Miori woke with a dull pain radiating through her chest. It was early in the morning, and the first rays of sunlight kissed her skin. She was surrounded by the naked bodies of Seika and Ayame, and bit by bit her memories of her wedding night came back to mind, eliciting a smile from her despite the circumstances of her awakening.

  The dull pain returned, and she grimaced, holding a hand on her sternum.

  Is this…?

  “Yes. You are about to give birth,” Bellona confirmed, and Miori swallowed heavily, readying herself.

  Of course she didn’t know what a normal birth was usually like aside from an outside perspective; this was her first child, after all, but she knew for sure that it wasn’t anything like this. A green glow shone through her chest, and she leaned back on the bed, breathing heavily as she felt it draw energy from her, just enough for what was to come. Soon after that draw subsided a little, and Miori could intuit that Bellona borrowed her some of her own energy as well.

  Miori grimaced as the shimmering green surface of an emerald gemstone appeared on her chest, and her fingers dug into the sheets. She clenched her eyes shut to let whatever would happen to her happen, but she soon felt two pairs of hands on her shoulders and her waist, supporting her.

  She opened her eyes again, and there were Seika and Ayame, giving her reassuring smiles and kissing her one after the other as she bravely endured the strange feeling of a new life emerging from her, alien and familiar at the same time.

  A few moments later the crystal simply fell off her sternum, landing in Miori’s hand. It was triangular, just like Bellona and Minerva and even Pallas, in an emerald color. Miori had a long look at her strange, wonderful child, running her thumb over its surface.

  “What should we name her?” Miori asked, her eyes darting from Ayame to Seika, the latter of which looked at the little gem with a ponderous expression, reaching out and stroking it as well.

  “Arisu,” she finally said.

  Miori nodded, smiling. “That’s a pretty name. Which spelling should we use?”

  Seika pondered and a small shine emerged from her chest as she pulled her phone out of Minerva’s crystal, which was still deeply embedded inside her. She typed a few kanji and finally showed them to her two lovers.

  “…that’s a lot of strokes,” Ayame commented dryly.

  “…written with the kanji for love, gemstone, and emerald?” Miori asked skeptically while looking at the bashfully grinning Seika. She did look awfully proud of herself for coming up with this name, and Miori wouldn’t object to it, but she still had to get one piece of criticism out, just to tease her wife a little.

  “…you’re not very creative, are you?”

  “Urgh…” Seika flinched back a little and blushed, looking to the side. “L-listen, if I were creative, I would be writing the novels instead of editing them, alright?”

  The bedroom was filled with the laughter of a freshly married family that morning.

  ***

  Miori carried the gemstone, gently cradling it against her chest as the trio returned to the floating island where the wedding took place. Their guests had cleared out by now, with the banquet table being cleaned up by human servants. There was a small pile of objects under the monopteron, however, which the three approached. Jove stood next to it, nodding their way as he saw them approach.

  “Wedding gifts!” he announced with a grin, grabbing a first package from the small pile and handing it to the newlyweds. It was from Seika’s parents. A gift of money, in new bills, as well as three pairs of chopsticks of the same make. Usually these were sold in sets of two, for typical marriages. Seika let out a little snort, before explaining to Miori and Ayame that she imagined how her father must have labored to get them exactly three pairs. He couldn’t simply buy two sets and hand them to the brides with a spare, as the number four would spell ‘death’, and thus bad luck.

  The next one was from Miori’s parents, who gifted them bowls. A traditional set of five, in fact. It was meant to be a set of two, with another set of two as spares, and one extra to avoid the aforementioned number four. And granted, now that Arisu was born, it was probably best that they had at least four bowls at home – in addition to what they owned beforehand, anyway.

  Next were gifts from Miyu and Momo: luxurious body washes, shampoo, and a USB stick. Miori already guessed that this was again a gift of sentimental value, like restored video footage of Minerva Crimson and Bellona Azure which had been recovered after Lethe’s defeat.

  Sayaka gifted them some fine alcohol, and Mana, while not obligated to bring any presents, brought three dresses, which her mother apparently insisted on making for the brides.

