Resonance Days

by TakerFoxx

Falling their mutual demise at each other's hands, Kyoko and Sayaka wake up in a strange world. Now, with Kyoko's soul gem missing and Sayaka's humanity and personality only partially restored, they must band together to survive.

4. Ghosts of the Past

Ghosts of the Past

Thunderstruck. That was the only word that properly described Mami's reaction. She stared down at the girl lying on the metal walkway that circled the house, a girl with short blue hair dressed in a heavy hooded jacket that had four slashes across one sleeve. A girl who was staring back at her, her face filled with anger, frustration, and confusion. A girl whose lower body had been replaced by a multicolored fish's tail. A girl whom Mami had never expected to see again but whose face she still remembered, despite not having seen it in years. Even after all this time, Sayaka Miki popped up in her darker dreams, among several other people.

"Mami?" Charlotte said, shaking her by the shoulder. "Hey, Mami? What's up? Are you-"

"You just said my name!" Sayaka blurted out. She pointed up at Mami. "I mean my old name! You know me?"

"I..." Mami tried to conceptualize an adequate response, but her mind was so overwhelmed that it had nearly shut down. "I don't…"

"Wait, wait, wait, never mind!" Sayaka said. "Later! For now, my friend's still down there and needs help! She got shot and now she's bleeding…uh, misting really badly and won't heal or wake up!"

"Shot?" Charlotte's attention snapped toward Sayaka. "By whom?"

"By…Uh, never mind, you wouldn't know them. By Oblivion's people! You know who they are, right?"

Charlotte's jaw dropped. "Holy crap, Oblivion's after you?"

"YES!" Sayaka cried. "Now will someone please go get my friend before-"

"On it!" Charlotte said as she leapt into action. Not even bothering with the elevator, she vaulted over the mermaid, grabbed the railing, and swung her way down to the dock.

It was then that something that Sayaka had said finally broke through the stunned stupor that had settled over Mami's mind. "Wait," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "You…you that your friend was hurt."

Sayaka blinked. "Uh, yeah. See, we got ambushed, and-"

"Madoka," Mami said. She fell to her knees and grabbed the mermaid by the shoulders, making her recoil in surprise. "Madoka Kaname! Is she here with you?" she asked, feeling a twinge of hope, followed by a healthy helping of shame. It was bad enough that Sayaka was here as a witch, with all that implied. Having Madoka appear as well would be far worse. But to be able to see her again…

The surprise on Sayaka's face only increased. "Wait, Madoka…Pink haired girl, right! You know her too?"

"Yes! I know both of you! Is she here?"

Before Sayaka could answer, the cage surrounding the elevator clanged and shook. Charlotte came into view, climbing up along the cage's outer side. A limp body was thrown over her shoulder, from which leaked three pink soul trails, eerily luminescent in the darkness. "Got her!" Charlotte said as she jumped onto the walkway. "She's in bad shape, though." She ran past the equally bewildered Mami and Sayaka and into the house. "I'm going to call Dr. Young! Can you-"

"WAIT!" Mami shrieked. She whirled around grab Charlotte by the shoulder, stopping her short.

"What?" Charlotte said, pulling back. "Come on, we need to get this girl some help!"

She ran back into the house. While she did so, Mami got a good look at the unconscious girl hanging over her shoulder, copper ponytail trailing behind her. It was most definitely not Madoka Kaname, but that didn't mean she didn't recognize her instantly.

Mami's state of mind was already strained, and this just brought it crashing down. "Kyoko," she whimpered, reaching after them.

"Wait, hold up!" Sayaka said, pushing back on her palms to move away from the distraught girl kneeling next to her. "You know Kyoko too?"

Feeling numb, Mami could only nod.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Charlotte shouted from inside the house. "Come on doc, I know you're not asleep. Pick up your freaking phone!"

"And you know me too?" Sayaka pressed.

Mami nodded again.

Sayaka groaned. "Good grief, why does everyone here know me except for me?"

That, more than anything else, made the full reality finally make its impact. Sayaka Miki was here, which meant she had made a contract with Kyubey. When Mami had known her, she had known Sayaka to be a brave, headstrong, and loyal young woman, something she had admired in her, even if the girl had been a bit on the reckless side. But now, she realized that those same qualities would drive her to make a contract and become a Puella Magi so as to avenge Mami, whose death she had witnessed. And seeing how Sayaka had arrived as a witch, that meant that she had fallen into the cycle of grief and despair that eventually consumed all Puella Magi, if they weren't killed off first. And seeing how Kyoko was here as well, with Sayaka, it could only be presumed that they had arrived together. Any joy Mami might have felt at seeing the two of them again dried up.

"Sayaka," Mami said, her voice breaking with emotion. "I am so sorry."

"Yes, finally!" Charlotte said. "Hey doc, it's Charlotte from the Nautilus Platform. I…Of course I know what time it is, you think I wouldn't be calling you if it wasn't an emergency?"

Sayaka looked at Mami in surprise. "Uh, okay. For what?"

In answer, Mami grabbed Sayaka in a fierce embrace and held her tight. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered over and over.

Sayaka cringed. "Whoa, okay. Take it easy, I, uh, forgive you?"

"You shouldn't," Mami sobbed. "You don't know what I've done yet."

Grimacing, Sayaka wriggled out of Mami's arms. "Look, I'm sure you know how all this works, so I'm sure you know that I don't remember anything. So, whatever it was, it's like it's gone. So don't worry about it, okay?"

"Uh, excuse me?"

Mami and Sayaka looked up to see Charlotte standing in the doorway, her red-spotted tail curling around her left leg, displaying her discomfort. "I just called Doctor Young. She's on her way. In the meantime though, maybe we'd better get our other guest inside?"

"I…you're right," Mami sighed. Focus on the current crisis before dealing with the larger one. She glanced at Sayaka. Understanding the look, Sayaka nodded. Mami scooped the mermaid up in her arms as if she were holding a baby and carried her into the house.

…

One would think that, in a world where everyone was dead already and all wounds healed themselves up in moments, a doctor would be unnecessary. But the truth of the matter was that they inhabited a strange world, and there were any number of new contagions to be inflicted with. As such, having at least one doctor at hand was a useful thing, even if the nature of her job had was a bit different from what people were used to.

Doctor Young was a small girl, a hair under five feet, with long dark hair that hung around her face like a curtain and glasses that were three sizes too big, giving her face an owlish look. That, combined with the white lab coat and green slouch hat that she insisted on wearing everywhere despite their lack of necessity meant that newcomers tended to not take her seriously. Those who have lived in Freehaven knew better. They also didn't take her seriously, but for reasons unrelated to her profession. She was also quite possibly the only person in the whole town to insist on being addressed by her surname, something everyone else found to be just silly.

But still, she was still the only doctor the town had.

Everyone held their breath as she knelt over the prone Kyoko. She had already stopped the bullet holes with a kind of white gauze, and was now extracting a minute measure of Kyoko's soul's essence into a hypodermic needle.

"Hmmm," she said, squinting at the pink vapor. "Okey-dokey then."

"What is it?" Mami asked.

Doctor Young shrugged. "Welp, good news and bad news."

"Does the good news outweigh the bad?" Charlotte asked.

"Now that really depends on your point of view," Doctor Young said. She started packing her instruments into her black leather bag. "If you need Sleeping Beauty here awake and mobile right now, then them scales are gonna be tilted toward the 'Bad' side. But if you guys got a few days and don't mind caring for what pretty much amounts to a sweaty mannequin in the meantime, then things are looking up."

Sayaka sat up straight. "So she's going to be okay?"

"That be a bit of a subjective term, but I'd say so, yeah." Doctor Young shrugged. "I really dunno what she's been shot with, so there ain't a whole lot I can do 'bout it, but from what I been able to figure out, her soul's essence has been made to move slower than molasses dripping through a penguin's intestines. It ain't that she ain't healing, it's that it's happening so doggone slow that it's pretty much unnoticeable."

"But she'll get better," Sayaka pressed. "She's going to get better, right?"

"Sure, soon as that crap in her wears off and dissolves."

Mami coughed. "And how long do you think that'll take?"

Doctor Young grimaced. She put one hand on her hip and rolled her large eyes skyward. "Welp, that's the trick, see. First time I've seen anything like this, so it's hard to make any kinda educated guess. But based on what I've seen, I'd day…'bout a week? Maybe a little less?"

"A week?" Charlotte said, her head lifting. "That long? Isn't there anything you can do to speed it up?"

Doctor Young shook her head. "Told'ja already, ain't never seen nothin' like this crap. Don't wanna risk making things worse by messing around in there. Best to just wait."

"All right," Mami said, nodding. "Thank you, doctor."

"Don't mention it. I'll be by tomorrow, to check up on her." Doctor Young glared at Mami and Charlotte. "Better be some of them treacle tarts waiting for me this time."

"There will be," Mami promised with a smile. "I promise you that."

"Well, can't say fairer than that." Doctor Young nodded to each of them in turn. "Mami. Charlotte. And, ah…"

"Oktavia," Sayaka supplied for her. Mami winced.

"Gotcha. Welcome aboard." Doctor Young tipped her hat. "Righty-ho then. G'night ladies."

After she had left, Charlotte cleared her throat. "I'll, ah, go make us some tea."

Perceiving her real reason for excusing herself, Mami patted her hands and nodded.

Sayaka (no, Mami thought. Oktavia. She had to get used to calling her that) watched Charlotte head into the nearby kitchen. Then her gaze drifted over to Kyoko's still form, her eyes fraught with worry.

Now that her mind had received some time to get used to the fact that two of her former friends were now sitting in her living room, one as a witch and the other in a near-coma, Mami found herself marveling at the concern Oktavia was showing for the redhead. She had never fathomed that the two would meet, much less become friends. They had inhabited two very important but wholly separate parts of her life that it was difficult to imagine them intersecting, especially like this. And it was equally bizarre that they would suddenly show up at her front door. Ghosts of the past indeed.

"Uh, excuse me," Oktavia said, looking at her. "Mami, isn't it?"

My God, she really doesn't remember me, Mami thought. Well, of course she wouldn't, but the bare knowledge and the hard realization of the fact were two different things. Trying to keep from looking and sounding too distraught, Mami said, "Yes?"

"Now that we know Kyoko's gonna be okay, I think it's time for us to compare notes."

Mami sighed. She walked around the chair that Oktavia sat in and took the one opposite the coffee table. "You're right," she said. "We really need to talk."

