This latest chapter has been brought to you by Morning Rescue. Not!It's actually brought to you by my blood, sweat and tears. Thank goodness I drank diet, huh?

Obsessed over by Yours Truly.

Beta Read by Heavy Lok.

Enjoy.


Your true potential, your True Destiny

It started with one wish,

And rewrite the universe

At one point, it branches off—like a tree root,

And becomes two solid destinies.

In one she survives—the other, she lives

Nothing is whole; nothing is broken

Everything is circumstantial


Chapter 7: Something Wicked

For the Aquos incantation, it is like a faucet opening, the mana you release while visualizing the stream of energy is transmuted into water. For Incendio, the mana you supply at first is like pouring out some gunpowder. To ignite the released mana, you have to visualize your emotions exploding. Everyone's mana is different, and may affect the outcome of the spell in a variety of ways. Mana is life. Mana needs to be controlled. Mana is what separates us from the Mundane. —"Spells and Incantations, Grade One"


未来時


The boy with white hair smiled at her. Why was he smiling? Who was he? She did not know at all whom this person was, yet Madoka felt so connected, so warm when he smiled. She could sense the darkness surge around them, threatening to devour the two of them floating there.

Power, that's what she had.

And this was the only time she would have to use it all.

But then…the dimension cracked and Madoka woke up—the vision of that boy still imprinted into her memory.


純度


The purity of a Puella Magi…yes the purity of a Magical Girl is determined by how much white her costume contains. It is a meter of how much optimism and hope she carries—the more white there is, the more naivety, the less white, the more pessimistic she is. The main colors that accompany that are only a reflection of her personality.

However, the beings they fight are made of despair and death. How can such delicate maidens fight the essence of evil itself and not be tarnished by their miasma? How can they stand to see innocents devoured whole, and not become jaded along the way? As their cynicism grows, the white of their uniform gradually fades to grey, and eventually turns coal black.


織姫


'Madoka, do you understand why they call you that?'

Madoka sighed and looked straight ahead—trying not to glance at the ring as Ms. Saotome lectured about spell circles and rituals. Instead she continued to type on her computer, every now and then glancing over the edge of the laptop to steal a glance at Hōmura. The time-traveler was busy transcribing as many notes as she could, her twiggy fingers moving at an incredible 75 wpm, taking in every word from Kazuko.

She decided not to roll her eyes at the question, and focused on trying to pretend she was paying attention.

'Of course I do.'

Yes, she knew because of the other timeline that Madokami had shown her: the one from which the Goddess was originally aligned. The memories still swirled within her mind when she found herself drifting into another daydream.

Kyūbey was only a few feet away from her, staring into her eyes, boring through the rose-tinted windows of her soul. He had mocked her friend and taunted her about Walspurgisnacht. The strings of fate had tugged at her heart so tightly she thought they were going to snap. She was ready—her decision had been made. The karma had been building since the moment she died the first time and Hōmura went back to save her. That was what Kyūbey had so joyously discovered while observing the girls, and he was just as eager to contract as before.

It was almost identical up until the wish.

"I wish to erase every witch before they are born. Every witch from every world, from the past and the future. With my own hands."

And then the Goddess was born. All of the potential energy from the other time loops wound themselves around that Madoka, and the personification of Hope we all know and love came into existence.

That wish…was even more treasonous than hers. Destroying all Witches with her own hands? No wonder the paradoxical nature of the wish in question had in effect obliterated her mortal body.

In the same manner, the energy that had built up from those other lime loops…it was the same idea for our Madoka. In essence, when she became a Puella Magi, she had become the most powerful of them all.

Madoka paused to hold her head for a moment. Ever since she had woken up that morning nothing was the same. First it was magic, then it was Madokami's presence, and lastly it was the knowledge. A part of her wished she didn't know so much, but still she thanked the Goddess for showing her all that she did.

And from what she had seen in Divination class the other week…she was going to need it to deal with her friends in the upcoming months.


家族


"So your Familiar is a Black Butterfly," mused the man. "How interesting, Akemi-san." The guidance counselor was looking into her eyes, lost in their youthful luster.

"You say you are a friend of my family?"

"That's right."

She did not know how to respond. In their other universe she was always alone. Her mother and father had died when she was only ten years old, and the only other family she had was either also deceased or were unable to support her due to their home situation.

"When you mentioned 'The Black Rose'—,"

"I'm sorry; did you not want me to talk about her?"

She assumed he was still speaking of her mother. On his desk was a plaque displaying his name in Katakana. "アルビレオカモミール"was what it read. Akemi wished to address him by name, but she was dumbfounded as to which his first was and which his surname was. It was in Katakana, so she assumed it was written the Western way, but…

"Actually, Sir, I welcome a discussion about my parents."

"Please, don't call me 'Sir'." He breathed in deeply, his face suddenly still. "My name is Albireo Chamomile, but everyone around here calls me 'Chamo-kun', even the students."

