Nana was deep asleep. Under the spell of the serpent, she was seeing dreams that made her feel at peace, no need of worry or waking up.

It was a simple dream. She was sleeping in the middle of a rose garden, the fragrant scent of the blooming roses relaxing her. Nothing but the gentle breeze could be felt blowing against her, and the only thing she heard was her soft breathing.

Outside her dream, she was being held captive by Momo and Hayate, who watched the serpent who was doubling her walking in the office.

Momo smiled. “This will be easy. No one can resist the serpent’s spell; with this, we’ll lead an army of enslaved humans.”

Hayate looked back and watched Nana sleep.

“Her brain was acting funny because of the loud onee-chan...” he said with a grin, hugging his teddy bear.

“Miki...” Nana called out in her sleep.

Momo looked down as she saw the serpent in Nana’s form.

“With her, we’ll have the Crystal, and soon, the world will be ours.”

“What about the heart?” Hayate asked. “Half the heart’s still missing… and a scary onee-chan has it--”

“Shh.” Momo silenced him. “Don’t worry. We’ll find it.”

…..

“Good morning~” Ryouha came into the empty office, setting down her bag. She had just come back from a commercial shooting and came in late.

She looked around, trying to find someone.

“Wait...” She retraced her steps in her mind. “Ah, I got it wrong. I must’ve been too deep in thought--”

Just then, the door opened and Nana came in, her bangs covering her eyes.

“Ah, Nana-chan. Sorry. I came into the wrong office.”

Nana smiled.

“Ryouha isssss very pretty.”

“Eh?” She was taken aback when Nana suddenly held her cheek and embraced her.

“Look into my eyessss, Ryouha.”

Ryouha wasn’t able to look away from the pair of emerald green eyes. She couldn’t resist such a strong gaze.

This wasn’t like Nana’s usual gaze, not when she was in her serious mode. This one was different, and she couldn’t think straight, as if something was invading her mind.

She saw Nana’s eyes slowly turn into spinning spirals, dizzying her and drawing her further into her gaze. She eventually lost herself and didn’t even try to resist anymore.

Again, Nana hissed in her ear. “You’re a good girl, Ryouha~”

Then, she felt a kiss on her cheek.

“What is this…? I feel… so relaxed...”

“You’ll be a good girl from now on, correct? You’ll be my ssslave. And do whatever I asssk.”

“Yes...” Ryouha said, completely under the spell of the serpent as her eyes turned green like hers.

“Good,” she embraced Ryouha again, holding her waist. “Now, bring Nishino Miki-chan to me.”

…..

The door opened as Miki came back into the room.

“There you are, Miki-chan.”

“Did you find Nana?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t find her.”

“Mou~ where is she?!”

Miichan and Yuria both came in. “What’s going on?”

“Nana went off somewhere, and we can’t find her.”

“Eh? That’s not like her.”

“She’s been acting weird for a while now.”

“Well, we can find her later,” Miichan said as she stood in front of us. “For now, we have something important to tell you.”

“Eh?”

“It’s about your powers.”

“What about them?”

“Well, now that all of you have started to regain your past memories, you’ll soon be able to regain your *True wings.”

“True wings?”

“I think you know very well what those are, Mako,” she said, looking at me.

Wait, were those wings I had my..?

“When your powers awaken their true potential, you’ll each regain your True wings.”

“How do we awaken our true potential?”

“It depends. It’s usually when your full power comes to a peak.”

That does make sense. When I regained my True wings, I felt such overwhelming power, I almost couldn’t stand it.

As we were talking, the door opened and Ryouha came in.

“Oh, hey, Ryouha. Did the shooting go..?” She passed me and went over to Miki.

“Miki-chan, Nana-chan wants to talk to you next door.”

“Eh? What for?” she said as she walked out of the room.

“Ryouha-tan, what happened?”

I reached out to her, but she grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight.

“Ow… Ryouha, that hurts..!”

“You won’t interfere...” She spoke in a low tone. I looked and saw Ryouha’s eyes were a strange shade of bright green.

“Oi, what’s wrong with you, Ryouha-tan?”

“Let Mako go!”

“Ryouha, snap out of it!” I forced my wrist out, but accidentally hit Ryouha’s face.

“Ow!” She held her cheek, blinking furiously as she looked around. Her eyes were back to their dark brown orbs. “Huh..? What happened? Where’s Nana-chan?”

“Ryouha, you don’t remember?”

She shook her head.

“She must’ve been being controlled.”

“Then, that means...”

“Miki!”

…..

“Nana!” Miki opened the door, shutting it behind her. She saw Nana’s back facing her. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you!”

“I’ve been waiting, Miki-chan.”

“Hm?”

Nana suddenly grabbed both of Miki’s hands, holding them gently.

“Her hands are so cold...” Miki thought.

“Shall we danccccce?”

“Dance?”

She suddenly met emerald green eyes. Not leaving her gaze, the two danced in the room, perfectly in synch.

Miki was being spun and twirled, her hands never leaving the touch of Nana’s cold fingers. She felt her back pound against the wall as she looked at the shorter girl, out of breath.

