Megumi, who had been in hot pursuit of the Familiar, suddenly fell to the ground and tumbled face-down into the pavement. If she was lucky enough to realize she had suddenly lost control over her body due to a PTSD flashback, she would have just enough time to break her fall with her arms. If not, she would inevitably break her nose. It couldn't be helped.

Such was life in Poland.

Because of this sudden failure for its pursuers to [i]"pursue"[/i], the Familiar went on to reach its victim unmolested...

[color=gray][b]---Familiar[/b][/color]

[color=gray]"Kii~ii~?"[/color]

The first of the old men, a retired engineer here visiting his hometown for the first time in thirty years, looks up vaguely in response. For an instant, his thoughts flash back to a moment in his past. Eleven year old Romario (for that was his name) was taken by a sudden sickness, and was being nursed by his younger sister through a rough, midwinter storm. In his feverish mind, he saw queer shapes and objects, floating and staring down at him from above his bed.

He had screamed, and thought that they were the ghosts of his ancestors, come to haunt him.

Later on, he found out what the objects had been, and had a laugh thinking back on it. What he had mistaken for vengeful spirits, were in fact just the comically large hats of his great aunts, who were hovering around his bed and seeing to his medication.

Romario chuckles to himself softly at the memory.

And then he dies.

[color=gray]*Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*
*Chomp*  *Chomp*  *Chomp*[/color]

An aura of dread fills the air, accompanying the sounds of living material being greedily devoured by the Familiar's hidden jaws. And, at the same time, there was something else. A faint hum. A white noise of magic that any girl with the power of magic could pick up on.

Something was different.

Due to some cruel twist of fate that left Megumi fallen behind and all of the other girls still beyond the confines of the Barrier, Salomea was the only Magical Girl in close proximity when that "something" began to take a more concrete form. A jolt shakes the earth, and right before the unfortunate Magical Girl's eyes, the Familiar finally explodes, revealing an object that had finished growing inside of it.

Floating above her, and rapidly disappearing behind the fury of magic, was-

A Grief Seed.

[color=PaleVioletRed][b]---Minerva[/b][/color]

Minerva blinks. [color=PaleVioletRed][i]So... this Familiar thing, if it ate enough humans, it would grow into the full sized version that she was told about?[/i] "Well then, what are we-"[/color] She stops, and stiffens up immediately. Kyubey, silent up until then, perks up and glares ahead into the wake of magic before them. Megumi, who was on the ground next to the edge of the Barrier, was quickly engulfed by the powerful wave that was rapidly approaching the other Girls.

[color=FFFFF0]"It's too late! The Familiar, it's hatching!"[/color] Kyubey transmits these words, telepathically, to both the girls next to him and the ones chasing from behind. [color=PaleVioletRed]"Tch,"[/color] Minerva complains as she lets the small, furry creature jump off her shoulder. She wore a tight, frustrated expression visible for a moment, but she quickly calms down and assumes a more alert posture.

[color=PaleVioletRed]"This isn't the time to be standing around. The parade is happening on the other side of that thing, isn't it? Then let's go! If it just hatched, that means it must be vulnerable or something... right?"[/color] Her words were directed at the Veteran at her side, while her eyes lay straight ahead on the encroaching field of magic.

Within moments, they were sucked in.