Nothing will happen tonight. What was Elisa waiting for? She could be gaining strength. But for now, Erin could do nothing but wait.
She blushed a bit. Staying over at his place? She was way too tired to go around climbing five floors, and somehow she knew that the bag she had brought with her phone just in case she needed had other stuff, it was way too heavy. She had been too worried to notice it earlier, but when she opened it she found her uniform and the contents of her school bag.
"How'd my stuff get here? Well, whatever. I can stay here tonight, then? Thank you, Leon-kun!" She smiled.
"Well... I'm gonna sleep now." She said, curling into a ball and steadying her head on the wall. "Good night." Erin closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

Leon smiled and laid a blanket over her, gently. He closed his window, and for the first time, locked it. "I don't know what you have planned, but I WILL stop you." He whispered to the darkness. Leon began to head to his room when he noticed Erin-Senpai lying uncomfortably on the floor. She was obviously so tired she didn't even care where she fell asleep.

He walked over and gently lifted her up. She's so light, you can forget she's just a girl with all this craziness going on. He moved her to the couch and laid her on it, making sure the cover stayed on her. "Sleep well, Senpai."

He went into his room and lay on his bed, not even bothering to change. he stared at the ceiling for about an hour, thoughts racing through his mind before sleep finally caught up to him as well.

The sunlight gently touched Erin's face, and she opened her eyes slowly, waiting to get used to all that light.
Yawning and stretching out her arms, she sat up and looked around.
"Where am I...?" she wondered out loud, before quickly remembering the events of the night before. She walked up to to the locked window and opened it, looking outside.
She could see herself in the reflection of the other building's window. Her hair was all messy and her eyebags were huge. She laughed at her own look.
"I wonder what time it is?" She asked the passing wind, receiving only a mysterious whisper as an answer.

It's 7AM, I was just about to wake you. Breakfast is on the table and you can use my restroom for all your girly needs. You have about thirty minutes before we need to leave. Leon walked out of the kitchen eating rice out of a bowl and carrying two bentos. "I also made lunch, I'm not great with Japanese food, so I make no promises on the quality."

He was dressed in his school uniform already and his hair had it's usual spikiness. He did not show any signs of the lack of sleep he got the night before, or the amount of stress he was feeling about the impending witch attack. He put his books in his bag as he sat down and started to eat. "You look great, Senpai." He said with a small grin.

"Of course I look great. Girls always look great!" She let out a giggle, heading to the restroom with her bag. About ten minutes, afterwards, she came out, dressed in her uniform and brushing her hair with her translucent blue brush, no longer having any eyebags.
"Well, I'm gonna have to wear my hair loose today. Whoever packed my bags didn't put my trusty hair ribbon." She said sadly, keeping her brush in her bag and looking at her big jumble of wavy hair. She sat down and started eating.
"So, what classes are you gonna have today?" She asked, trying to avoid thinking of the witch and more importantly, her lion's mane.

Leon ate the last of his rice as Senpai came out of the restroom. "I dunno, it's only my second day. I don't even know what classes I had yesterday." He stood up and cleared the table, leaving Senpai's breakfast sitting. "I'm kind of hoping we have PE, it's something I might actually do well in."

He put on his school jacket and grabbed his bag. "You better grab that toast and head out, or we are going to be late, I also figure you don't want people seeing you leave my house." He winked as he headed towards the door. "Oh, Senpai. You should wear your hair down more often, I think it looks good on you."

"Hahaha. Don't you have a schedule around?" She grinned, shoving the whole toast in her mouth. Quick eating was something she was good at.
She got up and put her bag on.
"I wonder what your fangirls would say if they knew I slept over? I doubt that even my legendary status would avoid me getting murdered then!" She headed towards the door.
"Thanks, Leon-kun! I usually braid it because it's tidier, my loose hair usually gets in my face all the time." She sighed, remembering a particular day when it had gotten stuck on everything.

Leon laughed. "I don't think I'd let them murder you Senpai, I'm kind of a fan of wild rumors about me." He grinned as he passed by a shelf near the door. "Oh, this might work." He pulled down a small box of things, and pulled out a green ribbon. "This is my little sisters, she wanted me to hold on to it to remember her by. Why don't you use it?"

He held out the ribbon to Erin-Senpai as he slid on his shoes. "I like your hair down, but wouldn't want people to think something was amiss!"

Erin picked up the green ribbon and carefully braided her hair with it.
"Thanks Leon-kun, this ribbon means a lot to you, right?"
She picked up a small clock, styled in a way that reminded her of the pocket watch that the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland had.
"Where did this clock come from?" She thought, not remembering having seen it ever before.
"Oh, crap, it's 7:30 already! Leon-kun, we gotta go!" She said, looking at the time on the mysterious clock.

