.

.

.

.

Merken

.

.

.

.

Madoka said nothing as she entered the classroom with Sayaka within the school. It looked as though the teacher, Ms. Saotome, had just finished taking attendance, as all the students were now getting out their textbooks. The teacher looked quite pleased at their entrance, with Sayaka waving in her direction.

"Ms. Saotome, I got her!" The blue-haired girl said happily, giving Madoka a small pat on the back and grinning. Said homeroom teacher smiled softly, nodding back at the two.

"Thank you, Sayaka. You can go sit down now; class is about to start!" She stated. Sayaka looked at Madoka for a second before heading to her seat. Wordlessly, Madoka went to her own seat, without waiting for Ms. Saotome's permission. The glasses-wearing teacher gave her a peculiar look that Madoka had caught in the corner of her eye, but she didn't act upon it.

After checking something off a piece of paper, most likely regarding Madoka's late appearance, the teacher got up and smiled.

"Okay, class!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, just as Madoka reached her desk in the back corner of the class, next to the window. "It's time to go over your Japanese test!" A small but collective groan could be heard from the students, but Ms. Saotome shook her head.

"Don't worry! I had asked you to write a paragraph on how a proper boyfriend should act and most of you passed! But most importantly, I hope that the boys here have learned how to behave when with a lady, and that the girls have learned to judge whether or not a boyfriend is adequate!" Ms. Saotome's expression turned serious as she looked at her class. "Here's a few tips from me! You should never, never accept a boyfriend that take hogs the TV remote-"

Madoka, knowing that her teacher was going to go on another tangent about her many issues with boyfriends, decided to tune her out. Instead, she pulled out a few books from her bag. They were mainly books for each of the subjects the school provided for Madoka to learn. They were placed aside, however, in favor of a black leather-bound notebook, only a few centimeters bigger than Madoka's hand. There wasn't anything written on the cover.

"Okay," Madoka whispered to herself, opening the notebook. "Time to review."

Maybe it was a curse. Maybe it was a blessing in an horrifying disguise. But the nightmares that haunted Madoka for the majority of her life did not just scare her and change her personality.

They also foretold the future, hence why Madoka began calling them visions.

Well, the main component of the nightmares, her being terrorized by creatures or forced to accept the despair of those creatures were, to her knowledge, existed for the sole purpose of terrorizing her, changing her and making her life that much worse.

However, there were times when she'd get flashes of memories that of herself, despite the fact that herself never lived through them. Visions of the future. Six weeks worth of memories from herself at age fourteen.

This was odd in and of itself. Future foresight was an outlandish concept.

What could be considered even more outlandish, though, was the contents of those six weeks she remembered.

In that those memories were not really of six weeks; rather, of a cycle that looped the same six weeks for seemingly all of eternity, involving girls that contracted with some sort of white alien to become magicals girls to fight against witches.

Ridiculous, stupid, insane. All of those words could've been used to describe Madoka's so-called 'visions' and she herself would want to agree wholeheartedly.

As a child, Madoka had no way to know if these visions were real. They felt real, realer than reality itself, but they ultimately could've just been extra parts of the nightmare. However, as her life unfolded, small details from the visions turned out to occur in reality.

At age five, Madoka had met Sayaka, a girl that had been prominent in those very same visions, and just like in those visions, the two were, rather unthinkably, best friends. Similarly, she had met Hitomi and Kyousuke, two people that, while not as present in the visions as Sayaka, also appeared in them.

At age eight, after being invited to an archery range as part of Sayaka's birthday, Madoka was shown to be near prodigious with a bow, being able to hit a bullseye from seemingly any distance, with any bow, with any arrow, without fail, despite her young age and having never touched a bow in her life. This would've been a wonderful skill to realise she had, if not for the fact that the version of herself within the visions was often equipped with a bow.

At age twelve, Junko had revealed to her that she was having another baby. His name would become Tatsuya. Just like in the visions.

These, along with numerous, numerous other similarities made one thing absolutely clear.

Her visions foretold the future. What happened in them were going to happen in reality.

