Chapter 13

Rumination

Kyoko tossed the blackened Grief Seed across the hilltop, watching Sayaka's gloved hand dart out like a ivory snake to grab it. Her azure eyes gazed at the roiling darkness, contemplating.

Understanding her friend's hesitation, the veteran Magical Girl was on high alert for any spooky stuff that might arise in the immediate future, senses feeling extra keen after the recent infusion. She'd topped off her magical energy, ridding herself of the murky clouds that were beginning to form, the Soul Gem at her chest glowing with what she considered a defiant crimson hue in the twilight shadows of the Witch's barrier.

Sayaka had called it "rosy." Please.

Witches' barrier, she amended, thoughts darkening. She knew her body was tired, going on exhausted, but the energy coursing through her and the knowledge of all the tight scrapes the two of them had gotten out of gave her an invigorating perspective on life. She was almost happy to be here, with her friend, in the depths of some nightmarish hell, fighting to stay alive and, if possible, give the rest of humanity a little help in the process.

Crap, she thought to herself. I'd much rather be snuggled up in a nice warm bed...

Piercing maroon eyes focused on the white-caped girl for a moment before continuing their wandering across the dark landscape. Come on, Kyoko thought... demandingly? Encouragingly? Her emotions were hard to pin down at the moment; she didn't know if she wanted Sayaka to hurry up and make a decision, or just use the damn thing and see what creepy vision she came back with this time... Maybe it was a one time thing, she considered reasonably, its only happened once. But something inside her was sick with a gnawing sense of dread.

Consciously avoiding further meandering along that stream of thought, or dwelling on the change she'd sensed in the girl after her... ordeal in the train station, Kyoko turned her thoughts to another worrisome example of their multitude of problems. It was difficult to judge time within a Witch's barrier, but she knew that typically you were in and out within around twenty minutes, give or take a quarter hour. She herself had gone in after fifteen minutes to help Sayaka during her battle with the praying Witch. She knew for a fact that they had been trapped in here for far longer than that. Hours, at least.

And trapped they were. Sayaka had noticed what she had picked up on before heading into the forest: the cavern entrance, which had led them into this level of hell, was gone. Solid cliff face, no sign of a hole or crack or anything. Sayaka had merely raised her eyebrows, to which the veteran had shrugged. What else could they do?

"I'll... keep it for later. Just in case," her blue haired friend murmured, sounding slightly ashamed.

"Good idea," Kyoko said loyally. "You're in good shape-use it when you need it." Maroon glare met liquid blue stare. "As long as you do use it when you need it." The older girl watched hopefully out of the corner of her eye, waiting for her to slip the seed inside her ridiculously hot blue brassiere. Despite Sayaka's protests, that thing was definitely not a piece of "strapless armor." That has to be where she puts stuff, Kyoko had realized in a stroke of genius: there were no pocket's in her "battle skirt." The veteran, watchful and slightly paranoid, had noted their absence during a thorough visual inspection of her opponent's posterior.

Instead, the blunette seemed to push her hand into a fold along her cape. As she dropped her hand, the fold seemed to disappear, along with the seed. Hmmm, Kyoko thought, looking down at the ruffles of her dress with a frown. After a few moments, it seemed too silent, and she glanced up.

Sayaka's eyes seemed focused a thousand miles away. Or perhaps in another reality entirely. Kyoko understood all too well what the problem was. The traumatic events of the doppelganger assault were fresh, and she herself was wrestling with old demons and dark new thoughts triggered by its maniacal tirade. Beyond the analytical concern of how such a thing could essentially read her deepest, most hidden thoughts-for that is exactly what it had done-even more consuming were the deep emotional scars that had been ripped open after having spent so long ignoring them. She was having trouble focusing on their current predicament, her thoughts wandering to Tomoe Mami and the experiences they had shared. She was amazed at how fresh the memories seemed, bright golden hair, twinkling amber eyes, the puffy down comforter on her bed, the intricate pattern of the fancy toppings she'd insisted on decorating even the simplest of desserts with...

