Finally the day came for the Art Gala. Riho had promised to wait for Kikyo outside the venue. Just when she had grown tired of waiting, the hapless Mazoku girl appeared, holding a set of broken high heels.

“What happened?!”

Kikyo laughed it off, “Oh, just my usual lack of fortune. Or maybe a bad habit coming back to bite me?”

Riho was going to ask what she was going to do when she noticed Kikyo still had shoes on.

“What's going on with that?” she asked.

“I focused on transforming just my feet and taking a page out of the Magical Girl book to summon clothes instead of raw power...I can't say it's most mana efficient spell, but better than being barefoot at a party...”

“You can do that?!”

“Only because of the research I did into the summoning circle. Pririponian transformation magic is whack.”

“I don't think that's a compliment...”

“It isn't, it's a fact.”

They smiled at each other, then Riho suggested, “Let's go inside then.”

They entered behind a woman Riho recognized. It was the woman who always took forever picking her lunch set!

They entered the building, a large hall filled with paintings and sculptures. The first thing Riho thought was that it was very 'Nagi.' The paintings favored dark colors and people wearing frilly clothes, the sculptures either depicted suffering or strange beasts, more likely monsters.

Kikyo, while not as perceptive to the art noticed a group of familiar faces gathered around Nagi. The woman who had entered before them walked towards that group.

“Should we meet up with Nagi?” Kikyo asked Riho.

“That sounds like a plan...but I must say...This gallery is very...”

“A lot like Nagi's clothes,” Kikyo tried.

Riho paused in front of a statue depicting a woman with her foot upon a man's chest, a sword in one hand, the other pointed at the fallen figure.

“I think it's more than just her clothes...”

They continued heading towards the group of figures around Nagi. A few of them broke off, the pair recognized Komomo's mother among them. As they moved Kikyo saw a profile she was very familiar with, but would never have expected to see in this place. So great was her surprise and joy that she broke into a jog.

“Maou-sama!?”

The Overlord of Makai, in human guise, grinned at her as she approached, “Major, it has been some time since we met in person! Ah, but here such formalities should be set aside. Otomi-san will do, right Sorane-san?” he corrected himself.

Riho had followed closely after Kikyo, and heard the end of the conversation, “Otomi...? It can't be!?” she flinched.

“Funano Riho, greetings. I'm glad to finally meet you in person,” a cloud hung over his face.

“Huh? You two know Otomi-san?” Kanaki Maji, who had been there before them and remained after Komomo's mother left, asked bewildered.

Riho couldn't find a reply while Kikyo answered after a moment of thought, “He was my boss at my old job...In my old country.”

“Oh, you don't say...”

“Hmm? Oh, aren't you the girl who works at the Dawson?” the woman who they entered behind suddenly asked Riho, finishing her greetings to Nagi.

“Huh? Oh, um, yes I am...Um, thank you for your patronage?”

Ayari Sayaka laughed, “So how do you know Nagi-san?”

“Oh, she's my landlady...” Riho felt like a child, and age wise compared to Sayaka she might be, but mostly she was conscious of Maji being nearby and was still having trouble interacting normally with him.

Kikyo, realizing she had probably been rude to Nagi after seeing Mao, gave her greetings, “Nagi-san good evening! There are so many beautiful paintings here!”

Nagi smirked at her, “Well, at least you remembered,” her eyes grew serious, “Why don't you properly introduce Riho-chan to Otomi-san? Sayaka-san, Maji-san, I have and exhibit I'd love to show you!” she said, leading the two humans away.

Mao watched the three go away with a smile, but quickly grew serious when his gaze returned to Riho and Kikyo.

“Let's take a walk,” he said, leading them to a quiet corner of the Gala.

Riho watched him, unable to speak her mind. Something was up, but she couldn't read the ageless face. Though he was in human guise, Otomi Mao still seemed to tread odd borders. While his hair was styled in such a way that is was obvious he was a man, any slight change to it and he could be mistaken for a woman. His face revealed no signs of age either, his height indicated that of an adult, but the lines of his face looked young. In some ways Riho would've thought he would stand out, but conversely his hard to define appearance diverted stares away from him.

When they reached a place with no prying eyes, he spoke four simple words that shook Riho's world to its core.

“Okoto Kaena is dead.”

Kikyo looked shocked, but nothing could compare to the nausea that assaulted Riho as the world swayed beneath her. How could this be?

Lasrefel echoed this sentiment out loud, fury in his voice.

“King of Demons, what is that supposed to mean?!”

There was a long pause before Mao placed an impossibly smooth black stone on the ground in front of them.

“Yashiro Hina.”

He placed another.

“Kai Mihana.”

Yet another.

“Koami Aria.”

Another.

“Ezuki Atsuko.”

Another.

“Iroha Senka.”

