Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and their characters.
This fanfic is the fourth volume of Year Zero series, you can find it in my profile.
This is an "engrish" translation. I am doing my best, but feel free to tell me if it is unreadable.
Waking up with the car bumps, the little girl soon found that the journey continued through the night. Beyond the windows, only darkness, except for the dirt road the headlights illuminated.
Looking in the rearview mirror, the man who was driving told to his daughter, "See who opened her eyes! We're almost there."
"Honey, we should have left earlier," said the wife who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"I know! I know! Been so long I did this route that I forget the duration." He turned to look at the mirror. "You know, the last time we came here was to show you to your grandmother. You were still very young-"
"You've told that story a lot of times." The girl smiled.
"Even though it rains a lot, I like the peace of the place, but I hope that her house is not abandoned," the woman remarked.
"Of course not," spoke the man, "the people of the village would take care of... of..."
"What?"
He gripped the wheel more firmly. "Strange, it seems they put sand on the road."
Everyone inside the vehicle felt that the ground was more soft.
"W-Where is the road?!" He slowed down and kept going until he was forced to stop because the lights bathed the waves.
"This is a beach?" the woman asked, "you missed the way?"
"Impossible! I saw the sign." The man was astonished. "The ocean could not be so close." He put the car on reverse, but when accelerated, the vehicle did not move. "Oh no! We got stuck?"
The wife crossed her arms and huffed. "That's what happens for leaving so late. You don't know how to find the place in the dark."
Her husband raised his voice. "I said I saw the sign! I'm sure!"
"Sure!" She rolled her eyes. "But you must have read it, there was written 'nowhere'."
The man stepped on the gas, more due to anger than hope. "I read the sing, okay? I read!"
"Why not use this stubbornness to unstuck this car?" The woman took off her belt. "Or maybe you want the tide come and do it for you."
Hearing this, her husband took off his belt promptly. "Damn!"
However, before they could get out of the car, the girl warned, "What is going on with the sea?"
The waters had receded to the point of revealing its bed. A sound had been heard, as the waves of before, but it continued to gain strength. Then the lights of the car showed a massive wall of water that quickly came toward them.
At first, the three stood motionless, only managing to stammer some phonemes in the face of impending doom. The woman was the first act, trying to open the door.
But he grabbed her arm. "No! DON'T GET OUT OF THE CAR!"
While the girl only had time to close her eyes and protect with her arms. Then came the deafening sound of the impact. She screamed only for herself, when the seat belt pulled violently. The dark world spun and the water, salt and cold, came from all directions.
When they invaded her nostrils, the girl tried to cough, but only made more water came into her mouth. She tried to reopen her eyes, but they got irritated and she was unable to see anything. She felt her body bump on a surface, which she was not sure if it was the window or the top of the vehicle. She groped desperately, listening to the accelerated heartbeat and feeling her lungs burning.
Then came a bright light. Attracted by that, the girl was able to discern the front seats of the vehicle and, between the white light beams, the bodies of her parents floating. Suddenly a strong impact hit the car and everything went dark again.
The water moved and she spun out of control. When her speed reduced, she noticed that she was now far from what was the rear part of the car, ripped apart from the rest, slowly sinking. Also she realized that it was still illuminated by that beam of light.
It was then that she saw.
It was a wooden hull of a ship with dozens meters long. At the bow had an eye painted with blue iris, which moved as if alive, focusing on its mouth just below, where its powerful jaw twisted the metal of its meal. The deck was covered by a slug, with several antenna pairs along its body, its tip projecting light toward the next target.
The girl could not hold anymore and her body twitched painfully, pulling water into herself. She struggled, taken by fear, not only because of drowning, but to see the ship beat its rudder and move with ease to devour what was left of the vehicle. The lights then reached her, all indicating that she would be the next one.
However, the ship's eyes widened and it quickly swam away until its lights disappear under the dark veil of water.
Meanwhile, the girl's head lifted and her mouth dropped open, searching the nonexistent air. Her arms and legs trying to reach the nothingness. Dizziness foreshadowing what she was already aware.
Then the agony ceased, as if someone had pressed a switch. In fact not only suffering, but the sense of her body left. The lightness and freedom in its place. She realized she was behind herself, seeing the shoulders of her body sinking. She was getting more and more distant and disconnected from it, followed by a sound of water that was gaining volume as the former...
Came the impact.
