Something was wrong...Terrible terrible wrong.

  She wasn't sure what it was, nor how to deal with it, but something had been...[Wrong].

  When she arrived after work from the ic the apartment smelled...Weird.

  She could smell faint traces of Elizabeth's mana tainted by...Sadness.

  It was like she was about to it something that would harm her, but she had no choice, the mana was weird, but when she came close to her room a pair of Shadons stopped her.

  "[Mother...Mistress is...Asleep right now...Please uand.]" Said her daughter.

  The little girl also smelled...[Wrong].

  "What's the matter?" Asked Rossalio the little girl.

  She only turned her back to her while answering "[We 't ahat, what is happening right now with our Mistress must happen...But...Everything will be alright mother...We have to believe.]" She walked into the door dissolving into the shadows.

  Only leaving behind a pair of armed shadons guarding the door.

  She could [Smell] Elizabeth's mana, and it was...Stable.

  It was tainted by fear and agony, but she had been unstable after so many [Outbursts] from the [Taint]...And right now...She couldn't smell the taint.

  So she should be fine...

  Then it hit her...

  The smell of Elizabeth got s that she almost felt as if the girl was in front of her...

  But...It was...[Syic]...

  The pair of Shadons fred their eyes red for a sed and then dissolved into the shadows too, leaving the duarded...

  Rossaliill didn't dare to open the door, and instead just...Put her head against it, she could hear Elizabeth talking to...Herself? She wasn't sure what to make of it, but the sound of a shower in the background was a signal that everything ought to be okay... Right?

  Notice:I have fulfilled my part of the deal [Paramour], you only o keep [The Ior] happy now.

  She awoke the day with that notification h above her face, at some point she had gotten it, but...It smelled...Weird.

  Uhe ohat she had gotten at the start, this one reeked of...Something else, it was as if the [Notification] was...More meical?

  It smelled like how a [Tinker] smelled when they were w in something, but that couldn't be right. Elizabeth wasn't a [Tinker] even if her [Skill] seemed to work uhe same principles.

  So with that weird foreboding feeling, Rossali on her nightgown and walked to the kit, unlike usual there weren't any shadons around...The dining room felt...Desoted.

  Not even her [Daughter] was around, and the little girl had taken it upon herself to be at the kit ready to assist her in the making of breakfast.

  So instead she got to prepare everything, all the while that weird foreboding feeli pestering at her... She eyed the [Skills] that Elizabeth had gifted her with their [Bond], but nothing was there, if anything they felt as always.

  So wheime for breakfast came and Elizabeth wasn't ready...She took this ce to go and wake her up, she still hadn't put the new [Wards] in her room...She hadn't hem since she was aware of wherever Elizabeth was anyway...

  And so, when she went to wake her up...That happened.

  Elizabeth said that she would take a shower, so she walked back to the kit to get the ptes set up, she didn't mind the extra work...

  And perhaps that was for the best that she had goo the kit, as the blonde girl came out of the room and started taking off her clothes while walking to the bathroom.

  She would throiece of clothing and a shadow would catch it and stow it iself, by the point she was walking into the bathroom the blonde girl was showg....Everything.

  She...Wasn't sure what to think, the blonde girl didn't eve necessary to close the door into the bathroom nor the cristal door into the shower.

  She didn't even turtention to her while she gawked...

  Notice:You are wele.She ighe new notification that had popped up and dismissed it while frowning. Something was indeed wrong here, she didn't mind it of course...And she was saving every sed into one of her spell drives.

  But something was very wrong with Elizabeth.

  "As always it smells great Rossie." The girl plimented her cuisine while eating.

  But she couldn't help but [Silent Cast] some spells to check Elizabeth's health.

  Divine Infosec S, Mana Sense, Sacred Soul S, Empathic Life Sehe list went on and on, every possible spell she knew and a few that she hadn't even used once before...They all returhe same.

  All the while Elizabeth cimed that she was okay, but she couldn't fool her eyes...Why one only o see her to know something was wrong.

  'She has [Stars] in her eyes...' Mussed the pink-haired girl while eyeing the results from her spells.

  Of course, she knew something was wrong way before that, Elizabeth wasn't ag like herself.

  Maybe the [Taint] had been ging how she behaved?

  She seemed...So [Free] right now...

