Magical Girl Quest - The Fire That Burns

The following contains light spoilers for The Fire that Burns, Crystalwatcher's Magical Girl Quest and Libra's Lament.

Additionally, @crystalwatcher, this might interest you as well.







It was... a weird afternoon. That much was for sure.
They were not entirely sure where they were, let alone when... but all the girls knew that now was a time to play and have fun. At least three out of four thought that.

Which may or may not be tied to them being ten, ten and nine years old respectively... while the last girl sitting at their table was fifteen.
A pair of twins took one half, brunettes with short and long hair respectively as well as bright blue eyes. The long-haired twin seemed to almost sparkle while talking to their youngest member, a tiny blunette... although her hair might be white with blue tinges instead.

The other twin kept quiet and listened to her sister and the other girl as they talked about shows they watched and other things, everything really. She did throw curious glances at the older girl to her right as well, a pinkette with friendly purple eyes. Whenever their gazes met, they smiled at each other and the younger girl quickly looked away in embarassment.


"Those four sure get along, don't you think?"
Two tables away, another group sat and was watching the aforementioned girls. However, there were only three people here; each of them was quite clearly related to some of the girls they were talking about.

However, their ages varied more; the youngest was thirteen, belonging to the blunette and keeping quiet while watching her sister with concern obvious to the older ones.
Next up was the older pinkette, who wore a smile brighter than any other in the room and had been asking the question earlier. She was seventeen, throwing glances at her fellow big sisters once in a while, but otherwise watching the younger children with a shine in her eyes. She had been squealing about how adorable they all were already... and there had been headpats. A lot.

The last of the second group was twenty four, although she looked like sixteen with her petite frame and short, brown hair. She also had to threaten violence to the pinkette when she tried to bring it up, but was otherwise keeping an eye on everyone while drinking her coffee.

Such was the company they found themselves in after meeting in front of this cafe about an hour ago.
Cerys did not know what brought her to sit here with two women so much older than herself, who she did not know at all on top of that. It did not feel wrong though, for some reason. Especially because her sister Una seemed to enjoy herself.
Sega Dreamcast Boheart, chipper as always, did not mind the company for herself or her sister Anastasia at all. The girl had been through a lot, so spending some time off sounded good.
Bianca Vescovi, calm and collected, would never openly admit to how glad she was to see her sisters smiling like they did right now. It was... a nice opportunity to catch her breath as well.


Of course, all three of them knew one thing for sure: something was wrong here.
They already talked about it right after their introduction. Bianca and Sega came from a year 2011, Cerys from eleven years earlier. There were other oddities and they soon realised that something made them all meet, for no actual reason.

With how they could relax for once, however, none of them minded it much.

"Yes", Bianca finally responded with a short glance at the little sisters. "Rico always gets along with girls her age, but Eva probably likes having someone older around."
Both Sega and Cerys needed a moment to remember that Rico was the twin with the longer hair and Eva looked more like her older sister; it was rather helpful that they were at least somewhat distinctive... and their parents did not give them matching names.

"Mhm, she seems like the quiet kind, who thinks a lot. I think they're both cute, though."
Sega giggled over her own statement and leaned onto her arms. "They remind me of Ana when she was their age. All three of them do."
Cerys did not comment. Even when she did not feel particularly pressured, she just had nothing to contribute here. She could see what Sega meant, but did not really care for the other girls next to Una. If her sister liked them, so would she.

"So, do you have any ideas what brought us here... or why?"
Sega still led the conversation, mostly because she had the good fortune to have been placed with two quiet girls of all people. Not that it stopped her from bringing good cheer, but having at least one more talkative person at her table would have been nice. Cerys only shrugged, although her brows furrowed in thought.

Bianca exhaled slowly and took another sip before responding: "this is probably something conceptual. We already know we are from different times... and I think that your world and mine are different as well, Sega. I don't even want to know what happened on your ends, we would all just waste time thinking about what might have been."
Oh, there she was thinking that she was the only one who could say more than ten words in quick succession. Sega nodded at the older girl, motioning for her to move on with the explanation after she took another sip.

"I won't even try to create an actual explanation... Gaia might know, but she will not tell about it. We are here and now, so we should do the best about it."
"Huh..."
"What do you mean with conceptual?"
Bianca and Sega turned to the youngest big sister, but the former just shrugged in a similar way to how Cerys had done earlier. "It doesn't matter, neither of us will remember this."

