The next day, the Coloraturas, as well as Nina and Charlotte, had left a theater in Rosenkreuz. The modest building has several posters promoting various films, but the ones they went to see all shared a common actress.

“Well that was a boring movie,” Nina said. “She spent the entire film asleep in a shipping container!”

Lily looked at the spiderling in confusion. “What are you talking about? That was one of Pearly’s best films!” Her smile shone like Stella’s rays as she delivered that statement.

“I dunno,” Rose said. “I like the one where her character helped her father defend a lighthouse from sea monsters.”

“What about the one where she gathered a group of witches together to repel the forces of darkness?” Anemone said.

“Would’ve loved to see more of that,” Clover said. “But I heard its premiere didn’t go so well.”

Azalea sighed. “People weren’t ready to see a film focused on witches it seems.”

“Where did they get the idea to make a film like that anyway?” Nina asked.

“Who knows?” Strelitzia said while she rubbed her eyes. She turned to the giddy centauride beside her. “You really think she’s coming here huh, Lily?”

“Of course!” Lily said with glee.

“That’s Lily for you,” the pink-haired lamia said. “Ever the optimist.”

Hydrangea noticed something among the posters. “Her optimism might be warranted.” She directed their attention to an incongruous poster. The image depicted a child. A Porcine girl with pig-like ears and a tail to match. Her curly hair is tied up in two pigtails. She is clad in a simple blue dress and a matching hair bow. The text on the poster told about how this girl, Pearl Elouise Templeton, will be coming here in a few days for a press conference, to promote a film that is still being worked on.

Lily squealed in delight upon confirmation of the rumors. “See guys!”

Minerva and Carla approached the girls, having heard Lily’s excited cry. “How were the movies?”

“The last one was Boring,” Nina said. “Half of it was just the lead actress snoozing in a shipping container.”

Anemone sighed. “The Stowaway is admittedly not one of their best work. Critics had panned it for Pearly’s character not doing much in the film itself and for its abrupt ending.”

“That explains why the tickets were cheap,” Minerva said.

Lily directed the two adults to the poster. “Look!”

Carla read the poster and learned of the upcoming event. “Oh my,” the alraune said.

“Can we go?” Lily said. “Pretty please?”

Minerva sighed. “Emily will need to bring it up with the guild first.”

“Huh?” Lily asked.

“Take a look at the date,” Rose said.

Lily looked at the date and learned that it matched one where the Black Box was expecting several guests. In a rare moment, her eternal smile faded into a look of shock and surprise.

On the way back to the dungeon, a slightly less perky Lily cantered behind the others.

“She really liked those films?” Carla said.

“She said she used to watch them a lot with her parents,” Anemone said. “Before she lost them.”

“I’m almost surprised she was able to maintain her career for so long,” Raine said. “Most child stars faded into obscurity after a few years.”

“Come to think of it,” Charlotte said. “Wasn’t this ‘Betty Gale,’ one of those starlets?”

“Correct,” Anemone said. The werewolf explained that Betty Gale’s career involved a string of films, including her star-making role. A film produced by Gemini was about a Messenger wandering a surreal land with an automata, a walking scarecrow, and a lion.

“Metropolica Esmeralda right?” Clover said. “People said the film was adapted from a story a Messenger told the director.”

Lily galloped closer to the others, curious about their conversation. “Wasn’t that the one where the villain was defeated by a bucket of water?”

“That was a horrible way to defeat a bad guy!” Streltizia said. “There was no foreshadowing for that. It was a total copout!”

“I’ve heard that Betty had recently retired from acting,” Charlotte said. “I wonder why she is working with Pealry.”

“Maybe she is helping her with her film?” Rose said. She is reminded of something. “Wait a minute, Raine, didn’t you and Azalea help Emily get some feathers?”

“We did,” Raine said.

“It was a total breeze,” Azalea said.

“Come to think of it,” Carla said. “The reason was because the dwarves were commissioned to make armor for a movie.”

“Was that where the swans came from, Mom?” Charlotte said.

“Yes it was,” Carla said. “That reminds me, We need to check up on them.”

Later, the group arrived a the Black Box.

“Good afternoon,” Elizabeth said. “How was your day?”

“The girls had fun at the theater,” Minerva said.

“We watched so many Pearly movies,” Azalea said. “It gave me some ideas for some new jokes.”

Hydrangea yawned. “That was a long day.”

Emily’s voice echoed to the group. “How were the films.”

“A mixed bag,” Nina said.

“They were amazing!” Lily said as chipper as ever. “By the way…” she told Emily about the child actress’ upcoming visit to the theater.

“Huh? But that’s…”

“I know,” Lily said. “Can we go? Please?” the centaur girl pleaded with Emily.

“It might be possible to make time for it,” Elizabeth said. “If our upcoming guests don’t take too long, that is.”

“Where is Heathcliff, by the way?” Carla said. “I want to ask him a few things?”

“He and Esteban were looking into other somnitoxin-related incidents,” Emily said.

“Ah,” Carla said.

“I heard about what happened at the chapel,” Minerva said. “Julia seemed distraught over it.”

Carla left the others to care for the swans and the other creatures in their care. Minerva took Nina to another part of Emily to meet with Lydia. Charlotte and Anemone went to tell Euryale and Stheno about the films they saw. Azalea swam away to prepare new material. Hydrangea went to read a storybook compilation. Raine went to the atelier to help Sarah again. Clover took Streltizia and followed Raine to talk with Richard. And Lily…Lily realized that one of Atsuko’s retainers was also a fan of Pearly movies and decided to pay them a visit.

✦✦✦

“Wait, Pearl, is coming to the Rosenkreuz theater?” Hoshikage asked.

“Uh-huh!” Lily said. The centaur gleefully pranced around the room where the Kaguya Parallel Mirror underwent maintenance. Kasumi rolled her eyes as she heard the young centauride tell the news.

“I don’t know why that girl is so popular,” the orange-haired kunoichi said. “She is way too saccharine.”

“You don’t want to go, Kasumi?” Hoshikage said.

“No,” Kasumi said to her mentor.

Kei entered the room. “Ladies,” the aspiring author said. “Atsuko has returned from the guildhall.”

“Did she bring back treats?” Hoshikage said.

“Not this time, Hoshikage,” Kei said.

“Aw,” the dark-skinned ninja said.

Atsuko arrived at the room. “Guildhall’s been buzzing about someone visiting the theater lately,” the nekomata said.

“We can tell,” Kasumi said. “Did you get the thing from Pauline?”

“Of course,” Atsuko presented a selection of kunai to the young Shinobi.

“What are those?” Lily asked.

“Oh, Lily, didn’t see you there,” Atsuko said. “What brings you here?”

“I wanted to tell Hoshikage about Pearly visiting,” Lily said.

“Oh,” the teal-haired woman said. “As for these, these are special throwing daggers I requested. I got in touch with someone from Club 4607 back in Noir about them. I want to explore their microdugeons later.”

“What is so special about them?” Lily asked.

“These kunai are said to have been part of an arsenal of a Yanese samurai from a century ago.”

Lily took a look at the golden knives, the daggers exuded a slight aura of malevolence.

“I’d advise against touching these,” Kei said. “These are not only sharp objects, but assuming these aren’t forgeries then it’s very likely they were cursed.”

“Cursed?” Lily said.

“The original owner, Kotaro,” Atsuko said. “Was the defender of a small shinobi clan. The legend said he had died protecting his home from the local yokai and this his assailants had severed his spirit and imbued the weapons with his vengeance.”

“…Oh,” Lily said.

“Hoshikage,” Atsuko said. “Can you help me with analyzing the kunai?”

“Of course, milady,” Hoshikage said.

Lily left Atsuko and her retainers alone. She soon bumped into Elizabeth. “Hi Lizzie!” she said.

“Hello Lily,” Elizabeth said. The fairy fluttered around her.

“Did Emmy say yes?” Lily said.

“You know you could directly ask her, right?” Elizabeth quizzically said. “Besides it’s too early to gauge if you can go to the theater that night. Please be patient.”

“Okay,” Lily said in her usual cheerful tone.

Elizabeth noticed something a little off about the centauride.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, a Porcine woman had arrived at the Rosenkreuz guild. Her crimson dress and sunglasses exhibited an aura of sophistication. Her dark red hair, done in a bun at the back of her head furthered this aura. As she walked towards the front desk, her pig-like ears heard whispers of gossip about Pealry’s upcoming appearance.

The lady walked to the guild’s hall’s front desk. “Excuse me?” she said.

Pauline noticed the adventurer. “Ah Miss Scarlett,” Pauline said. “Are you here for an update on the reservation?”

Miss Aurora Scarlett came to the guild a month back to ask about potential Dungeons to train her daughter. “Indeed,” the woman said. “My daughter has recently arrived. She should be here shortly.”

“Is there any reason why you’re so…exclusionary?” the blue-haired elf asked. “You haven’t even given us her name.”

“I’ve reasons to ensure her privacy,” Scarlett said. “I don’t trust people to be civil around her if you catch my drift.”

“Gotcha,” Pauline said.

The whispers stopped as the doors opened, revealing two people clad in black suits and with sunglasses.

“Oh dear,” Scarlett thought. “There goes the secrecy.”

