Heisei 2, February the 6th
The barrier twisted and dissolved into nothing, leaving only the abandoned school ground in its stead. She sighed, slightly ticked at the lack of particular motivation why she should take up the job herself. The Witch wasn't that strong, and she wasn't even spreading her barrier beyond a lonely patch of land that is this middle school. She should be preparing for a more important matter at hand; the impending threat of war between the South East alliance and Northern part, for example.
The school announcement speaker made a small white noise, as it had been scheduled. A small tune, sad and slow echoed in the hallway. She looked far beyond the window, where she could see the orange-tinted sky gradually grew darker by minutes.
"Soup made by a lady wearing a catskin~"
A voice, someone was singing along with the tune.
"I head to a neighborhood where all the old ladies have disappeared. Sponge cakes made by a lady wearing a dogskin, with two shovels being sold in a hardware shop~. A hole as deep as a grown man's height-"
"Since when Träumerei has lyrics?"
The way she sings the song disturbed her. The owner of the wispy voice smiled at the protest, like she saw nothing wrong with the strange song. A waif of a girl, dressed in a red and yellow striped ringmaster longcoat. A magical girl, might be a local one at that. And the aura she seemed to expel from herself indicated that she was an empath.
"Have a good hunt, Miss Knight?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. Is this place your territory?" she shook her head.
"The last one of the territory had just passed away. I'm visiting a relative right now."
"Ah."
Her fingers playing with the Grief Seed's sharp bottom stand. The girl really made her uneasy, with the way her smile seemed to stop just before her eyes and her overly enthusiastic hops and skips. Something really made every fiber of her being screamed at her to bail out of the place and never look back. The shadowy building suddenly went bright like it was morning when the stranger turned and offered her the might be shiniest example of toothpaste's model smile.
"Do you want some ice cream, Miss Knight?"
The way she asked the question, at how detached and unwarned it was to the rest of the situation, made her pull out the most eloquent respond she had ever made.
"Hah?"
Either way, they sat on a bench outside a convenient store, licking their sea salt ice cream in awkward tension. At least, that was how the sword wielding magical girl thought and felt. Her host didn't seem to be bothered with sitting with a stranger that might kill her anytime in an attempt for a turf war. In fact, she was surprised that her host actually pretty easygoing in face of the war. Entire Japanese Puellae had enlisted in the army, but this girl didn't show any of the sight of being thrusted into an unwanted fight. None of the fear, or the nervousness. Did she just make her contract? Didn't look so if one watching on how she carried herself.
Like she had chosen to ignore the psychological backdraw of it.
"Is it good?"
"It's… good."
"Wah, I'm glad. I and my mother used to buy this every Saturday. When you eat anything cool at night, you can always guarantee that you'll catch a cold the next morning. But that's okay; it's Sunday, after all. And only when you get sick, people get slightly kinder than usual."
"Yes, I can see that. Sometimes I will feign sickness just so I can play." She nodded to herself before frowning, "Why are you telling me this?"
"Don't you want to have nothing to do with the fighting? I thought you do."
Her mind stopped in its track.
"P-Pardon…?"
"You don't want to follow the order, right? You actually plan to stop her from making the alliance with that certain party and leave. It can't be helped, but you want to do something about it."
When her gears finally started moving again, her frown had deepened to the point of angry scowl. This girl had no right to tell her what to do. Whether it's to kill her enemies or to backstab her allies, it wasn't her business to intrude. As much as the options sickened her, she eventually will have to choose which one she has to choose. Avoiding it with sickness as excuse won't actually help her situation, and it will put her in an even worst position.
But before she could run the words through to her host, she realized something. She might exaggerate the effect of her own self-importance. She wasn't alone in this after all. Only after she abandoned such view, she realized that her host actually and absolutely right about her. If one can saw pass the overly sweet, but crude attempt of solution she spouted out, this girl was spot on with her guess on her. She gulped down the angry remark, and suddenly a sheepish embarrassment filled her mind.
