"What is this place?" While frightened, Botan seemed uncharacteristically intrigued. They'd entered a bright light, their footsteps floating on nothingness. Its whiteness filled their very existence. The cave on a dead world vanished like a distant memory.
"How do you describe something whole, yet greater?" Kiyojiro replied.
"Stop speaking in riddles," the fairy snapped. "Just give me a damn straight answer."
"I don't know myself," Kiyojiro admitted. "But it invited us here for a reason."
"Well, then show yourself already!" But no reply came to Botan's challenge. Her voice didn't even echo. Trapped by nothingness, nothing was available for the sound to bounce off of. The light really seemed to continue forever. Was this it? Had he trapped them in the void for nothing? No, he refused to give up. Too much was at stake!
"Please, help us! My ward, my charge, my daughter is in danger, and we need your help!" Kiyojiro shook with emotion, speaking with feeling. "Whatever the cost, please, I'll do anything!"
"Me too!" The fairy said, blurting out the words. "That monster killed my brother, destroyed my world, and I'm aching for some payback!"
Kiyojiro gave the irate fairy a strange look. "What? I'm speaking from the heart, too! So what if my motives aren't pure? What do you expect from a fairy, the terrors of the cosmos?" Botan snapped.
Perfect! Did his companion's selfishness ruin their chances of helping Seina? But despite that, warmth greeted him, inviting and kind. Despite the rough nature of its guests, it welcomed them warmly.
"I…" Botan paused, lost for words. She had sensed it, too.
Words didn't come to him, exactly, but he got impressions. The Heart of Starlight had long lost its ability to speak, more a distant echo than a person. But the ancient fairy queen's kindness continued to live on. Hate and malice weren't the only emotions that could linger.
"Is it that simple?" Kiyojiro said, tilting his head in puzzlement.
"Yeah! He's a guy! This won't work!" Botan said. She paused, considering. "Right?"
"I don't see why not. No one ever said a man couldn't bond with a fairy."
"No, it's a profanation of the highest order!" Botan said in protest, outraged.
"Your brother, Colten, didn't care about traditional fairy values either. He bonded with a helpless, desperate girl only to save a single life."
"It's the principle of the thing!"
Kiyojiro closed his eyes, understanding what gift the Heart had given them. "We're being offered more than magical power, Botan. But it'll cost us." Of everyone who'd come to Starlight Dream, the Heart had only offered it to them. Hope, not power, had opened the choice to them.
When Botan hesitated, Kiyojiro smiled. "Your resistance gives you credit. This kind of power shouldn't be taken lightly." He paused, considering. Had Charity led them through her future visions to get this odd pair to this very moment? Remarkable.
"I suppose we must," Botan finally said. "I'll let you be my partner, even if you're nothing but a dumb gorilla."
Kiyojiro only smirked, taking the fairy's tiny paw. "I'm ready. Don't worry, Seina. We're coming." The words barely left his mouth before the light consumed them both.
---
"You again," Seina said, growling. Vampires were such a plague. The life-draining aura returned with a vengeance, stealing the breath from her lungs. But its grip had tightened, making even beating her heart difficult.
"Death can't touch me. I am a survivor. I kill the weak and drink their substance, like I did to a certain wannabe galactic conqueror. And I plan to survive even the oblivion of the cosmos," Kaguya replied. "Can you feel it? The death keel of the multiverse?"
She could, a strange grinding behind her senses. Bathiko had pushed the cosmos' integrity past its breaking point. Soon, only oblivion would await them. Even with her powers, she'd never survive it. The horror of that realization buckled her knees. She'd failed to stop anything.
"Strong heart, Seina," Takako said with her usual bluster. Despite her body wilting right before their eyes, her stubborn friend refused to show any weakness. "We aren't dead yet."
"Are you happy with this result?" Himari said, her tone chiding. Much to Seina's surprise, only she seemed unbothered by the shadow of Kaguya's life-draining aura. Was this because she didn't exactly exist in their dimension? Even the vampire queen seemed surprised by this development, her stance becoming warier. "You've returned to your original body, but at the cost of everything. Have you no shame or pity?"
