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takerfoxx · 5 years

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RD Walpurgis Nights 8, Part 10

Then…

It was sort of funny how quickly someone can hit their respective weirdness threshold, and what they were willing to accept once they’ve smashed through.

If someone were to tell Homulilly and Kriemhild Gretchen that they were dead and currently in some kind of exclusive purgatory reserved for those who had been ensnared by an alien’s con when under normal circumstances (whatever those happened to be), they would probably laugh nervously, exchange uncomfortable glances, and start edging for the exit.

But after waking up as humanoid abominations stuck in a madcap city of giant clocks, rotating city blocks, and bi-polar weather, the only reaction they had for everything that they had been told was something to the tune of, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

The owners of the spaceship that had rescued them had introduced themselves as the Doomsday Clock Spawn Site Search and Rescue. Apparently, Doomsday Clock had been the name of that constantly rotating city (an appropriate name if Homulilly had ever heard one), they had appeared there because it was a “spawn site,” and many spawn sites had search and rescue organizations who, well, searched them to rescue anyone that spawned there.

It was kind of crazy how logical and organized the insanity was.

The rest though made even less sense. Their rescuers had promised that everything would be explained in full in time, but for now all they would say was that Kriemhild and Homulilly were in some kind of hodgepodge afterlife intended for “people like them.” Exactly what that meant, neither of them understood. It wasn’t being a monster, per se. There were other people like them walking around, girls with monstrous features. But there were also many who looked completely normal. They had been told that those who were part monster were known as “witches,” name that quite frankly felt wholly accurate, while those who were not were called Puella Magi, and apparently Puella Magi became witches if they became too sad or something, it didn’t make any sense!

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” said Rachel Corsco, a freckled redhead with an American Southern accent that was looking out for the pair. “And believe me, I’ve been here for many years, and there are still parts that don’t make any sense. But believe me when I say as strange as everything might seem, and as scary as everything might seem, you are safe. We’re all in the same boat, and we look after one another.”

Kriemhild and Homulilly exchanged uneasy glances. Kriemhild cleared her throat. “Um, I-I’m glad to hear that, and I understand why you’re taking your time explaining things to us. But you haven’t told us why we can’t remember anything.”

The three of them were sitting together at a round table at a sort community room. Kriemhild and Homulilly were thankfully now clothed. Granted, it was just loose-fitting grey sweaters and a pair of grey sweatpants for Homulilly and an altered set of shorts for Homulilly, but they were warm and comfortable. They had already had a long nap in warm beds and been given hot showers, followed by a full meal, so they were feeling oh so much better. But now that their physical needs had been met, that left them with their endless questions to take up their attention.

“That’s the downside of being a witch, I’m afraid,” Rachel said sympathetically. “All witches lose their memories of who they were.”

“But that’s terrible!” Gretchen cried. “You mean everything we were, like our names and our friends and our families are just gone? Can’t you see how horrible that it?” She wasn’t the only one having outbursts. Around the room were other tables where a handful of other newly arrived girls were talking to other members of the staff. Some were as upset as she was. Some were crying. A few were angry. Others were stunned silent. But none of them were at all happy.

As for Homulilly, she just sat with her legs drawn up onto her chair and her sleeves pulled down over her hands, with her arms hugging her stomach. She had been very nervous about showing her skeletal arms to anyone other than Kriemhild ever since arriving.

“I do, and it is,” Rachel agreed. “It’s a terrible, unfair system that ought to be destroyed. Unfortunately, we can’t do that from here. We’re the victims of that system, and the universe owes us big time for what it took from us, a debt that it will never repay. Yes, it’s sick, it’s cruel, it’s evil.” She picked up a napkin and started twisting it in her hands. “And if I could get my hands on the necks of those who did this to us, I would squeeze their heads off until they popped! Any of us would!” She sat back with a sigh. “But I can’t. We can’t. All we can do is try to build the best life we can.”

Kriemhild felt her lower lip start to tremble. “So there’s nothing you can tell us? About who we were and what happened to us?”

“Nothing,” Rachel said, shaking her head. “That’s how it goes for everyone who becomes a Puella Magi. You die fighting, or you become a witch, and then you die. It’s what happened to all of us.”

Kriemhild felt her throat tighten. She grabbed up her glass of water and gulped it down. It helped to ease some of the tension, but not all. “Wh-When you become a witch, um, you just sort of forget who you were and get a little weird-looking, right? Why would anyone kill us then?”

Rachel shook her head. “No. Witches, full witches, are pretty scary. It’s the being killed that gives you back your humanity.”

The tension got worse. “So we were actual monsters, is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m afraid so.”

This was just so much to take in. Kriemhild sat back, her head in her hands, her legs twisting themselves into knots.

Then suddenly, Homulilly spoke. “What did we look like?” she asked, sounding more curious than horrified. “Or is that gone too?”

Rachel hesitated, and then said, “No. That I can show you. But I warn you, it’s…not pretty.”

“I want to know,” Homulilly said. She glanced over to Kriemhild.

To be quite frank, Kriemhild really could do without knowing what kind of hideous beast she had been transformed into. But even she had to admit to some measure of curiosity. After a bit she slowly nodded.

Rachel reached into a binder she had and withdrew a photograph. “You couldn’t really see this from where you were tied up,” she said. “But I think this was an accurate representation.”

The picture was of the giant clock face. The many, many hands were still there, all of them weirdly spiraling like vines or smoke, the one Homulilly had been tied to sticking straight up. There was a tiny pink thing wrapped around its base, which Kriemhild guessed had probably been that bow that had been strangling her.

But there was something else too. The clock face was painted with a giant mural. Sure enough, it looked like two monsters, one of them facing up, the other facing down, with the bottoms of their bodies fused together, forming a sort of reverse-hourglass shape.

The one on top was vaguely humanoid, sure, but it was a made of a nightmare of sketchy lines, like a manic child’s painting. It had long, grasping hands, glowing pink eyes, and a pair of twintails, as out of place as that was. From the waist down it was a monstrous mass of lines that formed the vague shape of a billowing skirt, like vines or pipes.

Or wires.

The other monster, the one that was upside-down, was a human skeleton wearing a purple dress. It had its bony hands spread wide, as if to embrace the world. The top of its skull had been cleaved off, and in its place was a massive red flower, a blown-up version of the one growing out of the top of Homulilly’s head.

“Oh my God,” Kriemhild whispered. Homulilly said nothing. She just stared in fascination.

“You two are something known as a Walpurgisnacht,” Rachel said, putting the picture back. “It’s when two separate witches combine and become one larger witch.”

Homulilly perked up. “We were one person?”

“In a sense. You shared a soul for a time. You might have felt it, actually. A sense of connection, even if you didn’t know each other’s name?”

Kriemhild looked over to Homulilly, and Homulilly looked back. Together they nodded.

“Then you two actually have a leg up over everyone else. Those who have that connection often have an easier time settling in. Something to do with the mutual support.”

That at least made a little bit of sense. Kriemhild’s head was still spinning with everything she was being told, and she knew her mind was probably going to be blown again more times in the very near future. But at the very least Homulilly would be there with her. That gave her a little bit of hope and courage.

“And as for your memories…” Rachel sighed. “Girls, I know this is a hard thing to hear, but you’re better off just trying to build new lives instead of chasing the old. I know you want to know who you were, but those memories are gone. Instead of focusing on them, just work on being Kriemhild Gretchen and Homulilly. You’ll both be happier for it.”

…

Now…

Charlotte lay in her bunk in the dark, staring at the ceiling.

The rest of the gang had opted to share a room together. However, she had requested a private room. Fortunately, the Aurora Borealis did not require an exceptionally large staff to run, and they did have rooms to spare.

Part of her wished that they didn’t. That way, she would be forced to confront something that she didn’t have the strength to do on her own.

But then, most of her wished a great many things, and she had gotten none of them granted.

The storm had cleared up from what she could tell. That meant it would almost be time to go home.

Home. The lovely two-story house that she shared with her Walpurgisnacht, with her family. Any other time she would be desperate to go home, to settle back to some semblance of normalcy and put the whole nightmare behind her.

She couldn’t though. Because part of that nightmare would be coming with her.