The suited bodyguards lead a young girl towards Pauline and Scarlet. The girl donned a bandanna that hid her hair and also wore sunglasses.

“Hello,” the child politely said. “Is this the Rosenkreuz guildhall?”

“Indeed it is,” Pauline said. “Unfortunately we are—”

“She is the daughter I told you about,” Scarlett whispered to Pauline’s ear.

“Never mind,” Pauline said. “You said you would accompany her?”

“Of course,” Scarlett said. “I heard the dungeons here are secluded enough that no additional help would be needed,” she said as she glared at the bodyguards. The suited men stoically ignored her remark as they kept watch over the curious patrons and visitors.

“I see,” Pauline said. She looked at the reservation papers. “Two people, Black Box, two days from now. Yep, everything checks out is there anything else I should know about?”

“Um, actually,” the little girl said. “Would it be okay if we were able to finish by 5:00 PM?”

“That will depend sweetie,” Pauline said. “Someone else has decided to visit the Black Box a few hours before your visitation period.”

“I see,” the young girl said.

“I’m certain this nascent dungeon will be easily cleared with enough time to spare,” Scarlett said.

“I reckon you gals want to see Pearly’s upcoming appearance promoting her new film?” Pauline said.

“You could say that,” the child timidly said.

“I’ll be sure to let the Dungeon Core know,” Pauline said. “In the meantime, you two have plenty of time to take in the sights of Rosenkreuz.”

“Thank you, Madam Pauline,” Scarlett said.

The mother and daughter left alongside the two bodyguards. Later at a nearby cafe, Scarlett glared at the suited man. “Was that really necessary?” she asked them.

“Miss Scarlett,” one of the bodyguards said. “Vulpecula has judged that Pearl would’ve inevitably encountered too many hazards unaided.”

Scarlett looked around the various people curiously looking at them. “And that outweighed the risk of having folk breathing down our necks?”

“My apologies ma’am,” the bodyguard said. “As Vulpecula’s top actress, her safety is paramount.”

Scarlett sighed.

“For what it’s worth,” the other bodyguard said. “We were only authorized to guard her until she was delivered safely to you.”

“I know, thank you,” Scarlett said.

“If I may ask,” the first bodyguard said. “Is there any reason why you bowed out of acting early Miss Scarlet?”

“My reasons are obvious,” Scarlett said. “I wanted to ensure my daughter had the best life possible.” “After what happened to poor Betty…” she thought.

After they finished their meal, the two bodyguards left. The onlookers saw it as an opportunity to approach the mysterious pair, but they were deterred by Scarlett removing her sunglasses and shooting a cold glare at them. A warning to leave them be, lest they suffer unwanted consequences.

“Come on dear,” Scarlett said. She took Pearl and left the cafe.

✦✦✦

Pearl and Scarlett went to one of the various verdant woodlands surrounding Rosenkreuz.

“There doesn’t seem to be many people in need of help in this town,” Scarlett said.

The two looked around the trees and found no one else there. “This is a suitably private place,” Scarlet said.

Assured by Scarlett’s words, Pearl walked toward the largest tree near them and behind it. “Okay,” the porcine girl said. “Time to magicalize!” she took a deep breath and was swallowed by a glowing mass of sparkly black sludge.

Scarlett saw only a bit of the starry black cocoon that encompassed her daughter as it swelled to a slightly larger mass. The elder woman kept an eye out for any approaching people.

The cocoon began to harden into a brittle eggshell-like state and Pearl emerged from it, slightly taller. Her curly hair grew to two long pigtails and her changed attire resembled a feathered suit of armor. “I’m ready,” Pearly said.

Scarlett noticed that her form had changed. “You still haven’t settled on a body, huh Pearly?”

“Pearl looked around her new mail. “I’m not sure why they always do that.” The child noticed the resemblance to a suit of armor that one of their armors had recently acquired. The polished silver metal contrasted with black-colored feathers.

“What happened to your familiar?” Scarlett said.

“I’m here!” a timid voice said. A familiar emerged from Pearl’s bag. Their form looked like it was made of class, with a sparkling liquid visible through their translucent “skin”. Their cascading hair was similarly glassy, as were their fae-like wings

“Sorry about that Lucia,” Pearl said. “The bodyguards were nosier than I thought.”

“It’s okay,” the familiar said. “How was the trip?”

“Long,” Pearl said.

Scarlett knew that Pearl was a Witch. She had helped her adjust to both that and her career as an actress and helped keep her secret from Vulpecula and the other actors. She approached her daughter and the familiar. “Do you know why Pearl looks like this?”

“You mean besides the slowed aging of her normal form?” Lucia said. They took a look at the young Porcine girl. “You two said you were working on a film about a knight?”

“Yeah,” Pearl said. “The studio wanted us to do a form about ‘Valkyries’,”

“It does resemble the armor that was commissioned for me,” Scarlett said. “The feathers are different.”

“What is it about?” Lucia said.

“Something about a pair of adventurers? “Pearl said.

“The premise is that a cursed princess set off with a knight to lift the curse from her,” Scarlett said.

“It was the first role you had in a while, right Scarlett?” Pearl said.

Pearl’s mother nodded.

“Why did you leave acting anyway?” Lucia said. “From what I’ve heard you were one of Vulpecula’s top stars back in the day.”

“That is…” Scarlett said. “A complicated affair.” Her thoughts turned and lingered on the fate of the missing Betty Gale.

With Pearl prepared, she and Scarlett set off to search for any Strega in the vicinity of Rosenkreuz.

✦✦✦

A little later, the Coloraturas are asking around the guildhall for strange rumors. To investigate.

“Well there are claims about people with mushrooms on their hears being zoned out at Pomonapolis,” one adventurer said.

“That’s all the way in Pacifica!” Streltizia said.

“You asked for weird rumors,” the adventurer said.

“I think the apple trees at the Star Orachard is turning soul more ofthen,” a woman said.

“You always think that,” her girlfriend said.

“Well its true,” the first woman said.

“I’ll…look into that,” Hydrangea said.

Lily meanwhile went to Pauline with her ever present smile. Along the way she noticed a man crying over a table by himself. “Is something wrong mister?”

“My wife!” the man said. “She was mauled by a catoblepas.” The mans’s words were barely audible over his blubbering.

“Aw,” Lily said. The young centaurride tried to comfort the man. “Chin up. I’m certain things will work out,” she said. The man ignored her unhelpful advice as she cantered towards the front desk.

Pauline greeted Lily. “Hello, Lily, what bring’s you here?”

“I want to ask about our upcoming guests.” She said.

“For the dungeon raids?” the elf said. “Didn’t Emily already told you?”

“She did,” Lily said. “But I want to know if we can…speeds things along a little.”

Pauline remembered something. “I’m sorry dear, you know a run for a Divine Dungeon lasts for up to two hours. The only way for someone to end early is for them to even beat the dungeon or quit.”

Lily sighed, and then perked up again.

“Is this because you want to see that actress, dear?” Pauline said.

“That obvious huh?”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Pauline said. “But sometimes you have to realize things do not always work out the way you want.”

“Excuse me,” a burly man said behind the centaur.

“Sorry,” Lily cantered to the side.

“Maybe you can talk it over with your friends?” Pauline said to Lily before turning to address the man’s request. Lily moved away from the front desk.

A minute later, she saw Anemone talking with a Fawn knight about possible strangeness. “I see, sorry for troubling you, sir,” the werewolf said before she turned to her equine-legged friend. “Lily, did you learn anything?”

“Nope,” Lily said with a smile. “Rosenkreuz is surprisingly peaceful.”

“There had been few Strega there since we moved,” Anemone said.

Rose slithered to Lily and Anemone “Found one!” she cried.

“What is it Rosie?” Lily said.

“The burger-flipper told me that there was a bridge nearby, connected to mysterious disappearances,” the pink-pigtailed lamia said.

“People vanishing at a bridge?” Azalea swam towards the group. “Seems like that crossed into mundnaity realy quick.”

“Yeah,” Raine said as she approached. “People aren’t exactly obligated to return after crossing bridges”

“That’s the thing,” Rose said. “The flipper said that the bridge shouldn't exist. It hovered over mile-long stretch in la Prairie Inconnue.”

“Wait,” Raine said. “Isn’t that a barren wasteland?”

Clover and Streltizia arrived. “What are you talking about?” Clover said.

“I found a possible Strega rumor,” Rose said. “In the nearby desert.”

“A random bridge where people supposedly vanished,” Raine said.

“Prairie Inconnue,” Azalea said. “A sandsea that has no canyons or other gaps to speak of.”

“That said,” Hydrangea said. “There are other reasons why something like that could be there. The desert was originally a lush forest before a cataclysm dried out the soil and vegetation.”

“What would a Strega be doing there anyway?” Clover asked. “The only things of note were the Arcane Tower and the Underground Sandsea. Even with the recent archeology site near the tower, few witches have reason to be there and the latter is more accessible from the Ironhide Forests.” Clover said. “Say, Flowena and the other Sprites told me about the metal from that forest. They said that it could be used to channel mirages and—”

“Clover?” Raine said, pre-empting the tangent.

“Sorry,” Clover rubbed the back of her verdant hair.

“Well,” Streltiiza said. “It’s our only lead right now.” The minotaur looked around. “Problem is actually finding the place.”

