I just poured my heart out, and she barely seemed to listen. Ume though irritated. Takako didn’t seem that grateful about the rescue but she was so difficult to read. No doubt, she still resented Ume’s attempt on her life.

Why am I worrying about this now? We’re in a major battle! But Ume wasn’t that confident of victory. It was Doubtful that Haruko would fall for Takako’s trick twice. Worse, Ume had no way of hurting the lieutenant whatsoever.

“Hey, I’ve got your back.” The mysterious white-haired knight said, giving her an encouraging smile. While he’d recovered somewhat from his injuries, he remained in awful shape.

And here’s another anomaly I don’t understand. How Paliah could even hurt a magical girl was beyond her. She’d visited countless worlds with dangerous threats, but none came close to threatening a magical girl or fairy.

“Thanks,” Ume swore she’d do her part to protect him, at least. He seemed like a good guy.

“Not you again, rebel,” Emiyo said, annoyed. “Still, I get another chance to present the Devil Princesses with your head. Leave this one to me, Haruko.”

“Fine,” Haruko replied. “The weak should deal with the weak. The rebel has only survived this long because she preyed on Starlight Dream’s worthless. If she kills you, we didn’t need you, anyway.”

“Thanks,” Emiyo replied, venom in her words.

Without warning, Haruko’s whip tore through the air towards Takako’s head. It forced Ume to dodge away from her ally. The whip rose for another strike. But Ume was ready, summoning a portal to direct it back towards the lieutenant. But the whip passed straight through the window in reality like it didn’t exist. Takako howled as it clipped her shoulder, leaving her arm limp.

“All vectors.” Haruko taunted. “Nothing can touch me and never will.”

Oh, God. We can’t win, can we?

Despite wincing as she examined her injury, Takako only smirked. “Do you have the memory span of goldfish? Did you forget that I almost killed you?”

This taunt raised Haruko’s hackles, who focused her attention on making Takako pay for that remark. They darted away, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Thinking Ume distracted, Emiyo’s sickle slashed towards her stomach. Metal clashed against metal as Ume used her wand to block it. The lieutenant was quick, but Ume kept a step ahead with her portals. She extended a hand, Rmiyo grunted in annoyance as a beam of energy blasted into her stomach from a sudden hole in reality.

“Amusing, but you’re still only a gnat!”

Ume’s head rang as she received a sudden blow to the skull, making her stagger. Despite the lieutenant’s grievous injuries, her time skipping made her impossible to track. Ume blindsided her with more energy beams from nowhere, but their damage proved minimal. She howled as a sickle slash caught her across the chest, bleeding profusely. Emiyo followed up with a more deadly strike, but gasped as a blade stabbed through her wrist. The lieutenant creamed in rage and pain, dropping her weapon.

“Have courage,” Paliah said, his words haggard. He used his sword to support his waning strength. “This fight isn’t over yet.”

While she appreciated the comforting words, Ume’s spirit crumpled in despair. Even this non-magical girl was stronger than her! What was wrong with her? Why did she always trail behind everyone else despite her seniority? She was one of the oldest magical girls still alive. What was she lacking?

“Paliah!” She gasped as Emiyo’s sickle severed his left arm, trembling with horror.

“Believe. Believe.” Paliah said, his words jagged with pain. “Love. That’s what makes you magical girls strong, right? Seina loves, so she’s strong.” He collapsed to his knees, his strength failing him.

“No, a true magical girl gains power through might, ruthlessness,” Emiyo said, her tone icy. “She takes it by crushing everyone else under her. Seina is only strong because of her power. I finally figured out what it was. Her power is strength. That’s it. Raw, unbridled strength. That’s why she’s so terrible at magic. It’d be like trying to control a hurricane with your bare hands. You other girls, however? You’re gaining strength from nothing, and that’s why you can’t compare to us.”

Yeah, cruelty is their power. Something I lack. She paused, something about her boasting not ringing true. Hinata, she’d told her differently.

“Love.” She’d said. “Without love, how can we live? That’s why we magical girls are strong! Because we embrace life! At least, that’s how I figure it.”

But that advice was useless to someone as unloved as Ume. Her parents had never paid her much attention, throwing her into a boarding school and forgetting about her. She’d been a loner, never making any real friends. Solitude had always been her constant companion and her bedrock. Only Hinata had shown an interest in her, but Starlight Dream murdered her. Her love couldn’t save her.

Loneliness stabbed at her heart, its reminder a precisely aimed dagger. Besides, it wasn’t like her situation would ever change. She’d ruined everything. Even if they won, Takako and the others would never accept her. Pain clawed at her chest as a sickle drove into it, felling her in a single stroke. Her body failed her as Emiyo raised her weapon for a killing blow.

“No!”

