"Jeanne... if you come from God, I do not fear you … if you come from the Devil, I fear you even less."

~Quote from Constable de Richemont, 1429~

For the next two days, I join the others on their daily patrol for wraiths after school, hoping against hope that one might finally appear. However, there's still no sign of them, so on Thursday I decide to take a break from patrolling. After all, though I'd been putting it off, there are some new people I'd like to meet now. I decide to start by dropping by Mitakihara Middle School.

"Good afternoon, Ashley-chan!"

I'm greeted by Hiyori as she leaves school.

"Oh, Hiyori-chan, I didn't expect you to still be here," I say.

"I had cleaning duty today," she says. "I think the Holy Brigade have already left… or were you looking for the transfer student Kirika-chan mentioned?"

I blink at her. "How did you guess?"

"Well, you seemed pretty interested in her a couple days ago," Hiyori says. "As it happens, I spotted her in the library just now."

"You can already recognize her on sight?"

"That's because I often eat lunch with Kirika-chan today, so I see that girl in the classroom a lot," Hiyori says.

"Oh, so Kirika has friends other than Oriko, huh?" I say. "That's probably a good thing…"

"There's also a girl at Sakuragasaki, apparently," Hiyori says. "Kirika-chan talked about her recently… I think her name was Erika-chan? Kirika-chan saved her from a witch over Golden Week, apparently."

That must be Mamiya Erika, Kirika's childhood friend who she thought had betrayed her in the past, though it was actually a misunderstanding.

"Anyway, you were going to show me where Undo Pia is, right?"

"Ah, right, I got distracted for a moment there," Hiyori says. "I'll show you the way to the library."

I follow her into the school building, drawing glances from a couple of students who no doubt are wondering what a high school student is doing here. Soon we arrive at the library, and Hiyori gestures towards one of the shelves near the back.

"Looks like she's still here," Hiyori says.

Sure enough, there's a girl just barely peeking out from behind that shelf, wearing the Mitakihara Middle School uniform. I can make out some short green hair, one brilliant blue eye, and the tips of her fingers. I take a few steps towards her, and she gasps and withdraws behind the shelf, out of sight.

«Hiyori-chan, can you wait by the door?» I ask.

«Ah, sure,» Hiyori replies.

I step towards the shelf that the green-haired girl is hiding behind and peer around it, much like she did. She lets out a small squeak as she spots me, looking around wildly for an escape route, but there's none – directly behind her is a table with two students studying, and both flanks are occupied by bookshelves.

"I won't hurt you," I say.

"Ah… ah… t-t-that's… g-good…?" she stammers, sounding very uncertain, her eyes flicking every which way as she speaks.

"I'd just like to talk for a bit," I say. "Could I treat you to some food?"

She blinks at me, her eyes meeting mine for a second or two. It seems that that caught her attention.

"I-I'm… s-s-starving…" she mutters. "B-b-but…"

"We can eat somewhere without a lot of people," I say.

"O-okay…"

She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a few deep breaths. Then she opens her eyes, still not meeting mine.

"I… I'm ready," she mutters.

I turn and head back to the library entrance to join Hiyori. Though hesitant, the green-haired girl follows me, and the three of us make our way out of the school. The green-haired girl trails a couple of steps behind, looking around nervously as she walks. When we arrive at the burger place where Hitomi once made her ultimatum to Sayaka, I turn to Hiyori.

"Would you like something too, Hiyori-chan?" I ask.

"Ah, sure," Hiyori says. "Hmm… just the usual, I guess… ah, that's a cheeseburger, fries, and a mint chocolate shake."

"Got it," I say.

I head inside and place an order for four cheeseburgers, two large fries, and three milkshakes. When I get back outside with the food, I find the green-haired girl cowering next to a trash can, with Hiyori looking for all the world like she's standing guard.

"Let's go eat in the park," I say. "Hiyori-chan, can you lead the way?"

"Of course!" she says.

This time I take up the rear, with the green-haired girl following Hiyori with some reluctance, still looking around constantly and jumping at the slightest unexpected occurrence. Now that we're out in the sunlight, I can see that there's something odd about her shadow. Unlike mine and Hiyori's, stretching out behind us as normal, this girl's shadow seems to sort of pool about her feet. There is a faint outline where her shadow should normally be, though – as if most of the shadow were migrating inwards, but not all of it.

We find a bench in the park and take a seat, the green-haired girl putting the maximum possible distance between herself and the two of us without falling off the seat. I place the food in that gap, passing out a milkshake and a cheeseburger to everyone. The girl watches as Hiyori and I unwrap our burgers, then does the same and tentatively tries a bite. Then she wolfs down the rest before Hiyori or I are even a third of the way through ours. Without a word, I reach in and pass her the extra burger. This time, she takes it without hesitation, eating a bit more slowly. I wait until she's almost finished eating before speaking.

"You really were hungry, weren't you?" I say. "How about we start by introducing ourselves? I'm Ashley Taylor."

"Eh, u-um… Undo… Pia," the girl mutters.

The burgers are gone, so I pass out the fries, one to Pia and one to Hiyori. Pia's eyes widen, and she grabs them and starts shovelling them down. Several fries slip out of the box and fall towards the ground, but a mouth of white teeth opens up in her shadow and snatches them out of the air. It moves quickly, snapping them up and withdrawing immediately. Hiyori blinks, startled by it, but it doesn't seem like any passers-by noticed. It probably moved too fast for them to register.

"This is Hayashi Hiyori," I say, claiming some fries for myself. "Miss Pia, can I ask how you came here?"

The girl blinks at me, tilting her head.

"W-what… d-d-do you… mean…?"

"You transferred here so suddenly, right?" I say.

"T-that's… I don't… know…" Pia mutters.

"You don't remember?" I ask. "Do you remember where you were before you came here?"

"Ah, um… y-yes… s-somewhat…"

"But… you don't remember how you got here?"

Pia nods.

"Do you want to get back?" I ask.

"T-t-that's…" Pia shrugs. "I-I'm… n-not sure…"

"Then… do you like it here?" I ask.

"I-it's so… p-p-peaceful," Pia says. "B-b-but… it's… s-strange… un…f-familiar…"

"Say, what was that thing in your shadow earlier?" Hiyori pipes up. "Some kind of pet or something?"

Pia gasps, turning to look at her with a terrified look on her face.

"W-what…!? Y-you m-must be… imagining…"

Hiyori blinks, startled at the adverse reaction.

"Huh? Is it something you can't show others?" she asks. "Sorry, I didn't know… you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I was just curious…"

Pia in turn looks surprised at her reaction. She visibly relaxes, though the fear doesn't completely drain from her face.

"Ah… i-if you say so…" she mutters.

"Well then… I'd like to hear more sometime, if you're willing," I say. "It would be great if we could become friends."

I get to my feet and turn to face her.

"Ah… u-um… t-thanks… for the f-food," Pia mutters.

"You do have a place to live, right?" I say.

Pia nods.

"Then, let's talk again another time," I say.

Hiyori gets to her feet too.

"See you later, Miss Undo," she says.

Pia nods again, and then I leave her behind, heading out of the park. Hiyori follows me.

"Hey, is there some particular reason you're interested in her?" she asks.

"Well… you heard what I said at Oriko's place, right?" I say.

"You didn't really say anything at all," Hiyori says. "Other than calling her 'Wind Pier', and showing a cartoon of her to Kirika-chan."

"Ah, I guess you're right," I say. "Well… she's not from this world."

"Oh… that's… pretty unexpected," Hiyori says.

"You're going to believe me that easily?" I say.

Hiyori giggles. "I think I already know that you wouldn't lie about something like that, Ashley-chan," she says. "Though in a way you're right, as I don't fully believe it…"

"I don't really know much about the world she comes from," I say. "But I think there are several races besides humans, like demons or fairies, and some people can use elemental magic. If I'm not mistaken… that girl is a demon who can use wind magic."

Hiyori blinks. "Oh, you're saying she can use magic even though she's not a magical girl?"

"Yeah, something like that," I say. "Though I can't say I'm completely sure…"

"And she's also not human?" Hiyori says. "That's strange though, she looks totally human to me…"

I shrug. "I guess the other races in that world aren't all that different from humans," I say. "As I said, I don't know much about it…"

I am starting to wonder whether it would be worth watching this world's Divine Gate anime. I never watched the anime of that name in my original world, as I heard it was very bad. I don't even know much about the game it was based on. However, the Divine Gate anime in this world was directed by Urobuchi Gen, with music by Kajiura Yuki. From what I remember when I looked it up in the previous timeline, it ran for two cours and was popular enough to produce a sequel and a spin-off. It might be tough to find the time to watch it, but if Pia wants to return home, perhaps it could be useful to know more about that world… then again, she hasn't said she wants to, so I guess there's no point in thinking about it right now.

"So, are you heading home now, Ashley-chan?" Hiyori asks.

"Well, I don't have anything in particular to do now," I muse. "Maybe I could drop by Miss Tomoe's place… or Miss Naomi's place…"

"I don't think Miss Mami will be home," Hiyori says. "Though Nagisa-chan might be there."

"Huh, why not?" I ask.

"Did you forget?" Hiyori says. "She's training to be an idol now, which means singing and dance classes after school almost every day."

"Oh right… I did forget about that," I say. "Come to think of it, didn't Homura's mother officially adopt her and Nagisa…? Is she planning to move out of that apartment?"

Hiyori shrugs. "I haven't heard anything about any plans to move, but you're right about the adoption," she says.

"What about Miss Sakura?" I ask. "Any idea what she's up to now?"

"Ah, you didn't hear about that?" Hiyori says. "A lot of the students were talking about how there were two transfer students at the same time."

"Oh, so Miss Sakura did decide to go to school?"

"Apparently she's in Miss Madoka's class," Hiyori says.

"I bet she used her magic to make sure of that," I say. "She'd probably prefer to be with Miss Miki after all…"

Hiyori shrugs. "Maybe."

"I should probably keep in touch with Madoka a bit more," I say. "I could've heard it from her instead…"

"Does it really matter?" Hiyori asks.

"Well, not the part about who I heard it from, no," I say. "Hmm… I suppose Madoka's probably patrolling for wraiths like the others, right?"

"I heard that Miss Akemi wouldn't let her fight in Mitakihara," Hiyori says. "So the two of them might be gathering grief seeds in Kamihama."

"Ah, I guess that makes sense," I say. "Less risk of Kriemhild Gretchen popping up unexpectedly… and you guys definitely need grief seeds to last you until the wraiths start spawning."

"Especially since the cubes from the forced spawn just before Walpurgisnacht got used up really quickly," Hiyori says.

"Wait, are you guys short on grief seeds?" I ask. "I could spare one or two if you need them…"

"No, it's fine," Hiyori says. "There are still some witches out near the waste-processing plant, so we have enough to last at least a week between all of us. And if those run out, we can just go to Kamihama ourselves, right?"

"Yeah, it's still swarming with witches," I say. "That probably won't last forever, since there are also a lot of magical girls there, but… the Wings of the Magius really made it a good place for witches to spawn… so for the time being it's a good place to get grief seeds for those of us participating in this wraith experiment."

"I wonder how long it'll take, though," Hiyori says. "How long does it take for a wraith to naturally spawn in an area that was recently the domain of witches…?"

"I wish I knew too," I say. "I think it would have to be fairly soon though… after all, this is a big city."

"Yeah," Hiyori says.

"Guess I'll go bug Miss Naomi for a bit," I say. "See you later, Hiyori-chan."

"See you," Hiyori says.

I head north into Mari's territory, intending to make for Naomi's place, but as I pass by Kagura Middle School, I notice the presence of a witch and decide to check it out, just to be on the safe side. However, once I arrive at the portal, I notice it to be unstable, an indication that someone is already fighting the witch. I'm just about to leave and continue on my way when the barrier pops, expelling two magical girls back out into the world.

One of the newcomers is a young woman with short black hair and glasses, wearing a black one-piece garment similar to a sleeveless qipao with purple embroidery and slits up to the hips, and gripping a weapon similar to Mifuyu's chakram but with spikes spaced out along the blade. I can see thigh-high black stockings just visible under the skirt, as well as black gloves reaching past the elbow, and her soul gem seems to be set in the centre of a brooch at her throat, shaped like some kind of flower that I can't recognize. The gem itself is a dark purple orb, similar in shade to Homura's gem, though probably a little darker.

The other newcomer is a bit younger, a girl dressed in armour like a samurai and wielding a katana. Instead of a helmet, she wears a purple scarf wrapped around her forehead, which is tied at the back and hangs down like a ponytail. Her hair however is tied up into a topknot – it's just barely long enough for that style to hold in place.

The samurai girl spots me immediately and waves.

"Yo!" she says. "We meet again!"

"Do you know this girl, Mari-chan?" the woman asks, powering down.

