Chapter 41: The Final Birthday?

I woke up — two days had passed and it was finally my birthday. I was sixteen physically, thirty-four mentally. My parents arrived and congratulated me.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart. You’re sixteen now. You’re almost a beautiful, strong woman. Soon you’ll find a man who loves you for who you are,” my mother said, joyful at the thought of grandchildren.

“Not yet,” my father added with a smile. “That time will come, but I’ll make sure the man you marry is the right one. I don’t want anyone to hurt you emotionally. For now, enjoy your day — soon you’ll be going to war, and remember we love you.” His words comforted me; I felt his protection.

They left to give me time to change and go have breakfast. I thought of my parents from my previous life — how they always worried about me and cared for me. This world is different, but some things are the same. I told myself I had to make the most of this second chance. I am now Taiyaki Rose, the Dark Magic Magical Girl; I must be strong for what I have to do in this world. I can’t give up easily. I’ve come so far that if I must sacrifice myself for this world, I will do it with a smile full of hope for all humanity.

I had to do it for myself, for my friend Cleer — no, Mizu — for Akane, Mizuki, Rem, Ranma, Teto, Lilit, my parents, and all the people I’ve met. And I would make Kori pay for betraying us. This was my mission: to save this world and let people live happily.

After thinking that through, I went to breakfast. My mother had prepared a special meal she only made on my birthdays — something I ate just once a year and cherished. Later I went out to spend the day with my friends. We did all the things we hadn’t been able to do in the past three years: shopping, buying things, eating at a fancy restaurant, and visiting the park. When night fell we returned to my house for the celebration. The party was amazing — like reclaiming a bit of adolescence. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I felt joy again, with these four friends. It was like living well, surrounded by loved ones.

When the party ended and we went to sleep, I thought that this happy atmosphere would soon become a war whose end no one could predict.

I fell asleep.

When I woke up, we had breakfast to prepare for our departure: in one week we would begin our journey to the Demon Kingdom and finish the Demon Queen. After breakfast we were ready and left for the guild. I said goodbye to my parents, because I knew I might never see them again. With the answer I had received from Miku and the matter of the goddess, I had already decided I would sacrifice myself to end everything. I didn’t want them to suffer, but I knew that if this had to end, I would have to leave this world. I talked privately with Mizu about it; even though neither of us wanted to leave this world, she agreed that we had to go and finish the Demon Queen and Kori and the rest of the demons.

After that week of preparation, we were ready to go. The King gave us a motivational speech.

“All right, Magical Girls, you are ready to go to war. We trust you to win this battle. The hour of truth has come: your duty will be tested. Give everything and make this kingdom proud. Your courage, determination, and valor will be remembered. If you give your all, you will be remembered as the greatest heroines this kingdom has ever had. May you have luck, and may Goddess Aqua bless you. Humanity depends on you to rid us of the demons and that wretched Demon Queen. Go and end them. You have my support and the kingdom’s. Go and finish this.”

We all shouted back:

“Yes, my king. We will end this and be the heroines of this war. We will not yield to any evil in this world. We are the warriors of the great Goddess Aqua. We can handle whatever evils try to bring us down — WE ARE THE MAGICAL GIRLS OF THE KINGDOM AND THE GREAT GUILD.”

And so we left the kingdom, bound for the Demon Kingdom. There was no turning back; it was time to kill every demon and the damned Demon Queen. This was the beginning of the end of the war.