Magia: A New Hope

by Pentalithia

A Madoka / Magia Record fan suddenly wakes up in the world of magical girls, as a side character. Features Ashley Taylor. Note: In case it's not obvious, you should expect massive spoilers here for nearly everything in the franchise.

108. Walpurgis the Ninth

When I was in Brussels, I happened to run into a young lady who claimed to have been a magical girl for a couple of years. She introduced herself as Shirin Charmchi, and she agreed to answer a few questions about her life as a magical girl.

Me: Is it hard being a magical girl?
Shirin: It really is tough. Even now I have difficulty if I have to fight a witch… my magic just isn't suited for it.
Me: Huh… how often do you fight witches, then?
Shirin: Very rarely. I think I could count all the witches I've ever fought on both hands.
Me: How do you survive without fighting?
Shirin: Well, I was lucky enough to be picked up by my teacher. She's teaching me some skills that I can use to help other magical girls become stronger. We obtain grief seeds in exchange for our services, which is just enough to get by.
Me: Huh. I guess magical girls come in all kinds as well. I didn't know there were those like you who managed to survive without fighting. But even if you don't have to fight, have you ever thought about retiring someday?
Shirin: Well… to tell the truth, the thought hasn't really crossed my mind. Maybe things'll be different in ten or twenty years, assuming I'm still around… I think I'd at least like to pass on the skills to another student before expiring.
Me: How long have you been a magical girl?
Shirin: I don't remember exactly, but it's been between two and three years now.
Me: And you managed to survive all that time thanks to your teacher?
Shirin: Pretty much… I think she picked me up within a month or two of my contract. I was really struggling before I met her.
Me: So you've been with her since then?
Shirin: Until we split up a couple months ago. She said I have what it takes to survive on my own now… she's probably on the lookout for a new student somewhere.
Me: I see… I was hoping I could meet her too, but I guess that's not going to be possible.
Shirin: Yeah… I don't even know where she is right now.
Me: So is there anything else you'd like to tell me about life as a magical girl?
Shirin: Well, this might be just me, but… truthfully, I find this life to be quite satisfying.
Me: That is indeed a sentiment I don't often hear from magical girls. Anyway, thanks for lending me your time. I hope your life as a magical girl goes well in the future!

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

---

"Alright, Miss Tamaki, Miss Araragi, Kazumi-chan," I say. "Let's head down to the chapel."

The power has just gone out across the city, which is the signal I was waiting for. San is in the middle of her grumbling as we all get up and start to head downstairs. I send a telepathic missive to all the dissident feathers on the base too.

«We're going to split up for a little while,» I say. «I'd like Coeurl, Mayoi, Kuroe, Ryo, Ikumi, Sumire, and Chiyoko to meet me in the ground floor lobby. Everyone else will stay to guard the base until Miss Mifuyu returns and commands you to confront Walpurgisnacht. In the unlikely event that the Magius return instead, you should try to avoid detection.»

By the time I've reached the ground floor, most of the girls I named are already there, all powered down and in their uniforms or casual clothes. We just wait a minute or two more for Kuroe and Sumire to arrive, and then I speak up again.

"We're essentially the team that will confront Eve," I explain. "Don't worry – I don't intend it to be just the thirteen of us here. I'm going to ask for backup from the magical girls of Kamihama, too. For now, let's head down to the chapel. Coeurl, could you lead the way?"

"Guess so," Coeurl says.

She heads into the chapel, and the others follow her. Once all the former feathers have headed down, Kazumi and the Araragi sisters follow, and Inui and I take up the rear along with Iroha.

"Can you ask the rumour to disconnect this passage once we've all reached the chapel, Miss Tamaki?" I ask.

Iroha nods. "Yes… I've already done it, in fact. I also asked her to open a new entrance near the helipad, so Miss Mifuyu can get back in later."

True to her word, as soon as Inui and I step into the chapel, the entryway vanishes behind us. We're no longer in the rumour of Fendt Hope. Instead, we're in Ui's rumour, the rumour of hope that likely summoned magical girls from all across Japan, the rumour that erased Ui from existence and sealed her consciousness in Mokyu.

I think destroying the rumour might restore Ui's consciousness, but I don't actually want to destroy it. What effect would it have on Mokyu? We need Mokyu as an ally going forward, as someone who can maintain the automatic purification system while us imperfect humans work out our differences here in Kamihama. Would destroying the rumour also render Mokyu a lifeless puppet? That would be a terrible loss.

"Miss Iroha!" Sana exclaims. "You're finally here!"

"Took ya long enough!" Felicia says.

Iroha runs forward to hug Sana.

"Is Ui okay?" Iroha asks.

"She's not conscious, but she seems unhurt," Sana says. "The twins are taking care of her right now…"

Indeed, it looks like Tsukasa is carrying the unconscious Ui on her back. Their soul gems are heavily clouded. The same is true of Yukika and Felicia. Even Sana's soul gem is around sixty percent corrupted.

"Good afternoon, Miss Tamaki," Tsukuyo says.

"Good afternoon," Tsukasa echoes.

"Good afternoon, Miss Taylor," Yukika says.

"You've brought quite a lot of people down here," Tsukasa says. "What on earth are you planning…? There's no way you could destroy Eve even with that many – she's insanely tough. It took everything we had just to get Miss Ui out of that crystal…"

"I'll give you guys a grief seed," I say.

I take out two, passing one to Sana and the other to Tsukuyo. Sana accepts it gratefully and purifies herself and Felicia without hesitation. Tsukuyo blinks at me.

"Are you sure?" she asks. "I do not want to impose… if need be, the two of us could unleash our doppel."

"Have the two of you not heard of doppel syndrome?" I ask.

"Is that what Miss Mifuyu was talking about earlier?" Tsukasa asks.

"She mentioned that some girls' doppels went out of control and they had to be isolated at the Coordinator's place," Tsukuyo says.

"Yes, that's doppel syndrome," I say. "Or one aspect of it. There's also the aspect that can potentially lead to paralysis – I believe Nemu is in danger of suffering from that type."

"Huh!?" Iroha gasps. "Why did you not mention something so important to me!? If Nemu-chan is in trouble…!"

"Sorry… I have so much on my mind that I must've forgotten," I say. "But she won't die, and I think it's treatable. I remember a vision where another girl recovers from the same condition… though she hadn't used her doppel anywhere near as much as Nemu has."

"I see," Iroha says. "I hope Nemu-chan will be okay…"

"Anyway, my point is, doppels have side-effects like that, so you should treat them as a last resort. If you have a grief seed, use it. Kamihama is already teeming with witches, so grief seeds are plentiful, and if my experiment in Mitakihara pans out, they'll be even more plentiful in the future. Plus, I have two more like this, so please don't hold back."

"Alright… if you insist," Tsukuyo says.

She accepts the grief seed and uses it to purify her and her sister's soul gems. Then Yukika uses it on her soul gem. It looks like it might even have one more use in it, which is kinda impressive.

"Also, Miss Tsukasa, could you let Mayoi take care of Ui?" I ask. "Since Mayoi has no fighting ability after all."

"Ah, sure," Tsukasa says.

Mayoi steps forward, and Ui's body is carefully transferred from Tsukasa's back to Mayoi's.

"Alright," I say. "Let's get started. First of all… we need to get out of this barrier so we have room to manoeuvre. Unfortunately that means there's a chance—"

At that moment, Yachiyo's voice crackles out from my communicator, interrupting me in mid-sentence.

"Miss Taylor, are you there?"

I take out my communicator and press the speak button.

"Ashley here, what's up? Was it the entrance you wanted, or…?"

"Were you watching?" Yachiyo asks. "That's correct."

"Sorta out of the corner of my eye, yes… I'm a bit busy right now. The entrance is in Chuo Ward at the moment, near the helipad."

"Huh… did you put it there specifically for us?"

"Why else would we move it there?"

"Well… I don't know," Yachiyo says.

"Miss Tamaki, could you explain the exact location of the entrance to Miss Nanami?" I ask.

"Ah, yes," Iroha says.

She doesn't pull out a communicator, so I hold it out towards her and press the speak button. She leans towards it as she speaks.

"Miss Yachiyo, it's really close," she says. "If you exit the helipad and turn left, walk about two blocks, and turn left into an alleyway, you should see it right away."

"Don't forget an emblem is needed to get in," I add. "I hope you haven't smashed all of them!"

"No, we still have some," Yachiyo says. "Thank you, Iroha, and Miss Taylor too."

"By the way, Miss Nanami, could you ask some of the girls of Kamihama who're with you to come join us in the Eve fight?" I ask. "I'd like at least Miss Tokiwa's team. It would also be helpful to have Miss Yayoi. I'll let you guys decide the details – don't forget there's also Walpurgisnacht, so we need to split our forces."

"I'll talk to them," Yachiyo says. "I'll contact you again once the feathers have all left."

The line falls silent after that, and I look around.

"Right… where was I…?"

"You were saying there was something unfortunate about getting out of the barrier," Iroha prompts me.

"Right… it means there's a chance Eve gets into the city. A very high chance, actually. But people are starting to evacuate around now due to the approaching typhoon, so there shouldn't be many people around. If we do find someone, we'll have to take a detour to get them to an evacuation centre."

"So you said we're going to crack it open like you did with Miss Ai, right?" Iroha says.

"I want to try that, yes," I say. "The other option would be to destroy the source of the barrier – the rumour – but there are two potential problems with that."

"I was wondering why you insisted on just cracking the barrier when we could defeat the rumour instead… what are the problems with that?" Iroha asks.

"The first is that I have no idea what action would go against the rumour," I say. "The text of the rumour is kinda vague, and there aren't clear proscribed actions. We don't really have time to guess and experiment to draw it out. However… the other problem is that I think this rumour is what split Ui in half and sealed her consciousness inside Mokyu. So what happens if the rumour that caused that is destroyed?"

"Um… wouldn't it be undone?" Iroha asks. "So Ui would wake up… isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, it's one possibility," I say. "And on the surface it certainly seems like a good thing. To be clear though, I don't think we can definitely conclude that it would be undone. There's also the possibility that it's not undone, and we lose our method to wake Ui. Then Ui would never wake up."

"Ah… that would be really bad," Iroha says. "I never thought of that…"

"But even if you're right and it would be undone, that's still not the end of it," I say. "If it's undone, what happens to Mokyu? Originally, Mokyu was an empty shell of an incubator, stripped of all its wish-granting and grief-processing functions. The rumour granted it a measure of consciousness, and I don't think that's solely Ui's consciousness… if all the effects of the rumour did are undone, I think Mokyu would probably become a lifeless shell once more."

"T-that's not good either!" Iroha gasps. "I've gotten used to having that little guy around… I don't want to lose her any more than I want to lose Ui!"

I nod. "So that's why I don't want to destroy the rumour," I say. "If it somehow looks like that's the only option, then I'll do it, but I want to try the other method first. So… first of all, everyone should transform, just in case."

I transform, along with everyone else. As Kazumi powers up, we're all transformed into our boosted outfits, eliciting gasps from most of the girls. Even Iroha, who has experienced it before, looks a touch surprised.

From what I can tell, the Amane twins' outfits don't have any stylistic change, but the colour scheme is reworked. The red and blue parts of the outfits have effectively swapped places, making blue the primary colour and red an accent colour. This includes the ribbons in their hair, which are also blue now. The white parts of their costumes have seemingly also been tinted with blue – a very light, pale blue.

Yukika's shirt and skirt combine and shrink into a leotard, maintaining the same colour scheme, while the coat similarly shrinks and becomes a cape with the same diamond pattern as her stockings along the hem. Her gloves also expand, now reaching up past the elbow.

Ikumi's outfit has mostly been recoloured. The formerly pink parts are now bright red, matching her shoes, while the formerly black parts are now pink in the same shade as the formerly pink parts. In addition, the bow on her back is much larger and flashier, and is also pink.

Ryo's outfit retains the boots but is otherwise completely different. Broadly speaking, it looks like a white business suit with yellow pinstripes, but rather than a blazer, she only wears a vest. The shirt underneath is the orange shade of her original shirt, now visible only on the sleeves, which completely cover her arms and end in a flared-out white frill. The buttons on the vest are gold, and a chain connects the bottommost button to a gold brooch pinned to the left pocket. Her soul gem is pinned directly beneath the yellow ribbon tied at her throat. Her legs are covered in white stockings, which disappear beneath the hem of the skirt.

I tear my eyes away from the boosted outfits at that point, though Sumire's new outfit is particularly striking. This isn't the time to be admiring all the new outfits, however.

"Miss Tsukihi, Miss Tamaki, please connect and aim your strongest attack straight up at the ceiling," I say. "Everyone else, stand back and watch for falling glass."

So Iroha and Tsukihi walk out into the centre of the chapel while everyone else backs away to the edge. The two of them clasp hands, releasing the telltale light of a connect, but it looks like they're going for a full-blown combined attack, not a support connect. Raising their joined hands above their heads, the two of them are outlined in flames that gain a pinkish tinge from Iroha's magic. The magic flows into Iroha's crossbow, which slowly grows in size until it's a full-sized ballista. The entire thing is on fire as Tsukihi's seemingly infinite supply of flames flows into it.

And then they unleash the bolt, flying straight up into the air like I requested, smashing open the glass ceiling already damaged by Felicia's earlier hammer swing. As predicted, glass rains down all across the chapel. I watch as the missile continues on well beyond the glass ceiling, disappearing into a vast dark sky beyond.

"Did it work…?" Inui wonders. "It doesn't look like the barrier is starting to collapse…"

"I'm worried about that," I say. "It seems like it didn't work, huh…?"

We wait with bated breath as the last of the glass lands with a tinkling sound, and silence falls for almost a minute before something happens. But it's not what I was hoping for. Instead of the barrier collapsing, it switches into angry mode, the filter of a rumour barrier placing itself on top of the familiar chapel setting.

"O-oh no!" Iroha gasps. "Is the rumour going to come out…?"

Just as she says that, the rumour itself appears before us. It takes the form of a short, squat tree in a large, tub-shaped planter. The branches are rich in fruits in all colours of the rainbow, and each fruit bears a single eye. Several of the eyes turn to gaze at Iroha and Tsukihi, and after a second the eyes begin to glow. I raise my voice.

"Miss Futaba, defend them!" I shout.

"Y-yes!" Sana gasps.

As the glowing eyes glow brighter, Sana leaps forward and plants her shield in the ground, placing herself between Iroha and the rumour. Then the fruits with the glowing eyes pop open, emitting jets of purplish fluid that splatter against Sana's shield. The expended fruits rapidly grow back after the attack.

"Kazumi-chan, if it targets anyone at the back here, please defend us with your barrier," I say.

"Okay!" Kazumi says.

"We don't want to destroy this rumour," I say. "I'm not entirely sure what purpose it fulfils, and as mentioned I think destroying it could cause problems, so I'd prefer to let it live. Therefore… Miss Tsukihi, Miss Tamaki, could you take another shot at cracking open the barrier?"

"Alright!" Iroha says. "Let's do it again, just like before! It definitely had some effect, so maybe…!"

"Alright," Tsukihi says.

So they join hands again and raise them above their heads. As Sana protects them from the rumour's attacks, they charge up another ballista shot. My fear of the rumour targeting those of us watching is not realized – it seems to be focused entirely on Iroha, Tsukihi, and Sana. Iroha and Tsukihi seem to be spending even more time building up this attack than the last one. I wait patiently as they build up their magic.

Finally, Iroha lets out a shout.

"Let's do this!"

The massive bolt is launched straight up into the sky, and for a short time it seems like it's still not going to work. But then, instead of vanishing into that vast dark sky, it stops, as if it had hit something solid. Then visible cracks appear in the rumour barrier, widening and spreading until they bring the barrier down, dumping us, Eve, and the rumour out into the rainy forest.

"Kazumi-chan, please put a barrier around the rumour!" I say.

"Alright!" Kazumi says.

She points at the rumour and surrounds it with a glowing force shield that stops all the rumour's attempts to attack. Iroha looks around, taking in the new surroundings.

"Are we back in the forest?" she asks.

"What's with all this wind and rain?" Felicia asks.

"That most terrible of disasters is getting closer," Ikumi muses.

"It looks like the barrier was successfully destroyed," I say. "The wind and rain must be from the typhoon that Walpurgisnacht brings with her as she travels. We must be within the edge of that storm now. Most likely, she's either made landfall already or is just about to."

"I didn't realize just how huge Eve was when I only saw her in the chapel," Yukika says. "Incredible… look at that size!"

She points up at Eve, looming even taller than the trees.

"It's like a kaiju!" Karen pipes up.

"Just like a kaiju!" Felicia exclaims.

"Yeah, I think it's totally reasonable to call her a kaiju," I say.

"What on earth is this…?"

That unexpected voice belongs to Touka. Iroha turns to her in surprise. Nemu is with her too, but Alina is nowhere to be seen. It appears the two of them were just nearby in the real world when everyone was ejected from the barrier. Perhaps they had intended to directly brute force their way into the barrier of Fendt Hope after discovering that the Eternal Sakura entrance had been closed off.

"Touka-chan! Nemu-chan!" Iroha exclaims.

"What on earth is happening here?" Touka asks. "Did you already destroy Fendt Hope? Is that why the entrance in the Eternal Sakura disappeared, and Eve is out here in the woods? But you should've been unable to destroy it with so few people…"

"Isn't that a rumour over there?" Nemu says. "It's not the Mother Bear rumour though… I've never seen this rumour before. And how is it out here in the real world without a barrier?"

"Huh? Didn't you create that rumour?" Touka says.

"I don't know," Nemu says. "I don't remember creating it, but I can't imagine there's anyone else who can create rumours."

"That's the rumour of the chapel," I say.

"Huh? Wasn't that part of Fendt Hope?" Touka says.

"Hmm… I'm pretty sure it was," Nemu says.

"I thought it was too," I say. "But Fendt Hope herself corrected our impressions."

"Don't be ridiculous," Nemu says. "Fendt Hope is not a rumour capable of human speech, unlike the Anonymous AI or the Eternal Sakura. Communicating with it is impossible."

"It's not impossible!" Iroha says. "It can understand telepathy! I asked Fendt Hope to close the entrance linking it to the Eternal Sakura, and also the connection to the chapel. I wanted to get Eve out of there without destroying Fendt Hope."

"Why on earth would the rumour listen to you?" Nemu asks.

"Obviously, because I helped you guys create all the rumours," Iroha says. "It was mostly you and Ui, true, but I made a few suggestions here and there, and I wrote the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura all by myself. I'm her creator, so of course she trusts me. As for why Fendt Hope trusts me more than you, well… that's your own fault for plotting things that go against the rumour, Nemu-chan."

"Tamaki Iroha, you're spouting nonsense again," Touka says sternly. "But no matter… one way or another, thanks to your efforts, Eve has been freed from that stuffy old chapel!"

Nemu nods. "At last, the hope we have been raising stands upon the land," she says.

