February 2025

  ***

  A Valentine’s Day concert. This is what they told Hifumi. And indeed, the entire stage and concert venue were decked out in giant neon hearts, with Roman letters spelling out ‘LOVE’, as well as flower motifs. The flowers were noticeably tulips instead of the more commonly used roses in romantic settings, owing to their association with Lethe. The scent of roses was still very uncomfortable for both the Celestial Sisters and their mentors, apparently.

  “Feeling alright, Hifumin?” Luna was by her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as Hifumi let go of the curtain that still hid her from the audience of thousands.

  “I am nervous like never before in my life, Momo!” she complained, and the idol laughed. Hifumi was dressed in an idol outfit matching those of the Celestial Sisters: Sol wore a white idol outfit with a blue vest and black trims, signaling both her being the Magical Girl of the sun, as well as her mentor being the Magical Girl Bellona Azure, while Luna wore a black dress with a red vest and white trims, showing her as the moon, with Minerva Crimson as her mentor.

  Hifumi was dressed as the exact middle of them both. Her outfit was grey, with a purple vest, and for this performance she was given the stage name ‘Stella’. No matter what she said, how vehemently she denied her own ability to sing, the two gyaru she became friends with wouldn’t have it. Hifumi had to sing, otherwise the world would be deprived of something beautiful, those were their words.

  “Uuu...” Hifumi let her head hang as she got the nerves, and Sol joined both of them, hugging her from her free side.

  “Don’t worry, Hifumi. You’ll be given a glowing introduction by both of us, and we’ll be there for you if anyone gives you a hard time, alright?”

  Hifumi looked to Sol, who still gave her a reassuring smile. Hifumi admired her ability to offer support her friends like this when she herself had something planned today that would change the fate of the Celestial Sisters forever.

  “Miyu...” Hifumi said with a sigh before she returned the hug.

  “And look! We announced a special guest and handed out some purple glowsticks.”

  Sol pointed out towards the venue and Hifumi peeked past the curtain to see a few purple lights in the large mass of white and yellow glowsticks.

  “Our fans can be gross otaku, but a lot of them are good people,” Sol said as she patted Hifumi’s shoulder.

  “Yeah, until they send us letters covered in their -”

  “Not helping, Momo.”

  ***

  Hifumi drew the kanji for ‘person’ three times on her hand with her finger, then she gestured like she swallowed the word.

  The audience are potatoes, the audience are potatoes, the audience are potatoes...

  It didn’t help in the slightest. She could still see all the glowsticks swaying from side to side, and then they shook violently as the Celestial Sisters finally stepped outside, waving to the audience. Thunderous applause and loud cheers accompanied the idols’ appearance on the stage and the two smiled in every direction, grabbing each other’s hands and raising them in the air before they separated, looking each other in the eyes and starting their first song.

  ‘Magical Beam Heart’, which was so rudely interrupted by Lethe during their grand concert at the Dome last year, started playing. Today the two had a live band backing them and sang their hearts out. They wanted to leave the best possible impression for what they planned for today’s event.

  The musical interlude started and the two raised their hands, clapping in sync with the rhythm to move the audience to do the same.

  “And now for our very special guest!” Luna announced.

  “A super-cute girl we met last year!” Sol continued.

  “With the voice of an angel!” Luna finished.

  Stop hyping me up so much! I’m nervous enough as is!

  ““A big applause for our guest: Stella!””

  Applause broke out and the lights were turned off. Hifumi breathed heavily and followed luminescent strips on the ground until she reached a place marked with a star symbol, as well as arrows pointing towards the crowd.

  Thoughtful.

  She assumed the pose the idols prepared for her, a peace sign over her left eye, while she held the microphone ready.

  The lights turned back on and the crowd erupted in a cheer, chanting her stage name over and over. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she felt like she was stuck in this pose, unable to move a muscle.

  No! No! I’m going to mess up! I’m going to ruin their big coming out concert! I’m going to…

  Hifumi’s eyes darted around and suddenly stuck with some of the purple lights in the crowd. She recognized Seika, Miori, Ayame… and to her surprise, Nicola was there, too. She was in her ‘Holda’ disguise and wore a high school uniform in addition. She leaned forwards and smiled as she made direct eye contact with Hifumi, quietly forming a few words with her mouth.

  “Don’t mess up, or you’ll be ‘Karen’ all night tonight~!”