Leon noticed the strange clock. Senpai sure has odd taste in accessories. "Are you late for a very important date?" He joked as he closed the door behind them. They walked for a bit in silence before he finally spoke. "Senpai. You've been doing this for a while, have you ever seen a witch revert back to human?"

He knew this was going to be a sore spot for here, but it was needed. "I wonder if we could do it, if we could save everyone." He trailed off and looked at the river flowing below them, it was nice scenery and the water actually looked clean, a nice change of pace for him.

I honestly have no idea where this came from. It's cute, though! She put it back in her bag.
"Well, of course! I have a really important date with my secret boyfriend." She joked and grinned.
They walked in silence until Leon asked her about reverting the seedification process.
"I've never seen so. But if it could be done..." She started, looked at a fish swimming fast in the stream. "It would have some huge drawbacks, most likely." She thought about what it could be.
Sacrificing your soul gem for another magi's? That seems logical... But maybe Incubators don't make it as bad. They want us to become witches for their thermodynamics or whatever. If a magi were to soulificate, they could seedificate again. Wouldn't that be benefitting for them? Unless the energy is used up when they soulificate. It would be logical. Maybe if we cleanse their grief seed? If we can clean a soul gem with a grief seed, maybe the reverse is possible. To clean a grief seed using a soul gem...? It'd be quickly exhausted. Hmm... She thought, forgetting for a moment that she'd share her thoughts with Leon.

Leon blinked, the influx of words was overwhelming him. "Uh, Senpai. I didn't understand any of that...." He smiled at a group of girl who had passed by and waved at him, "Good Morning, Kyrin-san!" They said. What a nice feeling, way better than having to deal with witches, but not nearly as exciting. He suddenly looked into the trees as he noticed a shadow darting in the branches.

A pair of soulless red eyes suddenly turned and stared at him. Be careful Kyrin, she's planning to sacrifice you for her own ends, if you trust her now you are going to regret it. Leon knew full well that only he could here the words, he wondered if the rat was saying something else to Senpai. He stomped his foot down, kicking the edge of a rock and shooting it into the trees. It found it's mark and with a small thump, the rat hit the ground. Get out of here! I don't want anything to do with you! He silently yelled, forgetting that Senpai could hear him too.

"I was just thinking. But now our thoughts are out loud, all of them" She said, noticing an eerie red light standing in a branch.
So the little bastard was there. Seemed like he'd had a good meal, he was licking his paws. Probably just one of his co--
What? Why had Leon-kun just said that, so suddenly? Erin didn't understand.
Eh?! Wh-why?! What did I do? Did I just offend you?! I... I'm sorry, Leon-kun! But please don't be angry at me! Whatever it is I did, please! I don't want to be all alone again, you're my only friend, you know?! I'm sorry if I've just brought you trouble... I'm sorry if you have an extra burden because of me, but... please... She thought, jumbling up everything, yet showing no signs of anything having happened on her outside. She didn't want to catch the attention of others. She didn't even notice it when Leon kicked a rock to scare away Inkyu.

Leon stopped and looked at Erin-Senpai oddly. Uh, what are you talking about Senpai? I can't understand you, you need to slow down and take a deep breath. He pulled her over to a bench and sat her down, smiling. "Calm down;" He said out loud. "Tell me what is going on. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." He gave his best smile, his one sincere smile.

What are YOU talking about?!! You just told me to go away and that you didn't want anything to do with me a moment ago! You've got some guts, just pretending that everything's fine. She got up and started to walk away.
"What did I even do to you?!" She said out loud, giving him an angry look.

Leon blinked several times, his lime green eyes filled with confusion? "What?" He stood up and brushed a couple of leaves off his jacket, the fall was really starting to hit hard. "Senpai...." Suddenly his eyes went wide as realization dawned on him. He threw his head back and started laughing. "Senpai, i wasn't talking to you, I was talking to that rat. He was trying to cause trouble again."

He wiped away the tears of laughter and ran up to her. "How about this, let's skip school today, I'll take you out to a movie and some lunch, my treat!" He smiled at her again, already thinking of all the fun things they could do. He didn't wait for a response and turned off the path, heading into the city proper, dragging her along. "Do you know of any good movies? I'm not even sure what kind of movies play here, it's so different from America." He smiled, already forgetting the near break in their friendship. "Oh, what should we have for lunch? I'm still learning to try proper Japanese cuisine, so I'll let you decide on that, but if we can help it, let's not get any red bean paste, I'm not really a fan." He continued to talk as they walked, trying to push away any of the bad feelings they might have had.

