You hadn't purified your soul gem, so it filled up to the brim and couldn't hold any more."

"Is that so… so this is actually a normal thing?" Yumiko says. "But I sense that waking up afterwards is not so usual…"

"Well, you're right about that," I say. "That's why I said I saved your life."

"Then once again, allow me to thank you, Miss Taylor," Yumiko says.

"So, care to tell me what exactly you were doing in a room in that abandoned hotel?" I ask.

"Well… the short answer is, I had run away from home," Yumiko says. "The hotel is owned by Father, so I snuck the key out of his office."

"Wasn't that the old Kagura Hotel building before it relocated next to the station?" Inui asks. "You're saying your father is the owner of Kagura Hotel?"

"Ah… yes, that's correct," Yumiko says. "Not only that, the hotel is named for my family – it is an alternate reading of my surname."

"So you spell Hiraku and Kagura with the same kanji," Hitomi muses. "I had heard a little about the Hiraku family – Mother wanted me to marry their son – but I never realized you were so closely associated with the hotel."

"Ah, you must be talking about onii-san," Yumiko says. "I don't think I have any male cousins… which means, you must be Miss Shizuki?"

Hitomi nods. "Yes… Shizuki Hitomi. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," Yumiko says.

"So if the hotel is named after your family, I suppose it's always been in your family?" Inui says.

"I believe there was a period of six or seven years when it came under another conglomerate's control," Yumiko says. "However, my great-grandfather managed to save up and buy it back. Apart from that… yes, from what I understand, it started out as the first inn in early Mitakihara, and my ancestors were the ones who ran it."

"Given the unusual spelling of the name, I can't help but think there might be a connection with a certain alchemist," I say. "It's spelled with the kanji for fire, right? Which seems like a potential call-out to Pernelle Flamel, especially since Kagura was a nickname for her… because after all, she was here when the city was founded."

"Huh!?" Madoka gasps. "She was!?"

"Yes… I do not know how you learned of this, but her name has been passed down in my family," Yumiko says. "In fact, the magical spear which she forged for Lady Akatsuki has also been passed down through our family."

"Ah, the daughter of the clan founder?" I ask.

"Yes – Akatsuki Miyu, daughter of Akatsuki Aiko, who was the founder of the clan," Yumiko says.

"So the spear Pernelle crafted is actually in your possession?" I ask.

"It is stored in a vault in one of Father's holdings," Yumiko says. "So yes, it is in my family's possession. But may I ask, how did you learn that Lady Pernelle came to this island? From what I understand, this is not written in the history books…"

"Ah, she told me herself," I say. "Actually, this is her place, so she should be coming back here any minute now…"

Yumiko blinks.

"Y-you cannot be serious," she says. "Lady Pernelle is still alive!? B-but she must be hundreds of years old!"

"She was already hundreds of years old back then," I say. "She was born in the fourteenth century. She's also a magical girl."

"I… I see," Yumiko says. "That is… truly incredible… may I ask how you met her?"

"I met her at her house in Paris," I say. "She came here because there were interesting things going on that she wanted to study."

"By the way, from everything you've said, Miss Hiraku," Inui says. "Would it be accurate to assume you're related to the Tokime Clan?"

Yumiko blinks. "Y-you even know about that…? H-how much do you know?"

"We know they're still around," I say. "And there are quite a few branch families across the island."

Yumiko nods. "Yes, we are supposedly descended from the Tokime Clan," she says. "I am not sure exactly how closely related we are, but there is definitely some relation. And part of the reason I ran away from home is because we had just been contacted by the head family."

If I recall correctly, Chiharu should have contracted right around now, give or take a day or two, so if Yumiko left home because the Mikoshiba contacted them, that would mean she'd taken two whole weeks to find a girl to make the wish about that police corruption? Well… I guess she probably tried Sunao first since she lives near the village, and she definitely contacted Ryoko as well, and it likely took her quite some time to track Ryoko and Yumiko down, so maybe it makes sense.

"When they contacted you, were you already a magical girl?" I ask.

"No, I made a contract a day or two later," Yumiko says. "Then I left home."

"Did you know why they contacted you?" I ask.

"Father never told me the reason," he says. "He never tells me anything. It's only a coincidence that I overheard the call. That's the other part of the reason I ran away. I'm sick of Father treating me like I don't exist… so I decided there was no reason for me to be there at all. But anyway, it sounded like the head family wanted me, and Father was prepared to hand me over, just like that."

Silence falls for a few seconds as I consider everything she's said. Then a thought occurs to me.

"You know, if you ask me, it would make sense for you to use that spear," I say. "It's a magical spear made for a magical girl, after all."

"You're not wrong," Yumiko says. "I had been thinking about it myself before I—"

At that moment, Pernelle finally arrives, with Yuuri and Airi in tow carrying bags of Chinese takeout, which they immediately start setting out on a table that Pernelle transmutes from the floor.

"There's plenty of food here for everyone!" Yuuri announces.

Anzu is the first to take her up on the offer, but Noriko and Inui are close behind her. The Souju twins also decide to have some. Yuuri and Airi dig in too, of course. Yumiko shoots to her feet.

"Are you really Lady Pernelle!?" she asks.

Pernelle blinks at her. "There is no need to refer to me so formally," she says. "But yes, I am indeed she."

"Um… it is truly a great honour to meet you!"

"Is that so?" Pernelle says. "Ye accord me more honour than I truly deserve."

"Um, I'm Hiraku Yumiko… a descendant of Akatsuki Aiko," Yumiko says.

"It has been many generations since those days, so being her descendant is hardly something to brag about," Pernelle says. "But that is indeed a nostalgic name. It is strangely comforting to meet a descendant of someone I knew well back then."

"T-thank you…" Yumiko says. "Um… uh… Miss Pernelle? Do you recall crafting a spear when you were last on this island?"

"Indeed, for the daughter of Akatsuki Aiko, whose name sadly eludes me at the moment," Pernelle says. "What of it?"

"Ah, so um… apparently that spear is in my family's possession," Yumiko says.

"Is that so?" Pernelle says. "It is of no import, but I will admit that it is interesting to learn what became of it."

As she sits back down, Pernelle turns to face me.

"What has brought you to my abode on this occasion?" she asks.

"For hopefully the last time, I'm here on Madoka's behalf," I say, gesturing towards her. "To start with, I'd like to ask you to craft a weapon that will help her keep her magic under control."

"Huh? A new weapon?" Madoka says. "I thought it was going to be some sort of training…"

Pernelle peers at Madoka.

"Her power outstrips even Tart… Jeanne d'Arc," she says. "I shudder to contemplate what manner of catastrophe could result if—"

"I won't turn into a witch!" Madoka says firmly.

"Well, ye sound quite confident," Pernelle says. "Can ye support that claim?"

Madoka blinks. "Ah, well, um… according to Ashley-chan, it's safe in Kamihama…"

"Because of the automatic purification system, magical girls don't turn into witches in Kamihama," I explain.

"Magical girls do not become witches?" Pernelle says. "How can that be?"

"I don't really get it myself, but please be discreet if you decide to go there and study it," I say. "I'd like to avoid you messing up my predictions too much."

"I see," Pernelle says. "Even so… abide ye in Kamihama, Miss Madoka?"

"No… I don't," she says.

"Then a weapon that enhances your magical efficiency would certainly be useful. Tell me, Miss Madoka… what did you wish for?"

"Um… it's a little embarrassing," Madoka says.

"I will tell no-one," Pernelle says. "Shall I ask the others to vacate the room?"

"N-no… it's fine," Madoka says. "Um… I wished for the power to bring hope to magical girls everywhere."

Pernelle blinks.

"Interesting," she says. "That is incredibly similar to Tart's wish, to bring light to all of France. May I see your magical girl form?"

"S-sure!" Madoka says.

She stands up and transforms. Her costume is the same as last time, resembling her goddess form rather than her original magical girl outfit.

"W-wings!?" Anzu gasps. "C-can you actually fly?"

"Oh, um… yes, I can," Madoka says.

Pernelle nods. "Ye must have more powers than mere flight," she says. "Can ye apprise me of them?"

Madoka nods. "Yes… I can fly, I can heal almost anything… cure almost any ailment… disease, poison, you name it. I can manipulate light into weapons – the arrows I fire from my bow are made of light. I can summon force barriers to block attacks or contain things. And then there's my aura. While I'm transformed, all magical girls within a one hundred metre radius accumulate grief half as quickly as normal."

"Oh, that is quite impressive… like the exact opposite of Corbeau's power," Pernelle says.

"There's one other thing besides that, right?" I say.

"What do you mean?" Madoka asks.

"The feathers," I say.

"Ah," Madoka says. "I must have used them before…? I don't really get what they do. I mean, I have some vague idea, but I'm not sure if I can explain it well…"

"I request that ye make the attempt," Pernelle says.

