Beyto raised his head. He had been curled up in Koyuki's desk. Koyuki-chan, I need to go. My magi call me. He lied, jumping off and running towards the roof. He passed by Erin on his way, but carefully hid from her. She could not know where he was going, he could not risk having her follow him. He silently climbed the stairs and pushed the door with his tiny paws. Leon was standing there.
What is it you need from me? He asked, walking towards Leon.

Leon looked down at the little ball of evil. He sighed and took a deep breath. "You say you want to prevent us from becoming Witches, for some reason. How far are you willing to go to help us? I have a few questions and maybe a favor to ask, if it works out." He turned around and looked out of the school, he could see a few stragglers showing up to the school, had it only been a few minutes since he got here and his entire world had been turned upside down? He turned around and faced Beyto again. " I want to know, since you are a different Incubator, if you can grant a second wish? I cannot think of any other way to solve a problem I created. Is this possible?"

I'm sorry Beyto said. It's impossible. Magi can only contract once. All of your potential is used up when you make your first wish. He walked around Leon. There is no power left to make more. But I can try to do anything at my reach to help you, what is it that bothers you? He climbed to Leon's shoulder. He did not know wether his intentions would be mistaken or not. He sincerely wished to help them, but they seemed to have some hardship in trusting him. But maybe, before you do anything radical, you should let Erin-san and Koyuki-chan know. You don't want to worry them too much, do you? He asked, tilting his hea.

Leon was defeated, before he could even do anything his hope was shattered. He sat down on the bench and looked out over the skyline. "I..." He explained everything had happened with Sakura-chan, leaving out no details. He didn't know why he was being so open with this creature, but he didn't even care anymore. What was the point of hiding this. Somewhere along the line he accidentally removed his mental guard and projected everything he was saying to Erin and Koyuki.

Well, the way I see it, it was not your fault. You were not fully conscious of what you were doing. He said, climbing to the bench. He was sure he'd have felt pity for the boy if he could feel anything. Almost seedifying was surely a rough process, especially when they felt their so-called 'guilt' over the people they had killed.

Erin could hear Leon projecting clearly, from the rooftop. She stood still, listening to everything he was saying. Leon-kun, it wasn't because of you! She screamed mentally as she ran up the roof stairs, trying not to trip on herself. She pushed away the heavy metal door and ran towards Leon and Beyto. "You can't feel guilty because of something like that, it wasn't you doing all of that, you weren't responsible for those deaths!" She yelled at him, and sat down in the bench afterwards. "I just... you can't feel bad because of that... I don't anything to happen to you!"

They are both right, you have nothing to blame yourself for. Koyuki said, still sitting inside the classroom. She was worried, yes, but she didn't want to steal that moment. She kept her mind paying sharp attention to the rooftop, happy that Erin hadn't decided to block out her mind from her.

Leon looked up at Erin, a hard look was in his eyes, but it was not a look of despair, but one of determination. "It was my fault, I cannot deny that, but that does not mean I'll let it destroy me." He took her hands in his. "I have too much to live for, I could never leave. I could never hurt you..." He realized that he was still projecting and this could be very embarrassing to Erin, but he didn't care.

"I screwed up, I was weak and it got a lot of people killed and now even some of their families have to suffer. I will never be able to fully atone for this, but I will do my best. I will find a way to clear up their names and honor their memories. I will find a way." He looked into Erin's eyes, I hope you'll be by my side as I do this Senpai, but I don't want to drag you into anything you don't have to go through."

"Leon-kun..." Erin said and smiled, sitting closer to him. "It's okay. I will go through anything I need if it helps you. I'll never leave your side, I promise." She nodded and got up. "It'll be alright. You won't hurt me, I promise I will not let that happen." She held out a hand to him. "Now, I think we should return. It might be bad if someone finds us here, no? We could get in trouble." She noticed she still had a silly smile on her face, she seemed to be always smiling when she was around Leon.

Koyuki smirked. She loved eavesdropping on others, it was something so bad to do, but really nice. She'd listened to the whole chat between Leon and Erin. Even if Leon hadn't been projecting it- Koyuki wondered wether it was intentional or not- she'd have known, but this made it a lot easier. She began planning out what she could do to get them something fun to do after class, something she couldn't join in for.

Leon nodded, he was actually relieved at the answer. It went against everything he believed in to rely on another person, but some part of him really enjoyed that. "Hey, we should all go out for ice-cream after school, we can include Koyuki-Senpai in this since she missed out on the theme park trip." Something triggered in his mind, something involving Koyuki and the Theme park, but it was gone a moment later, probably nothing important. "Or would you rather be alone?" He said, giving her a grin and a wink.

Erin blushed, she knew exactly what she wanted to say but was a bit embarrased. She got really close to Leon and whispered in his ear. "I would rather go alone with you... Koyu is fine all alone." She grinned, thinking that maybe she'd been a bit selfish, but she knew she was right. Koyuki would probably rather let them go alone than go with them. She'd just stay home doing god-knows-what, like always. And Erin really wanted to go with just Leon. She wanted to become closer to him, he had a lot of fangirls and she didn't intend to lose him to any of them.

