So the first Prophet, without company or solace, drowned in darkness and despair. There, in that hell, did the first Prophet forge himself anew.
Wrath burned in his veins and fanned flames of fury against the enemy.
Mercy tempered his heart and revealed to him the path of salvation for the wretched.
Pride straightened his back against hardship and drove his legs forwards.
Courage strengthened him against the terrors of shadow that surrounded him and threatened to consume him.
Then Hope delivered the first Prophet out of darkness,
and by the will of the Goddess did he rise up.
-x-
Kaname Tatsuya nibbled at the pickled vegetables in his boxed lunch. As always, he did so alone. His perch at the rooftop of Mitakihara Middle School would remain undisturbed today, as it had been for the last three years. Tatsuya wondered why. The rooftop was the stereotypical hideout for lone wolves, wasn't it? Well, Mitakihara's students were sociable people. They had friends to laugh with and places to be, so what was the point of coming to the rooftop?
Ah, hello, Kyubey.
Over the years, Tatsuya had decided that the strange creature he saw slinking from rooftop to streetlamp throughout Mitakihara was a strange cross of ferret, cat, and snake—the first because of its body, the second because of its ears, and the third because of its tongue. He had learned to be wary of the things.
Good morning, Tatsuya-kun! The Incubator leapt onto Tatsuya's lap and curled into a ball. Its tail flicked towards Tatsuya's lunch as it tried to pass one of his tangerine slices into its mouth, but Tatsuya batted it away.
Tatsuya hesitated a Moment before beginning to slowly pet the Incubator. What brings you here today?
Just checking on my favorite human anomaly. I haven't seen you in some time, Tatsuya- kun, Kyubey said. Do you have anything interesting for me today?
Mostly the usual. Visions that nobody else can see. Voices that nobody else can hear. This is what you might define insanity as, isn't it, Kyubey?
The Incubator crawled onto Tatsuya's shoulders. Its fur on his neck felt like a warm scarf. It is not hard to imagine that you suffer from mental illness or something very close to it. However, that is hardly the most interesting explanation.
Then what is the most interesting explanation?
Well, who knows? Kyubey said.
Tatsuya's sister did, didn't she?
Maybe nobody, Tatsuya said. Don't you have magical girls to watch over?
Of course! Two more of my iterations are currently on recruiting rounds. The great success of the mahou shoujo project has greatly increased the number of girls we are willing to induct into service. I suppose I have Akemi Homura to thank for that, in part.
The color purple flashed across the forefront of Tatsuya's mind, then black, then red.
Still, having to handle so many girls is putting a strain on my processing capabilities, Kyubey said. Dealing with you humans is so stressful, even with Tomoe Mami and Sakura Kyouko acting as serviceable intermediaries. The Incubators are even considering the costs and benefits of deploying another recruiter to Earth.
Sakura-san and Tomoe-san, Tatsuya wondered. How are they doing?
The Incubator's movements paused Momentarily. You have never met either of them.
Well, of course. Tatsuya could do the math. Sakura-san and Tomoe-san were well into their twenties by now, weren't they? He was only in middle school. They had business to attend to. More demons and more magical girls meant rationing grief cubes, dividing territory, and, most importantly, dealing with Akemi-san.
How do you know of them?
The false cheerfulness had drained from Kyubey's voice. It stared at Tatsuya intently. Its two ruby eyes glittered in the sunlight.
Bedtime stories, Tatsuya said. The stories that his mother had told him had slowly faded from his mind as he grew into adolescence. But when he had asked Madoka to tell me a bedtime story, that transformed into tell me a story as he grew, and then to simply tell me about them.
As he had aged, the stories grew more somber and complex. The characters transformed from heroes into people, struggling to find a path to hope in a very hopeless world. Madoka still hadn't told him how the story ended yet, but she had told him the epilogue.
Would you like to elaborate on the bedtime stories?
Tatsuya shrugged. Fantasy is fantasy, and reality is reality. Whichever one somebody chooses to live in is private business. I don't know any more about what's going on than you do, Incubator.
Yet you have unusually detailed knowledge about the mahou shoujo system and maintain ties with Akemi Homura, the ultimate anomaly, Kyubey said.
Kyubey, you know what a fairy tale is?
The Incubator licked its paw. I know a little.
Tatsuya finished off the last pieces of his lunch. He yawned deeply as he stretched his body out on the roof. An outstretched hand shielded his eyes from the bright sun.
It really is quite beautiful today, isn't it? Tatsuya said.
I might agree with you if I had a better conception of favorable and unfavorable weather. It is all atmospheric variation to me.
Tatsuya giggled. "How sad," he muttered aloud.
You see, Kyubey, he said, you can try to come to me to learn about your world, the one where you, Akemi-san, Tomoe-san, and Sakura-san live, but I'm afraid I can't help you very much. To me, it's like a fairy tale has sprung up in the real world, and I'm the only normal person who can watch. But of course, I can't take part. If you want to learn the secrets of your world, it's useless to ask someone who isn't a part of it.
Then what world do you belong to?
Below them, in the school, the lunch bell rang. A thousand students roughhoused and teased and laughed as they made their way to class. The noise was dampened by distance when it reached Tatsuya's ears. From so high up, the people walking on the streets and in the school's courtyard looked like tiny dots. From down there, he probably looked the same way.
My own, Tatsuya said. The space between fantasy and reality. A place where nobody can enter.
-x-
"Yo, we gotta have balance. Balance will make everything perfect, ya see?"
"I really don't see."
"Look. If three girls and two guys are going to a karaoke bar, it'll be lame, because neither of us can pull off two girls at once. So we either remove a girl, which would be rude and stupid, or we get another guy to go."
"Fine, then. Haruhiko's got his club, Kenji doesn't like hanging out with girls—"
"What about the transfer student? Uh, the American?"
"Dave said he had something to do with his brother."
"Then what about Kaname-kun?"
Tatsuya hesitated slightly as he put away his books.
"If we bring Kaname-kun, then your precious balance is gone, because we bring him and his imaginary friend."
"Dude, don't be a dick."
"You go ask him then."
Tatsuya hurriedly packed the remainder of his books and left the classroom before either of them could approach.
Mitakihara Middle School had always seemed too much like a glass cage for Tatsuya to be entirely comfortable inside it. Emerging from it into the city proper was liberating. The school echoed with memories that Tatsuya could hear but not understand and housed phantoms that he could see but not speak with. Tatsuya imagined that they were trapped there, in that glass cage, until somebody could free them.
When walking home, he found himself absentmindedly checking the hands of passing girls his age, looking for a ring or a fingernail mark. He found nothing and received a few strange looks for his trouble.