Surprised, Emiyo stumbled as Hope barreled into her sword arm. It didn’t knock the weapon free, but made the incoming blow miss her entirely.

“Annoying wretch.” Her fairy partner howled in pain, getting a nasty slash across the left eye.

Without thinking, Ume huddled her body protectively around her partner. She howled as the next blow stabbed into her, the sickle’s blade embedding itself deep into her spinal cord. It seemed foolish to take such punishment when it couldn’t even kill her partner, but Ume didn’t care. Hope was her only companion in these long years of endless fighting and running.

“Ume.” Tears flowed unbidden as blood dripped from Ume’s mouth onto Hope’s cheek. Bone cracked as Emiyo drove the edge of her boot into her spine, but Ume clung tightly to protect her partner.

“And so it ends. Thank goodness. My quota will get back on track again. Do you have any clue how much it suffered because of you! It made me look like a fool in front of the Devil Princess!” Emiyo said. “Enjoy hell with your partner, you annoying microbe!”

Weakened as she was, these taunts barely registered to Ume. Her partner, however, sobbed on her shoulder. “I love you, Ume! Always have. When everyone else died, you kept by me. Despite the fighting and hiding, the last few centuries have been my best. I’m proud to be your partner!” The little fairy wanted to say more, but her bawling made her words incomprehensible.

A strange warmth filled Ume’s heart, and gentle tears dripped down her cheeks. Funny. She’d assumed her tears were all dried up. But they weren’t sad, but happy somehow. Ume decided dying with her best friend was a terrible death.

“You’re my hope, Hope.” It sounded stupid to Ume’s ears, but she didn’t regret saying it. “Thank you.”

“Ume.”

“Just die already.” Emiyo rolled her eyes, bored by this display.

Takako continued to fight for her life, her injuries severe. Haruko had the girl on the ropes, each action wearing the besieged Takako down further. Paliah sat still, Ume uncertain he was even still breathing. It brought a pang of regret to her heart, wishing she could have changed the outcome of this battle. She wanted to protect them all! Isn’t that why she became a magical girl?

Ume had been so shy back when she’d first encountered Hinata, a girl nobody noticed or cared about. But her friend had always told her differently, telling her anyone can change.

“Your strong Ume. Believe.”

A sudden, unexpected burst of energy filled Ume as she took those words to heart. She wasn’t ready to roll over and die just yet. It was like she’d finally been allowed to breathe after years of suffocation. Was this the power of a real magical girl? It felt like reuniting with an old friend, a power she hadn’t accessed in forever. Somehow, she’d lost track of what it meant to be a magical girl.

Emiyo howled in pain as her own sickle dug inches into her arm. “What? Impossible!”

While still in agony, Ume’s pain lessened as she absorbed more of the love. It seemed unbelievable, but Hope was sustaining her. Takako also offered her silent support.

I’m not alone.

“Nice trick, but it won’t happen again.” Emiyo grimaced as she pulled her weapon from her arm, which stained her sleeve red.

“Oh be quiet.” Ume clasped her partner’s paw as they faced their foe. A fierce calm overcame her, making her wounds seem like nothing more than a bother. For once in many centuries, Ume found herself content and complete.

Uncertainty crossed over Emiyo’s features as her opponent got an unexpected second wind, the lieutenant disliked unexpected surprises. A cruel smile formed on her face when she realized it didn’t matter, deciding she’d finish this in a single stroke. Emiyo thrust her hand forward, throwing out a time lock impossible for Ume to break through.

Emiyo blinked, confused, finding herself someplace else. Her eyes widened as her own spell shackled her in place. While trivial for the lieutenant to break through, it’d bought Ume the seconds she needed.

“How did you do that?” Hope asked, amazed. “I thought you could only create small portals? You, what, summoned a portal around her?”

“Not exactly.” Ume summoned magic into her palm. It glowed blue as she gathered energies she’d never realized she possessed.

The time spell around Emiyo shattered, the lieutenant’s eyes widening as a beam flew towards her at impossible speeds. But it froze to a halt as she locked it in another time lock. This victory proved short-lived as more beams flew towards her. She tried her best to dodge around them, but they kept appearing from nowhere. Anything she dodged was abruptly redirected back towards her. Or if she moved away, she found herself back where she’d started.

“Damn you!” The lieutenant extended both hands and froze time for several meters around her. Ume’s beams hung in the air, trapped in place. Her breath coming in gasps as she taxed her energy reserves. Emiyo blinked as she found herself somewhere else, eyes widened as a fist flew towards her face.

“H-how?” Emiyo howled in pain as Ume continued to pummel her. Each punch drained her vast but dwindling power, and landed with a satisfying crunch.

“You don’t have time magic. How can you?” The lieutenant sputtered, doubling over from a punch to the kidney.