Leon blushed a little bit as Erin got really close, what she whispered sent a shiver down his spine and strange thoughts coursing through his mind. He was acutely aware of how close her mouth was to his, how vulnerable she left herself to him. His mouth went dry, and desire almost over took him. This was strange, he had a lot of will power and normally could act cool in all situations, but something was different here. Why did this girl have so much power over him? He had only met her two weeks ago, and he felt this strongly? He couldn't understand it. After a moment he finally regained his composure and overcame his desire. "I think I'd like that." He whispered back, his voice just a little hoarse.

"Yay!" Erin cheered, grinning. "Hey, now we should really go back to class... the teachers might be worrying about us." She said, getting up and taking a few steps towards the door. She looked back at Leon. "Are you coming?" She asked, smiling, and looked at the city. The day was sort of cloudy, and it had rained the whole night- Erin sure hoped it wouldn't rain during the day. That would be terrible, the wet weather always made Erin's hair so frizzy and she always looked like she had a mane.

Leon shook his head. "You go on, I'm supposed to be in the nurses office, I'll probably head there until the end of class." He looked up at the sky. "I think it's going to rain, we probably can't eat lunch out here, and the pity from my fan club will make it hard to eat inside, but if possible let's meet up for lunch." He said standing up. He knew that the Incubator was still there, but he had chosen to ignore it, it was no longer important and despite it listening to him, he was still not really trusting the creature.

Erin's smile faded a bit, she was hoping to spend a little longer with Leon. "Oh... okay. I can always scare them off with my super strength skills..." She said, looking at him. "Well, I should get going now. I'll see you later, Leon-kun!" She waved and walked away, pushing the door. Beyto followed her. When she knew Leon couldn't see her anymore, she sighed. She wanted to walk with him back to her classroom, but instead she was stuck with a weird purple cat. She walked back to her classroom and dedicated herself to her equations again, ignoring Koyuki completely.

Koyuki still sat quietly as she watched Erin enter the classroom. She was clearly sad, and would probably yell at Koyuki if she tried to talk to Erin. "Better leave her alone for now..." She said, doodling something in her notebook. The teacher hadn't arrived, and probably wouldn't for the rest of class. It was weird, but nice at the same time. Koyuki wasn't a big fan of math.

Leon moved down through the school and stepped into the nurses office. "Hello, Sensei, I'm not feeling well, can I lay down for a bit?" The nurse nodded and he slipped into a bed. He stared at the ceiling, thinking about what he could do. He was really happy about everything with Erin and even Koyuki, but did he really deserve to be happy? He caused the death of an innocent, and could do nothing to atone. Would everything be all right for him finding happiness or was this doomed to failure? These thoughts haunted him until he drifted to a troubled sleep.

The bell rang and Koyuki slowly got up, getting all of her things inside her bag. By the time she grabbed it, Erin had already slipped out of the classroom, probably long ago, too. "What the...? Eri?" She looked around, confused. Where had Erin gone? She couldn't see her anywhere. "Oh, come on now, that's taking it too far!" She said, annoyed, and ran out of the classroom. Erin was nowhere in sight, and Koyuki had no idea where she'd gone to. "Ignoring me, now, are we? Huh... That's not fair at all!" She sighed, and walked around, trying to find something to do while Erin was god-knows-where.

Erin had completely ignored Koyuki and left the classroom as soon as the bell rang. She wanted to see Leon, and for some reason she was willing to leave Koyuki alone if it meant she could be alone with him. "The infirmary... where is it?" Erin sighed, she rarely went there nowadays. "Oh, right." She suddenly remembered, and started running the right way. Leon-kun, are you still in the nurse's office? She asked telepathically, hoping she could reach him.

At that moment, Leon was attempting to break free from a group of sympathizers. A group of about fifteen girls that had heard he went to the nurse's office. "Ladies, I appreciate you coming down to see me, but it's no big deal, I was just a little dizzy from when my eye was injured. I'll be fine, I promise. The next class was P.E., this actually concerned Leon a bit, he knew that he would have to hold back a lot, he wasn't sure if he was just stronger and faster naturally or if he was having trouble controlling his magic, but it could get dangerous.

I'm on my way to the field for P.E., Senpai! He had not really heard from Koyuki-Senpai today, which was strange, at the very least he could normally feel her rooting around in his brain. She probably didn't even realize she was doing it, or that he would notice, but after a while with telepathy you get used to the feeling. What is your next class? Gah, no that's my bag, give it back! He had not meant to project that last thought, it was supposed to be out loud, but he was getting flustered. Another freshman, a girl with green hair, similar to Erin's took his bag and was trying to find a trophy she could show to the other girls. Help!