As for the mind reading, she remembered how doppelganger!Mami had appeared to stare brazenly at her chest-it had to be connected to her Soul Gem, she thought, suppressing a shiver of dread. The bottom of the lake had given her an entirely different perspective on what it meant to be a Puella Magi, and the dangers associated with having one's soul held in an outside container.

Ironically, she knew this was exactly what Sayaka had experienced so long ago-or was it just the other night? So much had been going on since she'd gotten to town; it felt like she'd lived here for weeks. It felt like she'd known this marvelous person in front of her for... months? Years? For...ever? She pushed away the thought, mentally chastising herself for being ridiculous.

Some instinct, some flash of insight long buried within her clever, if atrophied, mind... something lit up inside her, and for once she knew exactly what to say.

"It happened to you, too. What happened to me under the lake. When Madoka threw your Soul Gem off that pedestrian bridge."

Sayaka's stare became more focused, almost quizzical for a moment before her eyebrows raised and a look of sympathy washed away her worried expression.

"You don't have to tell me about it, and you don't need to say anything about the... other thing. But if you want to, you can tell me anything. I can tell something's bothering you... and wanted to let you know-I'm pretty freaked out myself." Sayaka's eyes widened, disbelieving. "Being brave isn't about not getting scared, dumbass, you should know that with your whole Bushido fixation thing. Its about being scared %#$ less and still being able to keep on keeping on.

"When I fought M-... th-the doppelganger," % #$, Kyoko thought-

Interesting, noted Sayaka, intrigued despite herself. She'd been concerned about her new partner's reticence to provide any details about her encounter in the woods. She'd wondered if it had been with her sister, the nightmare of failing to protect a wonderful innocent person from the horrors hidden behind the thin veneer of modern life in the civilized world. Poor Kyoko.

Recovering, Kyoko started over. "That thing shook me, played with my thoughts and memories. That's what made it so horrible for me. I imagine it was something like that with you." She saw confirmation within those hurt, sky-blue eyes. "Even if you can't talk about it, at least you know that I know how you feel. It helps me, knowing you've survived your... experience. With your Soul Gem. It was... very disturbing," Kyoko finished, laying it on thick with a theatrical shiver.

Sayaka blinked, a single tear trailing down her cheek. Eyes brimming, she stepped up to the red haired veteran, embracing her in a tight hug. Kyoko squeezed back, but continued watching the horizon.

The place was starting to shift, change in bizarre ways. Absentmindedly, she nuzzled the blunette, gazing at reality breaking down. The arrival of chaos. The far shoreline began to ripple, ghostly and indistinct.

It was time to get going.

Kyoko felt strength flowing into her from the younger girl embracing her; almost a tangible, physical presence within her. She smiled, hoping her friend felt something similar, glad to have helped and be helped.

Always easier

to be brave when you're being

brave for someone else

-Kyo-ku

The transition from lake shore to bog was abrupt. One moment, they'd been walking along the increasingly bizarre landscape: transparent water disappearing in the empty-seeming bowl that had once held such danger. Blobs of light seemed to hover, shimmering in the air, amorphous and flowing. The two shared a significant look.

Then, as if a cloud had suddenly crashed from the sky, they were surrounded in thick, swirling mist. The whorls and vortexes that seemed to form within the dense, moving fog seemed to make shapes, characters. Kyoko nearly jumped when what looked frighteningly like a human hand formed and clawed at her from the mist-only for a moment, then it was gone. Sayaka had noticed her startled jerk, and her cheeks began to burn, worried the other girl might think she was jumping at shadows...

The younger girl reached out with a white glove and grabbed her around the waist in a one-armed hug. Kyoko resisted for a moment, then returned the awkward embrace. So weird, she thought. I'm so not the touchy-feely type. But just the contact seemed to give her a measure of confidence.

