UNIVERSAL

by Greg Wong


Chapter 7: Conference


Well, not really. She aimed the arrow over my right shoulder, which would have been a clean miss. Of course, if I let it go, it would make a really ugly scorch mark on the church door behind me. I'd spent a day rebuilding the place, damn it.

Purely on reflexes, I blurred my hand into the path of the arrow and caught it. It burned against my palm, but I was already extending my energy over my hand and the arrow. With a squeeze, I snuffed it out. I contemplated exaggeratedly waving my fingers and blowing on them, but that would just be corny.

Mami had jerked in surprise when Homura had loosed the arrow. Guess that hadn't been in their game plan. That was Homura for you.

"Uh... hello back at you," I said weakly to Homura.

Wordlessly, she moved the bow so that it wasn't quite pointed in my general direction. Mami kept her cannon trained on me. I could see the confusion in her eyes. Homura's, too, but that girl had a better poker face than Mami.

"Are you here because of her?" Homura asked me.

Three guesses who she was talking about. "Yes," I told her.

Homura nodded, and her weapon dissolved away into pink flames.

Mami frowned. "Homura, you remember what happened last time something that looked like Sayaka showed up."

The younger girl shook her head and slowly pushed the barrel of the giant rifle towards the ground. "It's not a Wraith masquerading as Sayaka. It's her, Mami."

"How can you be sure?"

I heard the door open behind me. "It's her, all right," Kyoko said. "Trust me." She strolled up next to me, hands thrust into her hoodie's pockets. She was close enough that if Mami fired, the blast from Tiro Finale would hit her, too. Probably what Kyoko was aiming for. The blonde and the redhead might not be on the bestest of best terms, but I don't think Mami would want to toast Kyoko, either.

I could easily block the shot, and even I didn't I wouldn't have a problem surviving it, but it was... nice to see Kyoko do that for me. Mami frowned at us, but with a snap of her fingers she reverted her gun back into its ribbon form.

"I will also confirm that this is somehow Sayaka. She has the same aura," the Incubator said from Homura's shoulder. Yuck. Its voice was exactly the same as I remember. I was able to notice, though, that it didn't have the same robotic monotone of the Incubators who'd been dropping asteroids on the planet.

"How she is here after sacrificing her energy to destroy those Wraiths is unknown to me," it continued. The creature's ears twitched. "Her magical aura is also several orders of magnitude stronger than what I remember it being. Very powerful. Interesting."

It started walking towards me. I suddenly recalled the day I'd made the contract, and it had ripped my soul from my body. I jabbed out a finger at it.

"Nuh-uh, you're not coming near me."

The Incubater halted in its steps. It stared at me for a few heartbeats with its soulless pink eyes, then continued closer.

"Look," I said, tiredly, "I'm serious. I don't want you near me. Come another step closer and I'll turn you into a crater."

The creature ignored me.

I turned it into a crater.


We went inside Kyoko's church to talk. The Incubator would take a while to get one of its spare bodies, so I could give Homura and Mami a repeat of what I'd told Kyoko.

Mami, who'd never been inside the church, marveled at how beautiful it was. Kyoko didn't say anything about our repairing it, and I could see that she was pleased with Mami's opinions.

Good for her. I don't think I've seen Kyoko happy before.

I repeated my story to the two of them. Mami looked fascinated. Homura just looked like Homura.

When I was finished, Mami leaned against the wall. "It's so..."

"Crazy? Awesome? Magical?" I offered.

"Complex." Mami twisted one of her locks around her finger. "Sayaka, I'm so glad to see you alive and... strong. It's just that the story you told us is so—"

"Nuts?" interjected Kyoko.

"—Fantastic, that it's hard to digest. I don't doubt that you're telling the truth, but I'm going to need time, you see."

"It's all right," I told her. "If you or Kyoko came back from the dead, I'd think my world was changed, too."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Homura jerk her head up at my choice of words. Oh yeah, that girl definitely still remembered.

"But hey, it shouldn't take too long," Kyoko said. "I mean, it took me what, a day to get over it?"

A day and a lot of tears, but she'd—we'd—come out a lot better because of it.

Mami cocked her head in puzzlement. "A day?"

Kyoko looked sheepish. "Yeah, about that. Sayaka here showed up yesterday while you two were out of town. See, I was taking out this swarm of like thirty Wraiths, right, and just when I was about to kick their asses, Sayaka freaking falls out of the sky and wastes all of them..."

