Approach Elsa Maria
If Ai could, she would talk to all of them. As it is, she has to choose and hope they will be fine.
Out of everyone, only her fellow Abnormality stands alone, so Ai ultimately approaches her. Elsa Maria's shadowy head turns minutely, acknowledging her. The Witch waits until they stand face to face before speaking: "What is it you need? I am always willing to listen."
Her earnestness draws a smile from Ai, though she shakes her head. "I don't really need anything, it's okay. I was just curious what drew your attention. You usually just pray, right?"
"Ah, I see." Her tentative friend nods. One of her humanoid hands points toward where Madoka and Sayaka are talking quietly. "It is her. Who is she?"
Ai can not quite make out which of the two Elsa Maria points at, so she decides to cover both: "The blue-haired girl is Sayaka, she's a healer Magical Girl and likes music. The pink-haired one is Madoka, she's really sweet. She could become a Magical Girl and has a ton of potential. I guess you sensed that and got curious or something? I can introduce you if you want?"
Now that she is given a chance to speak, the other woman chuckles softly. "While that does explain why the pink one is so bright, I meant neither of them." Her words leave Ai confused; she looks back, but there are still only the two girls. Then Elsa Maria points again... and Madoka's shadow waves at them in response. The shadow Witch waves back. "I mean her."
"Oh." Ai keeps looking, dumbfounded. She was aware something odd happened with Madoka's shadow, but so far nobody else seemed to have noticed it. Then again, Elsa Maria is a shadow-aligned being herself. "I guess that makes sense. But honestly, I don't really know. I'm guessing that it's the Jester hiding in Madoka's shadow to mess with people, or just me. But he didn't do anything bad yet. And the other Magical Girls should have been able to sense him if it were?"
The Witch hums in thought. Her head tilts ever so slightly as she studies the shadow. It transitioned to pretending various animals. A shark, a bunny, a bird. Ultimately, Elsa Maria huffs. "I do not know about a Jester, but I know this one uses your friend Madoka's light as a shield. Potential, you called it? She casts a deep shadow, in which the senses of most can not reach because the beacon above blinds them. An intriguing strategy. I may make an attempt to do similarly, sometime."
Ai stares at the shadow a moment longer; it lost interest in the observers and returned to being just Madoka's shadow. She still thinks it is the Jester, but that can be dealt with another time. Right now, she has Elsa Maria doing something that is not praying; although her friend already seems ready to face the altar again. "Say," Ai pipes up, interrupting her unfocussing thoughts, "do you have any plans for the future? Anything you'd like to do?"
"Not as such, no. I am content praying for their wellbeing. That is all I need." Ripples run through Elsa Maria's body for a moment; she glances at a wall in thought. "Calamity nears. Did you know?" Ai nods and the other woman somehow manages to show a smile. "I figured. I hear her siren song calling me forward, to meet her and make merry. I do not think I will attend. This place is comfortable, friend Ai. Thank you again for bringing me here. If Kyoko is amenable, I would quite happily remain. Little Yuma may be a minx, but I can not rightfully get mad at her."
The magical girl giggles at that. "I don't think they will mind," she assures her friend. She knows it so, especially once the others find out that a living Witch can cleanse their Soul Gems infinitely. Even if Kyoko wanted her out, she is too pragmatic to turn down such an opportunity.
Alas, that requires telling them why, first. Ai could maybe put together a convoluted chain of logic to explain her conclusion otherwise, but they will see through it in time. Not to mention that Ai still stands by what she told Kyubey: she does not want to lie to them.
"Was there anything else?" Elsa Maria prompts into the momentary silence. When Ai shakes her head, the other Abnormality inclines hers. "I shall return to my prayers, then. Thank you for the conversation."
"It's nothing," she deflects modestly. Her mood took a bit of a nosedive, but talking to Witches remains easy; like all Abnormalities, they love their own habits and pastimes. Izabel will tell her much the same if asked about the future, Ai already knows that. Thinking back to what Kyubey said, maybe those two will one day form the core of something akin to Lobotomy Corporation? They are docile enough for it to work.
But these are thoughts for later. Far, far later. Right now, Ai still needs to figure out how to break the news. Her friends perk up over the afternoon as training plans are finalised; Homura and Kyoko will practice synchronisation with Ai once a day and the entire group does team combat in the afternoons. Madoka will join them, seeing that she has to be nearby during Walpurgis' descent.
While everyone is hopeful, Ai muses. She is not so much despondent as lost in thought. At least, until dinner.
"Just what am I going to do with you two?" Saki bemoans mirthfully. Her words snap Ai out of her fugue while the Shizuki matriarch chuckles to herself. "Both with your heads in the clouds, if for completely different reasons." Once she says that, Ai glances to Hitomi; her best friend is staring into her meal in a similar state to her own. Is that what happens when one falls in love? Ai wonders if she could get to feel like that some day, too. It may be nice. But at the same time, this is another worry for future Ai.