  The less said about Hifumi’s gifts, the better. The little note attached to the packages read that they should only unwrap them in their own home, and that they were ‘health products for a healthy marriage’.

  Nicola’s gift were popular novels from her world, which didn’t exist on Earth, dealing with various heroic tales on a faraway continent, somewhere across the ocean from Romystedt. Miori gave Seika a gentle slap on the back of her head as she caught her switching into career mode and contemplating the possibility of publishing these novels under MagiColle.

  “I do have a gift for you three as well,” Jove announced and waved for a young woman with purple glowing hair to step closer. Miori vaguely recalled that she was acting as a cupbearer during the wedding, dutifully refilling people’s drinks whenever they ran out.

  The young woman smiled and presented a sealed amphora to Seika.

  “Hail, bearer of Minerva. I am Juventas, cupbearer of the High King’s court, daughter of Jove and Juno. On behalf of my father, I am presenting you with my creation: ambrosia.”

  Miori gave Jove a confused look, but it was Bellona who spoke up.

  “A rejuvenating drink. It grants a mortal their youth back.”

  Miori looked at the offered amphora, then to Jove, Juventas, and, finally, Seika. She looked like she was experiencing internal conflict over this gift.

  Miori knew all too well why. Seika had called Lethe’s meddling in their lives her ’lost decade’ a few times in the past year, and Miori had conflicting feelings about them as well. Being offered such a gift was an impossibly tempting prospect, even though Seika previously rejected a do-over.

  “I accept,” Seika said, much to the surprise of Miori, and even Ayame.

  “Woah. Didn’t you say those years turned you into who you are today when we re-enacted our youth?” Ayame asked, and Seika blinked, turning around to smile at her.

  “Ayame, I only said I’m accepting the ambrosia, not that I’m drinking it right now.”

  Juventas appeared pleased by that either way, and handed the amphora to Seika.

  “This doesn’t spoil, yes? I’ll have plenty of time to think about it?” she asked, looking at Juventas first, then at Jove, who let out a chuckle.

  “It will last. Keep it. Drink from it or not, that decision is yours alone. It is best when kept until you start to turn old and frail anyway. That way it returns much more time to you.”

  Seika appeared pleased by that and nodded, then Jove stepped towards Miori.

  “Now, may I have a look at my dear granddaughter?”

  Miori blinked, frozen for a moment, until she remembered that he was talking about Arisu, the little gemstone Miori held in her hands. She nodded and moved closer to Jove, who gently picked the crystal up and inspected it, or rather, her.

  “She is… very unusual,” Jove remarked, though he couldn’t hide a smile.

  “Unusual in what way?” Miori inquired, and Jove chuckled.

  “You remember how we take a while to draw enough power to emerge? And how hosts are just a shortcut?”

  Miori and Seika nodded, while Ayame looked a little lost.

  “She has a lot of human in her. In your world, she wouldn’t need a host, and I dare say, you might be embracing her before the end of the day.”

  “Mistress Minerva! Or should I rather say: Seika? You’re leaving us already?”

  Medusa sounded a little melancholic as she asked Seika this question, and Seika gave her a small smile in return.

  “Don’t worry, Medusa. Minerva – the real Minerva – will return to you one day. Keep her home in pristine condition until that day, and otherwise… enjoy your life as much as you can, alright?”

  Medusa managed a little smile of her own. “Was that an order?”

  Seika let out a laugh.

  “Of course: I command you to enjoy your life to the fullest!”

  Medusa bowed, though she looked at Seika with somewhat mischievous eyes.

  “I’d like to receive my orders from my true mistress, if I may…?”

  “I haven’t spoken to her yet, so let’s grant her wish!” Minerva chimed in and Seika nodded, transforming right in front of her awestruck attendant.

  Medusa smiled and fell on her knees in front of Minerva, bowing before her real mistress.

  “Your highness... As I told your partner, I am your humble servant, and forever at your disposal!” Medusa declared, as confused as she was when she looked a little closer and saw Minerva wearing a corset and a librarian’s coat, instead of a chiton or whatever it might have been she expected Minerva to wear.

