The forest

...

Xylina held out her hand and looked at her middle finger where her soul gem sat. "I did it..." she sighed thinking how much fun her sister is having with her new older sister and not her. "That Kyuubey... He'll pay for this..." she shook her head "I may need him to dispose of the little things that cleanse my soul gem, but I can't stand him..." she scowled thinking of the face of evil. She sat on the soft mossy grass of the forest and sighed deeply this was the only true place she could come to clear her head of all the mess that was going on at home.

Haruka was walking in the forest, on her way to the lake. She knew she should be home working on her maths, but she guessed that as she would not understand anything anyway and that eventually she would come here, it was no use wasting her time trying. So after school, she had headed towards the park, not waiting for Kotaro. Today he would finish later than her, so they were not supposed to come back home together.
So Haruka was joyfully hopping like a kid, her school bag in hand, and smiling dumbly. She was looking forward to diving in the water and playing with the fishes, and barely paid attention to what was around her. Until she heard a voice, and, curious, got nearer. There was a green haired girl, older than her, looking at something on her hand and thinking out loud. Haruka's curiousity was at its fullest when she heard her talk about Kyubei and wanting to get her revenge. Was she a Puella Magi too ? It seemed Kyubei had tricked her too...feeling sympathy for the girl, Haruka walked to her and, poking her shoulder as she looked over it to see what the girl was looking at -her Soul Gem she noticed-, she spoke.

"Kyubei's really vicious. Behind its cute face it is devilish, I'm not fooled either."

She said it lightly, but she was serious. She hated liars and Kyubei was one of the worse of the kind. He had hidden things that really well might have killed her and had put Kotaro's sister in a deadly position.

She jumped a little at her shoulder being poked she then looked over should to a small girl with aqua hair. She had mentioned that she knew Kyuubey as well and that she knew about his deceiving ways. "Yes he is... It's good that you aren't fooled..." she closed her eyes and sighed "What did he do to you?" she shook her head knowing this girl had become a magical girl because he tricked her. He probably made her think that it was all fun and games saving innocent lives for anything that she wished for. She knew it was all wrong "He made me think that I would be able to see my little sister again... She lives with a new family now and I don't even get to say hello to her or hug her like a used to..." she shut her eyes tight clenching her fist tight. "It was an innocent wish too..." she growled a little saying that.

Haruka was upset to see the girl so sad, and when she heard how Kyubei had decieved her she felt depressed. She realized she had been lucky compared to this girl, because at least her gift was not peinful to live with everyday on. It was more inconvenient and dangerous, but she could live her life. Whereas this girl...it was even worse than before she made the pact, as she was reminded all the time she could no longer be with her sister, because there was an invisible fence between them...plus, she had to keep putting herself in danger against Wraths and did not even have someone to cheer her up when she was down, whereas Haruka was lucky enough to have Kotaro. It was so unfair...
Thinking all this, she felt tears coming to her eyes, but she held them the best she could.

"That's so unfair...compared to what he did to you, what happened to me is nothing." she stuttered sadly, before opening her bag and pulling out a bottle of water. She handed it to the girl, so that she could see her Soul Gem was inside."My wish was to breathe underwater...now I can only breathe underwater, because my lungs can't take oxygene from the air anymore." she answered awkwardly, with a kind of sad smile. But that was not her clumsiness that would cheer the girl up. What Kyubei did to her was unacceptable, and that she would blame the vicious animal next time she saw it. She knew it would not change anything, and he would still trick people, but the truth deserved to be said.

She looked up at her as she said that and then she took the water bottle seeing her aqua colored soul gem in it. "Well I would hope that you keep this very close to you at all times..." she looked up at her with a stern look. This girl looked to be about the age that her little sister would be now. "Kyuubey still deceived you and you didn't deserve it..." she frowned a little standing up noticing she was only a little bit taller than this girl. She handed her bottle back to her smiling a little noticing the school uniform "So you go to the same school as me..." she pulled on the ribbon in her hair to tighten her pony tail. It made her look mature and serious as her hair was pulled back tight. "Breathing under water then... So what is it like?" she wanted to know. She knew many magical girls that had made wishes for themselves, but she had made her wish for someone else. She had heard the warnings of doing so, but she ignored them knowing she wanted to see her sister so bad.