The sound of numerous small, sharp impacts against the hard floor came from down the hall, outside her room. She knew that sound. She knew what was coming.

The pattering came closer and then stopped outside her door. Charlotte tensed up.

Several moments of silence passed, no doubt due to the other person building up the courage to knock. But knock they did.

“Charlotte?” Gretchen said from the other side of the door. “It’s me!”

Oh, Gretchen, Gretchen, Gretchen. Sweet, innocent Gretchen, who always just wanted everyone to get along and love one another. Gretchen, who was too kindhearted for her own good, who wouldn’t hesitated to put herself in danger if it meant helping someone else.

Which was kind of the problem.

“So, um, can I come in?”

Charlotte turned her back toward the door.

“Um, okay. I’m just going to keep talking then. Anyway, you probably already heard this, but the storm’s over! That means we’ll be heading back soon. And, um, I was really hoping that you’d come talk to us before we left. We really missed you the last few nights. It’s just not the same without you, you know?”

The same. As if her presence would ever make things the same.

“A-And, well, I know you’re really upset about what happened to Candeloro. I get it. But it’s still her, you know? Like, she’s still the same person, and she misses you terribly. And I know if you just talked to her you would realize this. I know you still love her, you’re just scared that because she’s different now that means she’s gone. But she’s not gone, Charlotte. You don’t have to be scared. Because if we all stuck together, I know we can get used to how things are now and get back to the way things used to be. Or at least, get used to how things are now. We’d be happy again, is what I mean. But we need you to do that! Please, open the door.”

Charlotte snatched up her pillow and pressed it down over her head.

“Charlotte?”

Her eyes were startling to prickle. Sniffing, she fished out the detritus with a finger.

“Charlotte, please. I know you’re not asleep. I know you can hear me.”

And how she wished that that wasn’t the case.

A silence passed that seemed to stretch for ever. But finally, she heard Gretchen sigh. “Okay.” Then she heard the patter of Gretchen’s legs as she morosely walked away.

Charlotte waited until she was certain that no one else was coming to talk to her. Then she got up and turned the light on.

Her phone was unfortunately still at the bottom of the sea, but all the sleeping quarters were equipped with computers, including hers. Turning her on, she scrolled through the various options and functions until she found what she was looking for.

Given how isolated they were, the Aurora Borealis had working relationships with most other deep-sea installations and any other local marine business, with Oktavia just being example.

As it so happened, Charlotte was familiar with at least one other, one that she knew well enough to contact. She fished around until she found their contact information. Then she sent the call through.

…

Hitomi stood on the front deck of the Aurora Borealis, looking out to sea.

The whole of the ship was thrust upon at an angle onto a reef, sandwiched between two rising walls. The back end of the ship was submerged in the water, while the front poked out beyond the reef, with nothing but the sea beneath.

It was the same place she had encountered Sayaka earlier, and apparently it was some kind of ocean laboratory or something. Apparently now that the weather had calmed, someone was on their way to pick her up. In the meantime, the scientists seemed to be at a loss as to what to do with her. They couldn’t keep her locked up, as there was no place she couldn’t go. At one point, she had overhead them suggesting that they simply sedate her and let her wake up in the FIB’s care. Hitomi had considered simply leaving after that. After all, they couldn’t stop her. She could go wherever she wanted.

Unfortunately, there really was no place she wanted to go, save for down.

She stared down at the still waters beneath. They seemed so friendly, so inviting. Granted, she couldn’t actually die and pass on; she knew that now. But could she just stay drowned, just remain a floating body for the rest of…forever? Oblivion seemed awfully tempting right about now.

Hitomi removed the finger she had been chewing on from her mouth and nervously licked her lips. Maybe that would be for the best.

“You know, if you’re thinking of taking a swan dive, doing it right next to a whole facility of professional divers probably ain’t the smartest place to do it,” said someone approaching her from behind. “They’ll have you fished out in no time and probably be annoyed at having to do it.”

Hitomi started. She had been so wrapped up in her private thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed anyone coming toward her. Trembling, she turned to see.

Ophelia walked toward her. In contrast to the flamboyant outfits Hitomi had seen her with, she was just wearing a pair of black shorts, a grey tee-shirt with the Aurora Borealis’s logo, a pair of disposable sunglasses, and a blue baseball cap with the same logo as the shirt. She was holding what looked like a chocolate protein bar in a silver wrapper

Hitomi felt a flush of fear. Of all of Madoka and Sayaka’s friends, Ophelia had been the one she had wanted to avoid the most. There was just something about her that pegged her as the most likely to actually do something violent. She shrank back into herself as Ophelia walked right up to stand next to her, one foot on the railing.

“So,” Ophelia said, staring out to sea. She propped one leg up on the middle rung of the railing and rested her arm on her knee. “You’re the one we have to thank for our current mess.”

Hitomi swallowed. She glanced up at her umbrella.

“Don’t bother,” Ophelia said. “I’ve got powers too, remember? Try to split, and you’ll find me right next to you. And I’m gonna be pissed.”

Was she bluffing? Hitomi honestly couldn’t tell. She couldn’t see the other girl’s eyes behind her sunglasses, and Ophelia wasn’t even looking at her.

Hitomi looked back up at her umbrella, then back to Ophelia, then back at her umbrella.

Then she folded it up and let it disappear.

“Smart move,” Ophelia said. “First one you’ve had.”

Hitomi pursed her lips. “Are you going to hurt me?” she said. Her voice felt dry and rusty.

“Do I really seem like that sort of person to you?”

“I don’t know,” Hitomi said honestly. “But…But I know you must hate me.”

“Hmmm.” Ophelia took a bite of her protein bar, tearing off a chunk with a rather prominent fang and chewing in an unnecessarily aggressive manner. She swallowed. “Well, I don’t especially care for you, I’ll tell you that much. Also, Homulilly really wants to crush your head like a grape, so I’d stay away from her. Who knows what’s going through Charlotte’s head? But whatever it is, she is not in a good place right now, so you’d be better off staying out of her way. Candeloro is really not in a good place either, so you’d be wise to avoid her as well. Come to think of it, Gretchen’s probably the only one with anything nice to say to you, and she’s nice to literally everybody.”

Hitomi closed her eyes and inhaled slowly through her nose. That was more-or-less what she had expect. “And…” What was her new name again?” “…Oktavia? What about her?”

Instead of answering, Ophelia just gave her the briefest of glances before taking another bite.

“Oh.”

“You’re kind of a strange puzzle for us, Hitomi,” Ophelia said. “What are we going to do with you?”

It didn’t sound like a question that wanted an answer, so Hitomi said nothing.

“I mean, you expect this sort of thing from someone who’s brand new and still coming to terms with things. So no, I can’t really blame you for acting out. But damn, have you royally fucked us over.”

Oh, to heck with it. Either Ophelia was going to beat her up or she wasn’t. No point in staying restrained any longer. “B-But how?” Hitomi said. “What have I done? Was it just the talk with Ma-with Gretchen? Was it because I showed up to say goodbye? I didn’t tell them to follow me! And I sure as heck didn’t mean for them to jump in after me!”

Now Ophelia did look at her. “The problems started almost immediately,” she said. “Right after you yelled at her and Homulilly in the hallway. And everything you told Charlotte only made it worse.”

Now Hitomi was starting to get angry. “So how is that my fault?” she demanded. “I didn’t know any better! What was I supposed to have done after seeing my friend again? A-And you guys set up that talk with Charlotte! She asked questions, and I gave answers!”

“True,” Ophelia said. “But-”

“But what? Is this because I ran away? Of course I did! I couldn’t stay there, not with those people! A-And I asked her if she wanted to talk! I didn’t make her, I asked her!” She turned away. “Everyone keeps treating me like I’ve got some sort of disease, like just touching me is going to make you shrivel up and die! All I wanted was my friends back! That’s it! A-And I know I can’t get them back, but I had to at least see them!”

Ophelia breathed out. “Okay. Okay. Except that disease analogy is kind of right on the money! Sure, you just wanted to see your friends, but we just wanted to make sure that our friends weren’t driven insane, which is what almost happened!”