And that eventual reality was terrible.

That aforementioned cycle involving Magical Girls and Witches. It sounds far, far more innocent than it actually is.

In truth, it is a dark, hopeless, painful and deadly incident, something that was etched in her mind.

Madoka let out a light sigh as she skimmed through the notes that she had diligently written over time. Some were written perfectly normally, others were written so frantically and messily she herself could barely read them. She gazed over the information for a little bit, then turned to a new page. She extracted a pen from within her pencil case and began to write.

"... Magical Girls are real."

Title.

"Girls with… magical potential contract with a creature called… the Incubator to become Magical Girls. The Incubator grants the contractee… a wish before they become Magical Girls…"

Written smack-dab in the middle of the paper.

"They gain supernatural abilities and use a Soul Gem… to fight Witches."

Her normal writing size.

"Witches are creatures that… live off misery. They stay in… labyrinths… and drop Grief Seeds when they die..."

Her writing became slightly less organized.

"They're actually… Magicals Girls that fell into despair."

Madoka bit her bottom lip upon jotting this down.

"Souls Gems are actually… the soul of the girls themselves. There's no way to return to normal… after contracting…"

Having written all that she thought needed for this part, she flipped the page a bit shakily.

"Cycle."

New title.

"..." Madoka went silent for a second, wondering how to write this down. She, however, was interrupted from her thinking.

"Madoka! Come up and get your test!" Ms. Saotome exclaimed, waving the paper at her, in a way so that none of the other students could see her result. Setting her notebook aside for the moment, Madoka got up from her desk and grabbed her test.

A 39%. She failed.

Not that she cared much.

Without the slightest show of guilt or sadness at her low grade, she strided back to her own seat.

If anything, Ms. Saotome seemed fairly concerned at Madoka's lack of concern, but as teacher she couldn't show that. After having handed out the rest of the papers, the middle school teacher hummed enthusiastically.

"Okay everyone, ask me any question you'd like about your grad-" Just as Ms. Saotome said that, a loud bell resonated.

"Ah, it's time for lunch already? Where has the time gone? We haven't even corrected your tests yet!" The teacher said distressingly.

"Maybe it's because you spent all of class talking about your love life again?" A boy quipped.

"Can you even correct writing tests?" A girl inquired right after. The teacher in front of them grinned sheepishly and stuck her tongue out

"Heheh, is that so…" Ms. Saotome muttered, because raising her voice. "Okay class, have a nice lunch! You have gym next!" Silent murmurs and cheers of happiness erupted from the room as the class left the room. Madoka was about to do the same, but Ms. Saotome called out her name. She motioned her fingers towards her. Realizing that wasn't planning on anything, she sighed and approached the teacher.

"Madoka," Ms. Saotome began as her pink-haired student arrived at her desk. "You didn't do too well on the writing test. You usually do fine on them."

Madoka blinked. "I didn't do well on one single test. I don't see why you need to confront me about this."

The teacher pressed her lips into a thin line. "Well, it wasn't just one test. To put it bluntly, you failed the math, history and English tests as well. You haven't struggled with them before. There's also the fact that Sayaka had to fetch you from outside since you were just standing there." She lightly slammed her hands on her desk for emphasis. "Is there a problem that you're having, Madoka?"

Said girl looked to the side. "Even if there was, it would be none of your business."

"As your teacher, Madoka, it is my responsibility." Ms. Saotome stood up, walking around the mahogany desk to face her student directly. "Junko has told me-"

"While you two were drinking?" Madoka cut in with a deadpan tone, already knowing the answer. The glasses-wearing woman's sheepish nod only confirmed this.

"-Has told me that there's been something on your mind that's been impairing your grades and most importantly," She pointed at Madoka, her finger mere centimeters from her head, much to the pink-haired girl's annoyance. "Your peace of mind."

"My peace of mind is perfectly fine and shouldn't be of your concern."

Ms. Saotome's expression noticeably softened. Her eyes were gentle. "It, however, is of my concern, and will be of my concern for the foreseeable future. So, since that isn't going to be changing anytime soon, why don't you take advantage of it and tell me what's going on?"