Silently, Homura moved away from the group, walking towards the opposite wall.

Mami seemed to be listening intently to Kyoko, so I followed her.

When we were out of earshot, Homura turned to me.

"How is she?" she asked.

I chuckled. "She's a nigh-omniscient, nigh-omnipotent Existence. She's doing great."

Homura looked relieved. "That's great to hear." Her face became pensive. "Now that she's become one of these, er, 'Existences', is she—"

"Any different?" I completed. "Well, yeah, of course she's different. Going from eighth grader to goddess is a pretty big change. She's just not different in any way that matters."

The set of Homura's shoulders changed, like I'd just taken a huge weight from her shoulders. "Thank goodness. If she lost herself to do what she did, for me, I'd..."

Homura didn't complete her sentence. Couldn't blame her. I've been choked up on emotion enough times to know what it was like.

I gave her a couple of moments, then asked, "How are you doing, and the others?"

"I'm doing fine, and so is Mami. Kyoko seems in high spirits, so that answers that. Madoka's parents and brother are also doing well. Ms. Saotome's even managed to stay in a relationship for more than two days."

I snorted. "Good to hear. Madoka was worried, so she wanted me to check up on you guys. Although, now that I think about, she wouldn't have needed me to know for her to know, would she?"

Homura shrugged. "You're more acquainted with her powers than I am."

"Actually, you'd be surprised how clueless I am about her powers now. I mean—"

I frowned when I felt it. A bright, powerful aura coming in fast towards me. Much, much faster than Homura and Mami had. I tensed, instinctively prepping my magic. Whatever it was, it had enough power that I wasn't sure if I could protect...

Hey, wait a second.

Making a face, I started stomping towards the door.

"Sayaka?"

A minute later the aura came to a stop outside the church, and I opened the door before Janev could knock. He would've clocked me in the face, but I sent out a little burst of power to deflect his fist. The Xori'an—in human form, naturally—looked a little embarrassed that he'd almost knocked me and not the door.

"Yeah, what do you want?" I asked.

Now he looked hurt. "What, that's it? No 'Hey, Janev, how are you doing? I missed you so much that—' "

"Hey Janev, how are you doing?" I parroted. "I missed you so so much I almost forgot I was missing you."

"Ouch. That hurts me on a deep, deep level, Sayaka."

I rolled my eyes. "All right, all right. It's good to see you again Janev, really. What's up, though? Why are you here?"

His face grew serious. "We're needed. They're going to have a conference or something, and she asked me if I could get you."

They. She. The Existences, and Madoka.

"She could've just sent me a magical floating-head message, or something," I said with a snort.

"Yeah, I guess, but I think Keltev asked her to give me something to do. Get me out of the house."

"Sayaka? Who's that?" I heard Kyoko say from behind me. The three of them had followed me to the door while we'd been talking.

"His names Janev," I explained. "He's... like me, I guess."

"They have magical boys up there?" Mami asked in a confused voice. "I thought it didn't work like that."

I was going to make a quip about ferrets, but Janev had craned his neck over me. Not hard for him to do, given that he was a head taller.

"Oh, hello. I see before me a gorgeous blonde, a gorgeous brunette, and a gorgeous redhead. And, of course, Sayaka. Wow, ladies, am I in heaven? Because you all must to be ang—"

Annoyed, I crouched and threw a shoulder into the Xori'an's gut, causing him to gasp and double over. Despite the fact that was taller and heavier built than me, I easily lifted him over my shoulder.

"Urk. Is this really necessary?" He wriggled a bit.

"Oh, hell yes it's necessary," I breathed, adjusting my grip on him, one that had a firm hold but wasn't grabbing his butt. Um. Tail. Haunch. Whatever. "I thought Lord Night was kidding about you and girls." I twisted my body so that Janev had a clear view of the three other Puella Magi. "The blonde is Off Limits. Redhead's Not For You. Brunette goes by No Touching. Introductions over."

"Hey!" Janev protested. "I'd at least like their names!"

I sighed loudly, turning back to the three of them. "Sorry. Something's come up, and I've got to go."

"Oh. Er... all right," Mami said. She still looked flummoxed by the whole performance. Hell, they all were. "Are you..."

"I'll be back sometime. I hope so, at least." I caught Homura's eye. "I'll tell her you said hi."

