Puella Magi Makayla Magica

Chapter 10 Next Step

"Hey, I'm really sorry," I say to Amelia.

"It's fine." She says in an irritated tone. "It all worked out in the end."

"I'll tell you next time."

"Next time, I don't plan on being the cannon fodder for whatever you cook up next!" She crosses her arms and looks out the window of the bus as it starts its journey towards the city. I look over to Summer who shrugs. She stands up, walks over to me and leans in my ear.

"I'll talk to her later." She pats me on the shoulder and I nod back. When Summer sits back down I lean back in my seat and drift off into Makayla's world. That's what my parents call it at least.

I didn't intend to use Amelia as bait but I guess I wasn't thinking about any consequences. Just that we both need to get up there and I chose that way of getting there. If I took Amelia off the catwalk maybe we could've pulled it up together and then I wouldn't have to strain so much. Although, getting there with Amelia would have been difficult. It was easier to keep Amelia on the catwalk. Maybe if we get on better terms she can teach me to play the cello. The music I produced was legit but I would like to look like I know what I'm doing to some extent.

"Hey, we're here." Summer pats me on the shoulder. I didn't even realise we arrived. When we get off the bus we make the quiet journey to Isabella's house to meet up. When we get there, Summer knocks on the door and Isabella answers it.

"You're back, finally!" She says with a smile. "Come in." She gestures us inside. "Just so you know, the others aren't very happy."

Sure enough, when we walk into the living room, all the girls glare at us like we murdered their pet dog.

"I thought you agreed to call us if we need help," Mia says.

"We'll, it all sort of happened so fast." Summer scratches her cheek with her finger. Isabella claps her hands.

"Let's just see what they have to say. Witches can attack anyone." Isabella comes in with the save. Summer tells everyone what happened, leaving out the part where we escaped from the alleyway to catch our breaths. I kind of wish she lied a bit more though. It's embarrassing that I got caught up in all that. When she gets to the part where I got caught by the witch I can feel myself start to fidget. No one else seems to notice though. They don't even bat an eye.

"Sounds very similar to the things we heard." A white cat jumps onto the table in the middle of us and looks at Isabella.

"Agreed." Isabella nods.

"What I'm particularly interested in is how a magical girl was ensnared." Kyubey turns to me. "Tell me, what was it like." I rub my knees together and look down.

"I... I don't... It's embarrassing." I say softly.

"Any information you provide could prove useful in our investigation."

"Don't worry about it Kyubey. If it's the rumour that we've heard before, we don't need to go into too many details." Isabella says.

"Sure, but feel free to share any relevant information whenever you feel like it." I nod at him.

"In the meantime, I think we know what we have to do," Isabella says.

"I don't like it," Natalie says. The rest of us look at her confused.

"We're only visiting. It's not like we're going to be staying there for too long." Isabella replied but Natalie shook her head with a mm-hm.

"Well, you can stay here. The rest of us can go."

"Not Makayla." Isabella cocks her head at Natalie with a confused look on her face.

"She can decide that." Isabella turns to the rest of us. "We're going to Sydney."

"Why?" Summer asks.

"The other hooded magical girl group, the white and black one, they've apparently all moved to Sydney."

"How do you know that?"

"Friend of a friend." Isabella waves off the question. "Point is, to continue our investigation, we'll need to go to Sydney."

"What about the Wanderers of the Nine?" Chloe asks.

"It's ok. I've alerted magical girls in the city of the danger. In fact, there's a group I've contacted that is more capable of dealing with the group than you are." Kyubey says.

"And yet you use us," Mia replies.

"You're all we can spare. You're close and you've got a large team."

"By we, you mean the other Kyubeys?" Sayaka asked.

"Correct."

"Right." Isabella claps her hands together. "Who's going to Sydney?" Everyone but Natalie puts their hands in the air. "Alright, make sure to tell your parents where you're going. We'll head down this weekend coming. Is that good with everyone?" Everyone in the room nods with a few saying 'yes' and 'yeah'. With that, everyone stands up to leave. I start to make my way down the hallway towards the front door when I feel a weight on my shoulder. I turn to look and I see Kyubey's eyes staring back into mine.

"You don't mind if I tag along do you?"

"Uh... um... sure I guess," I reply.

"Great!" I walk out the door and begin my journey home.

"Um... I wanted to ask but uh... why do you want to come with me?"

"The spotting of the black and white hooded magical girls, the fight with the Wandere's of the Nine and now the mysterious witch. You seem to be at the centre of everything." Kyubey replies.

"Well... I wouldn't say that's a good thing."

"I understand that you may be hesitant to accept it, let alone embrace it but I feel I can get a better idea of what's going on if I stick with you."

"That's fine by me, I think."

"Good." Kyubey relaxes his head on my shoulders as I continue the walk home.