"Well, not really," Mari says, also powering down. "We're barely acquainted."

"Good afternoon, Mari-chan," I say. "Are you still sharing with Mari-kun?"

"Ah, yeah, she's with me!" Mari says. "I mean, it's more convenient that way. We don't have to explain to anyone how we suddenly turned into twins out of the blue. Though I do want to do it eventually."

"But she hasn't transformed this time?" I ask.

Mari shrugs. "This was a weak witch," she says. "I thought Mari-chan could handle it on her own, especially since the newbie was here to back us up."

Ah, that must be the other Mari speaking now, I guess.

"Speaking of the newbie, aren't you going to introduce us?" the woman asks.

"Sorry about that," Mari says. "I think Mari-chan just got a bit excited at seeing her again. This is Miss Ashley Taylor. Miss Ashley, meet Kuroi Kana, the new magical girl from Kagura University."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Kuroi," I say. "Are you getting the hang of life as a magical girl?"

Kana chuckles. "Well, I think so," she says. "But some of these witches are pretty strong… thinking about how I'll need to fight them for the rest of my life, I can't help but be a tiny bit depressed."

"Have you heard of PMMM?" I asked.

"The magical girl social app, right?" Kana says. "Mari-chan sent me an invite. I haven't created an account yet, but I plan to."

"Miss Ashley is the one of the people who created that app!" Mari pipes up. "It's totes awesome, isn't it? Both Mari-kun and I have an account."

"Wow, you're part of the team who created it!?" Kana gasps. "You must be at least a year or two younger than me…"

"I'm seventeen," I say.

At that moment, Ashley bubbles up from within.

"But going on eighteen!" she exclaims. "Just four more months and a week to go and I'll legally be an adult!"

Huh. Until this moment, I hadn't realized that Ashley's birthday was September 17. The information didn't exist in the Magia Record game, after all, and I guess I just hadn't peered at the relevant memories of hers to know that detail. I decide to amend her comment.

"In my home country, at least," I say.

"Ah, are you from America?" Kana says.

"That's right," I say.

"So you're not quite two years younger than me," Kana says. "I'm nineteen going on twenty, but my birthday isn't until November 4."

"Ah, then you're about the same age as Miss Nanami," I say. "So you must be in your first year?"

"That's correct," Kana says.

"Now, I do have to wonder what you're doing here, Miss Ashley," Mari speaks up. "Did you have a reason for entering the North Mitakihara territory?"

"I was sort of meandering towards Miss Naomi's place in the hope of running into Miss Kuroi," I say. "That's about it. I just heard about her and wanted to meet her."

"Then, since you've met her, I suppose you intend to return to your territory?" Mari says.

"Of course," I say. "I'll see you later."

"Oh, yeah, see you," Kana says.

And so, I turn and head back towards the Hayashi house… but as I walk, I pull out my phone to compose an email. Skipping over the 'To' field, I add a number of my contacts to the 'Bcc' field, starting with Inui, Karin, Riko, Yuuri, and Hijiri. After a moment, I add Chika, Oriko, Madoka, and Iroha, then throw in Claire and Komachi. Once I've decided on the recipients, I move on to composing the actual message.

[Hi, sorry to bother you with something so trivial. I'm mentioning this because I suddenly remembered, and because there's a chance that my friends from America already told some of you that my birthday is on September 17. But I'm not writing this message to let you know my birthday – I'm writing it in case some of you already found out, because I there's one thing about birthdays that I need to emphasize: absolutely under no circumstances should you arrange a surprise birthday party for me! If there's one thing I absolutely can't stand, it's a surprise party being sprung on me. It might sound like I'm being overly dramatic, but I am not exaggerating my feelings at all. Thank you for your understanding.]

I re-read it at least ten times, worrying whether I've phrased it too rudely, before finally hitting send. Then, because those are my feelings rather than Ashley's, and because some surprise parties have just now surfaced from her memories, I start a new email. This time, I put both Chevonne and Janice into the 'To' field, add my mother in 'Cc', and write the email in English.

[Hi, there's something I'd like to say about my upcoming birthday in a few months. Based on past years, I surmise that you're very likely planning a surprise party for after I return to America. I'd like to ask you not to. Feel free to plan a party if you want, but please, don't keep it a secret from me. I haven't said anything in the past because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but I really don't like surprise parties very much.]

I re-read this one several times too, while also trying to find memories that directly contradict what I've written – for example, a memory of Ashley sincerely saying something that clearly implies she likes surprise parties. But nothing surfaces, and Ashley doesn't choose to bubble up either, so I take that to mean that I haven't said anything contradictory, and eventually I hit send.

Friday passes by without much of note. Inui calls in the morning to ask me if she can come over on the weekend – she says she'll pop over after lunch on Saturday, stay overnight, and then head back to Kamihama at some point on Sunday. Of course, after checking with Mrs Hayashi just to make sure, I tell her that's fine.

I also make my routine call to Ashley's parents. During the call, I learn that my father has greatly improved and is expected to be discharged from the hospital by the end of the month. For that reason, my mother has asked if the two of them can come visit me for the end-of month weekend – that is, the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth. Ashley, eager to introduce them to all the new friends we've made, readily accepts the offer, so there's something to look forward to at the end of the month. Perhaps this will also be a good time to reveal myself to them – I've been planning to do it for awhile but haven't yet decided on the best method.

After lunch on Saturday, I do my usual brief peeks at what key people are up to. Usually this is just a really quick peek for a few seconds, to confirm everyone is fine. However, this time, something catches my attention when I scry on Iroha.

Ui is sleeping on the couch at Crescent Moon Villa, while Iroha appears to be washing up from breakfast. The others are nowhere in sight. Suddenly, Ui's phone rings, startling her awake.

"Huh? My alarm!?" she gasps, sitting bolt upright.

It rings again, and she blinks at it, sitting upon the table in front of her.

"No, not the alarm," she says. "Someone's calling…"

She grabs the phone and answers it.

"Hello? … Oh, Nemu-chan? … Huh? You wanted to ask about a charm…? … … Huh… is it like, a good luck charm? For good dreams or something? … Yes, there's one where you use a red and blue candle to make it work, right? … Um… in fifteenth-century France… I guess? … Well, I'm not sure that's exactly right… … Um, I can remember the charm itself really clearly. But as for how I learned it… … I'm sorry, I don't quite remember. … This evening? … Oh! Sorry, yeah, that's right! Then I'll see you there!"

With that, she hangs up the phone, staring at it with a little melancholy sigh. That's when Iroha finishes her work and notices that Ui has woken. She steps out of the kitchen with a smile.

"Oh, Ui! You're awake!" she says.

"O-onee-chan…" Ui says, startled.

"You dozed off on the couch," Iroha says. "You looked so cozy… I snuck out quietly so you wouldn't wake up."

"Ah, I fell asleep?" Ui says. "I'm sorry… I should've helped you clean up…"

She sighs again, and Iroha looks a little concerned.

"What's the matter?" she asks. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"No, I didn't," Ui says. "I wonder why I feel like this… I can't think of a reason."

She sighs again.

"Why don't we go out somewhere?" Iroha suggests. "It might take your mind off whatever it is."

"You mean like a trip?" Ui asks. "Where to?"

"Oh no, just for a walk," Iroha says.

"Ah, okay," Ui says.

They head out together, Ui still looking rather melancholy, and begin to stroll towards the river. They pass by Flower Shop Blossom, where Konomi pokes her head out for a quick wave, but they don't stop to chat. Soon they arrive at the bridge, at which point they leave the road to follow the footpath along the riverbank. After a few minutes they find an unoccupied bench and take a seat.

"The sun feels so nice today," Iroha says, smiling.

"Yeah," Ui says. "I guess it does…"

At that moment, her phone rings again, startling the sisters.

"Hm, who is it?" Iroha asks.

"Touka-chan, I think," Ui says.

She answers the phone.

"Hello? … … Okay, got it. Thanks for telling me!"

Then she hangs up.

"What did Touka-chan have to say?" Iroha asks.

"She's probably going to show up a bit late for our slumber party," Ui says.

"Oh, a slumber party!" Iroha says. "That's a nice idea. Are you going to have it at Nemu-chan's house?"

"Yeah," Ui says.

Once again, she lets out a small melancholy sigh.

"Hey? What's wrong?" Iroha asks.

"Just… whenever I look at my phone… I feel like I'm forgetting something really, really important," Ui says.

"When you look at your phone?" Iroha says. "Maybe you'll remember something if you try using it for a bit?"

"That's a good idea," Ui says. "I'll try that…"

Iroha gets up and takes a few steps away with a smile.

"I don't want to peek at whatever's on your phone," she says."So I'll wait over here."

"Thanks," Ui says.

She unlocks her phone and checks her email and calendar, letting out another little sigh. Then she opens up her photos and blinks in surprise. The most recent photo shows her and Jeanne d'Arc, with Melissa, Liz, and Elisa in the background.

"W-what is this?" she gasps.

Suddenly, she starts crying.

"Huh…!?" Iroha gasps. "W-what's the matter, Ui!?"

"I don't know," Ui wails. "I don't know, I can't remember! But I can't… stop crying… why am I crying…? S-sorry… onee-chan…"

Iroha steps forward and sits next to her to embrace her.

"It's okay to cry," she says.

"Y-you're right…" Ui sobs. "T-thank you…"

They stay like that for a minute or two before Ui suddenly blinks and addresses Iroha.

"Onee-chan…"

Iroha shifts over a bit so that she can see Ui's face. The younger girl is now wiping the tears from her eyes.

"What is it?"

"Let's have a wonderful future together!" Ui says.

Iroha blinks at her in surprise for a good two seconds, then beams at her and nods.

"Yes, let's!"

They sit in silence for a little while, and then Ui finally smiles.

"Onee-chan, I'm okay now," she says. "I can make my own way back… you had something you needed to do, right? And I need to get things ready for the slumber party."

"Alright," Iroha says. "I'll head home after I'm done, then."

"Okay!" Ui says. "Thank you so much for helping me today, onee-chan!"

Iroha giggles as Ui runs off, heading back towards the bridge. Then she heads for a grocery store to do a little shopping. After that, with groceries in hand, she heads for the Coordinator's office, where she finds Yachiyo waiting for her.

"Hello!" Iroha says.

"Why, hellooo there, Iroha-chan!" Mitama says, giggling. "You came here at just the right time."

"I did?" Iroha says, blinking. "Why?"

"Well, the truth is, I just learned a very interesting little charm," Mitama says. "It's rather effective!"

"A charm?" Iroha says. "Like a spell?"

"Yes, exactly!" Mitama says. "And now that you and Yachiyo are here… I can teach it to both of you!"

"It's supposed to be a little incantation that makes you have sweet dreams," Yachiyo explains.

"Oh, Miss Yachiyo, that sounds perfect for you!" Iroha exclaims. "Do you want to learn it too?"

"Yes, I thought I'd give it a try," Yachiyo says. "I've been having a little trouble sleeping lately. There's no harm in learning it."

"Oh, you can count on this one to work!" Mitama exclaims. "It's an old spell that's been passed down from the medieval ages in Europe!"

"Wow!" Iroha exclaims. "That's really something!"

Mitama giggles. "Isn't it fascinating? Let's get started then! First off, prepare two candles – one red, one blue. Then place them facing each other. Now here is the important part! Before you light them, you must…"

She spends a good five minutes explaining all the fiddly little details of the spell, with both Yachiyo and Iroha asking for clarification a few times. Finally, Yachiyo nods.

"I see," she says. "I understand how to do it now."

"So the positioning of the candles is really important!" Iroha says.

Mitama giggles. "You two are fast learners!" she says. "Since you paid attention so well, I'll throw in a little something extra for free! Hmm…"

She glances around, then grabs a brown paper bag from the nearby table.

"How about these?" she suggests.

She opens the bag to allow them to peer inside. There are two wax candles within, one red and one blue. They are clearly previously used, with a charred wick and wax drippings down the sides.

"Candles?" Iroha says. "They look kind of old…"

"They're special scented candles I got at an antique store awhile ago," Mitama says. "They're even red and blue, perfect for the spell!"

"Can we really have them?" Iroha asks.

"Of course!" Mitama says.

"There isn't… anything wrong with them, is there?" Yachiyo asks suspiciously.

"I'm sorry," Mitama says. "I really couldn't say!"

Yachiyo stares intently at her, meeting her eyes, and Mitama cocks her head to the side.

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" she asks.

"Alright then," Yachiyo says. "Let's give it a try tonight."

"Uh, yeah," Iroha says. "Thank you so much, Miss Mitama!"

"Tell me how it goes!" Mitama says. "I'll be waiting!"

