This is now the disclaimer: "I do not own Puella Magi Madoka Magica or any of the Fate series. Support the official releases."

For the first time since the time loops had begun, Homura wasn't sure about how this timeline would progress. The fact that Archer was sitting next to her hospital bed was proof enough that things were not the same.

"Well, where would you like me to begin? It's a very long story." Homura asked the pale haired man before her. She kind of hoped he was impatient and would skip over this in favor of telling her what had exactly happened.

"I'm in no hurry, and if what I think happened did, in fact, occur, then we have more than enough time for you to tell me this." He responded, his tone solemn and matter of fact. The voice of a man who had seen Hell and walked through it. He stared back into Homura's eyes, steel meeting amethyst in a silent battle of wills. Eventually, steel showed its strength to be the superior, and Homura began to speak.

"Well, it all began the first time I woke up on the 16th of March, 2011. I was weak after an experimental surgery to fix my heart failure, so it took me a week to recover enough to go to school. Since my parents are dead, my workaholic of an uncle is the one who takes care of me now." She said, sitting up in the bed and flashing magic through her eyes to fix her nearsightedness.

"Some uncle you have, if he can't even bother to show up when his niece has just undergone a life-changing surgery." Archer commented, giving a bitter chuckle as he said it. He shifted in his seat, going from the relaxed position he had been in to a position of sitting forward, his arms leaning upon his knees as he stared at Homura intently.

"Well, when I went to the school for the first time, I didn't fit in with anyone at all. I was the awkward girl with pigtails and glasses who had just moved in. One day, I felt an unquantifiable urge to commit suicide while I was walking home from school. Now I know that I had been under the influence of a Witch's Kiss. She had drawn me into her Labyrinth to consume me or convert me into a Familiar. Fortunately for me, the Witch's Kiss in question wore off earlier than usual and I became fully aware of my surroundings." She was immediately cut off by the white-haired man raising his hand in her direction.

"Now let me get something straight. There are monsters who not only draw people into their lair by giving them suicidal thoughts, but they also devour them and use their corpses as minions. Am I hitting the nail on the head? Because if that's the case, I'm surprised the Mage's Association hasn't gotten involved yet. They like stopping anything that might threaten their pretty little secrets," he said, resentment in his voice at the situation.

"The what? Witches are fought by people like me, who were told we would contract to fight them with Magic in exchange for a wish, only the cost is much higher than was said." Homura replied, bamboozled by the revelation of a greater group of magic users, ones that potentially weren't related to Kyubey in any way. It was strange to her why they hadn't gotten involved. They probably would have noticed. Witches were practically an omnipresent threat to any Magic users, with their familiars capable of going outside the Labyrinth and hunting the Mages down to devour them.

"What kind of cost are we looking at here? Who is targeted by these "Witches" and how did so many people get Magic all of a sudden?" Archer continued, rapid-firing questions at the girl, with a military like tone in his voice. He was nearly demanding answers at this point, Homura realized as her head spun.

"Slow down, I can only answer one at a time…" She said, almost mumbling. But underneath the somewhat timid exterior, she was annoyed by this turn of events, as well as her own reaction to them. She had been forced to watch the city burn nearly one hundred times, all the while knowing she was powerless to save the person she cared for most. She had to fight hard not to fall into a downward spiral of despair and self hatred. However, even though she had faced down the Night of Witches in each timeline, this man before her terrified her more than anything else she had faced up to this point. He was something that Homura hadn't had to deal with in the equivalent of almost twenty-five years. A new variable, one she didn't know the reactions of. Combine that with his unknown abilities that had seemed to beat that version of Walpurgisnacht and a piercing gaze that seemed to see through all of her masks that she had built up over the loops, and he cut a rather imposing figure in the eyes of the girl. He stopped speaking, as he heard the line. Then Archer closed his eyes and smirked in a self-deprecating way.

"My apologies, Master. It appears I got ahead of myself. I have had a tendency to do that in the past, so I will work to overcome it." He said, opening his eyes once more, their steel had softened somehow, becoming more approachable. Homura felt the sense of dread she didn't even realize had been building up vanish in an instant.

"It's fine, and you don't have to call me Master. Homura will do just fine." She said, collecting herself with a sigh at his sudden change in behavior.

"Now then, where were we? Oh right, the part about what kind of cost would be such a deal-killer that girls such as yourself wouldn't take it if they got a wish out of it?" He said charismatically, closing one eye and tilting his head as he did so.

