Shattered Skies: The Morning Lights

CHAPTER 46: The Non-Canonical Lunatic Crack Chapter II

Chapter 46: The Non-Canonical Lunatic Crack Chapter II: Son of the Non-Canonical Lunatic Crack Chapter: SHATTERED SKIES 5th Anniversary Special: Going Behind the Scenes, Further Demolishing the Long-Suffering Fourth Wall, and Utilizing an Absurdly, Unnecessarily Lengthy Chapter Title

THE LIGHTHOUSE—As I arrive at the Crossroads, situated directly beneath the Lighthouse's towering central spire, I wonder to myself if I'm perhaps getting in a bit over my head. I, a humble journalist, assigned to give a behind-the-scenes peek at perhaps the greatest gathering of magical girls the multiverse has ever seen... Am I qualified for this?

I don't have long to doubt myself. The gateway to Vertex Point Three ripples, and out steps a young girl with wavy magenta hair, her eyes bright and her step bouncy. For reasons I can't begin to understand, she wears a pink flight attendant's uniform. Spotting me, she approaches at a run... and trips over her own feet no more than five strides in. She tumbles and rolls to a stop in a supremely undignified position, and from the tangle of limbs comes a curious exclamation: "Mechokku~!"

Gingerly I approach her, cautious about offering my hand. "Are you all right, Miss...?"

She is up and about in no time, as if this is a normal occurrence for her. "Nono!" she answers me with a beaming grin. She pinwheels one arm, then the other, as if winding up for a pitch. "Hana Nono! I'm thirteen years old!"

Judging by her height, I would have pegged her as a few years younger than that, but I let it slide.

"And you must be Yamada-san, right?" she asks me. I answer in the affirmative, and she bows. "Pleased to meet you, Yamada-san! I've been assigned to get you started and show you around! I'm not technically part of the cast, but I'll be happy to answer any questions I can!"

"'Technically?'" I ask.

Hana's face falls. Her steps become a little softer. "Well, yeah. I appeared for a little bit about ten chapters back, when that 'entity' thing appeared. That was sorta it for all the Precure after Haruka's team."

I'm not unaware of that notorious scene, but I press on. "Did doing that chapter upset you?"

"Yeah," she admits. Her shoulders slump, but her smile returns quickly. "But it's okay! I hear that me and my friends are favorites around here." She tips me a wink and drops her voice to a whisper. "Word came down that my scene was one of the hardest to write. So we'll be back... I'm not sure how, but I promise you, we'll be back."

"But can you really promise that, though? Isn't this all non-canonical?"

Hana has to think about that for a few moments. Eventually, she laughs. "Don't worry about it! It wouldn't be me if I didn't believe in the future! Canon or no canon, a promise from Hana Nono is a promise... you can put that down."

"Already done. I'm sure that will be a comfort to many people."

She shrugs. "The ones who are still reading, anyway. We're gonna be awesome when we show up, I know it. Ah, here we are! Welcome to the party!"

As I pass through the Vertex Point Three doorway, an astonishing spectacle meets my eyes. Spread out over an endless series of grassy, sun-drenched hills are the magical girls, seemingly all of them: the Sailor Senshi, the Cardcaptor and her friends, over a hundred Precure, dozens of mages from the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, Puellae Magi from every era, and their numerous allies. Nor are they the only ones; with just a glance, I confirm that far more than the familiar inhabitants of the five primary Vertices, the so-called "Big Five", are present. I see Magic Knights and Hero Club members and Demon Hunters, witches and angels and princesses and idol singers and superheroines, every possible variant and everything in between. It truly is a gathering for the ages; odds are, if you can think of them, they're here.