I sit up on the bed, pondering what I just saw. From the sounds of it, Ui just returned from her adventure in fifteenth-century France, while Iroha and Yachiyo are just about to embark on their own adventure to that time period, and Ui is about to embark on her second time-travel adventure at the slumber party. Perhaps it's a good thing Inui decided to stay over at my place tonight – it'll be safer here than in Kamihama. Speaking of which, I was expecting her to be here by now… I wonder what's kept her?

I reach for my phone and notice an unread email from her, so I unlock the phone and check it out.

[Sorry, Ashley-chan! I got a bit held up by some former feathers who had a ton of questions, but I should still be there in time for dinner! Please wait for me!]

Well, that explains why she's still not here. There are also several other unread emails, so I take a look at those as well. The first is from Chevonne. She had apparently hit 'Reply All', meaning that both Janice and my mother must've received her response too. Perhaps the three of them talked about it before sending the reply.

[I'm so sorry I never noticed! I really wish you'd said something the first time! Anyway, you're quite right, Janice and I were planning a party with your mother. It was supposed to be a surprise, but… I don't think anything is really lost if you know about it. Look forward to it!]

There's also one from Madoka.

[I'm glad you told me. I didn't hear your birthday from your American friends, but I wouldn't have planned anything, since you said you were returning to America by the end of summer. But at least I'll know not to in the future if you come back!]

The last one is from Riko.

[Oh, so your birthday's on September 17! Mine's February 9! Maybe I'll get you an early birthday gift… you'll be back in America by September, right?]

I send Riko a quick reply confirming that I'll be in America, then check the time. It's four-thirty, so there are still at least two hours before dinner. I decide to see what she's up to while I'm waiting.

Inui appears to be sipping at a latte at Kanagi's maid café, chatting with three other girls who look vaguely familiar. There's a tan red-haired girl with a braided pigtail, who has a red eight-pointed sunburst on her fingernail; a pale girl with short blonde hair, who has three red claw marks on her fingernail; and a pale girl with mid-length blue hair, who has a red heart outline on her fingernail. As for Kanagi, I don't see her anywhere. Maybe it's not her shift.

"I'm… still worried though," the blue-haired girl says. "Can we really trust the Magius…?"

"Hmm, that's a pretty good question, Chiu-chan," Inui says. "I'm honestly not sure about it, that the Magius themselves are worthy of trust. But I can tell you one thing. I trust Ashley and Iro-Iro to step in and stop them if they go out of line again. And I know we need their powers. The automatic purification system wouldn't be possible without them."

"But… Miss Sorashi said there's no sincerity in Miss Tamaki's words," the red-haired girl says. "Isn't that true?"

"Are you seriously asking that, Amu-chan!?" Inui exclaims.

"Eh? Um… yes, it's a serious question," Amu replies.

Inui sighs and takes a thoughtful sip of her drink.

"Sorashi… oh, that was the white feather with gravity magic, right?" Inui says. "Isn't she one of the ones who abandoned Kamihama in its hour of need? Though I guess that might not mean so much to an outsider, but… have you actually heard Iro-Iro's words for yourself?"

"Ah, no," Amu says. "I wasn't able to make it for the big meeting…"

"Tell me, who do you think has more sincerity?" Inui asks, sounding a little miffed. "The girl who stayed and fought to protect Kamihama, or the girl who ran for shelter and hid? Dammit, what on earth is she thinking…"

"I… I see," the blonde girl murmurs. "To tell the truth… I wasn't sure what to make of Miss Sorashi's words… since I did manage to attend the meeting. But what she said just fit together too well for me to dismiss it out of hand…"

"Sal-chan…? What on earth did she say?" Inui asks, blinking at her.

"That… that Miss Tamaki selfishly interfered with our salvation when it was about to come to fruition," Sal says.

Amu and Chiu both nod.

"She said the same to me too," Amu says.

"And… me too," Chiu says.

"Well, that much is hard to deny, though the claim that it was about to come to fruition is suspect," Inui says. "But it seems like there's more?"

"She said… Miss Tamaki wants to keep the automatic purification system for herself and her friends," Sal continues. "That all her talk of cooperation between magical girls is just for show. She also said that… that we shouldn't use PMMM… though I already have an account…"

"I hadn't made an account yet," Amu says. "I couldn't decide whether I wanted to join…"

"I see, I see," Inui says. "I wonder how many magical girls she's been talking to…"

"Do you think… she was lying?" Chiu asks. "Miss Sorashi, I mean…"

"Well, I think she was right about one thing," Inui says. "I'm not sure if Iro-Iro really realizes it herself, but… her motivations in opposing the Wings of the Magius were at least a little bit selfish. But like… that's just normal, y'know? Everyone's a little bit selfish. You gotta look at the bigger picture. I mean… it was only a little bit selfish, right? She was thinking of all the people who had been hurt by the Wings of the Magius – ordinary humans and magical girls alike. So her actions were more selfless than selfish, don't you think?"

"I'm not sure," Sal mutters. "I'm really not sure what to think anymore… I just wanted to shut down all the horrible rumours about my Grandma. I never asked to be pulled into such heavy stuff…"

"Well, you know, no-one's forcing you, right?" Inui points out. "If you don't want to be involved in this heavy stuff, you can always just step aside and live out your life in your hometown, can't you?"

"But I can't forget the truth," Sal says. "How can I just continue to live after knowing that?"

"Y-yeah, I don't know what to do," Chiu says. "I'm so scared… there are several strong magical girls in Chiyoda. If I'm not able to find enough grief seeds… I'll turn into a witch."

"Huh, in that sense, aren't you actually pretty lucky to live in Chiyoda?" Inui asks.

"H-huh?" Chiu says. "W-what do you mean?"

"I mean… you have access to a local Coordinator there, right?"

Chiu blinks at her in surprise.

"W-what!? Y-you mean… like Mitama!? There's more girls like her?"

Inui nods. "There's one practicing right in Chiyoda Ward," she says. "Her name is Miss Charmchi. You didn't know, even though you lived there? I can give you directions to her place."

Chiu shakes her head. "I had no idea… I joined the Wings of the Magius less than two weeks after I made my wish…"

"But what about us?" Amu demands. "Is there a Coordinator near us, too? I live in Nagoya…"

"A-and… I live in Yokohama," Sal says. "It's sort of close to Chiyoda, so could you give me her address too?"

"I don't know of any Coordinators other than Miss Charmchi and Mitamamin," Inui says. "Sorry I can't be of more help… but I can give you all Miss Charmchi's info. Maybe she can direct you to one who's closer to home."

"A-anyway, even with a Coordinator nearby, it's really scary," Chiu says.

"Yeah," Inui says. "It really is scary to know the truth… I think the Wings of the Magius were wrong to tell all their members about it… and that goes for us too, of course. But there are plenty of people who learn to live with it, you know? Why don't you try talking to some other magical girls about that?"

"I… I don't know," Chiu says hesitantly. "Talking to strangers… is awfully hard…"

"You could try Miss Charmchi first," Inui suggests. "And, well… if you're really desperate, it is possible to forget. I know someone who's skilled in memory manipulation magic. She could make you forget the truth, if you really can't face it."

"I… I see," Amu murmurs. "I… you've given me something to think about. Thank you for agreeing to speak with us."

Inui chuckles. "How could I turn you down?" she asks. "So, um… are we done with this chat for now? I do have an appointment after this, after all… and I'm already running late…"

"Ah… yes, I think I'll be fine for now," Amu says.

Chiu nods. "I'm… going to ponder everything you've said," she says. "But… I might want to chat a bit more tomorrow…"

"That's fine, just email me whenever," Inui says. "Or you can send me a private message on PMMM if you have an account – my nickname is Seidou in hiragana. That's se-i-do-u."

"I think I'm starting to feel a lot better after this conversation," Sal says. "I'm thinking of returning home first thing in the morning…"

"Alright then," Inui says.

She whips out her phone and opens the map app, locating Miss Charmchi's office and sending the three of them the coordinates – apparently she already had their emails.

"I sent you the coordinates of Miss Charmchi's place," she says. "Well then… I'll be going now. See you later."

With that, she gulps down the last of her drink, then gets up and leaves the premises. On her way to the train station, she runs into someone else.

"Ah! Inui-chan, I was looking for you!"

She turns and blinks at the girl addressing her. It's Karin, of all people.

"What's up, Karin-chi?" she asks. "I was on my way to meet up with Ashley, so if you could be quick…?"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Karin says. "Um… it's about the Kamihama Magia Union. Oh, you haven't joined, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I haven't joined," Inui says. "Ashley's not joining, so I don't want to either. Is that a problem?"

"Huh? No, it's not a problem," Karin says. "But even if you're not a member, Iroha-chan wanted to offer you an invite to the inauguration party next week. You weren't answering your phone, so I came searching for you. Oh, the invitation is extended to Ashley-chan too, of course!"

"Ah, um… I'll pass on the invitation to Ashley," Inui says. "However… I think we probably won't go… I'll let you or Iro-Iro know once I'm sure."

"Oh, okay," Karin says. "Sorry to keep you… huh?"

At that moment, both of them look startled and turn to face the same direction. I think they're roughly facing west.

"What… what was that?" Karin asks.

"It felt like… a witch!" Inui gasps. "And a really powerful one, too… comparable to Walpurgisnacht!"

In the distance, something like a dark dome can be seen, rapidly expanding.

"It's expanding so fast!" Karin gasps.

"Oh no, at this rate I won't be able to see Ashley!" Inui complains.

Suddenly, Karin transforms, brandishing her scythe for a moment before straddling it.

"Hop on!" she says.

"Huh?" Inui says.

"If I fly, I think I can barely outrun it!" Karin says. "You want to see Ashley-chan, right?"

"Ah… okay!" Inui says.

She straddles the scythe too and holds on to Karin, who kicks the ground to lift off, turning to face away from the oncoming darkness, which has almost caught up to them just in that short time. They speed away, rising on an angle towards the east edge of the city, just barely staying ahead of the threshold of darkness. Then there's a slight green flash as they break free of Alina's barrier. The expanding darkness below stops at the barrier, producing a crackling green lightning from the collision. It continues to expand horizontally however, until it has filled the entire area covered by Alina's barrier. Apparently, Alina's barrier is somehow able to confine it to Kamihama.

"Wow," Inui says. "That's one powerful witch… I really hope everyone else is okay… where did it even come from so suddenly?"

"Yeah… I hope so too," Karin says. "I'm worried about Riko-chan, and Granny, and Iroha-chan… but there are lots of strong magical girls in Kamihama, so I'm sure they'll work something out! What's important is that you can still see Ashley-chan, right?"

"Y-yeah… something like that," Inui says. "Though I do feel a little bit guilty abandoning them like that… not that I could do much even if I'd stayed…"

At that moment, an array of magical diagrams pops up a few hundred metres away, and Pernelle appears, landing lightly upon a barrier platform.

"Ah, let's go talk to her!" Inui exclaims.

"Oh, it's the lady who teleported us in the other timeline!" Karin gasps.

"Huh, you've met Pernelle before?" Inui asks.

"Well, only very briefly," Karin says. "But I guess she won't remember that…"

She approaches Pernelle, and Inui calls out to her.

"Pernelle! May we land on your barrier?"

Pernelle turns to look at the two of them in surprise.

"I suppose I can allow it," she says.

With a shrug, she expands the size of the barrier to make room for them, and then Karin lands next to her, the two girls getting off the scythe.

"I suppose you barely managed to escape by utilizing the third dimension," Pernelle muses. "Are you aware of what this witch is?"

Inui shakes her head. "No… do you know something, Pernelle? It seems as strong as Walpurgisnacht…"

"It is a very long time since I sensed this witch," Pernelle says. "It was defeated over six hundred years ago, by a dear friend of mine."

"Huh!?" Inui gasps. "Someone like you had a friend!?"

Pernelle chuckles. "Indeed, that girl managed to seize my heart in a way that none other before or since has done," she says.

"But you said it was defeated," Karin says. "So… how is it here? Did you only defeat an offshoot?"

"I am uncertain," Pernelle says. "That is why I came to investigate more closely."

"So, um… what's the name of this witch?" Inui asks.

"It is the Twilight of the Queen," Pernelle says. "Although… now that I see it up close, there appears to be another magic mixed in that I do not recognize…"

At that moment, something twists in the air near them, and another magical girl is expelled, someone I don't recognize. She appears to be in her thirties and of Asian descent, judging by the black hair and slanted eyes. Her hair is tied into a ponytail and falls to such a length that it would trail on the ground if she weren't floating in mid-air. Her outfit is a black and white dress in something like a gothic lolita style – something about the outfit looks familiar somehow, but I can't quite place it. She lands on a blue block with gold lettering that appears out of nowhere, blinking at the others. The block appears to bear the letters A, M, F, I, C, and Y.

"Oh?" she says. "If it isn't Miss Itsumi and Miss Misono. Were you able to avoid the expansion by flying?"