"Well, the origin of Witches comes from the girls who take the deal to fight them. When the deal is struck, the contractor takes their soul out and crystallizes it into a gem form." She said, lifting up her left hand, showing the ring that was there. A flash of amethyst glistened out from within its silver depths. "A Soul Gem, if you will." Archer's face went slack in shock for a second, before it contorted with unbridled rage. A surge of magic swept through the room as the Servant's eyes glowed and his fists clenched as he felt the emotion for a second, then he took a deep breath and exhaled. When his eyes opened, the overwhelming aspect of the anger was gone, and the level of the magic in the room dropped significantly as he reined it back into himself. Homura could tell that it was still there by the fire that was burning behind his eyes, making them seem like a roaring furnace, ready to burn and destroy at a moments' notice, yet still contained and purposeful.

"And after your soul is ripped from your body?" Archer asked, slightly muffled because of how tightly his jaw was clenched.

"The Magic that is granted to you usually has something to do with your wish, which in my case is Time Magic. But the use of it slowly darkens the Soul Gem. If that darkening is not stopped, the Magical Girl will fall to despair and their Soul Gem will transform into a Grief Seed, which is the heart of a Witch. The Witch then forms outside of the corpse and flees into a pocket dimension it creates, which we call Labyrinths." She continued, gauging his reaction to this information after that little emotional outburst. She had felt the strength of the anger he reacted with and did not want a repeat performance. The nurses were due soon enough as is, the last thing she needed today was them swarming her because something weird happened in her room.

"Once they are within it, their main method of interacting with the outside world is by using the spell that had affected me. The "Witch's Kiss" as we call it. It works by filling the target's head with suicidal thoughts and drawing them into the scenario that the Witch desires in their despair-driven insanity. They then proceed to either devour the soul of the person in question and add them to their own misery or turn them into one of their familiars. Though I'm not sure which, since even newly formed Witches that haven't taken anyone have Familiars." She continued, almost losing track down a rabbit trail.

"How about we cut to the chase. I need to know exactly the capabilities of these things I might end up having to face, in addition to the mess you have already caused by summoning me. I also need to know if there is any way to reverse the Witch transformation, or if it is better for me to just put them out of their misery." He cut her off. Before she could reply, one of the nurses walked into the room. She shut her eyes, expecting a question about Archer any second. Only it never came.

"Oh, you're up! Nice to see that you are feeling well after your surgery! Though I must insist that you continue to rest, especially with your condition." The nurse said, making Homura lay back down, leaving her propped up against the pillow. Homura realized that Archer was nowhere to be seen, yet there was nowhere he could have gone without being spotted. The nurse checked and signed the paperwork at the foot of the bed, then proceeded to walk back out to continue her rounds of the floor. Homura breathed a sigh of relief as the caretaker walked out of the room, closing her eyes as she did so. When she opened them again, Archer was sitting right back where he was to begin with, as if he had never moved.

"How?" Homura spluttered, jerking back in surprise when she saw that. She had no idea how he had managed to disappear and reappear like that.

"What? You've never seen a Servant astralize before?" He said, giving a smirk that said he already knew the answer. Homura's face of shock turned into one of annoyance at his coy attitude. She then stopped herself from yelling at him, since that would bring the nurse back to see what the noise was all about.

"You know I haven't. I didn't even know you existed yesterday!" She hissed, being very careful to keep her voice down.

"Is he toying with me? Is he even allowed to do that, since he keeps referring to me as 'Master'? Even if it fell outside of his "contract" with her to act like this, he was being awfully flippant!" She thought, cringing internally at using the term "contract", even subconsciously.

"Perhaps you are right, perhaps not. I'm not telling. However, where were we? Oh yes, something about the combat capabilities of the abominations that these children have become?" He replied, going from playful straight to what Homura could only call a "death tone" in the span of a few words. He seemed to be quite the complex character from her perspective.

"Well, each Witch seems to have a different level of strength depending on who they were prior to the transformation and what their wish pertained to. But there isn't really a defined set of abilities beyond a couple they all share, those being the Witch's Kiss and the creation of their Labyrinth. And to my knowledge, there is no known way to return a Witch to being a Magical Girl, though it might be possible if someone else were to contract to save them." Homura replied, keeping the information as concise as she possibly could, so that way she could end this part of the conversation and find out where in the nine circles of hell Archer had actually come from. Yet he remained silent, seemingly contemplating what he had been told. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then opened them.