The clouds grew thick above him. Tatsuya glanced upwards with concern. The weather had been perfect only a couple hours ago.
Rain began to pour from the skies, soaking Tatsuya's uniform. With an unhappy frown, Tatsuya searched for a place to take shelter in. He spotted a convenience store across the street, the lights from the storefront twinkling to invite him in.
Water pooled around Tatsuya's feet as he stepped inside. After wiping moisture from his hair, he began to look for an umbrella to buy.
A boy and a girl in the other aisle were gossiping. Neither of them seemed to notice Tatsuya, who sneaked a quick glance at their clothing. They weren't from his school.
"It's just dangerous to be out too late nowadays," the boy said.
The girl shivered. "You've seen the news?"
"Yeah, of course. Murders, suicide. Did you know they say that the violent felony rate's gone up, like, 30% in the last eleven years? You wonder what this city's coming to."
"Not just this city," the girl said. "In my statistics class, we had to analyze studies from twelve different major countries. China, Japan, America, Germany—all of them have seen increased crime rates. What do you think is the cause?"
"Well, of course they blame our generation," the boy said. "Seriously. As if people like us have anything to do with it."
Tatsuya fished an umbrella out of a bucket and presented it to the store clerk. Images of people with strange marks on their necks and a glazed look across their eyes danced across his mind. To be born from a curse—would a witch remember whatever the object of that curse was? Or would those curses just be howled aimlessly at the world, without direction, only filled with hate?
The headlines of a nearby newspaper drew Tatsuya's attention. A mass suicide had occurred in Shinjuku. Madoka had told him that there were no more witches, but now Kyubey used the word "demon."
So what was the difference? A witch is born from the curses of fallen magical girls. Madoka had never explained what that meant, but Tatsuya, from the way the stories went, had a fairly good idea. When the story's plot moved in a circle, it was hard to miss patterns.
"That'll be five hundred yen."
The store clerk's voice penetrated Tatsuya's thoughts. "I'm sorry?"
"5-0-0. Yen. Five hundred yen."
"Oh," Tatsuya said, fishing through his pocket. He came up with four hundred and fifty-five.
"I'm sorry, but it seems that I'm out of change."
The clerk gave him a flat stare as condolence. At the hostile gesture, Tatsuya shrugged and smiled at the clerk before returning the umbrella and walking out of the store.
Rain soaked him all over again, which was rather inconvenient, but Tatsuya soldiered on regardless. It was nothing that a hot shower couldn't fix, and Tatsuya considered himself to have a stronger immune system than most people. Either way, it wasn't like he was going to get pneumonia and die.
"Hey, kid, you planning on getting pneumonia and dying?"
Tatsuya looked up and felt his eyes widen in Momentary surprise. To normal people, the first thing that would stand out about the lady before him would be her bright red hair, contrasting with her muted sweater and jeans. Her smile advertised not the cleanliness of her teeth, but more the presence and sharpness of her canines.
To Kaname Tatsuya, the most obvious point about the woman was that she was Sakura Kyouko.
Kyouko held an umbrella over Tatsuya. "Sheesh, kids these days know nothing about self-preservation."
"Thank you." Tatsuya didn't call Kyouko by name. He was hardly about to let her know that he was aware of things that somebody like him had no right knowing.
Slowly, he let his gaze wander down to Kyouko's hand. There, as expected, was the mark on her fingernail, next to her soul gem's ring.
"Here, where are you headed? I've got a car. I can give you a ride. Wait, no, that's weird and creepy. Your mother told you not to get into cars with strangers, didn't she?"
"Some spare change to buy myself an umbrella would be nice."
"Yeah, sure," Kyouko said. She reached into her pocket and fished out a handful of coins. "Take it, and get inside quick. A storm's coming."
Tatsuya glanced up at the sky. "How do you know? It seems to be only raining."
"Just call it a feeling, all right?" Kyouko said. When Tatsuya looked back at the city, the fringes of the streets filled him with unease. Flickering streetlamps illuminated the soaked city with pale yellow light. In broad daylight, the city shone like it was gilded, soaring towers decorated with ornamental patterns reaching upwards to a clear sky. The rain washed its beauty away.
Kyouko tapped her foot impatiently. "Hey, hurry up, all right? I don't have all day."
"Ah, I'm sorry," Tatsuya said, smiling. "You seem like a busy woman. I won't keep any more of your time."
Tatsuya ducked into the store and placated the clerk with the extra coinage. After stepping back outside, now with an umbrella in hand, he gave Kyouko a short bow. "Thank you again for your kindness."
Kyouko waved a hand. "It'd be bad form if I demanded thanks from you," she said.
"All right," Tatsuya said. As his eyes scanned the street, motion flashed in the corners of his vision. There, in the distance, what was that? A tall figure, flickering in and out of existence, slowly straightening its back—mist permeating through the air one second, and then vanishing the next—the smell of death assaulting his nose before disappearing.
Tatsuya felt ill, but he forced the sensation down.
"Hey, kid, you all right?"
"I'm fine," Tatsuya said, turning to leave. "Do your best."
He walked away too fast to see Kyouko raise an eyebrow in surprise or hear her mutter, "What was that?"
Tatsuya could only imagine the flash of red light.
-x-
When he got home, his father began fussing over him. "You can't stay out so long when it's raining, you know," he said, wiping Tatsuya's hair dry with a towel.
"Yes, Dad."
Kaname Tomohisa sighed. "Tatsuya, you didn't space out in the middle of the street again, did you?"
"If I did, I'd probably be much wetter," Tatsuya said.
Tomohisa laughed. "Fine. Just take care of yourself, okay?"
"I do, Dad. Do you know when Mom's coming home?"
Outside, the wind made the windows rattle. "She said that she would come home early because of the weather," Tomohisa said. "The storm's gotten worse. Scientists everywhere are calling this some sort of freak supercell, so they're considering ordering evacuation."
Tatsuya shifted in unease.
"Something wrong?"
"It's nothing, Dad. I'm just not feeling too good."
Tomohisa frowned. "You aren't sick, are you? It'd be awful if you got pneumonia."
"Dad, I'm not going to get pneumonia. I was only out in the rain for a little bit. I'll go take a warm shower if you want, okay?"
"Yeah, go do that," Tomohisa said. His brow was furrowed in concern. Tatsuya's eyes were drawn to the errant strands of gray hair on his father's head.
Hot water poured down onto Tatsuya's shoulders, massaging his muscles but doing nothing to calm his mind. Tatsuya closed his eyes to relax and tried to focus on the sensation of the water. Bedtime stories weren't supposed to be detrimental to his mental health, right? He couldn't ignore an entire second world, but he could make sure that his world and it remained separate.