She nodded to me gratefully.

"All right. I'll see you guys later."

I channeled my power over myself and Janev and launched myself into the sky. I turned back and saw all three of them—yes, including Homura—staring up at me, slack-jawed.

"But I just wanted their names!" Janev wailed.


"I'll have you know, I don't enjoy getting manhandled," Janev told me with an indignant sniff. I'd let him go after we'd cleared the atmosphere, and he was making a show of pulling his clothes—he'd come in human-style clothing—back into place.

"Well, you actually got girlhandled," I joked as I raise a hand before me, calling my surf tunnel portal into existence.

The Xori'an just grumbled.

The tunnel opened, and I turned to Janev.

"You know what this is going to be about?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Keltev didn't tell me much, and the Lady Of Aspirant Radiance didn't say anything. The only thing I could tell from them was that they seemed worried."

I frowned. "What worries an Existence?"

"I'd really not like to know."

We entered the portal, and the stars around us seemed to blur as we flew.

All the while I was thinking about what Janev had said. Honestly, what could make an Existence uneasy? They are pretty much all-powerful right? Hmm. Maybe it wasn't themselves that they were worried about? Maybe—

"Don't bother worrying about it," Janev said to me. "I'm sure we'll get answers from them. In the meanwhile, just put it out of your mind. I don't think you'll be helping Lady Radiance much if you return as a nervous wreck."

Janev had a point. I doubt I could come up with the right answer, anyway.

We traveled on in silence for a couple of minutes. I started thinking about it again. Ugh.

"But anyway," I said casually. "Mami, Kyoko, and Homura."

"Uh, what?"

"Mami, Kyoko, and Homura," I repeated. "The gorgeous blonde, redhead, and brunette. Remember? You wanted their names."

"Oh, right." The Xori'an thought for a moment. "Kyoko's your friend, right? The one you told me about?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Didn't seem the feisty type."

I snorted. "We had a real heart-to-heart yesterday," I told him. "She... My death affected her. Hard."

"That happens," Janev said softly. "Is she all right now?"

I thought about it. "When I died it was just a big... punctuation to to all the issues she was already having. But she's tough. I don't think she'll be quite the same again after yesterday, but it'll be a change for the better."

Janev didn't say anything for a few moments. Then, "Hmm. Tough on the outside, but with a soft center. I see some possibilities here."

I looked at him sidelong. "One, her inside's a lot less chewier than you're probably hoping." Oh God, I couldn't believe I'd said that out loud. "Two, you're a terrible person."

He broke out laughing. "Everyone tells me that. But, to be honest, I do all this mostly out of habit."

I shot him a questioning look.

"Don't get me wrong. Back when I didn't consider jumping into vacuum without a spacesuit I loved the ladies. Nowadays, not so much."

I remembered how he'd said only the males of his species had been contracted by the Incubators. "Not much in the way of variety?"

"Well, yeah, there was that. It's mostly when you're a phenomenally cosmically powered guy like me, your perspective kind of changes. When your physical body can be changed with a thought, things like that soft throat fur, the nose with the right slope, ears with the right cant to them, they..." He cleared his throat apology. "Yeah, enough of that. Point is physical appearance isn't nearly as important as when I could turn on my trusty Ssree'ten charm. I needed something... deeper.

"I mean... take Mami, Kyoko, and Homura." I noticed he said their names without any mistakes, like he'd known them for forever. He really was terrible. "None of them would really do much for me, I think. Maybe it's because I don't know them, but I don't think our personalities would really click. And that doesn't take into account that they're all still mortals. They wouldn't understand, not in any real sense, what I am."

Not exactly the topic I wanted to explore—I was zero for one in the relationships department—but that's what I got for giving Janev their names. Made me almost want to think about whatever it was that was bothering Madoka and the other Existences.

"Well, what would make you click?" I ventured.

The Xori'an looked thoughtful for a few moments. "In my perfect world, I'd find a girl with spunk. Enough heart for ten. Cares for people. Sticks close to her friends and never leaves them hanging. Has a sense of humor. Not perfect, but she'll pick herself up when she falls down. Knows how to throw down when she needs to. And lastly, she can't have blue hair. Damn, and I thought I was getting somewhere, too.

It took a moment for the words to register.

Had I just heard what I thought I'd heard?