"Um… who are you?" Inui asks. "And how do you know my name?"

"Does it really matter?" the woman says.

Turning to Pernelle, she does a little curtsey.

"You must be the famous Pernelle Flamel," she says with a smile. "It's an honour to meet you yet again."

"I'm sorry," Pernelle says. "I confess that I don't recall meeting you before."

"Well, I didn't expect you to," the unknown woman says. "But knowing you, I suppose you must be very curious about this situation…"

"Indeed," Pernelle says. "The Twilight of the Queen should have been defeated six hundred years ago, so how can it appear here and now?"

The woman clicks her tongue, shaking her head as if in disbelief.

"Don't tell me that the great Pernelle Flamel has never encountered the Witch of Symbols?" she asks.

"The Witch of Symbols?" Pernelle says. "Is that the other magic mixed in here? I've never seen that witch before."

"Of course," the unknown woman says. "I don't fully understand the mechanics, but it must be an interaction between the two witches that allowed Isabeau to extend her influence to this time."

"How much know ye about the Twilight of the Queen?" Pernelle asks.

"Only what I've heard from Scheherazade," the unknown woman says. "It probably doesn't compare to your firsthand knowledge."

"Know ye whether there is a way to sever the connection?" Pernelle asks.

"There is," the unknown woman says. "But I think it'll have to be handled from within the barrier… there is nothing we can do but watch and wait."

"If that's the case, why'd you even come?" Inui asks. "If you didn't plan to do anything…"

"Oh, because I just wanted to make sure of something," the unknown woman says. "The spacetime distortions are rapidly getting worse, you see. It started a few months ago, but then it really accelerated just this past Monday. I need to be in close proximity to truly comprehend the severity."

"What's this about a distortion?" Karin asks.

"It's kind of complicated," the unknown woman says. "But suffice to say… you could say that this world of ours is thoroughly crumpled, and right here in Kamihama, it has been tied into a knot. I can't help but wonder how much strain the spacetime continuum can take before it breaks… but Scheherazade seems to think it'll be okay with this much, so I trust her for now."

"What would happen if it… breaks?" Inui asks.

"Isn't that obvious?" the unknown woman says.

"Not to me it's not!" Inui protests.

"Geez, you should study more," the woman says. "What a pain…"

"Pernelle, do you know the answer?" Inui asks.

"Of course not," Pernelle says. "No-one does. I can only speculate. A space-time rupture could be relatively harmless, but I suppose it could also tear the world asunder and destroy all of history. There really is no precedent, however, so I cannot even begin to estimate the chance of such a cataclysm… nor its ultimate consequences. For all I know, it may have happened before, and we simply cannot remember."

"Though such a cataclysm is what I'm most afraid of, I don't know if I'm just being paranoid, or if it's a genuine concern," the unknown woman says. "There's just too much I don't understand…"

"Hey… if this started just a few months ago… could you be referring to the time loops?" Karin asks.

"Oh, you know about them?" the woman says. "That's unexpected. Though, I guess the deja vu does become quite noticeable after enough loops… but no, the distortion in this world has been present for as long as I can remember, though it did get quite a bit worse when the time loops started."

"How long is that?" Inui asks.

"Longer than you can imagine," the woman says enigmatically.

"Can you remember the other loops?" Inui asks.

"How could I remember such a thing?" the woman retorts. "I wasn't the one who turned back time, now was I?"

"I… yeah, you're right," Inui says. "Um, so… do you mind telling me your name? It's unfair that you know my name but I don't know yours…"

The woman sighs. "I don't see why I should have to tell you," she says.

Inui blinks, looking surprised for some reason, as the woman turns to gaze down at the barrier.

"Well… it seems it's not likely to destabilize any further for now," she says. "Guess there's no point in watching over it. I expect we'll meet again someday, but for now… farewell."

With that, she hops back into her twisted space, the block she'd been standing on disappearing with a poof.

"Say, Miss Pernelle… she seemed to know you," Inui says. "Are you sure you don't remember her? Not even a clue as to her identity?"

Pernelle tilts her head, pondering for a moment

"There was something slightly familiar," she admits.

She closes her eyes for a moment to think. Then they snap open again.

"If I ignore her physical appearance and focus only on her speech, mannerisms, and apparent knowledge," Pernelle says, "then one person does come to mind."

"And who's that?" Inui asks.

"Sainte-Germaine," Pernelle says. "A woman I briefly met in the sixteenth century, whose origins were shrouded in mystery. She built quite the reputation in Europe at the time. Though she looked nothing like that woman, if she had been concealing some power of transformation, then I suppose they could be one and the same. But that is mere speculation."

"Okay, I guess that'll have to do," Inui says. "Well, um… I don't think there's any other reason for us to hang around. I should hurry to Mitakihara, but… Karin-chi… are you going to be alright?"

"Eh, can't I just come with you?" Karin says. "I mean, how else are you going to get there, anyway? Doesn't it seem like the trains would be shut down with that barrier?"

"Ah, you have a point," Inui says. "Alright… fine, I guess you can join us. I wanted to have Ashley to myself, but…"

"Well, I can sleep on the couch or something," Karin says. "So you can still have her to yourself…"

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Inui says. "Let's go!"

"Travel safe," Pernelle says, sounding a little distracted.

The two of them straddle Karin's scythe again, and then they zoom off towards Mitakihara. I decide to end my vision there.

I sit up and head downstairs to where Mrs Hayashi has started cooking.

"Um, excuse me?" I say.

"Ah, Ashley, what is it?" she asks.

"Do you think you could accommodate one more guest?" I ask. "It seems we've got an unexpected extra…"

"Oh, another friend of yours?" Mrs Hayashi says.

"Yes, and she'd like to stay the night too, if it's not too much trouble," I say.

"That's fine with me," Mrs Hayashi says. "I could put a futon on the floor in your room, or she could sleep on the couch in the living room."

"She said she'd be okay with a couch," I say.

"Okay," Mrs Hayashi says. "You came at a good time, since I just started cooking… I'll just have to make a little extra. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem," I say. "And I'm sorry it was on such short notice."

Mrs Hayashi chuckles.

"You really are very polite," she says. "My daughters could learn a thing or two from your manners…"

"Well, I'll be up in my room until they get here," I say.

"Of course," she says.

With that, I head back upstairs and flop on my bed with a sigh. Who was that unknown woman? Her manner of speech makes her sound like an ancient, so based on my conversations with Scheherazade, she has to be someone I know of, right? Scheherazade explicitly said that I now know of all the ancient magical girls who exist.

But I don't recognize this one at all… well, my best guess is Amaryllis though. After all, she's the only one I know of who can change her appearance, other than maybe Eris, but Eris was pretty hostile last time we met. Besides that, some details about her do seem to match, but Amaryllis never had the ability to teleport, and why would she know about Isabeau or spacial distortions? I suppose it's definitely within the realm of possibility if you assume she lived that long, but… I also feel like her personality doesn't match…

As for Pernelle's theory about Sainte-Germaine, I think that has to be just a red herring, given Scheherazade's words. I had never heard of Sainte-Germaine before today, after all.

The other thing I'm wondering about is what could have happened on Monday that might make spacetime distortions worse. Could it have been Yuzuki Rion's contract? That was certainly something quite dramatic that seems like it could maybe do it. On the other hand… if the distortions didn't start when Homura began her time loops, then what's the actual cause of them? The shen also mentioned the distortions when they talked about offing me, so I have no doubt that they're real, but what could be causing them?

I suddenly blink as another possibility comes to mind. Could the Witch of Symbols be the root of those distortions? Based on what Scheherazade said about that witch, it does seem plausible…

Before I know it, a knock on the door comes, and I scramble downstairs to answer it. Hiyori beats me to it however, having been practicing her harp in the living room.

"Good evening, Inui-chan!" she says. "And huh, Karin-chan too? I didn't know you were coming."

"Sorry to intrude," Karin says as she steps inside. "It was, um… a sudden decision, so…"

"Inui, Karin-chan!" I exclaim. "I'm glad you managed to make it."

"Huh?" Karin says. "Did you know I was coming?"

"Yeah, I was watching the whole thing," I say.

"Oh, I see," Inui says. "So do you know who that woman was?"

"Sorry… I'm really not sure," I say. "Anyway, I think it'll still be awhile before dinner is ready, so what do you want to do until then?"

"Let's watch your vlog together!" Inui says.

"Uhh, but haven't you seen it already?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I want to watch it together with you!" Inui says.

"Well, alright," I say. "Then let's go upstairs… are you gonna come too, Karin-chan?"

"Ah, I haven't seen it, so I'm a little curious now," Karin says.

So we head up stairs, where I settle down at my computer and navigate to my youtube channel to show the vlog entry that Ashley recently posted.

After watching it, Karin seems particularly impressed.

"That was amazing, Ashley-chan!" she says. "Most of those scenes were filmed separately, right? But you somehow made it all flow so well…"

"I've been vlogging for ages, my video editing skills are totes awesome," Ashley replies smugly. "You should see my first few videos. Ah, but I'd prefer you didn't! They're just plain awful in comparison!"

"Well, I'll think about it," Karin says. "But man, I hope my parents and Grandma are okay… that labyrinth suddenly swallowed the whole city…"

"It looked like it might've been able to expand even more if Alina's barrier hadn't been there," Inui adds.

"I'm actually kind of surprised that Alina's barrier is capable of stopping it," I say. "If it really is the influence of the Queen's Twilight reaching through time to this era…"

"Pernelle mentioned that too," Inui says. "What is this Twilight of the Queen?"

"Queen's Twilight, or Crépuscule de la Reine to give it its proper name, is a witch from fifteenth century France that was defeated by Jeanne d'Arc," I say.

"So… are you saying that a witch from over six hundred years ago somehow managed to swallow Kamihama?" Karin asks. "How is that even possible?"

"I've always wondered the same thing," I say. "But I think that other woman actually gave the answer – the Witch of Symbols."

"And what's the Witch of Symbols?" Karin asks.

"It's a witch you know very well," I say. "Though you've probably only fought the familiars… but they're everywhere in Kamihama. The labyrinth looks like it's littered with eggs, and the familiars themselves come in a wide variety of forms. Some look like an egg, some look like they're sitting on chairs…"

"Ah, you're right, I've fought those guys a lot," Karin says. "But I've never found the actual witch… I wonder where she could be hiding?"

"Scheherazade believes she's built up a nest beyond the reach of time, whatever that means," I say. "In other words, she's holed up somewhere we can't reach and is constantly sending out familiars."

"That actually sounds pretty ominous," Inui says. "If we can't reach her, how will we ever defeat her?"

"We'll need to draw her out somehow," I say. "But we don't need to worry about it right now. Iroha and Miss Nanami should be able to sort out the situation in Kamihama, though I'm not sure how long it will take. Hopefully not long. We can deal with the Witch of Symbols later on. I think Scheherazade already has a plan, so let's just let her figure things out for now."

"Ah, alright," Karin says.

"By the way, Inui, I saw you talking with three former feathers, but… it looked like you'd just gotten started," I say. "Is that really what delayed you?"

"Oh, you saw that?" Inui says. "But that was just the tail end of it. There were a bunch of feathers who wanted to talk on my way out of Fendt Hope. Then when I thought I was finally in the clear, those three flagged me down."

"Ah, so there were more than just those three, gotcha," I say.

At that point, Mrs Hayashi calls us down for dinner.

The following morning…

"Are you awake?" Yachiyo asks.

She and Iroha are in the living area of Crescent Moon Villa, with the two coloured candles in front of them. It's fairly early in the morning, and vestiges of sunlight are barely visible around the closed curtains.

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha exclaims. "Um… where are the candles? And Tart…"

"Candles? Tart? What are you talking about?" Yachiyo says.

"What?" Iroha gasps. "Did you forget!?"

Yachiyo chuckles. "I'm joking," she says. "I still remember everything."

"Thank goodness," Iroha says.

At that moment, Felicia stomps into the room, followed by Sana and Ai.

"Oh, Iroha, you're finally awake!" she exclaims. "Everything's back to normal here!"

"The sun is out again!" Sana says. "See?"

She steps over to open the curtains.

"That's good to hear," Iroha says.

"Okay, let's go!" Felicia exclaims.

"Go where?" Yachiyo asks.

"To get some meat!" Felicia exclaims. "Let's buy, like, a huge slab of meat!"

"Fine," Yachiyo says. "We can go together soon."

"Woohoo!" Felicia cheers. "Tonight's gonna be the best night eveeer!"

"Um, Miss Yachiyo?" Iroha says.

"Yes?" Yachiyo says.

"After Tart woke up from her dream… do you think she was able to win the battle at that fortress?" Iroha asks.

"Shall we look it up in a history book?" Yachiyo suggests. "Before our memories completely fade…"

"Yeah!" Iroha says.