Suddenly Leon was dragging Erin through the path back to the city, saying something about 'skipping school' and 'free lunch and movie'.
How could she ever refuse? After he'd cleared up the misunderstanding, too.
"Sure, let's go! If you don't want to eat Japanese, it's fine, there are some fast food places at the mall that serve pizza and burgers. I heard that an western pasta restaurant had opened too, and I really wanted to go try out!" She grinned happily, she hadn't really felt like going to school today. "As for movies, today is the premiere of one called Kesshou no Namida, and the pre-premiere critiques were great!" Erin said excited. She couldn't go to the movies alone, and her friends weren't really into it, but she was happy that Leon had offered to take her. She was glad she could be friends with another magi again, and all the bitter memories were being replaced by new, happy ones.

The movie was surprisingly good, there were a lot of cultural points that Leon didn't really get, but he knew he would understand one day. He stood outside the theater, allowing the cool wind to blow through his hair, it felt nice to be outside. The theater had been surprisingly empty, but still really hot. He watched the nearly empty street, with the occasional person walking by, most people were at work or school. It was a nice feeling to escape from the day to day sometimes.

"Hey, Senpai, where is this place you wanted to eat? A pasta shop? Why don't you lead the way." He said, just as he felt a strange pulse. Something wasn't right, the feeling was still really weak, but it would grow soon. This had better not interrupt our meal! He thought, being sure to not project his thoughts. "I'm starving, how about you?"

"Phew, it sure was hot in there." Erin said, taking a deep breath of fresh air outside the theater. The movie was awesome, just like she'd read in the critiques. She liked to read reviews and critiques a lot, even though she never took them too seriously, she liked to try stuff out by herself.
The theater was set a higher zone of the city, so they could see a big part of town there. Everyone that came to Mitakihara said it looked very futuristic, but Erin couldn't think of it any different. So white, and pure.
"Oh, the pasta restaurant? It's at the mall" She smiled and pointed to the big glass dome-like shopping mall of Mitakihara, not very far from where they were. She took Leon's hand and dragged him with her, crossing the bridge over the river and heading to the mall. She quickly headed to the restaurant zone, well-lit like the rest of the mall. The walls were mostly glass, so light was in plenty.
They quickly found the pasta restaurant, it was the one with the weirdest name. A white sign with green plantlike decor was set above the entrance of the restaurant. It read Mamma Mia in a fancy font.
"Wow, what a weird name." Erin commented.

Leon snorted and then burst into laughter. "That...." He lost his words in another fit of laughter. "That is the most ridiculous name I've ever seen!" After a moment the fit died down, and he started to head in. "Hopefully the food is good at least!" He stopped suddenly and looked down, the pulse again, closer this time, but no stronger.

He smiled and took Senpai's hand, walking into the restaurant. It was nice, it almost had a fancy feel to it. "Two please, he said to the host." Someone must have misunderstood, though, because they were put in an overly romantic corner with candlelight and quite a bit of privacy. Leon grinned and blushed a bit after the waiter had taken their orders. "Er, I guess this is a date now." He laughed a bit nervously.

Erin blushed, and giggled. "I suppose it is!" She didn't feel the heat in her cheeks dying down, and tried to avoid awkward eye contact by staring down. She noticed the weird cutlery, she'd read about it before. A 'knife' and a 'fork'. She knew their names, but didn't have any idea how to use them.
Hey, Leon-kun, how do you use the cutlery? I've only ever used chopsticks, so I have no idea. She said telepathically, still trying to avoid awkward eye contact.
Looking at her ring to play with it a bit, she noticed a very dead shine. Weird, I wonder what it's reacting to. She thought to herself only. Meh, it's probably nothing big, it's most likely just because Leon-kun's Soul Gem is so close by.

Leon chuckled a little. Now I don't feel so bad about having to learn to use chopsticks. These are actually a little easier to use, you simple stab the fork into something, or you can spin it to attach noodles to it. He demonstrated the techniques, though he was sure he looked foolish. With the knife you cut things, just like when cooking, it can also be used to spread butter or jam and such. He started to show her this, but stopped, the knife hanging in mid air, as he looked around the restaurant.

His heart was beating at a million miles per hour, something was about to happen, now. Here. He stood up suddenly as he noticed the others in the area acting strange. "Senpai. We have a witch." A woman stumbled by, mumbling about how miserable her life was and heading towards the open doors. "No! We can't let them leave!" Leon rushed to the doors and slammed them shut, blocking the path and standing in front of it. "Senpai! What do we do?"