Madoka went silent for a few seconds. It gave Ms. Saotome hope that she was considering confiding in her, but Madoka instead walked out of the room, offering nothing but a short and barely audible "goodbye".

The teacher sadly smiled. "There really is something bothering her. But if she doesn't talk about it, I can't make any progress. I'll have to talk to Junko about it later." She went back to her seat. "Now, what was I supposed to do now? Oh right, I had to prepare for the new transfer student…"

The ringing of the school bell signaled the end of the day. Dozens of students quickly made their way out of Mitakihara Middle School, likely going to hang out with their friends, as the weather on this March 16th was quite exquisite. There were a few students, however, that stayed for after school activities.

Madoka walked out of the building alongside her fellow students in exasperation. As the following period after her lunch was gym, she couldn't continue looking over the information she had written in her notebook and would only be able to do so once at home. However, just as she was about to pick up her pace to get home as soon as possible, Sayaka had approached her from behind.

"Hey there, Madoka!" Sayaka exclaimed, putting her hands on the back of her head as the two walked.

"Sayaka," Madoka said, glaring at said blue-haired girl. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "Do I need a reason to say hi to a friend?" Madoka rolled her eyes.

"You have Hitomi to talk to, don't you?" Madoka commented idly, looking at her wrist. She didn't actually have a watch, but it felt like a better use of time then Sayaka's current attempt at conversation.

"Hitomi's at one of her after school lessons. What was it today? Tea ceremony? Dance lessons?"

"Piano practice."

"Yeah, that! I swear, with that girl, she's busy every second with her lessons! I wouldn't be surprised if I called her in a few hours and she was busy with learning lessons." The blue-haired girl glanced at Madoka's face for a reaction, deflating a little bit at the lack thereof.

"... Kyousuke?" Madoka brought up the grey-haired violinist in hopes that that would get Sayaka out of her hair. "I'm sure he would want to talk to you, seeing as he's been holed up in the hospital for quite a while now."

Sayaka froze at those words, but resumed walking soon after to save face. "Well, yeah, I was gonna visit him after. I was planning on getting him a DVD at the mall; want to come with?" Sayaka steered the conversation in order to question her pink-haired friend. She sighed.

"So that's what this is about." Madoka stated, shaking her head. "The answer is no, Sayaka. I have things to do at home. Besides, you'll be able to choose what fits better for Kyousuke more decisively by yourself." They had just left school grounds, and were walking down a road to the left.

Sayaka ran up in front of Madoka and began to walk backward to face her. "It's been awhile since we've hung out though. Is something up?"

Madoka audibly groaned. "That's the third time I've heard today." She muttered, loud enough for Sayaka to hear her.

The blue-haired girl slyly grinned. "Well, that just means that it's super obvious that something is up!" Sayaka came near Madoka, inspecting her while rubbing her chin as a detective would when trying to decipher a mystery. "What is it? Bad grades? Boy troubles? Feel free to tell Miracle Worker Sayaka!"

"There is nothing wrong for Miracle Worker Sayaka to fix. Go find another case."

"Ah, whatever. I'll get it out of you eventually." Sayaka gave in, but still retained her smile, returning to Madoka's side. They had reached an intersection; one road lead to the mall and the other was the one that would get Madoka home the quickest.

"Alright, I'm gonna have to get going before the mall gets crowded." Sayaka waved at her best friend and began to jog towards the mall. "See ya, Madoka!"

"Wait!" Moments later, the sudden yell of the pink-haired girl caused Sayaka to stop in her tracks in surprise. She twirled around to face the girl, whose expression seemed a lot less annoyed and a lot more serious.

"Huh, what's this? Is Miracle Worker Sayaka's work needed after all?" Sayaka smirked at the girl. Madoka opened her mouth to deny this, but stopped herself. She looked down for a second, some of her sternness fading. She then stared straight at Sayaka.

"I have something to say." Madoka uttered, gripping her bag. Sayaka's smile only widened.

"Sure! Fire away!"

A beat.