  The tease lit a fire in Hifumi’s heart, and she belted the first note out like there was no tomorrow. She sang and sang, giving the audience the performance of a lifetime. And by the time she was finished, everyone was shaking a purple glowstick.

  She waved to the audience with a tired smile, blowing the crowd kisses and walked backstage, but just as she was about to reach the curtain, she froze for a second.

  Right there in the crowd, looking her straight in the eyes, was the clerk who recognized her as an author before. Hifumi’s lips trembled until the young woman put a finger to her own lips.

  ‘Your secret is safe with me, ma’am.’

  ***

  “Good going, girl! You looked a bit tense at the start, but you really came through like a pro!” Imina, the Celestial Sisters’ manager, spoke to her and handed her a bottle of water as well as a towel as she vanished backstage.

  Miyu and Momo continued their concert, led cheers, blew kisses and showed off a well-rehearsed choreography for every song they performed.

  “I still don’t know why they wanted me of all people to sing with them. Aren’t they international icons?”

  “Girl, have you even heard yourself? You have the voice of an angel. With a bit of polish you could become an international pop star, too.” The manager grinned her way.

  “Well, I’m happy enough writing books,” Hifumi said with a little sigh.

  “This is essentially equivalent to inviting a friend to karaoke for them. You must have left quite an impression on my girls, so, do me a favor and try to be a good friend to them, alright? Heaven knows they need some real friends.”

  Hifumi looked out at the stage and pondered. The two women were very popular, but they were forever unable to approach someone and simply start a friendship without a lot of uncomfortable baggage.

  Hifumi got to know them through strange circumstances, which immediately revealed all their secrets to her, and she never once thought to reveal any of it or to try and use it to her own gain. Only now she realized that this made the two appreciate her so much.

  “I’ll try.” She gave the manager a little smile.

  ***

  “Oh dear, here it comes.” Imina suddenly said, waving Hifumi to his side. They both peeked out from behind the curtain as the two idols took a breather after one of their songs.

  “This has been such a wonderful Valentine’s Day together with all of you!” Sol announced, grabbing hold of Luna’s hand.

  “And Valentine’s Day isn’t complete without some love!” Luna added.

  “So we have an important announcement to make!” Sol continued.

  “First off! I think many of you could already imagine, with us being the second generation and all, but we, Sol and Luna, aren’t actually sisters!”

  The audience went quiet, and some chuckles could be heard.

  “Everyone knows that!” someone shouted from a faraway row.

  “Well, that’s good! Because the next announcement is this!” Luna picked up.

  “Sol and I are dating!”

  This one elicited more reactions. Gasps, even. Some murmurs went through the crowd. Hifumi tensed up; this was the big moment, and she didn’t know what would happen from here on out.

  ***

  Surprisingly enough, nothing much happened. The idols continued their concert and everyone left looking satisfied, save for one or two people who left after the announcement.

  The real battle would begin in the news and on the internet…

  March 2025

  ***

  “So, how’s it looking, manager?”

  Miyu didn’t want to ask. She didn’t dare to look at the internet in the past month, or at any other channels that would jump at the opportunity to report on and gossip about celebrity news, really. Kosuke had his brow furrowed, hunched over his tablet. He had a stack of papers ready, as usual and slowly slid a few their way.

  “As I expected for the most part. You’re mostly fine, just expect lower revenue from here on out as a few countries might outright ban your merch and songs.”

  Miyu grabbed the sheet of paper as Momo was currently holding onto her arm, seeking her warmth. Lovely, but not very productive in this meeting.

  “The USA: On the fandom level nothing much changed. People who liked your music were mostly those who were already fine with same-sex relationships. Of course, here and there’s the odd otaku who had delusions of getting to have sex with you one day who turned into your biggest hater after your reveal of a relationship. And those who were your haters beforehand got louder and more obnoxious. However, I wouldn’t advise traveling there for a tour, nor for any reason, to be frank with you, as lunacy has taken hold in their political sphere. Legitimate tourists, travelers and legal residents are currently randomly imprisoned at their airports, and I won’t risk any of that happening to you two. An unfortunate risk factor, and a completely separate issue from your coming out. However, I suggest you don’t look at English social media comments, at least for a while.”

  “Eh… too late,” Momo replied quietly and Kosuke looked her way.