…

On the whole, Annabelle Lee did not miss her legs. She got along just fine by flying, which was by far a more effective way to travel. Even so, there were certain things that one needed legs to accomplish, one of which was kicking people you really hated. As she looked down at the witch's crumpled body, the one that had prevented her from finally taking Kyoko Sakura, Annabelle Lee longed to have that ability.

But as she didn't, she would have to rely on a proxy. So she instructed Arzt to kick the bitch for her.

As Arzt threw herself into her task, Annabelle Lee looked up at the now dark sky, wondering what in the hell she was supposed to do. She had already gone out twice to search for her quarry, only to choose the wrong way each time. And by now they would have reached Freehaven, effectively putting them out of reach.

Someone cleared their throat, demanding her attention. She looked down to see Nie coming out of the lighthouse.

"Well?" Annabelle Lee demanded.

Nie shook her head. "It's filled with rubbish. Nothing we can use at all."

"Of course it is," Annabelle Lee groused. "Why should luck start smiling on us now?"

Nie's golden eyes flashed. "Well, maybe if you didn't lose our boat, we wouldn't-"

She stopped talking, her silence motivated by the very sharp points of Annabelle Lee's blades, which were now pressing against the soft underside of her jaw.

"Don't start with me," Annabelle Lee growled. She applied the smallest bit of pressure, and thin wisps of white leaked out. "Don't you dare fucking start with me. Got it?"

Not bothering to wait for an answer, Annabelle Lee turned around to storm off toward the dock. There, Ticky Nikki was sitting on her haunches, staring at the water immediately below her. Her head turned in small counterclockwise circles.

"Round and round and round and round…" Nikki muttered to herself.

"What in the world are you doing?" Annabelle Lee demanded. "Trying to make yourself dizzy? If you fall in I am not fishing you out."

"Nikki's watching the whirlpool," Nikki said, pointing. "It's going round and round and round and round…"

"Yeah, don't care," Annabelle Lee said, grabbing Nikki by the elbow and dragging her back to her feet. "Stop playing with your imaginary friends and…" She glanced down. "Oh, holy crap, there's really a fucking whirlpool there."

Sure enough, a swirling disc of water, about five meters across, was directly in front of the dock. The Tick-Tock Sisters watched in amazement as it spun faster and faster. Was this one last trick on the witch's part? Or someone new, perhaps?

And then an inky stain appeared in the middle of the whirlpool and spread outward, visible even against the dark waters, and Annabelle Lee understood. Nikki, who also had figured it out, whimpered and hid herself behind her sister. Annabelle Lee agreed with her sentiments. Not her. Anyone but her…

There was a sudden flash, and the blackened water shot up out of the whirlpool and formed itself into a humanoid shape. The woman who now floated before them was as pale as any of the other Void Walkers, with midnight-black lips and fingernails. She wore a sleeveless dark gown that sank low to spread over the waters like an oil slick, the neckline of which plunged nearly to her navel. Under the gown she wore a net-like mesh that extended all the way to her neck. Her short dark hair was tied up in a tight bun, and a gauzy veil was draped over her face. The color of her eyes was a mystery, thanks to the blindfold she always wore. Not that it ever prevented her from being fully aware of her surroundings, but then there wasn't much about her that made sense.

The Matriarch, as she was called, was the highest ranking of the Void Walkers, only a step below Reibey himself. Not that she often exerted any sort of authority, as she mostly acted as the Incubator's mouthpiece when he wasn't around. Part of the reason for her high position was that she was always capable of hearing his voice, no matter where she was. Another was that she possessed the ability to travel to anywhere that was not under the control of the New Life Alliance within a matter of seconds, making her an ideal messenger. And as she could take a single person with her at a time, she also had uses as Reibey's private transportation service.

It was hotly debated among the Void Walkers whether or not the Matriarch had any true will of her own. Whenever she spoke, it was to relay some sort of message. That didn't keep them from fearing her though. After all, what she saw, Reibey also saw.

The Matriarch raised her head and, despite her blindfold, turned her head in Annabelle Lee's direction. "Greetings," she said in her melodic yet unemotional voice. "I have been sent by Lord Reibey. He demands an update."

Before Annabelle Lee could answer, she heard the sound of footsteps. She looked over her shoulder to see The Twins stomping their way toward her, both of them looking extremely put out.

"Annabelle Lee, you twisted piece of slime!" Arzt snarled. "How dare you lay your hands on…"

They caught sight of the Matriarch and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Oh, no, no, no," Nie whispered, her hand covering her mouth.

The Matriarch tilted her head. "All members accounted for. Team leader, please report."

Annabelle Lee coughed. "Uh, well, operation is currently in progress…"

"Have you successfully secured Kyoko Sakura and her aquatic companion?"

"See, about that…" Annabelle rubbed the back of her neck as she desperately tried to think of a good excuse.

"Your hesitation conveys that you have not. Hold please."

The Matriarch glanced downward for a few seconds, and then looked back up. "Lord Reibey wishes to know why not."

Annabelle Lee grimaced. Oh, this was going to suck. "Well, see, it's kind of a funny story. Turns out that Kyoko got herself some help. An unaffiliated witch, and an extremely powerful one at that. She attacked us, and, uh, they…got away in the process…"

"You were defeated, then?"

"Oh, hell no!" Annabelle Lee said quickly. "We kicked her ass, sure enough. But we're still trying to pick up their trail again. It's…kind of a work in progress."

"Hold please." The Matriarch again looked down as she communed with Reibey. When she looked up, Annabelle Lee could swear that she saw a hint of smugness in that normally expressionless face.

"Lord Reibey expresses extreme disappointment."

"It wasn't our fault!" Nikki blurted out. "See, dirty witchy person had lots and lots of hands, and they got all grabby and sent Nikki flying and-"

"Nikki!" Annabelle Lee gaped in horror. She grabbed Nikki and shoved her back. "Shut up!"

"Hold please," the Matriarch said. After a much longer moment, she said, "Lord Reibey wishes to clarify that yes, it is your fault, and any attempts to convince him otherwise are highly discouraged. He also would like me to inform you that your intelligence, personal hygiene, sexual history, and ancestral heritage are of highly suspect quality. Hold please."

Another heart pounding pause followed. Then Matriarch said, "Lord Reibey wishes to speak with you in person."

"Me?" Annabelle Lee said, her breath catching in her throat.

"All of you."

"Reibey's coming here?" Nie said. She and Nie were clutching tightly to each other, as if their shared contact could possibly protect them.

"Negative. You are going to him." The Matriarch spread her arms, and another whirlpool spun to life in the water before her.

Annabelle Lee stared at her in disbelief. "You want…us to go in there?"

"Correct. One at a time, please."

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't possibly be happening. Annabelle Lee exchanged equally fearful glances with the rest of her team.

"Do not dally."

Annabelle Lee sucked in a sharp breath between her teeth and slowly let it out. "Fine," she growled. She turned to The Twins. "You two, you go first."

"What?" Nie said. "No way!"

"Forget it," Arzt added. "This was your failure, not ours! You go first!"

"Did I sound like I was giving you a choice?" Annabelle Lee retorted. "Get in there already!" She looked over to the lifeless form lying on the rocks. "And bring that idiot with you. If nothing else, she'll give us a visual aid."

"But-"

"If you delay any further, Lord Reibey says he will come here instead," the Matriarch called to them. "And he wishes to assure you that if he has to come to you, you will not enjoy the consequences."

The Twins shot identical looks of hate at Annabelle Lee, but they moved to grab the fallen witch by the arms and dragged her down the dock. As they moved, Annabelle Lee turned her attention away from them toward that stupid, stupid lighthouse. The few seconds she had bought by making The Twins go first would not improve her situation in the slightest, but it did give her enough time to do something extremely cathartic.

…

Catching up took less time than Mami had anticipated. It helped that Kyoko had already filled in most of the important parts for Oktavia, and once they found the common threads, the rest fell into place.

Frankly, Mami found the story Oktavia told her to be nothing short of amazing. She couldn't begin to fathom what Oblivion would want with Kyoko, but she found the idea of Kyoko sacrificing so much for both Sayaka and Oktavia alike to be equally astonishing. While she knew that the hero Kyoko had so wished to be was still buried somewhere within her, the last time they had seen each other Kyoko had just been setting off on a dark path, pushed there by a horrible tragedy. Though they had not seen each other since, Mami had still made it a point to keep tabs on Kyoko when she could, and from what she had learned Kyoko had only fallen deeper. Obviously something had jarred her back to her senses, and when she saw the brief but frequent glances Oktavia was sending Kyoko's way, she believed that she had a good idea what it had been.

"This is amazing," Mami said, staring at the cup of tea that Charlotte had handed her. The pink haired witch was deliberately hanging back now, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. "I'm sorry, but this is so much to take in. I never expected to see either of you, ever again. And yet here you are, at the same time."

"I know, right?" Oktavia said. "And it almost didn't happen. If it weren't for-" Then she sat straight up, her eyes popping wide open. "Holy crap!" she breathed. "I forgot Elsa!"

"Elsa? You mean the girl who helped you?"

"Yes!" Oktavia fretfully ran her fingers through her hair. "Damn it, how could I be so dumb? I mean, I just left her there to get torn apart by those maniacs!"

Charlotte entered the conversation for the first time. "You said she lives on an island with a lighthouse, yeah?"

"Yes! It's about…Ugh, I don't know how far it is. I don't even know what direction!"

Charlotte snatched the boat keys off the hook on the wall. "I do. Never been there, but I've seen it before. I'll go."

Mami started to rise. "All right, let me-"

Charlotte stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Nuh-uh. I got this. You need to be here."

"But…"

Charlotte kissed her cheek. "Trust me on this."

"All right," Mami said after a moment's hesitation. She touched Charlotte's fingers and gave them a small squeeze. "Be careful."

"Aren't I always? Be back in a flash."

Oktavia stared as she headed out the door. "Wait, you're letting her go by herself? She'll just get slaughtered too!"

"No, she won't," Mami said. "She's safe enough."

"What? How? Why?"

Mami looked at her cup of tea, trying to decide if she wanted to drink it or not. Deciding on the latter, she placed it on the table and said, "She's an official resident of Freehaven. And Oblivion isn't allowed to so much as touch her, either in person or by proxy. It's all in a treaty we all signed, called the Free Life Compact. If Charlotte is harmed in any way, there will be some very heavy consequences that Oblivion cannot afford. Trust me when I say that Charlotte has nothing to fear from the Void Walkers."

