A/N: I would recommend rereading chapter one, as I updated it within the last couple months.
Chapter 2
"You think she's okay?" Kyoko asked.
"I'm certain she's okay, she's a tough one after all. We should leave her alone though...at least for tonight." Mami replied.
"I've never seen her cry before, though I've only known her for a couple weeks now. But she doesn't seem like the type to cry like that. Then there's the way she was angry at Kai, or E, or whatever his name is." Kyoko mumbled to herself.
A wreath popped up in front of them. Kyoko slammed the blade of her spear into it's head before it could react. It fell to dust in the wind. "I know what you mean. I've known her for a month and that's the first emotion I've seen." Mami said.
"Hello Mami, Kyoko." They turned to find Kai standing a few meters away from them.
"What are you doing here?!" Kyoko asked.
"I came to talk, that's all." He replied.
Mami asked "About what, might I ask?"
"Homura, she's going to need your help. In fact, if you go with her you could possibly bring Sayaka Miki back. All you would have to do is retrieve an item of great importance." He said, watching the two magic girls in front of him.
Kyoko looked to be thinking when she suddenly exclaimed "Count me in."
Mami relented. "All go too, now where are we going and what are we looking for?"
"Where your going, I don't know yet. As to what your retrieving..."
...0...
"When do you think she's leaving?" Kyoko asked as they walked toward an abandoned building.
"We'll have to ask her." Mami said. They were hunting a Warlock that was residing somewhere in the abandoned building they were walking toward.
Warlocks stand at eight feet tall, are super strong, and basically large wreaths with armor. That alone made them hard to kill. Unlike their weaker counterparts, they can't slip in and out of shadows. "I hope this one won't drone on about how powerful he is." Kyoko commented.
"Yeah, that one was getting on my nerves." Mami said.
They opened the door. "I'll check the doors on the left, you take the ones on the right?" Mami suggested.
"Sure thing mom." Kyoko replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. They walked down one of the halls opening every door, glancing into the room then moving to the next one. They finished the first floor before they walked up to the next and repeated the process on the second, third, and fourth floors. On the fifth floor halfway down the hall, they stopped when they heard a violin from one of the rooms.
They got ready before quietly walking up to the door. Mami knocked before calling "Magic girls, open up!"
"Its unlocked, come on in!" Replied a feminine voice. Mami and Kyoko glanced at each other before Mami opened the door. The armor clad figure was definitely a Warlock. but when he turned to face the two magic girls, they were surprised to see, not only a female Warlock, but a female Warlock playing a violin? She smiled at them as she put the violin on the table with her helmet and gauntlets.
"Mami and Kyoko, right?" She asked.
"How do you know who we are?" Mami asked.
"I can't say...Perhaps one of the other magic girls? I haven't killed anyone for your information. At least, other than wreaths." The Warlock answered.
"You're a Warlock, killing wreaths." Mami said, trying to figure out who this Warlock thought she was.
"As you can see, I am no normal Warlock. I mean, how many female Warlocks have you seen? I know I haven't seen another like me." The Warlock said.
Kyoko asked "So...what? Are you a good Warlock or something?"
"Something Like that." She smiled. "You can trust me. Or not. Your choice."
Kyoko looked skeptical. "How do we know we can trust you? And don't Warlocks have names?"
"Call me Xena." Xena said with a smile. "And I kill wreaths because some idiotic Warlocks want to spy on me." She continued. "As for trusting me, I can tell you where a very powerful Warlock resides. Though I must warn you, you'll need a large party to take him on."
...0...
Homura was at Mami's the night after Mami and Kyoko met Xena, ready to 'hunt witches' as she said. "Homura-San, what are you talking about? We hunt wreaths and Warlocks. Witches don't exist. Never have, never will." Mami said, worriedly.
"Are you sure?" Homura asked, knowing that things could've turned out like anything. Remove one evil, another will replace it.
"I'm sure. Are you sure your okay? You've been out of it since Sayaka-San...Since Sayaka-San..." Mami Couldn't say it, but Homura knew what she was getting at.
"You don't have to worry about me, you know. Infact, do me a favor and DON'T worry about me." Homura snapped at them.