"Though it looks like she took a little damage, but… that much is barely more than a scratch to her," Touka says.

Suddenly the earth shakes as Eve begins to struggle to get free from her restraints.

"Looks like Eve's been made aware of Walpurgisnacht," Nemu said. "It wants to go meet her."

"Then all we have to do now is to free it," Touka says. "She really wants to eat up Walpurgisnacht!"

"Hey, Miss Ashley," Iroha says. "Shouldn't we just destroy it right here and now…? I don't want it to reach the city…"

"Even if you kick and scream, there's no turning back now," Nemu says. "You should accept this reality."

"Just you try it!" Touka says. "Even if you throw everything you have at Eve, it won't make a difference… so I won't stop you if you want to try."

"As I told you back on the helipad, Miss Tamaki, you're welcome to try," I say. "I don't think it'll work. It's probably better to try than not, though."

Iroha nods. "Then let's give it a try!" she says. "Let's have everyone attack at once! Aim at… hmm… let's say that gemstone over there!"

She points at a green gemstone on Eve's right side. Even as she does that though, familiars begin to spawn around them. Within seconds we're surrounded by the penguin-like Oscars.

"T-these familiars!?" Felicia gasps. "I've been seeing these all over the place lately…"

"These are Oscars," I say. "They're the familiars of Eve."

I summon a couple of Teddy Drones and blast some of them into oblivion, but the holes are rapidly filled with new ones.

"They're blocking the way…!" Iroha gasps. "Can we still reach it…?"

Nemu giggles. "Eve has a lot of energy, thanks to all the impurities we gathered," she says.

"We'll have her release that energy once she gets to the city," Touka says.

"Shall we go ahead and free Eve ourselves?" Nemu suggests.

"Yeah!" Touka says.

They chant in unison.

"One… two…"

"No!" Iroha gasps. "If Eve gets into the city… everything will be destroyed!"

But it's already too late. Because of all the familiars, no-one is even close enough to stop them. Nemu connects with Touka, and they fire a spray of beams at Eve, cleanly severing most of the ties binding her. A few of the shots are off target, however, so there are still a couple of bindings remaining.

"Y'know, it just blows my mind that you think you'd be able to save magical girls with a mass of impurities like that," Coeurl says. "It's obvious to any veteran magical girl that Eve will trample Kamihama into dust if it's allowed to descend into the city and given free rein. And now you're saying you want it to swallow up a witch said to be one of the worst in history? That'll bring nothing but annihilation."

"That annihilation will serve a purpose," Touka says. "It will stimulate people's emotions, and from those emotions, energy will be born, energy that will help Eve hatch. What does that leave, when it's all over? Not destruction! Hope!"

"What a farce," Coeurl says. "Sure, it's true that energy is emitted when witches merge together, but even if you can use that energy to expand the automatic purification system, that frail hope will instantly crumble to death in the face of the terrible monstrosity you've created. And let's say you manage to somehow pull together and bring down that combined witch, and the fates of magical girls are changed forever… someday people will realize the price that was paid to achieve that. The doppel, that hope that magical girls of the future cling to, will become a power ridden with guilt. It'll eat away at their souls, and they'll end up overusing their doppel and retreating into their own little worlds. Do you really think the magical girls working as feathers in the Wings of the Magius can withstand that? They're precisely the ones least able to withstand it."

"We'll be living in a world where no-one can turn into a witch, so why worry about it?" Touka says.

"You don't care if they have to suffer for eternity?" Coeurl says. "And if the witch transformation is averted, it really could be an eternity for some of them."

"Only the feathers will have to suffer," Touka says. "It's got nothing to do with all the magical girls who know nothing about it. And it doesn't change the fact that future magical girls will be saved."

"So you're essentially saying that you don't care for the people who chose to follow you," Coeurl says. "You may be a genius, but you're not fit to run an organization like the Wings of the Magius."

"There, are we good now?" Touka asks. "Whine whine whine all you want, it's not gonna change anything! This plan is going to succeed. We've already made sure of that!"

"You're awfully confident despite running into something you couldn't even predict," I retort. "You lost control of Fendt Hope, and discovered a rumour you didn't even know existed."

Nemu looks at the rumour, which is still struggling in vain to escape Kazumi's barrier.

"I checked a moment ago," she says. "That rumour is in my book. It is the very first one in the book… but I certainly do not remember making it."

"Then you acknowledge that you've forgotten something, Nemu-chan?" Iroha says.

"The evidence would seem to support that, yes," Nemu says.

"Do you have any memory of my sister, Ui?" Iroha asks.

Nemu shakes her head. "No… I don't know a Tamaki Ui."

"I see…"

At that moment, Eve suddenly spreads her wings and flaps them.

"Wait… Eve's taking flight!?" Iroha gasps.

Several people scream as the intense wind from Eve's wings knocks them off their feet, but then Kuroe raises her hands and builds up a windbreak from puzzle pieces, allowing everyone to regain their footing. There's a snap as the remaining bindings break, and then Eve relaxes her wings for a moment.

"Ah… not yet, huh," Iroha says with a sigh of relief.

"Crap, that really hurt!" Felicia says. "That was one hell of a big blast of wind, just from her wings!"

"Alright, now let's all attack at once!" Iroha shouts.

She aims her crossbow at the same gemstone she singled out earlier and begins to charge her magic. Coeurl steps up to connect with her, substantially boosting her power. I raise a single Teddy Drone above my head and fire a beam at it, Tsukihi unleashes a torrent of flames, Ryo fires her bazooka, and Kuroe flings several gymnastic clubs which explode on impact. The flute sisters start playing for Flute Blossom Resonance, and several others connect to build up for a bigger attack – Felicia with Sana, Inui with Karen, and Chiyoko with Ikumi. Sumire raises her arms and casts some kind of magic that doesn't have a clear effect. Kazumi is still focused on keeping the rumour contained, so she doesn't attack, and Mayoi just stands back with Ui, since she has no attack magic at all. Yukika raises her sword in a defensive position, perhaps intending to guard if necessary.

"Strada Futuro!" Iroha shouts.

"Justice Stinger!" Karen shouts.

"Ultra Massive Giant Hammer!" Felicia shouts.

"Heart-Melting Show!" Ikumi shouts.

Ikumi's ultimate attack amounts to dragging her mop along the ground, leaving a rainbow-coloured mark which she encircles the witch with. Once the loop is closed and the attack called out, the interior of the circle is bathed in a destructive light. As for Karen, she compresses her fireball down to the size of a croquet ball and flings it at the target. The flames explode outward on impact, spreading all across the witch's body for several seconds before the ongoing rain stamps them out.

Touka giggles. "Wow! All that power you threw at it, and it's barely even scratched! You see? It's pointless."

What she says is true – there's a small crack running across the targeted gemstone, but that's it.

"Still, we just have to keep at it," Iroha says. "The more damage we manage to do, the sooner it'll break down and dissipate…"

"That might be true, if you had all the time in the world," Touka says. "But Walpurgisnacht is already coming, and Eve clearly wants to go meet her as well. Even if you could eventually destroy Eve, you don't have enough time."

Iroha sighs. "I should've brought Mokyu here after all…"

"L-look out!" Kuroe gasps. "I… I think it's falling over… we've gotta get away!"

It does indeed look like Eve is about to lose her balance and topple over. If it falls over now, it will crush not only the magical girls fighting it but also the rumour encased in Kazumi's barrier.

"Can we protect the rumour…?" I wonder. "Kazumi-chan… can you try releasing the rumour for a moment? Miss Futaba, be ready to defend, just in case."

"Y-yes!" Sana says.

"Okay," Kazumi says.

She releases the barrier containing the rumour, and several purplish jets immediately strike Sana's shield.

"Miss Tamaki, just in case, see if you can contact it telepathically," I say. "Tell it we don't want to hurt it."

"I'll try, but… Sakurako said this one has no intelligence," Iroha says doubtfully.

"But it might have an awareness similar to a cat or dog, if we're lucky," I say.

"Alright," Iroha says. "I'll try."

She closes her eyes for a moment. Then she opens them, shaking her head.

"It's no good," she says. "I'm not feeling any sense of anything listening."

"Then maybe Nemu can get it to back off?" I suggest. "You'd prefer if the rumour isn't destroyed, wouldn't you, Nemu? We'd also prefer that this one isn't destroyed, so if there's anything you can do about it…"

"I suppose you have a point," Nemu agrees. "It would be remiss to let it die before I figure out its purpose and powers."

She pulls her book out and flips it open, turning to the very first page. A moment later, the rumour builds itself a new labyrinth and flees inside it. By this time, however, it's clearly too late to run from the falling witch. She'll land on top of us in a matter of seconds. However, while I was focused on the rumour, it seems Coeurl has been moving – I can't see her, Chiyoko, Ikumi, Felicia, Yukika, or Inui anywhere. But then she flashes back into existence in front of me. She must've already teleported those people to safety.

"Maimai, Coeurl, get everyone out of here!" I shout.

Mayoi punches a portal, and everyone close to it darts through without hesitation – the twins, Ryo, Sumire, Kazumi, and of course Mayoi herself. Coeurl grabs Iroha, Sana, and Karen before vanishing. That just leaves Tsukihi, Kuroe, Touka, and Nemu in danger. Kuroe and Tsukihi are too far away for me to reach both of them, so I decide to sacrifice the latter to save the former. Ignoring protests, I grab Touka and Nemu, slinging them each under one arm, then leap forward to throw myself right at Kuroe.

As soon as I'm in contact with Kuroe, I activate my new magic, sinking into the shadows.

"Oh, so that's what you were thinking," Touka says. "I didn't know you had teleportation magic, Miss Taylor. I didn't know that weird lady had it either…"

"That's because I didn't, until recently," I say. "It's a new magic I recently developed. And Coeurl's is short-range tactical teleportation from what I understand… I don't think it has a range comparable to Maimai or Shizuku."

"I was going to craft a minor rumour to escape, but I suppose this works as well," Nemu says. "Thank you, Miss Taylor."

"You shouldn't be so nonchalant about crafting rumours, Nemu," I scold her. "Value yourself more."

She blinks at me, looking a little surprised.

"That's… a strange thing to say to someone who's supposed to be an enemy," she mutters.

"You're not an enemy," I say. "You're just not on the same side right now."

"N-n-now what?" Kuroe gasps. "How do we get out of this black space…?"

"There are various bright windows?" Nemu notes.

"That must be how you get out of here, right?" Touka says. "Very interesting…"

"Seemingly," I say.

I scan the available windows until I catch a glimpse of Tsukuyo in one of them. Then I reach out for that one, everyone else moving along with me. Moments later we emerge back into the forest directly behind Tsukuyo, who lets out a squeal of shock.

"Ahhh! Oh… it is only Miss Taylor and the others… you gave me quite a fright!"

"Ashley!" Inui shouts.

She glomps me and refuses to let go. I look around at the people present.

"Is that everyone?" I ask.

"Tsukihi-chan is missing," Iroha says. "But I think everyone else made it…"

"Tsukihi-chan will be fine even if she got crushed under that thing," Karen says confidently. "So don't worry about her! She'll be right as rain as soon as it gets off her!"

Iroha nods. "Yes, though it still means she must have been in a lot of pain…"

"Yeah, well… I had the time to rescue either Miss Tsukihi or Kuroe," I say. "The choice was obvious…"

"I get your reasoning, but you didn't have to put it that way…" Iroha mutters.

I peer through the rain and see Eve's huge bulk looming not far off. It seems we've ended up close to her feet.

"Anyway… we should attack Eve again," Iroha says. "Let's get closer to her head."

With Iroha leading the way, everyone hurries forward until we can see the witch's head from the side. The gemstone we targeted before is also visible from this angle.

"Should we do the same combination as before?" Iroha asks.

"Yeah, and maybe Miss Iroha and Kazumi-chan can combine their power," I suggest.

Kazumi nods. "I think I can manage the power-sharing technique," she says. "Or Miss Iroha could initiate it if you prefer?"

Iroha shrugs. "Does it really make a difference…?"

"It does," I say. "Sharing power with a connect has an auxiliary effect beyond just boosting the other person's attack, and the specific nature of that effect is different for each person. For example, if Miss Tamaki connects with someone, they'll be healed a little bit. On the other hand, if Kazumi-chan initiates the connect… I'm not quite sure, but I think it might improve the aim?"

There were two versions of her in the Magia Record game, so I'm not completely certain which one applies here, but… I'm assuming it's the white version of her, whose connect had the mechanic of guaranteed criticals. I'm not sure what that means in real life, however.

Kazumi nods. "Then I'll try it," she says.

"Then I'll suppress its power like before!" Sumire declares, raising her arms.

So that's what the magic she'd done earlier was. Presumably it somehow lowers its defence against our attacks, or something? I don't think she'd do it if she didn't think it would help… I already knew her magic was able to somehow soften an incoming blow, as seen in the first Magius timeline, but I didn't know there was more to it than that.

So just like last time, Felicia connects with Sana, Inui with Karen, and Chiyoko with Ikumi. However, this time Iroha connects with Kazumi instead of Coeurl. While those four pairs build up power, the flute twins unleash a Flute Blossom Resonance. At the same time, I fire off a Teddy Drone beam, Ryo fires her bazooka, Coeurl attacks with sword slashes that leave behind bright arcs flying towards it, and Kuroe flings several exploding gymnastic clubs.

"Strada Futuro!" Iroha shouts.

"Foltergefängnis!" Sana shouts.

"Heart-Melting Show!" Ikumi shouts.

We manage to target the same gemstone as before, and the crack from the first attack grows quite a bit larger, with several small fragments falling loose.

"It looks like this should work!" Iroha says. "We just need to keep it up!"

"Even if you're doing more damage than I expected, you still don't have enough time," Touka says. "At this rate, it would take you several hours to defeat her. I doubt you have any more than one hour here. It's pointless to keep fighting… why not just give up and accept liberation?"

"I can't do that, Touka-chan!" Iroha declares. "I can't accept destroying the city for your selfish goals! One way or another, we're going to destroy Eve and Walpurgisnacht!"

Suddenly Eve starts to twitch, flapping her wings and sliding forward a little. The wings force everyone to leap back to get out of the way. With every flap, she throws up more and more mud and debris, which Kazumi blocks with a barrier.

"It's rampaging out of control!" Yukika exclaims.

"O-oh no…!" Iroha gasps. "We can't get any closer when it's like this… it's going to get away!"

"If it gets all the way down the mountain, Kamihama will be drowned in curses!" Ikumi says.

"It looks like Eve could have caused a landslide just by falling… and the witch that brought this storm here is Walpurgisnacht," Nemu muses. "In other words, we have the ultimate witches of earth and sky right here in Kamihama."

Nemu chuckles.

"Do you guys get it now?" Touka says. "It doesn't matter how badly you want to stop Eve from feasting. Toooooo baaaaaaad! You may as well just walk right into Eve's mouth! But still, if you want to beat it so badly, you're free to fight it as much as you like. We'll just watch from the sidelines. We won't get in your way, promise!"

Touka giggles, and Iroha lets out a sigh.

"We're lucky Touka-chan has the arrogance to assume she's already won," she says. "Let's keep at it, everyone! While it still can't move!"

"Let's bash its brains out right now!" Felicia shouts. "We won't get another chance like this!"

"You'll regret sitting on your laurels because you underestimated us," Karen declares.

"Then do it if you can," Touka taunts.

"Let's do this!" Tsukihi says.

Before long, Eve stops thrashing, perhaps exhausted from the attempt, so we gather up and manage to unleash two more rounds of attacks before Eve suddenly becomes active again. A whole host of familiars spawn, but they ignore us this time, streaming towards the city.

"All the familiars are flocking towards the city," Ryo observes.

"Towards the city, or towards Walpurgisnacht…?" Ikumi muses.

"Don't worry, the girls I called from outside the city should be able to handle them with the help of everyone from Kamihama," I say.

"Just how many is that…?" Ikumi asks. "Are there enough to take care of so many familiars?"

"I think there's at least a hundred of them," I say.

"So Kamihama is filling up with familiars," Iroha muses. "But if we defeat Eve, they'll all disappear, right?"

"I'm honestly not sure what the rule is on that," I say. "I know that any familiars left in a witch's labyrinth will disappear when witch dies and the labyrinth collapses, but I don't know what happens if the witch and familiars are both outside of a labyrinth in the real world, nor what happens if the familiar is out and about in its own labyrinth."

"Then I need to stop that too," Iroha says. "I need to stop the city from spilling over with familiars…"

Suddenly the earth shakes as Eve squishes itself down in preparation for a jump.

"Let's attack again…!" Iroha shouts.

We attempt one more round of attacks from everyone, but Felicia's attack fails to land as the creature swats her away. Most of the ranged attacks also miss their mark, hitting the wing instead of the targeted gemstone.

"This damn moth!" Felicia exclaims. "You can't take two steps towards her without her whopping ya one!"

"I'm a little surprised she hasn't attacked us at all," Coeurl muses. "Perhaps to Eve we're the same as pesky little flies…"

"The hell does that mean!?" Felicia exclaims.

"It means we don't even register as a threat to her," Coeurl says.

"It's true, what that girl said," Sana says. "It seems like our attacks don't faze her at all. She doesn't even flinch."

"I was going full power and she doesn't even seem to care!" Felicia says, nodding. "This witch is one tough cookie!"

"It is hard to believe she barely even has a scratch after all of our attacks," Tsukuyo says.

"Maybe it's impressive that we managed to scratch her at all," Tsukasa says.

"I concur," Yukika says. "It took all my power just to break the girl out from inside that crystal, and that was with the witch dormant and plenty of time. It's impressive that we managed to even scratch her a little with just a few attacks."

Then Eve starts to thrash around again. It becomes so intense that several people actually lose their footing and fall over.

"Oof!" Felicia says. "Can't stay standing!"

"Sana-chan, hold on!" Iroha says, clinging to her.

"I-I will!" Sana says. "Is Eve causing this quake!?"

I hop on Teddy Mk II to avoid it.

"She sure is… that power is something else," I say. "Everyone, be careful!"

"This'll probably cause another landslide, too," Ryo notes.

Finally the gargantuan creature propels herself up into the air, wings thrashing wildly as she zooms towards the city, the wind of passage sending chunks of debris flying everywhere.

"Eve… she leapt into the sky," Iroha marvels. "Without even shedding any of that mass first, like last time…"

"She's too heavy!" Sana says. "Her wings aren't doing anything!"

Eve soars through the air in a parabolic arc, finally landing somewhere near the river. The impact causes another quake which can even be felt, faintly, where we now stand. It's not yet in the city proper, but another leap will definitely take it into built-up areas.

"Maimai, let's follow it!" Iroha declares.

"A-alright!" Mayoi says.

She punches a portal, and everyone starts to pile through, starting with Iroha. Even Nemu and Touka join us. Karen and Mayoi hang back, so I wait for them.

"Tsukihi-chan!" Karen calls. "Are you there?"