"Fine," Madoka says with a sigh. "So um… it's like an add-on to my aura. As magical girls under the effect of the aura use their magic, I slowly accumulate… something… which I can then release all at once. But I'm not quite sure what it even does…"

"I'm not sure of the mechanics or anything, but from what I could tell, it gives a boost to everyone's magic, or something," I say. "It makes you suddenly feel refreshed."

"Maybe," Madoka says. "Like I said, I don't really understand it…"

"As stated, it appears to fly in the face of common sense," Pernelle muses. "To accumulate this unknown quantity by sending magic to your allies, then expend it by again sending magic to your allies… that is how it sounds, yet it is a clear contradiction."

"I don't think the aura sends magic to my allies, technically," Madoka says. "I don't think it'll make my soul gem cloud any faster…"

"No matter, even discounting the power ye understand not, still ye possess quite a lengthy list of starting powers there, which is somewhat unusual," Pernelle says. "Many magical girls start with but a single starting power, and often not a very useful one for combat."

She strokes her chin for a moment, considering.

"Very well, Miss Madoka," she says. "Ye remind me of Tart… of Jeanne d'Arc, so… I shall craft you a bow to improve your magical efficiency."

"But I already have a bow," Madoka says.

"Use mine instead until ye become accustomed to controlling your power," Pernelle says. "That said… may I see yours? I shall endeavour to effect something to make mine unique, so ye have reason to use both as the situation calls for."

Madoka nods and summons her rose bow, handing it over. Pernelle accepts it and examines it closely.

"May I scan it?" Pernelle asks.

"S-sure…"

While Pernelle takes the bow to the back of the room to scan it on an apparatus she transmutes out of the wall, I get up to fetch some food for myself. Mari and Yumiko also decide to take some, and the Souju twins drop off their cleaned-off plate and head outside.

"So, speaking of what you said about witches," Yumiko says. "If I understand correctly, you said it can only happen if the soul gem is filled with grief?"

"That's correct," I say.

"Kyuubey never mentioned anything like that," Yumiko says.

"It usually doesn't mention it," I say. "Unless you really question it closely. Many magical girls never find out their entire life… which is usually a short life though."

"I see," Yumiko says."So I just need to make sure I have enough grief seeds… though that might be difficult… apparently witches are scarce in Mitakihara lately…"

"They're scarce here too," Yuuri speaks up. "Oh, sorry for skipping introductions… I'm Asuka Yuuri, and this is my friend, Anri Airi."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Yumiko says.

Before anyone can speak further, Pernelle turns around and rejoins us, handing Madoka's bow back to her.

"Thank you," she says. "I have settled on a concept for your weapon. It will be ready two weeks from now. If ye give me your address, I shall personally deliver it to you."

Madoka nods. "Okay, sure, but… I live with my Mom and Dad and a little brother, so I don't know if it's a good idea to just show up with a bow… especially if it's a fancy-looking one…"

"Worry not," Pernelle says. "I will not carry it openly."

"Okay…"

Madoka powers down and takes out her phone, opening the notes app and typing out her address. She shows it to Pernelle, who nods and copies it down onto a scrap of paper. Once that's done, Madoka puts her phone away.

"By the way, I was wondering something," Madoka says. "Ashley-chan said you're a scientist who studies magic, but aren't those incompatible?"

Pernelle shakes her head. "Of course not. Science is but a method of thinking about the world. It means I will believe anything I see and add it to a cumulative model of the world. If I happen to see magic? Well… into the model it goes."

"But… science has to have rules, right?" Madoka says. "What if magic turns out not to have rules?"

"Everything has rules," Pernelle says. "Mayhaps the rules of magic will prove to be very strange and unintuitive. In fact, I would suggest it is even probable. But… considering a worst-case scenario… even if there were, for example, a rule that magic abhors rules, we would still think of a way to codify that into a repeatable rule… although I am happy to say that there does not appear to be such a rule, from what I have seen of magic. And besides that, there are rules that are very strange and unintuitive even in the study of fundamental physics. Even now, I doubt ye can find someone who truly understands quantum mechanics at an intuitive level."

«Clarke's third law,» Noriko pipes up. «Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.»

"That is indeed one method of approaching the matter," Pernelle says. "But ultimately the point is that magic and science are not opposites. They are complementary. Magic is not a concept that even possesses an opposite… while I suppose the opposite of science would be faith, in the sense of religious faith… although faith is not necessarily religious in nature. For example, I require no evidence to believe in God – I simply acknowledge His existence as fact and continue from there."

"I see… I never thought of it that way," Madoka says. "So… you're a scientist who believes in a god? That seems weird…"

"It is actually quite common," Pernelle says.

"Okay," I say. "Next on my list would be… Miss Naomi, would you mind scanning Madoka for me?"

"S-sure!" Noriko gasps.

She shoots to her feet and transforms, turning to look at Madoka.

«Kaname Madoka. Speed, seven and a half stars. Stamina, one star. Offense, ten stars. Defense, thirteen stars. Learned powers, zero stars. Health, ten out of ten hearts. Magia, three-quarters out of two clovers. Element, light. Accelerant, four stars. Blast power, four stars. Charge potential, three stars.»

«Her offense went up by one star, and defense went up by half a star compared to last time I saw this,» Inui notes. «The magia level is one-quarter higher. Pretty sure everything else is the same though.»

"Normally blast, charge, and accelerant add up to eight, right?" I say.

Noriko blinks. «Now that you mention it… I think you might be right,» she says. «Although I never really noticed that… but I've also never seen more than five stars on any stat…»

"Is your soul gem doing okay, Madoka?" I ask.

As Noriko's reading implies, it's almost forty percent corrupted. Madoka gasps as she realizes this.

"W-what!? I haven't even used any magic and it's already like this!?"

"I believe merely maintaining your magical form contributed most of it," Pernelle says. "And maintaining your body also contributed a little. The wings in particular may be magically expensive – ye would do well to suppress them when they are not required."

"I didn't quite get why Ashley-chan was so worried and wanted to do this right now," Madoka says. "But after seeing this… I think I understand. If it can get like this just from existing…"

"I shall grant you a grief seed for free this time," Pernelle says. "Just a moment."

She heads into the next room, returning a minute later with not one but two grief seeds.

"There you go," Pernelle says. "One for now and one for later."

"W-whoa, that's so generous of you!" Madoka gasps.

"No, it truly is not," Pernelle says. "If I were feeling generous, I would have given you at least ten."

"Y-you have that many!?" Madoka gasps.

"I have lost count of how many I have," Pernelle says.

"Alright, what else was on my list of things to do today…?" I muse. "Oh right, Masuyo Mari!"

Mari blinks. "M-me!?"

Then in a slightly more girly voice she adds, "W-what about me!?"

Pernelle turns to look at Mari with a nod.

"Indeed… I noticed earlier, but like the Soujus, ye appear to be two in one," she says. "Are ye twins too?"

"Oh, um… yes, you could say that," Mari says.

"Interesting," Pernelle says. "Perhaps sharing a body is possible for any pair of identical twins… anyway, did ye want something from me?"

"Well… I didn't have anything particular in mind," Mari says. "But… could it be similar to what Miss Kimiko came here for? Though I didn't quite catch what that was…"

"Basically, Pernelle and Kanna-chi can grow you a new body so you don't have to share anymore," I say.

Mari blinks. "R-really!? Huh… well, that does sound somewhat enticing…"

"However, it comes with a price," Pernelle says. "If ye desire me to grow you a body, ye must pay the same price the Soujus did."

"Which is… what, exactly?" Mari asks.

"Allow me to study the phenomenon of two souls in one body," Pernelle says.

"You're asking us to be guinea pigs in exchange for a new body!?" Mari asks.

"It honestly doesn't sound all that bad though, onee-san," Mari says.

"I dunno," Mari says. "Can we actually trust her?"

"Well, Miss Ashley seems to trust her," Mari says.

"Hmm… well… could we think it over for awhile?" Mari asks.

Pernelle nods. "Take all the time ye need," she says. "I shall remain here for awhile – at least until the Pleiades Saints have learned their lesson. Although… if your friend is willing to offer herself as a guinea pig in your place, I am also quite interested in her scanning magic."

Noriko blinks. "Y-y-you mean m-me!?"

Pernelle nods, and Mari and Noriko exchange glances for a moment. The rapid expressions crossing both their faces makes me suspect a private telepathic conversation. Then Mari turns to face Pernelle.

"Okay," she says. "Then we'll get back to you some other time if we decide to take up the offer."

"Very well," Pernelle says.

"Okay, so that covers the reason why I asked Miss Masuyo to come," I say. "You're welcome to stay a bit longer, or you can go home once you've finished eating. The same goes to Miss Hiraku and Miss Kimiko – if you need to be somewhere, or simply prefer not to be here, then feel free to catch a train back to Mitakihara – we're in Asunaro right now. However… I will note that there is one reason why you might wish to stay a little longer – after we've finished here, I intend to take whoever wants it to get a Coordination."

"Sorry, but… what is a Coordination?" Yumiko asks.

"Ah… I'd like to know that too," Anzu says.