"It won't help me much, to be honest…"
"I see. I think it still a good idea."
"I can't escape it simply by running away. I have to face it myself."
"Oh, come on. Why something that can only happen in the TV like 'running away' happen in real life? It's called 'tactical retreat'."
She at first stared at the girl with a raised eyebrow, before she laughed heartily at the small soldier joke. The neighboring old man shouted at her and threw a furo bucket so fast that even with her reflex, the bucket still nailed her right at the forehead. Now seeing the scene, the stranger laughed at her misfortune. Both of them were laughing at her misfortune. Sometimes, it's good to laugh at something that brought bad news to you.
They eventually had to move to dodge the old man's precise aiming skill, but she never felt unlucky for experiencing that. In fact, she felt proud. She actually found a determination to finish this through the end, even though she had to see this side of hers first. She smiled, satisfied and content. Her host giggled at the obvious display of pleasant mood.
"When you stop moping, everything looks so simple, right?"
"Yeah… but it's only matter of time before other problem rears its ugly head. Just let me indulge myself in this moment where I don't have to worry about morality and inner conflict."
The host hummed, short hair swept over her eyes. She then pulled out her pendant, a large white cross, from behind her clothes. She detached the pendant from its chain and clipped it to her hair, changing its function into a hair decoration. Now her bang no unattended, the magical girl saw those eyes of hers and found herself muttered with a real consent.
"They're beautiful..."
"Huh?" she gulped, suddenly felt self-conscious with her slip.
"Your eyes. I never saw eyes with the same shade of blue as yours." The stranger giggled.
"Ah, thanks. I inherited it from my mother, though she's more red and black than anything now."
'Red and black eye color? Must be from lack of sleep, she wanted to think like that. But from what her experience had taught her, every magical girl has issues, and this one must be too. But she knew better than to push the matter.
"I don't think I catch your name."
"Akagi. An Akagi, at your service."
"Mine is Hinata Makoto, pleased to meet your acquaintance. I hope we can meet again, and not in a turf war."
The walk back to Mitakihara was silent and lonely, the foreboding atmosphere of pre-battle spying and planning. Even the Witches were mostly hiding. Like they understood just what that would happen in the nearby battlefield.
The modernization of this town was in a good pace, building made of several centimeters of glasses and electronic facilities that would dominate the entire lifestyle. They might even be able to enjoy the monorail the next April, if the Walpurgisnacht isn't going to grace them with her presence. She wanted to be a little hedonist in just this moment, but she remembered that she had to report her travel.
When she was back to the secret headquarter of the Mitakihara Puellae Magi, she was already waiting. Stood at the second floor's balcony like a lord watching his subject, her superior put a foot on the balcony railing and looked down toward her. Red eyes peeked under those messy bangs, and Hinata sneered at back with a tooth baring grimace.
"So… had you meet that freak?"
The question jabbed her the wrong way.
"I don't think we have right to call her a freak, knowing our circumstance."
If she heard the snide respond, she surely ignored it. The red-clad young woman jumped down the second floor, covering such a great distance with just one leap, and now embracing the black-haired magical girl's shoulder in a semi hug. Hinata involuntarily shivered.
"Do you think she will accept our offer?"
"I don't think so."
Her superior seemed to be perfectly somber and calm, unusual for someone whose temper is infamously quick to flare out. Like she had expected the answer.
"I knew it." She growled from the back of her throat, "Such a waste of talent…"
"You know her."
"Met her once and twice. Trying to convert her to our cause but she's so difficult to predict that I decided she's more trouble and worth. I sent you there just to see if her reaction would be different." So it wasn't the first time. Her curiosity peaked at this. The infamous Blood-splattered Ayano had an interest to this girl? It sounded like there's some story behind this mysterious magical girl.
"Why would you want her in the team, anyway?" hearing that, the red-clad young woman laughed in a slightly mocking arrogance.
"That girl… I heard from Kyubey that she made the most selfish wish ever made. A wish that so self-centered, it broke the system. Made her Soul Gem incorruptible, ever."