Erin quickly located Leon, he was just a few hallways away. She quickened her pace and reached it in a few seconds, seeing Leon sinking in a pile of girls (again) asking for help. A girl had taken his bag, and was digging through it. "Hey, you girls there!" Erin yelled at them, clearly very annoyed. "Stop bothering him, that is so mean! You wouldn't like it either if someone was always following you around, never ceasing to bother you, right?!" Her voice was still surprisingly loud, so different from the quiet, shy Erin she usually was. The girls had all stopped chatting and were looking at her, surprised.

Koyuki heard yelling from a nearby hallway, if it wasn't so unlikely she'd have sworn the voice was Erin's. She carefully looked from a corner, and to her surprise, Erin was screaming. She had yelled at a group of fangirls that were surrounding Leon. "Seems like Lady Hercules is on the job, we can leave them alone." She smirked, didn't wanna be the party pooper. She picked up Beyto and walked away, she still had some free time.

Leon managed to slip himself out of the group of girls while Erin had distracted them. He got his bag back but lost out on some basic things like papers and his handkerchief. Small losses for his freedom. He dashed by and grabbed Erin's arm, running down the hall with her. After they had rounded a few corners he stopped to catch his breath. "Thanks, Senpai. I don't know how I keep getting in those situation." He laughed a little bit and smiled at her, it was nice to have such a close friend, and maybe something more...

"Phew, I'm just glad I could get you out of there." Erin said, thankful for managing to drag Leon away from the crazy girls. "It must feel terrible to always have others following you around, what is wrong with those girls?" She was still sort of annoyed, she didn't like to see all the other girls around Leon. Could she be jealous? No, it was imposrible. Well, maybe just a tiny bit? Perhaps.
"W-well, you asked what I am having next? Japanese. You are in PE?" She said, her face regaining a kind of disappointed look. The PE field was too far from her classroom, they could not talk.

Leon put his hand under Erin's chin and lifted her face towards him. "Why so sad, Senpai? Are you sad because we can't talk? I know you wouldn't want to be that distracted from your classes anyways." He laughed a bit, before a thought occurred to him. Her face was really close to him and they were alone. All he would have to do is lean forward a little bit and...he could not do that. Leon dropped her chin with a smile. We should get to class before it's too late. I'll see you at lunch though, Senpai.

Erin blushed. Everytime they got too close, she'd just feel funny again. "I wouldn't mind being distracted if that meant I could talk to you..." She sighed, turning her back to him. "I'll see you at lunch... Bye, Leon-kun." She waved him a not very motivated goodbye and walked away, heavily stepping through the hallways. She looked off through a window just as rain started falling, heavily too. Erin looked at it, silently annoyed. It meant they would not go to the roof, and Leon would be surrounded by girls, and not care about her! She lowered her head as a tear slid down her cheek, trying to hide from whoever passed at her side that she was silently crying. Why was she being like that, a jealous idiot? She opened the door to her classroom just as the bell rang and sat down, oblivious to all that was happening around her.

The lunch bell rang and Leon was already getting ready for lunch. Senpai, meet me out under the patio. I have a surprise for you. He set up the surprise off to the side where someone looking from the windows wouldn't see them. He had been setting this up since this morning, and had worked hard to keep it sealed off from anyone mentally. It was really hard to keep a secret from someone you share a telepathic connection to.

Erin raised her head when Leon talked to her. A surprise? That's... interesting! She smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see her. She grabbed her stuff and left the classroom, almost like she was hopping. She slid through the hallways, avoiding the increasing crowds like she was in some sort of video game. Just as she opened the door that led outside she felt something wet and cold tapping her, repeatedly. It was still raining! She'd totally forgotten, and she could've just taken a shortcut! Erin sighed and shrugged, she'd just run and she would probably be fine. She ran towards the patio, already spotting a green head there.

Koyuki was walking through the hallways, seriously angry. Erin had come into the classroom crying and had left it happy as a... a peanut! Yes, a peanut. Erin had been happy as a peanut, and had totally blocked her mind off to Koyuki! And the worst part was that she didn't know where Leon was, so she was blocked off their little plan. It had been 4 days since she had been rescued, and this was the first time Koyuki felt a bit lonely.

Leon felt Erin coming closer, she was radiating so much happiness that she couldn't keep it contained. This worried him a little, what if his surprise didn't live up to her expectations? It was hard enough to deal with a disappointed girl who couldn't project her thoughts. As Erin came running up he put the second part of his 'surprise' in motion. Koyuki-Senpai~! I left you a little something in your locker, be sure to check it during lunch! He had left her a surprise Bento that he had made while he was 'resting' in the nurses office.

Erin finally reached him, a little soaked by the rain. It was obvious she had tried to out run the rain, but that was just silly. "You look a mess, Senpai!" He said with a chuckle. He took off his coat and put it over her shoulders, it wouldn't do for her to get a cold, not with their first real date coming up. "Sit down." He pulled off the blanket over the mass amount of food he had prepared. It was a feast, for just the two of them, complete with candles, though sadly they were fake. He had managed to put all this together last night, before he started wandering around. Cooking was a real soothing task for him, keeping his mind off of the things that Inkyu had said.

