Magia Exedra Heartphial Story - Name - Lighthouse Memories

Lighthouse Memories (灯台のおもいで) is Name's Heartphial Story in Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra. Unique to this heartphial story, episodes aren't unlocked by playing Heartphial Quests, as Name isn't a playable character yet, instead every episode is unlocked after obtaining a different Puella Pictura Portrait. The Prologue episodes are unlocked automatically and originally play when the player first opens Magia Exedra.

Story

Prologue 1

Name wakes up in the Lighthouse's Chamber of Light, questioning who she is and how she got here, only remembering that she was once a Magical Girl. A Memspark flies towards her and she holds her hands out, this Memspark turns into the "In a Dream" Puella Pictura Portrait, that then creates the Celestial Sphere in the center of the room, lighting up the Lighthouse. As she looks down at the light, she's teleported to the lower part of the Lighthouse and meets A-Q.

Prologue 2

A-Q tells Name that she startled them, at first thinking she was a Memspark. Name asks what those are, and A-Q explains that they are the essence of a Magical Girl's experiences, also saying she came with one. She asks what the Lighthouse is, which A-Q explains as the safe haven for Memsparks and a guiding beacon for Souls of Magical Girls. A-Q asks Name if she's a Magical Girl, which Name confirms but doesn't know what a Magical Girl is. A-Q worries about her forgetting her memories and tries to get her to remember anything, calling out the empty Portrait frame in the Chamber of Light. They explain that she had framed the Memspark and unlocked a Puella Pictura. Name questions why she looks like that, which A-Q attributes to her lack of memories. A-Q gives up, believing she can't help him without any memories, making Name pretty disappointed. A-Q notices and asks if she felt something, being glad she can atleast feel emotions. A-Q then believes there is something she could do for him, and after asking her if she felt anything while touching the Memspark, they ask her to help them gather Memsparks. They say her finding her way into the Lighthouse is proof of being a Magical Girl, and if she gathers Memsparks she might just find herself. Name agrees, wanting to get rid of her uncertainty and to remember herself. A-Q finally introduces themself.

Episode 1

Name asks A-Q if Kyubeys grant wishes, which A-Q confirms. Name then makes the wish to find the self she has lost, but A-Q says they're not a Kyubey. Name thought that they were the same, which offends A-Q, calling themself "custom-made" and calling Kyubey a "cookie-cutter rabble". A-Q accuses Name of offending their dignity and identity, but Name doesn't even understand what those words mean. A-Q argues that they look "ENTIRELY, UTTERLY and COMPLETELY different", believing their green accents show their intelligence. Name doesn't understand some of the words they say again and A-Q calms down, saying that Kyubey wouldn't have granted that wish anyway because Name is already a Magical Girl. A-Q believes relying on a wish to give her hope is lazy, believing she needs to put in effort to feel true hope. A-Q then tells Name that their green comes from plants and that squeezing their ears grants muscat grapes, Name believes them which makes A-Q chuckle and confess to joking, saying Kyubey would never be as hilarious.

Episode 2

Name tries to transform but only struggles. A-Q asks her what she is doing, to which Name says she wants to transform into a Magical Girl like she does in the Memory Windows. A-Q realizes how little they've explained it, and they believe Name can't freely transform. They explain that Name transforms into a different Magical Girl to not be considered an anomaly inside the Memory Windows. Per their explanation, the Memory Windows are full of memories tied to specific Magical Girls, but if Name entered a Window as she is, she would be an anomaly, therefore she has to transform into a Magical Girl tied to those memories. Name wishes she could just transform on her own, without having to do it in a Window, but A-Q doesn't fully understand the Labyrinths inside the Memory Windows as they can't enter them. They explain that her being a mass of magic without a form is what lets her explore the Windows of Memory, believing she should be proud. Name plans to transform into A-Q, because they are with her right now. A-Q tries to explain how it's limited to Memory Windows, but Name doesn't listen and keeps trying.

