That day, Archer learnt some people could be as persistent as he was.
"Say that again." Homura stared at him, enemy temporarily forgotten, her voice deadly.
"What, you didn't hear me clearly the first time? Get out of here," his voice had regained its edge; that cocky grin was back on his face. "At the rate you lost to this guy here, you'll only be in the way." He looked at Anansi, his expression at an angle she couldn't see.
"Keep them out of this."
"That is exactly what we came to stop. Do you take us for idiots?" too late, she watched Archer raised his arm to the shadow, beginning his chant.
I am the bone of my sword.
An amber glow radiated from him, releasing its blinding flash in all directions. Homura shielded her eyes, squinting to see what had transpired as it faded.
He was gone.
So was the shadow. The entire area stood, as though the thing that crawled out from the hole in the ground had never appeared at all. She turned to Mami and Anansi, the former looking as bemused as she was, the latter maintaining his inscrutable grin.
"He's not," the suited man made gestured a box in thin air, "here." He turned to Homura with a knowing smile. Another one who constantly knew more than he let on; Homura felt her temper flare as she shot him a glare (how was that for hypocrisy?). There could be no mistake; she could feel it emanating from Archer like a scent, from his magical pattern. Somewhere, somehow, he had the key to the answers she was searching for. The origin of the Law of Cycles, the answers she had been searching for all her life; her current life.
Which led to her.
She forced her thoughts to clear. Think. Think. Had to determine the result of this disappearance.
Then again, logic probably wouldn't be the best baseline to go from, given the way things had panned out over the last few days; whispered a voice in her head. She flipped her hair in annoyance, rejecting the thought. What Anansi said; if he wasn't "here", his statement couldn't simply be random words thrown together. She lifted her soul gem and applied her magic, feeling a surge of triumph as it pulsed, homing in on Archer's magic pattern.
Found you.
A insignia of stylized blades materialized from thin air, fanning outwards. A soft glow illuminated a passage at its nexus.
"Akemi-san, that is..."
"Something that shouldn't exist. Not now, not ever," she stepped into the barrier, casting a look at the pair behind her. "I'll go alone from here; I can't guarantee we will both survive this, even you join the fight. Please stay here, if only to make sure that one of us leaves this place alive. If the situation gets out of hand, the events that happened in Tibet will surely repeat themselves here." She turned to Anansi, the man chuckling at her words.
"You're not trying to stop me." she half-questioned.
"Ay, one look at that face of yours and I'd know; you wouldn't listen," He shrugged, "You and him both, cut from the same cloth. This old man would have to fight you within an inch of his life, and then you'd drag your half-dead body inside after that." his voice lost some of its humor "Be careful, child. The dark corners of the heart are where the purest forms of despair lurk."
She didn't even need to consider her answer.
"Fighting the darkness that the world turns its eyes from; for that purpose we have staked out lives. If we ran away now, we wouldn't deserve to be called magical girls to begin with."
She strode forward, the entrance of the barrier swallowing her whole.
Before her eyes could adjust to the dim, Homura felt the hairs on the back of her head stand as she felt a presence close to her. She gave a start, instinctively freezing time and leveling her gun at the figure before her, removing the safety in a single motion. She blinked once, twice, the shock of adrenaline coursing through her slowly subsiding.
The figure of Archer came into focus. Half kneeling, half held aloft by the multitude of swords that pierced him in a multitude of places. She averted her eyes for an instant, still keeping her weapon trained on the body, simultaneously sweeping the area for enemies. Finding none, she hesitantly studied the figure from the corner of her eye. Under the wan moonlight that obscured half its face, she noted the texture of the figure that didn't seem at all organic.
It wasn't Archer, she realized, lowering her weapon and allowing time to flow once again. Rather, a stone effigy that bore a remarkable likeness to him. It stood abandoned in a corridor that extended into darkness she couldn't see into. Presumably towards the core of the barrier.
The glint off the red, angular gem that hung on a chain on the figure's neck caught her eye. Homura drew close, reaching out to cup it in a hand, probing it with her magic. It responded, diffracting her power like a prism would to light, the results shooting from its facets. Each projected itself on the surface it hit, and where she stood was suddenly surrounded by many, many copies of the exact same image.
A knight. Blonde, commanding. A boy awkwardly sprawled on the ground, gawking up at her.
The images moved eerily in sync with one another, kaleidoscopic images of light that danced around her. She caught several glimpses; a tired man in a yukata, a small white girl with red eyes, a dark-haired honour student, a priest with an unsettling smile.
The seconds ticked by. The images in the windows started to vary slightly; small, fleeting movements that passed in the space between two frames. Each space gradually grew more and more different from its neighbours, until the entire scene had grown from unnerving sameness to a chaotic mess of sequences.
