Time stood still, and Mitakihara appeared frozen and grey. The people on the streets resembled statues holding umbrellas. Silence reigned except for the sound of two girls' footsteps.

Homura pulled Hitomi along, grinding her teeth as they cut a path through the unmoving rain. Just when she had thought things couldn't get any more complicated, reality reared its ugly head at her. The frustration of the past few days had been bad enough, with one issue after another popping up. Two other magical girls jumping Hitomi was the cherry on top of the problem sundae.

"H-Homura…" Hitomi had begun as they headed away from the port.

"Save it. We'll talk once we're well away from both of them."

With that, Hitomi quieted down and didn't try to speak up again.

Homura certainly wanted an explanation as to why Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura had suddenly attacked Hitomi. Still, she wasn't about to keep time stopped outside while the two of them held hands and chatted. She had already used a lot of magic in trying to get herself and Hitomi as far away as possible so that the other two magical girls couldn't catch up and fight some more (they clearly had no intentions of giving up). Homura had finally managed to lose their pursuers, but even that had been touch-and-go.

I underestimated Mami Tomoe. Who'd have thought she'd prove so difficult to elude?

Of course, who'd have thought she'd so eagerly attack a neophyte magical girl? And condone Kyouko Sakura doing so? It didn't make sense and had caught Homura completely off-guard.

Mami Tomoe, at least, wouldn't go after another magical girl for no reason. I had thought she'd be a good influence on Kyouko Sakura, but maybe I had it backward. Maybe instead, she's adopting Kyouko's philosophy towards conflict. Maybe something spooked them both. Or maybe it's a mix of things.

Whatever the reasons, they would have to wait.

After they fled the Mitakihara port, Homura and Hitomi made their way back through downtown. They then crossed one bridge that took them into a tree-lined residential neighborhood Homura was quite familiar with – Madoka's house lay one street over (hopefully, she returned home as Homura had told her to after Kyosuke Kamijou had run in to inform them that Hitomi was in trouble). Homura took a street that led away from Madoka's, however, circling back and crossing another bridge into a different ward some called a "lower" part of Mitakihara.

The footbridge crossed over a highway of unmoving cars and trucks. At the end of it, Homura finally restarted time. The rain immediately picked up again, drenching both her and Hitomi, and thunder sounded overhead. Some nearby pedestrians scrambled for cover.

"Come on. Let's get somewhere dry." Homura started down a side street at a fast pace. They had run so far away that even Mami Tomoe should have lost track of them, but Homura wasn't about to take any chances. The sooner they got inside, the better.

Hitomi said nothing and dutifully followed. They entered a neighborhood where the buildings were older and a bit more grim-looking than some other parts of the city. Here, the streets narrowed, and the wrought-iron lampposts that lined them glowed with a low light that felt more foreboding than comforting. At a y-intersection of two small streets, Homura stopped and looked at the aging apartment building in front of her. She noticed one of the upstairs residents peeking through the wooden slats in her window and watching Homura and Hitomi suspiciously.

Nothing to see here. Just a girl who had no family support to speak of and no other place to move to after the hospital released her. And also her 'friend,' in so much as you can call Hitomi that, who probably hasn't visited this part of town before.

Homura pushed open the large, heavy door and beckoned Hitomi inside.

They stepped into the large front room of an apartment with stark-white walls that served as a bright contrast to the dark day outside. On one side of the room, projectors hung that would render digital displays that Homura used for research on the far wall. Ordinarily, they showed information about various witches, especially Walpurgisnacht, but at the moment, Homura had them switched off. A series of curved cushioned benches circled their way around the room, with two others bisecting them. If viewed from above, they resembled a clock, a setup Homura had created on purpose.

"Where are we?" Hitomi asked, looking around. Her voice barely rose above a whisper.

"My apartment." Homura pointed at a bench. "Sit. Rest."

"O-Okay."

Homura stepped into her bedroom, a place she rarely spent much time. Sleep never came easy, and when it did, nightmares followed. She retrieved two fluffy purple towels from a drawer under her bed and stepped back into the apartment's front room.

