A/N

Just clarifying some recent confusion in case you haven't read the A/N added on the previous chapter, most of the new characters are from Magia Record. A Madoka mobile game that used to be in NA before the server was shut down. The Japanese servers are still open though and there are youtube videos with translated character stories and main story for those interested.

Chapter 29: Three Cheers for the Deceased

"Three cheers for Iroha!" Tsuruno shouted while lifting her can of soda in the air.

"Hip, Hip!"

"Hooray!"

"Mokyu!"

Kyoko simply watched as everyone else, apart from Archer, Yachiyo, and Iroha herself, lifted up their drinks and cheered. That included Emiri and Hinano, who happened to tag along after they went back to pick up Yuma.

Well, Emiri mostly dragged Hinano here when Tsuruno had given her the invite. She also dragged along Archer with her other arm, forcing the rest of the Emiya family to come with in the process.

Kyoko would be annoyed but, well free drinks. And ones that weren't going to curse her. Probably.

"Thanks everyone," Iroha blushed as she looked down at her own cup. "I didn't really do that much though."

"That bloody smear that used to be an Uwasa says otherwise," Kyoko replied. It was hard to imagine how a girl like her could cause so much destruction… but considering what Magical Girls turned into…

"You certainly had an eventful day," Hinano commented. "I've also been hearing about these Rumors wandering around in my area." She sighed. "It means I'm going have to start getting active again."

"Oh my God. Senpai is finally coming out of retirement!" Emiri shouted.

"I never retired. I just the others take charge of the area. Going to have to reconvene with them so we can properly investigate the Magius."

"Be careful," Archer warned. "They're strong."

Yachiyo nodded. "He and I only managed to hold the twins until they were forced to retreat after the Uwasa was defeated. They're still out there along with a good number of the Magius."

"They're clearly recruiting Magical Girls from within this city and the surrounding areas," Hinano said. "I'll see if one the girls in my area could spy on them for us."

"I can do it!" Emiri shouted.

"You'd make a terrible spy."

Kyoko simply returned to drinking her juice. She'd take the free drinks and let them cheer as much as they want, but there were other things in her mind that demanded her attention.

Do they not realize it yet or are they still in denial?

For the majority of them… probably the latter, Archer replied. It would be something hard to accept if I was their age.

That Magical Girls eventually becomes the very things they hunt? That the Incubators seem to be intent on turning young girls into monsters?... I could've ended up like them.

If it wasn't for Momo…

Yea… if it wasn't for her… Kyoko took a deep breath and set down her juice. She had been wondering for years now why Momo had made the wish she had made before her death. Now Kyoko had finally gotten an answer. It made sense… but it hardly gave her any closure. I still miss her.

I do too.

"Is everything alright Kyoko?" Yuma asked.

Kyoko turned and smiled for her. "Yea. It is."

Archer stood outside at the back of the restaurant, having left the building halfway through the party. He didn't much mind the company actually but there was someone he needed to talk to in private. Someone who happened to catch the signal he sent them and stepped out of the back door soon after he did.

"There was something you wanted to talk about?" Yachiyo asked.

"You know the truth behind Magical Girls, don't you?" Archer asked.

Yachiyo crossed her arms. "I do."

"How did you find out?"

"I… saw one of old teammates transform in front of us after using up their magic."

"And the others," Archer tilted his head towards the restaurant. "Don't you think you should tell them. I'm sure they've become aware that something is wrong with their Soul Gems if it can call out a Doppel, but a confirmation from their leader would be nice."

"I'm not their leader."

"Seems like it to me."

Yachiyo closed her eyes, gripped her head, and sighed. "It doesn't change anything. Whether they know or not the Magius have to be stopped."

"Even if they have a method to save Magical Girls? The Doppel's are essentially proof of concept."

"Even then. Whatever it is they have to run this system, requires the existence of Uwasa and Shadow Servants. You've seen the damage the trouble they've caused already."

"True… many innocent lives are becoming victims to what the Magius has planned," Archer agreed. "But how many Magical Girls throughout the years could be saved with this system? How many people would be spared from the Witches that they would become?"

"I have thought of that."

"And?"

"If we put everything into pure numbers and logic, then we're no better than the Incubators."

Archer closed his eyes and hid a smirk. "Well said."

"What will you do now?" Yachiyo asked.

"Whatever Kyoko wants," he replied.

"And what does she want?"

