Disclaimer: The works of Urobochi Gen (namely, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, among other things) belong to him. I do no claim any ownership over their characters, concept, or story, their franchise, etc. This is purely fan work.
Chapter 4: Aftermath
After Sakura-san had picked up Miki-san's Soul Gem from Jeremy's lifeless hand and learned of how Jeremy had helped Mami before, Akemi Homura appeared out of nowhere.
Mami was full of conflicted feelings, and Akemi Homura showing up didn't make it any better.
On one hand, although she had heard that Miki-san had turned into a Witch and that her Soul Gem had turned into a Grief Seed, she didn't fully believe it, even now. After all, wasn't that Miki-san's Soul Gem that Jeremy had been holding onto earlier?
But if it were true... then it seemed that it was possible to reverse that process. She had no idea how, but looked like it had cost Jeremy his life. She was happy that Miki-san was back, but to lose Jeremy in the process... Mami felt it wasn't worth it.
To trade one life for another was never worth it.
And furthermore, she held a lot of respect and admiration for the young gentleman.
She wished she had gotten the chance to speak with him longer, but it was too late now.
And then Akemi Homura had to show up, much to Mami's displeasure. She still didn't trust that transfer student very much at all; she no longer had any reason to.
"Akemi Homura. What are you doing here?" Mami called out.
The transfer student looked over her shoulder to stare directly at her. It was a little uncomfortable, but Mami stood her ground.
"That man..." Homura said, before pausing for a moment, as if she had to carefully consider her next words. "He is my ally. Why should I not approach him?"
"The two of you are working together?" Mami asked with suspicion. For the gentleman she admired to be working together with this suspicious transfer student, things didn't match up. "How am I supposed to believe that?"
"Does it look like I care if you believe me or not, Tomoe Mami?" Akemi Homura shot back.
Mami just couldn't get along with this girl before her, even if she couldn't bring herself to stop trying. But if what she said was the truth, then she had no idea how someone like Jeremy would be willing to team up with her.
On the other hand, if it were true...
Wouldn't that mean that Akemi Homura wasn't actually a bad person after all?
As she was pondering this, the transfer student had reached Jeremy and had bent down to examine the young gentleman. Sakura-san herself had fallen back towards Madoka with Sayaka's grief seed in hand, watching the confrontation between the two of them.
"Wait!" Mami called out. "What are you planning to do with him?"
"Isn't it obvious? Since he's my ally and is still alive, I'm going to take him to a safe place until he recovers."
So, he was alive after all. Mami mentally breathed a huge sigh of relief after hearing that, but in front of Akemi Homura she would not show any weakness.
"Then, how about we bring him to my place? I think we all need to have a talk."
It was quickly decided among the girls to bring Jeremy over to Mami's apartment, since it was a place they were all familiar with.
Somehow, Akemi Homura was familiar with her place too despite never actually having visited her house before, but Mami paid no attention to it. It was common for Magical Girls to easily find where other Magical Girls lived, if they needed to.
Sakura-san herself had left earlier to retrieve Miki-san's body, leaving Homura, Madoka, Jeremy, and herself at her place.
Then Kyuubey showed up.
To be honest, Mami didn't really want to see Kyuubey anymore, not after learning just what Kyuubey was doing to make Magical Girls.
She wasn't going to lie to herself; if it wasn't for Jeremy, she might have had a mental break down already, for all the horrible revelations she had learned over the past few days were already almost too much for her to take. Only the thought of Jeremy and his words, along with her own friends, kept her going now, if only barely.
What was it that Jeremy had said a few days ago, when they had discovered that they were essentially zombies?
That's right.
Even if they were zombies, to everyone else, they still looked and acted the same as anyone else. Why then, would it matter that they weren't human? Humans can still love those that are not human. It's not a matter of who they are, but whether we can communicate and understand one another.
Mami understood. No, perhaps she understood too well.