Episode 3

Name asks A-Q where the "light" came from, to which A-Q asks her to specify if scientifically or philosophically. They explain the Big Bang, a theory that the universe started from a huge explosion, and that's how the light was created. A-Q then explains that Humans first created light from fire, prompting Name to want to start a fire in the Lighthouse. A-Q scolds her and Name asks if the Memsparks aren't fire, A-Q calms down, realizing she was asking about the light from Memsparks. Name still wants to start a fire but A-Q tries to stop her from even thinking about it. A-Q expresses his frustrations with her, with how fast she jumps to conclusions and start stuff, but then they realize she might just want an example to learn from. A-Q plans to show her a simple experiment where crystals grow on a thread inside a glass container after a saturated solution in the container starts to evaporate. After the experiment Name questions what this is for, but A-Q reminds her that she wondered where Memsparks come from. They compare the saturated solution to the Lighthouse, the string to the Labyrinth inside a Memory Window, and the crystals to the Memsparks, explaining how the memories of Magical Girls gather inside of Memory Windows and crystallize as Memsparks. Name believes she understands, but mistakes the Memsparks as Magical Girls' Souls, frustrating A-Q again.

Episode 4

At Nighthawk's shop, Nighthawk and Name seemingly talk about something, when A-Q tells the two to quiet down. A-Q comes to the shop and calls out that Name doesn't actually understand Nighthawk's noises, and Name admits she wanted to talk anyway. After A-Q tells Name to stop causing a ruckus and let them focus on their work, Name insists that keeping the Lighthouse lively will make sure the "lonely light" will gather more easily, wanting A-Q to join in. A-Q doesn't like parties and prefers solitude and silence, which makes Name confused to how they don't feel scared when alone. A-Q tells her that they used to be alone before Nighthawk and she appeared, which prompts Name to ask if they were always alone. A-Q reminisces of a time they were in a trio, then in a duo, and finally a time where they were in a large group, but considers the time of the trio the most memorable, having changed a lot since then. Now that Name came to the Lighthouse, A-Q is in a trio again, which makes them nostalgic, especially since the two are also troublemakers. Name doesn't understand nostalgia.

Episode 5

At Nighthawk's shop, Name tries to look at a notebook, but Nighthawk gets protective, causing more ruckus which prompts A-Q to come and try to solve it. They explain that Nighthawk has always treasured the notebook, and probably assumed Name wanted to buy it. When Name assumes it belongs to Nighthawk, A-Q corrects her by saying it used to belong to somebody else, Name asks if A-Q knew the person it belonged to and A-Q confirms. Name doesn't understand why Nighthawk would treasure something that isn't theirs, so A-Q explains that Nighthawk might hold affection to the original owner but doesn't rule out the possibility that Nighthawk might be attached to the dishes listed inside, as the notebook is specifically a cookbook. Name doesn't understand what cooking or recipes are, which A-Q simply explains, using a tofu Hamburg steak as an example. They brush it off as Name doesn't have to consume food, explaining how living beings need food but can also find enjoyment in the taste. Name wants to try eating, but A-Q shuts the idea down as there's no point, and she wouldn't be able to find ingredients anyway. Name asks if A-Q wishes to eat food, but they confirm that they ate food in the past and no longer crave it, but then bring up wanting to drink strawberry milk again, getting nostalgic. Name notices how A-Q grins whenever they say "nostalgic", believing that the feeling must be nice.

Episode 6

At Nighthawk's shop, Nighthawk gives Name a book to read, but she can't read so calls over A-Q. When Name asks where the book came from, A-Q explains how there's a room in the Lighthouse where a massive collection of books are stored, thinking this book was taken from there. Name had no idea that there was such a room, to which A-Q says it has been there forever. Name asks for specifics, which makes A-Q go into speculation, and believe that it must have been built before the previous Lighthouse Keeper took up the torch. Name wonders why it has been there for so long, which A-Q responds to by theorizing they might be beacons to Memsparks, and that the room was needed soon after the construction of the Lighthouse. Name wants to go into the room but A-Q refuses because of how important the room is, bumming out Name and Nighthawk. A-Q focuses on the book, calling it nostalgic, which Name agrees with. A-Q is shocked that Name considers it nostalgic but she admits she just wants to know what that feels like, frustrating them. Name and Nighthawk press A-Q to finally read the book, which they agree to and read the title - "Puella Magi Diarium".

