A/N: Some of you better focus your brain and read properly because there's important info in this chapter that you'll have to remember for the rest of the fanfic. Kay just wanted to clear that up, continue reading.

Chapter Eleven – "I'll save you"

"Good evening Tomoe-san."

He spoke! Mami acted instantly and spun around, forming a musket in her right hand and aiming it at the man. The pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The man held up his hand and suddenly the magical bullet slowed in mid-air. Mami gasped.

"What?!" She exclaimed.

Mami examined him, he wore a cloak in which the hood was over his head, covering his face. She immediately recognised him. "It's you!"

"Indeed." He answered calmly.

Mami immediately aimed a musket at him.

"Calm down Tomoe-san."

"Explain!" She demanded.

"Please don't shoot." The cloaked man said. He smirked under his cloak hood. Mami didn't waver.

"I'm here to negotiate."

Mami gasped, her yellow eyes widening before her expression turning cold, she did not move the gun from the position.

"What do you mean?"

The man grinned. "Well, not negotiate, but we're on a little bit of a truce for a while, I need to explain."

"About what?" The blonde spoke calmly, knowing that this mysterious man was very dangerous if you did something wrong.

"About Sakura-san's capturing." He paused. "And the secrets of magical girls."

Akemi-san!

Homura gasped at Mami's voice in her head and clasped her bow tight; she was walking around the park looking for wraiths with Kyoko when she heard it.

"Kyoko." She notified the redhead standing beside her, she turned. "What?"

"Tomoe-san is contacting me."

"What? Why?"

"Wait."

Tomoe-san, what's wrong?

Come to the courtyard. Now. Homura noticed her demanding her companion's voice, it held slight panic. Similar to when…

She shook her head. Why?

That man. He's here.

Homura gasped. He's with Mami? She narrowed her eyes.

Fine. We'll be there.

The dark haired girl turned to Kyoko.

"What did she say?" Kyoko asked.

"That man, he's with Tomoe-san."

The redhead had the same reaction as Homura. "What?"

"We have to get to the courtyard quickly." Homura said hurriedly. "Tomoe Mami might be in danger."

Kyoko nodded. "Right."

"I suppose you contacted your companions."

Mami glared and held her musket tighter. "Don't move from that spot."

The man sneered when he saw a light in the sky, it moved closer and it was revealed to be Homura flying while holding Kyoko in one arm, they settled on the ground.

Kyoko immediately recognised the man, and her eyes filled with rage, but she held it back. "You..." She whispered.

"Nice to see you again Sakura-san, how has your life been since you begged me to kill you?"

The redhead growled. "I didn't beg."

"Excuse me." Homura said calmly to the man. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Heading straight to the point huh?" He said tiredly, he walked towards the three, who took a step back.

The man took off his hood, he had a pale complexion. One eye was blue and one was red, they were narrowed, his mouth was in a thin line of amusement, he looked in his thirties and had spiked black hair with a fringe slightly covering half of his face.

"It's time for me to introduce myself. My name…. is The Reaper."

Sayaka noticed a disturbance, her fingers stopped fiddling with her clip and her eyes stared intently at the planet earth that was below her.

Beside her was the Goddess, she noticed it as well and turned her head so that she could face her golden eyes on the planet.

"He's revealed his identity." She pointed out.

Sayaka nodded. "You're right; I wonder how they'll react."

The four people stood still across the courtyard, a breeze picking up and blowing their hair slightly. Mami, Homura and Kyoko were shocked at the sudden information.

"The Reaper?" They stated in unison.

The Reaper nodded.

"The Grim Reaper?" Mami breathed.

"No, I can bring people back to life, but I am not him, the Grim Reaper was my father."

Recovering from the shock, Homura glared with her purple eyes. "Why are you telling us this, Reaper?"

"I feel that you three should know the truth, about the magical girls here." The Reaper paused. "You can ask me any question you want, I will answer."

