So, this is concept writing. You know, kind of like concept art? So it may a little lacking in things you'd expect from a story, like, say ... context, and explanation and clarification of just what the heck is happening.
Takes place post-Rebellion, so beware of spoilers.
Darkryt Orbinautz Presents.
Magical Girl Cafe Concept;
And I'm Home
Sitting on her midnight vigil in her palace, Homura cupped a sphere in her hand, her ebony wings flexing behind her to stretch out. She was perched atop a golden pillar which topped in a cup to seat her. Around here were black posts like street lamps, except they ended at the top in four-pronged claws which clutched around giant glowing spheres resembling tinier versions of the moon, all in different sizes, each one representing an aspect of the universe, allowing her to check on the aspect and see how it was doing.
"Homuraaa!" a shrill voice cried out, the echo of footsteps coming down the stairs behind her. "I'm bored. Can't you play with me?"
"I'm sorry, but no. Not right now." Homura answered, glancing at the intruder to her work before looking back at the sphere. "Running the universe is busy work. I'll play with you tomorrow, okay? I promise."
"Okay ..."
"Okay. Go bed to now, alright? It's way past your bedtime."
"Fine!" The pink-haired girl sulked. "Homura?"
"Yes?"
"Goodnight, Homura-chan."
"Goodnight, Chibiusa."
Homura watched Chibiusa go back to her room, before noticing something odd.
"Hmm?" Homura pondered, looking at one of the spheres glowing, giving off pulses of light, being unusually active. She picked it up to look inside. "What's this now? ... What?" She began interrogating the sphere. "Who are all these people? Why is she with them? When did this happen? Just now?"
Elsewhere, across the vast distance, five heroes stood in a sandy coliseum, surrounded by empty seats, and loose spinning wheels which rolled on their own, trying to strike the girls and mow them down. Sailor Moon, Puella Magis Kyoko Madoka, and Hero Yuki Yuna stood fast, standing against the assault of wheels, commanded by a monstrous mermaid in the distance, waving a conductor's baton, shadows of men - the Witch's Familiars - standing and playing a chorus behind them.
"Sayaka!" Kyoko cried out, she, Sailor Moon, and Yuna smashing their way through the demonic wheels with their weapons, a spear, a staff, and a fist.
"What did you do to Sayaka?" Kyoko demanded again, slicing a wheel in half, the wheel's pieces creaking as they fell to the ground.
Madoka stared down the mermaid, pulling the drawstring on her bow. She locked eyes onto it, hesitating to fire for a reason she wasn't sure of. Not at first. But gradually, piece by piece, it came back to her. Tears escaped from her eyes, and she started laughing.
"Heh heh ... heh heh ..."
Madoka fell to her knees.
"Madoka?" Sailor Moon asked, bashing a wheel away. "What's wrong?"
Madoka looked up at Moon, her eyes wet, sparkling and shining with her tears.
"It's Sayaka," Madoka said. "The Witch is Sayaka."
"What?" Kyoko exclaimed. "That's not possible! Is it?"
"It's funny ..." Madoka said, sniffling. "Sayaka becomes a Witch. No matter now many different timelines we go through, how many different resets, or even-" She glanced meaningfully at Yuna, "even in alternate universes ... Sayaka becomes a Witch. Sayaka always becomes a Witch. Heh heh heh ..."
"Quit laughing!" Sailor Moon snapped. "That's horrible! You shouldn't accept that!"
"Don't you see?" Madoka asked, wiping her tears away. "I have accepted. There's nothing to do but accept it, to accept and laugh! Ha ha ha. After all, it's all pointless anyway, until the next reset happens, and we start back from square one! Ha ha HA HA!"
Madoka fell down on her hands and knees, still laughing deliriously while salty water poured from her eyes. "It's all a joke! Life is just one big, fat joke, and you have to just break down and accept that it'll come to nothing!"
"Madoka!" Sailor Moon cried, grabbing and shaking Madoka. "Snap out of it!"
While being disturbed by Madoka's breakdown, Kyoko still turned to look at the Witch, Oktavia.