Rose and the other soon left the guildhall and returned to the Black Box. There they headed to their beds among the Arachne children and were lulled into another night of dreams by Lydia.

✦✦✦

The next day, Esteban and Heathcliff escort the Coloraturas to le Prairie Inconnue. They ride in one of the two vehicles Richard and Sarah recently made.

“Are you sure that one of them Strega is here, cheers?” Heathcliff asked.

“We are sure that something strange is going on in the desert,” Raine said.

Heathcliff sighed.

Earlier, before the group of ten set off. Elizabeth approached Heathcliff.

“[Strega] are rather notorious for their slipperiness.” The fairy reminded Heathcliff. “It is not common for them to be the subject of rumors and hearsay.”

“Yeah, I know, Liz,” Heathcliff said. “As a result of that, Witches have only rumors to go off from most of the time.”

“Correct,” Elizabeth said.

“So Tim told me that Atsuko got her mitts on some daggers?”

“He and Emily are already helping them explore the microdungeon,” Elizabeth said. “But I doubt these weapons are related to the Golden Spear. Noboru explained to me that the history of those artifacts was not congruent with any connection to Alkahestry sects.”

“Noted,” Heathcliff said.

In the present, Esteban kept his eye on the road and the dunes. “The rumor claimed the present of a bridge right?”

“Uh-huh,” Rose said while she reached into her pocket. She put a chocolate bar in her mouth.

Heathcliff sighed. “It has been a while since I’ve been to that place.”

“You’ve been here before?” Azeleia asked. “How sandy was it?”

“Very,” Heathcliff said. “It was Emily’s first quest from the guild. They wanted to clear out the Arcane Tower of monsters for an excavation.”

“The Arcane Tower. That is technically a Rouge Dungeon isn’t it?”

“Only because the core hadn't bothered to visit the guildh—” Heathcliff stopped upon sighting a strange sight. “Esteban!”

Esteban stopped the vehicle and the group exited. Before them was a gleaming glass bridge, high above the dunes. The gleaming structure shone in the harsh daylight of Stella and expanded for miles in both directions.

“That certainly wasn’t there last time,” Heathcliff said.

Hydrangea looked at the bridge but the refracted light forced her to cover her eyes. “It’s so bright.”

Anemone uses her magic to create a veil of magic over the vehicle, dimming the light to the point where it is safe to look at it. Hydrangea then took out her grimoire and conjured a spell to chill the arid and warm desert air around them.

“Things might get chilly,” Azalea said as she tried to gather as much condensation as possible to help Hydrangea’s spell.

The two men and eight girls approached the bridge. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait for Emily first?”

“We don’t have time to wait!” Strelitzia said with a scoff. “If there are people there they—”

“Are liable to croak from dehydration if they even set foot here. This bridge feels as hot as the furnace of the forgemaster!” Heathcliff interrupted.

“You can wait at the car if you want,” Streltizia said.

“You know that ain’t an option, Streltizia,” Heathcliff said sternly. Emily had tasked him to watch the girls in events where she could not.

Clover eventually got Streltizia to back off and the group went to explore the dungeon.

✦✦✦

Heathcliff, Esteban, and the Coloraturas wandered the glass bridge for an hour—the glassy construct extended beyond the horizon of the desert, seemingly going on for miles on end.

“This bridge is certainly unusual,” Heathcliff said.

Azalea and Hydrangea continued to use their magic to regulate the temperature around them, but as they moved on the bridge they grew more tired.

“How long have you been walking on this bridge?” Clover said.

“It’s been an hour,” Esteban said.

“Maybe we should head back?” Azalea said. “I dunno how long Hydra and I can keep this up.”

Heathcliff decided to turn back and head to the car. As the group turned around they saw the landscape behind them had changed. What should have been a sea of pale yellow instead of a pitch-black landscape with plumes of lava erupting in the distance? The temperature felt hotter and Azalea collapsed from the increased heat. The orb of water around her head evaporated as she lost consciousness.

Hydrangea caught the clionid in her arms and Clover immediately cast her oxygenation spell. Raine noticed something emerged from the horizon, a young lad running across the glass bridge, his feet scarred from the heat of the bridge. The phoenixian girl also noticed something following him. An elongated entity leaped from the black sand and arc over the bridge as it dived back into the ground. The serpentine entity was coated in patches of ebon ooze. Raine and Roze realized what that was.

“Well, we found a Strega,” Rose said.

The boy saw the group in the distance and cried out for help. Clover had finished her spell and allowed Azalea to breathe the air.

“Thanks,” Azalea said deliriously. “That heat got me like fish out of water.”

Heathcliff drew his sword. “You gals got a plan?” he said.

“We fight the Strega of course!” Lily said as her hooves moved from the heat. “I’m sure it will turn out great!”

Rose slithered to the child as the Strega emerged from the ground again. She cast a lightning spell at the worm. The bolt struck the being and caused it to fall short of the glass bridge. It opened its maw, determined to get its meal. The boy is left crying as he hung on to Rose’s tail. Esteban took the boy from Rose and used his cloaking spell to obscure them as he moved the child and Azalea to safety.

Strelitzia rushed toward the Strega. Rose slithered along the hot glass bridge and lifted Strelitzia into the air with her arms.

“Eat this!” the minotauride said as she slammed her axe into the worm. The impact caused it to splatter into a puddle of ooze, as Strelitzia landed on the ashened sand.

Hydrangea tried to freeze the puddle with her ice magic, but the sweltering and hellish heat vaporized her icy fetters, and her man was drained from trying to keep everyone cool. Anemone tried to use her shadow magic but realized that the transparent glass was somehow interfering with her shadow magic. She took her bow and tried to provide covering fire for everyone, but the worm created gaps in its oozing body to allow the arrows to pass through it.

The Strega reformed and lunged toward Strelitzia. She swung her axe and deflected the worm’s attempts, but the persistent monster coiled around its current opponent and trapped her. It tried to strangle her, but the minotaride struggled to escape its clutches.

“I am nobody's lunch!” she said as she summoned enough strength to break free from the worm’s bindings. She tried to move but found that her legs were still trapped in the mix of ooze and sand and that she was sinking into it.

“Stre!” Clover cried out. She used her fan to create a gust to dry the ooze before the quicksand consumed her friend. But her winds only made the sand quicker. The Strega reemerged from the other end of the bridge. Heathcliff, Rose, and Raine fended it off from that end while Lily galloped toward Strelitzia. Clover climbed onto the centaur and rode her to aid their friend.

Clover and Lily tried to pull Streltizia from the quicksand. Hydrangea attempted to use her magic to freeze the ooze, but her ice spells remained futile in the face of blistering heat. Sweat dripped from their pores as Clover and Lily grabbed one of Streltizia’s arms and tried to pull her out.

“Of all the way to go…” Strletiiza muttered as she tried to move from her predicament. She couldn’t hear spells without sinking further into the depths.

“Hand on Stre!” Clover said. “We got you!” She tried to use her wings to propel them up, but the sand gripped her hooves and she began sinking instead.

“It’ll be fine, think happy thoughts!” Lily said as her own hooves began to recede in the quicksand.

Meanwhile, Rose, Raine, and Heathcliff contended with the worm. Heathcliff kept its attention on his as Rose and Raine tried to use fire and lightning to defeat the beast. The Worm dodged the onslaught of lightning and fireballs and Rose’s rapier and Raines’ chakrams did little to defeat the beast.

Meanwhile, Esteban, Azalea, and the boy saw two other figures in the distance. The figures rushed past the blue-clad rouge. Esteban noticed that the shorter of the two made rhythmic footsteps almost in the sound of tap dances.

The smaller girl saw both the worm, the people it was fighting and the three children slowly sinking into the sand on the opposite side. She looked at her scarlet-clad partner and the two split to assist with the fight.

The porcine girl, clad in feathered armor leaped onto the Strega and began to dance on top of it. Her taps translated to vicious shock waves that revered across the Strega. Rose took the opportunity to stab the oozing worm with her sword and used her weapon and the shockwaves to channel lightning. The porcine witch leaped from the Strega and onto the bridge as the Strega’s core became exposed from the lightning. Raine flew into it and used her fire-coated chakrams to strike the core. The ooze tried to coalesce around it but the rapid movement of the phoenixian girl allowed her to get enough hits in before the beat reformed.

The scarlet-clad woman meanwhile took out her rifle and slammed it into the quicksand. “Grab it!” she said.

Lily and Clover, moved their and Streltizia’s arms to grab the gun’s barrel. The scarlet woman then chanted a spell while firing the bullet. The magic projectile formed a barrier around them and expelled the quicksand from its radius. With their legs freed, Clover used her wings and fan to propel everyone to the bridge. Anemone noticed this and tried to use gravity magic to help Clover. The three girls and the red-clad woman eventually landed on the bridge.

The interluders’ efforts ensured that Strega’s core was exposed again. Rose and Raine grabbed the former’s Rapier “Firestorm Slash!” they both cried out as the rapier‘s blade was cloaked in a pillar of charged flames. They pointed the sored directly at the core and thrust at it. The conjured plume of flame collided with the Strega and incinerated its core. The defeat of the monster caused the hellish landscape and the glass bridge to vanish.