It wasn’t fair, it just wasn’t fair. “But I didn’t make the sea monster! I didn’t make that storm! And I didn’t make anyone jump in after me! O-Okay, going to talk to Gretchen was reckless, fine! But I stopped myself before talking to Sayaka, and I just wanted everything to stop hurting, to stop me from hurting anyone else! Everything that happened after that was totally beyond my control!

“A-And I’m sorry for everything that’s happened because of me, but really! Most of it wasn’t my fault! Okay, maybe some of it, but you’re acting like I made all that stuff happen on purpose!

“Except…except I keep pushing when I knew I shouldn’t. I kept trying even after everyone told me it was a bad idea. Even Marisa tried to stop me. But I kept going anyway. I w-w-wanted to see them again so badly, to just talk to them. But I couldn’t even have that.”

She shook her head and wiped her eyes with her wrist. “Your world is cruel. Everyone goes on and on about how nice it is and how things will get better if I just go along, but look at what happened! I find my friends, the ones I was looking for, and you take them away! I try to talk to them, and it apparently causes everything to break down! I barely did anything, and yet somehow I ruined everything. Your perfect world was set against me from the start, and you know it!”

As Hitomi talked and talked, Ophelia didn’t say anything. She just stood there, leaning backward against the railing, listening. And when Hitomi finally said the last of her piece, she didn’t immediately reply, neither to condemn or exonerate her. She just thoughtfully looked off at the sky.

Then she sighed and straightened up. “You know, sometimes it just takes a couple pushes in the right place to knock something fragile down and smash it to pieces,” she said. “Doesn’t take much, might seem like you’re doing anything bad. It’s just a slight nudge, right? What’s the harm? But that doesn’t matter when it’s falling to the floor. Especially after you’ve been told not to touch the damn thing.”

Hitomi looked away.

“Now, you had reason, sure. Got dealt a shitty hand and all that. And fine, we made some dumb calls ourselves. And the storm and sea monster were just plain bad luck, okay. And…” Ophelia sighed. “Look, I’m not saying you’re a monster or anything. And okay, most of it wasn’t your fault. But some of it is. And since we can’t just stick you somewhere safe until you get it through your head that you can’t do whatever you want without consequences, I gotta get it through your head right now. The rules are different now, and just because they ain’t fair don’t mean that you can’t just ignore them and start whining when people get hurt.”

Hitomi’s scowl deepened. “May I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“What would you have done if you were me?” she demanded. “If you got snatched away from your home and your family and were stuck in a…a weird and terrifying new world, and everyone was telling you that you could never go home again, could never see your mother and father again, that you were stuck there forever?”

“Well, I suppose that I’d-”

“But you found out that your friends were there! Like, right before you got sent there, Gretchen and Oktavia both disappeared, and you were driving yourself crazy trying to find them! But hey, they’re where you are now, except they’re not Gretchen and Oktavia anymore, they’re Madoka and Sayaka, and they don’t even remember you or anything about you, and you’re not allowed to even talk to them, and they go and lock you up underground with a bunch of crazy and violent people to keep you from talking to them, and you don’t know if you’re ever going to get out again, or if someone’ll just snap and attack you, but you suddenly find a way to escape and you want nothing more to see the people you love again? What would you have done, huh?”

Ophelia tched. She looked back out to the ocean. “I figured you’d ask that. And if it had been me…or specifically, if it had been Kyoko Sakura in your place, then…” She shrugged. “Then I’d probably have done the same thing as you. Or fucked things up some other way. Okay, you got me there.”

Hitomi swallowed. “Th-There. You see?”

“That still wouldn’t have made it right though. Or the damage I’d be causing any less real.” She turned her head to look Hitomi directly in the eye, her piercing scarlet gaze now as cold as Homura’s had been when she had suddenly showed up in Hitomi’s room. “And if I ended up fucking things up, anyone would be justified in smacking me upside the head.”

It was then that Hitomi realized that she had been completely in the right to fear Ophelia. Maybe she wasn’t exactly the violent sort, but she was someone who would have no problem whatsoever with punching Hitomi’s lights out if she felt that she had reason. And from the looks of it, she was getting to that point.

Rather than continue to risk antagonizing her, Hitomi averted her gaze, looking back toward the sea. Ophelia didn’t, however. Though she wasn’t looking at her, Hitomi could feel the other’s eyes upon her, almost as if she were waiting for Hitomi to give her a reason to turn things ugly.

Finally Ophelia looked away as well. “Well, I guess it’s a little too late for that anyway,” she said softly. “Damage done. All I can do is try to get you to start thinking smart before you hurt yourself even more.”

Hitomi sighed. Now that she had exhausted her anger, her shame was starting to come back. “Did I really mess things up that badly?”

“Kinda.”

“Oh. I…uh…”

Ophelia held up a palm. “Save the apologies. Wait until you’ve worked your way through your crap. Then maybe we’ll talk.”

It was then that Hitomi became aware of a familiar sound behind her, a sort of recurring whine-hiss coupled with soft thuds that was steadily getting louder.

“Anyway, I’m not the only person that wants to talk to you.”

Hitomi froze. No. No, it couldn’t be.

The rhythmic hissing got louder, as did the low thuds. Hitomi didn’t dare turn around to face it.

She didn’t need to. They came to a stop right next to her.

“I’m just going to leave you two alone for now,” Ophelia said. She tipped her hat. “Cheers.”

She left. Hitomi kept her face pointed out to sea. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around, couldn’t bring herself to face the other person that was now sitting directly next to her.

Then the other person said with a belabored sigh, “So, you gonna talk to me or something, or am I gonna have to grab yah?”

Wincing, Hitomi slowly turned toward her.

Sayaka was there, sitting in her mechanical chair with her hands folded in her lap and an expectant look on her face. She was wearing the same kind of shirt as Ophelia and had her brown cap back on.

She was also the most beautiful thing Hitomi had ever seen.

A thousand memories flashed through Hitomi’s head. Meeting Sayaka at their parents’ benefit dinner. Sayaka teaching her how to hold a softball bat. Sayaka showing up unannounced at her front door with an entire spool of CD’s that she wanted Hitomi to listen to. Sayaka yelling at her for forgetting Madoka’s birthday only to drag her on an impromptu shopping trip, helping her pick out the perfect gift, wrapping it up for her, and being the one to sneak it into Madoka’s room before the other even noticed that anything was amiss. Sayaka introducing her to Kyousuke, and being overjoyed upon seeing the look of delight on Hitomi’s face when she heard him play for the first time.

But there were other memories too. Sayaka’s face filling with grief and despair when she heard about Kyousuke’s accident, only to suddenly start laughing and proclaiming that there was no way a little accident would keep him down and he would be charming the nurses with his violin within a month, tops! Sayaka visiting him whenever she could and happily telling Hitomi about how much progress he was making and how he was sure to be discharged any day, even though Hitomi could hear the tears in her voice. Sayaka standing at the music rack at the mall, staring with blank eyes at the Classical section.

Sayaka suddenly growing distant and spending all of her time with Madoka, Homura, and Mami Tomoe. Sayaka seeming to have been paradoxically rejuvenated and exhausted, always walking with a spring in her step and a renewed sense of purpose, despite the fact that she was now always falling asleep in class, forgetting her homework even more often than before, and having her grades take a sudden plunge. Sayaka withdrawing even further even when Kyousuke had miraculously recovered as she had predicted. The look on Sayaka’s face when Hitomi had finally confronted her about her feelings for Kyousuke and presenting her ultimatum.

Then there was the worry when Sayaka didn’t show up for school. The sense of growing fear and dread when she continued to not show up, when Madoka had lost all life and joy, when Sayaka’s parents had called Hitomi’s asking if she knew where she had gone. The sour fear turning to desperate anger as she became convinced that something did happen to Sayaka, that her friend might be dead and it was all Hitomi’s fault.

And now Sayaka was there, right next to her.

“So,” Sayaka said. “I hear you’ve been looking for me.”

Hitomi silently nodded.

Sayaka nodded as well. “You found me the other day, but split before saying hi! Now come on. That’s just rude.”

