Tonight was going to be a good night. At least, in Ren's opinion, it was. With Kyoko finally on their side, they were ready to make some actual headway into the palace. Ren was curious to see what they'd find, given he'd only heard most of their information about the Magical Girl's world secondhand. Now was a chance to delve into the psyche of someone who had lived their life there. But more than that, this was going to be a critical heart to steal for other reasons. Namely, this would likely be their first long-overdue chance to actually prove their justice to the world. The situation being publicly known had been rocky up to this point to say the least. Their first attempt had been overshadowed by the name they shared with the pirates, and their second attempt had ended in disaster. Now they had a chance to properly steal a heart and show the fruit it bore.

"Yo."

Kyoko greeted him at the door to his hut, a fiery resolve hidden behind her eyes. She was dead-set on helping them at this point, so much so that she'd actually proposed they jump right back in tonight. Ren smiled.

"Still dead set on joining us?"

"Of course I am! Why do you think I asked you guys?"

"Just making sure, that's all." Ren turned to his other teammates. "How are you guys feeling for tonight?"

"Driving all the way to the palace is gonna kill my feet…" Morgana complained. "I'm gonna have back problems if we don't find a safe room to warp into."

"Wait, you'll be a car," Kyoko pointed out. "How does that even work?"

"Don't think to hard about it," Morgana casually replied.

"Hm…" Kyoko clearly disregarded his piece of advice. "Oh yeah, what's a safe room?"

"They're places inside the palace where the ruler's distortions have a weaker hold," Anya explained. "We can warp straight into one if we find any."

"Is that how you get around Babel so quickly?" Kyoko asked. "I never saw anything like that in there…"

"It's possible you were in one and just didn't realize it." Ren pointed out. "It can easily be mistaken for metaverse weirdness if you don't know what they are."

"Come to think of it-"

Kyoko was cut off by Ryuji barging in through the door. "Alright, let's do this!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"You said it! Anya!"

By now, heading into the metaverse was starting to feel downright ordinary to Ren, like something out of a videogame. That didn't mean it was actually anything ordinary, but it was still getting downright mundane. Perhaps Ren was a little selfish for wanting his sense of wonder to never fade, but that was besides the point. In any case, they arrived in the metaverse without any issues. After waiting for Yusuke and Futaba to arrive, and one very long car ride all the way to the palace, they were finally there.

"…Are we just gonna head on in?" Kyoko asked.

"Let's find some other way. We got ambushed when we tried that path last time, remember?" Ren asked.

"…Good point."

"Hey," Ryuji started. "Doesn't she need a codename?"

"No," Kyoko sighed, a tad annoyed. "I came here to help my friend, not to engage in your stupid roleplaying shit. I'm taking this seriously, got it?"

"But having a codename is being serious!" Ryuji pleaded. "C'mon-"

"No."

"…Let's not argue over this," Ren interjected.

Heading on, they eventually found themselves near another door on the other side of the palace. This one looked sufficiently abandoned, so getting ambushed again seemed unlikely. Still, they had to be careful when they entered, lest they be wrong about that. Fortunately, they seemed to be more or less right. This time, they found themselves in what appeared to be a band room. There was a lone shadow in the center, which seemed to be barely unable to see them from around cover.

"Alright, let's make this quick-"

Without much more prompting, Kyoko leaped directly at the shadow, and engulfed it in flames with an Agidyne. In an instant, the shadow was down. Evidently, it was vulnerable to fire. "Take that! Yeah!"

"The newbie's earning her keep, sheesh…" Futaba commented. "You go girl…"

"…Alright." Ren was a little shook at the power of her persona. It was certainly well above average for a persona of it's type. "The second time's much easier, right?"

"Yeah…" Kyoko agreed. "It feels a lot more natural now…"

"Great to hear. Let's keep moving, yeah?"

