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magicaldogtoto · 2 years

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Parallel Worlds Record Chapter 14: I Won't Keep You Waiting For Long

Rating: Teen

Genre: Magical Girl, Fantasy, Angst, Drama, Crossover

Word Count: Approx. 7,300 words

Summary: Yachiyo is briefed on what the other her was up to in recent months and is given a new goal to help her get home.

Author's Note: A bit exposition-heavy, to help people who may not be familiar with the Oz books. Special thanks to @celesticnova and @evatriceakiyama for proofreading this for me, as always!

***

[YACHIYO]

Before Yachiyo and Ozma could get around to catching up, however, it was decided that Yachiyo needed to freshen up. After fighting a Familiar in a construction area, and Oriko and Kirika in a dirty alleyway, not to mention being plopped into the middle of an ancient forest with dirt and wild animals, Yachiyo was inclined to agree that she was starting to smell.

Ozma summoned Jellia Jamb and had her lead Yachiyo back to the room they had provided her. It didn’t appear that Jellia was all that phased about Yachiyo sneaking off while she was cleaning. She said nothing about it while preparing the bath for Yachiyo, at least.

After all the fighting and confusion of the last twenty-four hours or so, Yachiyo was more than happy to submerge into the warm bathwater, letting out a pleased sigh as she did so. She leaned back against the porcelain tub and gazed at the ceiling, all manner of emotions going through her. There was a small window to her right, which was slightly open, and she could hear the sounds of birds chirping, and see the blue sky over the palace.

In the stillness of the bath, Yachiyo found herself reflecting over the turn of events she had found herself in. Not only had she wound up in another world, but now she was in a country that, to the best of her knowledge, at least, didn’t exist in her world.

Her world… The thought of it caused Yachiyo to tense up a bit in the water. How were Mifuyu and the others doing? By now they’d have to be worried about her, that was for sure. Did they start looking around Kamihama for her? Did they tell Kanagi, Momoko, or any of the others about her disappearance? Was the whole Magical Girl community of Kamihama aware of it? The thought of worrying everybody made Yachiyo feel even guiltier.

I have to get back as soon as I can, she thought, washing her face with renewed energy.

When she had dried herself off she stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in only a green towel that Jellia had provided her. The green woman in question was waiting for her patiently by the bed.

“I bought some clothes for you, Miss Nanami,” Jellia said, gesturing to the bed. On it was a green halterneck, and a pair of green dress pants.

Yachiyo looked them over. “Is everything in this place green?”

Jellia chuckled. “Well, only in the Emerald City. It’s in our name, after all. The other four regions of Oz have different colors.”

“I see.” Yachiyo took the clothes and went behind the changing screen in the corner of the room. “And what are the colors of the other four regions?” she asked as she changed.

“West of here is the Country of the Winkies,” Jellia continued. “Their primary color is yellow. To the South is the Country of the Quadlings, which favors the color red. You’d fit in with the Munchkins in the East–they like the color blue. And North is the home of the Gillikins, who love the color purple. That’s where I’m from.”

“Really?” By now Yachiyo had finished changing, and had stepped out in her new outfit. She looked at herself in the mirror; even if the green was overplayed in this place, the clothes did look good on her, the halterneck even giving a slight peek at her pale back.

After admiring herself for a bit, she turned back to Jellia. “But you’re probably the greenest person I’ve seen here so far.”

Jellia gave her a cheeky smile. “Well, I had to look the part when I started working here.”

“I suppose so,” Yachiyo said.

Jellia held up a green hairbrush. “Now, let me fix your hair a bit, and then we can meet up with the others.”

That seemed like a good idea, and before long Jellia had brushed Yachiyo’s long, blue hair and tied it into a ponytail. She then gave Yachiyo some green sandals to wear. With that all done, the two made their way out of the room, and through the palace, before heading out into one of the gardens. It was a serene place full of colorful flowers and tall, green trees, surrounded on all four sides by the green walls of the palace, some of which had green gems decorating them. Up above, the clear blue sky of Oz was without a single cloud. Indeed, it was the kind of garden one could have a relaxing, quiet rest in.

“Master!!!”

Before Yachiyo could properly react to the familiar, loud voice of Uwasa Tsuruno, she found herself tackle-hugged by the Mightiest Uwasa, her ribcage feeling like it was going to snap.

“Erk! Tsuruno…!” Yachiyo managed to gasp out.

Tsuruno looked up at her with her magenta eyes, a relieved smile on her pale face. “We were so worried about you!” she cried out. “After Amare told us what had happened, she contacted Princess Ozma so you’d be saved. We all came to the Emerald City with Amare to make sure you’d be okay!”

“‘We…?’” Yachiyo looked up, and saw a wooden table under a tree. Seated at the table were Claudine and Mifuyu. It appeared that they had all been enjoying a meal, for there were plates of green porcelain set on it, and a pitcher of lemonade. Beside them were empty, metal lunch pails with a red color.

