Oh boy, more exposition.

"You two! Grab onto me if you want to live!"

Neither Sayaka, Kriemhild, nor Madoka knows why Homura was here to begin with, but they didn't question it as they hastily grabbed onto Homura's shoulder. As soon as they did, the world around them greyed out.

Time was frozen.

In their confusion, they were about to let go of Homura's shoulder, until the girl in question told them, "Don't let go of me. If you do, then time will be frozen for you as well."

Kriemhild blinked. It wasn't her first time experiencing Homura's power, but she finally connected the dots together, "Homura-chan…you can stop time?"

"So cool…" Sayaka uttered quietly.

Homura nodded, "Yes, but I can't hold it for long. We should get out of here." she said as she firmly grabbed both their arms and moved away from this place, with Sayaka and Kriemhild (and Madoka) in tow.

"A-ah, right." Kriemhild said as she struggled to sync her pace with Homura.

"Where are we going this time?" Sayaka asked, sounding a bit more agitated than she actually is.

Homura preemptively assumed that was just Sayaka's normal expression in this kind of situation, "My house. It's not too far away from here."

Sayaka relaxed, "Oh, right. We were actually planning to go there."

"Then what are you two- er, three, doing here?" Homura rhetorically asked, still trying to get used to the fact that Kriemhild is there.

Not that they know that it was a rhetorical question, Kriemhild replied, "While we were on our way out, I suddenly felt the presence of something…I think it was of that witch that Tomoe-senpai defeated just now."

"Mami sure works fast today. She would usually defeat the witch tomorrow while bringing along Madoka and Sayaka in her witch hunt. I suppose she couldn't afford to waste any time when Kriemhild is here." Homura pondered.

Sayaka interjected, "So, are you going to tell us what's going on here? Madoka and Kriemy had been hyping it up so much that it's making me impatient."

Kriemhild rubbed her head with her free hand and sheepishly apologized, "Wehihi, sorry Sayaka-chan. I guess we did."

"You even laugh just like her…" Homura muttered.

Kriemhild heard that, "Whuh?"

Homura shook her head, "Nothing." and kept her eyes on the horizon, "Anyway, can you three do me a favor and keep my power a secret? Since the two of you are powerful magical girl candidates, someone might be watching."

"Eh? Really? Who is it?" Sayaka asked.

Homura answered, eyes still on the horizon, "We're not safe just yet. Save it for later, please."

Sayaka couldn't help but hum in exasperation, and at the same time, lightheartedly, "Oh, great. Now you're hyping it up too."

Madoka switched back, and laughed, "You two got along pretty quickly."

"Yes, it seems we did." Homura muttered with a small smile that the three girls behind her barely saw.

Out of curiosity, Madoka asked, "Say, Homura-chan. How long have you been nearby?"

Homura quickly answered, "I actually just arrived. I was out here on a witch hunt."

Homura felt a tug on her right arm, who- oh, it's Sayaka, who cautiously asked, "Are you going to take away kriemy as well?"

Homura briefly peered over her shoulder at Sayaka, before setting her eyes on the horizon in front of her once more, "No. I have no such intention."

"It's alright, Sayaka-chan. Homura-chan already knows." Madoka nervously reassured Sayaka.

"Huh? Since when?" Sayaka asked.

Madoka briefly looked away, "At school, when I brought her to the nurse's office." she answered, in which she then remembered something, "Oh, Homura-chan, did you find your medications?"

If her hands were freed, then Homura would have waved around her medications, "I did. But since I'm a magical girl, I probably don't actually need it. Although, I still keep them around, just in case."

The rest of the walk had been completely silent. Despite it being a busy Friday afternoon, a time-frozen world is eerily silent. The only sound that they could hear was their own footsteps and receding conversations. Even Homura herself was quite sure that she never went on for this long in a time stop. The near-absolute silence was, ironically, painfully deafening for the quartets.

"Hmm…" Madoka hummed in an attempt to break the silence.

"What's wrong?" Homura asked, not quite worried judging by her tone.