"Well, I suppose it would have been too much to ask that they could be saved. I think there might be a couple ways, but they are entirely beyond our reach for the moment." He said. Homura's eyes widened at that second part though, since in every single timeline that she had experienced, the transformation of a Magical Girl into a Witch was irreversible. Even the possibility of a second chance was unheard of, so she needed to get more information.

"What ways would that be, and how would we go about getting them?" She asked, barely able to stop the eagerness from bleeding into her voice, she sat up fully and turned herself towards the man. Despite her reaction, his form exuded sadness and regret. He grimaced and pulled himself up off of his knees, then gave full eye contact to her.

"Please bear in mind that these are only theories, I have no way of confirming this, so don't get your hopes up." He said, warning in his voice. He was being overly gentle, so that way if what he said could not work, Homura would not be too disappointed. She didn't care, spending over twenty years trying to solve this issue, she was going to grab at even the slightest possibility of there being something to save Madoka from this kind of end.

"In order to touch on those, you first need to know what I am. As I have mentioned, I am an entity known as a "Servant". A Servant is the spirit of someone who left a mark on history. Names like King Arthur, GIlgamesh, Beowulf. Heroes of old along with some more modern names. We wield the weapons that we held in life, a crystallization of our legend. We are stronger and faster than any human could ever hope to be, but we are also weaker in some aspects. We need a Master, a living human, to bind us to the realm of the living, else we fade away back to where we came from. That is where you would come in. In this scenario, you are my Master." He continued, pausing for effect, leaving the why unanswered for a moment.

"So why could I summon you? If this was something normal, why didn't it happen before?" She asked, giving him the prompting to move forward.

"We are summoned as part of a ritual to power the Holy Grail, which is a nigh-omnipotent wish granting device. Seven Masters, Seven Servants. A minimum of six Servants must die, but usually the Masters will bite the dust as well, since it's a bit of a risk to keep them alive. That is the basics of it. And the Grail is one of the potential methods I mentioned. It might even be possible for it to undo all of the transformations that have occurred up to this point. And the other possibility would be the use of the Kami Chigo, which I am fairly certain does not exist here." He concluded, then fell silent to see how his Master would take this new information. Much to his surprise, her face split into a wide smile that was relieved. That was definitely odd.

He had never seen anyone look relieved at the prospect of a Holy Grail war before. It made him uncomfortable. He wondered what had happened in these previous timelines that would have driven a young girl to this kind of insanity. Perhaps later, when they had a small amount of down time, he could ask her and uncover the reason behind it. He could only hope she wasn't too far gone to not listen to reason. And if she was… Well, he wasn't going to allow a lunatic to claim the Grail and claim a wish from it. Well, second wish, in his current Master's case.

"May I ask why you are smiling at the prospect of murder? Should I be worri-!" He continued, only to be cut off by his Master throwing herself at him and locking him in a hug, sobbing tears of joy quietly. For once in his long existence, he was completely taken by surprise, and it showed on his face for a brief moment. Then his expression softened and he returned the embrace, realizing that he had finally found someone he could save. This wasn't the result of an insane bloodlust, this was a reaction of a desperate child who had finally found a tangible hope to grab onto. From Archer's perspective, perhaps she saw this as the only way to end these nightmarish loops, but he was no psychological professional. He could only go off of personal experience, and remembered what it was like to do anything necessary to save someone. The only difference was that he had succeeded, his loved one getting to go on to a world she wouldn't suffer in. However, such a victory came at the cost of his life. He wouldn't, couldn't allow this girl to fall into the same fate he had taken. An ember of ideals long suppressed flared within him, and he knew what he had to do. This was an opportunity for redemption, even though he had slaughtered entire worlds, there was still a way for him to save those before him. It would be a long and painful road, but he would bear it as he always had. All the while doing his best to shield others.

"I understand." Was all he said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steeling himself for the trials and tribulations ahead. He would win, no matter the personal cost to himself, then he would likely fade away and return to the Throne, content that he had finally truly saved people from a fate worse than death.