Oktavia still looked dubious. "Yeah, that all sounds kind of sketchy to me. You really trust those idiots to stick to any kind of agreement? Because the ones that aren't bugcrap crazy are complete sociopaths."

"They won't," Mami said confidently. "Trust me on this."

"Okaayyy, if you say so." Oktavia shook her head. "And you're sure Charlotte will be able to handle them?"

Mami nodded. "Charlotte's the most capable person I know. If your friend is still there, she'll be able to help her."

"Gotcha." Oktavia fidgeted in her seat. Mami noticed, and asked what was wrong.

"Well, I was wondering," Oktavia said. "I mean, while we're waiting…what's your story, anyway? I mean, not the 'before' part, we went over that already. I mean after."

"After I died, you mean? Woke up here without a clue as to what was going on, like you did?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I mean, if you don't mind me asking and all."

Mami shook her head. "No, I don't. And after everything you told me, it's only fair. I warn you though, parts of it aren't exactly…pleasant."

Oktavia chuckled. "Hey, mine wasn't exactly a children's picture book either."

"True enough. Though you really should see some of the picture books they've got around here." Mami took a deep breath to steady herself, and slowly let it escape. "All right, it started with…"

…

Then…

Gasping in shock, Mami sat straight up. Her hands immediately went to her neck and face, so as to reassure herself that they were still there. They were. But how could that be? By rights she should be…

Her eyes wide, Mami fell back and started hyperventilating. She could still feel the razor-sharp teeth as they cut through her skin, severing her throat. She could still her vertebrae being crushed under the force of the witch's jaws, her spinal column being twisted and shredded. She could still feel the horrible wetness of the witch's tongue pressing against her face, suffocating her. Even if it had lasted only a few seconds, the sheer horror of it made it feel like it had lasted longer. Much, much longer.

Her eyes misted, and Mami curled up into a ball. They had gotten her. The monsters had finally gotten her. She had made one mistake, and had become witch-food as a result. She had lost, and lost horribly.

But if that were the case, why was she now in one piece? Had Kaname made a wish to save her? Sniffling, Mami wiped her eyes and looked around.

Her heart nearly stopped. She was sitting in the partially smashed back seat of a car. The car, to be exact, the same one that she had nearly died in, the one her parents had died in.

This is a nightmare, she told herself as she stared up through the cracked windshield. Beyond she could see nothing but blackness. I'm dreaming, reliving that day. Soon Kyubey is going to appear and offer to make a contract.

She held her breath and as she waited. Even if it was a dream, this time she was going to do things differently. She was going to save herself and her parents, and enjoy a few fleeting moments of happiness.

Kyubey never appeared.

It was then that Mami noticed that, this time around, she was uninjured. Moving slowly and with caution, Mami peeked at the two seats at the front of the car, where the bodies of her parents should have been strapped in. They were both empty. For some reason, that made things all the creepier.

Mami grasped the door handle and pushed the door open.

The place she found herself in appeared to be a large concrete warehouse, or perhaps a high-ceiling car park. And it was filled with at least two dozen totaled automobiles, from four-person cars to minivans to pickup trucks to sport cars to even a monster truck or two. Wrapped around the edge of two walls were the crushed remains of an eighteen wheeler, its cargo box bearing an oversized painting of Kyubey's face.

Mami had not entered an automobile of any kind ever since she had become a Puella Magi. Even the thought of it brought back memories of that horrible, final impact, and the certainty that she was about to die. And standing in this ghastly graveyard of twisted metal, glass, and rubber, it was all she could do not to start screaming.

Stop, she told herself. You're fighting a witch, like you always do. It's just playing mind games with you, like they always do. It's just this one likes to make things more personal than the others.

Seizing onto that thought and taking strength from it, Mami was able to push the horror away. She had a job to do, and her friends were still in danger.

As she had done dozens of times in the past, Mami swung her hand out with a flourish, activating her soul gem, which she wore in ring form on her middle finger. Throwing her head back, she leapt into the air as she let the power she had acquired from Kyubey surround and envelop her, transforming her casual clothing into her extravagant Puella Magi uniform.

That was the plan, at least. The truth of the matter was that all she ended up doing was karate-chopping the air and jumping up and down, with no beautiful transformation sequence.

"What?" Mami said, looking at her finger in confusion. Her soul gem was gone. But how was that possible?

"What?" she repeated as she patted her body down, trying to find it. "What? I…what?"

…

Now…

"Yeah, Kyoko said she went through the same thing," Oktavia said. "Did you end up trashing the place to find it too?"

Mami shook her head. "I think further destruction would have been redundant at that point. Everything was pretty smashed up as it was. Though I am not at all surprised that Kyoko reacted as you said."

"Yeah, she kinda has some serious anger problems."

"That she does," Mami said. She glanced at Kyoko's body. Despite everything, she took pleasure from being able to refer to Kyoko in the present tense. "But then, we all have our issues to bear."

Oktavia nodded. "So, what happened next?"

Mami considered telling her about the minor freakout she had experienced after failing to find her soul gem, but decided that it was unnecessary. "Well, even if I couldn't find my soul gem, that doesn't mean there wasn't anything to find."

…

"My…my musket?" Mami said in bewilderment. She stood on the crumpled hood of a grey Toyota pickup, staring down at the ground. In the center of the room a space had been cleared of car parts. In it sat one of her silver muskets, balancing on the end of its barrel, the handle sticking into the air.

Things were making even less sense. Mami had never been able to summon her muskets while in her civilian garb, much less while lacking her soul gem entirely. But there one sat, without her needing to bring it into existence.

Mami slid and hopped her way down to the gun. After a brief moment of hesitation, she picked it up. When it didn't immediately explode, she examined it. It seemed to be identical to any of the several hundred she had created and discarded. She considered firing it as a test, but as each musket had but a single shot and she only had the one, she decided to wait on that one.

Now armed, it was definitely time to leave. Mami stalked out of the room, holding the musket at the ready. Beyond was a bare concrete hallway, of which the entrance to the warehouse-like room was the only thing of significance. While she walked, she started sending out signals to anyone who might be listening.

Kyubey? she thought as loudly as she could. Kyubey, are you there? What's going on? My soul gem's missing, and I can't transform. Are you there? Uh, Kaname? Miki? Anyone? After a moment's pause, she reluctantly added, Akemi? Are you there?

When everyone failed to respond, Mami tried speaking out loud, despite the inherent dangers.

"Kaname?" she called out as loudly as she dared. "Madoka Kaname! Are you there? Sayaka Miki? Hello?"

The only sounds were that of her footsteps and her own voice as it echoed through the dimly lit hallway. Mami was no stranger to danger. She could handle danger. But this skin-crawling emptiness was almost oppressive.

She pressed on. The hallway turned to the right, so she quickly darted to take cover along the wall. After mentally counting to three, she peeked around the corner.

The hallway stretched out before her. However, at the far end was an opening. She could see grey light shining in from the outside. And a doorway was set halfway into the left-hand side. From within, she could sounds, though they were very faint.

Well, now she was getting somewhere. After confirming that she was not being followed, Mami crept over to the doorway and looked inside.

The room beyond appeared to be a hospital room, containing a single white-sheeted bed. A small table sat next to the bed, holding several long-dead flowers and mold-encrusted Get Well cards. The source of the sounds turned out to be the television set that hung on the wall across from the bed. From the sound of gunshots and explosions, some kind of action movie was playing.

Mami ignored the television and focused on the bed and its occupant. It was a mannequin, the kind that modeled clothing in department stores, only this one was wearing a hospital gown, the kind that never seemed to close fully in the back. Oddly enough, it was lacking in painted facial features, and instead it had a crude doodling of a piece of cheesecake sitting on a plate drawn where its face should be. On the mannequin's lap was a large silver plate, covered with cake crumbs. Two IV needles were taped to its plastic arms, attached to tubes that ran to an IV machine that sat next to the bed. The tubes were filled with some kind of red mist that seeped out of the needle's points.

Mami looked at the mannequin for only a few seconds. It was odd, yes, but it meant nothing to her. Then her gaze drifted to the person sitting in the plastic chair next to the bed.

It was a nude girl, one of actual flesh-and-blood and looking to be around Mami's age. She appeared to be fast asleep, with her chin slumping into the top of her small chest. Like the mannequin, she had an IV needle taped to either arm, though in her case the points sank into her flesh, drawing that mist away from her and feeding it to the mannequin. She was quite thin and had short pink hair, tied into two pigtails on either side of her head.

"Kaname!" Mami blurted out in surprise. She rushed to her friend's side and hastily tore the needles out. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

The girl didn't answer. Mami grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. "Come on, Kaname. Please, wake…"

Her pleas died away. Now that she could see the other girl's face, she realized that this was not Madoka Kaname, she just had a similar haircut. Mami had never seen this girl in her life. Slightly taken off guard, Mami shook her head. Maybe she didn't know this girl, but she still had to help her.

"Hey," she said, shaking the girl's bare shoulders again. "Wake up! Hello?"

To her relief, the girl stirred and let out a small whimper. She blinked and opened her eyes. Strangely enough, her eyes were bright blue, unusual in that they did not match the color of her hair. While such aberrations were not unheard of, they were pretty rare.

"Are you okay?" Mami asked as the girl sleepily rubbed her eyes.

"I…ah, I think so," the girl murmured. "Who are you?"

"My name is Mami Tomoe. Don't worry. I'm a friend." Mami glanced over her shoulder at the doorway. Still no one was there. Good.

"Come on," she said, taking the girl by the hand. "We need to get you out of here."

"Uh, okay," the girl said as they stood up. "Though where is here? And…" She glanced down and her cheeks flushed bright red.

"Why in the world am I naked?" she cried, hastily pulling away and covering her intimate bits with her hands. "What's going on here?"

"I'm…not sure," Mami admitted. "That's how I found you. But we need to go before whoever brought us here decides to…uh…"

Her eyes caught motion that should not have been there and drifted down. There, hanging between the girl's legs, was a thin black tail, covered with tiny red dots.

It took Mami half-a-second to remember what that tail looked like. When she did, she cried out and threw herself away from the girl. Her back pressed against the wall as she kept screaming.

"Whoa!" the girl said, stumbling back herself. "What's gotten into you?"

