Tread auf dem Weg der Reue oder fühlen den Zorn der Göttin Büßer.


Chapter 4: Welcome to the World of Magic

Penitent. Immortal. Beautiful and terrible, yet gentle and taciturn. She was, she is, and she will always be the embodiment of Hope for us all. Transcending time and space to eradicate Witches no matter what cost.

It was there, floating in the space between spaces, that Madokami had the peculiar unsettling event of meeting face to face with herself.

Universes parallel with one another, folded upon one another like a crepe rolled in upon itself. Sticking with the comparison, it was one giant cosmic crepe filled with grief, despair, and topped off with wretched suffering.

Our Madoka wasn't able to comprehend the concept as of yet, but she would learn.

After all, who can teach you better than yourself?


天使の日記


A girl sat in the darkness, the pages of a thousand books lay around her in a circle, each viciously ripped out of its home and thrown on the floor. Blood was spattered on the floor as well as these piles of paper, and the hands that had committed this crime were dripping wet, the wounds on her fingers and palms still fresh and bleeding.

Her father, condemned as a criminal. Convicted by the authorities of controlling Mundane women with love potions and malicious spells, and then murdering them in cold blood, using magic to wipe away the evidence.

He was sentenced to life in the form of Familiar spirit, with no chance of becoming human again.

What was she supposed to do with that disgusting grey dog? He deserved what he got, didn't he?

'No, Papa is innocent!' said a voice deep inside her crumbling mind. 'Papa was always nice. Papa was good, Papa was good.'

The voices of her classmates said otherwise, and that was where the contradictions continued. Her sense of reality twisted beyond recognition, she stopped going to school for she could not face their piercing hateful stares.

Judgment had been passed, so how could they not see she was ignorant of his machinations? That she was...

'Innocent?' said a tiny voice.

Sitting on the gutted books, his self-made halo of light gave the creature's white fur an unearthly glow, and the teenager stood enraptured by its beauty. Why would such a thing visit her? Was it an angel to bring her home?

The Incubator's ocean blue eyes were filled with sympathy.

'I could take the pain away,' he offered, 'that is…if you want me to.'

She looked down. He had come to her earlier, but she had refused him twice before. That was before the tragedy that had torn up her family.

All the conditions had been explained, but she had been hesitant because she was content with her life. Blissful in her ignorance.

'I could grant your wish, all you have to do is ask.'

She knew that. She knew ripping out her soul could help take the pain away. Fighting for humanity was fine and all, but she wanted the pain gone more than anything. Even if she didn't choose to fight, she would still be fine, but the prospect of her wishes coming true did take the ends off a little.

"I... I want to know," said the girl, "what the meaning of my life is." She paused for a moment and clenched her fist. "That is...my wish."

Kyūbey lifted his ears and sighed. "I shall grant it then." He closed his eyes and made a shallow respectful nod that she assumed was a bow of apology. "I am sorry for your loss, but you do know of Entropy and our fight against it, so I am relieved that you finally decided to join us."

"I thought you had a Goddess on your side," she said, sneering.

"We do."

"Just get on with it, Kyūbey," she said, her voice low and threatening. For a moment she wondered if he was mocking her, but she knew Kyūbey didn't joke around.

Pity was clear in his tone as he bowed sharply once and raised his ears.

"As you wish, Oriko."


Ist das Böse der Menschheit so groß, dass sogar Magie kann nicht bestrahlen ihrer törichten Leiden?


"I've already said too much," said Madoka, shaking her head. "They are listening after all."

Hōmura mouthed the word "who."

"The adults of course," whispered Madoka in response. She looked to her left, and then focused on Hōmura again. It wouldn't be good it they found out their secret, so she left the conversation open for later on. After Madoka's confession of sorts, the two girls decided to return to class, the pinkette leading the way once again, with the promise of explaining things after school was over with. There were students filling the hallway where they stood, so there wouldn't be much privacy. Besides that reason, Madoka didn't want to dump so much information on Akemi-chan so soon, and hoped he girl could at least get more acclimated to such a different environment.

