December 1st

"A witch! A witch! She's a witch!"

"NO! SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shouted while covering my ears with both of my hands, pressing as hard as possible to block the sounds of the hypnotized mob standing outside of my father's office door. My back slid down the cold wooden door until I fell onto my knees. Why? Why did it come to this?

"All of this time... it was all a lie..." I heard my father say on the other side of the door. My head began to pound violently, and I could feel my palms start to sweat. 'Dad, I'm your own daughter! I'm NOT a witch! Aren't we family? Why are you doing this?!"

I could feel the door pounding against my back from the angry uproars of the mob and their attempts to break my only line of defense down. 'This isn't good... I can't hold out for much longer!'

"Kyouko, you have brought great dishonor to my family. It'd be much better if you were-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I knew what was to follow, but I couldn't bear to hear it. At least, not from the person who I was sacrificing my life for.

"DEAD!" Suddenly, the door behind me broke open, but I wasn't there to see it- I could only hear it as I quickly escaped the church through an open window. It was times like this when I was extremely grateful for having the ability to create illusions, but then again, if I never became a magical girl in the first place, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

I sprinted as far away from the church as possible. When I ran out of breath, I jumped into the nearest alley to rest and to regain my breath. There was nowhere else left for me to go. I could only lean against a chilly metal pipe until the sun began to rise.

December 14th

It had been two weeks since my father sent an angry mob looking for me. After that night, I returned home, and much to my relief, the attack was called off, but one thing didn't change: my father's ambition to kill me.

Over the past few weeks, he grew into the habit of drinking and performing acts of violence. He would repeatedly hurt my mother and my little sister, Momo, but for some reason, he never came directly at me. However, only being able to stand by and watch my family get hurt was more painful than receiving the damage myself. It seemed like my dad found out about my weakness.

I sat alone in my dark room with my arms wrapped around my legs, rocking back and forth. My clock that hung on my wall ticked on and on to no end. When was this nightmare going to stop?

My train of thought was immediately interrupted the moment I heard an ear-piercing shriek coming from one of the other rooms. I leapt up from my seat, and swung my door wide open.

"No, daddy! Please, stop hurting mommy! That'll kill her!"

My eyes widened when I heard Momo pleading for mother's life. Just what was happening anyway? I wanted to investigate further, but something stopped me from moving.

"Kyouko, don't!" Kyuubey advised as I watched him step out of the shadows. "If you go, your own life may be at stake!" I tried my best to choke back my tears. Deep down, I knew he was right, but I couldn't just leave my family.

"Kyuubey," I started.

"What is it?"

"I just want to say that... I'm well aware that the chances of me making out of this church alive are very slim... but hell, if I can do something- anything- to save my family, I'll do it, even if I fail, and even if I die. My wish was not intended to cause the people I love so much pain. Hehe, it's ironic, isn't it? I wanted my wish to do quite the opposite. But Kyuubey, if there's one thing I want you to do for me, it's to tell Mami-san that I'm really sorry. I want to apologize for leaving."

Kyuubey nodded understandingly. I smiled at him, and petted his head in gratitude before taking off to find the source of the scream.

I creaked open the door to my father's office and took a peek inside. My heart nearly skipped a beat as I saw Momo jumping up and down by my father's feet, waving her arms around and begging him not to hurt my mother any further. He stared blankly at Momo for a moment, but didn't hesitate to slap her across the face, sending her light body flying towards a bookshelf, tumbling it over and ultimately crushing her. A cry of pain was soon released.

I felt my blood begin to boil. As much as I wanted to transform into a magical girl right then and there, I was soon reminded that I stood no chance against my father. No matter how tough my resolve was, there was no denying that my father knew me best. He knew what to use against me. I had no chance of living if I acted brashly.

I could only stand by and watch as my father walked up to my weak and brittle mother who was on her knees, bleeding from her head. He pulled out a pocket knife from his long jacket. That was when I had enough. Maybe it was stupid of me to attempt to stop my father, but he was merciless, and much like a witch, if he wasn't stopped, he'd hurt more people.