"... Wishes or miracles, they aren't something that just happen. There's almost always a downside. Don't accept them."

Sayaka's expression was a mix between puzzlement and irritation.

She shook her head. "Madoka, you say this all the time for no reason. Why are you telling me this?" Sayaka inquired.

"No reason. Just know that it's true, and keep it in mind." Madoka turned away. "You should hurry and get to the mall now. I'll head home. Bye." With those quaint words said, the pink-haired girl departed.

Sayaka scratched her head. "Wonder if I'll ever get why she says that all the time."

"I'm home." Madoka unceremoniously announced as she entered her home, slipping off her shoes.

Tomohisa was sitting on the kitchen table, reading a newspaper. The oven was on, so he was probably waiting for something to finish baking. Tatsuya sat on his high chair, pounding his small hands on the surface of it while making cute but incomprehensible sounds.

"Hello Madoka. How was school?" The man asked, giving his daughter a warm smile as she passed by him.

"Fine."

He hummed, flipping to the next page of the news article in his hand. "Your mother is going to get home a tad bit later today, something about being able a possible business partner being stubborn. I'm just making dinner."

"Okay." Madoka curtly replied, making her way towards her room. "I'll be in my room. Don't bother me; I'll come down for dinner in a while."

"Alright. Feel free to come to me if you need help with something." Madoka's eye twitched. The man's implication somewhat got on her nerves; that was the fourth time today. With a sigh, she continued on her way.

"Doka! M'doka!" Tatsuya exclaimed happily, a wonderfully wide grin upon his face while he looked at his big sister. Madoka considered ignoring him, but decided that against that and gave the toddler a small wave of her hand right as she reached her room.

Closing the door to her bedroom, Madoka didn't even bother changing out of her school clothes. She seized her title-less notebook from her bag and tossed it to the side. The pink-haired girl then walked over to her work desk and sat down, pen already in hand. She tapped it idly as she got to the page that she had written 'Cycle' on prior.

"Where do I even start…" Madoka leaned her back against the chair in exasperation. She had already hit a wall, despite the fact that nary a word was written yet. Madoka couldn't even identify exactly what the source of this roadblock of hers was. She knew everything she needed to write, and yet her mind yearned to do anything but.

Madoka attempted to force herself to write; the ballpoint of her utensil pressed against the page, but her hand shook erratically and nothing came to mind for her to jot down.

"Ugh…" Madaka groaned, "This is the worst." She put the pen to the side and picked up her notebook. "I guess I'll just read what I wrote down before. I'd remember better if I wrote it down, but this is fine too." She leaned back in her chair as she turned pages. After backtracking to the first few pages, she found an somewhat appropriate starting point.

That page was titled 'Cycle' as well. Though, the word cycle was misspelled, with an 'k' instead of the correct 'c'. Stick figures with different hair colors were drawn sloppily with crayon. The quality of the writing was pretty bad; Madoka had probably written this when she was younger. Still, the pink-haired girl had no interest in wasting more time in looking a version she had written when she was older, so she made due with this.

'Cykle'

'Homura, Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko, Madoka ar Magic Girls

Kyoubay is the one that makes them magic with wish

It not good though, magic girl make you witch

If Madoka turn magic girl, bad thing happen

But Homura try to save Madoka!

She go back in time to save Madoka

She has cool power

She gona stop Wallpergasnight'

And Madoka immediately regretted reading that.

Not only was the grammar terrible, it reminded her of how childishly idealistic she used to be as a child.

Clutching the book harder then she need to, she hastily turned to the next page, only to see...

Tear stains.

Tear stains and writing so chaotic and frantic it was completely illegible.

Madoka eyed the remnants of past sorrow and fear. She couldn't exactly pin down the emotion she was feeling, but she didn't want to think about it anymore than she already was, so she hastily turned to the next page.

After about two dozen pages ruined via aftermath of her previous nightmares and a one dozen pages with absolutely nothing on them, Madoka finally reached something that would actual be of use.

The writing was much neater and the grammar wasn't completely botched. The information on it was much more compact as well; approximately two years ago seemed like a good guess as to when she had written this.