"Here," Homura said, tossing one towel to Hitomi. "Dry yourself off."

As Hitomi patted her hair dry, Homura sat down across from her and did the same. "How are your wounds?"

Hitomi looked down at her legs. "They've healed."

"Good." Homura knew from experience that Mami Tomoe's bullets stung. They sat in silence for a few moments, the only noise being the steady pitter-patter of the rain outside. Homura tried to think of a way to begin, but Hitomi spoke up first.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are other magical girls so mean?" Hitomi's voice cracked as she spoke.

Homura said nothing, unable to think of an appropriate way to comfort her junior. Any attempt to console her with soft words would just feel empty. And she couldn't begin to imagine how she'd answer Hitomi's question anyway.

As Homura remained quiet, Hitomi continued on. "Even though you're my senior, you act like those two girls did sometimes too. Severe and unforgiving."

"I only do and say what's necessary. And we lead a severe and unforgiving life. On the day you contracted, we exchanged some words about being a magical girl. Do you recall them?"

"Yes, I do." Hitomi looked up at Homura, her eyes still red. "You told me that the wish and the contract are tricks. You said I didn't understand any of it. This is what you meant, isn't it? Being a magical girl isn't just getting your heart's desire and then a happy existence of helping people and saving them from witches."

"No. It isn't."

My junior has found herself threatened and stabbed by one magical girl, beaten and humiliated by a second, and shot by a third. She's getting some harsh lessons on just how bad the magical girl life is. And she still hasn't even hit the worst parts yet.

Hitomi's face scrunched up, and she pressed the towel to it. Homura studied her in silence for a moment, and it occurred to her that she didn't actually know much about Hitomi Shizuki personally. Homura briefly wondered how she'd take the toughest parts of being a magical girl – learning that her soul had been removed and changed into a gem and also that she might very well become one of the witches she fought against.

They didn't have time to deal with all that, however, nor was a topic Homura wanted to broach. She returned to the matter at hand.

"Listen," she said. "I need to know what all happened. I know you didn't provoke those girls, so why did they attack you? Did they say anything about their motivations?"

"I…they…"

"Yes?"

Hitomi tried to speak but instead just started stammering and crying again. Homura caught a few coherent words as she choked out half-finished sentences – "Kyouko," "Kyubey," and "attack" – but didn't really get anything helpful. Hitomi's blubbering devolved in full-on weeping, and she pressed her face into the towel again.

Homura got up from her seat. She wasn't about to hug Hitomi or anything – that sort of action would feel uncomfortable for both of them and only make things worse. Madoka might have done so, but Homura didn't have her empathy or comfort with such physical displays. She stepped over into a small kitchen area, pulled a glass down from the cupboard, and filled it with water.

When she returned to the other room, Hitomi had set the towel down in her lap, sniffing and looking miserable. Homura stepped over and held out the glass of water to her.

"Here. Drink it."

"I'm not thirsty," Hitomi said, shaking her head.

Homura thrust the glass of water at her again. "Drink it."

Her tone came out a little sharper than she had meant. Hitomi looked up at her with her lip quivering. Her shaky hand took the glass, and she gulped the water down. As she set the empty glass down on the table, Homura remained next to her.

"Feel any better?"

Hitomi rested her hands in her lap, looked down, and sniffed again, tears still trickling down her cheeks. "No."

I swear, give me one iteration of this month where I don't have to deal with moody or argumentative magical girls. Just one.

Homura recalled a timeline where she had talked Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura into a shaky truce and convinced them to work with her against Walpurgisnacht. She had invited them here to plan, and they had sat in the seat Hitomi occupied now. No planning took place, however. The other two girls spent the entire time shooting dirty looks at each other and swapping heated words, each one blaming the other for Sayaka Miki's woes. At some point, Kyubey had arrived, announcing that Sayaka was in trouble, and they both set off to help.

Neither girl returned, however. Homura ended up defeating Sayaka's witch herself, and that timeline had concluded in failure, just like every other.

