"Thank you for helping us carry this stuff," the Black Feather said as she lifted a particularly large and heavy box alongside her two companions. "It would've taken us so long if it was just us."
"It's fine, we're all working to save Magical Girls. We should all be helping each other," Kaname replied sweetly and naturally as she carried her own box. "I'm just… not really sure what this is all for."
Yachiyo remained silent as she carried a box and kept her face hidden by the hood. It was best to let their designated speaker reply, especially at this point since the rest of them were recognizable by their voices alone. The Magius wouldn't have interacted with Kaname nearly as much, making it much safer for her to talk. Also her gentle voice and demeanor would naturally let her get along with pretty much anyone she met and hopefully get some information from them.
"None of us do," the Black Feather admitted. "Everything's…"
"Compartmentalized?" Kaname suggested.
The Black Feather nodded. "Yes. We all know what we need to know and that information is split off into groups. You might learn something if you get a White Feather that's nice enough to tell you when you ask… but sometimes it's better just not knowing."
"It's just… so weird not asking questions," Kaname admitted. "Or knowing anything about each other."
"Well, that's just how things work here. It's how we protect ourselves too. Can't be threatened if no one knows who we are outside these robes and there's no point in looking if we don't know much at all." The Black Feather turned toward Yachiyo and the others. "You guys are all part of the same group up there?"
"We are but… sorry we're all new here and they're a little shy," Kaname explained.
"Ah, fresh recruits. Don't worry you'll get used to it soon enough. Just do what they tell you to, use whatever Grief Seeds they give you, and keep your hoods up."
They arrived in front of a large door where they began to drop off the boxes. There were strange sounds coming from the other side. Mostly sounds of a deranged artist practically foaming at the mouth by whatever it was she was in there with them.
Yea, best to stay out of that room.
"Do you know what's going on in there?" Kaname asked.
"… You don't want to know."
"Yes! Bellissimo! You are truly the perfect muse for my art!"
"Alina… this pose hurts," Mifuyu began to complain.
"Il assurdo! Pain is necessary for art! And I can always have someone heal the pain away."
"Did I have to do this in a maid's outfit?"
"Would you have preferred being completely naked?"
"This is fine."
After dropping off the boxes, which were presumably filled with art supplies, they ended in a break room where a small gathering of Black Feathers were. It was a peculiar sight, plenty of girls playing on game consoles, talking to each other, or on their phones, all with their hoods up and faces hidden from view.
"I heard that there's people that don't agree with everything we do though," Kaname commented to a Black Feather, a completely different one from the group they had been talking to. Yachiyo stood nearby, pretending to be distracted watching a game while Tsuruno and Felicia were actually distracted by said game, ready to listen to everything that was going to be said.
"There are," the Black Feather admitted.
"Are we… going to fight them? I… don't really like fighting."
"I'm not good at fighting either, but I'm a weakling. I'm no good at fighting Witches… so this is all I can do."
"Doesn't that… Isn't there another way?"
"I don't have a choice. We don't. Isn't that why you joined?"
"Oh… um… I guess."
The Black Feather shook her head. "The people we fight… we just do our best and chase them away, hopefully. Otherwise, we might have to lock them up if we do beat them."
"Where do they get locked up?" Kaname asked.
"…" The Black Feather put her hands on the table. "Can I tell you how I ended up here?"
"Uh… sure," Kaname replied.
"My cousin… we fought together. She was always the strong one, doing most of the fighting while I just stayed back and watched. That was all I could… watch until she turned."
"I'm… sorry," Kaname replied, sadly.
"Without her and seeing what would happen to me… I just ran. I got desperate. I couldn't fight Witches anymore but I still needed a Grief Seed. And my Soul Gem was so dark… so I did something stupid."
"What did you do?"
"I attacked a pair of girls. Thought I could get the jump on them and grab the Grief Seed they had. One with red hair and one with pink."
Yachiyo tensed at the same time that Kaname did. She curled her hand, ready to summon her spear and fight her way out.
"I was still too weak though," The Black Feather continued. "They ended up knocking me down and well… I should've died there. My Soul Gem was dark anyway, it would've been better to just be killed before I became a Witch. But then they let me go. Even though I just tried to kill them, they just gave me the Grief Seed, gave me a pep talk that got me riled up, and sent me to Kamihama so that I could join the Magius. I'm still alive thanks to them… even if my life isn't worth much, at the very least I owe a lot to them."