There was no reason for him to be upset. Meaningless parallels between the fairy tale and reality were only that. Why would the status quo shift so abruptly, anyway?
When he opened his eyes, the water was flowing down the shower wall in a pattern. They formed characters that Tatsuya knew were not from a language any human tongue spoke.
"WALPURGISNACHT," he read.
Tatsuya wiped away the runes with his hand and turned the shower's water off.
When he emerged from the bathroom and changed into his pajamas, his mother had already arrived home. "Welcome home," Tatsuya said. Junko was notably sober today.
"Tomorrow, we're going to have to evacuate," she said. "Get your stuff ready."
"The storm has gotten that bad?"
Junko nodded. "It's strange," she said. "It feels like we've gone through this all before, doesn't it?"
WALPURGISNACHT, spelled the runes dancing across Tatsuya's mind, but he paid them no heed. "Really? Freak storms seem to be a novel experience to me," Tatsuya said.
"Well, of course," Junko said. "I don't know what I'm thinking."
Hours later, after Tatsuya had finished his homework, he rolled onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. The image of Kyouko, umbrella dripping with rain, turning around to face the invisible enemy stuck in his mind. Why did magical girls fight? The easiest answer was that they had to eat, somehow.
Then how was it his business? The magical girls had the demons under control. Even if Tatsuya knew very well that their position was far from enviable, they at least did their job well. Tatsuya respected them for that, but he honestly wanted no part in their world.
If he wanted to, he could have told Kyouko his name. He could have told her about how he knew Akemi Homura. He could have even told her about Tomoe Mami and other people he shouldn't have had any reason to know about. Then, what choice would he have but to be dragged into the world of magic?
People were nice enough to deserve his smile, but he was disconnected from them. The world of magic was fundamentally one of service. Tatsuya knew that well enough from the stories. What did he owe them?
You are in danger.
Tatsuya turned his head to look at the Incubator sitting next to him on the bed.
Good evening, Kyubey.
Aren't you scared for your life? Kyubey asked. I'm telling you that you're in danger.
Maybe I haven't fully internalized what you're saying yet. You may as well keep talking.
The Incubator licked its paw. It's strange. In this chapter of human history, I seem to be talking about anomalies so much that the normal state of affairs seems to be the real anomaly. Perhaps it is the result of fate.
Fate? Tatsuya asked.
Or causality. That seems like a much more precise word, doesn't it?
What are you implying?
Nothing, really, Kyubey said. It has been a long time since I last talked to somebody while not trying to advance a larger agenda. Now, I'm talking to you to advance a personal agenda. But you knew that I always had an ulterior motive. You're a smart boy. No hard feelings, right?
Tatsuya frowned. What is this personal agenda?
I told you. Your survival, Kyubey said, is of inexplicable interest to me. Mostly because you are such an anomaly. Of course my views are not shared by the Incubator hivemind. The empirically unverifiable ought to be of no interest to us. But either way, you are my favorite anomaly.
By virtue of?
Your mystery.
Tatsuya sat up in his bed. The Incubator was making it hard for him to sleep. What is the danger?
Ever since Akemi Homura contracted—which, of course, I have no memory of ever doing, but so go the anomalies—the probability of survival for magical girls in this city has risen dramatically. So has the ease with which the demons may be destroyed before a new batch spawns, thereby allowing for an increase in the total magical girl population. Indeed, similar trends seem to be occurring worldwide.
Kyubey reached one of his paws forwards. May I?
Go ahead.
The Incubator touched Tatsuya's forehead, and information began pouring into his mind. As you can see, we have been keeping meticulous track of demon population densities. It seems that, in response to growing magical girl populations, demons have increased their numbers. However, this is nothing serious. Magical girls can handle it by simply taking more care during their missions. The problem lies in yet another anomaly.
What is that?
Miasmal mutation, Kyubey said. The same way bacteria resistant to antibiotics survive to reproduce, miasma that can produce stronger demons or ones that can hide from magical girls will survive longer and spread their influence across larger areas. Even when they are dispersed, the miasma generated by a demon once it has targeted a human being will share the properties of the miasma that demon was born from. Misery, hate, and suffering—you humans certainly have all three in remarkably varied quantities.
That's just human existence. But there is also hope, happiness, and courage, isn't there, Incubator? You are the one who creates magical girls.
True. But do you think that love and courage will win in the end?
Of course. Now, then, Kyubey, what's your point?
A storm is coming, Kyubey said. Mutated miasma has multiplied and spread across the world. It is tenuously linked by human populations. While there is no such thing as a collective unconsciousness, this is the closest it seems humanity will be to ever creating one. Of course, this collective unconsciousness is one of evil. Very soon, the bubble will burst.
Why haven't the magical girls stopped it?
There was very little notice, of course. Does a flash fire telegraph its coming? The only warning are the factors that might contribute to the fire, and we did all we could to answer those. But this storm will come. I told you, didn't I? It is destiny. Or causality. Whichever one you want.
Tatsuya idly stroked the Incubator's fur. So you want me to run?
Why do you react without fear?
I still can't really believe what's happening, Tatsuya said. I believe you, as in the content of your words. I know that there is danger. But my intuition is out of sync.
The demons are coming, Kyubey said, and one way or another, this city will drown in despair.
The magical girls will protect this city. They have done so for years, Tatsuya said.
Perhaps. But if they fail, even if you survive, your family will surely die.
Abruptly, Tatsuya leapt out of his bed and walked to his door. Where are you going? Kyubey asked.
If my family is in danger, I have to warn them. They will think that I'm insane, and if you're wrong, I can probably look forwards to being institutionalized. That might happen either way, seeing as there have always been whispers about me being crazy. My parents are not oblivious to them. But I still have to warn them.
Tatsuya knew that the Incubator was still staring at him as he left the room.
He found his mother downstairs, a shot glass in one hand and a remote control in the other. On the television, climatologists were expressing their bewilderment over the supercell storm, appearing out of nowhere with only a day's warning.
"Mom?"
Junko turned around. "Tatsuya? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I want to talk to you."
Wordlessly, Junko had Tatsuya sit down beside her. "What is it?"
Tatsuya's gaze was fixed at the floor. "If I told you that we were in serious danger, but not because of the storm, would you believe me? Or would you just dismiss it as my imagination?"
Junko hesitated in indecision for a Moment, her body freezing like a still frame before she put her alcohol on the countertop. "Tatsuya, I've never—or at least, I've never wanted—to dismiss you."
"But you know that I took longer than usual to grow out of my imaginary friends, right?"
The look that Junko gave Tatsuya was guarded and searching. "Yes. Tatsuya, are you hiding something from me?"
Tatsuya put a hand up to his mouth and laughed lightly. "What if I told you that I still believed?"