"Now that I look at her ... she does seem familiar." Kyoko said. She looked down. Tears welled up as fragmented memories of altered timelines came to her. "If- if that is Sayaka, then I have no choice ..."
Kyoko walked towards the Witch, unfazed by the wheels whirling around her. Even when the wheels flanked her on either side, she didn't move, but it became moot when Yuna punched them to pieces.
"Kyoko ...?" Madoka raised her head up. "What are you doing?"
Kyoko twirled her spear into the air and planted it into the ground.
"Sayaka!" Kyoko shouted. "If you can hear me ... if you can hear me! Stop this. Stop it all at once. Let us go. Stop. And if you can't - if you can't stop ..." Kyoko curled her fists, crying. "Then ... take me instead. Let the others go, and just take me."
"Kyoko!" Madoka exclaimed, reaching a hand out.
At first, Oktavia didn't seem to notice or care about Kyoko's presence or her pleas. She raised her baton up, carrying on with conducting her music ... but the music began to change. The shadows which had been until male figures silently playing violins sang, and when they sang, it was with light, soft feminine voices, raising up the volume of their chorus.
A heart that beats in time with mine
Here in our soundless lives
What world is seen through your eyes?
"So you do remember me." Kyoko said with a grin.
I'm looking for the girl that said "see you again"
My friend, looking over and over again.
"What is this song?" Sailor Moon asked, looking around. "It sounds so sad ..."
A light began to emerge from Oktavia's chest. It shone and hummed, and within in, a figure began to emerge.
"Sayaka!" Kyoko cried out.
"Uh ... hmm?" Sayaka groaned, opening her eyes. She looked around. "Kyoko? What ... what's going on? I can't remember ..."
"Sayaka, I know you're confused, but you need to stop now!" Kyoko cried. "You need to break through, and break free from the Witch!"
Sayaka grunted and closed her eyes. She jerked forward, but she didn't move.
"I ... I can't." Sayaka groaned. "Her despair is too strong ... it has a grip on me. I can't - I can't get free." Sayaka's eyes became wet as she tried to pull free, remaining in place, immobilized.
(Just look behind, you're sure to find
A lonely person that has been
crying for all of this time)
"Well, if that's the case ..." Kyoko muttered, and she jumped up, a superhuman leap into the air which put her next to Sayaka, and she grabbed Sayaka's shoulders.
"Kyoko ..." Sayaka said. She looked down at herself. "Ah! Oh man, I'm naked! Why we are always naked, Kyoko? Why do Magical Girls always end up naked, huh?"
Kyoko closed her eyes. "Well, if that's what's bothering you ..."
Kyoko grabbed at her shirt. She tugged, and pulled, and ripped it off, tearing it apart. Sayaka blushed, but that didn't stop Kyoko from twirling the ripped shirt around Sayaka like a band and pulling her in, wrapping the fabric around both of them. Sayaka's blush intensified, as her chest was touching Kyoko's.
"We'll be naked and clothed together." Kyoko said. "Naked ... and alone." She began to tear up.
"Kyoko ..."
"Shut up, you idiot."
Kyoko cupped Sayaka's cheeks and pulled her close, kissing her while sobbing. Her tears dripped down and hit the Soul Gem on her chest, tainting it with the despair of her sadness.
The chorus continued.
(A harsher place,
A lonely face,)
But then, it all changes when you're holding my hand
No matter how you hide,
The feelings deep inside,
Remember that I'll always hold you here.
The light shining from Oktavia glowed. It hummed before expanding, reaching out and enveloping Kyoko.
"Kyoko!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.
"I'll save her!" Yuki declared, leaping into the air.
Kyoko broke the kiss. She stared into Sayaka's eyes.
"This is how it was meant to be ... how we were always meant to be." Kyoko closed her eyes and hung her head. "Alone together ..."
The Soul Gem rose up from her chest. It shattered into pieces and split into two, turning into a despair-fueled Grief Seed. Sayaka's Grief Seed emerged, manifesting itself from Sayaka's mouth, and it bashed into Kyoko's, the two drawn together. Kyoko's Grief Seed twirled around and stabbed into Sayaka's, piercing it like the pin on a butterfly and merging the two Seeds like a couple's pair of rings.
