The cherry blossoms fell over the slope. A bell rang in the distance. Girls' laughter traveled on the wind. A far-off memory of a better time.

  "Kanon, come take a group photo with us already!" echoed the voice of Shizuko. It pulled Kanon into the present, and she looked up from her phone. Her friend stood at the door. Long black hair with straight-cut bangs, thick-rimmed glasses, and tears staining her cheeks. But acceptance seemed to have set in as she greeted her with a warm smile.

  "I told you, this isn't the end," Kanon said. She walked to the door and flicked Shizuko's forehead. It elicited a little yelp.

  "What if I have a red mark from this on our photo!" she complained. Kanon pressed her lips onto the spot and kissed it away.

  "There, all gone." She looked at the blushing Shizuko with a grin, then took her hand and pulled her along. They walked down the hallway, past pairs and groups still lingering in the building. Some hugged and cried, others laughed and exchanged encouraging words for the future. For many, this felt like a final separation.

  It was graduation day at the Higashi Girls Academy.

  Kanon and Shizuko climbed down the stairs from the second floor and united with their friends at the main entrance. It was filled with students unwilling to depart just yet. Most of them felt the same way. After this, it was off to separate universities. Many would only meet again at class reunions, maybe once a year. A far cry from the daily time spent together. Many couldn't let go when they thought of it that way.

  Kanon seemed the only one looking forward to it.

  "You're so cold, Kanon," said Ichika. She clutched her twintails and hid her cheeks behind them as tears welled up in her eyes. She was the only one among them who still couldn't let go.

  "We've been over this, Ichika. Things were getting boring anyway," Kanon responded almost flippantly.

  "You telling me being with us every day was boring?!" Sana flared up. She grabbed Kanon's collar and glared her down despite being a head shorter.

  "Kinda," said Kanon with a challenging grin before pushing Sana against the lockers. The blonde bobbed girl with the attitude lost it immediately when she felt herself boxed in. After all, she could not stand up to Kanon's charm. "But you know what I mean."

  "There are better ways to say this," argued Futaba. She put an arm around Kanon's neck and pulled her away. Her shaggy brown hair hid her eyes, but even she showed signs of having cried.

  "Am I the only one who was looking forward to this?" she complained with a shrug. Then she elbowed the slightly taller Futaba in the stomach lightly. "You were the one most gung-ho about bringing me down."

  "This is this, that is that," Futaba declared as she let go and turned away.

  "Let's go take that photo already. Before we get interrupted again." Kanon took her shoes out of the locker and tossed them to the ground carelessly.

  "Can't you be more respectful of this moment?" Sana complained. "It only comes around once in our lifetimes."

  "Everything only comes around once in a lifetime," declared Kanon as she slipped into her shoes and walked toward the entrance. "That's why you should enjoy every moment rather than put them on a pedestal."

  The others exchanged curious looks, then followed her. The courtyard was still teeming with students, taking photos with themselves in front of the school building. They walked toward the main gate in search of an open spot and found one near the already withered cherry tree. Nobody wanted to take that bad omen into their graduation photo, but these five girls cared not for superstition.

  When they lined up together, each silently fighting for a spot next to Kanon, their wristwatches came to life. They froze at the all-too-familiar beeping sound before their expressions crumpled.

  "Of all days!" Sana yelled, raising her fists to the blue sky to curse at it.

  "Quick, take the picture!" Futaba demanded.

  "I got it." Shizuko tossed her phone and flicked her finger, causing it to levitate a few meters away from her and stop in midair. "Everybody, say cheese and jump!"

  The girls hopped at her signal and put on their most charming smiles. But only a split second later did they hear the shutter as they were already coming back down. As the phone flew back into Shizuko's hand, the other girls crowded around her to get a look at the final image.

  "You perv," said Kanon. All their skirts were flipped up, and each of their underwear could be seen.

  Kanon wore spats as always. Ichika's pink panties featured a strawberry print. Futaba wore side-tie panties, even though she didn't need to go to the swimming club anymore. Sana sported lace as if she expected a happy ending. And Shizuko's were the most boring normal white underwear, as per school regulation.

  Their expressions were on point, but that only made this picture worse.

  "I didn't time it right!" Shizuko cried.

  "This is very like us. Alright, let's go, people are looking." Kanon, ever the leader, declared as she clasped her hands together. When she pulled them apart, a glowing stick appeared between them. It floated in front of her and took on the shape of a conductor's baton. A cup formed on one end, and a flame appeared inside it. Ribbons sprouted from the rim, and the glow faded to reveal a bright red wand resembling a torch.