Outside the Hospital

Kyubey felt a magic thrumming through the air that it had not felt in a very long time. The Holy Grail had awoken once again, though this time there seemed to be something off about it. Normally, such an occurrence would be beneath the Incubator's attention, but there was something wrong with the Grail. Kyubey could detect its own magic laced into the air. It seemed to be leaking out of this building. A Master and Servant. But the Master was a Magical Girl.

That wasn't supposed to happen. It homed in on the signature and tracked it to a hospital in Mitakihara City. The Master and Servant appeared to be in there at this point. Using Magic as a sensory tool, Kyubey looked in from the building across the street and spotted the duo. The Servant was a relatively young man with a deeply tanned face and hair the color of stainless steel. He wore a red Executor cloak on his shoulders and what appeared to be some kind of black body armor with silver accents. The Magical Girl was unable to be spotted from that terminal's angle, but it did not have a record of her signature. This was cause for further investigation. Kyubey remembered every single person it contracted with, so someone who it did not remember was an unknown factor. A Wild Card.

Kyubey made sure to avoid involving those it contracted in the affairs of ordinary Magi, due in part to the origin of their magic, the other part was because it wasn't particularly keen on gaining the enmity of the Mage families of the world. As time progressed the mage problem was becoming less common due to familial infighting and some "accidents" from alien interference. It also made sure to lure Witches away from the location of a Grail War so that there wouldn't be any chance encounters between the Magical Girls and Servants. However, this situation could reveal it to the remaining Mages of Earth. While the Mages couldn't truly kill the creature, they could make the creation of contracts become quite an inefficient affair. It then deduced the best course of action would be to directly interfere in the Grail War, through the use of an appropriately-placed Magical Girl. For its purposes there was a wonderful candidate for the start of this plan nearby.

"Begin search for artifacts suitable for summoning powerful Servants and compatible Master candidates…"

It leapt off the building it was watching into the hospital from. Several pigeons fluttered away in fright at the sudden movement in. It began to head in the direction of this first candidate's residence. It leapt from rooftop to rooftop, moving as fast as its small legs could carry it. The Incubator's primary hive mind proceeded to direct several other terminals to go and obtain items to use as Catalysts. Assuming its calculations were correct, this would only be a minor obstacle in the grand scheme of things.

That Night

A girl stared at the glowing crimson summoning circle before her as music swirled through the air. The concrete room around her was filled with other Magic items and materials. A veritable magic bunker, filled with everything that a mage would need to complete any ritual they needed. Thankfully, the material stores that were necessary were relatively large, so the small cost hopefully wouldn't be noticed by her parents. Within that circle rested a copy of The Ring of the Nibelung that she had bought with her allowance. This was her chance to prove herself as a Mage, so she better do this perfectly. Mentally calming herself, she closed her eyes and held a hand out towards the blood colored magic. Then, she began to chant in time with the soft music, allowing the rhythm of it to guide the magic's flow.

"Let Silver and Steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let my great Master [redacted] be the Ancestor. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate. Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth. An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell." The circle responded to this combination of words and music with flashes between the crescendos and decrescendos. All of this began to culminate in the artifact starting to glow with power. A burning feeling erupted on the back of her hand as the Command Seals seared themselves into her flesh. Thankfully, her current use of Magic slightly raised her pain tolerance, so she was able to largely ignore it and force out the remaining lines necessary for the ritual to take place.

"I shall declare here. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason… then answer!" The book glowed with a brilliant light and then flashed, killing the music as it did so. She closed her eyes in a natural reaction as the smells of reptilian blood and forest filled her nostrils. When she opened her eyes again, all the lights in the room had snuffed out. The only light came from a tall, relatively handsome man standing in the center of the circle. The light emanated from a massive glowing scar on the front of his bare chest, from even a glance it was clear he was incredibly powerful. His long silver-white hair caught the faint light of his power and shone like moonbeams. He wore a rather strange ensemble of clothing, with full metal armor on his shoulders, forearms, and legs. The rest was fine black clothing with red accents and a massive 'V' down the front of the shirt, exposing his scar for all to see. But what caught her gaze the most was the blade on his back, the blue gem in the hilt sparkling with a light all its own. He opened his eyes and stared directly into her soul, almost like he was judging her to be worthy.

"I am Siegfried, of class Saber. It was you who summoned me to this world, so I must ask you this. Are you my Master?" He said, with an air of finality. The air filled with tension for a brief moment before the girl shook off her shock at the ritual working.

