Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Edit: For some reason, my lines that I used to separate each part of the story didn't show up. Hopefully you can see them now.
Edit #2: Went back to fix some formatting, but for some reason FF doesn't allow me to save my changes. Trying to fix it.
"Cheese! Cheese!" Came a rather gleeful shout from a doll-like figure.
A laugh.
"Bebe, if you keep that up, you'll turn into cheese," a blonde-haired girl chuckled, grabbing Bebe by the scruff of her clothes.
"Turn into cheese! Turn into cheese!" Bebe cried, flailing her arms excitedly.
Another set of footsteps joined the two.
"Jeez, Mami, Bebe. Just how many Jewels did you spend on cheese?" A rather annoyed red-haired girl asked, her pony tail trailing behind her as the group made their way through the streets of Fiore.
A head of blue fell into step beside them.
"You're one to talk, Kyoko. How much did you spend on snacks?"
Kyoko scoffed. "Hey, at least the snacks can be shared by everybody! Unlike Bebe, who survives purely on cheese."
The blue haired female snickered in response. "Sure, sure. Like you're not going to hoard everything in your room, like always?"
"Oi! Sayakaaaaa!" Kyoko called in offense, and the two friends broke into a chase, circling around Mami and Bebe.
"You two always do this…" Mami muttered, shaking her head good-naturedly. Bebe shifted in her arms, tilting her head.
"Madoka! Madoka! Homura!" Bebe waved her hands around.
Right on cue, a pinkette appeared from around the corner, along with her raven-haired companion.
"Sorry we're late, guys! I, uh, kind of got lost…" The pinkette explained sheepishly, running up to Mami.
"I never knew a goddess could get lost," Sayaka grinned, waving as she stopped in her tracks, bumping into Kyoko, who let out an ow.
Homura followed behind calmly.
Bebe hopped out of Mami's arms, her form glowing and slowly turning into one of a small child's.
"Madoka! Have the papers for our guild been finalized?" Bebe-turned-Nagisa asked.
Madoka nodded in response. "Yep! Officially from now on, we're the guild Puella Magi!"
"A bit of an uncreative name there, Madoka," Kyoko teased, fishing an apple from her pocket and biting into it.
Madoka blinked. "Ah, well, I...couldn't think of much else, and Homura suggested Puella Magi, so…" She trailed of at the end, pausing to look at her friend.
"Why not? Puella Magi represents us perfectly," Homura responded, shrugging.
Mami clapped her hands together, smiling. "Well, the name has already been decided. No point in arguing over it now. Come on, I'll treat you all to tea."
Nagisa perked up at that. "With cheesecake?" She inquired.
Mami laughed.
"Yes, with cheesecake."
"Yay! Cheesecake!" She exclaimed, jumping around joyfully.
The other girls exchanged amused looks.
Sayaka sighed. "Well, looks like we're going to have to make a pit stop at the cake shop, huh? Hopefully we don't go bankrupt,"
Kyoko twisted her hand in a circle-ish motion. "Eh, we'll just steal it if we can't afford it."
"Kyoko!"
It was not a good day to be a Gorian.
"Tomoe-san!"
Strings of ribbons lashed out, wrapping around the forest creature.
A red-haired magical girl jumped out of the tree she was residing in, biting into an apple, a spear in hand.
A moment passed, and the spear was thrust into the Gorian's chest, effectively killing it.
The creature wobbled in place for a second, before finally collapsing backwards. The red-head jumped back to avoid the falling body.
"Woah! Almost dropped my apple there."
"Sakura-san. You must never get complacent in battle, no matter what you think of your opponent," Mami chastised her fellow magical girl (and guildmate) gently, frowning.
Kyoko shrugged in response, letting the spear in her hand dematerialize and return to her soul gem. "I mean, yeah, but it's kind of pathetic to be fighting these overgrown apes. It's literally easier to kill than the minions we encountered back in Mitakihara."
Mami shook her head, exhaling. Her body glowed a bright yellow before the light dispersed, her attire now resembling a more casual one.
"Well, I can't say that's not true, but still…"
Kyoko followed suite, her red attire dissolving into her usual hoodie.
"Aw, don't be a party pooper. We completed the job, end of story. No fuss, no muss," she threw back casually, strolling out the forest.
"C'mon, Sayaka and the others should be done with their jobs by now," she called, taking another bite of her apple.
Mami sighed.
"Honestly, that girl...Her attitude is going to get her killed one day," she muttered underneath her breath, but still following the girl nonetheless.
Guild Puella Magi had taken to grabbing any jobs they could find in order to save up funds to, well, keep their guild building going.