Something in her clicked.
She pondered the implications of his existence. Of course; the fact that her powers were at all possible meant that somewhere, somehow, others had to have the means to travel through time. The answer, as with his behaviour up till now was at once unexpected and yet blindingly obvious.
A goal. He had to have one. All his actions up till then suggested so. Homura lined the facts up in her head; his magical pattern, his abilities, his inherent distrust of the Incubators, this barrier that was his creation. A tinge of anticipation spurred her on as she pressed on deeper into the barrier.
She would only get her answers if his soul still resembled that of a human's.
"This is…!" she gasped.
A pit formed in her stomach at the sight of the enormous gears in the sky.
She stood in a field of swords, under a sky the colour of rust, breathing in the acrid stench of despair. She forced herself free of the memory that had hit too close to home, and watched.
Like a man possessed, Archer threw himself at his opponent, eyes squarely fixed on the shadow, The way he fought didn't have the effortless grace of Mami, or the practiced fluidity of Kyoko. The ruthless pragmatism of his motions were that of a soldier; of single-minded determination. He swung his arms forward, hurling the falchions he held at his adversary. They flew spinning through the air, each mirroring the arc of the other. He swung once again - another set of identical blades materialized, faster than the eye could see, following the path of their counterparts.
The red knight took off at a run, nimbly dodging the spikes of darkness that sought to impale him. The weapons in his hands changed faster than she could follow; one moment he was letting fly a bolt from the greatbow he wielded, the next he was deflecting an attempted stab with another set of the same pair of blades he had thrown earlier.
He had mapped out the battle perfectly in his mind, each attack a move in a game of speed chess against the opponent. He got within striking distance of the shadow and ducked, barely in time, while a spike drew a gash on his shoulder. Two more swords appeared, and he thrust them into the shadow, just as the four flying blades embedded themselves deep into his target.
She felt his concentration gather - felt an impulse of power spike from the fight
The weapons turned blinding white in tandem as Archer vaulted backwards. Landing on his feet, he crossed his arms in front of him in a defensive position as his legs strained, throwing himself even further with a heave, gaining as much distance as possible. With a whine, the energy in the blades reached a peak and they simultaneously exploded, A cloud of dust kicked up around the shadow.
The blast caught Archer mid-air. He half-steered, half-tumbled as he skidded uncontrollably between the swords planted in the ground. Grinding to a halt, he felt his shoulder complain as he dragged himself off the ground. The dust clearing, he surveyed the damage.
No effect. The shadow stood as though he had never attacked it.
Fuck. Not enough power?
"Archer, she's here." Madoka's voice alerted him just in time to look up to see Homura appear before him, hand extended.
"Don't ask questions. Take my hand." As Archer grabbed on, he felt the world freeze, save for the thrum of magic circuits he felt through their shared grip.
It had been a while since someone had made him this exasperated.
"How bold, running in and grabbing peoples' hands like that. It seems that no matter where I go, I attract the forceful ones." Smirking at her, he gave their connection an experimental tug, earning him a look as her grip tightened on his arm. He continued, "It's almost like you don't value your life, rushing in with that determined look like you want to be the hero."
He gave a snort, raising his free hand in a sign of mock defeat.
"I give up, do what you want. At least that seems like a useful ability."
"You may have your goals in coming here Archer; be it as it may, so do I," she said. "I made a promise I intend to keep. I can't stop now, when she's still fighting for us." she studied his expression intensely, searching for something, anything that might indicate a reaction.
None. A nudge of disappointment.
"That thing is something you have fought before," she continued, "What is the enemy?"
Archer curtly nodded, gauging his response.
"No one has ever come up with a name for it, they just call it the shadow," he said. "The form it takes isn't really important; it's never the same each time. You might think of it as an amalgamation of evils; a primal darkness that feeds like a cancer. It exists to devour; Magic, living beings, the undead. In short, you're looking at the beginnings of Infernal Spiral."
She took the explanation with less questions than he expected.
"It's simple then. We have to defeat this 'shadow' before it distorts reality far enough for that to happen. That attack you used just now; a hundred, a thousand, use it as many times as you wish." She could practically see him effortlessly weave the new information into his strategy even as they spoke.
"This version seems to be more strongly bounded to the physical world. Flashy attacks aren't usually my style, but one strong enough to obliterate it in one shot would be the best course of action, before it can grow more than it has."
TIme to kick it up a notch.
Caladbolg, overedge.