Yachiyo approached the table, Tsuruno following by her side. It was clear the closer she got Claudine, Mifuyu, and as she now saw, Tsuruno, had also been given a new change of clothes by Jellia Jamb. Yachiyo was no expert on Emerald City fashion, but she did know a thing or two about fashion in general to see that Jellia had given the other three girls what must have been some of the trendier outfits available in the city.

Claudine had ditched her beige sweater and salmon-colored skirt for a vibrant green gown with floral patterns and many folds. It was so long that it obscured her feet, and had a green ribbon around her waist. Additionally, the dress was asymmetrical, with Claudine’s left shoulder covered by a green sash, while leaving her pale right shoulder completely bare. Even her headband was now dark green, and she had a green choker around her neck to complete the look.

Mifuyu meanwhile had exchanged her usual red blouse and black shorts for a green strapless dress and a small, green coat that went over her shoulders. The dress itself appeared to be made of green lace and went all the way down to her thighs. There were patterns on the dress showing small pixies with butterfly wings fluttering about, as well as a few birds. On her legs were green stockings, and she had green high heeled shoes covering her feet.

Tsuruno, for her part, was no longer wearing that big parka she had on when they had gone to see Touka Satomi. Instead, she wore a green, sleeveless dress that went down to her knees, with a dark green ribbon around her waist that was capped off with a bow on her left side whose fabrics dangled behind her in twin trails. Her side ponytail was also now complemented with a green flower bow on her head, and her feet had heeled shoes similar to Mifuyu’s.

"Bonjour, Yachiyo,” Claudine said, leaning forward from where she was seated, her blonde hair seeming almost golden in this light. “Glad to see you’re looking as good as ever.”

“Hello, Claudine,” Yachiyo said. She turned her attention to Mifuyu, who was staring at her empty plate. “Hello, Mifuyu…”

Mifuyu immediately tensed up, looking at Yachiyo with her teal eyes. “H-hello, Yacchan…”

Yachiyo took a step closer. “Honestly, I’m surprised you came here, too.”

Mifuyu gripped her glass of lemonade. “I-I was worried about you…” she said. There were bags under her eyes; Yachiyo noticed them as Mifuyu sipped from her glass.

“Mifuyu…” Yachiyo said, looking her over. “Is everything okay?”

“Mifuyu had a bad dream last night,” Claudine explained, reaching out and rubbing the white-haired girl’s back. There was a soft look on the former child actor’s face as she comforted Mifuyu.

“Bad dream?”

Mifuyu looked at her glass. “I dreamt that we were at Mizuna Shrine. It was evening, you attacked me, and before I knew it, we were fighting each other and then…” She paused, then looked up at Yachiyo and the others, frowning.

“Never mind,” Mifuyu said. “It was just a nightmare, nothing important.”

“If you say so…” Yachiyo said. Just then she heard a low growl.

Yachiyo turned to her right, just in time to see a large tiger curled up under a tree. It was like any other tiger she had seen on TV or in pictures, but this one had a bow of red ribbon on his tail, close to the end.

“What the–?!” Immediately Yachiyo got in front of the others, assuming a battle-ready position. “There’s a tiger in this garden?!”

Tsuruno nodded. “There is! He’s the Hungry Tiger. Don’t bother him right now, though, he’s trying to take a nap.”

Indeed, the creature’s eyes were closed, and it was snoring softly. Yachiyo slowly calmed herself down.

“Funny,” Yachiyo said. “I’d half-expected to see a Cowardly Lion, not a Hungry Tiger.”

“The Cowardly Lion is busy in the Quadling Country at the moment.”

Yachiyo turned, and saw Ozma enter the garden with Dorothy next to her. Ozma still carried her staff, but now had what looked like a tablet tucked in her arm. Dorothy, for her part, held a small dog with black fur in her arms.

The dog caught Yachiyo’s attention. “Is that…?”

Dorothy smiled. “Toto. The dog I got back when I was livin’ with Uncle Henry and Auntie Em in Kansas.” She gave him a tight squeeze, and Toto shifted a bit in her arms, turning his head to Yachiyo.

Yachiyo smiled; he was one of the cutest dogs she had seen.

“I see you met the Hungry Tiger,” Ozma said.

Yachiyo glanced at the tiger in question, then back at Ozma. “I did.”

Just at that moment, Amare also walked into the garden, still wearing the green gown Yachiyo had seen her wear earlier.

As soon as she caught sight of Yachiyo, Amare stopped, staring at her.

Yachiyo looked back at her. “What is it?”

Amare’s face turned a light shade of pink. “Nothing,” she said. “I just thought, in this light… you look really beautiful.”

