Magia Record Story One Fleeting Summer Night
Part One
Episode 1
Tsukuyo Amane and Tsukasa Amane are excited to finally be at the beach. They marvel at the couch and umbrellas that are already setup as Touka Satomi explains that it’s her own private beach so they can do whatever they like. Alina Gray and Mifuyu Azusa are dying from the heat but Nemu Hiiragi thinks going to the beach today is a great idea for getting inspired. Touka suggests they head over to her vacation house where the head housekeeper greets them. Touka looks a bit down until Tsukuyo asks her what’s wrong. Touka is sad because this particular vacation home is really old and outdated but her father really likes it for some reason. Mifuyu chastises her for badmouthing the place they’ll be staying at, but the housekeeper agrees that it’s a very old-fashioned home. Still, she’ll be doing her best to accommodate everyone and begins by going to get drinks for everyone. The Amane twins are stunned that someone could own such a large beautiful house and consider it a spare so they resolve to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and really enjoy themselves for the next three days.
Episode 2
After they all change into their swimsuits, the group heads down to the beach. There, Touka insists everyone grab hands as they stand in a line. Mifuyu thinks they’re playing Red Rover at first until Touka pull them all forward and they all run splashing into the ocean together.
After that, Touka suggests they use the flyboards next (hoverboards that fly using water pressure). Touka urges the Amanes to go on the boards first so she can see how it works. After that, she promises to let them go on a banana boat next. Mifuyu and Alina watch from the sidelines until Alina demands Mifuyu get into the shade before she burns her perfect body. She then demands that Mifuyu pose for one of her sketches since the only thing she’s remotely interested in is drawing Mifuyu, especially now that she’s wearing a swimsuit. Nemu offers the pair some cold juice to sip on as they all relax on the beach.
Elsewhere Tsukuyo and Tsukasa shriek in surprise as they bounce across the ocean on a banana boat with Touka cheering them on from the beach. Eventually the twins can’t hold on and are tossed into the sea. They manage to make their way back to the beach where they stand panting. Touka claims she’s bored of watching the twins do everything and offers them a reward if they can think of something fun for her to do. She offers them a pair of tickets to Minaminagi Sea plus a hotel voucher. The twins’ eyes light up at the thought of a vacation with just the two of them until they remember their homework and daily lessons. Still, the thought is too tempting to pass up so the twins resolve to try to win the prize and then figure it out afterwards.
Episode 3
The twins wrack their brains trying ot come up with something, but since they’re unfamiliar with the area it’s rather difficult to do. Tsukasa then has the brilliant idea of asking the housekeeper, so they head back to the vacation home. It turns out the whole town is going to throwing a big festival that night. The housekeeper thinks even Touka will be interested since there is an unusual ceremony that is part of the festival, in which gods are summoned in order for the town to express their gratitude to them. The twins thank the housekeeper and hurry to inform the others.
The group heads to where the festival is set up, but there are no people or anyone running any of the booths, nor do they see any kind of ceremonies or rites being performed anywhere. Mifuyu suggests they ask a girl who is wearing shrine maiden attire if she knows anything about it. The twins go and ask the girl, but according to the girl the festival has been canceled since one of their historic adornments has gone missing and they can’t perform the ceremony without it. Without the ceremony the town doesn’t feel like celebrating at all. The twins offer to help search for the missing item so the ceremony and festival can occur. One of the town elders recognizes Alina and Touka, having read about them in the newspaper. They ask if the other girls are just as accomplished so the twins play on their flutes for a bit to demonstrate their talents. Mifuyu explains she’s there to help keep an eye on Nemu and Touka. Touka volunteers Nemu to help in the search since she’s written mystery novels before. The elder consents to allow them to help in the search and Nemu asks to be taken to the place where the adornment was last seen.