Erin clumsily got up, almost tripping in herself in the process, and held the woman back, inspecting her neck.
"Damn it, it's Elisa's witch kiss mark." She recognized it instantly. Erin had drawn that mark over and over and over, countless times. It had been burnt into her mind. She sat the woman down, and blocked her path. "It's the witch that my friend became."
Oh god, oh god, oh god. I don't know if I can do this... I can't kill her again. Leon-kun, I can't do this again. She bit her tongue strongly, and her nervous stomach ache returned. She felt like she was about to take a very important exam, but just about a thousand times worse.
I don't know what to do, damn. I don't know what to do! She said, desperately. If she killed Elisa once again, her counsciouness would demand that she destroy the seed. And then, there'd be no more hope to revive Koyuki.
Erin was confused, feeling sick and dizzy. She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Erin!" Leon yelled, ignoring the door and running towards her. That's when reality began to distort. He looked over towards the window, just in time to see Inkyu vanish into the day. A bright flash appeared and suddenly a gate was in front of him. The world twisted, distorting everything. The normal look of the world was replaced with one twisted and dark. A strange siren's song began to play and he knew that it was too late, this restaurant was the Witch's maze.

He stopped just in time as a wall formed between him and Erin-Senpai. Senpai! Are you ok? I'll come find you! Please hang on! I promise I'll find you! He started dashing down the hall, a few familiars tried to get in his way, but he disposed of them with a few quick punches. His anger at failing to protect people, at ignoring his feeling gave him strength, he did not even need to transform to deal with these small fries. It helped that they had Inkyu's head and a good part of his rage was directed at that rat.

The maze was strange, it was soft...almost comfortable, the floors and walls seemed to be made of pillows. If it had not been for the strange song in the background and the strange noises coming from the familiars, he might actually like it here.

Erin curled up and sat in a pillow. She didn't want to move, she didn't know what to do. She just sat there quietly for a few minutes, until a familiar approached her. She'd just have ran away somewhere else, but... the damn thing looked just like Inkyu! Losing all grasp on her rage, Erin transformed and tore through the thing with her spear.
Please don't kill the witch, Leon-kun... I will soulify her, I must save her...! She said, desperately trying to talk to him, while killing every familiar she could see.
An eerie song came from the end of the maze, and there were a lot of shoes spread around. All different.
A long wall was placed between her and Leon-kun. Do you think we can break this wall? She asked him, while destroying a few familiars.

Leon kicked a familiar into the wall, shattering it like porcelain. I don't know, we can try! He released his ring, catching the soul gem as it floated into the air. He released it and allowed the transformation to take him. His school uniform was replaced with baggy lime green pants and a white tank top, a lime green trench coat covered his body and wrapped around him, as weights appeared on his arms and legs and a strange gauntlet formed on his hand, with his soul gem attached to it.

Senpai! I can sense you, you are just on the other side of the wall from me. Strik on the count of three! One....Two.... He gathered a lot of magical energy in the palm of his hand and slid back for extra movement. ...Three! He struck the wall right in the center, releasing a load of magical energy into it, as a bit of darkness crept into his soul gem.

Erin took a few steps backwards, and prepared for an impact with her spear, waiting for Leon to count up to three.
This won't hurt you will, will it? she thought, barely audible.
At three, she unleashed her full force attack, along with Leon's. Aiming at the center, she hit it with an unbelievable strength, corrupting her gem more than she'd like.
The wall cracked and shattered. She lost her balance and fell through the hole, and the wall regrew as she passed it by.
Leon-kun? She looked around, but couldn't see him. She couldn't see anything. Everything seemed dark and dangerous, pillows were no longer covering the walls and floor. Eyes glowed in the darkness- Elisa's familiars were back. Erin held her spear and swung it, but when she thrusted it forward she tripped and fell on the floor. There was nothing for her to hit there. The eyes reappeared behind her, and laughed.

Leon's fist slammed into the wall with incredible force, it reverberated and shook and then....nothing. Nothing at all happened. The wall was still there, and not even a sign of the damage shown. "What?" Senpai, what happened on your end? Senpai? Senpai! He got no response, worried now he started running down the hall, he was dispatching familiars before the could even fully materialize.

He stopped outside a large gate that looked to be made of steel, on the other side of it a strange, but familiar garden shown. "Wait....where am I?" He stepped through the gate and into the garden, where a large witch sat, her head looked like a rose bush and she was gigantic. "You again. I already killed you once! Where is she? Where is Erin!"

He jumped up, intent on smashing this witch in an instant. He slammed hard into an invisible barrier, knocking him to the ground, she was tough, a lot stronger then before. "I don't know what changed about you, but I'm not going to let you stop me from getting to her, Gertrud!" The power began to flow into him from his soul gem, he was not going to hold back. He would end this with one attack and save Senpai. He would not lose another!