A drillblade twice the size of a zweihänder materialized in his hand, its unblemished spiral edge glinting with rainbow sheen. Completely unsuited for practical use for someone his size, Archer looked almost comical next to its ridiculous proportions. Yet as the sword grew along its length, he poured mana into it, just enough to strain the structure to breaking point as it formed. Matter melted into energy, and he effortlessly hefted the spear of light, loading it like a thunderbolt into his bow and let fly. It shot just inches from the string, aloft and frozen.
Homura didn't need the signal to let go. The shadow was pierced by the missile; a rush of wind buffeted them both as the resulting immediate shock obliterated the immediate landscape that stood in the vicinity of the shadow.
Another surprise, Archer. Could this dimension be an extension of your projection, perhaps? It's quite rare for someone to be in possession of such a magic, you've effectively isolated the enemy within your personal battleground. Quite a useful skill.
Kyubey. The creature had appeared out of nowhere. Scampering towards the pair, It sat alongside them, just as they regained visibility of the battlefield. Once more, the shadow stood unharmed. To say that it had been unaware of that attack, however, would have been a mistake.
The Incubator looked Archer dead on.
But the truth remains that it is rooted in the despair of your soul. How will you use it to defeat something so fundamentally similar, I wonder?
There was no time to answer. The shadow began to move. Its dangling tentacles rolled outwards, like an orange peeling from the inside. With a shudder, a surge of inky blackness exploded vertically from its core. The pitch geyser struck the boundaries of the reality marble, With a crack, a fracture ripped through the sky, Tendrils split off from the main pillar, invading the fabric of the dimension. A series of black lightning scars streaked along its boundaries as the shadow sucked up energy, inflating like a balloon.
No time.
"Homura!" He felt her grab his arm once more, the sensation of her magic enveloping him. The scales of the battle were tilted against them this time. The shadow was moving, albeit slowly, in what seemed to be stop-motion, it's silhouette the fallout from an explosion.
"Tch," Archer frowned, "The Reality Marble won't hold." Time was already flickering between two worlds, as the structural integrity of the dimension was compromised.
"I don't have enough firepower to defeat that. We should retreat." For the first time in what had seemed like an eternity, fear stirred within her at the resilience of this strange, unknown enemy.
"Wait. Leaving now would mean squandering our best chance of victory." Archer ransacked his mind. Blade after blade appeared in his mind, each rejected immediately as he searched his arsenal for weapon that could defeat the shadow. A weapon that could beat it, something so opposed to the darkness a single attack would be enough to completely destroy it.
A bow.
No. That was impossible. Yet even as the thoughts raced through his mind, he felt Madoka respond.
"Archer, use it!"
"Goddess, you can't be serious."
"You have to; I'll help!" he felt the gem she had given him ignite its sorcery like a torch in the dark; she wasn't taking no for an answer. Archer held up the gem and called forth the weapon in his mind.
Visualise the structure, the composition.
The steps normally perfectly detailed for weapons made of the mortal realm were now haphazardly stumbled through. Like an emptied gun, his mind drew repeated blanks; the knowledge that flowed so instinctively, on so many counts now ran dry. Yet at the same time, he felt the magic at his chest slip into his consciousness. Water rushing through a storm drain, it imbued his circuits, filling in the gaps in his hail Mary attempt at projection. His thought processes shifted into overdrive, as the sheer influx of power threatened to drown the image of the weapon from his mind in an instant.
It was not without a price. He tasted molten copper; felt his body tearing up as it was forced to cope with magecraft it was incompatible with. It was like controlling a fire hydrant with a straw. Pain bludgeoned his senses like a sledgehammer with repeated, pounding blows.. Yet, even barely conscious, within that deluge, countless scenes flashed before him.
My desire to save you: the first emotion I had that started this all.
I will do it over, as many times as it takes... I'll find the one path that would save you from a fate of boundless despair.
You will have to fight forever in every world, past and future. Will you be able to stay yourself through that?
Homura-chan, I'm sorry. I will become a magical girl.
The rules that that prevent them, I will destroy them. I will change them.
Now, grant my wish. Incubator!
"Archer, hurry, the barrier won't hold."Homura allowed an undercurrent of urgency to slip through. She felt panic well up within her as, with each passing second, her hold on time became more and more tenuous as the shadow ate away at the magical foundations of the world.
Archer was working his magic, the nebulous form of the new weapon shimmering in his hand. What emanated from weapon and smith this time felt different. It was powerful, without a doubt, insanely so. Yet at the same time it was maddeningly familiar on so many levels. Try as she might she wasn't able to shake the premonition that whatever was coming next would shake her to the core.
She needn't have wondered; the recognition hit her like a gut punch.