Episode 4
The group head to a shrine in the woods where the lost adornment is traditionally kept. Tsukuyo asks about the adornment and one of the villagers describes it as a Coral Necklace that was made by one of their residents ages ago. By itself it has no significant value, but it is priceless to the village as it is a key component to their ceremony. Normally the necklace rests in the shrine and is only taken out on the day of the festival which is why no one noticed it was missing until today. The twins get a strange sensation as they approach the shrine but say nothing. Alina gets bored and decides to head back to the house, with Mifuyu calling after her. Nemu investigates the shrine and doesn’t see any damage to the lock, so she suspects either a villager or an outsider with knowledge of the shrine must have used a key to open it. Nemu doesn’t think they took the necklace for the money, seeing as the age of the necklace means the coral it’s made of isn’t worth anything anymore nor is it rare. After thinking it over, Nemu concludes that whoever took the necklace was aiming to cancel the festival. The villager is surprised that someone would want to do that, but he considers it makes sense since the Pearl Comb, the other item necessary for the ceremony, is still safe and sound. Nemu asks to see the comb and the villager prepares to take them to the ocean shrine where it’s kept. The twins opt to follow Nemu to the shrine and so does Touka, until Nemu suggests that Touka go back into town and do background checks on the townspeople. Mifuyu offers to go with Touka so she doesn’t go alone. Touka says she’ll do it in exchange for Nemu’s dessert and takes off with Mifuyu. As the girls were talking, Tsukasa notices a glittery silver strip of paper on the floor.
Episode 5
Nemu and the twins soon find themselves in a cave on the beach. They look around in the darkness only to discover that the cave is filled with light-reflecting moss. The villager leads them further into the cave where they come upon another shrine.
As they approach the shrine, the twins once more feel a presence near them. The two hold each other’s hand to reassure themselves. Nemu investigates the shrine and finds that the pearl comb is still inside the shrine. This backs up her earlier suspicions that someone is trying to stop the ceremony since they need only take one of the two items necessary to perform the ceremony. Off on the side, Tsukasa asks Tsukuyo if the presence they feel isn’t stronger here than it was in the woods. They can tell it’s not a Witch’s presence, but it still feels unsettling. The twins ask if they can leave but Nemu wants an extra minute to organize her thoughts. As Nemu stands deep in her thoughts, the twins can feel the presence strongly emanating from the shrine and wonder if they’re the only two that can feel it.
Episode 6
The twins are momentarily blinded by a flash of bright light. They blink and look around to find a set of twin girls standing before them. The girls are crying and saying something but the twins can’t make it out. The only words they catch are “shrine maidens”, “please stop”, and “save us”. Soon the world fades and the Amanes can hear Nemu calling their names. They open their eyes to find themselves still standing in the cave, but only Nemu and their guide is there. Nemu says they suddenly froze up. Telepathically, the twins convene and ask if the other saw the same thing as them. They notice that the shrine door is now open and Nemu says it was them that opened it. Tsukuyo warns her not to touch the shrine and closes it back up. Nemu is getting tired of wasting their whole day looking for a necklace when all they wanted was something fun to do so she tells them to hurry so they can get the search over with. The twins resolve not to tell the others what they saw since they figure they won’t be believed anyway.
Episode 7
Back at the festival plaza, Nemu relates her theories about it being someone from the town. Touka has everyone line up whose alibi hasn’t been given yet. The townspeople murmur amongst themselves as the elder sadly decides that they’ll have to cancel the festival this year. Tsukasa suddenly remembers the glittery piece of silver paper and hands it to the elder, thinking it must be part of the necklace. The elder recognizes it as part of a shrine maiden’s hairpin. The elder turns to one of the shrine maidens and accuses her of trying to cancel the festival due to her belief in the old tales. The maiden tries to refute it, claiming the festival can only bring harm to the town. The magical girls circle around the girl and ask her why she did it and where she hid it but the girl refuses to answer. Alina shows up and asks if she perhaps buried the necklace since she saw some dirt that had been disturbed near the hilltop shrine. They decide to investigate the area but the shrine maiden takes off running.
Episode 8
The twins take off in hot pursuit and are just able to catch up to the shrine maiden when she gets to the hilltop shrine. The girl is standing there holding the coral necklace. The Amanes offer to go with her so she can apologize to the elder but the maiden refuses, stating the festival and ceremony should be canceled. The twins try to argue that it’s her duty as a shrine maiden and it’s her duty to her town, but the maiden doesn’t care what they have to say since no one will listen to her feelings on this and it’s not like they can substitute for her. She thinks the town should never have kept the necklace around for so long. Sobbing, the girl smashes the coral necklace to the ground. Telepathically, Tsukasa asks Tsukuyo what the duties of a shrine maiden really are and wonders if maybe the girl was overwhelmed with her duties. Remembering what happened at the Oceanside shrine, Tsukasa suggests they pick up the fragments and return them to the elder. After that they resolve to stay out of the affairs of the town since they are outsiders after all.
