"A long, long time ago... in the distant Kingdom of HOMU..."
The story opened on a castle shrouded in thick, oppressive gloom. Within this castle resided the evil Demon King who ruled the entire kingdom.
She sat high upon a throne woven from thorns and stars, gazing coldly at the subjects groveling beneath her feet.
There was no tyranny or malice in her eyes, only a terrifying, absolute dead silence, as if she had completely lost the capacity to feel emotion.
"The Demon King was once a Magical Girl. She possessed the purest of wishes, and she possessed a Senior whom she respected above all others."
As Sirin's monologue continued, light converged at the center of the stage. The figure of Teriri appeared, accompanied by a holy, ethereal chant.
"Super-Dimensional Scepter that seals the dark powers, unleash your true might once again!"
Magical Girl Teriri raised her wand high. A torrential rain of starlight fell alongside her incantation, instantly banishing all the gloom surrounding the castle.
However, the storytelling itself felt as if it were veiled in a thick fog, creating an insurmountable sense of distance that the audience could not break through.
In the audience, some people reached their hands out toward the stage, but the distance remained absolute and untouchable.
Then, matching this unbreakable sense of distance, the plot took a sharp, tragic plunge.
"However... disaster struck."
The music abruptly became frantic and oppressive.
The light and shadows on the stage began to violently shake and distort, as if the entire world were collapsing.
Through a series of rapid combat flashbacks, Teriri's silhouette gradually became clear and vivid. Just as it seemed she was about to break through the fog of history, the entire world shattered like a violently struck mirror.
The jagged cracks mercilessly tore through Teriri's figure. In the end, to protect the kingdom behind her, and to protect the young Demon King, the Senior collapsed alongside the world, falling into an eternal slumber.
"No... Please don't sleep..."
The young Demon King, Sirin, let out a heart-wrenching wail. On the stage, only a single beam of cold light remained, illuminating her figure.
She knelt beside the fallen Magical Girl Teriri, desperately trying to use her immature magic to awaken her Senior. But the only response she received was deathly silence.
Magic... seemingly did not exist.
"If the world cannot keep you here, then I will create a world where only you exist."
What is wrong with a world woven from dreams? If reality is this sharp and freezing cold, what beauty is there in such a world?
The Demon King Sirin stood up. With her head bowed, she took slow, heavy steps toward the front of the stage.
The single beam of cold light followed her footsteps, illuminating the scenes around her feet—scenes that could only exist in a dream.
All the HOMUs were laughing. All the HOMUs were happy. All the HOMUs had smiles permanently stitched onto their faces, smiles that could never change. And all the HOMUs were weeping softly alongside Sirin.
She refused to grow up. She refused to accept reality. She attempted to use an eternal childhood to freeze that moment of absolute sorrow in time forever.
"However... there truly is light ahead."
Sirin's footsteps abruptly halted, because a sudden, jarring beam of warm light appeared directly in front of her.
Truthfully... the warm light wasn't blinding.
Simply being in its presence made one feel the beauty of spring blooming.
But to Sirin, who was entombed in freezing permafrost, the light felt too scalding, to the point it threatened to burn her.
Friendship? Bonds? Convictions? Dreams...?
No! This world doesn't need any of those things!
Only naive Magical Girls believe that possessing these things can banish all the evil in the world! Only Magical Girls believe that as long as their friends are always by their side, the world will inevitably become exactly as they wish!
Is the world truly that simple?!
If the world were truly that simple, then why... did the Demon King appear?!
"There is no magic in this world! What you call magic is nothing but the self-deception of the weak! The ignorant delusion of fools!"
The Demon King Sirin violently waved her hand, angrily denouncing the two figures standing within the warm light.
"You have never experienced loss! You have never felt true agony! Your lives have always been smooth sailing! How could you possibly comprehend the suffering of absolute defeat?!"
Only then did the figures within the warm light fully reveal themselves.
"No... To say that suffering is no longer suffering simply because one has overcome it—that is incorrect."
"But to attribute one's failure entirely to the insurmountable nature of suffering—that is also incorrect."
Seele and Frélle's voices rang out in succession. The two Magical Girls materialized from beneath the warm light.
"Magic does not exist because this world is an objective reality. It will not alter its physical laws simply because of someone's thoughts. It is fair, it is just, and it opens its heart to absolutely everyone."
"But magic does exist, because your body, your thoughts, and your power belong entirely to you. And your power is sufficient to change this world."
"Perhaps no one will understand why you choose to act. In a world accustomed to drifting with the current, sometimes even the act of changing is viewed as a mistake."
"And no one will understand how you do it. Because they cannot understand it, it is unknown. And because it is unknown, they fear it, they reject it, and they become the very obstacles and tribulations standing in your way."
But Sirin couldn't hear any of it.
The bloody, brutal reality had already frozen her heart solid. She had already buried her dreams in this mass grave of despair.
"Then what is the point of any of this?!" She cried out, stumbling backward, trying to retreat. But behind her was an impenetrable, unyielding wall.
Life only allows a person to move forward. It never permits retreat.
"We do not glorify suffering, for it is not worthy of glorification. Even though a reed can survive in the harshest environments, that does not mean it should be stripped of its right to grow in beauty."
Magical Girl Seele raised a hand, placed it over her heart, and spoke slowly with a pious, reverent demeanor.
"We do not praise natural talent, because talent does not dictate a person's life. A rose can bloom into a magnificent spectacle that covers the mountains, yet it can also rot away in a tiny, insignificant puddle of mud."
Magical Girl Frélle stepped forward, crossed her arms, and spoke her truth with a calm, unwavering voice.
"We value only effort. We value only the choices you make."
"Your environment, your circumstances, even your innate strength and natural talents—none of them truly belong to you. The only things that truly belong to you are the thoughts within your own heart."
"'I will do this, because I have a reason I absolutely must.'
"That is the essence of true magic."
The warm light seemed to effortlessly banish the freezing, oppressive gloom, washing over Sirin's form.
"I will do this..." She murmured, staring blankly at the spot where the warm light fell. "Do I... have a reason I absolutely must...?"
Life had never given her such a reason.
Life would never willingly offer such a reason.
Because a reason...
Is something a person gives to themselves.
A reason.
Is the magic by which humanity dominates the world.