Madoka stopped humming and idly said, "…and here I thought magical girls are supposed to work together…"

Homura closed her eyes, silently agreeing with Madoka's sentiment, "Unfortunately, this kind of thing does not work the same way that you see in anime. Mami Tomoe knows this, despite her beliefs."

"You know Mami-san?" Sayaka asked, not wanting to stay silent either.

Homura considered her options. There are many ways to describe Mami, but she went with the safest option, "She has a reputation as a veteran among magical girls of Mitakihara and the surrounding area."

"Woah…" Madoka silently replied, seemingly having forgotten that those magical girls might be out for her blood, even as they speak.

Sayaka looked around warily, "There are other magical girls here too?"

"Not exactly around here, per se. Mitakihara is a large city, and there are only a few magical girls around." Homura replied, trying to put their worries at ease.

"And what does that make you?" Madoka asked, still curious about Homura.

Homura pondered for a few seconds, before she answered, hopefully not sounding too haughty, "I suppose I could count as a veteran as well…" she trailed off. Imagine her relief when her house was finally in sight, "Ah, we're almost there."

"…That was fast." Kriemhild (accidentally) verbally commented.

"I guess time really does flies fast when there's something happening." Sayaka monotonously replied, too caught up with the European architecture of Homura's house.

Despite having literally all the time in the world, Homura hastily unlocked the door to her house, momentarily freezing Sayaka within the time stop, "Get inside!"

Homura then reestablished her link with Sayaka by grabbing onto her arm again. Broken out of her trance (and slightly disoriented), Sayaka asked a harmless question, "Hey, I thought you said you were setting up your home."

Homura lightly hissed, "I actually just got it done, now hurry!"

As they went inside, Homura locked the door behind them, ceased her time stop, and went to check the rest of the house if there were any openings that she missed. Leaving the three girls near the entrance.

"Madoka…what have we just gotten ourselves into…?" Sayaka asked.

Madoka shrugged, "I don't know…but we're here now. Hopefully, Homura-chan would tell us all we need to know."

For a moment, they heard shuffling and clanking in the distance, Homura doing who-knows-what.

"You think we'll be okay here?" Sayaka asked as she clenched the rebar that was still in her right hand.

Madoka nodded.

Wait a minute.

"Um, Madoka?"

"Yeah?"

"What do I do with this?" Sayaka asked as she held up the rebar that she somehow kept a hold on this whole time, "I forgot that I even had this in hand."

"I'll hold onto it."

Madoka and Sayaka yelped in surprise when Homura suddenly interjected into their little problem. Offered with help, Sayaka handed over the rebar to Homura, who then stored it within her shield…somehow. The rest of the girls didn't question it.

With that out of the way, Homura beckoned the three girls into following her further into the interior of her house. It was…surreal. It was as if they were walking into a white void. The only item that they could see was the seemingly specifically-arranged chairs, and the clockwork that hangs from the ceiling.

Out of curiosity, Sayaka reached out into the wall to have a feel for the room, until she was reprimanded by Homura, "Don't touch the digital display, you'll leave smudges on it."

Sayaka pulled her hand back, her unsaid question sufficiently answered.

Homura checked, and double-checked if there was any opening where Kyubey would be able to break in and eavesdrop. Satisfied that they are completely isolated, Homura thought about her failed plan to…steal the spotlight from Mami today.

"Okay, Mami may have been the one who saved them from that witch, but it was I who saved them from Mami…Gaining Mami's trust may pose a greater challenge this time, but at least gaining the trust from these two- er, three, should be much easier."

All is not lost. Not yet, at least.

Homura looked at her guests, "So, I trust that you three have many questions?"

Sayaka replied, "Y-yeah, we sure do."

"Then let's cut to the chase." Homura said as she sat down on one of the wider chairs. "Sit right next to me, and stay in contact." she said, while making a gesture.

"Why?" Madoka asked.

Homura looked around, before she replied, "…Someone might be listening, I'd rather not risk it."