"Is that even possible?" she asked in skeptic.
"Not really sure myself, but that's how it is. Some says that she wished to be a God, the other claims that she wanted to be an alien so the rule won't reach her. But what clear is her wish twisted her person into something bizarre, her mind became so incomprehensible. But people listen to her anyway. That combination made those rats uneasy."
"I see… that's why you want her on our side. You want to bring more people to the fight."
"Of course! No bloodshed without the people who killing each other. If only we can do just that, the fight the South East would be the worst war ever in our history! Imagine the thrill! The excitement of slicing our enemies down and watching their life and fear drain from their eyes! Alas, it's nothing but a pipedream now. We have to make what we have now."
The black-haired girl watched her cackled until her form disappeared into the shadow. Only then, the rest of the magical girls came out of their hiding. Faces full of hatred, helplessness and fear; she hated those faces, she hated to see those faces. The faces that reminded her she had not yet fulfill her contract, even after all the sacrifices everyone made.
The youngest of them all, a small forest green-haired seven year old, tugged her cardigan.
"Sempai… are we going to die?"
"We won't. I promise."
"But are we really do the right thing?" a tired voice called out from the top of crates stacked at the left corner, "Are we really do this because it's a right thing to do, or because we just want to save ourselves?"
"There's nothing wrong with trying to save one's skin, especially if it's from a senseless bloodshed." Hinata turned to face them all, every single of those faces she hated, "Listen up and listen well. If we want it to be successful, you will do what you think we need to do. And if we stay in our plan, Ayano Akinari shall be dead by noon at the 'battle' against the South East Alliance…"
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The last century was the darkest era of the Puellae Magi. War and plague, suffering and death raved madly like a hungry beast; all while the Incubators were made work of their contracts. Left on their own device and finally seeing that their lives were forfeit to the endless fight, the magical girls abused their power as a last ditch attempt of hedonism, to fill the gap inside their heart which was lost when they were surrendered their normalcy.
From there, turf wars started to brew, with many girls made their contracts and their home started to feel smaller. Those who were strong survived, while the weak beaten to pulp. Either dying or serving the strong, the weak's options were not many. The term 'Matriarch' popped out from the domination of the strong to the weak, and those who were weak would seek the Matriarch's protection until they could handle themselves.
Of course, the way domination works doesn't really go with mutual symbiosis. Oppression was a norm at the time, and the Matriarch held their subjects in place with swords and spells, ruling the iron fist. The lesser magical girls will often plan to assassinate their Matriarch, and the result may turn either way. Not to mention, the assassin that murdered her master more often than not turned out the same like their predecessor, fed by their own lust for power and freedom to do anarchy they had been denied since they made the contract.
In the end, Puellae Magi and the 'Normals' were no different.
The event that would be remembered as Great Eurasia Turf War; a group of four Philippines magical girls went to North Korea for studying and vacation. They had need, like any other magical girls, and they hunted on an area already taken by a Matriarchy. The North Korean were, and still are famous for being hostile to those not from their descent, didn't listen to reason and slaughtered all of them for trespassing. That amoral deed sparked the anger of the entire South East Asia, whom famous for having a very large, intricate family tree. One of those murdered girls was a cousin thrice removed of a Malay-descended Vietnam Matriarch, she who was only known as Sekartadji, and she was furious.
Sekartadji gathered her kins, and the resultant army was so massive they lived for three weeks in an abandoned town just consisted of the magical girls. The North Korean magical girls were, too, gathering their support. The Chinese refused to take a part, in a stance of neutrality and for their personal disgust of the unnecessary bloodshed. South Koreans were actively hostile with them, quickly joined force with the South East. On the other hand, Japan took their offer like a child given a cookie jar.
The current Matriarch of Japan, Ayano Akinari, known more as Blood-splattered Ayano, was a cruel young woman. She butchered her own students she deemed too weak and tortured her stronger ones just so to see their limits. Coliseum battle between her students, life baited her young subjects to the Witches, and not to mention her love for battle. As long as she got to fight, she would do anything. The reason why she took the alliance against an overwhelming force was because she would have more people to butcher, and she dragged the magical girls under her command with her. They certainly didn't share her enthusiasm.