"Aaaaand She's back." Kyoko commented.
"Lets go, need to check on that bridge after all." Mami stated glancing at Homura. She walked out the door, Kyoko scrambling to stay with Mami while Homura stopped time and walked down to the street before playing it again. Mami and Kyoko didn't expect that, and thought Homura was still behind them.
Mami led the way as they walked down the road toward the bridge.
...0...
The tower gates bridge was almost its own building. There were two towers at each end, with large gates between each set of towers. Above the road as it crossed the river, was a three story building. As the three magic girls walked up to the door that would take them up into the building, Homura noticed shadows where they weren't supposed to be. "I sense wreaths, we have the right place all right." Mami said.
"Should be interesting, I hope this one isn't one of the annoying ones." Kyoko commented.
They're different, Homura thought, watching Mami and Kyoko. Kyoko almost seems more...mellow? And Mami's a little more thoughtful of what's going on. Those shadows seem familiar, but I've never seen them before, have I? At this point one of the shadows rose up from the ground. It was black, except for flashing pixels for a face. Homura wasn't able to study it more, as Kyoko landed a good hit to its head. Dust exploded everywhere.
"And that, Homura-San, was a wreath." Mami said, in her 'I'm teaching so you better listen' voice. Homura watched the other wreaths move around them as they walked through the door up the stairs and into a hallway system. "Now we walk around opening doors until we find our Warlock." Mami said.
"And hope no wreaths decide to find us." Kyoko added.
"They're following us." Homura deadpanned, watching the shadows right behind them always moving never stopping.
...0...
"They found it, alright." The Warlock said, watching the three Magic Girls enter the bridge.
"Let's hope they find the necklace. Shall we?" Said the man next to the Warlock, holding up his arm. The Warlock silently put her arm through the man's as the two walked away from the bridge.
...0...
"What do you mean you can see them?!" Not as mellow as I thought. Homura thought as Kyoko started swinging her spear around.
"I can see shadows following us when there's nothing to cast them." Homura said.
"Kyoko-San, you can't hit them like that."
Kyoko turned to Mami. "Then what do I do? Hit them with my shadow? Cause I thought shadow warfare didn't work. Oh wait, I CAN'T SEE THEM! And if I can't SEE them, how can I hit them?!" Kyoko snapped.
"You could start with that one." Homura suggested, pointing down the hall to where a wreath had just popped up.
While Kyoko took her anger out on the wreath, Homura and Mami started checking doors. Homura opened a door to find a room full of jewelry. Opposite the door was a table with a number of necklace stands, all with some kind of pendant. The one in the center caught her eye. The jewel was a bright yellow, encased in brass or copper. She couldn't tell witch. It was the only one Homura could see that had a jewel of any kind. stacked under and around the table were boxes. Homura stepped in for a closer look.
...0...
Kyoko walked up to Miami after pounding the wreath into oblivion. "Where's Homura?"
"In there." Mami answered, pointing into one of the opened rooms.
"Oh, why is she in there?" Kyoko asked, looking into the room.
"Don't know." Mami answered.
"Are you sure we can trust Xena?"
"No."
"So for all we know, we could be walking into a trap."
"Yes."
Kyoko sighed. "All right then." She said, glancing down the hallway. "{****}!" Mami looked before having the same reaction.
...0...
"HOMURA-SAN, WE GOT A PROBLEM!" Homura rushed out to see the hall jam packed with wreaths a dozen or so meters away, and closing. Homura found a M4 Carbine in her store of weapons. Since when has that been there? She thought, taking it out and making a mental note to take inventory of what she had. She switched it to burst before firing down the hall. The wreaths were dust in a matter of seconds. "Well, now that THAT'S taken care of, lets find our Warlock." Mami said.
Homura looked down the hall and saw a number of shiny things on the floor where the wreaths were before she nailed them. "What are those?" Homura asked.
"Bracelets. They identify who's loyal to who." Mami replied.
"Should there be four different kinds?" Mami walked over and took a closer look. There were, in fact, four different types of band.