I turned my head, slowly, to stare at the Xori'an. He kept on streaking down the tunnel as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Janev?" I murmured.

"Hmm. Maybe I'd have to rethink my criteria," Janev chortled. "Probably the hair thing. I mean, nobody's perfect." He turned to look at me, and his usual grin looked a little... shy.

I felt my cheeks heating up.

Then the tunnel ended.


With my cheeks still feeling a bit warmer than usual, Janev and I opened a transdimensional door and entered my home plane. I entered the pseudo-space and saw Madoka—in her Existence clothing—and the Lord Of Sunlight Night.

We bowed and took a knee. Almost before our knees hit the floor the both of them asked us to rise.

Without any warning, Madoka smiled at Janev. "Master Ssree'ten, you seem a bit distracted."

The Xori'an muttered something that I couldn't pick up.

"And Mistress Miki, your cheeks are pink," the Lord Of Sunlit Night noted. "Is that indicative of anything?"

"Keltev, you're the omniscient one," Janev said dryly. Lord Night just laughed.

I had to change the subject before my brain melted. Like, burned a hole through reality.

"So, Madoka, what's up. Janev said there was something major and you wanted me here."

My friend's smile faded. "There is, Sayaka. Something is disturbing me and the other Existences. Lord Night and I are going to meet the others and converse on the subject."

I nodded. "All right. I'm glad to be of any help, but, I mean, you're you and I'm just an ascended Puella Magi. What could I do?"

Madoka's smile returned. "Moral support."

With that she spread her arms wide, and pseudo-space rippled. With a start I realized that were back in the regular universe, far, far away from the entrance to our plane. Madoka had just moved us here with a gesture.

Wherever it is we were, I couldn't see any stars. It wasn't completely empty, as I sensed the occasional comet and chunk of asteroid go tumbling by.

"This is the edge of the expanded universe," Lord Night explained. "We have moved so far that the light from the stars nearer the center simply hasn't reached us yet."

"What's out here, Lord Night?" I asked.

"We don't know," Madoka said.

Hmm. Maybe they were here to find out—

My eyes widened. Madoka didn't know. Madoka didn't know.

That was way worthy of alarm bells. An omniscient being didn't know? That was scary. No, scratch that, it was beyond scary, like by a couple of light years.

They appeared without any warning.

The first alien was a huge rust-colored centipede-looking thing, over five meters long. The forward third of his body was upright, and it looked like his front was protected by jagged armor plates. Then I realized that the armor was his many forelegs, held up against his body. His head was shaped like a thorny dome, and sported three large eyes and some dangerous looking mandibles.

The second was a, I kid you not, a gold-scaled European-style dragon that was almost the size of a small city bus, with six legs and two pairs of giant wings. Her head was ringed by horns, and she was sporting teeth longer than my hand. Her whiplike tail swished as she peered at me with two sets of blood red eyes.

The last was... I can't really describe. Take the sun, and pretend it was made out of clay. If you took that sun clay and made something that combined an eagle, a jellyfish, and a scorpion, you'd almost have an idea what this being looked like.

Those were the second things I noticed, with the periphery part of my brain.

The first thing I noticed that I could see the infinite depths of space in the chinks and joints of the centipede's armor, see the million pinpoints of the stars between the dragons scales and underneath the shadows of her wings, and the very light and energy of the cosmos playing across and within the sun-bird.

The Lord Of Unsung Sorrow, the Lady Of Infinite Helix, and the Lord Of Fire Between. Three Existences far older than Lord Night and Lady Radiance, as much as age meant something to beings who weren't constrained by the timeline.

Three of them here. And I was treated to their awesome magnificence firsthand. I bowed deeply and went to one knee.

"It is good to meet you, Mistress Miki," Lord Sorrow said, voice echoing in my head.

"Indeed,"Lady Helix added.

"Welcome," Lord Fire finished. "Now, please rise."

"Rise," said Lord Sorrow.

"Rise," said Lady Helix.

I did so. Just like when I had first met Lord Night, I didn't feel the slightest bit weak despite their powerful presence.

I caught sight of the three of them... doing something to Madoka. They hadn't moved a centimeter, but I could somehow tell that they were greeting Madoka in a way that was so deep and so fundamental that I wouldn't ever hope to understand it.

My friend, completely serene, without a trace of self-consciousness or nervousness, inclined her head slightly to the three other Existences. She was acknowledging their greeting and greeting them in turn, while at the same time asserting herself as their equal.