Erin's eyes opened widely when she saw Leon uncover the table, and a big smile appeared on her face. "Wow! This is amazing, Leon-kun!" She walked around, an expression of happy surprise still printed on her face. He'd done all this for her, and that made her very happy. "This is so amazing, I just don't know what to say!" She was still smiling a lot, strange how the boy in front of her could completely change her mood so easily.

Koyuki looked to her side when Leon talked to her. She was right by the lockers. She got to hers and opened it, there was a bento inside. "Oh? Did he leave this for me...?" She smiled, that was nice. Suddenly, she felt a lot of happiness coming from Erin, which probably meant she was having lunch with Leon. "Well, I guess I'll just leave them alone." She smiled, and went searching for a place to eat.

Leon sat down, enjoying Erin's happiness, he had worked very hard to get this all ready and keep it a surprise from her. It was extremely nice to be able to enjoy some time alone with her, even if he did like being popular. He was eagerly looking forward to the fall festival, even though he wasn't really sure what it entailed, he was pretty sure he was going to get to see Erin in a yukata and that would be really nice. He wanted to talk to her about it, ask her anything, but for some reason he just couldn't come up with the words, instead he just ate and smiled, content.

"Hmph, this is the city that is such a target for witches? Everything is made of glass, it seems like such a bad design." This small girl stood on top of a hill, overlooking the city, unaware that it was the same hill that Leon and the others had trained at recently. "So you say there are other magi here? I suppose I have no choice but to eliminate them, I'll continue to hunt witches until I find him again. I will find you, Leon." A gust of wind caught the petite girl, blowing her purple pigtails in the breeze.

Erin ate, quietly, listening to the soft sound of the falling rain. It was relaxing, almost comforting for someone who was dry, shielded from its cold feel. Sadly, Erin could enjoy that sound as much as she would like. It reminded her of sad afternoons spent in a hospital bed, looking at the outside world, and dreaming of escaping to play on the water puddles, feeling the cold rain falling in her face. She looked at Leon. They had both been very silent.
"You are so quiet, Leon-kun! Is everything okay?" She asked, smiling. She just kept smiling, she was enjoying being alone with Leon very much. "Oh, right, I brought you this!" She suddenly remembered something she had brought for Leon. She dug through her school bag, taking out an English copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was slightly humid, but had miraculously escaped the soaking trip the bag had gone through. "Here, I hope you haven't read this one yet, it's my only one in english." She said, holding out the book and smiling.

"I'll be fine by myself" Koyuki kept repeating this phrase to herself. "I'll be okay." She said, eating slowly. She could almost feel the heavy rain as she leaned against a glass wall, eating slowly. Leon cooked surprisingly well, very much unlike Erin, who had the gift of setting every cooking utensil she touched on fire. She knew where Leon and Erin were- she could feel them and Erin was too happy to hold back the feeling. However, Koyuki knew they deserved some privacy, they couldn't spend their time worrying about old Koyuki. She was fine, all by herself. Huh?
She turned around when she felt a strong presence. It was a magical being, but not a witch. Could it be another magi? The rain made the world too dark for Koyuki to see. She shrugged, maybe it had been only her imagination.

"Nothing wrong at all, Senpai." He said, smiling. Something did weigh at the edge of his mind, but he brushed it off as nothing, probably just nerves from being alone with Erin. He slid closer to her, placing his hand on top of hers. "I....kind of wonder what you've done to me, Senpai." He shook his head, unable to remove the smile from his face. "I mean, I've barely known you for two weeks and I get butterflies in my stomach every time I'm with you...I don't even know how to put it into words, but I'll have to ask anyways, did you use magic on me?" He grinned, obviously joking.

The girl stood before a glass building, the rain not bothering her at all. She was not dressed as a magi, but as a normal girl of her age. Her purple pigtails were not affected by the rain, or even gravity for that matter as they always seemed to be fluffed up and perky. "You are here, I can feel you...." She stepped forward into Mitakihara High School.

Erin blushed when he placed his hand on top of hers. "Well... actually..." She took a deep breath. "I have to come clean about it, don't I?" She stared into Leon's eyes, a serious expression filling her face. "We only met a week ago, how come you can't keep track of the days?" She grinned and stuck out her tongue. "But... I should be asking that to you! What've you done to me?" She sighed, letting her head drop on his shoulder. "I've been having weird mood changes, all so sudden, too..." She said, remembering how she'd gone from a raging tearful jerk to happy skipping idiot. She'd still kept the idiotic nature that seemed to strike her whenever her emotions were starting to reach an extreme point, but they had completely flipped from one side to another.

Koyuki felt the presence get stronger and stronger, and it was bothering her. It was coming closer to the school. Who was it? She got a bad feeling from all it, as if the presence couldn't be trusted. Koyuki got up and decided to go on a small walk around the school, just in case.

