Starlight Dream

Chapter 36

"She's back." That was all that Ume told her partner, Hope. From her grievous expression, Hope already knew her partner's meaning.

"Crazy." Hope rubbed her head. "I'd hoped we'd never see her again. At least not so soon, but with Seina's talent for getting in trouble. I suppose it was inevitable. What are you going to do?"

"Kill her." Ume's mind flashed to a rather unpleasant memory of when her team stood up against Yuuka, confident they could stop her. It'd be a bloodbath.

Ume stared at her palm, remembering it holding Hinata as she lay dying. It'd seemed impossible back then that anyone could defeat her best friend. In that single moment, the rock that'd held her life together had shattered, starting her on the path she lived today. And Yuuka had only gotten stronger and more deranged since then.

"Somehow." Ume's voice was barely a whisper, shaking with pent-up emotion. The target for all her grief was so close, yet impossibility out of grasp. What a joke!

"We'll get through this, okay," Hope said, giving Ume's arm a tight squeeze.

"Thanks," Ume said, giving her partner a tight hug. She didn't know if she'd kept her sanity without her dear partner.

"What do you mean Miko's here?" Jin yelled from another room. "How the heck did she find us?"

Seina only shrugged. "She went looking for Emiyo, I guess. She just showed up!"

"It must be Nyx!" Jin uttered some very unladylike curses. "Miko must have found her while cleaning. If only partnered fairies weren't impossible to kill! It would have been easier to dispose of her!"

Ume smiled in amusement at Seina's uncomfortable expression when Jin said this. The poor girl had no stomach for this unforgiving war they fought. But, sadly, she'd have to learn differently or die. It was a painful, yet inescapable reality.

The poor girl. But Ume would share the burden, keeping Seina's hands clean of as much blood as possible. She was happy to play the executioner, especially if it meant taking Yuuka's head.

"Seriously, you took some of Emiyo's magic, Colten?" Jin said, listening in amazement as the others explained the crazy happenings of the last few hours. "That's amazing! Impossible!"

"Well, my team is known for doing the impossible!" Colten replied smugly. "Though I still need more training." He said, deflating somewhat.

"Huh," Jin said, lost in thought. Then she pestered Colten about the details of his encounter with the vampires and taking Emiyo's blood. She openly wondered what would have happened if he'd taken more.

"I'm fine the way I am, thanks," Colten replied. "I hated drinking her blood, even if it was only a few drops. It left me weird for a couple of hours. It's not an experience I recommend."

"Still Jin, with Miko here, maybe you could convince her to combine forces against Yuuka," Himari said, her tone hopeful.

Seina's bodyguard made a thoughtful expression. "Would she be open to that?"

"I doubt it," Jin replied, putting the kibosh on such a proposal. "Miko isn't the type to forgive and forget. She'd never turn against Starlight Dream."

"It was worth a shot," Himari said, deflating. Ume wasn't optimistic about a defection, either. Takako and Himari were the exceptions, not the rule of magical girls in Ume's mind.

"We'll just have to handle this ourselves," Seina said. "And..." She froze, eyes wide as a familiar face suddenly appeared in the room. Everyone stumbled as they hastily tried getting to their feet. "How are you? Why?"