Now it was Yachiyo’s turn to blush just a bit. “Oh…” she said, “thank you.” She wondered if Mifuyu would say the same if she saw her here.

Yachiyo covered her mouth and coughed; time to change the subject. “Amare, you never told me you were friends with two princesses… or from Oz.”

Amare blushed. “There’s a lot I hadn’t really told you, Yachiyo.”

“I can see that.” Yachiyo crossed her arms, giving her a stern look. “I believe you owe me an explanation.”

“We sure do,” Ozma said. “But you must be hungry, too.”

The foreboding stance Yachiyo had assumed was soon undermined by her stomach growling. She looked aside and grabbed her right forearm with her left hand. “I might be.”

Ozma smiled. “Take your pick from that tree there.” She pointed with her staff at the tree next to the one the group was under.

Yachiyo looked at the tree, and her jaw dropped. It wasn’t like any tree she had seen before, in this world or her own. At first glance, it looked like a regular tree with branches, green leaves, and fruit hanging from it. But upon closer inspection, Yachiyo could see that the leaves were actually green napkins, and the fruits were actually metal lunch pails, some green, and some bright red.

“Make sure you get one that’s ripe,” Amare commented. Ozma and Dorothy sat next to each other at the table.

“Right.” Yachiyo found a low-hanging lunch-pail and plucked it from the branch. Though made of metal, it wasn’t terribly heavy. She set it down on the table and opened it. To her surprise, the pail was full of ramen and soba.

“How is this…?” she began, only for Ozma to cut her off.

“Possible? Why, it’s magic, of course!” She grinned as Yachiyo sat next to Tsuruno and pulled the contents out of the pail, before talking again.

“The lunch-pail tree was given to us by the Queen Mother of Ev. That’s another hidden country, near Oz, but cut off by the desert. She gave it to us as a way of saying thank you for how we saved her and her family from the Nome King over a century ago.”

“The Nome King…” Yachiyo remembered what the Immortals had said when she was in the Forest of Burzee. “Wait, a century ago?” She did a double take at the two princesses–they definitely did not look a century old.

Ozma smiled. “You’re new to Oz, that’s for sure,” she said. “It’s part of the magic in this land. Ever since I came to power after the Wizard was removed, no one within Oz’s borders has to worry about growing old, unless they want to. People can stay as young as they like. Dorothy and I have been like this for a long time.”

“I… I had no idea.” Yachiyo tried to wrap her head around that. For the longest time, she had thought that her wish to survive had resulted in people she was close to dying off. It had gotten to the point that she was mentally preparing herself to outlive just about everyone she knew. To think that this world had an entire country where no one had to worry about that…

“So you’re telling me,” Yachiyo asked, “that no one dies in this place?”

Ozma shrugged. “Well… not naturally.”

“But people die if they are killed,” Dorothy added.

“It’s also how you’re able to understand everyone here,” Amare cut in. “The magic in the air also acts as a universal translator.”

“Longevity and easy translations…” Yachiyo looked at Amare. She narrowed her eyes.

“So how old are you, really?”

Amare blushed. “Nineteen,” she said.

“Really…?”

“Yes, really!” Amare looked aside. “I’m nineteen both physically and mentally.”

Yachiyo smirked. “Relax, I believe you. I don’t see any reason why you’d lie to me about that.”

Amare pouted. “The other you asked me the same thing a while back.”

The mention of the other her made Yachiyo’s face turn more serious. “Right. Speaking of that explanation…”

Ozma nodded. “Yes, there’s a lot to say, but I’ll keep it as simple as possible. You already know that this is the Land of Oz, the same one that you’ve probably seen in books or movies.”

“Oui, I sure have heard of it,” Claudine said after sipping on her glass of lemonade once more. “Some girls I knew did a play about it. Never thought it really happened, though…”

“Nor did I,” Yachiyo said. “In my world, they’re just books written by an American.”

“L. Frank Baum.” Dorothy said his name with a face that seemed to betray mixed feelings about the man. “It’s the same in this world, too. Except when he said in his forewords that he got the stories by talkin’ to me, he was actually tellin’ the truth.”

“That doesn’t really explain how the books also exist in my world.” Yachiyo slowly ate some of her ramen. For something that grew on a magic tree, it was no different than the ramen back home.

Ozma thought for a moment. “Maybe,” she said after a while, “the Baum of your world had some kind of psychic link to ours. I’ve heard from others that different versions of the same person may be connected through some cosmic freak of nature.”

“Or perhaps the Oz of your world just hasn’t made itself known to you, yet.” Dorothy put Toto down and let the little dog roll on the green grass. The others chuckled at the sight of him. “I’d say anything is fair game, really.”

“Still,” Yachiyo went on, “I’ve never heard of an Ozma, and I always thought Dorothy figured there was no place like home.”