"Yes, I am your Master. It is a pleasure to meet you, Siegfried." She responded, looking to him expectantly for a response, since it's not every day you get to meet a hero of legend like this. While she wasn't necessarily the most well versed on his history, she knew that he was hailed as one of the strongest Knight-Kings of his time, honorable to a fault and strong enough to back his beliefs, yet kind enough to show mercy. But that was exactly what had caused his downfall to her recollection. He had been too kind and self-sacrificing. She would have to plan around that tendency going forward.

"The pleasure is all mine, Master. What are your orders as we continue forward?" He said as he took a seat on a nearby chest, his armor clanking slightly as he moved even that short distance. Even this simple act spoke of his regal bearing.

"Tomorrow we will register with the Church, but for now I have to go get some sleep. Make sure you remain hidden, I don't want my mom and dad to know about you yet." Hitomi Shizuki said, a smirk appearing on her lips as she began to erase all traces that the circle had ever been there.

Kyubey landed in front of its target's apartment. Well, more accurately, it landed on the windowsill, but that was how it usually got in anyway. As per usual, its candidate left her window open for it to enter. The smell of cooking wafted out of the residence, meaning that she was likely at home right now. The Incubator jumped through the window and landed on the floor, then trotted over to where it would be visible from the kitchen. Sure enough, the veteran Magical Girl was in the kitchen, preparing a simple entree for her dinner. She turned her head towards the movement in the otherwise empty apartment, a somewhat tense expression on her face. The anxiety on her face disappeared when she laid eyes on the source of the disturbance.

"Oh, hello Kyubey, what brings you here today?" Mami Tomoe said, taking the pot off of the heat to avoid burning the contents. She still wanted to eat before going to hunt Witches for the night, after all. Kyubey never visited for no reason, it was too efficiency-minded for it to waste time while there were productive things to do, always calculating the best options. Though Mami knew that the creature cared deeply about stopping the threat of Witches in this world.

"Mami, a major problem has arisen. The entire world could be in danger!" The creature "spoke" using it's telepathy. As it said this, Mami stilled in fear and anticipation at what could make the creature say such a thing. From her experience, Kyubey was not easily shaken.

"If Kyubey is this anxious, it must be pretty bad." She thought, before making a split second decision. She had promised to defend people. She reasoned that the fastest way to fulfill that goal was to stop the problem early.

"What is the threat, Kyubey? I will be sure to make short work of it." She said resolutely, stepping back from the stove and preparing to go. Kyubey just watched in indifference, noting the irrationality of throwing yourself at a problem without even knowing what kind of threat it could pose.

Though, as illogical as it was, such blind faith was what the Incubator needed. Mami would serve as a perfect candidate as a resource for interfering with the Grail War, and quite possibly utilizing the resulting Grail in a fashion better aligning with its purposes. Such a massive amount of energy went to waste every time the Grail was used.

"Now, now. No need to be so hasty. The threat isn't so dire yet that we need to go rushing off. Especially since I haven't even told you what it is. Though you should fully replenish your magic before we begin." It spoke once more. Mami halted her preparations and looked somewhat sheepish at the creature's admonition. After being prompted a couple more times, she finished cooking and sat down at her table. Kyubey met her at the table, waiting for the meal to be done. Once the main course was done, Mami got herself a slice of cheesecake and got a separate one for Kyubey, placing the dessert on a plate in front of it. She knew that it didn't need to eat, but was merely being polite by making the offer. The Incubator merely sat and stared while Mami finished and put the dishes in the sink. It had taken a few bites from the cheesecake so that the child before it wouldn't get hurt feelings. Those lowered the effectiveness of Magical Girls in the field, and with the upcoming battle, lowering any kind of effectiveness was not an option.

"So Kyubey, what is this threat that you came to me about?" Mami asked, having finished her meal. She then pulled back her right sleeve, revealing a small bag tied to her wrist. She then opened it and pulled out a small black gem-like construct. Its shape twisted and dove like it had been melted and flash-frozen while it was still semi-solid. After transferring it from her left hand to her right, she held up the empty appendage and summoned her Soul Gem, the core of her Magic, it's brilliant topaz being slightly dimmed by the beginnings of a dark stain forming in its heart. Finally, she brought the black gem into contact with it, and the taint was sucked out of the gem, leaving it sparkling like it was brand new. Once she was satisfied, the gem turned back into a ring once more and she placed the Grief Seed and its bag onto the table.