"You…you…" Mami said, pointing with one trembling finger. "You're that…"

Intuition tugged at her attention, and she looked up. The television hung directly over her head, and it wasn't playing a movie. Rather, Mami was watching herself, clad in her Puella Magi uniform and standing in a world that had been constructed entirely from desserts. Rearing up over her was a smiling, cartoonish monster that looked to be part caterpillar and part clown. The combination was goofy enough to mistake the creature as friendly, if it weren't for the maw of razor-sharp teeth that it was now opening wide as Mami, both of them, stared in shock.

And then the monster's mouth closed over Mami's head. It pulled her off her feet and chomped down. Her body dangled for a moment, and then her uniform transformed back into her school uniform.

There was a horrible ripping sound, and her body fell, leaving her head behind. The monster wasted no time feasting on the rest.

"I'm that what?" the girl asked. "What are…" Then she noticed the television as well. "WHOA! That's gruesome!"

…

Now…

"Well, uh…" Oktavia coughed. "That must've been…awkward."

Mami looked down. Her tea was going cold, but she didn't feel like drinking it. "Hmmm. Awkward. Yes, I guess it was."

"It was just confusing for me," Oktavia groused. "Kyoko kept shouting stuff at me that didn't make a lick of sense. I mean, they did later, after she explained anything, but at the time? Noooooo."

"I don't doubt it." Mami sighed. "Unfortunately, save for battle-cries, I've never been one to…shout."

…

Then…

"H-hey," the girl stuttered. She slowly backed up, hands held up. "C-calm down now."

Mami didn't feel like calming down. She didn't feel like doing anything this monster said. Her musket was clutched in her trembling hands, and she pointed it directly at the girl's face.

"You're that witch," Mami said, her voice nearly breaking. "You ate me."

"That doesn't even begin to…" The girl glanced again at the shaking musket and swallowed. "L-look, I don't kn-know what this is-"

"It was you," Mami said. "You're doing this. We're still in your labyrinth."

"What?"

"Where are Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki?" Mami demanded. "What did you do with them?"

Now the girl looked equal parts confused and afraid. "Who?"

"Where are my friends?"

"I don't know! I've never heard those names in my…No, wait don't!"

It was too late. Mami's finger twitched a millimeter too far, and the musket went off. There was a brief flash of sparks and thunder, and the girl's head exploded. She fell back, sprawling against the IV machine as red vapor issued out of her neck in a torrent.

…

Now…

"Ouch," Oktavia said with a wince. "Heck of a way to start things off."

"Not my finest moment," Mami admitted. "Obviously we've gotten past it by now, but our first meeting did not go well."

"Tell me about it," Oktavia agreed. She held up her hand, index finger and thumb spread with only a few centimeters between them. "Kyoko came this close to turning me into a shish-kabob. Though I bet things got worse when she grew her head back."

"Yes, you could say that."

…

Then…

"Stop!" the girl screamed as she ran terrified through the concrete hallway, Mami in hot pursuit. "Leave me alone!"

"No," Mami said. She felt calm, detached, almost eerily so. Everything was falling into place and, at last, making sense. All she had to do was kill the witch, and everything would be fine. Unfortunately, her musket had only been good for one shot, and she would be obtaining no replacements until she figured out how to transform. Until then, she was having to improvise. A rusted but still sharp scalpel salvaged from the hospital room was clutched in one hand, and a pair of surgical scissors was in the other. Mami wasn't a fan of close-quarters combat, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

She pursued the girl back the way she had originally came. Her quarry was fast, she'll give her that, but Mami was well conditioned for frenzied action. The gap between them grew ever smaller.

They rounded the corner, and Mami's frowned when she saw the girl dart into the room of smashed cars. She wasn't thrilled about going back in there, but a dead end was a dead end, and she was no stranger to fighting on an uneven terrain.

She reached the entrance and looked around. The vehicle junkyard was still there, just as she had left it. The girl, however, was nowhere to be seen. She was fast, there was no denying that. But she couldn't hide forever.

Holding both of her weapons at the ready, Mami picked out the most likely hiding places and started to hunt.

…

Now…

"Okay, yeah, that was way worse than what happened with us," Oktavia said. "At least she never went beyond threatening to kill me. I can't say I blame you though. At least Kyoko actually knew about the whole thing about witches before we woke up."

Mami didn't meet her eyes. Truth be told, she was surprised that she was going this far into detail. It wasn't something she liked recalling, much less discussing. But now that the story had gained momentum, it was easier to keep going than it was to stop. Perhaps it could be chalked up to feelings of guilt toward the younger girl's condition. Or maybe Oktavia just had that effect on people. She had apparently gotten Kyoko to tell her all about her family's messy history twice, the first time being only days after they had met and were still technically enemies.

Of course, it could just be that Oktavia was a cute mermaid with amnesia who needed help. It was hard to say no to someone like that.

"Yes," Mami said. "And I'm afraid things only spiraled further downward from there."

…

Then…

Mami's foot slammed against the Toyota's windshield. Already cracked as it was, the impact bent it inward.

From inside the cab, the pink-haired girl screamed as Mami kicked the windshield again. She grasped frantically at the door handle, only to find that it no longer functioned.

A third kick, and Mami's heel partially broke through the glass. The girl rolled down the window as fast as she possible could, reached out to grab the outside handle, and opened the door just as Mami succeeded in smashing her way through.

Mami abandoned her now pointless attempts to enter the truck and instead hopped off the hood to follow. There was no longer any need to run. She had the witch in her sights.

The girl was now stumbling her way toward the eighteen-wheeler. Mami tossed the scalpel into the air, caught it by the blade, and lined up her shot.

By pure chance, the girl happened to glance over her shoulder just as Mami readied her strike. Her tear-filled eyes widened when she realized what was about to happen and she threw herself to the ground just as the scalpel left Mami's hand. It sailed forward, missing her by mere centimeters and thunked into the painted representation of Kyubey's right eye.

Fast and agile. It was almost as if she were a Puella Magi herself. Mami walked forward, opening the scissors and holding them up.

"Wait!" the girl screamed as she held up one hand and used the other to scoot back. "Stop, stop, stop! Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you!"

"Nothing?" Mami repeated. She continued to walk forward, her voice dull and flat, her face an expressionless mask. "You bit off my head. You ended my life. Do you call that nothing?"

"What in the world are you talking about? You're standing right freaking there! You're alive! Your head is right where it's supposed to be! I never-"

Then her eyes focused on something above and behind Mami. "Look!" she screamed, pointing.

Mami smiled without warmth. "That trick won't work on me. Next time, try something more original."

"It's not a trick, I am so serious right now, so freaking look already!"

Curiosity got the better of her. Mami glanced over her shoulder and saw nothing but cars. She looked higher, up at the ceiling.

The scissors fell from her hand to clatter against the floor.

The witch, the one that had eaten her, was there, right there. It hovered in the air, curling around the ceiling like some sort of ghastly flying slug, its comically painted head dipping down at the center of the room, over where her musket had stood, tooth-filled maw opened wide.

Mami's knees buckled. She tried to keep her balance, but her legs had forgotten how, so she fell onto her rump. However, her mouth still remembered how to scream, and threw itself into its task with great fervor.

That was when the caterpillar monster started to explode. Half of its face blew clean off, followed by large chunks of its sides, each of them consumed by sudden bursts of flame. There was a creaking sound, the sound of a snap, and the whole thing fell to collapse over the automobiles.

Mami flinched back when the impact happened. Dust and other debris pelted her body, none large enough to do harm but still large enough to sting. When it stopped, she opened her eyes.

The monster's body was now lying limp over the vehicle graveyard, or at least what was left of it. Huge chunks had been blown out, some from the explosions and some from the impact. And it no longer had what could be properly called a face.

Part of the monster had landed near where she was cowering. Without knowing exactly what drove her, Mami reached out with one trembling hand and touched its side.

Plaster. The whole thing was made of plaster.

Mami frowned. Now that the danger was gone, her mind was starting to click back on. She stood up and inspected the plaster beast. Now, who had put that there? She was well acquainted with witch's playing horrible mind games, but this was the first time she had seen a mock-up of one witch appear in the barrier of the other.

Then she looked down at her feet and got another surprise. Five of her muskets lay among the pieces of plaster and shattered windshield, all of them discharged. Had she done that, summoned them by instinct and shot them off? It would definitely explain why the monster had exploded like it had, and it did sound like something she would do. But how was that possible? Her soul gem was still MIA, and she was not clad for battle.

Acting on a hunch, Mami laid her right hand over her heart. When she moved it away, it was clutching the handle of another silver musket and pulling the rest of the barrel out of her chest, just like she had done several times in the past.

Well, that was interesting. It explained nothing, but it was interesting. Too bad she had not discovered this earlier, when she had been chasing…

Oh, right. Somehow she had forgotten all about that.

A fraction of a second later, the pink-haired girl had finished sneaking up behind Mami and bashed her over the head with the rusty carburetor she had found. Mami went down as the girl sprinted past her, towards the exit.

…

Now…

"You weren't kidding about things getting worse," Oktavia said, sounding equal parts horrified and fascinated. "Heck, I think you had it worse than we did. Kyoko says that there was just the armor I was wearing sitting in an easy chair, and it was brought down to normal size. There wasn't like a three-story paper mache statue of witch-me." She looked down at her lap. "And come to think of it, maybe it's best I don't have legs. Or we'd probably have started kicking each other's butts too."

"Don't think like that," Mami said, a bit more harshly than she had intended. "You're just as much a victim as anyone else, maybe even more so. Don't trivialize what's been done to you."

"Whoa, okay," Oktavia said, sounding startled. She held up her hands. "Don't worry, I'm not."

Mami sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I get it, believe me. And trust me, I'm still ticked about needing to be carried everywhere." She cast a half-glower, half-smile at Kyoko. "Especially since she insists on dropping me on my butt every time."

"Somehow I don't find that hard to believe at all," Mami said with a small laugh. She looked down at her tea, which was now stone cold. She placed it on the table.

Oktavia cleared her throat. "So…it sounded like things were starting to heat up, what with you getting bashed in the head and all."

"Hmmm? Oh, right. The story." Mami rubbed the back of her head, remembering how it had felt. "Well, we Puella Magi don't stay down for long, and people in this world heal quickly, as no doubt you've noticed. So, seeing how I had regained the ability to summon my weapons, it didn't take long for things to get truly out of hand."