Episode 9
It’s nighttime and Touka is lighting sparklers on the beach. Mifuyu looks down sadly at the black snake sparkler and how plain it is while Alina makes a metaphor about humanity’s ego and the plainness of the sparkler. The twins have fun with their own sparklers as they think about the day’s events. The sparkler fizzles out and the twins look around for more but it was the last one. They notice they can see the cave shrine from where they’re at, but remind themselves they would keep out of it since they’re outsiders. Nemu suggests they go to the cave to look at the light-reflecting moss since it’s a full moon out, but the twins want nothing to do with the shrine. Touka thinks looking at moss is boring and instead suggests they play cards since she can’t lose due to all her wealth. Alina thinks playing cards would be boring if Touka is just going to win all the time anyway. Mifuyu offers to go to the cave with them since she think it would be romantic. Nemu suggests the twins go back to the vacation home if they don’t want to join them but the twins decide to go with them afterall since they may not get another chance to find that presence again.
Episode 10
The group makes their way deeper into the cave where the shrine is. Cold water drips onto Tsukasa’s ear, making her jump in fright. Touka tells them to stop overreacting, so Tsukuyo squeezes Tsukasa’s hand to help calm her down. They arrive at the shrine and Touka thinks the moss looks pretty even if it’s nothing special. Nemu tells her it’s ok to admit to liking something which upsets Touka. The two bicker as the Amanes once more feel a presence emanating from the shrine.
The twins are pulled toward the shrine and find themselves looking at the twin girls from before. The right twin tells her sister that she doesn’t want to be left to die like some dog. The left twin wonders if it will really come true. The right twin responds that they have to believe, since even if they were to survive they’ll just be defeated by some Witch. The right twin informs her sister they have to get the town to put on the festival and perform the ceremony. If they can complete their shrine maiden duties…
Light flashes once more and the girls disappear from the Amanes’ sight. Mifuyu calls out their names and says the twins were just standing in front of the shrine, frozen. Once more the shrine door is opened and Alina can attest that they were the ones to open it. Alina closes the shrine door with no problem and the Amanes wonder if only they are affected by this phenomenon. The Amanes consult with one another telepathically and believe that maybe they were affected because they too are Magical Girls and twins just like the girls in the vision they saw. The girls they saw were determined to go through with the ceremony and festival, so perhaps they were trying to warn the Amanes since their situation is so similar. The twins resolve to return to the town the next day.
Part Two
Episode 11
The Amanes let Mifuyu know they’ll be going off on their own for a bit as they head over to the village to speak to the town’s Elder. The rest of the Magius are eager to try out all the foods and game stalls that are being set up for the festival, but for the time being everything is still closed as the village prepares for the ceremony. The twins manage to find the elder and offer to volunteer as substitute shrine maidens since the one originally appointed refuses to participate. The Elder is reluctant at first, but ultimately gives in and allows them to participate in the ceremony. He assures them they don’t have to prepare in any way for it and leaves to finish his preparations. With nothing better to do, the twins head off to learn more about the town and the ceremony.
Episode 12
The townspeople have accepted the Amanes as the new shrine maidens and hurry to get everythign prepared in time for the ceremony. One of the older villagers thanks the twins for volunteering and gives each of them an ornate hair ornament. It is a custom of the village to gift each newborn girl an accessory that is meant to ward off disasters. The twins think this is similar to their own flutes and gratefully accept the gifts. When the villager describes some of the other accessories they gift, the twins wonder if the necklace and comb from the ceremony once belonged to someone from this village. The villager then directs the twins to the village elder so they can learn more about the ceremony and the town from their historical documents.