Before they left the hallway, Madoka gently laid a hand on Hōmura's back. The time-traveler felt a slight tingling go through her body, and stared at Madoka with her lips pressed together.

"This is to help you make a good impression on the class again, Homu-chan," she said, feeling slightly optimistic.

Hōmura blushed at the strange new nickname. "What did you—?"

"Just giving you back something I took from you," said Madoka, smiling now, a genuine one this time.

The cogs in Hōmura's brain clicked into place. Madoka really had been the reason she couldn't find her gem, wasn't she? Hōmura was about to ask her if that was true, but as if she were reading her mind, the "older" girl clicked her tongue and made a zipping gesture over her mouth. Akemi-chan had to wait until later.

For now, it was on to the best part of the day.


While doing the warm-up, Sayaka cocked her head to the side as she jogged. She had the odd feeling that a sprightly, playful composition was playing as background music for their gym period.

After they were sufficiently stretched, and their blood was pumping nicely, it was time for some real exercise.

All the girls were gathered around, and the coach blew her whistle for Madoka to begin her turn.

Madoka readied herself, staring at the bar for a moment. She took off at top-speed, dashing until she reached the line, at which point Madoka sprung off the ground like a panther, twisting around midair, her heels barely grazing the pole before she landed on the pad with a giant POOF!

Hōmura's performance was nearly identical to her friend's. She leapt as if her feet were spring-loaded, the force sending her in a beautiful curve to clear the pole.

'So this was what she meant by that gesture,' thought Hōmura once she touched down on the landing pad.

At the long jump, the hurdles, and lastly, high jump, it seemed Madoka was unstoppable. Far ahead of most of the girls (and boys) on the track was Madoka, running at an incredible pace; not necessarily an unusual sight these days. Her pigtails were discarded at the moment for one braided ponytail so that her hair wouldn't impede her vision. One slim leg rapidly followed by the other, connected with the track, and her arms swung in an even graceful rhythm.

In spite of her beautiful sprint, everyone wasn't paying attention to Kaname today.

In fact they were surprised to see that the new girl was running a little bit ahead of her like some track star on steroids. Her feet were moving with machine-like precision and speed. With her long midnight hair blown back by the wind and her chest barely moving, she didn't even look tired, which made the others skeptical of the story that she was absent because of a heart condition.

The other girls didn't know whether to be jealous or not, but congratulated her all the same, glimmers of admiration in all of their big moé eyes for both Madoka and their new classmate.

All except one. Sayaka of course. Something was odd about that girl—she could smell it. And she suspected it all had to do something with the change she noticed in her best friend a while ago.

In any case, the students stampeded back to class. Madoka was trying to encourage Hitomi and Sayaka to talk to their newest addition to the class, but the blue-haired girl was being difficult. Hitomi was more amicable, however, and began chatting away with Hōmura as if they had been friends forever, compliments pouring out of her mouth faster than the other girl could thank her for them.


With a smile bright enough to illuminate the room, their teacher put the remaining papers on her desk in a draw.

"We will be going over the basic elemental spells today, class, so please take out your wands."

"Um..." Hōmura looked to her schoolbag. At first it had confounded her how so much stuff could fit into the tiny messenger, but obviously it was enhanced so that it held another, bigger dimension in order to have a larger carrying capacity. She reached inside the bag as her classmates did and wrapped her fingers around the instrument. When everyone noticed that she had a staff, not a wand such as them, the room became silent.

It was a rich, heavily polished instrument made of a light brown wood with dark spirals throughout the grain. Near the top was a dark piece of string was tied into a modest bow.

Off to the side one of the girls whispered to her friend beside her "She is a lot like Kaname-chan, isn't she?"

Ms. Saotome was happy to learn this fact, however. Usually, the required use of a staff as a youngster meant great magical potential. She already had Kaname in her class that used one, besides her herself. Judging from how quickly Ms. Akemi had answered all the questions in the other Mundane subjects, the teacher just wondered how well she would fare in her Magecraft studies.

"Akemi-san, I see you require a staff like Kaname-san, so I think you should be partnered with her for today's lesson if that will be okay?"