  “Oh, this… my partner influenced my first appearance somewhat, don’t worry about it!” Minerva declared with a laugh, and Medusa nodded, slowly rising back to her feet.

  “And I give you the same command as Seika did: keep the mansion ready for my return, and live your happiest life! That is an order!”

  Medusa bowed while still smiling. “Your humble servant ‘Michiru’ will follow your command, mistress.”

  Minerva raised a brow as she heard that name. At first, she didn’t get it at all, but then things clicked into place as she guessed who gave Medusa that name.

  “Seriously, Seika? You damn otaku.”

  Hehe… sorry.

  She let out a sigh but managed to give Medusa another smile.

  “Well, then, Michiru… please await my return, whenever that may be. I plan to spend the rest of Seika’s mortal life with her.”

  ***

  Nerio bowed before Bellona; just like Medusa, the attendant wanted to stand in front of her real mistress at least once before it was time to return to Miori’s world. Bellona reached out and gently touched Nerio’s shoulder.

  “Keep the household in order, Nerio. And be a good wife to my brother. I’m sorry if I end up missing the wedding…”

  Nerio shook her head and looked Bellona in the eyes.

  “Do not worry about such trivial things, mistress. Besides, the wedding will be a very… private occasion. I promise I will clean up and repair any damage to your mansion after the traditional abduction…”

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  Bellona raised a brow. “It’s going to be in my mansion?”

  “It’s the only home I have right now,” Nerio responded, looking at Bellona while shifting awkwardly. “Do you dislike it, mistress?”

  Bellona shook her head and let out a little laugh.

  “No! No, of course not. You’re my dear attendant! My home is your home to do with as you please. Just make sure the reconstruction efforts go smoothly if Mars lets loose…”

  “He… he wouldn’t go that far…!”

  “I know, I am just yanking your chain a little, Nerio.”

  “Well, I’m looking forward to you doing that ever so often once you return to live in our world, mistress!”

  Bellona nodded, though she couldn’t hide a little wistful smile.

  “I plan on only coming back after my dear Miori is no more. I might need you to cheer me up when I do.”

  ***

  “Now that my daughters’ healing process is complete, you can properly separate from each other again,” Jove announced as he led the married throuple towards the city gate. Seika blinked in response; she had been fused with Minerva for so long that she didn’t even realize anymore that she was in her half-transformed state. She ran a hand through her glowing hair, taking one last good look at it before she let out a little sigh.

  “Right. It would probably be hard to live a proper, inconspicuous life looking like this. Still… I kind of liked being so close to my partner.”

  “You flatterer. It is for the best, though. You shouldn’t grow dependent on our union.”

  Seika nodded and closed her eyes, with Miori following suit. Their chests emitted a glow as their partners, in their gemstone forms, emerged from their chests and floated in the air before the two women, now back in their mundane forms, grabbed them.

  “Oh, there’s my pretty girlfriends back, without all the glowing extra bits!” Ayame said with a chuckle, though Miori immediately corrected her with “Wives!”

  Seika looked at her hands in front of her, then at Jove. She sighed as the world was once again a cloudy mix of vague shapes and colors. Minerva, helpful as ever, made Seika’s glasses appear from the gemstone’s surface so she could grab them and put them on, and the fuzzy images in front of her turned back into proper objects and people.

  “With all that out of the way, it’s time to say goodbye for now,” Jove announced, gesturing towards two stone pillars. A portal appeared between them, and Janus stepped through to guide them and their daughter back to their own world.

  ???

  ***

  “I have a question, Janus,” Seika broke the silence as their small procession walked through the foggy white void of many doors.

  “Ask away. We are now family.”

  “…we are?”

  “You married my nieces. Maybe there’s a great and a few grands there, but they descend from the line of my sister Terra, either way. Though, with that line of thinking we Deogemma are all related to various degrees. Even the dark ones who are after the life of your daughter are your extended family.”

  “Right, back to my question. You already gave me a hint about your identity when you took me back from Madame Bille’s place. Did you know about Scotus and why he was targeting me?”

