Writing this, is fun, but also very time-consuming.
Five years have passed since Kriemhild Gretchen first appeared in Madoka's life, and plenty of things had happened within the span of five years.
One of the first, and admittedly only a few, people that know about Kriemhild, aside from her own family, would be Madoka's best and close friends, Sayaka Miki and Hitomi Shizuki. It took some time to explain the situation to them, but they eventually understood. Sayaka and Hitomi, too, have become Kriemhild's friends.
As time went on, Kriemhild started appearing less frequently and became more elusive. Most people, sometimes even their family and friends, at first glance, wouldn't even be able to tell if Madoka and Kriemhild had just switched or not. However, if one were to pay close attention to them, one would notice that Madoka is gentle and forgiving, while Kriemhild is more assertive, protective, and has a healthy amount of savior complex. Not to mention the slightly lower-pitched version of Madoka's voice that Kriemhild tend to use.
This 'savior complex' trait was shown most prominently when their little brother, Tatsuya Kaname, was born three years ago. While Madoka would play with the baby Kaname, Kriemhild would always keep an eye on him like a hawk. This went on for half a year until she was convinced by Madoka that their father could take the brunt of Kriemhild's effort while they could focus on taking care of themselves.
Nowadays, Madoka and Kriemhild wouldn't even use their mouth to have a conversation with each other, but they would still converse within the confines of their mind. Sometimes, both Madoka and Kriemhild clumsily forget this and, from an outsider's perspective, would seem like they were verbally talking to themselves.
So similar, and yet so different.
The date is currently March 16, 2011. And it was already decided that March 16 would be Kriemhild Gretchen's birthday. The Kaname family had planned to go to a dinner for Kriemhild's birthday tonight. But that's for later.
Currently, Madoka and Kriemhild were attending class, as usual. Out of the whole class, only Sayaka and Hitomi know about Kriemhild, and that's just the way they like it. Ms. Saotome was, as usual, talking about her latest failed relationship.
Kriemhild saw this as an opportunity to talk with Madoka about her birthday, and so she took it, "Hey, heeeey, Madoka. Do you think I'll finally get a chocolate birthday cake this time around?"
Madoka blinked, wondering why Kriemhild was asking that question, before she asked something in return, "Are you still upset about that cake from your birthday last year?"
"I was not upset, I was just slightly disappointed when I got that vanilla cake." Kriemhild vehemently denied such accusations.
Madoka playfully pouted, "C'mon, it wasn't that bad."
Madoka could visually imagine that Kriemhild was gritting her teeth, "Yeah, it wasn't. But it also wasn't chocolate!"
Through five years of practice and experience, Madoka's facial expression remained poker-faced, but sometimes their emotion get the better of it, and one could notice the occasional twitch and fidgeting.
"I'm sure papa will get it right this time!"
"Yeah, yeah-"
Suddenly, Kriemhild sharply gazed their eyes to the north*. She felt…something…from the north of their current location. A surge of power, oddly familiar to Kriemhild.
This action did not go unnoticed by Madoka, who asked, "Eh, Kriem-chan. What's wrong?"
Kriemhild slowly shifted their eyes away from the disturbance and back to the whiteboard in front of the class, "I think I felt something from the north. Didn't you feel it?"
Madoka mentally shook her head, "No, I didn't."
"Well, it's like…I dunno, it's hard to describe it. Imagine you heard something loud, like an explosion." Kriemhild tried to explain how it felt to Madoka.
"Uh-huh…"
Kriemhild continued to explain, "Usually, your head would instinctively point to the direction of that explosion."
"Yeah…?"
"It's like that, but remove the sound of the explosion."
Madoka doesn't know what to say to that. So she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Are you okay, Kriem-chan?"
Kriemhild was slightly frustrated, and just gave up, "Ahh, forget it. It's probably just my imagination."
Before they even realize it, the class was already over.
Someone had tapped their shoulder, and Madoka turned around to find out that the culprit was Sayaka.
"Hey, Madoka, I heard you're going on a dinner tonight for Kriemy's** birthday. You're not inviting us?" Sayaka asked with a grin, while Hitomi stood behind her with a sheepish look.
Before Madoka could answer, Kriemhild had answered first, "What kind of question is that? of course you're both invited! We were just about to tell you on our way home, actually."
"Oh? Would it be the same place as last year?" Hitomi asked with a mix of enthusiasm and calmness.
