Chapter 7

Explosions, clattering, noise. In the evening darkness, a hammer-armed Clockster rampaged in front of one of the downtown malls. Bubblegirl was trying to get close to it, but it swung its weapon down at her. However, this didn’t work out well for the monster. She caught the descending metal block with her hands, then shoved it into the creature’s face. The Clockster lost its balance and staggered back, and I made its legs buckle with my thrown boomerangs.

Bubblegirl looked at me, and I nodded. That was all she needed.

“On it!”

She raised her arms toward the sky.

“Manifestation of cheerful spirits, seal away all evil! Go — Bubble Strike!”

She sent the pink sphere of light that formed flying with a clap of her hands. The bow-shaped ribbon that appeared upon impact completely consumed the entity.

The damaged area returned to its original state, and Fergus vanished in disappointment. The frozen people became free again.

Soon, Kaori and I were talking by a nearby fountain in our human forms.

“You’ve gotten the hang of this pretty quickly, Kaori. You’re good.”

At first she wanted to seem modest, but then she burst out laughing.

“What did you say? Keep praising me with nice words like that!”

At that point I took a stricter tone with her, telling her not to let success go to her head. Since it was getting close to ten in the evening and we had school the next day, we both hurried home. While we were sitting on the bus, it was obvious to her that something was bothering me. But she only brought it up the next day. I was even quieter than usual during breaks and during our lunches on the school rooftop. She brought it up there the next day, since we had really gotten used to that place. It was our little secret kingdom.

“What’s wrong, Reina? I know something’s bothering you.”

I decided it was best not to hide it. It would only hurt our friendship. I told her that I used to dream a lot at night about a girl I felt I had always known. But after a while those dreams stopped. However, for the third time in a week they had come back, and they were making me more and more uneasy. I used to find them pleasant, but that could no longer be said about the most recent ones. I couldn’t even pretend anymore that everything was fine.

Kaori hummed and fell into thought.

“So, do you have any idea who she is?”

Feeling a bit ashamed, I lowered my head.

“No…”

Kaori suggested that we could sleep over at each other’s places again; even her dorm allowed one or two guests. Maybe I would feel better if I wasn’t alone. I accepted her kind offer. Besides, I had wanted to try staying at that dorm at least once.

The following Friday afternoon I went over to her place. Even though she forced a lot of childish activities on me, from cosplay to video games, I ended up having a surprisingly good time. In the evening, after we changed into pajamas, she told me ghost stories, which I listened to with raised eyebrows.

“Who even believes these stupid things? They’re not scary at all…”

“Hey! Don’t be a killjoy!”

Kaori pouted, but that only made her look even cuter. That night I had no dreams; I slept completely peacefully. The next day, before I went home, Kaori even wrung a movie outing out of me. The action movie we watched seemed incredibly dull and generic to me, but she loved it. After the screening she grumbled about why I didn’t like it.

We had been walking down the street for a while, and she was chattering nonstop. But suddenly an unpleasant feeling came over me. It felt like someone was watching us. I quickly turned around and, for a moment, saw a girl half-hidden at the corner, watching me. A feeling of déjà vu washed over me. The girl immediately pulled back, and I ran after her, shouting. Kaori didn’t understand what had gotten into me. Trying to keep up, she followed.

When we reached the corner, I saw our observer disappear between a couple of apartment buildings, so we went that way too. But there was nothing there anymore, only an abandoned construction site. I figured she couldn’t have hidden anywhere else, so we went in. We didn’t want to go from the outside area into the half-finished building, so I hoped I could lure her out. I called out loudly to the girl, asking her to come out; we just wanted to talk. Kaori, on the other hand, tugged on my arm, wanting us to get out of there. The lonely place felt scary to her.

My further shouting brought no result, but instead the least expected “visitor” appeared. After a purple smoke effect, we ran into Olivia.

I instantly lost my temper.

“So it was you! You tricked us!”

She only reacted with a look of puzzled disdain.

