This...was definitely the hardest chapter to write. I should be in the clear after this one, but planning it out was a major pain.
Oddly enough, an anime-induced depression consisting of watching Madoka, Clannad, and Angel Beats back to back helped in writing this. Although copious amounts of K-On will be needed to get outta this mood.
Once again, I'll let you know in the above notes if you need to reread chapter 6. Just in case I somehow missed something. I don't think I did, however.
Anyways! Enjoy.
Chapter 6
A Soul, A Sense, A Solution.
The world was white, but there was still no light.
She floated, lost in an endless haze, nothing to see and nothing to feel.
Slowly, she shifted her spiritual arm, trying to make contact with herself, with something...
Fruitless.
"What do I do now...?"
Despite the evening sun casting its glow over Midakihara, the hotel room was dark as night. The sole light that illuminated the room was from that of Kyouko's Soul Gem, glowing a faint red as it sat on the table.
Madoka looked around the room, sighing in defeat. Kyouko had fallen asleep some time ago, working herself to the brink of exhaustion trying to stabilize Homura. Sayaka was still gone, and Homura herself was still out cold from her injuries, her broken arm wrapped in a hastily-made sling.
Madoka lay in between Homura and Sayaka, her hands clutching the hands of each respective girl. She held Sayaka's for emotional support, and Homura's to try and stave off the grief she absorbed as long as possible. Her Soul Gem had been covered with inky blackness, and Madoka knew if something wasn't done soon...
She shook off that thought. They could still save her!
Three Grief Seeds, all used in the creation of the Seed of Purity, lay strewn about the table, their capacity at their max. Madoka had tried pressing them to Homura's Soul Gem, willing the grief out of it, but to no avail. All of them had maximized their capacity.
And so, Madoka did the only thing she could do, and clutched the girls hands tightly, praying that something...anything would happen to save them.
Hearing someone shift next to the bed, Madoka turned around to see Kyouko struggling to her feet. Upon seeing the pink-haired girl awake, Kyouko flashed her a weary smile, before limping over to where she was.
"Any change?" Kyouko whispered, glancing at the girls.
"Nothing." Madoka whispered back. She clutched their hands tighter on reflex. "What are we going to do, Kyouko? Homura's stable now, but...what we can't..." She couldn't continue.
Kyouko patted Madoka's head reassuringly. "Hey, no talking like that. We'll save em'." Smiling wearily, she transformed into her outfit.
"Kyouko?"
"Yes?"
"What did happen to Homura?"
Kyouko winced, silently hoping the question never came to pass. "She...The seed I had didn't drain all of Sayaka's grief." Kyouko turned around to face Madoka fully. "So Homura over here acted like a damn hero and drained the rest of it with her own Soul Gem. The resulting fall when the witch disappeared is what messed up her arm."
"She...deliberately did that? To save Sayaka?"
"Looks like it, kid." Kyouko nodded. "I dunno why, but...she did."
"But why isn't Sayaka awake? Her grief is gone, so..."
Kyouko sighed. "I have no idea...all of her grief is gone, so it should have worked."
Raising herself up, she transformed and began heading towards the door.
"Kyouko? Where are you going?"
"I need to go find a witch. We need a Grief Seed for Homura, first and foremost." Kyouko said, grabbing a leftover cheeseburger and a box of Pocky. "We've done all we can for Sayaka, at the moment. Right now, Homura is in worse danger." Turning back to Madoka, her face became grim.
"Listen, Madoka. If Homura wakes up, you need to keep her as calm as possible. Her Soul Gem is nearly at capacity, and with that broken arm of hers...well, expect her to be more than a little freaked out." Kyouko turned away. "My magic...I can't heal. I have no idea how to. The cast she has is the best I can do right now. The rest is up to you."
"I understand." Madoka said, clutching Homura's hand tighter. "She won't die. I'll make sure of it."
"I know you will, kid." Kyouko said, walking towards the door. "Stay here until I get back. Do not answer the door for anyone, okay?"
Madoka nodded, slumping back against the headrest. "Kyouko, you come back alive too, okay?"
Kyouko snorted, removing a stick of Pocky from its box and popping it into her mouth. "Y'damn right I will. I'm not gonna die just yet. Hard to believe I have friends now..." She chuckled. "Definitely not missing out on that."
