"What are you saying?" Mami said, folding her arms and staring down the dark Magical Girl. "That is just ridiculous!"
"For real, just why exactly would Kyubey do something like that to us?" Sayaka said. "This is stupid, we already know just how two-faced you are! Do you really expect us to believe something like that coming from you of all people?"
"I'm with the rookie on that one," said Kyoko, poising her spear. "Mami, Sayaka, why don't the two of you get out of here. I've got a score to settle with this chick. I'll settle things with the rest of ya' later."
Homura just stood there with her eyes closed, waiting for the initial berating to come to an end. This wasn't the first time she had been in this situation with this group, after all, so she knew it would be pointless to try and talk over them for at least another few minutes.
"W-would you all just listen to her?" Madoka said, stepping forward. Her eyes were already tearing up. She had been the first to hear the truth about how a SoulGem was quite literally the container for a Magical Girl's soul and she trusted what Homura had told her while time was stopped. "Sh-she wouldn't lie about something this serious!"
Sayaka gritted her teeth, upset to see that Madoka was still staying by Homura's side despite all of this. "Madoka! What the heck are you thinking? I don't know why you can't see it, but she quite clearly has a few screws loose, and that's just the start of it." Sayaka disenchanted her sword as she walked forward, then forcefully grabbed Madoka by the wrist. Madoka gasped as Sayaka started pulling her away.
"Sayaka! Stop it!" Madoka said, trying to resist, but Sayaka always was much stronger than her, even before becoming a Magical Girl. "Y-you're hurting me!"
Sayaka continued to walk forward, pulling Madoka along behind her. "Sorry, but I don't care if you get mad at me for this or not. Whatever you think, she's dangerous and I'm going to protect you from her."
"Sayaka, let go of me!" Madoka screamed. "I don't need protection!"
Madoka suddenly disappeared from her grasp, and Sayaka stumbled forward from the release of resistance. She quickly spun around to find Homura standing right in front of her with Madoka now a few paces behind. The girl's eyes were dark and intense. "Madoka asked you to let her go, Sayaka Miki. I try to respect your relationship as childhood friends, but I won't stand by and watch someone hurt my girlfriend, no matter who they are."
Sayaka quickly enchanted a sword into her grasp and brought its tip up to Homura's throat. When it registered in Madoka's mind what Sayaka was doing she let out a loud gasp and shouted: "No! S-stop! Sayaka!"
Homura had no reaction to Sayaka's blade, but she put out an open palm behind herself to signal Madoka back. "Just stay back for a moment, Madoka. It's alright."
"Sayaka," Mami said, taking a few steps forward. "There is a much simpler way to deal with this." Sayaka did not respond, and instead just continued to stare down Homura, whose face still failed to react to the aggression. Mami continued: "Let's see if she is able to prove this wild claim. If she can not, then I'm sure even Madoka will begin to see her for what she is." She put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder, and gently pulled her back, and Sayaka grudgingly let her blade lower in response. "So how about it, Miss Akemi? Can you actually prove this claim? That Kyubey has lied to us about what exactly his contract entails, and that our SoulGems are in fact our souls in a physical form?"
Homura stared at them with a blank expression on her face.
Sayaka clicked her teeth. "What did I tell you? Look at her, she's got nothing to say. She is lying about this just like she lies about everything!" She tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, and held it more steadily with its tip mere inches from Homura's chest. "I don't know how you managed to get Madoka to buy into your crap, but I'm done with this. Either you leave this town, and leave Madoka alone, or I'm really going to have to do something about it!"
Kyoko nearby rolled her eyes, thinking how foolish the rookie was. Kyoko now saw the dark Magical Girl as her enemy as well, but she knew that Sayaka was way out of her league openly challenging Homura like this. She was just about to step in herself, before Homura started to move forward. Kyoko's spear suddenly became limp in her hands and her mouth fell open in shock.
Mami gasped: "Akemi-san!"
"H-Homura-chan!" Madoka shouted, eyes wide.
Homura walked into Sayaka's blade and forced her body forward, not reacting at all as its tip sunk into her chest and a dark red stain appeared on her blouse. Sayaka gasped, and tried stepping back, but Homura matched each step forward, and drove herself against the blade even harder until it penetrated all the way through her and it's now-crimson tip appeared out of the center of her back with another red stain forming around the exit wound.
Sayaka screamed, letting the blade go and tripping as she tried to back away. She fell down hard, landing on her butt and just stared at Homura with wide horrified eyes.
"This is the truth of what our bodies are like," Homura explained with a rough voice. Blood slid down along the blade, and dripped from the hilt as Homura raised her hand to grab it. She pulled the blade from her chest in one quick motion, coughing up a small spray of blood as she tossed the blade to the side. The sword dispersed into a mist of fine blue sparkles, almost like snow flakes, before finishing its descent to the ground.
Homura grinned ironically, her teeth and gums now dark-red with blood. "I'm afraid I am not so good at blocking out the pain, but that is another skill we possess. You will become quite adept at this yourself, Sayaka Miki."
"M-monster!" Sayaka screamed, pointing one finger at the girl who stood over her. "I knew there was something up with you! Y-you're not even human!"
"You are correct. I am not human," Homura said as she took a quick glance at Kyoko and Mami who had completely shocked expressions on their faces and both seemed to be at a loss for words. "I am afraid that none of us are… not anymore."
Homura could not bare to look at Madoka just now, not wanting Madoka to see her face when she was like this. She had explained to her what was about to happen while time was stopped, so the pinkette should be able to handle this better than the other girls right now, and Homura did not feel an immediate need to comfort her.
Kyoko finally got herself together enough to step forward and say: "I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling here! But this doesn't mean a damn thing! You are just doing something with your magic!"
Homura held her hand against the wound, feeling a bit dizzy from the blood loss, but knowing it would be fine once she had healed it and closed the wound again. A normal human body would have died instantly from having the heart punctured like this, but of course her body was really just a shell. A doll, or perhaps a puppet, which was controlled by her true self - her SoulGem.
"Kyubey!" Homura shouted. "Why don't you show yourself now, and explain things to them. I promise I will not attack you."
Kyubey obeyed instantly, revealing that he was not very far away this entire time, and had practically been hiding in plain sight. He stepped out of the shadows and his little paws carried him to the center of their group where he then sat down on his haunches. His tail waved once, and his placid little smile remained stationed the way it always was on his unchanging face, below two glowing red eyes.