  “To a certain degree, yes,” Janus replied with some guilt in his voice. “However, as I was still shunned by Jove at that point, I was reluctant to reveal myself to his daughter and her partner. And if Madame Bille had learned who I am, it would have ended our cordial relationship as well, due to what my nephew’s bastard did in her world.”

  Seika nodded. She didn’t really expect any different reason, though a small part of her still wished for some things to have turned out differently.

  Janus spoke up again, turning to Miori.

  “But! Let us talk about happier things, my friends!” he announced, holding out his hand.

  “May I see my niece?”

  Miori blinked and looked at the little green gemstone in her hand, then she nodded and slowly handed it over to Janus.

  He was extremely delicate with Arisu. He gently picked the gemstone up and inspected her against the soft light of the white void around them; he even closed his eyes on both his heads for a moment, as if he was communing with Arisu.

  “You have such a turbulent, but worthwhile life ahead of you, my young niece. A child like you only comes around once a century, or even millennium. Whatever may be, always remember that you are loved, and that you are never truly alone.”

  He handed the gemstone back to Miori, then he rummaged through the inside of his large, baggy robes with one of his hands.

  “Here it is!” he declared, producing a simple eyepatch with a cute floral design and a bow on it.

  “In lieu of a wedding gift, let me give you something for young Arisu,” he declared with a smile and handed the eyepatch to Seika, who turned it in her hand, furrowing her brow. She remembered it. Arisu was wearing it that fateful day when she almost bled out after her duel with Lethe.

  Just a few millimeters off and I would need an eyepatch, too.

  “It’s no use dwelling on it. This one looked cute on her, anyway.”

  Seika nodded and stowed the eyepatch, giving Jove a grateful smile.

  “Now, my dear family, we have arrived.”

  Janus pointed towards the approaching door; Seika recognized it as that of her and Miori’s apartment.

  Ayame let out a ‘hmm’, turning towards Seika and Miori.

  “…do you think the place is big enough for another person?” she asked sheepishly, much to the surprise of her wives.

  “I thought you liked your alone time,” Seika commented, and Ayame cleared her throat, rubbing the back of her neck.

  “I had time to think while you were gone. And, well, Sayaka nudged me in the right direction. I wanted to convince myself that what we have was just something purely physical for me. Until I almost lost you. Until you proposed to me.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she looked Miori and Seika in the eyes again, with a beaming smile.

  “… now I want to spend all my time with you.”

  ***

  August 2025

  ***

  The inside of the apartment felt familiar and alien at the same time. Being away for a whole month after her injury made Seika see the place with entirely new eyes. Ayame hopped into the bedroom and inspected the closet, nodding before she turned towards her wives.

  “Well, that’s just about enough space for my clothes! It’s almost like someone reserved some space for me.”

  She threw a teasing glance Miori’s way, who smiled bashfully and averted her eyes.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ayame!”

  “Hmm, sure, sure…!” Ayame laughed quietly. The rest of the day was spent getting their wedding gifts into their apartment and preparing for Ayame’s future move.

  A day passed, and Miori rang the doorbell to Sayaka’s place, shifting a little in place. She wore Arisu’s gemstone on a necklace, and in the past few hours it was like she could feel the young Deogemma’s heartbeat in her soul.

  I assume it’s not much longer, now.

  “She is ready to emerge at any moment.”

  She heard footsteps inside before the door opened. Sayaka locked eyes with Miori, smiling at her.

  “Hey there, newlywed!” she said, and then her eyes went lower, to the green gemstone Miori carried.

  “Ah, crap, you’re here for a favor, aren’t you?”

  Despite her words, her smile didn’t stop.

  ***

  They moved inside Sayaka’s apartment, sitting down on the doctor’s couch where Miori explained everything.

  “Once she has emerged, I want her to go to school, and to be recognized as my real daughter. From what I was told, she will look like she’s around fourteen years old, so I’ll need to somehow get her entered into my family register. Since you’re a doctor, I thought maybe you could help me out?”

  Miori had her hands folded together in a begging gesture, giving Sayaka her sweetest smile, while the doctor let out a little sigh.

