Puella Magi Rei ♥ Magica

Chapter 11: "The Hesperides"

Oriko slowly entered her house in Kazamino. The old and dusty manor of where her family once lived is still a living reminder to Oriko of her horrible past. She slowly walked out into the garden, where dozens of wilted rose bushes sat. Death's aura weighed heavily in the area. "Kirika." She whispered, gently kneeling down to a small hope chest that sat at the end of the garden. She slowly opened the chest, and inside was a chilling scene.

Latria's grief seed.. The last reminder of the magical girl, Kirika Kure.

Unused and in a dormant state, Latria's grief seed slept peacefully within the hope chest for years. Oriko gently lifted the grief seed out of the hope chest, and stared at it. "Apparently.. This timeline is even more messed up than the last.. I'm still here.." She whispered, looking down. "..But you aren't."

A silent breeze moved through the dead garden, as wilted rose pedals took flight. Oriko slowly looked up, tears in her eyes. "I thought that my visions of the future were a curse on it's own.. But nothing is worse than being here without you. You were.. Everything.."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Oriko gently placed Latria's grief seed back into the hope chest, and locked it again.

"..You are grieving.."

Oriko turned around in a hurry, but it was only Ayameko. "..Yeah.. I am."

".. Who was she?" Ayameko asked, gently walking forward, looking down at the hope chest, in curiosity.

"Her name was Kirika Kure.. Back in the day, she was the only person that I considered a friend." Oriko stated, wiping tears from her eyes. "She met the same fate that all magical girls meet eventually..  But it was different for her.. She willingly brought a curse upon herself to fight alongside me.. I had never fought alongside a witch before.. To this day, I have kept her grief seed for emergencies, but I've been too reluctant to use it." She whispered, looking down at her gem. It was near a blackened state. "Now i'm standing here, my soul gem on the verge of transforming.. And I can't bring myself to use it still.."

Ayameko frowned. ".. Here.." She gently held up a grief seed. "..Back on the tower, I saw that your gem was in a darkened state.. So I went and destroyed the witch of the magical girl named Ayame." She stated, "I fought alongside her for a few weeks up until her death.. But back then I was too weak to defeat her. Now, I want you to put Ayame's soul to good use." Ayameko said.

Oriko blinked at Ayameko, she hadn't foreseen this act of kindness in any of the patterns of fate. "..Thank you, Ichiko Ayameko." She said, gently taking the grief seed from Ayameko's hand, and placing it against her soul gem.

The soul gem, once darkened with taint, was now a bright and shining coral blue color. Oriko's eyes lit up with energy, as the grief seed of Ayame only went darker. "Kyuubey." She stated.

Out of the wilted bushes popped the incubator. "Yes, Oriko?"

Oriko popped the tainted grief seed into the air, and Kyuubey greedily captured it in his pouch. He flicked his ears in pleasure. 

Oriko then waved her hand, "Dismissed."

Kyuubey sprinted off into another end of the garden, before hopping over the stone wall, disappearing.

"Wow. You've pretty much made that incubator your servant, haven't you?" Ayameko asked, curiously.

"Indeed.. That's because he knows that I see things in which the others don't know. In order to keep my mouth shut, me and him have made a little.. Agreement." Oriko stated, gently twirling her soul gem in her hand.