He stared at her, flummoxed.

She stared back, patient.

"Wh-what?"

"Take a seat." Madoka repeated, gesturing to the chair.

His eyes narrowed slightly, before he winced, clutching his head.

"Y-you are a being of Light." He groaned.

Madoka's head tilted to the side.

Shakily, he stood up, using the wall behind him to support himself. "Why do you not destroy that creature of Darkness where it stands?"

"Why would I?" Madoka wondered. "Drich is my friend."

"Friend..? It is a creature of Darkness!"

"Yes." Her head tilted to the other side. "And?"

He stared at her.

"You've been corrupted..." He murmured.

My eyes narrowed.

He held out his hand, grasping at air.

Nothing happened.

His fingers flexed again.

His eyes shot to his hand. "What?"

"Looking for this?" I held my hand up, calling the Proof of Courage into existence. It appeared in a flash of Light, getting Xine's attention.

"My Keyblade?" His face contorted in rage. "You stole my Keyblade?!"

He flung his hand out in my direction, grasping at air again.

No.

Nothing happened. Again.

You are not worthy.

"Wh-what?" He stumbled back.

"It chose me." I examined it. "So it won't come at your call anymore."

"You lie." He accused.

I shrugged. "Did I?" I tossed the Keyblade at him, applying enough of a spin that the handle would be facing him when it reached him.

He caught it.

No means no.

It vanished in a flash of Light, reappearing in my hand.

"Seems like I didn't." I held it up again.

It pulsed.

"What did you do to it!" He demanded. "Those sacred weapons would never allow themselves to be wielded by the likes of you."

You're an idiot.

Oh for fucks sake.

"You... really do not like the Darkness." Madoka noted, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"It is evil and vile." He stated, sneering.

Madoka frowned. "The Darkness is not evil. The Light is not good. They just... are." She set her cup down on the table. "It is those that wield the Light and the Darkness that are evil and good."

"Your ignorance astounds me." He scoffed.

Ooh, wow. That is a hell of a lot of rage from Homura.

Madoka's eyebrow raised.

LIGHT

Her entire body glowed, shining like the sun. She suddenly seemed much larger, her presence seemingly filling the room- but that was just an illusion; she was exactly the same size as before.

Her Light pulsed through me, warm, comfortable. The Proof of Courage hummed, drawing a bit of that Light into itself.

Another worthy one.

"You're wrong." She stated. Her voice was no different, save for an echoing weight that made Xine shudder. "I am not the one who is ignorant. You are."

The Light faded, the glow disappearing. Her Light returned to normal, but it still lingered throughout the room.

I couldn't help but notice that some part of it was still with me, swirling around My Darkness. It was... oddly comfortable.

Interesting.

She took a breath, before speaking. "I do not know your history, so I cannot speak about whatever happened that caused you to hate the Darkness and revere the Light, but..." She looked at him. "What you did was wrong. By stealing Alice's Soul Gem and taking it out of this World, you endangered not only her life, but the lives of every single being you took her Soul Gem to."

She picked up her cup, taking another sip of her drink. "Soul Gems are not capable of existing indefinitely by their own. Over time, negative emotions will build up inside the gem, which, if it reaches a certain point, can transform the Soul Gem into something known as a Grief Seed, corrupting the being inside the Soul Gem in the process. I intervene before the emotions build up to that point, preventing them from being corrupted. But, by taking it out of this World, you prevented me from doing so, and further placed Alice into a stressful situation which will cause the negative emotions to build up faster."

She looked at him. "Whatever purpose you had in stealing her Soul Gem, you directly endangered her life, her Soul, and the lives of every single being in the World you took her Soul Gem to. Disregarding everything else, this is unacceptable. I cannot, and will not, allow you to endanger lives recklessly."

She was serious. Deadly serious.

"Why did you do it?" She asked. The tone of her voice, however, brooked no argument.

For a few seconds, Xine said nothing. I watched the emotions swirl around his Heart, taking a few discrete glances at Homura and Kyubey.

"... I acted to save lives." He finally stated.

Madoka didn't even twitch. "Continue."

He looked like he'd bitten into a lemon, but... "In the World from which I hail, there is a war close to breaking out. The major power of that World is the Kingdom of Aline. Recently, an attempt on the Kingdom's princess's life has caused her to attain a disease, which is close to killing her. T'fos, the princess's name, was given to the Order of Light in an attempt to save her life- which would also prevent the war from breaking out."

His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. "However, there was an attack on the Order by the creatures of Darkness, which resulted in the destruction of both groups. I am the only surviving member of the Order of Light, and as such, it is my duty to save the princess's life. With the permission of the queen, I removed the princess from that World for her safety, and have been attempting to cure her disease. I have not been successful, so I have been searching for other methods of sustaining the princess's life."

"Which is why you took the Soul Gem." Madoka stated.

Xine nodded.

Madoka was silent for a couple of seconds.

I watched her Heart and Xine's Heart, seeing the emotions that ran through both.

"You had a reason for it." She finally said. "But that does not excuse your actions."

It really doesn't. But framed in that particular light, the situation suddenly seemed a lot more...

Hmm.

"This princess..." Madoka began. "Where is she?"