✦✦✦

With the Strega defeated, the glass bridge was also gone. Everyone reconvened.

“Guess we have you two to thank for the assist,” Heathcliff said to the two strangers.

“It was our pleasure,” the porcine girl said.

Lily took a look at the new witch and noticed something familiar about her appearance. From the curled pigtails to the pig-like ears. She couldn't place her finger on it, but still eagerly approached her. “Hi, I’m Lily! Nice to meet you.” The exclamations startled the fellow witch.

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“I’m…” Pearl tried to think of a suitable alias. “Elisa,” she blurted out after a moment. “I’m Elisa.”

“So what were you doing here?” the red-clad woman said.

“We heard people were disappearing here,” Rose said.

“These girls had dragged me out here to help investigate that,” Heathcliff said. “My name’s Heathcliff, cher.”

“Friends call me Scarlett,” the woman in red said. “Alas, we haven’t found anyone on the way here.”

Pearl shied away from the others.

“Please forgive my daughter,” Scarlett said. “She isn’t quite used to other girls her age.”

The group then saw a familiar vehicle moving over the desert sands. Esteban and Azalea were inside it, along with the boy they rescued. “Take it that thing is vanquished?” Esteban said.

The group got into the vehicle and made form room for their three guests as Esteban drove it away from le Prairie Inconnue and back to Rosenkreuz. Along the way, Lily chatted with “Elisa” and asked her about her life, the porcine girl refused most of these questions, but timidly asked Lily about hers. By the time they arrived back in town, Elisa had learned about the Coloraturas, how they became Sentinels and also about Lily being a fan of Pearly and her films.

✦✦✦

The Coloraturas, Heathcliff, Esteban, Scarlett, Elisa and the boy they rescued from the Strega had arrived at the guildhall. There they find Pauline talking to distraught parents.

The parents heard the door open and turn their eyes away from the elven guildmaster and toward it. They saw the buy, skin reddened from sunburned, but otherwise hale. The child wept tears of released as his parents rushed to hug him.

Pauline looked at Heathcliff and his entourage. “Rather funny coincidence,” she playfully said. “His folks just came here to report a disappearance.”

“It’s a long story,” Heathclfif said while glancing at Rose.

Pauline noticed Heathcliff’s expression and asked Rose if she can talk to her. The lamia child obliged and slithered towards a room in the back.

“Yes Pauline,” the pink-haired girl said.

Pauline flashed a faint smile. “I’ve heard you and your friends were looking into strange rumors?”

“Uh-huh,” Rose said.

“Could you tell me why?” Pauline said.

“Um..well—” Rose is hesitant to explain that she and her friends were Witches to Pauline.

“Don’t get me wrong dear,” Pauline said. “It’s great that you were able to find that boy and all, but don’t you think you might be biting off more than you can chew?”

“What do you mean?” Rose said.

“I understand that as adventurers, you take on dangerous tasks and jobs,” Pauline said. “And that as Emily’s Sentinels you are able to for lack of a better turn, live beyond things that would be fatal to others. But as the guildmaster, I want to be sure you guys are safe. Please be more careful.”

“Okay, we will,” Rose said.

“That’s the spirit,” Pauline said. “Now tell me why were you looking into these rumors to begin with?”

“We just wanted to help people is all,” Rose said. She didn’t want to tell her about the Strega out of fear of inciting panic. “There are always people disappearing in thin air, even the Dungeons had begun to vanish.”

“Dungeons disappearing is nothing new,” Pauline said. “It always happens when one core defeats and absorbs another. Emily’s recent fight with that Baron, among others, can attest to that.”

“I know,” Rose said. “But we also know there are disappearances that couldn't be explained that way as well. And that also didn’t explain why other people are varnishing either. I want to help people, that is why I became a—” She caught herself before finishing her sentence. “That is why I became an adventurer.”

Pauline noticed a look of sorrow in the lamia child’s eyes. She also saw in them the look of secrecy, something that the girl doesn't want to explain to the guildmaster. “I understand,” Pauline said. “But if you or your friends ever need anything, do not hesitate to talk to Emily, Heathcliff or me.”

“I will,” Rose said. “Thank you.” She left the room.

Pauline was aware about the Coloraturas’ all being orphaned and living in Noir’s underground before Emily adopted them. But she can’t help but wonder why that was the case.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, Lily began talking to Elisa once more.

“Are you going to be here a while?” Lily said to the Porcine girl.

“Of course,” Elsie said. A half truth.

“That’s amazing, where did you come from?”

“I’m…” “Elisa” is now well aware of how much Lily admired Pearl, and is hesitant to reveal anything information that might cause her to learn her identity as the actress. “I came from the west coast.”

“Really?” Lily said. “I moved here from Noir!”

“Noir huh?” Elisa said. “What’s it like?”

“It’s rather terrible!” Stretlizia said. “You know about the Exsecratii right?”

“The infamous lower class of the city?” Elsie said. “I’ve heard about them. The people that were unable to afford to live on the city’s surface.”

“It isn’t the only city like that,” Hydrangea said. “Gardenia also has its class divides.”

“Why are we talking about thing like that?”Lily said. Though her tone was upbeat, there was something a little off. “That’s all behind us now. Can we talk about something else.”

Azalea picked up on the strange tone in Lily’s words, she swam up to Lily and activated a spritz flower on her dress. A small stream of water was squirted out the dress and onto Lily’s face. “Hey!” Lily said.

“I figured you need to cool off a bit,” Azalea said.

“We did spend a long time in that stupid desert,” Clover said.

“That reminds me,” Raine said. She noticed that Elisa was the only one among the witches that remained transformed. The Coloraturas were already aware that Elisa was a Witch. “Are you sure you want to stay like that, Elisa? The amount of mana needed to remain magiclaized exponentially increases the longer you stay in that form.”

“I’m sure,” Elsie said. She looked around and noticed no one else was watching, even Heathcliff and Esteban were busy talking to Scarlett. “You want to meet my familiar?”

Lily enthusiastically agreed. Elisa looked to her bag. “Come on out Lucia.” A sprightly creature made of glass emerged from Elisa’s bag. By that point Rose had caught up with the other Coloraturas and noticed the glass familiar.

“Hi,” Lucia said as her translucent figured fluttered around the other magical girls. “Name’s Lucia. May I meet your other familiars?”

“Oh, um—” Lily said.

“Whisper…they faded away,” Rose said.

“What?” Elsie said. “But don’t you need a patron?”

“We were adopted,” Clover said.

“A Dungeon came to Noir and took us on,” Anemone said.

“You should meet her!” Lily said, “We’ll try to introduce you later!”

By that time, the three adults approached the nine witches. “Time to go, girls,” Heathcliff said. Lucia retreated to Elisa’s bag.

“We’ll meet again, right?” Lily said.

“Of course,” Elisa said. “See you guys later.” Elisa and Scarlett left the guildhall first. Heathcliff and Esteban took the Coloraturas and returned to the Black Box.

✦✦✦

At the same time, at the Black Box, Emily summoned Elizabeth to the core room to discuss a peculiar detail.

“Blake?” Elizabeth said to the core.

“You don’t like it?” Emily’s voice echoed to the fairy.

“It’s not that,” Elizabeth said. “It’s just, why are you thinking about surnames now?”

Emily had pondered on the question for a while. “We have met a lot of people lately. Between visitors, other dungeons and even the people that came to call me home. I just felt it would be nice to have an identity beyond just “Emily”. And besides. Atsuko and us were the only ones without a surname so far.”

“I have a surname, Emmy,” Atsuko said. “Izumi, just to be clear.”

“Oh, Akko,” Emily said. “How did the knives go?”

“We failed to locate a proper point for the Takarabune to land on the kunai,” Atsuko said with a sigh. “There is something in hyperbolic space that always threw it off.” The Teal-haired nekomata sat sown on a nearby chair. “For what its work. Emily Blake doe shave a nice ring to it.”

“Thanks,” Emily said.

“‘Blake’…”Elizabeth mused on the name. “That word has a semantic link to the color black. It was believed to had originated in Albion. Is that why you chose it, Emily?”

“Yep, Lizzie,” Emily said.

“Emily Blake, the Black Box,” Elizabeth said. “That does some appropriate.”

“What about you Elizabeth?” Atsuko said.

“I’m Emily’s [Dungeon Fairy],” Elizabeth said. “Our relationship is like partners. But because we share a common origins many would think of us as siblings to the respective [Dungeon Core]. Thought that lens, I suppose ‘Elizabeth Blake’ would be a proper form of address for me.”

“That’s the spirit Lizzie!” Emily said.

Emily soon sense the presence of ten people enter the Dungeon. She turned her gaze towards Heathcliff and her group. “Welcome back guys. How was the desert?”

“We found a new friend!” Lily said.

Rose stretched her arms. “I’m tired. I’m gonna get some rest.”

“We have two groups of ‘guests,’ tomorrow Rose,” Heathcliff said. “Gotta be ready for them, cher.”

Lily grimaced at the reminder as the other Coloraturas left the entrance, Heathcliff went to the kitchen and Esteban went to look through his notes on the syndicate.

“You said you met a new friend?” Emily’s voice echoed to the centaur again.

“Yeah!” Lily perked up again. “Her name’s Elisa! She helped us slay the Strega at the desert.” She talked a lot about Elisa and their encounter.