"A Coordinator is sorta like a doctor for magical girls," I say. "She can even make you stronger. It might be particularly useful if you form a duo with your sister, Miss Kimiko."

"Ah… t-then… if it's okay, I'd like to get one too," Anzu says.

"If that is all… then I think I can manage without," Yumiko says. "Although I will keep it in mind as a possibility. If it is fine with you, then I think I will take my leave now."

With that, she gets up and leaves the room. Noriko gets up at the same time to fetch a second helping of food.

"I'm going to pass on the Coordination as well," Mari says. "But it looks like Nano-chan is still hungry, so we'll stay a bit longer."

"Then the next item on my agenda would be Homura," I say.

Homura blinks and looks at me.

"Huh…?" she says. "What about me?"

"Actually… Pernelle, the next few things are somewhat… private," I say. "Do you have another room where we could discuss matters without anyone else hearing?"

Pernelle nods. "Wish ye for my presence?"

"Yes, that's the entire point," I say. "In that case… Madoka and Homura, come with me. Inui, you can come too if you want, but we don't absolutely need you."

"Then I'm coming," Inui says.

Pernelle walks over to the wall nearby, and a new door forms there. She ushers us all inside. We find several chairs set up, but since I don't expect to be long, I remain standing. Madoka and Inui take a seat though.

"This room is warded such that we cannot be heard from outside," Pernelle says. "Be content to talk as much as ye desire."

"Okay, so there's two things I want to cover with Homura," I say. "First… are you open to having your shield studied now?"

Homura frowns slightly, but after some seconds of consideration, she nods.

"But only after Walpurgisnacht is defeated," she says.

"Secondly… the fact that you somehow obtained warped versions of Madoka's powers is a tiny bit worrying," I say. "I think it might be a good idea for you to have a Coordinator look at you."

"Well… fine," Homura grumbles.

"Wait… what's this about?" Madoka asks. "You never told me about that…! How did that happen?"

"It's just weird to suddenly gain a whole bunch of powers all of a sudden," I say. "And the fact that they're so similar to Madoka's is even more weird, so I'm worried."

"I already agreed," Homura mutters.

"But that's why I also wanted Pernelle's opinion on the matter," I say.

"This phenomenon that ye describe," Pernelle says. "As a matter of fact, it sounds similar to something that I call magic power transference."

"Eh?" I say. "You've seen this kind of thing before, Pernelle?"

"On occasion, yes indeed," Pernelle says. "Though I have not studied it due to the ethical concerns, it appears that there exists a method to directly transfer power from one magical girl to another."

I blink at her. "Huh… I always thought you weren't too concerned about ethics…?"

"Even I have a line I do not wish to cross," Pernelle says.

"So, can you tell me a bit more about this… magic power transference?" I ask. "What are the chances that it's really what Homura experienced?"

"I can recall but five anecdotes over my many years," Pernelle says. "There were two cases of a magical girl duo where one of them died to a witch, and the other appeared to inherit her powers, adding them to her own. There was a case where a magical girl accidentally discovered the phenomenon and killed a number of magical girls before she was defeated by others. There was one case of a team of five girls who were almost completely wiped out, but the sole survivor appeared to inherit the powers of three of her fallen comrades. And there was a case where a newly contracted magical girl was defended by a veteran who lost her life in the attempt, but the new magical girl appeared to take on the veteran's powers."

"Huh… is it just me, or does this sound strangely ominous?" Inui asks.

"Is it a coincidence that the source of the power died in all five cases?" Madoka wonders.

"Ominous indeed," Pernelle says. "Which is the reason that I have never studied the phenomenon."

"So, you're saying the source girl has to die to transfer power?" I say.

"It would appear so," Pernelle says. "I believe all five anecdotes described either swallowing a shard of a soul gem, or gripping it so tightly as to cut their hand and draw blood."

"Well… certainly Madoka was dead, her soul gem shattered, before Homura suddenly gained these powers," I muse. "And come to think of it… there was that strange occurrence where Madoka shoved one of her magic feathers into Homura's mouth…"

Homura and Madoka blink in tandem.

"Madoka really did that?" "I really did that?"

They speak in unison, then look at each other. Madoka giggles.

"We're on the same page, Homura-chan!" she says.

"Yes… I definitely saw it," I say. "It struck me as strange, but I didn't think it would actually have an impact… for your information, Pernelle, this was a case where Madoka was projected from the instant before her death into Homura's doppel barrier."

Pernelle nods. "Though I cannot be certain, the event you describe sounds like it could indeed be the cause of Miss Akemi's newfound powers," she says. "Although… if it truly is the cause, it would seem to imply that the feathers are fragments of Miss Kaname's soul…?"

"Um, actually," Homura says. "You mentioned gripping a shard of soul gem so tightly it drew blood… I don't remember clearly, but… I might have done that before I unleashed the doppel…"

"So there's two possible causes…" I say. "I guess it ultimately doesn't matter which one caused it… the main thing is that Homura is still okay after absorbing some of Madoka's power. Are there any side-effects of this magic power transference?"

"The girl in the serial killer case appeared to become more and more unhinged with each girl she killed," Pernelle says. "However, it is unclear if that is related to the magic power transference. I am unaware of any issues arising in the other four cases, though the girl who seemingly absorbed the powers of three fallen comrades only survived for a few months afterwards, while those who absorbed power from only one girl survived for close to a year at minimum. There is no proof that that is anything but coincidence, however."

"Hopefully she'll be okay then," I say. "And if she's not, I imagine the Coordinator should be able to find any issue."

"So… does all this mean we might need to be careful of magical girls who'll try to kill us to steal our magic?" Inui asks.

"It is not a phenomenon that is widely known, so I would presume not," Pernelle says. "Furthermore, based on the single anecdote of someone doing that, I believe there may be a consent requirement. It is difficult to judge without more data, but that girl did not simply kill her victims outright. She seemed to have… a process to it. And she appeared not to gain powers from every victim, implying that the method is not a sure success. That it requires consent is still mainly speculation, however."

"I see… that's a relief," Inui says.

"I didn't really need to know that was even possible," Madoka admits. "I feel like I'm going to have nightmares after this…"

"Okay… next on my list is something that I don't want anyone else to hear," I say. "Although Inui is fine… but Madoka and Homura, could I ask you both to leave for now?"

"Ah, sure," Madoka says, jumping up. "Come on, Homura-chan. Let's go get some food."

The two of them leave the room, and then Pernelle turns to me.

"Proceed."

I switch to English, because it's easier and everyone here understands it.

"There are actually two things. The first is that I suspect I may have a second magic similar to my charm magic that activates as part of my ultimate attack, except this one activates subconsciously. Do you have any idea how I could figure out if that's true, and if so, determine the precise nature of the magic?"

"If you can determine a way to reliably activate it, then I can scan it for you, Pernelle says. "But if you can't even activate it at will, then there's not a lot I can do, I'm afraid."

"Alright… I'll see what I can do then," I say. "My second question is… I'll get to it in a second, but were you aware Scheherazade has a power that automatically translates?"

"Naturally, I know of that aspect of her powers," Pernelle says.

"Do you know if there's any way I could apply that power of hers to some of my memories?"

"That's a good question," Pernelle says. "If she were present while you received a Coordination, and you were able to call up those specific memories, then there's a chance that the magic would take effect… but as I don't fully understand the nature of Scheherazade's magic, I can't be certain that it'll actually work. You should probably ask her about it. It might be worth asking a Coordinator, too."

"I see… thank you very much," I say. "That was everything I had, so let's head back to the main room."

Pernelle leads the way, and Inui hops up and follows me out. Madoka and her friends have now started eating, and it looks like Hijiri is also back and filling a plate with food. I blink at her in surprise.

"Ah, you're already finished, Kanna-chi?" I ask.

"Yes, everything is now set up to revive Miss Kimiko's sister," Hijiri says. "I've already returned her locket as well."

"Kanna-chi, did you already tell Pernelle about the evil nut experiment?"

"Oh, yes, I think I did mention it," Hijiri says. "And I have several of the improved version if you need them."

"I'll keep that in mind, though I think I'm okay for now," I say. "And what about the thing I asked you for a few timelines ago?"

"Do you mean the website?" Hijiri asks.

"Yeah, that's it," I say.

She takes a seat and samples the food before responding.

"Well, since I'd done most of the research in the previous timeline, I actually decided I might as well get started on it," Hijiri says. "This is probably going to be the last timeline anyway, and I could always just not go back if it's not."

"Oh! You've already gotten started?" I say. "That's actually amazing news… how long do you think it'll take?"

"I'll email you a link once I have a prototype up and running," Hijiri says. "It'll probably be before Walpurgisnacht. By the way, have you come up with a name yet?"

I nod. "I was thinking of Puella Magi Madoka Magica," I say.

"M-me!?" Madoka gasps.

I blink at her. "Huh? Did I misspeak…?" I say. "I meant to say Puella Magi Mundo Magica…?"

"No… you said my name instead," Madoka says.

