Kirika rushed over to Oriko's house with the twins in tow, all three of them thoroughly freaked out by Homura's death threats. "The sooner we find a way to evade her, the better," said Estella, not keen on meeting the Demon ever again.

"There's a slight problem, though, sis," said Luna. "We're her freakin' classmates!"

"Damn."

Kirika hurried them along, snapping, "Stop talking about the insane devil personified, would ya? Just hearing about her gives me the goosebumps!"

They found Oriko waiting impatiently for them at the gates. She was looking flustered and worried. "What kept you guys so long?" she said, holding onto Kirika's hands immediately. "I've been imagining that Homura Akemi had caught the three of you and... turned you into Witches..."

Kirika snorted. "What? You have a very fertile imagination, my dear Oriko. She wouldn't kill us... just yet."

"Just yet...?" echoed Luna warily.

"No, no, no! No one's getting herself killed by Homura Akemi as long as I say so," said Oriko firmly, ushering her friends into her garden. "Besides, we've got to come up with an action plan now that our very lives are in danger. Which reminds me that we still have that vision of mine to interpret."

The foursome seated themselves on the garden chairs around, the beauty and fragrance of the roses lost upon them as they began their solemn discussion.

"I believe without a doubt, due to my vision that night, that Homura Akemi is one hundred percent evil and should be dealt with immediately," began Oriko in a humourless voice. There was subdued nodding from the three other girls.

Oriko continued. "As such, we need to formulate a plan to ensure our own safety before Homura is taken down. Also, a strategy is needed to get rid of the Demon for good. We would need to exploit her weakness, which is so far, unknown. Anyone have any ideas on how to begin this operation?"

Silence greeted her question. Oriko frowned. "Surely, someone has some sort of idea?"

"Well..." said Luna, tapping her chin pensively, "Maybe we can stalk Homura and find out her weakness."

"What?" cried Kirika, "Stalk the insane devil personified? You must be kidding, it's she who is stalking us. And she doesn't seem to have a weakness."

"There must be one," interjected Estella, "Everybody has a certain weakness."

"It would be vital that we discover her weak point, but for now, I think that is neigh impossible," said Oriko thoughtfully. "What we should be doing now is to kill as many Witches and Wraiths as possible to get a steady supply of Grief Seeds and Grief Cubes, and very possibly, enrol the help of other Puella Magi."

"Other Puella Magi?" enquired Kirika, a brooding look on her normally blithe face. "How do we know who are the Puella Magi in Mitakihara? There are about a few thousand girls out there, we can't just go around knocking on their doors and asking them. Besides, they probably wouldn't even remember that they were magical."

The girls went quiet again. With every suggestion, there was problem that came with it.

"How about we use our magic and locate them? Is it possible?" proposed Estella, poking at her ring. Luna saw her doing that and gave a sudden whoop which made everyone jump.

"We can distinguish them by seeing if they have the rings!" said Luna excitedly. "Only Puella Magi have that special ring runes and mark on their fingers, we just need to be extra observant and look at everyone's fingers."

"And what are the chances of us actually finding a girl with a mark on her finger?" countered Oriko. "Remember, they probably don't know they are Puella Magi due to Homura's laws, and that means that the runes and mark will not be there."

"Oh." Luna dipped her head, sighing. Estella patted her on the back reassuringly. "Don't worry, sis. We'll come up with something, you'll see."

"But I have to say, Estella-san's idea of using magic to locate them might just work," said Oriko sagely. "We've never done it before, but there's always a first time, right? We should try it now."

Kirika got off her seat enthusiastically and raised her arm. "Okay! I volunteer as test subject! Try and find me in your house, Oriko." She ran off inside quickly, her tie flapping in the wind.

Oriko chuckled. Transforming her ring into the Soul Gem form, she closed her eyes and concentrated her thoughts on finding a Puella Magi in Mitakihara. I want to find a fellow Puella Magi, please show me a fellow Puella Magi, any Puella Magi would do... she said in her head, directing her wishes to her silver Soul Gem. It glowed faintly at first, then began to pulse brightly.

"Mikuni-senpai, it's glowing!" said Luna animatedly, almost falling off the seat in excitement.

Oriko snapped open her eyes and saw the luminous pulse her Soul Gem was giving off. Its pattern and rhythm were different from when Witches were nearby. "This might actually work," said Oriko breathlessly, getting all fired up. She turned the Soul Gem towards her house and it glowed even brighter.

"It's reacting! It's reacting!" squealed Luna, grabbing her sister's shoulders. Estella winced. "Calm down, sis..."

Oriko got up and strode inside the kitchen, followed closely by the twins. The Soul Gem blazed up for a second, then dimmed. Oriko was confused. What happened?

Not willing to give just yet, she walked into her living room and faced the Soul Gem in all directions. It pulsed when she pointed it upwards. Luna and Estella poked their heads over their senior's shoulder, with Estella remarking, "I think the Soul Gem's telling us that Kirika-senpai is above us."

"True." Oriko took to the stairs, and the silver light intensified, pulsing erratically. She waved the Soul Gem around, facing it towards all the rooms. When it was trained on her room door, it gave an explosive flash, stunning the three girls, and died down immediately.