"I can't say… as a much as I try to predict her over the years, she still finds ways to surprise me." Bringing Yuma into their household had been probably one of the biggest and most recent surprises Kyoko had given him. Not that he particularly minded that one.

"On the off chance that she does want to join the Magius, then I will do what it takes to stop you."

"I'd like to see you try," Archer replied casually as she turned around and stepped back into the restaurant. That wasn't the end of it though as another Magical Girl came out of the building, waiting for her place in the line.

"Are you here to ask me out again?" Archer teased.

Hinano huffed. "I already apologized; would you just drop it?"

Archer raised his hand in surrender. "Alright, alright."

Best not to get her too angry at him. Women enraged were frightening creatures indeed.

"What do you need?" Archer asked.

"Yuma is thinking about being a Magical Girl," Hinano informed him. "She thinks that she's weak and useless, nothing but a burden to you and Kyoko."

Archer closed his eyes. "I'm aware."

"And?"

He looked at Hinano. "What she's going through emotionally, is something that Kyoko and I can do little about it. If we did, it would just make things worse."

"How are you so sure about that?"

"Because I once went through a phase like that in my youth. I was weak, constantly throwing myself into dangerous situations and doing whatever it took to acquire some measure of power, with little regard to my own well-being. All so that I could protect, literally anyone in front of me. Despite attempts from those close to me to help subside my more… self-destructive impulses, I ignored all of them and ultimately led myself to ruin."

Archer held out his hand and traced a knife which he began to toss in his hands. "Yuma desires power to protect those she holds dear and I can give it to her as a temporary measure. But in the end, she will never be satisfied until it comes from her own hands, whether through the works of a Magus or the contract of a Magical Girl. Unfortunately, the former might be too slow for her."

"Does Kyoko know about this?" Hinano asked.

He shook his head. "No. If she did, her reaction would be… volatile. Understandable considering the circumstances, but that would just as easily push Yuma away and into Contracting anyway."

Archer reared his arm back and threw the knife into a nearby alleyway. It struck the Black Feather that had been spying on them. They ultimately ran away with a knife sticking out of their arm. "I can almost always tell when something is going wrong and the countless ways to make it worse, but I can't think of a single solution to resolve this situation. At least without tearing them apart."

Even the revelation of the eventual fate of Magical Girls might not be enough to dissuade Yuma. Especially if a situation would arise where he or Kyoko were in serious trouble. After today's events… well it was more likely than unlikely at this point. People that made Contracts thrived on the desperation of those signing them after all. That was a near universal truth.

Things would be fine if they could just return to Kazamino and back to their previous status quo. Yuma would not be nearly as pressured to Contract and they would have more time to devote to her training. He would just have to hope Kyoko would want to go back. Honestly, he wasn't too sure how she'd act now that they had been caught up in this Uwasa business and the Magius's plan to save all Magical Girls.

"Well, all I can say is good luck with that," Hinano replied. "It's going to be a pain having to keep track of all the Magical Girls in my area again, but if they really are being recruited by the Magius."

"You might end up fighting against girls you're familiar or even friendly with," Archer mulled. "That's never a good thing. Even ignoring the emotional toll, the fact is they'll be familiar with your abilities and tactics and inform their colleagues accordingly."

"Well, it's not like I kept what I could do a secret anyway. Besides I have more than a few formulas I've been keeping in the back pocket for emergencies. They'll regret underestimating a Veteran." HInano sighed. "Still, I should probably check on some girls when I can. Make sure they don't end up getting convinced to do something stupid in the first place."

"Well, there's only one thing I can say," Archer smirked. "Good luck with that."

The streets were dark by the time the party had ended and Archer left with Kyoko and Yuma. They would've left earlier but well… he needed to give Tsuruno some advice on her cooking. Hopefully things would improve and if not… well he did what he could.

The streetlights illuminated their path as they made their way back to the dorms. It was quite, peaceful, and a perfect time to drop some valuable information.

"Magical Girls become Witches," Archer said plainly.

"What!?" Yuma shouted as Kyoko simply stayed silent and watched.

"It's something that Kyoko and I just learned. They become the monsters that we hunt… and the ones that could just as easily end up killing us."

"T-that's horrible," Yuma stammered.

"It is. The Contract is even worse then we assumed." He shook his head. "The Incubator truly had us all deceived."

"Isn't there something we could do for them?" she asked.