“She sounds wonderful,” Emily said. “I’m glad to you made a new friend today, Lily.”

“Thanks,” Lily said. She cantered to another part of the dungeon.

Later, as Lilt walked down Emily’s halls, a memory flashed in her mind for a split second. A sight of two fugues lying motionless on the ground. She shook off the intrusive image. “Think happy thoughts,” she said to herself. “Everything will work out. I’m sure of it!”

Azalea saw Lily walk past her with a faint look of stress on her face. “Oh dear,” the mermaid thought.

✦✦✦

The next morning, the day of Pearly’s press conference. The crew of the Black Box are preparing for their two sets of visitors.

Right after breakfast, Lily approached Heathcliff with a simple request…

“Qu'est-ce qui? You want to be the first boss?” Heathcliff said.

Lily nodded.

The redheaded knight sighed. “Lily, you know you and your friends are too strong to be the first Sentinels the guest meets right?”

“We can hold back,” Lily pleaded.

Heathcliff had an idea for why Lily would make such a strange request. “I don’t think that is goin’ to work out the way you’d hope. We are a little short on mana at the moment, if you or your friends fall in battle it’s gonna take longer than usual to recreate your bodies, and if you succeeded in repelling them once, they might try to go for round two. Our ‘visitors’ can get rather persistent.”

Lily recalled a notable run last week, where a party of five had barley defeated the tarantula construct and ended up fighting her and the Coloraturas not one but thrice before the time limit ran out and Emily expelled them from her.

“I’ll make no promises, but I see if there is anything I can do to help you make that little shindig at the theater, cher.” Heathcliff left the room.

Lily cantered away a little dejected. “Maybe one of them canceled?” she hoped.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, Anemone, Charlotte, Euryale, and Stheno are at the Bleumaw. The four looked at the various swans swimming in the artificial lakes created for them. Charlotte gathered some towards her to feed them a mix of breadcrumbs and her petals.

“So how is this place now part of Emily?” Euryale said.

“I’ve read that Dungeons typically expand their influence as they accumulate more mana,” Anemone said. “Scholars speculate that is it because they cannot keep large pools of mane at the same point safety.”

“Maybe she can absorb Hamlin?” Euryale said.

“Sister!” Stheno is aghast at the suggestion. “Do you know what that would entail?”

“She’d have to absorb the mana of a lot of Dungeons, “Charlotte said. “Including Revotos’ Valley.” She took some food and threw it towards the flock of swans. One of them eyes the indigo flowers growling on her scalp as Charlotte turned to her friends.

“Also,” Anemone said, “The Dungeons cannot control exactly where these extensions would form. They cannot occupy space already claimed by another dungeon for starters,” the lycanthrope took her bow and strung it. She let loose an arrow that hit a ring target placed on a nearby tree. The arrow pierced the middle ring of the target.

“By the way,” the alraune child said. “I heard a movie star is coming to Rosenkreuz tonight?”

“Pearl E. Templeton,” Anemone said as she nocked another arrow. “Didn’t we already tell you about that?”

“Oh, right,” Charlotte rubbed the back of her head. A loose petal fell onto the ground and attracted the curious swan’s attention. The waterfowl pounced on Charlotte, trying to pluck the flowers from her head.

“H-hey!” Charlotte said. “Let me go!”

“Lotte!” Euryale said. She and her sister tried to help Charlotte as she flailed about trying to escape the grasp of the swan’s beak. Anemone aimed her bow at the waterfowl and steadied her aim. She fired the arrow to the right of Charlotte and onto the swan’s shadow. Charlotte took the opportunity to escape while the swan was pinned by the shadow magic of the arrow.

“Are you okay?” anemone said.

Charlotte straightened out her attire and checked the flower the swan attacked. “I’m fine.”

“Shall we be worried about that?” Sthenos aid. “Your petals were rather loose, Lotte.”

“It’s okay,” Charlotte said. “Mommy told me that the petals may shed in some cases.”

“I see,” Anemone said. She took the grimoire she lent Charlotte. “Want to practice your gravity spells?”

Charlotte nodded.

The four headed back to their house. Along the way, they saw Lily lying on a stump.

“What’s up, Lily,” Anemone said.

“Just admiring the scenery,” the centaur said, her effervescent smile as persistent as usual. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to practice my gravity magic,” Charlotte said. “Want to come.”

“Sure!” Lily excitedly said. They headed to the Truce’s abode.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, Tim had just been apprised about Emily’s new name.

“Emily Blake, huh?” Tim asked.

“Yep,” the dungeon’s voice excitingly echoed to Tim. “What do you think?”

“It’s okay,” Tim said. He was in the middle of meditation when Emily told him about the name. “Are you going to—”

“Only for Elizabeth so far,” Emily said. “I haven’t asked Kaitlyn of the Coloraturas if they want the name yet.”

“Come to think of it,” Tim said. “Do you think those are their actual names?”

“Pardon?”

Tim sighed. “A flower and a musical term, across eight different girls each. Even for orphans that seemed too much of a coincidence. They are even alternative.”

“Okay?” Emily is a little confused. “And?”

Tim took his Qiang and began practicing his bajiquan. “I’m just saying, if those are aliases, then they might not want to complicate it with surnames.”

At that point, Emily began seeing strange images flash in her mind. A pair of people collapsed on the ground, beside a small pile of debt notices. “…a light that shines…” is heard in a faint voice.

“Huh?” Emily is confused by what just happened. She left Tim alone to meditate and sought up Elizabeth.

Elizabeth meanwhile is helping Lydia tend to the spiderlings. “Hey, Lizzie?” Emily’s voice echoed to the fairy.

“Yes?” Elizabeth said.

Emily told her about the vision.

“Ah,” Elizabeth said. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that is one of your memories. The sound accompanying implies it is connected to the Coloraturas.”

“Can you please elaborate?” Emily asked.

“You remember that the Coloraturas are [Witches] yes?” Emily asked.

“Uh-huh,” Emily responded. “They gain powers and the fulfillment of a single wish in exchange for letting a familiar feed on their mana, right?”

“Basically,” Elizabeth said. “The familiar has to help the contractee fulfill the wish, that is a facet of the contacts that passes onto those that are inherent to their role. The [Patrons]. To that end, they are granted visions about the contracted’s wish as reminders. They happen periodically.”

“Oh,” Emily said. A question springs into her mind. “Is it possible to tell who that is?”

“The visions are vague,” Emily said. “Largely because [Familiars] tend to contract one or two at a time. Eight is an unusually high number that could only be explained by circumstance. And fewer still are Dungeons that become a patron for that many of them at once.”

A gust of wind evocative of a sigh blew through the room where Elizabeth is in. The breeze had disturbed some of the Arachne children. “Okay, so I have to find out who that memory is for then?” Emily then realized that the vision only had part of the wish.

“The wish tends to influence the powers a [Witch] possesses, though to what extent varies,” Elizabeth said.

“Noted,” Emily said.

“Our ‘visitors’ will be arriving soon,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll see you later.”

✦✦✦

At the same time, Heathcliff, Flowena, and Ulric took a look at the theater. He saw Benoit at a nearby street corner.

“Hey,” Heathcliff called out to his friend. “Come see!”

Beniot rushed over to Heathcliff. In his hand is a thirty-five-millimeter camera. “You want a picture of the theater? Why?”

Ulric cheerfully fluttered to Beniot. “Pleasure to meet you! I’m Ulric!”

“I’m Flowena,” the pink-haired spite said.

Benoit looked at the sprites and remembered that they came from the Mirage Feywood. He looked at Heathcliff. “You want to use their illusory powers for something?”

“Oui,” Heathcliff affirmed. “They told me they know of a way to get someone to another place tout de suite.”

“I see,” Benoit said. “And you want a picture of the theatre for that end then. Say no more.” He pointed his camera at the building. The camera let out a flash and a photograph emerged from the slit at the bottom of the device. He took the photo out of the camera and handed it to Heathcliff.

“It will need to develop,” Benoit said as he handed Heathcliff the photo, the image is currently black as pitch.

“Leave it to us!” Flowena said. She and Ulric used their powers to not only develop the photo but apply the enchantment as well. The spell had the side effect of turning the grisaille tones into a colorized image as well.

“Thanks,” Heathcliff said. The knight blessed Beniot as he left with the sprites.

✦✦✦

A few hours later, the Colorturas are battling the first guests to visit the Black Box. A group of knights clad in metal armor. Strelitzia locked her labrys with the sword of the tallest knight, clad in silver. The helmeted man used his sword to repel the minotauride.

“These lasses are brave indeed,” the knight said.

A more agile, but still armored knight evaded Anemone’s arrows. She used her shield to deflect the projectiles. “Rather strong too,” she said.

A third knight took a look at the battlefield, his pointed hat was nearly blown off from Clover’s gusts. Realizing her spells were unable to disrupt the armored mage’s preparations, she lurched forward and tried to hit the mage with her fan.

“I warned you lot that this Dungeon is not to be underestimated,” the armored wizard said. “They’re the ones that hath slain The Engines, remember?”

Rose slithered toward the taller knight and made some thrusts with her sword. “It’s rude to ignore us, you know?” she said as she used her sword to channel lightning magic and strike the silver-clad knight. The Knight took his own sword and cast a barrier spell with it to halt the strike of lightning.