I transformed into a magical girl, and kicked the door down, revealing my presence to my family. I pointed my trusty spear towards my father's neck. Everything in the room stopped for a brief moment, until the silence was killed by a maniacal laughter coming from my father.

"You say you fight those malevolent witches who kill people. You say you're on the good side, and that you're fighting for justice, but yet, you're pointing a weapon at my throat, threatening to kill me. Just what makes you think that you're any different than a witch, then?" he said in a playful tone. There was no doubt that he was simply testing me. I wasn't going to fall for that this time.

Or at least, that's what I was telling myself. If what he said didn't really bother me, I should've had no troubles with finishing him off... but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to pierce him with my spear.

I lowered my weapon, and stared at him scornfully. He simply chuckled, and continued to speak.

"Kyouko," he said. I flinched at the mention of my name. "I have no intention to kill you."

It took me a moment before I fully processed what he had just said. No intention to kill me? For what reasons? I offered him a puzzled look, pressing him to go on.

"You see, I figured, killing you would be too easy. It would end your suffering quite easily and swiftly. That's not what you deserve. No, you deserve to live. To see the world fall around you. To feel what it is like to be lonely. To be stuck with endless guilt and regret for being the sole cause of my depression, and soon, the deaths of your loved ones."

He walked over to my mother, and open up the pocket knife. I wanted to stop him, but none of the limbs in my body would move. Without even a second of hesitation, he swung the knife down, square into my mother's chest, and without a doubt, killed her.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream, but nothing would escape my throat. I was too stunned to move. My father stared blankly at me, mumbling a solemn farewell before he stabbed himself in the throat, ending his own life.

It was then when I could finally move my body, but all I could do was fall onto my knees. I choked on my tears as I kneeled on the ground in the room where all three of my family members laid motionless.

A few hours later - December 14th

"What's wrong, Kyouko?"

I sighed as I stared hard at the moon that was brightly shining. Kyuubey walked around me in circles. The two of us were sitting out by the church stairs as snow peacefully fell around us.

"I can't believe it. A wish that was meant to bring happiness turned my entire family around, and now everyone is dead. Everyone except me..." I answered with a sigh. "A selfless wish leads to pain and destruction, it seems."

"I wouldn't necessarily go about blaming yourself for it. You humans are just strange creatures in general," said Kyuubey in a casual tone. I grunted in agreement. Before I was able to delve deeper into my thoughts, I felt my soul gem reacting. Kyuubey and I both leapt up.

"A witch," I mumbled. 'Great, at a time like this?'

"It's about to hatch. I wonder how we didn't notice this before," Kyuubey informed. It didn't take very long before a witch barrier began to form right before my eyes. Suddenly, I heard Kyuubey gasp. "This isn't like other witches, Kyouko. I can sense that it doesn't want to be binded in a barrier... Watch out!"

Sure enough, the barrier broke and a white light shone in my eyes, hindering my vision. The witch appeared and let out a cry.

"It broke out of its barrier?!" I shouted in shock. "But then... we can't fight it here! It'll destroy the church!"

"There's nowhere else you can fight it without getting innocent people hurt," said Kyuubey. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I was not given much of a choice. I quickly transformed into a magical girl once again, and stood straight in front of the large witch.

The witch had a pink clover as a head and a gigantic body with a huge waistline. It was wearing a disheveled long dress that appeared to be from the early 1900s. It was nearly five times my size and height. I gulped as I rashly charged head first, aiming for the witch's stomach. I pushed myself off of the ground and stuck my spear into the desired location. It fell back, screaming in pain, but it quickly regained its composure. Without hesitation, I attempted to summon duplicates of myself using my illusion magic.

But that was when I realized...

I forgot how to use my magic.

I stood in one spot in disbelief, but that gave the witch a chance to take a swing at me with its arm. I flew across the plane and crashed straight into the church. I tried to stand up again, but my body was in a lot of pain. I glanced over at my left arm, only to notice it spewing out blood. I saw Kyuubey walk up beside me.