Erin couldn't hear Leon anymore. She couldn't hear anything besides the familiars' laugh, and couldn't see anything besides their eyes glowing in the darkness. They only laughed at her, but her anxious mind heard only insults.
Look at that poor excuse for a girl.
Yes, a poor failure.
She never suceeds at anything.
No, she always needs help.
And her friends die because of her.
Yes, she kills them all.
I bet she doesn't even care!
No, she can only think of herself!
And then they laughed, hysterically, at the poor excuse for a girl walking through the dark.
Erin's breathing and steps were heavy. She walked for what felt hours, until suddenly a faded orange light appeared in the distance, seemingly walking towards her. As Erin walked, the light approached more and more until she could see it clearly. It was someone holding a paper lantern. A girl with orange hair styled strangely. She was wearing a provoking outfit. It had a huge cleavage and the skirt was way too short.
Strange, I feel like I know this girl. Erin thought, heavily stepping towards her.
"Erin. Come with me." The girl's sweet voice echoed out. "I can save you." She held out her hand.
Right. This is Koyuki... She's alive. Should I feel something? She says she can save me. I want to go with her... Erin thought, reaching out for Koyuki's hand.
Koyuki's smile turned evil and twisted. She took out her gun...
...and three shots echoed in the darkness.

Leon slammed into the wall, hard. His attack had failed, not due to weakness but because he felt something. Something was very wrong. "Senpai..." He said as he stood up, his body aching, but healing itself quickly. He jumped back as another attack by the witch slammed into the ground near him. He thought he was safe, but scissors came out of the walls and cut into his body, actually removing one of his arms.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!" He yelled out as he hit the ground. Blood dripped from his wound, even as it was already beginning to reform an arm. He looked at his other hand, the soul gem was not doing well, it was quickly becoming clouded. "I don't have time for this." Leon said, as he jumped again. He crashed into the witch's shield again and again; "Give me back Senpai! I won't let you take her, I won't!"

He hit the ground, as memories of his past flooded into his mind...Janet....

Erin moved so that the shots wouldn't hit her soul gem, but it still took a toll on her. Regaining some of her reasoning, she ripped the illusion Koyuki in two. Her hysterical laugh echoed as the lantern fell to the ground, lighting the tunnel on fire. It was quickly spreading.
"Crap!! I got to get out of here!" She ran through the tunnel, the fire chasing her.
Leon-kun! Where are you?! Leon-kun!! Please tell me you're okay! She thought, desperate to reach him as she ran. Following a random path in the dark tunnel, she eventually came to a dead end. The things she'd seen before might've been the witch playing mind tricks on her, but this fire was no illusion. Erin could feel the unbearable heat as the dancing flames approached her.
Using a desperate move, she hit the wall with her spear.
It disintegrated, extinguishing the flames and leaving her in a well-lit room.
She closed her eyes, hurt by the sudden light.

Leon was 10 years old again, he was standing outside the house where his friend Janet lived. He was going to go over and help her with her math homework, he had always been good at math. He knocked on the door, but got no response. That was strange, he knew she was home, her dad's car was parked outside. "Janet?" He knocked again.

The door creaked open a bit, it was not locked. Leon stepped into the darkness, no lights were on and the sun was already setting. "What?" Something smelled...off.....like iron. He only heard one noise, it sounded as though someone had left a faucet dripping slowly. He stepped into the darkness, following the sound. It was not from the kitchen as he had expected but from the living room. He walked into the living room and froze, his eyes widen at the sight.

The setting sun cast a reddish glow on the horrifying scene before him. Janet and her family had been strung up like meat, their skin removed and tossed aside, the dripping sound had been their blood collecting on the floor. He did not know what to do, he could not think, he lost all his knowledge, who was he? Where was he? What was this?

In reality, Leon collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and rocking back and forth, as Gertrud approached him, ready for the kill. Leon did not seem to notice her presence, nor that Erin-Senpai had shown up, he knew nothing now, except darkness.

Erin was absolutely horrified at the thought Leon had projected. "Leon-kun..." She bit her lip. She looked ahead, at what was attacking Leon. It was a simple Anthony, doing its silly dance while shaking its scissors, in an empty threat. She took out her spear and launched forward, pinning him to the wall. Its defense was rock hard, a lot more than the one of a simple Anthony. However, it was still weak. After a few hits, it disappeared into dark dust, leaving a mustache on the ground.
I wonder if he was seeing an illusion... Erin wondered, running back to Leon.
"Leon-kun, wake up." She said, shaking him to try to pull him off that state of trauma. He wouldn't respond "Leon, talk to me damnit!" She screamed, losing to rage. She shook him furiously, yelling out his name as loud as she could.

The attack hit Leon, hard, but the witch did not let go, she grabbed him and shook him, shouting out his name. He could not move, he did not want to move, he wanted to save Janet, but it was too late, he was too weak. If he had a way of knowing she was in danger, maybe he could have saved her.