It takes at least twenty seconds before there's a response from the crater where Eve was previously resting. A sudden gout of flame shoots up in defiance of the weather, and Tsukihi's body regenerates within it. She's fully healed almost before I even register the flame.

"I'm fine!" Tsukihi calls. "Let's go!"

The three Jouetsu girls hop through the portal, and I take up the rear. Everyone else, other than Touka and Nemu, is already attacking Eve. Before the Araragi sisters have a chance to join the attack though, the earth begins to shake as Eve starts thrashing around again. Everyone jumps back to avoid those wings, and moments later she leaps into the air once more.

"Okay Maimai, could you get us to Natsume Books?"

"Sure thing!" Mayoi says.

She closes her portal and opens a new one.

"Why Natsume Books?" Felicia asks. "That's Kako's place… is it going to be destroyed…? I don't want that…"

"It's somewhat close to where Eve will come down, and it's a place I can name," I say. "That's why I chose it."

Everyone piles through Maimai's tunnel, emerging near Natsume books. A few seconds later, the earth shakes as Eve lands in the city, about a kilometre to the east. Most of us are thrown to the ground from the quake. A few tiles slip off the nearby roofs, Natsume Books included, but that seems to be the extent of the damage at this distance.

"Let's go!" Iroha says.

She leaps to her feet and breaks out into a run, and everyone follows her example, Mayoi taking the time to make sure Ui is secure first. Within a minute, we're gazing up at Eve's hulking mass once more.

"Oh no… the city!" Iroha gasps.

A relative silence falls for a few seconds as she looks around, taking in all the damage that Eve has already done to the surrounding buildings just by existing here in this place. Then she sighs.

"Do you have any suggestions on how to make our attacks more effective, Miss Ashley?" Iroha asks.

"Hmm… to start with, I think we should have our strongest pair combine forces," I say. "Kazumi-chan, Miss Tsukihi… could you combine your power? Other than that… yes, let's try the same combinations as earlier, so Miss Tamaki, you and Coeurl can connect again."

Kazumi nods. "Let's do it just like the last time," she says.

Sumire raises her arms to suppress the witch's power, and then Iroha connects with Coeurl, Sana with Felicia, Inui with Karen, Chiyoko with Ikumi, and Kazumi with Tsukihi. While those five pairs build up their power, the twins unleash Flute Blossom Resonance, I fire off a barrage of beams from my Teddy Drones, Ryo fires her bazooka a few times, and Kuroe summons a circle of gymnastic clubs and flings them at the witch, where they explode on impact. As before, we all aim at the same gem, where the crack is slowly but surely getting bigger and wider.

"Strada Futuro!" Iroha shouts.

"Foltergefängnis!" Sana shouts.

"Heart-Throbbing Passionate Inferno!" Inui shouts.

"Justice Phoenix!" Tsukihi shouts.

"Heart-Melting Show!" Ikumi shouts.

Unfortunately, Eve chooses that moment to start thrashing again. Though the attacks land, they're thrown off target a little, striking the edge of the gemstone instead of the centre. Most of us fall over again as Eve prepares to take to the air, but one girl seems like she has had enough. Avoiding the thrashing wings by approaching directly from the front, Felicia races in close and expands her hammer to the size of a small house, slamming it down not on the gemstone but the centre of Eve's forehead. The thrashing wings calm down somewhat.

"Wham!" Felicia shouts. "I knocked her memories right outta her head like kablam!"

"And just what is that supposed to do?" Touka asks. "Erasing Eve's memories isn't going to stop her, you know."

"At most, it could slow her down a little," Nemu says.

"Which is kind of the point," I say.

"Touka-chan… can't you just help, instead of making snide remarks from the sidelines?" Iroha asks. "You're really, really strong, aren't you?"

Touka giggles. "Are you really asking that? What do you think the answer will be?"

"You're right," Iroha says with a sigh. "There was no point in asking…"

Just then, Eve starts to thrash again, and before they get a chance to attack, she leaps into the air once more. Everyone gets to their feet and chases after her on the ground. With the city terrain we even manage to almost keep pace with her while she's in the air. We skid to a stop as she begins to descend, waiting until she lands, bracing ourselves this time to avoid falling over as the earth shakes.

"Okay, I'm going to call in the backup now," I say. "We're going to string Eve up between the buildings. Miss Futaba, maybe you can get started while I call the others. Mayoi, I need a portal to the helipad."

"Y-yes!" Sana says.

While Mayoi punches her portal, I whip out my communicator and make sure it's on the correct channel before pressing the speak button.

"Miss Nanami, have you had enough time to rest?"

She responds almost immediately.

"We're all ready over here. I felt the quakes earlier… Eve has been moving, hasn't she?"

"Has Miss Mifuyu made her speech yet?"

"She hasn't made a speech," Yachiyo responds. "She's been chatting with Miss Kagura and Miss Tomoe. I was going to contact you once they left, but…"

"Then I'll send the twins over so they can broadcast her speech to the other feathers on the base and in town once she's ready," I say. "I know there are at least a few near the Coordinator's place… and as mentioned earlier, I'd like Miss Tokiwa's group and Miss Yayoi to join us over here as well."

"Huh? Us?" Tsukasa says. "We don't have any power like that though…?"

"You're capable of manipulating sound, aren't you?" I say. "So I'm sure you can do it."

"I suppose you have a point," Tsukuyo says. "But we have never tried anything like that…"

"Okay, we'll give it a try," Tsukasa says.

The twins head through the portal, and for some reason Yukika follows them too. I don't see any reason to stop her. A few moments later, Yachiyo emerges from the portal, followed by Tsuruno, Kanagi, Momoko, Kaede, Rena, Nanaka, Meiyui, Akira, Kako, Kanoko, Riko, Rui, and most of the Holy Brigade. Kyouko and Yuma are still missing, however.

"Ashley-nee, there you are!" Riko exclaims.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see you here, Riko-chan," I say.

"Well, they said you were here, so I thought I'd come help," Riko says.

Momoko comes up behind her to return my sword. Mokyu, who'd been riding on her shoulder, hops over to me instead, then transfers to Iroha's shoulder.

"Thanks for the loan," Momoko says.

"Ah, Mokyu!" Iroha says. "You're back! I've really missed you!"

"Okay, we're going to string Eve up between the buildings and bind her in place so she can't move," I say. "Anyone with binding-type powers should help out – so that means Miss Yayoi, Chiyoko, Miss Futaba, Miss Akino, Miss Minami, and Miss Tomoe."

"Huh? I don't have binding powers," Rena says.

"You have copy powers," I counter. "So copy someone with binding powers."

"Ah… right!" Rena gasps.

"Let's get up on the roofs and get started!" I call. "Aim for the joints!"

"Hmph," Touka grumbles. "It's not like this is going to help you any…"

I ignore her and summon Teddy Mk II, allowing Sana and Chiyoko to hop on and ascend to the roof on one side of the street. Mami and Kanoko wall-jump to reach the roof on the far side, and the four of them get started on slinging out their chains, webbing, ribbons, and strings to capture Eve by the joints and sling her up between the two buildings.

"Everyone, please!" Mami calls. "Help us secure the ribbons and chains to the ground!"

Everyone who isn't producing bindings, including me, grabs on to the dangling end of one of the bindings to pull it tight. There's not enough strength in all of us combined to lift Eve off the ground, though. That's why I'm very relieved when Yukika emerges from Mayoi's portal, followed by at least thirty black feathers who join in on our efforts to drag Eve up between the buildings. For some reason, Yukika has changed into a white feather robe. The reason from two timelines ago doesn't seem like it applies here, so I wonder why she changed this time?

As we finish securing the lines, locking Eve in place with little possibility of even struggling, a voice comes out from several of the communicators – Mami's and Kanagi's, in particular. Mine was tuned to a different channel, so it remains silent.

"Everyone! I can see Walpurgisnacht! She's just about to reach the land! I'm just above Minaminagi Seaside Park right now!"

It's Karin's voice.

"Karin-chan!" Kaede gasps.

"Karin-chan!?" Riko gasps.

I tune my communicator to the same channel and respond.

"Thanks for that, Karin-chan," I say. "Miss Hozumi, how are things on your end?"

Nemu blinks. "Miss Hozumi Shizuku…? Wasn't she brainwashed…?"

Shizuku responds as well.

"Um… I've already sent Miss Mikuni's team over," she says. "And Kyouko showed up with Yuma a few minutes ago, so they've gone there too. I'm about to gather everyone else, but… is there anyone you'd like me to send your way instead?"

"Ah, yes," I say. "I'd like to have Miss Aki and the Shiina sisters, just to be on the safe side… I think they probably won't be needed, but better safe than sorry. Oh, and while I don't specifically need her, you can let Miss Hanekawa come over if she wants – the Araragi sisters are here with me, so maybe she'd like to rejoin them. And… she was at the Coordinator's last I saw, so maybe it's a long shot, but… Chihiro Karen would also be an asset here – we could use another tank in this battle."

"Got it," Shizuku says. "I'll do that. Shizuku out."

She doesn't ask where we are, but perhaps she already knows – the quake was likely felt at Suitoku Temple, after all.

Mami and Madoka step up to me.

"Um, excuse me, but… could you send us to help Kyouko-chan out?" Madoka asks.

"I would also like to lend some assistance to Miss Sakura and Miss Mikuni," Mami says.

"Sure… Mayoi, please open a portal to Minaminagi Seaside Park."

"On it!" Mayoi says.

She punches a portal, and the Holy Brigade all head through it.

"Touka… don't you think there's something off about all this?" Nemu asks.

"I hate to say it, but you have a point, Nemu," Touka says. "They're too well-organized… they even obtained short-wave radio communicators? It's almost like they knew the cell phone network would be down…"

"And they restrained Eve so easily," Nemu says. "At this rate, at least one of them may be defeated before they get a chance to meet…"

"It's still not very likely," Touka retorts. "But I'll admit, the probability seems higher than I initially thought…"

While the radio conversation and the Magius's dialogue was ongoing, Rena has already transformed to aid Kaede in building up a second layer of restraints – vines coiling up around Eve's feet. Now there's truly no way for Eve to move. In theory, all we have to do now is blast her until she goes down. Of course… that's easier said than done, though. We also still haven't cleared the potential Alina hurdle. Will she merge herself with the Rumour of the Fur God? Or will she pull out her doppel in an insane bid to merge with Eve herself? Or will she come up with some other incredibly wacky and off-the-wall plan that I never would've thought of? If I knew she was out of the picture, I could be pretty confident that we'd already won this, but she still hasn't shown up, so I can't yet rule out a last minute turnaround like in the previous timeline.

I check on her with my clairvoyance and find her to be somewhere out beyond the city boundaries. I know this to be true by the presence of Kyuubey sitting next to her; the lack of rainfall where she is also seems like a good clue. She's pulled out a canvas, brush, and palette, as if planning to paint the city; but as of yet the canvas is still blank. This set-up matches with the anime's series of events, so does that mean she'll pull out her doppel and head over here? I can't be sure though, because few other things in this timeline have ended up following the anime's path… the only other one I can think of is how Mifuyu apparently got drunk. Oh, and there was also Mifuyu's confrontation with Touka and Nemu at the observatory… that hewed quite close to an event in the anime, though in the anime it occurred in Fendt Hope.

"I guess we should change our non-interference policy then," Touka says. "We'll protect Eve until she can meet with Walpurgisnacht!"

"Let us cut her free again!" Nemu says.

"Miss Tsukihi!" I shout. "Don't let Touka or Nemu get close to Eve!"

"You got it!" Tsukihi declares.

She turns to face the Magius.

"If you wanna get to the witch, you'll have to get through me first!" she declares.

"Everyone else, split into two groups!" I shout. "One group will target that one gemstone that's already cracked! The other group will target the gemstone opposite to that one! And the feathers, just focus on keeping those chains taut!"

"Get out of my way!" Touka shouts. "Biiiiig Baaaaang!"

Though her blast of energy obliterates Tsukihi's upper body, the girl regenerates within a second or two, before Touka even has a chance to gloat.

"That all you got?" Tsukihi taunts.

Touka blinks. "W-what on earth…?"

"That is some incredible regeneration power," Nemu says. "Still… you are only one person. I'm sure you can't block both of us."

But then Miss Tokiwa steps up beside Tsukihi.

"Then how about I balance things out a little, hmm?" she says.

Meiyui also steps up to join her, followed by Akira and Kako.

"Yes, I think we shouldn't leave this up to just the one girl, even if she's really strong," Akira says. "After all, Kamihama is our home… we have to protect it."

"W-we won't let you free Eve!" Kako declares.

"Mmhm, that is how things shall be," Meiyui says. "We are your opponents. If you think you can free Eve, then you must get past us first."

"Ugh…!" Touka groans.

As a result, the two Magius end up in battle with Nanaka's team and Tsukihi, much like in the last timeline, though I guess some of the circumstances are very different. Come to think of it, I didn't actually see what led to that outcome in the previous timeline, so maybe the circumstances actually are similar?

Meanwhile, the battle against Eve herself also looks to be taking a very similar path to the previous timeline, with Crescent Moon Villa and Momoko's trio targeting the left gemstone, while everyone else except Kazumi targets the right gemstone. Kazumi serves as primary defense, deploying her barrier as needed. There's some differences in the team composition – we don't have Chihiro Karen, in particular – but the general approach is still similar.

After unleashing three barrages and defending twice against Eve's counterattack, Iroha approaches me.

"Miss Ashley… shouldn't we wake Ui up now?" she asks. "I think it's about time…"

"I'm actually wondering about that myself," I say. "To be honest, I wish I had one of Oriko's visions right around now… is it better to reconstruct Ui's fate now, or wait until after Alina has finished her painting…?"

"I… I understand," Iroha says. "Then I'll ask her what she thinks… though she's fighting Walpurgisnacht, so I'm not sure if she'll be able to offer us a vision… but it can't hurt to ask!"

She digs out her communicator and turns it on, frowning for a moment while she remembers the correct channel. Then she presses the speak button.

"Um… Miss Mikuni… are you there?"

There's a delay of several seconds before Oriko responds.

"Is that Miss Tamaki? Is this important? We are in the middle of battle right now."

"It's… somewhat important, but I'll let you decide if it's worth interrupting the battle," Iroha says. "We'd like to know whether it's better to wake Ui now or wait a bit longer… for example, until Miss Alina finishes her painting? That was Miss Ashley's suggestion, I don't know what it means though…"

"I understand," Oriko says. "If you give me a minute or two, I should be able to provide you with the answer you seek."

"Thank you very much!" Iroha says.

With that, she leaps forward back into the battle, targeting the gemstone along with Yachiyo, Momoko, and the others. Inui and I decide to join in as well, targeting the other gemstone. Tsukihi and the others are doing quite well at holding Touka and Nemu back. The only girl not participating in the fight at this point is Mayoi, still carrying Ui on her back. Eve is liberally using her beams now, so between that, Touka's energy beams, and Tsukihi's flames, we're now getting quite a lot of collateral damage to the surrounding city. It's nowhere near as much as in either of the previous two timelines, however.

I notice out of the corner of my eye as Tsubasa, Remi, Moe, and Mabayu arrive via portal, next to Mayoi.

«Whoa, this is quite the battle… should we join in?» Remi asks.

«If you want,» I say. «But I asked you to come as a precaution, in case Alina does something absolutely insane that we don't have time to plan for, so you don't need to fight.»

«I think I'll stay here and watch then,» Mabayu says.

However, the Shiina sisters decide to join in, targeting the same gemstone as me. Tsubasa stays back with Mayoi. From the way they're looking at each other and the array of expressions crossing their faces, I suspect they're having a private telepathic conversation.

It's not until both of the targeted gemstones are pretty well destroyed that Oriko finally responds.

"Miss Tamaki, if you are listening, you should wake your little sister sooner rather than later. If you wait too long, I predict Miss Gray self-destructing just as you described to me previously."

Iroha darts behind Sana to answer, pressing the speak button.

"Thank you, Miss Mikuni!" she says. "Then we'll do it right now!"

She turns to where the Magius are fighting, edging around the battle to reach Mayoi and Mabayu, and Mokyu hops off her shoulder to land on Mayoi's head. In the vision still open in the corner of my mind, Alina is still just staring at a blank canvas.

"W-whoa…!" Mayoi gasps. "That startled me…"

As Touka opens her parasol to deflect Tsukihi's latest torrent of flames, and Nemu summons a ghost of the Séance Shrine rumour to defend from Nanaka and Meiyui's attacks, Mokyu places a paw up against Ui's forehead.

Suddenly Touka and Nemu clasp their foreheads as the streamers of light spread across the sky, reconstructing Ui's fate and returning the memories of her to everyone who'd lost them. That's also the moment at which Alina starts painting, for some reason. It's almost as though she'd started painting because she'd regained her memories…?

Tsukihi and Nanaka's team step back in surprise as Touka and Nemu collapse to their knees.

"W-when the little Kyuubey touched that girl…" Touka gasps.

"…her fate was reconstructed," Nemu says.

"No… what's this I'm seeing?" Touka asks. "I'm falling… it's like I'm falling, deeper and deeper, inside of my own brain…"

"Let's put her down!" Iroha says.

"Alright!" Mayoi says.

They lay Ui down on the ground, and Iroha kneels beside her to wait for her to awaken. Nemu and Touka recover from their initial shock and come over to join them.

"Onee-sama, how is she?" Touka asks.

"Onee-san, why isn't she waking up…?" Nemu wonders.

"Touka-chan, Nemu-chan, thank goodness!" Iroha says. "You remembered! It looks like she's okay."

"I did," Touka says. "But how did you even get her out of that crystal…?"

"Sana-chan and Felicia-chan did it for me," Iroha says. "While Eve was still in the chapel and they had plenty of time. I'm sure it was really tough for them…"

"Were we too late?" Nemu wonders. "Did the impurities overwhelm her the instant she regained her memories?"

"But her soul gem isn't tainted!" Touka says. "And her harvesting ability isn't going out of control like it did before."

"Then how could this be…?" Nemu says. "Ui, open your eyes!"

"Ui! Please, please wake up!" Touka begs.

Iroha and the two of them keep calling Ui's name until finally, her eyes flutter open.

"Nee…chan…" she says.

Iroha gasps, leaning down to gather Ui up in a great big hug, tears of happiness running down her face.

"Welcome back, Ui!" she says.

"What a relief!" Touka says. "It looks like she's fine!"

"You scared us half to death," Nemu says.

"Ui, I'm so sorry," Touka says. "And sorry to you too, onee-sama…"

"Me too," Nemu says. "I never imagined that the story I created would have such an effect on our karmic fate…"

"I never realized just how big of a chain reaction it would set off either," Touka says.

"We've been getting completely ahead of ourselves since we lost our memories," Nemu says.

"Right, even though our goal starting out was to help onee-sama…" Touka says.

