1

June 2024

Summer had just started. The streets of Tokyo were full of people as always, walking or driving to whatever their destination might be, absentmindedly checking their phones while walking or casually chatting in groups of two or three. Their attention would soon be caught by two sweet voices ringing out at a certain intersection.

“Hello and gooooood eveniiiing!”

The cheerful voices carried over the street from the large LCD display overseeing a street crossing. Quite a considerable amount of people turned their heads to face the screen, stopping what they were doing in the process.

Two girls appeared on the screen. They wore clothing resembling idol outfits, with one wearing black with white accents while the other wore the opposite.

“My name is Sol!” The girl in white introduced herself. Star-shaped earrings were framing her young face.

“And mine is Luna!” The girl in black wore similar earrings, hers were crescent-shaped and larger.

“And together we are…”

“…the Celestial Sisters!

May the light of the heavenly bodies protect you from evil!”

The girls struck a pose together, grabbing the hand of the other that was facing them and raising their intertwined hands to the sky as they stretched out their opposite arms with the palms facing upward.

“The second generation, to be precise!”

“And we’re presenting this special broadcast to commemorate the sixteenth anniversary of the Kawaguchi incident!”

They bowed towards the camera before facing each other.

“But my, Sol, can you believe that it has already been sixteen years? It almost feels like yester- “

Sol put a hand on Luna’s mouth in a well-rehearsed movement.

“My, Luna. We are seventeen-year-old Magical Girl idols. Of course it wouldn’t feel like yesterday, we were just little toddlers when it happened! There’s no way we would remember that!”

“Oh, of course, my bad! Ohohohohohoho!”

“Ohohoho!” Sol joined in after the third ‘ho’ and the two laughed in synchronicity.

“But, thanks to the wonder of television and the internet, we have plenty of material to remember it by!”

The two of them stepped away from each other and a display appeared between them. A giant creature made out of shadows that resembled a mythological Lamia could be seen slithering through a row of streets, damaging houses on its way before it vanished, leaving behind cracked asphalt where it had been before. Then the footage cut to a similar creature, this time in the shape of a giant centaur wreaking similar havoc.

“Sixteen years ago, two monsters appeared in Kawaguchi.” Sol narrated.

“This marked the end of our mundane world as we knew it! Suddenly the danger of all kinds of monsters has become very real!” Luna continued.

“But there’s no need to fret! While it is true that the unusual and monstrous has become real, so has something else!”

The screen changed and showed a slightly blurry image of a woman in red, floating above the ground and holding a child in her arms.

“Magical Girls! Just like yours truly!”

“The first one appeared right during the Kawaguchi incident! We don’t know where the first monster went, but the second one didn’t even have a chance to disappear! A Magical Girl appeared and engaged the monster in battle. Both disappeared and only one returned! The Magical Girl, together with a rescued child!”

“Only one year later more and more Magical Girls started to appear and have kept our world safe! The first generation of Celestial Sisters was even among them!”

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“We salute all the brave Magical Girls who have kept our world safe!”

2

The special program continued on with a lot of people giving it undivided attention. Special footage from all sixteen years since Magical Girls stopped being only a thing from anime played, showing off creatures and cute girls wearing frilly, elegant or just plain cool clothing while doing battle with them.

A woman passed by the intersection and saw a video of the red Magical Girl – terribly shaky footage of her fighting man-sized marionettes with razor-sharp blades for limbs. The only pristine footage they had of this Magical Girl was shown right after. She was floating in the air and about to leave as someone asked, “Who are you?”.

She turned around and gave the camera a wink, replying:

“I am the Magical Girl Minerva Crimson and the avatar of wisdom! From now on, mortals, you are under my protection! Gyahaha!”

“Urgh.”

The woman who witnessed the footage accelerated her steps, leaving the intersection as fast as possible as she reeled internally with embarrassment.

Why did I say it like that? Seriously, why did I say it like that?

With her thoughts racing she made her way back to work after a little supply run for snacks and energy drinks. She was waiting for a very tardy writer’s manuscript, and she’d pull an all-nighter to get it published, if that’s what it took.

3

“Now that’s a face I haven’t seen in a while.”

The woman speaking was overdressed for the time of year, wearing a thick fur coat with the hood pulled all the way over her head. A pair of large sunglasses hid most of her face, save for her screaming red lips as she casually ate an apple while watching the TV.

Her unusual appearance attracted a few glances from pedestrians passing by, though they kept going as if they didn’t remember her the very moment she was out of sight.

“Minerva, Minerva… such a fun one. I miss messing with her.”

The corners of her mouth lifted to form a sadistic grin as she carelessly tossed away the rest of her apple. Someone who saw tried to give her a stern talking to, but his eyes turned vacant for a second and he simply kept walking, having completely forgotten about the incident.

The woman saw a small blue glint on top of a nearby building, letting out a sigh.

“I guess my time is up. What a bother…”

She walked away from the crossing, not particularly hurrying, despite being fully aware that she was being tailed from the rooftops. A blue shine hopped from building to building, keeping out of sight, or so that person must have perceived themself.

“We’ve been doing this song and dance for a year now… give up!”

She suddenly spoke loud enough for her pursuer to hear, then she turned a corner.

The pursuer landed in the alleyway and hurried to the corner around which the odd woman had vanished. Armor plates rattled against each other, echoing through the corridor. As the woman in blue turned the corner to face the overdressed lady, no one was there. Only a strong scent of roses remained.

“Tch. She escaped again.”

“You shouldn’t be chasing her before learning how to beat her in the first place, human. Know your enemy and know yourself first.” The voice came from a blue crystal embedded in her left gauntlet, speaking with obvious sapience directly to her mind.

“Shut up! I’m not asking for your commentary. All you have to do is give me your power!”

The crystal remained quiet, but she could feel a cold rage emanating from it. She had treated it like this for some time in the name of facing their quarry, and one day she would have to pay for it.

The woman in blue turned around and ascended into the sky, grinding her teeth in anger at another missed chance for revenge.