>You are Byakuren Hijiri, 18 years old, resident of the city of Mayoiga, caretaker (owner) of Rin Kaenbyou, resident of the Moonside apartments, and third year student of Mayoiga High. A few days ago, you were the most popular girl in school, one of the most well-known and liked girls around town. And then you touched a strange doll, and saw a world not your own. That was the day that everything changed, and you became Magical Lotus, the Hero of the Heart.
>As trying as yesterday yes for you, today has been every bit as bad, if not more so. Granted, it started off well, with the arrival of a new neighbor into Moonside Apartments, one Sanae Kochiya, a new transfer student and friend. But while you were welcoming her to the neighborhood, you detected a connection between the captive Champion of Water and Patchouli Knowledge, a connection that was eroding the walls of Water's cell. And to make matters worse, the Champion of Air decided to pay you a visit. Despite your attempts to intercept her before she reached Moonside, she did eventually encounter Sanae, with whom she shared a connection similar to that between Patchy and Louise. Sanae, it turned out, was the Avatar of Air, her heart connected to that of Elis'. Now she shares the power of Makai and seems to have undergone a dramatic shift in personality.
>Although you might have been able to keep Patchouli and Louise separate, the enforced separation seemed to be having serious consequences for the both of them. Feeling that their lives may have been at risk, you brought Patchy into the Oubliette, and the connection between the two was finalized. Patchouli became the Avatar of Water. But while the first thing Sanae did was fulfill her lifelong dream of flying, Patchy's anger and resentment towards her parents boiled over, and while you were able to take some of the edge off of it, you were unable to dissuade her from her course. The newly minted Water Avatar took off into the sky, murder on her mind.
>For reasons you don't entirely understand, Louise did nothing to stop you from going after Patchouli. In fact, she almost seemed to encourage it. And nor, thus far, has she escaped from the Oubliette, despite Patchy knocking a very sizable hole in the walls of the dimensional jail.
>Back in reality, you took Reisen aside to give her a brief update on what had occurred. This conversation led to her gaining a ring of her own, one of yours, becoming Magical Poppy. While you felt guilty about recruiting the former soldier, you knew she would want to help Patcholi, and she's going to need power to do it. And now, with her help, you and your other allies, Lily and White Rose, are attempting a new and untested power, in the hope that you can get ahead of The Avatar of Water, to keep her from passing what may be the point of no return...
>Do we think we should get that image directly from Lily first, or should that be handled during the power linking and magic-weaving part of the process?
>Is there anything else in particular we'll need to do beyond the whole 'hold hands, join power, focus, and exert a lot of will?' bit?
>If you're right, it would be best to do it all at once.
>That should be sufficient. Just make sure to try and balance the energy flow between the four of you, or this spell could take more out of you than you want it to.
