Talk:Magia Record Story Wings in the Wind

Part One

Three girls are asked what is the place where they belong. Ikumi Makino answers it is a place that will make the dreams they’ve kept alive with their love come true. Ryo Midori believes it is a place that symbolizes fate and intent, and when grasped, materializes them. Shizuku Hozumi however, has no answer. Despite having many close relationships, Shizuku can’t relate to any of them so she continues to search for the place where she belongs. She recalls an incident that caused her to become angry with Ayaka Mariko. Ayaka and Mitama Yakumo were were helping her choose a new place to search by throwing darts at a globe. The dart had landed on the Japanese trenches and the two had cheerfully declared her new location to search would be at the bottom of the ocean, angering Shizuku for making her search into a joke. Since that day, Shizuku hasn’t spoken to Ayaka despite Ayaka texting her daily.

Shizuku continues to be paid to use her magic for the Wings of Magius. They won’t tell her why they need her magic to connect Kamihama to other spaces, but they are willing to divulge such information were Shizuku to join Magius. At their most recent meetup, Mifuyu Azusa accompanies them to talk to Shizuku and extend an invitation. Seeing that a veteran is leading the group, Shizuku agrees to join. Mifuyu is glad to have her on their side, but informs her that she must learn the truth about Magical Girls first if she is to join their organization.

Some time later, Mifuyu invites Shizuku to the Memory Museum so she can learn the truth for herself. Shizuku is skeptical at first but agrees to look inside the book that contains Mifuyu’s memories.

Part Two

Shizuku narrates as she wonders what it means to belong somewhere. She recalls the boy she loved and how he had found the place he belonged: by Shizuku’s side. Like him, Shizuku had tried to find a place she belonged with Yachiyo and her friends. But she had believed that there was no room for her in their lives and left. Now that she knows the truth, Shizuku feels the urgency in her quest more than ever. She wants to find her place before she becomes a Witch. Within her memories, Mifuyu explains to Shizuku that she will never become a Witch so long as she stays within the borders of Kamihama, and so long as the Magius are around. Mifuyu offers Shizuku a place among the Wings of Magius and suggests this is the place where she belongs.

Shizuku awakens to find herself at the headquarters of the magius, her eyes dull and lacking the sheen they normally have. Mifuyu calls this place Hotel Fendt Hope. Shizuku explains how eerily calm she feels after learning the truth about witches, and says she felt like she was meant to find this place and stay here. A knock is heard at the door and a Black Feather and White Feather enter the room. Mifuyu introduces them as Shizuku’s new teachers. Before leaving, Mifuyu apologizes to Shizuku. The two Feathers hand Shizuku her own Black Feather robes to wear.

Part Three

In the inner sanctum of Hotel Fendt Hope, Shizuku and two other Black Feathers stand before Embryonic Eve. The two other Feathers are weak from all the impurities filling the air and sit down, while Shizuku is able to just withstand it. She asks Mifuyu why it hurts so much there. Mifuyu responds that they can’t help the fact that the chapel fills with impurities. She goes on to explain that it is thanks to Eve that their salvation is now a reality, though their work is only halfway done. Shizuku guesses that their next step is to extend this miracle to the rest of the world. That is why they will soon be given assignments once their training is complete in order to use both Witches and Uwasa to gather the energy they’ll need.

Outside the chapel, Ikumi and Ryo check to see how Shizuku is holding up. Ryo compares the feeling inside the chapel to altitude sickness and assures her that she’ll get used to it soon enough. She then directs Shizuku to the sparring grounds outside so she can watch the other Black Feathers and memorize their fighting techniques so she can fight like the others. Ryo says Shizuku must learn to hide her fighting style so she’s not identified. Not all Magical Girls know the truth about the system and many would see the Magius as a threat to society for using Witches for their own purposes. This is why they must hide their identities with the robes as well as anything else that might make them stand out. They take Shizuku out to the grounds and have her practice with the other novice Feathers.