"Whoops," I say. "Well, the second one is what I came up with."

"If I may," Pernelle says, switching to English again for some reason. "Is that intended to be Latin? As a Latin phrase, it is truly quite a mess…"

"Ah… I'm open to suggestions," I say in the same language. "As long as it doesn't destroy the flow…"

"To start with, I surmise that you intended puella magi to mean magical girl, is that correct?" Pernelle says.

"Ah, yes, that was the idea," I say.

"Magical girl would normally be translated as puella magica, or possibly puella maga," Pernelle says. "The word magi is a form of magus, which can be used either as a noun or an adjective, and as an adjective it does mean 'magical'. However, as it is a masculine form, it does not make any sense to use it as an adjective modifying the feminine puella, so in the phrase puella magi it therefore must be a noun, which would be in the genitive case. Thus, the only possible interpretation of puella magi in context would be something like 'the girl of the wizard'… but as that implies the existence of a wizard separate from the girl, it really doesn't fit as a translation of magical girl."

"I see, I see," I say. "I guess it has been wrong from the start… um, so I don't think I like puella magica. Maybe puella maga could work, but… is there any way I could still keep the i sound of magi?"

"Hmm," Pernelle says. "Perhaps if you went for something that translates literally as 'a girl of magic'? Then there's no need for the two words to agree in gender."

"That sounds like it could work," I say.

"Then let me think," Pernelle says. "Latin nouns meaning magic… that would either be magia or magice…"

"I think I like the first one better," I say.

"If you want to use that, you'd still need to put it in the genitive, so it would become puella magiæ," Pernelle says.

"That's pretty close to what I wanted," I say. "Puella Magiæ Mundo Magica… I think it still flows alright. What about the second half though? Does that work as it is or does it also need revisions?"

"Given the context, I would take mundo to be in the ablative," Pernelle says. "So it would mean in or from the world. As for magica, it's certainly an adjective, but there's a big problem here – it's the feminine form, while mundo is masculine. So it would need to be mundo magico if it's intended as an ablative. So puella magiæ mundo magico altogether translates literally to 'a girl of magic from the magical world' or 'a girl of magic in the magical world'."

"Hmm," I muse. "I'd really like to maintain the a on the end somehow… is there any way at all you can think of to do that?"

"Well… if you took mundo as an adjective instead of a noun, and took magica as a form of magice… you could end up with munda magicæ."

"That… sounds at least closer, but… what does it actually mean?" I ask.

"Probably nothing like what you're looking for," Pernelle says. "As an adjective, mundus has a variety of meanings – clean, pure, neat, nice, elegant, sophisticated. So munda magicæ could be something like 'elegant magic'. But there's another problem even if that seems acceptable – it's in the nominative, so in the full phrase that places it in apposition with the magical girl, which means puella magiæ munda magicæ would translate to something like 'a girl of magic who is elegant magic'. It does not really make sense in context."

"And I guess putting that phrase in the ablative drops the a?"

"Yes, it would become munda magicis," Pernelle says.

"Then I guess I'll make do with mundo magico," I say. "We have the a in the first half so I guess it's close enough. The only slight hiccup is that it means girl of magic instead of magical girl… but I think I can live with that."

"It would not be strictly incorrect to say that puella magiæ translates to magical girl," Pernelle notes. "Because even in English, the phrase 'girl of magic' sounds like a synonym for magical girl, doesn't it?"

"You have a point," I say. "Just wondering, but what would it become if I decided to make girls plural?"

"That would be puellæ magiæ," Pernelle says.

"Ah, that's pretty much the same," I say. "Guess I'll go with the plural then… and we'll say it means 'in the magical world'. So we'll title the site Puellæ Magiæ Mundo Magico, and maybe we can subtitle it with 'magical girls in the magical world'. Or can it be 'in a magical world'?"

"Latin makes no distinction between the and a," Pernelle says. "So you can choose whichever you prefer."

"Perfect," I say. "Got all that, Kanna-chi?"

Hijiri nods. "Most of it flew over my head, but I've got the conclusion down," she says, still in English. "Though it would help me to see the Latin written down, to make sure I've got it right?"

Pernelle nods and walks over to the wall, transmuting it so that the Latin title is emblazoned there in gold letters.

"Alright," Hijiri says. "I've got it. I'll make that the name."

"So… what on earth were you guys talking about…?" Madoka asks. "Something about a website?"

She's speaking Japanese of course, so I switch back.

"Ah, yes, I want to get a website going where magical girls can communicate with each other," I say. "Something like a social media site, but for magical girls only."

"Ohhh, that sounds like an amazing idea!" Madoka says. "I'd be happy to help you test it out!"

"Thanks," I say. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So is it going to be like Line or Twitter or something?" Madoka asks.

"Well… I was thinking more like an old-fashioned message board," I say. "Though it would probably be good to also have a more fast-paced section similar to Twitter or Line, for emergency-type requests. And that's just part of it. It's not just social media but also regular media – I'd start out by posting news articles myself probably, and eventually hire a bunch of people to make regular news posts. Maybe we could even have a magical girl wiki or something, not sure if that'd be useful though."

"A wiki can be set up in like five, ten minutes," Hijiri notes. "It's just installing software. So we can decide at any time and just add one. Most of the wiki software is also free and open source. Message boards though… the one free one I could find hadn't been updated in about fifteen years, apart from a single security patch five years ago. It probably still works, though? But I'd still need a custom authentication extension. Magic-based authentication has never been done before, after all."

"This is such an awesome idea," Inui says. "I love it!"

"Me too!" Madoka says. "But how are you going to let people know about it…? I'd definitely tell everyone I know, but that won't get very far…"

"Isn't spreading word about something like that going to be really difficult?" Homura points out. "Magical girls don't typically get along like we are right now… they're usually fighting over grief seeds."

"I think a good start would be to make use of Puella Care," I say. "We could post some sort of printed advertisement at Puella Care establishments worldwide. Beyond that… we probably need to think of another strategy for people who don't live in cities big enough to have a Coordinator. I don't think we can rely on Kyuubey to spread the word… it prefers magical girls to be in conflict so they're more likely to turn into witches. Kyuubey would definitely be the best method if we could convince it, though…"

"Um, I'm just wondering, but… what are you going to do about the language barrier?" Hitomi asks.

"That's an excellent question," I say. "We could certainly have language specific areas… but I'm not sure if that's the best approach. It would be really nice if we could somehow leverage Scheherazade's translation magic… but I bet that's not so easy to copy, right Kanna-chi?"

Hijiri shrugs. "I'll give it a try next time we meet – I wasn't even aware she was using magic to translate," she says. "But you're right that there's a good chance it won't work out for me. Even though Miss Nene managed to copy Scheherazade's mesmerizing voice, that's probably the least complicated of her powers… so anything more than that is likely beyond me."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I say.

"By the way, I should probably ask this now… which do you consider higher priority?" Hijiri asks. "The message board, or the news feed?"

"Hmm… they're both important, but… I guess the news feed should probably come first," I say.

"And are we running this openly or on the dark web?" Hijiri asks.

"Um… I don't really understand what you mean," I say.

"Well, to begin with, do you want it to be indexed by search engines?" Hijiri asks.

"I think right now it's better if it's not," I say. "Maybe someday, but… right now there's potential enemies out there with incredible resources at their disposal, so we need all the protection from them that we can get."

"Huh? What kind of enemies?" Sayaka asks. "Like other magical girls, or…?"

"Well… possibly the Vatican, for example," I say.

That attracts Pernelle's attention. "There are some rumours in Paris of operatives working for the Vatican who hunt magical girls," she says. "I have heard only third and fourth hand accounts, however, so I cannot give any further information or even verify that they truly exist. Hilda may know more on the matter."

"Now that you mention it, though… it makes a lot of sense that the Vatican would hate us," Homura muses. "After all, we've made a contract with that little white devil to gain powers beyond human comprehension… which is almost exactly the definition of a witch according to them…"

"If you're worried about something as big as the Vatican, then we'll definitely need to go on the dark web," Hijiri says. "But is it okay if they need to download special software to connect, for example? Or configure an alternate domain server in their computer's control panel?"

"Hmm… we want to make it easy for someone who knows to get in," I say. "So downloading special software might be okay, if there's an easy way to get it to magical girls that's not readily tracked on the broader Internet. But requiring them to go into their control panel is probably a bit too much…"

"I think I could probably arrange for paper advertisements to have a QR code that connects to an IPFS depot when scanned," Hijiri says. "If that was all Greek to you… think of it as automatically downloading a torrent just by scanning a code."

"Oh, that sounds amazing," I say.

"The only real downside to that is… it's easy to get it onto a smartphone, but not so easy to get it onto a computer," Hijiri says. "Because computers don't typically come with an easy way to scan a QR code."

"I'd like to be able to get it on a computer too, but I bet smartphones would be enough," I say. "Does that work even for an iPhone…?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Hijiri asks.