"Kyubey! What is this?!" Mami demanded. "Go ahead and reveal her lies! There is no way you would trick us like that, right?"
"Well, I don't know what you would mean by trick," Kyubey said, his tail continuing to wave. It felt like there was a certain cruelty in the uncaring tone of his voice. "And there is nothing that needs correcting about what Homura Akemi has said. She did not lie about a single thing."
Aida reached over to Kaiji's phone as it continued to ring. She looked at it for a moment and then rejected the call. "It is just your brother again," she explained.
They had untied him from the chair a while ago, and brought him over to the computer terminal. Takashi gave him a warning not to try anything stupid now that his hands were free, and assured him that he would not get very far even if he did try.
His phone lay on the desktop and had a metal device about the size of a cigarette pack plugged into its charging port, with another wire coming off of the device and leading into the computer terminal.
"This device is for feeding the hacker false coordinates on your GPS," Aida explained. "Since she likely already saw the text to your wife, I have used this device to alter the code of your GPS and confirm that you are indeed still at the lab. Simply inserting a piece of code directly into your GPS could have achieved this much easier, but I suspect our hacker is not so easily fooled, thus I have made my alteration somewhere that she is far less likely to notice it."
"I still don't know what you expect of me," Kaiji said. "I don't have the kind of relationship with these girls that you seem to think I do. I'm just as much their enemy as anyone else in that lab."
"Considering you have let one go free when you easily could have had her captured… I think you are our best chance," Aida said. "They will remember this deed, and perhaps have some trust in you."
"What makes you so sure Kyoko Sakura plans to go back into the lab at all?"
"Call it a hunch," Takashi said, folding his arms in a way to make it apparent he was getting annoyed by Kaiji's complaints.
"Just think about it," Kaiji said. "Whether I let her go or not, there is no way they would be a hundred percent confident I had not revealed Kay's identity by now. Even if I hadn't, how could they be sure I wouldn't have a change of heart while she is underground and vulnerable?"
"That is why we suspect they may call you first," Aida said. "To see where you stand. When they do, all you need is to assure them her identity is secure, and it is safe for her to visit Homura at her appointment tonight."
Kaiji shook his head. "I still think you are making a pretty big assumption. If Kyoko is smart she wouldn't go anywhere near the lab aga-."
"She will!" Aida shouted, cutting him off. "If she cares for the life of her friend, she most certainly will." A darkness had come over her all of a sudden, and Kaiji wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
Takashi cleared his throat. "The power of a Puella Magi is limited, and needs to be refueled. At least, that's what we understand about it. However, one of those girls running out of magic isn't quite the same as a car running out of gas." Takashi glanced over to Aida for a moment, who had an uncharacteristic disconnection to her all of a sudden. "Something happens to them… Now, keep in mind this is just a theory right now, but we have reasons for coming to it. When the attack on the lab started last night, we assumed it was because Homura had run out of gas. Since it turns out she is still alive, we are not really sure where the hell it came from, though we do have a couple of theories."
Takashi removed a cigarette pack from inside his jacket, flipped the top up with his thumb and pulled one out with his mouth. He then exchanged the pack for a Zippo lighter in his coat and lit it before continuing. "Anyway, I don't want too much weighing on your mind while you've still got a job to do. Let's just leave it at this: we believe the whole purpose of Kyoko Sakura infiltrating the lab was to provide Homura with her magic source. She will be back, because she will need to smuggle in more magic. If she doesn't, then Homura Akemi will suffer a fate far worse than death."
The world became calm once again, and the Clara Dolls relaxed along with it. Okubyou still huddled down in the fetal position with her arms over her head. Nekura sat back with her arms propping herself up as she groaned on and on about how they were all doomed. For most of the others, they just watched Homura with dirty looks, while Homura sat where she was with a lost expression in her eyes.
Homulilly examined the sky and watched the restless stirring of the dark clouds overhead, her stiff shoulders moving along with the movements of her head as she did so.
She raised one of her boney fingers to her face and felt along one of the cracks in her porcelain cheek. "It seems they have removed your SoulGem from its hiding place. Surely you understand the stakes, Homura. How can you risk delaying any longer?"
Homura stared into the coffin, her eyes were wide and perhaps this latest revelation was the last straw which brought her past the point of being able to truly feel the horror of her situation.
True, living in a nightmare was not new to her, as she spent many years living a different kind of nightmare. She relived it over and over and over again, countless times, and after those countless years of struggle she had brought it to an end. However, as a reward she had only been offered the most miniscule taste of salvation. Just as she was barely able to feel it upon her tongue, it was snatched away from her once again. It wasn't fair... after everything she had been through, why was this where she ended up?
She had once again been separated from the girl she loved, and taken to a lonely place underground where she could not even see her. At the end of that road, she became broken. Her arm was torn off, along with the most important portion of her powers. The monster that had done this to her still lingered around, and her friends had no idea of that demon's existence.
Yes… now her friends were in danger as well, and who is to say Madoka would be able to stay strong enough through all of this and resist making a contract? Even if she did resist, how could she have a happy life when everything had fallen apart like this? She would be plagued with the idea that she could put an end to all of it with just a few simple words to the incubator. Kyubey would torment her further by constantly reminding her of this until she finally broke down. The reality is, if she were to make that contract, it would not help anyone, but only bring about greater suffering.
It was too cruel… all of this was just too cruel…
"Homura, look at this door," Homulilly said, placing herself behind Homura so her sickly voice could whisper directly into her ear as they stared into the coffin together. "This door has always been here, waiting for you. It is the destination you were always headed for. However, you had been distracted, because on your path to this end you were tempted by other doorways. Other possibilities with promises of better endings. You have traveled through that endless maze for years, suffering for the sake of achieving that false promise of a brighter future. Look around now. Those doors are gone, and only this one remains. There is no brighter future, and there is no more hope. There is not even false hope to distract you. It has all come down to this, the ultimate end for every Magical Girl… no… the final doorway of all living creatures… for as I have told you before: All things end in despair."
"Then what was the point?" Homura asked, her voice now completely toneless.
Yes, what was the point of all of this? If this is how things were meant to end… why did she have to go through so much suffering?