Part Four

Shizuku practices charging her magic through a chain before releasing it on her opponent. Her sparring partner takes a small injury from the attack but is relatively unharmed. Shizuku seems to be getting the hang of the technique, but notices the other novices are having a harder time. A White Feather calls an end to the practice and orders the novices to report to their supervisors for feedback. Back inside, Ikumi praises Shizuku for learning so well and so quickly. Ryo also gives Shizuku some praise, but notes that she still uses her unique magic at times and warns her that doing so will give away her identity. Regardless, they believe that Shizuku must be a pretty powerful Magical Girl to be so in tune with her magic. If this were the old Kamihama, no doubt Shizuku would be able to kill a Witch single-handed. Shizuku doesn’t think she deserves so much praise since she believes that should be normal for a Magical Girl, but Ryo explains that many of the Black Feathers wouldn’t be able to defeat a Witch on their own which is why they can’t handle it when they learn what’s in store for them. Ikumi asks Shizuku why she joined the Wings of Magius to begin with. Shizuku thinks back to when she was in Mifuyu’s memories and how Mifuyu had insisted that she belonged with the Magius. When Shizuku relays to Ikumi that she belongs there, Ryo finds her answer to be strange. It’s very unusual for a Magical Girl of her caliber to join the organization, much less one with that reason for joining. Ryo explains that she’s probably the only one who feels like she belongs there. Everyone else just sees it as something necessary they must do to protect what matters most to them. Ikumi reminds Ryo that everyone has a different reason for joining. Ryo apologizes to Shizuku, who doesn’t take offense at all. She then hands Shizuku a black gem. She explains that Shizuku will have to imbue the gem with her magic little by little, but tells her the reason why is a secret.

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Part Five

Shizuku stares at the black gem she was given earlier. Though she knows she’s supposed to imbue the gem with her magic, she still doesn’t know the reason why. Just then she receives a text message from Ayaka, asking her to reply and apologizing for hurting her feelings with the dart thing. Shizuku recalls the incident, wherein Mitama and Ayaka threw darts at a globe and then suggested that Ayaka could find the place she belongs at the bottom of the Japanese Trench. Ayaka’s flippant attitude hurt and upset Shizuku, who believes that Ayaka never considers other people’s feelings since she’s always so cheerful and enthusiastic. But Shizuku realizes that Ayaka also always worries about her friends. Despite this, it was overwhelming for Shizuku to keep up with Ayaka’s boundless energy and she never had the time to think about what mattered most to her. Shizuku thinks that the fact that the incident and her joining the Magius coincided gives her the perfect time to distance herself from Ayaka. Shizuku can imagine Ayaka crying about it too easily. As she does so, tears well up in her eyes and a camera shutter goes off. Ikumi asks Shizuku if she’s ready for the day’s combat training but stops herself when she notices the tears. Ikumi excuses herself, saying she didn’t realize that Shizuku was without her robes. Shizuku doesn’t see what the matter is since she met them without her robes originally, but Ryo stresses the importance of hiding their identities, even from each other.

Now dressed in her robes, Shizuku, Ikumi and Ryo stand in front of a Witch’s barrier. For their training today, they’ll be fighting out in the field to get real combat experience with Ryo and Ikumi acting as backup should Shizuku need it. While Shizuku doesn’t have any questions pertaining to the combat, she does ask again what the black gem is for. Ryo reminds her that the reason is a secret while Ikumi promises she’ll learn soon enough. Ryo assures her that it is something that all Black Feathers need and that she’ll get another gift as soon as the Witch Hunt is over.

Part Six

The Witch is defeated and Shizuku sighs heavily with relief. While it didn’t go perfectly, Ikumi believes it’s enough that she was able to stand up against a Witch on only her second day. They hand Shizuku a key that a familiar dropped, calling it her cut for today’s hunt. Since they wrapped things up early enough, Ryo suggests they grab dinner together. At first Shizuku thinks they’ll go to a restaurant with their robes on, but Ryo laughs and takes off her robes and transforms back into her casual clothes. Ikumi follows suit and tells Shizuku to hurry so they can go eat. But Shizuku reminds them that they’re supposed to hide their identities at all times. Ryo laughs again and says they only said that because they were still at headquarters. She reminds Shizuku that they had already seen her and heard her name before she donned her robes, so now that she knows who they are they’re all even. Ryo and Ikumi introduce themselves to Shizuku.