Episode 13
When they ask the village elder about it, the Amanes find out that Nemu has already borrowed all the documents and had begun reading them. Nemu explains that the town first believed in a god that was actually a local child. In the olden days, the town had struggled with scarce fishing and accidents at sea, so they would sacrifice children to the sea god to appease it. Once sacrificed, the children would then become gods and those are the gods that the town believes in. The ceremony developed as a way to give thanks to those gods. The twins try to read the documents to see what part the shrine maidens play, but the writing is too difficult to decipher. Nemu takes a look for them and discovers that one year a shrine maiden died shortly after performing the ceremony. During years where there was a storm the day before the festival, there was often a large number of pandemics or natural disasters that would hit the town and the ceremony was often considered a failure. Unfortunately, this year seems to be following that trend due to the typhoon season. The twins are worried about how the ceremony will go and Nemu wonders why they would get so involved in a small town that is of no concern to them unless it was all just for Touka's reward. The Amanes begin to explain they saw something strange at the shrine but Nemu interrupts them so she can call the rest of their group over to hear the tale.
Episode 14
The Amanes describe everything they experienced at the shrines. Mifuyu thinks this must all be the work of a curse from the girls who were sacrificed in the past but Touka thinks that's ridiculous since the girls in the apparition were Magical Girls so their souls can't linger on earth. Nemu says it can't be the fault of a Wtich since none of them sensed anything while Alina thinks maybe they were just seeing things from being so scared at the time. The Amanes insist on taking everyone back to the ocean shrine so they can prove that what they saw was real but they're stopped by the village elder. The Elder doesn't want the girls to go anywhere since they are starting the ceremony ahead of time. He pushes the girls ahead of him as he leads them away and tells the rest of the Magius to have fun at the stalls. The Magius stand there dumbfounded since there aren't any people running any of the stalls. The few people they do see around the town don't seem very lively and Alina jokes that the town is now full of zombies.
Episode 15
The Elder leaves the Amane sisters at the hilltop shrine to wait. Tsukuyo thinks the villagers have been acting strangely all day and wonders if everyone is on edge because of the importance of the ceremony. Tsukasa agrees that it must just be nerves, especially with everything that has happened recently. The two reassure one another just as the Elder returns with another shrine maiden. He hands the girl he brought with him the coral necklace and pearl comb. As he does so, the air fills with an evil aura. The twins begin to panic as they recall the pleading voices of the twin ghosts they saw. The Elder directs the villagers to bring the offering forward as the villagers roughly grab the Amanes and force them towards the shrine. Nemu and Mifuyu cry out in protest. The twins cry out in fear and ask to be let go but the villagers don't hear their pleas as the Elder commences the ritual to appease the gods of the sea.
Episode 16
The girls struggle as they realize they've let their guard down just because they hadn't sensed a witch. They wonder if the villagers hadn't planned to sacrifice them from the start and consider transforming to fight them off, but they hold off on doing so in case there isn't a Witch involved at all since they wouldn't want to expose themselves as Magical Girls. Before they can break away from the crowd, the Elder orders the villagers to remove the girls' soul gem rings. Realizing they know about Magical Girls already, Alina transforms herself and attacks a villager who miraculously is able to dodge the attack. The Elder and the other villagers drag the now helpless twins to the cape as he bids them to drown in despair. The villagers swarm around the rest of the Magius as they too transform in a bid to escape their clutches.
Episode 17
The girls are pushed roughly towards the cliff. They console each other telepathically as they plan on what to do next. They could conceivably break away and run, but without their soul gems they'll be helpless or inanimate soon after. They consign themselves to following along until they can think of a way to get their gems back. The twins realize that the villagers wanted them to stay conscious or else they would have taken their soul gems far away from them. However, none of the villagers will answer any of the pleading questions the Amanes pose to them.
Soon they arrive at the cape, a huge cliff overlooking the sea. The Elder pushes the Amanes to the very edge of the cliff as he prepares to finish the ceremony to appease the gods of the sea. The rest of the Magius have managed to catch up and are fighting their way through the throng of villagers, but they worry they won't make it in time to stop the Elder. Confused and scared, the Amanes ask why they are trying to appease the sea gods of the ceremony was intended to thank them but instead the Elder pushes the two off the cliff.
The Amanes fall into the ocean as the Elder orders the villagers to destroy their soul gem rings. But before they can do so, Alina opens up a barrier near the cliff. Using it as a distraction, Nemu and Touka were able to leap at the villagers from behind the barrier and wrest the rings away from them. However they're too late as the Amanes have already fallen into the churning sea.