"Something useful." Madoka murmured to herself, leaning further into her chair. Her eyes began to scan the page.

'Summary'

'On March 16th 20xx, something is going to start.'

'Somewhere between March 16th 20xx and March 25th 20xx, a black cat will get hit by a car. Avoid that cat.'

'On March 25th 20xx, Homura is going to transfer into my class.

'The next events don't have specific dates, but are almost definitely going to happen.'

'Mami Tomoe gets eaten by a witch.'

'Sayaka turns into a Magical Girl to heal Kyousuke's hand, and turns into a witch.'

'Kyouko Sakura comes after Mami dies and sacrifices herself to stop Sayaka.'

'There are other events that only happen occasionally.'

'On April 30th 20xx, Walpurgisnacht, a giant Witch, will appear and destroy most of Mitakihara.'

A much more concise, informative and blunt encapsulation of the cycle that Madoka had to confront.

"Much better." Madoka muttered bitterly, continuing on to the next page.

'Sayaka'

'Has a crush on Kyousuke'

'Wish is to heal his hand'

'Uses cutlasses as a Magical Girl'

'Falls into despair and becomes a witch'

Nothing was written on her for her personality or appearance, seeing as Madoka already knew Sayaka. Next.

'Mami Tomoe'

'Upperclassmen, yellow hair'

'Nice, caring and friendly. Wants to be seen as reliable. Is actually lonely'

'Uses ribbons and muskets as a Magical Girl'

'Gets killed by Charlotte, a witch'

'If she finds out the truth about Magical Girl, she will kill herself'

Madoka's expression didn't shift. Next.

'Kyouko Sakura'

'Red hair, wandering orphan'

'Abrasive and somewhat selfish. Has a nice side. Hates wasting food'

'Uses a spear as a Magical Girl'

'Will sacrifice herself to save Sayaka after she becomes a witch'

The following page was significantly less tidily written.

'Kyubey - Incubator'

'White creature, alien'

'Endless bodies'

'Tricks girls into contracting with it to become Magical Girls'

'Communicates with telepathy'

'AVOID AT ALL COSTS, DON'T APPROACH IT'

Madoka snorted. The emphasis she had put on the last note was a tad excessive, but completely warranted. She turned the page to the synopsis on the final figure of importance; the most important person, in fact.

"Homura Akemi." Madoka read off with bated breath.

'Black hair with braids, glasses'

'Shy normal girl with medical problems'

And that was all that was written.

The air in Madoka's room was completely still, noiseless. Until, at least, Madoka broke that silence with a unsettling laugh.

"Oh great!" The pink-haired girl took the important book and pitched as hard as she could against the wall of her bedroom. "Even then, I was so idealistic, to the point where I couldn't write down facts!"

Madoka was so incredibly frustrated with herself. Herself now, herself two years ago, herself as a child. Frustrated in how she couldn't confront the reality that was Homura.

She leaned even further into her chair, with it now struggling to keep balance.

Homura Akemi should, in theory, show up next week with braids and wearing red rimmed glasses. That would be logical, and most importantly, what Madoka wants.

However, Homura was the one factor most likely to change.

For when Madoka referred to the period between March 16th to April 30th as a cycle, she meant it in every literal sense. And Homura was a key component in it all.

At first, in the beginning 'timeline', Homura was as she had written down in the notebook. A shy, normal girl. However, as it turned out, the version of Madoka in that timeline was, in contrast with with how she now, incredibly nice.

So nice that she had contracted to save a random cat and became a Magical Girl.

Madoka chuckled darkly at that.

From there, she and Mami, who she had met in that timeline, befriended Homura and showed her the ins and outs of what they knew about the world of Magical Girls. Homura and that version of Madoka had grown particularly attached.

And then Walpurgisnacht arrived in Mitakihara and killed everyone except for Homura.

It was utterly devastating for the black-haired girl, seeing not only the town, but also the one person to show her genuine friendship get killed.

Thus, she made a contract with the Incubator in exchange for a wish.