"Yeah!" Madoka replied with a less-restrained enthusiasm.
For a moment, that surge of energy that Kriemhild had sensed just a few moments ago was forgotten while those four discussed on Kriemhild's dinner/birthday party for tonight. It was indeed something worth celebrating, and nothing will distract them that night.
T'was the night of March 16.
As soon as Homura was released from the hospital, she immediately went to work preparing her home, stealing some small arms from the Yakuza, and hoarding as many grief seeds as possible in preparation for another grueling attempt at saving Madoka.
After that botched-up time travel, the nagging feeling that something was amiss didn't leave her, and it made her abandon her plan to take a break for the entirety of this timeline.
Yes, Homura was genuinely serious with that plan.
For a moment, Homura hesitated. If all four of them couldn't beat Walpurgisnacht, then what's the point in saving any of them at all? Maybe she should ask for help from more magical girls from other cities? Would that even work?
It was strange. In the first timeline, all it took to defeat Walpurhisnacht was the duo that was Madoka Kaname and Mami Tomoe. Perhaps Walpurgisnacht, like Madoka, becomes stronger as time loops more?
The idea made Homura's soul gem darken a bit, but then she steeled her resolve. In the last timeline, even though Homura managed to gather everyone together, there were still some obvious yet fatal animosity between each magical girls that were involved, including herself. They were pretty much easy picking when Walpurgisnacht stopped holding back.
She'll have to fix that, somehow.
That night, Homura took a witch-hunting route that she knows that the other magical girl in this city, Mami Tomoe, wouldn't traverse through for tonight. So it came to her as a surprise when she saw the Kaname family, along with Sayaka Miki and Hitomi Shizuki, was having dinner at a restaurant that just so happens to be within her current witch-hunting route.
Variations tend to happen in some timelines sometimes, interlopers such as Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure don't usually appear in all timelines, and before the third time loop, Sayaka was never contracted by Kyubey.
Initially, Homura wanted to simply ignore this seemingly inconsequential variable. That is, until she saw the massive birthday chocolate cake that sat on the table around the group.
On top of the cake were candles that numbered 15.
Strange, Homura was quite certain that nobody in that group had a birthday today.
Homura moved closer to have a better look, and she saw Madoka was the one who blew the candles.
Madoka's birthday was supposed to be on October 3.
Homura narrowed her eyes. What is going on?
And then Madoka opened her eyes.
And Homura silently gasped at the sight.
Madoka's right eye was blue-magenta***.
Before Homura could truly comprehend what she was witnessing, Madoka faced her general direction. An action that prompted Homura to activate her time-stopping ability to get to a safe distance.
The Kaname family, alongside Sayaka and Hitomi, were enjoying their dinner. In front of Kriemhild was a massive chocolate cake that was just waiting for it to be cut into pieces and eaten.
"Finally, I've been waiting for a long time for this!" Kriemhild verbally spoke with excitement.
"Yeah, consider this an apology for not getting you chocolate cake last year." their father, Tomohisa, said sheepishly.
"I already told you that it's fine, papa." Kriemhild said while waving her hand in a lightly dismissive manner.
"Birthday cake!" the 3-year-old Tatsuya happily waved his hands at the birthday cake.
Sayaka understood Tatsuya's excitement, and urged Kriemhild, "Yeah! C'mon Kriemy, are you gonna blow the candles already or what?"
"Alright, alright, don't rush me!" Kriemhild playfully jabbed back.
Madoka giggled at the sight.
Closing her eyes, Kriemhild inhaled enough air into her lungs.
And blew at the candle firmly, but gently.
"Happy birthday, Kriem-san!" Hitomi said.
"Yeah, happy birthday, Kriemy!" Sayaka followed.
"Happy birthday, Kriem-chan!" Madoka internally said, with equal enthusiasm.
After blowing the candles in one go, Kriemhild opened her eyes, "Alright! Chocolate cake time-"
Suddenly, Kriemhild sensed the same energy that she sensed back in class, and it made her turn her head to the nearest window. Her eyes couldn't see anything outside the window, it was too dark. And the energy she felt was already gone milliseconds after she turned her head in its direction.
Out of all of them, only Madoka noticed that something had disturbed Kriemhild, "Hey, Kriem-chan, what's wrong?"