"Our innermost desires were brought to the forefront once our memories were wiped," Nemu says. "Satisfying those secondary motives became our focus, and our plans became distorted."

"We weren't brainwashed," Touka says. "We acted by our own will. So we can't offer a single excuse."

"Indeed," Nemu says. "We were so determined to use magical girl liberation to reach our selfish goals."

"But what you were trying to do wasn't wrong at its core," Iroha says. "I'm not sure if I have the right to say this after all the damage we did to Kamihama… but it wasn't wrong to try to free us."

"Our personalities caused this catastrophe," Nemu says.

"And that catastrophe has revealed itself in the form of the Kamihama before us," Touka says. Then she giggles. "But you know what? I can't bring myself to regret that this happened. The only thing I really regret… is that we put Ui in such a state."

"Me too," Nemu says. "There may be people who would be happy to see us descend into a deep sadness. But it wouldn't change this situation for the better."

"Huh… I… what?" Ui says suddenly.

"Oh!" Iroha says. "Right… sorry. Ui, you just woke up. I bet you have no idea what's happening…"

"N-no, actually," Ui says. "I mean, it's vague… but it feels like I've been having a really horrible nightmare this entire time. But it wasn't a nightmare, I guess… it was real. It all led here, to this moment. Even the fact that you came here… you were part of it too, weren't you?"

She turns her head to look at Mokyu, who makes one of its cute noises.

"We all chose this path together, so I can't really complain about it," Ui says. "I have mixed emotions… still, thank you, for giving me my self back."

Mokyu makes several more cute noises.

"Ui," Touka says.

"Touka-chan, Nemu-chan," Ui says. "Don't blame yourselves, okay? I chose to become a magical girl, just like you. I'm grateful for what you did. I was erased from existence, with my fate itself severed… and everything was rearranged so that your memories would fit together properly… but the two of you still took care of me and helped me grow. I think that's because somewhere deep in your hearts you remembered who I was… And onee-chan… you tried so, so hard to find me. Thank you."

"Oh, you don't have to say that," Iroha says. "I'd do anything to make sure you came back safe and sound. That was all I ever wanted. I should thank you… for trying so hard to help me."

"Thank you so much for saving me!" Ui says. "I guess it's natural that we'd try to do the same for each other, since we're sisters."

Iroha giggles. "Yeah, you're right."

"I want to bask in this sweet moment too," Nemu says. "But only once we've taken care of everything."

"Yeah," Touka says. "Walpurgisnacht is still around, and we summoned it right to our doorstep. Miss Taylor may have her own plans to destroy it, but… we need to do our part too."

"What about Eve…?" Iroha asks.

"You don't need to worry about Eve anymore," Touka say. "Now that it lost its soul, all it can do is decay…"

"No… you're wrong!" Iroha says. "Eve isn't going to decay so quickly! We need her gone now, not several hours from now!"

"I'm telling you, there's no way it can sustain itself any—" Touka blinks. "Huh? Hold on a second… it's been moving and fighting all this time with its core, Ui, removed…? How is that possible?"

"I know the answer to that," Iroha says. "She can't break down because—"

At that moment, there's a pulse of magic, and just after it passes, Eve suddenly unleashes a barrage of beams upon us. Kazumi is ready with a barrier to defend us, the beams breaking upon her dome. In my vision, it looks like Alina has just finished her painting. It's clear from her current actions that that magic pulse was her barrier contracting.

"T-that probably would've sent us flying without this barrier," Ui gasps. Suddenly she points at Eve. "Onee-chan, look!"

As she says that, Eve sheds a great deal of mass and spreads her wings, trying to leap into the sky. The discarded mass just vanishes, breaking down much like Touka had been predicting. The bindings are still holding, but they look far less secure than they did just a moment ago, even with the feathers still putting all their weight into holding the trailing ribbons and chains taut. The rest of the Crescent Moon group falls back to join us, including Kanagi and Momoko.

"Well, this is an unforeseen predicament," Nemu says. "Touka, Eve's form has…"

"Completely transformed!?" Touka gasps. "This can't be! Miss Taylor was right again!? But I don't understand! Ui's soul is right here, inside Ui, where we're standing! They were linked before, but now it should be well outside of range… and instead of crumbling, it changed its form altogether!? I don't understand! It didn't become a witch, and its soul is supposed to be gone… but the impurities remain…"

"As I was about to say when this happened, it's because of Alina's barrier," Iroha says.

"The transformation just now occurred because Alina reduced the area of her barrier to cover Eve alone, instead of the whole city," I add.

"I see," Touka says. "Eve is a big clump of that energy, so the force field's restraining it too…? So Eve will eventually break down if we leave it, but it'll take forever. That means we need to get rid of the force field. The miracle we have going will fade with Eve's destruction anyway. But where is Alina…?"

"We can't rely on Alina to get rid of the force field," I say. "She's not going to cooperate with us on this. She deliberately contracted it just now so that Eve wouldn't break down."

"Huh? Why would she do that?" Touka asks.

"You're probably the last person to speculate on why Alina does anything," I say. "She's kinda your complete opposite, acting on a whim however she pleases. Even I wouldn't be able to pin down a reason for her actions, even when I can somewhat predict what she might do."

"Even attempting to understand her motives is painful," Nemu says. "But we have to find her and convince her… even Alina cannot be immune to all reason…"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," I say. "Maybe Karin-chan could reason with her – she understands Alina the best of anyone. But she's not here right now."

"In any case, to sum things up, Eve changed its form because it was wrapped in a force field," Touka says. "That in turn stabilized its energy. So what we need to do is to destroy that force field."

"That's about right," I say.

"Eve was already really tough, and now she has a force field protecting her…?" Iroha says. "Something like Kazumi-chan's barrier?"

"I don't think Alina's force field is quite the same as that barrier," Touka says. "Although, she might have modified it when she contracted it…"

"Miss Ashley, where is Alina right now?" Iroha asks.

"I'm not quite sure, as it's somewhere I've never been to," I say. "But I suspect it's a place called the Yadokita Service Stop. She's perched on top of a bridge spanning the easternmost river. The ferris wheel at the edge of Daito Ward is visible, so I think it's just beyond the city limits. Kyuubey was with her earlier, but it's gone now, so it was definitely outside her barrier."

"Yadokita Bridge, you say…?" Touka says. "I'm not very familiar with that place, but it is close to Daito Ward…"

"The service stop is on the northwest side of the river," Kanagi says. "It's quite far from Ferris Wheel Park, but… I'm not surprised that the ferris wheel would be visible from there, as there is quite the significant difference in elevation."

"Um, so… I feel like this is leading up to asking me to make a portal there," Mayoi speaks up. "But I don't think I have a clear enough concept of its location for that… I'm sorry… if you could only show me a map it would be a different story, but…"

"No maps without cellular coverage, right?" Tsubasa says, ruffling Mayoi's hair. "And I'm sure none of y'all thought to bring a paper map."

"Yeah, I left my map at home," Yachiyo says.

"Well… maybe we won't need to anyway," I say. "Looks like Alina has started to move…"

We watch Eve struggle and struggle to get free between blasting her beams at us. Kazumi's barrier is still holding though, so we're not in any danger yet. The bindings are less fortunate – Eve has already freed her legs, and it seems it won't be much longer before she's able to fly free. Most of the others are still bombarding her with magic, and Nanaka's team also joined in while we were chatting with Ui, taking the place of the Crescent Moon team.

"I can sense Alina's presence now," I say. "Let's get ready to face her."

"Is this Alina an enemy…?" Tsubasa asks.

"Not an enemy so much as a wildcard," I say. "She's not an easy one to predict… although I have two ideas of what she might do, I'm not at all confident she'll actually pick one of them."

"Well, what do you say, Mayoi-chan?" Tsubasa asks. "Should I join the battle a little?"

"Hmm… I dunno!" Mayoi says.

"If you're joining, combine with me!" Karen says.

"Well, since you're asking, how can I turn you down?" Tsubasa says.

The two of them slap hands and begin charging up an attack. At that moment, Alina lands on a rooftop and gazes down at us, grinning.

"Hi there, good girls!" she says cheerfully. "How are you doing?"

Though it's the same words as the previous timeline, she hasn't unleashed her doppel, which gives me hope that perhaps she's not planning to fuse with Eve. Just in case though, I summon Teddy Mk II and the drones and start charging up. Inui also pops up next to me and connects with me without a word.

"Touka, Nemu, so you're here too!" Alina continues. "I had great respect for you two when this all started, but then you had to go and become boring. What a drag! Ah, but it doesn't matter anymore. I've finally figured out the kind of emotional art I want to create."

"Alina! Release the barrier!" Touka shouts.

Alina giggles. "I don't feel like it! You see… I, Alina, care nothing for the concept of liberation," she says. "My personal goal has always been to achieve my best artwork yet. And now, I intend to create that artwork."

"We raised those witches together," Nemu says. "We even managed to change their forms. That wasn't enough to satisfy your desire, Alina?"

"Creation and cultivation are entirely different things," Alina says. "With Eve in my hands to serve as my paintbrush, I, Alina, will finally be able to create art in the manner I desire!"

"Do you intend to burn the city even more?" Touka asks.

"That's right," Alina says. "Here, Eve. I shall turn you into my paintbrush for eternity! I shall embrace your frozen form, left without a soul to inhabit it!"

With that pronouncement, she leaps off the roof, transforming in mid-jump to don the Rumour of the Fur God, and lands on Eve's head just as she breaks free of the remaining bindings. Nemu lets out a little gasp.

"She's dressed in the Rumour of the Fur God," she says. "I thought we got rid of it…"

"What'll happen now in that case?" Ui asks.

"That depends on whatever the rumour is, right?" Iroha says. "Miss Ashley mentioned it before, but I don't remember the details…"

"That one warms frozen hearts, and takes away some of the recipient's life in return," Nemu says. "When Alina shrank her force field to wrap around Eve's body, she must have used the Rumour of the Fur God. Eve shouldn't have anything that constitutes as life, though…"

"Then what's gonna happen now?" Ui repeats.

"I can't say for sure," Nemu says. "The rumour must have taken something other than Eve's life…"

"I can tell you that much, at least!" Alina shouts. "Stealing away life is essentially stealing something's freedom. I already tested this on other witches."

"You're stealing Eve's… freedom?" Nemu says.

"Yes," Alina says. "As such, it has become my paintbrush."

"So next, you intend to shorten the lifespan of Kamihama itself, using Eve to do so?" Nemu asks.

"Of course!" Alina says. "I, Alina, shall use Eve to set the world alight. That is the kind of perfect art that humanity itself clamours to see!"

"I don't understand a word that comes out of this girl's mouth," Yachiyo says.

"Alina… why on earth are you doing this?" Iroha asks.

"It is what humanity desires," Alina says. "That's why they were drawn, en masse, to my works based on life and death."

"Though there may be people who, like us, would use destruction as a stepping-stone… I doubt there exists a single person who feels genuine glee to see such ruin," Yachiyo says. "You're projecting your desires on them."

"And yet I, Alina, am well aware of how they crave destruction, even if unconsciously. They seek out dark fiction to sate their need to feel. History is rife with bloody battles and yet we have not stopped developing weapons. Quite the opposite, actually! Some even rejoice each time a conflict is created. The environment is on the brink, yet they cannot stop gorging on its bounty. They wait in anticipation of destruction and refuse to lower their quality of life. No animal in existence revels in the carnage of its own kind like humanity. In fact, humans who eliminate vast numbers of other humans are made into heroes. The more I think on it, the stronger my belief that humans desire their own destruction becomes. This is why destruction in itself is a work of art that draws people in subconsciously. And that is the reason people value my artwork so highly."

She giggles.

"I can kind of understand where you're coming from," Tsubasa says. "Human cruelty is not to be underestimated, and when you're face-to-face with it, it can be tempting to tear everything apart. But you're missing one crucial point. People seek out dark fiction and artwork so that they can sate those urges without resorting to real violence. Few truly wish for actual destruction. And even those that do… usually it's not actually their true wish. It's what they've chosen in the belief that their true wish is unattainable. So… you're not going to make anyone happy this way."

"Okay," Alina says. "If that's how you feel, then you can just watch as I do it for you. Humanity's greatest wish, left unfulfilled since they came into being… I, Alina, shall grant it along with Eve! Now, let's party!"

If it was like two timelines ago, this would be the moment that Alina ran off. However, this time, several people including me have been building up attacks while the others chatted, which means that this time it's a signal to unleash them all at once.

"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!" I shout.

"Page of Twinkle Road!" Kako shouts.

"Final Dead Emblem!" Rui shouts.

"Shampoo Justice Wringer!" Karen shouts.

The Karen-Tsubasa linked attack is particularly impressive, a torrent of flaming oil that explodes on contact. I think Kako was supported by a connect from Akira, and Rui by a connect from Riko, though I wasn't paying close attention to them at the moment they began charging. The attacks catch Alina off guard, almost knocking her off her perch and visibly angering her.

"Miss Tamaki… you know what to do from here, right?" I ask.

Iroha nods. "We just have to defeat her and then deploy Mokyu to break Eve down," she says.

"Good… then I'll see you soon," I say.

"You too."

I take Inui's hand, and we sink into the shadows together. Opening a vision on Kagome, who's out in the storm just like she was two timelines ago, I seek a window that will bring me close to her. We emerge into an alleyway in what I'm fairly sure is Sakae Ward. As we exit the alleyway, someone runs into us, but it's not Kagome – it's a girl with her wavy black hair tied back into a ponytail. She falls to the ground with a yelp.

"Ow!" the girl says. "Ah! I'm sorry… I wasn't watching where I was going!"

I offer a hand to help her up. Unsurprisingly, she's soaked through, due to not having an umbrella. Even if she had one, it probably wouldn't have lasted long in this weather.

"No worries… I wasn't paying attention either," I say. "But what brings you out in the middle of a typhoon?"

"Ah, well, I wasn't expecting a typhoon to appear so suddenly," the girl says. "I was going to stop by to surprise a friend, but before I could find the place, suddenly this happened…"

"Who's your friend?" Inui asks.

"Ah, she's my best friend," the girl says. "She's half-Japanese or so, with blonde hair. Have you seen her? Her name is Kanna-chan… Hijiri Kanna."

I blink. "Ah…! Then… you must be Wakana-chan?"

The girl blinks at me. "Huh!? H-have we met…?"

"No… we haven't met," I say.

Suddenly she realizes. "Ah! Could it be that… you're Ashley Taylor!?"

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

"And I'm Itsumi Inui!"

The girl bows. "Nice to meet you! I'm Kanna-chan's best friend, Kazama Wakana. I've heard so much about you from Kanna-chan in the last few days, so it's really nice to finally meet you! Though I wish it were under better circumstances. Um… do you know where Kanna-chan is right now?"

"While I do have some idea of where she is… it's probably best for you if you don't go there right now," I say. "It's potentially quite dangerous."

"Ah…"

"Why don't I accompany you to the nearest evacuation centre?" I suggest.

"Well… alright," Wakana says.

With that, I hurry towards where I saw Kagome. She's still moving towards the northeast, so I have to continuously adjust my course to close in on her. Wakana somehow manages to keep up with my pace even though she's not a magical girl. I can just barely see Eve floating above the buildings, and it looks like she's attacking the girls on the ground. This is a good thing, because it means that unlike last time she hasn't moved to a different part of the city.

Just as I finally catch sight of Kagome in my regular version, just barely visible through the rain, flames suddenly erupt from Eve, spreading through the nearby streets. None of them reach as far as where we are, but Wakana gasps at the sight. Kagome also stops to turn and stare for a moment. Wakana pants heavily for a few seconds before voicing her thoughts.

"W-what just… happened!? Did something… explode…?"

"So I'm guessing you can't see that thing floating in the air over there…?" I ask.

"Huh? What thing?" Wakana says.

"As I thought… it's invisible to normal people."

"That's kind of incredible," Inui says. "It's so huge, yet you can't even see it…"

"I really have… no idea what… you're talking about," Wakana says, still catching her breath.

"Um, how should I explain it," I say. "I guess it's like there's an invisible demon over there that just threw fire everywhere? Though I'm sure that's hard to believe…"

"Well… it is hard… to believe," Wakana says. "But you're Kanna-chan's… friend, so I don't… think you'd lie…"

Kagome has disappeared into a nearby building, so I hurry over to it. We head inside and all hurry up the stairs, Wakana included, and before long we've emerged onto the rooftop. Kagome is there too, gazing out at the Eve battle.

As we approach her, suddenly Eve breaks away from the battle and zooms towards us, stopping a couple of buildings away and spreading flame around that new street too. I can see the others quickly follow using Mayoi's portals, and then they start to execute the plan. Kazumi creates stairs linking the ground to Eve, and Nemu climbs them to face Alina, using her rumours for defence. Just as she's about to finish Alina off, Kazumi's beam from the ground sends her flying. Alina passes right over us, the ghostly form of a rumour peeling off of her and being absorbed by Al, the mandrake plushy that Kagome is clutching. Kagome lets out a gasp as that happens. Then Alina slams into the air conditioning unit at the far side of the same roof we're on, startling me.

"W-what!?" Kagome gasps. "D-did… did something just…?"

"O-oh no, is that girl okay!?" Wakana gasps.

"Don't worry about her, she's fine," I say. "It would take a lot more than that to kill her."

Kagome spins to face us, startled.

"Ah, um… w-what are you doing here?" she asks.

"Well, I was gonna ask you the same thing," I say. "Shouldn't you be at the evacuation centre?"

"Ah, well… I just… hate waiting around like that," the girl mutters. "Um… the storm came so suddenly, it was obvious there was something strange… plus, there were those tremors… s-so I just wanted to see… and then I saw that huge monster shooting fire… um, so, are you three magical girls? W-what's going on here in Kamihama…? Is… is that… was that a witch?"

"Huh? Magical girls…? Witches?" Wakana says. "What are you talking about…?"

"Oh?" Inui says. "You know about magical girls? You're not one yourself, though? And you can even see the witch?"

"O-oh, uhh, I turned Kyuubey down," Kagome explains. "Or rather, I couldn't think of anything… especially since… um, well…"

"Huh, I've never heard of someone who actually turns him down," Inui says. "What's your name? I'm Itsumi Inui, and this is Ashley Taylor. The other girl is Kazama Wakana. She's not a magical girl though."

"Ah? Oh, um, my name is… Satori Kagome…"

"Well, it would really be best if you returned to the evacuation centre, Miss Satori," I say. "After all, this typhoon is caused by a witch. You could run into one of her familiars, or you could be caught in the crossfire as she throws entire buildings around. It's much more dangerous than a regular typhoon."

"Ah, but, well—"

Suddenly Kagome interrupts herself with a gasp. She holds out the mandrake plushy she's been clutching all this time, gripping it with both hands and scrutinizing it.

"A-al-chan…!?"

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Inui says.

"No, um… did you… not hear that?" Kagome asks, looking at her. "Ah… so you didn't…?"