She wanted to communicate. She wanted to understand others, and be understood. She wanted to connect with others like her friends on an even more personal level.
And she wanted Jeremy to be included on the list of those she wanted to be close with.
"Mami," Kyuubey said, was staring unblinkingly at the young gentleman who had been placed on the couch. "Is it true that this human managed to save Sayaka?"
"He certainly did," Homura said, replying coldly before she could say anything. "The witch that was Miki Sayaka has already disappeared, and in its place was her Soul Gem."
Mami wondered if Homura had been watching the entire time to know that something like that. It was something Homura seemed to be prone to doing, from what she could tell.
"I know I've said before that I wouldn't be surprised if such a thing would happen, but for someone who isn't a Magical Girl to do so? The existence of Magical Girls already defies logic enough as it is; I can't help but think it's a fake, or even a trap," Kyuubey responded. "What would you girls do if it didn't work?"
Mami refused to believe that it wouldn't work. Jeremy wouldn't lie to them like that, she was sure of it.
"What would you do if it did work?" Homura countered in return.
"If it did work, I would certainly like to know how he did it. There's been no precedent for such a thing, after all."
Homura scowled. "So there are things even you don't know."
"Of course," Kyuuby replied. "I'm not omniscient."
It was then Sakura-san returned, accompanied with a confused Miki-san.
"Sayaka-chan!"
As soon as they arrived, Madoka literally leaped at her best friend, crying as she hugged the confused girl.
Kyoko grinned at the sight, but she easily hid that with a bite from the apple she was holding. It was just yesterday that they had to tell Madoka that Sayaka's body had turned into a corpse and that her Soul Gem had became a Grief Seed, complete with a Witch. As Sayaka's closest friend, Madoka had taken it poorly, crying over her corpse.
So of course, with Sayaka back and alive, it was obvious that Madoka would react in such a manner.
However, it would seem that Sayaka had no recollections as to what had happened.
When Kyoko had returned Sayaka's Soul Gem to her body, even she had been relieved to see that it had worked. But Sayaka had awoken quite confused as to where she was, and Kyoko quickly found out that the last thing Sayaka had remembered was being questioned on her ideals that fateful night. As far as she knew, Sayaka had no recollection of turning into a Witch or even being corrupted by that strange man.
Instead, she seemed to think that a Witch had shown up and that Kyoko had saved her.
Well, that was fine. Kyoko had no reason to tell her what really happened that night; not now, anyway.
Instead, Kyoko told Sayaka that they were all meeting up at Mami's place, and that everything would be explained properly there. Hopefully.
Which lead up to the scene in front of her now: Madoka clinging onto Sayaka, Mami sitting at the table smiling at them in obvious relief, Homura staring at them with her straight face as she sat near Jeremy where he lay unconscious on the couch, and Kyuubey who had turned to look at herself and Sayaka...
Wait, Kyuubey's here?
After learning that Kyuubey literally ripped their souls out for the creation of their Soul Gems, Kyoko had been quite pissed at the thing. Then, after learning that the Magical Girls became the very same Witches that they lived to fight, she didn't even want the bastard to show its face ever again.
So, just seeing Kyuubey was enough for her to immediately materialized her spear and point it a Kyuubey.
"You've got some nerve showing your face here." Kyoko growled. "How are planning on making us miserable this time?"
"Oh my, seems like I'm not welcome here," Kyuuby replied, staring at her with those unblinking eyes. "Regardless, I'm not here for you, Kyoko. I have business with that human, so you'll have to deal with me being here."
At Kyuubey's words, Kyoko lost her temper. "You—!"
"Sakura-san," Mami interrupted her. Kyoko glared at Mami for a second before she realized where she was: Mami-senpai's apartment.
Kyoko respected her senior Magical Girl Mami quite a lot, as much as she would refuse to admit it now. Causing a ruckus here in her apartment would be disrespectful to her, especially with all the other Magical Girls and Jeremy present.