Ren immediately decided to investigate the band room they'd ended up in. Besides the obvious layout of the room, there was a few more details of note. For starters, the band room looked like it was specifically for a school, complete with a blackboard. On the board were a few childish drawings of what appeared to be Kyubey, as well as a few other individuals Ren didn't recognize right away. Scattered around the room were more CDs, which looked to be a running trend at this point. How were CDs a factor in her cognitive distortions? Ren wondered. He went over to pick one up, and noticed that it's design was themed after what appeared to be giftwrap. He placed it back down and headed over to the far door. Opening it, he could see that they were in a much larger room, with Shadows prowling about. Right next to them was a ladder which appeared to lead to some overhangs lining the ceiling. Perfect for sneaking across. Ren hurried on up, and they explored around them for a while. Eventually, he found a few doors. One of them felt a little odd. Jackpot, Ren thought.

"Hey, Morgana?"

"Yeah, Ren?" Morgana replied, with a noticeable disappointment in his voice.

"Remember what you were saying earlier about having to drive every time we entered?"

"Oh, you think this is a safe room?" Morgana looked excited. It seems driving that distance took a toll on him

"Sure is!" Ren opened the door, only to be greeted by an unusual flash of white. It didn't take long for Ren to realize what he'd actually stumbled into, however. How could he forget about these?

Today was a rather ordinary day for Sayaka. She was walking along to school with her friend Hitomi, and was waiting for Madoka. Then, they could head off to school like thy always did. It took forever today, but eventually, Madoka showed up.

"Good Morning!" She said cheerfully.

"Good Morning." Hitomi responded.

"Madoka, you're late!" Sayaka pointed out, annoyed. "Oh, those are some cute ribbons!"

"Really? You, uh, don't think I'll stand out to much, will you?"

"They're very nice." Hitomi replied, dodging the question.

The three of them rather playfully walked to school together, discussing matters of boys, ribbons, and being popular. By all accounts, it was a pretty normal life. Eventually, after Sayaka had mockingly said that Madoka needed to be 'punished' for 'learning the secrets to being popular' and jokingly demanding that she be her wife, they were interrupted by Hitomi, who was fed up with this tomfoolery, with a throat-clearing. They'd arrived at school. They dispersed into homeroom, where their ever-so-bizzare teacher was giving a lecture on how cooked a sunny-side-up egg needed to be.

"You girls out there! Don't you dare associate yourselves with a man who can't eat a sunny-side up that isn't fully cooked! Do I make myself clear?" The woman seemed oddly passionate about this topic.

"It didn't work out, huh?" Sayaka asked.

"Yeah, it didn't." Madoka replied. The level of barely-disguised marriage troubles was apparent. Someone needed couples' therapy.

The teacher dropped the passionate act. "Also, I'd like to introduce you all to a new transfer student that'll be joining us today! Okay, Akemi, come in!"

The rather dramatic entrance of the transfer student with long, black hair caught the attention of the whole class. Immediately, there were comments from the class about her looks. She seemed weirdly unbothered by it, however. It was at this moment that Madoka uttered something strange.

"No way… She can't be.."

"Okay, introduce yourself!" The teacher proclaimed.

"My name is Akemi Homura. Nice to meet you all." Homura said this with a monotone voice that did nothing but give her a 'mysterious' aura. The type she might receive in an anime or manga. She only amplified this feeling by stopping the teacher when she tried to write her name down on the board to write it down herself. She then stared directly at Madoka for some reason. Not long after the students got a brief reprieve before classes started for the day, she was mobbed with a flood of questions from the people around her. Sayaka, Hitomi, and Madoka watched on, having their own little discussion.

"Akemi has a kind of mysterious aura about her." Hitomi noted, stating the obvious.

"Madoka," Sayaka started. "Do you know her? She was staring at you weird.

Homura then excused herself from her little mob, wanting to go to the nurses' office. To this end, she decided to ask 'the person in charge.'

"Kaname Madoka. You're the health officer for the class, right?"

"I…"

"Could you take me to the nurses' office?"