Back in the day, Hitomi had no trouble whatsoever with telling when Sayaka was messing with her. But after everything that had happened, she really had no idea how to respond to something like that. “I…uh…”

“Yeah, I guess that wasn’t funny,” Sayaka sighed. She took off her cap and ran her fingers through her shaggy blue hair. All this time, and she still cut her hair the same way. “Sorry. Um…”

She coughed. Hitomi sniffed and scratched her nose.

“So…this is awkward,” Sayaka said after a bit.

Hitomi still didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what she was allowed to say. So she said nothing.

“Might be better if you went first.”

“I…” Hitomi’s brow scrunched up. “Wh-What do you mean?”

Sayaka spread her hands in her lap. “Well, if you’ve been trying to find me, then it stands to reason that you must have something you wanna say. So…go ahead.”

“Uh, er, what? I don’t understand. I-I’ve been having people yell at me all…always about not doing that, not talking to you.” Hitomi gestured helplessly back where Ophelia had walked off toward. “Your…girlfriend just told me in no uncertain terms that I did an incredible amount of harm to you and your friends just by trying to talk to you and…and Gretchen.” The name still sounded wrong on her tongue, but she was trying very hard not to offend. “And now you want me to just say everything I’ve been wanting to say to you? I don’t understand that at all!”

“Yeah, that would sound pretty weird,” Sayaka admitted. “Okay, I don’t know what you’ve been told about what’s happened since we fished you guys out of the sea, but all the spiritual dissonance that you gave us seems to have cleared up. I’ve heard my old name a couple times now, and it hasn’t bothered me any. So while it was dangerous then, I think it might be okay now.”

“You think?”

Sayaka shrugged and grimaced. “Look, I took a nap and had this weird dream that…I can’t really remember, but it left we with a sense that everything’s going to be okay, and I should talk to you after all, if that makes any sense.”

“It…no, it doesn’t! You’re telling me that it’s suddenly okay to talk to you about who you used to be because…you had a dream?”

“Hey, I’m not claiming that it’s not weird, okay?” Sayaka said, hold up a placating hand. “But we’re dead, I’m a fish, and you teleported a sea monster about ten meters into the sky not too long ago. You’re gonna have to accept that weird is the new norm.” The side of her mouth lifted in a wry smile. “Besides, I’m telling you that it’s okay.”

God, that smile made Hitomi’s heart feel like it was cracking apart. It was Sayaka’s smile, the same she always used to wear whenever she wanted to cheer someone up. And that twinkle in her eyes was the same as well.

However, Hitomi had long learned that whenever Sayaka had that look, it was because she wanted to minimize a bad situation, and things were probably a lot worse than she was letting on. “But I don’t want to hurt you anymore,” she said, her voice cracking. “I already did so much harm, and…”

“Hitomi,” Sayaka said. She pointed two fingers at Hitomi’s face, and then rotated her wrist around so that they were directed toward her own eyes. “Look at me. I’m saying it’s okay. Me. Call me Sayaka Miki or Oktavia von Seckendorff, it’s still me. And I say it’s okay. So go ahead.”

Hitomi felt like she was being ripped in two. Her vision misted over. “I…”

Then her throat closed up. No! No, she couldn’t let that stop her! She was finally here! She had to go through with it.

“I am so sorry,” she choked out. “I’m sorry about Kyousuke. I-I thought I was doing what was best for you and him, but…but I didn’t know what you were going through! I had no way of knowing! How could I? I mean, magical girls and witches and Incubators and…everything! It sounds so crazy! There was no way I could have…” Then she sighed. “But no! I’m not going to make excuses. I hurt you when you were already hurting. I helped kill you! I’m the reason you never came home! And that probably is what got the rest of your friends killed too! And Madoka! And Homura too! I-If I hadn’t done what I did when I did, then you probably would have never become a witch, and they would have never had become witches either, and you all would have been there helping them against Walpurgisnacht, and they wouldn’t have become witches either! You would have won, no one would have died, and you have gone home, and we’d all be alive and with our families right now if I hadn’t screwed everything up!”

Sayaka said nothing. She just sat with her hands folded in her lap, solemnly listening.

“And after…after I died, after that witch killed me, I still kept screwing things up! They told me that I couldn’t talk to you, they told me that I would just end up hurting you, but I wouldn’t listen! I just wanted so badly to see you again and tell you that I was sorry, but that just made things worse!” Tears left tracks down her cheeks to drip off her chin. “Everything I did was wrong, everything I tried only made things worse. And now everyone hates me and would probably beat me up if they could, and I deserve it! I just…I just can’t…do anything right…”

Hitomi looked away so that Sayaka wouldn’t see her crying. Even as she did so, she couldn’t help but notice the bitter irony. She had never had a problem with crying in front of Sayaka, but here she was refusing to do so now. Maybe it was true. Maybe she didn’t think of Sayaka as being the same person anymore.

Then Sayaka spoke. “Hitomi. Look at me, okay? Come on. Look at me.”

Hitomi wiped her eyes as dry as she could with her sleeve and reluctantly obeyed. Sayaka was looking up at her with as serious as an expression as Hitomi had ever seen her wear.

“You’re right,” Sayaka said. “About the Kyousuke thing, I mean. There was no way you could have known. Hell, if I hadn’t sold my soul so I could regularly risk my life battling the forces of…darkness, I guess, then yeah, giving me that push probably would have been the right thing to do. It was…a little harsh, maybe, but totally fair. Even I didn’t have the guts to make a move, that would have been my fault, and we would probably have made up eventually, which I think is what you were imagining, huh?”

Her throat too tight to speak, Hitomi just nodded.

“But I wasn’t. I was caught in…you know, I don’t know how to sum up that living nightmare in only a few words, but whatever it was, I was caught up in it, and you had no way of knowing.”

“But-” Hitomi tried to say, only to get choked off again.

“Besides, I was probably a ticking time bomb at that point anyway,” Sayaka sighed. “I mean, most Puella Magi don’t last much longer than a year anyway. The rule is you either become a witch, or you die. Horribly. I was living on borrowed time. That’s how it works. Once you get snared in that stupid system, you’re fucked.”

Hitomi let out a small, shaking laugh at the sudden profanity. Sayaka had always been a little coarse, but hearing her speak so profanely was both shocking and kind of funny.

Sayaka smiled a little at that. “Yeah, exactly. Maybe not then, maybe not when Walpurgisnacht attacked, but sooner or later, I wouldn’t have come home anyway.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “But that’s not what you need to hear, so let me say this plain: I forgive you. Sayaka forgives you. The original one. That’s another thing I did get from my dream. She still loves you, Hitomi, and that…in a weird sort of way that I’m still puzzling out, that means I do too.”

Hitomi tried to swallow back the lump in her throat. “B-But I thought you w-were the same pers-s-son.”

“We are, but it’s weird, so don’t think too hard about it. As for the rest…” Sayaka made a face, and then she shrugged. “All right, not going to lie, you did kick of something of a downward spiral. But for God’s sake, you’d been dead, what, less than a week? Of course you wouldn’t be acting rationally! No one expects you to!” Then she frowned. “Well, I mean, no one can reasonably expect you to, but you know what I mean! Everyone in your shoes would have acted out! The only difference between you and everyone else is that, well, we’re here really complicating things, and you unfortunately can teleport.” She shrugged. “But hey, a lot of what happened was on us too. We got curious, and we dug a little too deep. That’s on us.” She frowned again. “And…as much as I hate to say it, it’s kind of on Gretchen too. I mean, she was the one that agreed to a sit-down with you despite knowing better, and she apparently was the first to dive after you did your little swan dive thing, which was the what started that whole mess, and no one could have predicted a superstorm and a sea monster happening at the exact same time, and…bleh.” She stuck her tongue out. “I’m babbling. Point is, there’s a lot of blame to go around, you obviously weren’t in any state to be thinking clearly, and I don’t hold anything against you. So we’re good, is what I’m saying.”

Hitomi felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her knees buckled, and she had to grab onto the second railing to steady herself. It was more than she could have ever hoped for, far more than she deserved.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank y-y-y…”

“All right, all right, bring it in,” Sayaka said, beckoning toward her. Hitomi gratefully complied, leaning in to let Sayaka bundle her up into her arms. She could hardly believe it. She had done it, had finally found the one she had been seeking, and unloaded the great burden that had been dragging her heart down. Now Sayaka was actually there, actually holding her in her arms, and she just felt so strong, and yet so soft and warm. Even her scaly tail felt nice.