  “So, like, I changed my banner on my socials to, like, show our support for LGBTQ and stuff, and on Y, formerly chirper, they got very angry and said strange words to me.”

  Momo put her phone down on the table. It was her official Celestial Sisters account, but her profile picture was framed by the colors of the bisexual flag, while the banner showed the Celestial Sisters logo, superimposed on a Pride flag. One of the newer designs, which featured a baby blue, pink, white, brown and black-striped chevron.

  Kosuke nodded and sighed.

  “I’m so sorry, Momo,” he said to her apologetically, as if the entire thing was his fault.

  Momo went to the replies tab of the app, where a lot of tagged posts in English showed up. Weird people with suspicious number combinations in their handles and avatars with edited, red glowing eyes tagged Momo with all sorts of strange lingo and abuse. Even with the translation ring from Madame Bille, Miyu had trouble deciphering what they were saying.

  “What the hell’s a DEI idol? What do they mean by ‘woke’? Like, we woke up?” Momo asked with a furrowed brow.

  Kosuke shrugged his shoulders. “From what I could gather about these terms, it’s the language of imbeciles. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  He let out a sigh.

  “Remember that American Magical Girl? With the petition for capitalization?”

  The two idols nodded.

  “Turns out she completely turned on you. She’s a bit of a loony, preaches every weekend at one of those megachurches, claims her Magical Girl powers come from Jesus and uses it to squeeze money out of the gullible. Wouldn’t have thought that she was one of those, but here we are.”

  Momo narrowed her eyes.

  “Well, she can go to hell.”

  “Which she claims you two will do. But you’re right, we should completely forget about her.”

  He cleared his throat.

  “Middle Eastern theocracies are completely out of the question, but you should have expected that. There are also countries out there in which you theoretically can be gay, but they ban ‘gay propaganda’, so in short: you’re not welcome as openly gay celebrities. I think things are mostly unchanged in Europe. Some countries are okay, others are… not enthusiastic about you, but it should at least be safe. So far, at least.”

  “Is Spain good?!” Momo suddenly shouted with wide eyes, causing both Kosuke and Miyu to flinch a little before Kosuke blinked and replied with a smile.

  “Spain is very good.”

  “Good! I wanna see sailing ships again!” Momo exclaimed with a grin, causing Miyu to chuckle. She got a look at it before when they only had a casual sexual relationship, but her girlfriend really loved old ships and their replicas.

  Maybe I’ll get her a ship in a bottle for her birthday?

  “So, how’s it look at home?” Momo now asked.

  “How’s the fans’ reactions? Are people saying that we’re creeps and should be, like, kept away from children?”

  Kosuke now smiled and shook his head.

  “Actually! Well, this is still kind of gross, but the home market otaku demographic is unfazed. Their idols are dating each other? That means there’s no man in the picture, so they can still fantasize as much as they want. There’s a reason business yuri is a thing in the idol world.”

  “Ah…” Momo looked like she regretted her question.

  “As for the other question… no, your articles still sell reasonably well among children. There’s going to be some overzealous parents who ban you from their homes, but you’re still the greatest heroes to the children of Japan.”

  He leaned a bit closer and grinned.

  “Of course, after revealing that you were mentored by two relatively unknown Magical Girls, some are looking for them.”

  Miyu rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, yeah. But Seika and Miori-paisen deserve a lot more praise than they’re getting, so I’m happy with that.”

  “If you see it that way.” Kosuke offered no counterargument.

  “However, your bottom line…”

  He pushed another paper their way.

  “Ugh.” Momo made a shocked noise as she looked at the numbers.

  “Still a lot of money that you can live a comfortable life off of, but you’re not going to be able to afford the rent of your luxury tower anymore.”

  “I never really felt at home in that place anyway,” Miyu said to Momo as the two walked through Shibuya in their gyaru outfits. Momo clung to her arm, openly acting like Miyu’s girlfriend without any complaints from the latter. Miyu liked the feeling of her warmth against her skin, letting out some air in a little sigh.

  “We’ll have to find a new place, though. Maybe something cozier this time? I’d like to still have a guest room anyway, in case Miori-paisen needs to stay over. Her stalker could appear at any moment, and we need to be able to give her a safe place where she can rest easy.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “I want a big bathtub that we can share!” Momo exclaimed with a grin and Miyu patted her head.

  “Sure, sure, we’ll do that, Momo-pi. We’ll get a place with a big bathtub.”