Ozma gave her a wry smile. “Most people tend to not remember me,” she said. “But I assure you, I’m in there.”

“And as for me,” Dorothy added, “I’ve come to believe that home is ultimately where the heart is. And my heart was here, with Ozma.”

The two girls looked at each other and smiled. It was the kind of smile one expected from two people who knew each other for so long that they understood everything about each other. It was a bond that Yachiyo could see plain as day, even if Dorothy and Ozma said little about it out loud.

“That’s understandable.” Yachiyo put her ramen down. “So how exactly did the Yachiyo of your world get involved in all of… this?”

Ozma glanced at Amare; Amare for her part held a neutral expression, but Yachiyo thought there was something that flashed in her black eyes. After a split second, Ozma turned to Yachiyo.

“It’s quite simple, really,” the princess said. “After we thwarted the Nome King’s attempt to invade Oz with an army a century ago, Glinda the Good Witch decided to isolate Oz from the rest of the world. She used her magic to make us invisible to outsiders; the magic also had the effect of making the other countries nearby invisible, too.”

Again with the Nome King… Yachiyo recalled the Nome that had stolen her shield. She was beginning to suspect that she would be meeting the Nome King very soon. “And you eventually decided to open up Oz again in the present?” she asked after partaking of her ramen again.

Ozma nodded. “You have to understand, our country never had Magical Girls until recently. But eventually while observing the outside world, I became aware of their existence. They had magic that was similar to ours, but different. And I saw how they were suffering, and wanted to see how I could learn more, to figure out a way to help them.”

“So you contacted the other me?”

“Yup! Through the internet.”

That was an answer Yachiyo didn’t expect. “The internet?”

“Oh yes. Ever since I became the ruler of Oz, I limited access to magic, to ensure no more Wicked Witches would arise to terrorize the populace. We advanced alongside the outside world, if still separate from it. In some ways we surpassed it.” As she spoke, she took out the tablet she had brought with her and set it down in front of Yachiyo.

“We’ve had magic slates like these for a while before you outsiders did,” Ozma said. The slate came to life, showing a map of Oz. It was a country that was almost perfectly rectangular, with desert around all four sides. Ozma tapped the center of the map, and the image zoomed in, until it showed the Emerald City, glowing as green as its namesake. Yachiyo and the others looked at it in awe.

“That was also how I found out about you, even about your modeling career.” The image of the city faded, an image of Yachiyo modeling some winter outfits appeared.

Claudine looked at the image. “Personally, I think my girlfriend is prettier,” the blonde said. Yachiyo rolled her eyes.

“Through my magical arts, I found out you were a Magical Girl, and we made contact. This would have been sometime during your first year at Kamihama University.”

“From what the other you told me,” Amare said, “it was before you met Iroha and the others, and before the whole business with the Wings of the Magius.”

“You don’t say.” Yachiyo remembered that time. It was a lonely time, when she did her best to get by without even Mifuyu to talk to. She wondered if the Yachiyo of this world felt a little different, having befriended the princess of a fairy country.

“To make a long story short, we invited the other you to visit Oz, and she explained everything she knew about Magical Girls, Kyubey, and the Witches while she was here. We even showed her around the countryside a bit. You even met Glinda at her palace in the Quadling Country.”

“I remember that,” Amare butt in, her dark eyes sparkling just a bit. “I was still working there as a guard–it was how Yachiyo and I met.”

“Really?” Yachiyo asked. “What was that like?”

Once again, Amare’s cheeks turned pink. “It was great,” she said. “We had you model for us.”

Yachiyo raised an eyebrow at that.

“Anyway,” Ozma went on. “It wasn’t long before we discovered that Witches were now in Oz, too. Not the kind we’re familiar with… I mean the Incubator kind.” She gripped her staff. “There were too many across the land, and so–with great reluctance–we had to let Kyubey contract Magical Girls here.”

Yachiyo frowned. “That must have been a hard decision,” she said.

Ozma nodded slowly. “You have no idea. We would have preferred the other you staying with us, or at least recruit other Magical Girls from outside. But she had her own commitments back in Japan, and Glinda wasn’t sure if we could trust everyone from outside Oz just yet. So we let her go home, and got to work trying to accommodate our new Magical Girls.”

“And then came Epithene,” Dorothy said, grimacing.

“Epithene?” Yachiyo asked.

Tsuruno and Claudine were attentive; Amare, however, had a sick look on her face. Ozma simply sighed and fiddled with her magic slate, allowing it to project a holographic image of a girl with long, dark brown hair, wearing a blue dress and holding an open book in her hand, a contemptuous look on her face.

Immediately Yachiyo went into high alert. “That girl… I saw her in the vision the Fairy Queen showed me!”

