"What's going on here, Madoka?"
After dropping Asia back off at Kuoh (with some help from her magic), Homura had headed back into Vatican City to investigate further. Now perched atop a rooftop of one of the many buildings in this large city, she was having a nice, stern talk with her friend.
"Remember how I mentioned dealing with the problems in the Church?"
"I do recall that conversation, yes."
"Asia-chan's rather unfortunate set-up was likely instigated by one of the corrupt officials in the Church, if what you said is true."
"I see." Homura frowned. "In that case, it is possible that they will try to abduct her again. That man who came for her seemed awfully persistent."
"Don't worry! I've already enacted a plan to prevent incidents like these from happening again!"
"Oh?" Homura's curiosity was piqued. "And just what plan is this?"
"I sent Sayaka-chan and the others to investigate!"
That nagging doubt resurfaced, bringing her insecurities to the forefront of her mind. Why did Madoka pick the others instead of her for the mission? Was Madoka unsatisfied with her performance? Was she not good enough?
She clamped down on her emotions; she had to remain strong.
"Is that it?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, is that the entirety of your plan?"
"Um . . . yes?"
"And just how exactly are they supposed to investigate the Church's secret backdoor deals?"
"Well, I told them to disguise themselves as exorcists. That way, they could sneak in and have a look at the Church's inner workings!"
"While I have no doubts about Tomoe-san's abilities, the same cannot be said for Sakura-san or Miki-san. Especially not for such a delicate operation."
"I sent two genuine exorcists along with them too. They'll be able to guide them and cover up any minor mistakes the others make. Michael-san also had them undergo some training beforehand, so there's that too."
"I suppose we'll just have to see how it all plays out." Homura sighed. "You could've just asked me to do it, you know. I'm no stranger to secrecy and subterfuge."
"Ehehehe . . ." Homura could almost sense her friend's sheepish look over the link. "I felt like I was relying on you too much lately, with what happened in Kuoh and at the peace conference. And the other girls wanted to help, so I thought this was a good chance for them to get out of Heaven for a bit." Madoka sighed. "I was also hoping you could use this time to relax a bit, but it seems fate doesn't want it to be so."
She wanted to believe her. That her friend's selection had been nothing more than an idle whim based on a sense of fairness. And knowing Madoka, that was likely all it was.
And yet, that empty, hollow feeling of disappointment in her heart refused to abate.
"Now that I'm involved, I may as well see this through to the end. Do you have any information regarding their whereabouts at the present?"
"Sadly, no, I don't. Keeping a telepathic channel over such a distance is not very feasible."
Homura was surprised. "But you're doing it with me right now," she pointed out.
"You're a special case, Homura-chan." The goddess laughed warmly. "That ribbon is more important than you think. Don't lose it, alright?"
At its mention, Homura stroke the pink ribbon nestled in her hair, sending a shivering tingle over her entire body. She hadn't thought the fact that she needed to touch it before establishing a link with Madoka was mere coincidence, and here was as good an affirmation as any.
"I promise. I'll keep it safe."
"Good, good. Now then –" Madoka suddenly cut off.
"Oh . . . oh dear."
"Madoka? What's wrong?" Homura asked sharply.
"It seems the girls I sent for this mission have been taken hostage. And the captor is demanding I appear before him, or else they'll die."
Homura had several questions. One of them being how she even knew what was happening, but there was a far more pressing issue to address first. "You're not seriously going to give in to their demands, are you?"
". . ."
Homura had a bad feeling. "Madoka . . . ."
"Sorry. Gotta go!"
The link was cut.
"Madoka? Madoka!"
With no response forthcoming, Homura stomped her foot in frustration. "Damn it! Does she ever think before rushing into a dangerous situation?"
A small part of her knew that was simply part of who Madoka was, that this trait of hers was possibly the only reason her friend was able to save her on that fateful day so long ago.
But right now, she was too frustrated to care.
A sudden flare of magical energy shot up in the distance, and Homura immediately whipped out her Soul Gem to check the direction.
"That way!"
She leaped forward, alternating between her physical ability and her magic to set the fastest speed she could without overly exerting herself.
It was only a guess, but somehow, she knew that burst of energy came from Madoka.
Now she could only hope she wasn't too late.
xxx
Mami stared up at a very familiar building.
It was the apartment building their mission had taken them to just yesterday. It was far more dilapidated than before, their confrontation with the two Stray Devils having carved huge chunks out of the ground near it and the building itself.
Somehow, it was still standing. And if things went well, it would still be standing by the end of the day.
"So this is where the Pope is holed up, huh?" Kyoko peered at the building. "Can't say I appreciate his choice of venue. Being here once was enough for me."
After discovering the Pope's involvement with the various incidents that had led to the disappearance of many members of the Church, their group, along with Vasco and Dulio, had gone straight to the Pope's office to demand answers.
Unfortunately, they had only found an empty room. A cursory search had revealed a letter addressed to them lying on the desk.
Its contents were surprising, to say the least.
In it, the Pope announced his resignation, stating that he was not fit to keep the post. He then declared Vasco Strada to be his replacement.
The elderly man had looked none too pleased by the news ("I'm too old to be stuck behind a desk filling out papers," he had grumbled), but with no one else immediately suitable for the position and the paperwork pile growing larger and larger by the minute, the Cardinal Priest (now Pope) had reluctantly started on his new duties (first and foremost being working through the suspiciously large stack of papers the previous Pope had left behind).
However, the former Pope had then written that he had stolen several secret Church documents, including the one detailing the procedure to create the holy aura suppression ward. And that he would only return them if the five girls (and only the five of them) met him at a prearranged location. If they refused, then he threatened to leak its contents to the other factions.
When asked how devastating such an act would be, Vasco and Dulio had both grimaced.
"If the other factions knew about the ward, then they might look back on the suspicious deaths of several of their members and wonder if the Church had secretly been behind them," Vasco had said. "They would have no definite proof of course, but . . . ."