  “I’m really risking my job for you two, you know? First, I’m lying about you being in the hospital, and now you want me to forge a family register fourteen years after the supposed birth? How old are you anyway?”

  Miori cleared her throat.

  “Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight by the end of October.”

  “That makes it even worse. Take fourteen years off that and… ugh. What’s the backstory, then? Fell for a creepy old man at a young age? Young and inexperienced love ending in a happy accident?”

  Miori shivered; she hadn’t even thought about that, and neither of these options sounded particularly great to her.

  “The latter, please.”

  “Mhm… good thing that our register only needs the mother on it, anyway. I wouldn’t want to find someone to… pin the blame on. Regarding the late entry, I think I already got an in for you.”

  Miori blinked and looked Sayaka in the eyes.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. The maternity ward of the nearby hospital used to have a head nurse who had a bit of a reputation for being an airhead and forgetting the paperwork. There were couples who didn’t realize their kids weren’t on the family register until it was time to sign them up for elementary school. One of my friends from medical school went there, so if I work my charm she might ‘find’ some unsubmitted forms from fourteen years ago.”

  Miori smiled and put a hand on Sayaka’s arm.

  “Thank you. And… I’m so sorry that you have to do all those things for us. Uhm… what happened to that nurse? You said she used to be there?”

  Sayaka made a dismissive gesture in response to Miori’s gratitude before she answered her follow-up question.

  “She’s fine. Or was. She retired ten years ago and passed away peacefully not long ago, from what I heard.”

  Miori nodded. She didn’t want to tarnish the reputation of a living or dead person, even for her daughter’s sake, but if what Sayaka told her was true, it wouldn’t matter much.

  “You know, it’s written all over your face that you don’t want to hurt others for this. Don’t worry about it. People will find that document and go ‘Ah, classic Saki! I miss her!’”

  Miori nodded and allowed herself to relax after the affirmation. She blushed a little as she spoke again.

  “Partnership oath couples can’t adopt together… but Seika would be allowed to be Arisu’s adoptive mother if we can get Arisu on my family register as my biological daughter.”

  Sayaka looked at Miori with a little smile before she cleared her throat and patted her shoulder.

  “Right! I’ll get to work as soon as I can, so just relax, alright?”

  They got up and Sayaka even went in for a quick, reassuring hug. And just as Miori leaned in, something happened.

  A bright, emerald light blinded her, and before she knew it, she heard Sayaka exclaim a single, strained “Urgh!” accompanied by the thud of a person falling to the ground. She blinked and saw a girl with light brown, or maybe dirty blonde hair, who wore a chiton and sat on Sayaka’s chest as the latter still tried to orient herself and understand what happened. She locked eyes with the girl on top of her and furrowed her brow.

  “Well, hello Arisu. Not wearing the cute school uniform yet, hm?” Sayaka commented dryly. The girl on top of her tilted her head.

  “Hm? We know each other?”

  “Sort of. Well, I do. You don’t… yet. Ah, don’t make me talk about that, it makes my head hurt!”

  Sayaka shooed the girl with the bright brown hair, and she jumped off the doctor, after which she even offered her a helping hand to pull her on her feet. Miori watched the entire exchange in complete shock, but then she had to brace herself as the girl with the brown hair turned around and tackled her with a hug.

  “Mama!”

  Miori looked down, blinking as if that would help her believe what she was seeing any better. The girl she was looking at had the face of a young Seika, with a blue left eye which Miori recognized as her own. Her hair color, on further examination, was a mix of Miori’s and Seika’s, too. But the most noticeable feature on that young girl’s face was her right eye. A spherical emerald crystal with a triangular iris was embedded in a pearl-white eyeball, which stared at Miori, and the way it moved and the way this girl blinked, it appeared like it was simply her natural eye and not bothering her.

  Miori had so many questions, but right now, she simply wrapped her arms around Arisu, as tears of joy ran over her cheeks.

  “Hello, Arisu. My wonderful, cute little daughter…”

  “We only did a few passes to check for typos and other small errors on Ebiko’s work, as it’s still being written, so you should be able to continue right where you left off with ‘The Starfaring Maiden’. Kohaku is permanently with a new editor, since you two are now privately involved, just as a matter of professionalism, but we’ll still ask you to give your input on Magical Girls, until we get one of her Magical Girl friends on board, that is.”