“She grew up in the Munchkin Country,” Ozma said. “Her father was a necromancer, or was, until I outlawed necromancy while limiting the use of magic in Oz.” She frowned. “Seemed he never got over my decision to do that, and Epithene agreed with him.

“She lost her family to a Witch. After that happened, she met Kyubey, and made a contract with him.” Ozma paused, as if trying to get herself to say the next part.

“Ozma…?” Dorothy asked, a look of concern on her face.

“... She managed to raise an army of Magical Girls. They began attacking all over Oz, trying to force me to surrender and let Epithene rule in my place.” The image on the slate changed, showing Epithene, and an army of Magical Girls behind her. Behind them were hundreds of squat, jagged creatures–Nomes, Yachiyo realized.

Ozma wringed her hands. “The Magical Girls who were loyal to me fought against them, as did others… but then Epithene made a deal with the Nome King, and he gathered all his forces from beneath the earth to attack us. Eventually they took the Emerald City. We were backed into a corner…!”

Ozma paused, looking down. Even if she was over a century old, Yachiyo noted, she still seemed like any other teenage girl. Dorothy reached out and took Ozma’s hand in hers.

“That’s when I contracted,” Dorothy said. With her free hand, she summoned her Soul Gem; it burned a bright golden color. “I wished that Ozma could be sent somewhere safe; she ended up in Kamihama.” Dorothy frowned. “They captured me, though. And Toto. Epithene liked usin’ my Soul Gem as a stress ball when she was upset.”

“Ouch,” Claudine said, wincing.

Ozma regained her composure. “Around that time the Wings of the Magius had already been dealt with. Kamihama was recovering from Eve and Walpurgisnacht, but it was still safer than Oz was. I found the other Yachiyo, and she let me stay at Mikazuki while we came up with a way to get back and save Oz.”

“That’s where I come in,” Amare said slowly (Reluctantly? Yachiyo thought it sounded that way).

“You?” Yachiyo asked her. By now she had made her way through her food.

Amare glanced at Ozma, then back at Yachiyo. “I was sent to find Ozma and bring her back to Oz. Glinda was still leading the fight against Epithene at that point.”

“Is that when the two of you got together…?”

“... Yeah.” Amare looked aside, while a pained expression flashed across Mifuyu’s face. “That’s for another time, though. Point is, the other you, me, and Ozma found a way back to Oz together. We rescued Dorothy and regrouped with Glinda, and eventually we stopped Epithene. Or, the other you did, when she crushed Epithene’s Soul Gem right before she could become a Witch.”

“So the other me killed her, huh…?” Yachiyo leaned back in her seat and stared at the blue sky. That was… a lot to take in.

“She helped save Oz,” Ozma said. “Because of her, and Amare and the rest, we were able to rebuild and begin integrating Magical Girls more into our country. It’s not perfect, and we’re still trying to figure out how to spread that Doppel System of your city over to our side, but we’ve done our best.” She gave Yachiyo a reassuring smile. “In the end, it worked out alright.”

Kyubey’s words from Yachiyo’s vision the other night came across her mind. “Still,” she said, looking uncomfortable, “I’m not sure if the other me coming here was a good thing…”

“I think it was,” Amare said quietly.

“So do I,” Ozma said. “Don’t let Lurline’s words get to you. She just wants someone to blame, and she can’t exactly get back at Kyubey.”

Before Yachiyo could reply, Tsuruno gasped. The Hungry Tiger had woken up, and was stretching, opening its big mouth in a yawn that showed off its teeth and gums.

“He’s awake…” Claudine muttered.

The Hungry Tiger slowly walked on its four big paws towards the table, focusing its eyes on Yachiyo.

Yachiyo tensed up, keeping her Soul Gem in mind, just in case.

“You look like you’d be tasty…” the Tiger said in a deep voice.

“E-excuse me…?!” Yachiyo remained frozen in place, waiting to see what the tiger would do next. She had never expected Ozma to have a tiger of all things as a pet.

“Oh, don’t worry about the Hungry Tiger,” Claudine said, a bored tone in her voice. “He talks a big game, but he’s not much.”

Yachiyo blinked. “Really?”

“Oh, of course,” the Hungry Tiger replied. “I could eat you–all of you–but then I’d still be hungry when it was all said and done. So what would be the point of it all?”

“Sounds like a real dilemma there,” Yachiyo said.

“He said he wanted to eat us all when we first got into this garden,” Claudine said flatly. “But he’s just a big kitty in the end.” She covered her mouth and snickered at her own comment.

“And in any case,” Tsuruno said, “it’d be an honor to eat me! My flesh is the mightiest there is!”

“Really?” The Hungry Tiger leaned forward, licking his lips.

Tsuruno nodded. “Definitely. But you’d have to beat me to get to it first!”

The Hungry Tiger hung his head. “Then it’s no use.”

Ozma cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention back to her. The Tiger slowly walked away into another part of the garden.