And just like that, they sat down right next to Homura. Sayaka on her right, Madoka and Kriemhild on her left. When it was certain that they were all touching their host, Homura summoned her shield and stopped time once again. Within the privacy of a time-frozen world, nothing would be able to distract her from providing a comprehensive explanation of how a magical girl works.

Homura took a couple of seconds to ponder on how she should begin, "Before we go any further, may I ask if Mami Tomoe had already told you about magical girls?"

Sayaka nodded, "She did, yeah."

Homura asked further, "And what did you learn from her?"

"Not much, she did tell us that she's a magical girl, she told us about familiars, witch labyrinths, and what a witch is." Madoka mulled it over.

Homura nodded in approval, "Mhm, that makes my work so much easier, but…" Homura paused, probably for dramatic effect, "…did she ever tell you where witches come from?" she asked, knowing all-too-well the answer to this question.

Sayaka shook her head, "…No, she didn't."

"Alright, I'll get to that later. Anyway…!" Homura began by hyping herself up, trying to convince herself that this is a good idea, "Alright Homura. No holding back. The other times where I do tell them everything from the get-go, they had been disastrous. But this is different. This is already the most unusual timeline I've ever experienced so far. There may not be another opportunity such as this next time, I'll have to make it count!"

From an outsider's perspective, it would seem like Homura abruptly stopped talking, which worried Madoka, "Um, Homura-chan?

That seemed to snap Homura out of her internal monologue, "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking to myself. Anyway…" Homura inhaled some air and exhaled, "I…am a magical girl. Girls who had been contracted by Kyubey to fight witches and familiars, in exchange for a wish."

Sayaka perked up, "A wish?"

Homura ignored Sayaka's obvious interest, and continued, "Indeed. It can be anything, the only limit is your imagination, and your potential."

Sayaka mulled over the possibility, "A wish huh…? Hey, Madoka, what would you wish for?"

Homura narrowed her eyes, "Do not-" she tried to interject, but was cut off by Madoka.

Despite the situation, Madoka decided to play along, just to make the atmosphere lighter for everyone in the room, "I'd wish for more wishes! What about you, Sayaka-chan?"

"Hey-" a swing and a miss, courtesy of Homura. Cut off once again, this time by Sayaka.

"I dunno. There are so many things that I want." Sayaka said as she rubbed her chin, trying to think of something to wish for.

"Hmph-" Homura crossed her arms and pouted. She couldn't catch a break, can she?

"Really? Like what?" Madoka asked.

"Like-" was all Sayaka managed to say before she was cut off herself.

Homura coughed into her arm in an attempt to cut them off from this dangerous line of thoughts.

Realizing what they've done, Madoka sheepishly apologized, "O-oh, sorry Homura-chan. I guess we got carried away."

Homura sighed, "It's alright. Anyone would be interested if presented with such an opportunity. But there are hidden drawbacks in all of this, each one worse than the last."

"Drawbacks?" Sayaka asked, broken out of her fantasy, at least momentarily.

Despite already knowing where witches come from, Madoka couldn't help but notice how Homura said drawbacks in a plural way, so she asked, "Like what?"

"First of all, being a magical girl means you'll have to fight witches and familiars for the rest of your short life." Homura began in a composed manner.

"S-short life?" Sayaka stammered.

"Being a magical girl is dangerous. Many girls perished weeks or months after being contracted. I have yet to meet any magical girls who have reached adulthood." Homura muttered, just loud enough for her guest to listen.

Madoka already knew the fate that awaits every magical girl. But even without factoring in the witch part, the fact that magical girls die young already made it sound more and more unappealing, "That's terrible…"

With a horrified expression, Sayaka asked, "And that's not even the worse part?"

Homura nodded once, "Indeed, it wasn't." Homura held out a hand a summoned her soul gem, "This…is a soul gem. It is what you get when you form a contract with Kyubey. It is the source of our magic. But one thing that everyone seemed to miss is that this is quite literally our soul."

"What?"

"Yes. In the process of contracting, our soul is pulled out of our body and turned into these soul gems. No matter how grievously injured we get, as long as the soul gem remains intact, we'll live, and we'll regenerate." Homura explained, nearly done with what she knows about soul gem.