…

Then…

Another piece of wall exploded. The witch yelped as shrapnel pelted her bare back but she kept running.

Mami was again following, only this time she wasn't even bothering to run. She just walked forward in a smooth, unhurried gait, pulling out musket after musket and firing them off one right after the other in quick succession. Most of the hallway behind her was already a devastated wreck, and the rest was well on its way to being demolished.

But though Mami was a dead shot, somehow the witch was managing to avoid taking a crippling blow. She was very fast, yes, and she was very agile. But pure desperation was taking it to superhuman levels as she twisted and dodged out of the way of Mami's destructive onslaught. Not that Mami's aim had completely failed her. The witch's right arm now ended right above the elbow, with red smoke issuing forth.

The witch tried to duck into the hospital room, but Mami was having none of that. She obliterated the entrance. The witch quickly backpedaled and fled toward the open exit at the far end of the hallway.

Mami continued to fire. The girl was tremendously skilled, but with no cover and a narrow space, it didn't matter how nimble she was. Sure enough, when the girl was less than five meters from the exit, one of Mami's shots hit her in the shoulder, blowing it and the attached arm clean off. The witch's body spun around from the impact, allowing Mami to shoot her in the stomach.

The witch was launched back screaming through the exit and disappeared.

Huh, apparently the hallway opened to a drop. Mami walked the rest of the distance, pulling out two fresh muskets, ready to finish off whatever was left. But then she looked outside.

They were in one of the middle stories of a tall skyscraper, one of several. Mami didn't recognize the city she was now in. All the buildings were made from unpainted grey concrete, with no decorations to be seen, and all the windows were unobstructed by glass, giving the place a skeletal look. But perhaps the most eye-catching feature was the fact that the entire city was upside-down. Some kilometers away, a sheer cliff wall rose up, with a long outcropping of stone sticking straight out at a perfect right angle. The city hung from the bottom like a cluster of stalactites. And below, past the inverted skyline, Mami could see nothing but clouds. While there was no way to judge how far the ground was below those clouds, Mami had the sinking feeling that they were very, very high up. Even though she had never been afraid of heights, even she couldn't help but feel a sudden rush of vertigo.

As for the witch, she was directly below (or was it above?) where Mami stood. A metal flagpole stuck out of the building, and she was clutching to it for dear life, both legs and her remaining arm wrapped tightly around it.

Mami stared down at her. The hole in her stomach was already closing, and her shoulder was likewise starting to regenerate. No doubt she would be whole in only a few minutes. Mami pointed down at her with both muskets.

The witch looked up and, seeing Mami there, her already terrified face paled even more. Her body jerked, almost causing her to lose her grip, and she had to scramble to keep from falling.

"No," she whimpered. "No, please. No."

Mami stared. She didn't fire or lower her guns. She just stared.

"Don't," the girl pleaded. "Don't do this. I…please, just don't." Her face scrunched up, she closed her eyes, and started crying.

Mami continued to stare. She had seen witches who had cried before, but that had always struck her as a gimmick, much like the witches who always laughed or the ones that screamed. This was different. This girl just sounded like someone who was in pain and scared out of her mind.

And, while she was on that thought, when had she ever encountered a witch who had been capable of conversation before?

All this slowly burned through her mind, dissolving the detachment that had driven her rampage. And the full enormity of her actions finally realized themselves. She wasn't hunting a witch, she was about to murder an innocent girl, one who was just as lost and confused as she was.

Oh God, what had she done? What was she continuing to do?

The hands holding the guns started to shake, and she had to throw the weapons into the hallway behind her rather than risk them going off. She gritted her teeth and tried to hold it together. No, she couldn't afford to break down again, not now. Right now, someone needed her help, someone who was now in great danger because of her actions.

"H-hold on!" she called down to the girl. Her voice cracked, but not by much. "I'll try to find some way to pull you up!"

…

Now…

"And just like that, you were friends?" Oktavia asked. "After all that?"

"Well, no," Mami said. It was now near impossible to look the younger girl in the eye. Though she didn't have a mirror, she had no doubt that her cheeks were now bright red from shame. "Not right away. But it was a start."

…

Then…

They sat together, on the edge of the opening, legs dangling. Or rather, they sat on the same edge, but the girl was making sure to keep a healthy distance between her and Mami. She was now wearing the mannequin's hospital gown and was holding a sheet from the bed tightly around her.

Mami had just gotten done explaining things the best she could, but with her mind in the state it was and knowledge of just how ridiculous it all sounded bearing down on her. Granted, everything about their current situation was ridiculous, but as she had long learned, just because people were willing to accept one kind of ridiculousness didn't meant they were going to accept everything.

At least the girl was willing to listen. Or at least, sit silently without interrupting. When Mami was done, she still didn't say anything. She just studied Mami's face for a moment and then looked out at the upside-down city. That was fine. Mami was content to let her wait and digest the information.

"Magical girls," the girl said at last. "Girls with superpowers from cute little aliens who go out and fight evil witches, one of which ate you, and you thought I was that witch. That's your story?"

"Yes," Mami said. "I know it sounds far-fetched, but-"

"This city is upside-down. I watched you pull a bunch of guns out of thin air." The girl looked down to where her tail was sticking out of the back of her gown. "And I have a tail. Far-fetched? That doesn't even begin to explain it. Crazier than what's happening right now? No."

"So…you believe me?" Mami said, trying not to hope.

The girl shook her head, though it was more out of bewilderment than to convey a negative. "Right now, I don't even…" The words caught in her throat. She swallowed noisily and tried again. "Everything is so screwed up that…Look, I don't…"

"It's okay," Mami said, instinctively leaning over to take the girl by the hand. "You don't have to-"

The girl jerked her hand away. "Don't touch me!" she cried, leaping to her feet and retreating several steps back.

Mami cringed, but nodded. "Okay. I won't."

"Well, good. That's very good to hear. Because the last time you did, you ended up blowing my head off! And my arm. And my shoulder. And oh yeah, how about shooting my guts out! Is that what you Pulley Magic people do to everyone you think is a witch? You know what, I'm starting to think that most of those 'disappearances' you blame on witch attacks are really you people getting suspicious and blowing people to pieces! 'Whoops, screwed up again! But that's okay, we'll just hide the body and say a witch did it!' Some heroes!"

Before Mami could come up with a decent response, the girl turned and stormed away. Mami considered going after her, but what good would that accomplish? The girl had good reason to be angry, and anything Mami said would probably just make things worse. Best to let her cool down. It wasn't like there was anywhere she could go.

Still, the girl's words were troubling. Mami was so accustomed to acting as a defender of the people that having such accusations thrown at her had shaken her. Not that she blamed the girl. She was disgusted by her actions as well. But considering the circumstances…

What exactly were the circumstances, anyway? Mami looked down at the clouds far below. Well, the first step would be getting down from here. And from there…

Mami shook her head. One step at a time. Focusing on the flagpole, she flicked her hand in its direction. Immediately a yellow ribbon appeared and wrapped itself around the pole.

Good, she could still do that. That would certainly make getting down that much easier. In which case-

She heard footsteps. The girl was returning. Her eyes were red and blotchy, and her mouth was set in a straight line, but she at least didn't look like she was about to give Mami a sudden push. Instead, she marched her way to where Mami sat, glowered down at her, and asked, "So, what exactly do we do now?"

…

Now…

"Yeah, uh, how did you get down, anyway?" Oktavia asked, her face twisting in confusion. "I mean, was there actually an elevator or something?"

Mami shook her head. "No, we climbed."

"Climbed? For real?"

"Well, first we had to travel from building to building until we reached the cliff wall. And from there we climbed." Now that she was past the really uncomfortable bits, Mami did feel a bit better, enough to finally take a sip of her tea. Lukewarm, bleh. "It wasn't that bad, actually. The ribbons helped lots, making bridges and harnesses and whatever we needed. And as it turned out, we really weren't that high up. Those clouds were actually fog, so once we made it that far down, we ended up reaching the ground much quicker than expected." Mami sighed. "Of course, it took a long time to convince Charlotte that I wasn't planning on lynching her or letting her fall, but we somehow managed to get past that as well."

"Huh," Oktavia said thoughtfully. "You know, even though it sounds like most of these powers are meant for fighting, that one sounds like it must come in handy in day-to-day life. I mean, if there's something on a shelf you couldn't reach, or if you found a tree that looked like it could use a swing, all you'd have to do is snap your fingers, and hey presto!"

Mami coughed into her hand. "Ah, yes. You're right, they're very…useful."

Oktavia frowned at her. "Wait, are you blushing?"

"Never mind that now," Mami said hastily.

"Hold up," Oktavia said, blinking. "What exactly do you use them for-"

"That's not important!"

Oktavia's brow furrowed. Then she shrugged. "Okay, if you say so." Mami sighed. The younger girl wasn't even bothering to hide the grin on her face.

"Sooooo, anyway," Oktavia said, her grin becoming something of a smirk, "You and Charlotte started traveling the world together, right? Went on a big adventure together, looking for clues, riiiight?" She leaned forward. "Started off as enemies, but found yourselves stuck together, with no one else for company. Soon you had to rely on each other, probably even saved each other's butts a few times. And over time, the walls between you started to crumble, and you became closer and closer, until finally, one beautiful moonlit night, as you lay side-by-side under the stars, you found your hand reaching out for hers, and…"

Mami's finger impatiently tapped against the arm of her chair. "Are you done?"

Oktavia thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."

"I really think Kyoko's been a bad influence on you."

"What?" Oktavia said, still grinning. "I haven't known her that long."

"You don't need to. She works fast. Before too long she'll have you running around in a hoodie and a baseball cap, helping her rob convenience stores and smash in car windows."

That just made Oktavia laugh. "Uh, yeah, a couple of problems with that," she said, slapping her tail.

"You'd be surprised," Mami said. "Maybe she'll just leave you on the sidewalk for everyone to gawk at and start picking their pockets while they're distracted."

"Right. Because mermaids are just so gangster, yo," Oktavia said, making an obviously false and highly exaggerated gang sign with her fingers. "Bitches love mermaids."

This time Mami joined in on the laughter. "All right, now I know she's been a bad influence on you."

"Hey, don't blame everything on her. Maybe I'm just a natural delinquent."

"Right," Mami said, eyeing the tail in question. "The very first gangster mermaid."