  Her friends followed her example, summoning their wands and raising them to the sky. The surrounding students cheered as they watched the five girls transform amidst flying ribbons, sparkles, and scattering stars.

  Kanon completed hers first, appearing from an explosion of fire with her reddish brown hair turned a burning red, matching her wand's theme. Her dress was red with white accents, and two flames trailed from her shoulders like the wings of a phoenix. Underneath her short skirt remained the only piece of clothing she never let the transformation remove: Her black spats, which stood out against the rest of her outfit. Her high heels left burning footprints that sizzled out quickly behind her.

  Ichika was next, emerging with a multi-layered pink lolita dress that reached down to her ankles. It sported countless white bows, with an oversized one tied on her back resembling the wings of a butterfly. She stepped in place a few times on her platform Mary-Janes while spinning her pink wand, which matched her hair, in her gloved hands like a cheerleader's baton. It sported a white cloud-shaped ornament on the tip, completing her fluffy image.

  Futaba stepped out of a burst of magical water in a navy blue, skin-tight dress. I was a fusion of a sailor uniform and a professional racing swimsuit. It featured a frilly skirt, left open in the front to reveal her thigh gap. The low cut in the back showed her lean physique, which had all the other girls in the school fawning over her. A captain's hat sat on her shaggy hair, now turned ocean blue, and her shoulders were covered with white epaulettes. Her military-inspired look was completed by knee-high navy jackboots in dark blue that bordered on black. Her wand took on the shape of an anchor, large enough to rest over her shoulder.

  Sana cut through a veil of electricity with her wand, which sported a translucent sphere containing a lightning bolt. Her outfit was far less frilly than those of the others, sporting puffy short sleeves and pumpkin pants instead of a skirt. She wore yellow gloves with cuffs that featured lightning bolt cufflinks. Electricity crackled around her body, and her usually bobbed hair was slicked back, standing up like the spikes of a hedgehog. Her thigh-high heeled boots in white sported a golden lightning pattern.

  Finally, the dusty wind surrounding Shizuka abated, and she stepped forth with a staff in hand. It had a T-shaped tip with two long trailing paper streamers like those in a gohei. Her outfit resembled a shrine maiden's, but was gray and purple instead of the usual red and white. The detached sleeves ended in frilly openings, as did her hakama. Instead of the usual straw sandals, she wore geta with metal teeth. She wore a cloth bandanna, and her straight black hair was tied up with a paper ribbon.

  They were Flameheart, Cloud Eleven, Tidebreaker, Brilliant Spark, and Songcaller, the strongest magical girl team and protectors of Starlight City, called the Fortune Five.

  All the girls who witnessed their transformations cheered as the stars of the Higashi Girls Academy took off, accompanied by airbursts. The Fortune Five headed out one last time to fulfill their duty together before they would announce their disbanding.

  - 3 Years Later -

  "Heal her!" Flameheart commanded.

  "I'm already on it!" Cloud Eleven cried. Her wand was on the unconscious Tidebreaker's forehead, lighting up and mending the deep gash splitting her scalp.

  "Come on, get some!" roared Brilliant Spark. She stood atop a pile of rubble and bodies, both allies and enemies, as she unleashed her lightning minigun with reckless abandon. It mowed down the approaching horde of deep dwellers, but it was overkill.

  "Stop, don't waste your magical energy like that!" warned Flameheart, but Brilliant Spark couldn't hear her over the noise of her weapon.

  "We were sent here to die," Songcaller was crouched next to Tidebreaker and rambled with unfocused eyes. Flameheart grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off the ground with one hand.

  "Get up, Shizuko! This isn't even the worst battle we've had. Remember the Slithering Castle Invasion, the Noo-Plaza Incident, the Heartstopper Syndicate?" She listed their past achievements to encourage Songcaller.

  But she knew her friend was right. This situation was more hopeless than anything they had ever faced before. After all, they were helped by other magical girls back then, saving them in their direst moment.

  But this time was different. Nobody would be coming. All the magical girls had been sent here, to the bottom of the Raytronics Corporation's Ultradeep Borehole Research Facility, to combat the emerging threat of the deep dwellers.

  And the shaft had collapsed over their heads, leaving them trapped with the mortal enemies of mankind.

  The ground shook under their feet, and Flameheart looked up anxiously. The earth-manipulating Magia Terra had shaped the cave-in over their heads to form a dome that supported its own weight before her death. Her sacrifice had prevented them from being buried alive.