The contact lingered.

Sayaka shifted her sword.

"Let's get on with it," Kyoko muttered, pulling away and scanning the seemingly impenetrable mist. No telling where they'd end up if they tried jumping around or even running... she distinctly could make out the sound of bubbling water.

"I am so ready to kill something," the younger girl said conversationally.

The amoeba-like blobs of luminescence began to appear again, slowly moving, morphing, twirling. It was what she imagined it might be like to be caught within one of those strange snow-globes she'd seen her father bring out during the holidays, so very long ago. A lifetime ago. An eternity.

Around two years.

Steeling herself, she set aside old memories and fresh worries, focusing on the danger that was even now lurking around them. There was something left, something at the center of this nightmarish web of bizarre evil.

All Witches, in Sayaka's mind, were evil. Kyoko was pretty sure she knew better. True, Witches were Bad News for anyone who encountered them, but some were worse than others. She'd fought and killed Witches that were stupid, apathetic, completely-self absorbed, or just overly protective of their flower gardens. They killed, but on instinct, or in confusion or fear. Others... others planned it out. Thought about it. Used their Kiss to influence mortals in the real world. Some were hunters, killers... the one's that weren't trapped in their own hell, but doing what they truly loved.

Causing death. Despair. Calamity. Chaos. Ruining lives.

There were people, mortals, like that as well. Malicious. Vicious. No better than animals.

She and Sayaka would have to have a talk about that. The thought hung out there for consideration, but Kyoko dismissed it-no more distractions.

"Wait," Sayaka said, cocking her head to the side. As her older companion stopped to look at her questioningly, the blunette concentrated... not exactly hearing, or feeling, but-

"Something's coming," she whispered in Kyoko's ear, breath stirring strands of unkempt red hair. Holding her arm out, she pointed in a direction indistinguishable from any other in the heavy fog. The veteran tensed, readying herself for whatever would emerge, already trusting the instincts of her new ally almost as much as her own.

A few moments of waiting, then she heard it-a wet, slopping noise, slowly approaching. There was something almost familiar about the sound, and the shadow that slowly emerged from the clinging mist, a coiling, wriggling shape looking like nothing so much as a thick noodle...

Crap, those things, she thought. Sayaka glanced at her with bright blue eyes looking for guidance-for orders, for what she needed to do... Dammit, thought Kyoko, I could tell her to rush out there and she'd do it, alone. Thoughts spinning as she noticed more of the shadowy, ribbon-like shapes emerge from the fog, she grabbed an idea that had worked in the past and ran with it.

Follow my lead: we're going to cut a path through them. Better than, she reflected, than end up in that bubbling water...

Sayaka took a couple deep breaths, sword crackling with pent-up energy. Kyoko readied her spear, plotting a tentative course through the fog. We have to stay together. Stick close.

Dashing into the mist, the two Puella Magi began hacking and slashing their way through the encroaching horde of familiars.

Kyoko twirled her spear above her head, the heavy bladed tip cutting down two of the leech-familiars in a vortex of of death...

I can't believe we're still stuck in this place.

Shhh! Quiet. I see something up ahead.

Finally!

Please review if you enjoy it or hate it enough to bother! I've said before and will say again: its a great motivator.

Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers, some of you who have posted outstanding and detailed comments. Thanks especially for all the specific observations and advice. Faust91x (especially thx for the Kyousuke story!), Psychoakuma (tons of comments, also Kyousuke story reviews), Otaku4eva99 (first poster), Shadowstealer (prolific!), kyosayalove, angel0wonder, PatriotPrideBoy, roboferret... seriously, I appreciate the time you took.

Some great things people noticed: the doppelganger familiar staring at Kyoko's soul gem, Mami's outfit's description, Homura shenanigans, and in general various moods and themes I've tried to hit.

guest: confusing? check. hard to follow? check.