"I'm a trendsetter, what can I say?" Oktavia said, making another stupid-looking gang sign and winking. "Soon I'll be the head of my very own mermaid yakuza. Before you know it, all of Japan's sushi production will be under my control. I will be the queen of all sushi!" She threw her head back and started cackling manically. "MWAHAHAHAHA!"

Mami blinked. She picked up her now-cold tea and examined it with a critical eye. "What in the world did Charlotte put in this?"

"Hey, don't write of my dreams of total sushi control so lightly!" Oktavia snickered. She took a deep breath and let it out with a happy sounding sigh. "Guess I got a little carried away there," she said, fanning herself.

"Just a little," Mami said. "Not to say it wasn't very entertaining."

Oktavia mock-bowed, sweeping both arms out like a showman. "I live to please, mine host."

"Glad to see you're feeling-" Mami caught herself before she said "Like your old self." Before the pause became noticeable, she switched to, "-much more cheerful."

"A little yeah." Oktavia's face sobered, though only a little. "I mean, I'm still worried to death about Elsa, and to be quite frank, Kyoko being in that coma is really starting to get real freaky. But I am starting to feel a lot better, yeah."

"Hmmm, good point about Kyoko." Mami got up and picked up the unconscious girl and carried her to the guest room. As she walked, she noticed just how filthy with dirt, seawater salt, and sweat the redhead was, as were the clothes she was wearing. Furthermore, her shirt and jacket was still marred by the two bullet holes.

Mami considered just leaving her like that, but immediately quailed at the thought. Unconscious or not, Kyoko was still a guest, and to leave her in such a state was just inhospitable.

She changed course and head toward the bathroom. Once there, she quickly undressed the redhead, uncomfortably aware of just how awkward it was to do so while Kyoko was still unconscious, and just how furious she was going to be when she found out. But then, it wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other naked before. Still, it did feel perversely wrong on some level.

Sighing, Mami soaked a washcloth in the sink and quickly gave the girl a quick spongebath, even if there wasn't any actual sponges involved. While she did so, she couldn't help but notice how Kyoko's face looked. Her muscles were all tensed up, with her eyelids squeezed tight and her lips twisted into a frown.

While Mami was reasonably aware of what her former protégé had gone through after they had parted ways, the stark contrast between the idealistic hero-in-training she had known and the fallen warrior now before her was disconcerting. Kyoko had gone through a hell far worse than anything Mami herself had experienced, and though, unlike Oktavia's situation, she was not directly responsible for the tragedies that had befallen Kyoko, Mami still felt personally responsible. Of course, Charlotte would probably just flick her in the forehead and tell her to cut it out with the self-pity, but Mami couldn't help how she felt. She had been one of the Puella Magi's foremost supporters, almost their poster-girl in some areas. She had had a hand in recruiting several, convincing them to make a contract with Kyubey and fight witches in their respective areas. The whole time she had been stalwartly convinced that she had been doing the right thing, but like everyone else, she had been used, nothing more than a tool.

And like Kyoko, the girls she had saved and recruited had paid the price, some of them still paying it. Oktavia was here already, all that remained of Sayaka Miki. Who was next to arrive on her doorstep, broken and internally scarred? Michiru Kazusa? Brooke Alexander? Any of the half-dozen other girls whose names she barely remembered? Perhaps they were already here, out there somewhere, working for Oblivion or lost in the wild paths. Or maybe they were still wandering the land of the living as witches, sowing pain and misery while waiting for a Puella Magi to come kill them.

It was a heavy burden to bear, and while Mami had mostly come to terms with the lie she had been a part of, it was still hard to remind herself that she wasn't the one to blame, that she had been a victim herself. Despite feigning impatience over what she called "Mami's moping sessions," Charlotte also carried the same weight around with her, or at least one like it. Perhaps that was why they were able to put up with each other's darker moods. They knew the guilt the other carried.

…

Then…

Mami sat cross-legged near the campfire, though not too near. Charlotte sat next to her. The pink-haired girl had traded in the hospital gown for a pair of heavy hiking pants, a grey sweater, and a brown flight jacket, all of which were far too big for her but were still a vast improvement.

The person responsible for Charlotte's change in wardrobe lounged across from them. In many ways she reminded Mami of that mystery Puella Magi, Homura Akemi, in that she had hair of a comparable length and color, and her calm and collected manner of speaking was also quite similar. However, this girl was much taller, considerably more filled out, and had an air of arrogant smugness that Homura didn't seem to have been capable of. Furthermore, the underside of her hair shone silver. Her name was Shizuku Sango, and she was the first person Mami and Charlotte had met since leaving the upside-down city.

The two of them had come across her while wandering a forest path. Three days had passed since they had "arrived" together, for lack of a better word, and without any new information, a sense of direction, or any supplies to speak of, they were frankly downright miserable. And at least Mami had been fully dressed. Charlotte only had the hospital gown and the sheet to keep her warm.

Shizuku, upon seeing the two, had found the whole situation to be quite amusing. She still was more than willing to clothe and feed the pair, to their extreme gratitude, but she still obviously was taking great delight at their misfortune. However, at that point Mami could not care less. Let her laugh.

Of course, once they had settled down for the evening, the line of questioning had begun. Shizuku claimed to be on her way home from a hiking trip, and hadn't been at all surprised to find the two. She also hadn't been surprised that Charlotte had a tail.

"Oh, that just comes with the territory," she had said dismissively. "All witches retain some aspect of their witch-forms. Count yourself among the lucky that all you got was a tail."

Charlotte, who had just been finishing pulling on the jacket, had stiffened immediately. As for Mami, she had nearly fallen over backwards. "You…you know about that," she said, scarcely unable to believe it.

"What? About Puella Magi, Witches, and all the little Beys in a row?" Shizuku had smirked and gave her hair a flick. "But of course. I am, after all, a Puella Magi myself."

Mami stared. "And you know what happened to us? Where…"

"Where this place is, what this place is, how you came to be here, what happened to your soul gem, why she's suddenly looking human again, and…Oh, there's far too many to list them all." Shizuku had shrugged and sat down. "Of course. It's a bit of a long story, though. Care to help me get dinner on in the meantime?"

"I…well, of course," Mami had said. She knelt down and cleared a space for the fire. Charlotte had remained frozen in place, staring.

"Much appreciated," Shizuku had said after they had gotten the wood gathered. She reached into her pack and pulled out a pack of matches. "Now tell me," she had said, striking one and holding the tiny flame in front of her face. "How much do you really know about the contract you made?"

Half an hour later, the three of them were sitting around the still-crackling fire, each holding a heated can of stew, the first real thing Mami and Charlotte had eaten since leaving the upside-down city.

Thirty minutes, that's all it had taken to completely destroy Mami's world.

She was barely aware of her surroundings. The flickering of the campfire, the receding warmth of the can in her hands, the cool of the night air, the chirping of crickets, all of it failing to register on her. Even forming a coherent thought was nearly impossible.

Everything was false. The Puella Magi and their righteous duty to defend humanity against the evil scourge of witches. The noble Kyubey and his comrades with their wish-granting contracts. The witches themselves, beings of pure wickedness, deserving only to be destroyed. All of it a lie.

Images flashed through her mind, images and faces. The twisted bodies and countenances of all the witches she had vanquished. How many had it been? Dozens, at least. Perhaps over a hundred. And each and every one of them had once been a Puella Magi like her, girls who had joined the fight for one reason or another, girls who had once had families, friends, lives and dreams of their own. And she had killed them, slaughtered them in the blind belief that she was doing good. How long would it have been before she had joined them, another laughing witch to be struck down by her successors?

Once face in particular stood out, one that was wholly inhuman. Kyubey, her mentor. Kyubey, her helper. Kyubey, her dear friend. Kyubey, her deceiver, who had selected her to be nothing more than just another piece of his machine, to be used up and discarded in turn.

It wasn't true, her heart wailed at her. It couldn't be true. But what if it was? She had never truly learned where witches had come from, or grief seeds for that matter. Come to think of it, grief seeds did look a bit like soul gems, only darker and pointier.

She refused to even allow the parts about her really being dead after all and this being some sort of afterlife enter the fray. The free-for-all taking place inside her mind had too many participants as it was.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," Shizuku said as she sipped from a mug of hot cocoa. "No doubt you are now experiencing feelings of disbelief, disillusionment, a complete shattering of your entire worldview. Don't worry, everyone who doesn't already know goes through it." She glanced over to Charlotte, who was starting to shake. "Ah, are you going to be all right? You look like you're about to-"

Charlotte let out a sound not unlike a foreman's whistle and jumped to her feet, spilling her stew everywhere. Before Mami could react, she had already fled into the forest, hunched over and clutching at her stomach.

"-do that," Shizuku finished. "Well, I saw that coming." She glanced over to Mami. "Shouldn't you be going after her?"

Still in a state of shock, Mami stared at her.

Shizuku shrugged. "I mean, it's a great big forest, and if she gets lost, she might never find her way back. And I'd hate to think of what would happen should she run into someone dangerous. She doesn't strike me as much of a fighter, at least not in the state she's in. Who knows? This very well may be the last time anyone hears from-"

Without responding to Shizuku's taunts, Mami stood up and ran after Charlotte.

The forest was pitch-black, and the ground uneven. Still, Mami was agile enough to keep her footing as she chased after Charlotte. It helped that the other girl was going in more-or-less a straight line, and soon she found Charlotte huddled in a tight ball at the foot of a gnarled tree, sobbing.

Mami approached the girl with caution. She didn't want to make her run away again. "Ch-Charlotte?" she said. "Are…" She swallowed when she couldn't think of a satisfactory way to end that question. Of course Charlotte wasn't all right. Neither of them was.

"Oh God," Charlotte moaned. "Oh God. I…it was…"

Mami knelt down and put her hands on Charlotte's shoulder. "Charlotte, I-" Then she squeaked in surprise when Charlotte suddenly whirled around and grabbed Mami by her shirt.

"Don't you get it?" Charlotte implored, her eyes wide. "Don't you see? What she was talking about?"

"I…I do," Mami said. She looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "Everything, it was all-"

"No, you don't!" Charlotte nearly screamed. "Mami, you were right!"

"What?"

"When we first met? You were right. Mami, I am the witch that killed you. And you were right to try to kill me back." Charlotte collapsed forward to cry into the shorter girl's chest. "Oh God, I am so sorry. I am so-"

"Charlotte, stop."

Charlotte looked up at her, tearing eyes filled with confusion.

