The Dimensional Nexus.
Book 1: The Discovery
Chapter 1: Prelude
Homura inspected her new lodgings. She was recently moved from Mitakihara to Uminari City. Under the assumption that the doctors in Uminari were far more skilled than the ones in Mitakihara, despite its more advanced facilities. She resisted being forced to move, but her plea fell on deaf ears, citing that getting treated was more important.
The girl's eyes fell to her hand on instinct, a fresh reminder of the changes her old friend made to the world she now lived in. A world where despite remembering her time trying to save her, she didn't have access to any magic anymore. A sigh escaped her lips as she familiarized herself with her new home, cardboard boxes still packed, littering the apartment.
Her father will continue to remain distant at best, deciding to spend more time with his business than with his daughter. While to most girls, including herself 'long' ago, it would be incredibly depressing, it would give the old time traveler a good degree of freedom with her personal projects. Namely tracking down the local Puella Magi.
Of course, unlike in Mitakihara where she simply needed to keep a distant eye on Mami, she had no clue where to start her hunt in Uminari. Despite this, she walked up to her personal carry-on bag, opening a secret compartment, revealing a pistol, 3 extra clips, and one of her pipe bombs. The gun was difficult to get without any of her magic, but not impossible. Her pipe bomb also lacked the amount of kick she wanted, but getting more explosive materials would draw unwanted attention.
In short, she was far less prepared for combat than she would like to be. Homura did, however, know there was little she could do about it right now. As she closed the hidden compartment, she moved onto inspecting bag itself, finding her standard assortment of school supplies, along with a single small orange cylinder. Her heart medication.
In short, it would appear that in this timeline, one of the doctors working on her heart surgery made a mistake that, while not deadly, would cause her heart to slowly return to its pre-surgery state. Hence the move from Mitakihara to Uminari. She even had a meeting with her new doctor tomorrow. That personal reminder told her to save the hunt for another time, and perhaps visit Tatsuya's, and in turn her old friend's, cousin, the Takamachi family.
"Takamachi Bakery…" Homura mutters as she stares at the entrance. She was here. A bell rung as she entered the store, drawing the attention of the store clerks. A young lady with a braided ponytail greeted the new arrival.
"Welcome to the Takamachi Bakery!" The clerk says. "Are you ordering or picking up?"
"I'm actually looking for Momoko Takamachi," Homura says. The clerk nods.
"Oh? One moment then!" She says, leaving the counter and heading to the back. Homura hears a conversation of some sort in the back, but can't make it out too well. Soon, a much older woman with long, golden-brown hair comes out of the back.
"I'm Momoko Takamachi, how can I help you?" She asks.
"Hello, I'm Homura Akemi. I know your sister, Junko Kaname." Homura states, allowing the woman to think for a few moments.
"Oh! You babysat Tatsuya!" She soon says in realization. "I heard you really kicked it off with him." She says with a giggle. "Miyuki, mind you help you father in the back?" She requests, to which the younger clerk nods, scurrying off to the back of the store. "I heard you were moving into the area, but I didn't expect to see you so soon! Shouldn't you be unpacking?"
"Well, I can't strain myself too hard today." Homura states, the woman leaning over the counter. "I've got to see my new doctor tomorrow."
"Oh yea, I forgot you have a heart condition…" Momoko says, sounding a bit depressed. "They never exactly found out what it is exactly, right?"
"Correct. They've done several procedures, but haven't managed to solve the problem yet." Homura states. There have been several attempts at diagnosing what was wrong, but all attempts to actually solve it was met with failure.
"Mmm, that has to suck. Doesn't everything take a toll on your family?" Homura's eye suddenly twitched at the mention of her family.
"My father is… distant at best and my mother… passed away in an accident." Homura states, remembering what she was told. Her train of thought suddenly thinking about what she knew about her mother's passing.
Homura's mother was driving a car. "Homura, I've got something to tell you." She says, her voice sounding sad and distant.
"Huh?" A young Homura squeaks out. "Uh, what is it?"
