Though without Emiri, the Musketeers trudge their way up the hill where they once met to play. In the intervening years, it seems another child took a nasty fall on this hill, so now fences and warning signs litter the area. 

A few saplings now grow in the clearing where they used to meet. To the now-adult Musketeers, it seems much smaller than it was back then. 

Yuzuki: (She sighs, speaking quietly) This is the spot, right? Just gotta wait for her— it— to arrive. I barely recognize the place… 

Toi: I… do. I guess we were a bit older too, back then. I definitely recall this weird tree with the crooked branches. Looks like something straight out of a gothic horror movie…

Anisa: … Why exactly were we convinced this Incubator would show up again here?

Toi: Because… Well, that little lady Mitsunaga did explain, right? But… I think I’ve forgotten.

Yuzuki: ‘Cuz she’s totally obsessed with this life we used to have, that’s why. You’re the one she wants anyway, Anisa. 

Anisa: For what, even? I… I still don’t get it. She wants to take my place, but she also blames me for ruining our friendship, so… Does she think she can go back in time and undo the things I’ve done?

Toi: Undo you moving away? Listen, I know it’s not for lack of trying, but your whole escapade as a Malefica has in se nothing to do with the Three Musketeers game this Incubator’s obsessed with. Those glory days Ikana is trying to relive ended because your parents took you away from us. The only thing your wish did was prevent a happy reunion.

Yuzuki: Yeah, well, moving away is something that’d be a lot easier to fix. (She pulls her katana slightly out of its sheathe, checking that it’s there) I’ll take care of the fighting. If she’s carrying the conduit thing on her, that’ll be fine, but if she’s put it down somewhere you guys are gonna have to find it. 

Toi: Gonna make a well-educated guess here and say that if so, she’s probably buried it in the exact spot where we found it years ago. Nostalgia’s one hell of a drug…

Anisa: My memories of that time are fuzzy… Must be a side effect of my generous donation to Miss Segawa’s Library.

Yuzuki: I dunno if I could even find it again, the place has changed so much. I remember it was among some tree roots by the creek, but… 

Toi: We’re gonna have to make do with what we have. Finding a lost conduit seems like less of a hassle than whatever you’re about to face, Yuzu…

Yuzuki: (With a heavy sigh) I guess I always figured it’d come to this with her. I’m just glad she’s out so it’s happening on the outside and not on the inside. 

Anisa: … Good luck. I believe in you.

Distant footsteps in the leaf litter silence all three Musketeers. As they approach, it becomes clear it is no animal or trick of the wind. Steady, plodding footsteps ascend the hill towards the clearing where they are all gathered. 

Another Yuzuki enters the clearing, her head hung low. She looks up at the other Musketeers. Her appearance rapidly cycles between Yuzuki’s, Anisa’s, Toi’s, and Emiri’s, flickering like television static. Since everyone else is here, she settles on Emiri. 

Ikana: So we’re finally all here again… after all this time… 

Toi: (she scoffs) So you tell yourself. But I’ll have you know, Emiri is much happier where she is right now… far away from this godforsaken town where the past refuses to let go of you.

Ikana: The past… that’s right. Everything we need is right here. (She repeats a line from their Musketeer days) This hill, the closest spot to the stars! 

Yuzuki: (Readying her blade, she hisses to the others behind her) You two go see if she hid that conduit, I’ll take care of her here! 

Anisa: (she sighs, urging Toi to take a step back as well) … And here I thought Incubators prided themselves on how rational they all are.

Toi: Take care, okay? (after these last words, Toi and Anisa turn away and run)

Ikana: (Quietly, she watches them go. Then she turns to Yuzuki with a grin) So it’s just Yuzu in my way. Like always, huh?

Yuzuki: That’s enough. I put up with you in my head for five years and I’m done. 

Ikana: What are you stopping me for? If I take Anisa’s place, isn’t that better for everyone?

Yuzuki: I’m not so sure anymore.