And if I allow Hitomi to continue to mope over her loss and the difficulties she's encountered, she'll end up as a witch too. If I do nothing, nothing will change, and unlike how things usually go with Sayaka, I can make a difference here. Time to take charge as her senior magical girl.

Without another word, Homura grabbed Hitomi's arm and yanked her to her feet. "You've cried enough. Come on. We're leaving."

"W-What?" Hitomi asked. "But we just got here. Where are we going?"

"We're going to Kazamino," Homura declared as she dragged Hitomi to the door. She turned to her junior. "In roughly ten days, a powerful witch named Walpurgisnacht will attack Mitakihara and leave the city in ruins if we don't stop it. You need to toughen up before then. I can't have you sitting in here sobbing and feeling sorry for yourself while a witch wreaks havoc."

"I-I don't understand…"

"I'll explain more as the day gets closer. For now, just focus on getting better and keeping your head straight and your soul gem cleansed."

"Okay…why are we going to Kazamino, then?"

"We're going to go find a witch so you can fight it." Homura knew of one that should pop up that evening.

"And we have to…right now?"

"Yes. As today has shown, you need more practice, and the only way you'll get it is by battling witches and familiars." Homura paused. "Or you can train against me. That'll be much harder and more painful, I promise you. You think those two magical girls you went up against today were unforgiving? You have no idea."

Homura had tried this stern military-style type of speech on Sayaka Miki in a few other timelines when she had hit her lowest points. It never accomplished anything, however, and Sayaka would remain a sluggish lump. She never responded even when Homura struck her or threatened to kill her. When despair overtook her, she gave up on everything.

Thankfully, Homura's words worked on Hitomi. She took a deep breath and pulled her arm from Homura's grasp. The look of misery she wore faded.

"As you say, then, Homura. I will do my best. Let's head off to Kazamino."

It's like night and day. Maybe she just needed to get all that out of her system. Or maybe my junior has a little more mental fortitude than I gave her credit for. And now I understand better how to deal with her appropriately.

They stepped back outside into the pouring rain. Homura retrieved two umbrellas from a stand by her door and handed one to Hitomi. They made their way to the nearest bus stop (which, thankfully, had a roof) and waited patiently for a bus that went to Kazamino.

Homura felt reasonably certain no other magical would come after this witch they'd hunt. Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura remained in Mitakihara (possible out looking for Homura and Hitomi, but this would help ensure they'd be harder to find). Homura doubted Anzu Anzai would venture out so far either.

If we run into any of them, however, that's fine too. I'll deal with them appropriately and keep them from harming Hitomi any further.

She didn't like having to fight Mami or Kyouko, but she had done so in previous timelines and would again if forced to. However, she didn't want them as enemies and still hoped she could find some way to get them on her side. She pictured both of them in her mind and tried to mentally compile everything she knew about them, how they would likely respond to things, and what the best way to proceed might be, taking into account the afternoon's events.

"Homura?"

"Hmmm?" Homura looked over at her Hitomi, hoping she had calmed enough to talk without crying. Her face looked contemplative.

"That older magical girl and her friend…"

"What about them?" Homura knew Hitomi hadn't learned to read minds but probably figured Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura occupied Homura's thoughts as well.

Hitomi studied her. "You were going to ask them to help fight this Walpurgisnacht witch, weren't you?"

My junior once again shows that she's keen and observant when she wants to be.

"Among other things," Homura said.

"And, given your earlier words, I assume you want me to help as well."

"That is my hope for you, yes."

"Then I'll do my best to prepare and live up to your expectations." Hitomi paused. "Are you going to request the same of Anzu Anzai?"

"No."

"I can understand why. She's hurt people, hasn't she? Other than me, I mean."

"She has," said Homura, wondering if Hitomi's apparent skill at figuring things out might come in handy later. Mami Tomoe usually displayed a reasonable degree of cleverness, but working with her brought other issues to the table.

"Ugh." Hitomi frowned. "Won't she make more trouble if everyone else is focused on something else?"

"When an appropriate opportunity presents itself, I will deal with her."

"Can you do so before she becomes a major problem?"

"She's already a major problem, but she's still one I can solve, one way or another."