Scowling, Kyoko ripped a bite out of the apple she had brought along, dematerialized her spear, and sat down at the table.
If she saw Kyuubey again, she wouldn't hold back.
Sakura was honestly quite confused.
Her memories were in disarray ever since she woke up in Kyoko's room.
She didn't even remember going to her room before. Certainly, she had visited the abandoned church that belonged to Kyoko's father, but never her room.
And the relief on Kyoko's face when she woke up didn't make much sense.
The last thing she remembered was sitting somewhere in her depression, when Kyoko had found her.
Then she started hearing a voice questioning her resolve.
After that, nothing.
Sayaka thought that she probably fell asleep by that point and Kyoko had brought her back to Kyoko's own room.
But that didn't explain the relief on Kyoko's face, nor the questions Kyoko kept asking her. When she asked what was going on, Kyoko only evaded the question and told her that her questions would be answered at Mami's apartment, where all the other Magical Girls were.
And when she had arrived, Madoka had jumped her, hugging her tightly.
Usually, she was the one who would do that to Madoka, Sayaka thought idly in her confusion.
Although it was also obvious that Madoka had been quite worried about her.
What exactly had happened the previous night? Did a Witch show up? That seemed likely, but she wasn't sure.
Her attention quickly turned towards Kyuubey, thanks to Kyoko's outburst. But the animosity that everyone showed towards Kyuubey was even higher then before. Sayaka herself didn't trust Kyuubey that much anymore after learning that her soul had been ripped out of her body in the creation of her Soul Gem, but everyone else seemed to be angrier for another reason.
"Hey..." Sayaka hesitantly spoke out. "What's going on?"
"She doesn't know?" A question was asked sharply at her words, belonging to the last person she wanted to see.
That was when Sayaka finally realized that the transfer student was also here, sitting next to a couch where—
"What is he doing here?" Sayaka cried out without thinking. "What happened to him?"
It was impossible. That hero of justice who had helped them so many times, the strong, infallible hero, was lying impossibly still on the couch, as if he was dead.
Did Kyuubey do something to him? Was that why everyone was clearly showing such animosity towards Kyuubey?
"It seems like she doesn't know," Mami replied quietly to the transfer student's question. "Should we tell her?"
"Tell me what?" Sayaka demanded. "I bet it was Kyuubey or that transfer student that did something, huh? Wasn't it?"
"Calm down, Miki-san," Mami said, standing up as she approached her. "Don't go around making assumptions—"
"Actually, Miki Sayaka," the transfer student interrupted. "It was because of you that Jeremy sacrificed much. You can see for yourself the state he's in now."
What... what did she just say?
Sayaka could not believe it. It was because of herself that the young man was in such a state? Impossible.
But then...
Why couldn't she recall anything?
What had happened?
"Hey!" Kyoko shouted, lunging at the transfer student, grabbing her by the collar. "You didn't have to put it like that! What the hell is your problem?"
Akemi Homura made no move to resist. "I simply told her the truth," Akemi Homura replied. "If you have a problem with that, you shouldn't have become a Magical Girl in the first place."
"What does that have to do with anything!?" Kyoko shouted as she shook the transfer student.
"Everyone, please—" Mami started, but was interrupted by more shouting.
On one hand, Sayaka was happy that Kyoko was coming to her defense, but at the same time, everyone was starting to be dragged into the argument—
Then suddenly, a quiet yet guttural groan silenced them all.
A small suggestion of self regained conscious in the darkness. A broken spark that tried to fill the dark space that it was in, until it found itself in the mind of a body.
Who was it? What was going on?
Hazy thoughts floated around, swirling and mixing as a single mess. Many things surfaced, only to sink back down again, floating and spinning rapidly like a whirlpool.
Suddenly, the word 'Jeremy' surfaced from the sea of memories. It seemed fitting, so it took it as its own.
Yes, that's right. The word 'Jeremy' was an identity, its name. That should be the key to remembering all else.