  The two gyaru stopped as their phones vibrated, and they checked them for the messages which just came in. It was a message from Kosuke, who besides handling their idol duties also relayed news about incidents requiring their intervention.

  ‘There’s been an interdimensional incident in a nearby elementary school. Ten girls are missing. Luckily no blood, so it looks like a kidnapping. Thing is, it appears like the culprit wants to be found.’

  Miyu stared long and hard at the message, gritting her teeth. Momo put a hand on her shoulder, bringing her back to reality, so she could answer.

  ‘We’re on it.’

  “I’ll tell Miorin that we’re doin’ it.” Momo announced and opened a group chat between the Celestial Sisters, Seika and Miori. She typed fast, reading the reply as the two of them were already headed for a quiet corner.

  “Ugh.”

  “What is it, Momo-pi?”

  “She says she’ll come to check on us if we aren’t done in fifteen minutes.”

  “Say ‘thanks, mom’,” Miyu suggested, then she laughed as she saw Momo actually type and send those exact words as their response.

  Once they turned a corner into a quiet alley, Momo fished her crescent-shaped earring out of her handbag, but Miyu put a hand on her wrist, shaking her head.

  “No.”

  “Oh come on, Miyu-pyon, there’s, like, children in danger.”

  “Let’s use the magic rings. I really don’t want to use this.”

  “I’m wearin’ it just in case. You should, too.”

  Miyu narrowed her eyes but let out a sigh and relented, reaching into her own handbag and looking at the earring. Its sight sickened her, but Momo insisted, and she had to agree with her reasoning, so she clipped it to her ear.

  The two ‘transformed’ into their Magical Girl selves with the help of their disguise rings and rose into the air, utilizing rings of flight.

  “Let’s catch ourselves a monster.”

  ***

  The Celestial Sisters approached the nearby elementary school and were witness to the strange aftermath of the incursion. Large cuts, burning with black fire, were slashed into the side of the building in an imperfect square that took off the fa?ade and exposed the classrooms inside. The remaining children were already evacuated, leaving only the chaos of strewn backpacks, books and printouts behind. The high-pitched scream of a child’s personal alarm rang from nearby and the Magical Girls immediately approached the source of the commotion.

  “Now I see what he means by the culprit wanting to be followed.” Sol commented as they saw a trail of ‘randoseru’ backpacks, school supplies and blaring personal alarms. They immediately went to follow the trail.

  Whenever the trail looked like it ended, they heard the distant blaring of yet another alarm in the far distance and followed it.

  “That’s way more than ten.” Luna observed as they were already quite a distance away from the school and approached Yoyogi park.

  “Someone likes to be dramatic. Or ran out of alarms before reaching their goal and got some extra.” Sol commented dryly. The alarms blared in the greenery of the park and led the two of them to the Meiji shrine.

  A red figure stood in the middle of the large temple courtyard, holding a black scythe: the same woman who attacked Miori last month. She was surrounded by ten large bubbles, all of them purple in color. She presented her weapon theatrically as the two Magical Girls approached and landed in the middle of the courtyard. There were various onlookers who stood by the temple entrances.

  Idiots, you’re going to get hurt!

  Sol eyed the spectators and faced the figure in red.

  “You’ve had your fun. Release the children at once!” she shouted her way, but the woman in red didn’t show any inclination that she would follow that order. The black wings on her back spread as she let her voice boom out.

  “I was expecting someone else! Like the blue Magical Girl who’s oh so protective of young girls! But I guess you will do nicely instead; that way you won’t interfere next time!”

  “Cut the crap!” Luna shouted and stepped forwards, surprising even Sol.

  “You can let the girls go or you will get your face stomped in!” she announced loudly, gritting her teeth hard enough that Sol could hear them creak.

  “Oh no, dear. I have plans, and I can’t suffer you to live, only for you to jump in their way again. So, say goodbye!”

  The red-robed woman raised a hand and snapped her fingers, causing pained whimpers to come from all the girls inside the bubbles. Something was happening: Sol saw strange, ghostly shapes emerging from the bubbles, but she couldn’t identify yet what they were.

  “Stop it!” Luna screamed at her and rushed towards the red-robed villainess, but she only let out a cackle. Sol suddenly felt a surge of magical energy all around them and wanted to shout a warning, but Luna simply vanished in a bright explosion as ten magical beams hit her at once.