Leon laughed. "Sorry Senpai, I guess I just lose track of time when I'm with you." He smiled at her and started to speak. "I suppose that I just..." He sensed something, a familiar presence, but something wasn't right about it. Something felt off, dangerous. He stood up looking towards the side of the school just as a girl with purple hair walked around the corner.

The magi girl walked around the corner, seeing her target standing by some...some harlot! She ran towards them and jumped over the food, tackling Leon to the ground. "Onii-San! I found you!" She said with a great big smile. "I missed you so much! Why did you leave! I was so lonely!" She buried her head in his chest and held him tight, ignoring the woman who didn't matter a bit to her.

Erin rapidly blinked when Leon was tackled from behind by a short girl with purple hair. "Who... what..." She mumbled, unable to choose words to speak. Everything had just become confusing all of a sudden, who was this little girl and why was she holding to Leon like that? She had called him onii-san... could she be his sister? Erin just stood quietly, staring at the two while the girl squeezed Leon. She didn't dare to say another word, the girl seemed like she would kill Erin if she did.

The strange presence had suddenly fused with Erin's and Leon's, apparently disappearing for Koyuki. "Huh? What happened?" She looked around, surprised. Why had the magi disappeared all of a sudden? This seemed bad, maybe Koyuki should check on the kids. But, it was raining so much... it would be difficult getting to them without catching a cold. Koyuki sighed, and turned around. If Erin needed her, she would call.

Leon hit the ground, hard, this tiny little girl had tackled him to the ground and was yelling at him. Once the ringing cleared up and he could manage to open his eyes he looked up at a very familiar face, though something was off. "Elly? Wait....what are you doing here?" He sat up, but Elly was attached to his chest, and refused to let go. "I thought you were still in America with Mom?" He was very confused, and could not quite figure out what was different about her.

"No, Onii-san! I came to Japan to be with you! I don't want to live there anymore! Elly is a big girl now and can take care of herself, but I can't say why, it's a se-cr-et!~" She turned her head to look at the girl who was there. "Who is this....girl? Is she your mistress, Onii-san? That's not fair, you belong to Elly!" She concentrated, releasing a bit of her power, she would make Onii-san hers, she would use her new powers to do it!

Erin silently watched the two talking, it was pretty clear by now that the strange girl was indeed Leon's sister, Elly. "Um... n-no..." Erin blushed a bit at the little kid's accusation. "We, um... we are just friends, right?" She said, in a bad attempt of clearing up the awkwardness, given that her cheeks seemed to turn redder every time she spoke a word. "Anyway, how did you get here, young missy Elly?" Erin asked, smiling. The little kid was cute, and she acted adorably too. "How old are you, anyway?" She added. Had she come with her mother, Erin wondered. She had said she could take care of herself, but she couldn't be too old.

Erin, can you hear me? There's a magi around, but I lost track of them. Koyuki talked to Erin, hoping that maybe she would have seen the missing magi. She didn't have many hopes, though. Her best friend, completely lost because of a boy... It did feel bad... Very bad. Poor Erin, she had gone through the same a couple of years ago, all because of Koyuki. She was emptily wandering, aimless. With nowhere to head to, she was just waiting. Waiting for something to happen.

Something was invading Leon's mind, it was strong, he felt his attachment to everyone but Elly slowly being removed from his brain and only thoughts of his sister growing. No. This wasn't right, he focused his will and pushed the thoughts down, Erin and Koyuki were just as important to him as Elly. "Elly, don't be silly, Erin is very important to me, but so are you. I care about all my friends, even Koyuki-Senpai." Who never hangs out with us! He sent the last part out as a broad projection so that everyone could hear.

Her power wasn't working! She was promised this power would work! Elly was growing very upset. "Onii-san! You belong to me, I can't share you with anyone else!" Tears were welling up in her blue eyes. This wasn't right, it wasn't! It had something to do with these girls and she knew it. She turned to face the evil girl who had stolen her brother away, "I'm twelve years old, don't treat me like a kid, you hag!" She snapped. This girl would have to be gotten rid of, maybe if she was lucky a witch would take her out.

Erin felt a great need to yell at that idiot kid, she only held back because Elly was Leon's sister. She merely looked at her with a serious look and asked "What have I done to you?"
She thought about what Koyuki had told her earlier. Could Leon's sister be the magi? She was just twelve... So young. Erin had started not much older, and it had been hard. Of course, this were all her strange theories that were probably wrong. But still, it was obvious that Elly had some kind of weird power she was trying to use on Leon, and having some difficulty controlling her projected thoughts, especially one of Erin being killed by a witch. She sighed.

Are you kidding? Look at this rain. I could catch a cold, or worse, lose my hairspray! Koyuki replied in the same fashion. All she had said was true, but she actually wanted to be with them. If only the rain would stop, she wouldn't have any problems. An illusion wouldn't work, either... She could still catch a cold, and Koyuki wasn't a big fan of being sick.