A wish to go back in time and to gain the strength to protect Madoka herself.

And so began the cycle.

The period between March 16th and April 30th would loop endlessly. Homura Akemi tried her absolute best to save Madoka from her fate, which seemed to be either dying or contracting to become a Magical Girl, which was an indirect way of saying 'she was doomed'. Using her shield, Homura would stop time and store military weapons to fight witches and occasionally other Magical Girls.

Whenever she failed her mission, she would restart time, back to March 16th.

And she failed her mission constantly.

Obstacles, sometimes in the form of Witches, sometimes in the form of the Incubator, or even sometimes in the form of Magical Girls, would get in Homura's way and endanger her life. And yet, she'd carry on. Her personality toughened up and she ditched her glasses and braids as she became what was essentially a soldier fighting a seemingly unwinnable battle. And, to Madoka's knowledge, it was unwinnable, as not a single one of the dozens upon dozens of timelines of the cycle Madoka remembered through her nightmares ended without the click of Homura's shield and the reversing of time.

However, through all the grandeur and impressiveness of the situation, as well as the bravery and devotion of Homura, it is fairly easy to forget one thing.

In order for Homura to begin this quest, in order for Homura to become a magical girl, in order for Homura to ditch her braids and red-rimmed glasses, Madoka would need to become a Magical Girl and die.

Which, simply put, she was not going to do, no matter what.

And yet, with the terrible hand the world had dealt her, it was probably going to happen, wasn't it? Some terrible event completely out of anyone's control was going to kill her and kickstart Homura's endless quest wherein she'd died again and again and again and again and never get saved and die again and again and again-

"O-Oh!"

Madoka was suddenly on the ground with a head with an aching head.

She had leaned too far back in her chair and fell.

"I…" She considered the path her train of thought had just lead her to. "Need some fresh air."

In more fitting casual wear, Madoka walked aimlessly down the streets of Mitakihara. It was a little past dusk now; the moon was steadily making its way up the sky, which was now indigo-colored. The number of people outside was slowly dwindling, and the only ones not in the comfort of their homes were those that worked into the night, those who had parties to attend, or those who were unfortunate enough to not have that comfort available at all.

"This is better." Madoka closed her eyes, internally, anyways. She felt at peace, not having to think about the cycle, her nightmares or Homura, even if just for an hour or so. Despite the fate that Mitakihara would almost certainly face at the hands of Walpurgisnacht and the fact that Madoka didn't like to interact with most of its population, just being in the town provided Madoka with tranquility and satisfaction.

"Maybe I should be a little bit more idealistic. I've learned the ins and outs of what happens in a timeline, and I know not to contract with the Incubator." The pink-haired girl relented with a sigh. Her expression, while not exactly happy, was certainly a lot more optimistic. "When Homura comes to class tomorrow, she'll just be a normal girl and not a Magical Girl. I know it."

Madoka looked around the calm environment of Mitakihara. Everything was well kept, with next to no litter on the ground. A sign showcasing an upcoming recital of classical music. In the corner of her eyes, Madoka spotted a healthy-looking black cat running onto the road. The temperature had dropped a bit-

Wait. Go back.

Black cat running onto the road.

That was bad.

By the time Madoka had managed to connect the dots and swiveled around, it was too late. A car had appeared from seemingly nowhere and rammed the unsuspecting cat, causing it to fly away at a dangerously high speed and landed on the road's asphalt with a disturbing 'squelch'.

Madoka gaped momentarily at the suddenness of the situation. The car had picked up its speed exponentially; the driver had probably realized what they had done and was booking it. The black cat itself was alive, but barely. Madoka could see its blood that pooled around the dying feline, and judging from the infrequent rising and falling of its stomach, the cat was breathing at an agonizingly slow pace.

"I wasn't expecting for this to happen today!" Madoka cursed under her breath. She took a step forward - there was a clinic nearby for her to bring this cat to-

She stopped.

What was she doing?

Her attempting to save this one black cat dying was the whole catalyst for the Incubator showing up and turning her into a Magical Girl in the first timeline!