It didn't take long before fragments of his memory returned to him in a format he could finally understand. Year, decades... no, centuries worth of memories and experience flooded him in a torrent, overwhelming him. It was a number of memories that no human, especially one of his apparent age, should have been able to experience, and the sheer vastness of them as they all made themselves known at the same time caused him to groan in pain.
No, did he groan? He was sure his brain sent the signal to do so, but he heard nothing, felt nothing.
He tried to move, but felt no response from his own body. When he tried to look around, he saw nothing. He couldn't even tell if he was standing, sitting, or lying down, for he felt nothing. He couldn't even clutch his head in response to the pain, if he even had hands to do so.
Unable to feel anything else but the pain from this flood of memories, his mind was almost crushed by itself before he quickly regained control, forcing them all aside and attempted to sort out the important ones to look at first.
It was an agonizing process. To begin with, there were so many memories that it was extremely easy to lose himself, lose his identity, and simply become a drop falling into an ocean of memories. He had to cling onto his name with all his mental strength just to keep himself together, yet ironically he had to search this sea of memories to fully identify himself.
Time passed. What seemed like a second lasted for an eternity, and what seemed like an eternity lasted for a second.
…
Ah, that's right, he attempted to retrieve Sayaka's Soul Gem from the Witch that used to be Sayaka, Oktavia.
Did he succeed? He didn't know.
Ah…!
That's right! Where was 'HE'? In this state where he was most vulnerable, 'HE' would definitely show up and kill him. He could properly recover and sort his memories later.
Quickly, he channeled his magic to quicken the recovery of only the important parts of himself that would be needed to move and survive. In his current state, fighting to win would be impossible. He had sacrificed much to keep casting his magic when he had attempted a highly advanced skill of soulweaving for the first time, a task he was rather unwilling to do ever again.
Okay, first he should recover energy to restore his defenses, and then after that restore the function and connections that allowed him to process and understand sound again...
The girls watched as the couch Jeremy was lying on suddenly began to freeze over.
Tomoe Mami was the first to react. "What's going on?" she asked, as she approached the couch cautiously.
It was then that Homura realized that this sight was rather familiar.
Yes, she remembered now. The same thing happened in the first timeline when they had first met and fought; the world had frozen over before Jeremy cast his magic, and then died.
"No..." she whispered as she stared in shock. If he died, then how would they be able to fight Walpurgisnacht and his enemy at the same time? How would she be able to save Madoka from her fate? Could fate be so cruel, to have given her hope in the form of this young man only for him to die so soon, right in front of her?
"No!" Homura shouted. "Jeremy! You can't! Don't die on me!"
She reached over to grab the young man despite not having any idea of what she would do to help, but the second she made contact she involuntarily flinched away, due to the intense heat emanating from his body.
It was strange, seeing the frozen couch yet knowing that his body was too hot to touch, even for a Puella like her that was resistant to pain. Homura rubbed her hands gingerly when she realized that her fingers didn't hurt from the heat. No, they were so cold that they might have been in danger of getting frostbite, had she been a normal human.
That was strange. Why would touching something that burned her end up freezing her fingers?
Still, she couldn't care less about such a minor injury. Her fingers could easily be restored with Puella magic. What really grated on her was the fact that she could only helplessly watch Jeremy without being able to do anything; it was exceedingly frustrating.
"Now, isn't that interesting. Seems like this man can take surrounding energies like heat and convert it into energy for himself," Kyuubey commented clinically. "What's amazing is that he seems to be doing it unconsciously."
So that's what was going on.
"Is that why he felt so hot?" she asked Kyuubey.
"Does he? He's not emanating that much heat, from what I can observe," Kyuubey replied. "But that may have something to do with your body's nerves trying to deal with the extreme contrast of something hot and cold at the same time. What you interpreted as a 'burning' sensation, was probably your nerves being overloaded instead. Or maybe it was all the energy being sucked out of your finger that caused it, and you misinterpreted it as heat?"