Haruka nodded at the advice. The girl was right, she should always keep her Soul Gem near. She knew what happened if she did not : she would be dead until someone brought her Soul Gem close again. It was what had happened to Kotaro's sister...her Soul Gem had got lost in the ocean. Kotaro did not have any hope of saving his sister anymore; but naïve, optimistic and excellent swimmer Haruka had decided to search the entire sea to save her friend. She had not even considered the fact it could have been eaten by a fish or have been brought to the other side of the Earth : to her, as long as it was in the sea it was within her reach. But of course, to find her friend's Soul Gem she had to keep hers close not to die. When the girl got up and gave her her bottle back, Haruka held it close to her chest, inspired by the advice and her thinking.
Then the green hair teenager noticed they had the same uniform, something Haruka had not paid attention to before. So it kind of surprised her; but then, she was happy, because this Puella Magi was nice, and if they were in the same school they could become friends. So Haruka smiled, made a step backward and bent in a polite way as she introduced herself.

"I'm Haruka Umikami, 14 years old. Nice to meet you !"

She then quickly got back to vertical, and in the process made her hair messy. Feeling it, she made a sulky face and shook her haid to put her hair back to normal. When she felt it was good enough, she realized it might have looked weird and so grinned clumsily at the girl, embarrassed. Then she reminded the other question, about how it was to be able to breathe underwater. That made her go into passionate, excited, hyper mode. Her smiled grew brighter and her eyes started to sparkle with excitment.

"It's awesome !!! In the water, you feel so light, and the fishes are so cute ! Some even come swimming with you ! And the water is so pure and reassuring..."

She cut herself. The word reassuring had made her thought that the girl had lost her sister and that her wish had been useless. She felt bad for saying how nice it was to have her wish fulfilled, and her smile disappeared. She bend 90°, the "very sorry" way.

"Sorry..."

She smiled a little and bowed back "Xylina Manabe, 17 years old, it's nice to meet you as well..." she then stood back up and watched as she smiled sheepishly to her. She so reminded her of her younger sister, but didn't want it to show. She kept a small smile on her face as she described the sensation to her. Then blinked as she stopped and said she was sorry. "Why are you sorry?" she tilted her head a little showing a little worry in her facial expression. She didn't want to see this girl sad, she never liked seeing her sister sad so she didn't want to see someone who reminded her of the little girl she missed so much sad.

Haruka was surprised by Xylina's question, as to her it was obvious why she was sorry. But after a few seconds of thinking, she realized it was not obvious at all. She stood back up, still looking a bit sad and hesitant. She was not sure whether she should explain or not. Sure, if she did not Xylina would wonder what was going on, but if she did it would make her think about her lost sister whereas it was not in her mind to haunt her at the moment.
Eventually she found a way of telling her without having her being sad.

"For telling you about the good parts of my wish when yours only brings you pain..." she said at first sadly, before growing determined. "But I'll help you get in touch with your sister !"

She did not realize how naive and childish it sounded, or that it might be even harder for Xylina to be able to talk to her sister without having the same bond as before. The only thing she thought was that she wanted to help, and to her it sounded a good way.
How would be the question that would cross any normal person's mind; but to Haruka, it took a few seconds to realize it. At last, she thought she had at least to know what Xylina's sister looked like and where she could find her.

"What does she look like ?" she asked with a puzzled, and yet also curious, look.

Xylina frowned a little "Well don't think that way... I had asked you what it was like. I was planning on hearing how fun it was for you." she smiled a little again hearing that she would help her get in touch with her again. "You would really be willing to help me with that?" she now had a look of happiness mixed with sadness. No one had ever wanted to do that for her, this had been one of the nicest things that one person had done for her.