"Honestly, I wouldn't be that surprised. You're a strange kid. But you're my son, and I love you."
Behind his hand, Tatsuya bit his lip. He paused for a Moment before he said, "Thanks, Mom."
"So, why do you think that we're in danger?"
"I don't think I can really explain why."
"Then let's assume that we are in danger. What should we do?"
"Run."
Junko flipped the channels on the television to a different news report. The storm had destroyed the highways leading out of the city, preventing the use of evacuation centers in other cities. There were of course concerns about how Mitakihara's evacuation centers might suffer from overcrowding—
"We don't have any choice but to stay and wait out the storm," Junko said, turning off the television.
Tatsuya didn't say anything.
"Tatsuya? Are you afraid?"
Was what Kyubey said true? The world of magic was filled with suffering and destruction. To have it intersect with his life—his family, the only people who bothered putting up with his delusions—
He nodded silently.
Junko smiled at Tatsuya before wrapping him in a hug. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to worry about the storm."
But I'm not worried about the storm.
"Mom? When you're afraid, what do you do?"
Junko brushed a hand through Tatsuya's hair. "Well, at work, there are plenty of times when I'm afraid that I won't be able to work hard enough. That there isn't possibly anything I can do to avoid a bad outcome. If that's the case, then it's pointless, so why try?"
When Tatsuya looked into his mother's eyes, love and foreboding flowed together into a bittersweet mix that filled his veins.
"But you see," Junko said, "if you think like that, you've already given up. Trying my best is what I do. If I never know how hard I can strive, then do I really know who I am? I think you're like that too, Tatsuya. If you give up or half-ass it, you'll never know who you are. When I'm scared, I just think that if I let fear rule my body, I'll give up, which I can't do. Fear is just an emotion, but because it comes from within us, its darkness can corrupt us. So all we can do is face the darkness and rise up against it."
"You make it sound so easy, Mom."
Junko smiled. "I try."
When Tatsuya slept, the word from before danced through his mind, taunting him.
"WALPURGISNACHT," it read.
He saw images of a city ruined by disaster, filled by the stench of the dead. The city's ground was littered with the bodies of its fallen defenders.
Because no matter how hard love and courage tried, if it was just a matter of fact that the forces of evil were stronger, then good would be defeated.
Magical girl after magical girl tried to defeat the witch and were cast into darkness in turn. Every city the witch touched was obliterated. Every world it materialized in was destroyed.
For millennia humanity had survived on stolen miracles. Now, wasn't it time for a curse, a catastrophe, a scourge brought down by the heavens themselves, to make humanity pay back on its credit?
The runes circled around Tatsuya's vision.
WALPURGISNACHT.
His vision blurred and the letters began to twist. In his dream, Tatsuya felt nauseous as he lost his sense of up or down.
Curses and wishes were nothing but two sides of the same coin. If humanity had rejected the Incubators' kind offer to house all their curses in a relatively small number of girls, then those curses would have to be distributed.
Tatsuya saw a white tower, descending down to Earth from the heavens. Its surface bubbled and writhed as if the thing was alive.
What was a witch but a paid debt? What was a demon but a magic looking glass?
The runes faded away, and in their place, Tatsuya read a new word:
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG.
-x-
The walls of the stadium rattled, prompting Tatsuya to huddle deeper into the fetal position. Mothers scattered throughout the stadium floor simultaneously hushed their babies in a rolling wave of sound. So many people, all packed in one spot, formed an undistinguished mass.
Tatsuya had been told that this evacuation center was number six. There were around a dozen throughout the city, all holding Mitakihara's inhabitants as they weathered the storm.
An awful sense of déjà vu gripped Tatsuya. If this had all happened before, why was he now powerless to stop the chain of events that was so inexorably advancing?
Tatsuya checked the date on his phone. It was the first of May.
Calmly and deliberately, Tatsuya closed his eyes and began to think.
What happened in the stories that Madoka told him? There were countless instances when the heroes lost, but what about those few times when they won, or came close to winning?
It was always because they stuck together and believed in themselves.
Of course the message sounded like it came from a bad anime, but Tatsuya was going to take whatever hints he could get.
He remembered what his sister looked like and who she was. Madoka was kind and gentle, with a warm smile always on her face. She was sorry that she couldn't always be with Tatsuya as he grew up, and she was sorry that she couldn't talk to Mom or Dad. But she was there to protect Tatsuya, wasn't she? Until one day, he was strong enough to protect himself.
Tatsuya's hands were freezing. The heating for the stadium had blown out some time ago, and nobody in the Kaname family had had the foresight to bring gloves. Shivering slightly in the cold, Tatsuya reached into his backpack and pulled out a warm thermos of tea.
If his sister were real, then wouldn't she be able to help him?
Tatsuya took a sip of tea. The beverage warmed him as he swallowed, and the bitter taste danced lightly on his tongue.
When Tatsuya looked down, he had to clamp his hands hard against his thermos to prevent him from dropping it in surprise. Fog flickered in and out of existence at his feet. The rational part of his brain told him that the fog wasn't really there. This was just another mirage that wasn't supposed to exist.
"Mom? Dad?"
His father looked up. "Something wrong, Tatsuya?"
"I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll be back soon."
Neither of his parents complained when he stood to leave. When he was out of sight of the stadium floor, he immediately walked to a window.
Outside, of course, the storm raged, but if Tatsuya looked hard enough, he thought that he could see dots of colored light darting about inside the storm, like fireflies.
He stared for one Moment too long.
At first, he mistook it as lightning, but the white pillar bursting out of the cloud layer didn't flash or fade away. It was decidedly solid, and Tatsuya remembered the exact image that he had seen from his dream.
"Götterdämmerung," Tatsuya whispered. It was a word that that heralded downfall and despair.
A voice, urgent and shrill, pierced his head. Get out, get out of that stadium, move!
From the stadium floor, a wave of surprise and panic washed over the people as they heard the same voice in their head. Then the screams as a swarm of demons, newly materialized onto the plane of reality, burst from the walls and the ceiling and descended towards them.
Dots of light raced after the demons and began cutting them down. All Tatsuya could see was that the magical girls were heavily outnumbered.
Spread out; don't stick together! a magical girl broadcasted. Large clumps will be easy pickings!
Every fiber in Tatsuya's body was screaming for him to run when he realized my parents are down there.
Tall, white-robed demons loomed over Tatsuya as he sprinted back to the stadium floor. The people, attacked by a clearly supernatural enemy and surrounded by the bright flashes of light signaling magical girl combat, had, quite predictably, panicked.
Tatsuya searched for his parents in vain as people rushed around him. Several blows to his ribs almost brought him to his knees, but he struggled his way to his feet.