"That…doesn't sound too bad." Madoka commented, strangely calm.

Meanwhile, Sayaka had the opposite reaction, "Are you kidding me? We could have been zombies!"

Madoka stared at Homura with a genuinely concerned expression, "H-Homura-chan, do you have the urge to eat our brains?"

Homura was dumbfounded, before she scoffed and shook her head, "What? No. That's silly."

Madoka then stared past Homura and onto Sayaka, "Besides, Sayaka-chan. Wouldn't magical girls count as mecha instead?"

Sayaka sweatdropped, "Now you're just stretching it, Madoka."

"Yeah…Sorry for calling you a mecha, Homura-chan."

Homura had an unreadable expression, "What happened in the last five years to make them act so…relatively casual about all this?"

From Homura's perspective, Madoka and Sayaka seemed relatively calm. In reality, both girls are actually frightened. In the case of Sayaka, she was actually trying to keep herself composed by lampshading what she had just heard, while Madoka had five years to adopt that poker face of hers whenever this kind of situation happens. Both girls could only hope that Homura didn't take it the wrong way.

Homura, on the other hand, had already experienced worse reactions, in worse circumstances. Compared to that, this has been a major improvement over previous timelines.

Before they could derail any further, Madoka took the initiative to ask further, "Anything else, Homura-chan?"

Without any further indicator, Homura continued on with her exposition, "A few more things to cover up, I believe. This one still relates to how a soul gem work. If our soul gem is separated from our body for 100 meters, we just drop dead."

Sayaka paled, "L-like a coma? Or an actual death?"

"Actual death."

Madoka did not know this part at all, "With the decomposition and everything?"

Homura nodded.

Madoka asked again, "Is it still possible for them to be saved?"

"Just put our soul gem on us and we'll get right back up, even if we're already rotten." Homura answered as she gently clenched her soul gem.

"…That's everything, right?" Sayaka asked, hoping that all these horrible things would be the end of it.

Three words were all it took for Homura to utterly destroy Sayaka's hope,

"One more thing."

Sayaka groaned.

"When a magical girl uses their magic, their soul gem would turn darker with impurities. When a soul gem turns completely dark, it will turn into a grief seed, and the magical girl becomes the very thing they were sworn to destroy. All magical girls would eventually become witches."

"No…" Sayaka whispered in dismay.

Madoka already knew this part, but was still terrified nonetheless, "Does Mami-san knows about any of this?"

Homura shook her head, "No. Many other magical girls rarely does, they usually die before they could even find out. It's only a matter of time before Mami follows suit."

Sayaka felt indignant on Homura's behalf, "No way! Are you implying that none of them was told that this would happen to them? Even you?!"

Homura glanced at Sayaka, "Indeed. Our contractor, Kyubey, would trick and lie by omission to convince any potential into becoming a magical girl. Only telling us the good part while conveniently leaving out the unappealing part. I learned it the hard way."

Madoka was afraid to ask this, but she asked anyway, "…How many girls have fallen for this?"

"I am not certain, but I do know that this has been happening throughout human history."

"Oh…" not an answer that Madoka had hoped.

Homura believed that this whole exposition is already over, "I believe I've already covered up everything. Is there something I missed?"

Sayaka raised her hand, "Wait, you said that your soul gem darkens when you use magic."

Homura glanced at Sayaka, "I did. What about it?"

Sayaka then pointed her hand at Homura's soul gem, "Your soul gem looks bright to me, and I'm pretty sure you've been doing this time stop for a little while now."

Homura moved her gaze at her bright and shining soul gem, seemingly unaffected after stopping time for so long, "Yes. Spending my magic like this is usually unwise. But for some reason, when I maintain physical contact with Madoka…and Kriemhild, my soul gem remains pure."

"Eh, why is that?" Madoka asked. Surprised that – not only does she apparently have powerful potential to be a magical girl – but could also (with the help of Kriemhild) cleanse soul gems by physical contact.

Homura remained silent for a few seconds, "…I'm not sure. But it may have been something to do with Kriemhild."