As she asked her what her sister looked like she sighed smiling a little remembering her adorable face. "She has green hair like me..." she said pointing to her hair "Her eyes are a little darker green then mine they almost look like little emeralds, Her hair is a lot longer than mine and it's a little wavy..." she smiled remembering the good days she had with her little sister. "Her face is a little rounder than mine and her skin is a little paler as well..." she smiled almost getting preachy at every detail she gave.

(sorry for answering so late >.<)

Haruka nodded as Xylina asked her if she really wanted to help, and smiled brightly at her.

"Definitely" she replied happily, determined in helping her. So determined that she forgot she had her bottle in her hands; she wanted to catch Xylina's hands, but as she released her fingers the bottle dropped on the ground. Haruka panicked for a second, but when she realized it was not crushed or going to roll, she just bent to the ground to catch it with an embarrassed look and place it in her bag before she let it drop again. Then she got up and listened to Xylina's description. Haruka was pleased to see Xylina so happy as she remembered her sister and described every detail of her appearance. That made her even more willing to help.

And as she heard the description, she felt like it sounded familiar...did she know someone who looked that way ? She thought for a few seconds, before finding out who it was that remembered her of Xylina's sister. And actually, she did look a bit like Xylina, Haruka thought -even if Haruka was not really good at recognising faces and had a really bad memory. But still, when she got the idea she clasped her fist on her palm and had a eureka look. She took out her cell phone, where she had a few pictures of people she knew from school, and started searching, until finally she found the picture she was looking for.

"Is she your sister ?" Haruka asked with a smile, as she handed the phone to Xylina.


(as you said they were about the same age =) of course you don't have to say it is right, as Haruka's a bit of a little girl it won't be weird if she mistaked Mimi for one of her friends x)

(That is quite alright! ^^)

Xylina watched as she dropped her water bottle, she was glad it was okay. She had just met this girl and didn't want to end up running to the lake just to keep her alive. She looked at the screen on the phone squinting a little "Hmm... Well it kinda looks like her, but sadly... No that isn't her..." she smiled a little to reassure her that it was alright. "It was nice of you to think of that real quick though." she looked up to the sky that peaked through the trees. She smiled again looking around the area "I'll show her to you..." she took out her phone and flipped it open to her background "See this is what she looks like..." in the image held two smiling happy girls. "I kept this to keep me sane throughout the years...." she smiled as she looked at the image herself looking at the smaller girl her height was just under hers, but her hair went all the way to her feet. She never let her mom cut it she loved her hair and she knew how to take care of it. "I do believe she goes to our school as well, I just try and make it routine not to look for her or my heart will ache..." she frowned closing her phone and putting it back in her skirt pocket. She looked up again quickly smiling so she didn't worry Haruka that she had done anything.

Haruka was a bit disappointed by Xylina's answer. She really hoped it would have been her, so that it was easier to get the two in touch. She put her phone back in her bag again. But then, she did not feel it for so long as Xylina pulled out her own phone to show her a picture of her sister. Haruka was really looking forward to seeing the picture, and when she did, she tried to remember the face. She guessed the long, beautiful hair would help her find the sister.

"She's pretty !" she said as she saw the picture. And indeed, she was, and so was Xylina to Haruka's mind. She listened to her new friend as she looked at the picture, and felt her get a little bit sad as she said she probably was at their school. Haruka looked up, but Xylina was still smiling even if she felt a little sad. Haruka smiled too, and grabbed Xylina's hands.

"I'll find her, then !"

She smiled now sincerely "Yeah she is..." she then blinked as Haruka grabbed her hands and said that she would find her. She then smiled happily closing her eyes "Thank you Haruka... That really makes me happy..." she opened her eyes again and looked a Haruka "To be able to connect with Miimii again would be great!" she became very happy inside though she knew that it would never be the same before she died. "I'm just glad that I have someone like you to help me... I don't think that I would be able to do it on my own... You're just so cheery even after what Kyuubey has done to you..." she smiled again she was glad that Kyuubey didn't completely destroy her life or ruin a perfectly good wish. She would still find a way to get revenge on Kyuubey in any way possible, she knew that she wouldn't be able to kill him it was impossible he would just multiply again.