The sound possessed her being, bringing back the cold and pain. The water seemed to tear inside out uncontrollably through her nose and mouth. Her body had asked air again and it came, inflating the spaces it found and making her cough more. Her muscles, without strength, could only shake, only her eyes she was able to move.
The sound was coming from all directions, by huge walls of water that seemed to touch the clouds. She was moving away slowly from those walls, going toward the center.
She was floating in the air, but at the same time her body was floating in the water. Her weary mind did not understand and may never be possible.
However, realizing that everything was being illuminated by a light of weak blue, she looked for the source.
Above her, the light came. It was at the end of a staff and lit its bearer, a priestess. The most amazing was that she was standing on what would be a cloud of water.
That was too much for the girl. With the reality so challenged, her conscience abandoned her.
At the end of a road
The night brought the fury of a storm to a village. The flashes of lightning ruled above the artificial lights, but it was a modest kingdom, as were few, only those in the lamp posts.
No window of the houses had any illumination, it was like everything was abandoned. If it were true, then no one would warn about the mass of mud that came from the forest trees that surrounded the place.
Fueled by heavy rain, as well as branches and fallen logs, the mud gained volume and rose. Arms and legs, stuck together, sprang up from the slimy hill and its top opened a circular hole.
The monstrosity was approaching the houses when suddenly, a lightning came from the sky and struck it, shortly followed by another. A continuous glow bathed the ambient and the windows of the houses vibrated incessantly at the sound of thunder.
It writhed. Its arms and legs of mud disconnected and melted before reaching the ground. The trunks burst and a cloud of vapor formed.
The lightning only ceased when, from the monster hole, there was a eruption of water. The mud mountain collapsed and was gradually being washed away by the incessant raindrops.
Not far away from there, on the roof of a house, a shadow watched everything. A cape and hood camouflaged both its silhouette as any movements, looking like a gloomy statue.
Very different from the small white creature who was at its side. Rain dripped on his thin fur that kept perfectly dry. His red eyes blinked to remove the water only when it hampered his vision. [Excellent performance. You defeated the witch in 2.67 seconds, beating your old mark by two tenths.]
The shadow answered with a muffled voice, "Today the storm is strong." It jumped from the roof to where the pile of mud was. Among the branches and trunks, it searched for the object until find it.
It was a black globe, where in its equator had several juxtaposed metal rings. The shadow's thumb, covered in rubber, stroked the ring which decorated the tip on top of the grief seed.
The creature soon came, walking on a log. [It would be better remove these debris.]
"Yes." The shadow cast the seed toward the creature, who promptly opened the hole in its back to receive it.
/人◕‿‿◕人\
The road was unpaved. There was no buildings or anything man made, only trees on both sides. The sound of birds and insects accompanied the horse steps.
Such environment could mean tranquility, but not for Kyouko Sakura. "Okay... admit it. You made a mistake."
Sayaka Miki, who shared the animal's back with her partner, replied, "The road isn't ended."
"We're already on it for a long time," Kyouko affirmed. "Don't you see there's nothing here?"
"I saw the sign."
"That was lying on the ground and rusty." Kyouko rolled her eyes. "If we're on something faster, we would never have seen it."
"Yup, but we're not." Sayaka took the map that was in one of the bags she carried on her back. "Today is cloudy and it will be dark soon. Here says that we're kilometers away from any place to spend the night. We have to try this place, I don't want to risk catching rain and get our stuff wet."
Kyouko looked back. "The map tells you what this place is?"
"Hmmm..." Sayaka put the map closer to her face. "The road crosses a river..."
"And...?"
Sayaka scratched her forehead. "Erm... Here doesn't show anything."
"Great." Kyouko smiled and went back to look forward. "Let's turn around. Next time, the horse will be the navigator."
"Hey! I-" The irritation of Sayaka was short as she caught sight of something beyond the curve, a wooden bridge.
Kyouko did not turn the horse. "Is it the river that you mentioned?"
"It must be." Sayaka smiled, more confident. "See that bridge? It is well maintained and even covered!"
Kyouko agreed, "Yeah, it seems that we can spend the night here."
"You're kidding, right?" Sayaka said, again annoyed. "That means there has to be something beyond, it costs nothing to go a little further."
Kyouko said nothing, but her position about it became clear when she crossed the bridge to the other side. Observing the small stream passing underneath, she concluded that it could not be called a river. They spent a few more minutes riding and seemed to be nothing but the road.