“Maybe if you lot weren’t yapping about ‘justice,’ we wouldn't be predisposed to tuning you out,” the swordsman said.

Rose sent a glower at the man. Strelitzia rushed in front of the knight. “And who do you think you are, acting so high and mighty like that?”

“Wouldn't you like to kn—Ack,” The swordsman is suddenly blinded by a somewhat distracted Lily’s spell. She took the opportunity to charge forward and used her hind legs to kick the larger man back.

The armored mage finished casting their spell and summoned a torrential downpour onto the room. The place became flooded as the swordsman used his sword to erect a veil of light over himself and his allies. Lily noticed the light magic her opponent used.

“That’s neat, I can do that too you know!” the centaur said as she used her want to create an incandescent barrier over herself and her friends.

“Those wards won’t help you!” the female knight said as the armored mage channeled another spell. They moved the waters over the shielded Coloraturas and concentrated for a few moments.

The armored swordsman noticed something was off. “Why aren’t they freezing? Quit your dawdling, Alexis!”

“I’m trying!” the armored mage said. The cape on their armor billowed as they tried to channel their magic into ice spells. He then noticed steam emerging from the orb of water and his eyes widened in shock.

The water suddenly burst into an explosion of steam and Raine emerged from where it stood and slashed at the mage with her rings.

“Watch out, Raine is feeling very heated today,” Azelia quipped as she channeled some of the remaining water and hurled it at the mage.

“Drat!” the swordsman said as he rushed toward his magically inclined companion and used his sword to conjure a shield-shaped construct to deflect the water. As the water receded, the two knights tried to move but found they were unable to move past a certain distance. The mage turned back and saw an arrow piercing the floor behind them, right in their shadows.

Anemone flipped her hair. “That should keep you busy for a while.”

The female knight took a look at their companion before turning to face the Colraturas. She noticed that among the eight opponents, the centaur was the least focused and rushed towards her. Lily was too busy daydreaming to notice until it was too late.

“Lily!” Hydrangea said. She used her grimoire to free the ground beneath their feet. The female knight’s legs slipped on the ice as she tumbled onto the ground and Lily noticed her attacker and galled away as she tried to stand up.

“Lily, you have got to focus!” Rose said.

“Sorry,” Lily said with a chuckle. She slid onto the ice playfully, while she drew her spear. She accelerated towards the pinned-down knights as the light enveloped her and her weapon. “Lumiere Avant!” she yellowed as she bowled over the two knights. The attack sent them and the arrow that bound them flying into the air and crashing onto the ground.

With two knights defeated, all eight Coloraturas turned their attention to the third opponent. The woman knight grimaced as she knew she was outmatched.

Rose took her rapier and sliced the air in front of her, “Are we done yet, we can’t keep our other guests waiting?” she said with a sweet smile.

“Fine,” the female knight said. “I yield.” She took her fallen comrades. “You haven’t seen the last of us!”

As the three knights leave, Emily’s voice echoed to the girls. “Good job!” she said. “You girls did wonderfully.”

“Thanks, Emmy!” Lily said.

“Um, Lily,” Clover said. “You seemed rather distracted today.”

“I was?” the centaur said.

“That lady would’ve hurt you if Hydra hadn’t acted quickly,” Azalea said.

“Oh,” Lily said. “Sorry, Hydrangea.” She said with her usual smile.

Hydrangea sighed as she cleaned her glasses. “Can’t stop thinking about Pearly huh?” she asked.

“It was that obvious?”

“Clearly,” Anemone said. “You couldn’t stop talking about her and her filmography when we were helping Charlotte practice.”

“Oh…” Lily said. “I can’t help it, she’s just so cool.”

“I understand,” Rose said.

“Yeah, if anyone knows impatience it would be Rose,” Raine said.

“Excuse me?” Rose said.

The other girls giggled.

“Hey Emily,” Anemone said. “When will the next guest arrive?”

“I think they’ll be here in about twenty minutes,” Emily said.

The Coloraturas leave to prepare for their next encounter.

“Emily?” Lily said.

“Yes?”

“Where is Heathcliff?” the centaur asked.

“He took Flowena and Ulric to the theater, didn’t say why,” Emily answered. I thought she had a certain hunch.

“Lily!” Anemone called out to her.

“Coming!” the centauride said cheerfully as she galloped after her friends.

✦✦✦

At the same time, Pearl and Scarlet drove towards the outskirts of town in a rented car. Pearl, in the back seat, held several jewels in her hand. Black ooze emerged from the pores to absorb the gemstones.

Lucia looked out the window. The sprite-like familiar noticed the verdant tones give way to azure hues. A sign that they had entered the Black Box.

Scarlett also observes the changes through the windshield. “Reality can get stranger than fiction,” she thought.

“Scarl—” Pearl said. “Mommy?”

“Yes, dear?” Scarlett said.

“Can you tell me more about Betty?” the porcine girl said.

The vehicle arrived at a fork in the road, and Scarlett took the left path. “Betty Gale… You remember that we were colleagues in the studios right?”

“Uh-huh,” Pearl said as she took a large diamond. Lucia saw her absorb the brilliant jewel. “You were both with Leonis right?”

“Started her career at a young age. First as a dancer, then as a starlet,” Scarlett said. “Then she got her big break with Metropolica Esmeralda. The boss back then put a lot of roles onto her.” She said with a heavy sigh.

The car slowed down as they approached their destination. “She reminded me so much of her,” Scarlett thought. She continued her talk.

Pearl remembered seeing some of her films and noticed that Betty was also a Porcine like her, and like Scarlett.

“Didn’t she mysteriously vanish one day,” Lucia said.

“So they said,” Scarlett said. She recalled the day Betty disappeared. “They were in the middle of filming The Sound of Lightning.”

“The Sound of Lightning?” Pearl said. “Didn’t you star in that film?”

“Indeed, I did,” Scarlett said. “I was Betty’s replacement. Some called that film the one that truly kickstarted my career, others called it a cursed production. I heard people claim the original reels had caused people to take their own lives.”

“Oh,” the child had said. “Didn’t the executives love Betty? What could’ve caused her to vanish like that?”

Scarlett was hesitant to explain. She had heard rumors about Betty being forced to drink alchemical concoctions that forced to to not sleep for days. About the Leonis head director insulting her. And about how she had been starved for weeks to lose weight. After a few silent moments, their rented vehicle stopped in front of a glassy black cube of a building the center of the dungeon’s sphere of influence. The Black Box.

“We’re here,” Scarlett said.

Pearl exited the vehicle and ehard the grumbles of three armored figures exiting the building. She moved behind a nearby tree and looked at them. They bickered amongst each other seemingly ignorant of the vehicle and Scarlett’s presence. She magicalized after making sure the knights were gone. Transformed, she returned to Scarlett.

“Seems like they had a rough time,” Scarlett said.

“Are you ready Pealry?” Lucia said.

Pearl nodded. She took her wand and entered the dungeon with Scarlett.

✦✦✦

A while later, Pearl and Scarlett arrived at the first Sentinel. After defeating the first of the Dungeon’s Cells. They are met by the Tarantula construct, towering over the two Porcine ladies.

They looked at the boss with surprise. The Sentinel moves one of its eight legs and tries to crush them. The pair evaded the attack. At the machine’s leg made contact with the floor, a shockwave erupted from the leg, and a gust of wind followed suit.

Pearl took her baton and used it to anchor her, while Scarlett used the wall for support. Pearl saw another leg move and fall onto the ground. From it emerged lightning bolts. Scarlet drew her rifle from her back and placed a bullet into the chamber. She fired it at the wave of electrified air and caused a barrier to be erected in front of Pearl.

Pearl then performed an elaborate tap dance, while singing a bardsong spell. Sparks emerged from her feet as she danced her way towards one of the legs, finishing with with with a well-time kick. The spell amplified the force of the bloc and caused the larger foe’s leg to tilt backward.

Scarlett aimed at the moved leg and fired another bullet. The shot transformed into an icicle spear and collided with the construct, scrapping off part of the leg.

“Heh,” Scarlett said. “This Spellshooter was more accurate than I thought.” She surveyed the area and saw another leg moving towards Pearl. She fired another shot to try to deflect it, but the bullet missed.

Pearl saw the leg about to squash her and immediately began spinning, her pirouette allowed her to move away from the leg and spin like a top. A blazing shockwave emerged from the leg and Scarlett fired another bullet to create a shield of ice between it and Pearl.

Pearl continued twirling, building up speed and moment as she spun towards the fallen leg and climbed it. She took her baton and used it to smack the joint connecting the leg to the main body. The blunt force of the enchanted baton caused enough damage to disable the leg. Pearl finished her twirl with a decelerating spin and a curtsy. “Thank, you, thank you,” she said on reflex before realizing that no one but the Dungeon, Scarlett, and Lucia could hear it.

Scarlett maneuvered closer to Pear and fired a green bullet at a point a few feet away. “Pearly, ride the wind!”

Air circled the spot where the bullet pierced the floor and generated a gust. Pearl heeded her mother’s words and ran into the gale. The gust exploded and propelled Pearl high into the air and onto another leg of the spider. While on the Leg, Pearl used a spell to cause a ribbon to emerge from her baton and began to twirl towards another joint, using the ribbon as a shield and dodging the mechanical tarantula’s rays.