At January 1990, Sekartadji personally approached the Japanese magical girls to surrender, for they had nothing to do with the war. Ayano scoffed at the peace offer, but the initially frightened and oppressed magical girls of Japan saw an opening to be free from her reign, and made a secret rendezvous with the Matriarch.
'You may kill Ayano-shisou, as long as we leave the battlefield without hindrance.'
Those words were spoken by Ayano's best student, Hinata Makoto, voicing her sisters-in-arms' thought and wish. The mastermind of the entire Japanese formation in the war, thus capable of turning the tide of battle simply by a flick of wrist and marker; it was trusted to her by her master, who actually recognized her talent. Just arranging her master death was a child play for her.
But it was the morality of the action that weighted her heart so badly. She, who sought after justice and righteousness, saw her action as a sin. Her meeting with the strange An Akagi actually quenched her thirst for focus and determination, to see just what was actually right to do.
For her great justice.
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Heisei 2, February the 17th
Tomorrow is the big day, but she wandered into this city again to seek her. She had to, or she might chicken out. She didn't know why she became dependant to that girl, but she didn't care. She sought every alley, every corner, just to see her again.
Then she saw her in a junction. She wasn't alone. There was a young man talking to her. An acquaintance? The man was tall but looked a little frail, skin as white as jasmine with jet black hair invoking the image of male Snow White. She lurked closer, trying to hear what they were conversing.
"… I mean, look at you! You really have it great, Despair!"
"It's Itoshiki, Akagi-san! And what can I say? The last time we met was when you were in kindergarten. You really made my hands full with that club's heretic stuff…"
"You miss me, then?"
The young man blushed at the cheery-voiced teasing. Suddenly, a strong gust blew the area. Akagi's sundress flew open and her hat blown from her head. The young man gave a chase, which then had him stood on the other side of the road. Akagi waved at him in gratitude, and he smiled back at. The interaction was so sweet; it brought an unconscious smile into the spying party's face.
Akagi crossed the road, and at that moment, Hinata heard a loud roar of engine. A pick-up truck sped toward the crossing girl without anything to slow it down.
"Watch out!"
She jumped out of the hiding place. Her shouting attracted her attention, and her eyes widened when she saw the incoming car ready to flatten her. Hinata never preyed so hard before; preyed that her magical girl reflex would save her, preyed that somehow the vehicle could change its course. But her hope dashed; the car hit the girl so hard, her shoes went flying. But it was the girl's last act that made her more horrified.
Akagi indeed widened her eyes in surprise. Or was it recognition? Either way, she then closed her eyes and gave the happiest smile a hit-and-run victim could give. A smile not unlike the one she gave her the last time they met.
Both she and the young man could only watch her lying in her own pool of blood.
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13 May 2011
Elsa Maria opened her blank white eyes, and her vision immediately focused on the intruder. That aura, that silhouette, she didn't want to believe it. But she was there; An Akagi was there, standing in front of her.
But then she realized something amiss from the supposed dead girl.
For one, it was a proportion of a young male.
The second was the face that his blond hair, instead of dark brown, wasn't really concealed by the blackness that was her barrier. Elsa whispered out.
"Who are you?" the intruder answered with his young, but very male voice in the same sing song tune that she always remembered.
"Oh, come. Do you forget about me already?" his voice then suddenly turned low and sinister, "It's me, An Akagi…"
Now the boy was near enough, the Shadow Witch widened her eyes in surprise, and a little fear. The same face and hairdo. Even though he clearly masculine enough, with the face of this now-dead girl stamped on his head didn't seem to diminish the girlish charm that all magical girls radiate. As the boy answered her, like in a cue, more people stepped in to her barrier.