With that, the two of them left, leaving Sayaka and Hitomi alone. They talked for only a little while longer before classes properly started for the day. The whole day, it looked like Homura was some kind of gifted child. She excelled in all areas of track and field, math, literature, the works. Eventually, after school, Sayaka, Makoda, and Hitomi met up at a local café. Seemingly inevitably, the topic turned to Homura.

"Seriously!" Sayaka complained. "She's not just a pretty girl! She some kind of nut! How good of an impression do you have to make on people?"

"Madoka," Hitomi asked. "Is this really your first time meeting her?"

"I guess so…" Madoka stated.

"You guess?" Sayaka pressed. "What, is there a weird reason the answer would be no?"

"…I think I met her in a dream."

Sayaka and Hitomi burst out laughing.

"That's great!" Sayaka exclaimed, laughing. "You want attention, or what?"

"I'm serious! It's been eating up my mind all day!"

They went back and forth about the subject for a while, before eventually Hitomi had to leave for some kind of high-class ceremony, so Sayaka and Madoka agreed to head off to the CD Store. They listened to CDs for a while, until Sayaka found one she wanted to show to her friend Kamijo. Or at least, they were friends officially. Sayaka was trying to get closer to him. Suddenly, Madoka walked off somewhere. Sayaka didn't really know where, so she didn't mind at first, but it started to bother her, so she went to check up on her. She found something truly bizarre. Homura was standing over her, wearing a bizarre outfit, and Madoka was holding what appeared to be a hurt stray animal. Sayaka grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and aimlessly sprayed it at Homura.

"Madoka, this way!"

"Sayaka!"

"What in the world is she doing? Attacking people while cosplaying?" Sayaka looked down at the thing Madoka was holding. "What is that? It's not a doll, is it? Is it alive?"

"I-I don't know! But…" Madoka looked down at the creature. "I need to save him!"

Suddenly, reality seemed to go weirdly loopy around them. It melted and shifted in strange ways, and quickly, they were somewhere else.

"Huh? Where's the emergency exit?" Sayaka asked. "Where are we?"

"W-what is this place?" Madoka asked in equal confusion. "Everything keeps changing!"

"Darn it! What's going on?"

"S-something's coming!"

Suddenly, weird creatures started emerging. They looked like creepy marshmallows with mustaches, and they circled around the two of them, seemingly with the intent to attack. It looked like they were in serious danger. Scissors started popping out of their eyes, as they came closer and closer. Suddenly, a blast of yellow light drove them away.

"That was pretty close, but it's all good now. You saved Kyubey, didn't you? Thanks. He's a very important friend to me."

The girl with yellow hair and swirly pigtails that resembled ribbons approached them with a calmness that was almost unnerving.

"H-he called out to me…" Madoka replied. "I heard his voice in my mind."

"Hmm… I see. You guys are from Mitakihara too, right? We've got the same school uniforms."

"Who are you…?" Sayaka asked.

"Oh, I should introduce myself. But before that, I've got a little matter that needs taking care of."

She suddenly transformed, and easily dispatched of the strange monsters around them with a hail of bullets. It was the work of a few seconds. With that, reality faded back in, although it still didn't seem real. Suddenly, Homura was standing not too far away from them.

"The witch ran away," Their mysterious savior stated. "If you want to take it down, you'll need to give chase now. I'll let you have it."

"The witch isn't what I'm interested in."

"You don't seem to get it. I'm saying I'll let you go. I think we would both like to avoid an unnecessary struggle here."

After a long pause, Homura left without a word, but she seemed to have a pained expression on her face.

The yellow haired girl tended to the creature's wounds, who seemed to be grateful.

"Thank you, Mami. You're a lifesaver."

"Thank these two. I was just passing by."

The creature turned to Madoka and Sayaka. "Thank you very much! My name is Kyubey!"

"Were you the one calling to me?" Madoka asked.

"That's right, Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka!"

"Uh, why do you know our names?" Sayaka asked, bewildered.

"I came to ask you two for help. I want the two of you to form a contract with me and become Magical Girls!"