"Kriemy? How come?" Sayaka tilted her head in confusion.

"Normally, a soul gem can be cleansed from impurities by attaching it with a grief seed." said Homura.

"Grief seed?"

As an example, Homura pulled a grief seed out of her shield. It is the grief seed of Izabel, the Artist Witch. The first witch that Homura had ever encountered, back in the first timeline. The witch that Madoka and Mami had defeated in order to save her.

Homura held the grief seed in front of them, beheld by all within the room, "This is a grief seed. A defeated witch will drop a grief seed. However, using the grief seed too much will revive the said witch."

Homura then stored the grief seed back within her shield, it served its purpose, for now, "I suppose it's reasonable to assume that Kriemhild's grief seed works the same way as any other grief seed when it comes to purifying soul gems. I'm not sure about the limit, but Madoka doesn't seem harmed by it."

"Mami-san said something about getting the grief seed out of…Madoka! Are you feeling alright? Anything strange?" Sayaka asked, concerned for Madoka's well-being.

Madoka shook her head, "I don't feel any different." she then asked Kriemhild, "How about you, Kriem-chan?"

Kriemhild, who had been silent this whole time, felt peachy, "I'm actually feeling more…powerful…than I was before. Strange. I feel like I can do anything!"

Madoka stared at the other two inhabitants in the room, "Kriem-chan said that she's feeling more powerful than she was before."

"Makes sense. I suppose I am technically feeding her as we speak." Homura hummed, before she realized something, "Wait, isn't that dangerous? Wouldn't her grief seed explode like an overused grief seed and tear Madoka apart from the inside?" If no one were watching, she would have shaken her head, "No, Kriemhild is already alive. There is nothing to revive. Still…"

Homura remembered something, "I'm sorry, Madoka. Could you give us a moment?"

"Wha-?" Madoka tried to ask, before she was cut off when Homura faced her entire body in Sayaka's general direction.

"Hey…What's going on-?" Sayaka's question was also cut off when Homura started to examine Sayaka with her hands. "What are you doing?!" Sayaka asked, feeling uncomfortable by the invasion of her personal space, also a little ticklish.

"I need to see if there's a witch's kiss on your body." Homura explained as she rubbed her hands all over Sayaka's face.

"Witch's kiss?" Madoka asked.

Homura rolled Sayaka's sleeve because she felt something there, but rolled it back down when there was really nothing there. She then answered, "Yes, it's how witches assert their influence on their victims."

"You don't trust Kriemy?" Sayaka somehow came to that conclusion.

Homura raised an eyebrow, "I didn't say that. You three did encounter a witch before I arrived, right? I just wanted to make sure."

Sayaka shot another question, "How did you know that?"

"We magical girls can sense the presence of a witch." Homura casually replied, before she firmly grasped Sayaka's shoulder, "Now stand still!"

Sayaka squawked.

"All clear." Homura declared as she finished examining Sayaka for a witch's kiss, finding none of it.

Sayaka was stiff by the time Homura was done, and she stiffly asked, "What about Madoka?"

Homura waved off that question, "A witch's kiss is the least that she could be worried about."

Suddenly, without any sort of visible prompt, Sayaka asked in a tone that Homura is unfortunately very familiar with: suspicions, "So, Homura, why did you save us?"

"Come again?"

Despite everything, Sayaka's wariness was not reassured just yet, "Do you have any reason in particular to save us? For all we know, you could be intending to keep Kriemy's grief seed to yourself."

Outwardly, Homura seemed to keep her calm. Inwardly, she was panicking,"Gah! Why does Sayaka have to be the most unpredictable to deal with? She was friendly this morning, only to turn mistrustful in the afternoon! Calm down! CALM DOWN!" Homura made an attempt to calmly reply, "I never intend to do such thing."

It's not enough. It's never enough, isn't it? "Oh yeah, and how can we be so sure that you're telling the truth?"

"Sayaka-chan…" Madoka muttered, a little upset with how things are going down.

