"Thanks to the influence of your power, I wasn't transformed into a Witch."
Phoenix twirled a lock of golden hair hanging over her forehead and looked it over with her eyes rolled upward.
Then she said, "But isn't it too ridiculous that even my hair color changed? Even Falcon's original hair wasn't this otherworldly elf-like platinum... In reality, it looks like a wig! It's way too surreal!"
If she put it that way, Magical Girls themselves were surreal characters, weren't they?
I shrugged helplessly. "Even if you complain to me about that, I don't know what to say. You don't think I turned you into this, do you?"
"No, I'll thank you for this one."
Her tone was as unforthright as ever, yet familiar. It seemed she was still the same Phoenix...
"Can you still separate?" I asked.
"...Mm."
She silently closed her eyes and tried, but soon opened them again and shook her head.
"No. At least not in this state. Our personalities seem to have mixed together, becoming a single artificial body."
That was bad.
I looked toward Stratos beside me and asked,
"Professor, is this sanctified state reversible?"
"Hard to say. We still lack an understanding of this phenomenon, but perhaps personality manipulation can separate her while she remains sanctified."
Separate her into two "saints"?
The professor's wrist opened, extending countless tiny tentacles toward Phoenix.
However, Phoenix shook her head to stop her.
"No, there's no rush right now. Converting the other cocoons first is what matters most."
"What if you can't separate later because we waited too long?!"
"I'll think of a way on my end too. Miluno, go do what only you can do."
That was easy for her to say, but there was only so much I could do as well.
Phoenix continued, "When