Much to Seina's surprise, Kaguya sucked in a deep breath, despite the unnecessary action. She trained her strange eyes on them, her expression unreadable. "It should, shouldn't it? That I'd go to such lengths for such a petty goal. But I feel nothing, nothing at all."
"Huh?" This response surprised Seina.
"That's the problem. When I stole my first life, it horrified me. But to my surprise, it didn't bother me as it should. That's the curse that the long-dead monster gave me. My only goal has ever been survival," Kaguya replied.
"How sad," Seina said, having some pity for this cursed vampire. Her other kin seemed equally cursed, doomed to a life of unending slaughter to sate something insatiable.
"But it's too late for regret," Kaguya said, her tone flippant. "With Arisu gone, there's nothing left for me here. I want to grow again, become something grander, explore the outer cosmos."
And likely doom countless more worlds. "Whatever happens, I'm ready."
Again, Kaguya's strange eldritch eyes bore into Seina, like she was being judged by a thousand different onlookers. "Perfect to hear! Shall we begin?"
"Seina!" Takako said, horrified.
"What?" Seina's eyes widened, gasping in horror at what remained of her arms. Only two bloody stumps greeted her, ripped to shreds by an invisible blade.
"Your power is strength, right? It wasn't so hard to take away," Kaguya said casually, still unmoving from her spot. "Unlike that twisted fairy, I know what I'm doing. One flick, and you'll be nothing too, Seina."
"No!" Bubbles appeared to intercept the vampire, but they vanished into nothing. Seina cursed, realizing they'd reentered somewhere where time tentatively existed again, leaving them vulnerable to Kaguya's timeline manipulation power.
But Seina refused to be deterred, summoning bubbles in random places, hoping one might stick. While Kaguya's power had changed, her nature hadn't. The vampire still had weaknesses. Another burst of sunlight might give them a chance.
Choosing to avoid another prolonged confrontation, Kaguya sent invisible death in Seina's direction. But an invisible barrier protected her, Himari standing as a resolute guardian.
"Your powers are quite formidable," Kaguya said, studying the interloper. "How bothersome."
"And she isn't alone!" Takako said, her ribbon spinning around her in an elaborate dance. Chō nodded, moving her mech and her forces into the fray.
"Um, do you have a plan?" Takako whispered, her tone fretful. They each knew the forces they'd thrown themselves against.
"I can see the current of her attack," Himari said simply. "Back me up."
"Okay, I'll do my best to help." While she'd lost her arms, Seina wasn't ready to surrender. She'd use her skull as a battering ram if need be.
Kaguya leaned against nothing, a smirk on her face. "Come then, throw yourselves into your own deaths."
It was Himari's turn to take the initiative, her body flickering as she took the offensive. Kaguya's eyes widened, her expression turning confused before wincing. "What are you? Stop that!"
Huh? What was Himari doing to cause this effect on the vampire queen? Was it because her friend existed outside of time, and didn't have a coherent timeline? It gave Seina an idea.
"Don't worry, I've got your back, Himari!" After summoning hundreds of bubbles, Seina leaped into the nearest one. They floated around the battlefield inert as Himari engaged their foe.
"Not more sunlight again." Seina's bubbles burst to nothing as Kaguya lashed out with invisible strands of death. The blows from Himari's punches hurt her, but the vampire seemed more keen on stopping whatever Seina had planned. Despite being drained from her previous fight and armless, the vampire perceived her as the greater threat.
"No, you don't!" Takako summoned a whirlwind to whip Seina's bubbles around in a chaotic maelstrom, smirking as Kaguya glared at her.
Inside her bubble, Seina removed time from each one, making each a void in the timestream. This confounded Kaguya, taking a stray laser blast from Chō's mecha as she got distracted.
"I thought so," Seina teleported from bubble to bubble, searching for the perfect ambush point. Like the once-great vampire lord Lothaire, Seina would use her timeline-controlling powers against her. With time already fragile in the collapsing multiverse, Seina's anti-time must be playing havoc with the future.