Hōmura nodded without saying anything. She didn't mind being around Madoka at all; in fact, she cherished it, so this really was a privilege.

"As I said, class, we will be practicing basic elemental magic today so let me just clear the classroom."

Ms. Saotome pushed a little blue button next to her desk once the children all were standing. Their bags in the baskets below the seats were taken into the ground along with the desks.

"Divide into pairs or trios, please." With a simple wave of her staff a copy of their textbook floated in midair to open in front of her. It was a dark green textbook that had the title Spells, Incantations and Hexes for Beginners. "Open your books to page seven and look at the four basic elemental incantations."

Incendio- Fire
Aquos- Water
Flans- Wind
Terrarus- Earth

"You must read the incantations clearly and release some magic. Then your partner must counter it with the opposite elemental. Aquos to extinguish Incendio, and Terratus to ensure Flans does not send you flying." A cruel smile twisted onto her lips. "The only way to succeed is to not fail."

Madoka and the gang were gathered in the middle of the room, the other students trying their spells with mixed results.

"You want to start, Hōmura?" said Madoka.

Hōmura smiled. "Ok, then." She waved her staff like she saw the teacher had demonstrated for proper form. "I-incendio."

Nothing happened.

Sayaka gave an amused snort and turned to Hitomi, who found it impolite to laugh at her first try. Madoka gave her blue-haired friend a sharp glare that could cut through steel, and the tomboy shut up immediately.

'Try again' said Madoka's eyes. 'You can do it.'

"Incendio," said Hōmura, louder this time, and only a small blue spark issued from the end of the staff, but it did not ignite.

Sayaka muttered something about showing the new girl how it was done.

"Ready, Hitomi?" she said, facing her friend and lifting her wand. It was made of a dark variation of Desert Ironwood, and she was holding it like a fencing sabre.

Hitomi was prepared for the challenge. The green-haired girl whipped out her Elder-Butternut wand from under her left sleeve and brandished it the same way.
"Yes!" The mild expression on her face replaced with a fierce mocking grin. "Incendio~" said Hitomi, and a ball of fire sprung from the tip of the wand, aimed for Sayaka's head.

Sayaka flicked her wand upwards, "Aquos!" and a burst of water shot out, and collided with the fire. The two cancelled each other out, and the result was a mass of steam.

Hōmura watched the scene with a conflicted state of mind. This was why she couldn't complete such a simple spell. She stared Madoka, who was standing two yards away from her and smiling. It should have worked to encourage her, but instead it was disheartening.

Could Hōmura really cope with this timeline?

"That's how it's done," said Sayaka, holing up a 'v for victory' sign.

"Good second try," said Madoka, ignoring the disgruntled girl to her left. "Put more conviction into it, though. I know you can do it, Hōmura..."

That look she held, it was gentle and trusting.

Of course it was, Madoka had said she remembered it all. Yet what did she mean by that? This universe, these changes, it was all so much to take in. And there was still so much she didn't know.

It was terrifying. She was used to having foreknowledge, so she considered herself inadequate.

Hōmura's anger was ignited once more, and the fire in her eyes was burning brightly. She raised the staff and pointed it towards her partner, focusing all her anger on a single point. Madoka smirked when she felt the spike in magic. Akemi-san was always a quick learner, wasn't she?

"Incendio!" shouted Hōmura, the power rushing forth from her fingertips into the Bocote wood, and emerging as a long curling structure made of sapphire flames. It unfurled like a ribbon, fluttering and writhing as if it were caught in the wind.

Madoka didn't flinch when the flames tried to engulf her. They came only inches away from her face before she jumped backward, twirling her staff as she did. In one quick move, Madoka skidded to a stop and pointed the end of her staff at the fire.

"Aquos!" she said with determination, no hint of fear in her voice at the sudden onrush of heat and destruction. A fire-hydrant's worth of water poured out of the air in front of her, dousing the flames in less than five seconds. She laid her staff across her shoulders, looking to the scorch-marks on the floor. Steam rose from the two dark splotches as the class had fallen silent.

