Snow White
Flying along being dragged by the yarn did not last long. Eventually, they were thrown out into an open space. The area may have been rather bigger than the school sports field. As for the height—it was hard to say which was higher, the gymnasium from floor to ceiling, or here.
She wasn’t able to tell where their goal object was, on coming in. Gazing around the room for a while, she noticed that the floor, walls, and ceiling were overgrown with plants like vines. Each and every one was so thick, you would need one or two people to wrap your arms around them, and they packed the area so tightly, she hadn’t realized they were plants. Just as other plants would, they were trying to expand their territory as much as possible. Though the sight should have been grotesque, for some reason, she had accepted it without any resistance. Snow White bit the inside of her cheek and told herself not to be taken in.
Tetty was looking up at her imploringly. Mephis let out a long breath. Snow White had never once before had an interest in the relics of the Magical Kingdom, but just by being here, she was overwhelmed by its size and presence. Words like sacred and sublime crossed her mind, and she hastily shook her head.
This wasn’t the time to be distracted by such thoughts.
She released the yarn. It slid back into the ceiling and went out of sight. In her head, she gave a silent thanks, settled her heart for the moment, and looked around the area.
The surface of the plant was all covered in moss. It might have been thicker than that in the hallway. And along with that, the smell was thick. It was suffocating. She kept a wary eye around her, but she couldn’t see anyone.
She came forward. The fluid that oozed from the moss felt like it had gotten more viscous. The act of taking a step forward was heavy and sluggish. A heavy, watery sound was the only thing that echoed out in the otherwise silent space.
Keeping her guard up, Snow White approached the center of the room and looked around. Plants gathered, twining together to comprise the walls, floor, and ceiling. The ceiling was domed, and the floor had a gentle slope in the middle filled with watery liquid. It looked like a little pond.
“Is there…anything that looks like a relic?” Mephis asked.
Snow White shook her head. “I don’t see anything, but it should be somewhere.”
Mephis circled left, Tetty went to the center, and Snow White walked around the right side. She checked behind the roots, the upper areas that were out of view, feeling impatient, but still being careful.
What is that…?
Faint light was peeking in from the left corner of the ceiling. Snow White squinted: It was a flower—a charming flower, like a violet. It didn’t yet have any fruit.
“There it is!” Mephis cried.
Snow White ran toward Mephis’s voice. On the middle right wall was a dainty vine that was as tall as three people. Something round and brown was sticking out of the end. Just like the flower, it was glowing faintly.
Snow White wiped the moss juices from her face. It helped a bunch that this object was shining. She didn’t want to imagine how long it would have taken to find it, otherwise.
“This has to be the relic…right?” Mephis asked.
“Probably,” Snow White replied.
Even just looking at it from a distance, she felt her throat go dry. Supporting her dizzy head with her right hand, Snow White measured the distance with her eyes. She wouldn’t reach it even if she stretched.
Right after confirming she couldn’t reach, she felt a chill down her spine. She had been unconsciously reaching out. Even though she knew Kana had told her she shouldn’t touch it so readily, she had been reaching out as if it were the obvious thing to do.
“All right,” Mephis said. “I’ll fly over and knock it down.”
“Wait.” Snow White put her right arm out in front of Mephis to stop her. “I think we should proceed with caution.”
“Maybe we can use Tetty’s mittens?”
“But…I can’t reach that high,” said Tetty.
“Then we’ll do this.”
Mephis put her hands underneath Tetty’s arms and flew. Snow White had been worried about whether she could support the weight of two magical girls with her little wings, but they bobbed up into the air. Tetty timidly reached out to the little round thing in front of her eyes and then caught the crystal ball that came whizzing at her all of a sudden with her mitten. Tetty lost her balance, and Mephis failed to support her, and the two of them spilled down onto the moss along with the crystal ball.
There wasn’t even time to be surprised. Snow White faced the entrance and went on guard.
“Just in time, I suppose. Or perhaps I’m too late?”
She was different from the person Snow White knew. Details of her costume had changed, and most of all, the power she felt was entirely different. But Snow White would never mistake her for someone else.
“Frederica…!” Snow White muttered, like a groan.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kana
There was no helping Halna.
Since Calkoro was a magical girl, she was in a better state than Halna, but due to her position, she’d taken more fire than Halna. She was just barely clinging to consciousness, but her bleeding and the wounds to her body were all terrible.
Having taken a direct hit from a crystal ball, Dory remained lying there and wasn’t able to get up. She still had enough energy to continue wailing incomprehensibly, but you really couldn’t say she wasn’t badly wounded based on that.
Arlie’s warped helmet and damaged armor were automatically repaired, and then after that she stopped moving.
Kana couldn’t see Tepsekemei anywhere. She had vanished.
Kana was also wounded. Her leg and throat had been hurt. It was difficult for her to walk. It made her chanting broken, and it was difficult to heal herself with magic. That had been Frederica’s goal. She had destroyed Kana’s ability to move and heal herself, saying, “You’re in the way, so don’t follow,” before going into the ruins.
Calkoro was chanting a spell to heal herself, but she wasn’t keeping up with the wound and bleeding. Dory was still wailing with energy, but Kana didn’t know how long she would hold on. Would the time even come when Calkoro was able to go heal her as well? She continued to chant in a vanishingly quiet voice.
Kana leaned against the wall and kept asking questions. Frederica was closing in on Snow White and the others with frightening speed. Snow White’s party had gained some temporary speed with Lillian’s help and had somehow managed to arrive at the ruins ahead of their pursuer, but Frederica had caught up to them right away.
At this rate, Frederica would accomplish her goal. Kana could do nothing. She was an observer who did nothing but keep asking questions. She would let Snow White and the others die.
Calkoro’s chant was the only thing that rang out in the stone room. Kana gripped the sleeve of her tattered uniform. Mephis would die. Tetty would die. She couldn’t stop it, if she was here. But she could not leave this place. Even if she did crawl there with her arms, she would never make it in time. Even on the off chance that some kind of miracle happened and Kana were able to reach the ruins, how could she be useful at all, just crawling with her arms?
She was helpless and unsightly. Now she couldn’t even heal Calkoro. Just by using her voice, she would spit out blood along with it. This was not a wound that would heal quickly. Even wailing would be difficult. All she could do was ask questions. This was the result of her hesitating, dragging her feet and putting off announcing the truth of the incarnation system. It was hopeless.
Kana’s body heat transferred to the sleeve, warming it. But she couldn’t even bear that warmth right now, and she released her sleeve, clenched her fist, and struck the wall like Mephis, looking toward the stairs.
She could hear it. It was no trick of the ear or hallucination. Someone was approaching. And not one person. There were two sets of footsteps, and both were those of trained magical girls. She could also hear the sound of one more person—thing, rather, the sound of striking metal. It was a heavy sound. She had heard it before. The sounds of her footsteps running through the gymnasium during their class rec time had been bigger and heavier than anyone else’s.
Who’s coming with her?
Ripple. 0 Lulu.
Kana asked more questions. She learned of Ripple’s and Lulu’s magic. The latter had transformed Miss Ril’s body.
The sounds of rushing down the stairs grew louder. Right now, Miss Ril and Lulu would be able to heal Calkoro and Dory. Never mind healing Kana; there were more pressing things to attend to.
As for Ripple’s magic…
Before Kana could get an answer to her question, a ninja magical girl missing an eye and an arm appeared.