  Watanabe gave Seika a strange look after that last comment and she did her best not to look away reflexively. She was brought up to speed on anything she missed in the past month, including her other three authors’ series, ‘The Demon Lord’s Right Hand Woman is my Little Sister’, ‘A Lifetime of Adventure at Sea’ and ‘Little Sisters Ought to be Worshipped!’

  With the exception of ‘Demon Lord’, all of these just released a volume shortly before she was stabbed and had to go to Jove’s world, so thankfully not a lot of work had to be offloaded to her fellow editors and she could get right back to working on those series.

  “Relax, that last one was a joke,” Watanabe added with a chuckle and nodded her way.

  “I’m glad you’re back to full health. We all are. You can’t imagine how shocked everyone was after hearing about your accident. I feel like reckless drivers are becoming ever more common.”

  Seika sighed and scratched the back of her neck, nodding Watanabe’s way.

  “It hurt a lot, but I’m better now. No broken bones, either!”

  Watanabe received her white lies with an enthusiastic nod. “I like that new earring of yours, by the way. Same style but asymmetrical in color?”

  “Hehe, he said he likes me,” Pallas commented in Seika’s mind. It was all she could do to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

  “Thanks! It was a little get well soon gift from Kohaku.”

  “I can’t say that I understand your relationship with her and your other girlfriend, but I’m happy to see that you’re surrounding yourself with people who care about you. When you were alone, you used to be so gloomy that it scared your colleagues.”

  Seika smiled weakly. “I remember. ‘The Demon of MagiColle Publishing’ is what they called me.”

  Watanabe made a dismissive gesture.

  “Well, the time of that nickname has passed now. Again: welcome back. Take the rest of the day off to get yourself oriented again.”

  “But shouldn’t I…”

  “No. Rest up, Hitoishi. That’s your task today.”

  With that, Watanabe swiveled around on his office chair and looked at his monitor, implicitly declaring the discussion over. Seika stared at him a moment longer before she sighed and nodded.

  “Well, alright. I’m off for today, then.”

  “Have a safe trip home! Spend some time with Kohaku, she looked so worried for you both.”

  “Will do.”

  ***

  Seika left MagiColle, taking a deep breath. She took a moment to look around and take in her surroundings. The narrow streets that anything wider than a kei car had trouble fitting through; the two- and three-story tall office buildings and houses. The absence of magic that permeated everything in existence in Capitolium. She was merely gone for a month, yet her own world became rather alien to her. And then there was the issue of her daughter, as well. She would have to tell her parents and introduce Arisu, once she emerged in a human form.

  Miori would have it harder, still. Even after Seika suggested getting Arisu registered on her family register, Miori insisted on taking on that role, even though this would mean that here in the real world she officially somehow became a mother at thirteen years old.

  Teen pregnancies like that happen at a concerning frequency worldwide, but Seika still felt bad about letting Miori take on that role. She was convinced that it would be much more socially acceptable for her to have conceived Arisu at seventeen years old and thus she should have Arisu registered on her own family register, yet Miori was so stubbornly set in her decision that Seika relented in the end.

  Speaking of Miori, Seika got a text from her.

  ‘Miori: Can you come home early?’

  ‘Seika: I just got the day off to recover. Why?’

  ‘Miori: I think it’s best if that remains a surprise.’

  Seika had a hunch, but she didn’t want to ruin Miori’s moment, so she sent a thumbs-up as a reaction and immediately went on her way.

  ***

  “Mama!” was the immediate reaction from the young girl as Seika entered her apartment. She wore a grey dress with a white shirt underneath and already wore the decorated eyepatch her uncle Janus gave her. Seika let the girl embrace her and wrapped her arms around her small frame.

  “Hello, Arisu. Welcome to our little family,” she whispered as she held her daughter. The strange feeling of familiarity which she experienced that day in Sayaka’s apartment came back, and she immediately knew what it was.

  She only just met her, but she loved her daughter dearly.