"Look there!"
Kyouko followed with her eyes to some trees that her companion had pointed. Among the branches and trunks, loomed a house.
The road now was paved with stone and more houses appeared. As the trees had given up blocking the view, the two came across a village in the middle of a valley. Rice paddies and low stone walls separating the modest farms. If it were not the lamp posts and power lines, it could be said that the two went back to the time of fiefdoms.
Sayaka wasted no time to say, "See? I was right."
"Uh-huh... Uh-huh..." Kyouko stopped the horse. "Get off that I want to feel the ground a bit."
"Thanking sometimes does well, you know..." With this cue, Sayaka tried to get off the animal, but when she set foot on the ground, she lost her balance. "WHOowhoOooah!" She ended up falling back on the bags she was carrying.
"Bwahahaha!" Kyouko went down in one leap and offered her hand. "Didn't got the hang of it yet?"
Sayaka accepted her hand and stood up, rather sulkily. "Why do I have to carry everything, huh?"
Kyouko took one of the bags. "If I have to carry it, I'll end up unbalancing myself while guiding the horse." After placing it on the back, she puffed her chest. "Ahhh... What a fresh air... well... do they have an arcade here?"
The blue haired girl stroked the animal's peach-colored mane, which gave a sniffle. "Hmmm... Kyouko."
"What?"
"Won't you hide her?"
"No need." The redhead adjusted the ribbon that bound her long ponytail. "This must be normal for the people here."
In this, an old man came out of a house and then saw the girls, with an air of surprise.
Sayaka was the first to manifest. "Oh... Hello! Hehe."
"Yo." Kyouko nodded.
"Hello." The man did the same and came closer. "What a beautiful animal."
Kyouko looked at Sayaka, smiling. "Yeah... You must know a lot about horses."
The old man cleared his throat before stating, "In fact I do not see one of these since I was young. Haha."
Sayaka raised her eyebrows to an embarrassed Kyouko. "Oh yes... Heheheee... S-She's a very special mare."
"A mare? With those muscles, I did not think it was. Or maybe because I'm without my glasses..." The man ran a hand through his spotted bald before returning to talk to the girl with blue eyes. "She's yours?"
Sayaka pointed to herself. "Mine? No. She belongs to-"
"She has no owner," said Kyouko, "only accompanies us."
Suddenly, the horse moved away from them, heading toward the forest.
Leaving the man curious. "What happened?"
"Sorry, she's a little shy," Sayaka replied, with the best smile that she managed to put on her face.
"She does it all the time," Kyouko added. "Don't worry. She knows her way around."
"I see." The man nodded. "A trained animal."
The two girls exchanged awkward glances.
"Very well," said the man, "is getting dark and I need to wash my tools."
"True." Sayaka noted that the lamp posts were lit as the light of the day went away. The sounds of the forest had also changed, announcing that the nocturnal animals had already awakened.
"Excuse me." The man started to turn, but then stopped. "Oh... I and my memory. Pardon, but are you granddaughters of whom?"
"Granddaughters?!" Kyouko grimaced.
"No! No! Hahahahaaa..." Sayaka gestured to the man. "We have no relatives here, we're travelers just passing through."
"Travelers." He pondered for a while before announcing, "We rarely receive visits, so welcome to Arashimura!"
"Thanks," said Sayaka.
Then he turned. "Just be careful that the mare of yours do not eat the crops."
"Ah... Of course! Of course!" Sayaka turned to look for the animal, but it had disappeared. When she turned again, the man had already walked to the back of his residence. "Hmmm..."
"Arashimura. Heh." Kyouko looked around. "So that's the name of this one-horse town. Now I know what that sign meant."
"Damn, we should have asked him about some place to stay," Sayaka said.
"So?" Kyouko shrugged. "If there's one, we'll find it in five minutes at most."
Sayaka was not convinced. "It's getting really dark, these posts don't help much." Then something caught her attention. "Look! We can go there."
Kyouko looked to where her companion had pointed. In one of the hills there was a great stone staircase, which ended in a big red gate, consisting of two pillars connected by two beams. "A shrine. So you want to pray..."
Sayaka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Can you stop it? I'm being serious..."
"Yeah... yeah... I got it. There will be possible to see the entire village. Let's go!"