Surrounded by danger and chaos, with his life in very real danger of ending, Tatsuya had to think fast.
Kyubey! he shouted, reaching out with his mind.
The magical girls reacted with confusion. Who the hell's this—
Was that a boy—
Yes, Tatsuya? Kyubey answered.
Can you find my parents in this crowd?
Certainly. Would you like to talk to them?
Tatsuya began fighting to make his way through the crowd. No, that would probably only make them panic more. Lead me to them!
Something began tugging at Tatsuya's mind, leading him down a set path. Panic was an infectious disease, and Tatsuya had to take care to not become infected. He had to find his parents. He had to explain everything. He had to lead them to safety. If he lost his family, who else would he have left?
When he found them, Tatsuya almost barreled straight over his own father in haste.
"Oh my God, Tatsuya—"
His mother's grip clamped down on his shoulders. Junko didn't waste words. She kicked and pushed her way through the morass of people, carving a path for Tatsuya.
As the fight wore on, the demons began to overwhelm the magical girls. Tatsuya figured that there must have been hundreds of demons, pouring in from holes in the roof and walls, like sharks that had smelled blood. For every demon that a magical girl cut down in a second, two more materialized into reality.
By some miracle, Tatsuya and his family managed to exit the ruined stadium structure, only to find that people and demons had streamed out into the streets far before them. Fires were beginning to spark up, started by the havoc that the demons were causing. Tatsuya flinched as a car burst into flames.
"Get down," Junko hissed, forcing Tatsuya behind an overturned truck. The three members of the Kaname family huddled together as a squad of demons poured over the buildings lining the street, cutting down anybody they saw. There were no magic girls to stop them, which meant that they were all concentrated inside the stadium, defending the people still inside, or that the stadium had been overran and the magical girls had retreated.
"Mom, what are we going to do?" Tatsuya asked, keeping his voice low. "If we stay here, those demons will find us."
Junko shook her head. "I don't know what those things are, but they're not getting you."
Tatsuya felt the hand of his father on his shoulder. "Tatsuya, you have to run."
"I'm not leaving you two," Tatsuya said. "This is my fault. If I had warned you, or paid more attention to the signs—if I hadn't ignored what I was a part of—"
"Tatsuya, what are you talking about?" Junko asked. "What are those things?"
"They're demons, products of curses, embodiments of mankind's despair. Those teenage girls back there were mahou shoujo, like from anime."
Junko gaped. "And you know about this?"
"Yes! Which is why I can't go. Mom, you're not a warrior. There are people who are fated to fight those things, to make those sacrifices. You're not one of them."
"And you are, Tatsuya?" Junko asked.
"I might as well be. Mom, please don't do this."
Tatsuya could see the fear in Tomohisa's eyes as he spoke. Every feature of his face shouted abject terror. But—wasn't there something else?
"Tatsuya," he said, "we've spent fourteen years raising you. You know how proud we are of you. But it's our job to care for you."
"Why?" Tatsuya asked. "Because I'm weak? Because I'm useless, even though I shouldn't be? I pushed my sister away! I rejected what I saw!"
Tatsuya buried himself in his parents' arms. "Please, don't leave me."
He could feel the miasma congealing around him, injecting darkness into his mind.
"I don't want my parents to die."
If there was a hell, Tatsuya now knew what his soul would feel like inside it. His voice cracked.
"You can't leave me like this."
What was he doing? His family was two inches from death, and here he was, being useless. Tears streamed down his face, and his chest heaved with his sobs, but he wasn't putting a single ounce of the effort he was making to cry into saving his parents.
He was an animal, bound to his hysteric instincts, and there was nothing he could do about it. Despair, the black sword, cut deep into Tatsuya's chest and pinned him to the spot.
Junko wiped away Tatsuya's tears and kissed him on the forehead. "Tatsuya, I'm not going there to die. I can keep myself safe."
"No, those are demons! You don't understand—"
"Tomohisa," Junko said. "Keep our son safe."
Tatsuya took a deep breath. "No."
Tomohisa wrapped his fingers around Tatsuya's hand. "Son—"
"If you have to leave, then at least both of you should go together. If you go with me, you'll have to take care of me, and I'll just slow you down," Tatsuya said. Some of the pain melted away. "Don't worry. I'll have help."
The demons were edging closer by the second. A shadow began creeping up the face of the truck, slowly growing longer.
"Please," Tatsuya said. "Just this once, believe me. I—I can't help but think that if you two split up, something terrible will happen. Please."
Slowly, Junko nodded.
Tatsuya's mother and father wrapped themselves in a tight, brief hug. Then, Junko held up three fingers.
When she was done counting, Tatsuya turned and ran for his life. He couldn't bring himself to look back. Soon, he was far away.
-x-
Ten minutes later, a point of white light, almost painful to behold, shone over the stadium. For one second, the demons were still, fixated on the light above them.
Akemi Homura came down from the skies on wings that glowed as bright as the sun. Purple light flashed as she lashed out with her bow, cutting down demon after demon. Those who had resigned themselves to death, huddled in corners and behind rubble, stood and looked on in awe.
The demons' collective moan rumbled louder until it became a roar. They swarmed towards the recently arrived magical girl, a mass of white limbs and heads that swirled upwards.
The storm took on a different character and now the lightning bolts were purple and the clouds were sickly pale. Demon flesh yielded to Homura's onslaught of arrows, making the sky froth with spilled miasma. Claw and laser bolt swept at Homura in an unending flurry of blows, forcing her to dart about like an insect. After a minute, the demons' remains rained down from the sky, soiling the ground with their stench. A second later, Homura herself landed.
"Where the fuck have you been?"
Sakura Kyouko was colored red three times over, first from her hair, second from her costume, and third from her blood. Using her spear for support, she limped over to Homura.
When only silence met Kyouko, she snarled. "What's the fucking matter, huh?" she said. "You couldn't have come until—"
"How many?" Homura asked.
Kyouko's grip on her spear tightened. "Ikezawa Shizune and Suzuki Misaki are both dead. Taniguchi Ayumu is barely hanging on to life. All of us are injured. As for civilians, you can count the bodies if you want."
Homura turned to two magical girls who arrived behind her. Reinforcements from other parts of the prefecture were arriving in response to the news of the disaster. "Gather up any survivors," Homura said. "Teach them about the threat. Then evacuate them as far away as possible. If demons arrive, contact me immediately."
The magical girls nodded and took off.
Homura immediately staggered and clutched a hand to her side. Kyouko rushed forwards. "You're hurt."
"It is nothing serious."
"Well, one thing we don't need to worry about very much is grief cube shortages," Kyouko said, reaching into her pocket to dig a pair out. "Take these."