"I didn't hear anything," Inui says.

"…um… what did you hear?" Wakana asks.

Kagome looks at her mandrake plushy again.

"Al-chan…"

"It seems Al-chan can talk now, huh?" I say.

"Eh, um… can it…?" Kagome says. "You're saying… it wasn't just my imagination…"

"I saw something slip into Al-chan a little while ago, so I don't expect you're imagining things."

"Ah, now that you mention it, I caught a glimpse of something too," Inui says. "Was it one of Nemu-chi's rumours? She was attacking with all of them just before that… could one of them have escaped somehow?"

"It's definitely the Rumour of the Wind Evangelist," I say.

"Um, so… I see," Kagome says. "So that's what happened…"

"Well, thanks to that, you can probably get some idea of how things are going without putting yourself in danger," I says. "So, why don't you let us escort you back to the evacuation centre?"

"Um… well… okay," Kagome says. "I'll come…"

"Um, so… are you guys going to explain what the heck you're talking about at some point?" Wakana asks.

"Ah… I guess I can give you the basic summary," I say.

Since Alina is right there anyway, I gather her up on my back. There's probably proper procedures for carrying someone injured as badly as she is, like a stretcher or something, but she's clearly out cold and is a magical girl, so it doesn't feel worth going to all that trouble. Then as we head downstairs and make our way to the nearest evacuation centre, I explain the basics of magical girls to Wakana.

"I see," Wakana says once I'm done. "So the two of you and Kanna-chan have been dealing with such dangerous things…"

She seems to realize even without me saying it that Hijiri is one too. By this time we've already reached the designated evacuation point for the area – Karin's school.

"When the rain clears up, we'll probably all be in Minaminagi Seaside Park, if you want to see her," I say.

"I'll keep that in mind," Wakana says. "Thank you for helping me find my way."

"Um… me too," Kagome says. "Thank you…"

"I'll see you later, then," I say.

"Yes," Wakana says.

"M-maybe," Kagome says.

Inui and I then turn and head west towards the Coordinator's place.

---

We take a detour to drop off Alina at the Coordinator's. The place is completely deserted, but Nemu is lying on one of the couches, unconscious. After laying Alina out on the floor, we hurry towards the battle in Minaminagi Seaside Park, riding on Teddy Mk II. I consider using the shadow walk, but decide flight probably takes less magic, which could be important.

It looks like nearly everyone has arrived at the battle before us – even Iroha and the others who were fighting Eve have already joined in. It's a very different sight from the battle two timelines ago – everyone is working efficiently, attacking in waves without a break. Those who are weak on the attack yet have strong defence or other useful magic are standing out of the way of the attackers, applying their magic as needed.

The difference from the chaotic battle of two timelines ago is no doubt almost entirely due to Mito, who this time seems to have arrived much earlier at the battlefield. I can see her and her two friends joining in on the attack rotations, which have Walpurgisnacht reeling from the continued barrage of attacks, barely able to find an opportunity to counterattack. Airi's familiar, the huge bull named Cole, runs down most of the shadow familiars that spawn.

Even when she does counterattack, those with barrier or tank-like skills jump up to reduce the burden. Kazumi's barrier can apparently hold up against a single beam of baleful fire, but shatters under two or three of them, leaving plenty of work for girls like Sumire, Sana, Ai, Kokoro, and Ayame. There are some other girls deploying barriers as well, such as Airi, Moe, and occasionally even Madoka.

If there's one other difference from the previous two timelines, it's that it feels like there are fewer feathers on the battlefield than the last two times. I don't think it's just that more of them have shed their robes – maybe some of them still haven't arrived? But I'm not even sure that the feeling is correct. It seems Yukika is broadly in command of the feathers that are here. She's still wearing a white feather robe but has the hood thrust back now.

"Are we… even needed…?" Inui asks.

"Well… even though it looks like this, they're not doing all that well," I say. "Look more closely at the witch."

The girls are targeting the gear base, of course, and there are a few cracks forming on it, but it's still mostly intact. As I watch, one of the gear teeth breaks free and falls to the ground, but it's only the fifth one to be broken off.

I locate Mitama, who's watching the battle with an unreadable look on her face, and head over to speak with her. Riko is also standing by near her, and she turns to wave at me. I wave back before addressing the Coordinator.

"Miss Mitama," I say. "How's the grief seed stocks?"

Mitama turns to look at me.

"They're almost gone," she says. "Last I checked, I had just five left. Miss Hijiri may have a few more as well."

"Then that means we won't be able to keep this barrage up long enough to bring the witch down," I say. "We need something more powerful…"

Mabayu steps up to us at that moment. She's been fighting from the back until now, perhaps using her magic on the attackers to improve their accuracy.

"It's not yet to the point where a single attack from Miss Tamaki and Miss Nanami can one-shot it," she says. "To get there, I think we'll need to deplete the entire stock of grief seeds… even that probably isn't quite enough. We'll need to use Madoka's feathers as well, but… I'm not confident even that would be enough."

"We should use both feathers," I say. "If we use Miss Homura's feathers too, surely that would make up the difference."

Mabayu blinks. "Since when did Miss Homura have that kind of power?" she asks.

"Since her doppel went crazy last time," I say.

"Oh, that did happen," Mabayu says. "But I didn't know she gained powers from it…"

"Wait… you remember that?" I say. "You died before it happened…"

"My view of events is based on the concept an imaginary audience," Mabayu says. "So, if I try, I can see the entire timeline, both before my contract in that timeline and after my death. I think I can even peer past the point where Miss Homura reverses time, if I try. That said… if I didn't personally witness it, I have to make a special effort to see the event. I don't bother, most of the time."

"I see… that's kind of amazing," I say. "Anyway, the only problem is, we don't know what effect Miss Homura's feathers have… only that it'll be something that somehow weakens the enemy."

"Hmm," Mabayu says. "It's hard to say without knowing the effect, but… I have a feeling that we can make this work if we use that ability."

"Ashley-chaaaaan! I'm here, I'm here, how's it going!?"

I turn to see Karin approaching from the north, riding her scythe like a broomstick. Unlike last time, she's alone – Hotaru and Akari aren't with her. Actually, I think those two are already on the battlefield – at least, I glimpsed Akari's gigantic sword a moment ago. I wait for Karin to come down to land, and Riko also comes over to greet her.

"Karin-nee, you made it!" Riko says.

"Karin-chan! I think you're almost the last to arrive!" I say. "Unless Miss Kirino is coming… I don't see her anywhere."

"Kanna-chi's missing too," Inui points out.

"Oh, you're right," I say. "Wasn't she with you at the Coordinator's, Riko-chan?"

"Um… I don't remember anyone called Kanna-chi there," Riko says. "Though I didn't catch everyone's names…"

"I think she should've been with Emily?" I say. "She has blonde hair, usually in twintails."

Riko shakes her head. "The only person who showed up with Emily was that girl over there," she says.

She points to the attack rotation, where Mitsune is currently in the front place, firing a pair of cables up at the witch. As they contact Walpurgisnacht's head, lightning crackles all over the witch's body, causing her to shudder. Then Mitsune hops around to the back of the line. All her shyness from earlier has evaporated – she seems like a completely different person.

"Ah, right, I almost forgot that you left right after the explanation to help out Miss Nanami at the helipad," I say. "So even if she showed up after that, you wouldn't have known…"

Suddenly, the attack lines scatter as the witch unleashes a volley of baleful fire. Mabayu, Kokoro, Sumire, Sana, Ayame, Chihiro Karen, and a few other girls leap forward to handle it, while everyone else just does their best to avoid being hit. As the flames die down, it looks like no-one is badly hurt, but the attack formation is now in complete disarray.

"Ashley-chan, Riko-chan, we'd better support them!" Karin exclaims.

"Y-yes!" Riko says.

"I'm on it!" Inui exclaims. "Riko-chan, you're with me!"

She raises her hand, and Riko, understanding her intent, slaps her a high five. The telltale flash of a connect skill appears, and Inui's pink flames transfer over to Riko's weapon, which is nothing more than an elaborate toothpick, decorated with a fake orange slice on top.

"Ashley-chan, hurry, we'll be left behind!" Karin says. "Take my Halloween boost!"

She reaches out with her hand as well, and I slap it. She connects with me, and I summon Teddy Mk II to charge up my ultimate attack. At the same time, Riko raises her weapon, and several more toothpicks spawn in a ring around her, all of them coated in Inui's pink flames, each decorated by a different fruit. The picks leap up into the air, forming a circle around Walpurgisnacht's head. Before she has a chance to retaliate, Riko unleashes the attack.

"Yuuuuummy Hunter!"

I decide to follow up her attack with my own. I can see signs that Walpurgisnacht is about to unleash a fresh barrage of baleful fire, so it's best to get my attack in first.

"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!"

As my beam unleashes, the circle of toothpicks explodes into a shower of fruit, and the pink flames spread up the witch's body to hit the gear base. A moment later, my beam strikes the centre of the witch's body. Then something unexpected happens. The lime green light of my beam fractures and coils around the witch's body like a snake, constricting it. At the same moment, the baleful fire she'd been about to unleash fizzles out, producing nothing but a shower of sparks. It seems like my attack cancelled it? Come to think of it, in the game, doesn't Karin's connect skill give a chance of sealing magia? Is that what just happened?

"Naaailed it!" Karin exclaims. "Magical Karin's Magical Binding! That's like a one in a million chance! Or at least, that's what Rena told me."

"What about Miss Yura?" I ask.

"I don't usually connect with Yura-chan," Karin says. "It's usually just her and Akari-chan. To tell the truth, this is probably only the second time I've seen this effect… since I mostly fight solo…"

While she speaks, she also raises her scythe, sending out a burst of little magical lights. Each one sinks into a piece of rubble or other small object lying on the ground, and with the magic infused into them, she lifts about fifty or so chunks of rubble clear of the ground.

"Candy Death Squaaaaall!" she shouts.

All the rubble under her control streaks up into the air, smashing into the witch's gear, leaving some dents and worsening some of the cracks. Right as the last chunk hits its mark, Inui raises her wand and shouts an attack of her own. For some reason I can't quite fathom, there seems to be a small cloud of little sparkling lights floating around the tip of her wand, like moths drawn to a flame.

"Heart-throbbing Passionate Inferno, Overdriiiiiiive!" she screams.

With the cloud of lights from her wand thrown in, the column of flame she summons is about three times as wide as her usual, and completely engulfs Walpurgisnacht.

"Inui!" I exclaim. "Don't push yourself!"

"I'm fine!" Inui says. "I don't quite understand why, but… I feel like I have more magic than usual!"

"Huh? What are you talking about!?" I say. "How could that be!"

"I don't know, but I'm really fine!" Inui says. "Look, my soul gem isn't cracking up, right?"

It's true, there's no sign of even the tiniest crack on her soul gem.

"Alright, but please don't do it again," I say. "At least, not without understanding why."

"Fiiine…"

As we finish talking, Inui's inferno dies down. Though it was impressively large, it doesn't seem like her flames did a whole lot of damage. The spiderweb of cracks running across the gear base is maybe a bit more extensive, but that's all I can see.

Some of the magical girls who'd been knocked down by the previous volley start to get to their feet.

"Is anyone still able to fight?" Hinano asks.

"I can still fight," Iroha says.

"Me too," Madoka says. "I should be able to let off two or three more attacks."

"I still haven't used my trump card," Yachiyo says. "It's not yet time for that…"

"I'm still good!" Kazumi says.

"I'm just getting started!" Tsukihi says.

"Alright, it looks like there are quite a few who can still fight," Oriko says. "Let's form three lines this time."

"It seems Miss Misono and the others have bought us a little time," Hinano says. "Let's get our formation back in order before she starts attacking again! If you can't manage another attack, just sit back and watch for now. Your time will come soon."

Inui and Karin step forward to join the attack rotation, and it seems as though things are going well again. However, that only lasts a short while. After two and a half rotations, the lime green patterns left from my and Karin's combined magic fade away, and the witch immediately unleashes a fresh barrage of baleful fire.

As before, the barrier and tank girls jump forward to mitigate the impact, but it's not quite enough this time. Chihiro Karen's armour is shattered, leaving her half-naked on all fours. Sana's shield is melted down into a pile of fuming slag. Kokoro takes a beam head-on and collapses to one knee, her body glowing for a second, somehow still alive. Ai's shield almost looks like it'll hold, but then it shatters, showering her with the full force of the blast. The fire doesn't seem to hurt her much, though.

And the worst part is, the witch is already charging up a second volley. I'm considering what, if anything, can be done to mitigate the damage of the second volley, when some help arrives from an unexpected direction.

"Sweet little Walpy-chan, come and play with me today!"

I turn towards the sing-song voice to see seven girls emerge from a nearby alleyway. One of them is Hijiri, and Kaori Sachie is also with them. I don't recognize the others by appearance, but Sachie and Hijiri's presence gives me all I need to know – they must be the girls who suffered from doppel syndrome. They've all shed their feather robes, however. Hijiri's costume is still normal, so I guess they're still outside the range of Kazumi's aura.

The one who chanted her magic wears a frilly school uniform with a white coat and blouse and a deep blue skirt and ribbon matching her long hair. The skirt also has a white stripe near the hem, and she wears a white brimmed hat in a style I can't quite identify, framing her face. White stockings and blue shoes complete the outfit. Her soul gem is a maroon orb suspended from a blue choker. She grips a sceptre tipped with a heart in her right hand, raised into the air and pointing at the witch.

To her left is a girl with dark skin and frizzy hair clad in a white garment styled similar to a sari, though it stops at the knee and lacks a prominent trailer of cloth hanging from the left arm. It's not plain white, of course – the cloth is decorated with elaborate silver patterns. Her head is covered with what appears to be a wide, broad leaf that reminds me of a pumpkin. Her soul gem is a pink crescent-shaped stone suspended over her forehead, probably attached to the hat. She grips a mace in her right hand, the head oblong without spikes, but ribbed. In her left hand she holds a sickle with a curved blade, like a crescent moon.

To the right of the girl with the sceptre is a brown-haired girl in a white leotard with light blue accents, supplemented by a sarong in mottled pale blue, pink, and green. The sarong leaves her left leg almost entirely exposed, while the right leg is mostly covered down to the knee. A fan of what looks like ice wraps from one shoulder to the other behind her head, and the tiara on her head bears a cross motif – not the standard Christian cross, more like an inverted Celtic cross, with the top arm longer than the others. The aesthetic of the outfit reminds me of Yachiyo's ice queen outfit in the game, though the design is quite different. Her soul gem is a teal orb strapped to her left thigh. She grips her spear in both hands.

Behind the girl with the sceptre are Hijiri, and a girl with green hair dressed like a ninja in all black. A scarlet scarf tied around her neck seems to move like it has a life of its own. Her soul gem is a red orb at her navel. She grips a flat Japanese sickle in her right hand, connected by a chain to a weight held in her left – a kusarigama.

Bringing up the rear with Sachie is a red-haired girl wearing a golden breastplate and beige leather skirt. Coupled with the knee-high silver boots and a silver headband bearing the purple orb of her soul gem, the outfit reminds me of Wonder Woman, though without the signature red and blue colour scheme. She wields a short sword and a small round shield.

A few metres away, one girl props herself up, apparently recognizing one of the newcomers. From her green hair and police-like outfit, I'm pretty sure it's Maya.

"Yuka…! Where on earth have you been…?"

"Maya… I'm sorry for disappearing without a word!" the girl with the shield replies.

"Kanna-chi, glad you made it!" I exclaim.

The magic cast by the first girl seems to briefly entrance the witch, causing her to stop charging her baleful fire. In that instant, the dark-skinned girl raises her arms, generating a swirl of bright red fluid which she flings at the witch, coating her body in the stuff. Then the girl with the ice-like costume snaps her fingers, freezing everything within about thirty metres of the witch, and forming the frozen rain droplets into arrows that bombard her. The girl with the cross stabs several times at the air, and it looks like her magic somehow lands a blow on the gear, breaking off one of the teeth. Hijiri produces a destructive beam which shears off three teeth in a single strike – it looks like a pale imitation of Kazusa Michiru's Limiti Esterni. The final girl attacks with a series of crackling fireballs, which discharge lightning into the witch upon contact. Sachie also strikes her staff against the ground, the jingle of the triangular rings carrying well across the battlefield even in this weather.

For about twenty seconds, a dead silence falls over the battlefield, save for the ongoing patter of the rain. Other than the seven new arrivals, there are very few girls still in a condition to fight, and everyone seems to be watching to see what the witch will do next. For her part, she isn't moving, just hanging there in the air, slowly rotating. Has she decided we're no longer worth attacking? Or did that last attack stun her to the point that she can't do anything right now?

Then the witch starts to charge up a fresh beam of baleful fire. I can't tell who it's aiming for, though.

"I won't… let you…!" Nene shouts.

Propping herself up with her staff, she seizes the edge and spins it.

"Please… choose a barrier…!" she says. "Or something similar…"

The spinner stops, eliciting a groan from her, but she seizes the edge and sets it spinning again. All the while, the witch's magic continues to build up. I get the impression that she's going for a single extra-powerful beam, rather than a barrage.

Nene groans again, and spins her staff for a third time. Again it seems to be a dud, and she spins it a fourth time.

"Anyone who can make a barrier, please defend!" Hinano calls. "If you can still move, try to get out of the way, and help others get away too!"

Kazumi raises her hands and projects one of her signature barriers, covering everyone on the battlefield including Hijiri and the other newcomers. Her other clone, who if I recall correctly is known as Michika, clings to her arm, possibly assisting her somehow to increase the scope of the barrier – it's larger than any I've seen her produce before. A moment later, Airi props herself up, coating the outside of Kazumi's barrier in her flames – a secondary barrier protecting the first. Madoka and Moe also raise their weapons, adding two more layers of barrier within Kazumi's. Then Umika flips open her book and holds it up, adding another layer. The girl who sang Walpurgisnacht to a standstill adds a layer of her own, and then Nene suddenly crows with glee before adding one more layer. Altogether, excluding Airi's flames, there are now six layers of barriers surrounding us, each one successively smaller than the last. Nene's barrier only covers the area where the primary attack rotations were carried out, leaving support girls outside its protection.

While the barriers are being raised, everyone else scrambles to get away from ground zero. Those who can move help the ones who are unconscious or too tired. This scramble has only just started however when the witch finally unleashes her attack, a massive beam of baleful fire targeting the centre of the former attack formation, where Crescent Moon Villa and the Holy Brigade still are.

Airi's flames flow into it on contact as if trying to swallow it up, but they only last about two seconds. Then it slams against Kazumi's barrier, which holds for a good ten seconds, cracks spreading all over it, before giving way. Moe's barrier only lasts for about five seconds, while Madoka's manages to hold out for nearly twenty seconds. Umika's barrier lasts a bit more than five seconds, and the barrier created by the girl with the sceptre is blown through in about two seconds.