My information on Apple and iPhones is about a quarter century out of date, so maybe their walled garden has already been smashed open in the present time. There are plenty of other things that have changed in that quarter century, too. For example, Twitter is now run by an international non-profit consortium which is protected by several national governments, including but not limited to Canada, Japan, and the EU; and Youtube has apparently broken off from Google as a separate company. So I decide not to press the matter further. If she thinks it can work, that's all that matters.

"Ah… never mind," I say. "Maybe getting it onto your computer could be done via your phone, like click something that emails you a download link?"

Hijiri nods. "Yes… that's a little convoluted, but it should be doable," she says.

I wait a few moments to see if she or anyone else has anything more to say on the matter of the website, but no-one speaks up, so I continue on to the final item on today's agenda.

"Alright… now that that's out of the way, the last thing on my list was that I'd like to pay a visit to the Coordinator in Tokyo… would you mind taking us there, Pernelle? It's mainly for Madoka's sake, though I for one wouldn't mind taking along anyone else who wants one. We already established Miss Kimiko will be coming, but does anyone else want to come?"

"Oh, if that's the case, I'd like to accompany you too," Yuuri speaks up.

"Of course, me too!" Airi adds.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind getting one too," Hijiri says.

"And we already agreed that all four of us would go," Madoka says.

"I do not mind taking everyone," Pernelle says. "But if ye desire the Coordinator's services, I expect you to provide your own grief seed."

Anzu blinks. "A-ah… I don't have one… s-so I guess I can't…"

"You can borrow one of mine," I say.

"Ehh… but I'm not sure I could even pay you back!" Anzu says.

"There's no need to," I say. "Though I'd certainly appreciate it if you can, but even then, I won't hold you to any deadline. I'll be paying for Madoka's and Homura's too, and possibly Inui's?"

Inui shakes her head. "I'll pay for my own," she says.

"Same here," Yuuri says. "We have three grief seeds between the two of us, so that still leaves one left over. It should be plenty."

"I can pay for my own too," Hijiri says.

"I'll pay for my own too," Sayaka says.

"As will I," Hitomi says.

So it seems that all nine of the people here will be going. That means Yuuri and Airi, me and Inui, Madoka and her friends, Hijiri, and lastly Anzu.

"Then gather ye round," Pernelle says.

We crowd around her, and with a flash of light we find ourselves in an alleyway, from where Pernelle leads us into the courtyard and enters Shirin's place. This time there's only one magical girl in the waiting room. Tomiko sits up as Pernelle approaches the kiosk.

"Ah… wait, you're really a magical girl?" she says. "We don't get many your age…"

"I am merely transportation," Pernelle says. "I bring ten girls in need of your services."

"Ah, actually, I'll pass today," I say. "So it's only nine. But I did want to talk to her a bit, if there's time."

"Ah, I see," Tomiko says. "But do you have nine grief seeds on you?"

"I have three," I say.

Pernelle steps aside, and I hand over the three seeds – one for Madoka, one for Homura, and one for Anzu. Then I step aside to let Yuuri, Inui, Hitomi, Sayaka, and Hijiri hand over their seeds. Yuuri obviously gives two of them. I snag Homura's hand so that she can't escape, and though she shoots me a glare for a moment, she doesn't say anything. Madoka and Inui also stay with me while the others go to find a seat.

"So you're also a Coordinator, right?" I say.

"Sorta," Tomiko says. "I'm like an apprentice, but Miss Charmchi won't let me do Coordinations yet. I've only been here for about three and a half months… I actually became a magical girl on Christmas Eve. My name is Toyoda Tomiko."

"I'm Ashley Taylor," I say. "It's nice to meet you."

"Ah, yeah, nice to meet you too."

"This is Akemi Homura," I say. "And Kaname Madoka, Itsumi Inui."

Tomiko blinks. "Akemi…? Did you say Akemi Homura?"

"That's right," I say.

"I don't think Akemi is a very common name," Tomiko says. "Miss Homura, if I might ask, what is your mother's name?"

Homura blinks. "How is that any of your business?" she retorts.

"Well… I guess you're right," Tomiko admits. "It's just… this place has a sponsor who's also called Akemi. I can't quite remember her given name, though…"

"You used to live near here, didn't you, Homura?" I say.

"Depends where here is…?" Homura says.

"Oh, did you teleport here or something?" Tomiko says. "Ah, right, that woman did say she was the transportation. This is Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo."

"Ah… then I guess so," Homura says. "That's not far from Bunkyou Ward where I used to live… but even if it's not a common name, it's preposterous that my mother would be sponsoring a place like this, so it must be someone else."

"But it might be possible," Madoka says. "It can't hurt to check… can it?"

"It doesn't matter," Homura mutters.

"Um… this seems like a good time to bring up what I learned recently," Inui speaks up. "That sponsor of yours, Miss Toyoda… could her full name be Akemi Kosane?"

Tomiko considers a moment.

"That sounds… at least close?" she says. "I think that might be it."

Homura doesn't seem to show any signs of recognition, so I'd guess that either that's not her mother or she actually doesn't know her mother's given name. But where have I heard that name before? It sounds somehow familiar…

"Is there any way we could talk with her?" Inui asks.

"Ah, she doesn't come by here very often," Tomiko says. "I wouldn't expect to see her today. The only time I actually saw her was… right, it was at New Year's. She dropped off some foreign snacks as a gift. I heard she actually works overseas and only stops by occasionally."

"I see…"

"The best I could do is probably take down a note to let her know the next time she comes," Tomiko says. "But I can't predict when that'll be."

"Well… I guess it's not that important," Inui says. "Maybe we'll come back another time… or find her some other way. Thanks for the information."

I decide not to chat with Tomiko about older magical girls this time and instead head over to the waiting area to take a seat. Inui plops herself down beside me, and Madoka and Homura sit with Hitomi and Sayaka.

"Okay, so Madoka will go in first," I say. "Don't forget to mention your specific problem. After that, probably Homura, and please also mention what happened. Then the order beyond that shouldn't matter, so just do whatever."

"Got it," Madoka says. "Actually, do you think it would be okay if Homura-chan went in at the same time as me…?"

"I'm not really sure, but if you both want to, I guess it can't hurt to try," I say.

At that moment, Shirin's voice calls for the next customer, which means the local girl waiting gets up and heads in while another girl emerges from within and leaves the premises. A bit later, Madoka and Homura get up to answer the call, and then everyone else heads in one at a time. The last one to go in is Hijiri, and as she emerges, Shirin Charmchi steps out after her.

"I heard one of you would like to talk with me a little?" Shirin says.

"Yes… that's right," I say. "It's really just a little. I'd like your opinion on a couple of things… and maybe we should discuss this via telepathy?"

Shirin nods. "Go ahead."

«Firstly… I know that random memories tend to surface during Coordination,» I say. «So I wondered whether you have a way to target specific memories.»

«It should be possible, but I don't think it can be called an exact science,» Shirin says. «More than likely it would bring up a few other memories at the same time.»

«And… suppose I had a memory where someone was speaking a foreign language, and I knew a magical girl with translation magic. Could I make use of that to figure out what they were saying in the memory?»

«It depends on the other girl's magic, but… if I connected your soul gems, it might be possible,» Shirin says.

«Now… onto the second thing I was wondering about,» I say. «Suppose for a moment that there exists a way to turn a grief seed back into a soul gem. We know that witches can multiply endlessly through their familiars, producing multiple identical grief seeds. So… if you were to forcibly turn someone into a witch, force one of the familiars to mature, obtain both grief seeds, and turn them back into soul gems… do you think there would be any issues with the resulting soul gems?»

«There are too many variables to say for sure, but I think it's very possible,» Shirin says. «But I do wonder where you got this idea… have you been talking with Miss Kagenui?»

«Huh? Um… I don't know a Miss Kagenui… who's she?»

«Kagenui Yozuru, an adult magical girl from the Kansai region,» Shirin says. «I don't remember precisely which city… but she once outlined to me almost the exact same plan that you just described.»

«Huh… we must've both come up with it independently,» I say.

«To get back to your question, if the experiment succeeded, I believe I would be able to detect any anomalies in the resulting soul gems,» Shirin says. «Though even that I can't be certain of. We are treading on unknown territory here. To begin with, there is no known way of turning a grief seed into a soul gem, and even forcing a familiar to mature is not an easy task… so there's not much more I can say on the matter.»

"Alright," I say out loud. "Thank you for your time, Miss Charmchi."

"It is no problem," Shirin says.

With the conversation done, we all stand up to leave. Once we're outside, Pernelle teleports us back to her barrier in Asunaro.

"Alright," I say. "I think that's everything I had to do here… so shall we move on to the last stage?"

"Ehh… there's still more!?" Madoka gasps.

"Yes, we're going to go hunt a witch or two," I say.

"Why all of a sudden?" Sayaka asks.

"Just to get Madoka used to the feeling," I say. "The two of you are free to go home, if you prefer. Miss Kimiko might as well head home too – this doesn't have anything to do with her, really."