“Now that we’ve caught you up to speed,” Ozma said, putting her magic slate away, “we can get to the matter at hand. And that’s trying to get you back to your world, and figuring out a way to get our world’s Yachiyo back home.”

“Not to mention find out what happened to your friends Homura Akemi and Madoka Kaname,” Dorothy added. “They’ve been gone for a while now, too.”

“I already know how to get back,” Yachiyo said. “I need my shield. The Nome stole it from me.”

“Which means it’s most likely in the Nome Kingdom, underground.” Ozma made a face. “We have an uneasy truce with the Nome King, and can’t risk another attack right now. Not to mention Ev is preoccupied with its own issues…”

“So what do you suggest?” Yachiyo asked. Oriko’s vision was in the back of her mind; she was hoping she could leave as soon as possible as a result.

“I’ll get in contact with the Nome King, convince him to hand over the shield without letting him know what it really is,” Ozma said. “Meanwhile, you all can go to Glinda in the Quadling Country.”

That caught Yachiyo’s attention. “Glinda?”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it? She knows all sorts of occult knowledge. I’m sure she can figure out a way to help you, as well as find the other Yachiyo, Homura, and Madoka. You can visit her at her palace.”

“What’s her palace like?” Yachiyo asked.

“It sits at the edge of the Quadling Country, right near the Desert,” Ozma explained. “It’s also staffed entirely by women. Some say they’re the most beautiful women in the whole land. Amare would know since she worked there in the past.”

“I did…” Amare said, her mind seemingly elsewhere.

“Glinda herself is unfathomably old, but uses magic to retain her beauty,” Ozma went on. “You’ll be right at home there, they already know the other Yachiyo.”

Yachiyo looked around at everyone. She wondered how Mifuyu, Claudine, and Tsuruno were handling all of this. Oriko’s vision still haunted her. Until she knew what it was that Oriko saw, however, Yachiyo wasn’t sure if it was good to scare Ozma or anyone else. The sooner she got back to her world, the better, and if she was gone from this world, then there was no way she could cause its destruction. The other Yachiyo would have some explaining to do when she gets back, though. Besides, Mifuyu and the others were surely missing her by now.

She looked at Ozma. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go and see Glinda.”

Ozma beamed. “Great! I’ll let her know you’ll be there by tomorrow afternoon.”

Yachiyo nodded, then turned to Tsuruno, Claudine, and Mifuyu.

“I’m sorry you all got dragged into this,” she said. “If you want, I’m sure we can figure out a way to get you back to Japan.”

“Yeah,” Amare said. “Ozma can use her magic.”

“I can,” Ozma said. “It will be as quick as it took to get you all here in the first place.”

Tsuruno shook her head furiously. “No way! I’m not leaving you in a strange land, Master! Wherever you go, I go! You and Amare need the Mightiest Uwasa as your bodyguard!”

“Tsuruno…” Amare began.

Claudine shrugged. “Amare’s told me so much about Oz. I figured I may as well stick around and see if it lives up to the hype. Count me in.” She looked aside. “I need to contact Maya and tell her I’ll be gone for a while, though.”

“If you’re sure…” Yachiyo turned to Mifuyu.

“Mifuyu?”

Mifuyu closed her eyes and sighed. “All I have to go back to is a lonely apartment and a half-empty bottle,” she said. “Maybe while I'm here, I can figure some things out.”

So, Yachiyo figured, it was her, a girl from another world, Amare, a girl from a fairy country; Tsuruno, an Uwasa; Mifuyu, who seemed like she’d rather be somewhere else without Yachiyo and Amare; and Claudine, who was French.

It’s a ragtag team, she thought. But I guess it’s better than nothing. “Alright,” she said. “If you’re all willing to stay… we’ll head out first thing tomorrow.”

“Yay!” Tsuruno nearly jumped for joy.

Ozma beamed. “Until then, how about I show you around the city?”

*** Amare said she was feeling a little tired, so she excused herself from the tour. Ozma had gotten a carriage pulled by a horse, and all of them rode in it out of the palace, into the city streets. Yachiyo considered herself a city girl, but the Emerald City still caught her by surprise. She later saw on a map that the whole thing was circular in design, with a green wall keeping the city apart from the outside (though there was now a suburban area just outside the walls, as well).

The Emerald City lived up to its name by being entirely emerald green. The palace was the oldest building, and in the center of the city. There were buildings that appeared to be made of stone, with emerald gems decorating them. The further they traveled through the streets, however, Yachiyo began to see buildings that seemed more recent in construction. There were buildings that were Art Deco in design, rising above the older ones. Even taller were skyscrapers of metal and green glass, reflecting the sunlight off of their surfaces. There were green, dome-shaped homes with chimneys, and further on, homes and buildings that appeared to be made of the same materials as the other buildings. They all had windows and doors that were arranged in a way that gave the impression of faces looking at the people wandering the streets with all manner of expressions–happy, surprised, sad, annoyed, it was surprising how much expression one could see in simple buildings.