That's when he first saw the creature, a small black, rat like creature stood in the window. "Who are you?" He asked. The creature stared at him with it's soulless multi-colored eyes. I'm a friend, Leon. I'll be able to help you one day, don't forget me. It had spoken to him and then was suddenly gone. What was that thing? He came to his senses a little and realized the voice calling him could not be the witch. Witches do not speak, he knew this, but something was keeping him from accepting it as truth.

"Erin....Senpai...." He spoke, his eyes taking on just a little bit of focus.

"Leon!!" Erin yelled. She stopped shaking him, it obviously wasn't helping.
His eyes were starting to refocus.
"Please, Leon, talk to me... It's okay, I'm here and everything's okay... Nothing's going to hurt you... Talk to me, please... You can't lose, Leon! You can't lose to the grief!" Her eyes filled with tears as she held his hand.
Inkyu's... He... Erin thought to herself only, filled by a blind anger towards the little beast. Could he have had a hand in the murder of Leon's friend, Janet, and her family?

Leon's eyes focused a bit more, someone was in front of him, someone important. "Janet! You're alive? How?" He grabbed her and hugged her close. "Janet! I'm sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I was too weak, you had to suffer because I wasn't strong enough!" He collapsed, the last of his energy leaving him, his breathing slowed and calmed down. The worst of it was over, at least for him. They were still trapped in the maze and had a witch to hunt down.

Erin stared at the collapsed Leon. His soul gem wasn't looking good, but he'd make it. Erin looked around the rose garden, now empty. It was full of light, so peaceful and bright. She could just lie down and sleep, endlessly... worry-free...
Her eyes snapped open. She was lying on the ground and vines were surrounding her body. She got up and stepped on them. She wasn't going to let Elisa play mind tricks on her, not this time.
Using magic, she took Leon floating along with her. It'd corrupt her gem more quickly, but it was fine, she knew it was.
Erin walked through a deserted hallway. No familiars in sight. It was empty. The pillows had returned, but most of them were ripped and emptied. Broken shoes were everywhere, and no two were similar.
Erin kept walking, silent, with a floating Leon behind her.
Eventually she reached a point where there were no pillows anymore. The hallway was narrow, but higher than Erin could possibly see. Everything was white and clean, with the exception of a few phrases in runespeak, written on the wall.
They spoke of a lost shoe. A lucid part of Erin told her that it was important and she should remember it.
And the end of the hallway was a single door. Erin opened it, and was immediatly pulled into a vortex, sucked into some sort of quicksand.
She fell through to the witch's room, Leon still being carried by her.
Elisa wasn't changed at all. A humanoid figure with sharp bladed hair and unnaturally long arms. Her right foot was bare, but she was wearing a bright orange heeled boot on the left.
Erin rolled to skip one of her hits and hit the wall by mistake.
Ouch. She thought. That hurt. Huh? What's this? She picked something from the ground. There's a grief seed here. She spun the seed, examining it. It was Gertrud's.
Erin returned to her normal outfit and cleansed her gem. She walked directly in front of Elisa, keeping a little distance. She held out her gem in front of the witch, and her gem began absorbing the grief...

Leon finally started to come too, he looked up to see a strange witch bearing down on Erin-Senpai. What? Why is she just standing there. He stood up, slowly, he was dizzy, too dizzy. He put his hand on the wall and tried to balance on this strange floor. He looked up again and noticed Erin-Senpai holding out her soul stone to the witch. What are you doing, Senpai? The words would not come out, he did not have the strength to project either.

The corruption of the witch started to flow into the soul gem, filling it, far faster than it should have. Something was happening, the witch was changing, she was shrinking down to normal size. Something wasn't right though, it wasn't happening fast enough. Erin's soul gem was over half full of corruption already. Senpai! Stop! You can't handle that! Again his voice would not come out. He moved forward, moving towards Erin, who was oblivious. She was completely focused on saving this witch.

The soul gem was nearly full now, but the transformation wasn't undone. The grief and corruption this witch had suffered was more then a single soul gem could handle. His heart ached, he knew what he had to do. He jumped forward, breaking his transformation and knocking Erin-Senpai out of the way. He held out his soul gem, which was already over half full and continued to take on the corruption. He saw horrible things as he did, all the pain the witch had inflicted, all the suffering she would go through. He saw it all, he lived it all, but he stayed on course. Suddenly the witch collapsed to the ground, but she was not a witch anymore, she was a young girl with orange hair. He smiled at her and looked over at Erin-Senpai. "Sorry.....Senpai." he said as he collapsed to the ground, his soul gem flashing dangerously with corruption.