  And all her spells and even the [Skill] that Elizabeth had bestowed upon her said the same.

  Notification:Elizabeth Starbright, currently she is all right. Her Mana is pure and free of [Taint], her body is healthy beyond measure and her soul is stable.

  No problems at all, her current mood is [Amused] with some [Arousal] at the sight of [Her Paramour].

  She is waiting for an invitation to eat [Her Meal], go for it [Paramour] keep her happy, keep her [Distracted], and [Enjoy].

  So when the blonde girl asked her to check [Her Mental state] she frowned...

  She wasn't that good at identifying those types of problems, but she acquiesced anyway, the spell would parse the problem and give her a solution...

  And...She was fbbergasted.

  So she sent a few extra [Diagnosis] spells at the [Core], only to...Find something weird?

  "Are you distressed?" Asked Rossaline. "Eli-Eli...What is wrong with your [Soulscape]?"

  Her [Soulscape] looked wrong, it was like all of it was densed in a ball of [Shadows] instead of...Well, being like a normal one.

  Gra the start one's [Soulscape] was a room at best, hers had barely grown to the size of an apartment after her [in] evolved.

  But by the mastery of magid mana the blonde showcased she should at the very least have an apartment...To be ho she thought it would be at the size of a house at the very least...

  Not...Whatever that ball of shadows was.

  They kept talking like that for a few more miill they finished eating, at that point a [Shadow Tendril] rose from the floor and took the dirty dishes "Thanks beato" Said the blonde.

  Rossaline looked at her weirdly, it was like the blonde girl thought that was her [Daughter]...?

  But why was she oending a [Tendril] instead of ing out?

  She did a double take and...She couldn't see a single [Shadon], instead from the shadows only tendrils of darkness were w around...Why?

  She...Wasn't sure what to think about this. Aher knew how to deal with all the peeks the blonde girl gave her...She was lig her body all over with her eyes...

  *shudder*

  It was just so...[Wrong].

  She [Wahat of course, but the way Elizabeth looked at her...It wasn't [Her Elizabeth] the one looking at her, it was...It was...[Something else].

  "Let's go Eli-Eli..." Said the pink-haired girl after log the door into their apartment, the blonde girl quickly hugged her arm and shoved it between her breasts...

  What was she even trying to do here?

  She relished the feeling of course, but...It was [Wrong], it felt like someone else was writing a [Narrative] and just wao give what they thought she wanted.

  "..." But even so, none of her spells brought anything to light.

  She wished that her uanding of [Emotions] was more developed...She wished that she knew what the blonde girl had done while in that [Indu].

  Perhaps the [Vilins] had done something to her?

  Was her Eliz...Her Friend in danger?

  She khe parents of the blonde girl were important people, the woman had shown mastery of [Soul] magic beyond what was normal...And then also mastery of [Healing] above what should be normal.

  The father...Was more normal though, he didn't seem particurly special, so maybe he wasn't a [Mage] or anything?

  She didn't want to deal with that woman if possible.

  "Ready to [Shift]," Asked Rossalio her friend after they arrived at the district where her ic was.

  The blonde girl seemed to think about it for a sed while looking into the air, was she going about something with her [Skill]?

  "Sure [My Lovely] Rossie, give me a sec." Answered the blonde girl while her eyes shined with the stars in them.

  Somehow the [Lovely] part made her shudder, it was...[Wrong].

  She tried to not think much about it and instead focused on her [Shift Spell], "Let my heart guide the way and strive to follow the stars that illuminate my path as I search for that which my Heart craves...[Hearty Shift!]"

  And while that was going she felt it struck at her like a car act... It was there 'As I search for that which my heart craves'.

  And the notifications from the [Skill], the horror crept at her as the idea settled there...Her face lost color as she saw her friend use her own shift spell.

  "Amm...what was it?" Said the blonde while trying to think about something.

  But she was too focused on what her [t] said, the horror of it...Was...Was it her fault?

  Notice:What are you doing?"[ More silent than the darkness sleeping at the bottom of the sea.......]" Started sounding in the background with a meical voice.

  Was that the voice of a male?

  It sounded like the voice of a male that tried to distort its own voice to sound more cool...

  Her blonde friend didn't seem tister it though, since she was trying to think about something...