Two, five, ten, twenty six of them, each wearing a same face even though they didn't share their body shapes or even gender. Twenty six children from teenage years to grade school age wearing An Akagi's face and spewing out her magic signature now had surrounded her in a tight circle.
Her Witch instinct screamed at her to run; twenty six magical girls (and boys) were too much to handle. Their intruding presences made her nauseated.
"What do you want from me?" her voice was steady, but she might not be able to keep it up for any longer.
"Just a visit from an old friend, I hope I didn't intrude."
They all spoke in synch, like they were one person. Then Elsa Maria saw it; they were indeed one. One and only An Akagi.
"I don't think you had answered it, Akagi-san."
"Our last meeting… that would be today."
"Why? You don't need me."
"Yes, but the other Puellae Magi are. You're their guide, after all. The oldest that they could find in this area after your girls abandoned this town, I do know you do know what it means, no?"
"I see… you're the one who spread that video." This wasn't the way she expected her to die, "And your reason? I doubt you did everything just for sake of giggles. Do you not know what will happen if the world know about the magical girls."
"Actually, that's the point. I want to make the world see us."
She had finally gathered enough of her Sebastian, and she launched the animal-headed tendrils toward the blond boy she had assumed as their leader. The blond boy only smirked, watching with his eyes wide from ecstasy as the attack came charging in.
Several of those other children leaped in front of him, pulling bladed weapon of any kind from out of nowhere. Kitchen knife, meat butcher, katana, any sharp thing which name she could pull from her battle-addled mind. They tore pass her familiars like it was hot butter, their weapons clearly imbued by enchantment of a magical girl.
But how…? Unnatural occurrence where magical girls violated the unspoken rule of one soul for one body usually had to be paid with a very high price. Twenty six of them, sharing the same magic signature? That's overkill!
One of the knife wielders charged pass the slithering Sebastians, her spaces between her fingers filled with small daggers. The throw was precise and fast, her dodging barely saved her skin from gotten grazed. She saw drops of red liquid. Her blood? It's been awhile since the last time she saw herself bleeding. Her musing was cut short when one of them snuck up behind her and hit her at her head with a catalogue of some sort. Leather-bound, about five hundred pages in it; unsurprisingly, she went dizzy from the impact.
Elsa Maria felt like she was mauled by a pack of wolves.
Red eyed pack of wolves, baring their teeth.
This might be her end, she laughed humorlessly. What a joke! She couldn't even have the death that she wanted.
Just for a moment, she thought she saw a flicker of pink light. Her mind dismissed the glimpse as a trick of light from a dying woman's eyes. But then she saw the light gotten larger and closer, only before it struck her right on her chest, she realized just what was it.
A magical girl in pink, wielding a bow adorned by blooming rose, shot her with her arrow. She stood on the top of her statue's head, granting her the vantage even when the Witch was surrounded, along with two other silhouettes. A blue one with cape was no stranger, but the yellow magical girl was new in her eyes.
'Stubborn blockhead… what are you doing here…?'
She said she wanted to save her. Was granting her the death that she wanted was her way of 'saving'? Didn't look that way before. She felt a small thump in her chest, just where the arrow had pierced her and swallowed inside. She might be dreaming; she saw her barrier became brighter. She blacked out on the spot.
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"Those guys… What are they?"
"Don't mind it right now. We have to save her!"
"Don't be rash, Miki-san. We're outnumbered, there's no way we can go down there without jumping in the middle of them."
"But-"
"I'll try to shoot her from here, and let the resultant gust take care the rest."
"Madoka! If it turns out not like the time with Walpurgisnacht, then we might lose her to them."
"Then we'll just try. …Here goes!"
The arrow, her wish magic, flew straight and true, and pierced the Witch on her left chest. The Witch recoiled from the impact, but her footing was otherwise strong. She stood rigid and looked back at them; those blank white eyes spoke a mild annoyance. The arrow of light sunk into her chest, and the Witch fell forward on her face. Elsa Maria's visage seemed to be absorbed into the Grief Seed- turned-Soul Gem, each layer of darkness shredded from the large shadow and swirled like the familiar sight of purification of the corruption.