“I missed you,” she said in a hoarse whisper. “I missed you so…so…damn much, you have no idea…

“Shhh, it’s going to be okay, all right?” Sayaka said, stroking Hitomi’s hair. “I mean, with me anyway. I’d still put some distance between you and Homulilly, Charlotte, and maybe Candeloro. They’re kinda pissed off, so play it safe, and…why are you laughing?”

“S-Sorry,” Hitomi said through giggles. “It’s just that you sound so grown up! I mean, you didn’t even used to swear, and now listen to you!”

“Hey!” Sayaka said, sounding indignant. “I am grown up, so I’m allowed, thank you very fucking much!”

“Oh, goodness gracious,” Hitomi said, covering her face with both hands. “You sound like a-” Then she blinked. “Wait. How…grown up are you, exactly?”

“What, you mean how old am I?”

Though she was reluctant to do so, Hitomi drew away from Sayaka and sat back on her haunches. “Yes,” she said. “You’ve been here longer than Gretchen, right?”

“Oh, yeah. I had already graduated and had my own life when she and Homulilly showed up.” Sayaka’s brow furrowed. “Okay, kind of a tricky question, but how old was I when I bit it?”

“Thirteen,” Hitomi said softly. “And seven months.”

“Right. Okay, let me do the math here…” Then Sayaka sighed. “Hitomi, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m like almost thirty.”

Hitomi’s face went pale. “Thirty,” she repeated, her voice a hoarse whisper. “You’re thirty.”

“Give or take. Granted, age doesn’t mean as much anymore, seeing how we don’t, you know, actually age, and I’ve met people in their three hundreds, but yeah. This old lady is a thirty-ish year old mermaid.”

Hitomi slowly shook her head. “Then you’ve had…well, not a full life, but a life. You have a job and a house and a…long-term relationship, and-”

“A girlfriend,” Sayaka corrected. “Come on, you can say it. I am a super lesbian now. And I am loving it.”

“Yeah, Gretchen said that you were kind of a pervert now,” Hitomi sighed.

“Oh, so she exposed me as a dirty old woman, huh?” Sayaka cackled. “Well, got me there. But I’m also a faithful one, so don’t you go getting any ideas.”

There was a pause, and then Hitomi said, “Please don’t take offense, but even if…I swung that way, you’re a little too old for me.”

Sayaka cackled again. “Ha! Okay, fair. Does this mean I get to start calling you young lady and lecturing you about showing respect for your elders and stuff?”

“Please don’t. That would just make this weirder.” Hitomi looked back out to sea again. Strange. It still looked inviting, but not in the same way. “But your life is good, right? I mean, all the time you’ve been gone, you’ve been happy, haven’t you?”

Sayaka sighed happily. “It’s been real good. I make good money doing the things I love; I live in a great house in a great town with the people I love; I got a hot, sexy girlfriend that I’m crazy about; and people like my music. Who could ask for anything more?”

“It does sound wonderful,” Hitomi said. “I mean, except, uh…” Realizing how that particular part ought to remain unspoken, she tried to rein it back only for her mind to go blank in finding a suitable substitute.

Sayaka grinned. “Except for that part about having a girlfriend, huh?”

“Sorry,” Hitomi said with a wince.

“Eh, don’t stress. It takes some getting used to, I know.” Then Sayaka looked down at her hands. “So, you want to address the noran in the bathtub, or should I?”

“The what?”

“Er, elephant in the room, I mean. I mean, it’s just that this whole ball of nasty got kick-started because of a shared crush.”

Hitomi’s stomach clenched up. “You mean Kyousuke.”

“That’s the guy.” Sayaka shook her head. “Okay, so, it is probably blindingly obvious that I’ve moved on from him in every imaginable way, but I really got to ask: was he really worth it?”

“Worth it? You mean, worth me stabbing you in the back for?”

“Oh, hell no! I mean was he worth me selling my soul for?”

“Well, you probably thought so at the time,” Hitomi said. “But he was…” She smiled dreamily. “He was always so gentle, so soft-spoken and intelligent. He had the prettiest eyes, and soft, silky hair woven from silver. And whenever he played, I felt that was building a staircase to Heaven with his music, one that was just for me.”

“Wow,” Sayaka said. “No wonder we fought over him.”

Hitomi’s smile faltered. “He must be hurting so much right now. He was so depressed after you disappeared. He told me that he had never gotten around to thanking you for visiting him all the time, that you had been the only one to stop by at least once a week. He felt like maybe if he had been more thankful, that you wouldn’t…well, you know.”

“Oh. Um, did he…know?”

“What, about your wish? That you were the reason that he got healed in the first place? No! Of course not, how could he?”

“No,” Sayaka said, shaking her head. “I mean that I had feelings for him.”

Hitomi looked down at her feet. “Yes,” she said. “I told him, the last time we spoke. He just got real quiet and hung up the phone.”

“And then?”

Hitomi sniffed. “And then that’s when Kyubey came. I didn’t…really talk to him that much after that.”

“Oh. Huh. That…uh, that sucks.”

Hitomi nodded.

Then Sayaka frowned and shrugged. “Well, if I sold my soul for the guy, it stands to reason I should at least know something about him.”

Hitomi blinked. “You…want me to tell you all about Kyousuke?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Okay,” Hitomi said with a nod. “But on one condition.”

Sayaka tilted her head.

“I want you to tell me all about Ophelia.”

Sayaka grinned. “I have absolutely no problem with th-”

“Except for the dirty stuff!” Hitomi added hastily. “I don’t need to know the details about that!”

“Aw, but that takes the fun out of it!” Sayaka (no, Oktavia. She had a new name, and Hitomi was going to start getting used to it) said with a laugh. “Okay then. Deal.”

…

Everyone looked up as Oktavia reentered the room. Whatever it was that had happened, it must have gone well, as she was smiling fainting, humming a slow tune to herself. Ophelia followed close behind.

Gretchen sat up a little straighter as they came in. “Did everything go okay?”

Ophelia grinned. “Seeing how it ended with the two of them throwing off their clothes and making sweet, sweet love on the poop deck, I’d say it-” Oktavia leaned over her armrest to give her a swift smack. “-ow!”

Shaking her head, Oktavia looked back to Gretchen and flashed her an OK symbol.

Gretchen sighed with relief and relaxed. “That’s good,” she said. “That’s good. I’m glad.”

Homulilly, however, was not quite so enthused. “Okay, but once we get back, we are handing her back to the FIB and she is staying put this time, right?”

“Right. And she was very apologetic for everything that’s happened. We don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

Homulilly cast a dour eye over to where Candeloro lay in her bunk, fast asleep. “That’s nice,” she said. “But damage done.”

Oktavia’s smile dropped. “Any word from Charlotte?”

“No,” Gretchen sighed. “I tried to get her to come out earlier. She wouldn’t even talk to me.”

“What do we do then?” Homulilly asked. “What if she still won’t talk to us before it’s time to go home?”

Ophelia’s eyes got a kind of scary gleam at that. “If Charlotte still wants to be part of this family, then she needs to start putting in the effort to do so.”

That proclamation stunned everyone. It was one thing to be angry with one of their number for being stubborn and callous, it was something else entirely to raise the possibility of having that person evicted from their circle.

“Babe, you’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?” Oktavia said in a small voice.

“I’m not suggesting anything,” Ophelia said as she sat down on her bunk. “I want Charlotte back as much as anyone else. But she’s locking us out. We’ve all done all we can to get through to her, and she’s still locking us out. Enough is enough. Next move is up to her.”

No one had any response to that. Even Homulilly was struck speechless. It wasn’t that she disagreed with Ophelia, but of all the possible outcomes of their current situation, she had never even dreamed that one of them would be one of her friends willingly leaving. And over something like this! She completely understood Charlotte being upset and disturbed by Candeloro’s change, but this was beyond the pale. Even Hitomi had more reason for behaving the way she had.

It was as sobering a thought as one could imagine, one that made them all fall silent. Homulilly and Gretchen squeezed each other’s hands but said nothing.