"… Not at the present. Nothing that I could do really. The best we can do is to put them down…"

If he couldn't confront Yuma directly about her desire to be a Magical Girl, then it was best to tell her what they had learned. That would dissuade her from making a Contract without alienating from him or Kyoko. In the end it was important that this remained her choice and that they didn't take away any autonomy from her.

"In the end Magical Girls are going to get killed by Witches, each other, or become Witches themselves," Kyoko finally commented, having realized what he was doing.

Good, simplify it. Make sure Yuma gets the message.

"Wow…" Yuma stared at the ground.

"Yea its bad, everyone back at that party are doomed. Good chance Archer and I might end up hunting them by the time they inevitably turn."

"Gathering and selling Grief Seeds seems to be in bad taste now that we know what they are," Archer mused.

"Eh," Kyoko waved him off. "At that point we're just handling the corpses. Nothing human left in them to worry about. You could think of us as funeral directors. We're putting them down and putting the remains to good use."

"Grim, but accurate."

"… They aren't doomed," Yuma eventually replied.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Kyoko asked.

"I did…," Yuma raised her head and looked them both in the eye. "When I was being bullied by Mama, I always thought it would be better if I died…. But when I was attacked by the Witch and about to die… I still wanted to live. Even if they do turn into Witches someday… someday isn't today."

That…

"Everyone dies someday," Yuma continued. "Even us. That doesn't mean we're doomed or should choose to stop living anyway. That doesn't mean we should give up on them while they're still fighting."

"That's…" Kyoko stared at Yuma in surprise. "Very mature of you."

It really was. Yuma was more than the hardworking child Archer had initially assumed and… he was proud of her for surpassing his expectations.

But it also complicated things. She wasn't afraid of dying. Not that she was suicidal, she had plenty of desire to live, but she was even more willing to act or sacrifice herself than he had initially assumed. She wouldn't be afraid of turning into a Witch if she chose to become a Magical Girl. All previous attempts to dissuade essentially amounted to nothing, he would have to find another way to stop her from Contracting.

"What do about Ky- the Incubator?" Yuma asked. "Are you still going to tell him anything about this?"

"Nah," Kyoko replied. "No need to tell it anything or look for anything else. Let's go back to Kazamino once this exchange program is done."

"Are you fine with leaving things unfinished?" Archer asked. "What about Oriko Mikuni?"

"This whole Magical Girl and Witch nonsense has nothing to do with us," Kyoko replied. "As for the information the Incubator wants, well screw it. I don't have to fix the problems it's caused, but I'm not going to be responsible for whatever extra crap it ends up doing if we were to give it any more information. We'll find another way to deal with Mikuni. Let the Incubator deal with the crazy Magical Girl cult… honestly I'm almost rooting for them at this point."

"What about the people the Magius end up getting involved in their actions?" Archer asked.

"Not our responsibility. If you want to go and save the innocent… that's fine, but I'm not going to put us all in anymore danger."

Archer sighed. "What you desire takes priority over any personal feelings I have on the matter. Besides… I am rather keen on returning home. It's much safer there… and we could finally focus on Yuma's training again. I believe she's ready for the next step."

If making becoming a Magical Girl less appealing wouldn't work, then he would just have to push further on Yuma's path to becoming a Magus. If she made sufficient progress, there then she wouldn't have any need to Contract.

Hopefully.

"Really?" Yuma asked in astonishment.

"Yea," Kyoko replied as she rubbed Yuma's head. "We still have to make a Magus out of you. Isn't that right?" She suddenly turned and smiled evilly at Archer. "Magical Boy."

Archer feet stopped moving and he quickly grabbed Yuma by shoulder. "Yuma"

"Yes Archer?" Yuma asked, confused as to why he had grabbed her.

"Stab me with Rule Breaker."

"What!?"

"Stab me with Rule Breaker right now!"

"Or do you prefer Magical Man?" Kyoko asked.

"Just do it!" Archer nearly shouted.

"Okay!" Yuma took Rule Breaker out of her bag. She closed her eyes as reared back her arm and thrusted.

"Auuuaaaagh!"

Unfortunately, Yuma was a bit short in comparison to him so her stab struck… a less than desirable area. The weapon still worked though. And the process of transferring Command Seals was completed. By the end of it the back of Kyoko's hand was bare.

"Why did you stab there?" Archer groaned.

"You told me to," Yuma whimpered as she stared at the marks on her hands.

"Eh, you're a Servant. You'll live." Kyoko patted his back as she grabbed Rule Breaker from Yuma's hands and used it to stab Archer's back. "There we go," she said cheerfully as she held up the Seals that reappeared in her hands. "Feels weird not to have them. You're still stuck with for the time being by the way."