Leon stood up and look down sternly at his sister. "Elly, why are you in Japan? It's very dangerous around here, you know. Does Mom and Dad even know you are here? I don't even have a house right now, so I don't have a place for you to stay yet." He sighed and shook his head. "I suppose I could get a part time job and get another apartment until I can get hold of Dad." His face took on a serious look. "What if a W...." He was about to speak about witches, but that would do no good, he couldn't reveal that to his sister, he would have to protect her.

Elly felt something strange, it was like she could read Onii-san's thoughts, but that made no sense, the only people who could project thoughts were her and Beyto the magical cat who gave her the powers. Something wasn't right. She turned and looked miss green braid in the eyes. "What did you do to my Onii-san! Something really weird is going on and I don't like it!" She stomped her foot and stared hard at this girl. Suddenly she broke and tears started welling up in her eyes, right now her own emotions were unstable, a result of using her powers. "Don't take my Onii-san awaaaaaaaaaaay!" She cried out.

Erin stared at the crying girl for a few moments before her logical mind returned to working. "I... I didn't do anything!" She said, in a very failed attempt to calm down Elly. Leon-kun, I think your sister has contracted, you might want to ask her about it. Erin projected only to Leon, while trying to come up with a way to calm the girl down without any of them getting hurt. "I'm not going to take your brother away, don't worry..." She said in her calming voice, smiling at the girl. "You don't need to cry, cheer up!"

This girl was being nice to her, why was she being nice to her? No something was wrong, she was trying to trick Elly! "I don't need you to be nice to me you mean fatty!" She yelled, pushing Erin down and running away. "I hate you and I hate Onii-san too!" Elly did not know where she was running, but she had to leave, her emotions were going out of control and she didn't want to hurt Onii-san.

"Elly!" Leon called after his sister as she ran off, he couldn't just let her wander around the city by herself, she could be attacked by thugs or even worse, a witch! He helped Erin to her feet, a look of concern on his face. "I have to go after her, I'm sorry Senpai! She's my kid sister, even if she might be a magi! I can't just leave her alone!" He started running, the rain coating his clothes and soaking his hair in a matter of seconds. Damn it, Elly. What is going on?!

Erin sighed. That was the end of their nice lunch, she supposed. But, she couldn't just leave them running around the city, what if something happened? Erin felt like she should go after them, even though it wasn't her business, she was worried Leon might lose his sister and not find her by himself. After a few minutes, she ran out into the rain, and felt it soak her, reaching her whole body. She sneezed and felt a bit cold. It was orobably because of th rain.

Koyuki saw Erin run past her, right after Leon and a small girl with purple pigtails. "No way... I'm not coming!" She tried to hold herself back, but opened the door a few moments later, and stepped through it, joining Erin. "Hey Eri! Wait up!" She yelled, feeling her long hair return to its original shape, straight and boring.

Elly wasn't sure where she was running but she had to get away. She passed many houses and buildings and finally found herself in the middle of a shopping mall. It was strange though, all the people around her were acting funny. She could feel her anger rising at that stupid girl, why did she take Onii-san away! Why? Why? "Why?! I hate you! I hate you!" She screamed, rage filling her and accidentally releasing some of her power.

Leon chased Elly into the shopping district, but as he got closer he felt strange, he felt like he should be angry, but he couldn't place why. As he moved into the shopping district he noticed that the people were acting strange, they were all fighting and getting angry about nothing. Finally he noticed Elly standing in the middle of the food court area. She was surrounded by people who were so angry that they were actually fighting each other. "What is going on?" He couldn't shake the feeling of anger, as he got closer to his sister. "Elly! Elly, it's me what is wrong?" She had her eyes closed and she was shaking badly, it was obvious that she was really angry, was it the same reason as the rest of these people? Erin had said she could be a magi, maybe this had something to do with her power?

Erin had followed Elly and Leon into the mall. The mall... the mall... her mind struggled to remember something important related to the mall.
The last spot where witches appear: the shopping district and the mall.
Oh, no! There could be a witch in there! Erin quickened her pace, pushing the mall door with a deep breath. Like always, her stamina was weak, even weaker because she was completely soaked, and the fact that her soul gem was filled to half with corruption did not help, either. How had it ended up like that, anyway? Erin had no idea.
She looked inside the mall, there were a lot of people, even more than normal. They were acting funny, like they were... mad at each other. A sudden feeling of rage hit Erin, as well. She felt really mad at the little brat. She could see her in the food court, she was angry too. Erin began to walk towards her... when a hand grabbed her from behind.

A dripping Koyuki grabbed Erin. She was clearly under the effect of a witch, even though it didn't affect her as much as all the other people. Koyuki knew this kind of kiss effect- it was of a witch named Kirsten. She was a very dangerous witch, since she could read minds.
"Calm down, Eri." She said to her friend, who was desperately trying to free herself from Koyuki, who was immune to that witch's kiss because of her mind powers. She looked up. The grief seed was stuck on the roof, and it was about to burst.