"I trust you, but aren't you simply making an assumption there?" Hitomi asked. "You told me that older girl and her friend wouldn't bother us unless we attacked them first, yet look at what happened."

"Welcome to your next magical girl lesson," said Homura, irked at Hitomi's stinging words being correct, but not willing to start an argument over it. "Even when you're experienced, plans can still go awry, and situations you thought you accounted for can bend in unpredictable ways. Just like witches and familiars."

"At least now, I know not always to expect things to go smoothly and to prepare to surmount any sudden obstacles." Hitomi took a deep breath. "Those girls insisted that going after me was payback for attacks against them and Kyubey. They told me to warn you against trying anything else."

"I see."

So that's what spurred them into action. I know well enough who attacked Kyubey, but what about Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura? Well, only one person around here could actually pose enough of a threat to them that they would retaliate against an uninvolved third party.

Homura pictured Anzu Anzai, the cause of so much trouble and death, in her mind. Had she attacked them? Homura knew she and Kyouko Sakura didn't get along. But even if they had fought, it still didn't make sense that they'd go after Hitomi.

Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura must have become convinced that it will turn into an all-out conflict between the magical girls in Mitakihara. Or that we've already reached that point. I need to make peace with them before things get worse.

"Do you still think we can reason with them?" asked Hitomi, interrupting Homura's thoughts.

"I hope so, but I haven't quite figured out how," Homura admitted. "Things have gotten more complicated now. And time is short."

"If this Walpurgisnacht witch is as powerful and destructive as you imply and its arrival is imminent…well, surely they wouldn't want to see the city in ruins either, right?"

Hitomi had hit upon something, Homura realized. Anzu probably wouldn't care about the city, but Mami definitely would and likely Kyouko too. Perhaps Homura needed to approach things from that angle, wave the white flag, and pitch the idea of all of four of them fighting Walpurgisnacht together.

"Perhaps," Homura said.

"Convincing them to work alongside us will be difficult if they keep attacking us. Do you want me to do anything here?"

"Not yet. Just continue on as you have. Don't confront them, and avoid them as best you can." Homura thought about it some more. "You have my phone number. Contact me if you run into trouble, and I'm not around."

"True. Speaking of which, I ought to message Kamijou-kun and let him know that I'm safe."

"I told him I would ensure you were alright."

"I don't doubt that, but he needs to hear it from me."

"As you say."

Hitomi took out her phone and tapped the screen some. Shortly after she finished whatever message she sent off, the bus arrived. They boarded and rode in silence, quite a different experience from two days prior when Hitomi constantly attempted to keep Homura chatting about romance. Hitomi kept her hands in her lap, and her eyes fixed on the digital display that showed the bus route, her expression remaining as blank as Homura's.

She was looking forward to her date today. She talked about it so much that she upset Sayaka. And then two hostile magical girls ended it early. Well, all that aside, I'd rather be spending time with Madoka than going out on a rainy night to hunt witches, but we don't always get the things we want in life. And that goes double for magical girls, ironically.

Homura leaned back, trying not to let thoughts on all her problems race too freely in her mind. By the time the bus reached their destination in Kazamino, the sun had started to set, and the sky, already a deep, dark grey, turned black. The rain continued to fall with an occasional rumble of thunder sounding. As they followed their soul gem through the wet streets, Homura noted that Kyouko Sakura's church stood only a few blocks away.

Not that she'd be there right now, anyway. Unless she and Mami Tomoe are out hunting witches, they've surely headed home. Has Kyouko Sakura abandoned that place entirely during this particular cycle? I wonder.

Homura held her own soul gem out this time, just as Hitomi did. She had a rough idea of where this witch would be – there were only a few places it ended up across different timelines. She could have simply had Hitomi find it, but she didn't want to be out in the rain all night tracking down a witch. She and Hitomi made only the bare minimum conversation as they trekked through the mostly empty and dark streets of Kazamino.

Their search led them to a closed-down hotel. Homura knew this place – the witch they hunted had come here in a few previous cycles. In others, it haunted shops or parks, and in one, it had even taken up residence inside the Sakura church (Homura had watched silently while Kyouko Sakura cut it down).