  But now, they were down to their old high school team, the Fortune Five.

  As long as they survived the relentless enemy onslaught, they could get out of this. It was a battle of endurance, to see what would run out first: Their magical energy, or the number of bodies the deep dwellers could throw at them.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Flameheart put out the flames emerging from her shoulders and felt the whole weight of her tired body. But it was to conserve energy for launching an attack. She focused her magic through her wand, and a jet of flames shot out into the enemies crawling out of the tunnel before them. It lit up a large area, revealing just how numerous the swarm really was. Seeing this, Songcaller sank back down and cradled her legs. "It's over."

  This was their thirty-fifth hour of fighting nonstop. All their minds were near their breaking points, but Flameheart wouldn't give up. They were the top five magical girls in Starlight City. If they couldn't pull through this, nobody could. "On your feet, Shizuko! After this, we'll take a week off, and we can spend some quality time together!"

  Right as she finished speaking, she felt something wet on the back of her neck and spun around in shock. Where Brilliant Spark stood were only her legs, staggering in place before falling over. Then, her upper body landed on the other side of the chamber, her face still distorted into mad laughter. Her transformation was undone a moment later, and her spiky hair fell over her lifeless eyes.

  "SANA!!!" Flameheart screamed. Cloud Eleven stared at the unmoving body of her friend with trembling hands, unable to muster even a whimper. Songcaller only peered down at the ground, rocking back and forth in terror.

  A humanoid deep dweller in red emerged from the tunnel. A new special type. In place of arms, it had whip-like appendages ending in sickle blades as sharp as razors. They undulated for a moment, then moved faster than the eyes could follow. Flameheart ducked low out of pure instinct and heard the sound of something shoot past the top of her head.

  Before the monster could attack again, she channeled her magic energy into her wand and shot it out as a plasma-like beam. However, the beam was bent away from its target and pulled toward a massive figure inside the tunnel. Her magic was swallowed by a giant cauldron-like maw, lighting it and its surroundings from within.

  The bloated creature walked on four pillar-like legs, dragging its belly along the ground. The heat absorbed from Flameheart shone through the folds in its body as it shambled into the chamber. All the other deep dwellers seemed to make way for it, waiting patiently for its next move. It was another special type, one she had never seen before.

  "Those must be the leaders. If we take them out, we'll get out of this alive," declared Flameheart, trying to convince herself more than anything. She tried to put on a fearless grin, but the image of Sana's dead body flashed through her mind, and she had to suppress the urge to vomit instead.

  "Ugh, what did I miss?" Tidebreaker groaned. She touched her forehead and sat up to look around. The wound wasn't fully mended yet, but it was only a shallow cut now and barely bled. She saw the unresponsive Songcaller and the shaking Cloud Eleven and tried to stand up. But she froze upon noticing the carnage around her. Countless bodies of magical girls, back in their civilian forms after death, lay strewn across the chamber alongside the dead deep dwellers.

  Then, her eyes stopped on Sana's upper half.

  "Nice timing. Can you fight?" Flameheart said without turning around.

  "What do you mean, nice timing?! Sana..." Tidebreaker started, but then saw the leader's trembling fist. She was trying her hardest to suppress her fear and lead by example. They couldn't afford to address Sana's death now. They had to fight, or they would all be wiped out here. "Yes... I think so..."

  "Good, then take care of the big one. It can manipulate fire, so you should be a good match." Flameheart stood up and kept her eyes on the blade-wielding deep dweller. It stood still, as if waiting for their next move. If Tidebreaker could keep the other one occupied, she was confident that she could eliminate it.

  "I'll help!" declared Cloud Eleven as she stood up on shaky legs.

  "Stay with Shizuko and keep her safe. I know you can do it," said Flameheart with a confident smile that belied the turmoil in her heart. "Let's go!"

  She sprang into action and separated from Tidebreaker. The two ran in different directions, using as little magic as possible to boost their speed to save it for their attack spells. Flameheart saw the creature winding up to attack and swung her wand, summoning several fireballs in her wake. They flew forward with a delay, forcing it to use its blades to slash them mid-flight.

  On the other side of the chamber, Tidebreaker created water under her feet and soon rode on a wave that looped around and barreled toward the four-legged living cauldron. It angled its maw toward the approaching magical girl and unleashed an eruption of flames. She swung her wand and raised a water wall that blocked the heat and shockwave.

  Then, they were in position and unleashed the full power of their magic on the two special deep dwellers. Flameheart created another plasma beam and shaped it into a giant sword. She slashed at the blade-wielding creature from across the chamber. Tidebreaker let her wave crash down onto the four-legged creature. She would crush it in a bubble of water.