  Sol immediately rushed towards the pillar of white smoke rising from where Luna was last seen, but the ten ghostly shades rushed ahead and barred Sol’s path.

  She could finally see what those shades actually were: each and every one of them resembled a child, dressed in the outfits of the Celestial Sisters, wielding a spear or a bow, and all stared at Sol with hollow eyes.

  The smoke finally cleared up and she could see Luna lying on the ground; she was bloodied, but alive, struggling to get up while she coughed to get the surrounding smoke out of her lungs. The villainess slowly walked her way.

  “Do you know the worst thing about dreams? They get weaker as people grow older. I used to use men and women to summon my dream shades, but there’s nothing powerful in there. Only career goals, asking out that cute girl, wishes for money or political power. Bah! It doesn’t satisfy me as much to use those against their dreamers or crush them under my heel.”

  She stopped in front of Luna, who shakily got on her feet to face the villainess. She summoned the bracers which she used to punch her the last time on her arms and swung wildly at the villainess, who danced around her, deflecting the magically enhanced punches with her scythe. Clangs and screeches filled the air whenever the metal of Luna’s gauntlets met the obsidian of the villainesses’ blade.

  Sol in the meantime used a ring to summon a sword to her side, trying to hack her way towards the two of them, but she was utterly outnumbered, by girls who were just as strong as her old Magical Girl self. Arrows flew her way, and she deflected them by utilizing a barrier ring, and more than once she had to deflect spear thrusts aimed at her heart to the side. Sweat formed on her forehead and tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as she desperately tried to reach Luna – no, Momo. Her girlfriend.

  “Children’s dreams, however…” the mocking smile carried by the villainesses’ voice could be clearly heard, even as the face of her carnival mask remained neutral as ever. Despite her gleeful monologue her movements were skillful, and Momo visibly was on the back foot due to her injuries.

  “…oh, children have wonderful dreams. Utterly useless, trashy dreams of being monsters, or being Magical Girls, just like their idols… but with my powers, their stupid little dreams become my obedient slaves. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  The Magical Girl gritted her teeth and looked at the villainess with pure venom, but that distraction was all the red-robed woman needed. She struck Luna's side with the haft of her weapon and she let out a pained yelp as it hit one of her wounds. Luna could barely move enough to evade the next strike of the blade, which aimed for her neck.

  “I hand-picked these ten delusional Celestial Sisters fans just for an opportunity like this… to use their dumb little dreams to crush some of the Magical Girls they look up to!”

  Right after Luna evaded decapitation, the villainess shoved her left hand forwards and grabbed Luna’s face, who looked at her with wide eyes at first, before they rolled back and she slumped over, without even cushioning her fall.

  “Luna!!”

  January 2013

  ***

  Momo was never the smartest child, yet that didn’t stop her from dreaming big. Even with her grades in the dumps, she never let go of her dream to become a nurse, or maybe even a scientist who discovers something that could change the world forever. She wanted to do something that would help people and make her feel useful.

  Reality often put a damper on her aspirations, but she didn’t let that deter her. As long as she gritted her teeth and pulled ahead, she would make it, somehow! At least that’s what she told herself every day.

  Then why does it still hurt so much?

  Momo’s hands shook as she looked at her math test, which was returned to her with 31 points out of a potential one hundred. She studied almost all her free time for this test, but she still failed. It wasn’t just this subject either: she couldn’t compete in anything academic and only barely avoided failing grades. She was good in PE, and surprisingly in history, but she didn’t think she could ever make any of that work as a future career prospect.

  Her parents obviously chastised her for her lack of knowledge whenever she brought them her abysmal test scores and told her to work harder – and she did. She spent all her free time studying instead of going outside to play with other children. She tried to force all that knowledge that eluded her into her skull, but for some reason, none of it ever decided to stick. It was frustrating enough to make her cry, but she only ever dared to do it in her room, with the doors locked.

  ***

  May 2017

  ***

  Another failed test. Momo was a Magical Girl now, but still not any smarter. And she was a failure of a Magical Girl as well, failing to support Sol last month and almost getting her killed by the Enraged.

  The two didn’t know each other before the Enchantress picked them as the successors of the first generation of Celestial Sisters. They were thrust into situations far outside of their experience, with no training and unable to trust their chosen partner.