"A rogue Magical Girl has decided to begin a ritual that would allow her to obtain a second wish. That ritual is known as a Holy Grail War. It has happened several times, causing immense amounts of destruction consuming those places unfortunate enough to be selected as the battlefield. That was with uncontracted Mages, who primarily dedicate themselves to academic study, and have far smaller Magic Reserves compared to the average Magical Girl. The amount of damage potentially caused by this ritual with Magical Girls functioning as combatants would be astronomical, potentially causing all of magic to be revealed to the world at large." The Incubator began, making sure to try and cover the basics for the veteran Magical Girl who sat before him. Her expression changed dramatically, going from fiercely determined to just outright shock. Kyubey had predicted this as one potential reaction to this information, so it waited for a response to determine the best route forward.

"If this threat is so great, why did you come to me? Wouldn't a team be the best option to combat a threat like this?" Mami asked, shaking off her surprise at the reveal of the existence of uncontracted mages in this world. She was surprised at never encountering them before, or hearing rumors of them through the grapevine.

"You happen to be the most powerful Magical Girl close to the location in question, so you were the logical choice for the leader and first member of this new team. However, this isn't a fight you can win on your own, even if you had a rather large group of Magical Girls with you." Kyubey answered, making sure to stoke the fires of pride where it could. It was an effective misdirection tactic, lowering someone's attention to detail by praising them. While every human it contracted with was unique in some ways, there were a massive amount of similarities in their behavioural patterns that could be utilized to direct the resources in question, and according to its data those methodologies would most likely function similarly with Servants.

"What? How could one person be so difficult to defeat?" Mami asked, once again taken aback by a revelation.

Kyubey then explained what the Holy Grail War was, as well as the power of the main participants, Servants. They were highly dangerous and would be extremely difficult for even a group of Magical Girls to defeat. So the simplest way to stop this problem was to fight fire with fire and use Servants of their own. Upon finishing, the Incubator cocked its head cutely while it waited for a response once more. Mami's face darkened as she thought about it. She had always regretted not being able to make a proper wish when she contracted, and this seemed like a dream come true! She could finally get to make the wish she wanted as long as she won. All that she had to do was take out the rogue Magical Girl, which would prevent Magic from being revealed. It would help keep everyone who she had sworn to defend safe.

"I will do it. I made a contract to defend people from evil in this world, and if this Grail War has a chance of harming an innocent bystander, I cannot just stand idly by." She said, her voice firm and determined.

"Good, I knew I could count on you. I will make preparations on the roof, since there is more than ample space there," Kyubey replied before hopping off the table and onto the balcony. From there, he turned and ran up the wall, disappearing fully from Mami's line of sight as it did so. She sighed and placed the dirty dishes into the sink. She placed the even darker Grief Seed back into its pouch and resecured it to her wrist. Making sure to grab her key as she went out the door, she made her way up to the roof.

The Roof

Even though it had only taken her a few moments to make her way up to the roof, she could see the white creature was already done setting up. There was a glowing crimson circle before her on the ground, with a small piece of clay tablet laid within its center. At four evenly spaced points, there were metal shavings piled up. Filling the space between the center and outer edges of the circle, there were symbols that Mami didn't recognize twisting and turning in on themselves. Stopping just before she reached it, she spotted a piece of paper at her feet. She picked it up and looked at it. There was a poem of some kind written upon it, though thankfully it wasn't all that long.

"What do I need to do now?" She asked, looking to Kyubey sitting across from her for guidance. She had to admit, the way the blood-red light caught its eyes made him seem sinister and malevolent. She shoved that thought away almost immediately, trusting that he would lead her truly as he always had.

"You need to push your magic into the circle and read that incantation in order to perform the ritual," he instructed, while his tail swished behind him. Mami had grown into quite a formidable warrior in the time since she had contracted. She would have ample magic to summon and support a Servant. And if this artifact summoned the Servant it was supposed to, then there was a higher probability of victory. Granted, the other Servants it had artifacts for would be powerful, but there was a good reason to go for this one first.