An old memory came back to her. It was from her life before she became a Magical Girl. She was walking home from her first day at Mitakihara Middle School, feeling depressed about how worthless she was, and a voice had spoken to her. It was not much unlike the voice of the witch who currently whispered in her ear. It said: "Maybe it would be better if you just died…"
Maybe it really would have been better for her to have died that day. If that were the case, she never would have become friends with Madoka. Being friends with Madoka was the greatest thing to have ever happened to her, but did she really deserve it? Despite all of her fighting, she was unable to do anything for the girl whom she loved. All she wanted was to give Madoka a happier life, but she could not even achieve that. It was all for nothing.
The witch's icy touch upon her shoulder strengthened, and somehow the coldness was mistaken for warmth in her mind. Like the painful kind of warmth that came with the numbing of one's nerves. "It was not all for nothing, Homura," the witch said. "Through all of those repeats, most things would stay the same, but was something not left behind each time?"
Homura's eyes widened.
No…
The witch's wooden jaw fell open, and its hinges began to cackle as she whispered into Homura's ear: "Your idea of a perfect end is a reality that could never be. Yet there is another dream we can achieve. Your human way of thinking doesn't allow you to see the beauty of it, but just try to imagine the world that could be created."
"No… Y-you're talking about…"
"The Witch of Salvation. Yes." Homulilly laughed a dry raspy laughter, and a stale smell came from the creature's throat. "Madoka will make a contract. Sooner or later, she will contract. You know this. Once she does, it is only a matter of time before the savior is born, and she will thus plummet this world into despair - bringing an end to suffering. We could be a part of it... You have dreamed this dream once before… Do you not remember? You were right alongside the girl whom you have vowed your life to when we first shared this vision."
Homura remembered… Walpurgisnacht had made its pass over the city, leaving utter ruin in its wake. The tails of the storm following the massive witch had lingered, resulting in a light rain as Homura and Madoka lay in the wreckage of their destroyed city. All of their friends were already dead: Sayaka had died as a witch; Kyoko by Mami's hand; and Mami by Madoka herself.
"Why don't the two of us just become witches?" Homura had said, feeling her consciousness fading, and her humanity slipping away. "We could destroy… everything in this horrible world. Everything that has ever made us hate, everything that makes us cry. We could turn it all into ashes until nothing is left... like it was all just a bad dream! Wouldn't that be nice?"
They stared up into the rain together, their arms crossed over each other, with both of their SoulGems growing darker and darker in the palms of their hands. Madoka laughed ironically and agreed. The idea was bittersweet, and in that moment it certainly did not sound so bad. As things had been, it seemed there was not much point in fighting on… at least, that's how Homura had felt… but Madoka had different plans…
Homulilly whispered in Homura's ear. "She was wrong to do that. It is not her fault, though. I'm sure if she realized the suffering it would cause you, she never would have given you such an impossible task. Don't you agree?"
"There are terrible, awful things in this world. I know that now," Madoka had said, as Homura begged her to simply use the GriefSeed on herself instead. "But there are also a lot of things worth protecting too."
She stared into the coffin, lost in her thoughts, and reliving that painful day. The memory became so vivid inside her head she thought she could actually hear Madoka's voice.
"Don't let me be stupid!" Madoka had cried. "Don't let Kyubey fool me again!"
When the memory reached its conclusion, with one final request from that timeline's Madoka, Homura could actually feel the sting on the palm of her hands from the recoil of the gun. She had to pull the trigger and personally end the life of her only friend, so that she would not have to suffer the same fate as Sayaka had in that timeline.
As Homura's consciousness rolled back to this version of reality, she looked down at her palm, which was still softly vibrating as if the memory actually had been lived through just now.
"You have failed, Homura," Homulilly said, now pushing up on her shoulder, forcing her to stand. The dolls began to stir, and mischievous looks came on their faces as some repositioned themselves to surround Homura. Others came right up to her, one grabbing her hand, others finding little fistfulls of her clothing to pull her by as they started to lead her forward. They were becoming more aggressive, and it seemed they were prepared to forcefully throw Homura into the coffin if she tried to resist them anymore.
"Your power allowed you to keep trying, long past the point when this should have happened. That power is gone now. It is time to end this." Homulilly's bony grip tightened on Homura's shoulder as she pushed her forward.
"No… Please… I-I need more time," Homura tried pleading with them, but her resolve was weak.
"We have waited long enough. You have failed through countless timelines and you will continue to fail. Now, end it. The only thing delaying will result in is a risk to your SoulGem. If we are destroyed before getting the chance to hatch and spread our labyrinth through the human world, this truly will have been for nothing. Remember that dream, allow me to be born, and let's crush their world into ashes and erase all of those things that have made you suffer!"
The Claras, along with the witch, continued to pull and push her. She could resist this if she wanted to. She always had before. This was not the first time her SoulGem had darkened, and if the clouds overhead were any clue, her SoulGem had indeed become quite dark. This was not the first time she just wanted to give up. She would normally find the courage to continue, to place her hand on her shield, and go back for another round. Now, even if she could have found that courage she no longer had the option to go back. She could not fight off the despair. As she was pushed closer and closer to the black doorway, she felt as though the coffin was growing larger and larger before her, until she was just a tiny speck at the foot of its threshold.
The Clara Dolls giggled anxiously, eager for their Good-For-Nothing master to take control. Once it was done, they could start snatching souls from the Human world, and feed off of their despair. Homulilly was no ordinary witch, and she had a plan. It was a plan they would not let Worthless know about, because Good-For-Nothing warned them that she might try to prevent their birth if she were to find out.
First, they would trap those humans underground with the witch, and feasting on their souls would grow her power exponentially. Then she would go out, and search. She would go find that delicate pink light which both she and her own seed were drawn to… and then Madoka Kaname, the seed of Kriemhild, would be granted despair until finally making her own contract that would allow the savior to be born.
"This is really how it ends," Homura thought, oblivious to what these creatures from her own inner world were plotting. "Madoka… I'm… sorry I couldn't…"
Homura closed her eyes and let her head hang limp, her body gave up on resisting. This is it… she would just keep her eyes closed and let this creature have its way. What choice did she have? Tears pushed out of her closed eyes as she moved forward another step. She would no longer be able to fight. She just prayed that Madoka would be okay.
"Madoka… I'm..."
A whizzing sound pierced through the air. The dolls screamed, and the ones that had been tugging on her let go before retreating. Homura's eyes shot open to find herself able to see nothing but the blackness of the coffin. She was just one step away from entering it, and all it would take was a simple thrust of the witch's boney hand to push her inside.