"Thank you," Homura said. Her soul gem glowed as her wounds began to slowly regenerate. "I'm sorry that I didn't arrive earlier."
Kyouko sighed. "Were you at the temple?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you for showing up late. There's nothing that can be helped. I'm just frustrated. How the fuck did this happen?"
Homura's eyes narrowed. "The Incubators have made repeated references to some sort of disastrous event. While I doubt they knew the exact specifics, the warning signs were there. We failed to act."
Another magical girl walked up beside Kyouko. Exhaustion draped itself across Tomoe Mami's shoulders, and she bore its cross while still maintaining some modicum of grace. "Good to see you here, Homura," Mami said. "We needed your help."
"It was nothing."
"So," Kyouko said, "what the hell are we supposed to do now? Our contracts sure as fuck didn't include anything about this."
Mami looked behind her. "We have to continue fighting. It's our duty, isn't it?"
"Fuck, Mami, we already sold our souls."
"It would feel too wrong if we were to abandon these people. We would be betraying ourselves."
"But you know we can't possibly save them all," Kyouko said.
"No," Mami said, "but we have to try."
Homura looked up. Her expression was the same stony face as it always was. "I am inclined to agree with Mami. We are mahou shoujo. What else is left for us?"
It had been eleven years since the month of eternity. Homura knew that both Mami and Kyouko were different people now. She had known them for a period of time longer than they would know themselves, but their behavior during that time had been warped by the circumstances of that world.
She had spent eleven years in the company of those two now. Eleven years hearing her name spread amongst the mahou shoujo in whispered reverence, eleven years watching girls who would never dream of cooperation set aside hostilities and recognize authority. She had watched as Mami reached for whatever allies they could get, and when she caught them, to hold them tight and never let them go. She had watched as Kyouko, once hostile and bad-tempered, became grudgingly cooperative and bad-tempered. Having Mami around had always helped put Kyouko in a good mood.
But what had Homura done in those eleven years?
They were nothing but eleven years without Madoka.
I'd hate to be the bringer of bad news, Kyubey said, suddenly sliding between Homura's ankles. But it appears this incident is not isolated.
What is it? Homura asked.
Well, the incident—we Incubators have taken to calling it Götterdämmerung—has had worldwide effects. That white tower serves as a focal point from which miasma mutates in a manner identical to this city's miasma. The region under effect is spreading dramatically.
Identical to this city? Mami asked. But then that would mean…
An epidemic of vastly multiplied real-world demon manifestation, Kyubey said. Correct. Quite a shame. I had grown almost fond of you humans, and now you face extinction. I am sorry that I could not warn you. The human race has been the most successful and furthest progressed Incubator program, so we had no precedent of exponential magical girl and demon population growth. We were just as surprised as you, though the findings procured from Götterdämmerung will prove useful to us for billion of years to come. My condolences to you for your loss.
There was silence for some time.
"What?" Kyouko asked. "Look, you can't just say that. What do you mean, extinction?"
By Incubator projections, human civilization as you know it will collapse within half a year. Human military strength is too weak to combat the demons. Your thermonuclear weapons can harm the demons, but they cannot touch the miasma. Magical girl support is required, but, sadly, we never foresaw the necessity of cooperation between human military and magical girls, so we never raised recruitment rates to the level necessary to facilitate such a relationship.
Homura flipped her hair over her shoulder. "It doesn't matter. Does it?"
Homura's eyes turned to Kyouko and Mami. The ground crunched under Kyouko's foot as she shifted uncomfortably.
Mami placed a hand on Kyouko's shoulders. "Is there…"
"We're really screwed, aren't we?" Kyouko said. Her voice was flat and without emotion. "I never thought it'd come to this."
Mami turned to Homura with an expectant look in her eyes. She met nothing. Homura only stood there, staring back at her.
Finally, Homura said, "I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't be. I got myself into this mess," Kyouko muttered.
"Kyouko, don't say that," Mami said, drawing Kyouko close. "Everything…it's going to be all right. Homura?"
Homura only nodded slowly. "As long as I am alive, I will do my best to ensure your survival. Although I am not sure how secure my life is. Anyway, regardless of how the rest of the world is doing, our first duties are to Mitakihara and its citizens. Once we protect them, we can worry about the rest of the world."
"But what then?" Kyouko asked. "What do we do after that? Satisfy ourselves with eking out some pathetic existence, hounded by the demons?"
"It doesn't matter," Homura said, "as long as we win the next battle."
Kyouko snorted. "I don't suppose you have any gods that we can pray to, do you?"
Something strange and warm shot through Homura as she felt her hand flex.
"Why do you ask such a strange question?"
"You know what they call religion," Kyouko said. "Opium of the masses. And let me tell you, I could sure use something to distract myself from this sorry goddamn state of affairs. Don't you?"
"Cynicism has no place here," Homura said, her voice a bit sharper than she had intended. "If we give up, we lose. What we need is pragmatism. Otherwise, we will not be able to save these people. And for what other reason did we contract with the Incubator?"
Homura glanced down before she resumed speaking, her voice softer now. "We've all spoken about this. Everything we might have stood to gain from our wishes has passed. All that remains for us is to demonstrate that we still have a reason to exist. Do you still want to be alive?"
Kyouko shook her head. "Easy for you to say. How do you believe so easily?"
"Haven't you heard the rumors? About a Goddess, savior of mahou shoujo?"
There was a slight shift in Kyouko's gaze as she narrowed her eyes. "You can't honestly…"
"I believe in her."
"Well," Kyouko said, leaning forwards, "even if this stupid fairy godmother exists, she won't save us until we're dead, will she? Fat lot of good that'll do us."
"Kyouko, please," Mami said, stepping hesitantly forwards.
"There is no need," Homura said. "I will believe what I believe, and Kyouko is free to do the same."
"Right," Kyouko muttered.
Mami bit her lip. "None of us have family beyond the other two. Please, let's not argue. No matter what happens, let's stay together, all right?"
"Mami," Kyouko said, blinking. "Are you okay?"
"I don't want to lose you. Either of you."
I'm sorry to interrupt, Kyubey said, but demon incursions are popping up over this city. There are citizens trapped inside the miasma. The magical girls of this city have been scattered and disorganized, but they will look to you for leadership. Magical girls from the surrounding areas are also arriving, bringing civilians with them. They seek your protection, and they can provide firepower. What would you have them do?
Homura nodded. "I will go. You two stay."
"No," Mami said. "There are more civilians here. More people to protect. If the remnants of this stadium fall, then the casualties will be enormous. You need to take the magical girls and civilians here and lead them to safety. Kyouko and I can handle the rest of the city. We'll gather allies along the way."