Without waiting for a reply, she was out the door.
Madoka sighed, closing her eyes once again. Despite her weariness and fatigue, she just couldn't get to sleep. Images of Homura flashed through her mind, and she could see vague images of being comforted by the time-traveler as Kyouko fought. They were choppy and unclear...but Madoka was sure it happened.
Leaning back against the headstand, she reopened her eyes. Sleep was useless at this point.
Her fatigue was so great, though, she didn't see the flash of white light permeate the room, nor notice the small creature that now stood on the table.
"Madoka, are you awake?"
Madoka shot up, now fully alert, as she stared at the construct. "Kyubey!"
"Can we talk for a bit? I'd like to speak with you about some things."
"If you're trying to get me to contract, it's out of the question for the moment." Madoka said, sitting up against the bedstand. Then, softer, "What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about your attempt to save Sayaka." Kyubey said, laying down on the table. Nudging the full Grief Seeds, he asked "Would you mind?"
Madoka sighed, releasing the hands of both girls and shifting to Kyubey, beginning to place the Grief Seeds into the small indentation in his back. "Kyubey, what's wrong with saving Sayaka? Is it something you're against?"
"Not really, no." Kyubey said, twitching as the first Grief Seed was absorbed. "You're not doing anything detrimental to my mission. All that transfer of grief you did just shifts it around. I don't lose any of it, so it doesn't bother me." Kyubey sighed. "I don't understand why you'd go through all this work for one human, though. There are already so many of you on this planet, what's just one dead person?"
"Don't...don't say that!" Madoka cried. "Sayaka is someone, too! It's not just losing someone else, it's losing my...my best friend!"
Kyubey cocked his head to the side. "There are 6.9 billion of you, and ten of you humans are born every four seconds. Surely there's a replacement somewhere?"
"No! That doesn't make sense...Sayaka isn't those other people! She's...she's Sayaka!"
"So why do you see her as important, Madoka Kaname?" Kyubey asked. "What sets her apart from millions of others?"
"She..." Madoka paused, thinking deeply. "She means something to me! She's been my best friend for years! That's why I see her as important!"
"Can you feel that way about someone you never met, though? Someone who's name you've never heard?"
"That's just it, Kyubey..." Madoka said, tears filling her eyes. "There are millions of us, sure, but we all have our own emotions. Maybe millions of people won't care Sayaka's gone, but...some people will!"
She wiped at her eyes. "What makes you think I have to know everyone to feel bad for them? Someone is going to miss them, or feel bad for them!"
She sighed, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall. "Perhaps we do things that hurt others on occasion. But in the end, the end goal for us is to cause as little harm to others as possible. And you completely ignore that and sacrifice others for this cause!"
"It's a worthy long-term sacrifice, though." Kyubey stated. "Humanity merely possesses the required traits to reverse entropy, that's all. It's a little surprising that your race is able to coexist when everyone has their own personal emotions."
"How can you say that..." Madoka stared at the construct in shock. "How can you be so callous?"
"I suppose I can't understand because my race doesn't have emotion. But your souls are simply the best material for this task. We have the technology to harvest souls, so we use it."
"So that's all you see us as?" Madoka asked, her eyes shrouded by her bangs. "We're nothing but materials?"
"Not really. If we thought of you that lowly, we wouldn't even grant you a wish." Kyubey said, closing his eyes as the second Grief Seed was locked away safely. "We know you're sentient lifeforms, so we bargain with you. It's that simple."
"But you betrayed those girls! You held back the true nature of the contract!"
"I did not betray them, Their wishes did. Any wish bound by logic can be twisted. And it naturally will lead to the worst possible result. They simply didn't' realize this."
"If you realized that, why did you bother giving us a wish in the first place?"
"If I asked you to contact without something in return, do you think you would take it?"
Madoka remained silent. Dropping the final seed into Kyubey, she turned her head away as the fourth flash of light permeated the room. Rising up, she moved back to the center of the bed, grasping the hands of a still Sayaka and a stirring Homura once again.
"Kyubey...please find another way...Maybe you're not hurting everyone by doing this, but you're hurting some people! And it's not just the girls that contracted. You're hurting their friends, their family, their classmates...Everyone that even knew them, or just saw them on the street, or even just talked to them once! When they go missing, there will always be people that miss them!"