Another.

“Ito Juuki.”

Finally, another.

“Yoshida Ena.”

Lasrefel recognized every name, and the agony in Mao's voice conveyed that his actions were relevant to the question.

Lasrefel took a guess, “The Dark Mirror...”

Mao nodded, “There was something I failed to tell you, something you had no way of knowing, being sealed in that emblem and collected by Okoto and all. There is a place all of the threads connect...More accurately, have become tangled. That's the place where I met Ikue Airu and convinced her to live out a life of peace on Earth. Not that I needed to say much, she spoke with the tangled consciousness of those seven girls who are even now trapped in the Great Dark Mirror.”

“What does that mean?” Riho asked, “What happened to my Teacher?!”

“Riho, can I ask something first?” Kikyo interjected, mind racing.

“Huh? Er, sure I guess...”

“Maou-sama...If you met Okoto in the Great Mirror, does that mean the place Airu-san told Riho about would be a 'Lesser Mirror?'”

“If you're talking about the place she found the thread containing the magic of Yashiro Hina, you're absolutely right.”

“Then what exactly IS the Greater Mirror?”

Riho felt a chill run down her spine, Kikyo had a point, if the seven girls had been trapped in their own void-like dimensions that should have been the end of it, but according to Mao they had become tangled in the Greater Mirror, which meant there was an eighth power at play, one that connected all of the Lesser Mirrors to itself.

Mao, seeming to trust that they had both come to such a conclusion, “An artifact that allows one to surpass their physical and magical limitations by eroding their hold over their corporeal form and lifespan. Well, at least such a thing exists in Priripon. What the girls actually did, it seems, was develop a technique that resonated with that hidden artifact, remotely drawing out power and creating those 'Lesser Mirrors.' They called it 'Stagnation Conversion.'”

Lasrefel gasped, he knew what it was and had cautioned Hina against it, but she insisted it was for the good of Priripon so he had relented.

“But what does that have to do with Okoto, my Teacher?” Riho insisted.

“It seeks to be reunited with its host body...” Kikyo said in a horrified whisper.

“I talked with the Seven, and Okoto. I was trying to secure a peaceful future for you two, but Okoto snapped. But the Seven stopped us from fighting and...” Mao took a deep breath, “Consumed her to use her magic as a stabilizing force.”

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Riho looked aghast.

“C-consumed?”

“It gets worse,” Mao said apologetically, “That's only a stopgap. If we don't untangle them, they're going to devour Priripon to retake the artifact. Or more precisely, the Great Dark Mirror with them on board will.”

Riho shot to her feet, “Th-then how do we untangle them!? Airu didn't know how...”

“Calm down, calm down. I'm not an Overlord who has mastered nearly every form of magic for nothing. I can't do it alone in time, but I can set the stage for each of us to free one of the entangled threads.”

Riho sat down reluctantly.

“Each of us?”

“Otomi Mao, Kumi Nagi, Sorane Kikyo, our Mazoku representatives. Ikue Airu, Funano Riho, our Magical Girl representatives. Lasrefel, the thaumikitsune. Monmoku, the frog nature spirit. That's seven, just enough I hope.”

“Will the pact partners be able to operate on their own?” Kikyo asked.

“Well, that's up to them. They've been treated pretty badly, so if they're given the freedom to flee they just might,” Mao replied frankly.

Lasrefel responded, “I cannot speak for Monmoku, but I shall give life and limb for Riho-dono. I will be the first to admit Thaumikitsune are a wily capricious bunch, but this isn't just Riho-dono involved either. We're covetous beasts, I don't like that Hina-hime is still trapped somewhere suffering without me!”

“That's wonderful,” Mao said, and placed one final larger black stone in the middle of the circle of seven. It pulsed once, then began to emit a pale purple light, tracing wispy paths to each of the seven smaller stones. A deep purple symbol glowed brightly from the center of the larger one, and the wispy trails became more defined, and one by one a different symbol appeared on each one.

Mao looked up, and saw across the hall of art a familiar nervous looking woman, “Just a moment, keep an eye on this and don't touch anything yet,” he said, standing tall and making his way towards Ikue Airu, who likely had come not on Nagi's but his own invitation.

Riho felt a strain in her connection to Lasrefel, it was tugged towards one of the stones. Her gaze locked onto it, she knew it must be connected to Yashiro Hina somehow.

“Riho?” Kikyo's voice pulled her back to the present, and she flinched, in her focus her hand had begun to reach out for the stone.

Mao returned shortly, bringing a recently briefed Ikue Airu with him. Monmoku and Lasrefel exchanged greetings.

“Are you going to explain what this is?” Riho asked Mao, as the purple light of the stones had begun to fade.

“They're anchors,” was his simple reply.