Mami held her by the shoulders and moved her away so that they were eye-to-eye. "Look, I still don't know what to think about what she just told us. To be honest, my mind is in a state of near collapse. I don't know how much of it is true, or…But my point is, even if you had been turned into that…thing, that wasn't you."

"What? Of course it was!"

"No, it wasn't," Mami said firmly. "You were not that monster. You were imprisoned by that monster, nothing more. And now you're free. And whatever that thing did to me, it has no bearing on you."

"Yes, it does!" Charlotte snapped, roughly shoving Mami away from her. "Don't give me that! Don't try to pretend that it wasn't me, because it was. It was me, it was…" She doubled over, holding onto her stomach. "Oh God."

Mami stared at her, wondering why she was holding on so tightly to that guilt. Then her mind flashed to the horrible things she had done, to the girls she had unknowingly destroyed and to her attempts to kill Charlotte back at the upside-down city. In both cases there had been extenuating circumstances that, if she were to stand in a court of law, she might be let off. But that didn't take away her sense of personal responsibility, nor would she react well to anyone who would try to take it from her.

"Charlotte," she said softly. "Charlotte, look me."

Sniffing, Charlotte looked up.

"You're right," Mami said. "That monster was you, and you did kill me, bit my head right off."

Charlotte's face contorted with misery.

"But," Mami continued, "don't forget that I shot your head off too. And in both cases, neither of us really knew what was going on. We were both misled, and horrible things happened as a result. So as far as I'm concerned, there is no score to settle between us. We're even, all right?"

Blinking in surprise, Charlotte wiped her eyes and asked, "So…you forgive me?"

Smiling, Mami took her by the hand. "Only if you forgive me."

Charlotte let out a choked noise that was half a laugh and half a sob. "D-deal," she said. "Wow, talk about the worst possible way to meet, huh?"

"Hard to think of a worse one," Mami agreed. "Why don't we start over?" She stood up and bowed her head. "Hello, my name is Mami Tomoe. It is very nice to meet you."

That made Charlotte laugh again. "Wow, out of all that…Sure, why now?" She got up and returned the bow. "Hello, Mami Tomoe, my name is Charlotte. I hope we can still be friends, despite our history of mutual decapitation."

Relieved that things were now starting to work out, Mami opened her mouth to respond, but then there came a sharp whistling as something traveled very quickly through the air. This was followed by the fleshy thump of an impact and a cry of pain.

Startled, Mami and Charlotte whirled to see Shizuku standing nearby. In her hands was a long, metal chain, topped at either end by a sharp blade, one of which was now sticking into a small figure writhing on the ground.

It was another girl, this one looking very young and very wild. Her body was lean and unwashed, her short blond hair tangled with leaves and sticks, and she was clothed with nothing but a torn and filthy grey sift and, curiously enough, a red-and-white ribbon tied into her hair. Mami almost started screaming at Shizuku for hurting the girl, but then she saw that Shizuku's target was not normal. Her eyes were the color of freshly spilled blood, and her tiny teeth were as sharp as nails.

"So sorry to break up such a touching scene," Shizuku said, "but this one was getting ready to pounce. I told you this place was dangerous. You really should have listened." She gave the bladed chain a swift tug, pulling it free. The wild girl snarled and retreated on all fours, red mist issuing from her wound, which soon tapered off as it closed.

"Naughty, naughty," Shizuku said, advancing on the wild girl. "It's not polite to sneak up on strangers. Where are your manners?"

The wild girl hissed. "Hungry," she said insistently. "Hungry!"

"Of that I have no doubt. Unfortunately, I doubt that you would find either of them to be at all substantial." Shizuku aimed a kick in the wild girl's direction. "Go on, now. Get."

The girl hissed again but, seeing that she had lost, she quickly turned and scrambled away into the darkness.

It wasn't until then that Mami remembered how to speak. "Who…what was she?"

"Wild witch," Shizuku said as she starting to looping her chain. "It happens sometimes. They can't come to terms with their own deaths and allow themselves to become feral."

"And no one tries to help them?"

Shizuku shrugged. "Some do, but it's hard to help someone who doesn't want to be helped. And there are so many of them." She slung the chain over her shoulder. "Speaking of which, now that you two are BFF's, have you decided what you want to do?"

"Excuse me?" Charlotte said.

"Have you," Shizuku repeated, enunciating every syllable, "decided on what you want to do?"

Mami and Charlotte glanced at each other. "Well, uh," Charlotte said. "We really haven't gotten that far yet."

"Hmmm, understandable. I suppose you're still coming to terms with…well everything. Perhaps I should wait until you're done with your respective mental and emotional breakdowns before any sort of planning for the future takes place?"

"Hey now," Charlotte said indignantly. "There's no call for…" Then she stopped, considering. She glanced over to Mami, who was starting to sway on her feet.

"Uh…" Charlotte said, looking her up and down. "Are you okay?"

Mami steadied herself and shook her head. Now that the excitement was over, everything she had just learned was starting to come back, in all of its overwhelming horror.

Charlotte grimaced. She turned back to Shizuku, who was smirking in amusement. "Well, maybe we're not in the best shape to do any planning," she admitted.

"Thought so," Shizuku said. She turned and started heading back to the camp. Mami's hand found Charlotte's, and the two of them followed.

As they walked, Shizuku kept talking. "Well, seeing how you two don't know which way is up right now, why not come back with me?"

"With you?" Mami asked. "To where?"

"A town, not far from here. Well, actually not the town itself. My girlfriend and I own a place called Nautilus Platform, a few kilometers out to sea."

"Sea?" Charlotte said, at the exact same time Mami said "Girlfriend?" in much the same tone.

"Yes, sea," Shizuku said, pushing a low hanging branch out of the way. "Well, more of an ocean, actually. And come on, this is an all-female world. We work with what we have." She chuckled. "Though admittedly, my friends and I weren't exactly picky during my lifetime, either."

Mami shook her head in bewilderment. "Well, I suppose you have a point. But…" Her tongue tried to form itself into words, but her brain was not providing the necessary thoughts.

Fortunately, Charlotte stepped in. "So, you said you live at this platform place? Doing what?"

"Harvesting seaweed, mostly."

Mami's steps faltered. "Seaweed?"

"Mmmm-hmmm."

"For…like sushi?" Charlotte asked, sounding just as confused as Mami.

"Well, cosmetics mainly."

Now it was Charlotte's turn to miss a step. "Cosmetics? You're telling us that you spend your afterlife harvesting seaweed to be made into makeup?"

Shizuku laughed. "Just because we're dead doesn't mean that civilization stops. Life goes on, even if not in the literal sense."

They reached the campfire, which was now starting to die down. Shizuku tossed her bladed chain onto her backpack and sat back down. "It's good work, but it's still work. And we've been talking about hiring on some extra hands. Interested? Room and board will be provided, of course."

Mami and Charlotte looked at each other. Charlotte shrugged.

"Of course," Mami said as they sat down. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet," Shizuku said. "Like I said, it's hard work, but you get used to it." She leaned back against a fallen tree trunk, stretched out her legs, and rested her hands on her stomach. "But in the meantime, I'd better start bringing you two up to speed. Can't have you show up in town as ignorant as you are. So let's bring you up to speed with one of the biggest dangers around here, a very naughty little girl called Oblivion."

…

Now…

"Come on," Charlotte mumbled as she tried to push the skimmer to move even faster. "Come on, come on, come on…" She looked around at the endless expanse of dark waters and pounded her fists against the dashboard in frustration. "Damn it! Where is it? Why does the whole ocean have to look the goddamn same?"

Of course she knew that she had not gone far enough to reach the lighthouse just yet, but she was going nuts with impatience. Part of her frustration was due to her not knowing exactly what she was going to do when she found the place. Granted, the Void Walkers couldn't hurt or attack her in any way, but the reverse also applied. So how exactly was she supposed to get the friend of Mami's friend away from them? Civilized discussion and negotiation? Bribery? Pointing at the sky, scream, "Whaddya know, a UFO!" and grab the girl and run while they were distracted?

Growling, she kept the boat moving forward. That would have to wait until she was actually there. For now, actually finding the place was top…

…wait a minute…

Something had appeared on the horizon: a light, and a bright one at that. Slowing the boat down, Charlotte moved forward, squinting to make it out. It didn't look like a lighthouse's beam. A signal flare, maybe? Or another boat? She glanced at her crossbow, which was sitting folded-up in the passenger seat. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use it, but it always paid to be prepared.

She kept moving forward, eyes darting back in forth in search of movement. The light grew brighter as she came closer. Now she could just about make it out…

Charlotte's eyes went wide when she realized what she was looking at. "Oh crap," she whispered. "Oh, that's not good at all."

…

"…of course, by that time, we had been walking all day, so we were so tired that we weren't exactly thinking straight," Mami was saying. Kyoko had been washed up and redressed in some of Charlotte's old clothing, all that she could find that would fit, and been put in one of the guest beds. So now it was time to go back to telling stories of some of her adventures. "So when we found a farmhouse with a nice looking woman who was willing to let us sleep in her hayloft, were we going to say no?"

"Big mistake?" Oktavia asked.

"Very," Mami confirmed. "As it turns out, there are monsters everywhere. And this one turned out to be-"

The phone rang, startling them out of the story. Mami rose to answer it.

"Hello, Nautilus Platform," she said. Then her face brightened. "Charlotte! Are you okay?"

Oktavia's head snapped up. She leaned forward to listen.

"Oh good," Mami said, sounding relieved. "And…Wait, slow down, please. I can barely make out a thing you're…Oh." Her face fell, quickly followed by Oktavia's heart.

"Yes, I see. Are you sure…All right." She glanced over to Oktavia. "No, I'll tell her. Just come back, it's not safe out there. I'm sorry, of course you know that. All right, I love you too."

She hung up the phone.

"Well?" Oktavia demanded, her fingernails digging into the recliner's armrests.

Mami didn't turn to look at her. "I'm sorry, Oktavia," she said.

Oktavia's throat rose. "Sorry?" she said. "What's that supposed to mean, huh? Tell me what happened!"

"Charlotte found the lighthouse, but it was on fire."

"Fire? It…it was on fire? That doesn't make any sense! It's made out of stone, right? Stone doesn't burn, right?"

Mami sighed and returned to her chair. "There's still plenty within a lighthouse that can."

Oktavia's arms started to shake. "But…what about…"

"She searched the area the best she could, even went inside the lighthouse for as long as she could." Mami shook her head. "It was deserted; there was no one there."