Episode 7

A-Q finally catches Name, who was running away from them after they tried to teach her to read and write. Name complains about how hard it is to understand what A-Q is trying to teach her and A-Q admits they never had trouble with learning. Name asks why studying isn't a pain to A-Q, and they respond by saying they are a genius. Name assumed she will never learn to read because she's not a genius, but A-Q encourages her to keep trying. A-Q admits they tried to teach her so she can be more useful, but because they do well on their own, if Name has no motivation they can abandon the studying, which makes Name happy. Name believes that the previous Lighthouse Keepers also struggled with reading, but A-Q counters this by mentioning the many books in the Lighthouse. Name asks if being able to read was why A-Q was chosen as the Lighthouse Keeper, but A-Q believes it was because they had the power to create Labyrinths and that maybe the previous Keeper knew the Memsparks would scatter. Name understands this as needing powers to become the Lighthouse Keeper which makes her disappointed and makes A-Q think. A-Q then decides to tell her that reading is a requirement, which gets her motivated to learn again and A-Q makes her promise to not run away again. A-Q realizes they just gave themself more work after they wanted to clear their head and draw Portraits, Name suggests drinking "strawberry milgs", also believing they can squeeze it out of their ears. A-Q reminds her that they said it as a joke, but realize that Name meant it as a joke too. They decide to drop the topic as they're too tired.

Episode 8

Name finds a painting in Nighthawk's shop, taking it without permission. She brings it to A-Q, who asks if it's theirs, but Name thinks it's too fuzzy. A-Q thinks it's a drawing made before they got here. When A-Q asks where she got it, they realize she took something from Nighthawk again, to which Name argues she just borrowed it, which further frustrated Nighthawk. A-Q explains how she can't just take stuff without permission and that she should apologize to Nighthawk and then properly ask for permission. She does and Nighthawk forgives her quickly, nodding when she asks if she can show it to A-Q before giving it back. A-Q finally sees the drawing, Name describes it as four girls. A-Q calls it a kid's drawing, originally expecting a lost masterpiece, but then realizes something. Name asks if they know who the girls are and A-Q calls them the "Original Four", also believing that it might have been one of them that drew it for fun. A-Q describes them as the "ones who existed before [A-Q] did". Name asks about the background, comparing the color to Nighthawk's right eye, A-Q explains that it's a cherry blossom tree and the symbolism behind it, also believing it was important to the Original Four. Name hopes to see more drawings of the Original Four, but A-Q doesn't know if there are, just knowing that she could find traces of them around the Lighthouse. Name agrees to look around but A-Q insists she focus on collecting the Memsparks, Name declares a race to find something about the four and starts looking, but A-Q doesn't join in.

Episode 9

Name and Nighthawk play a game with marbles, making a lot of noise and annoying A-Q again. When Name shows the marbles they were playing with, A-Q guesses that they were playing Ohajiki, confusing Name who just liked the marbles. Name suggests A-Q plays with them, but they dismiss it rudely, and then go back on it just saying they are not interesting in it. Name then asks "what's shiny like marbles in a game of Ohajiki?", making A-Q think it's a riddle, but Name says she's talking about the shiny things visible outside of the Lighthouse. A-Q tells her that they are stars and how people stargaze as a hobby, but then rethinks what they said, realizing they might have misled her. A-Q says that if stars are defined as being scattered across the universe, then the things visible from the Lighthouse aren't stars. They compare universes to fruits, and their stars to their seeds, saying that the Lighthouse is a place where you observe the fruits (universes), and that every light outside of the Lighthouse could be its own universe, but it's just a guess. A-Q knows Name didn't understand what they explained, and is proved right when Name shows Nighthawk how she can connect the "stars" to make them look like A-Q. When she connects the "stars" to make them look like Nighthawk, A-Q is shocked, believing she just discovered a constellation, only confusing Name more. They compliment her cluelessness as something that makes her fascinating.