"...Wow, that's fucked up."

She's going to fix this.

"And how can we ever get out of feeling bad - Kyuubey didn't even warn us about this -"

She holds up her own gem.  Is she just imagining it, or is it dimming already?

Jenny kicks Lila's legs out from under her.

She falls over.  "Hey, what - !?"

"That's how."

Jenny offers Lila a hand back up.

...Diana had a plan in mind, but that works too.

"It's fucked up, and we weren't informed - but we're going to fix it.  I meant what I said when I wished what I wished, and I'm not going to walk away from this just because there's a lesser problem than the heat death of the universe."

She snorts.  "Yeah right.  No girl's got that sort of magic."

She's not exactly feeling confident herself, but she's definitely not going to give up.

"Well, we're certainly going to try.  And we'll start by seeing what happened to Kiri."

"Mmmm, no.  You mean you think you haven't met - or heard of - any...  ...yet."

(Tools, skill, knowledge, and will; no matter what comes her way, she will not give up.)

"That's not to say that I'm expecting the analysis to be quick; there's multiple things on my plate - finding and saving Kiri, for one - but it is going to happen, or Kyuubey will be made a liar.  And they can't lie, whatsoever."

Diana's hand clasps her soul gem, as she speaks.  ...if Jenny and Lila have ever done something like 'put their hand over a flashlight', there is perhaps a moment where her hand looks like something is shining behind it.

"What'd Kyuubey tell you!?"  He pretty much never talks about the future.  "Was your wish something about that!?"

"He mentioned entropy as one of the reasons he's in the magical girl business.  I extrapolated."

"Huh, I guess he did mention that with me too."  She didn't bother thinking about that part.  It seemed too abstract compared to fun things like jumping roof-high and fighting witches.

"Well, you girls good to go home and meet up tomorrow?"

"I think so.  Lila?"

She's trying to avoid thinking about her emotions now, so it comes out as more cheery than she intended.  "Sure; see you later!"

Lila tells her parents that night about her plans to spend Saturday in Ettinsburg with her new friends.  They're rather surprised she's made such good friends so fast, and Lila does detect a hint of concern about going so far away in such a new friend's car, but they don't object and just impress on her that she should call them if they're late or if anything happens.

She wonders briefly what they would've said if she'd told them that Kiri was probably dead, and they were going to investigate.  Let alone if she'd told them anything about Kyuubeys and witches.

The next couple days are rather uneventful, with no more witches.  Kyuubey doesn't make an appearance, either.

Friday night, Lila decides to check out whether her magical girl dress will clean itself up again when she transforms out of it and back in.

It turns out it does.

That'll simplify packing, she tells herself - just in case they do end up staying in Ettinsburg (or in a spaceship or alternate dimension) overnight!

Diana has spent the time she hasn't needed to spend on homework these last few days - her Wish really proving its mundane utility - in what is approximately meditation, trying to understand the source and anchor of her magic from her position inside it.

She understands why her battle dress hides her soul gem away, now.

That said...well, she's not too worried about that, in the end.  Her thoughts, not her body, are the important part of who Diana Pallas is.  Those are preserved.

She meets Lila and Jenny at their planned rendezvous, driving a well-maintained, if not particularly modern, car -

- and they find themselves arriving at Kiri's house - well, Kiri's parents' house - right on time.

"We all remember what the plan is, right?"

"Yep."

Planning is one thing; actually being about to ring Kiri's parents' doorbell and talk with them is another thing.  But she's not going to admit she's scared.

"I'll do the talking; just stay behind me."

"...We're here for you.  Remember that.  This is a difficult thing, and - both our cover and our truth will back us if you need or want support, for any reason.  Okay?  Okay.  Now let's do this."

Time to power-walk up --

-- wait why the fuck is there a Kyubey lurking here?

"Hello?"  No reason not to address it.

Well... Lila glances around in case a human noticed.

"I didn't expect to finally see you here!"

::Hello, magical girl Lila Roisen, magical girl Jenny Burton.  Anomaly.  What brings you here?  This is quite a ways away from miss Burton's usual hunting grounds, you know.::

...Who the fuck are you calling an anomaly, you little SCP-ass shit --

"I have a name, Incubator.  Do use it."

::...Apologies.  The protocol shall be rectified forthwith.::  And if it is because drones do have a marginal replacement cost that could become somewhat prohibitive if the anomaly was provoked, it's not telling.