"Well… it is getting late," Hitomi admits. "I told Mother I would be missing dinner, but she surely expects me to be home at a reasonable hour… do you want us to come, Miss Madoka?"

Madoka shrugs. "Well, um… I wouldn't mind, but please don't feel like you have to," she says. "I'll have Homura-chan and Ashley-chan with me, so I should be fine."

"Well… we're both used to fighting already, so I guess Homura will be enough to show you the ropes," Sayaka says. "Shall we go home then, Hitomi?"

Hitomi nods. "Yes, I was thinking the same thing," she says.

"Actually, do you mind if we come along for that though?" Yuuri asks. "I'm a little interested in this automatic purification system… and we never got the chance to test it out last time."

Airi nods. "Yeah, I'd kind of like to give it a try too," she says.

"I don't mind," I say. "Is it okay with you, Madoka?"

Madoka nods. "Yes, of course, the more the merrier!" she says.

"What about you, Kanna-chi… do you want to come along?"

Hijiri shakes her head. "You've already got six people, so I think adding one more would just be extra baggage," she says. "I'll head home and work on Puellæ Magiæ Mundo Magico."

"So it seems we've all decided what we'll be doing," I say. "Alright, then shall we get going?"

Everyone nods, and we all say goodbye to Pernelle before leaving her barrier and exiting the house she's occupying. Hijiri heads off on her own while the rest of us head to the station to catch a train going south; Hitomi, Sayaka, and Anzu get off in Mitakihara and Kazamino while the rest of us ride all the way down into Minaminagi Ward. En route I check that Iroha's still on track, and she is – she's investigating Mirrors today, as expected. Once we get off the train, we track down an instance of Durbar and enter the labyrinth.

The fight goes broadly the same way as last time – first we spend some time fighting more familiars than really necessary, so that Yuuri, Airi, and Madoka can unleash their doppels. Then we head to the central chamber where Madoka defeats the witch in two shots. Finally we head back to Mitakihara, with Yuuri and Airi staying on the train to continue on to Asunaro, and Homura and I walk Madoka home.

Over the next two days, Iroha investigates and defeats the Rumour of the Séance Shrine. The most notable difference I see on the first day is that Iroha starts calling Tsuruno 'Tsuruno-chan' without any prompting from Tsuruno herself. Everything else goes the same right up to the point where Iroha unleashes her doppel – unlike last time, she manages to stay conscious and even maintain control over it. However, that doesn't change Mami's reaction – she's still the one who ultimately destroys the doppel, and the ensuing argument isn't significantly different from what I remember. I even repeat the late-night visit with Mami and Homura to hear their side of things, and Homura also mentions it's basically the same as last time. We also help Yuma find Kyouko right after school that day, just like last time.

Then on Friday after school, Inui and I attend the big introductory assembly at Fendt Hope. The speech is different from both of the previous times, though the gist of it is still the same. Perhaps the speech is just a fluid point in the timeline that can change with almost no outside influence… like the butterfly effect or whatever. After the assembly, we line up behind the Amane twins, Ryo, and Nene to speak with Mifuyu and get our assigned rumour. After meeting Riko for lunch and finishing up everything needed for Inui's transfer to Kosho Academy, we return to Fendt Hope to meet our team, which is also the same as last time. I also check in with Coeurl and find that her team is the same too, but I don't have the same chat with her as in the previous timeline.

On Saturday we head to the rooftop shrine and reprise the chat with Ryoko from last time. Then we go on rumour watch until Kanagi comes along to destroy it, and like last time we have a little chat and ultimately exchange contact info. And then we catch a train to Matsumiya. The visit to Matsumiya goes almost the same as before, with the main difference being that Eris is never brought up in the conversation with Kyuubey.

When we return from Matsumiya, it's Inui rather than me who stumbles into the false shop of the Tangled Shrine and emerges with the signature ribbon ornament. After that, the encounter with Mrs Awane goes essentially the same as I remember, and then Inui and I have a brief discussion about things that are expected to happen in the Tangled Shrine. Since Inui has finalized her transfer, she stays in Kamihama while I return to Mitakihara.

On Monday, the event where Yuma contracts goes off without a hitch just like last time, and the following day I watch the Misery Water event play out again. It's mostly the same as last time, though the conversation about Yuma's dead parents from the first two timelines is strangely missing. There's no mention at all of their deaths. Iroha once again manages to maintain control of her doppel, but it doesn't really change the outcome, and I don't watch the aftermath as everyone is heading home.

Then on Wednesday morning I have the usual chat with Sachie that leads to her wishing Liliane back to life. After school, I head to Kamihama to obtain the grief seed of the offshoot Mirror Witch. There are no major differences from last time – both the conversation with Hotori about her sister Miu and Mayoi's doppel unleash turn out pretty much the same. Some of the conversation with Mayoi is a bit different, as I don't ask all the same questions, but there's nothing new. The conversation with Nanaka, Yachiyo, Mitama, and the others is pretty much the same. After returning to Fendt Hope and handing out grief seeds to most of my team, I head back to Mitakihara with the intent of joining the Liliane welcoming party. Unlike last time though, but like the timeline before that, I also decide to follow Yachiyo's progress as she heads back home from Swindler's Road. In fact, she arrives home just after I get on the train, having first stopped for a chat with Mitama over tea at her shop.

Iroha is sitting on the couch at Crescent Moon Villa, enjoying a cup of tea, when Yachiyo walks in.

"Oh! Miss Yachiyo! Did you find Miss Mitama?"

"Yes, I did," Yachiyo says. "A lot of things happened… I even ran into the Wings of the Magius…"

Iroha blinks. "R-really? Did they attack you?"

"No… what happened was, Mitama found another Mirror Witch that had matured from a familiar," Yachiyo says. "For some reason, the girl from the Wings of the Magius really wanted its grief seed…"

"Huh… but I don't get it. Why would it have to be that grief seed specifically?" Iroha asks. "Aren't all grief seeds about the same in the end?"

"I don't know," Yachiyo says. "I said the same thing as you, but she insisted it had to be that one. I'm just hoping I won't regret letting her take it…"

"So who was it?" Iroha asks. "One of the twins?"

"No… she was a new one, though I'd also met her once before I ever encountered the Wings of the Magius," Yachiyo says. "She didn't have her robe on, so I'm not sure if she was a black feather or a white feather…"

Iroha blinks. "Huh? If that's the case… how did you know she's in the Wings of the Magius?"

"She was accompanied by three black feathers," Yachiyo explains.

"Ahhh, that makes sense," Iroha says. "So the Wings of the Magius are also interested in Endless Mirrors, huh… and if she was commanding black feathers, I bet she's a white feather…"

"It seems that way," Yachiyo says.

"Did you catch her name?" Iroha asks.

"Yes, it was Ashley Taylor," Yachiyo says.

Iroha blinks. "Huh… Ashley Taylor…? She's in the Wings of the Magius?"

"Yes, do you know her?" Yachiyo asks. "You did mention her name when we first met."

"Well, I didn't know her when we first met, I think," Iroha says. "Though I thought her name sounded slightly familiar… so maybe she's in one of the memories that haven't come back yet. However… a day or two after that, I was visiting Mitakihara with another magical girl from Takarazaki… someone I used to occasionally fight alongside, before I started searching for Ui. While we were there, we actually ran into Miss Ashley and her friend by chance."

"So you've actually met her too?" Yachiyo says. "What did you think of her?"

"Well… there wasn't much to think," Iroha says. "She seemed nice enough. We didn't talk much… we just fought a witch together and then parted ways. She also let us use the grief seed. I do remember being impressed at how quickly she found where the witch was hiding…"

"Yes, that is quite impressive," Yachiyo says. "Even Miss Tokiwa commented on it…"

"As for what we did talk about… the others were talking about something terrifying that they all seemed to know about, but I didn't get what they were referring to. Something about fighting witches."

Yachiyo nods. "I think I have an idea of what that might be about," she says. "Anything else?"

"Come to think of it… Kuroe-chan – oh, that's the girl I was with – she mentioned something about saving magical girls, and Miss Ashley seemed interested," Iroha muses. "Huh… does that mean Kuroe-chan joined the Wings of the Magius…? I can hardly believe it… but… if she had… then that might have been the moment when Miss Ashley was recruited…"

"This friend of yours… have you heard from her since then?" Yachiyo asks.

Iroha shakes her head. "No… I haven't heard anything from her. The only other thing we talked about was… oh, right, I got Miss Ashley's contact info… and her friend's as well…"

Yachiyo blinks. "You have her contact info!?" she says. "Maybe we could just ask her some things directly…"

"I kind of don't want to bother her though," Iroha says. "Is it really that important?"

"Hmm… I suppose it's not the priority right now," Yachiyo says.

"Anyway… apart from that one short meeting, I don't really know anything about her," Iroha says. "I'm sorry… I realize it's not much…"

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped," Yachiyo says.

