Charlotte put her arm on Madoka's shoulder "Oh! Why are you crying? That wasn't a nice girl! That was a wicked, wicked witch! You don't need to be sad for her! You did a good thing! Honest!"

"I-I don't know why I'm crying..." Madoka said "The truth is, I can't remember anything. I-I think I might have hit my head, and everything is awful fuzzy now. But, for some reason, I feel so dreadfully sad that this girl has been crushed by my house." She shook her head miserably.

The familiars all gathered around her "It's just like Mayor Charlotte says." Said one of the cotton ball looking familiars "That wasn't a nice person, she use to be really mean to us."

"Indeed." Said one of the pairs of legs, speaking in a soft female voice "We are ever so grateful to you for crushing and killing that wicked witch."

"Yeah!" Said one of the cake's "So don't cry!"

"You see?" Charlotte assured her "You did a good thing."

Madoka sat back up and wiped the tears away from her eyes "W-well if she really was so bad... but... I still don't think it's good that I went and crushed her with my house."

"It's not like you did it on purpose." Charlotte said, patting her shoulder and trying to console her.

"W-well... that's true."

"How did you end up falling out of the sky in the first place anyway?"

"Like I said, I can't really remember... I hit my head... you see."

"Hm, amnesia..." Charlotte said, putting a hand to her chin and pondering it.

"I remember some things though!" Madoka explained "Like, my name is Madoka Kaname, a-and I'm from Japan. Do you know Japan? Is it terribly far from here?"

"Ja-pan?" Charlotte asked, tilting her head to the side "What a strange sounding land. Well, I certainly have never heard of... Jah-Pahn."

"I-I see..." Madoka said, frowning deeply "I feel as though I need to get back there, though. I know my mother will be ever so worried about me if I'm not home soon..."

"Well then, I think I know someone who can help you!" Said Charlotte.

"Y-you do?" Madoka asked.

"Sure, you just need to go see the wizard! He can do almost anything! I'm sure he can help you get your memories back!"

"The wizard?" Madoka asked.

"Sure, the wizard! Everyone knows about the wizard! Just ask anyone!"

One of the leg familiars spoke up "He is the most powerful being in the entire land!"

"They say that he can grant ANY wish!" Said one of the cotton balls.

Then the cupcakes chimed in "He is really nice too, and always helps people who are in need!"

"Yup!" Charlotte agreed "So if you go to him I guarantee he can help you get your memories back! I bet he can even help you get back to where ever it is you came from."

"C-can he really do something like that?" Madoka asked, hopefully.

"Sure, sure, it's no problem." Charlotte said, waving her hand carelessly "You see this yellow brick road here?"

Madoka looked at the road and nodded.

"If you follow this road it will eventually take you to the emerald city where he lives."

"I see..." Madoka stood up, and looked down the road which stretched far over the horizon "Just follow the yellow brick road?"

"Yup!" Charlotte smiled "Just follow the yellow brick road!"

Then they heard someone clear her throat, and they all turned around. The familiars all let out gasps, and started backing away, until Charlotte and Madoka were between them and the new comer.

It was a girl about Madoka's age. She had long black hair and a pointy black witches hat on her head. She had the same leggings as the girl who was crushed by her house, and she wore a dress made of black feathers which left her shoulders bare. Madoka couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful; all the dark clothing really brought out the fairness of her skin, and her eyes were a lovely deep shade of purple.

Standing all around this tall dark girl, there were small doll like creatures who were about half her height. They all wore gothic lolita dresses, and each of them had a mischievous smile spread across their painted faces.

"Who is that?" Madoka whispered to Charlotte.

"Oh no!" Charlotte gasped, as she went to hide behind Madoka. She hugged onto Madoka's back and peeked around her side "Th-th-that's, that's!"

"Homura." The girl said, her eyes were cool and intense "The wicked witch of the north, or so they call me." She grinned, clearly amused by the fear she inspired amongst all the familiars.

Madoka took a good look at this witch, and she got a similar feeling of deja vu from when she saw the other witch's stockings... "Um... but then, who is she?" Madoka asked, pointing over to the pair of legs under her house.

Homura raised an eyebrow and glanced over in the direction Madoka was pointing "She Homu too."

"She's Homu? And your..." Madoka seemed a bit confused.

"Homu." Homura explained "North witch, south witch, east and west. We all Homu here." Then she made a low guttural sound that sounded like 'HomuHomu'. The Clara Dolls who stood at her sides all put their hands to their mouths and giggled softly; their eyes were sharp and menacing.

"I-I see..." Madoka said, taking a step back, getting the feeling that this Homu was up to no good.

"What are you doing here!" Charlotte shouted out bravely, but then shrank back behind Madoka when Homura shot her a look.

"I came to speak with Madoka." Homura explained, as she stepped closer. She walked forward until she was only a foot away from the short pinkette.

Madoka stared up at the tall raven-haired girl courageously. "W-what could you want with me? I-if it's about that other... um..." She glanced over to the pair of legs under her house.

"Homu?" Homura suggested.

"Um... yeah, that other Homu... Um, I really am very sorry! I didn't mean for my house to drop on her like that!"

Homura shrugged "No, that's not why I'm here, Madoka Kaname. But, let me ask you this. Were you planning to go visit the wizard and make a wish?"