  They could do this. They had to. For humanity. For Starlight City. For all the magical girls who gave their lives. For Ichika and Shizuko. For Sana.

  - Blackout -

  Flameheart stared at the stumps of both her forearms. The hands still clutching her wand lay a few meters away. It had happened so quickly that she didn't even feel the pain yet. Instead, her eyes wandered to the blade-wielding deep dweller. Her attack had cut it in half. So what had happened?

  Her mind spiraled as she tried to recall the last few seconds, but she only sank into another blackout.

  "KANON!" Cloud Eleven's scream pulled her back to reality, and the pain rushed through her body.

  It hurt.

  It hurt.

  It hurt.

  It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

  It hurt so bad, but she came back from the brink.

  She looked over at the monster Tidebreaker had faced and found it standing amidst steam dissipating into the cool air. The flame inside its maw still burned, and there was no sign of her friend. Had she been defeated? No, that couldn't be.

  But she had herself to worry about first. The unknown attack that had cut off her hands could come again at any moment. She scanned the room, and her eyes stopped on Ichika lying atop Shizuko, both unmoving. They had reverted to their civilian appearances.

  "Kanon, help!" came Ichika's voice from right next to her, and she spun her head around to find a distorted mirror reflecting her face. It was the chest of a vaguely humanoid creature, looming over her with a featureless head that seemed to display a toothy grin. But what she thought was the mouth opened to reveal a singular eye, staring down at her emotionlessly. "Help! It hurts!"

  The monster's eye vibrated like a membrane, mimicking Ichiko's voice, before closing up again. When had it learned those words from her? Flameheart hadn't even heard her say them. How long had she been blacked out? What had really happened?

  "Damn you..." she growled, heat rising in her stomach. The mirror monster tilted its head as if wondering what she was saying.

  "Damn you..." it mimicked her words.

  Fire exploded out of Flameheart. Her hair grew in length and turned into a real flame. She poured out every last bit of her magic energy, her life energy, like a candle burning brightly before it was snuffed out once and for all. She didn't need her wand. She didn't even need her hands to use her magic. Her entire body was an outlet for her fire.

  Fists of flames formed on her wrist stumps, and she punched the mirror with all her rage. It cracked from the impact, and a blaze shot out of its back. The fire traveled through its interior and shattered the creature, turning its shards to ash before they even hit the ground.

  Flameheart turned to the living cauldron as it slowly approached her. One last special deep dweller left. Then, she would check on her friends. Surely, they were only knocked out somehow. Or maybe even pretending to be dead. She wouldn't fault them for it. She wondered where Tidebreaker had disappeared to. Maybe she just couldn't see her among the bodies and debris on the ground.

  The maw lowered itself, and glowing-hot liquid spilled from it. Inside, Flameheart saw the smoldering remains of a wand with a hint of blue on it. No signs of its owner.

  "Futaba..." she whispered. But she didn't let despair fill her heart, only the last remnants of her flame. It would burn hotter than this creature could handle and erase it from existence. She had to do it. For Futaba.

  Flameheart let out a roar, and fire exploded from her every pore, turning her into a living conflagration. But the bloated deep dweller swallowed it all, pulling the flames out of her faster than she could produce it. She felt her magical energy disappear, and her transformation was undone. Kanon the human fell to her knees as all the strength left her body. Her arm stumps, subconsciously plugged by her magical energy, started bleeding. She felt the life rush out of her with every painful beat of her heart. It was over.

  She turned to look at Ichika and Shizuko and found a fourth special monster standing over them. It walked on three legs and had one tentacle-like appendage in place of its head. With it, it grabbed Ichika by the torso and lifted her off the ground. Only now did she see that her friend's face had turned into a crater.

  A vertical slit opened across the creature and revealed a mouth filled with rotating teeth. It unceremoniously tossed Ichika's body into the meat grinder. When the creature turned its attention to Shizuko, Kanon's eyes filled with tears. She whimpered, "Stop..."

  That was all the strength left in her. She couldn't move or even shout. But then she saw it. Shizuko stirred. She was still alive!

  "STOP!" In an instant, Flameheart's dying embers turned into a blaze. She stood up and stumbled forward across the debris. The tentacled creature grabbed Shizuko by her leg and lifted her off the ground, and Flameheart reached forward with her wrist stump.