That leaves only Nene's barrier, but there's a huge surprise waiting for us. As the baleful fire slams against the final wall holding it back, Nene raises her staff high, and little bits of lights begin to gather from all across the battlefield. It looks similar to what I saw with Inui's attack earlier, only on a much grander scale. About two-thirds of them collect around Nene's staff, while the rest flow into her barrier, apparently reinforcing it even as it starts to crack open. The sphere of light surrounding the tip of her staff grows larger and larger, while the barrier manages to hold out for almost thirty seconds before finally shattering. Even as it shatters, the glimmering fragments of the broken barrier are sucked back into the glowing sphere. Then the baleful beam continues towards the ground, going into slow motion for some reason. A moment later, Nene shouts out at the top of her voice.

"Staaaaarlight… Breaker!"

The glow around her staff expands into a pinkish beam of its own, striking towards the sky. It meets the baleful fire head-on and pushes back against it, slowly growing larger and larger as more and more glimmers of light from all across the battlefield are sucked in. The beams fight against each other for what seems like forever, finally fizzling out at the same time… just before Nene's beam reaches the witch's head.

"W-whoa!" Iroha gasps. "That… was amazing! If you can do that again, we'd probably be able to beat her…"

"You're… probably right," Nene says. "But, unfortunately… that's not something that can be used twice in succession. I can only use borrowed powers for about ten minutes… probably not long enough to use it again."

At that point, a sort of strange oppressive feeling seems to fall over us, making it hard to move. In some ways it's similar to the feeling down in the chapel, yet the cause in this case doesn't appear to be impurities.

The witch doesn't seem to be affected, happily unleashing two more beams of baleful fire, but then something strange happens. The beams attenuate as they approach the ground, fizzling out before they make contact with anyone. She follows up with several more beams, but all of them suffer the same fate. In addition, Madoka and Homura's wings have started to softly glow.

"What's happening…?" Iroha asks. "Madoka-chan… is this your doing?"

"No… I don't think so," Madoka says.

"But your wings are glowing," Iroha points out.

Madoka curves the tip of one of her wings around so that she can see for herself.

"Huh… you're right!" Madoka gasps. "Maybe… it could mean that the power of the feathers is fully-charged…? I think I should unleash them now…"

"Not yet, Miss Kaname!" Oriko calls. "Two more minutes! Give it two more minutes before the two of you use the feathers!"

"A-alright!" Madoka says. "Homura-chan… are you ready?"

"Not really," Homura says. "But it'll help you stay alive, so…"

"Huh…?" Felicia says. "There's something wrong with my magic… it won't activate…"

Several other magical girls nearby have already noticed the same thing – they seem to be unable to use their magic. I give it a little test myself and find that it's difficult for me to activate my magic too. I'm further out than Iroha and the others, so whatever it is presumably has a stronger effect closer to the centre – I can use it with a bit of effort, but they can't use it at all.

"She's right," Yachiyo says. "It might be the same thing that's causing the witch's fire to break down… she can't target us, but we also can't attack her…"

"But what caused it…?" Iroha wonders. "Is this a side-effect of that beam, Miss Nene?"

"Um… as far as I know, it shouldn't be," Nene says. "I don't really understand it either…"

"But the fact remains that it occurred right after that beam," Touka says. "There could be a causal relationship… even if it wasn't an intended side-effect… perhaps in combination with something else…"

At that moment, several people appear on a nearby rooftop in feather robes, mostly black feathers with a handful of white feathers. Then Mifuyu and the Amane twins emerge from their ranks. It looks like Sae and Mikage somehow ended up with them as well.

"Everyone, bombard that witch from here!" Mifuyu calls.

"Miss Mifuyu!?" Iroha gasps.

"Mifuyu… so you've come to help too," Yachiyo says.

"Ya-chan! You've done well to hold on for this long!" Mifuyu says. "I might not be able to do much, but I'm here to do what I can! Assault… Paranoia!"

"Flute Blossom Resonance!" the twins exclaim.

She and the feathers she's leading bombard the witch for a good minute, maybe more. Sae and Mikage also join in the assault. The witch fires back with baleful fire, but the feathers scatter and manage to avoid it. It seems the fire still works just fine targeting the rooftops and adjacent streets, but whenever the witch shoots a beam down at the park, it fizzles out like before. It's like some sort of antimagic field was cast over Iroha and the others…

"Miss Kaname, Miss Akemi!" Oriko shouts. "I believe this is your time!"

"R-right!" Madoka says. "Come on, Homura-chan… let's fill the sky with feathers!"

Homura nods, and the two of them flap their wings twice, expelling a huge cloud of feathers, half pink, half black. The sheer quantity dwarfs what I saw in the previous two timelines, truly filling the sky just like Madoka said. The strange oppressive feeling is lifted immediately, and all around us, magical girls begin to get back to their feet.

"Ohh, my body feels a lot lighter!" Iroha gasps. "And I can use my magic again…"

"I feel it too, nee-chan," Ui says.

"It's almost like I've sprouted a pair of wings," Touka says.

"That's incredible, Miss Kaname," Yachiyo says. "It's almost like a sudden surge of power. Truly incredible…"

"The only thing is, I can't use it more than once in a day," Madoka says. "So I'd been saving it for when the situation was really dire…"

"Just a moment ago I felt so cornered," Sana says. "But this just gives me enough of a boost to think there's still hope! It's like magic!"

"Duh!" Felicia retorts. "We're magical girls, right?"

"Huh? Oh y-yeah, of course!" Sana says.

"Yep, yep!" Tsuruno says. "Anyway, we don't have much time! Miss Kaname said this'll only last a few minutes, right? We gotta finish off Walpurgisnacht before then!"

"Yes!" Iroha says. "Thank you very much, Madoka-chan!"

"Well, I feel like I could take on any witch now," Madoka says. "Apparently this ability even affects me, somehow…"

"It's hard to believe that such a thing is even possible," Hitomi muses. "It seems to violate all common sense. And yet, I can't deny what I've seen with my own eyes…"

"We've never done this before, so we can't be sure how effective it will be," Mami muses. "But I can't deny that I suddenly feel like I've had a good night's rest."

"Well, let's take advantage of it, stat!" Kyouko shouts.

"Yeah, I'm with Kyouko!" Sayaka says. "Let's go beat that witch! We can sweat the details later!"

"Yuma is back in action!" Yuma exclaims. "Yuma and Nagisa will help!"

"Madoka… are you sure you're alright after using that power?" Homura asks.

"I feel fine," Madoka says. "What about you, Homura-chan? Are you okay after using it?"

"Yeah," Homura says. "I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders… it's really strange"

"That's great!" Madoka says. "Now let's try taking on Walpurgisnacht one last time, Homura-chan!"

"Fine…" Homura says.

"Well then," Mami says. "Let's take another shot at this! We'll bring down Walpurgisnacht with all the might our wishes have imbued us with!"

Behind me, the girls with Hijiri are also reacting to the effect of the feathers.

"W-what's this…?" the girl with the sceptre says. "I feel so invigorated…!"

"Chiu-tan, do you think you'll be able to charm the witch again?" the dark-skinned girl asks.

"I think it would work better if you connect with me, Nanya," the girl with the sceptre responds.

"Sounds good," Nanya says. "How about you guys? Noa?"

"Well… I feel like I could go all super saiyan right now and smack her right out of the sky," the girl with the cross says.

"Noa, I don't think Walpurgisnacht is quite that weak," the ice girl says.

"How would you know, Ema?" Noa retorts. "This is the first time you've fought her too!"

"Well, you've got me on that one," Ema admits. "Also… super saiyan…? Could it be, are you a fan of Decagon Ball or something?"

"Why shouldn't I like Decagon Ball?" Noa shoots back. "It's a great series!"

"I didn't mean it that way," Ema says. "I was just surprised… my little brother's really into it, actually, so I know a lot about it."

By this time, nearly everyone is back on their feet, apart from a few girls who were knocked out cold at some point during the battle. It looks like even those few girls are starting to come to. Up in the air, Walpurgisnacht begins to twitch strangely. Could it be related to the still-unknown effect of Homura's black feathers?

"The might of our wishes," Yachiyo muses. "Indeed. It's time we demonstrate what our unique magic can do. We'll make use of our wishes, the symbols of our hope, to erase impurities and curses. I like that… I think that's the most fitting way to end this. I'll carry forward the hope that Kanae and Mel entrusted to me. Are the other magical girls well enough to fight?"

"Yes, it looks like there's no reason for concern there," Kanagi says. "Everyone is more than ready to eliminate Walpurgisnacht."

"I suppose this is the second wind," Irina muses. "After being beaten down, the protagonist somehow finds the will to continue… although… we weren't beaten down that badly, so could that still be yet to come…?"

"Please do not say something so horrifying, Miss Kusch!" Chihiro Karen protests.

"Huh? But I didn't mean it to be horrifying…" Irina says, startled.

Tsubasa giggles. "I think we're in a pretty good place right now, though," she says. "Just a moment ago, we were on the verge of giving up, and now… everyone's morale is at its peak… not to mention their magic."

"I agree with Miss Hanekawa," I say. "We have every possible little advantage we can muster against this terrible witch. We've really pulled out all the stops here. If it's still not enough to finish her off… then I don't even want to think about it. We will win this before Madoka's boost magic wears off."

Then I turn to my friends from France and America, repeating Yachiyo's question for them in English.

"You guys are all good to go for one last round of attacks, right?" I ask.

"For sure!" Sarra replies in the same language. "I gotta say, Ashley, you managed to recruit some truly awesome girls for this battle. I can't imagine failing here, not after feeling the effects of this crazy awesome boost magic."

"The witch is totally off the charts though," Alice pipes up. "Can we really beat this thing?"

"Don't let despair take over," Janice says. "We have to have hope that it will work!"

"Thanks for that, Janice," I say. "I agree. We must hang onto every last thread of hope. As Madoka once said, if anyone says it's a mistake to have hope, we must tell them they're wrong!"

At that point, Adèle speaks up in halting English. "Everyone will… speak of… this day," she says. "I believe… it will become… a legend… surpassing even… Walpurgisnacht. Us here… can brag about it."

Yachiyo picks up on the statement and nods, rephrasing it in Japanese.

"Yes, you're right," she says. "The day that roughly two hundred magical girls gathered together to defeat Walpurgisnacht… it could become a legend overshadowing that of the witch herself. It would be no surprise if magical girls were to speak of this for years and years to come."

"I'd like it if the tale endures centuries," I say, using English for Adèle's benefit. "A beacon of hope for those who come after us… the moment when we seized control of the earth away from witches for the first time."

"Think you can join us, Yakumo?" Kanagi asks.

"I think so!" Mitama says. "It almost feels like I have wings now. I could take flight at a moment's notice!"

"Great," Kanagi says. "Don't go racing up the highway to heaven on us though, alright?"

"Don't be silly!" Mitama says, giggling.

"Kaede? Rena? You guys good to go?" Momoko asks.

"Yeah," Rena says. "I feel really refreshed! I can go anytime, just give the signal!"

"Yeah!" Kaede says. "I feel like I just woke up!"

"Ui? Touka-chan?" Iroha says. "Let's destroy Walpurgisnacht… so we can take Nemu-chan back home."

"Yes!" Touka and Ui respond in unison.

"Each of us were granted wings," Iroha says. "We all have a special power, a power to keep hope alive by fighting witches. We'll make a miracle happen with our wishes, one last time!

"It's now or never," Momoko says. "If we let this chance slip by, we're not getting another one. So, guys, we gotta make sure we use every last bit of our power. So what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna use my power to give you all a morale boost!"

"Let me cheer them on with you!" Natsuki exclaims, hopping forward to join her. "I may not be able to stand at the mound… but I'm the girl who stays with you, at your back, and keeps pushing you forward!"

"Me too!" Meguru shouts. "I'll bolster your spirits with my commentary!"

"M-me too!" Sayuki exclaims. "I'll boost everyone's stamina with my song!"

"Alright then," Momoko says. "Shall the four of us give them another boost?"

"Yeah!" Natsuki says.

"Absolutely!" Meguru says.

"Certainly!" Sayuki says.

"Alright, everyone!" Momoko shouts. "Listen up! This is our final, most important battle! Right now, all of us are sprouting wings, wings of hope! Wings from Kamihama, Mitakihara, Asunaro, Hohzuki… all over! Let's focus all that power into one assault and send this avatar of impurity flying!"

"Yeah!" Natsuki says. "Gotta grab this chance while we can! Let's turn this game around in the final inning, with one big home run!"

"We are now facing our darkest hour!" Meguru proclaims. "The most terrible witch in the entire world is staring down at us, urging us to give up, but we will not give in to our despair! We will stand strong and defeat this monster!"

"Gooooo!" Momoko shouts.

"Go, fight, wiiiiiiiiin!" Natsuki shouts.

As Sayuki breaks out into song, I can see Kotone racing through the crowd, adjusting stats one person at a time. From here, the battle that plays out is, to the best of my knowledge, almost identical to that of two timelines ago. We stop the witch in her tracks with charm and other mental manipulations, then tie her down with every sort of binding magic at our disposal, and finally unleash all our power into attacking her. Even the feathers unleash as much power as they can muster. The barrage deals a great deal of damage, shearing off a few large chunks from the gear base, but as before it's still not enough to defeat her. Though Walpurgisnacht manages to counterattack with her rain of brimstone, the defense is almost perfect, and no-one suffers major injuries. We make quick work of the shadow familiars she releases, mostly thanks to Manaka and Kako's magic and Cole the bull.

"We're almost there!" Oriko shouts. "There's about forty seconds left… Miss Tamaki, Miss Nanami, Miss Satomi, it's your turn! It's time for phase three of the plan!"

"What's phase three…?" Touka asks.

"We all combine our power for one final attack," Iroha says. "Ui will gather the magic, you'll convert it, and Miss Yachiyo and I will build it up and fire it off."

"Wait… you were planning for me to help you all along…?" Touka says.

"Of course," Iroha says. "Because I had faith that you would remember me eventually, Touka-chan. Miss Homura, will you help out as well? Miss Shiina as well."

"I guess I can," Homura says.

"Of course, any time!" Remi says.

"And lastly, Miss Aki, you already know what to do, right?" Iroha says.

"Of course," Mabayu says. "I'm waiting and ready."

"Um… actually, I may be able to help too," Nene speaks up. "One of the four powers I copied earlier was time manipulation… it won't be much, and it's not like I can completely stop time or anything, but…"

"Thank you, Nene," Iroha says. "Every little counts, so please do your best!"

"So it's time to use my trump card as well," Yachiyo says. "My unique magic is the power to inherit hope from other magical girls. Once that hope's been entrusted to me, I keep it held within… and I can control it. That power's been supporting me all along, and it took me until now to realize it. But this time… I'll use it for everyone's sake."

"You know that expending it now will make you become weaker, right, Miss Yachiyo?" Iroha says. "Are you really okay with that?"

"I've made it this far because I had Kanae's and Mel's hope supporting me," Yachiyo said. "So like you say, if I use that up, my magic will weaken, much like Mifuyu's did as she got older. But that kind of risk won't stop me. I've lived a really long time for a magical girl, and there's so many other magical girls following behind me, into a new era. No matter what happens, I want you to be the one I entrust my own hope too, Iroha."

"Don't say that!" Iroha protests. "You'll jinx us! It'll be fine! We can do this!"

"We can," Yachiyo says. "That's the plan."

"Okay!" Iroha says.

"Onee-chan, I can use my power now, can't I?" Ui says.

"Yes!" Touka says. "This is the time for us to help!"

"Okay, let's help everyone together!" Iroha says.

"Oh no," Homura mutters. "We're too late… the feathers are all gone now. This is… not looking good at all…"

It's true that there's not a single feather left floating in the air, either black or pink. However, there aren't as many people lying exhausted on the ground as there were before the feathers were unleashed. I can already feeling the deferred exhaustion beginning to kick in, but it's not enough to put me down yet. Admittedly though, I probably wasn't as tired as some of the others, due to arriving later.

"Miss Akemi, that's enough pessimism!" Mami says. "Let's do all we can to make sure nothing gets in their way!"

"Yeah, we can't mess up this final blow!" Sayaka says.

"Homura-chan," Madoka says. "Although there's not much left, now that the feathers have disappeared… we should send Iroha-chan our power too!"

"I know," Homura mutters. "I know we have to do it, even if it looks like there's no hope… because if we just give up now, what was the point in even struggling? There's still a slim chance… let's do it, Madoka."

"Yes!" Madoka says. "Homura-chan… you've changed a bit, haven't you?"

"H-have I…?" Homura says. "I don't know about that…"

"No, you definitely have," Hitomi speaks up. "Even I can tell, Miss Homura… compared to when you transferred in, you've definitely become a little more mellow."

"Everyone's resolves are set," Iroha says. "I can feel it in my heart… I'm really tired, but I think I have just barely enough energy to pull this one off."

She takes a deep breath.

"Everyone! We'll pierce through Walpurgisnacht with an arrow we all forged together!"

"Now it's your big moment," Yachiyo says. "Go ahead, Ui-chan!"

"Okay!" Ui says.

"Come to think of it… Nene, I'd like to talk to you later about what you did earlier," I say. "You called it 'Starlight Breaker', but…"

It's an attack that shouldn't even exist in this world. Of course I'd be curious. But I have to suppress my curiosity at least until the battle is over.

"Um, sure," Nene says. "We can talk as much as you want."

"Guys!" Ui shouts. "All of you, lend me your hope!"

Strands of power stream in from all across the battlefield, each girl present offering up a piece of their magic, varying wildly in brightness and thickness and coming in all sorts of different colours. Of course, those who had fought the hardest emit a thinner strand, which ironically means that the weaker girls, in particular the feathers, mostly emit thicker and brighter strands than the others. The brightest strands come from Tsukihi, Mitama, and Mayoi.

"Here ya go, Ui-chan!" Momoko shouts.

"To think the time would come when I would offer up my power to save this place," Mitama says.

"Please!" Tsuruno says. "Use all of our power to keep Kamihama, and all of our memories, safe!"

"And get rid of this horrible calamity!" Nagisa shouts.

The power swirling between Ui's hands slowly builds up and builds up until she finds herself gasping with the effort of containing it.

"T-there's so much of it!" Ui whines. "But… with this… here, Touka-chan!"

She directs the massive amount of power towards Touka.

"Thanks, Ui!"

But then Touka gasps as she takes charge of the swirling sphere of magical energy. Relieved of the pressure of holding that energy captive, Ui collapses to her knees with a sigh of relief.

"Ugh!" Touka says. "It… nearly crushed me! But I gotta… bear with it! I gotta convert all this disparate magical energy into a nice uniform energy soup!"

She focuses on the sphere of energy swirling before her, and bit by bit, all the different colours begin to blend together until what's left is just a single colour, a vortex of bright yellow.

"And then… send it to you, miss veteran!" Touka says.

She passes the energy towards Yachiyo, who reaches out to catch it.