“I finally understand how my powers work, unlocked their true potential,” Ume said, standing over the cowering lieutenant. “Emiyo, I’m not altering time. It’s space.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t beat me! Freeze!” Emiyo extended a hand, using her remaining magic to trap Ume.

“Got you!” Before the time lock struck, Ume extended a hand and shifted reality to return the lieutenant right where she’d stolen her. Before Emiyo could utter a curse, the beams she’d previously frozen in time bombarded her. Body charred from energy burns, she collapsed to the cement floor. Not dead, but wishing she was.

“Space, huh? I never realized.” Hope said, flying towards her partner.

“Me either.” Ume studied her hand, marveling at her power. She wondered about the extent of her abilities. Could she move a planet to another part of the universe? Experiments that would need to wait. Takako still requires her help.

“Are you sure?” Hope asked in concern. “You can barely stand.”

Her partner wasn’t wrong. Ume was running on fumes, but figured she still had some nasty tricks Haruko wouldn’t expect. Her victory hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“You beat her.” Haruko stared at Ume with amazement. Her expression darkened, furious at this insult. She cared little about Emiyo, but resented what the defeat represented.

“No surprise. Emiyo is a chump, always has been.” Takako gave Ume an encouraging smile, though her surprise was evident.

“Enough of that.” Haruko disappeared and reappeared before Ume. She thrust out a hand, ready to cave in the rebel’s chest. She gasped as her hand only pushed Ume back a few steps.

“What?” Haruko opened and closed her mouth like a fish, baffled why her vectors hadn’t torn Ume to shreds. She grunted in pain as Takako shot a blast into her chest. While Ume hadn’t removed all her vectors, it left the lieutenant exposed enough to cause some damage.

“You can’t!” Haruko touched her chest, acting like she’d never seen it before. Her eyes darted with genuine fear, unnerved by her change in fortune.

“Typical,” Takako said, sniffing with her head raised high. “Whining over a few bruises. I thought you were a superior magical girl.”

“Shut up!” The lieutenant seethed, eyes dilating. “You haven’t beaten me! I can’t be beaten!”

“Calm yourself, Haruko,” Kion said from the sidelines. “You’re playing into their hands!”

“Right.” Haruko heaved as she tried to get her emotions back under control. “I can’t allow scum to bother me.”

“Can you do that trick again?” Takako whispered, saddling towards Ume.

“Yes, Haruko’s barrier weakens the further it spreads out.” Its strength came from its density. While capable of reflecting attacks from an atomic level, its power was weaker on that level.

“I’m in control, Kion. Her words don’t matter.” Haruko said, unable to hide the rage showing on her face. But she still proved too quick, striking out towards Takako’s chest with a jab too agile to dodge.

Haruko yelped in surprise as she collided with the ground, shifting to another location. Takako gave her a thumps up in thanks. That punch had come inches from striking her.

“Go!” Ume hobbled forward towards the momentarily stunned lieutenant. To her surprise, the knight joined her.

“I do not know what you did, but together we can tear her barrier to shreds!” He slipped ahead, sword extended with his remaining arm. It clashed against the vector barrier against Haruko’s back, but it only froze in place instead of shattering.

Ume joined him, relocating the lieutenant’s vector barrier from where the sword touched to somewhere else. The blade left a shallow cut as it drove into Haruko’s flesh, hitting her before her vector barrier could relocate to stop it. Paliah’s arm shook, pushing his powers past their breaking point. Enraged, Haruko summoned her whip, and its barbed tip struck like a viper towards Ume’s exposed neck.

She uttered a quick oath. With her power engaged, Ume couldn’t displace something else too. But it didn’t matter, pulling back the vector barrier even further. She’d take the hit if it meant victory.

Ume howled in pain as the whip’s vector barrier shattered her neck and a good portion of her skull. The lieutenant’s eyes lit with victory, but it was premature.

Shouting a battle cry, Takako thrust a hand forward, driving her palm into Paliah’s sword hilt. Instead of pushing inside, the blade phased through the lieutenant’s body. The results weren’t pretty, Haruko’s torso exploded as her own power ripped her body in half as it fought against the knight’s sword. Ume’s stomach turned, not eager to see the gory details.

“No… I… Impossible…” Haruko groaned as her body slumped to the floor, still alive despite being a torso. Remarkable, even for a magical girl killer like Ume.

“Leave her alone!” Haruko’s partner flung her tiny body over Emiyo, snarling at Takako in a rage. She took an involuntary step back, taken aback by the pure vitriol. It shocked them both how much the lieutenant’s injuries upset the tiny, wicked fairy.

“This isn’t over, you bastards!” Before they could do anything, Kion summoned a tiny portal beneath them. She slipped inside with her half-dead partner, closing it before anyone could extend a hand to stop them.