"I… Might be going away soon." The mother says, turning the car.
"Am… Am I going to be staying with the father?" The twin tailed girl asks.
"Knowing your father… probably not... You'll probably be by yourself for a while."
"Eh!?" Homura says in shock. "How long will you be gone?" There was a long pause before an answer came.
"…A long time." The mother stated, the care stopping at a red light.
"You don't know?" Homura asks innocently, the light turning green.
"No, I don't." The mother says. "You'll understand what I'm talking about when you're older. And when you are, please forgive me for being a terrible mother."
"Mother, what are you-" Homura says, suddenly cut off, hearing a loud horn, as a huge truck I seen on a collision course!
"Homura, you there?" Momoko said, waving her hand in front of the student's face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I got lost in thought." She says in slight embarrassment.
"No, no, I'm sorry for making you remember what happened." The older woman says. They accepted each other's apologies, and moved on, eventually talking about all sorts of things. Eventually, Homura said goodbye to the mother, but not before getting invited to join her family for dinner tonight, to which Homura agreed to.
Finding the local Puella Magi could wait, after all, it's not like she had to secure a supply of Grief Seeds, or as they're now called Grief Cubes, anymore. Regardless, she made her way home by herself, at least until she heard a plea for help. And not a verbal plea for help, but rather a telepathic plea.
Homura's eyes narrowed, and her hands tensed as she glared in the direction she heard the cry, eventually heading off in the fastest sprint she could muster from her still sickly body. She looked around where she thought she heard the cry, soon seeing a little ferret collapsed near the sidewalk.
"I heard it over here!" Another voice called out, as a young girl, probably no older than nine or ten with Golden-Brown hair in high raised pigtails turned around the corner, running. "Did you call for help?" She asks Homura.
"No," Homura stated. "I guess you heard someone calling for help too?" She asks, picking up the ferret.
"Yea! I thought it came from around here, though!" The young girl asks.
"I only found this ferret when I got here," Homura states, showing said creature to the young girl, who went over to inspect it.
"It looks like it's hurt!" She says in slight shock.
"Nanoha! Why did you run off?" Another voice said as two more girls ran up for behind the brown haired girl. Both appeared to be as old as old as their friend and both had long hair, one with yellow hair, the other with purple hair.
"Hey, that ferret looks hurt!" The one with purple hair says.
Homura was holding onto her bag as she looked down at the ferret. She had managed to go home and get her bag as the other girls she met, Nanoha, Arisa, and Suzuka, took the ferret to the vet.
"So, his wounds aren't all that deep." The vet said, putting some of her tools away. "It appears to mostly just be exhaustion that caused him to collapse. I would like top to keep him here for a few days just to be safe, though." All the girls nodded and agreed in understanding.
A few moments pass, as the ferret then begins to come around. "Oh, it's waking up!" Nanoha says in surprise, the younger girls looking on eagerly, while Homura looked with a much more critical eye.
The ferret slowly pulled his head up, taking an exhausted glance around. It took a brief glance at Arisa and Suzuka before giving longer stares at Nanoha and Homura, eventually licking a finger Nanoha was holding out.
"I think he likes me," Nanoha said, causing her close friends to giggle. Shortly after, the ferret curled back up and went to sleep. While what just happened didn't say much to Nanoha, Arisa, and Suzuka, it told a lot to Homura.
First off, it confirmed what Homura was already suspecting. That ferret had some connection to magic. It focuses on herself and Nanoha, who she confirmed heard the cry for help, proved that. Second, it would seem to be looking for someone to contract, likely wanting to use Nanoha and her innocence to that end.
And finally, that if she felt the need to, she could easily eliminate the ferret should it try to Contract Nanoha. Of course, what was assuming that it was an Incubator. Something Homura was suspecting wasn't the case. After all, appearing as a run of the mill Ferret is hardly something a creature that should be invisible to, at the very least, the vet they took him to would do.
It would appear that she now has far more questions than she has the answer to.