"I... see." Homura replied, staring at Jeremy.
Seems like she misinterpreted what was going on. A quick glance told her that the other girls were clearly surprised by her unexpected outburst, considering the usual cold demeanor she used towards them.
Homura mentally sighed. Why was it that this guy was always able to make her lose her cool?
And why did she show such a reaction towards him?
It didn't make sense.
Most of the girls were surprised by Homura's unexpected outburst. Even Mami could see it; it was something none of them had expected out of the cold girl.
"Oh? So you can feel emotion after all," Kyoko eventually spat out. "Who would have thought?"
While Mami was inclined to agree with Kyoko, she was more distracted by something else: mainly, the implications that came from Homura's initial reaction to Jeremy and the couch as it froze.
"Akemi Homura," Mami slowly began. "Why did you think he was going to die in the first place?"
While it was true that she didn't like how the scene had implied a relationship of some sort between the two, she couldn't ignore that Homura seemed to know something about him that she herself didn't.
The transfer student sighed. "I suppose I must give an explanation, don't I? The last time I saw him freeze the world around him, he died soon after."
Last time...?
"Did something like that happen before?" Mami asked, her brows furrowed in confusion. Just how close were those two?
"I'm afraid there's a contradiction in your statement, Homura." Kyuubey interrupted before anyone could say anything else.
At that, Akemi Homura clamped her mouth tight and glared at Kyuubey, refusing to say another word.
"...Yeah, Kyuubey's right," Madoka spoke up timidly. "How could he still be alive if he had died before? I don't understand..."
At Madoka's words, Homura's face became pained, but she was quickly saved by the most unlikely of people.
"Isn't it obvious?" Jeremy's voice rang out suddenly, even if rather weakly. "It's simple. Akemi Homura was mistaken; I never died in the first place, I simply lost conscious."
"J-Jeremy!?"
When his hearing was restored, Jeremy finally realized that the other Magical Girls were nearby. He quickly came to the conclusion from the way their voices echoed off the surrounding objects that they were all indoors somewhere, which meant that someone had moved him.
In a sense, it was a good thing, since he wasn't lying helpless at the same place he attempted to save Sayaka, because he knew for sure that 'HE' would have shown up there at some point. And with all these Magical girls nearby, he probably wouldn't be in any great danger. Hopefully.
However, the girls seemed to be at odds with one other, and there was nothing he could do about it besides listen; at least, until his ability to speak was restored as well.
If Jeremy could physically sigh, he probably would.
But thankfully, he was in a position where he could now afford to restore his ability to communicate first rather than to prioritize safety and ability to move. So he listened to their conversation. Causing the area to freeze around him earlier probably may not have been the best of ideas, but it wasn't a move he would regret, even if he had been seen by those unaware of magic (to which thankfully, judging by his surroundings, he wasn't). The faster he recovered, the less vulnerable he would be if 'HE' decided to attack...even if he was unlikely to attack in the current situation.
It did cause the conversation to go in a direction that neither he nor Homura would have liked, from what he could tell.
Then Madoka had to go and ask how he could be alive if he had died earlier.
With his voice finally restored, he spoke up to prevent the situation from getting any worse.
"Isn't it obvious?" he said. "It's simple. Akemi Homura was mistaken; I never died in the first place, I simply lost conscious."
A statement that he couldn't prove true or false since he didn't actually know if he did die, but having to explain the time conundrum that both he and Homura faced would be extremely annoying, so this was the best case scenario.
With him suddenly speaking up, though, all the girls showed some measure of surprise, with Homura actually calling out his name.
"What is it?" He asked.
"A-ah, no, it's nothing," Homura stuttered. "It's just that we didn't expect you to speak up all of a sudden. When did you wake up?"
"Somewhat recently," he replied vaguely on purpose. "So? Where am I? And why did you bring me here?"
