Magical Girl? I’m not sure about this.

A couple days earlier…

Having returned to Bob and Martha's farm, Merumeru eagerly anticipated another exploration of the sky island. She hoped the ducks would still be there. Following breakfast, she outlined her plan.

“I’m going to go explore the floating island. I'll be back in a few days hopefully in time to meet Alex when they get back to Mignoneville,” the slime girl said.

“Won’t that be nice.” Martha patted Merumeru on the head and smiled. However, there was no understanding in her eyes.

Having received permission, Merumeru, dressed in her plumber attire, entered the large pipe. The proper outfit was crucial for activating the magic within the connected pipes.

Emerging from the pipe, the red-hatted, blue-overalled slime girl cautiously surveyed her surroundings. The stream and small pond were still there, though the ducks were gone. Fir trees dominated the landscape, with scattered grasses along the rocky banks. Massive rocky formations loomed over their large carriage.

She examined the ground for signs of life beyond ducks and plants. Water striders skimmed the surface, while frogs and lizards hid nearby. Butterflies fluttered through the air. To gain a better perspective, she used her jumping ability to leap from branch to branch, reaching the highest tree to observe the area from above.

Perched on a large tree, she shaded her eyes with a slimy blue hand, rotating her head to take in the view. She saw an endless expanse of trees, and the sky was filled with clouds. However, in the distance, a small plume of smoke rose above the treetops. Perhaps someone was camping there.

Playing a game of 'the ground is lava' amongst the trees, Merumeru hopped towards the smoke. Her path intersected a well-maintained gravel road, far superior to the roads in town or at the farm. This road stretched directly towards and away from the smoke. Alongside it, tall poles held three thick, black, rope-like cables atop a wooden beam, connected by some unfamiliar device. The road was wide enough for two carriages. Following this path, she arrived at the source of the smoke: a log cabin with multiple pipes extending from its shingled roof. Elegant glass windows graced each wall. While smaller than the adventurer's guild, it surpassed the typical salvageable houses in the ruins. Even the longhouses built for the tribespeople, though larger, were less ornate.

Adjacent to the cabin stood a large metal building resembling a barn constructed from metal sheets. A substantial metal door dominated one side, and the structure lacked windows. An unusual lantern-like fixture hung above. Merumeru also noticed a peculiar rectangular object. Its lower portion was white, while the top displayed intricate patterns on a blue-gray substance that shimmered with a faint rainbow sheen. She couldn't identify this object, though it resembled elaborate glass.

Sensing occupancy, the slime girl approached the front door and politely knocked with a white-gloved hand. As a well-mannered young lady, she waited for a response.

After a short wait, a small girl wearing baggy clothing answered the door. She wore some ill-fitting cargo shorts, a way-too-big flannel shirt. She wore a billed hat that had an ax and a tree patch on the front. “Hello?”

“Hello!” Merumeru smiled at the cross-dressing lady.

“Oh, a visitor, I can’t understand you but come on in.” The girl waved her in. She looked a bit nervous.

“I’m Merumeru, why are you living up here on this floating rock?” Merumeru asked.

“Hmm, I still can’t understand you but would you like some tea?” The girl headed into the house, motioning for the slime girl to follow.

The dwelling was rather untidy. The kitchen counter was covered in soiled dishes. Clothes were strewn across the floor. Some scorch marks marred the kitchen tiles.

“I’m not sure how all of this stuff works. I’ve been figuring it out as I go. My name’s Cosmos. What’s yours?” The girl took out a metal pot and set it on the counter. She waved a hand and a small portal opened beside it that showed some liquid hot magma. Heat radiated into the room and the side of the pot got red hot quickly. The water started boiling in less than a minute. She tore open a bag that had a bag inside of it with a string attached to it. She tore open the second bag and poured it into a teapot, then added the hot water on top of it.

Merumeru paused, watching, she didn’t think that tea was supposed to be made that way.

Noticing that the girl was awaiting her answer she stated her name. “Merumeru.”

“Your name is Merumeru? That’s nice. You are not from the moon are you?” The lady poured two cups of tea for them. The cups were really nice. They were perfectly round with a nice consistent glaze all around them.

Merumeru shook her head to answer the question.

“Oh that’s good Merumeru. I can talk to you then. You see, I’m a magical girl. But I’m kinda retired.” She paused, considering her words.

“Go on.” Merumeru encouraged her to continue.