“So hey,” Oktavia said suddenly after a few minutes of nothing. “To change the subject, it occurs to me that you guys got to do what I had been trying to do all week: tangle with the karnuk.”

“Tavi,” Homulilly sighed. “Trust me, the next sea monster that shows up is all yours.”

“Yeah, but even so…” Oktavia grinned. “You guys wanna see it?”

…

The karnuk was still being held in the ship’s cargo hold. It was floating in a large cube of water, one that was suspended in the middle of the room. Though it had been fully treated for the injuries Candeloro and Gretchen had inflicted upon it, there was still a fair number of people gathered on the catwalks that surrounded its tank, some of waving weird little instruments across the tank’s sides while others wrote in notepads and still others merely gawked at it like visitors to an aquarium.

For the first time, the karnuk was fully visible. They had done something to it that turned it a dark purple, and now Homulilly could fully see the monster that had come so close to eating them all. It reminded her of a strange cross between a manatee, a squid, and a whale shark. It had a fat, bulbous body with two long fleshy appendages dangling from the back like a cricket’s hairs and a long fin that surrounded the whole of its body like a skirt; a head that was flat, blunt, and broad; and four tentacles that hung around its stubby neck. Its mouth was hanging slack, and even with as far back as they were standing its jagged teeth were plainly visible.

It was pretty big. Not mind-bogglingly huge, but it could have swallowed any one of them with no problem.

“We fought that?” Gretchen breathed as they stared.

“You sure did! Roughed it up pretty bad too,” Oktavia said. She sounded almost proud of them. “There was some gnarly surgery going on its first night here, from what I’ve heard. It might have bled out if they hadn’t managed to patch it up.”

“You ask me, you should’ve just let it,” Ophelia said. “That thing would make sushi for days.”

A researcher had been passing by close enough to hear, and Ophelia’s remark made her let out an indignant squeak and nearly dropped the thick binder of papers for days.

“What?” Ophelia said with an unapologetic scowl. “That thing tried to make sushi out of me. I’m entitled to hold a grudge.”

The researcher returned the scowl and stomped off, muttering something about land people and their lack of appreciation for the beauty of nature.

“You don’t even like sushi,” Oktavia said once she had gone.

“For this, I would eat a whole plate myself and savor every bite. Out of spite.”

“What’s going to happen to it?” Gretchen asked.

“That is still being debated,” said Denna Heyman as she approached the group. Homulilly had only met the frizzy-haired girl a couple of times before, but as she understood it Denna was the one in charge. She stood next to them, looking up at her prize. “We were just going to let it finish healing up and have it taken back to where it came from and set it loose.”

“Were?” Ophelia said, raising an eyebrow.

“Word got out, and we’ve already been contacted by two zoos and one exotic animal preserve.” Denna shrugged. “Problem is, this guy’s been out of his natural habitat for some time, so odds are, if we send him back where he came from, he’ll probably get gobbled up himself pretty quickly.”

“Not seeing how that’s any of our problem,” Ophelia said. Denna and Oktavia both shot her disapproving looks.

“Anyway,” Denna said, and a bit huffingly at that, “now that the storm’s cleared up, they’ll be sending people to pick you up and bring you back home very soon. Odds are, you’ll be sleeping in your own beds tonight.”

“What about Hitomi?” Gretchen asked.

“The runaway? The FIB’s sending their own transport for her.” Denna raised an eyebrow. “Assuming, of course, that she’s going to board it without us needing to drop her first?”

“She will,” Oktavia said. “And she’s going to stay put this time.”

Homulilly cleared her throat. “Well, that’s good to hear, but you haven’t brought up the big issue yet. What of Candeloro?”

“I assume she will be going with you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Homulilly said. “Do they…know?”

Denna sighed. “No, I didn’t tell them, per your request. But while I completely understand your desire for privacy, you all do realize that word is going to get out sooner or later, right?”

Everyone all looked uneasily at one another. Once everyone learned that the ninth confirmed witch-reversal had taken place, and was living in Freehaven, then things were going to change, and not for the better.

Homulilly had long gotten used to her friends’ small amount of fame. She enjoyed joining the crowd in cheering for Ophelia during dancing competitions and. She had on more than one occasion gone to one of Oktavia’s rare performances and felt a surge of pride whenever the audience was wowed by the debut of some new piece that she had already heard weeks ago during her visits to the studio. She had felt justifiably smug when Mitty had fallen head-over-heels over Charlotte’s books, books that Homulilly had given suggestions for and were apparently based in part on Gretchen and herself. She had watched people line up at the Honey Hive to try whatever award-winning treat Candeloro was offering, a treat that she had made specially for everyone at her house.

But this…this was going far beyond than simply people she cared about getting recognition for their accomplishments. This was going to turn their family into a media event, with everyone wanting to come see what Candeloro had become. Hell, people from all over the afterlife were going to be interested, from researchers to theologians to religious leaders to politicians to witches struggling with identity issues to those like Hitomi who knew witches that they wished to have returned to their former selves to those who were simply curious. And there were going to be plenty from every category.

She thought back to their trip to the museum a couple years ago, about meeting Astrid and learning her story. She thought of how eager Mitty had been to meet her, about how blown away many of the other girls had been with Astrid’s very existence. Astrid had been around for several centuries and she was still considered a curiosity by the general populace. Was that to be their life now, always having to dodge random strangers and gawkers and having to field the same questions over and over and over? Homulilly had spent the first few years of her existence just getting over feeling like a freak, and now she was going to be living with an actual freak, someone who ironically had become a freak by ceasing to be one, as weird as the thought sounded.

Ophelia then stepped in front of everyone, her face hard and resolute. “What ends ups being our new normal, we’ll adjust,” she said. “Whatever needs to change, we’ll make the change. Because that’s what families do! They stick together, support each other, and don’t off everyone in a weird murder/suicide!”

“What?” Gretchen said.

“Never mind. Issues. Forget it.”

Denna’s eyes flitted from one face to the next in confusion. “Um, okay,” she said. “I…don’t know what that last part had to do with anything, but whatever it is you decide to do, all I can say is good luck. You’re gonna need it.”

Oktavia breathed out. “Thanks, Denna. You’re a real ray of sunshine sometimes, you know that?”

“I’m a lady of science, I call it as it is,” Denna said with a shrug. “I’ll let you know when they’re on their way.”

After she had walked off, the group let out a collective sigh and made their way back to the room that had been provided for them. As they walked, Homulilly took the time to sidle up to Ophelia.

“What about Charlotte?” she said in a low voice. “What are we going to do about her?”

Ophelia’s mouth was a knife-edge slash across her face. “What we need to,” she said, giving Homulilly only the briefest of glances.

Oktavia made a face. “Babe, not trying to start something here, but I have to agree with Lilly. We really need something a little more concrete.”

For a long while, Ophelia said nothing, she just marched forward, her face point straight ahead. Then she said, “Change happens. It’s inevitable. When it does, you have to…adjust. We’ve been telling Hitomi Shizuki that all week, and look where her not listening got us. Now it’s Charlotte’s turn to learn that same lesson.”

Homulilly and Gretchen quickly exchanged glances. Gretchen swallowed and Homulilly winced. Oh, this wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

…

Given Oktavia’s fear of flying, they were going to be taken back to Freehaven by boat. To be quite frank, Homulilly would have preferred to go by sky like Hitomi supposedly was; she had quite enough of the ocean for one lifetime, thank you very much. But she could deal. Soon they would be home again.

Candeloro hadn’t said a thing the whole to the dock. Homulilly wanted to talk to her, to ask her how she was feeling and if there was anything she could do, but she didn’t had the first idea of how to approach the subject. What if she said the wrong thing and made things worse? What if she came off as too pushy? What if Candeloro simply didn’t want to speak, and just by asking Homulilly would end up intruding?

This was the sort of thing that Gretchen would handle. She was much more empathetic than Homulilly was, and had a knack for reaching out to people who were hurting. But even she seemed to be at a loss for words.

As they walked onto the dock, Homulilly saw something that made her hesitate.

There was an FIB hovership floating just over the water, with a ramp leading from its side down to the dock. Hitomi was there, being lead into it by a group of FIB caretakers.