Wind exploded, sending the strange intruders flying. Madoka pumped her fist and let out a small cheer of victory as Sayaka dashed toward the lonely Soul Gem.
"I knew it… you can turn back without much fuss."
Her instinct screamed of danger approaching. Sayaka arched her neck backward, chin slightly grazing the thrown knife. The blue magical girl snarled at the one who thrown the knife, but her expression quickly turned confused when she realized that every single one of her opponent shared a same face and not all of them were girls.
'Are they siblings or what…?'
Madoka and Mami stepped in, shooting from their vantage to support Sayaka's escape. The blond boy, the seemingly leader, calmly glanced at the magical girls, pulling out a short sword of his own from behind his shirt and deflecting a headshot from Mami.
"They surely powerful…"
"Mami-san, are they…?"
"There's no way it's possible. Every single one of them shared the same magical signature, which means they actually just an extension of a magical girl. Akemi-san's document doesn't seem to detail that magical girls are capable of Witch Kissing before their transformation unless their power made them capable of doing so."
"So they're like Kyubey."
"I doubt they're like the Incubators too." Mami shook her head, "We have to get out of here before the barrier collapse. If we can do so, we can conceal our track with the barrier from them."
Sayaka already dashed pass them. Her jump momentum slowed down and she started falling, but she already conjured her crest as platform.
"What are you waiting for, then?"
The two quickly followed. They leaped higher than they had ever did, almost flying toward the ceiling of the barrier. They slammed against the 'sky', and the stained-glass like barrier shattered like it was a real glass. They didn't waste any time on their falling and immediately dashed off from the building.
"That's seriously freaky! It reminds me of that one episode of Evangelion with all those Rei clones!"
"What…? So they are the same person?"
"They're not that similar if they're really clones. More like siblings of a very large family or something."
"A family full of Puellae Magi…?"
"It doesn't matter right now. What we're gonna do is to reunite the Soul Gem with the body."
"Miki-san, I know I have no place to say this after all the misinformation that I gave to both of you, but you're resorting on a grave robbing for this. Isn't that…?" Sayaka smiled a little at this.
"If you talk with the old me, I might agree all in an instant. But what I learned from all we have been through, I realized that when it comes to save a life, then sometimes you have to make a choice that may be deemed amoral by others." Her face twisted in pain of grief, "Elsa, no, Hinata-san was very tortured for a long time already…"
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Madoka stared in awe and horror. She knew that every since Sayaka went back from her visit of the Shadow Witch's barrier, she suddenly obsessed with the innate healing power that all Puellae Magi have. Going through the documents and records that Homura had left them, her best friend was skipping in joy when she found out the magical girls were actually capable of regenerating from a single tissue as long as their Soul Gem could hold the strain.
"If we combine it with my wish magic, then we can resurrect her back as human! I'll make a new body for those Witches who already lost theirs!"
But never in the million years had she imagined the process was as gruesome as this. From a single bone that missed the cremation fire, became a skeleton structure. And then, the horrifying sight started when they regenerated the organs and muscles. The ex-Witch awoke in the middle of the process, and suddenly she shrieked and flailed around. A mass of red flesh and gore, face twisted with agony, went berserk from the phantom pain that she felt of having no skin.
The three of them was a little nervous since the first muscle tissue was regenerated, but she thought it would be alright, everything's going to be alright.
Then this bizarre abomination of a woman suddenly jerked up and screamed. It reminded her of the horror story about the living human anatomy model that likes walking around the school after the student are going home. She took an arm and her hands slipped on the slickly muscle drenched with blood vessels. Her grip made the vessel burst, and the screaming just went louder.
"Concentrate on healing the skin first, Miki-san! We have to calm her down!"
"How? Can we really skip the process?"
"Just do it!"
Her eyes nailed on the agonized face, couldn't really look away. Whitish bones of her cheeks and nose peeked out from under the tissues, and those brownish red eyes widened and mad. Madoka couldn't help it, her tears dripped down her face as she felt the fear and pain this old magical girl was feeling.