This is some kind of crazy dream, right? Sayaka thought. This doesn't seem real…

Afterwards, Mami brought to two of them to her apartment.

"I live alone, so please, make yourselves at home! Although I didn't have time to prepare for guests…"

After sitting them down with some food, Mami addressed the two of them more formally.

"Since you're now chosen by Kyubey, all of this is your problem as well." Her tone was calm and kind, but very serious. "An explanation is in order, no?"

She took out a pretty-looking yellow gem. "This is a soul gem. It's a gem created by the girls that are chosen by Kyukey, born of their contract. It's their identification, as well as the source of their power."

"What do you mean by contract?" Sayaka asked.

"I'll grant you a single wish," Kyubey explained. "Anything you want. No matter what, I can make it happen. In exchange, a soul gem is born. Those that receive these gems must fight witches."

"What's a witch?"

"If a magical girl is born from a positive desire, like hope, then a witch is born from a negative desire, like despair. Witches can't be seen by normal humans, and are largely behind all of the unexplained catastrophes and suicides around the world. They, in essence, are harbingers of misfortune. They are well hidden inside their barriers, and never show themselves to humans except to curse them. The labyrinth you wandered into was one such barrier. It was lucky Mami found you. You likely would've died in there."

Mami spoke up. "Becoming a Magical girl is a big responsibility. I'd like you two to follow me around for the next few days, while you think about what your wishes should be. So, please, ask yourself if there's something you want so badly you'd gladly put your life in absolute danger for it."

The next day, Sayaka and Madoka walked to school with Hitomi again. It became readily apparent that Hitomi couldn't see Kyubey, which led to him communicating with Sayaka and Madoka using telepathy. They met up again with Mami after school, where she essentially said that Homura targeted the two of them to weed out competition. Apparently, there was compensation to be gained.

Later, they were out finally hunting a witch. Mami tracked it using her soul gem, which eventually led them to someone trying to jump off the roof of a building. The person fell unconscious after they stopped them, and they discovered that they had indeed been cursed by a witch. Not very far away, they found the barrier, headed in, and dealt with the witch. As reality melted back into place, the witch left behind a black crystal with a metal spike.

"This is a grief seed," Mami explained. "A witches' egg. If you're lucky, sometimes a witch leaves behind one of these. It's safe in this form, however. In fact, it's actually quite useful…"

Mami took out her soul gem again. "See how it's a little darker than yesterday? If I use the grief seed like this…" A bunch of black smudges came off of the soul gem. "That restores the magic I used up. It's important to keep your soul gem clean so you can fight efficiently, so that's why Magical girls tend to get competitive."

She then tossed the grief seed into the dark hallway. "Well? It should be good for one more use."

Homura stepped out of the hallway, holding it. "It was your prey. You keep it." She unceremoniously tossed the grief seed back. "So that's your answer, huh…" Mami pondered out loud.

"Gah! She's the worst!" Sayaka exclaimed.

"I think it'd be better if we got along…" Madoka stated nervously.

"That only works if everyone else feels the same, unfortunately," Mami stated with some regret.

Later that night, Sayaka visited Kamijo in the hospital. He was absently staring out the window when she came in.

"Oh, hi Sayaka." He seemed genuinely happy to see her.

"Here you go!" Sayaka brought her latest haul from the cd store out and handed it over to him.

"Thanks. You're always great at finding the obscure ones!"

"I've just got great luck, I'm sure…"

The two of them listened to the CD together. It was a violin performance, and a rather beautiful one, at that. It made Sayaka happy to listen to CDs like this with him. She looked down at Kamijo's hand, thinking about how much of a shame it was that he couldn't do the same anymore.

Later that night, she and Madoka watched Mami hunt witches some more.

"Man, you're so cool, Mami!" Sayaka exclaimed.

"This isn't a show, you know. What we're doing is quite dangerous. If I mess up, your lives will be in serious danger."

"It didn't drop a grief seed this time." Madoka noted, changing the subject.