"I…" Kaname couldn't seem to find the words. Yachiyo on the other hand was just about ready to kick out the ankle of the Black Feather right in front of her.
"There's an elevator a couple of halls down," the Black Feather said to Kaname. "You can take it down to the basement where they keep most of the prisoners."
What?
Yachiyo discretely lowered her leg.
Was this girl-
"The really important ones though… you'll need a key from one of White Feathers to get to the floor that they're on," the Black Feather continued explaining. "As for the other Black Feathers, we don't really know what other groups are doing so it'll be easy for you to make up an excuse if someone finds you anywhere suspicious."
"Thank you," Kaname replied as Yachiyo quickly processed this information. Getting a key from a white feather would be problematic, at least if they wanted to keep things discreet, but if they could do it and coordinate with everyone else… She'd have to have Kaname text what they learned as soon as they were out of this room.
"No, I should be thanking you," the Black Feather replied. "For everything."
"My name is Madoka. Can I know yours?"
"Kuroe."
Sana scratched her chin as she looked at the wall in front of her.
Ai. Is this?-
No, I don't think so. At least we won't be certain unless we get inside they've already paved it over anyway.
Maybe we could check?
Sana. People might notice an explosion coming out of thin air.
… Okay. I was actually curious as to whether this puppy room you heard about existed.
Magical Girls need emotional support. It wouldn't be unlikely for there to be filled with small animals to act like that for the Feathers at one point.
We'll have to go to a cat café later then. Maybe invite Iroha once we save her. Sana walked down the hall and casually passed the large group of Black Feathers that happened to wander by.
She had wished to be invisible and had become as such for anyone that didn't have magic. Regular people could never see her, never realize that she was there, and even those with magic wouldn't notice her if she simply made herself disappear along with her magic. There were a few moments when she did regret her wish, she was essentially gone from the regular world, but she had learned to adapt. Simply leaving money on the counter for anything she took from a store, attending class even though they'd never call for her, eventually she built up some manner of life for herself. It could be a bit lonely at times, but that was fine. She could be seen by the people that did matter to her after all. Besides, without her wish she would've never met Ai, and she couldn't imagine her life without that experience.
Sana. Over there.
Sana looked where Ai mentally gestured and found a pair of White Feathers speaking with each other. She casually walked next to them to listen in on their conversation.
"Why did they keep that girl on that floor?" One White Feather asked. Strands of pink hair could be seen coming from her hood. "Don't they usually keep prisoners in the basement?"
"Apparently this girl is real important to them," the White Feather with strands of yellow hair coming from her hood replied. "They don't want to risk any of the Black Feathers getting convinced by her to break her out."
"Seems a bit unnecessary. Everyone here is loyal to the Magius's cause and the ones that aren't…"
"The brainwashing is a pain, but we're doing it for their sake."
Brainwashing?
I think one of the other Uwasa…was capable of that. I forget the name though.
Do you think they'll do that to Iroha?
I can't say. But if they did… then we'll have to assume she won't be entirely cooperative when we break her out. We should also be worried about the same happening to us if we ever get captured.
Sana nodded and prepared to walk away when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Thankfully it was put on silent so it would do anything that would betray her presence.
She took it out and read the text.
The White Feathers have a key to the elevator?
It's the only way to get the floor of important prisoners… and we can assume that Iroha is one of them considering how far they went to capture her.
But where is it? I'd have to dig through their robes, and I think they'd notice me touching them.
Just keep following them for now. I'll tell you what you need to do.
Okay.
Sana did as Ai commanded, trailing the girls until they stepped into a small room and stepped inside. Sana quickly slipped inside as they closed the door behind them. Judging by the bed and desk, it was a room that belonged to one of them.
The two of them continued to talk and began reaching for their hoods when Ai suddenly called out to Sana.
Shield them! Now!
What!?
Hit them with your shield!
"Okay! Sorry!" Sana's squeak alerted the two White Feathers to her presence. By then though it was too late as Invisible Girl summoned her shield and brought it down on their skulls
Untransformed, both girls were completely unprepared for the giant hunk that slammed down on their skulls and knocked them out. It also probably gave them a concussion in the process.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Sana whispered as she dug through their clothes. Eventually she took out a pendant in the shape of the Magius's symbol that Ai identified as the key. Once she found what she was looking for, Sana grabbed each of their bodies and carefully laid them out next to each other on the one bed in the room.