The ex-Witch suddenly went calmer.
"You… really are doing this till the end, huh?"
"That right… We can't see it any other way anymore." Madoka whispered, mostly to herself, "Homura-chan had done so much just to see us survive through, we will do just like what she had done. We will save the other magical girls, no matter how hard it is."
"…Heh… such a brave dream. And a bit foolish, too." The skin on her face has finished its healing, Madoka could only gape at the silent beauty aura that the face seemed to radiate, "That's why I always admire the empaths; you guys never knew when to give up hope."
Four hours passed since they brought the Soul Gem back. In Mami's apartment, where she had erected a barrier where no sound could get through, they begun their experiment. Sayaka couldn't help but to think that maybe Homura would be proud of them.
The ex-Witch came out of the shower, dressed in one of Mami's clothes and irritably pulled on her shirt as its collar always slipped off of her shoulder. One delicate eyebrow rose, seeing that the low triangle table had filled with many kinds of desserts and cakes, and she sighed before settling down.
"Now, you had saved me. What will you do next?"
"We heard about the leakage of the Walpurgisnacht battle in the internet from Kyubey."
"Ah… that one. Seeing the relative peace of the situation, I though those guys no longer had anything against the thing anymore."
"We heard something about… the genocidal plan of the magical girls if something like this happening. We need details about that, and we need help the outmost." The usually sweet and soft Mami's sponge cake felt tasteless on Madoka's tongue. She had been that way since she heard the news, and she was numb inside at the musing of the fact that magical girls could do something like that.
"…Which one of you has the most authority in this city?"
"…She's out of the town right now." Mami hesitantly answered, "Might be come back the next year or two."
"We have no time to way for her. Which one of you has most experience?"
"It's… ah, I am. But-"
"Then you're in charge."
"If you're looking for the most experienced magical girl, then why don't you elect yourself as leader?" Sayaka raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. The black-haired woman then looked at her like she had grown another head.
"It's been 20 years since I turned into Witch. I don't even know anything about this city anymore." She shook her head, "A leader should know everything about what and who she led, and I can't do that. I had said that I no longer have place in this world, even more so if I take the point."
"Oh… I see."
"W-Why would we need leader over something like discussing the spreading rumor?" Mami stammered slightly, "Can't we just-"
"What I'm going to tell you might not be something that is the most pleasant news that you had ever heard, and I'm sure you have your share of bad news. But let's start over from the introduction. My name is Hinata Makoto, the Matriarch of Mitakihara in 1990 after arranging the death of my predecessor. Your turn."
"Ah! Oh, well… my name is Madoka Kaname. I just made my contract in the Walpurgisnacht, and as you saw, I was the one who turned her back to human." Madoka stuttered slightly when she heard her 'ancestor' killed her predecessor part.
"You already know my name, and you already know when and why I made my contract. I don't think there's something that you don't know about me." Sayaka shrugged.
"My name is Mami Tomoe… and I don't think I'm capable of taking the responsibility."
"We'll see later. Now from the beginning, where I should I start…?"
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The horrible battle that is the Great War was ended, just like how she had predicted, not even pass the noon. With defection of the entire Japanese magical girls, knowing that the Puellae of the country was the biggest population in the world, the alliance between North Korea and Japan was destroyed. No surprise, really.
The Japanese magical girls then decided change the unspoken rules of the Matriarchy, as their attempt to leave their bloody past behind, by choosing their Matriarch through voting. As the hero who masterminded the fall of their tyrant, Hinata Makoto was chosen as the Matriarch, who then decided to divide the territory of Japan into independent cities controlled by a single group of at least three magical girls. She, from then on, better known as Mitakihara Matriarch, not the entire Japan.