As Madoka had expected, they had been paying an unusual amount of attention to Hōmura since gym had ended, and this was the coup de grace.

"AMAZING!" yelled the girls, surrounding the two once again.

"You guys are so cool!"

"No wonder you're called 'Hōmura', you're just like a flame!"

"That was impressive," said Hitomi, "wasn't it Sayaka-chan?"

Sayaka frowned and folded her arms, her wand clenched in her left hand looked like it was about to snap. "Hmph." She turned away from the scene and walked to the other side of the room to practice on her technique by herself.


Pretending to brush back her bangs, Madoka lifted her hand with the ring on it close to her ear so that she could signal Mami. Without Kyūbey around, they didn't have a medium to communicate aside from the strange ability Madoka discovered once she found herself in this world. Talking directly to Mami's soul, the pinkette's smile faltered as she concentrated on finding where the upperclassman was. It only worked on other Puella Magi, so it was quite useful. Estimating on how long the burst of magic had taken to return (a 'ping' signal of sorts you could say), Mami was on the roof, which made a little sense since it was break-time for third year middle school students.

'Mami-chan, can you hear me?' said Madoka.

'Yes, Kami-sama,' responded that blonde, fear rising within her golden eyes. 'What is it? Another Wraith has appeared in the city?'

'Nothing like that, no.' she said to reassure her. 'I just want to talk to you after school today; do you think we could meet at the mall?'

'Sure thing.'

'We can go to that new cafe that just opened,' suggested Madoka, her hopes lifting.

'As you wish, Kami-sama.'


悪魔の日記


She had hair the color of fresh strawberries, and a large appetite. Above the city she stood, balancing on the spire of the Tomoe Tower, overlooking the sleeping inhabitants. The girl smiled, showing a pair of fangs.

In the darknes of night, her eyes glowed a lethal red; like two lanterns of evil.

This new despairing city not only meant Wish Tokens but an abundance of blood, a combination she couldn't pass up that easily.


間取神? 又は 円神?


Madoka was bewildered. She was astounded. How could she look so beautiful?

Ultimate Madoka broke into a grin that illuminated the space around them. Her salmon hair was long and full, and reached to her toes. She was dressed in a flowing gown of pure white, and had no shoes.

The Goddess reached out for her parallel copy and touched her fingertips to match our Madoka's.

"You have wished well," said Madokami. "For that, I grant you my blessing."

"Your—blessing?"

"You shall also become a Goddess," she said, in that same airy tone. "You shall lead the Earth to enlightenment." She gave our Madoka a hug, which frightened her even more. "You shall be Cupid, spreading love and hope throughout the universe."

"I shall?"


Ich lebe für meine Gefühle allein. Mein Wunsch: "Um Leben schaffen."


Thank you for all the kind reviews! If you know me, I might just put links to fan art for my story on my profile (yes I can draw...). If you don't believe me, then just check out the Pactio cards I made for my other story. Just request a scene from the story in your review and I might just draw it! (Can't guarantee when, but I hope to color it as well.)

As for the reason I spell her name "Hōmura" with a long 'o', it was a stylistic choice, and it acts as foreshadowing if you think about it really hard. Going by my spelling, in Japanese her name would be spelled "ほうむら" which means, roughly translated, "Irregularity Law," so it's sort of a callback to when Kyūbey called her an "Irregularity."

Plus, there's a "Homura" in another series I can't stand, and it's basically so I don't think of her when I read my story. (Funny how I'm my own biggest fangirl.) But as the story draws on they'll share one trait in common, despite my better judgment. If you know who I'm talking about then you get some extra points if you can tell me correctly.

Whomever has the most points wins!

There is so much foreshadowing! In addition, as expected, there will be a lot of characters.

As always, R&R~! I love you all! Sorry if the story is/will get dark, but you've all seen the show so it's no surprise, right?

.

Next time: Hōmura visits the guidance counselor and the girls meet after school to talk.

Stay tuned! Don't lose your heads!

Don't forget this is a prequel to my other story!