"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let our prayers and our wishes be the foundation. Let black be the color I pay tribute to. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate." Mami began the incantation, using a small amount of Magic to keep the page levitated in front of her so she could read it while both her hands were free. Her right hand burned with agony as she saw three red seals appear on her hand. A five petaled flower resembling her Soul Gem formed the backdrop of the entire design. The next part consisted of a ribbon that twirled across the center of the flower, and the final component was a simple musket at a diagonal slant over the other two. As painful as it was, she had felt worse before, and refused to let that stop her. She was going to win, she had to. From her perspective, the world was riding on her shoulders. Kyubey was relying on her and she would not let him down.

"Let it be filled. Again. Again. Again. Again. Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling. Let our Fates weave together through the power of the Grail, answer its call and come forth as my Servant!" She finished, almost yelling the last line. A brilliant flash of light occurred as the smell of hot desert winds rushed out over Mami and the Incubator. Mami clenched her eyes shut at the sudden stimulus, then began rapidly blinking to remove the spots from her vision. Kyubey had no such trouble, however, and as such was able to take in the Servant that its operative had summoned on its behalf. It was indeed the Servant he had intended for Mami to summon. An Archer class to surpass all other Archer classes, the Servant Killer.

Mami's vision fully cleared and took in the results of her summoning. He was a young looking man, though she couldn't tell his exact age. The first thing she noticed about him was that he was covered in gold, from his armor, to his hair, to his earrings. The armor was full on plate armor with dark padded clothes beneath it to prevent pinching and chafing from the metal. A brisk wind had started up, causing the red waist-cape he wore to flow behind him majestically. His eyes were a striking crimson, giving an inhuman glare to those before him. His presence alone was almost overwhelming. It was as if the last of a forgotten age had appeared in modern day, only becoming more powerful as time left it behind. Now it was back. He chuckled to himself, closed his eyes and crossed his arms into a position he looked just as natural in. In that small gesture, he moved with grace that could tell that he was someone used to command, a King.

"So tell me, Mongrel. Are you to be my Master?"

All right, now that section is over. Now to explain a few things. Yes, this is a Great Grail War, a-la Apocrypha, thus the "Let black be the color I pay tribute to" in Mami's summoning incantation. I apologize in advance for any misunderstandings that may or may not occur.

As most of you have probably guessed, Mami's Servant is indeed Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, under the Archer class. This will be important later.

As for Hitomi, I felt she was underutilized as a character in the original series for Madoka Magica, so I decided it would be a good idea to flesh her out a little bit. I think having her as a powerful but inexperienced/naive mage would work here. I was going for a quite similar scenario as Waver in Fate/Zero, since I really enjoyed watching him progress throughout the story. Don't fret though, Hitomi might have some new things that reflect Waver, but her arc will go quite a bit differently. As for the side of the war she's on? That will be important later, so I will keep my secrets.

Now, on to something that will be fun: Review Responses! Though, for future reference, I would prefer if you left a name that I can specify during the response.

Guest: I don't know what videos you are referring to, and double checked on the lore. To my knowledge the Magical Girls shown in Homura's Flashback were not the ones that formed Walpurgisnacht. They were merely ones who had encountered it and recorded that it existed. Also, for the sake of Narrative, I had to take a few liberties with the power scaling of both verses here. I'm writing a story, not a VS Debate disguised as a story.

The Rupture: I wouldn't say "Corrupted" since good old Angry Matthew is nowhere to be found in this timeline, but highly unusual? You are indeed correct on that point. Though I must say that Zelretch is nowhere to be found in the current Outline I have for the plot.

SentinalSlice: He was merely referring to a Holy Grail War. EMIYA is going to be in for a rather big shock whenever he encounters a Servant of Black.

Vilostrike218: The fight didn't drag on long enough for Walpurgisnacht's energy to overwhelm him and Unlimited Blade Works, but you are correct. His overwriting was only a temporary victory that would have faded like mist within the following moments.

gamecubenut: I had considered Mordred for Kyoko, but I had already made up my mind on who her Servant would be. It probably isn't the one most people would connect her with either.

I would like to thank you all for reviewing, as well as hakon2feb, Loa of Salem, and Chaos of the Lurking Variety on the Overlord Fanfiction Server for grammar checking and minor help on Fate. I would like to also thank CrusaderJerome, Ryouko "El-Melloi" Shizuki, ChadComposite, Bacon Hair, Sa'Kage, and Soulnight on the ANAI Server for their direction on overall writing, as well as heavy amounts of help with the lore of both series.

Check out Soulnight's fic "A Blade Forged in The Ashes" for more Fate/PMMM stories.

-Inkrael