“Well, shoot,” Takako said, but it didn’t upset her too much. She must figure this was a worse fate for Haruko. With a flick of her ribbon, she restored Ume to full heath. She wiggled her once broken neck, finding no pain.

Ume, however, felt differently about the escape. She cursed, bemoaning that hadn’t the energy to stop them. Paliah just shrugged, not bothered by the lieutenant’s escape either. Hope rubbed her temple, seething inside.

“At least we have Emiyo back.” But Takako’s pronouncement proved short-lived, as they found she’d vanished during the commotion.

“Seriously! Can nothing go right today?” Ume said, fuming.

“We'll deal with her too,” Takako said, deciding it wasn’t worth getting upset about either. Ume wondered if she was crazy. Ume knew they only cause trouble later. Besides, they deserved death for their crimes.

“We should probably take care of this.” Paliah pointed his remaining arm towards Haruko’s other half.

Takako turned green when she saw the messy results of their plan, fighting the urge to vomit. Without looking, she summoned a miniature inferno. The lieutenant’s other half vanished into the flames forever.

“Can you deal with this?” Paliah held the remains of his cutoff arm. “Unlike Seina’s, this one didn’t get vaporized.”

“How do you know about that?” Takako asked, a quizzical eyebrow raised. Had Paliah been spying on Seina and Takako? And for how long?

A moment of panic flickered in the knight’s eyes, realizing he’d spoken too much. He coughed, pretending he didn’t make a mistake. “What else could have happened to it? If it only got cut off, wouldn’t she have just reattached it again?”

Despite her momentary doubts, Takako didn’t hesitate to restore his arm back to normal. Besides, it would mess up time, she reasoned. Future Paliah had both his arms. He flexed it, nodding his thanks.

“Wait, what about the future where you get mangled to death? When Haruko first struck you with her vector barrier, remember?” Takako asked.

“I better take care of that now.” Paliah’s body flickered, returning in a bloody mess. He rasped in pain from his ruined chest cavity. Yet, remarkably, he wasn’t dead.

“I guess that answers that?” Takako grimaced like she had a terrible headache, but she restored him back to health. Ume didn’t blame her ally’s pained confusion. She didn’t understand the mechanics of how the knight’s powers worked, either. Wasn’t time traveling impossible?

“We better search for Emiyo. She couldn’t have gotten far.” Ume was determined to kill her once and for all. But their search proved fruitless. They wasted thirty minutes but found nothing. Paliah decided to give his leave.

“I thank you again, Lady Takako. And you, Lady Ume.” Paliah made a gentile bow. “I look forward to fighting alongside you again.”

“Just get going.” Though, a small smile tugged at Takako’s lips. Ume only shrugged. She guessed they were friends?

Before he could disappear, a portal appeared above them. Several figures dropped from it. Ume tensed, fearing it might be one of the Devil Princesses.

“Takako!” The girl’s fairy partner flew into her arms, giving her a tight hug. “Thank goodness. You wouldn’t believe what we’ve been through!”

“No kidding. We have all of Starlight Dream after us now.” Seina said. “Are you okay? We sensed fighting and rushed here to help you.”

“Where the hell have you been?” Takako replied.

Now they show up? After the action’s over with? Ume fought back a headache. What stupid timing.

“Sorry.” Seina gave an embarrassed bow, flushing.

“You know, dimensional travel and universe shifting. Time’s weird.” Nier said, giving an apologetic shrug.

“And we did some sightseeing in that one universe, sorry.” Said a girl Ume didn’t recognize, sheepishly. She held several shopping bags filled with clothes. “If we’d known you were in danger, we’d rush here sooner.”

“Who’s this?” Takako asked. Unlike Ume, she wasn’t suspicious, only curious.

“Himari Uyou.” The girl gave a bow. “And his is my partner, Liam.”

“Hiya!” The fairy said with a friendly wave.

“She helped me in Starlight Dream. We wouldn’t have survived without her!” Seina said, beaming.

Really? The whole story sounded too convenient. A magical girl just happened to turn traitor when Seina visited Starlight dream?

“Huh,” Takako, however, seemed to welcome the newcomer. “I guess a lot happened. You even got both arms back!”

“I see you got Ume to help you,” Seina said, though her tone wasn’t quite convivial. Just as Ume expected, they’d never be friends.

After peering towards Ume, Seina pointed toward Paliah. “But who is that?”

“Uh, hi! Uh Lady, um.” Uncharacteristically, Paliah tensed and stumbled over his words. Was he embarrassed? His face was flushing bright red. “The name’s Paliah. Nice to, uh, meet you!”

“Well, my job is done here!” Paliah said, saying that sentence as almost a single word. “Well, better get going! Evil to fight and whathaveyou! Bye!”

Before the magical girl could reply, the knight vanished from sight, leaving a very confused Seina.

What the hell was that about?