Homura glanced around herself, finding that the Clara Dolls had all backed away from her. Then she saw what had made that sound. It was an arrow made of black and purple light, sticking out of the ground. It was like a shadow that had taken physical form, a perfect silhouette of a real arrow. It had the shape of feathers at its end, as an arrow would, but there was no distinction between the different parts. It was one solid object made of some black and purple substance which rolled along the object's form. Homura instantly thought of the way corruption rolls around inside of a SoulGem.
"What is this?" a cold voice whispered inside her head. "Why are we giving up?"
The voice compelled her. She completely forgot about the dolls, and the witch who stood at her shoulder, as she started looking around for the owner of this voice. She stepped away from the coffin, pushing past the witch and escaping its icy grip, and her eyes scanned the endless hills of red until she saw it.
The figure was made of the same black and purple substance as the arrow it had fired, and shared that quality of a living shadow. It had the shape of a girl. The silhouette of her long black hair blew as if caught in a breeze, with tiny wisps of purplish fog raising away from her like an aura. Her dress was only distinguishable from the rest of her body because her skin favored the purple coloring more than the black, while the dress itself was almost solid black with only slight hints of purple rolling around inside it. It was drawn tight to the figure of her body, leaving her back bare, and covering the front of her body from the chest down until it ended in a long skirt of feathers which blew in sync with the creature's hair.
Two solid white eyes slowly opened on the creature's otherwise blank, purple-black face. It did not have a mouth, but it spoke again. Its voice echoed as though it were coming from the world itself, as if every single one of the red spider lilies that lined the floor of this world were a tiny speaker, all broadcasting the devil's voice. "Homura. This is not over. Let us suffer a little longer."
"K-Kyubey, you're kidding, right?" Mami asked, her lip quivering. "There is no way that could be true."
Homura held her hand against her chest and started healing the hole in her body. A soft light emitted from each side of the wound, as well as from the SoulGem on the back of her hand as she did so.
Kyubey looked over to Mami. "Of course it's true, why would I lie about something like that now?"
"You bastard!" Kyoko shouted. "Why would you lie about it in the first place!"
"You must be mistaken, Kyoko Sakura," Kyubey said. "It is not possible for me to have lied about this before, because I have never addressed it before."
"B-but why would you do that to us in the first place!" Sayaka said with a wavering voice. She still sat on the ground with her legs spread and knees pointing up in the air. The dual shock of seeing Homura's actions, and now hearing these words from Kyubey had her too stunned to move. "Y-you should have told us!"
His glowing red eyes returned to look at Sayaka. "I gladly would have explained if you had simply asked, but you never did. How is it my fault that you did not think to ask more questions about the contract you were signing? Besides, your job as a Magical Girl would be impossible to fulfill effectively with an ordinary human body. If you were to sustain too much damage during a witch fight, your soul would leave your body and you would be dead. This way, it is kept in a nice safe container where it is much easier to protect and keep track of!"
"Shut up!" Sayaka screamed at him, tears streaming down her face. "Who the hell asked you to do that! I didn't want that!"
Kyubey shook his head. "You just don't get it. Here, let me show you." Kyubey's left ear then moved upward until it was horizontal with the ground and became completely stiff. There were surprised gasps from the group of girls, who have never seen this action from him before. The ear then turned and pointed at Sayaka who just stared back at him with wide eyes, getting an eerie feeling from the creature that sat in front of her.
All of a sudden the ear expanded, its pink curves stretching like a group of elongated fingers as it shot toward Sayaka.
In a startled panic, Sayaka tried to scoot away, but they came at her too fast, and wove together in a spiral that dove directly into her SoulGem. Sayaka's mouth fell wide open as it collided, and a muted scream became stuck in her throat as all color drained from her face. The tentacle-like fingers then receded back, and returned to their normal shape to reform Kyubey's ear. Everyone seemed to be in utter shock, lost for words by what they had just seen.
After a moment of choking on air, Sayaka managed to inhale a breath, and as she exhaled again, it dislodged the scream that had been held in her throat. Her voice carried an ear-piercing tone as she bent forward, holding onto her stomach and screaming in agony.
"Miki-san! What's wrong?" Mami said.
"S-Sayaka!" Madoka quickly ran over to her friend.
Sayaka rolled over onto her side. "AH! I-IT HURTS! MAKE IT STOP! ITS HURTS!" She continued to scream, the sound of her voice was unlike anything any of them had heard before. Even Kyoko who was rarely affected by anything like this felt horrified from the sound alone, and wanted it to stop.
"What the hell!" Kyoko shouted at Kyubey, her eyes wide and full of disgusted fury. "Cut it out!"
Homura was the only one who seemed unaffected by the sound, and simply stood with her head turned, silently watching the scene through the corner of one dark eye.
"Sayaka!" Madoka said, holding onto her friend's shoulders tightly and crying into the back of her neck. "Sayaka! What's wrong!" she cried, not know what to do as her dear friend screamed on and on in blind agony.
"You little rat!" Kyoko finally scooped Kyubey up by his neck and held him in the air like a rag doll. "What the hell are you doing to her! Stop it right now!"
His placid face remained unaffected by how aggressively Kyoko was handling him, and he calmly explained: "She is feeling the pain of being disemboweled, and having her vital organs ruptured. With an ordinary soul, something like that would instantly put one of you girls out of commission, as you can clearly see with Sayaka right now. When you are contained in a SoulGem, however, you can keep fighting on and actually stand a chance at winning! Then you can always heal your bodies later, so it's not a problem!"
"Not a problem my ass!" Kyoko shouted, and started violently shaking him back and forth. Sayaka continued to scream in torment, despite Madoka's desperate efforts to try and comfort her best friend. "Stop it right now you evil little rat! Just leave her alone!" All of a sudden, a snapping sound could be heard, and Kyubey's body became even more limp with his head hanging loosely because of his broken neck. Kyoko instantly let go, letting his dead body fall to the ground. She stepped back, her eyes wide with the horror of what she had just done.
Sayaka's screaming stopped at least, though she still wept loudly. She remained huddled in the fetal position while Madoka hugged onto her. "Sayaka, it's okay!" Madoka said, fully weeping along with her. "I'm here for you Sayaka! I'm right here!"