Life was good and relatively peaceful. Until the shadow of danger lurked from the unexpected side. The battles between magical girls were never produced a good outcome, and this one wasn't different. Collateral damage of spells being slung and blades being swung always left large scars on Mother Earth; and unlike what public had always assumed, the government was far from ignorant. So when these men in black suddenly started to stalk girls walking back home from their school, the magical girls grew suspicious.
But not until people started disappearing, their fury took shape.
Family members and friends of those who had made contract to the creature named Incubators from all over the world were kidnapped and being interrogated, Jack Bauer-style. Their names and records vanished from the face of the Earth, and the magical girls of said families lost their home after their heritages were denied. Those who found out about their secret shunned them and called them names, before swiftly cut down by the angered girls. Again, the period of anarchy and despair in and out of the Puellae world resurfaced, before Sekartadji shouted just what she had been thinking and pointed her finger at the one who actually responsible; the government.
Silent war that the mundane were ignorant of had begun. The Puellae Magi had their advantage, and boy, how they abused it. Every single magical girl in every country did what they do best in making the higher up's life hell. Privacy intruding, spreading rumors and every dirty secret they might have to the public, destroying their wealth and freedom, even blowing body-rending diseases that could not be cured by those days standard.
The climax of the passive-aggressive war was at 8 June 1990, where every single magical girl in the world dropped down in the middle of their respective countries' executive meeting and exclaimed just what they wanted. Both side argued for hours, with varied outcomes. The more stubborn ones, like the White House, British's House of Lords, and MPR/DPR, shrugged off their pressure. But the Kokkai, Japanese Diet, and Hong King LegCo seemed to visibly hesitate after the first attack of the magical girls had been launched. Unsatisfied with the result, the magical girls launched their protest to the United Nation.
The debate became even more heated, with several Puellae already hot-headed enough to finally resort violence right there and the guarding security officers prepared to open fire at the teenage girls. Until one girl stepped forward and spoke out her terms, the one that made the United Nation went white in horror.
'If you won't let us go in peace, then no one can.'
The enigma, the hermit, the doll maker, Ada binti Yahya ibn Hassan. No one knew who she was, no one even sure that name was hers. But one thing that was clear; that girl's threat was never a lie. She showed a footage; a footage of her personal army. Thousands or even millions of them, an undying army of soldiers made of clay, stones, and ores, descending mountain ranges and forest toward human settlements. Her intent was clear.
'Leave us in peace, or else.'
A pact was signed, and in case of the magical girls, a rule was made. If anyone exposed the existence of Puellae Magi world and the fate of their 'ancestors' was repeated, then the army of golems would automatically attack the mundane, any mundane, without reservation. The magical girls agreed to help lightened their burden by stopped becoming as active as they were before. The turf war only fought by less than six girls, the already established territories only stretched to their next door neighboring city. Everything else was a fair game, though.
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"Though, it's been awhile since the rumor came out, and still no attack reports from living mountains. Either Ada kicked the bucket already, or she no longer as strict. It's bad news, though. If those guys in the parliament find out the thread that keep them out of our business is gone, they might be the one who will launch the attack first."
"This generation of magical girls is mostly ignorant of the pact, and only followed their seniors' instructions without much protest with justification of their survival. It's very possible that the United Nation might assassinate the magical girls without them knowing."
"Kyubey…!"
Madoka snapped her head to her left, where the white alien had exposed himself. His tail waved slow and rhythmically, like he had no care for their plight. She wanted to shout at him that he was terrible for thinking like that, before remembering that his calculation of life's worth wasn't the same as theirs. But Kyubey then continued.
"As much as we want to observe the process, losing our assets through unnecessary death is not something that we want to come in fruition. If both sides clash in a gigantic war, not only the magical girls' existence is exposed, but the entirety of the system might also. The chance of us making any more contracts will slim down to only 12%."
"You jerk! All you can think is making your 'contract'!"
"This is where the role of leader, or as we old ladies called, Matriarch, comes. If anything world-wide happen to us, the leaders will meet to discuss our next move. I don't know if it still applied to you guys, but we better prepare."
The Mitakihara girls could only gulped down their saliva.