  To her surprise, not blood, but a thin jet of heat shot out of it. The last of her life energy. It cut through the tentacle and the creature it belonged to, bisecting it cleanly. As it fell into two pieces, Shizuko dropped back to the floor. She awoke from her unconsciousness and sat up, holding her head from hitting it on the ground. Seeing that, Flameheart smiled. Surely, she would survive this now. The living cauldron was slow. She just had to run from it by flying up to the ceiling.

  In her dying moments, her mind stopped working properly. One part of her mind berated her for holding onto hope in this situation. But she could no longer care. All that mattered was that her friend would survive just a moment longer.

  Then, Shizuko's head dropped into her lap.

  Kanon's tired eyes widened, and they grew empty. The fifth special deep dweller stepped into her narrowing field of view. This one looked the most humanoid, sporting arms with five clawed fingers. Its head was shaped like a sideways hammer, or perhaps a broad shovel. A slit sitting at the top dispelled a multitude of glittering threads that moved according to its will.

  This one had cut off her hands earlier. And now, it had taken Shizuko's head.

  Kanon felt heat rise inside her. No, not inside her, but from behind her. She couldn't even muster the strength to turn around. And she didn't need to. The living cauldron scooped her up and dropped her into a burning hell that would last only a few seconds.

  "I'll see you all soon..." she pressed out with her dying breath as her body disintegrated into ashes.

  - Flicker -

  Overwhelming brightness. All-consuming heat. Life.

  Kanon felt her consciousness grow sharp once more. And it was filled with nothing but rage. Rage at the Raytronics Corporation for drilling this deep and tickling the dragon's tail. Rage at the monsters that had killed her beloved friends. Rage at her own powerlessness.

  What strongest magical girl in the world?! What Flameheart?! She was a weakling who couldn't even protect those she cared for most!

  The living cauldron was ripped open from the inside, and from the explosion of flames emerged Kanon as fire manifest. Her gaze wandered across the chamber where the deep dwellers had started feasting on the corpses of both the magical girls and their own. She found the last special one standing over Shizuko's body, silently and unmoving.

  Rage.

  She shot forward and crashed into it. The hair-like threads cut through her body, but she was immaterial, a living flame. With a scream resembling the roar of a wildfire, Kanon punched the hammerhead deep dweller. Her fists of fire shattered on impact, but she reformed them as she pulled back her arms and tried again. And again.

  And again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again.

  The hammer head lay cracked underneath her. There were no signs of the threads. She stuck her fingers into the openings and pulled the creature's head apart with all her strength. Then her movements stopped. The deep dwellers in the chamber had come to their leader's help. Their spiky appendages were embedded inside her flaming body.

  It didn't hurt.

  "Nuisances!" Kanon shouted, and her fire jumped over to the deep dwellers like a gasoline fire clinging to a person. A wave of flames spread out from her, and the deep dwellers were set ablaze by her overwhelming heat.

  Not the hammerhead, which raised a hand to grab Kanon's shoulder. She smacked it aside and went to work trying to rip apart its head again. The creature struggled weakly underneath her, but she was determined to end it once and for all.

  Finally, she felt the hammer head's structure give way. With great effort, she pulled apart its pieces and tossed them aside. It still moved. When she looked down, ready to thrust her hand into the hole and ignite it from within, she froze.

  It had a face. And she recognized it.

  Jamié Dufresne, 36 years old, executive of the Heartstopper Syndicate. A man she personally delivered to the authorities. His death sentence had been carried out three months ago at the Lightless Maximum Security Prison.

  A prison funded by Raytronics Corporation.

  Kanon felt a cold shiver run across her body. Then she realized that she was no longer ablaze. Pain assaulted every inch of her skin, flesh, and bones. She couldn't even scream. Her breath was stuck in her burning throat.

  She fell to the ground naked, twitching all over from the pain of rebirth. Was this how the phoenix felt after being reborn from its ashes?

  The sound of countless footsteps pulled her mind back from the edge. She opened her eyes, and her vision was blurred. But she could see that the deep dwellers who survived her fire returned to finish the job. Kanon grit her teeth and took an agonizing breath with all her might. She screamed like a newborn baby.

  With the most painful movement in her entire life, she flexed her muscles and pushed herself off the ground. Every inch of her skin was raw, covered in boils as if she had burned herself. But instead of worsening, they seemed to progress in reverse. She was healing.

  Yet, she didn't feel any magical energy left in her.

  "Heh, this is just right," she growled in a hoarse voice as she stood up. The deep dwellers sped up toward her, and she raised her bare fists. "I'll keep coming back as many times as I have to."