"I think that's our cue to open the door," said Oriko, nodding at it. The twins complied, turning the knob and spilling into the room. And true to goodness, there was Kirika, perched on Oriko's bed with her legs drawn up and grinning like raptor.

"It works!" hooted Luna, throwing herself onto her twin. "You are such a genius, Stella!"

Oriko looked pleased. She seated herself next to Kirika and declared, "Seems like Estella-san is quite the brainiac. She has managed to solve one of our problems. Let's just hope that it works on the Puella Magi who haven't remembered their past, but I personally think that it wouldn't be a problem. After all, magic still resides in them, whether they recall it or not." The ash-blonde smiled at Estella, causing the girl to blush and hide behind her twin. "It was just an educated guess, that's all," said Estella, feeling secretly happy.

"With this, we should be able to locate the existing Puella Magi in this city and recruit their help," said Oriko exultantly. "It would be a crucial first step in building up our defences. We will start now; no use in tarrying something as important as this." Oriko quickly assigned the girls to different parts of Mitakihara, telling them to call her if they receive any stimulus from their Soul Gems. They set off, each going in a different direction, fanning out to sweep Mitakihara and find the Puella Magi.

***

Mami came to first. She sat up with a groan, rubbing her head. All around her, Kyoko, Sayaka, Nagisa and Yuma slowly got up, moaning.

"I feel as if a sledgehammer had rammed into my brains," muttered Kyoko, trying to get rid of the wooziness in her head.

"Yuma feels no better than Kyoko," whinged the little green-haired girl. She crawled to Kyoko and allowed herself to be hugged by her senior.

"Were we... talking about something?" said Mami blearily. "Something about circles and laws and goddesses."

"Whazzat...?" replied Sayaka groggily. "Goddesses?

"Yeah... Pink goddesses and cycling... or something around those lines. Gah! I'm too messed up now!" Kyoko cried out, slapping her forehead.

Nagisa tottered to her feet and plumped herself onto the sofa. "I think we may have been conversing about an anime... Or cheese."

"Anime and cheese? You can't be serious, Nagisa," scoffed Sayaka. "I think it was something more important than that... Were we also talking about stuff like witches and wraiths? Like, ghosts and whatnot?"

"Now that you mention that, I think we were discussing demons as well, and that demons can erase our memories and fly in the sky like ravens," said Kyoko, lifting a finger while looking dazed.

"Was there something about secretaries?" asked Nagisa. "I think something is coming back to me slowly. Something important... like the runes on my ring right now!"

The four girls shook off their addled minds and surrounded Nagisa, gaping at the symbols on her small silver ring. A purplish gem gleamed in the centre, as if telling them 'Hey, wake up from your stupor, people. You were fooled.'

Sayaka shook her head vigourously, trying to clear her mind. "Wait, runes? On a silver ring? Homura the Demon?! Oh. My. Goddess."

The girls gasped. They remembered their conversation all at once, but weirdly enough, they didn't recall that Madoka Kaname had joined them.

"Homura Akemi is the Demon!" said Sayaka. "She's trying to destroy the world by allowing Witches and Wraiths to run free, unhampered by Puella Magi. We have to stop her!"

"And stop her you will."

The five girls spun around at once, just noticing the tall, stern-looking girl standing at the door. She didn't wait for an invitation and simply walked into the apartment, green eyes flashing with an indecipherable emotion.

"Who are you?" asked Mami, standing up to confront the stranger. She was holding out a silver Soul Gem, which gave a quick intense flare that died down as suddenly as it came.

"You are all Puella Magi... Unbelievable. I've found you all in one go," she said, mostly to herself. Her Soul Gem dissolved into a ring around her finger as she took out a cell phone and began dialling someone.

"Kirika, get the twins over at Mami's apartment. I've just found all the Puella Magi in Mitakihara," she said in a business-like tone.

"Excuse me, but do I know you?" said Mami, hands on hips. This girl was as weird as Homura.

The stranger looked at Mami impassively, saying, "You might not know me, Mami Tomoe, but I know you." Her green eyes landed upon Kyoko and Yuma, and Yuma seemed to shrink deeper into Kyoko's arms. "Yuma Chitose and Kyoko Sakura. It's been a long time," she said.

Mami glanced at the both of them. "You two know her?"

As a response, Kyoko took Yuma off her lap and stalked up to the ash-blonde girl, poking her chest aggressively. "Oriko Mikuni... You dare show your face here after what you've done to Yuma?"

Oriko slapped away Kyoko's hand, eyes narrowing as she said, "That was in the past. It was to get Kyubey to not form a contract with Madoka Kaname so as she does not turn into Kriemhild Gretchen and destroy Earth."

"Madoka isn't even a Puella Magi," snapped Kyoko. "Your words are making no sense to me."

"Of course not," replied Oriko coldly. "You must have forgotten all about it, seeing as Homura Akemi had most obviously interfered with your memory."

"You know Homura Akemi?" asked Sayaka incredulously.