Leon grabbed Elly's shoulder and tried to calm her down. As he did a feeling of white hot rage emanated from her and entered his body. Was she the source of all this anger? It was hard to think with all this emotion running through him. He could tell she was releasing waves of emotion, just like she had at the school. Something was off though, this feeling wasn't just hers, he knew his sister wasn't capable of this kind of anger, something else was affecting her and everyone else through her. Suddenly it hit him, just as the grief seed exploded, trapping them all inside the witch's maze. He only had one course of action. He slapped his sister, hard, he would have to bring her to her senses. "Elly, snap out of it!"

The blow shook Elly to her core, her brother had never struck her before, she was being a bad girl! She dropped to her knees and started crying, why had she acted like that? It wasn't fair to Onii-san! She looked up at Leon with tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, Onii-san, Elly didn't mean to be a bad girl!" Why was he smiling like that? Onii-san should be mad at Elly, but he was smiling. Leon reached down and hugged her, he was so warm. "It's okay, Elly, you were just worried about me, right? It's okay." Elly felt the creatures start to approach, terrible familiars, the witch was trying to hurt her Onii-san. That would not happen! "Stand back Onii-san, Elly will protect you!"

She released the ring and a purple egg shaped soul gem floated before her. Elly reached out her hand to the soul gem as it released it's side and was replaced by a floating purple star. She touched the star and bands of purple light englufed her body, transforming her outfit. She was wearing a pair of purple tight shorts, with a knee length skirt over them. Her shirt was replaced with a puffy, short sleeved shirt. and a pair of elbow length gloves. Finally her shoes changed, to a pair of knee length boots with metal buckles on them. Even her hair ties changed to purple crystals. Finally she opened her eyes and closed her fist as a gigantic hammer formed in her hands. Elly was a magi and she would let nothing happen to her brother!

Erin could merely watch as the barrier embraced her, a dark blue hallway with a polished floor. A wall of broken TVs rose between her and Leon, TVs that made only static noise. Erin backed off a few steps.
"Urk, static. I hate static." She said as a giggling sound was heard from above. There was a white weird puppet with a freaky smile flying towards Erin at an unbelievable speed. She froze, unsure of her next move. Everything was happening too quickly.
At the last moment, she jumped to the side and saw the puppet become black dust as the ground obliterated it. Erin quickly got up and released her gem, transforming. She held her materializing spear, ready to slice through any puppet that tried to attack her.

Koyuki jumped and dodged a puppet, predicting how it would try to attack. "Try to keep them away!" She yelled to the other magi, transforming. A machine gun appeared in her hand, and she filled a Jennifer with bullets. Jennifer and Danyyiel, those were the names of the freaky marionettes. Koyuki had fought this witch before- it was one of the most dangerous barriers she'd ever seen.

Elly smashed the flying angel to bits with her hammer, it was easy, they were soooooo weak. Elly laughed a bit at how easily she smashed through these familiars. "I'll show Onii-san how strong I am!" She thought, but was taken off step as that thought was shown on one of the Television screens. "What? What's going on?" She looked around, the walls were static televisions, but each one started to show one of her most personal memories. "What is this?!" She demanded, in a rage she threw her hammer like a boomerang, it smashed through all the televisions causing them to shatter and fall to the ground. Too late she noticed an angel flying at her, but her hammer would not return in time, what could she do? Suddenly the angel shattered into black dust, as a figure in all green stood before her.

Leon smashed the familiar to dust as it approached Elly, he was a little shocked that she was actually a magi, despite having misgivings before. "Are you ok, Elly-chan?" He asked, placing a hand on her head. Her eyes were wide with shock, it seemed that she had no idea he was a magi too. "Let's work together, Elly! We can defeat these witches!" He looked up just as Elly's hammer slammed into his chest, knocking him backwards. The force was stronger than anything he had been hit with before. "E-Elly?" He asked, trying to struggle to his feet.

Erin had climed up to a TV pile when she saw Leon being violently hit by a purple hammer.
"Leon-kun!" She screamed, sliding down the pile.
A marionette flew to Erin and, taking advantage of her distraction, tossed a TV to her. Erin breathed heavily, rising from the shards of broken screen, as the puppet flew away, laughing. A few scratches on her skin were quickly healed at the expense of some of her soul gem's shine. She got up, and supported an arm on the TV behind her. It wasn't playing static, oddly enough. Erin looked at the screen. There was a girl in a hospital bed, eagerly looking at the sunny outside. It was a much younger her... A sad self that lived a miserable excuse of life. Erin sighed, pitiful. It was no time for reminiscence, she had to keep fighting!

Koyuki had been entertained shooting several familiars when they tried to attack her, until she heard a loud crashing noise. She ran to the first pile of the TVs, and looked between it. Leon had apparently beem hit by a huge purple hammer, and his sister was a magi after all.

