The woman jolted awake with a pained groan, holding her arm, then her side – her everything. She was covered in black bruises, tarnishing her slender figure and smooth skin.

Even shifting on the bed was painful to her. And it was all because of that little thing she wore. She brought up her left index finger and shot the blue gemstone sitting on her ring a glare.

There was no response for now, so she decided to follow her morning routine. On her bedstand was a book labeled ‘Read when you wake up’, so she did just that. She opened the first page.

‘You are the Magical Girl Bellona Azure’ it read on the first line.

She remembered that. She flipped the page and saw a rough illustration of a woman with plant-like features.

‘This is Lethe. Your enemy. She steals your memories that are precious to you. Or memories of people who are precious to you.’

She remembered nothing better than that disgusting fact.

‘Open your wallet and look at your ID’. She did just that, having left her wallet on the nightstand with the book.

She checked her face in the mirror that stood next to the bed. She had a black eye as well from the beating she took. She would have to cover that up with make-up later. Other than that, she remembered her own looks and kept checking her ID.

Born in Kawaguchi, on October 30th, 1997. She remembered that.

Her eyes lingered a bit on her name. She remembered it, which was a relief.

She slowly flipped through the book, taking in all the information she could and confirming that she still remembered it.

Her parents’ names. She remembered those.

Her first job. She remembered it.

Her first friend’s name, her first love’s face, her first pet, her middle school’s name, her banking information, her accounts and passwords, everything was meticulously written down and she remembered each and every one of those details.

Then she reached a page she didn’t remember.

‘How to control the crystal’. It detailed a number of meditations and concentration exercises that would leave her in full control of Bellona Azure without giving up any control to the crystal. It was a very late addition to the book, probably something she started to research for herself at the time she and Bellona disagreed more and more on how to tackle Lethe. Hasty scribbles were added, alluding to the crystal’s rage at the abuse it suffered at her hands and how it will likely never willingly cease control again if it ever overwhelmed her.

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She felt her heart sink as she realized that this was what had happened yesterday – and how she brought this on herself. This was the memory Lethe erased to get her and Minerva to try to kill each other.

“You needn’t worry about that anymore. I lost my bout with my sister. I will be your… disposable tool.”

The crystal’s voice seemed pained – and she herself felt pity for it.

Minerva’s cooperation with her host was almost miraculous from her point of view. This past year her single-mindedness had her and Bellona drifting apart more and more as she rushed ahead to get Lethe whenever she spotted her.

She tore out the page and tossed it away.

I don’t want a disposable tool. I want a partner. Like we used to be.

She could feel the crystal’s surprise.

“I told you I can’t remember how it used to be.”

I can. Before Lethe got your memories we used to be like one. Just the way your sister and her host acted.

“Hard to believe, considering our current state.”

She let out a sigh and tried to stretch – bad mistake, considering her overall state. She noisily sucked in air as pain racked her body.

“We could try again.” She now said out loud.

“I promise I’ll actually listen to what you have to say this time.”

“I’ll accept that compromise… for now.”

She nodded and got up. She walked into the little kitchen space by the door and prepared breakfast. A jeweled talisman hung by the door, faintly glowing with a blue light, right next to its Japanese equivalent, an Ofuda against intrusion by evil spirits. The sheet of paper full of calligraphy had been attached to the door frame.

As far as she could tell they worked, because Lethe had never managed to bother her in her own home. Or had she?

She shook off the involuntary thought of Lethe breaking in and making her forget that the charms don’t work. There was no point in making herself panic while she considered her options. Suddenly she had an idea.

“That technique you used back there, Bellona…”

“Yes? You mean Realm of Duels?”

She nodded – a bit of a silly gesture in her mind, with no one physically there to witness it, but it seemed good enough for the crystal on her index finger.

“Would it be able to isolate Lethe from her domain?”

image [https://i.imgur.com/uXl1Cop.png]

After an extensive session of applying enough make-up to hide her black eye she put on her usual clothes, swallowed painkillers against the pain all over her body, and walked to work. She lived near the red-light district, in fact close enough that she had to use curtains to stop the intense neon glow of the signs when she went to bed. Though, given that most of her working hours were at night anyway, she had to use them more to prevent being woken up by the sun rising an hour or two after falling asleep.

After a short walk she arrived at her workplace, just in time for all the neon signs to spring to life as the sun touched the western horizon.

Descending the stairs she yawned and opened the door to Snack Starlight.

“Hello, Mama.” She greeted the proprietress, then she stopped for an instant as she saw one of their regulars already seated at the bar.

Miori immediately shifted gears, offering her usual, warm smile to the woman she loved. Hitoishi, who was so tragically, blissfully unaware of all the things going on with Miori and Lethe.

‘This is Seika Hitoishi. She is the Magical Girl Minerva Crimson- The woman who saved your life and made you fall for her. The woman you love with all your heart.’, the book containing her memories read on one of its first pages.

Of course, she remembered all of that. She doubted that even Lethe’s cruel hunger for her memories could stop her heart from beating faster when that beautiful woman looked at her.

“Good evening, Senpai. Do you want the usual?”

(Volume 1 End)