Homura stopped in front of it, looking up at its darkened windows. She knew the front door had a heavy lock, but she had procured the key from an earlier timeline. With a little work, she unlocked the hotel's front door, and it creaked as she pushed it open.

Like something out of a horror movie. How appropriate.

She stepped into a dim, dusty lobby, a place that clearly no one had visited in a long time. The streetlamps shined in from the outside, casting strange shadows on the walls, with an occasional flash of lightning lighting the whole place up. A portal floated in the air in the middle of the lobby, giving off a strange white glow.

"Kyubey made no move to help me when those two girls attacked today," Hitomi remarked as she followed Homura in and shut the door behind them. Its automatic lock clicked loudly.

Hitomi's words didn't surprise Homura. "I warned you not to listen to that thing."

"Yes, I truly see why now." Hitomi closed her umbrella. "Did you attack him? Or the others?"

"Kyubey, yes. Mami Tomoe and Kyouko Sakura, no."

"Why did you go after Kyubey?"

I'm not used to working with a magical girl who asks me so many questions. Kyouko Sakura is rarely this inquisitive when she and I work together.

Homura said nothing and approached the portal, focusing on the strange dark symbols that circled, symbols that didn't mean anything at all. She suddenly wished she was anywhere else but with Hitomi Shizuki in this empty hotel getting ready to enter a labyrinth. She thought of Madoka again, Madoka standing by the fountain and looking up at her. Madoka kissing her and holding her hand. Madoka leading her patiently through the school hallways as Homura fretted and worried about everything shortly after the two of them had met for the first time.

Madoka. Everything is for Madoka. She's why I have to keep fighting. Why I have to take measures sometimes that look drastic and extreme to others.

She should have figured that going after Kyubey would come back to cause her trouble. It always did. At the same time, she had no choice – oftentimes, she had no other way to keep that creature away from Madoka. And while Homura couldn't actually kill it, she could slow it down. As she pondered this, Hitomi came up behind her and repeated her question.

"You aren't the only one who's trying to keep someone else from making a contract," Homura answered with a heavy sigh.

Hitomi tilted her head. "I take it you refer to Madoka?"

My junior really is much too perceptive for her own good, but I suppose the reasoning behind my actions was kind of obvious.

"Yes."

"I see. I can understand why you'd want to keep her from taking on the job you and I have. When it comes down to it, I don't want to see Madoka injured either. Or Sayaka, for that matter."

"I would hope not. You've made things tense enough with Sayaka as it is."

Hitomi gave her a hurt look. "You're being a bit unfair, Homura, don't you think?"

"I warned you that hurt feelings or worse might arise based on your actions. I hope you haven't forgotten already."

And feelings have already been hurt, even if Sayaka doesn't show her wounds so readily when she's a normal human.

Sayaka had begun isolating herself from the little group of friends Homura had formed, especially when Hitomi was around. She had even abandoned them during lunch earlier that day, storming off to eat wherever. Hitomi had barely reacted at all. Sayaka's jealousy over Hitomi's relationship with Kyosuke Kamijou made Homura more and more uneasy. It also made her ripe for manipulation from Kyubey.

"There's not really much I can do," Hitomi said. "I can't control how Sayaka feels. I feel bad, but I'm sure she'll cope somehow. She's hardly the first girl to have ever suffered heartache."

"How dismissive of you."

But why shouldn't you feel that way? You got what you truly wanted, after all. Few magical girls do, no matter what Kyubey might say.

"You're right," Hitomi said. I don't mean it to sound like that. I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to. You and Sayaka will need to resolve this issue somehow."

"Perhaps what she needs is some time. They say it heals all wounds."

"They" couldn't be more wrong.

"Perhaps. But in the meantime, I don't want you and her fighting. You don't want that either. Remember why?" Homura hoped another reminder of the possibility of Sayaka making a wish for Kyosuke Kamijou's heart would convince her junior to watch her words and actions more carefully and head off any more potential trouble.

Hitomi glanced over at Homura again, her mouth a thin line. She said nothing.