“Well, that closes that chapter at least,” Ophelia sighed.

“Is she going to be okay?” Gretchen asked.

Homulilly’s right eye twitched.

“Of course she is. So long as she doesn’t get all weird and start teleporting all over the place again. Seriously, they really need to find some kind of counter-measures for that kind of thing. I know freeform teleportation is a rare ability, but they should have something in place. You know, just in case.”

That sounded like a fine idea to Homulilly. In fact, if they decided to just lock her in a dark room in the underground ward forever, she would have no objections.

Then Gretchen looked over to Oktavia, who caught the glance and nodded.

“Excuse us for a moment,” Gretchen said. Then she hurried over to the dock, with Oktavia stomping off after her in her chair.

“Huh?” Homulilly said. “Hey!” She reached after them. “Wait!”

Then Ophelia placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from pursuing. “Homulilly, just let it go,” she said with a weary sigh.

Homulilly stared at her. “But-”

“I know you hate the girl, but they don’t. So just let them.”

“Really?” Homulilly said, her face twisting up in disbelief. “After…everything? Everything she’s done to us, all the ways she messed things up?”

Homulilly meaningfully tilted her head over to Candeloro, who was standing silently in the back. The blonde didn’t seem to be listening to their conversation, noticing Hitomi or the fact that two of her friends were rushing towards the little screwball, or really much of anything at all. She was standing stock-still, staring out over the horizon, the only things moving being her fingers as they jerkily tangled and untangled themselves around each other.

Ophelia sighed. “Look, it’s like we keep saying: damage done. Besides, if you really think about it, Hitomi wasn’t directly responsible for a lot of what happened. Some of it was our fault too, and the rest was just pure dumb bad luck.”

“She’s responsible for enough,” Homulilly muttered darkly.

Ophelia shook her head. “Homulilly, don’t. It’s not worth it, okay? No one says you gotta be her friend or even like her, but you can’t stop Gretchen making friends with her.”

Maybe not, but she sure wished that she could. Calling a truce with Mitty for Gretchen’s sake had been tough enough. This was on a whole other level. “Fine,” she said. “But she’s not coming to the house.”

“Fair enough. In fact, they’d be wise to keep her from any steep drop for the foreseeable future.”

“They’d be wise to keep her in a tiny room until she grew something resembling a brain,” Homulilly groused as she folded her arms over he chest. “But what do I know?”

…

“Hitomi! Wait!”

The voice cut through the air like an arrow. Hitomi, who had just been about to step onto the ramp to board the spaceship (a spaceship! They had sent a spaceship to pick her up!), immediately froze in place.

Madoka (no, her name was Gretchen now. She was going to have to get used to that) was bounding toward her. It was kind of disconcerting, actually. Her lower half was a nightmare of skittering golden wires that held her up nearly three meters high, but the way her upper half was bouncing up and down while she waved enthusiastically was all Madoka.

The FIB workers that had been sent to retrieve her quickly placed themselves between Hitomi and Gretchen. “Wait, hold on!” one of them said. “You can’t-”

“It’s okay!” Gretchen said as she slowed to a stop. “She can’t mess with our heads anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” one of the caretakers said. “We were specifically told to keep her away from you!”

“Then you weren’t told everything,” Oktavia said as her chair stomped its way toward the group. “I’ve already had a long talk with her earlier. We just want to say goodbye.”

“But-”

“Look, if she could still mess us up, she would have by now. Please just let us have this.” Gretchen flicked her hands toward them. “Go on now. Shoo!”

The FIB people reluctantly stepped aside. Hitomi glanced at them in uncertainty, and then moved away from the spaceship toward Gretchen and Oktavia.

“You came to see me,” she said.

“Well, we couldn’t just let you go without saying goodbye!” Gretchen said.

Hitomi was flabbergasted. “Really? Even after…everything?”

“Well, hey, you did kind of die to find us,” Oktavia said as she brought her chair to a stop beside Gretchen. “Besides, we were kind of like the three amigos, apparently! Can’t let our third member head out without seeing her off.”

Hitomi’s eyes misted over. “Th-Thank you,” she said. “I don’t…I don’t deserve you two. At all. And…I am so-”

Oktavia held up a palm, stopping her in her track. “I think you’ve done enough crying and apologizing,” she said. “Just concentrate on getting better, okay?”

“And we can come and visit you!” Gretchen chimed in. “You know, after you’ve settled in and gotten used to the place.”

“It’s really not bad,” Oktavia said. “First few weeks are hard on everyone, but once you get past that, I swear it gets better.”

Then Gretchen frowned. “Um, unless they’re still going to keep you in the underground ward. I don’t think that part has visitors.”

Hitomi sighed. “I already talked to them a little over the…phone, or whatever that glowy thing was. They told me that we can work something out. I guess they figured that I already did as much damage as I could.”

“Plus, keeping you underground won’t help much when you got a magical teleporting umbrella,” Oktavia snickered.

“Which she will not be using,” said one of the FIB workers, her arms folded across her chest as she glowered sternly at Hitomi.

Hitomi winced. “Yes, they did make me promise not to do that anymore. Which is fine. I don’t need it.” Her gaze then went to the small group hanging far behind her friends. “Er, what about your girlfriends though? Because they don’t…they don’t really like me at all.”

“Ah, don’t worry about Ophelia,” Oktavia said with a dismissive wave. “She’s a little tough sometimes, but she’s pretty reasonable. She’s fine.”

“Okay,” Hitomi said. “But I’m pretty sure Homulilly wants to strangle me.”

“Uh…yeah…” Oktavia and Gretchen exchanged looks. Gretchen winced and Oktavia shrugged. “Maybe a little…look, just keep your distance, and we’ll make sure she doesn’t come looking for you.”

“Tavi, that really didn’t come out reassuring at all,” Gretchen said.

“Look, you’re the one with the girlfriend that has a super scary side, okay? I’m doing the best I can!”

Gretchen sighed. “Don’t worry. Homulilly can hold a grudge, but she’ll come around too. She just needs some time to cool down. She’s not going to randomly show up in your room again to threaten you, I promise.”

“Okay,” Hitomi said. “But I was more worried about making things hard for you. I don’t want to drive a wedge in between you two or anything.”

“You won’t,” Gretchen said. “Besides, the FIB will probably want us to keep our distance for a while until you’re, um, until you’re…” She shot a pleading look at Oktavia.

“Until you’re settled in and reliably stable,” Oktavia said with a sigh. “Jesus, stop dancing around it.”

Hitomi swallowed. “Am I really that bad?”

At this, Oktavia raised an eyebrow. “Hitomi, you died twice in one week. You had your entire world turned upside-down just about every other day, had the wits scared out of you, and had a lot of really scary people yell at you a lot. Also, you’re coming really close to chewing your entire finger off.”

Realizing that she was right, Hitomi quickly popped her finger out of her mouth. She hadn’t even noticed that she had been gnawing on it again. “S-Sorry, it’s…it just makes me feel better for some reason.” She sighed. “I guess you have a point. B-But after, you will come visit, right?”

“Promise,” Gretchen said. “We just want you to get better.”

Then she spread her arms, clearly beckoning for a hug.

Despite desperately need one, Hitomi hesitated. Not out of fear or revulsion, but out of wondering if she really deserved it.

“You might as well give it to her,” Oktavia said. “She’ll just keep standing there until you give her what she wants.”

Hitomi had to laugh at that. Then she slowly reached out with shaking hands to wrap her arms around Gretchen’s body.

Gretchen immediately half-pounced, seizing her up with both arms to squeeze her tight.

And…oh.

She was so strong, and yet so gentle. So powerful and yet so soft. It was more than one of the happy cuddles Madoka would foist upon her whenever she was feeling happy or affectionate, which was often. It was a grown-up hug, and yet it also reminded Hitomi of being hugged by both her mother and her father, as nurturing as it was protecting, as comforting as it was caring.

And Hitomi, who had no idea just how starved she had been for that kind of physical affection, could do nothing but melt in her arms.

Confessing to Oktavia earlier had unburdened her soul of some of the weight. This took off most of the rest. It was the purest thing Hitomi had ever experienced, and if she could stop time like Homura Akemi and bring this moment to a stop so that she could experience it forever, she would.