Oktavia was both aghast and confused. "But…how? It hasn't been that long! We took their boat, and Annabelle Lee was the only one who could fly. How could they just leave?"

"I'm sorry, Oktavia. I don't have any answers for you. Much of what Oblivion is capable of is still unknown."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Oktavia demanded. "We can't just leave her there!"

Mami tapped her lower lip, thinking. Rescuing Oktavia and Kyoko's friend was now beyond their capabilities, but that didn't mean they were without options.

"All right, there is one last thing we can try," Mami said. She went to a stained oak cabinet and pulled out a small brown address book. After finding the number she was looking for, she picked up the phone and started dialing.

…

Even though Freehaven was one of the largest settlements within the New Life Alliance, it was very loosely run. For the most part, its denizens took care of the day-to-day problems themselves. Of course, the fact that said residents had remained mostly the same group of people for several decades helped to keep things steady, as none of them were going to die or reproduce anytime soon (or ever, for that matter). Every now and then a new face would pop up or somebody would leave, but aside from those rare changes to the registry, Freehaven remained a place of routine, enforced not by heavy laws but by the simple habits of those who lived there.

In short, Freehaven was a static city. It rarely expanded, preferred to maintain what was already there than replace it with something new, and everyone was on first-name basis with everyone else. Not the most exciting place to live, true, but for those who wanted to live their afterlife out in peace and comfort, Freehaven was the place to go.

That didn't mean that it was without leadership. Someone had to be the final judge and arbiter whenever a dispute arose, rare as they were, just as someone had to act as the city's voice while conducting negotiations with the other settlements. Corrie Linneman had been serving as the city's mayor for over eighty years. She kept her job partially because no one else wanted it, and partially because she didn't need to actually do much, which she had no problem with.

Another important part of her success was that she was very good as her real job: making sure that Oblivion's fingers stayed as far away as possible. Freehaven and the rest of the New Life Alliance were supposed to act at the antithesis of everything the Withering Lands stood for, and Corrie intended to ensure that this meant that as little of Oblivion's presence was felt as possible. Which meant that when it looked like Corrie was going to have anything to do with her and her black-wearing minions, it tended to make her unhappy.

For example…

The phone rang, startling her out of a deep sleep. She glowered in its direction, wondering if she was still dreaming, and if she wasn't, who in the world would be calling her at this hour.

"Mmmmph?" mumbled her wife, Monica. "Wha…?"

Corrie sighed. "I got it…" Yawning, she slipped out of bed and picked up the phone. "Y'ello?" she half said, half muttered.

"Hello, Corrie?"

Corrie glanced over to Monica, who had covered her head with a pillow and was grumbling her protests to the noise. "Mmmmyeah?"

"This is Mami Tomoe, from Nautilus Platform. I'm sorry I woke you, but we have a bit of an emergency."

Corrie snapped wide awake. The Nautilus Platform was Freehaven's last piece of property out to sea. In many ways, it marked the end of their territory, beyond which was neutral ground. If trouble was coming, they would be the first to see it.

Keeping one eye on Monica, Corrie said in a hushed voice, "Does it involve…you know who?"

"I'm afraid so."

Corrie closed her eyes and sighed. "All right. Hold on a moment."

Placing the phone on hold, Corrie grabbed her nightgown from where it lay slung over the back of a chair and headed for the door. As she did, Monica sleepily said, "Corrie? Whazgoinon?"

"Not sure yet," Corrie said. "Probably nothing. Go back to sleep."

"M'kay."

Corrie moved quickly through the house until she got to her private office. Carefully closing the door behind her, she flipped on the lights, winced when her dilated pupils protested the sudden change, and blinked all the way behind her desk.

Once she was sitting down, Corrie picked up the office phone and reconnected with the call. "All right, what's going on?" she said.

She listened as Mami Tomoe explained the situation to her, her brow rising and falling at different points. When Mami finished, Corrie said, "And…that's the whole story so far?"

"Yes. Kyoko and Oktavia are with us now, and Charlotte's on her way back."

"I see." Corrie groaned and rubbed her forehead as she tried to muddle her way through this mess. "And you have no idea why Oblivion is after those two?"

"None."

"All right. Well, obviously you need to get them here to sign the Compact ASAP. That'll stop the attacks at least. Though I'd really appreciate it if they stayed with you two for the time being. I don't have any objections to giving them Freehaven's protection, but if word gets out to some of the rowdier folks around here that their new neighbors are on Oblivion's hit list, they'll probably cause a bit of a stink over it. Let me do some preemptive damage control first."

"I understand. That's what we were planning on anyway."

"Good to hear." Corrie's hand reached into the desk and pulled out a large blue plastic binder, which contained the most recent census. She started flipping through its laminated pages. "In the meantime, about this friend of theirs…What was her name again?"

"Elsa Maria."

Corrie moved to the "E" section. "Hmmm, Elsa Maria, Elsa Maria, I'm not seeing…"

Then her memory recovered fully and she froze. "Hold up. Wait, we're talking about the Elsa Maria?"

"Excuse me?"

"Could…could you ask your friend there…Oktavia, right? Could you ask Oktavia if this Elsa Maria could do anything involving shadows and a great many arms?"

"Arms?"

Corrie slumped over her desk. "Just ask her, please."

"All right, hang on."

A few seconds ticked by, and then Mami's voice returned. "Uh, yes. She says that was how she fought off the Void Walkers."

Of course. Of course it had to be her. Corrie sighed and said, "Er, Mami? Do you remember a little incident that happened…about a year-and-a-half ago at the church? That one that ended with us needing to replace all the windows and me face down in the bird bath?"

"What does…Oh."

Corrie flicked a pen across the desk top. "Yeeeaaahhh."

There was a noticeable pause, and then Mami said, "Well, in fairness, that was a year-and-a-half ago. She's obviously gone through a change since then."

"Bird. Bath."

"Corrie, please. I know how you must feel about this person, but she sacrificed herself to save Oktavia and Kyoko from Oblivion's minions. We can't just leave her to suffer."

Corrie grunted, but not as harshly as she might have. It was true, she had no fuzzy feelings towards Elsa Maria, but if she had fought off four Void Walkers at once to give two newcomers enough time to escape, her opinion of Elsa Maria was improved by a little bit.

"Maybe," she admitted. "But I'm really limited in what I can do. She's never signed the Compact, so I can't sue for her release. The best I can do is contact Reibey and try to reason with him." She sighed and place her palm over her eyes. "And, uh, you can already see the problem there."

"I know, you don't want to talk to him."

"Damn right I don't want to talk to him. And if word gets out that I am talking to him, trying to get Elsa 'The Church Smasher' Maria released, then things could get real ugly. I mean, Reverend Beatrice still refuses to replace that bird bath. She says it's bad luck."

"Corrie, please! Oktavia is distraught here! If worse comes to worse, just say that Reibey was planning on using Elsa Maria as a weapon, and you wanted to stop him."

"Like that'd work. He has plenty of big guns already." Corrie rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll make the call tomorrow, but I can't promise it'll work. In fact, it most likely won't. Prepare yourself for that very likely possibility."

"All right," Mami said after a short moment of hesitation. "I understand."

"Uh-huh. And in the meantime, do not let those girls out of your sight! Whatever Oblivion wants them for cannot be good, and I don't want her getting anywhere near them until we can figure out what she's up to!"

"They're safe with us," Mami promised without hesitation.

"Damn right they are," Corrie muttered as she hung up.

She collapsed back into her chair and glowered at the far door. Well, this was an unpleasant surprise to wake up to. She hadn't the slightest idea how she was going to fix this mess, and probably wouldn't until she actually made the call, which was not something she was looking forward to. On the list of people she actively disliked, the trespassing rat was the only name higher than Oblivion herself. She hated Oblivion for what she stood for. Reibey she just plain hated for being Reibey, and the fact that he was an Incubator didn't help in the slightest.

Corrie left her office and made her way back to the bedroom. On the bright side, she didn't have to deal with the problem immediately, and at that moment she was in no state to deal with anyone from the Withering Lands. Slipping out of her nightgown, she crawled back into bed and snuggled up to Monica.

Monica shifted and muttered, "Mmmm, Corrie? Who was that?"

Corrie debated how she should answer and finally went with, "Mami Tomoe, from Nautilus Platform. It looks like we'll have a couple new faces joining us."

"Really? Oh, that's good." Monica yawned and shifted. "I like…meeting new people…"

"Yeah," Corrie said, closing her eyes. "Me too."

…

All right, I have a bunch of stuff to go over, so let's jump right in.

First of all, those who read the last chapter before it was edited are probably confused about who the hell Arzt and Nie are. What happened is when I added The Twins to the story, I couldn't find any sort of official witch names for them, leading me to assume that they didn't have any. However, it was quickly pointed out to me that they did, and I was just looking in the wrong place. To that end, Harriet and Arrietty are now Arzt and Nie. Yeah, I kinda preferred my names, but what'cha gonna do?

Next, I'm really sorry this took so long to update. Let's just say that after the last chapter went up, there were many complications that rose up, including finals week, my computer crashing and getting fixed for two weeks, working two jobs that are taking up a huge portion of my time, and me wanting to update my Touhou fic first and hitting a major case of writer's block while doing so. And when I finally got around to working on this story, I encountered the exact opposite problem, in that I kept having too many ideas, to the point where this chapter kept growing and growing until I realized that I had two chapter's worth of content.

So with that said, I have bad news and good news. The bad news fortunately is just that I, as explained above, encountered many problems while preparing this update, and is now out of the way. The good news is that the next chapter is more-or-less done, and just needs to be heavily re-edited. I'll put it up sometime over the next week.

Which brings me to my next point. I understand that some people were justifiably worried that this fic had died and were wondering if it was ever going to update. To that end, I've added an update schedule to my profile, which lists the next five planned updates and which stories they'll be for. So if you're a fan of Imperfect Metamorphosis or Resonance Days and want to know which one I'm working on, or if you're wondering when the hell I'll finally give Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire some attention, that will let you know. Unfortunately I can't predict when those updates will go up, but it's at least a start.

And speaking of which, as I understand it this story has started to gather a loyal following…on 4chan of all places! Specifically on the u board's Madoka thread. I never expected to get any sort of attention over there, but I certainly am not complaining! So, hi guys! Thanks for reading! :)

Until next time, everyone!