*Evening, Wednesday, 16th of March 2011; Mitakihara Middle School, Mitakihara, Japan.

Kyouko realized that the strange, alien sensations associated with the use of the portals don’t bother her as much as they did before. It was still unpleasant to take even a glimpse of the space in-between worlds, but now it was more of a minor annoyance like the gust of the cold wind that made your body shiver instead of something that seemed to assault your mind and soul she experienced as Magical Girl. Whether it was because she got used to it, or it resulted from her new form, Kyouko didn’t know.

Strangely enough, she didn’t mind her changed body as much as she thought she would; her wings, her tail, her talons, all came naturally to her. And it was almost like life had more flavor now, even food tasted better. She felt like she could devour a cow after she burned that pathetic animal alive.

Which was the core of the problem. The power was messing with her mind. And she hated it. She despises how she didn’t have the choice to accept Dragon’s offer.

“Stop messing with my mind, old bastard.” She swore under her breath as she fought her treacherous thoughts.

She stood on the school roof where the portal deposited them, and for a while, she just stood there, flexing her talons, stretching wings, her tail lashed nervously in response to her inner turmoil.

They came there in force, a flock of the small scouts - a weird patchwork of the winged lizard and the raven they called Oculi - took up to the skies immediately, while larger fox-like ones spread more slowly as they were trying to sniff out hidden prey. Heavy, inky clouds, hanged at the heavens above as a curse, drowning the entire city in darkness as the moon no longer shined down on it and the only source of illumination was artificial ones. Shadows covered them like a blanket; it mattered the little to them, but humans would be hard-pressed to find the way with next to no visibility outside the merciful cones of streetlights below.

“I have to remind you that ungifted people can see us. We are bound to be noticed when emerging in a public place like this one.” Blanka reminded them. She was one of Zarak’s original followers, sent to accompany the group of three former humans - Kyouko, Hitomi, and Sayaka - along with the entire pack of the usual winged fox-like creatures.

“But Mami died here!” Sayaka argued, before pausing as she probably understood that the concept of past and future has become all relative to them lately.

“She will die. May die.”, she corrected herself as she walked to the edge of the roof, blocked by the fence to prevent both unfortunate accidents and suicide attempts. She leaned on the fence as she looked down.

“We were down there with Madoka.” She continued, her voice shaking as she described her experience: “The Witch just… jumped on Mami… bit her head off... and then...then…”

The fence groaned in protest as the former Magical Girl had more strength than it was designed to hold. Hitomi stepped in to put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, to calm her down. Kyouko just moved a few steps to the side, nervously and a little impatiently, back and forth like a caged animal. Inaction was unnerving, but she was unsure what to do or feel about herself or other girls. Blanka looked patient, her face bearing a pleasant expression where one couldn’t tell if she empathizes with Sayaka or not.

Kyouko didn’t know what to think about Blanka or Zarak's other, older followers. Blanka seemed the youngest of them, shorter and seemingly younger than Hitomi or Sayaka even, at least by appearance, but it has proven to be quite deceiving. She didn’t behave the apparent age, though, and had the behavior of a much older person. Kyouko had started to despise the Diva's slightly manipulative attitude.

In the meantime, the blue-haired girl looked to the darkened horizon covered by the oily storm cloud, reached for Hitomi’s arm, and paused, almost like she apprehended something she was missing previously.

“But it wasn’t there, down on the yard.” Sayaka suddenly said, “I thought it was here, but it wasn’t. It was at the hospital, near the bicycle sheds! How could I misremember?”

“No need to worry, as far as we know Mami is still alive at this point, so that event may never technically happen.” Blanka offered. She stepped forward and held Sayaka’s hand.

“We should go there, at once.” The blue-haired girl started, but Blanka stopped her.

“We will. There is no need to worry. But perhaps it is better we arrived here first. There are proportionally fewer people in school in the evening than at the hospital.” The fellow Diva offered, in a voice pleasant and soothing as her facial expression showed, and added the question: “Could you tell where we could hide pylons, just about my size, maybe a little smaller, to prepare the trap should the potential witch show up here? They can eventually be found, but ...”

Sayaka replied, and so did Hitomi, but Kyouko had stopped listening. She didn’t really want to assist with whatever sinister plan Dragon had, and was uninterested in the mechanics of how the magical trap worked - after all, killing the Witch in question was much easier if she wanted to save Mami. She glared at one of the vulpine monstrosities, for no apparent reason.

“Ka-ka-ka-ka!” it barked at her, in what she could recognize as a friendly tone. A monster that once nearly killed her now appeared more like her backward, retarded cousin, or somewhat smart but annoying pet, one she didn’t necessarily like but didn’t wish to harm either. Another thing a Magical Girl would have difficulty accepting as she hasn’t been expected to fight along with the packs of hellish monstrosities - but they weren’t Magical Girls anymore, she corrected herself - they were Divas, the finest of the realm beyond, and executors of Zarak’s will. Ironically, and surprisingly even to Kyouko herself, it wasn’t her new form that bothered her that strongly. It was the knowledge that her involvement wasn’t truly a matter of choice.