And there were a lot of people around the city, of course. The Emerald City had entire streets that were made less for vehicular travel, and more for walking on foot. It was easy to tell who was from the Emerald City, and who was visiting, for the Emerald City people wore green clothes and had green hair, in some cases even skin dyed green. Meanwhile the visitors from outside the city wore purple, red, blue, or yellow. Occasionally Yachiyo could see green streetcars that shuttled people around the city with ease. In contrast to how one would imagine a fairy country’s city to look, the entire place seemed just about as modern as Kamihama, if a little more green and a little more futuristic in places. Ozma took them everywhere, from shopping areas, to the public parks and library, to even the public soda fountain.

Along their tour, Yachiyo noticed a few buildings that seemed burned out, or under construction. “The leftovers from the war,” Ozma explained.

As she spoke, Yachiyo noticed a few stores with signs on them in big, red letters: NO MAGICAL GIRLS ALLOWED.

“I guess I can’t blame them,” Yachiyo commented. “Not after everything that happened.”

Ozma frowned. “Perhaps,” she said. “But I’m hoping things can get better overtime.”

By evening, the group had returned to the Emerald City’s palace, and were treated to a delicious dinner. Afterwards, Yachiyo retired back to her green room, while the rest were left to their own devices.

Yachiyo was just about to settle in for the night when there was a knock on the door. She answered it, and saw that it was Amare.

“Amare, there you are” she said, letting her in. “You missed dinner.”

Amare shook her head. “I was still tired. Jellia brought some food to my room instead. How was the tour?”

“It was great.” Yachiyo closed the door and turned to her. “So you’re from Oz,” she said after a bit.

Amare nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Amare shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how to; at first it was because I thought your memory had been messed with, and then it was because I knew you were from another world. Wasn’t sure if you’d believe me.”

“I get that,” Yachiyo said. “Still, you could have called up Ozma to explain things. You two seem really close. Or even Glinda, if you worked for her in the past.”

Amare shifted in place. “Yeah, that, that’s not as easy for me to do as you think it would be.”

“When I get back to my world, I don’t think the others will believe me, either,” Yachiyo said, sitting down on her bed. “That Epithene sure sounded like she was a piece of work.”

“She was absolutely horrible,” Amare said, clenching her fist. “Just an unruly child who demanded a lot and would hurt people to get it, without a second thought. You wouldn’t be able to stand being with her.”

Yachiyo looked at Amare’s fist. “You sound like you have personal experience with her.”

Amare paused, then sighed. “That’s because… I was her prisoner for a while.”

“Really?”

Amare nodded, running a hand through her long, dark hair. “When we returned to Oz to save it, we managed to rescue Dorothy and Toto from the palace before flying off to Glinda. But we needed to buy time to get away… so I stayed behind as a distraction.”

She made a pained expression. “They tortured me for days. The only thing that kept me from giving up was hoping that I could see you–the other you–again.”

“Amare…” Yachiyo couldn’t imagine how much that would have hurt. And she felt even more bad that she wasn’t the one that Amare needed at the moment. Whatever connection the other her and Amare had, that didn’t exist between the two of them now.

Amare sighed. “It’s okay, it’s in the past.”

“Still, you helped save Oz. You’re a hero.”

Amare let out a hollow chuckle. “I’m not a hero, Yachiyo. I just… I did what I needed to do.”

“Even if that’s true, I’m sure the other me is proud of you.”

“I sure hope so…”

“That does make me wonder,” a familiar, chipper voice cut in, “where is the other Yachiyo?”

Immediately Yachiyo tensed up, as did Amare. Yachiyo turned to the windowsill. It was open, letting the night breeze blow in, and under the moonlight Yachiyo could see the small, red-eyed form of Kyubey.

“You,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Yachiyo Nanami,” Kyubey said. “When I heard you were back, I was surprised. You quite literally fell off our radar a while ago.”

In a flash, Yachiyo summoned her halberd and pointed it at Kyubey. “Of all the things to exist in more than one world, it had to be you.”

Kyubey, undeterred, hopped down from the windowsill and made its way to the bed. “I’m not overtly familiar with alternate timelines or universes, but your presence here sure piques my interest. I wonder if there’s an Oz in your world, too.” Its eyes shined brightly. “If there is, it’s only a matter of time before we penetrate it and begin making contracts.”

“You monster,” Yachiyo hissed. “You have the rest of this world already; why bother a place like this?”

Kyubey tilted its head. “If you have a machine working at only ninety-five percent, wouldn’t you want to make it so it worked at a hundred? This was more efficient for our goals.”

“You caused a whole war!”