Text the others quickly. We have to act fast before these two wake up or anyone notices they're missing.
I… will. As Sana took out her phone to quickly text a message, she turned toward the two girls she left on the bed. I really hope they don't remember seeing me.
Honestly, it'll be a miracle if they remember anything.
"Now, this is how all the clothes are supposed to be organized. Do you get that?"
Ren nodded, more or less having understood everything that she had been told.
"Then start working," the Black Feather shouted at her before walking. "And I expect all of this to be done by the time I get back!"
Ren simply looked around the room as she was left with a few other Black Feathers and a large pile of robes that had to be folded after being taken from the dryer. She wasn't too sure how she had ended up here, just that she had been suddenly dragged here to work after getting separated from Kyoko and Ereshkigal for a brief moment. Thankfully the Goddess was still in range, though she seemed quite by what just happened.
What right does that girl have to just drag you away and force you to-
It's fine. I think Black Feathers are supposed to do this.
"What a jerk."
Ren turned toward the other Black Feathers in the room and looked at them in confusion.
"Even though that girl is a Black Feather like the rest of us she acts like a bigshot because she's been here longer."
"Yea. Longer than all of us and she didn't even get promoted at any point," another Black Feather said.
"This is actually her work, but she just dumps it on whatever new recruit she can find." The other Black Feather shook her head. "And then you call her out on it and she gets so busy bitching about it that none of the work gets done and we all get in trouble."
Told you.
"You can go ahead and do whatever it is you're supposed to," the Black Feather told Ren. "We can get your part done. It's not even that much work in the first she's just absolutely useless."
"Thank you…" Ren replied. "Do you know… where the prisoners… are kept?"
"Ah, jail duty. Nearest elevator is down the next few halls over there. Head to the Warden's office for keys."
"Thank you," Ren bowed her head and thanked them again before leaving the laundry room. She was quickly rejoined by Ereshkigal and Kyoko who had been waiting for them nearby. "Did you-"
"Yea I heard," Kyoko replied as they made their way to the elevator. "Got texts from everyone else too. Sana's going to check out the floor where they keep the important prisoners. Rest of us will meet up down below where all the other inmates are kept."
"What about Archer?" Ereshkigal asked. "Has he come up with anything?"
"Says he's busy investigating the Uwasa and this strange energy he's feeling. He'll let me know once he finds the source."
The unknown energy that perpetuated the whole of Kamihama, the strange occurrences that happened all throughout the city, and even the existence of the Uwasa themselves, the source of all that was in this base. He knew that for a certainty the second that he stepped inside. Knowing this, he had prepared himself to search for the cause of everything here.
What he didn't expect was everything else that he did find, especially what was now in front of him.
It was a farm. A practical underground city built right underneath Kamihama, only in this city its inhabitants were all imprisoned. Witches and familiars trapped inside giant, long clear tubes, and connected to them were the people who would act as their prey. It was a farm for Witches, systematically created to harvest Grief Seeds.
The only saving grace was that these people weren't being killed, but what they were going through now wasn't much better either. Put to sleep and trapped in perpetual nightmare so that their emotions, despair and anguish could be used to feed the Grief Seeds and Familiars below to spawn more Witches, until they were completely drained of emotions. And then the cycle would start again.
It wasn't horrifying to him, he had seen much worse from Magi and even just regular people in the past, but this situation was certainly unique to him. And it didn't make it any less disgusting to him.
He was tempted to just break the machinery and drag the people out but doing that would definitely alert the Magius and jeopardize the situation. Besides he knew too little of how this farm worked to try destroying it, there could be failsafes or worse the system could be more unstable than it appeared. If it was the latter… there was no telling the damage that could be caused by this contraption erupting in the middle of a populated city.
Archer gave one last look at the man trapped behind the tube before continuing on. He couldn't promise that he'd come back for them… but he would prepare for the possibility.
As he walked more and more of the inner workings of the farm came to light. Human Rights violations aside, it was surprisingly efficient. Any familiars capable of becoming Witches were quickly split up from their groups and put into an environment where it would be fed the emotions it needed to evolve. Likewise Witches that were capable of spawning familiars would be left to do so until they hit their limit and were then subsequently harvested for their Grief Seeds.
This and the Doppel System explained how the Magius were able to afford to have so many Magical Girls in one place. Many girls would be desperate to live, unknowing of what was happening beneath their feet. And the ones that did, would see it as a better alternative.