Madoka glanced at Sayaka's prone form, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why should a life be born, just to be sacrificed? They should be ale to live..."
Kyubey shook his head. "Humanity is the best resource we can find as of yet." He began fading from view. "It's no matter though. I've retrieved the Grief Seeds, so that's what counts."
Turning back, Kyubey glanced at Madoka. "If you ever want to die for the sake of the universe, let me know."
With that, Kyubey vanished.
Pivoting on one foot, Kyouko turned and flung herself off the rooftop, flipping end over end as she descended towards her destination. She was in freefall for several seconds, before righting herself and landing on the lower roof, rolling as she did so.
Her Soul Gem glowed brighter at her descent in altitude, indicating whatever witch she was tracking was close. Stretching her magic out, she could feel the emanations from the barrier close by.
Looking down from her vantage point on the rooftop, she saw a small alleyway, covered in hearts and white cards, seemingly distorting and waving around. 'Yup, that's definitely an anomaly.'
Hopping down, Kyouko absorbed the brunt of the fall and materialized her spear, looking for any sign of an entrance...
"So you're still out hunting witches?"
Kyouko snarled at the new voice. "You. What the hell do you want?"
"Nothing in particular, really." the newcomer said, hopping down to the alleyway. In the darkness of the corridor, his red eyes looked all the more ominous. "Just commending you on your dedication to fighting these witches. You and Homura haven't been very efficient lately."
"Kyubey, you have five seconds to explain why you're here before I turn you into swiss cheese...am I understood?" Kyouko asked, her voice quiet, and all the more threatening.
"Killing me does nothing. I always have another body ready." Kyubey retorted, not even flinching when Kyouko's spear shot forward, hovering an inch from his head. "I though you'd be back taking care of Homura?"
"Why's it your business?" Kyouko countered. "Madoka can take care of her. And in case you didn't notice, her Soul Gem is just a bit, oh, I don't know, damaged?" Kyouko looked ready to chew rocks and spit out sand.
"I see." Kyubey said. "So what's your plan with Sayaka Miki?"
Kyouko winced, her expression softening. "I really hope we can save her...but if the seed isn't responding to her body, then I don't know what else to do."
"Wasn't it obviously impossible from the start?"
"Don't give me that crap, rat." Kyouko inched the spear closer to Kyubey. "We got a helluva lot farther than you ever would have."
"Farther means nothing if you can't continue in the first place."
"You're treading on some damn thin ice, rat." Kyouko growled. "You want to tell me just why the hell you're here?"
"You removed the grief from Miki's Grief Seed." Kyubet stated, scratching at an ear. "But she still has no hope. Her soul is in limbo, unable to do anything in the outside world. She has no physical connection here, after all."
"What...?"
"Like I said, it was an impossible effort from the start." Kyubey said, without batting an eye. "I never expected what you accomplished to happen. But Sayaka is in a neutral limbo, unable to do anything. There's no way to give her emotion if no one can reach her."
"So we find a way to transfer hope, through a Soul Gem..."
"That's impossible, Kyouko." Kyubey stated with a sigh. "Only grief can be transferred between gems. You know that. Besides, with this in our way, the time for planning against Walpurgisnacht grows thinner and thinner."
"We'll deal with Walpurgisnacht, without your help!"
"You still need planning. Every second wasted is-"
Kyubey never got to finish. Kyouko drove her spear through the constructs head, exiting out the other side in a spray of tattered red fur.
"That was pointless." A voice said from behind, causing Kyouko to whip around. "I don't understand why everyone reacts the same way to news like this. Everyone but themselves are to blame in human society." Kyubey ran up to his previous corpse, devouring it with practiced ease.
Sitting up, he coughed slightly, turning back to a disinterested Kyouko. "When it comes time to plan for Walpurgisnacht, let me know if you want help."
Without another word, Kyubey walked out of the alley.
Kyouko, now thoroughly irked, rematerialized her spear, whipping around and stalking towards the barrier's entrance. Without missing a beat, she activated her short-range telepathy, focusing on the one girl conscious in the hotel room. "Madoka!"
"Hm?" Madoka's voice rang in her head.
"Do you know of any kind of connection Sayaka may have to our world? Some sign, mark, anything?"