"I hate you…" Archer groaned.

"Love you too Archer."

Parmigiana, Brie, Camembert, Muenster, so many different types of cheeses but only enough money for one piece. Truly a conundrum of the ages, one that Nagisa had experienced countless times already. If only there was a way she could just take it all without anyone noticing.

Wait, no, she was a good girl. She wasn't supposed to steal. Just like she wasn't supposed to try and eat any Magical Girls or Humans that she came across.

Even if the ones wearing yellow did look pretty tasty…

Nagisa slapped her cheeks much to the cashier's surprise.

No! No eating people! Cheese is enough! Cheese is everything she ever wanted.

Eventually settling on a nice homemade Mozzarella, Nagisa made her way out of the store with her prize in hand. She made sure to purposefully ignore the Pink Kyubey that tailed her from a short distance away.

A little spy that a certain Goddess had sent to make sure Nagisa kept to her task. The Goddess could be surprisingly overprotective over her stewards, though now that Nagisa thought about it, the other messenger of the Goddess never needed to have a pink Kyubey following her…

Something to ask about once she finished with this mission. It would probably take a while to get done, but well she had all the time in the world.

As for her mission, well she essentially had free reign of Kamihama so that she could find the reason why the Goddess couldn't save the Magical Girls of this Record. That and she would report on the human known as Madoka Kaname if she ever ran into her. Apparently, the Goddess had given her access to her power and wanted to see how the other her was progressing with it.

The first part was a priority though, or at least Nagisa made it a priority so she could explore a new city. Magical Girl heaven was nice and all, but it could get a little boring after a couple of years. Sue her.

After finishing her cheese, and wanting more, Nagisa stepped into an alleyway and transformed into a Magical Girl. She looked around and made sure no was around before reaching into herself.

Then out from her stomach popped out a single circular long eared familiar. Pyotr the Witch of Sweets' minions, whose goal it was to search for cheese. They could also be used for scouting, but she couldn't really expect much from each one.

Which is why twenty more popped out of her body until she had a small army of her familiars in front of her. Some had halos over their heads, while others had nurse's hats.

"Now you know your mission," Nagisa commanded her troops with the most authoritative tone she could muster. "You are to fan out and find whatever traces of Magic it is that is affecting this city." She pointed a finger and waved it at all of them. "Stick to the sewers and shadows, run away if you're seen, and don't eat any people… Cheese is fine though and also pick up any loose change you find."

With the order given, Nagisa's troops moved out to fulfill their mission. They would be fine on their own, even if a Magical Girl did find them, they'd just assume that it was just a rumor summoned by an Uwasa. No one would be able to track it back to her, which she definitely wanted to avoid.

Kind of hard to explain how a Witch like her existed when she wasn't allowed to tell them how she had received Salvation in the first place. And that was assuming they were willing to listen to her and try to kill her on sight.

"Now where to go next?" Nagisa mulled to herself as she turned around and noticed the Pink Kyubey sprinting in her direction. "What's wro-" she yelped as she was tackled in the chest and sent to the ground.

It quickly became apparent why the Pink Kyubey did this, when a Magical Girl suddenly leaped down and stabbed where Nagisa had just been standing with a knife.

Nagisa quickly pushed the Pink Kyubey aside and stood up.

That was close! She hadn't noticed her presence at all. Had she been watching that entire time?

The Magical Girl wore a grey hakama patterned with black and a purple kimono fringed with white. Around her waist was a large a black ribbon, its long tails fluttering behind her as she walked, and her face was hidden by a white fox mask. In her hand was a highly decorated ornamental knife. For some reason all of Nagisa's instincts were screaming at her to not let that weapon touch her body.

"Uh… I can explain what you just saw," Nagisa began saying, only to realize she couldn't. She wasn't actually allowed to explain how or why she had achieved Salvation in this timeline. "Uh… I'm a nice Witch."

The fox masked girl simple brandished her knife in silence.

Nagisa had no choice but to take out her trumpet in turn.

A/N

Enjoy the new chapter. Thanks to Ryouko, Inkrael, Bacon, Chad, Crusader, Sa'Kage and the other people on the ANAI discord for editing and helping me brainstorming a few new ideas. Also thanks again to Bacon for coming up with titles for some of these chapters.

You can also check out Inkreal's "Embracing Wishes," if you want more MadokaxFate crossover content.