No. No. No loop of logic was supposed to allow this to happen. Strange men with strange magic powers who made witch barriers and stayed sane did not run around brandishing bows they weren't supposed to be holding. But it didn't matter; In her mind, she was already seizing him by the shoulders, questioning, demanding. He knew, there could be no mistake, and she would be damned if she let him go before she could make the words fall from him like leaves.
Her battle-hardened instincts kicked in. She snapped back to reality, the only sign of her mental misstep an involuntary vicegrip on his arm. Not that it mattered. Wherever his consciousness was, it was far away from this fight. Veins branched across his forehead; she could literally see them pulsing in his efforts to keep the incredible power she felt before her under control.
Three-pronged rosewood spread from the bow. His grip tightened as he pulled on it, stance rigid as she felt the incredible power within him find focus. The glyph that drew itself before them was different. What she remembered as perfect, geometric lines were now riddled with jagged edges and cracks, even broken in some places. It was like he had called on the magic through brute force. A grunt tore its way from Archer's throat as he heaved with all his might. Homura, now moving as though on autopilot, rescinded her magic; the misshapen pink cluster flew into the symbol. Unconstrained, the shadow reared like a pitch tsunami that dwarfed them both. Yet, the blazing light from Archer's attack cut through the darkness, day to the night of the enemy. .
In that instant, it was like she had never allowed time to flow at all.
Then the glyph exploded.
Archer's arm was wrenched out of Homura's grip through sheer force, as both were sent flying. With the last of his strength, he leapt after her in the wake of the blast, wrapping his arms around her. He shielded her with his body, bracing for impact at the sight of the rapidly approaching ground. The last thing he heard before blacking out was the sound of breaking glass.
Only Mami was left as Archer and Homura materialized out of thin air. A quick glance told her both were wounded; Archer bearing the brunt of the damage, Homura for her part looked visibly shaken. She rushed over, kneeling beside Archer's prone form to begin the healing. Her brow furrowed in worry as scanned him; the sheer number of injuries it revealed was sobering. That he was still hanging on to some semblance of life was a miracle in itself.
For Mami and Homura, the cleanup had been a standard procedure between the girls when they were still part of a group, with the two of them usually taking the lead. Mami spoke a few clipped words, directing Homura to other critical areas, while she focused on her own section. It was then she realized just how seriously Homura was in shock. The girl moved numbly, offering answers that bordered on stuttering to any of the questions she was asked. In a while, she might have been well enough to respond. Circumstances would not permit inaction however, as Mami felt her magic drain at an alarming rate.
"Akemi-san, I need your help; if we don't do anything this man is going to die!"
As though a trigger had been pulled, Homura snapped to attention, hands skittering across his injured body checking for the signs of the greatest damage. Mami did what she could, stealing glances at Homura out of the corner of her eye whenever she could, to giving directions on some of the simpler steps the normally meticulous girl seemed to have forgotten. Even so, both were barely able to complete the healing.
Mami ticked off the girls she knew - Kyouko, the Pheliades, a vague recollection of those two back in Kasamino. They were going to need all the help they could get. But that couldn't distract her from what, to her, was as clear as day.
She had failed. The thought grated on her as she let herself sink into a post-mortem of the battle. While she had never been outright complacent, she had been able to handle herself and her companions in a fight for the vast majority of her battles. The sheer margin by which she had been unable to mount a credible effort in the last two fights was sobering. Between the strongest person she knew, now as fragile as she had ever seen her, and the barely-breathing red knight, Mami quietly swore to herself that at the no matter what happened to them in the next battle, she would be there to save them.
Author Notes
Hi everyone, Skytracer here. Few important things I have to address now before we go any further. Firstly, apologies to all (I did say that this chapter was almost done in the one before) but I am glad it's finally up. Had to rewrite a goodly part of this because of what I do have in store for the ending so far. And then real life hit. Speaking of the ending…
The ending
This story has an ending on which I have a pretty good idea of (though it's still subject to revisions and hasn't been entirely fleshed out yet). There's something I have to address with this ending however. Up till now I've been trying to follow what's canon in the lore of the Nasuverse as best as I can. This will not be the case for the entire story and I will be taking a few liberties with some of the concepts, although I hope to do so in a way that is meaningful and in line of Urobuchi's approach in the Madokaverse. I understand that not everyone likes this, and want to give you guys fair warning. No love lost, I hope.
And of love, some of you might have noticed that I've taken the bit off from the story description that says no slash. Tracing Hope has come a ways since first being conceived, and I've decided that ruling out any romantic relationships from the onset is not going to help the story. Not to say that there will be romance in this story, but freeing up that option would result in a potentially better story, I believe. Apologies again if you feel strongly against this.
That's all for now, and thanks for sticking with me through this :)