Yachiyo gets up and heads for a bookshelf, scanning until she finds a book that seems to cover the history of Europe. Opening it to the index, she scans for mentions of Jeanne d'Arc and Orléans, then turns to the indicated page and reads out loud while Iroha peers over her shoulder..

"On May seventh of 1429, Tourelles surrendered," she quotes. "The next day, England abandoned Orléans. With that, Jeanne d'Arc carried out her greatest feat of liberating the city. A poet from the same era, Christine de Pizan, wrote about her in 'The Tale of Jeanne d'Arc' – 'In 1429, the sun shone once again.'"

"Thank goodness!" Iroha says. "Tart's wish came true. She was able to bring light to France!"

"Yes, it looks like it," Yachiyo says. "If what Kyuubey said is true… we'll likely forget about what happened soon, but… I'll miss them."

"Yeah, me too," Iroha says. "Huh?"

Suddenly, she points at a picture alongside the text.

"Miss Yachiyo, look at this picture here!" she exclaims.

"Wait… is that…!?" Yachiyo gasps.

The picture is the same one I showed to them two timelines ago, depicting Jeanne d'Arc flying her Kyuubey banner, with Iroha and Yachiyo just behind her. It's a very rough depiction of the pair, but the costumes are distinctive enough to be easily recognizable.

"Is that us… next to Jeanne d'Arc?"

"Yeah, that looks like us in our magical girl outfits," Iroha says.

"It must be because of what happened," Yachiyo says. "Tart must've remembered what happened in the dream."

"I guess she told someone about it," Iroha says.

"Well, I don't think anyone else will realize that's us," Yachiyo says.

"It's a little embarrassing," Iroha says.

"More than a little," Yachiyo agrees.

I open my eyes to see Inui staring at me.

"Ah! I knew you were awake!" she exclaims. "What were you watching this time?"

"Just Iroha and Miss Nanami," I say.

"Oh… is that black dome gone already?" Inui asks.

"Yeah, looks like it," I say. "Say… why don't all three of us go back to Kamihama after breakfast? There's something I'd like to do if possible…"

"Fine with me!" Inui says. "We can ask Karin-chi too, once she's awake."

"Come to think of it, she left without any notice," I say. "Her parents might be worried…"

"Oh… you're right," Inui says. "Then let's wake her up and leave as soon as possible!"

After getting dressed, we head downstairs for breakfast. The sisters are up too, and they greet us enthusiastically. Karin joins us a few minutes later, and once we've all finished eating, the three of us head out together to catch a train to Kamihama. Once we're on the train, I check in on Iroha again.

"So as you can see, at one point… it was an end-of-all-humanity level crisis," Yachiyo concludes.

She and Iroha are at the Coordinator's, where they have just finished complaining about the recent events to Mitama, though without going into much detail.

"I'm so sorry," Mitama says. "I'll take the book and candles and properly dispose of them! I had no idea it was such a terrible spell."

"Oh, no," Iroha says. "The antique candles were what triggered everything, not the spell."

"The spell itself was actually harmless," Yachiyo agrees.

"That's a relief!" Mitama says. "I heard it became widespread in France during the era of Jeanne d'Arc. I guess it was just some little spell that's been passed down!"

"What!?" Yachiyo gasps.

"From the era of Jeanne d'Arc?" Iroha says.

"That's right," Mitama says.

"Hey, do you think…?" Yachiyo asks, looking at Iroha. "After we taught Melissa that spell in the dream… maybe she remembered it even after waking up. And then she shared it with everyone?"

"Really?" Iroha says. "I guess it's possible… there's even a picture of us in that book after all."

"Having to use red and blue candles also feels awfully specific," Yachiyo says.

"Maybe that's another custom we set?" Iroha muses.

"I think you might be right," Yachiyo says.

"Oh, but… huh?" Iroha says. "Wait a minute. I'm so confused!"

"What's wrong?" Yachiyo asks.

"Um, so… the spell we shared became widespread in Tart's era," Iroha says. "And that's how Miss Mitama learned of it, and then she was the one to teach it to us. And then we taught the spell to Melissa… which brings us right back to the start?"

"I guess so," Yachiyo says.

"Then who came up with that spell in the first place?" Iroha asks. "Ugh, it's just like the telephone game…"

"It really is," Yachiyo says. "The book never mentioned how to set up the candles. Everyone passed along what they heard. The spell that no-one came up with just circled around and around."

She blinks suddenly, her eyes widening a little.

"Could it be? We were so worried the whole time about changing history, but… everything worked out in the end. So maybe it would have, no matter what?"

"Now that you mention it!?" Iroha says.

"Kyuubey said something like that too," Yachiyo says.

"Oh, but what about that picture?" Iroha asks. "We must've changed the past. That's why that picture was made of us, right?"

"I wonder," Yachiyo says. "Maybe we just didn't know. That picture could've existed before we ever even lit those candles."

Both of them let out a sigh.

"I guess there's no point wondering about something we'll never know," Yachiyo says.

Mitama just looks confused by the conversation.

With that, the two of them leave the Coordinator's and head towards Crescent Moon Villa… but for some reason, they continue past the villa until they reach the train station. There they find Ui idling, seemingly pondering something. Suddenly she notices the two of them.

"Huh? Onee-chan?" Ui says.

"Ui?" Iroha says. "I thought you were at Nemu-chan's place…"

"What are you two doing here?" Ui asks.

"We're on our way back from the Coordinator's," Iroha says.

"We went to report to Mitama," Yachiyo says. "Or rather, file a small complaint."

"Did something happen…?" Ui asks.

"Yeah, Mitama taught us a spell, and…" Yachiyo trails off.

"With scented candles," Iroha adds.

"Huh… what…?" Ui says. "A spell that gives good dreams?"

"Huh? Yes," Iroha says. "But how did you know that, Ui?"

"Oh, um… I'm not sure…" Ui says.

At that moment they all blink, as though they've seen something that's visible only to them.

"What…?" Yachiyo says.

"What's that light?" Ui wonders.

"Is it… calling us?" Iroha muses.

The three of them then turn and head for the river.

Inui, Karin, and I get off the train a minute or so after the mysterious light that only Iroha and the others could see.

"I'm going to teleport from here," I say. "Will you be fine on your own, Karin-chan? Or I don't mind if you come along, but I'm sure you'd like to reassure your parents that you're okay…"

"Of course I'll be fine!" Karin says. "But where are you going?"

"To the riverside to meet up with Iroha and the others," I say.

"Oh, then you can give her your answer to the invitation," Karin says.

"Ah, yes, I can do that," I say. "See you later, Karin-chan."

"See you, Karin-chi!" Inui says.

"You too!" Karin says.

With that, she walks off in the direction of her house, and I lead Inui into an alleyway and sink into the shadows. I peer at the possible exits until I spot Sakurako in one of them, standing in a small park in her Minaminagi Liberty Academy uniform, even though it's not a school day. The two of us exit into the shadow of a tree, and I scan the area with my clairvoyance, searching for Touka and Nemu. After a moment, I spot the two of them entering the park. Then, just as they notice Sakurako and come over, Yachiyo and the Tamaki sisters round a corner and also spot Sakurako.

"Ah," Iroha says.

"Sakurako-chan," Ui says.

"Onee-san and everyone else," Nemu says. "Why are you all here?"

"Are you meeting someone?" Touka asks.

"No, we're not," Iroha says. "I just felt like someone was calling us…"

"That happened to me as well," Sakurako says.

"You too?" Iroha gasps.

Just then, I hear something like a gunshot nearby, somewhere high up. I scan the rooftops with my clairvoyance, searching for the source… but it wasn't a gunshot, as it turns out. The bang is followed immediately by the sound of bells, and then the missile explodes into a light display – something like fireworks, though it is very strange to see fireworks at this time of day.

"Ah," Iroha says.

"The sound of bells?" Ui says.

"And the sky is filled with light," Yachiyo says. "It's wonderful…"

"Yeah," Iroha agrees. "It's a nice, gentle light…"

While they're watching the light display, I've located the source atop one of the nearby buildings. It's Melissa and Elisa, together with a third girl, presumably also a magical girl, though I don't see a ring on her finger. Elisa is powered up, with her elaborate dragon-themed gun resting on her shoulder, but Melissa is wearing similar clothes to the last time I saw her – a blue pleated skirt and a long-sleeve blouse.

The extra closely resembles the woman that Inui met the day before, but she's quite a bit shorter. It's a level of resemblance that would make most people peg them as sisters, or possibly mother and daughter, but I have a feeling that I shouldn't jump to such conclusions here. She looks to be around thirteen years old, has her black hair in a high ponytail, and is dressed casually in blue track pants and a pale lavender tee-shirt.

As I sink into the shadows, intending to join the three of them on the rooftop, the unknown girl speaks.

"Well, it's quite an impressive display," she says. "But is it really okay to leave things like this?"

Elisa powers down, revealing that she too is wearing similar clothes to last time – a blouse and a red pleated skirt. The gun vanishes too – I'm pretty sure it's an item crafted by Pernelle, so it has probably been stored in her soul gem, much like my sword.

"Yes, I just wanted to give them one final salute," she says. "We're eons apart in age, so I don't think it would be suitable to mingle… but I really do have to thank you for using your magic to bring them together. I never would've thought of that."

The other girl shrugs. "It's no big deal," she says. "I happened to be in the area anyway."

Melissa sighs. "But… I don't know…"

That's when Inui and I pop up right behind her.

"Don't be silly, Elisa," I say. "You could at least go down and say hi."

"W-what?!" Elisa gasps, startled at our sudden appearance. "Ah… it's you again…"

"Huh? Do you know these girls?" the unknown girl asks.

"Oh, we met them near the antique shop before," Melissa says. "Good morning, Miss Taylor, and Miss Itsumi!'

"Nice to see you again, Mel-chan!" Inui says.

"And who's this…?" I ask.

"I'm sorry, but it's probably better for me not to give out my name right now," the girl says with a smile. "But I'm sure we'll meet again soon. Perhaps I can properly introduce myself then."

With that, she glows brightly for a moment, then vanishes without trace. It reminds me of what Shizuka and the others had said about the unknown girl who met them in Tokime village. Could she be the same girl?

"So… are you really gonna just leave them down there?" I ask. "Come on, you should at least say hi."

"I don't see why we should," Elisa retorts. "We are six hundred years old. Those girls aren't even twenty. We live in completely different worlds."

"That doesn't mean your worlds can't intersect now and then," I retort.

"To tell the truth… I would like to say hi," Melissa says. "Do you mind, Liz? You could even wait here…"

"Are you stupid!?" Elisa exclaims. "Why would I let you go alone!"

"Alright, then let's go," I say.

I seize their hands and drag them along as I leap straight off the roof, summoning Teddy Mk II in mid-leap and landing on him. Out of the corner of my eye I see Inui jump after me and grab onto Teddy's leg, while Elisa and Melissa somehow manage to land on his arms.

I still have a vision open on Iroha and the others, and they choose this time to break the silence.

"Is this a coincidence?" Yachiyo wonders. "Thanks to that light, the four girls mentioned in the Rumour of the Eternal Sakura are gathered here."

"You're right!" Iroha says.

"Well, we see each other all the time," Touka says dismissively.

"It happens all the time," Sakurako agrees. "But it's like a miracle. The future that those who lived in the past prayed for… the limits of the light that they protected… that's why we're here now… I think."

Nemu blinks in surprise. "Wow… I never imagined that you would speak such profound words. What kind of experience have you encountered?"

"That's… I don't know… how to describe it in words," Sakurako says.

We've descended fast and are already almost at ground level, so I hop off and run over towards Iroha and the others, contacting her by telepathy.

«Iroha, turn around!»

She does as I ask, looking surprised.

"Huh? What is it, onee-chan…?" Ui asks.

She too turns around and blinks.

"Huh? Those girls… they look… strangely familiar," Ui says.

Yachiyo and the others also turn to face us.

"Impossible," Sakurako says firmly.

"What's impossible…?" Nemu asks, confused.

"Good morning, Iroha, Ui, Miss Nanami," I say. "Touka, Nemu, Sakurako. I found some people who would like to say hi to you."

"I never said I wanted to say hi," Elisa mutters.

"Good morning, Miss Yachiyo, Miss Iroha," Melissa says with a smile.

"Excuse me, but… have we met before…?" Yachiyo asks.

"That voice…!" Ui gasps.

"But… there's no way…!" Iroha gasps.

I chuckle. "Well… Touka and Nemu clearly have no idea what's going on, so let me properly introduce them," I say. "On my right hand is Melissa de Vignolles, daughter of Étienne de Vignolles, the man also known as La Hire. And on my left hand is Elizabeth of Luxembourg, daughter of Barbara Celjska."

"H-how is this…even possible?" Iroha asks.