"Sorry," the magical girl apologises sheepishly. "Just a lot on my mind."
"Like that giant pillar of light?" Reiji jokes along with a smirk. He throws Ai a wink, who wilts in embarassment. "You really don't do things by half. Everyone was asking about you again, come to think of it. That little trick reminded them we've got magic around."
"I won't hold what you do against you, but I will not work for Yakuza. Find your own Magical Girls."
Her deadpan draws giggles from Saki. Reiji clasps his heart in mock hurt. "Oh woe is me! To be turned down again!" He then chuckles and waves her off. "But really, I figured as much. Honestly, I'm thinking about kinda-sorta hiring the Sakura girl. She keeps the streets clean, we pay her. Do you think she would be interested?"
"I don't rightfully know," Ai has to admit. She did not ask Kyoko about her future plans yet. "But I think that would be good for her. If you want to convince her, you can always offer another of Saki's lunchboxes." They share a laugh over that before Ai gets serious again. "But that aside, you may want to look into Mami Tomoe, too. I don't think she has any family left and little time beside school and Magical Girl stuff. If she can turn that into actual, paid work, she may be a lot happier."
He nods thoughtfully. "I will do that."
Just then, Hitomi involves herself. Whenever she started listening, her previous daydreams are long gone. "I was meaning to ask, what created that light? Your Arcana Slave is not this powerful, I believe?"
Ai nods slowly. "They convinced me to try synchronising with them."
A beat.
"My," Hitomi murmurs into the silence. She puts a hand to her cheek. "That is a surprise. After you explained the dangers, I did not expect you to accept this with anyone." She leaves the question implied, not that Ai fails to notice. None of these three has been told.
"A Witch by the name of Walpurgis will come to Mitakihara on the last day of April. That was why Homura wanted us all today. Unless we stop that Witch, she will destroy the city." All three Shizukis are staring at her now; Reiji and Saki pale rapidly while Hitomi's eyes are wide. Ai just nods, never averting her gaze. "That is why I agreed. We need everything we can get, so I wanted to at least try. Only Homura and Kyoko are good fits for me, but even their bodies can't stand the strain for longer than a few minutes."
"The whole city," Hitomi repeats softly. Her gaze falls, only to rise back up. "I see. That is an entirely different matter." The other girl offers a soft smile. "It is good to know you can increase each other's power to such an extent. Which of them unleashed that beam?"
Oh. Right. Ai squirms a bit under Hitomi's look, not to mention her parents'. "Erm. Madoka."
The response stops Hitomi dead in her tracks. "Pardon?" she starts after regaining her bearings. "You synchronised with Madoka, even though she is a regular human?"
"She insisted." Ai heaves a sigh and leans back in her chair. "And I only let her because it worked out with everyone else. I think my nature got a lot more mellow after my recent realisations." The euphemism is accepted without comment. Ai huffs. "She managed twenty seconds or so. That beam was actually an accident. And she collapsed right after because her body couldn't take casting something that powerful. So the silver lining is that we have an emergency measure."
"But she is okay, yes?"
"Of course," Ai reassures Hitomi with a smile. "Sayaka and I were both there."
"And I imagine the issue stems from her enormous magical potential, not anything inherent to synchronising?" Hitomi ventures carefully; by the time Ai realises what she aims at, she already confirmed it. Her best friend smiles. "In that case, please do it with me."
Ai raises her finger to argue, but thinks better of it. There is no real risk, considering her own healing spells. Sighing, the magical girl nods. "Okay, but only half a minute. And only after we're done with dinner," she adds. Saki closes her mouth, having been about to say something along those lines.
So it is that right after clearing the table, Ai embraces Hitomi. Reiji chuckles and leans closer to them. "Forbidden fruits, daughter," he stage-whispers, much to Hitomi's mortification. Saki giggles, but that does not stop her from watching vigilantly as the two girls merge into one.
Being linked to Hitomi is different still from the others. Homura has a stronger will, but also far more emotional baggage to develop it. If anything, Hitomi is zen. Not quite gentle like Madoka, but a similar sort of calm. Her feelings are tightly controlled, a mixture of awe and envy channeled into purpose.
Hitomi looks herself over in a hand mirror. Her eyes have an amber tint. Blue hair so light it almost seems white covers her head. Her entire body thrums with energy. She absently takes to the air and floats around, then settles back at the table. Her lips curl into a faint smile as she sets her right arm down in challenge. "Now, father," she speaks. Ai's voice echoes along with hers. "How about a little test?"