The light glowed, and Sayaka was sucked back into the chest of the Witch, taking Kyoko with her. The light flashed, and there was a huge boom and blinding bang.
"Ah!" Yuna shielded her eyes. "Huh?" She said when the light cleared.
The Witch had changed. Instead of a mermaid, it was a centaur, a horse's body replacing the tail it had moments prior. The mermaid's head was pushed off to the side to make room for the candle which now sprouted from its shoulders, the fire burning atop the candle vaguely indicating a head. The fused Witch was wearing a kimono, and candle wax covered its body, with the wax sculpted into hands which curled around the Witch's chest protectively, showing Kyoko's desire to hold and protect Sayaka.
"What?" Yuna asked.
"They-they fused!" Madoka exclaimed. "They - they turned into a single Witch!"
Candles began to emerge from the ground, filling up the empty seats with their wax. All of the wheels still rolling around burst into flames. The chorus of Familiars wavered and wane, breaking apart into formless shadows before taking shape again, only now instead of men they all resembled Kyoko, carrying her robe and ponytail. They kept playing their violins, their song uninterrupted.
Even with these mistakes
No, I won't break
I'll be stronger by your side
"You monster!" Yuna exclaimed, jumping up towards the Witch's head. "Let them both go!"
Oktavia held out her hand and waved it. A giant version of Kyoko's spear manifested in her grip, which she used to knock Yuna away with the flat of the blade, slamming her into the ground.
"Grr ..." Yuna growled and got herself back to her knees.
"Madoka!" Sailor Moon cried, shaking her again. "You're the one most familar with Witches! What do we do?"
"Nothing. There's nothing we can do," Madoka said with a smile, leaning against Sailor Moon's arm. "Nothing to do but accept our eventual fates!"
"No!" Yuna shouted. "I can't accept that! I won't! Sayaka! Kyoko! I'll save you! Hero Club promise!"
Yuna jumped into the air. Oktaviaphelia swung her spear, directing the burning wheels to take flight and strike Yuna. Yuna punched her way through wheel after wheel after wheel.
The chorus continued.
The tears and all the hate
A sigh I let escape
But this is where we are
You're here with me
A normal day,
Come out and play,
I pray, I pray,
Please staaaay
A lie I say me and you
While my voice it shakes
The dreams end with my mistakes
I'm holding myself as I sway
And soon my vision fades
Though I'm falling and falling again
If that's the way it has to stay
Then come what may,
I guess our exit is the final play
Yuna broke her way through the wall of wheels, and flew towards the Witch, evading the Witch's attempt to hit her with the spear again. Yuna flew righ through, barreling fist-first into the Witch's chest.
And in this place,
I still have faith
For now, smiling when I'm looking into your eyes
With a simple face
You know we will embrace
These feelings that have been bent out of shape
And though we're lost again
Well even then
I feel safer here with you
Yuna pummeled the Witch, pounding her in the chest over and over, screaming. "Let them go! Let them go!"
But even if I call
You won't answer at all
Not knowing 'cause is the future is unclear
I just can't let you go,
It hurts, you know
Every time I hear your name
I'm right here by your side
I'm right here by your side
So you won't please, just please come back to meeeeee?
Yuna punched through the Witch's chest and broke it, flying through the wax barrier and emerging out the other end from the back of the Witch. The Witch let out a distorted scream of pain, which sounded almost human, and as her body began to fall apart, defeated and vanquished by the Hero, she let out a whimper of two pained voices speaking in time with each other.
"Alone ... together ... forever!"
One by one, the chorus began to fade, the shadows falling to the floor, though not before finishing the last verse of their song.
Never ending, these feelings inside,
Even if they're left behind.
The Witch disappeared in a glorious explosion, consumed by flame and fire, her face distorting as she was melted and burned away. All that remained of her was the intertwined Grief Seeds. The area around them faded away and revealed a city, the Witch's illusion shattered.
The Seeds fell towards the ground.