Kriemhild kept her eyes on the direction of the familiar energy that was no longer there, "I sensed that same energy from before again. It couldn't be just my imagination."
Madoka hummed, inclined to agree this time, "Now that you mention it, I could sense it too this time."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and for some reason, it felt familiar."
Kriemhild was somewhat surprised that Madoka also found the presence to be something that she was familiar with, "So you felt that too."
Madoka mentally nodded, "What could it be?"
Even though both of them felt familiar with it, neither of them actually knows what it is, "Well, whatever it is, it's gone now." Kriemhild turned her head back to face the more pressing matter in front of them, "Alright, no more delay, it's chocolate cake time!"
"Yeah!"
Homura stood on top of the restaurant where Madoka, alongside her family and friends, were enjoying themselves. There she tried to calm herself down. Once she calmed down enough, Homura could feel the presence of a witch at the same place where Madoka sat.
Most distressing.
To make sure, Homura pulled out her soul gem, and it had indeed detected the presence of a witch. Homura thought about breaking into the restaurant to hunt for this unknown witch. In all her previous time loops, Homura had never encountered a witch here.
Maybe she should-
"Ah! I didn't expect to find two anomalies within the same proximity so easily." a familiar yet infuriating voice pierced through her thoughts.
Kyubey stood in front of Homura, and somehow Homura failed to notice him going to that spot.
"I do not recall ever contracting you. You're quite an anomaly, you know?" Kyubey probed Homura for answers.
But Homura only glared at him silently.
Kyubey remained undeterred by the glare, "Tell me, what was your wish that made you become a magical girl? Was it a wish for me to forget everything about you or something else of that caliber?"
Homura only flipped her hair at the obvious probing, "What I wished for is not for you to know, Incubator."
Homura mentally kicked herself for letting Kyubey know about the fact that she knows about the Incubators at all.
"Oh, so you know about us? I assume you also know about the inevitable fate that awaits all magical girls. Am I correct?"
Homura only narrowed her eyes even harder.
To Kyubey, that's all he needed to see to confirm it.
Kyubey wagged his tail and sighed, "No matter. Of the two anomalies within this proximity, you are merely the lesser one."
Oh, right. Homura somehow missed the fact that Kyubey had mentioned that there are two anomalies within this proximity. So blinded by hatred that she started making small mistakes like that.
"Explain." Homura asked calmly.
"That pinkette who is enjoying her birthday cake, Madoka Kaname. Not only that she has the potential to be the strongest magical girl ever, but she also has the presence of an equally powerful witch within her."
"An equally powerful witch…?" Homura thought, before her eyes widened in realization, "No. It can't be!"
Homura came to one, factual, horrifying conclusion: Kriemhild Gretchen had already hatched.
Kyubey seemed to have noticed Homura's honest reaction to this information, "It seems even you have realized it. Do you know what this means?"
"Just squeeze as much information from the Incubator as possible, Homura." Homura sighed, before asking with a chilling calmness, "No, what does this mean?"
"If we were to extract her grief seed, we would be able to completely negate entropy!"
Homura already knew this, of course.
"But-"
"THERE'S MORE?" Homura's thought was panicking, and she was trying her hardest to keep a cool head.
"If we were to successfully contract Madoka Kaname, and then have her become a witch, then we would have the capability to negate entropy for TWO universes!"
"WHAT?!" Homura mentally shouted.
"So please, Homura Akemi. Please convince Madoka Kaname to make a contract to become a magical girl!" Kyubey had uncharacteristically begged for Homura to do the opposite of what she had been trying to do this whole time.
Homura Akemi was pissed off.
In her cold fury, Homura had kicked Kyubey off the top of the restaurant.
Fortunately for Homura, Kyubey had not bothered to return to pester her any further. And so she calmed down. Or at least, as calm as she could be, given the current circumstances.
Externally, her expression remained calm. Internally, she was screaming and panicking.
"Okay Homura, this has NOT happened before. I'll just return back to March 16 and try again-" Homura mentally kicked herself once again, for it's still March 16 today. "Okay, new plan. I'll just continue hunting witches and do my usual routine for now. I'll just have to confront Madoka about it when I eventually transfer into the same class as her later."
Homura then proceeded to continue hunting for witches that night. The more she stays here, the crazier she felt.