“... if we bring down the electrical power in this area, humans would notice something is amiss, but have difficulty to find us specifically as they struggle to restore the power supply and possibly put down the fire.” Blanka pointed out, and that was the only fragment she heard of the dialogue. Kyouko so gracefully managed to ignore it, as she had no intention of taking part in the plot. They, however, didn’t need her to execute their plan either, whatever it was.

“But won’t someone get hurt?” Hitomi asked.

“We can’t rule that out entirely.” Blanka allowed, and continued with a question: “But it is something they know how to face, unlike the unseen enemies like Witches. When was the last power outage that caused you a serious injury?”

“Sacrifices need to be made. It would be better this way,” Hitomi replied with a shrug as if it was something mundane and routine as turning the light off to sleep. Her mindset was by far the most puzzling for Kyouko, as, despite her apparent naivety, or perhaps because of it, she was the most comfortable with her new existence.

Blanka approached one of the nearby vulpines - dubbed Sikari (Hunters, Kyouko's newfound fluency in otherworldly language informed her), which lowered its head to meet the eyes as the shorter Diva reached for it. A humanoid monster looked into the eyes of a more animalistic one, and after a brief order given, two-winged foxes took to the skies to wreak havoc.

Kyouko could almost feel the thoughts of the departing fire-spewing monsters - malevolent but strangely devoted at the same time.

She nervously toyed with the tight enchanted bracelets around her wrists that were supposed to give her magical protection but did nothing against the influence her new form had on her brain.

Then suddenly, as to interrupt her thoughts, or possibly a conversation Sayaka and Blanka held, she could hear the voice of some girl shrieking in terror while their monster cackled excitedly. It came somewhere from below. Both Hitomi and Kyouko spread their wings and launched themselves into the air before descending on the school’s courtyard where their monsters - the Sikari, Kyouko rectified herself once again - cornered the schoolgirl between them and the building.

Air smelled of brimstone as one of their Sikari tried to make a point about the futility of the escape by scorching the part of the wall with their fire breath, illuminating the small area with the flickering blue flames, successfully terrifying the trapped human even more and making the scene unintentionally even more daunting. Or perhaps intentionally, even, as even if Kyouko doubted the intelligence of their vulpine minions, she could sense their enjoyment from capturing the hapless prey.

But it was Hitomi who interfered and called the monsters away.

“Leave her alone, puppies.” She commanded, and monstrosities gladly obeyed.

“Don’t eat me, please!” The school girl cried in an awkwardly familiar voice - it was Hitomi, or at least her past human version. She raised her head and looked up, only to see her twisted demonic-looking doppelganger extending the hand towards her, which mortified her even more. Kyouko growled in displeasure from the display the human put, which in hindsight wasn’t making them look any less threatening, and maybe it motivated the girl to make the last desperate attempt to break out free. She swung at the Diva’s hand and tried to scramble on her feet, only to be knocked down by the vigilant Sikari and grabbed by her monstrous twin.

“Stay away!” The cornered schoolgirl let out, and she tried to wrestle the grip away, to no avail due to the large disparity in the physical strength, so she started to scream for help instead.

“Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you.” Hitomi tried to calm down her past self. Despite the fact that Kyouko wasn’t really acquainted with the girl on any deeper level, she found the situation where the innocent human girl met the monster twin would become quite eerie, as both mental and physical disparity between the two couldn’t be more apparent than it was in this very moment. And it was irritating as well, as Kyouko could imagine herself ending up in the same situation, facing the other self.

The human girl tried to call for help, but it was futile. A moment later, lights in the block went out, leaving her alone in the dark, with terrifying abominations around her. She shrieked.

The blackness of the night illuminated only with sporadic, sickeningly blue flames, meant nothing for Divas. It was something different for the lone schoolgirl, though.

The redhead had no interest in participating in this and thought about stepping away, only to be surprised by the sudden tug of magic.

It came in the brief moment where the eyes of the two versions of Hitomi met. The human suddenly froze.

“Where am I?” she asked, confused for a brief moment before she once again took in the situation she was in and flinched

“W-w-who are you?”

The human Hitomi asked and her Diva counterpart answered:

“I am you from the future.”

“But... but... you can’t be me. You have wings. And horns. And your eyes glow!” Schoolgirl protested, less scared than before. It creeped out Kyouko - she didn’t like her mind being twisted, and the sudden change she witnessed suggested here was the magic, or power, to influence the mind of others even without consenting to the dooming pact.