Yuna reached out to catch them, and she did, her gloved hand grasping the Grief Seeds ... but so did another hand, teleporting and swooping in from darkness to snatch away the Hero's justly-earned rewards.
"Let go, Homura." Yuna said, wrestling with the demon, both of them trying to pry the Seeds from the others' grasp. "They don't belong to you."
"They especially don't belong to you, either, Hero Yuki Yuna." Homura snarled. "They are my ... friends might be too strong a word, given ... what I've done ... but they still mean more to me than they do to you!"
"How can you be sure?" Yuna asked. "I care about everyone!"
"That's just what a naive, inexperienced hero would say!"
"Homura ..."
Homura looked over her shoulder at Madoka, getting to her feet, the sight of Homura snapping her out of her breakdown.
"Please," Madoka said. "let them go."
"And give me back my daughter while you're at it!" Sailor Moon snapped.
Homura grimaced, struggling to say no to a request of Madoka's.
"I can fix them," Homura said. "I can heal them. I can fix them!"
Homura kicked Yuna in the gut, knocking her away. Homura spread her wings and flew up, disappearing into a series of rainbow-colored blocks which slowly dissembled her body.
Madoka looked up at the trails left behind by Homura's magic. She shook her head.
"They don't want to be fixed. They want to be together ..." Madoka murmured.
At her palace, Homura overlooked the Grief Seeds, nestled safely inside an aquarium-like bowl. The entwined Seeds hovered around in the center of the bowl, a red and a blue light swimming around the sides of the bowl. Every so often, the souls would try to slam into each other, so they could merge into one and go back inside their Grief Seeds so they could rest together in peace.
Homura looked at the bowl and saw the souls' desire to be together. They belonged to each other, and they wanted nothing more than to seal themselves inside their capsules and rest in peace.
Homura sniffled and cried.
She lied.
She had no idea how to fix them.
But if - but if she didn't take them, from Yuna, from Madoka, she couldn't study them and figure out how. She would figure out how. She would. She had to. She had promised Madoka.
Homura slammed her fist against the bowl at the indignity and unfairness of it all.
"Homura?" Chibiusa asked, walking into the room dressed to play baseball. "Are you crying?"
"No!" Homura snapped, obviously lying, but the force of her shout caused the bowl to crack. It also made Chibiusa realize now it wasn't a good time to play ball, and to quickly vacate the room.
Author's Notes for "CONCEPT: Magical Girl Cafe; And I'm Home."
So, the concept here is the idea of a "Magical Girl Cafe" I had, which would have been a crossover webcomic between Sailor Moon, Yuki Yuna Is A Hero, and of course, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I might have also thrown Revolutionary Girl Utena into the mix. :P
The idea I came with would have started out with a mystery as something caused Chibiusa and Madoka to swap places between universes, and things would have evolved from there. Homura would have taken care of Chibiusa, possibly bonding with her and causing Chibiusa to fight for Homura's side come the Big Final Battle, and Madoka would have awkwardly awoken into Sailor Moon's bed.
However, I, for the most part, decided I had other things I wanted to be doing with my time. So I canned the idea before I ever figured out what the "Something" was. (Maybe Kyubey?)
However however ... I then made the mistake of listening to the beautiful English cover of "And I'm Home" by Queen Koko and Lizz on Youtube. I loved it so much, I wanted to make an animation out of it. And I figured to make an animation that was part of this "Magical Girl Cafe" idea, because why not?
But I can't animate, and I don't have the money to hire someone who can ... I also don't have a program or the editing skills to make an AMV .. so what to do?
That's right, do what I'm good at and write it out as a piece of concept "art" for a loose definition of art. So thus I did. So here's how the basic animation would have gone down, but in in prose form.
I may not have gotten all of the lyrics right. And Fanfiction has a rule against using non-public-domain lyrics, but I think given that I'm using the lyrics from an unlicensed English cover of the song, that's ... close enough to fan-music to count, right? Right.
I was actually thinking maybe I wouldn't publish this, but I went through all the trouble of writing it and it's not doing nobody any good just sitting here in my documents, so...