As much as he would like to take the time to use Structural Analysis on as much of this farm as he could, he simply didn't have enough time. There was a lot more that the Magius was hiding, much further in. Possibly the source he had been seeking, but it would take some time to reach it. A day probably, even for him.
Too long. The first priority was to save Yuma and Iroha. Scouting ahead that far wouldn't be an option for the time being. He'd have to return to the Magius's base again, by himself most likely if he was going to make any significant progress in his search.
He turned around and made his way to the others. They would want to know what he had found so far at the very least.
Kyoko just… followed as Ereshkigal and Ren talked about something. There really wasn't much for her to do actually. Everyone else had gone and done what needed to be done. They knew the likely places where Iroha and Yuma were being kept. Sana would look on the upper level with the White Feather's key, while the rest of them would just scour through the lower levels and look through all the prisoners.
Even Archer had apparently found something important that he was going to tell them all about. Kyoko on the other hand really hadn't done much.
You're useless. A burden.
Not that that really bothered her much. The fact that she didn't need to do much meant that things were going off without a hitch. All they had to do now was grab Iroha and Yuma and hightail it out of there. The Yuma would be back with them. Safe, secure, and-
She'll end up like Momo.
Kyoko drove a fist into her skull. She very much preferred the pain and throbbing in her head over that incessant voice in her head.
"Are you okay? That seemed like a painful thing to do to yourself."
Kyoko froze. She recognized that voice. And honestly… it wasn't entirely unwelcome right now.
"Mams?" There was Mami, in her Magical Girl outfit. Somehow infiltrated the Magius base on her own. Well if anyone could pull it off it would be her.
"Kyoko?" Mami's eyes grew wide and… ecstatic. "Is that you?"
"Yea. What are you doing here?" Kyoko asked her old mentor. Though their relationship was still… complicated, Kyoko couldn't help but feel relieved at the very sight of her here. "You doing some investigation on the Magius too?"
Mami smiled at her. A real genuine smile, something Kyoko hadn't seen directed at her for years. "You really are here."
"Yea I am."
"That's good. I was quite worried it would take some time for you to come after Yuma arrived."
Kyoko blinked. Suddenly she wasn't feeling so comfortable around her anymore. "I mean yea the Magius took her so-… you wanted me to get captured too?"
"Of course," Mami replied. "You might no longer be a Magical Girl since you lost your Contract but I still think much about your safety. Along with the safety of all Magical Girls that we can save."
"We?"
"Why the Wings of the Magius of course. Isn't it such a wonderful goal? The salvation of all Magical Girls. Touka was even willing to let you join as an advisor once I told here that you used to be one. She says that your experiences would make you of great value to the Magius."
Kyoko stepped back.
This was… well it was nothing short of betrayal. She should've just drawn her spear, go for Mami's throat. But she couldn't bring herself to touch it. Not her. "Mami. What the fuck did you do?"
"The right thing. In order to save all Magical Girls, in order to save even you."
"I don't need saving… and you're messed up in the head."
"But I'm perfectly fine, Kyoko." There was an edge of insanity to Mami's eyes now. Kyoko couldn't tell if this was something the Magius did to her with an Uwasa or something… or if it was hiding within her all along. "I have a goal now. For so long I wished to have a purpose or someone to live for even though I wished for life. Now I can live for all Magical Girls. Now and in the future!" Mami offered her hand. "Come! Join me Kyoko! You, Archer, and Yuma, we can all be happy together."
Kyoko batted her hand aside. "You and I both know that won't work."
"Why not? The Magius have power. We could keep you safe. We don't have to fight, all of you, you can just live peacefully with us."
"That isn't for me." Kyoko replied, though there was a part of her that was conflicted. Being forced to work under the Magius wasn't for her, but for Yuma and Archer? A chance for them to finally stop fighting? In the end what the Magius did here didn't really affect them that much and if they could use their resources to protect them from Oriko-
"It's what Momo would want."
You killed her!
Kyoko clenched her fist. Fire erupted from where she stood forcing the Magical Girl back. She then grabbed her spear and glared at Mami in fury. "Don't you dare talk about her."
A/N
Kuroe's backstory is a bit different as are a few other things about her since she met Kyoko and Madoka before Iroha. However, this will be a Kuroe that draws inspiration from the anime and the recently released unit.