Homura sighed. "One problem at a time, I guess. Come on, let's go."

They both transformed. Homura stepped through the portal with Hitomi right behind her.

A vast, snowy field replaced the dim ballroom. An ugly, bruised-colored sky hung overhead and stretched in all directions. A rocky trail wound its way through the snow, leading downward to a frozen lake in the far distance. A biting wind blew through the air, sending snow flying and ruffling their skirts and hair.

"Oh, my," Hitomi said, her breath misting in the cold air. She shivered and hugged herself. "It's as though winter has returned. But it's not real, right?"

Homura nodded. "Correct. And with some practice, so you can block out the cold and any other sort of pain or discomfort."

"I see. That would have some advantages."

"Yes, but it has drawbacks too. So, let's not have you work on that until you have a little more experience."

Homura knew overuse of that technique would slow down reactions and sometimes send one dangerously close to the line separating a magical girl and a witch (if not over it entirely). Homura used it herself some but only when necessary.

They made their way down the icy, treacherous path, taking care not to slip and tumble down. As they got lower, poisonwood trees dotted the landscape on both sides of them. Dead, rotting bodies hung by their necks from the tree branches, knives sticking out of their backs. Frost and snow coated them as though they had been hanging for some time. Their stomachs had split open, with entrails dangling out from a few of them.

Hitomi shivered as she looked at the frozen corpses. "This is all so unsettling."

Noticing her glance, one of the corpses opened its eyes and spat up a stream of large silver coins at them. Hitomi shrieked, and Homura immediately stopped time. She pulled Hitomi forward, then restarted time again. The heavy coins hit the ice behind them with a series of loud plinks.

"Don't look at the hanging familiars," Homura warned her. "They can't move, but if they notice you, they'll try to attack like that."

"Ah, sorry. But I wish you had told me earlier."

"You're right. I should give you a little more information about this place." Homura rubbed her chin. "In the center of the labyrinth, where the witch is, we'll find more familiars frozen in ice. You don't have to worry about them. They won't try to fight you. The witch is near them, and I'm not sure it can attack either, come to think of it."

"I thought the point in coming here was to practice fighting."

"It is," Homura said. "This witch has a very strong familiar that guards it, and to get at the witch, you'll have to battle it."

You can't just stop time and kill everything, after all.

Hitomi took a deep breath. "Okay, what sort of familiar is this guardian? What should I expect?"

"It's a giant beast with three faces. That means three mouths and lots of sharp teeth. So, don't let it eat you or bite off any vital body part, like your head."

"I'll try not to. Do you have any specific advice for dealing with it?"

"Pace yourself. It'll take a lot of hits for that thing to go down." Homura remembered an early timeline where she had fought that thing and had absolutely riddled it with bullets before it finally stopped moving. "Use your strengths. Hit it with your staff. Fire magic at it. If I start to think you're in trouble, I'll intervene, but I'd prefer to let you do this on your own. You won't get better if I keep stepping in."

Hitomi looked down. "You saved me already once today. I don't want to make you do it twice."

"Then don't make me. And while we're at it, try not to brood over what happened earlier. Focus on the fight in front of you. Okay?"

"Okay." Hitomi straightened up and marched ahead of Homura down the treacherous path to the frozen lake below. She kept her eyes facing forward, and Homura did the same, doing her best not to catch the attention of any more of the hanging familiars.

The path continued to slope downward and grew less steep as they neared the bottom. Finally, it opened up to a massive frozen lake with small cracks running over its surface here and there. Statues of ice dotted the lake with what looked like people frozen inside (though Homura knew from previous experience that they only vaguely resembled people and lacked defining features like eyes and mouths).

High above the lake, a golden cage with no bottom floated in the air. A fat pink bird with a hooked beak hung from the cage ceiling, a noose tight around its neck. Its red eyes bulged out. It swung back and forth slowly but looked to otherwise be dead. A string of strange runes flashed in the air just below the cage. Homura knew what they said.

Cordelia. The witch's name for whatever reason.

"Get ready," Homura said to Hitomi. "As soon as you go out onto that ice, the familiar will come at you."