"Why did you put me in that gem?" Kyoko blurted out.

"Kyoko…" Mami started.

"I did not want to trouble you."

"What?" The redhead said uncertainly. "That's bullshit. You put nightmares into my head, and made me suffer. How the fuck can you call that 'not troubling' me?!"

Reaper narrowed his different coloured eyes; the colours sent a chill down Mami's spine. "I was testing you, Sakura-san. To see if your power and hope was worthy enough for you to face me."

"Testing?" Kyoko's eyes widened, before her face creased in anger. "Bastard!" In rage she leapt at him, but Mami kept a hold of her, her struggling was evident. "Kyoko!" She raised her voice. "Stop!"

"Why?!" She yelled.

"If you try to kill him, you'll get injured."

Kyoko paused. Mami narrowed her eyes. "Plus, we need to know more, okay?" After a few seconds the red head fell limp from Mami's grip and walked out of her way, her fists clenched and face shadowed over.

"How did you get her like that? Have you corrupted the way Magical Girls die for your own benefit?" Homura asked.

"No, I only did that for a test."

Kyoko scowled. "Then what's your goal?"

The Reaper paused; he pulled his hood over his head again, once again covering his face. "I want to erase all despair and grief in this world."

All three of them gasped.

"You want… to erase grief and sadness?" Homura's eyes filled with woe. Madoka…

Reaper nodded.

"That's ridiculous." Kyoko stated. "First you act like you know everything and all that crap, lock me up in a gem, and now you expect us to forgive you with all this 'erasing grief and despair' stuff?" She crossed her arms in arrogance. "I'm not buying that shit."

"Me neither." Mami said sternly.

Homura realised that they were right. "Exactly. Do you expect us to believe you?"

The Reaper sighed, then held up his staff. Kyoko flinched.

"Do you see this staff?" He asked. "This was given to me by my enemy."

He lowered it. "Akemi Homura, Tomoe Mami, Sakura Kyoko." He paused. "Have you heard of the law of cycles?"

"Yes." Mami answered. "When our magic runs out, we disappear. It will guide us someday (1)."

The Reaper smirked. "What you have heard is a lie." He lifted his head, a red eye staring at them. "It's the Law of Madoka."

Homura froze, her whole body turned cold, she felt her soul gem on her hand turn slightly darker. Her purple eyes turned dangerously wide. She felt her nervousness come back. "The law…" She whimpered. "…Of Madoka?"

Kyoko noticed the tone of her companion and turned to her. "Homura?" She looked at Homura's face, it was pale and had sweat beading down from it, a shaking hand was reaching up to the pink ribbon in her hair, but Kyoko grabbed her wrist. "Oi. What's wrong?"

Homura came back to reality, her eyes turned sad and downcast. "The Law of Madoka…. Reaper?"

"Yes." The Reaper could sense her insecurity. "Going back to your old self Homura?"

The dark haired girl glared at him. "Never."

"What if he talking about Akemi-san?" Mami asked.

"Nothing."

"Do you want me to explain it to you?" The Reaper asked.

Homura clenched her fist.

Kyoko glanced cautiously at Homura before nodding. "Sure."

"Well.." He started. "Legend had it that an ordinary middle school girl, threw her life away to save the magical girls who were in pain. She turned into a God and rewrote the world, removing all the old enemies that were once there. She was left forever alone."

He means Madoka. Homura clenched her teeth. He has absolutely no idea what she's been through!

"Do you know who this girl is Reaper?" Mami asked.

"Yes." The reaper answered. "She is my sworn enemy."

Homura couldn't stand it anymore, she put her head up and faced the man. "Kaname Madoka."

Mami and Kyoko turned to face her. "What?"

"Kaname Madoka." She repeated. "Is she your sworn enemy?"

"Who's that?" Kyoko asked. She was about to ask again until she was interrupted by the Reaper chuckling. "Maybe, little girl. Just stay with that thought."