  But her eyes started shining more brightly and a blue fme even started burning in her eyes.

  And the [Smell]...It was... It smelt as if thunder had just struear them, the mana smelt as [Ozone] "[...that is the shadow burning deep within the melody of sce!]"

  Then as if it was the i of the blonde girl a plex manda materialized under Elizabeth, she...Acted as if she couldn't see it and just stood frozen there.

  Slowly her body got covered in [Shadows] as she transformed into her shadow-aligned [Magical Girl] form, and as suddenly as that happehe blonde girl frowned for a few seds only to "...MOT#ER FU#ER!" Start spewing curses as if she was a sailor who finally saw nd, it kept saying curse after curse for a whole minute walking from one side to the other, at least till she saw her refle in a store a staring at it.

  "What? No, that is the wrong one. OF COURSE I KNOW THAT!" And started speaking to herself.

  Her [Diagnosis] spell still told her she was fihough...

  Was her [Magic] wrong?

  "Whatever [Elemental Shift]!" And without preamble, the girl used her [Shift] and turned once more into [Elemental Weaver].

  Her eyes no longer had stars in them and instead were the normal blue sky that held a gaxy in them, her magical girl outfit ged from the dark shadow-based to the sky blue one.

  And more importantly, the [Weird] feeling she was getting was gooo, but now Elizabeth smelled as if she issed, but even so, that was indeed more in lih [Her Elizabeth].

  "Sorry about that Rossie." Said the blonde girl while strolling towards her.

  She didn't seem to mind much about what had happened before, if anything she was looking at her phone for something.

  "I know we ask her, but let me check...WHAT THE HELL?!?" Suddenly started screaming the blonde girl.

  She...She eaking with her shadows, right?

  "[Shadow Minion]" Ihe girl while pointing down...

  Both girls stared down while people around gave them a wide berth...ht, they were in the middle of going to work...

  "Amm....[Elemental Weaver] what about going to a roof to discuss this...In a more private setting." Said the pink-haired girl.

  They were protected by their own [Security Nodes] but still, they shouldn't test them that much if possible.

  The blonde girl turo her after the shadow did nothing and hen without waiting for her she jumped into the air where a pair of yellow wings sprouted from her back, they reeked of Ozone so they probably were made with [Thunder Magic].

  The blonde girl flew towards a roof and promptly sat down while closing her eyes and fog inwardly. So the pink-haired girl flew after her and stood there waiting.

  She could see a few shadows here and there quiver as if they wao move...But were stopped by something, and the blonde girl was frowning at it.

  "Rossie...I...'t access my [Skills]." Said the blonde girl while looking at her, she was like a lost kitty...

  "What do you mean?" Said the pink-haired girl, she summoned her [Identify] of Elizabeth and nothing was out of order.

  "My [Shadows]...They don't answer..." Crified Elizabeth, it seemed that she was having trouble using her [Shadow Based Skills]?

  She was about to ask for further eboration when someo into her sense, "I'm an Ally, please do not attack." Said a girl's voice from behind her.

  She turo look bad was about to ask who it was before Elizabeth said it for her "Magical Girl - [Lunar Shade]?"

  So she was a magical girl too?

  If her clothing was something to go by she seemed to be a [shadow] aligned magical girl...That was iing, usually the shadow aligned didn't work as [Magical Girls] siheir stigma made it hard for them to be appreciated...

  "Hello...I detected an unknown mana with some tinges of [Shadow] mana in it... I have a s?" Said the girl looking at her Elizabeth with...Reition in her eyes?

  "Sure," Answered her Elizabeth raising her right arm.

  Right, she didn't have a staff yet...Why?

  Wasn't she supposed to get oh more advanced [Affinities]?

  Wasn't her [in] advanced enough for it to have a staff?

  The ical girl strode towards Elizabeth and sed her with a stuffed bear and o herself and then looked at her, the pink-haired girl shrugged and raised her diary.

  And after getting their ss and firming the information she looked at both, "So do you know why I got that weird signal?" She asked.

  It robably the [Shadow Shift] Elizabeth did right? "I saw a rogue [Tainted] a few days back, have you seen anyone suspicious around?" She said.

  A rogue [Tainted]?

  Was someone sneaking around Elizabeth?

  She would o expand her monit again.