They emerged from the water. Mimi gasped a breath of fresh air. Ken stared in awe at the sight in front of them. “Rei, what is that?“ he asked, in regards to the treasures floating on top of the water. All sorts of gemstones and jewelry, gold, and treasure chests were floating in the air.

Rei zoomed in on her device and got a visual of it. “It must be pirate treasure from the ships destroyed in the war! As to why it’s floating, that must be from the world’s equilibrium going haywire in the queen’s absence. The magic of Makans was what kept this planet alive! With most Makans gone, and the queen replaced by a violent being… this world can sense that it’s dying. I fear this is only the beginning of the bizarre things you will see here.” As she spoke, Mimi swam up to the floating jewels and reached up to touch one. “Mimi? What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Mimi asked with a smile, as her hand latched onto a big, neatly cut sapphire. “I’m helping myself to some jewelry.” She tried to pull it down, but… “Hey, they’re solidly locked in place!” Before anyone could stop her, she started climbing the jewels, as though they were pegs on a rock climbing wall. She secured her foot on what appeared to be an ornate music box and reached up towards small jewels. Despite their size, even a tiny ring stayed in place and withstood the girl’s weight. She surveyed the wall above her, and while searching for her next handhold, something caught her eye. “There’s something shiny up there!”

“It’s all shiny, Mimi,” Ken sighed.

“No, different shiny,” Mimi attempted to explain, “like… glowing!”

Rei gasped as her Maka-Net beeped. “The key fragment is near your location!”

“Yes, this must be it,” Mimi realized, as she kept climbing. Her right foot was perched on a belt made of gold chain, with a large ruby in the center. Her right foot was on a small treasure chest, and her left hand on a cut ruby. With the glowing key in sight, she reached up confidently, but just then, the jewels started shifting! The round ruby belt buckle shifted backwards, and the hexagonally cut gemstone in her left hand moved further to the left. Before she knew it, she was falling. With her impressive reflexes, she caught hold of a fabergé egg. She saw the sapphire from earlier float by. Though it was moving backwards, she thought it could work. With her hands on the egg, she managed to get both of her feet onto the sapphire. But since it was moving further and further from her handhold, she had to think fast to get in a safer position, before the gems were too far apart to hold on. She luckily found a small trinket close to her foothold, which enabled her to steadily balance herself on the sapphire.

Her purple eyes narrowed in determination, as she looked up at the key fragment, shining brightly against the blue sky like the sun. She crouched down, flexed her muscles, and with her strong legs, leapt into the air! She stretched herself long, and with her hand reaching out, she managed to grasp the key shard! Luckily for her, the anti-gravity of the pirates’ treasure was not as strong on the key, and she was able to pull it down from the sky without a problem. With the key firmly in her grasp, she did a front flip back into the water. It was only when she emerged that she was able to take a moment to observe the object.

“That’s it, Mimi!” Rei confirmed. “That’s the key fragment!”

“We did it?!” Mimi gasped, amazed that her hunch was actually correct.

“Yes,” Rei replied happily, “just four more to go! Now come on home before something happens to it!”

“Okay!” Mimi and Ken said in unison.

When Ken picked up his Maka-Net to prepare for teleportation, his brown eyes opened wide in surprise. The pixel portrait of himself on the screen changed. It was now wide awake! Ken asked Rei what this meant.

“That’s because your Maka power has awakened,” she explained.

“That’s so cool!” Ken exclaimed. “By the way, what are these stars on the screen? I noticed that Mimi’s had hearts.”

“That represents your health,” Rei informed him. “If you had gotten injured, you would lose a star. If you run out of stars, you have to come back to me as soon as possible! If you’re too injured to do the chant, I’ll come get you. Your health shows up on my screen too, so I can see if you need assistance.”

“Oh, that’s handy,” Ken said. “Alright, let’s do this, Mimi!” He held out his hand to Mimi in a rare moment of confidence. Mimi nodded in acquiescence. They said the chant, and next thing they knew, they were back in the park.

“That was great, you two!” Rei said to them face-to-face. she clasped her hands together gratefully. “Thank you so much!”

“No problem,” Mimi replied. “It was fun! Aside from the sea serpent, I mean.” She said the last part with a small chuckle. All’s well that ends well. “Here’s your key!” She handed the tiny metal object to Rei.

Rei took the key with a smile and said “you two are wonderful” as she opened her large purse to put it inside. “I can’t express how much this means to—“ Her voice was cut off by a gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Mimi asked.

“There’s another Maka-Net in here!” Rei exclaimed in disbelief, as she stared at the single device on the bottom of her bag. “I could’ve sworn they were all stolen! But thank goodness I found it!”

“What does this mean?” Ken asked.

“It means…” Rei’s face lifted into an excited smile, “there’s another Makan who can help us save the Princess!”