"You can't use your magic any more, it seems," said Kyuubey. I nodded with all of the strength I had left. "In case you're wondering, the reason for it is simple: because your wish of wanting people to listen to your father's preaching became void, so did your magic. With the disappearance of this power, you will forever be at a huge disadvantage, you know."

"Ah, is that so..." I whispered. It hurt a lot to even talk. In the distance, I could hear the witch coming closer. An overwhelming adrenaline rush soon began to take over me. '... I can't die here.'

I used my undamaged hand to wipe my face. No matter how much it hurt, I tried to stand up. I wasn't going to die then and there, but if it came to it, I'd rather die fighting for justice than to be finished off without even trying.

The witch stood high and mighty in front of my eyes once again. It raised its arm and swung like it did last time. I managed to jump and tumble away from the strike. Just as I complimented myself on surviving, there was something that I noticed.

The witch had hit a power line.

Without even being given a moment to think, it exploded behind me. The church began to collapse piece by piece. The witch escaped as quickly as possible, while I was being left to panic. I ran for my life as fast as I could. As I sprinted, I noticed smoke chasing after me. Thankfully, it wasn't enchanted smoke.

But that was when I realized that a fire had started.

'DAMMIT! I can't let this place burn down. I need to save my family's bodies. They deserve a proper burial... Where would I even go if I lost this place?' Despite the thoughts that were running through my head, I knew I couldn't go back. If I did, I'd surely die.

Thus, I continued to run until I saw the exit. Much to my surprise, I made it out alive. I took a few steps away from the church, and watched it burn down.

"Kyouko, behind you!" I heard Kyuubey shout at me. I quickly turned around. My eyes caught sight of two hovering familiars that were prepared to come at me. I leapt into the air and attacked both familiars in one strike, killing them, but as soon as I did, one of them began to morph into something much larger.

"The witch...?!" I exclaimed under my breath. The clover headed witch threw yet another strike at me with its demonic arms, sending me flying again. This time, I landed on the snow bed with my front facing upwards. I gazed at the open sky as snowflakes continued to fall around me. 'So this is what it feels like to be on the verge of death, huh...'

I pulled out my soul gem with the last of my strength, and took a peek at it. I was not surprised to find my what used to be a beautiful shining red soul gem slowly starting to blacken and become tainted.

"There is nothing I can do any more, huh," I mumbled my last words to myself, "I'm sorry, father, mother, Momo... and Mami-san. I really didn't want it to end this way, but all I can do now is accept my fate and die."

And with that, my eyes began to waver. Darkness was catching up to me. The pain in my body began to feel more and more like a dream.

...

"SAKURA-SAN, WAKE UP!"

I felt someone shaking my body back and forth. There was someone calling my name repeatedly in between sobs. I cracked one eye open to see who it was, and immediately, the shaking stopped as our eyes met.

"Mami...san?" I said in a raspy tone. My throat felt dry and was still in a lot of pain, but I hoped my voice was still audible. Mami-san stared at me, surprised. Suddenly, she began to cry even more than she did before. She latched me in for an embrace.

"Thank goodness you're okay... You're hurt aren't you? There's blood on your arm, and even on your face. You're trembling. You must be cold. You must be wondering where the witch went, right? I defeated it and purified your soul gem with its grief seed. I really should've came to you sooner. I should've just asked what was wrong instead of sit around, waiting for you to come by again. I'm sorry, Sakura-san. I've been a failure of a sempai... But I'm glad that you're still alive."

I stayed in Mami-san's arms for a while. We both sat in the snow in silence. Finally, I couldn't hold it in any more. My head was pounding to no end, my hands were shaky. My heart was beating faster than I could ever imagine, and the feeling of pain returned to me. Right then and there, the reality hit me- and hard. I wrapped my own arms around Mami-san, and stuck my head in her shoulder.

And with that, I began to cry.