Emily and Elizabeth looked at the battle with some surprise. “I thought the new armor would’ve been enough to protect the joint,” Elizabeth said.

“The aspected shockwaves also had less of an effect then we thought,” Emily’s voice echoed to the fairy.

“It was weakened by the last encounter with those knights,” Elizabeth said.

A while later, the Porcine visitors prevailed over the Tarantula, with three legs fallen and one disabled.

“The Coloraturas are next right?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes,” Emily said.

Pearl and Scarlett approached the emerging chest and found several coins, a lute, and spools of Dreamthread.

“What’s this?” Pearl said as she took the nacreous fabric in her arms.

“Seems like a new fabric,” Scarlett said. “Silk perhaps? I haven’t seen this in Pacifica.”

Pearl took the lute and tried strumming it, in contrast to her voice, the lute’s tune was off-key and its notes were harsh. Lucia expressed fear for her glassy body while Scarlett simply covered her ears.

“Sorry,” Pearl said. “Let’s get going.”

The three knew that their press conference was in a few hours and that they had spent a half hour in the dungeon so far. They ventured deeper into the Black Box.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, at the theater at Rosenkreuz, a well-suited man is currently talking with the theater’s manager. The scene of melted wax filled the air as the two men discussed a film reel on the desk betwixt them, contained in a rich mahogany box.

“This reel?” the manager said. “You said it was Betty’s takes?”

The suited man nodded.

The manager was startled by it. “But why here? Why bring it to a theater in the middle of nowhere?”

The other man chuckled. “You should stop underestimating yourself. If Pearly and Vulepcula are interested in this place for filming, then there is surely something to this quaint town in New Virginia.”

“You heard about that?” the manager said.

“Of course,” the man said. “The Hollyland studios are the first to know what happens to our stars.”

“And yet Miss Gale’s absence remains shrouded in mystery.” The manager said.

“Indeed,” the suited man said with a sigh. “Who knows what occurred at the Leonis studio? So many rumors and hearsay about about her time there.”

“Aye,” the manager said. He took a sip from his mug. The wind blew past the open window and the loose sleeves on his coat. “Rather contradictory rumors at that.” He moved from his desk. The well-suited man looked at his host’s Arachne legs with a calm and stoic smile.

“Many of which circled among the disgraced Leonis ‘mayor’. One day people claimed to see him heap praise upon Berry, the next he chastised her for being a ‘fat little pig with pigtails’.” Her disappearance and the subsequent retakes of The Sound of Lightning had led to much scandal. And of course, the investigation that saw him outed.”

“Yet even the investigator couldn’t find poor Betty,” the arachnid man said.

“It’s been more than a decade since the disappearance,” the suited man said. “No child should’ve vanished under that, yet she did.”

“No normal child perhaps,” the arachne said. “You must be well aware of those rumors yes?”

“I am,” the well-suited man said. “But those remain little more than conjecture right now. I trust that you can safeguard the original takes of the Sound of Lightning. You’ll be compensated handsomely for the reel of course.”

“Under normal circumstances,” the Arachne said. “People would be paying for preproduction material like that, but these are not normal circumstances. That reel’s cursed ain’t it?”

During their coverage of the disappearance, the papers have reported various claims of people disappearing on the film set, and around the Leonis film archives after its release. Both men were aware of these rumors, and also of the responses from Leonis rebutting it.

“Perhaps,” the well-suited man said. “People vanish all the time. Syndicate-related kidnappings, press-ganging, monster attacks. It’s a dangerous world out there. Who’s to say.”

“Yet the timing is rather suspicious,” the Arachne manager said.

“Mere coincidence I assure you,” the man from Leonis said. “Pearly’s press conference was not on management’s mind when they made that decision.”

“Uh-huh,” the Arachne man said.

“And besides,” the other man said. “Weren’t there increased missing people cases in this area as well? Dungeons too?”

The Arachne man sighed. “I’ll take the reel, maybe the Guild might know someone who can confirm if it’s cursed or not.”

“That is all we ask for,” the Leonis envoy said. “Have a nice day.” He walked away from the theater manager.

The Arachne took a look at the container with the film reel on it. A sense of dread filled his mind as he took the dusty reel in in hand and cleaned it. As he placed the reel back int he box, he noticed that there were some black stains on the purple lining.

“Hmm,” the Arachnid looked at these stains for a while before placing the reel back int he box. He called for his secretary. A burgundy-suited woman approached the room. “Yes, sir?”

“Contact the guild,” the manager said. “Ask them to look into this reel.”

The woman left with the box. The manager looked out the window and saw Stella had receded into the horizon. Her diminishing sunlight dying the sky in shades of orange and red. He knew it’s almost time for the event.

✦✦✦

At the same time, Pearl and Scarlet had just finished unlocking a door.

“Those Tatzelwurms were rough,” Pearl said, as she straightened out the ruffled feathers on her dress.

Scarlett took a look at her coat. She saw that she had only three bullets left. “I might need to result to more…clerical methods after the next fight,” she thought.

An hour and fifteen minutes remain before the Black Box ejects them. The pair walked down the indigo and black halls of the Black Box.

“Do you remember the day you asked to be an adventurer?” Scarlett said.

Pearl nodded. She knew that Scarlett was hesitant at first. Scarlett in turn sensed that Pearl was feeling rather lonely and isolated by the studios. She herself was well aware of the toll acting took on someone as young as her.

“You said we had to make time for it,” Pearl said.

“I did,” Scarlett said. “Took a while to convince Vulpecula to agree to it. Had to call in a lot of favors.”

“That was five years ago,” Pearl said.

The two came to the end of the corridor. “Get ready, dear,” Scarlett said as she loaded two of the remaining magic bullets onto her rifle.

Pearl steeled herself as she began to open the door.

A little earlier, the Coloraturas were awaiting their latest guests. Rose practiced her thrusts while Azalea practiced some jokes in front of Raine and Hydrangea.

Anemone noticed Lily’s smile barely concealed a tinge of impatience. Her suspicions were not helped by the centaur’s anxious pawing of the ground.

“Emily said they’ll be here soon,” the wolf-eared girl said.

“I know,” Lily said. “In a rare moment, Lily frowned.

Anemone sighed. “I understand you’re excited about Pearly’s announcement, and that you want to be at the theater, but you should’ve known that our tasks as Sentinels could come into conflict with that.”

“Of course I knew that,” Lily said. “I had always wanted to be one my whole life. It’s just that—”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching.

“They’re here!” Lily perked up. “Maybe we could still make it!” she thought.

“Everyone, hide,” Raine said.

Rose took a bauble she borrowed from Kasumi and threw it onto the ground. The mist that emerged from the ornament shrouded the Coloraturas as they got into position.

Pearl and Scarlett arrived at the mist-filed arena. “What’s with this mist?” Pearl said.

“Keep your guard up,” Lucia chimed in from within Pearl’s bag. “I feel people nearby.”

“Sentinels perhaps?” Scarlett said.

The pair heard a voice. “From the mists, we rise! To bring justice to the land!”

The fog suddenly gave way to a seemingly empty room. The lights dimmed as spotlights shone on Hydrangea.

“We stand as this Dungeons’ guardians,” the cyan-bobbed girl said. Her face hid her surprised on who their guests were.

“Our flames shall burn the wicked!” Raine descended from a perch above.

“The winds tell of our feats!” Clover emerged after Raine.

“May the love we hold prevail!” Anemone followed suit.

“For we shall shine a light on—” Lily stopped her introduction as she saw just who was there with them. “Elisa? You’re our visitor?” Her surprised tone threw off the subsequent introductions.

“Lily?” Pearl said.

Streltizia, Rose and Azalea emerged. Rose is visible annoyed at how their introduction was derailed.

Lily galloped toward her new friend in a mix of joy and confusion. She eagerly greeted the porcine girl.

“Um, Lily,” Emily’s voice echoed to the centaride with a hesitant tone.

“Oh right,” Lily said as she returned to the other Coloraturas.

“Anyway,” Rose said. “We are the Coloraturas! Heroines of love and justice. Guardianesses of the Black Box. Friend of now, we shall not hold back.”

“Understood,” Scarlett said. “Well that was an unexpected twist,” she thought.

“Right,” Pearl said. The two parties prepare for a battle. “Please forgive me, Lily,” Pearl thought.

✦✦✦

Pearl and Scarlett prepared for their battle with the Coloraturas. The Porcine magical girl looked at her new friend with anticipation.

“Let’s make it fun,” Lily chirped to Pearl as she gripped her lance. This is a dungeon run, but Pearl and the Coloraturas were content to treat it more like a sparring match.

“R-right,” Pearl said. She gripped her baton and looked around the room. Scarlett noticed that fog began rolling in again.

Clover rushed forward and swiped her folded fan at Pearl. The young girl dodged the swipe and used the gust to maneuver behind the fawn. With a swing of the baton, Pearl clashed with Clover’s fan.

Scarlett put her rifle and placed it on her coat. Azalea swam towards the red-clad woman. “What’s wrong? Out of ammo?”