"Thank you," she says. "I will bear everyone's hope!"

She blinks as she takes hold of the energy. Upon relinquishing it, Touka leans forward and rests her arms on her knees, gasping for breath a little.

"Really, to think I could handle all this magic with such ease," Yachiyo says. "I never thought that I possessed such a capability, just because I exist to bear others' hope. Mel… Kanae… I'll add your hope to the pile, too. We can all fight as one! We'll pierce through Walpurgisnacht, and carry on to a whole new future with this arrow!"

She forms the magic into a massive halberd and reaches out her hand towards Iroha.

"Iroha, use this!" she shouts.

"Hurry!" Aimi calls. "The witch is about to attack again!"

"You only have about ten more seconds before the attack!" Oriko shouts.

Iroha reaches out to grasp Yachiyo's hand and gasps.

"M-miss Yachiyo… I can't… all this magic is too…!"

"Onee-sama!" Touka says, grabbing Iroha's other hand.

"Touka-chan?" Iroha says.

"I'll take a little bit of magic from this spear and convert it into your magic!" Touka says.

Touka's conversion magic causes the blue halberd to turn pink, matching Iroha's magic.

"Thank you!" Iroha says. "That made a huge difference!"

As she begins to charge up the structure of a ballista encasing the halberd, Walpurgisnacht unleashes a barrage of baleful fire upon them. Remi steps forward to take Iroha's hand.

"Kazumi-chan, Miss Akane, can you block that?" I shout.

Michika stands up along with Kazumi.

"I'll help again!" she says. "Kazumi-chan, just put up your barrier, and I'll reinforce it!"

Sumire raises her hands above her head, and Kazumi puts up a barrier. The flames crash against the barrier, but it seems to hold up much better than Kazumi's barriers have done in the past, presumably due to whatever Michika did. But even so, cracks spread through the barrier, and just as the barrage comes to an end, it shatters, the final beam breaking through. However, Tsukihi leaps into the path of this beam, which immolates her completely leaving only a pile of white ashes.

"Is it ready yet?" I shout. "Have you used time stop to build up the power yet!?"

"A-almost!" Iroha calls back. "Miss Shiina and Nene already helped… just waiting for Miss Akemi…"

Homura shrugs and approaches Iroha, holding out her hand. Walpurgisnacht is already preparing a second barrage, however. If she attacks again, someone will probably die, but what is left that we can even do…?

"Akashic Records, invoke!"

Just as I'm about to despair, Scheherazade herself arrives on the scene. Without even a word of introduction, she pulls out her magical book and flips through the pages. The slight glow that indicates Walpurgisnacht is about to attack fades away as she speaks.

"I call upon the Frankish high king's younger sister, the shadow behind the Merovingian dynasty, the dreaded and respected witch of Samara," she intones. "I summon Pernelle of Samara!"

It's the woman dressed as a witch from the previous timeline, the mother of Pernelle Flamel. The ghostly figure turns to gaze up at Walpurgisnacht.

"My goodness," Pernelle says. "Has the night of Walpurgis come again? It seems stronger than I remember… very well, this time she will not get the better of me. This is a rare opportunity. With the sword of my dear brother, Clovis, I shall get my revenge!"

"I call upon the omphalos of the garden, the betrayed traitor who trickled through time to an unfair end," Scheherazade intones. "I summon Lilith of Eridu!"

This time it's the girl dressed in leaves, her hair tied with snakes.

"Incredible," Lilith says. "What manner of monster is that? Never have I seen a wraith so huge…"

"There is no time for chatter," Scheherazade says. "We must buy time for Miss Tamaki and Miss Nanami to build up their power to the peak, so I would have you both unleash your maximum power."

Lilith nods, clasping her hands together and releasing a jet of brownish fluid. At the same time, Pernelle unleashes a torrent of flames at the witch. Walpurgisnacht retaliates with a trio of baleful fire beams, but Scheherazade easily dodges while the beams pass straight through the apparitions of Lilith and Pernelle. The other girls give the three of them a wide berth.

"It's ready!" Iroha calls. "Miss Aki, please guide us!"

"I'm on it!" Mabayu says.

"Iroha, pull the trigger!" Yachiyo says.

"It all ends here!" Iroha shouts. "Straaada… Futuuurooooooooo!"

The massive halberd is ejected from the ballista with such speed as to emit a crack, like a gunshot. It curves in mid-flight to strike the witch's head from directly below, tearing through the entire body to impact the already heavily damaged gears she's suspended from. The gears shatter almost instantly, the shards exploding out before disintegrating into dust, leaving only the witch's grief seeds behind.

"We… we really did it!" Iroha exclaims.

"It's finally over!" Madoka shouts. "Walpurgisnacht is dead!"

"I… I can't believe it," Homura mutters. "Walpurgisnacht is dead, yet Madoka… are you really okay?"

"I feel perfectly fine," Madoka says. "I'm not going to turn into a witch this time."

Scheherazade leaps forward to collect the four grief seeds, turning to face Iroha and the others as the rain begins to let up.

"I think this must be a new record," she says. "Even Ragnarok and Armageddon only dropped three seeds… I heard the Queen's Twilight didn't even drop one, though. Well… who wants them?"

"If I may state my opinion…?" I say. "I think the best use for them would be to purify the most tainted soul gems on the battlefield, starting with Madoka. Then Miss Isuzu can dispose of the used-up seeds."

"Y-yes, I… shall!" Ren pipes up.

"That sounds like a good idea," Iroha says.

"Well then, mind if I take charge of that?" Scheherazade asks.

"Why should we trust you when we don't even know you?" Touka asks.

"Touka-chan, it's fine," Iroha says. "She's a mythical ancient magical girl… her name is Scheherazade. I'm certain she can be trusted."

Scheherazade raises her eyebrows. "I'm surprised you've heard of me, Tamaki Iroha," she says. "Well, no matter. I'll put these seeds to good use."

As she starts to make the rounds of the battlefield, seeking those most in need of a grief seed, the rain finally comes to an end, and a gap in the clouds opens, letting in the early morning sunlight. After that, the clouds rapidly disperse, leaving only a clear sky.

"Well, I'm glad that you finally reached a happy outcome too," Mabayu says. "In fact, Miss Akemi, I'd like to apologize for what I did to you before."

Homura blinks. "Huh? You didn't do anything worth apologizing for last time…"

Mabayu shakes her head. "It wasn't last time," she says. "I'm talking about the early timelines where I fought alongside you guys. I was scared, and ended up breaking my promise to you, Miss Akemi."

"Huh… that happened…?" Madoka says.

"No… I'd definitely remember if that happened," Homura says.

"You don't remember because I used my powers to cut our meetings from the story," Mabayu says. "To be fair, my fear was… somewhat justified, since you'd just killed me off in the previous timeline… I was terrified that you'd kill me again, so instead of moving in with my aunt and transferring to Miss Mami's class, I stayed in my parents' hometown and severed all the timelines where we met. I wasn't sure if that would make you forget about me, but it seems it did, huh?"

"Why… did I kill you…?" Homura asks.

"I don't even know," Mabayu says. "That's why I was so scared. Even though I'd promised to help you save Miss Kaname… for some reason you decided I was a threat, I guess. I'm glad I could keep my promise in the end though… even if you don't remember it."

While Mabayu is chatting with the Holy Brigade, Touka seems to have things to say to Scheherazade. The two apparitions have already disappeared.

"Who might you be?" Touka asks. "Why did you decide to help us?"

"It's all thanks to you that I'm here, Satomi Touka," Scheherazade says. "As Miss Tamaki said earlier, my name is Scheherazade. Perhaps you have even heard of me?"

Touka shakes her head. "No… I don't think so," she says. "Are you someone famous?"

"Not exactly," Scheherazade says.

"Are you saying that you came here specifically to meet me?" Touka asks.

"That's right," Scheherazade says. "It happened about a month ago, when I was wandering around the countryside of Yemen. Suddenly, my sense for history detected a paradigm shift here in Kamihama, so I immediately started to make my way here."

"It took you a whole month to get from Yemen to Kamihama?" Touka asks skeptically.

"Since I don't take planes as a personal policy, I think that time span should be impressive, don't you think?" Scheherazade says.

"No, I think you should just take a plane if you want to get somewhere far away," Touka retorts. "But why would you want to meet someone like me?"

"Because of the automatic purification system," Scheherazade says. "In just one month, you have completely overturned what used to be an established fact – that magical girls cannot avoid a tragic end. Although there are a few others in history who have managed to dodge that fate – one of them is even here with you today – they are anomalies, not something that can benefit all magical girls."

"Huh? What do you mean by 'dodge that fate'?" Touka asks. "Are you referring to yourself?"

"No… I may have avoided turning into a witch thus far, but the possibility still remains open to me," Scheherazade says. "But there is one person here who does not possess that possibility."

"You must be talking about Araragi Tsukihi, right?" I speak up.

I indicate the pile of ashes that have yet to revive. Almost as if responding to my gesture, the pile suddenly twitches.

"Yes, she is the woman known as the phoenix," Scheherazade says.

"It's true that her regenerative power is ridiculously strong," Touka muses. "And it didn't seem like she had a weak point like the soul gem… but anyway, you came to see the automatic purification system, did you? I wouldn't exactly call it a success, but even so, is it not a work of genius?"

At this moment, Tsukihi emerges from the pile of ashes with a gasp. Unlike last time, she doesn't seem to have any issue reforming her clothes. She immediately hops up and looks around; spotting her sister, she hurries over to her.

"I think it's a stretch to call it a failure," Scheherazade says. "It may have its flaws, but it can't be denied that it functions. Someday, I'm sure the flaws will be corrected. With a system such as this in place, I believe the apocalyptic future seen by my best friend is sure to be averted."

"Hmm… so you're saying that it's an invention so significant that it's like a crossroads in history," Touka says. "Then I guess I should leave some research notes for whoever comes after me…"

"Tsukihi-chan, you're back!" Karen exclaims.

"I sure am!" Tsukihi says. "Since the sun's out, I guess you guys beat her?"

"Yeah, the witch is defeated," Karen says.

I decide to leave Touka and Scheherazade chatting about the automatic purification system and instead make my way over to the Crescent Moon Villa group.

"Ah… Miss Ashley," Iroha says. "The plan worked out. No-one died, right?"

"Unless there was a black feather that I didn't notice… yeah, I'm pretty sure no-one died," I say.

"Though if Scheherazade hadn't arrived when she did, it might have been different," Iroha says.

"I think we probably would've been able to pull through without her," I say. "But I'm still glad she came."

The four girls from Jouetsu join us as well.

"I wish I'd seen that final attack, Miss Tamaki!" Tsukihi says. "From Karen's description it sounded super awesome!"

"Ah, um… thank you, Miss Karen…?" Iroha says.

"Well, it's true though," Mayoi says. "I guess we also contributed to it, but it really was an incredible final attack."

"Even I can tell that it was an amazing attack," Tsubasa says. "You don't need to be so modest, Miss… Tamaki, was it?"

Iroha looks at Tsubasa.

"Um, come to think of it… who might you be?" Iroha asks. "I saw you earlier at the Eve battle, but there was no time to talk… are you Mayoi-chan's mother…?"

Tsubasa bursts out laughing, and Mayoi giggles a bit too. Once they've calmed down, Tsubasa shakes her head.

"Nah, Mayoi-chan's the elder one of us two," she says. "By about five years, I think."

"W-whaaaaaaat!?" Iroha gasps. "No way… Mayoi-chan couldn't possibly be older than fifteen, could she?"

"Well… I stopped aging for awhile," Mayoi says. "I've no idea why it stopped or why it started again either, but I think I'm almost twice as old as I look. I'm a second-year middle-school student, so my real age is about twice that."

"Why are you going to school if you're so much older?" Iroha asks.

"I didn't go while I wasn't aging," Mayoi says. "I was too focused on trying to find Mama's house…"

"Did you ever find her?" Iroha asks.

Mayoi shakes her head. "Not exactly… the house was torn down by the time I figured out where it had been, and Mama herself was no longer in this world. After searching for like, nine or ten years, it turned out to all be for nothing…"

"Oh… I'm so sorry," Iroha says. "I shouldn't have asked…"

"It's okay," Mayoi says. "I've already come to terms with it."

"May I ask how old you are, Miss… um…?"

"Hanekawa Tsubasa," she replies. "This is the year I turn twenty."

"So you're a year older than Mifuyu and me," Yachiyo says. "How long have you been a magical girl?"

"Since just before my final year of high school," Tsubasa says.

"Ah… not as long as us then…"

At that point, Touka pops up, apparently finished with her conversation about the doppel system.

"Say, why is your magical aura a little strange?" she asks. "That fiery girl too has quite the unusual aura…"

She gestures at Tsukihi.

"Ah… I can't speak for Tsukihi-chan, but if I were to guess, mine is most likely because I accidentally fused my soul with that of a cat," Tsubasa says.

"A cat!?" Sana gasps. "That's awful… poor kitty…"

"The cat was dying, so it's not quite as bad as it sounds, but… it has also caused no end of problems for me," Tsubasa says. "It really wasn't intentional… I was newly contracted and had some difficulties controlling my power."

"Huh… interesting," Touka says. "So your magic can manipulate souls, similar to the Coordinator…"

"In fact, I have been taught the art of Coordination too," Tsubasa says. "Though sensei forbade me from making a business of practicing it; I use it only on my friends."

"Anyway… I realize everyone's very tired," I speak up. "But I'd like to borrow Miss Futaba again in a few hours."

"Huh?" Sana blinks. "Me…? Um… is it going to be… something dangerous, like last time?"

"Huh? Last time?" Iroha says.

"Ah, um… it was just before the Memory Museum," Sana says.

"Oh… so you were with Miss Ashley at that time," Iroha says. "And you said it was something dangerous…?"

"Well… I don't think we should talk about that out in the open," I say. "You can tell her all about it later if you want, Miss Futaba. Anyway, this time there's no danger. I'm just going to visit my father in the hospital."

"Why do you need Sana-chan for that?" Iroha asks.

"Because I don't think it'd be good if they caught someone using magic on camera," I say. "Ah, I should explain the situation better… he's in very bad shape and expected to last only a few more days, so I want to save him."

"Oh, then I could come along too and heal him, right?" Iroha says.

I shake my head. "I don't think you can heal him with your powers," I say. "I already have someone else in mind for that… someone who has healing as their unique magic."

"But my unique magic is healing too," Iroha says.

"It certainly looks like healing on the surface, but… I think you're misunderstanding your power," I say. "Why is it so much slower than other healers? Take Miss Miki for example. She can regenerate a shattered hand in just a few seconds, right? Can you do that?"

"Um… probably not that quickly," Iroha says. "But I think I could do it in a few minutes… maybe… but if my magic isn't healing, what else could it be?"

"It could be time magic," I say. "The power to restore something to a state it was in at some point in the past. If it's like that, you wouldn't be able to cure a genetic disease or other condition that's been present from birth, and the amount of power needed to cure something else would probably depend on how long the person has been afflicted."

"Hmm… I'm pretty sure Ui's condition wasn't genetic," Iroha muses. "So that might be possible… and maybe that also explains why I was able to heal Miss Homura's cracked soul gem…"

"Anyway, that's why I'm going to ask my friend, Yuuri-chan, to heal him," I say. "But still, thanks for the offer. And Miss Futaba… what's your answer?"

"Ah, um… I'll do it," Sana says. "It won't take very long, right?"

"Yeah, it'll probably be at most… oh, a few hours?" I say. "Though I'm not sure what the travel time will be… I'll have to ask Miss Hozumi about that."

Sana nods. "That's fine… but when will we go?"

"Let's say, around four hours from now?" I say. "You'll probably be at Crescent Moon Villa by then, right?"

"Most likely," Sana agrees.

"Then I'll come find you in around four hours," I say.

At that point, Mabayu approaches the Crescent Moon Villa group.

"Looks like things worked out this time, Miss Iroha," she says.

"Yes, thanks to you, Miss Aki," Iroha says.

"You wouldn't remember, but I've fought in this battle a couple times before," Mabayu says. "Back when Miss Akemi still wore her hair in pigtails… it was the timeline I first met her in, I think."

"Just how many timelines did you erase…?" I ask.

"You were listening earlier, were you?" Mabayu says. "There were quite a few… I used so much magic when I did it that I immediately turned into a witch. Perhaps a dozen or so?"

"Wait, hold on a second," Iroha says. "Miss Aki… you can erase an entire timeline!?"

"It's just a use of my splice magic," Mabayu says. "Normally when I splice, I'm cutting out a small section of film and splicing in something different, but I can also cut out a section and splice the loose ends together. That section of time would just be lost, like it never happened. Back then, I cut free a huge section and spliced the ends together. Technically speaking, the beginning of one timeline was spliced onto the end of another one."

"T-that… that's truly incredible," Iroha says. "Ah, but it caused you to turn into a witch, so I guess it's not something you can use carelessly…"

I leave them to make my way over to where Shizuku has collapsed on the ground, exhausted. She still seems to be awake, fortunately. Ayaka is with her, leaning on her shoulder and snoring softly.

"Miss Hozumi, how are you?" I ask.

"Ah, um… I'm fine…?" she replies. "Just a little tired…"

"Could I ask you for one more favour?" I ask. "Ah, I said favour, but I'll pay you in cash or grief seeds. I'd like to take a quick trip back to California."

Shuzuku blinks. "California, you say… that's not somewhere I can go in one jump," she says. "Hmm… I can probably make it in two jumps if I stop off somewhere in the Aleutian Islands… but there's no way I can do it right now."

"That's fine," I say. "I'd like to go in about four hours, will that be okay?"

"In that case, I'll ask for three grief seeds," Shizuku says. "Is that okay?"

"There's still plenty of witches roaming around Kamihama, so I don't think I'll have trouble getting just three," I say. "Shall I meet you at your café?"

"That's… fine, sure," Shizuku says.

Lastly I look around for Yuuri and Airi, but it turns out they've already fallen asleep, leaning on each other, so I take out my phone and send Yuuri a message instead. She'll surely see it when she wakes up later. Once that's done, I make my way back to Scheherazade, who has finished her chat with Touka and the distribution of the grief seeds. She's now disposing of the used seeds with Ren, and looks at me as I approach.

"I'd like to talk to you in private for a bit, Scheherazade," I say.

"I had a feeling you might," Scheherazade says. "That's fine. Shall we find a good place to chat?"

I nod, and she leads me away from the park into an alleyway.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Is there any point in asking about the apocalyptic future you mentioned earlier?" I ask.

"I don't think it's a good time to discuss that," Scheherazade says. "There are other hurdles to clear first."

"I see… and what about the Witch of Symbols?" I ask. "In the last timeline, you were talking about summoning people, but Miss Togame died so you decided there was no point… this time she survived, though."

"I haven't seen Himuro Lavi anywhere," Scheherazade says.

"However, I've met her already," I say. "And I'm sure it won't be long before she comes to Kamihama."