"I-it stopped," Sayaka said with a shaky voice. "Th-the pain stopped." Yet, she was still shaken up from the experience, and her body continued to convulse with her sobs while her limbs shook. Madoka rocked her back and forth, trying her best to sooth her dear friend.
Mami's legs had given out on her, and she sat with her knees pointed together. She had already transformed out of her Magical Girl costume, and simply stared at her SoulGem in the palm of her hand. "This is… my… soul?" she said to herself, absently. She seemed to have become disconnected from everything else around her as she continued to stare at the glowing yellow gem in the palm of her hand.
Kyoko had backed several paces away from Kyubey's motionless corps. "I-I killed him. I didn't mean to," she said, showing an absence of resolve which was rather abnormal for the redhead.
"You did not kill him," Homura said, finally breaking her silence. "Look, over there."
Another Kyubey appeared out of the shadows. "Honestly," he said, as he found a new spot to sit down and address the girls. "You humans act so irrationally when it comes to these things. I just showed you the benefits of having your soul contained in a physical form. It's only logical for it to be this way if you want to be effective against witches."
Kyoko gritted her teeth, tightening her hand into a fist as she stepped forward again to symbolically threaten Kyubey with it. "Just what the hell are you anyway!" Kyubey's glowing red eyes simply stared back at her, while the corpse of his disposed body laid nearby.
"He is an alien," Homura began, seeing that Kyubey did not plan on explaining himself. "They are called incubators. The whole reason they do this to us humans is so they can harvest our emotional energy. As odd as it may sound, that is the reality of how they see us. We are nothing more than cattle to these creatures."
Kyoko abruptly turned and raised her fist to Homura instead. "And you! You knew about this all along! Why the hell didn't you say anything!?"
Homura's head turned so she could make direct eye contact with Kyoko. "Even if I tried, would you have believed me without first seeing this for yourself?"
Kyoko gritted her teeth in frustration, knowing that she could not deny the truth in Homura's words.
"What Homura Akemi has just said could be considered an exaggeration." Kyubey started. "It's true, our interest in this planet is for the sake of harvesting energy from its human population. However, we actually treat you humans far better than you treat your livestock!"
Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the new Kyubey's body fell limp with a red hole in the center of his head. Homura stood with her arm outstretched, holding a pistol with a wisp of smoke rising from its barrel. "That's enough out of you," she said with her dry tone, as she lowered the gun and then returned it under her shield.
Homura looked amongst all the girls. Kyoko managed to maintain her hard and confident face. Even when faced with unthinkable horrors, Kyoko was never one to show weakness, and she always stayed strong. Homura had always admired her for that. Although, there was some concern in the red-head's eyes as she watched Sayaka, who still had not regained her composure as Madoka continued to try to comfort her. "H-hey. So's the rookie okay?" Kyoko asked cautiously, with a low voice, but when she did not get a response from the girls who probably had not heard her, she just let her eyes sink away as her mind ran through what had just happened.
Homura's eyes shifted over to Mami – the girl who would carry herself as the cool and confident senpai. Right now, she looked rather pitiful. In a matter of moments her entire worldview had been shattered; her view of herself as the responsible leader for a just cause; her trust in Kyubey, who had put her on her mission; and her excitement of having a Kohai to shape into another fighter for the justice she had so much faith in. It was all taken from her, and now she had nothing. She was once again the lonely abandoned orphan girl. She did not possess Kyoko's mental fortitude, and she would not be able to deal with it.
Homura walked over to her. "Mami Tomoe," she said, looking down on her through the bottoms of her eyes. Mami just continued to watch the glow of her SoulGem with that defeated look in her eyes. She probably didn't notice it herself, but Homura could see the gem slowly becoming darker. "That posture does not suit you, Tomoe. Stand up."
Mami's lips curved up ironically. "Looks like you are right. My ideas of justice really were just a sham after all… weren't they? I guess I really was wasting my time with all of that..."
Homura's expression remained hard. "Stop this foolishness. I have never thought that of you."
Mami's smile became sadder. "You know, behind it all you really are a kind person, Homura. You don't have to lie though, I've seen it in you all along. Despite trying to be nice to my face, you always shook your head at me behind my back. I never really minded though, because I always knew that I was in the right. I always held myself so far above you… but now… now..." A tear rolled down her cheek. "A-at least you managed to stop Madoka from contracting. At least that is one life I didn't get a chance to ruin."
Homura glanced over her shoulder to Madoka; the girl she loved. It seemed she had managed to get Sayaka calm again. As bad as this moment was, so far this was the best outcome Homura had ever reached in any timeline. They were all alive, and they were all together. It was not enough, though. This moment was crucial, and if she were ever going to have a chance at saving them, this is when everything would have to be perfect. She could not fail.
"You see now why I did not want Madoka to contract. I suppose it is true that I am relieved I managed to at least spare her from this fate." She looked back to Mami. "Still… I don't understand. Why are you saying justice is no longer worth fighting for?"
Mami's head raised up. She did not seem to know what to say, but she heard the hopeful tone in Homura's voice and her body responded to it.
Homura turned away, and started walking toward the north end of the bridge which looked out over the city. "Everyone. Look here."
Kyoko remained where she was, standing with folded arms, but raised an eyebrow in Homura's direction. Sayaka and Madoka's heads both lifted up so they could look as well.
"We have been lied to," Homura said. "We have been abused, and our hopes and dreams have been taken advantage of. Still… those dreams are our dreams, they are something that belong to us, and as long as they are held dear to our hearts they can never truly be taken from us.
"When we made our contracts, there is something that we wanted. Yet, there is something else we understood. I think I am not alone in this. When I made my contract I did not just want something… I believed in something..." She met Madoka's eyes, and as they took in each other's expressions, they both managed to smile. "Hope," Homura said quietly, almost as if she was whispering it to Madoka. Then she raised her head up and said it again, louder, so the rest could hear: "Hope; and not just for ourselves.
"When we made our contracts, we understood that we would be given the power to protect others. That has not changed. When given this task, did it sound like a chore? Like a price that had to be paid? I think any Magical Girl who would say that was indeed the case would be lying. Because anyone who doesn't believe in hope, and feels that it is not worth fighting for, would not have what it takes to be a Magical Girl in the first place."
