“Show me Arle’s dream,” Clover said as she looked in the tall, wide mirror on the wall, holding her hands over her brooch. She looked at the far side of the mirror, where an oval piece had been cut out long ago. “I’m sure of it. Samuel’s mirror came from you. That mirror shows dreams and nightmares. I don’t remember it very well, but I know about the reflection.”
The mirror continued to reflect an empty room.
“Maybe the green jewel won’t activate it,” Ceciliate suggested. “You said Samuel always appeared as Shamrock and made the mirror magically appear, right? Maybe I can use the violet jewel to do the same thing.”
“It’s worth a try,” Clover said. “Nothing else is working.”
Following the instructions Clover gave earlier, Ceciliate held the violet jewel in the palm of her closed hand, and she concentrated on it. She concentrated on the jewel’s magical properties, and being able to use magic herself. “By the power in this jewel, I will become a Lucid Dreamer, nay, a magical girl, just like Clover. A magical girl named Chelia.” A violet light spread out through Ceciliate’s fingers. The light enveloped Ceciliate, turning her blond hair and green eyes violet, and her clothes violet to match.
“Chelia’s a nice name,” Clover said as the new magical girl looked her now-violet outfit over.
After looking at her outfit, Chelia looked at the violet color her hair had become. She looked up at Clover, but the mirror on the wall behind Clover caught her attention instead. “Clover, look,” she said, pointing at the reflection of the outside of the palace. “And there’s Arle.”
Clover looked at the mirror’s reflection. “I see her. I’ll go to her right away.” She lifted her hands to the mirror, and set them firmly against the glass. Clover took a breath, then held it in as she pushed her hands, moving through the mirror. She let her breath out as she stepped through the mirror.
Curious, Chelia placed her open hand against the cold glass of the mirror. She gently pressed against the glass, the mirror’s solidness pushing back. She pushed harder, still unable to pass through.
“It’s okay,” Clover said, looking out from inside the mirror. “Shamrock couldn’t pass through his mirror, either. It must really have been made from this mirror. Only someone with the green jewel can pass through it. I’ll watch over Arle, so you can wait for Shamrock. Just keep your violet jewel with you, and he’ll be able to find you.” Clover headed away from the mirror, following after Arle.
“Keep the jewel with me…” Chelia checked in her still-fisted hand. “It’s not here…” Seeing the band of a ring on one of her fingers, she turned her hand over. The violet jewel worked itself into a jewel on a ring. “So that’s how it works. Interesting…”
In the mirror’s reflection, Clover caught up with Arle. “There you are. Everyone’s worried about you.”
Arle looked over at Clover. Her face conveyed no emotion. “Are they?” she asked in a stale voice, her syllables flat. “They shouldn’t worry for me.”
“Are you all right?” Clover asked her. “Something’s not right.”
“I cannot be a magical girl.”
“Why not? The yellow jewel worked for you, right? Okay, so there was the thing with the black lights, but we’re going to fix that for you. You’ll be a magical girl again before you know it.”
“The name of Melilot is the name of a villain, a villain who tries to take the jewels from other magical kids.”
“Then choose a new name,” Clover told her. “Mark the transformation from Melilot to a sweeter magical girl.”
“Is that possible?” Arle asked. “Can I be a sweet magical girl?”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Arle’s voice said from behind Clover.
Clover turned to see Melilot standing before her, wearing the same outfit as Arle, only yellow. The yellow of her outfit, her hair, even her eyes all had a darkness to their hue.
“Who are you?” Clover asked. “What are you doing her? What do you want?”
“You ask too many questions,” the dark-yellow girl responded. “You should already know who I am. I am Melilot, magical girl.”
“See?” Arle questioned, still speaking in a flat tone. “I can’t be a magical girl,” she said without emotion. “If I try it, she’ll be me. I may as well not even bother to try.”
“You can’t give up like that,” Clover told her. “You have to fight against this darkness. Don’t let it get the better of you!”
“Don’t you know what’ll happen,” the dark Melilot asked. “She’ll try to take your jewel from you. And she’ll take Shamock’s jewel. She’ll take the jewel from that girl, Chelia, who’s watching. She’ll take the jewel from even her sister. This is her only purpose as a magical girl, to collect the jewels. She will see it through.”
“Cover your ears,” Clover said to Arle, putting her hands over Arle’s ears. “I won’t let you tell her lies. When she wakes up, we’ll purify the jewel, and then she’ll be the best magical girl there is. Once we purify the jewel, you’ll be gone.”
“Oh?” Melilot thought it over for a moment. “No, I just don’t see that happening. The jewel isn’t very close, and yet here I am. I don’t think trying to get rid of them through the jewel is going to work. I’m tied directly Arle’s mind. Being the bearer of the yellow jewel only exacerbates the situation. Otherwise, it’s all up to Arle.”