“I work in the escalation department. Luna said that I was the most successful magical girl ever. Too successful apparently. If I took an oath to never step foot on Terre again she’d be able to extract some good concessions out of her rivals.” Cosmos swirled the tea. “I’m mostly a deterrent and if I do act, it is because someone broke the rules. Though mostly I just do unnoticed background stuff anymore.”

Merumeru’s eyes widened. This girl and Alex had a lot in common.

“But, let me tell you, working a desk job really sucks. Most of the time I don’t have anything to do but when anyone calls me it is always a pain in the butt. A couple months ago, I had this whole thing shoved in my lap. Luna’s relationship department takes care of obligations that magical girls have while they are on an active quest. They make sure that their farms don’t get ruined while they are away or some greedy moneylender decides to collect a debt by confiscating all their stuff like bandits.” Cosmos waved her hand around as she ranted. Surprisingly, she didn’t spill any of the tea she was holding.

“Um, that’s nice. But that doesn’t explain what you are doing here and what this place is.” Merumeru felt like she wasn’t getting through to Cosmos. The only one that really understood her was the nereid.

“Hmmm, not sure what language you are speaking. It sounds like you are just saying your name over and over again. Where was I? Oh yeah, so I tried to talk to this magical girl whose creditors were having golems call saying the same message over and over again but nothing anyone did seemed to get through to them. They even said that they were going to take her house. So they came to me for help. My powers are space related you see. So I figured, a good way to get them to stop calling would be to fake Alex’s death. It would also be two birds with one stone.” She gave Merumeru a big grin.

Merumeru raised a slimy eyebrow.

“Traveling to other worlds can be somewhat time consuming. Well getting there is not super hard for me but trying to navigate a completely different world can be time consuming. Tracking down all the right parties, figuring out all the facts and handling all the paperwork to set things right. Bleh, I say that stuff is boring. I solved it in a day and no one will know the better. So I get a free month's vacation. I took care of everything in a couple days. I made a big portal and scooped up this place, setting it in geosynchronous orbit and then mucking with gravity to send a big mostly gold asteroid crashing into the crater I created, hiding any evidence that something weird happened.” Cosmos cackled at her genius plan.

“Um, I didn’t understand most of that but are you saying that you know Alex?” Merumeru asked.

“You are such a good listener. Has anyone ever told you that?” Cosmos sipped her tea.

Merumeru figured she’d just listen. This girl liked to talk.

“Anyway, this place has some cool stuff. I’m even borrowing some of Alex’s clothes. I like to dress up to be less cute because it dampens my powers. When you’ve been a magical girl for as long as I have, sometimes it is nice to turn down the ability to notice what is going on in space. Let me tell you, one time Terre was being invaded by these space creatures. They kept bombarding cities from orbit. So I used my magical powers to reverse gravity and we flung rocks right back up at them. However, shooting rocks that wanted to accelerate away from things made them a bit predictable. So I had to find a way to use magic to muck up gravity to make some floating fortresses to go up and battle the invaders from a higher position. That’s what I did with this place. People started calling the rocks I altered float stones. When we defeated the aliens and sent them packing it caused everyone to go crazy for the rocks that were just floating around. I took off to another world to help with another catastrophe there and came back a decade later and the world had torn itself apart going to war over these float stones.”

Merumeru agreed, though she didn't grasp the meaning. The slime girl then took a sip of her tea, a knowing expression on her face, as if she understood completely.

“It was vexing. Everyone cheered for me and our team of magical girls when the aliens decided to leave and when I came back something I made turned into the biggest war this world had seen up until then.” Cosmos puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

Cosmos, who claimed to be over two centuries old and a veteran of numerous battles against demon lords, including those predating the current demon queen, spent hours recounting her past adventures to Merumeru. Despite her experience, she had retired before the present conflict and entrusted the current fight to Luna. Luna, however, was hesitant to involve someone of Cosmos's power, fearing it would provoke the evil deities to increase their attacks, potentially leading to the planet's destruction. As the deity who initiated Cosmos's magical girl journey, Luna didn't want to contradict her own foresight. Furthermore, an agreement was made that unbonded familiars were protected from harm. While Cosmos hoped this would simplify finding partners for the moon's flamingos, demons had cleverly corrupted human culture, diminishing the chances of finding suitable magical girl candidates.

Adding to the difficulty was the "Alex fiasco," which fueled rumors and discouraged unbonded flamingos from going to Earth. Many untrained familiars worked at call centers and were overwhelmed by the constant spam about overdue bills, contributing to Earth's growing reputation as a frightening place.