They all head to a restaurant and sit down to eat. Ryo and Ikumi keep gushing over how good the food and drinks are with Ryo teasing Ikumi for slipping out of her idol character. Shizuku remains quiet until she asks them why they’re eating at her family’s café. Ryo felt it better that they go and explain things to Shizuku’s dad personally so he wouldn’t worry about Shizuku coming home late every night. Shizuku thanks them as Ikumi asks her if her home isn’t the place where she could belong. Shizuku says it’s hard to describe, since she feels disconnected from this place and finds it hard to talk about things that matter there. Ryo understands, since not everyone feels like they belong in the place where they grew up.

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Part Seven

Shizuku received another text from Ayaka, which she ignored. She feels bad for ignoring her texts, since Ayaka has been very polite in them, but she also knows that if she responds she’ll just go back to being dragged round by her whims again. She feels like she can’t think when she’s around Ayaka, but then again she’s not exactly calm at the Wings of Magius either even with two nice girls looking out for her. Their kindness makes Shizuku suspicious, but she blames herself for being paranoid and distancing herself from others.

At Hotel Fendt Hope, the novice Black Feathers are discussing their training. Many of the novices are still having trouble using the fighting techniques they’ve been taught as many of them are still slipping up and using their unique magic. A few of them are just able to defeat familiars. When asked, Shizuku states she was able to defeat a Witch the other day with the help of her mentors. Shizuku tries to encourage the others, saying they’ll catch up to her soon enough. But the Black Feather she was talking to admits she would have a lot of trouble defeating a Witch with her regular fighting techniques as it is, which surprises Shizuku. The other novices complain about handling Witches, preferring to be assigned to an outpost or an Uwasa since those assignments involve defense and not offense. Shizuku then accidentally lets slip that it’s her turn to pick somewhere to eat for dinner with her mentors. The other novices smile and tell her they too eat dinner with their mentors, even if they’re not supposed to. As they relax a bit around each other, Shizuku asks them if they too received an item from their mentors, referring to it as something that all Black Feathers need. The other novices don’t know what she’s talking about and Shizuku lies to them, saying she received a grief seed. The novices tease her, saying her mentors are spoiling her rotten as Shizuku smiles and lets the subject drop.

Part Eight

Ikumi hands Shizuku a compass, explaining she and Ryo had charged it up with their magic. Ryo smiles, telling her when and what she’ll need it for is a secret. Shizuku accepts the item, but asks them why she keeps receiving items when the other recruits didn’t get anything. Ikumi reminds her they told her that SHE would be needing these items as a Black Feather when she leaves the nest. Ryo says it’s more of a gift from the both of them to see her off on her journey while Ikumi calls it an extra-special love letter from her favoritest mentors. Shizuku trust them, but can tell they’re definitely hiding something from her. Especially since they keep coming to her house and trying to learn more about her despite the organization’s taboo on learning the identities of others. Ryo says they just want her to be happy, but Shizuku thinks they might be trying to put her at a disadvantage so she’ll get kicked out. Ryo laughs, saying she’d never do that even if she had the authority. Since they know the reason why Shizuku joined, Ryo and Ikumi offer to tell her the reason they themselves joined. Ryo had joined, in her words, to "lower my stress back to base level" as the knowledge of Witches had added more stress to her life, while Ikumi's friend had already joined as a Feather so she joined so they could both protect their dreams. As they tell them their reasoning, Ryo teases Ikumi about slipping out of character again. Shizuku giggles a bit when Ikumi tries to convince them that her bubbly personality is the real one. As they settle down, Shizuku states she felt the same way in the beginning, wanting to be freed from the suffering and that kind of pain. Ikumi agrees, saying their circumstances are different but their motivations are the same which is why they would NEVER do anything to sabotage each other. She offers to charge up Shizuku with her patented love beam, but Shizuku doesn’t react initially. Ryo makes fun of her bubbly act again as Shizuku giggles once more. As Ryo and Ikumi bicker, Shizuku scolds herself for doubting them and for being extra paranoid lately. She wonders if the reason is because she’s felt so safe lately.

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