Author Notes:
Thanks to James Birdsong and Guess for their reviews! And to answer Guess's qestion, they keep their original personalities because for one, if they switched them we'd have a repeat of Homura's journey to save Madoka and it would be boring, and second, for the evulz, as Madoka is far more empathic than Homura, in Kotomine Kirei's words "her suffering will be far more exquisite to behold...", please don't flame me! XD
Also thanks KiyumiArashi for such an in depth review to this and my other story Judgement, I'm really glad you enjoyed them and will do my best to improve and make them as enjoyable to read as its for me to write them! And yeah you got me, I had to play a little with Madoka's personality but will try to keep her in character, that motto is really a huge part of who she is.
Madoka will always be Madoka and Homura will always be Homura, that's what I liked from the anime, even though Homura tried to take Madoka's place, she couldn't as their approach to solving a problem or facing a situation are different, both with their pros and cons. They're different but compliment each other. That's why I like their dynamic.
Now to the story! And with music!
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Libera Me from Hell
Chapter 2 - Exchange
Song: Yuki Kajiura - Decretum
And so the hero of justice stood alone against her enemy, white cape swaying in the wind as she readied her sword for a final strike. Before her, a giant of a beast stood, resembling a mix between a lizard and a bus, huge body filled with yellow scales with black stripes and yellowish maddened lamps for eyes, forever angry, a being born from betrayal that lived only to sow her revenge on the world that ruined her life.
Spewing forth flames of pure hatred that could melt even the strongest of steels, the demon attacked the white caped crusader with all she got. Sayaka dodged by rolling to her left and kept advancing towards her target, her face a look of complete resolve and confidence. Her movements graceful and unstoppable.
The being raised a clawed hand with a strong resemblance to broken tires and metal pipes and slammed it hard against Sayaka. The hero of justice countered by summoning forth a circle of beautiful musical notes that she used as a platform, and so high in the air she floated, far away from her troubles and the danger that the being posed to her. Creating another set of platforms in front of the witch she launched herself against her objective emitting a battle cry as she fell, like a graceful comet or a shooting star...
The witch retaliated by spewing another volley of flames towards Sayaka, but she countered by summoning several more platforms and changing her trajectory at the last second. If anyone could have seen the battle they'd be awestuck as Sayaka fought with all her might against her enemy.
One volley of flame came far too close to home and burned Sayaka's arm. She flinched at the heat but didn't stop her assault and instead slammed her blade between the demon's lit eyes.
The beast let out a guttural cry of anger and agony as the hero of justice broke both lights and left it blind, it clawed at its face with its scaled metallic hands trying to kill the hero but she dodged the claws with ease and kept injuring the beast.
"And now for my final strike!" screamed Sayaka as she readied her sword and prepared her finisher move and then...
"Honey! Come eat your breakfast or you're going to be late for school!" said an older feminine voice from outside of her room.
"Coming mom!" said Homura as she lowered her pen and admired the wonderful artwork she had just written.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Song: Yuki Kajiura - Scaena felix
A feeling of contentment filled Homura Akemi that day, she was closer to finishing her story than expected and she couldn't wait to show it to the other members of the book club she just began. "One month and we already have over 20 members!" thought Homura with glee as she thought of all the wonderful stories and friends she had made that year. It was no doubt her year, after having moved with momma to Mitakihara from Fuyuki almost one year ago, she had come to class, afraid she wouldn't be able to make any friends, after all, that land had a bad reputation of periodically being the center of disasters, like that fire that had consumed it 10 years ago...and losing her previous life hadn't been something one would get over easily.
Still, she was lucky to have such a supportive mom as hers, and one of the most cool to! At least that's what everybody told her after meeting her mother, Maiya Akemi. She was one of the strongest womans ever, being a single mother and having single-handily taken care of Homura. Homura didn't know much about her father, as her mother refused to talk too much about him, all she knew was that he was a pretty famous name in the underground and made a living on shady business; they had met in a faraway country and he had taken her as his apprentice to travel around the world and help him on his "line of work". After learning of her pregnancy he had abandoned her, and that was it. Homura didn't dare to ask too much about her previous life as it always brought tears to her mother's eyes and Homura didn't like seeing her sad. She admired her mother so much and hoped to one day grow to become as cool as her.
Still, everything had worked out smoothly and she had made quite a reputation at school due to her good grades and being a good child. She was confident and hopeful that the future would bring her new and more exciting joys.
She walked down the stairs to the kitchen where her mom was busy reading the newspaper while calmly drinking a cup of coffee. "Good morning honey" said her mother in that kind tone of hers.
"Good morning momma!" said Homura with a huge smile on her face as she looked at her breakfast. Waffles, her favorite! Her mother smiled at the sight of her daughter as Homura took a seat and starting serving her tray.
"I've been told by the school staff about the club you organized, congratulations" said her mother as Homura took a bite from the food before her, it was delicious! At hearing the praise from her mother she swelled her chest in pride.
"Thanks mom! I'm really glad you approve of it" said Homura politely bowing to her mother figure. Even though her mother was usually carefree, the serious streak seemed to run in the family and they usually acknowledged each other politely.
"Now now, you don't have to be so modest. I'm sure you're going to do great." said her mother and Homura's eyes lit up.
Then she remembered she had to finish her food already or she would be late. "Oh no! I'm late!" Worriedly she took several mouthfuls of food and downed a huge glass of orange juice, almost choking in the attempt which garnered her a small chuckle from her mother.
"Have a nice day darling" said her mother with a smile, and then with a more serious expression she said "and if one of your classmates gives you trouble, remember the move I taught you..." she said with a more somber expression.