The sad thing was, that none of the magical girls were officially registered as S-ranked mages (they weren't even mages in the first place, but nobody else was privy to that fact), so they had no choice but to take on normal jobs that had a less-than-stellar-pay.
Suffice to say, Madoka hadn't figured out how to give somebody an S-rank yet.
Kyoko had scoffed when she heard her guildmaster's latest problem.
"We're literally all qualified as S-ranked mages already. Why do we need to go through all this trouble to actually obtain the rank? Let's just beat the crap out of something and be done with it!" She had said, much to the consternation of basically everybody else.
But then there was the other side of the coin.
"I think it better if we do not make ourselves...known. That includes making ourselves S-ranked. It would only attract undue attention, and there is the possibility that others may find out about our soul gems," Homura had argued back, to which many agreed.
She had a point there - while each member of Puella Magi could literally survive a stab to the heart, and then some (literally, because their magic could systematically churn out a new host body if their current one got too battered), it would be bad news if their soul gem was destroyed.
So they had settled on a compromise - Homura would be made the only S-ranked member of Puella Magi, for now. Mainly because if she got into trouble (highly doubtful, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious), she could simply freeze time and retreat.
Of course, Madoka was still working out the technicalities of everything, so that hadn't quite happened yet.
They were magical girls, yes, but they also happened to be students. Naturally, none of them particularly knew how to deal with paperwork, much less Madoka.
And even then, the little they had learned about politics and the economy didn't exactly apply here, in this odd, odd world that even the Incubators knew nothing about.
They had sent Homura out to gather intel every now and then.
It turned out she excelled in that field.
"I went through hundreds of time loops, stealing weaponry from the military to prepare for Walpurgisnacht. Of course I had to learn how to infiltrate and gather information on where everything was located," was her reply, when asked by Sayaka.
They would have sent out Kyoko alongside Homura for more efficient intel gathering, but the red-head had been more intent on...stealing things rather than gathering any actual useful information.
And right on cue, the raven-haired girl in question landed in front of the duo, brushing dirt off her skirt.
"Tomoe-san. Sakura-san. I assume the job went well?" She inquired, though it was more of a polite greeting than anything.
Kyoko snorted. "Duh, of course."
Mami resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "As Sakura-san has...said, we encountered no difficulties. How did it go on your end?"
Homura ignored the brash girl's response, focusing on Mami. "It was intriguing. There are things I want to investigate further, given the time."
Mami was interested. "Such as?" She prompted, ignoring the loud crunch of Kyoko biting into an apple.
"Fairy Tail - have you heard of the guild?" Homura only asked in response.
Mami dug through her thoughts for a second. "Yes, if only for the...mass destruction that they leave in their wake."
"Well, Madoka has felt a rather powerful magic from the heart of the Fairy Tail guild building. It isn't like ours, of course. It's suspicious, considering that the magic is somehow akin to the Law of Cycle's, but still different," she explained, and Kyoko sharpened to attention.
Mami nodded her head. "I see...and I am assuming that Kaname-san wishes to investigate this by herself?" The girl had always been like that, for as long as Mami had known her.
"She has advised me - us - to simply remain on guard for now; and to befriend Fairy Tail, if possible," Homura replied, it being enough a confirmation.
For once, Kyoko spoke up. "Well, if the goddess can handle it herself, it should be fine. Unless the Incubator themselves have intruded on this world - which I highly doubt - everything will be fine. Y'know, her being a goddess and all," she reasoned rather flippantly, though it was obvious she was a tad bit worried.
"I suppose you have a point," Mami acquiesced finally, with a bob of her head. Homura said nothing, but her equip faded into her normal wear, which was as good as an agreement.
"Well, I'm sure Miki-san and Bebe must be waiting for us. Let's not dawdle any longer, shall we?"
Momoe Nagisa was rather happy.
She and Sayaka, the two secretaries, had finished their jobs quickly. Quickly, as in, having Nagisa blow her trumpet at the unfortunate monsters for the day. Sayaka hadn't even needed to do anything.
The duo had wandered back into town, near their rendezvous spot with Mami and the others. They had passed by a bakery along the way, and the Sweet's Witch had spied something.
"Cheesecake!" She had cheered, surprising Sayaka.
She had then proceeded to beg her fellow secretary to allow her to buy a slice ("I promise I'll buy just one, please Sayaka?"), instead of her usual whole cake.
Surprisingly enough, Sayaka had agreed, no matter how reluctantly. Nagisa had all but teleported into the bakery, crashing into the wooden door as its abused hinges creaked with protest.