"Alright." Hōmura folded her hands in front of her awkwardly. "Chamo-kun." She blushed lightly at calling a man of his position and age such a childish name, but Hōmura decided he had reasons for it. "As you were saying about my Mother?"

"She was—no, she still is the best friend I've ever had."

"I don't think I follow you."

"What I mean is, she never stopped being by friend—even when she died. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. In fact, Akemi-san I'll be frank with you." He paused for effect. "Kaname-dono is the main reason I decided to chat like this with you."

"D-dono?" Such an honorific in relation to Madoka was baffling.

His inference as to her confused and panicked expression was certainly wrong, but Hōmura had no idea "Yes, that's right. I know about your little secret."

This couldn't be happening. What was going on? Somehow this was feeling like a really bad plot for an anime. Not that she watched anime…

"That's!"

Mr. Chamomile sighed; she was quite the energetic little girl, wasn't she? "Calm down, you didn't let me finish. I'm trying to tell you that I'm on your side."

Hōmura blinked. "Really?"

"Of course."

This teacher still struck her as odd for some reason, and not because of his choice of nicknames. "But Kaname didn't want us to talk earlier because of the 'adults'."

He shook his head. "She was talking about the teachers and the Headmaster." Mr. Chamomile cleaned his throat rather loudly. "I, however, am the only exception to the rule. In fact, your friend is the one who revealed it all to me. Tomoe-san as well."

"I see…"

"I've agreed to help you girls, but I do have only one request."

Hōmura had a bad feeling about this… "It's not something shady, is it?"

He winked. "Nah." A clipboard was pushed in her direction, with a large stack of paper clamped to it. "You just have to sign up your new club formally with the school."


天地の猫


Hōmura was very quick to adapt to Mahokari Academy. She always had an affinity for learning from the time she was very young, and it was incredible at the rate which she picked up magic. She had barely held the book a week and she was already catching up fast. Aside from that slightly rocky first day, no one would have believed if you told them that Akemi had only recently learned to control her flow of mana.

Madoka looked over Hōmura's shoulder as the dark-haired girl continued to draw upon the piece of paper on her desk. It was their Independent Study period after lunch, and Hōmura was preoccupied with the design that was materializing on-page. The light skritch skritch of a pencil against the 8 x 11 canvas was the dominant sound in the classroom, as most of the students were roaming around campus. Only Madoka and Hōmura remained—Sayaka was doing who knows what, and Hitomi was helping the Gardening Club with their latest harvest of Mandrake Root.

As Ms. Saotome had suggested, Hōmura was working on her personal magical circle. This way she could focus better when performing elaborate spells and purifying ceremonies. The teacher had already approved of her independent study project, and it already was coming along nicely. She just needed her own circle.

"So rumor has it that you two are making a club?" Hitomi said, strolling into the classroom. She took note of the cozy atmosphere that had formed during their absence, and her smile turned quite smug.

Hōmura covered over her design quickly with her binder. Madoka glanced at Sayaka and Hitomi, her face shifting from interested to a neutral but friendly smile.

"Not just us, but an upperclassman is joining." The girls' eyes widened at that. "Tomoe Mami."

The corner of Sayaka's mouth turned down, but she stopped herself from frowning and tried to seem fascinated at the declaration. Mami Tomoe was, of course, the daughter of the CEO of Tomo Industries, and the second most powerful mage of her year. Why, everyone could see Tomoe Tower watching over all of Mahokari City.

"Sounds pretty cool," the bluenette flipped her hair. "Who's the teacher overseeing it?"

Madoka pressed her index finger to her lip and looked to the ceiling in thought.

"Um…Chamo-kun will be our sponsor."

Sayaka nodded, but then her head stopped bobbing. Wait a second.

"Whaaat?" For some reason the announcement was especially shocking, but Hōmura and Madoka could not figure out why. "That crazy creepy guidance counselor? You gotta be joking!"

"Oh, Sayaka-chan," Hitomi said. "That's mean! He is your uncle after all."

"Uncle?"

The other two girls had said this at the same time, confusion making way for realization. Hōmura and Madoka could not contain their amusement. Both had broken into smiles and were trying to stifle the laughter that was leaking out.

"It isn't funny!" Sayaka insisted while roaring and stomping around like Godzilla. Obviously this had struck a nerve—why else would she dislike her own Uncle?



Later that afternoon after Divination class Hitomi, Madoka, Hōmura, and Sayaka were filing out of the classroom when they noticed something. Near the doorway, waiting for them was a familiar blonde-haired heiress. It was none other than Mami Tomoe.

"Hey, guys." Mami smiled, her schoolbag slung over her left shoulder.

"Mami-san, we didn't expect you to be here." Hōmura said casually, which got her another nasty look from Sayaka. The others didn't notice it, though.

"Well, I just came by to say 'hi' before we meet." The older girl rocked on her heels and looked down shyly.

"That's right, today's the first meeting!" Madoka clapped her hands and bounced where she stood. This was going to be the best. Mami, Hōmura, Kyūbey and she were going to be together, fighting Despair and creating Hope.