There was a long pause. "I don't think so...All we have is her seed."
"I see..." Kyouko stated. "Okay. Keep watch on Homura. I'm gonna go kick some ass."
"Okay!" The connection closed.
Entering the barrier, Kyouko glowered at her conversation with Kyubey. "That two timing son of a...what's wrong with having a little hope!"
'How can he not see how people are hurting...?" Madoka thought to herself, gripping Sayaka's and Homura's hands tighter. 'Why does it have to just be humanity...'
Her thoughts were cut off immediately as the body on her right shifted slightly, stirring. Madoka immediately tensed, gripping Homura's hand a little tighter, turning slightly away from Sayaka.
"Homura? Can you hear me?"
Slowly, as if fighting against it, Homura opened her eyes, looking blearily around. She noticed Madoka's worried face, the mild twinge of pain in her arm...
Lifting the hand Madoka was holding, she saw the blackened form of her Soul Gem. Her eyes widened as she gawked at the damage, only to wince at the tinge of pain in her other arm. She tried to move it, to figure out what the problem was-
"No!"
Homura's vision exploded as her arm seared in blinding pain.
'Now this is more like it!' Kyouko thought as her spear plowed through the two black hearts soaring her way. Pivoting out of the flight of a heart-shaped arrow, Kyouko darted forward, jamming her spear into the grotesque archer. Before the familiar even had time to disintegrate, Kyouko was off and running again, trying to make it into the barrier's core in as little time as possible. She knew she didn't have enough energy for a prolonged fight.
Summoning a large formation of spears above her, Kyouko let gravity do the work for her as the rain of projectiles decimated the waiting familiars in front of her. Weaving past several more arrows, she ignored the familiars entirely, forcing her way past the pink, heart shaped walls. Without hesitation, she charged through the final doors of the labyrinth, finding herself in the large barrier's core, where the witch lay.
'Pretty funky room for a witch...' Kyouko mused. Around her were several white cards plastered to the wall, hearts and admirations adorning every single one of them. The room expanded outward from the low walls, velvet red lining the room, giving it a soft, fuzzy feeling.
The witch herself Kyouko had to gawk at. A larger version of the heart-shaped familiar's she fought outside, this one was a dark black, trapped in a golden cage, pulsing with every beat of its body, giving off a resounding bass that shook the room with every beat. On each side of the core, two veins connected itself to the heart, pumping in tandem with it. Though the veins were connected to seemingly nothing, they way they shifted gave Kyouko the sickening feeling that something was in there.
'No time for this. Gotta defeat it...'
"Hey, you! Let's get this done!"
Kyouko charged forward, doing her best to ignore the faster pace of the beating heart. Leaping forward, she materialized a second spear and jumped high into the air, flipping once to gather momentum.
"Take this!" Completing the flip, Kyouko held both spears out in front of her and drove straight down in between the bars of the cage, tearing into the heart's muscle tissue and creating a large gouge that spanned down its body.
Landing softly, Kyouko backflipped, putting some distance between herself and the wounded witch. If she could take out the body...
'What the hell?'
She gasped in awe as the wounds she inflicted on the witch were sealed up, as if they were never there. The heart continued to beat faster, shaking the room with every sound it made.
Kyouko winced painfully at the sound, readying her spear once more. "This is not going to be as easy as I thought..."
Given her situation; with a broken arm, a nearly-corrupted Soul Gem, and the girl she knew didn't love her back, who could only hate her after her confession...Homura did the only thing her mind could tell her to do.
She screamed.
"Homura!" Madoka immediately pulled herself upright, grasping Homura's shoulders and holding her down as gently as she could. "Homura, you need to calm down...you're safe here, you're okay..."
Madoka tried to keep the girl still, but with only one good shoulder, it was hard to keep Homura from moving around too much. Resting most of her body weight against her good arm, Madoka took her free hand and brushed Homura's cheek, trying to will the girl to calm down.
After several agonizing seconds, Homura's writhing form became still, but her heavy breathing continued. She tried to move her arm again, and after no response she let out another pained whimper.
Turning to the girl who was darn near laying on her, Homura weakly tried to speak. "Ma..doka..."