"We may have a problem. Kyoko, get the signal ready. Let's hope we don't need it..." Homura felt like she recognized one of the band types. But that's crazy, she thought, I don't remember ANYTHING of this world. But maybe-
*THUD*
"What the {****} was that?!" Kyoko exclaimed.
*THUD*
"I don't know, but it came from the next floor." Mami replied. They ran to the closest staircase, taking them two at a time.
*THUD, THUD, THUNK*
They ran around a corner to see Warlock one wailing on Warlock two, while Warlock three stood off to the side watching the fight. The three magic girls froze, watching the spectacle.
Number one brot an uppercut on number two, throwing him through the door behind him. Number three rolled his eyes, and happened to spot the magic girls down the hall before rolling his eyes again. He turned, and walked the other way.
Warlock number four walked out of one of the rooms between the magic girls and the other Warlocks. He was at least a ten footer. "What are you doing to cause all that noise?!" His voice echoed down the hall. Number three turned back.
"His wreaths got in the way of mine, Sir." number one mumbled.
"So?" Replied four.
"My troops couldn't move cause his were blocking the hall, sir."
"Do you know WHY his were in front of your's? It's because HIS are more resistant to ranged fire!" Four snapped at one.
"Then how do you explain ALL the wreaths getting knocked out, sir?" One asked.
Four pinned one against the wall "Because that one is Homura Akemi." He answered in a low voice. The Magic Girls glanced at each other.
"WHAT?!" Two exclaimed as he walked back into the hall.
"She's here?!" Three exclaimed from the spot he'd frozen at the mention of the name.
"You all know how powerful she is. Norf, retrieve the necklace from the collection room. Then we skip town." Four said, releasing one.
"Right away, sir." Three, apparently Norf, said. He started walking toward the stairs. Upon seeing the magic girls, he had a moment of 'oh yea' on his face before turning back. "Boromir, there right here." Four, Boromir turned. When he saw the magic girls, he flashed a bright smile at them.
"Been what, a couple weeks? Honestly I don't remember just when it was we met, Homura." Boromir said.
"Wait, you know this guy?" Kyoko asked.
"I finished with this guy literally five minutes before the train incident." Homura said before thinking. Wait, what? Why do I remember that? "Can't remember exactly what happened though..." she continued.
"You wiped out about sixteen Warlocks in about ten seconds." Boromir deadpanned. The memory tugged at her mind. If I remember that, did all that really happen? She asked herself.
"Norf, use the tunnel." Boromir said.
"Yes sir!" Norf replied, already running past the magic girls and down the stairs. Homura suddenly realized what was in that room. She ran after Norf, Mami and Kyoko followed close behind.
"STOP THEM!" Boromir's voice rang behind the magic girls.
Homura stopped time to get ahead of Norf who was faster then he looked, and that was saying something. She ran into the room with the jewelry, grabbed the pendant from the stand, and ran back toward Mami and Kyoko before unfreezing time next to them. They stopped next to her, and faced the three Warlocks set on stopping them from going farther. "You gave up?!" Two said, as the Warlocks came to a halt in front of the magic girls.
"Nope, we just don't like being chased." Homura smiled.
Right on que, Norf barreled out of the room down the hall and screamed "IT'S GONE, HOW DARE YOU TAKE THAT NECKLACE!"
"Well, we made him mad. Can we fight them now? Please?" Kyoko pleaded.
Homura smiled as she pulled out a submachine gun and aimed it at Boromir. "YES!" Kyoko screamed, as she turned to Norf, who had a sudden 'oh crap' look as Kyoko ran at him spear in hand.
...0...
Kai was watching the magic girls fight when he got a thoughtful look on his face. "What is it?" Xena asked.
"I feel almost like I'm being... Read, if that makes sense." Kai replied.
"I wouldn't know, you're the expert on that stuff." Xena commented.
"Your right." Kai agreed with a sigh.
A/N: Um... That wasn't suppose to happen... I'll have to keep an eye on him...
Onwards!
Comment rules:
Keep profanity to a minimum,
Criticism is accepted and expected. Please leave a suggestion on how to fix/change problem item.
Disclaimer: I do not own Puella Magi or anything from that universe. I do, however, own Kai and all the Warlocks.