Hastily the two reached and climbed the stairs. At the end of it, beyond the gate, Sayaka found what she expected. The shrine was like so many others, with its traditional architecture, and a water fountain and statues of dogs, or could be foxes? Religion was never something of interest and these details escaped her. What really caught her attention was the beautiful garden, even though much of its colors had been stolen by the incoming night.
"Yep... This place is tiny."
Sayaka wanted to protest, was sure that had much smaller shrines than this one, but soon saw that her companion was referring to the village.
Kyouko pointed to a larger building, which looked more like a shed. "There is the only thing that doesn't looks like a house, but also I doubt it's a hotel. I think it's abandoned."
Before she could opine, Sayaka noticed someone coming from behind the garden's vegetation. It was a woman with hat and gloves, wearing light-colored clothes, carrying with her a bag with gardening tools. Even with the low light, she could tell she was about seventy years old if not more.
The woman smiled gently and asked, "Hello, can I help you?"
"Hi?" Kyouko turned. "Are you the owner of this place?"
"Owner?"
"Kyouko," Sayaka whispered, with a disapproving gaze at her colleague.
The old woman looked at the two with a static expression, until her face lit up. "Ah! You mean if I am the shrine maiden, right? No, no..."
"Someone calls me?" A fourth person approached the others. Another woman, but much younger. She wore a white kimono and red skirt, tied in front with a big bow. Her eyes were bright yellow, which seemed to glow in the night. Her long and smooth black hair had a red bow tied on its tip.
Fearing that the situation got more complicated, Sayaka gestured. "Wait! We don't need any spiritual help. Haha... We're just travelers looking for a place to stay."
"I see..." The priestess observed the two girls for a while before heading the word to the other woman. "Go rest, Nariko, I take care of them now. If it gets darker, these stairs can be dangerous."
"As if I had not already used them so many times," replied Nariko. She then waved to the priestess and then to the girls before leaving. "You are in good hands, my children."
"Erm..." Kyouko frowned. "Thanks?"
"My house is not far from here," said the priestess, "please follow me."
The two looked at each other before they started to follow her, moving away from the sanctuary.
Along the way, the priestess spoke again, "I'm Gin Nakayama. What are your names?"
"I'm Sayaka Miki and my friend here is Kyouko Sakura."
"Sakura... It sounds so strong and yet so delicate..." Gin walked along the stone pavement, passing between large trees with ropes tied on their trunks. "Where do you come from?"
"We are from..." Sayaka hesitated. That voice, although soft, had a certain coolness. It was natural, since the priestess was dealing with two strangers, but the nagging feeling persisted. Anyway, it would not be a good idea to talk about where there were people who knew her in life.
"Kazamino," Kyouko answered.
"Kazamino? I never heard about," said Gin.
"It's a small place." Kyouko smiled. "Of course, much larger than here."
The priestess turned her face to the red one, without stopping the walk. "Most likely."
Sayaka slapped her forehead.
They finally reached a clearing, where was a house with a very traditional architecture. Sliding doors made of paper stretched over wooden frames were richly decorated, but its details were not possible to be examined due to darkness.
"Cool." Kyouko looked at the dark forest surrounding the place, isolated from the village. "But how much it'll cost, huh?"
"Oh my!" Gin smiled. "I will not charge anything."
Sayaka came with a confused look. "Wait... Will we stay at your house?"
"Huh?" Kyouko asked, "You thought it was what?"
"You will not find lodging here," said the priestess. "People here also go to sleep early, they are tired... then it would be wise not to bother them."
Sayaka lowered her head. "Sorry, but wouldn't we be bothering you?"
"Oh no!" Gin shook her head. "My house is very spacious for so few residents. Just I can't ensure the comfort of the big cities."
"Heh. Having a duvet or mattress is enough, the rest we..." Kyouko stopped when something caught her attention.
It was on the roof of the house. A pair of red eyes that twinkled in the darkness and belonged to a shadow of a creature with long ears and fluffy tail. When sighted, it backed away and disappeared.
Those eyes were unmistakable. "Kyuubey?! What is he doing here?"
Despite not having seen him, for Sayaka the reaction of Kyouko was legitimate. However, the girl thought of a way to scold her companion for having spoken so openly in front of...
"Why would not?"
Sayaka turned toward the priestess in surprise. Her gaze going to the first place where she would find confirmation.
The middle finger of Gin's left hand was a silver ring with runes inscribed on it.