"Shh, hang on." Madoka lifted herself up and ran to fetch a glass of water, hearing the raspiness in Homura's voice. After several long sips, she sat Homura up against the bedrest, rubbing her back in small circles.
"Madoka...what...what happened? Back at Oktavia's barrier..."
Madoka sighed. "I...don't really know myself. All I remember was searching for the Grief Seed in Sayaka's apartment. Then...well, next thing I know I was hallucinating. I could hear Sayaka...calling out to me. Telling me to join her. It was nonstop."
She closed her eyes after that. "Next thing I knew I heard your voice, telling me that she loves me...and then Sayaka's voice went completely silent. I woke up for a moment, then passed out again. And...well, here we are."
Homura nodded weakly, still shaking from the shock. "I remember...God, I can't even think straight!" She shouted, slamming her hand into her head.
"Homura!" Madoka chastised, gently taking her hand into hers. "Stop...I know you're feeling bad right now, but that's just due to your Soul Gem. Kyouko's out getting a Grief Seed right now, we'll get you healed..."
"Why?" Homura chuckled bitterly. "So I can go back to sulking around? So I can be a selfish fool again?" Tears were welling in her eyes; Madoka saw her Soul Gem grow just a bit darker. "I've been alone for so long that I...I don't know what to do! Even around you and Kyouko I can't do anything right! I can't save you, I can't save Sayaka..."
Dipping her head down, Homura sighed. "I'm hopeless..."
She stayed like that for sometime, until she felt a hand on hers, and a body impact against her.
Madoka, shaking, clung to her like a lifeline. "Don't. Say. That."
Homura's Soul Gem brightened a small amount.
"Wh...what?"
"You are not useless!" Madoka near shouted. "You are not selfish! If you were selfish, you would have abandoned me in your first timeline! If you were selfish, you wouldn't be here now helping us!" Madoka trembled violently, her outburst being too much for even her to handle. "Kyouko told me about what you did. She told me you used your Soul Gem to drain off the rest of Sayaka's Grief. Do you realize at all how dangerous that was?"
"I..."
"That was dangerous! That was suicidal!" Madoka shouted.
Then, softer, "But you did it anyway. For us."
"..."
"You are our friend, Homura." Madoka said, pulling back so she could look Homura in the eye. "You are our friend, and I am not going to see you put yourself down as useless. Okay?"
"You're...not mad at me?" Homura asked, tinges of fear still in her eyes. "About...about what I said back in the alley?"
Her gem flashed slightly, the grief contained reducing bit by bit.
Madoka looked incredulous. "Of course not, Homura. The fact you've gone through so much for me is...is amazing." She sighed. "But...I'm sorry, but I see you more as my sister than anything else. The person that always protects me no matter what."
Despite her words, Homura smiled slightly. "I guess...that's not so bad, huh?"
"No..." Madoka smiled. "No it isn't." Then, curious, "Are you okay with that?"
Grasping Madoka's hand, Homura nodded. Her Soul Gem, though tinged with traces of magical depletion, shined a dark purple once more.
"Of course."
It was there...wasn't it?
No...that's impossible. She couldn't feel anything, could she?
But that feeling...it was so familiar. Something warm, something...human.
Human? Was she human at some point?
What did it matter. She was silent now.
But that warm feeling...she could feel it again.
Couldn't she?
Madoka lay in between Homura and Sayaka once more, trading glances between Homura's injured shoulder and Sayaka's prone form.
Homura looked into her new sister's eyes. Traces of weariness were beginning to form under them, but Homura could swear she saw traces of a smile on her lips...
Something caught her eyes. "Madoka?"
"Hm?"
"Could you...turn your neck just a little bit?"
Madoka caught on immediately. "I know." Turning her neck, she gave full view of the wtich's kiss to Homura.
"Wh-what?" Homura gasped, paling. "Why is that still on there?"
Madoka chuckled, trying to ease the tension. "I'm not so sure myself. It is a Witch's Kiss, so it should have disappeared with Oktavia, right?"
"Yeah..." Homura propped herself up, trying to get a closer look at the mark. "May I?"
"Sure." Madoka affirmed, noticing what she was trying to do.
Leaning down slightly, she turned her neck outward, exposing the mark to Homura's critical eye. Examining it carefully, she prodded the skin around the mark gently, looking for any sign of magical anomalies.