Ikana: What? Me, worse than Anisa? Be serious. (A katana, matching Yuzu’s, grows out of her hand, fused to her palm) It was so frustrating, being you for so long… you’re a Musketeer like any of us, so I’m not gonna kill ya, but I will have the host I’ve always wanted! (She charges forward, slashing downward at Yuzuki)

Yuzuki steps out of the way quickly, with a slash to Ikana’s middle in return. To her surprise, Ikana reacts instantly to block the strike. With this, Ikana goes on the offensive, practically chasing Yuzuki around the clearing with a mad flurry of strikes, yet unable to land a single clean hit. In contrast, Yuzuki is more defensive, taking her opportunities when they present themselves, each one narrowly, seemingly impossibly blocked in the nick of time. 

Every attack either girl attempts, the other dodges or matches it with an almost rehearsed grace. 

Yuzuki: You–

Ikana: Don’t say it! Did you forget, Yuzu? Every training session we ever did, I was there! Every swing of the sword, every stupid samurai pull-up on that tree branch at Shizuko’s shrine, I was there! How can you defeat me with skills that are mine!? 

Yuzuki: (Gritting her teeth in anger) It wasn’t you there, it was me! 

Ikana: (Simultaneously) It was me! 

Yuzuki prepares one of her air pressure grenades, shrinking one of her bubble force fields down to a tiny size. Leaping backwards, she tosses it at Ikana and lets go. The wave of air pressure blows Ikana’s left side apart and sends her to the ground. With half a face, Ikana looks up at Yuzuki with defiant rage. White, gooey protoplasm swirls in her missing parts, restoring her body in seconds. 

Ikana: Now you’ve done it, Yuzu! (She raises her hand, trying to do the same and conjure a force field. She cannot. Her dawning realization hardens into anger again. She flings her katana at Yuzuki) 

Yuzuki: (Despite her effort to block it, the thrown katana catches her on the shoulder. The blade doesn’t even cut her, skipping off her skin like it’s tough rubber.) 

Ikana: Always built like a tank, with that power of yours. Tch! 

Ikana scrambles to her feet, a fresh blade in her hand. But, at the same time, both are aware, neither has any way of winning this fight…

Watching the brawl from a distance, Toi briefly taps the shoulder of her hunched down friend, searching the kudzu and weeds covering the roots of a large tree.

Toi: Yuzuki’s in trouble. The incubator knows how to love exactly like she does—

Anisa: All the more reason to find this damn thing. (with a sigh, she stands up, kicking up some fallen leaves in frustration) Come on! We used to know this place like the back of our hands—

Toi: (turning to face Anisa, her gaze instead turns to the distance, as if being hit by a sudden familiar view) Hold on. Maybe we still do.

Anisa: What do you—

Toi: Look. (she points at a small tree not too far away from the two of them, its branches fanning relatively closely to the ground)

Anisa: I’m not gonna climb a tree to get a better view, Kanamin. Last thing we need is for someone to break some—(she eyes widen) Shit.

Without a word, the two dart towards the tree and start digging through the undergrowth. They remember the exact spot, as if they have never forgotten.

Toi: (she scoffs) History repeats itself. Hope we’re not gonna have to carry Yuzu home this time as well.

Anisa: Shush. Don’t ruin one of the few memories I don’t have to be ashamed of. 

Toi: Wanna add one to that list, then? (she grins, holding up the conduit, covered in dirt, but still shimmering with an otherworldly gleam)

Anisa: Better make it quick. (she stands out, pulling out the gun Yui lent her while Toi carefully puts the conduit back on the ground, taking a few steps back as Anisa loads and aims the weapon directly at the alien object)

In the clearing, the fight has continued, both girls exhausted and out of breath. As the fight wore on, fatigue and differences in their personalities made openings for each to strike. However, Ikana failed to hit hard enough to seriously injure Yuzuki, and any blow Yuzuki landed was shortly mended. 

At the moment of the conduit’s destruction, Ikana was on the offensive. She stops uncharacteristically, clutching at her chest, her eyes wide in shock. 

Ikana: What!? No! Not like this… 

Yuzuki: …!   

Knowing Toi and Anisa must have succeeded, she takes a bold strike at Ikana’s blade arm, slicing straight through the increasingly fragile protoplasm. Ikana gasps, in shock more than pain. She clings to the pure white stump. The arm doesn’t regenerate. 

Ikana: Yuzu, you worthless…! If only it was Anisa who had our treasure the day she left! Then I’d be… I’d have everything in the world! 