  She sat on top of a building, quietly crying to herself. She messed up during training today: she was supposed to enhance Sol’s attack against Bellona with magic, but she lost focus and got yelled at by Sol in return as her attack uselessly hit a barrier. She couldn’t deal with it, so she rapidly flew away from the training under Bellona and Minerva.

  “Why am I such a failure?” she hugged her legs and pulled her knees to her chest. She closed her eyes and let her tears roll down her cheeks freely, sobbing to herself.

  A warm hand was suddenly placed on her back.

  “Hey, Luna,” the soft voice of Minerva said. The woman sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

  “What got you down, hm?”

  Momo sniffled and leaned into the hug. Minerva became something like an adoptive mother to her in the past month; always ready to teach her or cheer her up or listen to her troubles.

  “I’m always messing up! I can’t do anything right! I endanger Sol just by being her partner!”

  She held her head and sobbed again, with Minerva gently rubbing her arm.

  “I had big dreams that I could do something to help people, but I can’t do anything! My dreams are pointless, useless garbage! I can’t do anything to achieve them! You’re such a big beacon of hope and inspiration, and I’m never going to be an amazing person like you!”

  “Is that so?” Minerva looked at her with an enigmatic smile, then her next words hit Momo like a truck.

  “Then stop trying! Stop attempting to be a Magical Girl! If you’re not cut out for it, you should just give up!”

  Momo whimpered, and Minerva got up, showing her a cruel smile.

  “Idiot! Good-for-nothing! If that’s all you got, we would all be better off if you walked away. No, in fact, maybe we would all be better off if you jumped off a bridge somewhere!”

  Minerva’s face twisted into a cruel visage that appeared more like a parody of itself, and her laughter filled the air around them. Momo could feel it rattling her skull, and a chorus of Minerva’s voice filled her mind, telling her to give up, to vanish, to kill herself. She would have lost the will to live right then and there if it had actually happened and wasn’t just a mirage conjured by a villain, as she now realized. Instead, she stood up, clenching her fists.

  “…ya messed up, now.”

  The manic laughter stopped, and Minerva furrowed her brow, looking directly at Momo.

  “Did you just talk back to me, you useless…?” she reached for Momo, but didn’t get to finish her sentence. She let out a loud shriek as multiple arrows pierced her arm and it was hanging limp to the side.

  “What are you doing?! I’m your beloved mentor, am I not?” the fake Minerva screamed at Momo, who held her bow pointed at the abomination.

  “…make me feel small and stupid all ya want. Kick me while I’m down, spit on me… I don’t care. I hated myself enough that I went to a mixer with shady guys and Sol had to save me.”

  Momo looked directly at the fake Minerva, tears streaming down her face, with rage boiling over and permeating her entire being.

  “…but to make Paisen look like that…! She’d never do that! She’d never say that to anyone! To twist her into some cruel monster…! Ye’re gonna pay for that, bitch!”

  March 2025

  ***

  Sol was still fighting the replicas, while the villainess simply enjoyed the show, with her scythe’s blade resting against the downed Luna’s neck. Sol was despairing; her magic artifacts were running out and whenever she dodged one attack, she would have to brace against another from an entirely different direction. The Magical Girl ghosts took turns hitting her and were even withholding their weapons. Sol’s eyes filled with desperate tears as her thoughts drifted to the earring she was wearing. She could transform, she could abandon her pride and embrace the Enchantresses’ magic which Madame Bille adjusted for the Celestial Sisters to use, but the moment the villainess noticed that things weren’t going in her favor anymore, she would hurt Luna.

  “Beaten to death by children! How shameful,” the villainess let out a cackle, and Sol let out a frustrated scream. And just then, the entire courtyard was engulfed in a fireball.

  ***

  The inferno caught most of the Celestial Sister replicas in its blast, blowing them away, while Sol was protected by a barrier she didn’t cast. The villainess in crimson was blown away from Luna, who stood up on shaky legs. Despite her injuries, she was a dazzling display of Magical Girl elegance: the modified earring she received from Madame Bille memorized her latest idol outfit, replicating it as immaculate magical armor.

  “Turning Paisen into some monster…” she growled, much to Sol’s visible confusion.

  “Luna… you’re using…”

  “I know. I know you have your pride, Sol. But screw all that! What’s our pride worth if it gets those we care about hurt?!”