"You could be right," Scheherazade says. "From the way you speak, could it be you already know who the key people are?"

I nod, reciting the cast for each of the Puella Historia episodes in the game.

"Futaba Sana and Yui Tsuruno. Tokime Shizuka, Hiroe Chiharu, Toki Sunao, Aoba Chika, Natsu Ryoko, and Miura Asahi. Kureha Yuna, Kirari Hikaru, Oba Juri, Kasane Ao, Chizu Ranka, and possibly Suzuka Sakuya. Himuro Lavi, Alexandra Cruise, and Yume Ulala. Togame Momoko, Akino Kaede, and Minami Rena. Aika Himena, Kagura San, Yukari Miyuri, Azumi Hagumu, Miyabi Shigure, and Miwa Mitsune."

"Well… it's slightly different, but that list is pretty close to the list I have," Scheherazade says. "There are a few extras and a few missing… anyway, it's a bit early, but… perhaps it's time to seek them out. Then I'll start with the two who're already in town."

I blink at her. "Huh? Two of the people you're going to summon are in town already…? Wait… could you mean Mel and Elisa?"

Scheherazade shrugs. "That's not something you need to know right now, is it?" she says.

"I hate to say it, but you're right," I grumble. "Defeating the Witch of Symbols would be great, but we need to deal with the Mirror Witch and the fallout from the Wings of the Magius first…"

"You seem to already have your own priorities," Scheherazade says. "It's almost as though you know what's going to happen. But none of your powers relate to seeing the future…"

"Well… just think of it like a revelation from a third party," I say. "Still, if you don't mind me asking… do you actually know where the Witch of Symbols is hiding?"

"I have a general idea," Scheherazade says. "I believe she has the power to manipulate time. She's probably created a little nest beyond the reach of time as we know it… but though her familiars can be found worldwide, there are several areas where they are particular dense – Alexandria in Egypt, Naples in Italy, Sakurai in Nara Prefecture, Vestland in Norway, Nagqu in Tibet, Orléans in France, and here in Kamihama. Each of those locations is associated with a specific key event in history, so I believe that's the key to locating her."

Most of those correspond to the key locations of the Puella Historia arc in the game, as expected.

"Huh?" I say. "There's an extra one… Orléans would probably imply Jeanne d'Arc, so are you saying she got entangled with the Witch of Symbols too?"

"I'm not sure," Scheherazade says. "Apart from the final battle, and that only from a distance, I didn't witness that event myself. There may have been some resonance between the Queen's Twilight and the Witch of Symbols, but I'm fairly sure that Jeanne d'Arc never directly faced even an offshoot of the Witch of Symbols."

"Those are the only seven areas where they're particularly dense?" I say.

"There are some other areas of statistical significance," Scheherazade says. "But none of them come close to those seven. And of the seven, Kamihama appears to have the highest density of them all. Orléans is the lowest out of the seven."

That seems to fit with what I know.

"So the Witch of Symbols has the power to manipulate time, huh?" I muse. "Is manipulating time such a common power? I can think of several… Homura, Miss Remi, Amaryllis, possibly Miss Iroha… and maybe Yuzuki Rion counts too…"

"It's not that common of a power," Scheherazade says. "And of all the things that can be done by manipulating time, time travel is the rarest. It's odd that there's even more than one time traveller born in the same era."

Well, there's probably not a lot that can be done about the Symbol Witch right now, so I guess it's time to move on to the next topic. Though I do want to ask who the other time traveller is – as far as I know, Homura is the only living magical girl who can do that. But I decide to avoid that little tangent, as she probably wouldn't answer anyway due to that personal policy of hers.

"By the way, I'm not sure if you're aware, but Mary has been hunting everywhere for Nanabuluku and Chalciuhtlicue."

"I was aware of her hunt, yes," Scheherazade says. "What of it?"

"Well, the thing is, I was wondering why," I say. "Why were their bodies and soul gems separated and stored in different places? I asked the same question last time, and you said something about a test."

Scheherazade raises her eyebrows.

"So you've asked this before," she says. "Normally I would not give out information about someone who is still alive, but in this case, the wish of the person in question also comes into play. However… you are capable of travelling back in time, which would allow you to learn the information while dodging the consequences. Can I trust that you will not reverse time again? To be more precise, that you will not reverse time to a point before this conversation."

"I don't have any reason to," I say. "Walpurgisnacht is defeated, and no-one died or turned into a witch. I also plan to meet with Pernelle and Homura later about her time-travel power. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that meeting might completely erase the possibility you want to avoid."

"Hmm… very well," Scheherazade says. "You seem to be sincere. In that case, let's begin."

I nod. "Alright… I'm ready," I say.

"Nanabuluku has two questions," Scheherazade continues. "Question one. Where the poppies grow thick, I lie at the foot of the gleaming chalk cliffs. Who am I?"

I tilt my head. "Poppies? Chalk? What does that…"

Suddenly I blink, for I realize that my original name could fit as an answer. There's an association between poppies and Flanders due to World War I and a well-known Canadian poem, and while I don't know the exact meaning of the name Chelsea, I do recall hearing it has something to do with chalk or limestone.

"Wait… is the answer Chelsea Flanders?"

Without confirming or denying my response, Scheherazade continues to the second question.

"Question two. If someone tells you it's a mistake to have hope, how will you respond?"

That calls back to Madoka's speech in the anime, so I immediately respond with the same conclusion she drew.

"I will tell them they are wrong, every single time," I say.

"Chalciuhtlicue has three questions," Scheherazade continues. "Question one. What measure is a god?"

That's such an ambiguous question… but I guess I'll just state my personal beliefs on the subject.

"I firmly believe that humanity doesn't need gods," I say. "If someone wants to become a god, I'll try to stop them, every time. Though I can't guarantee I'd succeed."

"Question two," Scheherazade continues. "If witches were to be eliminated, what would remain?"

"Um… I guess the answer would be wraiths?" I say.

"Question three," Scheherazade continues. "Who is the protagonist of this story?"

"What?" I say. "What does that even mean?"

"I'm not entitled to give any further explanation," Scheherazade says. "Just try to find an answer that fits the question."

"Do I have to pick just one…?"

"Like I said, just try to find an answer that fits," Scheherazade repeats.

"Then I'll say Kaname Madoka and Tamaki Iroha," I say.

"Understood," Scheherazade says.

"So… did I get the right answers?" I ask.

"There are no right answers," Scheherazade says.

"Huh? But it was a test, right?"

"Of course," Scheherazade says. "There are wrong answers, but there are no right answers. Hmm… curious. I was not expecting much since someone else passed the test several years ago, but it seems you too have not given a single wrong answer."

"Wait… what was even the purpose of the test?" I ask.

"I don't fully understand," Scheherazade says. "Both Nanabuluku and Chalciuhtlicue have precognitive powers. Only they know what the test is designed to screen for – they described it as anomalous karma, but I'm uncertain of the exact meaning of that phrase."

Anomalous karma…? Could it be that I was able to pass because of my memories from another world? Mary also noted that I had unusually high karmic destiny because of those memories.

"They did note that multiple people should be able to pass," Scheherazade continues. "So I have instructions on what to do when that happens."

She pauses to take a deep breath.

"Ashley Taylor," she says. "Seek out Anastasia Salvatore. I believe it is destined that you should meet one day. After all, you both passed the test set by Nanabuluku and Chalciuhtlicue. After I leave here, I will inform her of you as well."

If the test was designed to screen for anomalous karma… then this Anastasia could be someone like me, someone who was reincarnated from another world. If that's the case, I think I'd like to meet her at least once. There's no guarantee that she'd be on my side, though…

"Um… who is she? Where does she live?" I ask.

"To tell you that would go against my policy," Scheherazade says.

I suppose that was to be expected. The name sounds possibly Spanish or Italian, but that doesn't give much of a lead in locating her – sure, it presents Spain and Italy as possible locations, but that's still a huge area. Plus, there are tons of people with Spanish or Italian names in other countries as well. So I guess it doesn't really narrow things down much at all… but Scheherazade said she would also inform Anastasia about me. Since I have the same name as one of the characters in the game, if Anastasia also has memories of the game, she should know where to find me. Maybe I can just wait for her, then? There's no guarantee she'd want to find me, though… oh well. I guess I can think about this more later.

"Moving on… since you have passed the test, I can answer your original question," Scheherazade says. "You asked why Nanabuluku and Chalciuhtlicue have been laid to rest. The answer is quite simple. Both foresaw that a time would come in the distant future when their services would be required. By depriving them of consciousness, their chance of reaching that future dramatically increases."

"So, where are they?" I ask.

"The soul gems are entrusted to their homelands," Scheherazade. "Nanabuluku is buried in a time capsule deep in the Nigerian jungle, while Chalciuhtlicue is encased in a hidden Aztec shrine in Mexico. Neither has been discovered yet by archaeologists. Their bodies are stored in a vault deep beneath the Vatican City."

"So Mary was right about that!" I gasp. "Why did you choose the Vatican?"

"Two reasons," Scheherazade says. "The first reason is Mary herself. One or both of them must have predicted that she'd search for them, so the one place Mary feared was just the obvious choice. The other reason is that the vault there was already equipped to isolate the body of a magical girl."

"Could that be Flavia?" I say.

"Ah, so you've heard of her?" Scheherazade says. "Yes, the three of them are entombed together in that vault."

"Then, what about Flavia's soul gem?"

"I don't know," Scheherazade says. "I'm not even sure if it's still intact. The Akashic Records are silent on her final fate. Similar to Eris, she's probably been involved with something capable of interfering with my powers."

"Speaking of Eris, Mary called her Helene," I say. "Do you know anything about that?"

Scheherazade shakes her head. "There's no magical girl by the name of Helene in the Akashic Records who fits the profile of Eris. It was a fairly common name, so there were several girls who bore the name… they just didn't have powers or personalities consistent with what I know of Eris."

With that, Scheherazade holds out her hand, and a small object appears in it, something like a stamp or seal.

"I'll give you this," she says. "It's enchanted to store itself into your soul gem, and to automatically return to me if you die or lose it."

"What is it for?" I ask.

"It's something like a key," she says. "If all three of these are inserted into the proper slot on the vault door, it will open."

"Then why are you giving me only one?" I ask.

"I don't fully understand their reasoning," Scheherazade says. "But the two of them asked to be woken when three people with anomalous karma gathered together. If you manage to meet up with the others – assuming a third one even appears – then you can release Nanabuluku and Chalciuhtlicue from their prison, and they will explain everything. If not… I will wait until the next time someone such as you appears. However… this is the first time there have been two in the same era, so I have high hopes that the time has finally come."

"What if I find someone else who seems to have anomalous karma before you do?" I ask.

"You can use this to notify me that you would like to speak to me," Scheherazade says. "I could be anywhere in the world, and teleportation is not in my repertoire, so I can't promise a timely response… but I will come. Feel free to contact me if you have anything you wish of me, not just that, though I may become annoyed if you contact me too often."

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

I accept the key from her and focus on storing it in my soul gem. As with my sword or the Wings of the Magius robes, it vanishes from sight. I pull it out for a second to make sure it works, then store it away again.

"Was there anything else you wanted from me?" Scheherazade asks.

"Um… there was one other thing," I say. "I have a memory of strange aliens speaking an unknown language, and I was wondering whether you could use your power to help me decipher what they were saying."

"Hmm… it's true that I have the power of comprehension," Scheherazade says. "I think something could probably be worked out, but it would not be trivial."

"What steps would be needed?" I ask.

"Roughly speaking, I think you'd need to clearly recall your memory while under the influence of my magic," Scheherazade says. "The surest way to clearly recall a memory is through soul magic… but in order for my magic to influence it, I would need to also submit to the soul magic."

"If you say soul magic… is that like a Coordination?" I ask. "So it would be like we get a Coordination together?"

"Well, it's not quite the same as a Coordination," Scheherazade says. "But it's the same kind of magic. A Coordinator would be the logical place to request it, and you're correct that she would need to work on the two of us simultaneously."

"Then could we set a time to do that?" I ask. "I could meet you in Tokyo at the Coordinator's place there."

Scheherazade blinks. "Isn't there a Coordinator right here in Kamihama?" she asks. "Why not ask her? Although I suppose she is relatively new to it and less experienced, but she seems skilled enough."

"I'm… avoiding her, for various reasons," I say. "She would be able to see my memories, and that could influence her actions in unpredictable ways."

"I see," Scheherazade says. "In that case, let's meet in Tokyo one week from now."

"Will it take you a whole week to get to Tokyo?" I wonder. "Even if you avoid planes, isn't the ferry only a couple of days at most? And then you could take the bullet train…"

"It's hard to say," Scheherazade says. "But if I give myself a week, I think it's pretty unlikely I'd miss the time."

"Fair enough," I say. "Then I'll meet you on the sixth of May around six o'clock at Miss Charmchi's place in Tokyo."

"That sounds good," Scheherazade says. "As long as nothing historical comes up to draw me away, I'll definitely be there."

With that dealt with, I head back to the park, where I find that most of the girls have already dispersed. Only Crescent Moon Villa, Momoko's trio, the Holy Brigade, Mabayu, and some girls I'm close to are still present. Several girls have fallen asleep on the spot, including Rena, Kaede, Nagisa, Yuma, Sayaka, Kyouko, Madoka, and Homura. It looks like Wakana has also shown up and is chatting excitedly with Hijiri, so I decide to leave the two of them alone.

As I approach the Crescent Moon Villa group, several girls spot my return and come over.

"Ashley-chan!" Karin exclaims.

"Ashley-nee, where did you go?" Riko asks.

"I wish you'd at least let me know you were gone," Inui grumbles.

"Oh, Ashley-chan, I was just about to respond to your message!" Yuuri exclaims. "Of course we'll help you! Where should we meet?"

"I'll send you directions to Miss Hozumi's café," I say. "Where'd all the feathers go?"

"Oh, most of the feathers went back into Fendt Hope," Iroha says. "Many of them live far away, so they should get some rest before heading back, right?"

"Yeah, that's true," I say. "In that case, could I get back in as well?"

"Of course," Iroha says. "The entrance is right in front of the ruined fountain, and I told her you don't need the emblem of the Magius anymore to enter. Anyone with a soul gem can get in."

"I don't think that's a good idea in the long term," I say. "But I guess it should be fine for now."

"It's okay," Iroha says. "It's guarded by the Mother Bear, after all. If someone tried to sneak in and harm you, she wouldn't let them. Still… it's only temporary. I intend to add a new emblem requirement soon, once I have them made."

"Then I'm coming too!" Inui says.

She grabs onto my arm as I make for the entrance. We step into Fendt Hope together, and upon entering the building, we find Nene waiting for us in the lounge.

"Oh, Lita, you said you wanted to chat a bit, right?" Nene says.

"Yeah… what's with that Starlight Breaker you used earlier?" I ask.

"Well… I don't know if you noticed, but I wanted to roll a barrier power so I could help defend," Nene says. "It took me four tries to get one, which meant I was able to copy three other powers besides the barrier. Those were time manipulation, blast magic, and an ability to gather up magic that's been dispersed into the atmosphere. So… I just combined the gathering ability with the blast magic."

"Where'd the name come from?" I ask.

"That… I'm honestly not sure," Nene says. "To tell the truth… it felt like I heard someone saying that name, and it seemed to fit, so… I went ahead and shouted it out."

"That's weird… you just… heard it…? But you didn't have anything like clairvoyance… right?"

"No… well… I suppose, if anything, it might've been an effect of the time manipulation magic," Nene says. "But there's no way to prove that… it could've been completely unrelated to my magic as well…"

"Well, one way or another, it was pretty incredible," Inui chimes in. "Do you know whose powers you copied?"

I was wondering the same thing. From what she said earlier, I think the time manipulation must've been Remi's power, since she wasn't able to stop time. Of course, Remi can stop time, but that's an advanced usage of her power, so probably too much for Nene. The barrier and blast magic both could've been Kazumi, though I'm not sure if the spinner would've given out two powers from the same person. There are a lot of people with barrier or blast magic in any case, so it could have been any of them. And the last power… I really have no idea. I don't remember anyone in Magia Record demonstrating a power like that. The closest is probably Ui, but her power seems to manifest a little differently. Maybe Yachiyo is also somewhat similar, but again, not quite a match.

Nene shakes her head. "No… when I copy a power, I gain a general understanding of how it works, and that's it. I don't know who it came from."

"Actually… I think the labels on your spinner represent the owner of the magic," I say. "But I suppose you wouldn't remember what they said, right?"

"Those symbols?" Nene says. "I have no idea how to read them, so… I don't think I could even reproduce them accurately. I didn't even know they could be read. I thought they were just random gobbledegook…"

"I see… well, thanks for the info," I say. "Inui and I are going to take a nap for awhile, so maybe we'll see you later."

"Oh, good night then," Nene says.

"Well… it's very much the opposite of nighttime though," I say. "But sure… good night."

We make our way to the room that had been assigned to us. After setting my alarm and making Inui promise to wake me if I miss it, I fall asleep almost immediately.

ACT II: END

---

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.

Yuina Kaika (Yuka)
結菜快夏（ゆか）

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Grey
Hair Colour: Red
Origins: Takarazaki, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Three yellow triangles arranged in a triangle (triforce)
Soul Gem: Circular purple gemstone on her forehead
Element: Null
Weapon: Short sword and round shield
Powers: Fire manipulation, water manipulation, wind manipulation
Wish: "I want to know what it takes to be a hero."

Speed: 8
Magical Stamina: 3
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

---

I was planning to post this chapter as soon as possible and then take a break, but after running into some difficulties and delaying it by over two weeks I decided to take the break first instead. What this means is that I've already started working on arc 3, and the interludes are almost ready to post, so the planned gap between chapter 108 and 109 will not happen (having effectively been shifted back one chapter). Chapter 109 is fully drafted out, so I expect to have it ready by next week. It definitely won't be more than two weeks.

I reduced Chiharu's and Sunao's ages by one year since they're both stated to be in middle school. I also reduced Ranka's age by two years because something in her voice lines states her to be in middle school. Since I decided to refer to the mandrake plushy as Al instead of Aru, I also updated chapter 86 to do the same.

While checking to avoid plot holes, I also fixed up quite a few little things in past chapters. This list is not exhaustive, but should cover the most significant changes.
• In chapter 24, Kuroe gave the name of Iroha's school, but this was written before the name was officially revealed, so I made something up (Takarazaki Middle School). I've now updated it to match the official name.
• Momoko miscounted the people offering to give a boost in chapter 86 (they were Sayuki, Meguru, and Natsuki). This was just changing "three" to "four" and giving Sayuki an extra one-word line.
• Fix some misspellings of names in chapters 100 and 105.
• Various grammar and punctuation errors corrected in chapter 107.
• Also in chapter 107, I added an explicit statement that the twins and Yukika removed their Magius pendants as soon as Mifuyu suggested it.