I do not own Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Elise, Lorelei, Serafina, Salvae, Audrey, Ligaya and its ranks belong to Elias Pedro, Who I thank for helping me start this story.
There was no sunlight in the room. The lone occupant preferred it that way. Sunlight required windows, windows required being able to look outside. And Looking Outside created Distractions. Distractions were not to her liking, as her profession had no place for them. The Office was sparsely decorated, with only a chair, a table, and various papers and pencils scattered on the desk. The walls were made from concrete covered in white paint, and the floor was also made from concrete. Not that the person sitting in the armchair cared in the slightest. This was her office, she had work to do. No time to spend checking out the decorations.
It was February the Third 1945, and the Sun was setting on the Axis Powers. Germany was suffering blow after blow courtesy of the Soviet Union, and The Japanese were in Fighting Retreat. The Manila Branch of the Organisation she worked for was caught in the Crossfire.
Salvae, or Salvage to the person who doesn't know Latin. An organisation split into several regional groups, each controlled by a 'Carissima'. All Carissimas answered to the 'Magni Domina', or 'Great Lady'. The girl sighed. It was all rubbish, all romantic. Her work was none of these things. On the Surface, She was one of Salvae's Carissimas. But what she truly was, what her role was, defined whether or not Salvae would continue to exist. Hours earlier, she received word that the Magni Domina, Lorelei Sankt, and the Leader of the Manila Branch, Elise de Lamarliere, had been killed, along with virtually all of Lorelei's supporters. Edificio Gumamela, Elise's HQ, was in ruins, and American Troops were fighting the Japanese tooth and nail for Manila.
She scowled. Americans. She hated them! All they did was create Misery in the long run. In fact, Germany's record advance in the First World War was thanks to Buffalo Bill and his Wild West show when they toured Germany. The Americans were people who were not fit to exist. But exist they will, but by the time she's finished with her plans, they would be a fading memory.
In fact, it was thanks to her that only Lorelei, Elise, several Carissimas and their forces were killed. She knew that this sort of thing would happen. The Zealot bringing the message in front of her fidgeted nervously.
"It's down the hall and on the left." The Carissima said sarcastically.
"No, it's not that, Carissima. It seems the message you sent to the other Carissimas worked. Except for some regional Branches, and Lorelei's supporters, Salvae has gotten through unscathed." The Zealot said.
The Carissima sighed. "What branches?"
"Um..." The Zealot took out a sheet of paper. "Vietnam, Argentina, Scandinavia, Greece, Somalia, Alaska, and...Mongolia."
"That's it?" The Carissima asked.
"As far as we know, yes."
"Dammit, I was hoping there'd be more."
"Huh?"
The Carissima shrugged. "Who needs them? The Magi there Aren't included in our new world, It'd be better to just remove them from the equation altogether. I fudged the details they followed, so they thought they were safe. Wasn't that all a surprise for them when they all keeled over?"
A Maultier ran into the room, whispered into the Zealot's ear and handed her a piece of paper, before running back out. "Uh..."
"Let me guess...Millenium and Pravda declared war on each other again." The Carissima said, referring to the names of the German and Russian Magi Militia groups that had dealings with Salvae.
"No, surprisingly." The Zealot replied. "Your brokering of the Peace Treaty worked wonders. No, it's the other Regional groups. France and Italy, Korea and Japan, There's even A Free for All down Africa ways. Without Elise and Lorelei, None of the Carissimas know what to do, and the Regional Militias are using the chaos as a way to settle old scores."
The Carissima chuckled. "So, Phase 1 worked. 'Remove Sankt and her supporters, Get the cure out to other Carissimas. So, who's the new Magni Domina now?" An awkward silence followed those words. "...Oh."
The Zealot sighed. "That's the problem. The Purge happened so quickly, there wasn't time to call a Decretum Concilium."
"In English, Zealot. Our branch has no room for romantic languages." the Carissima said, leaning back in her plain wooden chair.
"...No one's sent out a Council Decree, No one knows who's in command."
The Carissima laughed. "And it all goes according to plan, Zealot. I'll admit, I may have had the utmost faith in my plan, but I didn't expect it to be this easy!" She clasped her hands together and put them on the table. "Without Sankt's meddling, there's no opposition. Salvae's Carissimas are like headless sheep. They now have their own lives, lives free from Elise and Lorelei and their damn meddling." The Zealot shivered, it had suddenly gotten colder in the room. "Salvae is no more, Zealot. Without Sankt, the Carissimas no longer have a purpose." The Carissima got up, and motioned for the Zealot to follow her.
"Thing is, Zealot...I'm sorry, your name is...?" The Carissima asked.
"Uh, Lisette, Carissima." She said as they walked out the door and into the corridor. What the Carissima had declined to tell Lorelei was that her branch had seized several old ships and refitted them at an abandoned Sub base in the Mediterranean. The other Carissimas had no idea she had this facility, nor was she intending to reveal it.
"As I was saying, Lisette. I had an inkling something was up with Lorelei, but imagine my surprise when I found out from a drunken Elise over two decades ago that Lorelei was supposed to be the next Dreadnaught witch. And that by making those stupid Soul Gem Bindings, she was effectively murdering every single Magi in Salvae. I've been in Salvae from the get-go, and I realised that if I allowed her to bind her stupid Soul Gem with me, then I would be, pardon my French...no offense," The Carissima said as they entered the main dock of the facility.