"This should have vanished when we defeated Oktavia..." Homura mused aloud. "I wonder if..."
"If what?" Madoka asked, confused.
"Hang on." Homura said. Drawing a tiny bit of magic to her finger, Homura extended it to Madoka's neck. With great care, she touched the mark directly...
And reeled back as if struck, her eyes rolling into the back of her head for a split second.
What the...!
"Who was that!"
Sayaka Miki floated in the void, now thoroughly alarmed.
What is going on...!
Craning her neck, she racked her mind for answers.
"She looked so familiar..."
"Homura!"
Homura paled once again. "Madoka...that isn't Oktavia's mark."
"What do you mean?"
"Oktavia is dead. That much we know." Homura said. "But Sayaka Miki...is still alive."
Madoka looked even more confused.
"Madoka." Homura said, a tinge of surprise in her voice. "That mark is from Sayaka herself."
"Wh-what!"
"It is." Homura shook off the effects of the connection. "I just connected with her. It was only for a brief moment, but I...I saw her. It was her, I'm sure of it!"
Homura slumped back and winced, the makeshift cast shifting slightly.
"Hey!" Madoka gently pushed Homura back down, grasping her hand. "Easy now, we still need to wait for Kyouko."
"I know..." Homura lay back slowly, feeling herself impact against the soft mattress. "Madoka, do you think you can connect to her in any way?"
"Me?" Madoka looked confused for a moment. "I...don't know. I'm not a Magical Girl, so I can't use magic to do it. And the seed doesn't respond when I hold it."
Homura stared at the seed. "There has to be a way..."
The two sat in silence for a bit, Madoka holding Sayaka's Purity Seed, Homura deep in thought.
"Connection..."
"Hm? You say something, Homura?"
"That's got to be it!" Homura turned to Madoka, her eyes burning with determination. "Madoka, how was Sayaka contacting you before?"
Madoka thought for a moment. "The...Witch's Kiss, I'm assuming. That's when it started, at any rate."
Homura nodded, feeling the pieces come together. "The Witch's Kiss was her direct contact to you...so now you need direct contact to her."
Madoka thought for a moment, before lighting up in realization. "Kyouko said something about a connection Sayaka would have to the real world! Do you think that's it?"
"It's worth a shot." Homura urged. "We're not getting anywhere otherwise."
Madoka nodded. Lifting up the seed, she pressed it against the mark on her neck...
Madoka slumped against the bedrest, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as unconsciousness overtook her.
Kyouko materialized several dozen spears, placing them in a defensive phanlax around her.
The attack was hard-hitting and instantaneous; several smaller hearts were impaled on the wall of pole arms. The moment the assault stopped, Kyouko made her move again, landing several decisive strikes on the large heart in the center of the room. However, her efforts were futile once more as the damage was repaired almost instantly.
"Dammit! Why the hell isn't this thing dying?" Kyouko shouted to no one, barrel rolling out of the way of several arrows. Leaping backwards to get some room, she scanned the body of the witch, trying to find some weak point to attack...
And her gaze fell upon the two arteries, connected to the walls.
'Hell, I'm not getting anywhere otherwise.' Readying her magic, Kyouko amplified her jump, sending her soaring into the air. Landing on one of the exposed arteries, Kyouko jammed her spear down, completely passing through the vein and coming out the other end.
Satisfied, she pulled her spear out, sidestepping to avoid the torrent of blue liquid that flew out. Her elation was short lived, however, as the wound closed once more. This time, however, it took much longer to close, the gushing stream either hampering the healing process, or being something the creature did not expect to be attacked.
Leaping upwards, Kyouko dodged another volley of arrows before plunging her spear into the artery once more, this time using her momentum to jump off the artery, keeping her spear inside.
The head of the spear tore into the artery, separating the muscle tissue on its journey down. Swinging herself around, Kyouko managed to cry out in triumph as the artery pulled away from the wall, gushing blue liquid as it did so.
'Alrighty, just one more to go, and...!'
Kyouko slumped to the floor, pain overtaking her extremities as the arrows made their way into the soft flesh of her back. Overhead, she could hear the telltale thumping of the heart increase in volume, injured by the loss of an artery.
The rhythmic thumping, as well as the pain, was enough to send Kyouko into a painful dream world.