'Have fun.'

Sayaka pulled on the strap of her bag. It had chaffing her shoulder lately, but she didn't bother to buy a new one. "You guys going to take long with your 'super-secret' club?" From her tone, Madoka could tell she wasn't too pleased to be excluded from their activities.

Mami spoke for the three of them. She looked at Sayaka and gave her most kind smile.

"Not really."

"Meet you at Tirol later?" Added Madoka to soften their parting.

Hitomi spoke up. "Actually, we're going to visit Kamijou-kun." The green-eyed girl locked eyes with Mami, but there was no malice in the action. She fluttered her eyelashes a few times. There was something about the upperclassman that was…off. "Have fun!" Hitomi suddenly took Sayaka's hand and dragged her away rather quickly.

Madoka's slightly despondent eyes mirrored Hōmura's current expression.

Both of them could sense an awful aura emanating from those two. It was just too good to be true. To avert disaster something had to be done, for something wicked was about to come.

The two girls were quite far away from the school when Sayaka slumped over, her shoulders hunched as if a yoke was balanced on her shoulders. Her face was covered by her aqua bangs, and she gritted her teeth in frustration. "They're up to something, I just know it." It was suspicious how quickly Madoka had risen to stardom. And then comes along Akemi. She practically was glued to Madoka the second she arrived. To add even more angst to the poor blue haired girl, they were both now friends with an upperclassman.

"What are you talking about?" Hitomi sighed and glanced at the moping girl. She knew Sayaka was somewhat right in her suspicions, but didn't want to stir up trouble.

"It's all too…contrived." Sayaka wasn't sure if that was the proper word to describe the situation, but she was having trouble trying to sort out what exactly was going on behind their backs.

"Supplementary natural?" Hitomi said, trying to sort out the correct meaning of her friend's words. They were both panting, so it was a bit hard to make out.

"No, Contrived!"

"It is natural waving," agreed Hitomi, this time deliberately trying to change the subject with puns.

"Hitomi-chan…"

The high-class girl snickered and pat Sayaka on the shoulder. "I was just playing around!"

Two blue marbles rolled in their sockets. "Let's just get to the hospital, okay?"

"Rodger!"


...

His arms and legs were no longer broken, but the nerves were so severely damaged. The Healers at Mahokari Medical Centre were at a loss. When the accident happened, the ambulance should have gotten there sooner, but the distance to the hospital had impeded that. If it had arrived earlier, maybe the damage to his arms and legs would not have been so hard to heal—and his nerves would have been restored along with the missing tissue. However, it had taken an hour to get there, and despite them putting him in stasis—it was still too long for a complete recovery.

The only hope Kamijou had was a specialized Healer from France, but the only downside was how much it would cost. His family was part of the aristocracy—very old magic, but their name wasn't enough. The money had been dwindling lately and the only thing they had left was the Manor and their Status.

And to add to the anguish, their only child was probably paralyzed from the waist down.


A pink haired girl in a hospital bed. A fork still was still clenched in her fist, and she smiled weakly at the middle-aged woman sitting near her bedside. The remnants of a cheesecake were on the post in front of her and on the nightstand to the left.

The woman brushed away the girl's bangs, fighting back her tears. Two months had stretched into two years, but the girl was finally at her limit.

As she was still stroking her forehead, the child looked up at the woman with those robin blue eyes and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I finally got to eat cheesecake with you, Mommy."

"Yes, you did."

"I love you, mommy."

"I love you too."

There was no hope for them.

There was no hope.

Down the middle of a pitch black cube a fissure appeared, accompanied by a loud sickening crack.

And so the Despair Cube grew...


...

{Kyūbey} looked on with interest. This new world's laws had given him a very twisted (at least by human standards) idea.


There are many different types of magic, but most of it is fueled by the same thing: Mana. It is generated through a combination of emotion and thought. For a short period of time a Mage may no longer be able to use magic if he runs out of Mana, which is determined by either blood sugar levels or Will.

However, overexertion is not advised no matter how strong your will is. The extreme stress that the body takes on to create extra Mana is highly dangerous and may lead to a number of symptoms. The most common results are often renal failure, hypoglycemia, rapid weight gain, dehydration, extreme fatigue, blackouts, and in very serious cases cardiac arrest. However, it is sometimes the only way to 'strengthen your muscles' so to speak, as it can greatly increase how much Mana you can store and handle.

That is why young Magelings are trained from a young age to control their Mana. The younger you are the easier it is to bounce back from Magical Exhaustion.

—"Advanced Spellcasting, Volume One"


This life is doomed to a lifetime without love;

Those that keep on fighting, they're the true "warriors of love."


This latest chapter really was interesting, no?

Beta read by Heavy Lokmy ever-expedient editor.

Also, as I may have hinted, this story might not end well. I really didn't want that to happen, but then I realized something. In this story I have the miracle of a Multiverse! Once this saga/trilogy ends, I shall start a new project entitled "Magistra Magi Hōmura Magica." It shall have lightsabers and everything!