Haruka was glad to see Xylina smile at full blast this time. Haruka hated seeing people sad, and especially when she considered those people as friends. One would have said it was weird to consider someone you had just met as a friend, but not Haruka. She was the kind to trust people easily, as long as they showed signs of honesty and goodness. And Xylina indeed showed both; so it was normal that Haruka considered her as a friend.

"No need to thank !" Haruka answered with a wink. "Helping friends is normal !" Then she added, thinking about Xylina's last sentence. "Well, he did way worse to you ! I mean, if Kotaro hadn't found out about putting my soul gem in the water, I guess I would just be dead by now...so I'm quite happy to be here now !"

Then, Haruka quickly dropped one of Xylina's hands to hold her fist up.

"And I still have to find Kotaro's sister soulgem ! That's my mission as a magic mermaid !!"

Haruka was pretty sure Xylina would wonder why she was calling herself a mermaid. It was just some silly role play Haruka liked to do. But besides puzzling people, it had only one other effect, and that was Kotaro denying it all.

That was exactly what was happening right now.

Haruka felt something hitting the back of her head. She was pretty sure it was a notebook, and indeed, the sound it made when it dropped proved it. Haruka, startled, turned. She knew that was Kotaro, because he always did that when she tried to avoid her homeworks. She just expected him to be at school.

"Kotaro ? What are you doing here ?" she said at the sight of her neighbour, who was getting nearer.

"Haruka, what's the use of your bracelets if you never look at them ?" he answered, lifting an eyebrow. Haruka, puzzled, looked at her wrist. End sk8l erly fr K. How could she have forgotten they were supposed to go home together ? She started to bend and apologize hastily, but before Kotaro cut her.

"No harm done." Then he turned to Xylina. "Sorry about the mermaid thing, she likes pretending to be one because she's a good..." he stopped as he noticed Xylina's soulgem. "Oh, you're a Puella Magi too ? Good. 'Cause Haruka (he turned to her) you really should pay more attention when you walk. I crossed a Wrath egg about to hatch about 50 feet behind you."

Haruka need a few seconds to understand the information, but then, she began to react.

"W-w-what ?!?! We have to destroy it !" she ejaculated (OCC: not sure if it's old or current english, I've seen the term in some 19th century novels ^^') to Xylina. Then she turned into her Puella Magi form and summoned her trident.

(XD no most people don't use that word for what you just used it for anymore, but I understood it! English classes help me understand old words lol)

Xylina smiled "Well I have to thank you for it, no matter if it's the right thing to do or not!" she then heard what Haruka said "Your friend lost her soul gem?!" she frowned a little "How..." she stopped right there remembering that Kyuubey never tells any of his contractors that you need to keep your soul gem near by. Before she could say anything else a boy stopped Haruka in her tracks she called him Kotaro. She watched as these two were probably best friends they looked to be around the same age.

She seemed questionable about him did he know about the magical girls? When he had said 'Oh you're a magical girl too?' she smiled a bit so this was the boy she was talking about before. It was his sister's soul gem that Haruka was looking for. Hearing that there was a wrath egg just a few feet away she quickly transformed herself and held out her hand for her syth. "We must... We can't let even one get away!"

(xD then I guess I'll stick with cry, since the other meaning I think is the same as in French ^^' xD thanks ^^
btw, sorry for the late reply. Kyubei has designed my new school schedule, I'm sure about that !!!)


Haruka nodded at Xylina's words, thinking in the same time that Xylina's Puella Magi clothes were definitely super cute. And green fitted her well.
Then she started to run in the direction Kotaro had told her. She had no idea what 50ft represented indeed, so she kept on running for a while, until she heard a shout behind her.