Homura narrowed her eyes in annoyance, and coldly replied, "If I wanted to, I would have already taken it. None of you have any feasible way to counter my time-stopping ability. Despite that, I have not even harmed Madoka in the slightest." she then dropped her cold expression and stared at Madoka with concern, "I haven't, have I?"

Madoka shook her head as a way to say "No.", somewhat thrown off by how fast Homura dropped her cold facade.

Sayaka felt the same way, and it managed to convince her, at least for now, "I guess that's true…Sorry for doubting you."

Homura sighed as she closed her eyes, "It's alright. You're not in the wrong for feeling wary of magical girls after what Mami Tomoe tried to do with Kriemhild."

"But still, why?" Sayaka asked again, her original question still not answered.

"The last time that I went it 'I have my reasons', Sayaka lost her trust on me immediately. Alright Homura, figure out something that reveals only a few things, but also something that remains true." Homura pondered on how to answer this question. But not too long, Madoka might get worried again.

"Do I need a reason to look after my friends? Even before I found out about Kriemhild's ability to purify soul gems, I already wanted to keep you three safe from whatever it is that Kyubey had planned. Both Madoka and Kriemhild are within his main interest, and I plan to thwart it." Homura went with the truth, while also not revealing too much.

Madoka was touched by Homura's reasoning, "Homura-chan…"

The following was filled with silence. Nobody knows what to talk about. There are no more things to ask, and no more things for Homura to inform. The silence was jarring.

Until Madoka broke the silence, "What are we gonna do now?"

"What do you mean, Madoka?" Sayaka asked.

"Are we even safe in our own homes anymore?" Madoka clarified.

Thankfully, Homura could still provide some answers, "You are, for now. Knowing Mami, she wouldn't stoop so low as to breaking and entering someone's home in the middle of the night, nor would she confront you at school. Doing so would only attract unwanted attention to herself."

"What about other magical girls?" Sayaka asked, having remembered that Mami and Homura aren't the only magical girls in the surrounding area.

Homura narrowed her eyes…in a relaxed manner, "Like I said, Mitakihara is a large city. That distance alone should keep you three safe from other magical girls…at least for a week or two."

"Well, that's reassuring." Sayaka remarked, half-sarcastic, half-relieved.

"You two should return to your home for now." Homura decided on their next course of action.

"Would we be okay on our way back?" asked a concerned Madoka.

"…I'll walk you three home if you want."

Madoka perked up, "You will?"

"Sure."

"What about tomorrow?" Sayaka asked regarding what could happen tomorrow.

"Just go to school like normal. Mami Tomoe is a third-year student, she'll be busy for the first half of the day." Homura calmly replied, not worried in the slightest.

Sayaka complied, "…If you say so."

After Homura's exposition regarding what she knows about magical girls and witches. Madoka, Kriemhild, and Sayaka returned home, with Homura escorting them. While on their way, they exchanged phone numbers. Homura didn't want to rely on telepathy, considering that Kyubey is the thing that acts as a psychic telephone among magical girls and candidates. For all she knows, Kyubey could be wiretapping it to get information between those that use his help for telepathy.

They first dropped off Madoka at her house, since her place is closer to Homura's house. By the time they arrived, the sun had already set.

"Thanks for walking us home, Homura-chan."

"No problem." Homura replied, "Remember, what we have discussed will stay between the three- the four of us, unless I approve of it. And whatever happens, do NOT trust Kyubey."

Sayaka sweatdropped, and muttered, "You never actually told us what he looked like…"

"It's alright. You'll know him when you see him…or when he inevitably introduces himself." said Homura.

Madoka nodded and beamed, "You can count on me, Homura-chan!"

Homura smiled and nodded in return, "Come along, Sayaka. And have a good night, Madoka."

Sayaka, who stood behind Homura, bid her farewell as well, "Yeah, good night, Madoka!"

Madoka waved, "Good night, you two!"

As the remaining duo walked away from the Kaname residence, her smile dropped into a frown, hidden under the cover of the night, "I wish I don't have to count on you with all these burdens at all."

Things will get more exciting in the next chapter. Hopefully.