“You’re amazing, Miki-chan~ I really love you for that.”

“What..?”

Nana stared into Miki’s eyes, hypnotizing her as she held her wrists. She pulled her in with the dizzying swirls again that clouded her mind.

“Nana… what are you.. doing?” Miki weakly asked.

“Shhh,” The serpent silenced her, holding her cheek and putting her deeper into trance with her spiral eyes. “Don’t ssspeak.”

All Miki could see through her eyes was a blurred figure of Nana, her eyes piercing into her. The swirling vortexes made her dizzy and she couldn’t think. All she could do was stare into the center of it.

“Let everything go...”

The younger girl closed her eyes as she felt the serpent’s hiss, her hot breath getting close to her skin and sending chills. Her heart was pounding and she couldn’t do a thing.

Gypsy smiled with small fangs coming out.

“I’m going to kisssss you now.”

“Kiss...”

Her hand suddenly twitched, her ring pulsing as she saw a vision play in her head.

She saw a figure, someone whose face she couldn’t see, holding out her hand. She saw a kind, familiar smile, and a voice calling her name. A sweet voice that chimed like a bell that made her heart skip.

“Uta...”

…..

“Yuuki…”

Nana felt her ring pulse and she awoke in her dream. She saw a familiar child, playing in the flowers as she smiled, dancing the dance she used to do when she was alive.

On her other side, she saw a princess in a beautiful kimono, sitting by the roses as she hummed to herself. Her head turned to meet her gaze and she smiled.

“Nana.” She looked in front of her and saw a reflection of herself, only it wasn’t. It was Uta, in a prince-like outfit with her long hair flowing. She held her hand out. “It’s time to go. Our Princess in waiting.”

Nana smiled and took Uta’s hand, feeling her spirit becoming bound to her Heart fragment.

She broke from the dream, waking up in reality and breaking the barrier around her. Momo and Hayate saw, the girl sneering.

“She broke the spell of the serpent, huh? No matter, it’s already too late…”

Nana looked and saw a serpent girl with dark green hair, about to bite Miki.

“Miki!”

…..

“Nana?!” Miki opened her eyes again, and when she saw the fake Nana with green snake eyes, she screamed, breaking away from her.

“Why ssssso sssscared, Miki-chan~?”

“Who are you?! What are you?!”

The serpent her lips. “Let me kissss you~”

…..

We finally got to the door. Miki was trapped in with a fake Nana, and we need to save her.

I rushed to the door knob, but it was stuck. It wouldn’t budge no matter how much I twisted it and turned it.

“They must’ve locked it from the inside.”

I started banging the door. “Miki! Miki, open the door! That’s not Nana!”

As I tried to get the door open, I looked and noticed Yuria was rubbing her temple. I didn’t have time to think of it much as I soon heard a banging sound.

I banged the door again. “Miki, unlock the door!”

“Miichan, where’s the key?”

“Here!” Miichan rammed the key in and unlocked the door. She swung it open and we saw Miki being pinned to the wall by the fake Nana.

“Miki-chan!”

The double Nana turned her head to look at us. Her eyes were green with slit pupils and she smiled, showing small fangs.

“What IS that?!”

“It’s a serpent!”

“Ssssssay, Mako-chan~” The serpent suddenly came up and grabbed my wrist, pulling me close and staring into my eyes. “You have pretty eyessss.”

I suddenly found myself staring into swirling vortexes in her eyes. I felt my mind go blank as I was starting to be pulled in.

So… pretty….

“Mako, don’t look in her eyes!”

I broke myself out of the trance and pushed the serpent away.

“Nice try, but I won’t fall for that.”

“Hehehe…” The serpent suddenly shifted form. She turned into a young woman with a green dress that looked like scales. She had long, blonde hair, and the same snake green eyes.

“I know you,” Miichan said. “You’re Gypsy.”

“That’sssss right.”

The serpent suddenly grabbed Miichan and had her in a headlock.

“Have you forgotten? I have a very tight grip. A ssssstrong, cold embracccccce.”

“Stop your hissing!” She elbowed Gypsy’s stomach, trying to make her let go.

“My ssssscalesss are iron. You can’t break my armor.”

“Maybe I can,” I summoned my sword and sliced her arm, making her let go of Miichan.

“Fighting here would be risky.”

“Un. Let’s settle this on the roof.”

Yuria used her magic to teleport us all to the roof. The serpent hissed with a grin.

“Ssssssee if you can beat me, Princcccesssss.”

The six of us transformed and summoned our weapons. Yuria also transformed and summoned her magic wand.

We circled the serpent, aiming our weapons at her. Each of us struck, one at a time, but her scale armor made it hard to injure her.

“She is strong.”

“We’re strong, too, remember?”

Yuria drew a symbol with her wand and bound Gypsy in chains. However, she turned into a snake and slipped out.

She transformed back and strangled Miki, holding her off of the ground.

“Let her go!”

I was about to attack, but then I felt my whole body go stiff. I looked down and saw a giant snake wrapped around my body, tightening as I struggled to slip out.

“Try asssss you may, it won’t work. That’ssss an anaconda, and jusssst like me, they have a deadly grip.”