'Damnit...'
There was that presence again. But who would come in here...?
"Sayaka?"
The girl in question turned, confusion written all over her face. Another voice? "Who...knows my name?"
"Sayaka?"
"That voice...that voice is so familiar..."
Sayaka looked around, seeing nothing but the white void beyond. She was about to pass off the illusion as some form of trickery when...
"Sayaka!"
She whipped around, coming to face with a spiritual Madoka.
Immediately, memories flashed in her head. Happy ones like running down the pathway to school, their time at the record store, and her original elation at becoming a Magical Girl. She was about to say something when the worse memories came back: yelling at Madoka at the train station, her drowning despair towards Kyousuke fueling her rage as she verbally abused the girl bit by bit...
Sayaka stopped mid sentence, staring at Madoka, who was still smiling broadly, slack jawed. Madoka was about to run forward and embrace her when she noticed her eyes. They were completely neutral, devoid of any emotion.
"Why are you here?"
That caught Madoka off guard. "What do you mean? We've been trying to save you, Sayaka!"
She remained stoic. "So that's why the shadows disappeared...you guys drained all the Grief from my soul, right?
Madoka nodded. "You knew?"
"With grief torturing me at every turn? Oh yes, I knew." Sayaka said.
Madoka winced at Sayaka's tone, something the girl noticed. Sayaka shifted back slightly, her bangs covering her eyes.
"What...what happened, Sayaka? Please...talk to me. We...we want you back."
That did something. As Sayaka's neutral eyes took on a slightly downcast look, the void around them darkened slightly. Madoka could feel the grief seeping from all directions.
Sayaka shuddered. "It was...horrible. I could feel the witch, I could feel her barrier surrounding me. My soul...I was forced into the seed, surrounded by the shadows. They tortured me at every turn, whipping at me, tearing at my memories!" Sayaka's voice grew slightly higher with every moment. "There was nothing I could do! They wouldn't kill me, they left me alive just to see me suffer in my own damn grief!"
Her voice dropped to a whisper as she sank to her knees. "I shouldn't have made the contract, Madoka...I shouldn't have tried to save Kyousuke. He would have been fine, he would have been..."
Madoka watched as Sayaka verbally tore herself apart, feeling the void around them grow darker and darker. "I loved him, Madoka...and he tore me apart for it. He could have told me he no longer wanted me to bring him music...he could have told me..."
Slowly stepping forward, Madoka eased herself down and engulfed Sayaka in an embrace. Despite being in a non-physical realm, the two souls were able to touch as if they were physical beings.
Sayaka stiffened at the new contact, weakly trying to push Madoka away. However, Madoka held on tighter, sinking deeper into the embrace. The void brightened, if only a little.
Sayaka spoke again, but this time her voice was weak. "I...I was scared. For a time, I tried to fight it, but...it just wouldn't stop..." Her voice was cracking. Taking a shuddering breath, she continued. "I...I wanted to reach out to someone, but I thought I had no friends left. Homura hates me, Kyouko hates me...
"But for some reason, I tried to call out to you." She shuddered. "I shouldn't have done that..."
Madoka pulled back a bit, smiling. "I'm glad you did, Sayaka." Lifting her head slightly, she showed the girl the mark embedded on her neck.
"That's...!" Sayaka stared, wide eyed. "I did that?"
"Looks like it." Madoka said. "It happened while I was at your apartment. According to Kyouko I kinda lost it at that point, but..."
"Lost it?" Sayaka asked, mildly confused. The, her voice tinged with horror: "Wait...The witch's kiss causes depression and suicidal tenancies...did you...?"
Before she could reply, Sayaka clapped a mouth over her hand. "I...I nearly killed you, didn't I..."
A dark feeling quickly took over; Madoka had to act fast.
"Sayaka, stop it!" She chastised, pulling Sayaka back into the embrace. "You did no such thing! If you were trying to reach out to me, then...!"
"Trying or not, I nearly did kill you!" Sayaka broke down into fitful sobs, clinging to Madoka. "I shouldn't have done that...I should have just died..."
Madoka didn't respond, whispering comforting nothings into Sayaka's ear, trying to calm her as much as possible. Sayaka finally wrapped her arms fully around Madoka; the two spirits stayed there for some time, curled up in a comforting embrace.