Reiji huffs and sits down opposite to her. The two clasp hands, straightening up. "You're on, daughter," he banters back and begins to pull.
Ai never saw arm wrestling before. The concept intrigues her, though she feels it will not do much good for her. Reiji groans and grunts, trying to dislodge Hitomi's hand; even a physically weak Abnormality like Ai gives her enough power to become insurmountable. The limb does not even twitch. Hitomi smiles beatifically as she slams her father's hand onto the table in a single swoop. The slap echoes loud in the quiet room.
Then Ai leaves her best friend, who suddenly wheezes and hugs herself. A quick healing spell does little to deal with that. Hitomi groans. "Urgh, it is not bad. My body just cramped up." She shudders and rubs her bicep. "I will be okay in a minute."
"Hm." A hand lands on Ai's shoulder. Looking away from Hitomi, she finds Saki smiling at her innocently. "Say, how about us two lovelies?"
On the one hand, Ai still does not like doing this. On the other hand, she needs the practice as much as anyone. And if they already want to, why not? But the Shizukis are not the only ones who can make dirty jokes. So Ai nods and wraps her arms around Saki, who chuckles. The human woman chokes when Ai quips over her shoulder: "Watch, Reiji. I will now go deeper into your wife than you ever were."
"Ai!" Hitomi calls, but the cackling girl already vanishes within her mother.
Meanwhile, Reiji just barks out a laugh. "Heh, don't worry; I get my turn with you next. It's fine if we're both in on it, isn't it, dear?"
"Oh, absolutely," Saki agrees with a renewed chuckle. Within her self, Ai feels drawn to the beacon of motherly love. It is calm at first glance, but on closer inspection contains a roaring storm. Ready to be unleashed on any who threaten her child.
Ai lets her enjoy the sensation of unassisted flight for exactly thirty seconds; if anything, she cramps up more than Hitomi did. While the matriarch mutters about being out of shape, Reiji gets his turn as well. He is more stoic on the inside than his wife and daughter. Composed like Hitomi; Ai can tell where her friend takes it from. But there are also old guilt and a variety of other sensations flowing into his conciousness. She does not prod further than that.
In difference to the women, Reiji spends his few seconds walking up the ceiling. He then levitates the couch with an almost childlike glee.
All three of them seem perfectly happy with the evening. Ai can not help but smile as well, even though her thoughts soon return to the matter of magical girls and Witches. Synchronisation distracted her hosts; she knows they would have noticed how much she ponders otherwise. Chances are they thought she was thinking about Walpurgis.
The following Friday passes uneventfully. Outside of her little part-time job and practice with the other magical girls, Ai spends most of her time wandering Mitakihara. The police presence is slowly decreasing, what with the absence of new unexplained murders. The wave of disappearances begins to take up their time, too.
In the past, Ai's treks through town were accompanied by the desire to hunt evil. Now that she no longer has that, it feels different. Calmer, perhaps even sweeter. Ai can look onto the gleaming skyline and enjoy the sight. No longer does a half-remembered neon sky overlay itself onto her vision. She can see Mitakihara, bright and full of potential. She sees the shadows its highrise buildings cast as well. The darkness that dwells beneath. All of it is full of life.
"I can't let Walpurgis destroy this town," she tells Kyubey. The bunnycat rides on her shoulder, as became customary of late. "I hope you understand."
"I do," they respond. "We possess enough data on your behaviour to estimate your goals. I may be unable to understand emotion, but seeing the patterns in it is not impossible."
Ai huffs and scratches them behind the ear. "You're surprisingly calm about this. What if I succeed? Madoka won't contract then."
"Excepting unexpected accidents, there are about seventy-three years of time during which Madoka Kaname may form a contract. Even if this is not the event that causes it, there will be many opportunities to approach her in the future."
"...noted."
Ai really should remember that Kyubey is good at playing the long game. She drops the subject, but keeps absently scratching their head.
Tomorrow, she will tell everyone the truth. Everything she learned from Hana Kurosawa and, by extension, Elsa Maria. But at the same time, Ai worries what may happen. She has a few ideas to mitigate the worst possible outcomes, but this will not be an easy conversation. Five potentially volatile people; four, assuming Homura already knows.
She absently stares at the anomaly up high atop the channel. It remains invisible beyond a sort of flickering to the air, but pulses faintly against her more ethereal senses.
Then an idea present itself. She has two others who will take it better. They can help her soften the blow. But at the same time, it may be taken as a betrayal if she tells Madoka and Hitomi first. If the last people to learn of this are the ones directly affected. She knows oh so well that when emotions rise, reason is pushed aside.
Ai frowns in thought.
[] Inform Madoka and Hitomi first
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[] Do not tell anyone before the magical girls
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