"The mere thought that the Church can have such deadly assassins could cause them to distrust us," Dulio had said.
"Indeed. The mere planting of those seeds of suspicion could cause irreparable damage to inter-faction relationships, which would shatter whatever progress we managed to achieve at the peace conference Michael-san attended."
None of the girls wanted Madoka's efforts at the conference to have been in vain (not that the current Pope nor the Strongest Exorcist knew about her involvement), so they had readily volunteered to go retrieve the documents. And while the two Church officials were worried about their safety (the former Pope had tried to have them killed, after all), after checking the list of personnel and seeing that the man had not taken anyone with him as support, they decided that one mere human wouldn't pose much of a threat and had let them go.
So now here they were.
But before they went in, there was one more thing they needed to take care of . . .
"Shidou-san. Quarta-san."
The exorcists paused and turned to look at her. "What is it?" Irina asked.
Mami paused. She and the other two magical girls had discussed this last night, and they had concluded that it would be best if they established a telepathic link with the two exorcists. After all, on a battlefield . . .
Miscommunication kills.
They would play it off as magic (technically true) and hope that similar techniques were common enough in this world that the two girls would assume it was one of those techniques.
"Before we go in," Mami said, "we would like to establish a telepathic link with you two. Just in case something unexpected occurs, we will be able to communicate quickly and efficiently without alerting our enemies."
The two exorcists blinked.
"Wait, telepathy?!" Irina asked.
"Interesting," Xenovia said. "Is telepathy another form of magic you Magicians possess?"
"Yes, it is," Mami said. "It is a very useful technique."
Irina's glance darted between her and the other two girls. "Wait. Does that mean you three have been talking to each other secretly all this time?" she asked with a hint of accusation.
Sayaka looked sheepish while Kyoko just turned around and whistled innocently. "Well, kind of," Sayaka admitted. "We wanted to keep our magic a secret, which is why we didn't tell you about this sooner. Sorry."
"Curious that you would choose now of all times to reveal this," Xenovia said. She crossed her arms. "Was there perhaps an incident that caused you all to change your minds?"
When the three girls pointedly refused to meet their gazes after that, Irina connected the dots. "Wait. Let me guess." She held up a hand. "You three had secretly decided to do something, but Xenovia and I did something else before you all could tell us your decision. And now you're bringing us in so that doesn't happen again. Sound about right?"
"Something like that," Kyoko admitted.
Irina sighed. "Well, I won't ask for further details. I can already kind of guess what it might be." She crossed her arms. "And like you say, swift and efficient communication is an incredible tactical advantage, so . . ." She glanced at her partner, who gave her a nod. "We see no reason to refuse." She uncrossed her arms. "So, how do we do this then?"
"If you will just wait a moment." Mami closed her eyes and concentrated on the two girls in front of her.
Invisible threads stretched out, curling around them and adding them to the network she already shared with Kyoko and Sayaka.
"Can you hear me?"
Irina blinked. "Woah, that's cool."
"Think your thoughts, and we should be able to hear them." Mami said.
"What a fascinating experience." Xenovia seemed amazed. "You must teach me how to perform this magic sometime."
"Maybe," Mami hedged. "This technique is quite difficult. I do not expect very many to be able to learn it."
"Hello? Can everyone hear me?" Irina said.
"Yeah, yeah, we can hear ya just fine Pigtails."
"Will you stop calling me that?!"
"I don't think she'll ever stop," Sayaka noted.
Mami coughed politely. "Let's not use telepathy unless necessary. We don't want to arouse suspicion by seemingly being able to hold entire silent conversations with each other."
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Kyoko said aloud.
The others nodded. "That would be wise," Xenovia said. "A powerful technique is best leveraged sparingly, lest the enemy grow accustomed to it."
"Now that we're all adjusted, shall we head in? The Pope . . . excuse me, the former Pope is waiting," Mami said.
The five of them stepped into the abandoned building.
xxx
He could feel it the moment they stepped into the room.
Even without turning around, he knew their gazes were boring into his back, judging him for his sins, his crimes against those he was meant to protect. He wasn't bothered by such glares; he had long decided that he deserved much worse for his misdeeds.
"Ah, you all came. I'm glad." He turned around. "I would introduce myself, but I think you all know who I am already. Or who I was, at the very least."
Xenovia cut straight to the point, drawing and pointing his blade at him. "What did you do with the secret documents?"
"Oh, those?" He waved a hand dismissively. "I didn't actually take them; I merely misplaced them. They should be at the bottom of that stack of paperwork I left for Strada-san. I suspect he won't find them for quite some time."
Shock appeared on all their faces. "W – Wait, if you don't actually have the documents . . ." Sayaka trailed off.
"Then exactly what was ya purpose for bringing us out here?" Kyoko asked.
He slipped his hands into his pockets. "It's simple, really. I called you all out here because I knew there was something special about all of you." His eyes narrowed. "You three in particular."
Irina frowned as she watched him stare down the three faux exorcists. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm sure it's nothing," Mami said, although there was a trace of uncertainty in her voice.
"Nothing, you say? Would you consider the fact that you three aren't human nothing?"
They all froze.
"Wh – what are you talking about?!" Sayaka laughed weakly.
Xenovia glanced at him disapprovingly. "Indeed. While they may have skills that others do not, I hardly think that gives you reason to call them not human."
"I would be inclined to agree. However, after considering the background check I had performed for each of them, one might begin to think otherwise," he said.
"A background check? Wait . . . ." Kyoko's eyes widened.
"Indeed. You see . . ." He held up a finger. "Sayaka Miki, Kyoko Sakura, and Mami Tomoe do not exist. They have no birth certificates, no school diplomas, no entries in any family register, no records at all, essentially. Why it's almost as if you three appeared out of thin air. Like ghosts. Or perhaps . . ." His finger fell forward to point at them accusingly. "Spirits?"