Suddenly Gretchen started to loosen one arm, and Hitomi instinctively clung tighter. Not now! Just a little longer. That’s all she wanted, to stay there a little longer.

But fortunately Gretchen wasn’t drawing away. Instead, she was reaching down to grab Oktavia by the arm and lift her into the embrace. When she realized this, Hitomi had no problem in releasing her right arm to bring Oktavia in as well.

Laughing and crying, the three reunited friends held each other close. For Hitomi, it was the first moment of real, unspoiled joy she had had since…well, since she had confessed to Kyousuke, actually. She had done it. Sure, her friends looked different, went by different names, had their pasts missing, and were quite a bit older now, but it was still them! She had found them!

And for the first time since her death, Hitomi felt that maybe things would be all right after all.

…

Ophelia placed a hand on Homulilly’s shoulder. “Steady, girl.”

“I am steady,” Homulilly said.

“I can practically see the steam coming out of your ears.”

“I’m steady,” Homulilly insisted, though the fact that she had been chewing on the insides of her cheeks for the last minute or so was a strike against that claim. “I’m dealing.”

And she was. She understood how much this meant to Gretchen, and she wasn’t about to let personal grudges mess it up for her. And it was true, maybe Hitomi was someone to be pitied rather than hated. And okay, it really wasn’t all of her fault.

But damn it, Homulilly just plain didn’t like her. Like, at all! Things sucked right now, and Hitomi had kicked it all off! Homulilly was allowed to resent her for a little while longer at least.

“Okay then,” Ophelia said, not sounding convinced in the slightest. Then she angled her head to one side and frowned behind her sunglasses.

“What?” Homulilly said.

“You’re, uh, not getting weirdly jealous again, are you? Because we all know where that leads.”

Homulilly rolled her eyes. “Oh please. I’m way past all that. It just sucks to want to strangle someone when the love of your life is giving them a great big bearhug!”

“Huh. You know, Hitomi has a point.”

Homulilly stared. “About…what exactly?”

“You get kind of scary when you’re really mad.”

Homulilly pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Then she frowned as well. “Wait, hold on,” she said, looking around. “We’re still missing someone. Where’s Charlotte?”

Ophelia’s head jerked back. “Charlotte?” she said as she took off her sunglasses and looked around.

At the mention of her wayward wife’s name, Candeloro finally seemed to snap out of her stupor. She looked around as well, her face stricken.

Homulilly frowned. She had hoped that Charlotte would at least be at the dock to meet them. Sure, the trip home would be awkward, but at least she would be there.

Denna was standing off at the other end of the dock, talking to one of her coworkers. Homulilly felt a chill of premonition go down her back. Whatever it was that they were discussing, it had something to do with their problem. And judging by the look of surprise and irritation on Denna’s face, it wasn’t good.

With a disgruntled sigh, Denna then broke off to walk towards their group. “Well,” she said. “I have some bad news.”

“It’s Charlotte, isn’t it?” Ophelia said.

“Afraid so.”

“She’s not coming back with us?” Candeloro said, her voice a hoarse whisper.

“Um, no. Actually, it turns out she’s already left.”

“What?” Ophelia and Homulilly said in stereo.

“Yeah, um,” Denna said as she anxiously scratched the back of her neck. “Come to find out that she’s actually friends with the owners of one of the deep-sea ocean platforms we got around here. Met them through some kind of book club or something. Anyway, she managed to get in contact with them and had them show up and give her a ride.”

“And you’re just telling us this now?” Ophelia demanded.

“She didn’t tell anyone about this! She just up and left! Walked right past the dockmaster without saying anything and got on their boat! I thought they had come to get all of you until they took off with just her!”

Ophelia’s eyes went as cold and hard as glaciers, a scary look for someone so associated with fire. Homulilly wasn’t scared though. She wore a very similar look.

“So,” Ophelia said. “That’s how it is then.”

Candeloro buried her face in her stiff hands and burst into tears.

…

The small craft known as the Fire Tiger cut through the ocean, speeding from the Aurora Borealis toward Freehaven. In good conditions, the trip took about an hour, and one couldn’t ask for better conditions than what they were currently experiencing. Now that the storm had gotten all of its raging out of its system, the sky was bright and clear, the ocean itself smooth as glass.

Good. Charlotte didn’t want the trip to take any longer than absolutely necessary.

She sat in the back of the boat, staring wordlessly out to sea. She was starting to understand why Ophelia hated it so much. Oh sure, it looked calm and peaceful now, but it had been only a couple days ago that it had been nothing but cruel and violent. And Oktavia could go on and on about how beautiful and wonderful its flora and fauna were all she wanted. All Charlotte knew that it also contained monsters, and one of them had tried to eat her and her friends the moment they had been dumped into the depths. And through a tragic application of the Butterfly Effect, it ended up taking away everything from her.

But of course, now it was lovely and calm, now the monster had been safely contained. It couldn’t have been caught earlier in the week, when the weather had been perfect and there had been several dedicated teams of professionals scouring the area. It wasn’t until after it had taken away everything that she cared about that it had finally been caught. And the storm, the one that hadn’t been projected to even hit until two days after it actually did? That just had to have decided to start raging when Little Miss Delusional wanted to take her swan dive.

Hitomi. The storm. The karnuk. Take any one of the above out of the equation and all of this wouldn’t have happened. But they did happen, and all at once. Now the ocean seemed to be mocking her with its tranquility, almost as if the whole thing had been deliberate, and now it was rubbing it in her face.

At the front of the boat sat the owners of her ride, a couple of local kelp harvesters named Shizuku Sango and Natsuru Senou. They were members of a book club that Charlotte had helped set up back at the library

So far they hadn’t asked many questions about why Charlotte had suddenly ended up on the Aurora Borealis to begin with, or why she needed a ride that very moment instead of simply letting the researchers take her home. Good. Charlotte didn’t feel like explaining. However, the glances that Natsuru was shooting her told her that questions were probably going to start soon.

“So,” Shizuku said suddenly, her voice raised to be heard over the sound of the motor. “The Aurora Borealis just called. Apparently they were taken off guard by your sudden exit.”

Charlotte said nothing.

“They said that your entire family is there, and that they’re quite upset over your departure. Now, isn’t that odd? I know your fish friend is often over there, but for the whole family to be over there too? And I understand that tiffs are normal when you have that many people living in one place, but I find it very odd that-”

“Shizuku?”

“Yes?”

Charlotte didn’t even look away from the sea to address her. “I appreciate you guys coming to get me on short notice. But drop it. Please.”

Natsuru turned in her seat. “Charlotte, you’re not in trouble, are you? Is there anything we can do?”

“You can take me home, and you can keep from asking me questions.”

Shizuku tsked. “Oh, that does not sound good. You know, we have our own little family that’s the same size as yours. There’s Natsuru and myself, and there is also Akane and Mikoto too. And granted, we’re all magical girls instead of witches, but I don’t imagine that would make much of a difference. So when you have four strong-willed ladies living together in a relatively small space out in the middle of the ocean, tempers can flare and arguments do break out. So we’ve had to get pretty good at resolving them. Otherwise, we would have torn each other apart long ago. So while I may not know the specifics of your situation, that doesn’t mean that we can’t help you come up with a way-”

Sighing, Charlotte finally turned toward them. “You can’t. This isn’t…this isn’t someone leaving dirty dishes in the sink or making a mess of the restroom. This isn’t someone waking up on the wrong side of the bed and taking it out on everyone else. This is…you can’t deal with it. I can’t deal with it. So please, j-just leave it.”

Shizuku and Natsuru exchanged glances. “If you say so,” Shizuku said after a beat. “I hope things work out for you then.”

A well-intentioned sentiment, but unfortunately it came far, far too late.

…

Sometimes you just got to confront yourself. Sometimes you have to look back on what you’ve done and wonder what in the hell were you thinking. Sometimes you have to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I really made Kampfer and To Love-Ru part of my canon, didn’t I?”

Yup.

Still not apologizing.

And hey, fun fact: this story was supposed to wrap up after everyone had their dreams and talked to themselves after the karnuk fight, but things…changed. Funny how that works out.

Until next time, everyone.

#walpurgis nights

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