  Luna accelerated towards her quarry and channeled another fireball. She showed a mad grin as she wielded her old magic again, and something extra as well, it appeared. She wasn’t only able to create barriers for Sol to fight, or empower her movements, but she could easily conjure up offensive spells, which she used to her advantage.

  “The High Enchantress gave these a tweak, huh?! Too bad for you!” she shouted as she threw a punch. It exploded as the villainess moved her scythe in the way to block it, pushing her further back, up into the sky. Luna followed her, flying after her at breakneck speed and barely giving the woman time to react.

  Sol now let out a quiet curse and transformed, too. Empowered by the sun, she summoned her magic spear to her side and quickly sliced through the remaining clones; they may all have been as strong as her old Magical Girl form, but in the end, they were still mindless puppets, and the one pulling their strings was being distracted.

  After pushing the villainess back again, Luna stopped in the air and turned towards her partner.

  “Sol, I’m taking care of this one! Get the girls out of those bubbles!” she shouted her way, and the other idol nodded.

  “…take care, alright?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Luna looked at the villainess who came flying on her black wings to counterattack and let out a little growl.

  “I think I might murder her. Hope that’s alright with you, Sol.”

  Of course, the villainess came at her with her scythe, but Luna’s focus right now was unmatched. She erected barriers no bigger than a dinner plate to catch the scythe’s point and blade while she weaved other magic. A shockwave hit the villainess right in her stomach and she let out a sickening sound as she was pushed back. Luna ran towards her right after and jumped in the air to hit her with a hard punch to her face. A cracking sound could be heard as the punch connected and Luna channeled magic into her fist, amplifying the force. The villainess was turned around by the impact and shards of her mask flew in every direction.

  “Don’t you dare and go pissing on everyone’s dreams! Don’t you dare badmouth my Paisen!” Luna grabbed the villainesses’ shoulder and turned her around again. Half of the mask was broken off and she saw a completely baffled looking woman behind it, whose features were beautiful, but marred by a cruel expression.

  She didn’t like that face, so she punched her again.

  “People are already struggling enough with their unfulfilled dreams without you dangling them in front of them!”

  The villainess stumbled backwards and Luna didn’t let up – she fired off multiple fireballs, all of them swallowing the woman in a pillar of smoke. She heard a strange sound, like the last time she saw this villainess when she cut a hole into reality and escaped. Luna immediately fired more fireballs into the pillar, but they passed right through.

  The smoke cleared, and the villainess was gone, having withdrawn entirely.

  ***

  Sol successfully saved the children while Luna had her battle with the villainess. Of course, Sol fussed over Luna’s injuries and the two of them withdrew to their apartment soon after.

  “You’re so reckless sometimes…” Miyu complained as she checked Momo over in the bath, disinfecting any of the cuts Momo received and applying some healing magic from a ring.

  “Sorry…” Momo mumbled.

  “You got really worked up over her making fun of the girls’ dreams… is that still bothering you, Momo?” Miyu sounded concerned as she embraced Momo from behind.

  “A little… when people make fun of other people’s dreams like that it just, like, reminds me of how useless I used to be. Besides, she showed me a dream…” Momo admitted as she turned around and rested the back of her head against Miyu’s chest.

  “A dream?”

  “How I used to feel about bein’ this dumb. She made me have a nightmare in which Paisen, like, tells me to quit, or to kill myself.”

  Miyu’s face soured, but she soon leaned closer to give her girlfriend a kiss on her nape.

  “She would never do that,” she whispered, and Momo nodded.

  “…that’s when I realized I was dreaming. Paisen would never do that.”

  There was a short break as Momo mulled her own thoughts over.

  “Sometimes I feel like I’m still too stupid for any of this…”

  “Nonsense.” Miyu smiled as she stroked Momo’s hair.

  “You’re one of the bravest, most heroic Magical Girls I know, Momo. Always remember that.”

  Miyu leaned closer to kiss Momo, and for now all her worries vanished as she embraced her lover. However, she couldn’t help but think back to what truly happened, eight years ago.

  ***

  May 2017

  ***

  “I had big dreams that I could do something to help people, but I can’t do anything! My dreams are pointless, useless garbage! I can’t do anything to achieve them! You’re such a big beacon of hope and inspiration, and I’m never going to be an amazing person like you!”

  “Dreams, huh?” Minerva contemplated, and then she undid her transformation for the first time in front of Momo.