A couple moments of silence followed that question.
"Um... Jeremy, how could you forget? You've been here before," Mami replied, clearly disappointed. "We're in my apartment."
"Is that so?" Jeremy replied after a moment's pause. "I'm sorry if I offended you, but... I couldn't tell because I'm kind of blind at the moment. So I couldn't really see, even if I opened my eyes."
Shocked silence followed his words.
Was it really that surprising?
When Jeremy declared himself blind, Sayaka found herself speechless.
When Homura had declared earlier that she was the reason why the young man had sacrificed much, she didn't think it would have been that bad. After all, it was the transfer student who had said so, and she didn't trust her at all.
A quick glance around showed hat everyone else appeared to be just as shell-shocked as she was.
Everyone, except Kyuubey.
"So you've become blind, huh. Was that a necessary sacrifice to restore Sayaka to how she is now?" Kyuubey asked.
Complete silence followed Kyuubey's question as they all stared at the young man who still lay on the frozen couch.
"Hey, it's not that bad. I can function perfectly fine without my sight, so there's no need to worry," Jeremy replied, completely ignoring Kyuubey. "More importantly, what's the situation? How many days have I been out?"
"You haven't been out that long," Homura started. "It hasn't even been a day—"
"No, wait! What do mean, it's not that bad?" Sayaka interrupted. "You're blind, and it's my fault! How could I—"
"Miki Sayaka," Jeremy quietly interrupted. Although it wasn't loud, Miki Sayaka couldn't help but quiet down upon hearing his tone of voice. "Calm down. There is no need to worry about me, my blindness is only temporary. And like I've already said, I can more or less function normally without my sight, so there's no problem at all."
"I-I see..." Sayaka stuttered, feeling relieved as most of the tension left her body. "Thank goodness... It's great that it's only temporary. I don't know what I would have done if you had sacrificed so much for my sake."
"More importantly," Kyuubedy spoke up again. "How did you manage to save Sayaka?"
Jeremy didn't respond, completely ignoring Kyuubey's question. Instead, he slowly, exceedingly slowly, like an old machine with its parts rusted together, pushed himself up into a seated position, and proceeded to ask Mami for some tea, to which Mami willingly agreed to serve.
"Um," Madoka spoke up. "Why are you ignoring Kyuubey?"
"What are you talking about?" Jeremy asked, emptying his cup of tea with a single gulp. "I didn't hear anyone speak other than you girls. And Tomoe Mami, may I have more tea?"
Sayaka blinked. She was sure that Kyuubey had already asked him the same question twice. Was he ignoring Kyuubey on purpose? Was he trying to hide how he saved her? What exactly had happened?
"Hey, the tea's still hot. You shouldn't drink it that fast, you'll only burn yourself." Mami said, interrupting her thoughts.
"There's no need to worry" Kyuubey said, staring at the young man. "The tea's already cold by the time he brings it to his mouth, Mami. But even so, I wonder why he's not responding to me?"
"What do you mean, the tea's already cold by then? Tea doesn't cool that fast..." Mami trailed off as Kyuubey gestured at the couch, which was still frozen.
"Seems like he's taking the tea not for enjoyment, but as yet another source of energy, Mami." Kyuubey concluded.
"Is that true, Jeremy?" Mami asked, staring at him.
"Is what true?" Jeremy asked. Although his face didn't show it, he certainly sounded confused. Sayaka also noticed that Jeremy only moved when necessary; his facial expression hasn't changed at all since the beginning of the conversation. It felt rather weird to Sayaka, talking to someone who was as still as a statue when he wasn't drinking tea or talking.
"That you're using my tea as a source of energy."
"...Now, where did that idea come from?" Jeremy asked.
"Kyuubey just said so." Homura cut in, clearly not looking all that pleased.
"Kyuubey...? I didn't hear anything. Did all of you hear this Kyuubey?" Jeremy asked.
They all answered yes at the same time.