It was 4 PM in the afternoon when Homura returned back to her house. After she had gathered enough grief seeds, Madoka went straight to stealing more weaponry from the Yakuza and the nearest JSDF base. On her way inside her house, she slammed the door shut in frustration.
It is safe to say that Homura had lost her marbles that afternoon.
So, after Homura had her lunch and cleaned her soul gem, she then spent the rest of the day taking a nap.
She was tired.
When Homura finally woke up, for once, she didn't want to leave her bed. She was still tired.
That is, until she looked at the time and date on the digital clock that sat next to her bed.
16:15, March 18.
Oh.
Suddenly, Homura jumped out of her bed, transformed into her magical girl attire, and made her way outside of her house. Somehow, she had slept for 24 hours and 15 minutes.
Based on her previous time loops, Kyubey would usually try to contract Madoka in 15 minutes from now on. Just to save a cat that would be run over by a car.
Homura must hurry.
When Homura arrived at the place where the cat would be run over, she found the most unexpected sight.
When Homura arrived at the scene, she saw a glimpse of Madoka who had just ran through the street, holding something. Even after crossing the street, she kept on running for a little bit more until she finally stopped.
Not taking any chances, Homura went into a nearby alley and stopped time to move the cat out of harm's way.
Wait.
"Where's the cat?"
Homura then gazed at Madoka, and her suspicion was confirmed.
There stood Madoka, hugging the cat close to her chest. Madoka herself was lightly panting. Somehow, Madoka had just saved the cat without contracting.
"It would seem that my intervention was unnecessary after all."
Homura then returned to her original spot and let time resume.
There Homura stood in the nearby alley, keeping an eye on Madoka in case something unexpected happens again.
A few minutes ago…
Madoka and Kriemhild were just on their way back home from school. Both Sayaka and Hitomi had already separated away to do their own things for today. So the two walked together alone.
Kriemhild physically yawned while they walk, "Huehh, I'm tired."
"That's because you made us spend more time in the school gym than usual." Madoka lightly wailed.
"Well, I gotta get stronger faster if I want to protect both you and Tatsuya!" Kriemhild enthusiastically explained.
Madoka, however, was not entirely convinced, "And how are you going to do that if you pass out from exhaustion first?"
There were a few seconds of silence, until Kriemhild came up with a reply, "…I'll figure it out."
Madoka can't help but giggle.
As they continued walking, they finally saw a familiar black cat.
"Hey, isn't that Amy?" Madoka asked, mostly to herself than to Kriemhild.
"Amy? You mean that cat that you tried to bring back home?"
Madoka nodded, "Yeah," but then her eyes slightly widened, "But what is she doing in the middle of the road?"
Kriemhild was suddenly concerned, and urged Madoka, "Madoka-chan! Don't just stand there! Grab that cat before she gets run over by something! Hurry!"
In the middle of the monologue, Madoka had already ran to grab Amy from the street and away from any hazard. Even though there were no cars in the immediate vicinity, letting Amy stand in the middle of the street like that would prove fatal. Kriemhild's concern turned out to be well-placed, as a car suddenly made a turn and sped up past where Amy used to stand.
"Wow, that was lucky." Kriemhild remarked.
Madoka panted, before replying, "Yeah, Amy could have died back there-"
The both of them suddenly felt that energy from two days ago once again.
"Madoka-chan, you felt that one too, didn't you?"
"I did, Kriem-chan."
Kriemhild narrowed her eyes, "Is it stalking us?"
Madoka mentally shrugged, "Maybe it was just a coincidence."
Gradually, Kriemhild relaxed, "…Maybe. Let's just go home. If we hurry, papa's hot chocolate might still be hot by the time we're home."
"What about Amy?" asked Madoka as she hugged the cat more firmly.
"Just drop her in front of our house. The traffic there is pretty tame compared to here, so it should be okay."
Madoka physically nodded in response. Unaware that they were being watched.
And so they walked back home. Forgetting about that familiar energy that they just felt in favor of thinking about the cat that they had in tow, and papa's hot chocolate.
"Who or what was Madoka nodding to?" was Homura's final thoughts before she turned away and went back home.
*According to the PSP game, the hospital was directly far north of the middle school.
**A nickname that Sayaka coined for Kriemhild not long after they met.
***When I used the eyedropper tool on Ultimate Kriemhild's eyes, the color that I got was blue-magenta, or specifically, #1A1A7C in hex color code.