"Yes. That Demon has been giving us problems ever since we've remembered our true Puella Magi selves. I trust that she's giving you hell as well?"

"Oh, yeah, sure she does!" said Sayaka, crossing her arms huffily. "She thinks that we can't remember anything about Puella Magi, Witches and Wraiths, and keeps giving us amnesia. Which is very annoying."

"And very frustrating," added Nagisa.

At that moment, Kirika and the twins appeared at the entrance, panting. They had ran all the way to the apartment after getting the news. At the sight of the Australian girls and the runed rings on their fingers, Sayaka growled and said, "Huh, so the Queens are Puella Magi as well. How unpleasant."

Estella grimaced. "Why do you even hate us, Miki-san? Have we ever done anything wrong to displease you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. You both knocked Kyoko and I down on day one, totally outsmarted everyone in class except Homura Akemi, aced yourselves in sports and became the teachers' pets in under seven hours."

Kyoko winced, remembering the encounter. "It was painful, but hell yeah, no one's hurt." They ignored her blatantly.

Luna and Estella blinked. They hadn't expected such an answer. "Well, if it's a case of jealousy, I suggest you release all that now, 'cause we are going to need to work together from now on," said Luna irritably.

"Work together? Who ever said such a thing?" retorted the blue-haired girl, fists balled.

"Woah there!" said Kirika, stepping between the three girls. "I don't know why you guys hate each other, but fighting is not allowed."

"Agreed," said Mami, coming over to step beside her brown-haired schoolmate.

"Don't interfere, Mami-san and Kure-san," snarled Sayaka. "This is between us only."

"Err... Yuma doesn't know what's going on, but please don't fight with each other," said the small girl, cringing.

Oriko glanced at her, grateful for Yuma's timely interruption. "She's right. We need to stop arguing. Our true enemy is the Demon, Homura Akemi. Now, make up with each other. We have lots to discuss."

The three girls sulked and shook hands grudgingly under Oriko's unyielding glare. "Sorry," mumbled Sayaka.

"No need," said Luna and Estella at the same time, trying to keep their faces level.

"Good," said Oriko. "Mami Tomoe, can I bother you with a request?"

Being a good-natured person, and despite having her apartment rudely barged in, Mami nodded, saying, "What is it, Mikuni-san?"

"I need you to turn your apartment into a place for our council of war," said Oriko directly It's close to Mitakihara Middle and Elementary School, so it would be most convenient or everyone if we can meet here every day after school. I have my own means of transport, since I'm from Shirome Middle School."

"Hey, wait. You can't just demand something from Mami like that," said Kyoko, riled.

"No, it's okay, Sakura-san. Really," reassured Mami, smiling. "I'm willing to do anything for the sake of everyone's safety. Akemi-san... friend as she is, she cannot be forgiven for committing such a crime..."

Oriko smiled, satisfied that Mami was willing to listen to her. "Good. It's already late, we will meet here tomorrow right after school and begin our strategy to rid the Demon for good. We will have to do our best if we are to succeed."

"Right," said Kirika, afire. "We'll be known as the Mitakihara Strike Force! Yeah!" She punched her fists forwards, grinning.

"Mitakihara Strike Force?" said Nagisa uneasily. "Are you sure we can... kill Homura-chan that easily?"

"Anything is possible, Nagisa," said Kyoko, ruffling her hair. "I'm kinda glad you showed up after all, Oriko Mikuni. That Homura has freaked me out ever since I laid eyes on her. It'd be great to get rid of her, seeing as she's the cause of all this suffering and mass suicides."

"Don't pretend to be all noble when actually, you just wanna kick her butt," teased Sayaka. Kyoko glared at her. Everyone giggled.

"Well, with that said, the meeting is now adjourned. See you all tomorrow. We will plan our attack, then," said Oriko, leaving the room. Kirika and the twins tailed her, waving goodbye to their newfound comrades.

As the door closed, the five girls got together, with Sayaka saying, "I don't trust that Oriko Mikuni. She looks like the type to exploit people."

"She is," grunted Kyoko.

Mami sighed. "Nothing we can do about it. I heard she's the late politician, Hisaomi Mikuni's daughter. No wonder she exudes such charisma and control..."

"I'm sleepy..." said Yuma suddenly. Nagisa yawned, agreeing with Yuma. "Yes, it's past the normal sleeping time of little children. Can I suggest that we leave and continue this discussion tomorrow?"

Sayaka looked at the wall clock. It was indeed late. "Okay, let's go back... Today was depressing... especially having to know that we are forced to work with the Queens..."

Sayaka, Kyoko and Yuma left Mami and Nagisa after bidding them a goodnight.

They didn't know that Homura had succeeded in scrambling their memory about Madoka, making them forget that she was the Goddess. And they probably wouldn't remember that until the day they meet Death.

In the form of Homura Akemi and her devious plots...

Another late update... I'm so sorry for keeping you in suspense, guys, if I'm not busy, then I'm too sick to write. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was a bit too... dialogue-ish.

Isn't Homura just smart and tricky XD

And check out the video. The song is awesome XD Its called Daiji na Mono wa Mabuta No Ura by KOKIA

~SaitheVivana