"Shut up!" Homura shouted. Startling them. "You don't know anything!" She growled.

The Reaper glared at her. "I do. I know more than you ever will." He pointed to the blonde, who gasped. "Tomoe-san, do you know what happened on the beach one week ago?"

Mami, who was startled, shook her head. "No…"

"You awakened."

"What?!" She exclaimed. "Awakened?"

"Well that was blunt." Kyoko whispered to herself, who was also surprised, as was Homura. "What does it mean?"

"All Magical Girls in this world awaken one day, they have a very extreme amount of power. This is either caused through an output of emotions or a sudden determination. Do you remember what that was?" The Reaper asked.

Mami shook her head. "I remember having some nightmare, and then going out of my house and that's it. I woke up at the Sakura Church."

"I remember." Homura said. "I was looking for Kyoko's body was I saw this huge flash of yellow light on the beach, it was so incredibly powerful and overwhelming, and it was a few minutes until I realised that you were the one causing it. Tomoe-san, you looked possessed, when I called out to you, you didn't listen to me."

"Well, I can't remember anything."

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked. "When did this happen?!"

"It happened after you had that nightmare about your father Sakura-san." The Reaper informed. "In fact, I was not the one who caused it."

"You weren't?" Homura was surprised.

"Indeed."

"But what were you saying about being awakened?"

"The Legend says…" The Reaper started. "That the Goddess corrupted the magical girls in a way so that they can defeat enemies and have more hope so that they cannot turn to despair so easily. All Magical Girls eventually have this."

"And you know this because you supposably know our fates as well?" Kyoko asked, suspicion in her tone.

"Yes." He replied. "Do you believe me?"

Kyoko and Mami exchanged glances with narrowed eyes.

Should we? Kyoko asked through telepathy.

I'm not sure. Mami replied.

"I don't trust you." Homura stated instantly, her arms crossed and glaring at the Reaper, who grinned, slightly sadistic. "I know, that it's hard to believe right now, but you will."

"As for now, we are enemies."

The Reaper nodded. "Whatever you want, I'm sure that you'll see the Goddess again one day, Akemi-san."

Homura's eyes widened before glaring at the Reaper with rage. "You know nothing, of what I've been through."

And with that she turned, walked a few steps before the glowing wings appeared on her back and she took off into the night sky. She blinked tears away from her eyes as the wind whisked past her.

"What's wrong with her?" Mami asked to herself worriedly.

"I guess I hit a nerve." The Reaper spoke casually. Kyoko growled. "Don't take us lightly, bastard."

He sighed. "I guess you're still angry over the gem incident."

"Like hell I am."

"I guess you saw Miki-san on your way out."

Kyoko clenched her teeth. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." He answered. "I planned for it to happen. I negotiated with the Goddess, since they found your body, I decided it was time to let you go."

"Did Sayaka know about this?"

"No. She hardly knows about me, Miki-san simply thought that it was the Goddesses idea."

"So… she's tricked?" She snarled.

"That's not it, although it's hard to explain."

"Speaking of that Goddess.." Mami started, her eyes moving from where Homura took off to the Reaper again. "Did Homura know her before she threw her life away?"

The Reaper frowned. "Yes, but I am prolonged not to tell you about that."

"How was the world changed?"

"I cannot tell you yet."

Mami glared, and Kyoko remembered something from a dream that she had. "Witches? Was that it?" The blonde turned to her, eyes wide in shock. "Witches?"

Reaper's frown turned into a grimace. "I cannot tell you."

"Hmph. I thought so." Kyoko turned and walked out of the courtyard with stride. Leaving Mami alone with the Reaper.

"To be honest, I don't get much of this." Mami stated with her back turned to the Reaper. "You will not tell us what we need to know. Therefore, I cannot trust you."

And with that Mami glowed yellow and turned back into her school uniform as she walked away.

The Reaper waited for total silence, the wind picked up and brushed his cloak over slightly, and he smirked under the hood, his eyes gleaming with brutality.