“Not quite,” Scarlett noticed the moisture around her began to form an orb of water around her and used her rifle as a staff. “O Obsidian,” she prayed. “May the heat of your forge evaporate this sphere of water!”

Before Azalea could attack, the heat from Scarlett’s prayer evaporated from the sphere. Azalea noticed beads of sweat forming at her temple. “Can you maybe turn down the heat a little?

“O Melodia,” Scarlett said. “Grant us your benediction.” Her rifle began transforming into an ethereal musical bow as a violin formed on Scarlet’s left shoulder. Strelitzia noticed Scarlett’s instrument and tried to charge her before she could string the ethereal violin.

“Um, Emily,” Elizabeth said while witnessing the battle. “Does something feel a little off?”

“Lily?” Emily’s voice echoes to the centaur as she charged toward “Elisa”. “Do you know these two?”

“Oh yeah!” Lily thought, “That is Elisa, she helped us when we went to the desert yesterday!”

Pearl parried Lily’s spear with her baton and a playful smile.

Strelitzia meanwhile tried to use her labrys to disarm Scarlett, but the older woman dodged while playing a bardsong tune. A red aurora formed above the battle as Scarlett dodged Azalea and Streltizia’s attacks.

Anemone tried to use her bow to immobilize the two visitors, but the crimson curtain of light lulled her into a slight stupor and in her daze, her arrow missed Scarlett. She looked up and saw the curtain with horror. “That light it’s …”

As Scarlett continued playing her instrument, Rose tried to help Lily against Pearl, slithering to the side of the Porcine girl and trying to thrust with her rapier, but Pearl used her baton to parry the sword and move the blade to her side.

“How long had you been using the rapier,” Pearl casually asked while parrying the thrusts.

“About a few months now,” Rose answered. “Why?”

“No reason,” Pearl said before manifesting a ribbon from her baton and using it to retaliate against the lamia.

Clover and Raine attacked with ranged attacks but they felt more tired than usual and Raine’s fire and Clover’s winds failed to even touch Pearl. Anemone rushed to the Peryton fawn and phoenixian girl. “Raine, Clover, that aurora is sapping our strength,” she said.

“What?” Raine said.

“I thought they were supposed to mitigate attacks.”

“They are,” Anemone said. “But that spell is not a normal case, darkness is added to the spell!”

Clover yawned as she realized what that meant. Azalea swam towards the other three. “It’s Scarlett,” the mermaid said. “The spell’s her doing!”

“Clover,” Raine said. “Can you and Azelia try to silence her violin?”

“I’ll give it a shot!” Clover said.

Meanwhile, Hydrangea was already aware of the aurora’s effects and used ice shards to try to wrest the ethereal instrument from the player.

“My oh my,” Scarlett said. She expected the Coloraturas wouldn’t be holding back but hadn’t expected such resistance from the group of eight. She took one of the remaining bullets from her coat.

Azalea tried to trap Scarlett in a sphere of water again, while Clover used her wind magic to muffle the notes of the violin. Hydrangea tried to freeze the bubble, but as she was about to do so, the bubble instead exploded again. Frozen shrapnel burst from the shattered ice and landed on Clover’s hooves and Azalea’s tail, rooting them to the floor.

Lily, Rose, Anemone, Streltizia, and Raine meanwhile tried to fight “Elisa,” but whenever they got close, she deflected with her ribbon or dodged with a mix of tap dances and gymnastic moves. The red aurora not only protected her and Scarlet from most of the damage but also slowly lulled the coloraturas to sleep one by one. After twenty minutes. Only Lily was left still awake.

Pearl and Lily locked their gaze on one another, but the battle was already decided. “I’m sorry, Lily, but I have to go soon. I’ll see you later.”

Lily collapsed, grateful for the chance to see her friend again, but also frustrated about what this meant for her tonight. The centaur was lulled to sleep as Emily materialized a chest for the two victors. The red aurora faded as Scarlett stopped her performance. The two claimed their prizes of one mythril ingot, a pair of cesti, a pair of breeches and some jade.

✦✦✦

A while later, Emily had managed to rouse the eight girls from their premature rest. “Are you okay?” her voice echoed to Lily.

The girls awakened with a small groan. Elizabeth handed them small cups of coffee to ensure they were awake. “I made sure to limit the caffeine a bit?”

“Man those two were tough,” Rose said groggily. “Stupid aurora.”

Lily then remembered something. “Did Elisa—”

“They won,” Tim said as he led the two visitors back to where the coloraturas were. His face while calm, also had a tinge of annoyance.

Pearl took a look at the armor and hammer she and Scarlett won from their battle.

“Congratulations!” Lily said. “Did Timmy give you a hard time?”

“Very,” “Elisa” said. “He was a big old meanie.”

Tim simply humphed.

“He certainly fared a lot better against my bardsong than you did,” Scarlett said. “I hope we weren’t too rough on you girls.”

“No hard feelings,” Rose said. She knew that being Sentinels being helping the Dungeon train the vising adventurers by fending them off.

“I’m sorry again,” “Elisa” said. “We have to go. It’s almost time for the event a tthe theater!”

“Oh shoot!” Lily said She begin to panic as she realized that there were only five minutes before Pearl’s announcement begins.

“Guess we came here in the nick of time, chers,”

Heathcliff, Ulric and Flowena had just returned to the Black Box. Scarlett recognized the armored man from yesterday. “You know how to get us to the theater quickly?”

“Indeed I do, mademoiselle,” Heathcliff said as he held up a photo…

✦✦✦

Earlier, as Heathcliff, Flowena, and Ulric left Rosenkreuz, Heathcliff asked a question of the sprightly sprites. “How certain are you that it won’t just bring a replica straight to Emily?” He looked at the photo of the theater.

“We used a spell that makes sure that whoever looks at the photo while a Mirage Staff is cast on it will be immediately warped to the point the picture was taken from. Give or take their distance of the photo at that point, of course.”

“The spell can only be cast once every five hundred years, however. It required a special extract from a plant that only bloomed at that time. We were lucky that some of us had gotten some vials when the Baton attacked the Feywood, but all of us were used in that photo.”

“You’re saying it only works once?” Heathcliff said.

“Basically,” Flowena said.

“You have my thanks, and my apologies for having you waste something so rare on this on what seemed like a trivial matter.”

“It’s the least we could do,” Ulric said. “After Emily took us in and defeated the Baron.” He let out a wistful sigh.

“Plus, Lily seemed very eager about going to that theater today for some reason,” Flowena said.

“Something about a movie star coming to announce something there?” Ulric said.

“Yeah,” Heathcliff said. He took a look at the photograph before continuing his long hike back to the Black box.

✦✦✦

“So these sprites had enchanted the photo to serve as a portal of sorts?” Scarlett said.

Flowena nodded. “Just point the Mirage Staff at it and we can get you there lickety-split!”

“That’s amazing!” Lily said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She quickly galloped outside the room. The sound of rummaging through various items was heard until the centaur returned with the item in tow. “Elisa” took the photograph from Heathcliff and followed the sprite’s instructions. The two girls held the photo in the air as they used the mirage staff to channel light and dark magic through it and onto the picture. The image had vanished and parts of the wall were replaced by a larger replica.

“Have fun!” the knight said.

“You have our thanks,” Scarlett said.

“Elisa”, Scarlett and the Coloraturas entered the illusion of the theater, through the sprites’ magic, this materialized them right in front of the actual building. Lily excitedly galloped towards the front doors.

“Lily, wait!” Raine said as she chased the centauride. The other Coloraturas followed up, leaving Scarlett and her daughter alive to discreetly enter the theater through the backdoor. By the time the Coloraturas had caught up with Lily there were no sign of either in the lobby with them.

✦✦✦

Later, The Coloraturas took their seats among the crowd of reporters and spectators looking at a stage for the press conference. The flashes of various cameras and the murmurs of paparazzi and more legitimate reporters filled the room as Pearl Elouse Templeton took the stage. The young actress announced that Vulpecua will be using Rosenkreuz as the site of filming for her next film, and confirmed the rumors that Aurora Scarlett will come out of retirement to be her co-star.

Anemone looked back to her fight with “Elisa” and noticed the red aurora. “That spell…” she noticed how peculiar it was. Lily meanwhile paid more attention to Pearl’s words.

After the conference, Pearl held an autograph signing. Lily eventually headed up to the booth. “Hi, I’m your biggest fan!”

“You’re too kind,” the porcine star said to the centaur. Yet internally she had hoped Lily didn’t notice the similarities between her normal and magical girl forms. While her normal appearance is shorter in both height and hairstyle, she feared that Lily might still piece it together.

As Lily took her autographed memorabilia she looked at the actress. “That reminds me…”

“Oh no,” Pearl thought. “She’s onto me!” She tried to maintain a calm face.

“Have you seen Elisa?” Lily said. “We must’ve got separated on the way to the theater.”

“Phew,” Pearl thought. “I think she might’ve left already,” she said.

“Aw,” Lily said. Still left the stand contented enough and regrouped with her friends.

Anemone looked at Pearl and noticed she looked familiar to her somehow, but couldn’t place her finger on it.

The Coloraturas left the theater and realized that the sprite’s photo worked only one way. Fortunately, Emily’s avatara arrived to pick them up and led them home. That night Lily had dreamt a good dream as she looked forward to meeting Elisa again.