Riho's eyes widened, if that was true that meant Mao had confirmed the dimensional coordinates of each of the Lesser Mirrors in enough detail to create a pin-point focus for teleportation.

“Everyone take one, and I'll pass the last one on to Nagi. I briefed her earlier, since today was supposed to be about her...” Mao looked regretful.

Kikyo picked up the stone closest to Mao, “Juuki is a pretty name so I'll take hers!” Kikyo obtained the Ito Juuki Mirror Anchor.

Riho waited for Lasrefel, but the thaumikitsune spoke up, “As much as I wish to, it would not be fair to Riho if I chose Hina-hime. Riho-dono is my current pact bond. That being the case, I'll choose her close friend,” an ethereal paw touched the stone closest to Airu. Lasrefel obtained the Yoshida Ena Mirror Anchor.

Riho clenched a fist, “Then I'll take this one,” Riho obtained the Yashiro Hina Mirror Anchor.

“Riho-dono...!”

“I'll get her back for you,” Riho said resolutely.

“Th-then I'll take this one,” Airu said, finally working up the nerve to speak. Ikue Airu obtained the Iroha Senka Mirror Anchor.

Monmoku said nothing, but the stone closest to Kikyo vanished. Monmoku obtained the Kai Mihana Mirror Anchor.

Mao nodded to each in turn, then retrieved the last two stones, as well as the larger one which had been in the center of them.

“We'll meet again in three days, while I prepare the second set of items we'll need. I've taken enough of Nagi's time with her friends for tonight,” he said with a sad smile. Mao kept the Ezuki Atsuko Mirror Anchor.

“Eh? Maou-sama you're leaving already?” Kikyo said, clearly disappointed.

Mao looked troubled, “If you make that face it's rather hard to leave...”

“Why don't you at least stick around til the Gala's over?” Riho said offhandedly as though she wasn't interested at all.

“That's right! We-we've only talked business so far!” Airu added.

Mao smiled warmly, “If you so insist. In that case, let us find our last party member!”

They looked around, it was harder than expected. Nagi usually stood out in her goth lolita attire, but as this was a gala organized by her there were plenty of other dark and lacy things to catch the eyes.

Kikyo found her by finding Maji, the tall man with longish hair stood out above the crowd and displays. They were together often, so she had thought just maybe- sure enough!

“Nagi-chan!” she called, forgetting herself in her excitement.

Upon reaching the short woman, she received a soft kick to the shins, “Don't use -chan for your landlord,” her expression softened, “So, what do you think?”

“There're so many pretty things! I've never seen anything like it!”

Nagi's smile grew, “That's right! I hand selected the artists premiering their works after all!”

Airu gave her a formal greeting, bowing several times, “G-g-glad to make you're acquaintance, I'm called Ikue Airu. I hope we get along!”

Nagi inspected her closely, “Hmm... So you're Ikue Airu. I like what you've done with your hair, let's get along.”

Her eyes flicked to the two sources of magic tagging along with Riho and Airu, and gave them a solid nod. Monmoku and Lasrefel felt shivers down their spines, that was the first time they'd been so easily spotted. Clearly Kumi Nagi was in a league of her own.

“Ah, I'm Kanaki Maji. A pleasure to meet you,” Maji introduced himself.

Sayaka was looking at the paintings when she heard a voice she hadn't expected. She looked over to the group who had met back up with Nagi, and saw Airu among them. She sidled up to Nagi and listened in before taking the chance to introduce herself as well.

“Oh hello! I'm Ayari Sayaka, I'm always making myself a nuisance at your Dawson,” she said jokingly.

Airu, unused to all the attention simply chuckled nervously. Sayaka had predicted that would be the case and was secretly overjoyed. Maji didn't know how to respond, and was a little surprised at Sayaka's sudden interest in the conversation, but it wasn't a bad thing he supposed.

Eventually the guests returned home and it was only Nagi's close friends, and the Dark Mirror squad, left.

“Thank you all for coming, thanks to you I had a great time!”

“I'm still not used to such a formal environment, but it was fun talking to you outside of...work?” Kikyo realized that the place she lived in was essentially Nagi's workplace.

Nagi laughed until she was breathless, “I suppose that's true!”

Riho was a little nervous around Nagi, probably because when they had first met Nagi had taken a strong arm approach with her. Riho managed to thank her for the invitation, and received a big smile in return. That put her a little more at ease.

The others bid their thanks and farewells, until only the Dark Mirror squad remained.

“So, shall we get down to business?” Nagi asked.

Mao put up a hand, “In three days. Today is your day. Though I will give you this.”

Kumi Nagi obtained the Koami Aria Mirror Anchor.

Nagi blushed slightly, Riho wondered what it must have felt like to be told that by someone they admired as their ruler.

“As you wish, Maou-sama,” Nagi said at last.