"Haruka, you've passed it ! Come back, and look up at that oak !"

Haruka turned to see, quite far from her, Kotaro holding his head in dispair with one of his hands and pointing a tree with the other. She looked at him, then at the tree, then at him again. She giggled nervously, with a doggy smile. And came back so fast it was like she had teleported next to the tree (OCC : no magic there, just manga caricature xD). Kotaro sighed, then turned his gaze to the Wrath egg. Haruka followed it.
The black cubic object was stuck to a branch, near the trunk. From it emanated a black energy. It was going to hatch in no time, and carry everyone around in the Wrath dimension.

"Step back, Kota-kota" she said playfully to her friend, who just kept silent at the nickname. Blank. Eventually, he spoke, as Haruka was going to repeat what she had said.

"Be careful, please" he answered, almost pleadingly. Haruka was surprised. Of course, Kotaro was always worried about her, but there was something in his voice...that was not just worry. He sounded really tired...maybe a bit hopeless, even.

"Ko..kotaro ?" was the only thing she managed to think and utter. Kotaro did not answer. He just turned to the other Puella Magi that Haruka had met and whose name he did not know.

"Don't let her get hurt." he said with a serious, deep expression. Then he made a few steps away from the egg, and turned back to the girls.

"I'd rather not get into its world. I'm going to the lake." he said with a playful smile. Haruka rejoiced, since she knew it meant he would accompy her to take a swim. Before the homeworks.

"Yay !!!" she screamed, then turned to Xylina. "When we're done, how about swimming a bit in the lake ? I can make people able to breathe underwater for a short time with my powers."

But as she spoke, the egg increased of size; Haruka turned to it, just before being plunged into the maze.

******

Kotaro quickly walked away from the egg, and from Haruka. Dammit...Haruka, pay more attention to your surroundings ! You're going to get killed if you go on like that... he kept thinking to himself with anger, not to the girl, but to himself. If she got killed...that would be because of her. It was already his fault she had been exposed to the danger; it was his fault she and his own sister had become Puella Magis. And why, why ? Because for the first, he had not been there soon enough, as for the second...
Kotaro was cut in his cursing to himself by a voice from below him.

"You know, by feeling so angry you're only feeding the Wrath. You're the one exposing Haruka to greater danger."

Kotaro did not even look at the evil cat-like thing.

"Shut up" he muttered with his teeth gritting. He stopped his walk, and remained silent for a while as he tried to calm himself, so as not to allow the fiend to be right. Finally, as he failed, he gazed at Kyubei with sparkling eyes. Then walked on again. The less he saw it, the better he would feel.
But Kyubei spoke again.

"As for your sister...Haruka'd better find the soulgem quickly. That little agreement between us can't last forever. Or when she'll finally wake up, you'll die."

Kotaro stopped again, but this time, did not do anything else. He knew...he knew Kyubei was right. He already felt it. He felt his magic would not last long, and would not be able to reduce the damage caused by the absence of the soulgem enough to make it bearable for everyone. But it couldn't be avoided. He knew there was no hope in finding the soulgem; and what little there was was in Haruka's hands. But he could not tell her to hurry. She already did her best, and if he told her the truth whole truth about magical girls away from there soulgems...that would be too much to bear. Kotaro could not tell her, it would only make her suffer...he only wished, since there was no hope of finding the soulgem, that her friend...no...the only person that refrained him from selling his own soul to save his sister; that she could be happy. And maybe...maybe realize what she meant to him. But Haruka being Haruka, that would not happen.
Kotaro pretended to ignore Kyubei and left to the lake, where he waited for Haruka's return with the greatest of worry.