“What’s wrong with my wings?” Diva Hitomi asked. Her behavior raised the question of whether they would all eventually forget they were once human.

Two Sikari carried Blanka and Sayaka down the yard. It wasn’t strange, creatures were big as horses, and both girls were petite in build, but Kyouko was rather bemused about it. Divas’ abilities were as diverse as their appearance and there was a possibility they didn’t have the abilities Magical Girls considered universal.

Blanda waved the small globe of light into existence with some subvocalized command to combat the darkness encroaching on them with the flames dying off, which obviously startled the human version of Hitomi. Then, those tingling sensations of the enchantment came up again, and the girl calmed down again. Hitomi, as the Diva, wasn’t too squeamish about doing this to her past human self or didn’t know what she was doing, but either way, it creeped out Kyouko a little.

“Humans don’t see in darkness as well as we do.” Blanka reminded them.

“Hello, Hitomi,” Sayaka said. At least she was a bit uncomfortable about this.

“Sayaka?” The human realized, asking: “Are you … are you Sayaka? Or are you our Evil Youkai Twins?”

“Yes. It’s me.” Sayaka said, and then added under her breath: “I hope it is still me.”

“I don’t think we are youkai. Not even after… that.” Kyouko, for the first time, decided to join the conversation. Even though her knowledge of mythology was limited at best, and non-existent at worst, she didn’t believe one can become Youkai by making a pact with otherworldly entities. It did make her think about what she can even tell Mami.

“I already explained to her that we are from the future.” Diva Hitomi explained, not bothering to release her grip on the human’s wrist.

“But...but...you look so different. How so?” Schoolgirl asked, puzzled.

“I went to a magical realm and made a pact with the Dragon.” Diva Hitomi supplied, truthfully.

“But...girls can’t…” the mundane version of Hitomi protested

“Love girls?” Sayaka finished the sentence, some hint she was referencing the conversation she had in the past Kyouko herself wasn’t part of.

“...and dragons!” The human added. It made Kyouko think that perhaps Hitomi was always a little crazy to the point she had to wonder what was really going on in that olive-haired head, past or present. In either way, it was dragging on, and the redhead’s patience with this charade was growing thin, and she once again started stomping the ground back and forth.

Luckily, Sayaka herself probably noticed the awkward moment, and offered:

“Hitomi, let’s take you home.”

“Very well. I will wrap things here in the meantime.” Blanka interjected, obviously not worried about new Divas wandering off, and added in an almost motherly tone: “Remember your rings. And that humans can see you, and they are not used to us looking a little different, as Hitomi here pointed out.”

Only the human presence was obviously confused about it but didn’t have a chance to say or do anything, as Sikari around had grown restless and started growling angrily, sniffing the air before darting off to catch the interloper they had detected.

Two Magical Girls landed on the practically unlit part of the yard where the light Blanka conjured barely reached. It probably allowed the pair to see the assortment of monsters clearly but didn’t put them at much of an advantage as they just stood there waiting to be noticed instead of attacking. It was a behavior Kyouko couldn’t quite explain.

Their monsters rushed to encircle the duo.

She was a little sickened by the drama involving the human Hitomi, and she decided she no longer wanted to overhear the awkward dialogue it produced, so she started to walk towards the two Magical Girls. Even knowing they may go hostile at the moment’s notice, the fight was preferable to the pointless exchanges between two versions of the same girl. While Kyouko wasn’t keen on attacking people, she itched for action.

Action, however, didn’t come. The other two girls patiently waited for Kyouko, followed by Blanka, to come closer, which was surprising considering the circumstances. She couldn’t recognize them - one was a blonde, her costume in the form of an elaborate white gown, while the other was dark-haired with a monochromatic costume, white blouse with overly frilly sleeves, and short blank skirt, with a black coat worn over it.

A dark-haired one was tenser, more on guard, her eyes darted around the winged monstrosities, struggling with what must be to them the shapes creeping in darkness - on the one side prepared to fight, on the other she did nothing to prevent the Sikari to get them into the unfavorable position. Almost like she waited on the order, and wouldn’t act without it.

The blonde one was completely calm and controlled, even though she wasn’t any more comfortable with the low light environment it was almost like she did expect the situation she found herself in.

It wasn’t the behavior Kyouko could expect in those circumstances - she couldn’t imagine anyone, her past self included, would wait to be swarmed by monsters she never had seen in her life.

“You are one of his angels,” the blonde stated calmly upon noticing the two Divas when they got closer. And then, with a very proper, very polite bow, she introduced herself: “Good evening. I am Oriko Mikuni. And my friend here is Kirika Kure.”

Then she said something Kyouko couldn’t imagine she would hear when she made this damning deal with the Dragon.

“We are here to offer our services to your Master and our future Lord.“