Yuzuki: (With a grimace, she stabs right through Ikana’s chest)

Ikana: (Though she gasps, the wound doesn’t cripple her as much as it ought to) Now… now you summon up the nerve to fight!? After five years of slinking around like a coward, and I had to be there for every minute of it! 

Yuzuki: That’s enough! I’m sick of worrying about you, day in and day out! You never hesitated to try and replace me. I’m not going to hold back either! 

Ikana: Killing me isn’t gonna fix anything, Yuzu… you’re still going to be you! 

Yuzuki: (More quietly) Yeah, I’ll bet not. Ever since my first hunt went so badly, I’ve been afraid of getting hurt again. Even though I have every power in the world to keep me safe. I haven’t had a real injury in years. It’s… 

Ikana: (She takes a sudden swing at Yuzuki with her remaining arm, clumsy and without even a weapon)

Yuzuki: (She catches Ikana’s arm with her hand) It’s so stupid that I still think about getting hurt, every day! And the whole time there’s even worse going on, like when we lost people to those Balancers, or when we— we lost Toi to Anisa! 

Ikana: (She screws up her face, struggling to push against Yuzuki. Tears of rage spring to her eyes) Oh, shut up about what “we” lost…! What were you ever gonna do about it, even if you were there! You’re not gonna jump in front of a car to save her!

Yuzuki: I will, now! 

Ikana: Oh, yeah? Then do it! (They wrestle back and forth, Yuzuki eventually pulling her katana free from Ikana’s chest) I… am… never gonna leave them with you who can’t do a thing! 

Yuzuki: (She raises her sword, ready to strike)

Ikana: You can’t do it. Come on, let’s see you try! DO IT! 

Yuzuki swings with all her strength, striking Ikana’s head from her shoulders. It hits the ground, dissolving into hissing, bubbling goo. Ikana’s body crumples to the ground, melting. A faint glow emanates from within. Although she can’t speak anymore, Ikana is still alive. With a deep breath, Yuzuki raises her sword and plunges it again into the light, and it is extinguished. What little remains seeps into the soil, and the forest is quiet. 

Some time later, Yuzuki exhales, realizing she had been holding her breath. She bends over, hands on her knees to recover. Not a scratch on her, as always. She was sure that wasn’t going to stop her from worrying about her next fight, or any after that. But it was time to start ignoring that little voice, however she could. She still had things she didn’t want to lose.

Her Puella form shimmers and glows. Yuzuki stands up. Her mask, so heavy on her face, grows light and disappears. Her dark hooded coat remodels itself into a shining breastplate and a flowing white cape. Her katana gently drops out of her hand, replaced with a white-gold knight’s sword and a matching shield on her other arm. 

Melati enters the clearing, nodding.

Melati: Well, congratulations on that victory. 

Yuzuki: Were you over there the whole time?

Melati: No, I didn’t want to approach and have that Incubator flee into hiding again. 

Yuzuki: Uh, is this…? (She hesitates to ask, aware that Melati may not react positively)

Melati: No, it’s not Magia. Just the form your power should always have taken, if not for having that thing leeching off of you. 

Yuzuki: Oh… oh. Right. (She slowly slides the sword into its scabbard and puts the shield away on her back, admiring the designs on their surfaces. Blue flames, rendered in azure shades of stained glass. A last reminder of her “other’s” former presence. She scratches her head, finding blue roses woven into her hair) Aw man… 

Melati: Hmm? 

Yuzuki: A straight sword is totally different from a katana. (She picks up her fallen katana from the ground, sliding it into her belt) This new sword’s so long, too. I’m gonna have to totally relearn. 

Melati: Heh. If you can worry about that, I guess you must be fine. (She waves her hand towards the darkened forest) I think your friends will be waiting for you. 

Yuzuki: Yeah… yeah. (She stops a few feet down the hill) Well. Thanks for all this. 

Melati: The conduit’s been destroyed and the rogue Incubator, too. Maybe now I can get back to the job I came here to do. 

Yuzuki doesn’t answer. After all, the job she came here for might have to do with her friends. She gives a two fingered salute, and turns down the hill. Now that she was looking, this was the same way they took down the hill to go to Toi’s house. It would be nice to go this way again. Yuzuki set off, trotting down the hill. Toi and Anisa would be heading up to meet her, too. Yuzuki hopped over a log, feeling like, after everything, she was still young.