Silence descended upon them once more.
Seeing Irina and Xenovia staring at them in shock, Mami replied confidently, "I can assure you that we are nothing of the sort."
"Oh?" He tiled his head. "But you don't deny that you're not human?"
". . ."
"Well, no matter. While an interesting tidbit, that was not the primary reason I called you out here."
"Wow, really? You don't ask people out so you can relentlessly invade their privacy for fun?" Kyoko asked in a sardonic tone.
He smiled in amusement. "I'm afraid not. No, the real reason I called you all out here . . ." He spread his arms out. "Is because I suspect you all know of someone. Someone in Heaven who should not be there."
A dead silence. It was as if the room itself was holding its breath.
He lowered his arms. "Tell me. Would your goddess weep for you if you died?"
They all froze.
"Wha – what are you talking about?" Sayaka tried to feign ignorance.
"Drop the act. I know about her. The usurper in Heaven." His eyes became slits. "Now, answer the question."
"Why should we answer any questions of yours?" Mami asked. "We have no reason to give you any sort of advantage."
"Oh? But are you not her emissaries? Her messengers to spread her name far and wide? Shouldn't you relish the opportunity to speak of her?"
The girls paused.
"W – Well, I'm not so sure about that . . ." Sayaka said.
Kyoko frowned. "Eh, what's the harm in him knowing that Pinkie is a bleeding heart?"
"Is she now? That's good to know; thank you very much." He spread his arms out. "Hear me, new goddess of Heaven! If you value the lives of your servants, then you will show yourself here. If you do not . . ." He held up a remote. "Then their lives are forfeit."
They were all frozen in shock.
"W – wait, does he mean . . ." Irina trailed off.
"A trap," Xenovia concluded grimly.
Kyoko took a step forward, but the former Pope shot her a warning look. "No sudden movements. Striking me down will not get you out of this situation. This building is rigged with explosives, and killing me will simply trigger a dead man's switch."
"B – But, if you hit that button, you'll die too!" Sayaka exclaimed.
The man shrugged. "I am prepared to die. I do not expect to live to see the end of this day."
"You're crazy!"
Kyoko opened a link to Mami. "Think you can snag him with your ribbons before he hits that button of his?"
"I'm not sure." Mami's eyes scanned her target. "He is wary of us. I won't be able to catch him off-guard."
"Tch." Kyoko folded her arms. "It's not a big deal if the three of us die here since we'll just wake up. But those two . . ." She glanced at the bona fide exorcists.
Mami followed her gaze. "Right. Their safety is our priority at this moment." She spoke aloud, trying to buy time. "What do you hope to gain by calling her? You've already left the Church behind!"
He paced around the room. "While I have cut most of my ties, there is still one more loose end that I must resolve." His tone was chilly, that of a man determined to see something through to the end. "And if I cannot, I suppose I will have to settle for your lives as a consolation prize."
"That will not be necessary."
There was no flash, no fanfare, no indication of any kind. One moment there was an empty space, and the next she was simply there.
"Wh – what?!" Sayaka was reeling in surprise. "H – How did you get here so fast?!"
Her eyes never left his. "The Holy System assists me in granting prayers. While his prayer was not the most orthodox, it was close enough." She frowned. "Now, what do you want?"
"A mere photo does not do you justice," he commented idly, looking at her intently. He blinked, seemingly recollecting himself. "Ah, pardon me. I have kept you all waiting long enough." He straightened up. "The reason I have called you out here, Goddess . . .
"Is to kill you."
Another dead silence. Sayaka thought that if any more bombshells were dropped, she would be dumbfounded for the rest of her life.
"K – Kill her?!" Irina seemed outraged. "You're crazy!"
Mami's gaze had hardened, her eyes tracking his every move. "You have some lofty ambitions. But how could you possibly hope to carry them out?"
He waved the remote in the air. "Did I forget to mention? The explosives are packed with magical energy. This building won't be so much as destroyed as utterly erased from existence."
"Then why haven't ya detonated them yet?"
He turned to Kyoko, who had noticed something she found suspicious. "Pinkie's right there. I'm surprised ya haven't pulled the trigger yet."
"Because there's one more thing." He gestured to a series of lines scrawled on the floor, which had gone unnoticed thus far. "I also took the liberty to hire a Magician to create a sealing circle for me. After all, there is always the chance she might escape before the explosions do their work."
Xenovia frowned. "A sealing circle is useless if the target is not in it," she pointed out.
"You're right." He smiled thinly as he turned to her. "Would you kindly step in it?"
She was surprised by his blunt request. "And why should I?"
"Because if you do, I'll let the others go."
"What's stopping you from pressing the button as soon as I step into the circle?"
"Nothing, really." He shrugged. "You may not believe me, but I've never reneged on a deal. And I've made many deals in my life." He laughed sardonically. "Although now, I wish that I had backed out of some of them," he muttered.
She stared at him, long and hard.
"If that's not enough for you," he said, "then consider that with your death, theirs would no longer be needed. What are followers, without someone to follow?"
Still, Madoka did not say a word.
"Hey . . ." Sayaka did not like where this was going. "You're not seriously considering this, are you?"
She finally spoke. "There is no doubt that being caught in this explosion would be the end of you." She glanced meaningfully at the exorcists. "I, on the other hand, have a chance to survive even if I'm trapped in a seal." Her gaze was resolute. "I am willing to take that chance."
She walked forward, and despite their protests, stepped into the circle.
"I'm glad we have an understanding." He flicked his fingers, and the sealing circle flared to life.
Immediately, Madoka grimaced and flinched backward, only for her back to hit an invisible wall.
"H – Hey! Are you alright?!" Sayaka called out in concern.
"I'm fine. It just drained a lot of my power, that's all. I'll be adjusted in no time!" She gave her friends a weak smile.