Kyubey shrugged. “Magical Girls have been involved with wars throughout this world’s history. I’m sure the same applies in your world, too. It’s not our problem what happens, so long as we get our energy. Besides, it’s better we get in before Ozma finds a new way to keep us out, like the others have in Kamihama.”

Kyubey turned to Amare. “And Amare Morita…” Kyubey’s gaze was unwavering. “You know, your mother and father have been worried about you. Now that you’ve decided to return, you should visit them. They miss you.”

Amare glared at him. “What do you care about my parents?”

“I don’t. I just thought you’d like to know. They’ve had a… rough time since you left.”

Amare grimaced. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.” She held out her hand, and a length of chain appeared in it. “Now leave us, before we hurt you!”

“Oh my. I’m sensing some misplaced anger there…”

Yachiyo threw her halberd at Kyubey; the small white creature leaped out of the way just in time, and out the window. Amare immediately ran after it, looking out of the window.

“Do you see him?” Yachiyo asked, standing behind her.

“... No. Bastard got away.” Amare strained her neck forward. Soon her body was over the ledge; before she knew it, her balance started to slip.

“Yachiyo!” she gasped out.

Immediately Yachiyo grabbed Amare by the waist and pulled her in. “I got you!”

She pulled Amare in; a little too hard, it seemed. Before she knew it, Yachiyo had fallen onto her back on the floor, letting out a yelp, Amare falling on top of her.

“Are you okay?!” Amare asked.

“Yeah…” Yachiyo shook her head, before realizing what position she was in. “Oh…”

Amare looked down at her, her long hair falling beside her, Yachiyo’s legs entangled with hers. Amare’s dark eyes stared down at Yachiyo.

“Yachiyo…” Amare gasped out.

“W-what?” came the other girl’s reply.

“... From down here, you look pretty cute.”

“T-thank you.” That was the second time Amare had complimented her, and the second time Yachiyo had blushed.

Amare didn’t move. “What about me?” she asked, looking at her pleadingly.

Yachiyo’s face remained pink. For a moment, her eyes wandered over Amare’s figure. “I, uh, I think you’re cute, too.”

At the mention of “cute,” Amare pouted. “The other you thought I was more than just ‘cute.’”

Yachiyo winced. “Sorry,” she said. “What did she call you? Pretty…?” She looked at Amare’s face, before her eyes wandered down at the rest of her body. “Or… sexy…?”

Amare blushed. “I liked when she called me ‘sexy.’” She looked aside. “She said I looked good in black leather, too,” she muttered.

Now it was Yachiyo’s turn to blush. “O-oh…” The thought of Amare in black leather caused her mind to go off in a dozen tangents. And Amare also had the ability to tie people up in chains…

“Yachiyo.” Amare saying her name caused Yachiyo to come back to the present.

“Yeah?”

Amare’s lip trembled. “I… I just…”

Before she could say more, the door to the room opened.

“There you two areWHOAHOHOWHAT?!”

Yachiyo turned. Tsuruno stood at the entrance, along with Claudine and Mifuyu. Immediately the two girls separated, completely flustered.

“I-it’s not what it looks like…!” Yachiyo began to say.

Mifuyu looked like she had been hit by a train. Claudine for her part seemed mildly amused at the sight. Tsuruno’s jaw may as well have been on the floor.

“It looks like we walked into something,” Claudine said, hand on her hip and a smirk on her face.

“N-no, it’s not like that!” Amare said. “It was an accident, I swear! I just tripped, that’s all.”

“... Hm, okay.” Claudine shrugged it off. “Anyway, we just wanted to say good night. We’re all heading to bed now.”

“I… Okay.” Yachiyo took a deep breath to get herself under control.

“See you tomorrow, then!” Tsuruno ran out of the room. Mifuyu looked at Amare, then closed her eyes and walked out of the room.

“Bonne nuit, you two,” Claudine said. “Try not to stay up too late tonight…” She excused herself.

Soon it was just Yachiyo and Amare in the room once more.

Yachiyo spoke first. “You should head to your room now, Amare.”

“Ah, right.” Amare began making her way out, before stopping in front of Yachiyo.

“Amare?” Yachiyo asked.

“Yachiyo, I…” She paused.

Yachiyo looked aside. “Good night, Amare.”

“Good night…” Soon Yachiyo was all alone in her room.

What a day… She walked over to her window and closed it shut. As she did so, she gazed up at the moon.

“I’ll be home soon, Mifuyu,” she said quietly. “I won’t keep you waiting for long.”

#parallel worlds record #puella magi madoka magica #magia record #madoka magica #the wonderful wizard of oz #fanfiction #yachimifu #yachiyo nanami #princess ozma #dorothy gale #tsuruno yui #uwasa tsuruno #claudine saijo #mifuyu azusa #my writing #text #my post

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