The maze melted away as Leon collapsed on the ground, his soul gem full of darkness.
"NOOO!" Erin let out an eerie, high-pitched scream, as she got up unsteadily and walked as fast as she could towards the collapsed boy.
"Leon-kun, look at me. I won't let you die, you hear? It's going to be okay, you're going to be alright!" She cried out, confused and not knowing what to do. She had exhausted Gertrud's seed already, in a selfish act. Leon's eyes were beginning to lose shine.
"N-no! Leon! Wake up! Don't die, please don't die! Damnit! Is there nothing I can do?" She sobbed, pulling off her hairs. The people in the restaurant had their eyes glued to the kids, but nobody dared to move.

The orange-haired girl got up. In front of her was a friend she thought she'd never consciously see again, crying over the boy who had just saved her witch form.
A thought came in a flurry from Erin's mind. What an idiot, Leon. Being a hero just got you killed in the end. Being a hero? She didn't know what that was about, and she didn't have the time to find out, but she had to do something to help him. He'd saved her, after all.

Koyuki got up and gave something to Erin. All she said was "Hurry".
In Erin's hand was a grief seed.
Desperately, she placed it next to Leon's gem.
Please, cleanse. Please!

Leon did not stir, the darkness was enveloping him quickly. The last thing he saw before darkness overwhelmed him was Erin-Senpai, crying over him. I made her cry, I swear that I promised I wouldn't do that. Stupid, Leon. Real stupid. The darkness took over him, he felt soul wrenching pain as the corruption spread. He could see colors, strange colors and shapes. Where was he? The world took on a strange hue, multiple colors, textures that should not exist in the real world.

He began to hear noises, the crying of young girls. Why were they crying? Who had made them sad? He would kill them! He would kill everyone, he would stop the sadness! The rage began to overtake him, he felt his body shift, a new, more powerful form. He would change, he would kill them all!

A shock rocked his world. White light encompassed him, and he began to see the face of Erin-Senpai. She was leaning over him, crying. She was holding a grief seed to his soul gem, and had drawn out the corruption. Something was off, he was still seeing the strange colors out of one of his eyes. The eye itself was colored like the void, stars and strange colors swirled in it. The grief seed began to fluctuate with the corruption of his soul gem.

Suddenly the grief seed exploded, shattering to a thousand pieces. He looked up and smiled at Erin-Senpai and the other girl leaning over him. "A hero never loses." He said, and sat up. He looked around the restaurant at all the people staring at them, many began to whisper about the state of his eye. "Uh....what's going on?"

"Leon-kun... you're alive..." Erin opened her eyes widely and her eyes were filled with tears once more, but this time tears if joy. She smiled warmly and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so sorry, Leon-kun. This all happened because of my selfishness..." She apologized, still not paying any attention to the other people in the restaurant.

Koyuki got up, thinking it'd be best to give the little couple some privacy. She'd take care of the people in the restaurant.
Slowly, she focused, working with her rusty mind to alter their reality. What would she change it to? Hmm. A quick scan of Erin's most recent memories gave her the answer.
The director said "Cut!" and the cameramen came out from hiding.
The two kids let go of each other and got up, chatting casually.
Koyuki went and explained to the people that they were filming a magical girl movie, and that they had been unhappy with the studio results, so they'd chosen a random day to film at that resraurant.
Grinning, happy with that choice, she began to alter the reality of those people, and soon all customers had left and the cooks and waitresses were back to work, oblivious of what had truly happened.
Koyuki returned to the last normal outfit she'd worn, some shorts and a violet top. She looked at the egg-shaped soul gem in her hand. The spades symbol shone as the insignia on top of it.

Leon held onto Erin a bit, allowing her to calm down. "It's fine Senpai, I'm fine." He blinked a few times, trying to clean out the strange voidlike vision that clouded his sight. "I think I need an eye patch, I can be a pirate." He laughed slightly, though the vision was very disturbing to him. He stood up and looked down at his soul gem, it was purified, though something seemed changed about it. It was probably the void-like streak that followed the spiral's path. I wonder what that means?

Erin let go of him and looked at his strange eye and soul gem.
"Well... You just escaped becoming Witch (Wizard?) very narrowly... It probably had some effect on you?" She turned her face to look at his eye from different angles. It sure had some funny colors!
"I have no idea what it's supposed to do, though." She said, just as she was violently grabbed from behind.

"Eri!!" Koyuki spun, taking ahold of Erin.
"You saved me, gurl! You and your magi friend whom I haven't met yet!" She said, stopping because she was getting seriously dizzy.
She let go of Erin and knelt down near Leon, shaking his hand.
"Hi there, I'm Koyuki. Thank you for putting yourself on the line like that to save me!" She said with a wide smile. "Being a witch is so boring, you know! You can never do what you want, never leaving your barrier's central room." She stopped shaking his hand and got up.

"Ouch, my HEAD. I'm so dizzy..." Erin said, walking around with very little balance. She shook her head and regained a bit of clear sight.
"Well, we should probably go. I think we'll attract too many attentions by staying here." She said, scratching her head.