"Show yourself!" Kaguya said, getting more frustrated. Part of her shoulder evaporated as Himari landed a clean blow against it. Chō continued to take potshots when she could, each leaving painful-looking welts on the vampire's flesh. Still, Kaguya remained motionless, too fretful of what Seina might do.
"We got her running scared," Paliah said. They stood in a bubble right above the Vampire Queen's head, nicely put there by Takako.
"We have been a thorn in the Devil Princesses' side," Seina replied, considering. But she seemed a laughable threat without any arms.
"You've been a terror to every enemy we've come across. It gives a reputation. Should we call you the Terror Lotus?" Paliah said, amused.
"Don't start with that," Seina continued to watch the vampire, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She allowed her friends to whittle away at Kaguya's reserves while she planned. Each wound healed before the injury even finished, but each blow still ate away at her considerable power.
"Just use your bubbles to grow back new arms," her partner said.
"No, it's too complicated. Let Takako work that out instead. She's smart."
"Get out here!" Kaguya screamed, creating a shockwave that jolted all of creation. It'd taken some effort to maintain the bubble she was hiding in. "Come out and face me!"
"That's your cue. You might tick her off too far," Colten said, amused, before vanishing.
"Fine. I'm coming then. See if you're ready, vampire!" With a flying leap, Seina flew like an arrow at her terrible foe.
But Kaguya wasn't so easily beaten. Her predator instincts were sharper than a knife. Blood coughed from Seina's mouth, howling in pain as an arm pierced through her chest. Darkness purer than the starless void seeped into her veins, her soul decaying into a dead husk. Seina, however, wasn't concerned, perceiving this as a possibility.
"No!" Kaguya jerked back her arm, eyes widening in fright. Her skin sizzled, blackening from the holy energy radiating from her supposed helpless victim. She grabbed at her arm and hissed. "You still have this much energy?" Unlike her previous injuries, this one refused to heal.
"I am a magical girl, anathema to your very existence," Seina replied simply. She grunted as a swipe of Kaguya's arm cleaved her in half. Little remained of the once unstoppable magical girl but half a bloody mess, part of her skull missing.
"Not so smug when you're nothing but a husk," Kaguya smirked, an invisible whip striking through the air and vaporizing several bubbles Seina had prepped to emit sunlight. The vampire queen ducked as Himari tried slashing her from behind.
"Darn it," Seina said, spirit failing as her body succumbed to its wounds. She had pushed herself too far, the constant battles taking too serious a toll. Her friends tried their best, but Kaguya continued to play with them, no longer fearing anything they might do.
Was this it? Had they finally reached their limit? "I'm sorry, everyone." Seina closed her eyes, pained.
"Then surpass even that. You have the power."
"Huh?" Seina blinked, her head jerking from side to side. Who'd said that? Had that been her imagination?
"Seina, what now?" Takako said, interrupting her reverie, panic creeping into her voice.
"I don't know," Seina said, glum. "Can you heal me at least?"
"I…" Before Takako could respond, Kaguya stood right in front of them, eyes alight with mischief. "As if I'd give you the chance."
"No!" Himari rushed forward, but she was too late. Seina gasped as Takako's chest exploded. The girl's dying, pained gasp barely rose above a whisper before she went limp.
"No!" Tears flooded Seina's vision, angry at herself for her uselessness. For all her ability, she was powerless to protect her friends.
"Another pest gone. Time to put the multiverse out of its misery. It's lingered in its death throes long enough," Kaguya said.
"It's not dead," a voice said. "As long as a single breath remains."
"Yeah!" Seina said with surprising determination. "Not yet!"
But Kaguya only tilted her head in confusion, brow furrowing. "What's with you? Where'd this sudden defiance come from?"
"Huh?" She couldn't hear this voice? From Himari's apartment confusion, she didn't either. Was she imagining things? Dreven had told her she was insane. Yet, Seina sensed she could trust this voice.
"Expand, grow past this single point." The voice continued.
"What? How? What do you mean?" Seina said, frustrated. Could a magical girl become something beyond herself? "What do you think, Colten?
"Talking to people who aren't there again?" Kaguya said, somewhat peevishly.