Now two gazes wandered back to the oldest, who looked at them. Then Sega flicked her own forehead. "Oh, I know! Whenever some people from alternate realities meet like this, they don't remember it happening later. Right?"
"Something like this", Bianca allowed with a small smile. "Magic is shaped by belief and many people would believe in this."

"What are you talking about?"
The three turned back, only to find an assortment of siblings standing in front of them. Anastasia had the other girls in front of herself, the twins flanking Una on each side and holding her hands. All three of the younger girls were all smiles.

Sega chuckled and raised a finger at them with a wide grin. "That's a secret~"
This actually drew a smile out of Cerys as well; it only grew when three out of four started pouting at them, but Sega just laughed it off.

"I was not done yet."
Bianca, meanwhile, had someone from the staff refill her cup and sipped at it again. She continued explaining to her expanded audience with a smile: "Even when we won't remember this, the memory should still be there. Wherever the four of you were before we met, whatever you were doing... our souls will remember the feelings."

There was a moment of silence and everyone regarded Bianca in awe.

Then the twins and Sega started snickering, soon joined by a giggling Una and Cerys.
Only Anastasia kept her calm while Bianca rolled her eyes and went back to her drink, the younger pinkette actually moved by what was said. Rico pointed at her big sister and tried to draw enough breath to actually talk... with mixed success.
"Y-You... ahaha, you sound like... like-like an old woman!"


After everyone calmed down somewhat and Sega petted Bianca's head without getting any reaction, Una sat down on her big sister's lap and pouted once again. She had just remembered what had been bothering her before.
"So mean, everyone but me is a Magical Girl..."
The twins looked at each other while Ana and Sega exchanged tired smiles... Cerys just looked around with newfound curiousity, seeing that the older ones had not mentioned this part so far.

"Um, Una? I told you our big sis is no Magical Girl, right?"
Eva took over after her twin brought this up, her eyes shining. "You're still small, so you have lots of time to become one too!"
This, obviously, made the youngest beam again and the children continued to chatter, this time about what kind of magic Una might have once she awakened her powers.

Meanwhile, Anastasia sighed and sat down between her sister and Bianca. She still wore a bright smile on her face, though. "Either way, it's nice to have this opportunity."
"Hear, hear!"
Sega raised her own cup high, then emptied it with a single swig as if to salute her sister's comment. Once she was done with that however, she beamed at the younger pinkette and ruffled her hair. "You're right, Ana. Things have been pretty rough lately, so this is pretty nice."

"I'm still not sure about all of this", Cerys finally spoke up; she held her babbling sister on her lap somehow, the smaller girl snuggled into her form even now. Sega chuckled some more and ruffled her hair as well, even when she flinched for a moment. "Now now, Cerys. You can take breaks too, you know? It's still early for your Earth, after all... heh, you're actually older than me once you are in the same year."

She let go after the blunette after a few moments, but continued smiling at her and the younger girl relaxed a little more.

A break was a nice thing.




They spent a while longer in the weird cafe, where the staff consisted of weird cat-things that no one really minded and all kinds of people seemed to meet. But in the end, it was time to go for all of them.

Sega waved widely and with a bright smile. "We're off then, take care on the way back."
Rico did the same with fewer words while Anastasia smiled as well and raised a hand as a farewell. "Good luck in whatever you are doing."
Eva just nodded in response while Una joined the happy waving... and Cerys just stood, taking in the features of those people she met never before and would likely never meet again. Then her lips curled upwards and she raised a hand as well. "I hope you all stay safe."

Bianca kept quiet throughout the whole process, but offered a friendly nod once everyone else was done. She then took her sisters' hands and led them down the street. Sega and Anastasia turned the other way, Una and Cerys took the third. The last group was hand in hand just like the first.


"What do you think of them?", Bianca asked her sisters once they made some way. Both twins looked at each other and then beamed up at the older girl; even though they backed it up with lots of praise and cheerful comments, those smiles were enough for the adult to know today was a good day.


"Nice girls, all of them."
"Yes, I they are all great people."


"Did you have fun, Cerys?"
Blue eyes fell onto another set of blue looking back up at her and the young Magical Girl thought for a moment, then smiled down at her little sister. "Yes, I did. What about you?"
"Of course!"



Even though they knew they would not remember each other... it was a precious memory.