As she comforted Sayaka, Madoka noticed the colors around her. Despite Sayaka near broadcasting her grief, the void seemed to be returning to its normal, white state.
'Is this...this color, her feelings?'
Finally, Sayaka broke away, hastily wiping away at her tears. "I'm sorry, I..."
Madoka shook her head. "No, don't be sorry." She smiled. "I'm just glad I can see you again."
Sayaka was dumbfounded. "Why, Madoka...Why are yo always worried about me? I'm...I'm not worth it."
"Yes you are, Sayaka." Madoka said, gently grasping her hands. "You are worth it. I've known you for ten years, since we were kids. Every day, we were together, just two friends that hung out." She chuckled a bit. "We stuck out like a sore thumb."
Sayaka smiled a bit at the image. "That was mainly me, Madoka. You were just nice to me, that's all..."
"Because you were nice to me." Madoka smiled, gently stroking Sayaka's cheek. "When you became a Magical Girl, I was so worried...I didn't want you to end up like Mami. That's why I followed you around everywhere. I couldn't stand sleeping at night not knowing where you were."
Sayaka felt a tear slip down her face. "The only reason I lasted so long was because you came along with me, Madoka...otherwise I would have gone under a lot sooner."
Her face fell, traces of sadness adorning her features. "And then...and then I just let it get to me. I turned into a heartless bitch, and I...I hurt you."
Madoka remained silent.
"I remember the night at the bus stop. I remember yelling at you in the alley. I remember all of it." Tears were beginning to form in Sayaka's eyes again. "I can't believe I did what I did...you didn't deserve it at all..."
Madoka smiled, pulling Sayaka back into the embrace. Sayaka nestled her head under Madoka's chin, sighing softly.
"I can't believe I contracted for Kyousuke. I just wanted him to be happy..." She laughed, this time without mirth. "It's sad. I'm trapped here forever now. My wish...my hope is all but gone. If Kyouske doesn't love me...who does?"
Something in Madoka's mind clicked. If it took Grief to make a witch, then...
"Sayaka...you made your wish because you thought you loved Kyousuke, right?"
Sayaka nodded.
"Then find someone new." Madoka said, smiling.
Sayaka flushed a bit at this, but kept her composure. "What do you mean?"
"Well..." Madoka flushed red. No turning back now.
"Ever since you changed, I...I haven't been able to get you off my mind. I kept worrying, every night, wondering where you were. And when you turned into a witch, I couldn't take it. At first I thought I just lost my best friend, but then...then I realized. I think I lost something more."
"Madoka..."
"We've been trying to save you for so long, and I've been able to do nothing but sit by your body and cry, hoping you come back to us!" Madoka flushed red, looking down at her feet. "I mean...what I'm saying is..."
Something in Sayaka snapped. The feeling of neutrality, of loneliness...suddenly it was gone.
"You need a new hope, Sayaka...Not some miracle that brings despair, but a hope that you can hold on to...for eternity."
The white void around them began to glow a faint blue.
"When...when I reached out for someone, Madoka...I hoped it would be you." Now it was Sayaka's turn to flush red. "Ever since you held me at the hotel when I lost it, I kept thinking of how badly I hurt you...how badly I wanted to make it up to you. But I felt so useless that...I thought I was beyond redemption."
Madoka smiled through her newly formed tears. "You're not beyond redemption, Sayaka." Gently lifting her chin, she locked eyes with her. "I never hated you, at all. Not once."
"Madoka..."
The two drifted closer together, seemingly unnoticed by either of them.
"Madoka..."
"Sayaka..."
The two were an inch apart, moving millimeter by millimeter.
"I think..."
"That I..."
Their lips connected softly. The kiss was soft and chaste; neither willing to take an aggressive route. Barely any pressure was applied, the kiss was as gentle as it could get.
Madoka pulled back slightly, suddenly having second thoughts about her actions. When she saw Sayaka's teary, yet smiling face, however, she knew she did the right thing.
The two met halfway once again, deepening the kiss. They didn't go any further; they didn't have to.
Eventually, however, the two pulled back. Neither of them noticed the faint blue glow in the room.
"Love you..." the two said together.
The void flashed sky blue.
Chapter End.