"I wouldn't be worried about her if I were you." He gave the five of them a flat stare. "You have three minutes to vacate these premises. What happens after that is no longer my concern."
"Y – You're not getting away with this!" Irina yelled. Both she and Xenovia were practically radiating bloodlust, ready to leap at the former Pope with their swords drawn.
Suddenly, Kyoko spun around and took off, speeding down the hallway.
"H – Hey! Where are you going? You're not seriously leaving, are you?!" Sayaka said.
"Course not! But we won't get anything done if we just stay in there!" Kyoko's pace increased. "We have three minutes to figure out a way to disable him without letting him see us coming! Every second matters here, Rookie!"
Understanding Kyoko's intentions, the rest of them took off after her.
Looking back, Mami saw the two exorcists keeping up with them. "You may wish to leave this to us, Shidou-san, Quarta-san. If worse comes to worse, we'll have a better chance at surviving than either of you."
"No way!" Irina was adamant. "I told her that I would support her! I'm not going to break my vow the moment my life is in danger!"
"Indeed." Xenovia was of similar mind. "And this is bigger than just us. What he said back there was correct: what are followers, without someone to follow? She paused. "I imagine there are many others who depend on her, and if her survival requires us to sacrifice ourselves, I believe it will have been for the greater good."
". . . She wouldn't want us to do that . . ." Sayaka's voice was barely a whisper.
"Save your breath! We don't have the time to dissuade them." Kyoko said in an irritated tone. "Right now, we need a plan. I think I saw some windows in that room, so let's see if we can make use of those!"
"Right!" the rest of them replied.
xxx
Madoka stared down the man who was trying to kill her. Despite everything he had supposedly done, she couldn't detect any malice or ill intent in him at all. Just a deep-seated feeling of tiredness, the weariness of someone who had lived too long and seen too much.
She hoped the others would be okay. And she also hoped that they wouldn't be too mad at her for pulling such a stunt afterward.
Peering at the circle inscribed in the ground around her, she tried to divine its structure. While she had no formal knowledge of magic, her instincts as a goddess did aid her in this regard.
It seems primarily focused on keeping the target inside, rather than keeping things out. Which makes sense, as otherwise the external explosions would not be able to hurt me.
That was good. Since the circle allowed external connections inside, that meant she had an ace up her sleeve. Of course, not verifying that beforehand had been a risky move. Homura would probably even call it a foolish move (scratch that, her overprotective friend would most definitely call it a foolish move. And use much stronger words while she was at it, too).
But, this was the only move she could make that would save everyone.
Xenovia's life. Irina's life. His life. They were people she had met not that long ago, but she was loath to allow even such recent acquaintances to die.
Even if one of them was trying to kill her.
But that was just who she was. Homura would say that she was too naïve, that she was too kind for her own good, but she didn't want to live in a world where kindness could be a burden. She would sooner change the world herself.
But for now, the first order of business was to figure out what to do. If she broke out of the seal early, or if she even looked like she was about to break out, the man would likely be provoked into detonating the explosives early, which would be bad. Perhaps she could try to buy her friends some more time to escape? A conversation would be a good distraction.
He was still staring at her, watching her every move. Good. She needed to keep it that way.
"What would you have done if I hadn't stepped into the circle?"
"I imagine I would have taken my life, along with those of your followers. And you would escape, alive but wounded."
"That was a rather risky gambit, then. You were relying on me being compassionate enough to risk myself for my followers."
He nodded. "Indeed, I was. But it was a calculated risk; for Michael to give up the Throne of Heaven to someone, they would have to be a wellspring of kindness."
She frowned. "If you knew that already, then why do you detest me so? Enough to set a plot to take my life?"
"Oh, I don't have anything against you personally." He waved a hand dismissively. "I would have tried to kill any deity in the same position as you."
"But why? Heaven would benefit greatly from a deity's support!"
"What would benefit Heaven, may not necessarily benefit the people."
Her frown grew deeper. She still didn't understand his motives. "What do you mean?"
He turned away, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "Tell me: did you ever plan to make your debut to the common masses?"
". . . Eventually," she admitted.
"Why?"
She blinked. "Because I wanted to tell them the truth."
"And?" His tone was relentless.
"And what?"
"What was your other reason?" he demanded.
She fidgeted. "Well, it would also let me get more faith. And with more faith, I could do more to support Heaven and the Church."
He sighed. "Of course." His lips curled in disgust. "You gods are all the same."
She was indignant. "I – I am not!"
"But you are." He turned back to fully face her. "You think only of yourselves; you answer people's wishes not because you care about them, but because you want their faith. And in your gluttonous pursuit for more power, you will announce your name far and wide, and with it, you will also declare that God is dead." His eyes narrowed into a glare. "And with that one proclamation, you will ruin countless lives."
She flinched. She still remembered that fateful day in Vatican City, that day she had ruined a nun's life by telling her that God was dead. It was something she had dwelled on endlessly, wondering what she could have done to prevent such a tragedy.
"Imagine a childhood friend that you have known for all your life.," he continued. "Someone you played with, spoke with, laughed with every day. Imagine that one day, they move away, and a stranger comes to call on you in their stead. How would you feel? Lost, I imagine. Perhaps even resentful." He paused. "With the shadow of your old friend hanging over you, you would not be able to interact with the newcomer fairly. You would always be secretly comparing them to someone else. Someone they can never be." He sighed. "Even if you are as kind and compassionate as you claim, no one will care. They won't be able to see past God to see you for who you truly are."
Unsettled by his claims, she desperately tried to find a rebuttal. "I – It'll just take a while for them to adjust!"
"I admit, it is likely a few will. Most likely the younger generations, who have not yet gotten overly attached to God. But the older ones? Those who have had deep-seated beliefs ingrained in them from a young age? They will not be able to make the transition." His eyes stared into hers. "And with the very foundation of their faith destroyed, they will not be able to pull themselves back together. On the day you make your grand proclamation, they will die, and empty husks will be borne in their wake."