"You can do it," Takako said, her voice a rasp. "Just believe. Use our faith to get stronger."
"I think she's right," Paliah said, stroking his chin. "If our body can't help us, just discard it like so much trash."
"You realize how impossible that sounds, right?" Seina replied. "What would we even become?"
"Beats me, but I'm with you to the end," Colten said, extending a hand. "With you, I'd brave any sea, any danger."
"What are you doing?" Kaguya said, shaking her head in confusion. "What's with this timeline? I can't stop it. It's moving without my say-so. That shouldn't be possible!"
"Okay." Seina extended a hand, grabbing her partners. It wasn't a physical one, more born of thought and hope.
"More bubbles? What are you? Wait? What?" Kaguya stared, baffled, as fire reflected from the bubble's surface, trillions times hotter than any sun. "But, what?"
"Uh, Seina? What are you doing?" Himari said, concerned as the bubble floated in Seina's direction. Takako gasped a strangled breath, her eyes frightened. Chō only shook her head, confused.
"Taking a leap of faith," Seina said, a slight smile on her mangled face before the flames consumed her.
---
"Took you long enough. I was worried you'd ignored me, as usual."
Seina blinked, unsure where she was. Gone was the confused, collapsing cosmos with its impossible dimensions and colors. Instead, she found herself in a landscape of pure white. But instead of fear or cold, Seina only felt pure warmth and happiness, like she'd bathed in pure contented love. There, standing in the white void, was the Wicked Queen.
"Hello, Arisu. Is this death?" Was she wrong about destroying herself? Strangely, it mattered little to her anymore, like her past troubles were a distant, forgotten dream.
"Dead? Me?" Arisu only smirked. "Never. It'll take more than being reduced to my component parts to kill the Wicked Queen. I'm just resting to regain my strength.
"Yep, that's us. Stubborn to the end." Charity said, amused.
"Huh." Was this why the Devil Princesses sealed her away?
"But you are," Arisu continued. "But, oh well. Why should that stop you? Some friends of yours pulled some real strings to help you."
"What do you mean?"
"Hello, Seina." A rough voice said. Much to Seina's astonishment, Kiyojiro stood behind her.
"Mr. Kiyojiro? Are you dead, too? And you as well, Botan?" The pair floated in the void with her, but something was odd about them. Something radiant, holy? Her bodyguard wore a suit of pure light, making him hard to look at.
"No, death has no meaning for both of us anymore," Kiyojiro replied. His words were like pure love, filling her with warmth.
"Yeah, thank the old queen, the real one," Botan said, her tone somber. Her words, too, were like a flower blooming in spring. "She made us her heirs. Imagine that."
"Really?" Seina said, startled. "What does that mean?"
"We can finally put things right," Kiyojiro said, his expression hard. "The Devil Princesses have caused too much damage. Hurt too many people. It can't stand."
"But what can I do about it? Aren't I dead?" Seina asked.
"It's your lucky day," a new voice said. Seina started at the newcomer, certain she'd met this person before, but couldn't place where. The woman wore a professional business suit, dark like her features. Her hair was raven, blacker than night. It was a painfully sharp contrast from their surroundings and her bodyguard's brilliance, like an ink blob on a paper page. And crowning her terrible yet stunningly beautiful face was a pair of thick black spectacles. "I've decided to make an exception."
"Um, who are you?" Seina asked, giving a polite bow. Something about his person demanded respect.
"Call me, Yami, or Death if you prefer. And I'm not happy! Don't worry," the woman said when she caught Seina's expression. "Not at you, young one, the Devil Princesses. Can you grasp the workload they've forced upon me over these last centuries? How much paperwork? It's a living nightmare!"
"I've been waiting to pay them their just dues for this." Yami's expression hardened, her too-beautiful features becoming frightful. It made Seina decidedly nervous. "And you're my ticket to do it."
"How? I'm dead," Seina said, tilting her head.
"True, but I haven't claimed your soul yet." The Lady of Death replied. "If I were to mislay it, who knows what might happen?"
"Then!"
"That's the part we'll play," Mr. Kiyojiro said.