"That's because it was a familiar that split off from a witch," Kyubey explained. "They aren't mature enough to form grief seed."

"That doesn't mean we can ignore them, though," Mami continued. "Given enough time and people killed, they'll mature into more dangerous witches. Now, let's go."

After walking for a while, Mami decided to press them some more. "Have you decided what to wish for yet?"

Sayaka paused. "…Is it okay if my wish is intended for someone else?" She asked.

"That would be fine," Kyubey confirmed. "The person doing the wishing and forming the contract need not be the target of the wish."

"Can't say I like it, though," Mami cautioned. "Are you wishing out of the goodness of your own heart, or do you just want that person to be indebted to you?"

"…Mami, that's mean…" Sayaka sulked.

"Sorry, but I felt the need to say it now. If you don't realize the difference now, you'll regret it later."

It didn't sit right with Sayaka, but all she could do was sigh and admit that there was truth to her observation. "You're right… I wasn't thinking about that. Sorry!"

"This is difficult, right?" Mami asked. "Don't rush it. Chose your wish very carefully, you hear me?"

The next day, Madoka and Sayaka went to the hospital so she could see Kamijo again, but the receptionist turned her down. "Guess today's a bad day… after I came all this way, too!"

The two of them walked out of the hospital, and noticed something odd. There was a grief seed sticking out of a wall, and it was glowing.

"This is bad!" Kyubey stated with some worry. "The barrier will form soon! We have to leave!"

"Madoka, do you have Mami's number?" Sayaka asked.

"N-no…"

"Darn… Madoka, go get her now! I'll watch by here…"

"That's dangerous," Kyubey pointed out. "Once the barrier goes up, you won't be able to leave until the witch is defeated."

"Once it does, we won't be able to find the seed again," Sayaka pointed out. "I can't let it hatch here…"

Kyubey hopped onto Sayaka's shoulder. "Very well. I'll go with you. Once Mami gets here, she'll be able to get to us using telepathy."

Madoka headed off to find Mami, and Sayaka waited until the barrier formed, and headed inside.

"Are you scared, Sayaka?" Kyukey asked. "If you like, I can make you into a Magical Girl here and now."

"I'd rather it not come to that," Sayaka responded. "I'd rather wait until I'm really ready."

The two waited until Mami and Madoka got there. Eventually, the thing hatched, forming a weird plush thing. Not long after, the two they were waiting for finally arrived.

"Sorry for the wait!" Mami and Madoka joined the two of them, who were hiding behind a weird cake bush.

"It's coming!" Kyubey warned. The plush thing turned to them menacingly.

"Sorry for attacking you right after you hatched, but I'm putting a stop to this!" Mami whacked the thing with the butt of her musket, and then tied it up in ribbons. She then quickly moved to fire her mighty Tiro Finale at the thing, but when she did, a massive snake thing burst out, and… Chomped down on her head.

It was horrific to watch. The thing completely devoured her body, consuming it all. Sayaka was frozen in terror. Kyubey seemed to want them to come to their senses.

"You two! Contracts! Now!"

But then, a voice interrupted them.

"There's no need for that."

Homura lept down from somewhere up high, and stood in front of them, between them and the witch. "I'll be the one to take her out."

The next few seconds were confusing to watch. The thing tried to chomp down on her, but every time, she appeared again right in front of it. Then, the monster started exploding, and before long, it was defeated.

"I guess you two escaped with your lives, then." Homura paused. "Burn this sight into your eyes. This is the fate of all Magical Girls."

Reality melted back in around them, but nothing about what they'd just witnessed felt real. Homura took the grief seed for herself.

"Give that back…" Sayaka started. "Give it back! That… That belongs to Mami!" Homura kept walking. "Are you listening? I said that belongs to Mami!"

"These are for Magical Girls. You have no right to touch one." She then walked off to wherever she lived. That didn't matter to Sayaka. Mami was gone. Mami was gone! All she could do was cry, mourning the loss of her friend. She'd never felt a pain like this one in her life before.