He sighed and turned away, clearly affected by the intensity of his own words.
"Would you condemn so many to such a fate?" he asked softly.
Madoka glanced down, her expression unreadable. Ever since that day in the Vatican, it had always been at the back of her mind, that possibility that forcing so many to confront a painful truth could be a greater sin than maintaining a lie. It went against her very nature to be honest and upfront.
"I . . . I never thought –"
"Some of the greatest atrocities in human history were committed by people acting without thinking. For the sake of Christians around the world, I do not intend to allow you to have the opportunity to make that same mistake."
Her head was whirling with thoughts. Was he right? Had she made a mistake by taking up the role of God? In her endless quest to help others, was she doing more harm than good?
She remembered a despairing face, eyes hollow with the realization that she had been praying to a god who would never answer.
But that wasn't all, was it? It couldn't be. There was another, she was sure. Someone else. Someone she had helped a long time ago in a formerly abandoned church in Kuoh.
She remembered a joyous face, eyes brimming with tears of relief from her new lease on life, the result of her cooperation with Asia.
She remembered the woman's grateful prayers, her earnest gratitude.
No. It wasn't a mistake. She refused to let it be a mistake.
She would just have to approach things differently.
It did not matter if she had to lie. It did not matter if she had to tell the truth. The only thing that mattered –
Was whether the people she cared for were happy in the end.
If she had to tell the whitest lie of her life, then so be it. If she had to deceive them into believing she was God, then so be it.
It was just like when Michael had asked her that question:
"Were you happy with this outcome, Madoka-sama?"
The only outcome she would be happy with was one where everyone could smile.
Even the ones who didn't believe in her.
And so, she knew what she had to do.
The man glanced at his watch. "I believe time is almost up."
As his hand reached for the remote, Madoka raised her head, a soft yet resolute expression adorning her face.
"I won't do it."
He paused and glanced at her. "Do what?"
"I won't tell them. That God is dead."
"You only say that because your life is at stake."
"No, I mean it. I don't care about faith. I don't care about power. Even if no one prays to me, even if no one acknowledges me, I will still watch over them. I will still grant their prayers; I will still bless their lives. Because –" Her voice lowered.
"I just want them to be happy."
She looked up, eyes filled to the brim with a boundless pool of emotion.
"Is that too much to ask?"
xxx
He hesitated.
Her words were passionate, powerful. They tugged at his heart-strings, appealed to the small fragment of optimism left in him.
He wanted to say that she was only pretending to care, only saying honeyed words to make him doubt his resolve.
But he remembered what he felt as he looked upon her visage in the quiet confines of his office.
He remembered what he felt when he saw the look of dawning horror on her face, the despair from what she had done to that pitiful nun.
He felt that same feeling well up within him now.
But he couldn't stop. He mustn't stop.
Slowly, shakily, he raised the remote.
"The world is cruel," he whispered. "Happiness is not so easily found in this world."
A finger pressed down.
And nothing happened.
He looked at his hand and realized that his thumb had missed.
No. It hadn't missed.
He had chosen to not push the button.
Why?
Hadn't his resolve been ironclad? Hadn't he willingly steeped himself in sin for the sake of protecting the masses? When had he started doubting himself so?
Tears were clouding his vision. As he blinked to clear them, he looked up and saw the goddess's own face.
Ah. That was it. It was because of her.
She was different. She wasn't like the other gods, who played with mortals for their own amusement.
She genuinely cared.
Her words were not honeyed, they were honey itself. They were sweet not because she made them to be, but because she really was that kind, that optimistic.
He knew. Ever since he had laid eyes on that photo of her so long ago, he had a notion as to what kind of person she was. Seeing that videotape of her had merely confirmed it.
But even so, he had tried to paint her as something else, something evil, something he could hate and eliminate without regret.
But he couldn't do it.
After all, who could hate Hope herself?
That was what he had felt from her, he realized. Hope that he was doing the right thing, that his sacrifices would be for the greater good. Hope that he could one day rest in peace, knowing that his work would ease the burden of future generations.
He couldn't do it. Because if she really meant what she said, it would be perfect. After all, how could God's death be concealed better . . .
Than by having someone play the role of God?
It was a long shot. But for the first time in a very, very long time . . .
He had hope for the future.
He deactivated the remote and threw it on the ground. He stomped on it, crushing it under his heel.
That was it, then. His final gambit was finished, and it had failed spectacularly.
He found he didn't mind all that much.
The circle on the ground flared, cracked, then shattered. Soft footsteps padded over to him, and a softer hand gripped his chin and lifted his face up.
The goddess smiled at him. Him, a sinner who was likely damned to the deepest depths of hell.
"Ah," he whispered. "To think you escaped so easily . . . it really was hopeless from the start, wasn't it?"
She shook her head. "There is no such thing as a hopeless venture. I had to borrow power from my other self to break that seal; if you had designed it a bit differently, it really would have trapped me." She beamed at him. "But I suppose that didn't matter in the end either, did it?"
He glanced away. He couldn't – couldn't bear to look at that gleaming radiance, that pure-hearted kindness that could forgive a man who had threatened to kill both her and her friends.
"But regardless, I suppose I should thank you."
"Thank me? For what?"
"For helping me realize that I am not always right. That even if I have good intentions, that doesn't necessarily mean I will produce a good outcome."
He shook his head, disbelieving. "You're really serious about not telling them, aren't you? I don't know the specifics of how deities work, but how could you possibly operate on such little faith?"
"I've been doing fine so far, haven't I? I get tired easily, but I don't mind. I've already sacrificed everything for the sake of others. What's a little more?"
An explosion erupted from outside the building, interrupting them.
The goddess frowned as she glanced out the windows. "Friends of yours?"
"Not that I'm aware of," he replied wearily.
"Well, guess I'll go and wrap things up." She winked at him. "Wait here, okay?"