[Kotaro leaves topic]

(By the way I don't know if you saw it, but I found a pretty great picture of the wraths ^^ Also it's very fine that it took you that long! lol Kyuubey is just so evil! XD)

Xylina watched as Haruka ran off then sighed watching as she had ran too far. She looked up and smiled a little thinking she was a little funny. She looked to Kotaro as he told her not to let Haruka get hurt she nodded and darted off to the wrath seed's location just as it opened she landed on a desert like plain. "Sure we can do that." she smiled a little to Haruka and held up her syth. "But first let's get this thing done with..." she moved into a fighting stance and dashed off towards the tall figures just as she got close enough she jumped in the air and flipped trying to hit the wrath straight on the head (OCC: Just to let you know there's usually more than one wrath per wrath seed). "Haruka you get another! We'll hit the last one with everything we have!" she yelled to Haruka as she sliced through the wrath's head angering the others. She landed safely on her feet grabbing hold of another syth as she had left her other one in the wrath. She looked behind her and waved to Haruka smiling showing she was alright just before she was slapped to the side by one of the wraths. Xylina gasped a little feeling the pain in her side as she flew a long while, but flipped over in the air so she would land on her feet. She grabbed her side and gasped in pain "Argh! That stupid wrath!" she gritted her teeth giving the one that had slapped her an evil glare.

(I saw =) and by the way, finally was able to read the end of the manga. I think I never cried so much when reading a manga TT^TT MADOKA YOU IDIOT !!!!!!! TT^TT did you think for one second about Homura ?!?!
anyway, I'm going to England in a month, where the anime is getting released on DVD, at last I'll be able to watch it ! =D)



Haruka looked around her quickly when she landed in the Wrath dimension. How many were there ? One, two three...looked like half a dozen or so to Haruka. But Haruka did not pay much attention to that kind of things.
She turned to Xylina as the green haired magical girl agreed to the swim. Haruka hopped with a little happy exclamation, but then calmed down physically as Xylina reminded her the wraths. Haruka was so excited she just nodded. In another circumstance Haruka would have started to freak out a bit since the thought of danger was always scaring her so much, but then she would have remembered she had to fight it to protect Kotaro who was almost always waiting for her outside. And she would just fight, even if deep inside she wanted to run away.
But now it was alright, since she was in a good mood and with a friend, so not alone against the wraths. So she grabbed a better hold on her trident and started towards the wraths. She took down the first, then another but with more difficulties : Haruka was slow, and she knew it. Plus, her trident was not convenient at all to fight; but unless she really needed to change it, she kept it. Having a long weapon was kind of comforting.
When she was done with this one, she heard Xylina's words to her and turned. Haruka was impressed when Xylina landed gracefully.

"Alright !"

But no sooner had she said that that Xylina was thrown away by the wrath. And Haruka froze. She looked, paralized, at Xylina's flight, until Xylina got back on her feet. But she looked hurt, and that was the only thing Haruka noticed. It scared her. What if Xylina died ? What if Haruka was left, alone, against those things ? What about Xylina's wishes, Haruka's promise and their newborn friendship ? It would all vanish in a blink...wouldn't it ? And then, so would she; so would they both. Haruka was sure she could not take the wraths down by herself. Haruka could not let her friend die; she was still afraid, but she knew she had to move. So she whispered a prayer before throwing her trident into the air.

"Myrmidon's shell !"

As she said that, she used her magic to divide her trident into a star-shaped shield made of water and a smaller trident. One might wonder why she did not do it earlier : that was because it was not that efficient in the air : the water shield broke instantly. Under water, it gave her a full armour, but on earth it just gave her water. She needed to make it grow bigger, which took a lot of magic, so that it could surround her and make her be faster -it did not shield her at all though, because the atmosphere was hoter that the water and so the borders were turned into smoke, whereas in the water it was as cold and Haruka could freeze the borders to be safe.
So Haruka created a bubble of water around her and started to swim towards the Warth that sent Xylina flying; her speed was such she barely needed to strike to destroy the Wrath. She landed near Xylina and got back to her normal trident to avoid to use to much of her magic.

"Are you alright ?" she asked, worried.