Hitomi nodded, held her staff at the ready, and carefully stepped onto the frozen surface of the lake, maintaining her footing and not slipping.

Good. Hopefully, she'll keep that up.

As Hitomi neared the center, the ice cracked open, and a gigantic four-legged beast climbed out of the chilly waters below. It most closely resembled a lion, but a strange, twisted one with bat-like wings on its back and a tail that ended in a sharp stinger. Its large head had three faces on it, each of them with beady eyes that darted all around. It lowered its head, snatched up one of the frozen familiars, and started chewing, sending specks of ice and frozen flesh everywhere. The other two faces growled menacingly.

Hitomi lunged forward, firing magic bolts from her staff at the beast's head and hitting one of its faces right in the eyes. It bellowed in anger and swiped one of its large claws at Hitomi, sending her flying backward. Hitomi recovered, however, and fired more bolts at it. It countered by driving its spiked tail at her. She dodged again, but too slowly, and the stinger scraped her arm, leaving a long bloody slash.

Undeterred, Hitomi charged back in. With two swings of her staff, she struck the beast in both of its front legs, breaking them at the kneecaps (a move, Homura noted, that looked familiar to one Kyouko Sakura often employed). Hobbled, the creature fell onto the ice. It stretched out its head as far as it could and snapped at her, but Hitomi leaped back out of the range of its teeth.

Hitomi pointed her staff at the ice and fired off a series of bolts, cracking the ice all around the fallen familiar. The frozen lake surface split apart, and the beast plunged into the water. Its head surfaced, and it paddled its wounded legs in an attempt to free itself, but Hitomi fired off a large shot at its head, forcing it back down. It roared in anger as it dropped back below and vanished.

Wasting no time, Hitomi aimed her staff upward and fired another magical shot. This one severed the rope that the witch hung on. The giant bird fell from its cage and into the hole Hitomi had cut, icy water rising up in a large splash. It gave only one feeble caw as it slowly sank into the depths and drowned.

From the far side of the lake, Homura found herself surprisingly pleased by this outcome.

Well, what do you know? She can improve. Is that due to my teaching or simply gaining more experience? Probably the latter. Nobody would mistake me for a great mentor.

"I did it!" Hitomi declared, running up to Homura and smiling. The wound on her arm had already mended some.

"You did," Homura said. "Well-done. You've progressed even since the last witch. Your method of using the environment to take out the large familiar and the witch was clever."

"I've tried to learn from each encounter, even the ones that didn't go well. Especially those, really."

Homura nodded. Those were the best ones to pick up lessons from. Failure could teach one far more than success, provided the failure wasn't fatal.

And I've had my share of screw-ups. You'd think I'd be the wisest girl in the world.

The barrier had faded around them. A grief seed fell through the air, and Hitomi caught it. She offered it to Homura, who accepted it this time (Hitomi, thankfully, had two spares). They were about to head back out when Homura looked down and immediately noticed something was amiss.

"Wait," she said, holding out her hand in front of Hitomi. "Don't move."

A series of wet, muddy footprints dotted the carpeted floor. They led directly to where the portal into the witch's labyrinth had been and then back around to the front door again. And someone had forced that door open; part of its frame had bent.

Someone had come here while Homura and Hitomi had been busy dealing with the witch. And they had clearly spotted the entryway into the barrier. Only a magical girl could have done so. The witch could have summoned a victim, sure, but it wouldn't have allowed them to leave.

Homura reached into her shield and retrieved a flashlight, a heavy, cumbersome thing that one could use as a weapon in a pinch. She switched it on, and its light was almost blinding in the dim room. She shined it in front of her and knelt to study the footprints on the carpet.

Small bits of melting snow flecked the departing footprints, but not the ones coming toward the portal. Whoever left them had entered the witch's labyrinth. They also had small feet, certainly smaller than Mami Tomoe's or Kyouko Sakura's. And neither of them would have come alone anyway. Unless another anomalous magical girl had appeared – which Homura doubted – only one suspect remained.