Leon smiled, this girl was cute, not quite as cute as Erin-Senpai, but not bad. "I'm Leon Kyrin, what was your name again?" He stood up and steadied himself. "We can go to my house and sort this out, there is a lot to process." He started to walk towards the door and stumbled, slamming into the ground pretty hard. "Ouch...I'm okay, I'm sure." He pushed himself up and stood up again, looking back at the girls with a quick grin.

"Koyuki. My name is Koyuki Hasegawa." She said, giving Leon a doubtful look. "Are you sure you're okay? That fall was pretty bad."
She walked to the door and opened it.
Inspecting the surroundings, she realized her location.
The mall, huh? I don't recognize this restaurant, though, it must be new. She left the door open for the two kids and looked around. The mall was just the same, and so was the city she could see through the glass windows.
"We can go to my place." She said without looking away from the windows. "I have my Witches Wall!" Koyuki was eager and excited.

"Right. The Witches Wall! Being at Koyuki's actually has a lot of benefits, her house is equipped to simplify witch hunting." Erin said, dragging Leon through the door. "I'm okay with anywhere really, as long as it's not my house." She said shrugging.
Showing up with a boy AND a dead/missing friend would be just breaking the limits.

Leon shrugged, rubbing his eyes. He wasn't tired, but the distortion of his right eye was throwing him off. He reached down and tore a strip off his school undershirt. He then tied the band around his head, covering his right eye. "That should help." He started walking, following Koyuki to her house. "So, Koyuki-Senpai, what is so special about your house? Do you think it will still be normal?" He stopped talking, understanding how hard it would be for her to think about what it was like as a witch, and how much time she had missed.

"Normal? Most likely dirty. How long has it been, like, two years or something? My house is probably still well, but really dirty and dusty. I hope my shoes are okay..." Koyuki showed no signs of sadness or hardship on talking about the time she'd missed as a witch, but she had always been good at hiding her feelings. She stopped at apartment 16 on the third floor of an apartment building and fished a key out of her pocket, opening the door.
She turned the lights on, showing exactly what she had predicted. The house wasn't in a bad shape, but it was dirty, really dirty.
Large spider webs were made at almost every corner, and in most there was also a large spider.
A thick layer of dust covered everything, showing little signs of their original color. Koyuki slid her foot across the dirty floor, removing the dust and revealing a shiny floor.
"Hmm. It's pretty bad, isn't it? I can take care of this, though!" She pushed the kids into a room that had its door labeled 'Witches Wall' in runespeak.

Erin opened the door quickly, eager to escape the dirty house. Inside was all darkness. Searching around the wall inside, the turned a switch on, opening the glass windows and filling the room with light.
It was in a surprisingly pristine state when compared to the rest of the house. The walls were white, and so was the floor, a fluffy carpet. In the center of the glass wall was a floating board, turned off, and ten egg chairs were facing it.

Leon grinned, really really wide, he turned to Koyuki, his exposed eye wide with delight. "You, have a secret base?!" He walked around the room examining everything, touching it all. "Which part calls us out when there is danger? Where do we find our costumes? Have we decided on a team name yet? Why didn't we know about this before? Can only you open it? This place is amazing!" He continued to ramble on, making less and less sense as he got more and more excited.

Erin laughed.
"It's not that sort of secret base! It's basically just for deciding strategy with witches, especially powerful ones or ones we can predict when they'll appear."
She sat on an egg chair and it switched from its greyish color to a light jade, the same hue as Erin's gem, and shining letters appeared on the back of it, saying Erin Konohaki.
"Oh, damn. I love these chairs! Love 'em!" She spun it around excited. Years had passed since she'd sat in one of those for the last time. They felt soft and comfortable, perfect for boring strategy meetings.

"Come on, Eri! You're gonna break it one of these days." Koyuki entered the room, brushing away a web from her hair. "At least this room is clean." She looked around. She'd changed into her school uniform, that was a little bit tight now. After all, two years had passed.
She ran up to the floating board and turned it on. It showed "WITCHES WALL" for a few seconds before changing to a map of Mitakihara. It had some outdated text on it, that Koyuki quickly erased. "Now, what do we need to discuss about?" She asked, sitting on a chair, that turned orange and read Koyuki Hasegawa.

Leon sat down in his chair and waited for the transformation to happen with the same glee that a child waits for presents. Something wasn't right, the transformation didn't happen quite right. It said his name just fine in the neat lime color, but below it in runespeak was another name, it's color the same as his eye. Travis.

Leon stood up quickly, looking at the name, which vanished as he stood. "What was that? What happened there? Who is Travis?" He back up into the wall, his eye wide with concern. "I don't know what to do, what happened to me?" He slid down the wall, covering his face with his hand.