If she so much as entered the general radius of where the cat, the Incubator would probably show up and begin to pester her to no end about becoming a Magical Girl.

Madoka looked around. There was nobody nearby to save this cat in her stead. It was near nighttime, after all. Her eyes went back to the animal.

'If I don't save this cat, it's going to die.' Madoka told herself, gulping thickly. The implication weighed on her way more than it should've. But then,

She had a realization.

'People are going to die in the next few weeks. A lot of people I know and… acknowledge. If I'm going to survive, I'm have to be prepared to see the death of those people and still be able to move on.'

Her eyes glazed over with determination.

'If I give up on some cat I don't even know and endanger myself the day the cycle starts, I might as well of died already.'

The pink-haired girl's fist clenched so tightly her knuckles became white.

'I've gone through too much and prepared too much to blow it here. If some people have to die for me to live, so be it. If this cat dies, so be it. If the entire town has to die, so be it.'

Madoka's heart froze over and her resolve steeled.

'I'm going to survive. No matter what.'

Madoka was still looking at the dying cat. However, her look was now cold, distant and completely detached. She no longer cared about the wellbeing of the black cat.

"..."

With a glare, Madoka turned around and stomped straight home, leaving the black cat writhing on the ground.

Gray, dark skies.

Rubble of destroyed buildings.

Bright, flashing red lights.

No signs of human life.

Walpurgisnacht floated above the ruins of Mitakihara.

A girl with long black hair equipped with a shield leapt up and extracted a gun, ready to try and defeat the giant witch.

Madoka gazed at the scene atop the ruins of her own home.

Kyubey sat right next to her.

"Do you want to help her?" It communicated. It tilted its head. "Just contract with me and become a Magical Girl!"

With an abrupt yell, Madoka roused from her slumber. She quickly inspected her surroundings; no black skies or destroyed homes. Just her bland room. She checked herself. She was covered in sweat and was panting loudly.

Madoka glanced at the calendar. It was currently March 25th, the day Homura was supposed to transfer into her class.

"Madoka!"

Tomohisa ran into the room and went to Madoka's side. He knew exactly what Madoka had gone through and didn't bother asking what was wrong. The glasses-wearing father grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped her forehead.

"Are you alright!?" He questioned worriedly upon seeing his daughter's panicky state.

"I'm fine!" Madoka forced out, though her loud panting certainly was not helping her point.

"You're sweating like craz-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Madoka shouted out in denial, even as her whole body shook violently. She forced herself out of bed and went past her father to prepare for the day ahead.

Today was the day. The day that she dreaded for 12 whole years.

Homura was going to appear in her class, and she was going to be a normal girl with braids, red-rimmed glasses and heart issues.

Homura was absolutely not going to be a Magical Girl, and Madoka would survive through the next six weeks without dying or contracting.

Absolutely.

When Homura was introduced the class with no glasses, long flowing black hair and a stare directed straight at her, Madoka slammed her hands against her desk so hard the whole class turned their head to her and her hands went numb.

.

.

.

.

Merken

.

.

.

.

Notes for Chapter 2: Thank you for the support, there was much more than I expected.

For clarification, this version of Madoka knows almost everything there is to know about Magical Girls, including the fact that Magical Girls turn into witches. In addition, she, in essence, has seen/remembers the events of the anime from episodes 1 to 11. She knows how the cycle started, with Homura making a wish to Madoka, as well as the various events that usually take place during the cycle (i.e Mami getting killed by Charlotte, Sayaka turning into a witch, etc). However, she has not seen how the cycle ends (with Madoka's wish and the Law of Cycles). During the visions Madoka had of the cycle, the version of herself had the personality of the normal, canon Madoka.

For clarification from a review, Madoka has had the visions from her nightmares since before the cycle started. In addition, those visions were explicitely about the canon, nicer Madoka (i.e, the multiple timelines that happen with the canon Madoka). There isn't a vision where this more distant version of Madoka appeared in a timeline.

I apologize for the abundance of exposition present in this chapter, but it was necessary.

Further notes will be added as necessary.