Seeing her Onii-san get struck by her own weapon was enough to shake Elly out of her shock. She ran up to him, dispelling the hammer as she did. "Oh no! Onii-san, are you all right? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" She was nearly in tears, the hysteria of hurting her own brother was breaking her down. She couldn't handle all these shocks. She started breathing heavily, losing control of her powers again, she started to spread her panic to the others.


Leon felt his panic rise, and realized immediately that it was from his sister. He pushed himself to his feet, it hadn't hurt that bad it had just knocked the wind out of him. He placed a hand on Elly's shoulder and smiled at her. "I'm fine Elly, please calm down, you didn't hurt me, I promise." He could feel the panic start to dissipate as he spoke. If only all girls were this easy to read, he thought. "You just need to calm down, Elly, I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I protect my important people, you know that. He could hear Erin and Koyuki sliding over the hill behind him. So they came too, this could get really bad if emotions weren't kept in check, this witch obviously had a very similar power to his sister and that could turn out really bad.

A feeling of panic struck Erin, leaving her breathless momentarily, but it quickly faded. She ran up to Leon and Elly."Are you alright?" She asked, trying to seem like she was asking both of them, not only Leon.
They were standing in a sort of valley between piles of TV sets, leaving no escape. Erin looked around, it gave her a bad feeling, even though the familiars were just hiding in the shadows, silently laughing at the three magi. Just as she narrowed her eyes at them, a loud giggling noise came from above. There was a giant marionette flying to them, ready to crush them. Erin froze as she realized they were done for, the puppet was too quick and in a few seconds they would be dead, crushed.

The giant cannon materialized in Koyuki's hand, and she shot the huge Danyyiel with all her power. It was blown far back, in an awkward pose, but soon recovered and prepared itself for another hit. Koyuki made the cannon disappear and knelt down to recover her breath. Using that type of magic took her energy away too easily, but she had to keep using it, or else the kids would be killed. She summoned a smaller gun, shooting the marionette repeatedly, making little to no visible damage.
"Hey, you three! Move!" She yelled at the frozen magi.

Leon was confused, why had his danger sense not warned him about the familiar? Well, no time to worry about it now, he would have Koyuki research it later. He grabbed Erin and Elly and pushed them out of the way, sending them sliding back several feet. He then charged his power into his legs as his new faceplate locked into place. "You can't hope to keep up with me!" He yelled at the familiar as he ran so fast he moved up the air as though it was ground. He then kicked the familiar so hard that it slammed into the ground, leaving a crater. "I'll finish this, Koyuki-Senpai you recover your magic!"

Elly slid into a television and fell to the ground, she knew that Onii-san hadn't meant to hurt her, but it still sucked. She watched her brother transform like a hero from power rangers or something. "O-Onii-san...." She watched a bit awed as he knocked down that giant monster with ease. She stood up, resolve flowing through her. "Ellly will not be shown up!" She summoned her hammer and jumped several feet into the air. She then swung down with all her force, smashing into the face of this monster. She hit it again and again until it was nothing but black dust. Afterwards she dropped her hammer and fell to her knees gasping for breath, that was really hard.

Erin supported herself on a TV, sliding to a stop. She looked around, it seemed that there were no more familiars in that zone. "Well, we can keep going, I think." She said, climbing to the top of the TV hill. She looked ahead, the hallway seemed to go on forever and ever and ever. A light shone from the end. Erin assumed it was the witch. "I wonder what she used to be like..." She wondered out loud, sliding down the small hill.
It was just a bit until another TV wall rose, but this one was smaller, only about half the size of the others. Erin carefully inspected it, she thought it could be a trap. However, on the outside it seemed just like any other TV they might see there. She shrugged and put a hand on it, to start climbing, and a poweful shock made her shoot backwards. She twitched awkwardly on the ground for a couple moments before sitting up again.

Koyuki was dragging her legs to the first TV pile when Erin let out a small scream. She smirked.
"Watch out for the TVs... they can electrocute you if you get careless." She warned, stopping for a moment to catch her breath. What was happening to her? She never got tired from such simple spells, was she getting old?
Koyuki gulped. She was getting old. That was terrible, wasn't it? She sighed and slid down the TV pile, heading to the next one.

Elly stood up, she was worn out but it wasn't that bad. She started to follow the others over a mountain of televisions when she noticed that green haired girl get shocked. She giggled as she walked up. "You should really be more careful, baba-san, you don't want to hurt yourself." She swung her hammer with all her might, knocking the wall of televisions over. "That's how you get past these, silly old hag!" She laughed again, for some reason being mean to this green haired girl felt really good.

Leon followed his sister, and was a bit concerned when he saw Erin get shocked, but noticed quickly that she was okay. He silently watched his sister's reaction, this was not like her. What was wrong with her? Elly used to be a sweet child, had something happened while he wasn't there to protect her? He walked up to Erin and helped her to her feet. "Are you okay, Senpai? That looked pretty nasty." He looked up with concern, watching his sister growing more and more mean.