"Hmm," Iroha says. "You know… about Endless Mirrors… something you said earlier struck a chord. So I'm going to visit it after all tonight… just for a little bit. Would you come with me, Miss Yachiyo?"

"I've had quite enough of Endless Mirrors for one day… why don't you ask Momoko or something?"

"It's just for a few moments," Iroha says. "I think it's too trivial to bother Momoko-chan over… if you don't want to come, I can just go by myself. I'll just pop in for a few minutes and look around a bit, okay?"

"Do you have something in mind?" Yachiyo asks. "Something you want to check out?"

"Yeah, something like that," Iroha says.

"Still… it's not good to go alone," Yachiyo says.

"It's just for a bit," Iroha says. "I should be fine."

Yachiyo sighs. "Alright, fine… I'll come with you."

"Y-you're sure!?" Iroha gasps. "I thought you'd had enough of Endless Mirrors…"

"It's better than letting you go in alone when I can't talk you out of it," Yachiyo says.

"Ah, alright… thank you, Miss Yachiyo…"

They head out together and take the train into Minaminagi Ward, disembarking and heading north towards the Mirror Witch's mansion. However, before arriving there, both of them sense something.

"T-there are so many magical signatures around here!?" Iroha gasps.

"They don't seem strong enough to be witches," Yachiyo says. "Let's split up and take them out… we'll meet back up at the Mirror Mansion."

"Okay!"

They head in opposite directions, and a minute or two later, Iroha spots a portal bearing the emblem of the Mirror Witch and transforms as she charges inside. There's a single solicitor familiar within, harassing Satori Kagome who's nervously clutching her mandrake plushy. The familiar isn't currently attacking and seems to be just waiting as she examines the note it presumably flung at her.

"W-what is… this…?" Kagome wonders. "A piece of paper…?"

The paper bears the following ominous words, with numerous spelling and typographical errors:

"Written oath: I swear to destroy all magical girls."

At the bottom is a blank underlined space labelled "Name".

"I don't know," Kagome says. "I don't know anything about magical girls…"

The familiar responds by flinging another one at her, which appears to be identical to the first.

"It's true!" Kagome protests. "I really don't know anything!"

It throws a third one, and Kagome lets out a squeal.

"U-um… it'll be okay if I just sign here, right?" she says, indicating the name field.

But before she has a chance, Iroha comes to her senses and fires a volley of bolts, driving the familiar back.

"Huh!?" Kagome gasps.

"Are you okay!?" Iroha asks. "Hold on just a moment, I'll defeat the familiar right away!"

She guns it down with another volley of bolts, and it backs off, looking like it's about to flee. However, she manages to defeat it before it gets the chance, and she powers down as the labyrinth collapses.

"Um… w-what are you?" Kagome asks.

Iroha blinks. "What…? Not who? Um… I'm Tamaki Iroha, and I'm a magical girl… it's nice to meet you!"

"Ah… I… I see… s-so um… a m-m-magical girl is…?"

"Well, there exist dangerous beings called witches and familiars that bring harm to people," Iroha explains. "That was a familiar just then… a witch is similar, but much bigger and more dangerous. Magical girls have the duty to destroy things like that."

"H-huh… um… okay, I see… um… I… I g-gotta go!"

With that, Kagome just turns and runs off, leaving Iroha to stare after her for a bit. Then she comes to her senses again and runs off to defeat a few more Mirror Witch familiars wandering around nearby, eventually ending up at the Mirror Mansion itself where she finds Yachiyo already waiting for her.

"You took your time, Miss Tamaki," she says.

"Yeah, sorry," Iroha says. "I found someone in one of the familiar's barriers, so I had to make sure she was okay…"

Yachiyo blinks. "A Mirror Witch familiar?"

Iroha nods. "It was really odd… it wasn't really seriously attacking, but… I don't really know what was going on. Anyway, I defeated the familiar, and the girl is safe, so that's what matters, right?"

"That's true," Yachiyo says. "Then shall we head inside?"

Iroha nods, transforming again and stepping into Endless Mirrors with Yachiyo. As they progress through the labyrinth, taking out the familiars that pop out, Iroha looks around closely at the surroundings. After about ten minutes, she speaks up.

"As I suspected," Iroha says. "That uncomfortable feeling from last time… part of it's gone now. The other part, however… it's like… we're being watched? Something… probably the witch… is trying to draw us further inside…"

Mokyu, still riding on her shoulder, makes one of its cute noises, and Iroha nods.

"Yeah, that's exactly it!"

"Hmm… so you're saying, you sensed multiple things?" Yachiyo asks.

"Yeah," Iroha says. "I'm not entirely sure though… maybe I should have a chat with Miss Mitama later. Still… it seems like it's… calmed down a bit?"

"I wouldn't drop by today, however," Yachiyo says. "She's probably exhausted… in fact, she probably went home already."

"Right… maybe tomorrow, then," Iroha says. "Alright… let's go home."

And thus they turn around and leave the Mirror Mansion behind them.

Though I arrive a little later than last time, the conversation at the party about the anti-witch barrier and other topics mostly goes in the same direction. The only notable difference is that Itzli doesn't come up, because she has already been defeated, and as a result the barrier already covers most of western Mitakihara. The encounter with Mary the following morning doesn't happen, though I wasn't expecting it – I already know Mary generally doesn't appear in the same place or at the same time in two different timelines.

On Thursday after school, I send Inui an email and catch a train to Takarazaki. She meets me at the cape station, and I stop by Mabayu's place to knock on her door. Of course, I already verified she's home with my clairvoyance first. She has already changed out of her uniform and looks mildly surprised to see us.

"What's up?" Mabayu asks.

"Well, I may have put it off a bit too long, but I'd like to discuss the next step in the plan to save Miss Kuroe," I say.

"Alright… you might as well come in," Mabayu says. "Would you like some tea? I only have bag tea though."

"No, that's alright," I say.

She grabs some cushions for us to sit on, and we take a seat on the floor in the middle of her room.

"So, what's the plan?" Mabayu asks.

"It's slightly convoluted," I say. "Which is why I'm a bit worried I put it off too long… I was a bit distracted making sure Miss Tamaki is still on track with her side of things."

"Convoluted shouldn't be too much of an issue if I use my magic, as long as it's within the realm of plausibility," Mabayu says. "Just get to the point."

"The point is to get Miss Kuroe and Miss Tamaki to go camping together, but make it seem like a chance encounter," I say.

"Are they planning to go…?" Mabayu asks.

"Not to my knowledge," I say.

"So that's why it's convoluted, I take it," Mabayu says. "Have you given thought to what steps could be taken to convince them to go camping?"

"Yes, I have," I say. "There are two sides to it, obviously. The strategy to get Miss Kuroe to the campsite is via Nemu's experimentation with rumours. Inui, you might need to nudge her a little."

"What kind of experimentation are we talking about?" Inui asks.

"The experimentation on fusing with a rumour," I say.

"Eh… will that really be okay?" Inui asks. "After all, remember what happened to Runo-chi last time…"

"There are certainly dangers to fusing with a rumour, but ultimately it depends on the nature of the rumour," I say. "This one should be relatively safe, and I also have good reason to believe it won't be of the brainwashing type. It also won't be a full fusion."

"Alright," Inui says. "So what do I have to do?"

"I guess the key point would be making sure that Miss Kuroe participates in Nemu's experiments," I say. "As long as that happens, I think we should be okay… so basically you'll probably need to talk to her a bit about the experiments, and one way or another get Miss Kuroe to participate."

"And if I use my magic, you'll definitely be okay," Mabayu says.

"Which reminds me… what is the scope of your magic?" I ask. "Can you only splice things you can see?"

"It's easier to splice things I can see," Mabayu says. "And it takes a lot less magic. But ultimately I can splice anything that I can think of as long as it's plausible. I can't make people do things they wouldn't have considered without my magic."

"Okay, then the goal is for Miss Kuroe to become possessed by the rumour without realizing it," I say. "And over the course of her investigations into the rumour's nature at Nemu's request, she needs to run into Miss Tamaki and her team near the campground in Hokuyo Ward that they'll be staying at."

"Okay, but how do we get Miss Tamaki there?" Mabayu asks.

"Through Miss Nanami's agency," I say. "The scenario I'm expecting is that the campground in question is newly-opened and Miss Nanami's manager gives her access to a six-person campsite for one night. I haven't verified that there actually is a newly-opened campground in the area… but the most important part is that they get to go for free."

"Well, we can easily check if there's a newly-opened campground," Inui says, whipping out her phone. "I'll just do a search for campgrounds in Hokuyo Ward…"

"It shouldn't be too hard to arrange for a free pass," Mabayu says. "Even if it's not a newly-opened location. That kind of thing happens all the time for promotions. They'd probably expect Miss Nanami to write a brief review of the place later, though nothing fancy."

"Ah, I found one that opened just last week," Inui says. "It's on the river, and there's apparently a small waterfall nearby that's rumoured to be a power spot."

"That's the one," I say. "The waterfall was also part of my prediction."

"Can I see?" Mabayu asks.