"I would like to know that too," Nemu says. "Elizabeth of Luxembourg lived over six hundred years ago. Do you truly expect us to believe such a young girl is her?"

"Well, it might be a bit difficult to convince you two," I say. "But I think everyone else here is already convinced of their identity, so I don't think it much matters what you and Touka think."

"Hmph!" Touka says.

"Um… what about Liz…?" Iroha asks.

"Huh? I'm right here?" Elisa says, startled.

"No, she means Elizabeth Hawkwood," I say.

"Oh, duuuh!" Elisa says. "She passed away back then…"

"Huh?" Ui says. "Were Liz and Elisa both short for Elizabeth…?"

"Yeah, the two of us had the same name," Elisa says. "But we always called each other Liz and Elisa back then… but Mel's been calling me Liz recently, so I got confused for a minute there."

"Ah, I see," Iroha says. "But how is it that we can meet you here…?"

"It's nothing all that complicated," Elisa says with a shrug. "All we did was live on."

"Huh?" Iroha says.

"In other words, they are exactly as old as you're imagining," I say. "You could say they crossed time the hard way to meet you again."

"But they don't look any older at all," Iroha says.

"Ah, that's just a little magic trick we picked up at some point," Melissa says. "It's really inconvenient being an old lady, you know."

Iroha giggles. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"I'd like to let you guys spend some time to catch up, Iroha," I say. "But I also had a couple of things to discuss. Do you mind if I drop by for a bit?"

"Ah, sure," Iroha says. "But there's someplace we have to go first, is that okay?"

"We promised Felicia that we'd go shopping for meat with her," Yachiyo says.

"Yeah, that's fine," I say. "The others will be home, right? Should I go on ahead?"

"That's entirely up to you," Iroha says. "But yes, if nothing else, at least Ai-chan will definitely be home. I think Sana-chan probably will be as well, but I can't speak for Tsuruno-chan or Felicia-chan."

"Then I'll go on ahead and meet you back at the villa," I say.

"Well, shall we get going then?" Iroha asks.

"Yeah!" Ui says.

"We're heading home," Nemu says. "What about you, Sakurako?"

"May I go with you?" Sakurako asks.

"Of course," Nemu says.

"Come on, come on, let's gooo!" Touka says impatiently.

So we split up into three groups – Touka, Nemu, and Sakurako head north, Inui and I make for the bridge, and everyone else follows Yachiyo. A few minutes later, we make it to Crescent Moon Villa, and I knock on the door. There's a sound from within, and then the door is answered by Sana.

"A-ah, Miss Taylor!" she gasps. "I wasn't expecting you… but Miss Iroha isn't in right now."

"I know, I was just with her," I say. "She'll be back soon too. I had a couple of things to discuss that I thought it would be better not to talk about in a public place."

"Ah, in that case, how about you come in and wait for her then?" Sana says.

"Thank you," I say.

Inui and I step inside and slip off our shoes. The only other person here is Ai, looking for all the world like Sana's twin. She's sitting on one of the couches with a laptop, typing furiously.

"What's Ai-chan up to…?" I ask.

"Ah, I'm not quite sure, to be honest," Sana says. "It looks like she's programming something, but she's been so focused on it that I can't get anything out of her."

"I see," I say.

"Um, so, would you like some tea?" Sana asks.

"Thanks, I'd like that, provided you have milk to put in it," I say.

"Ah, you prefer milk tea?" Sana says. "There should be milk, and we should have some black tea, so I guess that'll work…"

"I also like it a little sweet," I say.

"And Miss Itsumi, would you like some too?" Sana asks.

"Sure," Inui says.

So Sana heads into the kitchen to prepare tea while Inui and I settle down on one of the couches. Remembering the resemblance between the two unknown girls, I decide to bring it up with Inui.

"By the way, did you also think that girl and the woman from yesterday looked related?" I ask.

"Which woman?" Inui asks.

"You don't remember?" I say. "The one who appeared up in the air with Pernelle, above the black dome…"

"Hmm… I don't really remember," Inui says. "Was there a woman like that? I do remember talking to Pernelle though…"

"Huh… I see," I say. "That is… quite enlightening…"

"Hey, um… did she actually exist?" Inui asks. "Did I really forget something so obvious…?"

"Yeah, there was definitely another woman there," I say.

"Huh… that's really weird," Inui says. "And just a teensy bit ominous…"

That's another point in favour of identifying her as Amaryllis, then. And, come to think of it… the familiarity of her costume… yes, I think it looked a lot like Amaryllis's costume. I can't be completely certain, because my memory of her is a little blurred – I guess I'm not completely immune to whatever power made Inui forget about her. So does that mean it's definitely her? I don't think I can be that certain of it, though… the chance of her being an adult magical girl of a normal age who coincidentally happens to have a similar costume… is not zero. And even if Amaryllis is still alive, why would she be hanging around here anyway? Well… I guess I'll act as if she's Amaryllis for now.

At that moment, my thoughts are interrupted as Tsuruno makes a dynamic entry with a yell, hefting a pair of take-out containers from her restaurant.

"Hellooo everyone!" she exclaims. "The mightiest magical girl has brought the side dishes! There's enough fried gyoza for everyone!"

"A-ah, Miss Tsuruno!" Sana exclaims from the kitchen. "Um, Miss Iroha isn't back yet, though. Will they need to be reheated?"

"They're freshly fried!" Tsuruno says. "So as long as everyone's back in a few minutes, it should be a-okay!"

"Okay, and the tea is just about ready," Sana says.

Tsuruno comes over to plop down the food and then looks at us.

"Oh, we have guests," she said. "Hiya, Ashley-chan and Inui-chan."

"Good morning, Miss Tsuruno," I say.

"Tsuruno-chan!" she corrects me.

"Sure, Tsuruno-chan," I say with a shrug.

"So, are you staying for the party too?" Tsuruno asks.

"Are you having it this early…?" I ask.

"Well, I guess it's still a bit early, but we decided to hold it around one o'clock, so it's not that far off," Tsuruno says. "Since Felicia wanted meat, it's gonna be a barbecue party, and that's best done when it's bright outside. But maybe it'll run all the way to dinnertime. By the way, didja hear about Mitama's upcoming event? It's exactly one week from now, you know."

"Ah, you mean the Mirrors Tournament, right?" I say.

"That's right!" Tsuruno says. "The mightiest magical girl shall test her might! Oh, are you joining too, Miss Ashley?"

"I was actually considering it," I say.

"Maybe we'll face each other," Tsuruno says. "But the mightiest magical girl will not lose!"

"Anyway, to answer your previous question, I wasn't planning on staying for the party," I say. "There were a couple of things I wanted to discuss, but after that I have some things to do."

That isn't entirely true – it's more that I don't want to get in the way of their celebration. But if I come out and say it, they'll probably say it's no trouble at all, and I don't want to argue about that.

"Oh, that's too bad," Tsuruno says. "But you'll at least have a fried gyoza or two before you leave, right? Don't hold back, there's plenty!"

"I'll consider the offer, thanks," I say.

"By the way, Ashley, were you planning on entering that tournament alone?" Inui asks.

"Well, I hadn't quite thought that far," I say.

"Then let's enter together!" Inui says. "Mitamin said it's a team tournament, right? So you and I can be on a team."

"Should we ask someone else to team up with us too?" I ask. "I think it was up to five on a team."

Inui shakes her head. "If your friends from America were still here, I might say yes, but… I don't think there's anyone else who'd make a good team with us."

I shrug. "I can definitely think of a few, but… I don't mind trying a two-person team."

At that moment, the door opens to admit Iroha, Yachiyo, Ui, and Felicia. Tsuruno leaps up to show off her take-out box. At almost the same moment, Sana comes out with tea not just for me and Inui but for the whole gang. It looks like she's already mixed milk and sweetener into mine, so I snag it as she passes by and take a sip.

"I brought fried gyoza!" Tsuruno exclaims. "There's plenty for everyone!"

"Oh, that'll be a great addition!" Iroha says. "I'll have one right now. After that, Tsuruno-chan, do you think you could start setting up the barbecue with the others? I'll listen to Miss Ashley for a few minutes and then join you. Ah, and Ui-chan will introduce the other guests."

It seems Elisa and Melissa are still with them. Tsuruno opens the box and sets it down again, then steps forward to listen as Ui introduces the older pair. At the same time, Iroha sits next to me on the couch, and Yachiyo takes a seat in the adjacent armchair.

"So, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me, Miss Ashley?" Iroha asks.

"Well… this wasn't one of the things, but… you know that painting in the history book with you and Tart?"

Iroha blinks. "Huh… did you know about it?"

"I actually showed it to you guys two timelines ago," I say.

"So it's not like it came into existence because we went back and changed history," Iroha muses. "That's a little reassuring, in a way…"

"And the other little thing to get out of the way is your invitation to the inauguration party," I say. "I don't plan to attend. I think it's better to let you union people celebrate without outsiders like me."

"But even so, I don't understand why you have to be an outsider," Iroha says. "You could just join the union too…"

"I have to go back to America at the end of the summer though," I say. "It doesn't feel right to join up just for the summer and then leave. Although I might be back the following year, but… that's not set in stone or anything."

"Well, it's up to you," Iroha says. "I'm a little disappointed, but if you don't want to come, or you don't want to join, then… there's nothing I can do about it."

"Now, on to the main topic," I say. "I'm going make a rather odd request. Miss Nanami, if I'm not mistaken, you kept the shards of Miss Yukino's soul gem, right?"

Yachiyo blinks in surprise. "Huh? How do you know about that…? But I told Iroha to throw them out just a few days ago, actually…"

"I actually haven't done it yet," Iroha says. "It just didn't feel right to toss them in the trash…? But that really is a very strange question, Miss Ashley… why do you ask?"

"I was hoping to borrow one of those shards," I say.

"W-whatever for…?" Iroha asks.

"Um… how should I put this…? I'd like to show it to someone who knows a lot…? We don't really know much about how Kyuubey's contract works, so…"

"But wouldn't a living soul gem be better for that?" Iroha says. "Ah, but if they wanted to dissect it or something, that wouldn't work…"

"Well, the reason I wanted a broken gem was more for reasons of safety," I say. "There's no chance it'll turn into a witch. But you have a point too– certain kinds of destructive research can't really be done on the living. I'm fine with just a single shard though."

"Well… since we were going to throw them out anyway, I don't see any problem with just handing them all over to you instead," Iroha says. "But, what do you think about it, Miss Yachiyo?"

"Do you think there might be a chance to bring her back?" Yachiyo asks.

I shake my head. "I can't say for sure, obviously, but I doubt it."

"I see," Yachiyo says. "Then… I suppose I can allow it. Do you think this person would actually be able to learn anything, though?"

"Well, I honestly have no idea," I say. "It's a bit of a gamble, really. But, I mean… the worst that can happen is they don't learn anything, right? And you were planning to dispose of them anyway."

"Okay… I'll let you take care of that, Iroha," Yachiyo says. "It sounds like they're having trouble getting the grill started, so I'll go help them out."

With that, she gets to her feet and heads outside, where everyone other than Ai has gone while they were chatting.

"By the way, Iroha, I had one more small question," I say. "That spell for good dreams, with the red and blue candles… do you know if it actually works?"

"Ah, I haven't tried it properly myself," Iroha says. "But Miss Mitama said other girls have reported good dreams after trying it. I'm just confused at where it came from…"

"I wonder if it works because it has no origin," I muse. "I heard from somewhere that we can become magical girls because our souls have no origin, just like that spell."

"I really couldn't say," Iroha says, getting up. "To tell the truth, this is a bit too deep for me… I'll fetch those shards for you."

She heads further inside, returning after a minute or so with a small box, which she hands to me.

"They're all in this box," Iroha says.

"Thank you very much," I say. "Should I return them if the opportunity arises?"

"No… I think it's better not to," Iroha says. "But thanks for offering. I'll see you later."

With that, she too heads out to join the others, and I turn to Inui.

"Well… what should we do next?"

"Hmm," Inui says. "Hunt a few witches, and then… how about we see the aquarium?"

"Oh, that's a good idea," I say. "Let's go!"

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.

Kuroi Kana
黒遺香奈

Age: 19
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Black heart
Soul Gem: Purple spherical gemstone at her throat
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Spiked melee chakram
Powers: Retrocognition
Wish: "I want to clear up my regrets."

Speed: 7
Magical Stamina: 5
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 3
Initial Power Usability: 2
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

This chapter is a little bit unfocused. We've finished with the denouement from the big climax of Act 2, and are in an in-between place where there's currently no strong driving force. So we get an introduction to Pia and Kana, and then the nearly end-of-all-humanity level crisis (to use Yachiyo's words) of the witch of Queen's Twilight attempting to encroach upon the future. However, with Ashley as the viewpoint character, we don't get to actually see what happened in the past. If you're curious, you can watch the following Magia Record events on Youtube:

• The Maiden of Hope
• Rebel of a Dawnless Land
• End of a Legend, the Limits of Light

Or, you could wait a totally unspecified and potentially infinite amount of time for me to write a spinoff fanfic covering them. Your choice.

