Kyoko Sakura had it rough.

To make a long story short, her family life sucked, her father killed himself, and she was left with no choice but to make a contract with some bizarre creature named Kyubey in order to gain powers and make a difference in the world.

Then it turned out that in doing so, she had doomed herself to become the very same beast that she was supposed to fight, as proven when one of her friends, Sayaka Miki, fell to despair and turned into a witch right in front of her eyes.

Yeah, pretty big dick move if you asked her.

Fortunately, Sayaka could now rest in peace, for Kyoko had destroyed both her witch form, and herself, in one last desperate attack…

…Is what she thought, before finding herself floating in some pitch black liquid in the middle of some bizarre dimension with multiple floating cubes.

"What the hell?"

"Oh, you're awake."

Kyoko looked up, and saw some kind of furry humanoid with a skull for a head and large, bony wings. One of his eyes had some sort of tiny worm poking out of it, resembling a bird of sorts.

"Here, let me help you stand up."

The creature offered a hand, and without hesitation, Kyoko accepted it and stood up before shaking off the water.

"Where am I?" she asked sourly.

"This is the In-Between Realm," the creature answered. "A realm between many things; reality and fantasy, the known and unknown…"

The creature paused, and looked at Kyoko with sympathy.

"And life and death, among other things."

Kyoko stared at the creature as she scratched the back of her head. "Not too surprising. I did kill myself when I unleashed that attack on Saya-"

Kyoko didn't even finish her sentence before she realized something, and grabbed the creature.

"Did Sayaka come here too?! Where is she?!"

The creature looked elsewhere for a moment, then pulled Kyoko back with a look of sadness.

"I'm afraid your friend did come here, but she was reborn a long time ago."

"She was here?" Kyoko shook her head. "N-No, she still has to be here, we died at the same time!"

The creature shook their head. "I'm afraid that's not the case."

Kyoko raised an eyebrow, prompting the humanoid to explain:

"When it comes to Witchification, the moment a magical girl falls into despair is the moment that her original self is removed from that reality and sent to this one to be reborn into something else, leaving behind a husk that then creates a new identity that takes over her place."

The creature released Kyoko, and folded their arms behind their back. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the moment that this "Sayaka" fell into despair and became a witch, is the moment she well and truly died, her existence replaced by the witch known as Oktavia Von Seckendorff."

Hearing those words left Kyoko feeling despondent, looking down at the water as the creature scratched their chin in thought.

"However, you may have a chance to see her again…"

Kyoko perked up, raising her head as the creature then waved their hand.

"No, nevermind, act like I said nothing. It would be cruel to give you a false hope if this turns out to not be the case."

"What? What will disappoint me if it doesn't end up being the case?!"

"... To make a long story short, my job in this dimension is to ensure people like you, who were ensnared by the promises of the offspring of the Titan of Incubation, get a second chance at life in a dimension where the Incubators cannot reach them," the creature answered. "However, the process requires the reincarnated to be implanted with amnesia to ensure they can enjoy life as entirely different people. A process that will continue until either the last moments of their new lifespan, or until I well and truly live this world at last."

"So, in theory," Kyoko scratched her chin. "I just have to live long enough for you to die and lift the amnesia, right? Then not only I, but Sayaka will remember who we used to be and we can meet each other again, right?"

The creature eyed Kyoko, then took a deep breath. "Yeah, sure, that's totally how it works. Honestly, this isn't even the first time I tell you this, so I shouldn't be surprised you'd get the same idea each time."

Kyoko paused. "Not the first time you tell me this? What's that supposed to mean?"

The creature flinched and began to visibly sweat, with them darting their eye and worm eye before going back to Kyoko, shouting:

"I've said too much. It's time for you to be reincarnated, have a nice new life, don't trust Incubators again, bye-bye!"

"Wait-!"

But before Kyoko could try and stop them, the creature poked the girl's forehead with one of their claws, causing her to slowly get dizzy before everything went black…

…

And then, as if instantly later, a three-eyed witch by the name of Boscha Sakura opened her eyes and stood up, rubbing her hair as she had only one thing to say after seeing all that:

"What the hell was that all about?"