Inui shows her the information on her phone, and Mabayu nods.

"Very well… I'll make sure that Miss Nanami gets a free group pass to that campground," she says. "And I'll make sure Miss Kuroe gets chosen by Nemu for her experiment. Is there anything else I should influence?"

"Um… I think the Amane sisters need to be chosen to escort Miss Kuroe during the experiment on the day she'll encounter Miss Tamaki," I say. "Because recognizing their magic is key to getting the two groups to connect. I think everything else should follow naturally as long as those three conditions are satisfied."

"I'll make sure of that too, then," Mabayu says. "I'll most likely need quite a bit of magic for this though… so could you join me for a witch hunt? I want to get at least two grief seeds, to be on the safe side."

"Sure," I say.

We get to our feet, and she follows us out and locks up.

"By the way, does this have something to do with why you wanted me to go camping with her before?" Mabayu asks.

"Yes, because for this to work it's helpful for Miss Kuroe to have prior experience in camping," I say.

"I see," Mabayu says. "I suppose the idea is that she can gain a little confidence by showing off her knowledge to the newbies…?"

"Something like that," I say.

On the way back to the train station, I get an email from Karin.

[I just realized, isn't tomorrow the day I'm supposed to chase Alina? Will I still be able to make it to beat that witch at the Coordinator's?]

It's true… that had also slipped my mind when I mentioned it to her in the last timeline. I consider what she said… and then I remember we spent at least an hour at Banbanzai's having dinner. So I send a response.

[Although chasing Alina could be skipped, if you really want to do that then it's probably enough if we just don't meet up for dinner, and you go to the Coordinator's instead.]

Once we arrive at the train station, Inui turns to look at me.

"Say… would you like to come to Kamihama for a bit instead?" she asks.

"Huh…? Is there something happening today?" I ask.

"Well, I got an email from Elly-tan while we were talking to Mabba-kun," Inui says. "Pernelle's coming over to check out the automatic purification system."

"Ah… well sure, why not," I say.

So I catch a train into Kamihama instead of one heading for Mitakihara. We make for Minaminagi Seaside Park, and I find Pernelle already waiting for us there when we arrive. Elise and Liliane are with her too.

"So you are the ones who volunteered to accompany me," Pernelle says. "Very well… let us begin. I have already sensed a witch within range, so let us begin with that one."

She leads the way through the streets until we reach a witch's portal, an instance of Lucy. Once we all transform and hop inside, she holds back and lets us do most of the fighting, essentially playing support by sniping familiars whenever one of us isn't quite fast enough. Based on the strength of the familiars, this witch is on the stronger side, though still nowhere close to the original Lucy circling the Tokime village… or at least I'm assuming that's the original.

Finally we reach the witch's chamber, and at that point Pernelle steps forward.

"Please allow me," she says. "After all, this is my reason for coming to this city today."

She takes out one of Hijiri's evil nuts from somewhere, and pushes it into her forehead while murmuring the trigger word. Her doppel explodes out of her, a strange mash-up of several different animals. It looks broadly like a giant stork bearing a pair of riders, one an armoured figure facing forward, the other a nude blonde woman facing backwards. The feminine form isn't complete, more like a department store dummy than an actual person. In addition to this, the heads of a unicorn and a lion can be seen poking out from the doppel's rear. A golden ankh dangles from the stork's neck, and the runes spell out the name, Hermes Trismegistus. Pernelle's body dangles just behind the ankh, and she's clearly still conscious.

The stork steps forward and attacks the witch with its beak. Its power is overwhelming – just three pecks and the witch crumples. Inui leaps in to seize the grief seed, and the doppel dissipates as the barrier collapses.

"Hmm," Pernelle says. "I would say that this is quite incredible. I should have turned into a witch and required Miss Elise's services to restore me, yet I remained conscious the entire time. However… I sense a distinct danger behind this power. It was struggling to escape my control the entire time."

I nod. "Yes… it's an improvement over becoming a witch, but it isn't all that safe as is."

"There may be some ways to improve it," Pernelle says. "But I would need to see the core to be sure… might any of you know where that is?"

"I think it's, um… how do I put this… not in conventional space…?" I say. "Kind of like how witches create a barrier to hide away in, the automatic purification system has done the same thing… I guess? I truly have no idea where it actually is. It might be in Fendt Hope, or maybe not."

"Hmm… I see," Pernelle says. "Then I shall have to put my investigation on hold for the time being."

"By the way… regarding the name of your doppel, I was wondering if it has any meaning?" I say. "Hermes Trismegistus…?"

"How nostalgic," Pernelle says. "Though I have long since rejected that heritage, I am indeed what could be called a child of Hermes. Specifically, it is a lineage dating back to Egypt around the turn of the epoch – possibly even a branch of the ancient Met Clan, but a distant one."

"Oh… is the Met Clan still around?" I ask.

"No, of course not," Pernelle says. "I know little of the details as it was long before my time, but I believe they vanished around the turn of the epoch – Cleopatra's time, specifically. That is mainly gleaned from old records that only mention them in passing."

"You don't look like an Egyptian though," Inui points out.

"It has been a long time since my ancestors lived in Egypt," Pernelle says. "They have intermixed with the people of Europe for long enough that the remnants of that original lineage are no longer prominent."

"And your mother was also called Pernelle," I say. "The Witch of Samara, if I recall correctly."

"I know not where you heard that, but it is indeed true," Pernelle says. "In fact, the name Pernelle is a tradition in the family, usually given to the first-born daughter, though my mother was the second daughter. Of course, I broke that tradition when I named my daughter Jeanne."

"Huh? You have a daughter!?" Inui gasps. "Wait, where is she then?"

Pernelle shrugs. "I have not seen her for three or four centuries," she says. "Most likely she perished against a witch that was too much for her. There remains a possibility that she is yet alive somewhere in the world, however. I still hold out hope that I may one day see her again."

"Um… so how many Pernelles were there?" I ask.

"I am unsure," Pernelle says. "I know that my grandmother was named Pernelle, and there must have been at least two more prior to her, but that is the best I can offer you – at least five."

"What's so special about the name Pernelle that they kept reusing it?" Liliane asks.

"The name ultimately derives from the Latin petra, meaning stone," Pernelle says. "Thus, it was seen as a reference to the soul gem. I contemplated changing it, but I can also think of it as referring to the philosopher's stone, so I decide to keep the name."

"Huh? Wait, were all of them magical girls, then?" Liliane asks.

"To my knowledge, yes," Pernelle says. "I cannot rule out that one may have lacked potential, however. Anyway, that is enough about me. As my investigation for the day is finished, I shall send you back to Mitakihara. Is there a specific location you desire?"

"Oh, I'll take you up on that offer too," I say. "The same place as these two is fine."

"Um… I guess behind the swimming pool would do?" Liliane says.

"Right, where that witch used to be lurking," Elise says. "That seems like a good place."

"Very well," Pernelle says.

And with that, she reaches out her hand, and with a momentery display of diagrams, we find ourselves back in Mitakihara.

Magical Girl Corner

Whenever a new magical girl is introduced, I'll include a brief profile of her here. Some details may be redacted, or contain minor spoilers. You have been warned! The numeric ranking values are on a scale of 1 to 10.

Hiraku Yumiko
火楽弓子

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Brown
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Red four-petalled florette
Soul Gem: Spherical orange gemstone embedded in a fox-shaped netsuke
Element: Fire
Weapon: Ink brush
Powers: Uncovering lost truths, metal manipulation, fire manipulation
Wish: "I want to revive the legacy of my ancestors."
Affiliation: Tokime Clan

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 9
Defensive Power: 3
Initial Power Usability: 10
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Doppel Corner

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

Hermes Trismegistus (Pernelle Flamel)

The Doppel of alchemy. Its form is a unified god. The master of this emotion divides, refines, and synthesizes purely in accordance with her curiosity. This Doppel embodies a unified divinity born from a heart that strives to reach mysticism's highest peak, and bears the role of a messenger who links the mortal realm with realms beyond. As such, it can request intervention from higher dimensions to aid its master in times of crisis. But because its master believes that all things in nature are part of a closed Cycle, she interprets this dimensional rift as proof that the world still holds mysteries that her wisdom cannot describe. This deepens her curiosity ever further, and she often forgets to avoid the danger as a result.

We're really speeding through here – I breeze through three whole rumours and skip an entire week in this chapter. At this rate, there is a very small chance that this timeline will be shorter than the first timeline in terms of the number of chapters (though the length of the chapters is most likely greater). More likely, it will have the exact same number of chapters. Of course, it could also end up being a little longer.

The next two chapters are mostly done, each covering one rumour, and the chapter after that is at least started. So it looks like I'll be posting once a week right to the end of this timeline.

In chapter 93, I spotted that Inui and Ashley had dinner twice on the day of Endless Solitude – once with Karin, then again after seeing Kaede join the Wings of the Magius. So I just deleted the second case. Instead of suggesting they have dinner again, Inui suggests they go to bed.