(again, sorry for the wait m( )m)

Xylina still holding her side watched as Haruka easily defeated the other wrath. She had made a bubble of water around her just to keep the shield she had made safe. It seemed to have used a lot of magic on her part as Haruka made her way over she stood up a little more straight still holding her side. "Yeah I'm fine... Are you alright you looked like you used a lot of magic back there..." she gave her a serious look remembering that Kotaro had told her to keep Haruka safe. "That can be dangerous your soul gem will get dirtied easier that way..." she smiled a little to reassure her that her side wasn't that bad she could heal it later.

She looked up to the last wrath remembering where they were "Alright we can talk more later first we need to get rid of this wrath!" she took a stronger grip on her syth letting her arm that was holding her side drop. She ran ahead tossing her syth at the wrath now waiting for Haruka's last attack to finish off this wrath.

(Hey that's totally fine people have lives! And that's awesome you'll love the anime trust me it was so beautiful and the animation is the best :D Also I can't name my attack XD I'm so not creative like that! lol)

(I trust you, and I'm soooooooooooooooooo looking forward to seeing it !!! >.< but still a month to wait Dx that's too long !!! >.< sure, I could watch it next week because a French publisher has decided to put it only legally and freely but I was told the website messed up with your computer and anyway, my internet connexion is too bad to watch it while other people at home are on World of Warcraft >.<

xD naming attacks can be a pain, because you easily end up with some cheesy stuff xD but with such a character as I made I had to x)
by the way, the more I think about it the more Haruka looks like a copy of Sayaka TT.TT I hadn't noticed Sayaka's

Spoiler:

Y.Y)


Haruka watched Xylina stand up straighter and heard with relief that she was fine. Haruka was not the kind to notice white lies, so if Xylina said she was alright, Haruka would believe it without any doubts. So to worry about Xylina, she began worrying about herself when Xylina reminded her about the magic going away. Of course, Haruka knew she still had more than half her magic left, but she also knew she did not have much powers and she had to be careful, especially since her soulgem wasn't at its best before beginning the fight.
But then, she remembered that once she had been able to defeat three packs of Wraths, using her shield, without her soulgem being that dark, and so felt reassured as to her magic.

"I'm fine ! Don't worry, I haven't been using so much magic, see ?" she said, getting back to her human form to show her soulgem. Sure, it did not sparkle, but it was still of a light aqua blue. She let Xylina see, then turned back to Puella Magi form and smiled cheerfully.

She then heard what Xylina had said. She nodded and prepared herself for the fight. While Xylina was running towards the Wrath, Haruka was preparing herself for the last strike. Since she still had a lot of magic and would get some cubes at the end of the fight, she decided to have fun by using one of her "super mermaid attacks", as she called them. She used her magic to create a circle of water around her feet up to her ankles. She prepared herself to jump while using her magic in advance so that her trident's middle tip would grow larger. And she jumped, using the water as a trampoline to throw herself at a great speed towards the Wrath. While she was flying, her magic unfolded to that the water she had used went to the points of the trident, in the process making the middle one bigger, and froze the water around it in the shape of a star.
When she was a few meters above the Wrath, she stopped in the air for a few seconds, did a somersault in the air and shouted the name of her attack.

"Dolphin's bow !"

Then she let herself fall head down, holding her trident next to her chest. She turned a bit on herself to improve her speed and killed the Wrath. She then released her trident and turned it into water, so as to fall in it. The water made her stop her fall; she turned head to toe again and landed on her feet, holding her trident in normal form once again. She was a bit tired, but hopefully little cubes started to appear. Haruka smiled at Xylina.

"We did it !" she said, turning back to normal form. Her soulgem was a lot darker, but it still looked blue and not dark blue.