He watched as she vanished from the room, leaving naught but a passing warmth that seeped into his bones. As he collapsed to the ground from fatigue, he felt the hope within him burn brighter than ever.
xxx
Kyoko was no stranger to plans failing spectacularly.
She had gotten caught shoplifting from hapless store owners on numerous occasions (she always managed to outrun them in the end, though), and there were many times in fights where a plan of attack failed, and she had to improvise on the fly.
So, when she ran outside only to find a man and a posse of women gathered out there, she thought she would only have to make up an excuse on the spot to shoo them away.
But when the man took one look at her and mumbled something about "exorcists" and "getting rid of witnesses," alarms started going off in her head.
And when several of his posse suddenly mutated into horrific-looking monsters that looked far too much like those Stray Devils she had encountered a while back, she realized that yes, there was a god out there other than Madoka and he definitely had a bone to pick with her.
It was probably the god of store-owners. Heaven knows that she had robbed enough stores in her lifetime to warrant divine intervention.
Except there was nothing divine about these things. Quite the opposite in fact. And while they weren't nearly as strong as the Strays she had fought before, there were just so many of them.
She batted aside something that looked like a hydra, except all the heads were human and had disproportionately large teeth (she was going to call it "Bitey"). No sooner had she done so than a woman with enough spikes protruding out of her to make a porcupine jealous came rushing at her (this one was Spiky), forcing her to leap aside. And of course, out of the blue, a figure dashed towards her, charging on all fours with the speed of a tiger and a head with devil's horns outstretched (Chargey, she guessed? It seemed to really like using that tactic).
With no time to dodge, Kyoko planted her spear against the ground and prepared to face it head-on.
Squelch!
Clearly, this one had been dumber than the rest. Chargey hadn't even tried to avoid her spear (probably because it hadn't bothered looking up) and had gotten impaled straight through the chest.
Shoving the body off her weapon, Kyoko took her moment of reprieve to survey her surroundings.
The others had ran outside soon after the brawl had begun, getting caught up in it as well.
Mami had run out of ammo at some point. She was now flinging her muskets around without a care for secrecy, devastating her foes with an unrelenting barrage. Several bodies already lay crumpled at her feet, a testament to her skillful marksmanship.
Sayaka was managing to hold her own as well. She stood in front of Mami, swatting away foes who drew near to give her mentor the space she needed to fire off her shots.
Xenovia and Irina stood back-to-back, lashing out at any foes that drew near with their blades of light. Their coordination was superb, each one of them seemingly knowing what the other planned to do and acting appropriately.
Kyoko was the only lone wolf in this arrangement. But that was fine; she was used to working alone, and she bet she could take down just as many as one of the partnered groups.
A few dozen swings, stabs, and gunshots later, the bodies of all the Stray Devils lay fallen on the ground.
Kyoko planted her spear at her feet. "Think that's the last of them."
The others slowly relaxed as well.
"I have never seen so many Stray Devils all at once before," Xenovia said. "This is a highly unusual occurrence."
"They weren't even that strong either. Strays that have lived long enough to develop these types of mutations are generally much tougher than this," Irina added.
Kyoko frowned as she listened. There had been quite a few of them, twelve in total, but individually, they had been rather weak, taking only one or two solid blows to bring down for good.
Just like familiars. But that begged the question: where was the witch?
She recalled the man she had briefly glimpsed before being attacked. Could he be . . . ?
Glancing up, she realized that she could vaguely make out the din of battle from inside the building. And the man from before was nowhere to be seen.
"Shit. The others slipped past us while we were distracted," Kyoko swore.
Sayaka, following her gaze, quickly caught on. "Madoka and the former Pope are still inside!"
Mami's face was grim. "That distraction must have surely cost us most, if not all our time. We have to hurry!" She leaped upward.
The others followed suit, each praying that they would make it in time.
xxx
Homura was angry. No, she'd say she was quite pissed off.
After arriving at the apartment, she had been unable to further pinpoint Madoka's location, so she had resigned herself to checking each floor. Of course, right as she entered, she ran into a familiar-looking devil whose face had lit up in sadistic glee upon seeing her.
He had thrown an attack at her, and she had readied her magic, ready to teleport past him to continue her search, when her magic flared yet she remained in the same spot. Caught off guard by her magic's failure, she had ended up taking a glancing blow from the attack.
"What's wrong? Can't teleport?" the devil taunted.
Homura gritted her teeth. She didn't have time for this. Madoka didn't have time for this; every second she dawdled was another second where Madoka was in peril, every delay another chance for her to be too late.
"I dug up some information on you after you stole my prize right out from under me," the devil continued. "There wasn't much on you, you know? But I did learn that you could teleport. And that you cared a lot for that goddess of yours. Which was quite convenient for me since I had peeked at the Pope's plans while he wasn't looking – his plan to trap and kill your goddess."
Homura felt like her heart had frozen over. Trap? And kill? Madoka?
Overwhelming fury surged up within her, and it was all she could do to fight it down and keep a level head.
"I figured you would show up if your goddess were in peril, so I took the liberty of setting a trap here. With this anti-teleportation barrier in place, you won't be getting away from me." He grinned. "And I also took the liberty of sabotaging the Pope a little. After all, it'd be a shame to just kill off a goddess as beautiful as that. I'd much rather take this opportunity to add her to my collection while she's trapped and defenseless." His eyes glinted with a sick depravity. "To have a holy goddess to myself . . . yes, that would be the most wonderful thing!"
Homura screamed. To even think of such a disgusting being daring to lay hands on Madoka – it was despicable. She had never wanted so badly to kill someone.
White hot rage coursed through her body, and holy fire poured from her hands, hungry to devour the blight in front of her. She didn't see the black shell that moved to protect its master, didn't notice the monstrous forms that spread out to flank her.
All she wanted was for the devil to die screaming in agony.