The city stood at her back. Its tall dark spires raised into the night sky below a waning moon and nestled in a sea of starlight. Homura gestured her arms across the expansive cityscape. "This is Mitakihara. This is our territory. Those streets belong to us. The people who occupy those streets have hopes and dreams of their own, and there exist evil witches who wish to rob them of that, just as the incubator would rob us of ours. We won't allow that to happen, though. Because we are Magical Girls, and we fight for justice." Homura made direct eye contact with Mami. "Because we believe in hope."
Mami's demeanor slowly became more and more lively through Homura's speech. She looked down at the SoulGem in her hand, uncertainly for a moment, then looked back to Homura and managed to smile as she gave her a nod.
Kyoko bent down as she let out a brief but exaggerated laugh. Then she raised back up, not quite able to knock the grin off her face. "Haha, oh man that's great. It's not every day ya' get to hear Miss Tall-Dark-and-Gloomy over here cheese it up like that."
Sayaka had calmed down, and Madoka, her hand still on Sayaka's shoulder, looked at her childhood friend to make sure she really was alright. Sayaka's eyes were a bit worn and tired, but her cheek managed to lift up in a half-smile. "Thank you Madoka. I'm okay now."
Madoka nodded with a smile, then let her hand fall away from Sayaka's shoulder as she stood. Madoka looked at Homura for a moment, then glanced back down to Sayaka. When Sayaka shrugged her shoulders, a bright smile came over Madoka's face and she then ran over to the girl she loved, practically tackling her as she jumped into her arms.
Homura caught her, lifting her off the ground for just a moment as their lips connected very briefly and then setting her back down again. Homura's hand moved a strand of pink hair off of the shorter girl's face as she looked deeply into her eyes. "I am so sorry for what had to happen tonight," Homura said to her.
Madoka's smile faded somewhat. It was true that it was a horrific thing that had happened, and she could not fully deny that reality. Yet, somehow the look in Homura's eyes inspired her. Despite the darkness that surrounded them, Homura seemed hopeful, and that was enough to inspire hope in Madoka as well. She raised herself onto her toes, and their lips touched together once again.
Mami folded her arms, and grinned at the two of them as she let her eyes sink back over to the cityscape… Mitakihara – her city.
Kyoko palmed her face. "Aw geez, get a damn room you two," she said as she rolled her eyes. As her sight came around, it ended up landing on Sayaka. She was not expecting to find Sayaka staring at her, and when their eyes met they became locked together. They each blushed, before abruptly clicking their teeth (in perfect sync with each other) and turning their heads away.
"Kyoko," Mami asked, "do you think you will be staying in Mitakihara?"
Kyoko shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. Maybe for a little while at least. If I can say anything about this stupid town, it has at least kept me occupied." She tried to sneak her eyes over to Sayaka once again, and when their eyes once again ended up meeting, they once again quickly turned away from each other in perfect sync, each of them blushing despite letting out an audible "Hmph!"
Mami let a hand come up to her chin as she pondered this interaction between them, thinking these two girls were her Kohai.
The five girls eventually ended up standing at the railing of the bridge, looking out over the city together as a cool and gentle wind blew. Homura had her arm around Madoka, and Mami stood with her two Kohai; The rookie Magical Girl, Sayaka, and her lost friend Kyoko who had finally come back to her.
Homura did not tell them about Walpurgisnacht yet, but she would soon. The war was not over, but on this night at least a battle had been won. She leaned forward to glance over to Sayaka, who still had that tired look in her eyes. Homura had managed to make Mami okay with the idea of SoulGems, but she knew that Sayaka would be a different story. And no matter what happened, she knew that she could not let Mami know the even deeper truth about SoulGems, and where witches come from.
They were still a long way from Walpurgisnacht, and Homura still had plenty of preparations to make. The upcoming battle may not even be winnable, she realized, not even with the entire team assembled, but at least she had one thing…
… she had hope.
"Who… are you?" Homura asked, watching the devil who stood upon a far-away hill. The distance between them, and the endless red fields surrounding them made this dark being appear rather small by comparison. Yet, when the devil spoke, she seemed larger than anything. Her voice echoed as if being spoken by the world itself, and everything reacted to her: the flowers; the clouds; the wind. Even the Claras, out of respect for her presence, bowed their heads and ceased with their giggling and chattering, though a quick look at any one of their faces would clearly show the disdain they felt for the beast.
The solid white eyes, like two stars on her dark face, slanted downward until Homura could imagine the expression was meant to scold her. "Why are we giving up?" the devil asked once again, impatiently.
Homura's eyes fell to the ground, not sure what to say. "I… just don't know if I can do it," she admitted, shamefully. "No matter how much I try, things just always fall apart… and now…" Her hand tightened on the shoulder of her missing arm. "Now… I can't even…"
Homulilly's hand carefully found itself on top of Homura's, and squeezed as if trying to console her, but the coldness it emitted simply felt uncomfortable. "Pay no mind to that devil, Homura," the witch whispered to her. "And this creature surely is a devil, for she only wishes to promote false hopes and lead you astray. Even if any hope were to remain, it would only be there to extend your suffering."
"Yet we have already spent years suffering," the devil said. "What is a little more?"
"You see how easily she admits it?" the witch said, now pushing on Homura. Ibari and Reiketsu then walked over and started pushing on the back of her legs as well. "Pay no mind to that thing, Homura. For she is the one who has allowed you to suffer so long."
Manuke, now emboldened by her master, stuck her tongue out and pulled down on her eyelid, making an obscene gesture at the devil. Several of the other dolls, now seeing this, soon joined in on the fun, sticking out their tongues and cursing at the demon who stood on the hill.
Usotsuki then quickly scampered over and forcefully grabbed at Homura's skirt with her small hands to assist in forcing her along. The liar's face looked up at her with a crooked grin. "Nothin' to worry about, Worthless! It'll be really nice in there! It really will!" Her mouth opened as her eyes rolled back and she started to laugh.
"W-wait…" Homura said, trying to look back over her shoulder to see the devil, as the witch and her minions attempted to guide her back to her coffin. "Your name!" Homura called. "I-I need to know-" She saw the devil's arms moving. Then, it was holding something. One dark hand drew back, and Homura saw a black arrow form against the bowstring.
"My name?"
The black arrow suddenly whizzed across the world, leaving a soft trail of purple dust as it flew, before it slammed into the ground at Usotsuki's heels with enough force to create a shockwave which momentarily threw her off balance, and the petals of the surrounding spider lillies danced as if hit by a sudden gust of wind. Usotsuki let out a terrified screech, then let go of Homura and retreated to the other dolls, who quickly stopped with their mocking gazes and went back to being more respectful of the devil's presence.
