Chapter 2

Sayaka's eyes opened.

She was in an entirely unfamiliar room. It was a massive concert hall, with raised seats arranged in rows upon rows above the stage. They circled the entirety of it, the white platform a stark contrast to the velvet blue seats. The stage itself was well lit while the lights above the audience seats were dark, as though a performance was currently taking place.

Sayaka sat in one of those seats, facing the front of the stage. It was on the bottom row, though that still put it at least 15 feet above the stage itself. She was the only one in the audience, while a single man sat at a table on the stage. He was old, mostly bald, and had a long nose.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," the man said, his soft voice somehow reaching Sayaka despite the distance between them. It didn't sound like he was using a microphone either. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."

Alright, so this is a dream. There was no other way to explain the bizarre scene Sayaka was in. It felt straight out of a fairy tale! Not that Sayaka minded. She had always been a fan of her more whimsical dreams. Once, she had even kept a dream journal before growing lazy and neglecting it.

What she was getting at, was that this was cool as hell! Sayaka even heard some kind of classical music coming from the stage despite there not being any instruments. How did her brain conjure up something like this?

"My name is Igor," the strange man continued. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

Igor? This was getting weirder and weirder.

"It seems we have a guest with a mysterious past," Igor said. "Only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter this room, yet your contract is unlike most others."

"A contract?" Okay, now this was starting to get freaky. "What are you talking about? I never signed anything!"

Her words made the man chuckle. "The next month is a turning point in your destiny. An important decision awaits you at the end of it all. Until that time, I will be here to provide assistance."

"What kind of assistance?" Sayaka found herself asking.

Looking close, she realized Igor had a perpetual grin on his face. That grin remained as he spoke. "We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell."

Wait, already? What kind of dream was this? Sayaka tried to stand, but found her body was heavy as lead.

A bright light filled the concert hall, so intense that it nearly blinded Sayaka. She was forced to squeeze her eyes shut.

When she opened them, she was in the bedroom she shared with Kyoko, her morning alarm ringing to wake them both up.


"I'm telling you, it was the weirdest dream I've ever had!" Sayaka waved her chopsticks adamantly as she had lunch on the school roof with Madoka, Kyoko, and Hitomi. "Seriously, his nose was so long!"

"Ya sure are awfully fixated on that part," Kyoko noted between bites. Or rather, during bites. "You got some kind of weird obsession we should know about?"

For that, Kyoko earned a punch on the shoulder as Sayaka made a face. "Knock it off!"

Hitomi hummed. "Perhaps your subconscious was trying to tell you something. Maybe this dream happened because of a buildup of stress. Has schoolwork overwhelmed you at all?"

Sayaka waved that idea off. "Nah, school's easy."

Kyoko cackled. "Try telling that to your parents when they see your report card."

"Shut it!" Sayaka scowled. "My grades are still better than yours!"

Ugh, they were getting off topic! Sayaka sighed and checked her phone, only to grimace at what she saw there.

"Dammit, that virus is back."

"Virus?" Madoka peered over her shoulder to see the red and black icon from yesterday. "Is your phone broken?"

"It's fine!" Sayaka put the phone face down next to her without closing it. She didn't want her best friend to be hypnotized by that freaky app. Unbeknownst to her, the app opened on its own as their conversation continued.

"What kind of dark sites did you check out to get a virus?" Kyoko asked.

"Oh, please." Sayaka rolled her eyes. "It probably came with one of the game emulators I downloaded." She considered. "Or maybe that demon Akemi put it on my phone!"

"Sayaka…" Madoka whined. She didn't like it when Sayaka went after Akemi, which Sayaka didn't understand. How was she willing to give Akemi the benefit of the doubt after she had cornered Madoka in the hallway and been all creepy to her!?

"Look, Madoka, you can't trust her!" Sayaka insisted. "That girl is up to something, I just know it!"

Hitomi frowned. "Sayaka, your hostility doesn't seem warranted. Outside of that shaky encounter with Madoka, what has Akemi done to earn your ire?"

"You, Homura Akemi, are a demon!"

She didn't know. But those words stuck with her no matter how hard she tried to forget. Every fiber in her being told her they were the truth.

"All I'm saying is that if she tries hurting Madoka, I'll give her hell!" Sayaka declared.

"Sayaka!" Of course, Madoka's cheeks flushed, and she practically squeaked out the word.

At that moment, the bell rang, making them all look up.

"Oh, crap!" Sayaka's head immediately snapped back down toward her half uneaten food. "You guys go ahead, I gotta speed eat to finish this!"

They nodded, and packed their things as Sayaka started to wolf down her lunch. With a final call of, "Don't get yourself sick!" from Hitomi, the three left, making Sayaka the roof's sole occupant.

As she ate her food, Sayaka grumbled to herself. "Damn transfer student," she growled. "Who does she think she is, queen of the universe?"

Wait, transfer student?

"Hng!" Sayaka bent forward, holding her head as it suddenly felt light enough to fly off her body. Her eyes were squinted mostly closed, but she swore she saw the world tint purple around her.

Then, the feeling passed, and everything returned to normal. Seriously, what was happening to her lately?

"Wait, I'm gonna be late!" Abandoning the rest of the food, Sayaka shoved her phone in her bag and started to sprint off the roof.

She never made it to the doorway before the scenery warped around her.

The school seemed to disappear in a flash. The open sky was replaced with a black, unending void. Volcanoes were shooting dark smoke into that void, making it even more difficult to see anything at a distance. On one of those volcanoes, Sayaka could barely make out a massive, black chapel.

Her footing had changed. Instead of standing on the roof, there was dark red stone beneath Sayaka's feet. A few more steps would have brought her to the edge of a cliffside, where waiting for her below was…

Fire. A whole sea of fire. A few jagged rocks stuck out of the flames, but for the most part, they stretched on for eternity. Screams echoed from the inferno, barely reaching Sayaka's ears.

This… wasn't real. It couldn't be! Sayaka stumbled back, eyes wide and legs quivering. Her breathing came in short gasps as heat washed over, further cementing that she was in fact standing in a literal hell.

Sayaka wasn't religious. She had never believed in a heaven or hell. But looking around, she found no other explanation for her surroundings. Except… that was ridiculous! Right?

Chances were Sayaka would have remained frozen forever had she been alone. However, she soon spotted another figure. A black winged girl flew out of the chapel, and though she was just a speck to Sayaka at first, her features became more distinct as she approached.

The girl was scantily clad in a feathery black dress, diamond patterned tights, gloves which went past her elbows, and pumps. Her raven hair billowed behind her as she flew, and once she got close to Sayaka, her eyes narrowed. Those eyes shone with a golden hue.

Sayaka, meanwhile, felt her jaw drop as she recognized the girl hovering in front of her. What was she doing here?

"Sayaka Miki," Homura Akemi spoke with an echoing, distorted voice. "What are you doing in my realm?"

A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter. This one gave me some trouble. I'm hoping to get the next one out sooner than an entire month.