  “W-what… Minerva?” Momo stammered as she was faced with a very normal looking office lady with baggy eyes.

  “I am not an unreachable, lofty standard, Luna. I am a normal person, just like you. I was given great power by pure chance, and I am simply doing my best with it.”

  She reached out and patted Momo’s head, who undid her transformation as well. She was a black-haired girl with glasses just like the woman in front of her. She had studious looks that didn’t match her inability to learn.

  “My! You’re actually quite cute, Luna!” the woman behind Minerva Crimson said with a chuckle.

  “Now that we’re face to face like this: I’m Seika. Seika Hitoishi. May I know your name, Luna?”

  Momo looked down before she answered.

  “Momo.”

  “A pretty name. And now listen closely, Momo: no one’s dreams are pointless or useless. They are what drives us forward, even if we can never match what we want out of them one by one.”

  Seika placed a hand on her chest.

  “I wanted to be a librarian once, just like my mother. But the quiet of the workplace is a bit too unnerving to me. And since I became a Magical Girl, I was faced with the possibility that I might need to transform and help people during work times. Not very doable for a job that requires me to always be available to people who wish to borrow a book, now is it?”

  Momo nodded.

  “So I did the next best thing. I still wanted to work with books, so I became an editor. I pretend to be a smoker so I can take ‘smoke breaks’ on the roof and do my Magical Girl duties. Sometimes when we feel like a dream is unachievable, we’ll just have to adjust it a little bit.”

  She smiled.

  “You want to be a Magical Girl who helps people, don’t you?”

  Momo nodded.

  “But with our roles I can’t attack during the day. I only get magic to support Sol. Most of our fights are during the day, and I feel useless.”

  “Now, now, Momo. Are you useless if you create barriers that protect Sol? Are you useless if you enhance her attacks, giving her the ability to take on more dangerous opponents? Being a Magical Girl is about much more than just doing flashy fighting. Your barriers will one day catch people who fall out of buildings. Your healing spells will one day bring Sol back from the brink of death.”

  “But what if I mess up? I’m so bad at learning things…”

  Seika shook her head again.

  “We have only started. Anyone can learn anything, it just depends on the way it’s taught. And I promise you: I won’t give up until it clicks for you. You’re my protégée.”

  Momo was about to cry again, and as Seika got up, she immediately jumped at her to hug her tightly, ugly sobbing into her chest, while the woman gently caressed her hair.

  ***

  Momo grew attached to Seika, and it was doubly devastating for her to later learn of Lethe’s curse erasing her memories. Still, she clung to the lessons she received from her idol and never dared to give up on her dreams ever again. Dreams weren’t useless or stupid. Dreams were essential to guiding her where she was today, and she wouldn’t ever suffer anyone mocking those of anyone else. Least of all those of children.

  March 2025

  ***

  “No one told me she still had her Celestial Sisters form! Or that she would be able to use offensive magic in that form! And where the hell were you anyway?!” Maria complained loudly to her elvish companion.

  She paced up and down in her apartment, dabbing at her bruises with disinfectant, while the pointy-eared scout sat on her bed. She looked like she was fuming about something herself and pushed an answer through her teeth.

  “I was watching for the reinforcements, as agreed upon. That was the whole point of you toying with the idols, rather than killing them outright.”

  She bit her thumb, staring a burning hole into the wall in front of her as she continued.

  “Those Celestial Sisters… their earrings are those that our soldiers wear. The Enchantress managed to let the ‘Defender’ use offensive magic, but their more potent weapons, the bow or spear, are still unavailable to them outside of their respective times.”

  She slammed a fist on Maria’s bedside table.

  “This means that they stole their earrings from our soldiers!”

  “She almost reduced me to ash!” Maria shouted at the woman, who gritted her teeth and stood up, ignoring Maria’s complaints to keep harping on about her own.

  “Those earrings are the masterpieces of my mistress, their limitations a result of the cosmic laws they draw from! To give them to these unworthy humans is akin to blasphemy!”

  The woman approached Maria and tapped a finger against her chest.

  “Come. We’ll both go back to my world, and we will train and prepare. We can properly plan a coordinated attack to take out these ‘Celestial Sisters’ and the women you hate, both at once.”

  She narrowed her eyes at Maria.

  “I won’t let them get away with defiling my people’s treasures.”