“Huh?? What on earth are you talking about? I only came to clean up after Fergus’s blunder. That guy really is useless at everything.”

Before we could say anything, Olivia tried to summon a Clockster.

The woman pulled out the clock needed for the summoning.

“In this upturned time, I carve a chaotic space! Come, Clockster!”

After the clock activated, ominous ticking echoed. A purple, clock-shaped magic circle appeared on the ground, and above it, gathering elemental particles formed a snarling Clockster with shovel-like arms.

We didn’t hesitate either.

“Let’s go, Kaori!”

“Okay!”

We began our transformation ritual at the same time.

“Creation of Time Link! Transfiguration!”

Our bodies were wrapped in blue and pink light. Our hair changed color, and so did our eyes. White stars illuminated my seraph uniform, while pink bubbles sparkled around Kaori’s, forming her own. A green hairband decorated Kaori’s hair, and a golden crescent moon gleamed at the hem of my skirt.

When the transformation ended, we struck our individual poses.

“I am the mysterious mist that blankets the night. The Seraph of Night — Nightmist!”

“I am the energetic bubble that chases away all sorrows! The Seraph of Lively Joy — Bubblegirl!”

We both rushed the creature and landed a few hits. Even so, the monster managed to stay standing, and with a single swing of its shovel arm, it sent us flying. After a long tumble, we hit the ground. We barely had time to think. The creature dug up a chunk of earth with its shovel and hurled it toward Bubblegirl.

“Bubblegirl!”

At the last moment — after I managed to push myself upright — I shoved the also struggling-to-stand Bubblegirl aside, saving her.

Olivia laughed with satisfaction.

“You’re not in very good shape today. This will be a short fight.”

We clenched our jaws and tried to pull ourselves together, although someone hurried to our aid. A girl’s voice made us look up.

“Creation of Time Link! Transfiguration!”

By the time we looked over, we saw only a white flash.

The girl who transformed into a Seraph struck a noble pose, bowing like an elegant young lady.

“I am the princess of ice, who brings justice. The Seraph of Windy Frost — Snowincess!”

We could hardly believe it. A new, unknown Seraph stood only a few meters away from us, and she immediately leapt into action.

“I won’t let you lay a single finger on them!”

A spear of ice took material form in her hand, which she spun dramatically above herself. Then she hurled the weapon with precision and force at the monster. The spear pierced the left edge of the creature’s clock face, tearing it open. Screws fell out, and the creature let out a mechanical howl of pain. The mysterious girl then formed a huge ice mace in her hands and, with its blow, knocked the monster down.

“Time to finish this…”

She began her chant.

“Mystical ray of freezing winters, put a stop to corruption!”

Ice crystals formed before her outstretched palms, glowing blue.

“Break forth — Frostbeam!”

A powerful light-blue beam burst from the crystals, gradually freezing the Clockster’s body, which then faded and was consumed.

The damage to the construction site was restored.

Olivia complained angrily.

“You…!”

But as soon as she saw that Bubblegirl and I were starting to recover our strength, she ran away in the usual way.

We reverted to our human forms, and Kaori and I focused on the newcomer.

I walked up to the Seraph to thank her, but she suddenly ran off in a hurry. She even jumped over the fence. We chased after her through the gate and saw her running toward the nearby train station. However, we couldn’t catch up to her because she was too fast. We fell farther and farther behind. When we reached the station, we looked around everywhere, but we couldn’t find any trace of the stranger.

We were already starting to give up when a calm, deeply nostalgic voice spoke to me. It felt as if my heart had been pierced.

“Looks like you’re still playing hero, but now not just at school.”

I immediately turned my attention toward the source of the voice. My breath completely stopped. The girl who appeared in my dreams was standing right in front of me.

As if that weren’t enough, a flood of forgotten memories poured into my mind. Drinking tea together, going to fast-food places, trips, arguments, comforting each other. As if all of it had happened in another life.

In that situation, only one question could leave my mouth.

“Emma??”

The girl’s calm smile became even friendlier and warmer.

“Hello, Reina big sis.”