More fire poured out of her hands, but it wasn't enough, why wasn't he being consumed, every second was torture, another chance for her Madoka to be hurt, why couldn't she why couldn't she why couldn't she save her already?!
What are you willing to sacrifice, for the sake of your ambitions?
A voice surfaced amidst her torrent of rage and fire, a voice that she had once heard a long time ago.
Anything! Anything you want! Just give me the power to END THIS BASTARD!
Very well. For this, I will take your memories. Is that acceptable?
Had she been thinking clearly, she might have hesitated before making such a potentially disastrous deal. But at that moment, in her all-consuming fury, nothing else seemed to matter.
I acc –
A hand touched her shoulder, and it was as if the cloudy skies had parted to let the sunlight through.
Homura blinked numbly as someone radiantly smiled at her.
"There's no need for that, Homura-chan."
A dainty hand gripped her own, and she could feel her torrent of holy fire peter out.
"Let me take care of things for once, alright?"
A graceful being strode across the room, facing the monstrous figures arrayed before her.
"Ah, I see the goddess got out of her cage," the devil said. "But no matter; you must be quite weakened after that, so I'll take you down right here!"
The monstrous figures rushed forward at the command of their master, and Homura wanted to shout, to scream, to yell out a warning –
The goddess raised a hand, and light filled the room.
The mutated devils stopped in their tracks, covered by the unnatural, shining light. Slowly, their forms began to dissolve, their horribly mangled bodies drooping down as they collapsed under the weight of Heaven's light.
For a fleeting moment, Homura thought she saw a human face surface in the monsters' degrading forms, smiling like their nightmare had finally come to an end.
The devil scrambled backwards, his composure shaken after his minions were easily dispatched. "No, no, get away from me! Don't you know who I am? I'm the heir to one of the 72 Pillars!"
The goddess strode forward, uncaring of his protests. "I've seen a lot of sin, evil, and malice in my time. I've been told that I'm kind; perhaps even too kind for my own good." She stopped in front of him, voice firm as she delivered her judgment.
"But even I can't forgive someone like you."
A wave of the hand later, and the devil screamed as he dissolved in the light.
Homura felt herself collapse, only to be caught by the one she loved.
xxx
"Transfer student sure knows how to cut corners," Sayaka grumbled. "Do we really all have to stick around to answer questions?"
Dulio smiled apologetically. "Sorry. This is just procedure."
"Tch. Shoulda just ran off with the other two when I had the chance," Kyoko muttered.
They had rushed back into the building only to find Madoka carrying Homura in her arms. The goddess had muttered that she had something important to do before vanishing along with the other magical girl.
They found the former Pope waiting for them back in the same room they had confronted them in. After detaining the man, they had called specialists in from the Church to come and defuse the explosives the former Pope had planted. Dulio and Vasco had come as well to oversee the proceedings and to question him themselves.
However, the fallen priest had simply pointed them towards the safe in his office.
"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones," the man had said humorlessly. "But I suspect your house is much sturdier than mine, Strada-san."
After that, he had remained stubbornly tight-lipped, right up to the moment when exorcists dragged him away to be confined until he could be judged for his crimes.
Vasco approached them, already looking much wearier than before after only one day of the papacy. "I am truly sorry that something like this happened. It was my fault for underestimating my predecessor's tenacity; I should have known that something was off."
Xenovia bowed her head respectfully. "The fault lies with us as well for underestimating our adversary. Please do not overly trouble yourself over this, Strada-sama."
"I agree," Mami said. "We let our guard down because we thought there was no danger: a novice mistake that we will not repeat."
"I see." The current Pope nodded. "At the very least, you all seemed to have gained something from this experience." He sighed. "And while I am loath to trouble any of your further, I must ask that you recount what has happened for me. Your initial summary of the situation was apt, but my men have noticed a number of details that seem to be unaccounted for."
They all hesitated, glancing at each other.
"Should we tell him? About her?" Irina asked.
"Strada-sama is a kind and compassionate man. I believe that he is trustworthy enough," Xenovia said.
"He is the Pope, now," Mami said. "He will likely learn of her existence sooner or later."
"Yeah. Besides, we just caught the bad guy, didn't we? It should be safe to tell him at least," Sayaka added.
"Do whatever ya want." Kyoko yawned. "I'm beat."
Decision made, Irina explained to Vasco everything that transpired, although leaving out certain details (such as their use of magic against the Strays). The man was as unflappable as ever, only his slightly raised eyebrows indicating that he was surprised at all.
"A new goddess in Heaven? I had heard rumors of such, but it is a different matter to have it confirmed."
"Do you have any reservations about it?" Mami asked.
"A few, I'll admit." Vasco smiled. "But if Michael-san has deemed her worthy, then I shall be giving her the benefit of the doubt, at the very least."
"I'm cool with it as long as she doesn't make any stupid mistakes." Dulio slouched against the wall. "Whenever the higher-ups make a mess of things, I'm always the one that gets called in to clean it up. And that's just a pain." He sighed.
They all sweatdropped at the Strongest Exorcist's rather irresponsible attitude.
"It won't come to that," Sayaka said. "Hopefully."
"In any case, thank you all for your time." Vasco gave them a small bow. "I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors."
Dulio had left with the new Pope, and now it was just the five of them once again.
"What's wrong Pigtails? Ya look like you still got something eating away at ya."
Irina jumped in surprise. She had been constantly eyeing the three magic users ever since the incident's resolution, and Kyoko had figured that something was up.
"I – It's nothing." She laughed weakly.
"It's not nothing if it's been making you fidget all this time." Kyoko gave her a stern look. "Just spit it out already."
"W – Well . . ." Irina bounced from one foot to another. "When . . . when the former Pope said that you three weren't human . . . was he right?"
The three magical girls glanced at each other. This was a somewhat sensitive topic.
"I was wondering about it myself," Xenovia added. "Your response to him was rather vague. But I understand if none of you wish to speak of it."
