"...um. Why."

"I want to see if I can stop it from getting dimmer when you use magic, permanently, so we could do that for all the magical girls and then remove the witches, but I can't get a clear read on it at the moment."

"Um. Okay. But it's my soul. And you can't take it off my dress."

"If you're not comfortable with that I can likely figure out a way to do it at a distance."

"You can, just don't try to take it off."

She nods. She touches it and frowns.

"...what?"

"Sorry, I'm just trying to make sure I don't -" The gem clears. "Did that action have any effects on your mood or emotional state?"

Sara smiles. "Maybe?"

"Should I undo it?"

"No, why would you -?"

"I think I was just reversing extant mood-altering magic but nonetheless it would be quite reasonable to be worried by mood-altering magic. I don't know how to clear the gems without any attendant mind-altering effect, the two things seem very closely linked."

"Oh. I guess that explains a lot."

"What does it explain?"

"My parents keep telling me I'm moody especially when it's dark."

"Ah. Yes, it appears to affect your mood. If we could just give all the magical girls the means to do what I just did, would that help you all?"

"Yeah, loads."

She nods. "Do you know where witches come from, or what they want, or if they are people?"

"They sort of bud. Like... I don't remember what things bud. They just sorta eat people, I think they're a little smart like animals but not very."

"I will get to work on designing something that clears the gems for magical girls. Do you know how many I'll need?"

"I dunno. Probably a few hundred?"

"Thank you. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I dunno, I think I'm mostly good, especially with infinity magic..."

"All right! Let me know if you think of anything."

"For sure, thanks."