This chapter was originally quite a bit longer, but I decided to split it in half because, ignoring the Pia and Kana segment at the beginning, it was in fact covering two entirely separate events in sequence. That means the two chapters are a bit shorter than most, but it keeps things more focused… and since that chapter was originally part of this one, it's almost done and will likely be posted in a couple of days (right around Christmas!). Beyond that, I have the next two chapters started, but nowhere close to being completed.

In addition to working on the new chapters, I've done quite a few revisions to older chapters as well.

After some deliberation, I decided to change Alexandra's surname from Cruz to Cruise – it fits the kana reading just as well, and fits better with the nautical theme of her doppel. To that end, I've updated her profile and any chapters that mentioned her surname (chapters 60, 67, 77, 78, 95, 99, 106, and 108).

I also fixed a few continuity errors in other chapters:

• In chapter 77, Chisato, who had met Kagari earlier in the timeline (around chapter 65 if I recall correctly), erroneously asked who Kagari was immediately after dispelling Kagari's magic from herself. I simply deleted the reference.
• In chapter 100, I erroneously had Hitomi claim that her father is dead, but one of the Oriko Magica manga shows him to be very much alive. I updated the reference to state that he's alive but, like the manga shows, very busy, so she rarely sees him.
• In chapter 108, Homura's reaction to Madoka deploying the feathers didn't make sense as someone who had already seen it before, so I adjusted her dialogue.
• Also in chapter 108, I made a correction to Tsubasa's dialogue – she originally said she contracted just before entering grade 11 (second year) but it should've been grade 12.
• In chapter 110, Anna referred to Kriemhild Gretchen by name, but when looking at my notes for future chapters, I realized that she's not supposed to know the witch's name. She now calls it the "witch of salvation" instead.
• In chapter 114, I adjusted the line where Inui suggests feeding the Mikoshiba to a witch. Now she suggests a familiar instead. This fits better in context.
• In chapter 115, the nickname Inui used for Seira wasn't the one I'd previously established. She now refers to Seira as Sei-nyan instead of Sei-tan.
• Also in chapter 115, I changed the date the shen mentioned from May 30 to May 28, for no other reason than that it places the event on a Saturday instead of a Monday. I guess the shen are accomodating enough to schedule their attack for a day when she's not busy?

And a number of typos that I happened to notice have been fixed as well. I won't bother listing them all. I'm sure there's still more that I've missed, so feel free to alert me to typos present in older chapters if you spot them.

Review Responses

Here I'm going to respond to reviews from the last three chapters. I'm not going to respond to each and every comment, and I'll avoid any responses that give heavy spoilers, so apologies if I don't mention your review (and thanks for commenting regardless). As before, I will quote the text that I'm responding to for each review, in addition to noting the commenter and time. I'll also note that there could be some mild spoilers in these responses, so read on at your own risk.

UrWishy (chapter 114, Apr 21, 2024)

› Also the forum is adorable!

I'm glad you seem to like it but I'm not even sure what "adorable" means when describing a forum.

plowplum (chapter 113, Apr 21, 2024)

› could become a point of contention for her against Chelsea for spilling the megucabomb to Momo.

Except… Momo specifically said that she spoke to Kyuubey? So she already knew about magical girls even before being reunited with Kyoko.

Though if by "megucabomb" you mean the truth about turning into witches, sure. I just don't see how that would become a point of contention, as it's more likely to turn Momo off from contracting than encourage her to.

› So Kei tried to possess Homura and failed? In the Beachside Bonds event that was implied to Kuro's witch protecting Homura but Homura's Valentine's Day event wouldnt have occurred in this AU unless Homura met Kuro in an offscreen timeline

I never got that implication from the event (plus I don't think it would make any sense for Kuro's witch to have that kind of effect), but I'm sure there are any number of reasons why Kei might fail to possess Homura. In particular, Homura is in some sense the most experienced magical girl there – maybe she has developed some resistance to that sort of thing. (The Magia Record version of Homura probably hadn't been through as many timelines as this one.) Or maybe it's a question of compatibility – Madoka is more compatible with Kei's soul than Homura is.

And Homura definitely didn't meet Kuro in an offscreen timeline. At first glance it might seem like that's possible – they both live in Mitakihara, after all. But the problem is that (in this fic at least) the two of them look like identical twins, so without the anonymizing factor of black feather robes, the meeting should've had a pretty big impact on Homura. Plus, when they finally did meet at Homura's place, it became clear that it was their first meeting… though to be fair, that happened after chapter 113 where this comment was posted.

JAGwin (chapter 114, Apr 21, 2024)

› Regarding feeding Mikoshiba to a Witch, did you mean a Familiar? Feeding her to a Witch would just make that Witch stronger unless I'm forgetting something, which is unhelpful at best as far as improving an MG's chance of survival goes and actively detrimental at worst, but feeding her to a Familiar means that it might become a Witch and therefore potentially drop a Grief Seed, which IS helpful for that purpose.

You have a point here; feeding her to a familiar would probably be more useful in the short term. That said, it's not like feeding her to a witch would have no effect at all, as sufficiently powerful ones drop multiple grief seeds, plus they'd also produce more familiars.

Still, as mentioned in the notes earlier, I've chosen to change the suggestion to reference a familiar instead.

› Was Sunao supposed to vote twice when they were deciding what to do with Mikoshiba, or was one of them supposed to be someone else?

If you're referring to the fact that Sunao voted for both measures, that was intentional, yes. No-one said you can only vote for one option.

› "Kagenui Yozuru"
› I'm tempted to ask if this is supposed to be Sasame Yozuru, but I'm guessing it's a completely unrelated character.

Your guess is correct. Kagenui Yozuru is yet another Bakemonogatari character. She was mentioned by Shirin earlier too and had an opening excerpt in one chapter, so she might even show up in person eventually.

› Chelsea, what else would they have a reason to bring?

Sure, but who sees a box being pushed around like luggage and immediately thinks that there might be a person inside?

I guess there are probably people who'd think that, but Ashley/Chelsea is not such a person.

› Kanzaki Kanako... Kanzaki Kanako...? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before, but knowing my memory, I'm probably conflating with something again.

If you've heard it somewhere, it's pure coincidence. I think I literally just pulled a random name and surname off BehindTheName. (Well… almost random. I generate 20 or so and pick one that sounds nice while making some minimal attempt to avoid duplicate names – nearly all the actual duplicate names in this fic come from canon.)

› "Like her"? "LIKE HER"!? How the absolute HELL does making Mikoshiba experience a FRACTION more of the suffering she caused make anyone "like her"!? *sigh* Still, dead is dead, and in absence of the ability to turn her into a Witch, that's good enough for me, even if Kuzunoha's thought process here pisses me off.

I think this would be called the "slippery slope" argument. If you continually shift the boundary of what's acceptable, eventually you could end up being the thing you used to despise. One step might not make them "like her", but if they take that step, they'll be less averse to taking another step in that direction, and another, and so forth. The Nietzsche quote from chapter 92 covers the same concept.

Of course, a slippery slope argument is a fallacious argument. There's no guarantee that the chain of pushing the boundary further and further would happen. And yet, there's a certain convincing air to this kind of argument. I think such an argument is technically valid, and the fallacy lies more in the interpretation as being closer to inevitable than the argument truly implies. In other words, the typical human failing to understand the unintuitive way that probability actually works.

› Chelsea, you REALLY need to get around to questioning this. For Haruka's sake if nothing else.

Didn't she already pass it on to Matsuri? (checks) Yup, yup, in chapter 105 she mentioned Kanata to Matsuri, mentioning that she suspects her to be alive.

Though you do have half a point – she probably should have asked Matsuri sooner whether anything came of that. But at least she finally did so in the previous chapter.

› I only remember it coming up in the Bonus Route of Portable.

That's probably the one I was actually thinking of, but… Mitakihara Anti-Materials at least mentions that Mami once had the dream of being an idol. I suppose Ashley could have conflated the two together. (Incidentally, the entire manga is now readable on Mangadex. Until fairly recently I could only find an incomplete translation on some low-quality manga reader site.)

There are a bunch of other spin-off manga, including a large number of one-shots, but most of them don't have a translation available, so I can't confirm whether any of them feature Mami becoming an idol. At least, it's not mentioned in any of the information about them I can find on the wiki.

› Now, regarding the Kiriha twins, something to remember is that when Kosane went back in time and contracted them, they were just a fertilized egg in their mother's womb. A SINGLE fertilized egg, not two, meaning they were... would've been... I don't know what the right terminology here is... identical twins had everything gone right... or rather, that would be the case, if not for the fact that they split into two fertilized eggs immediately after their Wish to "divide and proliferate", thereby creating the heavy implication that the only reason they were twins as opposed to a single child is that Wish.
› On a related note, Eruna's behavior, quite frankly, felt very... unnatural, to me. I personally believe that she's isn't a disembodied human so much as her and Kosane's Wish personified to a degree. I say "to a degree" because I also question exactly how sapient she actually is. Her goal and her pursuit of it, in particular, felt less like a person wanting something and more like an automation of some sort just following its programming... actually, that might be a good way to describe Mikoshiba Kiku in the aftermath of her Wish. No real desire of her own, just a blind directive to carry on the Sacred Tree Cult's traditions.
› As a final point, it's noted in the first volume of Null Magical Girl that Kosane literally has no brain, and her actual consciousness is a clump of Incubator cells that she had previously believed to be a tumor (or something along those lines, it's been a while since I read NMG). The third volume, meanwhile, revealed that the Incubator cells were planted by Kosane's future self after her and Eruna's Wish, which, combined with the previously mentioned implication that Kosane and Eruna were only twins as opposed to a single child because of their Wish, leads me to suspect that they might only have one soul between the two of them, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case in this fic.

You have some very good points here, but ultimately what it comes down to is that Kosane used seven wishes to bring the world into its present state. Although not all of those were the wishes she chose (a couple of the girls she chose must've insisted on their own wish instead, and she didn't have the heart to turn them down), it does mean that there's plenty of scope for her to have reconfigured reality to eliminate all the unnatural features of herself and Eruna, turning them into completely ordinary human twins.

There's almost no limitation on what a wish can do, after all. Replacing an incubator brain with a standard human brain? No problem at all. Creating a new soul for Eruna? Piece of cake. (Hijiri is living proof.) Wiping away all traces of magical-girl-ification? Totally within scope. Returning the two of them to Japan of the late 2010's? Trivial. Rewriting history so they've always been twins? Okay, that one's a bit out there, but still within the realm of possibility.

But at the same time, it's not necessarily the case that everything goes to plan when you make a wish, and as a result, Eruna and Kosane became estranged after it all ended. In this case Kosane was tecnically the wish granter, but still.

› actually, that might be a good way to describe Mikoshiba Kiku in the aftermath of her Wish. No real desire of her own, just a blind directive to carry on the Sacred Tree Cult's traditions.

I'd say it's not quite as extreme as that, but yeah. Mikoshiba's wish ended up ruining her, in a way. Things would've gone very differently if Iyo(?) had found her even one year earlier (or, early enough to prevent her wish, at least).

› I think my brain might be melting from the information overload.

There really was a lot packed into that chapter, wasn't there? It might've been better to split it up a bit, but, well… it's done now, so whatever!

Matsky (chapter 114, Apr 20, 2024)

› Now we all know why Akemi Homura-chan's were absent for most of the time.
› Kosane-san being a magical girl trapped in a time-loop of some kind, but her husband's fate is still unknown.

I guess you've misunderstood something, as Kosane hasn't been trapped in a time loop for many years. That all happened before Homura was born. Before she even met Homura's father, most likely… definitely before they married. And I'm sure I stated in an earlier chapter that her husband is working overseas.

plowplum (chapter 114, Apr 23, 2024)

› If the cast is going to try to expand the app, they should probably try to get the app to some cities such as Takarazaki and Yukuni. In the case of Yukuni, the MGs there would at least be already familiar with using a magical girl forum. Not to mention, it would be helpful for the website to receive some articles and updates from the town and vice versa given as Yukuni recently would be in the midst of working towards revealing the magical girl system to the public and had just been the site of a magical girl hunter org attack.

They kinda already did that, you know. Iroha hosted that big meeting at Fendt Hope to explain everything, and most of the magical girls who joined the Wings of the Magius and/or participated in the final battle attended the meeting. There are, admittedly, quite a few who didn't; but certainly there were attendees from Takarazaki (Kuroe, Mabayu), Yukuni (Tomomi, Manatsu), Hohzuki (Matsuri, Suzune, Haruka, Suzune, and more), Mitakihara (too many to list), Asunaro (again quite a few), and even Matsumiya (at least Mayumi and Kotone). Not to mention quite a few girls from further afield in Japan.