Episode 18
The Amanes fall deeper into the sea, weakening as the distance between themselves and their soul gems grows greater. Soon they're hit by the same vision of the two girls. In the vision, the girl on the right sobs as the girl on the left explains they'll be freed from their fate as Magical Girls if they complete their shrine maiden duties. But she knows it's too good to be true as the girl on the right agrees with her. They both knew it was unlikely to happen but it was their only hope of ever turning back into normal girls. Even if they were to somehow survive the ceremony, they only thing they had to look forward to was either being killed by a Witch or turning into Witches themselves. The girl on the right begs the sea gods to save or help them but the left twin tells her it's pointless. The right twin asks her how she can accept all of this but the left twin argues that she hasn't accepted any of it. She only wants a world where you don't need to sacrifice someone to make a wish come true. She just wanted someone to see their suffering, even if just for a bit. The right twin clutches her soul gem as she angrily denounces the town, their fate, and the fact that their souls are now nothing more than glittering rocks.
The vision ends as Tsukasa and Tsukuyo weep for the lost lives of the girls from their vision. They know that the fate of Magical Girls has never changed in the thousands of years in which Magical Girls have lived on the Earth. The Magical Girls of the past had reacted in much the same way the Magical Girls of the present had. None of them wanted to accept their fate. Even so, the Amanes are determined to work hard and do what they can to change the fate of all Magical Girls. Just wishing for it to happen won't change things since the fate that binds them all binds them too tightly to ever let go. The two continue to struggle to swim but they continue to grow weaker as they sink deeper into the ocean. Tsukasa cries out in fear, however Tsukuyo reaches her hand to her sister as they continue to sink.
Episode 19
The twins awaken to find themselves laying on the beach. Mifuyu breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the twins open their eyes. She had been immensely worried that they'd been lost when they fell into the ocean. The twins ask a flurry of questions concerning their soul gems and the villagers. Touka says they already took care of it as Nemu explains that a Witch appeared the moment they fell into the ocean. Once the Witch was defeated, all of the townspeople fell unconscious. While it didn't seem like the Witch had kissed anyone, the villagers certainly didn't seem to be in their right minds during the ceremony either. Mifuyu tells the twins to cheer up now that everything is alright as they head back to the cape. Tsukuyo and Tsukasa recall the pained cries of the twins in their vision, empathizing with the pain and fear they must have felt. Nobody knew them and nobody understood what they were going through.
On the cape, the villagers are beginning to awaken. Touka and the others pretend that they too have just woken up as the Elder urges the rest of the village to hurry and finish the ceremony at the hilltop shrine. A villager shrieks in fear and the Elder turns to investigate. It seems the Pearl Comb has been shattered into pieces. Without the comb, the town is unable to continue the ceremony.
Episode 20
Nemu hits Touka with her water gun as they play around on the beach the next day. Touka looks grumpy as Nemu declares that she's won 11 of the 22 matches in their water gun fight. The two begin to bicker over their win-loss ratio until Alina breaks it up, exasperation in her voice. The Amanes decide to simply relax on the beach, what with how tired they are after not sleeping all night. Tsukasa looks at the hair clip the villager had given them the other day and wonders if that's what saved them last night. Tsukuyo wonders if the ceremony won't be held anymore now that the Pearl Comb has completely shattered. Tsukasa is saddened to think that no one will remember those girls from the past. Those girls and them are both repeating the same tragedy and the two resolve to do everything they can to change the fates of Magical Girls. Mifuyu calls the twins over as they begin to leave the beach.
The Elder bumps into the twins outside of Touak's vacation home. He apologizes to them for having to cut the ceremony short after they'd volunteered to help. The original shrine maiden is with him and she too apologizes for being rude to them the other day. The twins understand why she was so hesitant and reassure her there are no hard feelings. The Elder offers the girls a gift as thanks for all the trouble they went to, but the twins initially refuse since they'd already received the ornate hair clips from that one villager. Touka asks the twins if they don't want the reward she was going to give them either. Touka says she didn't have A+ levels of fun, but she is willing to give them a reward equal to how much fun she had. As a consolation prize, she promises to take them to another one of the many vacation homes her family owns. Preferably one with a fun event like this one going on.