"Cheesecake, cheesecake!" She chanted, unfortunately not taking care to note her surroundings as she slammed head-first into a sheet of metal. So maybe she could get rather tunnel-visioned when it came to cheese, or cheesecake, but hey!
"Ow...ow, ow, ow…" She muttered, rubbing her forehead. Behind her, Sayaka came trailing in calmly.
"Nagisa! Geez, how many times have I told you to be careful?" She chided the white-haired girl, watching with a mix of amusement and consternation.
Nagisa huffed, ignoring the older magical girl. Instead, she looked up to see that she had not, in fact, smashed into a sheet of metal. She had, however, smashed into an armor-wearing female.
Whoops, she thought, a little bit more than embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry, miss! I, uh, didn't see you standing there…" she murmured an apology, rubbing her head sheepishly.
"No need to apologize. I sensed you coming, but did not move away fast enough to avoid our collidance. For that, I should be the one to apologize," she replied, amused.
Nagisa noted that the pretty lady she had bumped into had equally-as-pretty red hair. She was wearing a blue skirt, paired with black boots, and an armored-chest-plate. And…
...Was that a Fairy Tail emblem on her left arm?
Sayaka? She asked, her thoughts ringing in her mind.
Yep, I see it. The bluenette replied. The power to communicate telepathically was rather useful, though they didn't use it often.
Sayaka gave a small smile, as if she wasn't simultaneously having a conversation with her younger friend. "Ah, yeah, sorry about that. Nagisa has a tendency to get tunnel-visioned," she sent a look at the girl in question, "when it comes to cheesecake," she finished.
The Fairy Tail guild member nodded in understanding. "I see. I may have the tendency to do the same, when it comes to strawberry cake. An understandable reason."
Sayaka almost facepalmed. She had thought it impossible, but apparently the Sweets Witch wasn't the only one with...cake-loving tendencies.
Nagisa, on the other hand, was thinking that the pretty lady and her would get along rather well. Her eyes lit up.
"Yes! Yes, of course! Cheesecake is amazing, even if Sayaka and the others don't seem to appreciate it!" Almost as an afterthought, she tacked on, "all other kinds of sweets and cakes are delicious too, of course!"
Sayaka really wanted to facepalm. "She isn't called the Sweets Witch for nothing…" she muttered, exhaling.
"It's nice to know that somebody thinks the same. I don't believe we've met, by the way. I'm Erza. Erza Scarlet."
Nagisa beamed. "I'm Momoe Nagisa! But you can call me Nagisa!"
Sayaka shook her head, bemused (but still annoyed, definitely). "Miki Sayaka," she introduced shortly.
Erza nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Nagisa, Miki-san. Are you two in a guild, too?"
Sayaka blinked. "Well, yeah. How did you know?"
The older female pointed to their fingers. "It's small, but you both have a ring - and a small emblem - on your ring fingers."
Ah, yes. The main reason why Puella Magi didn't have an official guild emblem was because, well, they simply weren't going to invite anybody into their guild. While they had to have one for bureaucracy and easy recognition's sake, it was simply a stylized image of a soul gem.
They, themselves, already had symbols on their fingers, and although they were all different, Madoka had figured that it was enough to suffice for a guild symbol.
Besides, it was harder to spot, if for whatever reason they needed to hide their link to the guild.
But she spotted it immediately. Impressive, Sayaka thought.
"Yep! We're from the guild Puella Magi!" Nagisa chirped in response; Erza was a good person, and she saw no need to hide her affiliation with the newly-formed guild.
"I don't think I've heard of the guild before," Erza mused, tilting her head slightly.
"We're a new guild, so it's kind of a work in progr-,"
-Miki-san? Sakura-san and I are already at the rendezvous location. Where are Bebe and you?
Oops, Sayaka winced. Nagisa blinked, obviously having realized that they had well shot over the allotted meeting time.
"Is something wrong?"
Sayaka shook her head. "No, nothing. Just, sorry. We were supposed to meet our guildmates a while ago but then...this, and now we're running late," she explained.
"It's not your fault though!" Nagisa chipped in.
"Then by all means, feel free to go ahead and meet with your guildmates. I don't mind having our conversation being cut short."
Sayaka breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks!" She called back, already halfway out the door. She picked up Nagisa by the scruff, ignoring her protest of hey, as the two magical girls bolted.
Only ten seconds later did Nagisa realize, that,
"I never got my cheesecake!"
Sayaka didn't allow her to go back.
Meanie, she thought, internally pouting.
I can hear you, Sayaka replied dryly.
I know. Nagisa blew a raspberry, that's the point.