"We'll fuse your soul with the essence of the multiverse, and you'll be reborn," Botan added. "But something greater, more divine. You'll be more fairy-like than human."
"Uh, huh." Seina wasn't sure how to accept that bit of news.
"It won't be anything scary. We fairies are the divine protectors of the cosmos. It's our purpose." Botan let out a breath. "Somehow, the Devil Princesses made us forget that role."
"Okay, I understand." If that meant she had greater responsibilities, then she'd accept that.
"Good luck." Arisu gave her a thumbs up. "I'll be following along soon!"
"One question. Charity, did you expect this to happen? Is this some future you divined?" Seina asked.
But the fairy only smiled enigmatically. "Get going. Your friends need you, Seina."
Figures. "Thank you, Yami, for this second chance," Seina gave the Lady of Death a deep, respectful bow.
"You're welcome. Besides, I owe you one for killing the other Devil Princesses." A nasty smile appeared on Yami's coldly beautiful face. "Mei Inouye and Yuuka Tsujikawa thought they might escape me by having their souls destroyed; I'm afraid they aren't so lucky."
Those words sent a chill down Seina's spine, not wishing to know what that meant. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Goodbye, Seina." Mr. Kiyojiro said, his smile sad. What did that mean? Would he never see her again? "I'll be watching over you, always. I love you, Seina."
"Wait!" But Seina never got to finish her protest, her vision blurring as light brighter than even the void tore away her vision. The pain was unimaginable, a heat scorching her very soul. She was like a piece of metal, hammered and reforged into the shape of the smithy's liking. But the agony was too much, pushing her past her breaking point.
But a cold hand grabbed hers and squeezed. It wasn't hard to guess who, and Seina took comfort from his friendship, love, and strength. Together, they could brave anything. Together, they were unstoppable.
"Huh? What is this?" A familiar voice said, baffled. Kaguya stared at her, mouth agape.
"Huh?" Seina blinked, unsure where she was. She glanced around, finding herself right where she'd been when she died. Her bubble of fire passed behind her, floating away.
"I'm back where I was?" But hadn't she been talking to Mr. Kiyojiro for several minutes? Had she imagined the entire thing?
"Seina, you've changed." Takako croaked, eyes alight with utter astonishment. Chō clapped, delighted.
"Impossible. You burned yourself to a crisp!" Kaguya said in protest. "And now you're reborn somehow?!"
"Huh?" Seina glanced at her restored hands and gasped. Not only had they returned, but they seemed whiter somehow, more ethereal. With a wave, she summoned a reflective bubble to look at herself.
"Amazing." What reflected back at the reborn Seina was beautiful. Snow-white hair flowed down her shoulders with strands of pink highlights. Her face hadn't changed, but it seemed more mature, wiser. Her armor had become a dress of white and pink with the flowing petals of a lotus, its design simple but elegant. Behind her head floated a radiant halo that glowed like a dazzling sun. Kaguya flinched away, repelled by Seina's mere presence.
"And don't forget about me, too." A smug voice said.
"C-Colten." Tears threatened to burst as Paliah stood beside her, his armor glistening with radiance and hope. His beaming, handsome features seemed little different from before, but it didn't matter. Seina threw herself into him, accepting his hug with everything she had. "How?"
"We're one, right?" Paliah replied. "Thanks to your new power, it wasn't hard to separate myself from you. I'm kinda still a ghost, but with a physical body, if that makes sense."
"Colten." Seina didn't fight back her tears, happy beyond words.
"No! You're supposed to be dead!" Kaguya said. "You can't just give yourself another chance! I never allowed this to happen! What have you done? Why can't I control my timeline power anymore?"
"Don't worry, Takako. It's my time to heal you." Her body floating on invisible wings, Seina floated to the dying friend. With a gentle hand, she placed it on the gaping hole in her friend's chest. It vanished like it'd never existed. Takako blinked, flexing her body, and laughed at its lightness.
"This is over, Kaguya," Seina said, her words hard. Even her words made the Vampire Queen flinch. "I'm putting an end to you forever. You have a date with Death."