Hah, you tell them, Madoka.

I felt her smile, even though her face hadn't changed. Moral support.

What happened next I couldn't really describe. They were all—Lord Of Sunlit Night, Lord Of Unsung Sorrow, Lady Of Infinite Helix, Lord Of Fire Between, and Madoka—simultaneously so big it felt they were straining the very universe itself, and so small as to be impossible to comprehend. They were here and elsewhere, and everywhere. I had this hunch that even though I could see them in front of me—their avatars or forms or temporary bodies or whatever—they were also on a different plane altogether, conversing about something that my mind literally wouldn't have been able to wrap around.

I started when I felt Javen's paw—he was back to his ferret-looking form—gently touch my shoulder.

"It's very... odd when you see it for the first time," he told me. "If it makes you feel better, I went completely cross-eyed the first time they did their powwow thing." He patted my shoulder. "But pull yourself together. Company." He pointed.

Two other beings were coming our way. One was another of the Lord of Unsung Sorrow's original race, a large amber-colored bug, the second of the Lady Of Infinite Helix's, a bronze dragon.

"T!k!k," Janev said to the centipede. "It's been a while."

I blinked rapidly when I heard the name. T'i'k'i'k? Teeeekeeeek? I wasn't sure I could say that.

"It has, Janev," T!k!k said. "Glad to see that you are well." The centipede turned to me and rippled his armored forelegs. I knew it was an acknowledgment and gave him a respectful nod in return.

Janev half-bowed to the dragon. It didn't look like the natural thing we did to an Existence, but I could tell Janev deeply respected dragon-lady over there. "Mistress Rahkanael, it is a pleasure to see you again."

"The pleasure is all mine, Master Ssree'ten," Rahkanael said formally. She turned to me. "Greetings. You are the friend of the Lady Of Aspirant Radiance."

My, grandma-dragon, what big teeth you have.

"My name is Sayaka Miki," I said with a totally lame wave. "It's nice to meet you both."

Rahkanael shuffled her wings, and I got the impression that it was dragon version of a smile.

I smiled back. I got this feeling that if I'd been a regular girl—even a regular magical girl—the sight of T!k!k and Rahkanael would've sent me in the opposite direction, screaming. What had Janev said? Oh yeah. Perspective. It was all perspective.

If they wanted I was pretty sure they could hurt me—they seemed so much older than me they'd need a planet full of candles for their birthday cakes—but I was also sure that they weren't so different from me when it came down to it, physical form or not.

Hey, when you thought about it I could turn into a humongous bug myself if I chose to. Not that I was in any hurry to do that.

"I assume you don't know anything we don't," Janev volunteered.

T!k!k waved some arms, and Rahkanael's tail swished. Their equivalent of shaking their heads.

"The Existences are not always at liberty to reveal things to us," T!k!k said.

"Yeah, and don't I know it," Janev said with a sigh, flicking his ears. "I'm just worried, is all. I mean, if Keltev is worried..."

"I have faith in Zeendahl," Rahkanael said, "as well as all of the Existences."

The dragon must be referring to Lady Helix's original name.

"So do I. But I still have the right to worry, don't I?" Janev said with a snort.

"No need for that at this point in time, Master Ssree'ten," Madoka said from behind me. I spun around and arched and eyebrow at her.

"You know, Madoka, it wouldn't be hard to come to the front and say that."

She grinned. "But you have to remember, all the cool anime characters mysteriously appear behind someone else and say something amazing."

"What is anime?" I heard Rahkanael wonder.

"Some Earth thing, I think," I heard Janev explain.

"Must be a fascinating location," T!k!k observed.

"Are you done?" I asked. "You didn't guys didn't, uh, talk for long."

"We discussed all we needed to discuss," Madoka said, and her smile faded. Didn't like the look of that. "We'll go back home and talk there."

My friend turned to Janev. "Master Ssree'ten, the Lord Of Sunlit Night will be joining me for a time there, as well. You are, of course, welcome to come."

Janev shot me a look, and I, argh, I felt my cheeks get warm again.

"Thank you, Milady," The Xori'an said. "I wouldn't mind that at all."

Madoka smiled again as she nodded to Rahkanael and T!k!k. They gave her a centipede and dragon version of a deep bow.

"Let's go, Sayaka."

"Right behind y—"

And we were back home.