"He wasn't right." Mami paused. "But he wasn't exactly wrong either."
"O – Oh, well . . ." Irina's pacing increased. "I – It doesn't really bother me! Even if you're not human, that doesn't make you any less human!" She flushed. "Wait, that didn't sound quite right . . ."
Sayaka laughed. "Nah, I think I get the gist of what you're saying." She clasped Irina on the shoulder. "Not sure if I should be telling you this, but we were human once, y'know." She smiled. "So, you saying that really means a lot to me."
Irina flushed but managed to smile in return.
"Well, now that we're all sunshine and rainbows . . ." Kyoko flicked a finger behind her. "What say we celebrate our successful mission? I'm starving."
"I have no objections," Xenovia said.
Both their stomachs rumbled simultaneously, as if in agreement.
The others laughed. "You never change, do you?" Sayaka said.
"Hey, don't say I didn't warn ya if ya starve to death!"
xxx
Homura woke up to find a gentle face looking down at her.
"Ah, you're finally awake, Homura-chan!"
Homura slowly sat up, finding herself in a small, cozy bedroom. "Where am I? What happened?"
"This is my bedroom in Heaven. It's not exactly grandiose, but I like the simplicity of it," Madoka said. "As for what happened, well, it seemed like you pushed yourself too hard at the end there and collapsed; so I brought you back here so you could get some rest!"
Homura rubbed her eyes, feeling a dull ache in her body. "Thank you, Madoka. I think I feel better now." Her face fell as she recalled her confrontation with the devil. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help at the end."
Her eyes flew up as the goddess grabbed her hands, holding them against her own. "Don't think like that, Homura-chan! You don't always have to be the one to solve my problems for me, you know? I can take care of myself too."
She recalled that heavenly light that had incinerated those monsters and erased that devil from existence. How it had so easily overcome an obstacle that she hadn't been able to surmount.
Yeah. Madoka could take care of herself now. But if that was the case . . . then did she even need Homura anymore?
If Madoka didn't need her, was there even any reason for her to be around? What was her purpose, then? What was the point?
Her chest tightened as her thoughts spiraled further and further into despair –
Suddenly, she felt someone grab her and pull her close.
". . . Madoka?"
The goddess whispered as she hugged her friend tightly. "I know what you're thinking right now, Homura-chan. You're thinking that you're worthless because you couldn't help me at the end. But that's not true!" She leaned back, gazing squarely at her. "Just having you there helped give me the strength to fight. Knowing that I had someone dear to me that I wanted to protect helped reaffirm my resolve."
Homura relaxed as her fears were assuaged. It was a bad habit of hers, born from years of living a life centered around her friend. She had grown dependent on her, dependent on her friend to give her own life meaning and purpose.
After a few minutes they pulled apart, smiling at each other. However, she noticed Madoka was looking at her pensively, gazing down at her Soul Gem.
"Madoka? What's wrong?"
The goddess sighed. "I don't like that you have that Sacred Gear."
She frowned. "What? You mean Incinerate Anthem? Why?"
"Because it suits you too well."
Homura was confused. Why would it be an issue if she were too compatible with the Sacred Gear? How could she be "too compatible" with it in the first place?
"You have a tendency to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others," Madoka explained. "And that Sacred Gear only exacerbates the issue." She frowned. "What were you about to offer to it, right before I arrived? Did it ask for your life again?"
Homura had told her friend of her first sacrifice to the Longinus before, and she had chastised her for being reckless. But now . . .
She glanced away. ". . . My memories."
Madoka's eyes widened. "What?! Your memories?!"
Homura nodded numbly.
Her friend grabbed her, eyes pleading. "Why would you willingly give up something like that? Don't you know how precious your memories are?"
"I thought you were in danger. To save you, giving up my memories seemed like a small price to pay."
Madoka's face twisted in anguish. "Don't say that! Don't you know how much it would hurt to forget about the ones you loved? Don't you know how much it would hurt you to forget about me?
"Don't you know . . . how much it would hurt me if you forgot about me?"
Her heart twisted. It was easy to say that the price was small but now that she was thinking about it more . . . maybe it was much more severe than she had initially thought.
Madoka's eyes watered, and Homura felt immense guilt for making her friend worry so much.
"Are you going to take it away from me?"
"What? No! Not unless you wanted me to." Madoka wiped her tears away. "Just . . . try to take care of yourself more, Homura-chan. It makes me sad when you get hurt, you know?"
Homura gave her a small smile.
"Okay. I'll try."
Madoka beamed. "That's all I ask."
xxx
"What a delightful, little thing."
Rizevim stared down at the golden cup he held. It was small, almost tiny in comparison to the lavish glasses he was used to. But that simply belied the sheer amount of power it contained.
"Using the power of creation to bring about destruction . . . how wonderfully ironic."
Not to mention, there was an experiment that he was most eager to carry out. He knew that the Sephiroth Grail could revive the dead, but what if . . .
"If I poured the essence of life into an empty vessel, one designed to host a life but not alive itself . . . what would emerge, I wonder?"
It was a thought that had been stuck in the back of his head ever since he heard it from his information network. If things went as predicted, then he would be able to stir up quite a bit of chaos with his scheme; perhaps even shatter the peace between the factions that their leaders had wanted for so long. And with them back at each other's throats, he would be able to carry out the rest of his plan without interference.
"Lucifer-sama, it is done."
He looked up as Euclid approached. "Oh, are the brats here already?"
"Yes, they are. He is present as well. Will we be . . . ?" He made a vague gesture.
Rizevim shook his head. "No, I don't care what my worthless grandson does anymore. And I am not in the mood to be playing around with children." He spun around. "I have far more interesting things to do. Send them the playmates we prepared."
Euclid bowed. "As you wish, Lucifer-sama."
But he had already stopped listening at that point, having withdrawn back into the world in his mind; a world of ruin where chaos and despair ran rampant.