"Anzu Anzai," Homura muttered, reflecting that she had been wrong about Anzu coming out here.

Hitomi looked alarmed. "Anzai-san was here? But we didn't see her."

"She's good at hiding herself," Homura said.

Homura turned back to the footprints and studied them some more. They didn't follow the pattern of someone walking normally, and some of them stuck out in strange angles.

Her right foot turned awkwardly and dragged, and she was favoring her left leg. She limped through here. Did she get hurt somewhere? Did she hop into the barrier and then immediately exit? Why would she abandon the witch to Hitomi and me? If she intended that, why even bother coming here in the first place?

It all made Homura uneasy. She doubted Anzu would have fled in fear of the witch. Had Homura managed to frighten her from their previous two encounters, enough that she'd see Homura inside a labyrinth and immediately run? Homura had scared magical girls before, after all.

And had something wounded Anzu? Magical girls could heal through almost any physical injury, so her limping around didn't make any sense. At the same time, Homura couldn't think of any other explanation for the strange way Anzu had walked.

I doubt she's clever enough to try and mess up her tracks.

"Come on," Homura said, standing back up. "Let's head outside and see if we can spot something."

They followed the footprints back to the front door. Homura threw it open, but only a wet and empty street greeted her. She stared into the dark, dreary night, listening to the rainfall and ruminating on her enemy.

I've followed Sayaka, Madoka, and Kyouko through this rain before, and I know where they usually go. What about you, Anzu Anzai? Where did you stagger off to? And what are you after now?

"It looks like though we won't be able to follow her," Hitomi commented.

"I'm still of a mind to search some. She can't have gone too far."

Not if her leg's injured, anyway. And given that, maybe I'll have an easier time catching her and ending her once and for all.

Homura turned to Hitomi. "I won't force you to come. It will be dangerous, perhaps even deadly, if we manage to find her."

Hitomi shifted uncomfortably then straightened her back. "So be it. It will be scary, but some things we simply have to do, regardless of whether we'd like to or not, don't we?"

Homura nodded, thinking of the many actions she'd taken that she wished she could have avoided.

"Then lead the way, Homura."

My junior is learning.

With that, the two of them raised their umbrellas and set off.

Author's note: This is gonna be a long note. If you're not interested in the trivia about how I thought up the witch in this chapter, feel free to skip it.

The witch Hitomi fought is named after Cordelia, a character in the Shakespeare play King Lear. If you're unfamiliar with the story, Cordelia is a princess who refuses to pile undue flattery on her father, and he disinherits her. A lot of bad things happen to Lear (and Cordelia), but he's later reunited with Cordelia (who ends up marrying the King of France), but both he and Cordelia are imprisoned. A traitor named Edmund orchestrates Lear and Cordelia's execution, and Cordelia is later hanged.

The witch's appearance is partly inspired by a line from Lear to Cordelia late in the play:

"Come, let's away to prison;

We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage."

The witch's exact form is a dodo, an extinct bird that shows up in a few literary works, most famously Alice in Wonderland. Chubby birds, they were considered to be clumsy and dull-witted. They probably weren't stupid, but that's where the "dodo" insult comes from. Also, there's the phrase "go the way of the dodo," which references the bird.

The witch's guardian familiar is a reference to Satan as he appears in Dante's Inferno. In that work, the bottom circle of Hell is reserved for the worst sinners of all: the traitors. Dante describes it as a cold place, where folks who committed betrayal are frozen and punished. At the center, Satan (the lowest traitor for his treachery against God) is stuck in a giant lake of ice. He has three mouths and eternally chews on and torments the worst mortal traitors: Judas Iscariot, Gaius Cassius, and Marcus Brutus, one in each mouth (Om nom nom).

Speaking of Judas Iscariot, the familiars spitting up silver coins is a reference to the thirty pieces of silver he accepted as payment for his betrayal of Christ. According to the Gospel of Matthew, he hanged himself.

Given all that, you can probably draw a few conclusions about the magical girl who became the witch Cordelia.

Phew. This was another chapter I had to split up due to lengthiness. We'll stay on with Homura next chapter and the one after that as well.