"W-well, yes. I need to get back home somehow... a-and besides, Charlotte says he may even be able to return my memories. So..."

Homura's eyes narrowed and her facial expression became very dark "Madoka, mark my words. If you have the wizard grant you a wish, then everything you hold dear will be turned to ashes." She stared at Madoka for a long hard moment, until Madoka became intimidated and let her eyes sink away. Homura nodded, satisfied that she had won the staredown, then abruptly turned away. "This is your warning. If you choose to continue on this quest, then I will do everything in my power to stop you." She rejoined her group of Clara Dolls, then turned to shoot Madoka one last intimidating scowl "That's a promise."

The dolls all laughed and shot Madoka an equally menacing look, then followed their master as she walked away from the town.

"Oh! Don't pay any attention to her!" Charlotte said, as soon as Homura was out of earshot "She's just trying to scare you!"

"B-but why does she care if I make a wish or not? How does that affect her?"

"Oh, who knows. These Homu's are all the same!" Charlotte assured her "They just like to scare people and intimidate them! You really shouldn't let something like that stop you!"

"I-I suppose you're right..." Madoka said, still watching Homura walk away with her Clara Dolls "But... I don't know, something about her feels very familiar to me. I felt the same way about that other..." She glanced down to the legs "Um... Homu..."

"Well, well, well, I don't know what all that's about. Maybe it's something with your lost memories? anyway..." Charlotte started pushing her along "There's only one way to get to the bottom of all of this."

"W-what's that?" Madoka asked as she was pushed forward.

"Follow the yellow brick road!"

"Follow the yellow brick road?"

Then all the familiars chanted together "Follow the yellow brick road!"

"Um... O-ok! Thank you all so much!" Madoka said as she was pushed further down the road. Once she was on her way they stopped pushing her and just cheered as they watched her continue on. She stopped several times along her way to turn back and give them a wave. Charlotte was at the very front of the group of strange townsfolk, jumping up and down and waving as her new friend went on her way.

Madoka got into a quick rhythm as she continued down the road. She strolled along, occasionally skipping and singing to herself.

"Oooo, follow the yellow brick road!

To the wonderful wizard of OZ!

He'll send me back to Mitakihara Town because, because, because!

He's a wonderful, wonderful wizard and ALL.

Don't worry about scary Homu-RA!

Just follow the yellow brick roooaad!

Follow the yellow brick,

follow the yellow brick,

follow the yellow brick, ROOOAAAD!"

Then she stopped, when she realized she had come to a fork in the road.

She looked north, east and west, and in each direction there was an identical yellow brick road stretching far over the horizon, and no signs to clue her in on the right way to go. "Oh... now which way do I go..." She said to herself, as she pondered each of the three paths.

"You should go that way!" She heard a voice say.

Madoka flinched, and looked around. "Um..." She couldn't see anyone but she was sure she had heard a voice. Aside from the three roads, all she could see in any direction were fields of corn, and a single scarecrow perched up on a pole right at the split in the road. "Did someone say something?" She asked, looking around. Her eyes set on the scarecrow for a moment. It had blue hair, and it's left arm was pointing down the east path. It's clothing seemed rather raggy, and it's face was stitched together along the side of it's cheek. There was a bit of straw spilling out of it's sleeves and the bottoms of it's pant legs.

Madoka took a three-sixty look at her surroundings and called out again "Is someone out there? I know I heard a voice!"

"That ways nice too!" She heard the voice again.

Madoka flinched, and looked all around. Knowing for sure there was no way she imagined it that time. She didn't see anyone in sight however... except... She looked at the scarecrow. It now had its right arm pointing down the west path. "Wait... I could have sworn that it was pointing the other way a moment ago..." She said to herself, and eyed the scarecrow suspiciously. It remained completely still, and just stared out over the horizon, unmoving and unflinching.

Madoka turned away from it and called out once more "If someone's out there!"

"North is lovely this time of year as well!" Madoka instantly turned back to the scarecrow and saw it moving its arm to point up the north path.

"I KNEW IT! You really are alive!" Madoka said, walking over to the scarecrow.

The scarecrow just laughed and scratched the back of her head "Heh, guess you caught me!" She said with a smile.

"Why didn't you just introduce yourself in the first place?" Madoka asked, giving blue haired scarecrow somewhat of a scolding grimace.

"Oh, well don't be mad at me." The scarecrow said "I was just trying to have a little fun is all. It gets boring being stuck up here scarin' crows all day, you know? Seriously! I never get a break!"

"Y-you mean you're up there all the time?" Madoka asked.

"Yup, morning, noon, and night!"

"But… doesn't that get lonely?"

"Lonely? You think so? I really wouldn't know… you see, I haven't got a brain. So I don't know much of anything." The scarecrow grinned and knocked herself on the side of the head "Nope, no brains at all!"

"Um..." Madoka wasn't sure what to make of this person… could it be called a person? Either way, she didn't want to be rude, so she held out her hand "Well, my name is Madoka Kaname... I-it's ever so nice to meet you!"

The scarecrow smiled and took Madoka's hand "Nice to meet you too! They call me Sayaka, Sayaka the Scarecrow!"