Madoka - though she supposed she was more of the Law of Cycles than Madoka at that moment - looked at the girl of a similar age, standing before her.
"Strange. You shouldn't be able to see me, but yet you can," the blonde said, curious.
"Yes, well, I think that's a minor side-effect of being a goddess and all…" she trailed off.
She had travelled all the way to one Tenrou Island while her guildmates were out with their respective jobs. This was the best option she could investigate, for now, because infiltrating a heavily guarded guild was a bad decision, goddess or no.
The island had been practically glowing with the same energy that she had felt deep within Fairy Tail.
"A goddess?" The blonde girl perked up. "Really?"
She had been worried, because the magic she had felt had a dark tint to it - a tint that reminded her of her own magic.
A God's magic.
But it seemed that her worries had been ill-placed. The girl in front of her didn't seem evil or anything, in anyway. In fact, she seemed rather trustworthy.
The Law of Cycles considered this. Perhaps the bare-footed girl had been rather unlucky, and had been cursed by a God.
That was becoming more likely with every other option she eliminated.
"I used to be human…" the Law of Cycles responded, "...but I'm a goddess now."
For a second, a mix of sympathy and understanding (and was that sadness?) passed through the girl's emerald-green eyes.
"I see…" she replied, though it was softer than before.
"I don't really mind, though. In the end, I saved all my friends from suffering; if I have to be a goddess to do that, well, it wouldn't be a big sacrifice," the Law of Cycles continued, her expression turning wistful.
She took a deep breath.
"It's nice to meet you. I am the existence known as the Law of Cycles; though my friends know me as Kaname Madoka."
"Likewise, Kaname-san. I'm Mavis Vermillion, the First guild master of Fairy Tail," Mavis introduced.
The Law of Cycles smiled. "I see. So it was your power that I felt within the guild halls…"
Mavis blinked. "Was that why you came to visit Tenroujima?"
The pinkette nodded. "I sensed a God's - Ankhseram's? - Magic, and well, was a little worried. But I see that it is still going around cursing people."
Mavis let out a little laugh, but it was tinged with sadness. "Well, yes. I guess that was the price I had to pay for interfering with the process of life and death."
The Law of Cycles shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. Maybe this is me as a Goddess of Hope speaking, but nobody should be punished for trying to save a loved one."
A moment of silence passed.
"We're alike, aren't we? In some ways, we gave ourselves up to save our friends," Mavis assessed, and the Law of Cycles couldn't say she was wrong.
"But in the end, we find that our sacrifice wasn't all in vain."
The Law of Cycles mustered up another smile, though it was more genuine this time.
"And that was all that mattered."
Mavis responded in kind, a gentle smile spreading across her face.
"Yeah, it was."
A/N: Whew, I finally managed to finish writing this.
How did y'all's like Puella Magi?
This little plot bunny came to me a while back - I thought it would be fun to combine Fairy Tail and PMMM into one story.
I finally decided to write this after reading the story, Shattering Lenses. Go check it out!
Mavis and Madoka really are similar, aren't they? The whole entire last scene was inspired by that.
I haven't kept up with Fairy Tail in a while, so my knowledge of the anime/manga is subpar, at best. So, I apologize for any errors in details.
Kyubey/Incubator will play a role later in this story, trust me.
I really enjoy writing this story, actually. So I'll just take the idea and run with it.
My headcanon is that all the PMMM girls can see Mavis - Madoka because, well, she's a goddess. (Headcanon that makes no sense, like all my other headcanons haha)
Kyoko because she specializes in illusions.
Nagisa and Sayaka because they themselves are a part of the Law of Cycles, and in that way are kind of demigods.
Homura because of her hundreds of time-skips, I would think she had magic powerful enough to see, and Mami simply because, well, the anime portrays her as a veteran magical girl. She may get careless at times (which got her killed by Charlotte), but otherwise she is shown to be able to hold her own against Homura.
By that logic, her magic should be powerful enough to see Mavis as well.
Or just simply, they're magical girls, their souls being contained in soul gems, they would be kind of ghost-like too. Ergo, they can see Mavis.
I prefer my first explanation, honestly. Even though it makes no sense.
Finally, apologies for this long AN, and I hope y'all's enjoyed reading the first chapter of Puella Magi!
(Yes, how the girls got to the world of Fairy Tail will be explained in due time, too.)
Next chapter: "If we were able to confirm it's existence, we would be able to observe it. If we were able to observe it, we were able to interfere with it. If we were able to interfere with it, we would be able to control it." The Incubator wonders what went wrong.
~H0shizora