"Momma you're scary" said Homura while laughing nervously and remembering the sparring and combat lessons her mother had taught her a long time ago. She believed those things were part of the training her mother had taken while in her old job. She didn't give it much of a thought.
Grabbing her school bag Homura gave her mother a high five as she headed for school.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Song: Madoka Portable OST Spes - Materia Madocae
Fortunately for Homura time was not something she usually had to worry about. For some weird reason she had a very good sense of time and usually could plan and adjust her activities perfectly, making the most out of every minute. Her mother told her it ran in the family. Either way, she managed to arrive at the usual meeting place and she spotted two familiar figures, one a cheerful girl with blue hair that was looking at her with a look of fake annoyance while a green haired girl gave her a shy smile.
"Homura, where have you been? We almost thought you wouldn't make it!" said Sayaka as she got a hold of Homura with her arm and took her towards her other friend Hitomi.
"Sorry! I was writing my story and kind of lost track of time..." said Homura while trying to free herself from Sayaka's hold.
"Oh that's great Homura, can't wait to read what happens next" said Hitomi politely. Even though Homura had been shy of showing her stories to her friends, after much pleading she had relented and they had somehow convinced her to start her book club. She was thankful at having such supportive friends.
"Oi Oi! You better have given the heroine a good finisher!" said Sayaka with joy. "Something like, I don't know, a giant energy blast or even better! Her own world made of swords!" said Sayaka raising her voice as her excitement grew. Somewhere in a parallel universe, a tanned man with white hair sneezed.
"Thanks for your input...I'll...consider it" said Homura politely. Sayaka had asked her if she could appear in her stories given her love for stories of good versus evil and finally Homura had added her as the protagonist. It had worked pretty well but still, in a lot of the encounters she was left with the feeling that somehow they would have ended differently if they had happened for real. The one with the fire demon for example, Homura couldn't shake off the sensation that the being would have burnt Sayaka to a crisp the moment she got too close, as morbid as that thought was, she just felt it as if it had already happened. Shaking the offending thought she focused on the great day ahead.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Song: Madoka Portable OST Ubi Eam
She rolled on her bed, unable to manage sleep. It was just too much...
Her head felt hot as the visions kept playing in her mind. She was in front of her class, hands clasped in front of her, hunched, her braids hanging by her sides as she stared at the floor, feeling completely nervous and unable to keep eye contact with anyone. Far away a pinkette, herself, was looking with eager eyes and a huge smile.
Then she stared at her beloved mother, Junko Kaname as they shared a glass, hers of juice while her mother drank her vodka with calm. "I can't wait to be old enough to drink with you!" said Madoka in her usual cheerful voice.
"Then grow up faster!" answered Junko with a smile.
The scene transformed to one of her mother looking at her with scorn, in a house she had never seen, while she was on the floor sobbing. "You're so useless! Why can't you do anything right?" shouted her mother at her while Madoka stared at the broken glass, she only wanted some water to stop the dizziness she felt, but her strength had waned at the last minute, and now she was on the floor, sobbing as her mother kept shouting and insulting her for her weakness.
Another scene and she was staring at her own dismembered corpse, product of Izabel's black claws. She had blown up the whole barrier and half of the factory in a rage, the structure collapsing upon itself and taking Sayaka and Kyouko with it. Kyouko had been blown to smithereens while Sayaka laid several meters ahead, impaled through the stomach by a broken pipe that had fallen from the collapsing structure. She was sobbing so loudly while trying to forget the sight of the blood and her broken face...she knew she wouldn't.
Scene after scene kept flashing across Madoka's mind, not letting her rest. It had been like this since she had taken her wish and changed destiny, world after world mixing and robbing her of her sleep. She even had troubles discerning which memories belonged to which timeline, some where Homura's, others were from her old life, her happy life she had thrown away for this wish, and others were from this reality, her reality, filling with despair every minute.
Kyubey making her make the contract while she stared in horror from another's perspective, from Homura's eyes as she shouted in rage and despair while pink light engulfed her. Of Mami shooting everyone to death while laughing hysterically, of laughing with Sayaka and Hitomi while hanging at the mall, of her family leaving her at the hospital, telling her they would be back, and never showing ever again. Watching the world end by her cause as the dark witch that came from her Soulgem swallowed the world...
************End of Chapter************
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
End Notes / Rant:
Honestly I was of the idea of simply maiming and killing them horribly on this one XD, but I'm also a fan of the Earn your Happy Ending trope and I'm feeling tempted to change the outcome. Guess it will depend on my mood...
This chapter is more like buying time and establish the setting as I won't have too much time to advance the plot this week. Also I'm in kind of a logical tangle, I'm not sure if Madoka should or shouldn't be a Mahou Shoujo from the beginning of this timeline. My logical being tells me she should but then her body wouldn't be frail and would make things too easy...and also what would her weapon be? I don't think she should have the bow as her wish was changed to one of empathy, actually I have no idea what a bow has to do with the wish of saving a cat...Rule of Cool I guess?
And so here it is! More like Prelude time, I've thought about it and feel this story can have more chapters. How many I have no idea, guess it will depend on how well its received and the inspiration.
This week I just found and downloaded the whole Madoka series in Blu-Ray and I. JUST HAD TO WATCH IT, not very smart of me as I'm in exams and supposed to be studying...
Today: There's no way I'd regret this...
Exam in Friday: I'm such a fool!
But I still cant get over how Urobuchi did it, just when you feel like shes gonna win in Episode 3 (yeah, a weird part of my brain kept telling me she would survive this time...) WHAM! chompped, and then when you feel things couldn't get worse, he manages to turn it Up to Eleven...