The girl in the blue dress clutched at the egg in her hands, feeling it's cold weight in her numb fingers. She felt empty, drained of something far more important then just her soul. Kyuubey was nowhere to be found, having slipped somewhere down a alleyway or up a chute or anywhere that wasn't here. Michelle could feel something on her back. Something cold, and they kept twisting, making singing noises against the gentle breeze. Ice crystals, she was sure of it. She could see them in the corner of her eyes, always moving away when she turned to look at them, and she could see their weird shadows right next to hers, and every time they bumped into a wall they screamed at her in a language no one else seemed to hear. She'd curled into a ball and tried to freeze herself to death, somewhere quiet where nobody else would intervene. Which is why she blanched when she heard the footsteps. First a loud SLAM, like jackboots hitting concrete. Then a rhythm, regular thumps as someone or something walked towards her. They stopped. Michelle turned her neck, trying to ignore the coat of ice coating her cheek.

The other girl was tall, almost menacingly so. In the evening light, the harsh shadows and glare got in the way of everything, and all she could make out was shadows and flashes of red and black, and a mouth somewhere high up and fleshing out words.

"Who're you?"

Michelle opened her mouth, trying to sound out words through a cold and aching jaw.

"C-c-cirn-" She began, then stopped. That wasn't her, was it? She'd wished for it, but she hated herself, now. Hated the fever, hated the dress, hated the bow tie, hated having made the stupid pact with the bunnycat, hated hated hated it. Something touched her cheek, and it took a few seconds of burning for her to realize it was a pilot light.

"Y'know" the girl said, casually. "If it was anyone else, they probably would've killed you by now. Or have they already?"
"I'm Michelle."
"Ah, so you can speak."
"Mmm."
"I assume you contracted pretty recently? Yeah? The wish wasn't everything you wanted it to be?"

Michelle just nodded, and a thousand little ice shards over her neck cracked at once, making a Clink-clink sound.

"I won't ask you what you wished for. Breach of contract. But I will tell you this is an awful place to die in. there's a turf war going to happen in a few minutes. Girls with guns, and back alley tactics. They'll probably just shoot you and ask questions later. Not that it matters much, since you're already dead."

The strange girl crouched down, on her haunches. Her breath fogged up when it passed over Michelle's shoulder.

"That's stuff you don't see in the fine print, see? That pretty little egg of yours, it's more then just a trinket. It's the bit of you that's alive and makes you laugh, or cry, and they take it out and give yous some pretty little wings and they think it's fair. But it really doesn't matter, does it, since a dead bird won't fly. You've made your mistake, Michelle. But I think you don't have to make another one. Come with me, and i'll show you something worth living for."

Michelle turned, glaring into the sun. And in it, a figure in a pompous hat almost all in shadow, and she nodded.

----

The witch roared, and bit down. It tore open Michelle's chest, tearing up the blue dress and several important-looking sinewy bits. She weakly flailed at a familiar, but the pick found nothing but air. The noise and the fury of the witch's lair swam in and out of focus, The witch, a serpentine draconic woodcut, snarled at something out of her sight, but recoiled in a flash of blinding blue steam as something fought back at it. The figure turned away from the dragon as more women --her comrades-- went at the beast with lightning and mirrors and staves. The girl crouched down, and her face swam into view. From her expression alone, Michelle could gather that she wasn't going to make it. Even as the pain was a mild buzzing sensation in the back of her head, her limbs weren't responding as they should. All she could move was her head. She gasped out something, and let an arm flop at her chest. The girl, in between the tears, grabbed at the red bow and grasped at the knot, pulling at the ice-white gemstone. She took it, and turned away. And for Michelle, everything went dark.

---

"Role call, ladies. Did everyone make it out okay? Elaine, that's a nasty gash on your arm, you might want to have that checked out back at base. Catherine, get to Elaine and work your stuff. We're moving out of here as soon as we confirm the seeds, we don't wanna spend any more time then we need to."

The voice of command rang out as soon as the witch's lair had spat them back out. Antsy soldiers, Violetta thought, were inefficient soldiers. People needed order in their lives, and she was all too happy to provide that, in the form of a shouty young lady with a massive hat and and even larger ego.

"Wait. Where's Chell?"

One glance at her squadron, and her heart dropped. The company was one short. And it didn't take a genius to work out what had happened. Even then, amidst the quiet realization, she still had to play the shouty Sargent card.

"Well, come on then, it's almost morning. I'm sure you all have comfortable beds in which to mope in, so get a damn move on, already!"

They picked up two grief seeds that night. One with a tiny motif of snowflakes dancing around its edge.