"Those fools."

Homura glanced at the white moon, over at the thousands of stars that lit up the sky. She sat in the forest away from the town, lying against the trunk of an old tree, leaves surrounded her but she could still see the dark sky staring at her.

"The Law of Madoka…" She whispered to herself. Her long and dark hair was spread against the trunk, her eyes were dark and full of reminiscence. "Madoka…"

Homura found herself reaching up to the pink ribbon that was placed in her hair, she only wore one, and where the other one was was a secret. She ran her pale fingers over the ribbon before pulling at it, it fell out of her hair and into her waiting hand, and Homura stared at it, as a memory resurfaced.

So, how about we become monsters together, and turn this world upside down?

Homura clenched her hand tight on the ribbon.

So that… nothing sad.. or bad would remain. Destroy, destroy, destroy it all. Wouldn't that be just fine?

She remembered her own crying voice in her head and shut her eyes. Then she remembered Madoka's voice.

I was lying before… I had one.

That's- Why me?!

Because I have something to ask of you… something only you can do. Homura-chan, you can go back to the past, right? You said you can change history so that it won't end up like this?

Hearing Madoka's tearful voice in Homura's mind made tears appear in her eyes. Why..

Will you save me from my stupidity… before I get fooled by Kyubey?

I promise! I'll save you for sure! No matter how many times I'll have to repeat it, I swear I'll protect you!

Homura clutched her head in her hands. Why… why…

Can I ask.. you one more thing?

I don't want to become a witch.

There were tough times… and sad times. But there are a lot of things…. In this world… that I want to protect..

Madoka!

Homura-chan, you finally called me by my first name. I'm so happy…

"I'll save you." Homura smoothed out her hair, her eyes once again gaining that same icy expression. "Madoka."

"What does that ribbon really mean huh?"

Homura turned her head to see Kyoko in her green hoodie and jeans, her soul gem turned into a ring as she stuffed her hands into her pocket. The dark haired girl stood up. "It's none of your business."

"Homura, you keep too many secrets." Kyoko said darkly, glaring at the magical, who just glared back. "What's behind that mask of yours?"

Homura gestured in an ignorant manner. "Leave me alone."

The redhead's expression turned into a smirk, the shadows of the night shining down on them made Kyoko's face almost haunting. "Do you trust the Reaper?"

"He's hiding something. It's obvious, you know it."

"What, like you?"

Homura narrowed her eyes. "No, he's lying to us."

"And you aren't?" Kyoko asked testily, that smirk not leaving.

"Are you saying that you can't trust me?" The dark haired girl asked, her violet eyes never leaving the redhead's position.

Kyoko's smirk turned into a glare instantly, she stared at Homura coldly. "Are you trying to pick a fight, Akemi Homura?"

Homura was silent, she knew that something was up now. Kyoko never called her by the full name unless it was something important or different. "No."

"Liar."

Homura frowned. "If I was a liar, why would you work with me?"

"Think about this.." Kyoko started. "What if I was only tagging along with you guys to find more grief seeds? All that soul gem crap was just an act and I was really in this world the whole time? What if I was working with the Reaper?"

Purple eyes widened at the redhead's words. "What… do you mean?"

Kyoko smirked. "Let's try something." She held out her hand, her ring turned into the soul gem as it hovered in front of her, her whole body glowed as she turned into her red dress and boots. She formed a spear in her hand and spun it around. She moved her foot back and went into a fighting stance, pointing her spear at Homura.

"Let's see how long you can hold against me."

A/N: Ha! I'm just cursing you guys with cliff-hangers aren't I? Hehe….

Well, the villain's identity is revealed, so now I can stop calling him 'the man', I was getting sick of it… And now you know more so…

Oh and just a little note from the author and a hint, don't believe everything the Reaper says. Be cautious..

-Otaku4eva99

I found da line of da Rebellion trailer haha!