They'll also be bringing on more writers as they find them. We've already seen some of that in chapter 116, but that's just the beginning.

› And if she is Iyo who survived thanks to being an immortal magical girl, why wouldn't she have kept tabs on her family and descendants to ensure they didn't lose their way? After all, Aiko was still leading the Akatsuki Clan even past a century up until she was assassinated.

The time span is quite a bit longer than it was for Aiko, and she would've had her own things that she wanted to do. Keeping tabs on your children and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren is one thing. Keeping tabs on your great-great-great-great-great-granchildren is quite another.

We also don't know if they're truly related. Remember that we only have the Mikoshiba's word for it. The Mikoshiba family claims to be descended from Queen Himiko, but are they really? It's unlikely that there's anyone who could even verify (or falsify) it… unless Kuroi Kana can learn to control her powers, I guess.

› Just how many Diviners did Lucy consume? Just having one other person in your head would be distracting enough but dozens that would be a practical nightmare

I don't have an exact number for you, but given that a magical girl survives about 3-5 years on average, and that the Tokime are particularly high in magical potential, and that about 300 years have passed, I suppose there'd probably be more than 60 all told.

› How far in their research were the past Tokime Diviners able to reach in their goal of halting witchification? For Kyubey to go as far as to push the Mikoshibas into taking over the clan, they must've come close to solving the witch issue and putting a snag into Kyubey's energy collection. By comparison, Kyubey didn't do much if anything to go against the Pleaides Saints when they started experimenting with liberating magical girls

Their research wasn't very far along at all… but unlike the Pleiades Saints, who were heading down a dead end, they had actually made some progress.

Though, do keep in mind that Kyuubey's nudge was just that, a nudge. It didn't help the Mikoshiba, nor did it spend time convincing her that taking over the Tokime was a good idea. It just provided the Tokime as an answer to the Mikoshiba's question, and the Mikoshiba did the rest from there.

JAGwin (chapter 115, May 16, 2024)

› Is this one of the differences between Chelsea's timeline and ours? Because I found a screenshot from that event in Japanese on Reddit. Darkstar0 posted it on February 22, 2021.

The Magia Record fandom wiki doesn't even have a page for the event. If it had resurfaced on the JP server, I would've expected it to appear on that wiki. The primary wiki does link to a JP version of it since February 2021, which is when Ashley was released on the JP server with a brand-new feature event. I have no idea where that came from or when. Maybe it really did appear on the JP server, or maybe that's just a fan translation. (Because, yes, fan translations can be done from English to Japanese just as easily as they can be done from Japanese to English.)

› Seira is the only one living in Kamihama. Mikura and Temari commute to school from out of town.

I don't think you can argue there's an error here. Firstly, they did return to their hometown. That this was because they commute from there already doesn't change that simple fact. Secondly, while Seira's not the one speaking here, I'm fairly sure she also used to live in said hometown, and she did return there for the duration of the holiday.

At most you could claim it's a bit of an odd phrasing to describe what happened.

› That second "step up" is repetitive. I recommend removing it.

It's there for emphasis, so nope.

› Second, don't Soul Gem Rings normally go on the middle finger?

Yes, normally they do. I'm not aware of any reason that they must go on the middle finger though, and in any case, Mina's not even a magical girl in the first place.

› Like the readers.

I'm sorry that Inui's naming conventions are confusing… although I suspect a native Japanese speaker wouldn't have too much trouble distinguishing りいちゃん (or maybe りーちゃん? Or is the dash only used in katakana words?) from りっちゃん. Then again, I'm not a Japanese speaker, so I'm not sure. Heck, I'm not completely sure what the difference even is between them. Maybe the second has a beat of silence instead of the two-beat vowel in the first?

› Instead, I have a question; Why did she choose to wait until the trial was practically already starting to intervene? Wouldn't it have been better to head things off a bit so it didn't come down to the wire?

You might have a point, but… the outcome is still the same in the end, and she certainly didn't have the time to attend the first trial. Also, she did head things off a bit earlier by telling Madoka to have them ready by Friday even though the email said Sunday.

plowplum (chapter 115, May 19, 2024)

› Also interesting in that the Shen are aware of the existence of multiple timelines.

They are higher-dimensional beings, watching from "outside" what we think of as the spacetime continuum – for them, viewing multiple timelines is little different than looking down on the city from a mountaintop. To borrow some terminology from Ar Nosurge, they would be "six-dimensional beings", which grants them "oversight" of the "fifth dimension".

› Thankfully, the surveys were able to be brought on time though it could've still backfired with them arriving too late despite their best efforts or multiple characters could've gotten injured or worse trying to defeat Touka and Nemu again Sakurako per canon.

The surveys were brought on time in the in-game event, so Ashley was guessing that it should be able to work out the same way… but she also stalled Sakurako for awhile with her arguments on the death penalty, to be on the safe side.

› San getting a restriction on her powers is probably the best possible punishment she could've gotten. She could've very well gotten the death penalty seeing as she was the only one of the defendants along with Alina not to show remorse or go back on her crimes. Even getting her powers sealed like Touka and Nemu would've been the equivalent of a slow death sentence given that San lives in Takarazaki and thus wouldn't have the APS to protect her from corruption unless she had some MGs gather grief seeds for her.

If she'd had her powers sealed, she could've still dealt with it by periodically visiting Kamihama to unleash a doppel, but yes, that would've been very inconvenient for her.

As I think Sakurako said, her sentence was softened because a lot of the feathers actually liked her, and at least some of them had agreed to the experiments. So, even though she hadn't shown any remorse, her crimes were not as bad as they first seemed.

› Sakurako lacking potential seems to contradict how Ai was able to make a contract despite being an Uwasa. Per the Cherry Trial event, Sakurako was struggling with the idea of killing two of her creators and once the trial was concluded made her displeasure known by slapping Touka and Nemu so it's not like Sakurako is lacking in the emotion department. My theory is that for Sakurako to qualify for a contract, she would probably have to undergo some sort of traumatic event or emotional nadir to achieve the right amount of potential. [...] It could be had the canon trial event been allowed to play out with Sakurako being forced to attempt to kill her creators her potential might have risen up. This could mean if a certain character were to die per Arc 2, then that might be the time when Sakurako might qualify to become a magical girl leading her to make a contract to revive said character.

To be clear, she had zero potential as of the end of the previous week, when Iroha and Touka introduced her to Kyuubey. Ashley is speculating that that may no longer be the case due to the trial pitting her new programming against her original role as a rumour.

It's certainly true that Sakurako is slowly gaining more human-like feelings – yes, for Ryo in particular, but also Hinano, probably Ikumi, and all the Crescent Moon Villa girls – not to mention (as of this chapter) Tart, Liz, Melissa, and Elisa.

› Not sure if Chelsea having Sasa's sister reunite her soul gem and body to revive her might be such a good idea. Chelsea might see it as no different than bringing Hanna back to Mikoto or reuniting Kei and Yuu, however unlike other antagonists, she as far as game canon goes has no idea what caused Sasa to turn cruel. It's quite possible that Sasa being revived and coming back to her family might not change her personality and she may very well go back to going around brainwashing and/or killing people.

True, the reason for Sasa's behaviour is unknown, but what Ashley does know is that Sasa seems to have a soft spot for her little sister, and said sister is capable of holding Sasa in check. Remember that Mina actually contracted in at least one timeline, specifically for that purpose. That's the reason why Ashley is entrusting Sasa to Mina.

Ansy (chapter 110, Aug 16, 2024)

› Did Elise die in the background? Pretty she was alive in that timeline? Or is this implying something else?

You've quoted the post-time warp-segment in chapter 110 for timeline 8… where Elise indeed survived, being a crucial part of the plan to split Iroha and Karin's souls. So, I'll revise that part of chapter 110 once I think of something to replace it.

Thanks for spotting that!

urwishmaster (chapter 116, Sep 23, 2024)

› It would've been better if Ashley used her clairvoyance to either check and prove the growing discrepancy or check if the real Inui is actually safe instead of just trusting her words.

I see your point, but at least she did take measures to check on Inui, even if they didn't involve using her clairvoyance – sending an email as soon as she got to the Coordinator's counts in my book.

› I'm also curious if we have met her in her true form in the past if at all.

I don't think it's really a spoiler if I state that we haven't.

› Also you seem to have skipped the mirror mansion, unless nothing happened there. hehe.

Yeah, you can just assume that nothing of note happened there… unless of course I later put a flashback to it.

› Also little neat trick, Ashley should be able to use clairvoyance on the inposter even if she never saw her true form since she met her. "The imposter that disguised as Inui" already separates her from the real one. Check on her? mmm

Not a bad thought. "The imposter that was disguised as Inui" isn't enough of an identification for her skill though, but she probably doesn't know that yet, so I may have her try it later. (Theoretically, it might work, but only if that person were currently disguised as Inui.)

JAGwin (chapter 116, Sep 23, 2024)

› Not necessarily an error yet because it's just the characters speculating rather than a definite statement, but Rion's power was established in Arc 2 Chapter 12, and it wasn't Temporal Stasis (or anything else time-related for that matter). (Addendum: It's looking more like an error now that I've read further.)

It's not an error. I haven't watched the final arc 2 chapter, so it's possible that does contradict it, but the wiki just says her power is "bind" (and even references the Winchester fight as part of that), which I don't see as a contradiction to what I've written in this chapter – she "binds" the witch by briefly freezing its time. Bind in Magia Record is just a game mechanic – it can and does have any number of lore explanations behind it. As for why I chose that interpretation, it's because of her wish to redo the afternoon.

› Hold on. Wasn't Inui in the same grade as Madoka? I'm pretty sure Seira is in either her last year of middle school or her first year of high school (it's been too long since I've watched her MGS to be sure, but I THINK she was trying to get into high school), so why is Chelsea saying they're in the same class?
› Regarding the HR Trio's profiles, Puella Magi Wiki lists Seira as being 16 and Mikura and Temari as being 17. Granted, in the latter case, I can chalk their listed ages up to you dropping a year off of everyone's ages, but that should still leave Seira as being 15.

Seira being in Inui's class was previously established in this fic, which was written before the wiki noted her proper age. (I'm not sure if it's before her age was revealed in-game, but I rely on the wiki for most information.) I decided it wasn't worth reworking past chapters to remove her from Inui's class, so she's two years younger than her age in the game. I didn't need to adjust Temari and Mikura, but I decided to take one year off their ages as well to reduce the gap between them and Seira.

I suppose this technically counts as a plothole if you really stop to think things through – a middle school student wouldn't normally move out to attend their school, as Seira seems to have done (though, Inui has done so as well, so take that as you wish). But as I already mentioned, I didn't want to rework my plot that much – her being Inui's classmate was a significant plot point in the Tangled Shrine chapter.

› You know, if Mizuna Girls's has regulations against coming on a private jet, one has to wonder when and WHY they were written.

It's also totally possible that Yukika made that up on the spur of the moment, but… given the close connection between St Lilliana's and Mizuna, I could definitely see someone like Yuuna trying to take a private jet to the school and causing a disaster, leading to that regulation being encoded.

› I don't remember if I've said anything like this in a previous review, but am I the only one who initially mistook "Aldebaran" for a misspelling of "Alderaan"?

It looks like you yourself have said it twice now, but I haven't noticed anyone else drawing the comparison. Aldebaran is just an extension of the pre-existing Pleiades theme – Aldebaran is a star that appears to "follow" the Pleiades across the sky, and the organization known as Aldebaran is an organization that "follows" the Pleiades Saints and the "Pleiades Twins" (ie, Subaru twins – Subaru means "Pleiades").

plowplum (chapter 116, Sep 25, 2024)

› Mizuna Flower viewing party at the Eternal Sakura? Hmm, I'm wondering if this might have some unexpected effects down the line. Like say, one or more of those students being a potential magical girl and seeing the Rumor for what it is.

There is certainly a potential magical girl at that party – Kaharu Yuuna has the potential to become a magical girl.

› Also the fact that Kyubey was able to get back in side Kamihama due to the barrier being temporarily shut down could mean that Kyubey could potentially be able to contract more girls in Kamihama

Nice thought, but that Kyuubey was destroyed by the witch, and there is no evidence of any others existing inside the barrier.

J. Grail (chapter 106, Oct 26, 2024)

› i totally havent read ahead so i dont know if ashley had tried this yet, BUT since ashley doesnt know the limit of her clairvoyance, is it possible she's able to look at other universes?

You could argue that she did that already in chapter 67. It suggests that there actually is no limit to her clairvoyance when the concern of the witch transformation is removed. However, in general she can't see into other universes, because there's no way for her to satisfy the requirement of "knowing" the person or place scried on.