"How are your grief cube supplies?"
Mami smiled. "We'll manage."
Two silver muskets slid out of Mami's sleeves. She caught them by the butts and rested them against her shoulders. "Kyouko?" she asked.
"Fuck it," Kyouko said, materializing her spear. "I can't very well leave you to this madness alone, can I? Let's do this."
The two of them took off, specks of red and yellow darting away into the distance.
Homura spent a Moment watching Mami and Kyouko fly away before turning around to walk towards the main mass of magical girls. Behind the magical girls were clusters of civilians, dazed and confused. The magical girls ran up to her. She saw by the fear in their eyes that they were on the edge of despair. They were lost, and to them, the chance of salvation was nothing but a fantasy.
Homura didn't know how to make it real.
"A-Akemi-san," one said. "What do we do?"
"Is there anybody with an obligation to family or friends? Anybody who is too afraid to fight? Anybody who wishes to give up?"
Homura stood ramrod straight, black hair flowing behind her, face as still as stone. Fearful silence met her.
"These people are under our protection," Homura said. "We are going to fight to keep them alive, as is our duty, and if duty so requires it, we will die to defend them."
A few of the girls instinctively flinched at the bright glow that emanated from Homura as she extended her wings. "Let's go."
-x-
This way, said the voice in Tatsuya's mind.
Mitakihara, over the course of the last fifteen minutes, had been reduced to hell. Götterdämmerung's storm had torn skyscrapers apart, leaving their destroyed husks littered around the city. Enough miasma littered the streets to make Tatsuya gag. He shuddered when he looked around him and saw that there was absolutely nobody. The city had been skeletonized.
A roar that sounded like fireworks made Tatsuya stop in his tracks. In the distance, he could see smoke rising.
The JSDF has scrambled jets, Kyubey said, opening communication with Tatsuya. But you don't have to worry about that. Whose directions are you following?
Who knows? Tatsuya said, beginning to run again.
Where are you taking me? Tatsuya thought, this time not addressing the Incubator.
A safe place, Madoka said. You have to hurry, Tatsuya.
Tatsuya nodded. Are Mom and Dad safe?
Yes. Magical girls are taking care of them.
Thank goodness.
Tatsuya, still following Madoka's unspoken directions, ducked into a side street. Behind him, demons began taking note of the young boy, lone prey in an empty city. They began streaming after him, their guttural moans echoing throughout the abandoned streets.
Tatsuya took one fearful glance behind him and then started sprinting, heart beating relentlessly in his ears.
The first demon snaked its way up to Tatsuya before knocking him to the side with a swipe of its clawed hands. Tatsuya felt pain shoot up his shoulder as he slammed into a car.
Later, Tatsuya would have no idea how he managed to get to his feet and run before lasers lacerated the car behind him. There were at least three dozen different alarms sounding in his mind, each one telling him to panic. Another laser hit him square in the back, and he sprawled forwards onto the pavement.
Tatsuya looked around him and saw that he was at the intersection of two streets. Dim lighting cast long shadows around the street corner. He had landed at the door of a peculiar-looking apartment, constructed in a European style not seen in Mitakihara very often.
The demons were on him in full force now. Tatsuya could feel the last remaining sparks of the will to live be sucked away into their rattling gasps. The miasma curled around his body, as if to welcome him into its embrace. Wasn't despair the easiest option? To sleep, without having to fight an endless, pointless battle—to rest, no longer having to worry about the troubles of the mortal world?
Mom and Dad told you to live on.
As the demons rushed towards him, Tatsuya groped upwards and found the door handle. Grasping at it, he opened the door and tumbled in.
Once inside, he couldn't even hear the sounds of the demons scrabbling against the wall to find him. Akemi Homura's apartment proved remarkably well-protected.
Immediately, Tatsuya collapsed onto the floor. Over the course of the next five minutes, he managed to crawl his way onto one of the couches scattered around Homura's apartment. The warm wetness sticking to his shoulder and back told him how badly injured he was. He had no idea how he was supposed to stop the bleeding.
Sadly, I cannot help you without magic, Kyubey said, and you, as a boy, have no potential to become a magical girl.
"Thank you for trying, Kyubey," Tatsuya said. The way he had to force the words out of his throat was somewhat alarming.
"Do you think that I'm going to die here?" he asked.
Kyubey climbed onto the foot of the couch. It is a possibility. Quite an unfortunate one. I regret that I never managed to figure you out, anomaly.
Kyubey? Tatsuya said. Can you do me a favor?
Yes, Tatsuya?
Could you leave, please? If I'm going to die, I'd like to do so with some privacy.
Certainly, Tatsuya.
Tatsuya couldn't even hear the sound of the Incubator's feet as it padded out of the room. He let his weight drop onto the couch, feeling the springs beneath him sink under his limp form. Above him, a giant, bizarre pendulum swung back and forth.
So this, Tatsuya thought, was where Akemi Homura had lived. She had been enigmatic, cold and ruthless. But she also had possessed a heart, right? That was how the stories went. Akemi Homura was driven not by anything that belonged to her, but by love.
Tatsuya thought about the vague memories he had of a teenaged girl, towering over him as he scratched doodles into sand, smiling serenely down at him. If he saw her again now, what would he see in her eyes? After all, the story's end was still a mystery. Was it one where love and courage would prevail, or one where despair ultimately overcame the heroes?
Considering the world around him, Tatsuya could hardly believe that it was the first case.
As his blood poured out of him, Tatsuya felt the strength drain out of his limbs. His mind was becoming clouded with a light haze. Where would he go after death?
His eyes tracked the motion of the pendulum, solemnly oscillating without caring that Kaname Tatsuya was about to die. Something tasted bitter in his mouth when he thought how painful it would be for his parents to learn, eventually, of his death.
But this was it, wasn't it? He had never really been part of the magical world. That was why the Incubators couldn't help him.
"But I can."
Tatsuya's eyes widened as he struggled to turn his head around. "Madoka?"
Warm hands cradled Tatsuya's head. His body was filled with a sudden rush of warmth and relief. As he looked up, he saw a woman, pink hair framing her soft face, smiling down at him.
"What kind of big sister would I be," Madoka said, "if I let you die here?"
Tatsuya stared in silence for a few long seconds. His shirt and the couch were both soaked in warm blood. Finally, he said, "Please, I don't want to die."
Light poured out of Madoka's form, enveloping Tatsuya. The pain in his shoulder and back began to slowly drain away. Tatsuya gripped the couch as something passed through him, electrifying him.
Then it was gone, and while there was still a stinging throb in his back and limbs, he couldn't feel his life dripping out of him anymore.
Madoka's body flickered in and out of existence as she smiled at him. Tatsuya's eyes widened. "What's wrong?"