I saw everyone else become wrapped up by snakes, Miki still struggling to release her neck.

“All of you will be ssstrangled to death.”

Nana… where are you..? Miki… she’s going to die..!

I tried to stay awake, but soon felt my consciousness slip as my world faded…

…..

Miki’s hands laid limp on her side. She tried her hardest to breathe, but found herself growing weak as she was losing oxygen. The light in her ring was growing dim.

“Nana… chan… help…”

“Thissssss will be your end.”

Gypsy then felt something slash her back and she collapsed, letting go of Miki who fell limp to the ground.

She looked and saw a figure holding a long spear.

“You… it can’t be…”

The figure walked over to Miki, picking her up and holding her head in her arms.

“Miki… My Princess…”

She softly kissed her lips, her hand intertwining Miki’s. The yellow gem glowed brightly, along with a light blue gem on the other’s finger.

Miki opened her eyes as the lips separate from her, feeling her energy return. She saw a familiar smile that warmed her heart.

“Nana…”

…..

As I caught my breath, my eyes weakly opened and caught a bright light shining near me.

I looked and saw a light blue and yellow aura, mixed together. There were two figures that looked like knights, but one was in a short skirt and the other in pants.

“Is that… Jewel Harmony?”

As I adjusted my eyes to the light, I realized it was Nana and Miki, both of them intertwining hands. And both of them had…

Wings of light.

True wings?

“You two… are knightssss.”

The two held a spear in their hands, broken apart and connected by chains. The two moved in synchronization, wrapping the serpent in the metal chains.

She couldn’t slip out so easily this time. The chains bound her tightly.

“Im… posssssible…”

The two raised a sword in their hands and slashed her. She screamed and turned into black dust, dying.

I slowly got up, seeing the other snakes disappear into black dust. Everyone was released and regained their oxygen.

The aura surrounding Miki and Nana disappeared, and the younger girl collapsed, her wings fading. Nana caught her, turning back to normal and also losing her wings.

They look like…

I saw a memory from long ago. I saw the two of them in the garden together. It was Yuuki and Uta. The younger knight was sleeping, resting her head on Uta’s lap as she her hair.

The two were a couple…

I always remembered that sight. It was such a sweet moment.

So, then that means, Miki-chan and Nana-chan will be a couple, too?

…..

Miki woke up in the office. She looked to her side and saw Nana knelt beside the couch, smiling.

“Morning.”

“Hey…” Miki got up slowly, looking at her.

“What?”

The younger girl pinched her cheeks. “You aren’t a serpent, right?”

“Haha, no. I’m the real Nana.”

“Hm~” Miki took a closer look at her eyes and smiled, “Yup. Those are Nana-chan’s eyes.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“What happened earlier was unbelievable. I can’t believe we accomplished Jewel Harmony. How did that happened?”

“Who knows…” Nana said, rubbing her neck.

She knew. It could’ve only happened when she…

When I kissed her.

“Ah, speaking of…” Miki spoke up again. “I had this weird dream.. well, I think it was a dream… where you kissed me.”

“Eh..?”

“Did that happen?”

Nana pursed her lips a bit before shaking her head.

“Hee… I see. That was just a dream, huh…”

“Perhaps.”

“Well, whatever.”

Nana giggled again and got up. “You get some rest.”

“Un.” Miki smiled as she saw the girl leave, not noticing how Nana’s face started to flush red and she held her pounding chest.

Even in the back of her mind, she still felt a strange sensation. She touched her lips gently.

“That was a dream… right?”

…..

“Well,” Momo sneered, “it seems even the serpent could not defeat them.”

“They’ve gotten stronger…” Nagato said, Hayate at his side.

“Meh, we’ll still win in the end. I already have a plan.”

“Yes,” the Maou spoke in the darkness. “But, we mustn’t show ourselves. We shall move silently.”

“Right. That way they won’t see us coming.”

Hayate giggled. “We’ll surprise onee-chan-tachi…”

…..

The next day, we arrived at the agency and saw Yuria talking to Miichan. She had a serious look on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yuria just remembered something…”

“Eh?”

She nodded.

“I know why New Eterna had fallen… The Maou.. he somehow possessed someone and started killing the knights.”

“Uso..!”

“Who?”

“I don’t know… but, I know that he was after Hikari… to exact his revenge.”

“There hasn’t been any recent activity with the Akuma, but that still doesn’t mean we’re safe. They could be planning something in the shadows.”

“Right. We need to be extra cautious and find the Savior quickly.”

“Hai!”

“Wait…” Miichan noticed something. “Where’s Ryouha-tan?”

“Eh?” We all looked. She was gone. She should’ve been with us when we…

“Let’s check outside.”

We went back downstairs to the entrance of the building and saw Ryouha facing some reporters. When the door opened, I heard one of them ask Ryouha something.

“Is it true that Sakae48 industries may collapse due to all the members leaving?”

“Eh?”

“If so, does this put your future career in any danger?”

What? What are they talking about?

“You do understand, right, Kitagawa-san?”

“That Sakae48 is in a crisis.”

Crisis?!

================================

Footnotes

*1. True wings – Wings made of pure light.