Yet Ibari was prideful, and stepped forward in defiance of this display of power. She spun her needle around and pointed it at the devil. "Attack then, beast!" When the devil drew back on the bow, and formed another arrow, Ibari quickly turned on her heels and instantly ran back to the rest of the dolls. The devil seemed satisfied, and lowered her bow once again.
"This is a new future," the devil said. "After years of suffering, only to see the same end time and time again, at last a new path opens to us. Why would we throw it away now?"
"Because all that this path will offer is more of your false hope," the witch explained once again. She then leaned her head in so her motionless mouth could again speak directly into Homura's ear. "You have suffered enough. Please, just let it end. It will only be a matter of time before your SoulGem's corruption is outside of your control either way. You can not hold on like this, Homura. You know you cannot."
Beneath the witch's icy cold hand, Homura's own hand tightened. It was true... If her situation was impossible before, it was even more so now. A new future had been opened, but she was coming to realize it only opened to a dead-end. If she could run back to the loop, and continue fighting for Madoka, she would, but she could not and now only despair lay in wait for her.
"Furthermore," the witch whispered to her. "Do not forget the drug that they will use on you. What if they trick you into giving away your friends' location? Or, what if your friends come back to the lab only to be caught off-guard by that other Magical Girl? Neither of these things have a possibility of happening if you simply become a witch. Also, if you give me control there is something else we do: we can take revenge on all of those people who have hurt you, including the Magical Girl who has broken you. Do you not want that?"
That was also true. She supposed she would not mind their deaths. After everything they had done to her, they deserved it. Especially Dr. Endou, and that daughter of his who was every bit as cruel as her father… yes, turning into a witch meant that they would all die...
The dark thought made Homura's lips curve up.
There was something macabrely poetic about it. They would all be trapped just as she had been, in the same underground place where they had forced her to stay. That same place where she had been experimented on and treated like an animal, all the while being kept away from the girl who she loved. A death by a witch's influence meant those people would also get to feel the kind of hopeless despair that she had felt. It was not the end she had wanted, but there was still a bitter sweetness to it which she had remembered wishing for once before.
With that thought, she felt ready to turn and face the darkness inside the coffin, and she no longer even needed the witch's hand to guide her there. Its words had been enough. Things were over for her. Although this is not the ending she wanted, at least she would get one small victory at the end, and seek retribution on the people who have taken the ending that she did want away from her.
"Do you think that is what 'she' would want?" the devil asked, pulling Homura away from the thought.
Homura had started to turn towards the coffin, but she stopped, and turned to face the devil once again.
"Do not lose sight of what is truly important," the devil went on. "Even if she is not physically by your side, we are still connected to her, and she would never forgive you for accepting such a dark path."
Homura's eyes sunk down guiltily, and her lips moved to whisper the name which the devil referred to. "Madoka…"
"Even if you cannot touch her, and hold her in your arms. Taking this path means you would not be worthy of her, and then we truly will have lost."
"But, what other path is there?" Homura asked. "I don't know if I can hold on in that place… even if I try… it's only a matter of time before-"
"Did you forget so easily?" the devil asked. "The day our mission had truly started?"
Homura instantly knew what she was talking about. That day, staring up at the rain with Madoka by her side. She was sure that their lives were over and that they would simply turn into witches together. That was also the first time Homura had managed to call Madoka by her first name, and probably when she first realized that she really was in love.
"She used the GriefSeed on you. She wanted you to fight on. She wanted you to protect her. Since that day, you have survived against impossible odds, and lived a life that would have broken down most others."
"Driven on by false hope," the witch added, "a promise of a dream that could never-" She clearly had more to say, but was drowned out by the overpowering voice of the devil.
"False or not, hope is a powerful force. Yet there is a power on your side even greater than hope; and more absolute than despair."
Homura watched the devil as it stood on its hill. Homura could envision wings were growing from its back, and with them the devil who seemed rather small due to the illusion of distance, seemed to grow bigger and bigger until Homura imagined that it could eventually take over the entire world. "Y-your name," Homura said, realizing that she still did not know it. "What is…"
The white eyes which were once like stars, grew brighter until they were more like suns and difficult to look directly into. "You do not need to know my name," said the devil. "Only what I stand for. I stand for the most powerful force which exists in this world. I stand for love."
Homura could no longer hear the witch's voice, and she took no notice of the Claras. "Even so… what can I do? I'm trapped, a-and there is no way for me to turn back! Before, if things went wrong, I could always reset the timeline and-"
"Fool!" The angered voice roared through the world and shook the ground, even the dark clouds overhead spiraled in response to the devil. "Have you become so reliant on one solution that you can see no other path? Thinking in absolutes is what leads one to despair. That is how you have become blinded into seeing only one door, when really there are more doors which you have simply not thought to look for."
The devil's hand raised, and pointed forward. Homura turned around. The black door which the Clara's had brought over in the form of a coffin was still there, but now more doors stood around it. All were of different colors and sizes, scattered about in a disorganized manner. As she looked further, there were clusters of them all throughout the world which until now was only occupied by the red spider lilies. While none of these doors came close to matching the magnitude of the door of despair, at least they were there.
Then, she noticed one door which actually was able to compare to it. Just like that black doorway, this other door was so big it transcended Homura's perception of actually being able to understand its size. There was a key difference between the two of them, however. The door of despair was intimidating and felt as if it wanted to crush her underneath its overwhelming presence. It wanted to destroy her will to carry on.
This new door felt far more inviting, like it wanted to encourage her. Its size made her feel safe, like it could protect her and keep her from these desperate spiteful creatures which inhabited her inner world, who told her that she was Worthless and tried to convince her that she should just die.
It creaked open, and she put up a hand to shield her eyes as she stared into its incredible pink light. As that light fell upon her skin she was simply overcome with warmth. The witch and its familiars - the dolls which acted as tools for her despair - were just vague shadows beneath this pink light and she no longer heard their cruel voices or worried about the disgusted looks they would give her.
When the door was fully open, Homura was greeted by a soft smiling face which held a hand out to her. It was the face she had always fought for, and she would sacrifice anything if it meant she could see it smile.