"It's all right," Madoka said. "In this world, I only have influence in a few areas, and healing isn't really one of them. I had to devote a lot of resources to doing that, so I had to sacrifice a bit of my presence."
"I don't know what any of that means!" Tatsuya said, trying to stand up. Exhaustion and pain washed over him and pushed him back down. Madoka watched quietly.
Slowly, Tatsuya sunk back into the couch. "I don't know who you are, Madoka. And I don't know what's going on. The Incubator says that Mom and Dad are safe, but I don't know for how long. What am I supposed to do?"
"It is your destiny to fight," Madoka said. "You must embrace it. You know it, don't you? Everything I've told you in my stories applies to you as well. There are heroes of magic, and you must join them."
Tatsuya bit his lip. "How? The Incubators never offered to contract with me. I'm just a normal boy! I never asked for this!"
There was something in Madoka's eyes, but Tatsuya couldn't identify exactly what. Pride, maybe, but her words seemed to carry regret in them. "You are my brother. You could always see me for a reason. Though your blood grants you a destiny of victory, your fear blocks that path. You're stuck, Tatsuya."
"So what if I'm afraid? I don't want to fight those monsters! And I shouldn't have to, either! Madoka, who are you? I've always wondered that for my entire life. I know that you're my sister. I know that you're real. I won't believe otherwise. But now you come to me, when those things have started killing everything, and it's like you expect me to know all the answers. All you've done for me is tell me bedtime stories, Madoka, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them. I don't want to join your world."
Madoka's voice was quiet. "That world is the only place I am."
"But I can talk to you outside of it," Tatsuya said. "I don't care how real that world is; I have a sister. Who cares about witches and demons and magical girls? Those are all part of the stories. They weren't ever supposed to affect me."
When he was a child, Tatsuya had often thought that Madoka was stunningly beautiful, with her flowing pink hair and radiant white robes. Sitting next to him now, Tatsuya could almost believe that his sister was a normal human being. She was his family.
Tatsuya turned his head away. "You know, even if I don't have that many friends, Mom and Dad love me. You love me. That was all I needed. Dad is kind and gentle. Mom is strong and brave. And you showed me what it was like to be good and to have hope. If the only thing I had was that reminder, that there were people like my family living in the world, I could keep moving. When I was sad or angry, you were always there for me."
The aching in Tatsuya's body was only a dull throb compared to the storm taking place in his mind. "I don't want any part in the world of magic. It's almost killed my Mom and Dad. And it made my sister whatever she is now, somebody torn apart from her family and friends. I don't care what my destiny is if it involves the world of magic. And the real world never did anything for me. It only rejected and mocked me, for seeing something that didn't belong in it. So what should I do for it? I can't fight anyway. I'm fine in the middle, alone."
"You can't stay alone forever, Tatsuya. Mom and Dad can never understand everything about you. One day, you'll have to rise up to become yourself."
"I can't."
Madoka's smile was more regretful than anything else. "Then you're not ready."
"For what?"
"For what I have to tell you," Madoka said. As she stood up, her hair fluttered behind her. Tatsuya struggled to stand with her, to meet her, but he couldn't find the strength. "I have to go now."
"Madoka, please," Tatsuya said. "I don't want to die. Please."
"There's only so much that I can do for you," Madoka said. "You have to understand that I can't be everywhere at once for you. If I had everything my way, you'd be safe. Everyone would be safe, and there would be no suffering, and no reason to despair. So do you understand how much it hurts me to see the world like this, and to be powerless to stop any of it?"
Tatsuya's eyes were wide as he stared at Madoka in silence.
"There are girls who need me. There are more of them now than there have been at any other point in history. Even so, I won't forget you. I promise."
Madoka waved her hand, and a small ring appeared in Tatsuya's palm. On cursory observation, it was similar to the rings that the mahou shoujo wore, but there was no gem set inside it..
"Keep that," Madoka said, "to remember my promise. And, when you're ready, put it on. I can't be everywhere at once, and I can't seek people out. I can only go to those that call for me. Do you understand?"
Slowly, Tatsuya nodded.
"Be brave, Tatsuya. Have hope."
Madoka's form flickered before vanishing entirely, leaving behind nothing but the scent of roses.
Two hours later, Tatsuya found the strength to stagger into the apartment's kitchen. Like everything else in the place, the walls were sterile white. It reminded Tatsuya of a hospital. There were no cooking ingredients, only rows and rows of identical prepackaged food. Tatsuya was just glad that there was something to eat. After hunting around in dusty cabinets for a while longer, Tatsuya found some gauze to wrap around his wounds.
Homura's room was tucked into the corner of the apartment. The computer, thankfully, still functioned. Even though the internet was down, Tatsuya still found dozens of files saved to Homura's hard drive—how to handle rifles and ammunition, current events taking place within the yakuza, JSDF troop locations, and several communications with other magical girls. There was an article on first aid which Tatsuya saved to the desktop. He needed to stay alive somehow.
One file stood out from the others. Its filename was only "memories," as opposed to the detailed descriptions of the other documents, and when Tatsuya tried to open it, it was password protected. On a whim, Tatsuya tried entering "Madoka," but the file remained locked. If he tried to guess all the obvious passwords that he could think of, Tatsuya would probably drive himself insane.
Later, when he was kneeling on the floor, shoveling over-salted teriyaki into his mouth, Tatsuya reached into his pocket and put the ring on.
Nothing happened.
-x-
END INTERMISSION PART 1
-x-
(the intermission was originally intended to be a single chapter. it ballooned to 20k+ words, so i split it. you guys will get part 2 next weekend)
(i've always had a general idea on how free sky was gonna pan out, but i had to build this chapter from the ground up. so yeah, fun stuff)
(really just an excuse for me to pull more pseudo-biblical pretentious bullshit for you to slog through)
(reviews: because love me [or not{really any feedback is fine}])
-x-
An anon in the reviews has drawn a comparison between 40k and this fanfiction.
Really? Seriously?
I mean, it's not like the Hierocracy and the Imperium of Man have any similarities besides both being galaxy-wide theocratic empires...
Or that the Prophet-Queen and the God-Emperor have any similarities beyond being simultaneous religious and political leaders, as evidenced by their religious position+hyphen+political position titles...
And the Inquisition? Really? I mean, there isn't any parallel at all between the one in this fic and the 40k one. Besides being practically the same thing.
"The Goddess protects?" From the story description? What? Doesn't sound like anything in the 40k verse. Besides "the Emperor protects," I guess. But hell, that's, like, an entire word of difference.
(i've been found out)
(coincidentally, i have never played a single game of 40k, read a book, played Dawn of War...all i know is from internet osmosis)