(It's totally fine!! You're characters transformation is more aquatic than hers anyways don't worry about it seriously! ^^ I'm sorry about replying so late! DX)

Xylina smiled as Haruka's trident hit the wrath along with her syth and it was destroyed. She let herself go back to her normal form she winced a little at her side, but let it go seeing as it wasn't that bad of an injury. She has had much worse and knows how to deal with them now. "Great job!" she raised her arm with her hand in a tight fist showing her excitement. She looked to her own soul gem to see how dirtied she had gotten it, but sighed in relief seeing it was still the bright green color it was meant to be. She watched as the desert scenery had left and went back to the greenery of the forest. She watched as the black square fell from one of the trees and went to catch it. She looked it over and looked up to Haruka "Here you need it more than I do!" she smiled a little and tossed it over to Haruka knowing she had used a lot of her magic in that battle. "Don't give it back to me saying you don't need it cause I'm not going to take it back..." she shook her finger and showed Haruka her soul gem just to let her know that she was fine. She then used a little of her magic to make it into a ring again that sat on her middle finger. "Well I did say I would go to the lake with you... Shall we go?" she tilted her head holding out her arm showing the way to the lake.

Meanwhile, Senna was entering the forest, with a look on her face which displayed her anxiety. Having sensed danger from nearby, she couldn't help trying to rush to the danger zone in time to eliminate the threat. There was nothing else she could do, thanks to the current situation; being unable to have her vengeance had rendered her initial goal unachievable.

Seeing two unknown figures in the distance, she sped up towards them. However, only upon reaching them from a safe distance did she realise that she had been too late; her Soul Gem wasn't glowing anymore.
"D-don't tell me", she whispered to herself as she let herself fall on her knees, gasping for breath. In addition to having run so much, it had been a long while since she had last fought against a Wrath, and even the partial corruption of her Soul Gem made her feel weak.

(it's alright Xylina ;) I'm so often late you shouldn't even be apologizing xD
and welcome on the topic Senna =)


Haruka, thanks to her reflexes, caught the little cube Xylina had tossed her. She looked at it, then back at Xylina as she was telling her to keep the cube, then back at it. Back again at Xylina, with a big smile.
"Thanks !!"
She was about to use it when Xylina reminded her about the swim. Haruka looked up and began hopping with excitement.
"Yay !!!!"
But as she began hopping towards it, she heard someone running behind her. She turned around to see a brown haired girl with a braid, holding a soulgem in her hand. She was breathing hard, as if she had ran for a few hours, and was shivering with exhaustion. She said something, and then fell down on the ground. Haruka rushed to her.
"Are you alright ?" she cried, kneeling next to her. That made her see the girl's soulgem was pretty dark. Haruka glanced at hers...it was as dark...what was she to do ?! She started to panick. She did not want to die, but she could not let the girl die either ! (of course, she did not even know what happened if the soulgem got too dark; but as she did not know, she supposed it was death...right ?)
She had not even thought it was weird only one cube had fallen.
Until she felt something fall on her head.
"Hey that hurts !!!"
She looked around and saw a few other cubes around her. She took one with a puzzled look, then moved her head as if waking up. And hurried to clean the girl's Soulgem with a few cubes.
"How are you ?"
Then she started picking up the cubes, so that she could give some to Xylina and keep the rest to clean her own Soulgem.

Soon, Senna's breathing pace slowed down, but she still felt as though she was on her limits. She glanced down at her Soul Gem; it bore a scarlet colour at that time and, compared to her marking's bright red shade, was pretty dark. Although that corruption was still far from the critical level, she was still affected by it.

She glanced up at the blue-haired girl who had approached, seemingly holding one purification cube.
"...Are you sure about that?" Senna herself was concerned about the other two Puella Magi; they had earned the cube fair and square by fighting those Wraths, unlike her, so she didn't feel right.

Suddenly, a few more cubes fell on the ground, from an unknown altitude. Worry regarding their origins struck her for a second , only to be overcome by relief; there were enough for the three of them. She hesitantly picked up one of the cubes, and brought it to her Soul Gem; in her opinion, one would be more than enough.

"Thanks... Purify your own souls completely first; I'm alright for now, I suppose." She paused for a second to glance at her relatively cleaner Soul Gem, and then resumed:
"One is enough, but I suppose I'm in your debt."