Maybe all things do end in despair, and maybe that was the road she would eventually face, but for now she had something worth fighting for, and she would keep fighting. She would sacrifice anything if it meant that beautiful face could keep on smiling.
She stepped forward with her hand outstretched, wishing to meet with her. Madoka was not here, but then again maybe she was, and maybe on some deeper level this image of Madoka which stood beyond the pink light actually was the real thing. As the devil had said, they were connected. They were connected by that powerful emotion of love.
For ordinary humans, emotions are but abstract concepts. For Magical Girls, it is a force that can be harnessed and in enough of a concentration it can even overcome fate. What kept Homura going was far more powerful than hope, and more absolute than despair.
Hope can be crushed, just as despair can be overcome. Love is something that can never be diminished, and in the hands of a Magical Girl, it is powerful enough to move worlds.
She started to have a better dream. She could feel warmth in her hands. She could feel Madoka's touch, and she longed for the day when she would take her fully back into her embrace.
Then the slow constant beeping returned.
Beep... beep... beep... beep...
She felt the warmth slipping away, though she tried to hang on to it. She wanted to stay with this dream, and stay with her love, but reality started to come back. She could hear hushed voices, and sounds of movement. Papers being shuffled, metal scraping against metal, footsteps, keys being pressed, more beeping.
A moment ago she thought she could feel the softness of Madoka's lips against her own, but as her mouth closed down she only tasted plastic. She shook her head, and tried to spit it out. She started coughing.
"She's waking up," said a female voice. Then the hushed whispering throughout the room became more present, and she could feel the movements of the people who surrounded her closing in.
Surrounding her… she was surrounded!
She tried to move her hand but it was tied down at her side, and she did not have enough strength to try and pull it free. Her feet too. She tried to kick her legs, but only managed to shake the table she was laid upon. Her head thrashed to the side, but even there she had a strap around her neck, holding her down.
"Relax, Miss Akemi. You are safe. Stay calm," said a voice which she did not recognize.
The rate of the beeping increased with the beating of her heart. She screamed, but it was muffled by the tube that was stuck in her mouth. A hand grabbed onto her face, forced her head to stay still, and also kept the tube in place as she tried to force it out with her tongue.
The pain became more present. She could feel her damaged body: her chest hurt when she would move it, and there was a constant throbbing coming from her missing arm which pulsed through her entire body and made her feel sick.
She continued to scream. She forced her eyes opened, and the light hurt her dilated pupils as she tried to look around. There were white faces all around her, standing over her, holding her down, touching her.
She looked down at her body as she continued trying in vain to pull away. There was a sheet over the lower part of her body, but beneath it she felt exposed. Her chest was wrapped in bandages but otherwise uncovered, and at the very center a dark blot of red bled through. Her eyes moved over to her missing arm, and the stump was also tightly wrapped in bandages.
"I told you she was in no condition to be woken," said another voice.
Homura's eyes helplessly moved around in the chaotic situation she found herself at the center of. She felt dizzy, wanting to vomit, and she was worried she might pass out again.
She felt for her magic. She could fight her way out of this if she could just get her hand free… her magic would help with that. She did not have access to her shield space, or her ability to stop time, but she could still use raw magical energy as a weapon. They were just ordinary humans; she was sure she could still do this if she could just get herself free.
She reached for her magic but she could not feel it. Rather, she felt its presence but she did not have that direct connection to it that she would need to harness its power. Her breathing remained heavy, though she stopped thrashing her body around, and she simply searched.
"Where is it?" she thought as her eyes searched all around.
Her eyes ended up falling on Kotaro, who stood at the left side of a metal door, with another guard on the right. There was a bandage over his nose. His hat was lowered enough to cast a shadow over his eyes, and she could see the intensity in them. She could see his disgust, and his desire to help her. There was nothing he could do for her, however, and they both knew it.
One of the doctors forced her right eye fully open with his index finger and shone a flashlight into it, momentarily blinding her in that eye. Then his gloved hand moved to her other eye to do the same. Through the process, she did not take her eyes off of Kotaro, who likewise held his eye contact with her. Somehow, that helped her. He could not do anything for her, but just the knowledge she had at least one friend nearby calmed her down somewhat. Because in this horrible situation, at least she was not alone.
"What is her condition?" said a harsh, monotone voice, and as soon as Homura heard it her eyes widened and she failed to see Kotaro any longer. She forced her head to the side and looked past the flashlight which was impairing her vision.
"She is stable," said the doctor with the flashlight as he took his hands off of her face. "However, I think it would be better to reinduce the coma. I can only imagine the pain she-"
"No," Dr. Endou said, as he stepped forward. Homura's eyes locked onto him. This was her first time ever seeing him, but there is no way she could forget that voice. He was large, with broad shoulders and a square face which held a hard and callous expression. Much like his daughter, that face lacked any level of human kindness.
Everyone who worked for this lab was her enemy; everyone who knew she was down here and did nothing to try to help her; everyone who did not care that she was an innocent person who was imprisoned and experimented on against her will: she hated all of them. This man, however, was not like the others and Homura would gladly kill him right here and now if she had the ability to. He was not even human, and deserved to die.
"She is not an ordinary patient. Her healing factor will sustain her," Endou explained to the other doctors, "and I have questions that she needs to answer. I will remind you all that our lives may be in danger at this very moment. We do not know what she is capable of, and we need to figure out if a similar attack will happen." There was some hushed whispering at that revelation. "Remove the respirator," Endou commanded one of the doctors as he stood over her and stared down at her.
Homura's eyes were hateful as they stayed locked on the face of her enemy. That cold emotionless face that belonged to the sadistic voice which had tormented her from over the intercom these last weeks.
Endou walked around her hospital bed, turning away from her gaze, as the other doctor finished removing the respirator from her mouth. Endou picked up a metal dish from a table set at the foot of her bed, and tilted it so that she could see inside. Homura's hateful expression became somewhat more subdued when she saw what was inside…
"First," Dr. Endou said, "you can tell us what this is."
A circle of blood surrounded the jewel, and despite the angle of the pan the blood would not flow over to it and touch its base, as if a magnetic field was keeping such contaminations away. There was only one contamination that she really had to worry about, though, and that was the dark fog which rolled around inside the thing which acted as the container for her soul.
You can now follow me on Twitter where I will be giving status updates and announcing release dates! AT Atomyst_fics
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-Atomyst