"Some taken." Lisette said.
"I would be fucked. So I left her alone for a few days, came back and thanked her for binding her soul gem with me. And she actually bought it! Of course, I was the only one to have avoided that fate, and so I mulled it over, and I figured out that if Lorelei died, then we would be going to hell with her. It took me a while, but I found a way to actually cleanse the curse from a Carissima, indeed, her entire branch! But there were some Carissimas that were expendable, California, Quebec, Mexico for starters. Those three Muppets were practically Sankt's Fan Club. There was no point in rescuing them, So I left them to their fate. I won't tell you how I came across this cure, because if I did, I'd probably have to kill you."
"Got the message, Carissima." Lisette gulped as they approached a large sub, a British Mage's design. The M3 Submarine Aircraft Carrier was the gem of the Carissima's naval fleet. It was based on the M2 design, but the M3 was an improved design twice as wide and 1 and a half times as long. The Surcouf had nothing on this. Unfortunately, to adequately hide the Mammoth Submarine, they had to extend the Dock walls and roof by 20 metres, work that was still ongoing. The Island also boasted an Airbase, with hangers built into the hillsides. The unnamed Island was essentially a fortress, with the Sub, named Leviathan, and several other Military Craft that the Carissima had obtained, 'obtained' meaning the Ships had landed at the island and their crews were killed. They had U-boats, E-boats, Royal Navy Gunboats, they even had a prototype Kriegsmarine destroyer that had been on a training run. It had been difficult keeping the Island a secret from that damn Elise and her nosy Incognita, but that didn't matter. Their island base hid in plain sight. The German ships were able to hide in the new improved Sub Dock, but the Royal Navy Gunboats were kept outside to ward off Allied Air raids.
The sub was preparing to cast off to deliver the Carissima to the Carissimas of Russia and Germany. Several Magi were on the deck, loading the two floatplanes into the hangar. The Carissima turned to Lisette before she climbed down the Conning Tower's hatch.
"Lisette, When I return from this meeting, The lives of Magi across the world will have changed forever. Remember that."
Lisette nodded, and saluted as the sub set sail. She had no idea what plans her leader was about to set into motion.
Two Years Earlier
Edificio Gumamela was ever the grand housing of the Manila Branch when Carissima Nagisa Akemi of the Okinawa Branch stepped into the empty foyer of the building and closed the door behind her. It was pouring outside, and the drenched mage stood awkwardly next to the doorway, waiting for someone to greet her.
'Someone' turned out to be Elise herself as she descended the staircase and shook Nagisa's hand.
"Carissima Akemi. I'm glad you could make it here." Elise said.
"Konnichiwa, Carissima Elise. I apologise for my unannounced entrance, but the Steamer I had to sail here on was quite crowded, and I don't think the message came through." Nagisa replied, before yawning. "I heard you have two new recruits."
"Yes, an American and a Native. Audrey and Ligaya. I would call them to meet you, but they're out on a mission." Elise said, as several Aspirants and a Zealot ran out the door, obviously en route to an urgent situation.
"Shame. I would've liked to meet my political enemy." Nagisa said, sitting down on an armchair.
"But that's not why you're here, is it?" Elise asked. sitting down on another armchair across the table from Nagisa.
"No, it's the upcoming conference between The Magni Domina and the Greater East Asia Conference. I'm not entirely sure if it's a good idea. If Pravda or Millenium..."
"Neither know what's going on. They're too busy killing each other." Elise sighed, and Nagisa decided to change the subject.
"Were you at the conference between the European Carissimas? Quite the shouting match, I've heard."
"No..." Elise saw Nagisa's face. "How bad?"
"Well...The Magni Domina was there, and the representatives of several countries that Germany attacked refused to even acknowledge her presence."
"Considering what Germany's doing to them, I can't say I blame them."
"Carissima Victoria and Carissima Radec were there. They certainly didn't ignore The Magni Domina." Nagisa replied, picturing both of them giving verbal abuse to Lorelei.
Elise held her head in her hands. "Oh god..." Nagisa looked at the roster of the Magi there. "You certainly have a large branch here." she said.
"You don't?" Elise asked, looking at Nagisa in astonishment. "You're in Japan! How many magi could you possibly have?"
"The amount of Aspirants and Zealots that just exited the building. Forgive my rudeness, Carissima, but Mikatihara isn't really the world's biggest place. And most of the time we don't really have anything to do. No witches around there, you see."
"...Are you putting in a request for a transfer?" Elise asked suspiciously.
Nagisa laughed. "Not me really, but my Aspirants asked the Zealot to, and she passed it on to me."
Elise sighed. "Such is Democracy. I'll ask Lorelei, she'll see what she can do."
"Thank you, Carissima." Nagisa said as she got up to leave.
Elise chuckled. "Please dispense the formality, Nagisa. We are the same rank, first-name basis."
Nagisa blinked. "But..." Elise stared at her for a few seconds. "Oh. I forgot about Japanese Manners."
"Yeah...I'll be off now. Thanks, Elise." Nagisa said as she left the building.
Elise walked over to the door and yelled, "Watch out for the-"
WHAM
"-Zealot..."