Puella Magi Rei ♥️ Magica: Afterglow

Chapter 18: "The Heart of Fire"

Gin stood at the top of Mitakihara High School, her short, silvery hair fluttering in the wind as she waited patiently, arms crossed with her foot lightly tapping the ceiling. She would look to the right, at a building far in the distance, where a faint flowing of blue hair could be seen. It was Ring!

"How do we know for sure he's coming?" Gin thought, projecting her thoughts toward Ring as she narrowed her eyes in distrust.

"Just give him some time. Juubey said that he was working on the Evil Nuts prior to this, he should be here shortly." Ring thought, replying back as she held Juubey tightly in her arms, lightly patting his head.

Across the block, a girl with white hair leaned against the safety railing, a determined look in her eyes as she looked down at the academy across the way.

"He needs to hurry up.. He must not know anything about punctuality." Tsuki projected, letting out a scoff as she twirled a hairpin between her fingers.

"Tsuki! Shhhh!" Ring leaned in close, spotting a small figure making their way across the rooftop toward Gin.

Tsuki leaned in close, ready to jump into action.

"Gin Akumu." Kyuubey stated, taking a seat in front of her. "I was told you had something you wished to give me?"

Gin nodded, slowly holding up Homulilly's grief seed. ".. I had to take her down before she had the chance to hurt anyone else.. I trust Juubey explained to you everything you need to know about her?"

"Indeed. Her time manipulation abilities truly are fascinating, I do not believe I've ever been given a witch capable of such things before." Kyuubey added. "Nonetheless, toss her this way and I will be on my way, and leave you to.. Whatever it is that Rei's chosen ones do."

Gin clenched the grief seed in her hand, before raising her arm up and gently tossing it toward Kyuubey.

Just as Kyuubey knelt down, opening the hatch in his back to catch the grief seed, Gin quickly transformed, and raises her pocketwatch, time slowly coming to a halt.

Long, glimmering blue strings began to appear, stretching from Gin's left ankle into two different directions, one draping over the streets until it reaches Tsuki's right wrist, and the other in the other direction, connecting to Ring's left wrist.

"Alright, get over here, you two!" Gin projected outward, keeping her hand tightly over the pocketwatch. She showed strain, as the pocketwatch began to fight to unfreeze.

Ring and Tsuki quickly hopped over the rooftops, transforming into their own magical girl attire as they quickly made their way toward the academy.

"K-.. Kh!" Gin dropped to one knee, keeping her hand enclosed over the pocketwatch as time began to flicker, the grief seed inching closer and closer toward Kyuubey as the hatch slowly opened further with each temporal frame.

Tsuki and Ring quickly hop over the railings, Ring raising her ring blades and slashing them toward the ground while loosening her finger tips. They roll toward the Incubator before quickly angling their trajectory, beginning to rapidly spin around Kyuubey until a ring of blue flame began to rise from the rooftop. Tsuki would sprint across the rooftop, quickly nabbing the grief seed before it passed through Ring's wall of fire, before sprinting back over to Gin, keeping the grief seed tightly in her hand.