"I see," Jeremy replied. "Then, may I ask... is this Kyuubey speaking to you girls using something like telepathy?"
After the girls confirmed his theory, Jeremy mentally sighed.
So Kyuubey spoke telepathically.
If that was the case, then there was a likely reason as to why he couldn't hear Kyuubey.
Thankfully, by this point some of his sensors had been restored, he had a general idea of where everyone was in this room.
"Allow me to make something clear, then. Is this Kyuubey..." he said, pointing at the general direction of where that thing was. "...that thing over there?"
"Yes," Homura replied. "That thing is Kyuubey. But if you're blind at the moment, how did you know it was there?"
"I don't need to see to know that it was there," Jeremy replied. "In fact, I've never been able to see the thing you girls call Kyuubey in the first place. But despite that, I can still tell that something was there. Regardless, even if that thing decided to reveal itself to me now, there's no point since I'm blind at the moment."
"Is that why you also can't hear Kyuubey?" the girl called Madoka asked.
"Well..." Jeremy replied slowly, "In that case, it might also be because of me. No, it probably is. Didn't it try to ask me a few questions earlier? Yet I couldn't hear it. So it might be because of me."
Now that Jeremy thought about, this was the first time he spoke with Madoka, the girl who Homura had been trying so hard to protect. He didn't really understand Homura's reason for doing so, but he didn't have a reason to find out, either. It wasn't any of his business what Homura wanted to do.
Regardless, he didn't get much of an impression from Madoka as she was now. She was… normal, he supposed.
"Because of you?" Madoka questioned, breaking his train of thought.
"Well, to put it simply, I have various passive defenses set up to prevent people from doing harmful things such as manipulating my mind, but at the same time it also blocks things like telepathy," he replied as he slowly reached around to one of his many pockets. If anything, his defenses were not something he liked to bring down, if ever, which was why his defenses were the first thing he restored as soon as he could. "Regardless, I'm not willing to remove said defenses, but I can always find a way to hear Kyuubey without having to compromise them... Ah, here it is."
"What's that?" Madoka asked.
"Just a simple earpiece that I modified a long time ago. Kyuubey's not the first person who tried to talk with me telepathically, so I eventually modified a hearing aid that could act as an intermediate. Basically, Kyuubey would send the telepathic signal to me, but the earpiece will pick it up instead and convert it to sound, allowing me to hear what he has to say. Not all that complicated, really, but quite useful."
It was a rather simple solution, one that was both convenient and easy. Sometimes, Jeremy wondered how many magic users would have much easier lives if they were more willing to use modern technology along with their magic, but it was a pointless thought.
For him, probably the biggest benefit was the lack energy it required, allowing him to continue focusing his energy on his recovery.
"Let's see if this works," Jeremy said once the earpiece was on, emptying yet another cup of tea. "Kyuubey, did you have something to say?"
"I wanted to know just how exactly you saved Sayaka." An unknown yet childish voice he never heard before came through the earpiece.
Well, at least it worked. Jeremy wasn't really expecting it to work so conveniently on the first try; usually he had to make minor modifications to tune it to specific types of telepathy, or even to the speaker themselves.
Oh well.
"Okay, it's working. But you want to know how I saved Sayaka, huh..." Jeremy trailed off. That wasn't really something he wanted to talk about, especially with Kyuubey around. He had just met Kyuubey properly today, and he still didn't trust the thing. Especially after learning what he knew about Magical Girls in this reality.
Interestingly, he was saved from answering by the very person in question.
"No, wait! What happened in the first place? I don't remember needing saving at all!" Sayaka interrupted. "At least, tell me what happened first before you go explaining that."
"Eh? Why doesn't she know?" Jeremy asked. He was a bit surprised that she didn't know by now, given how much time the other girls had to tell her.
"Well... about that..." Kyoko started, but Jeremy interrupted her.
"There's no reason to hide the truth, is there?" He said. "However, I may not be the best person to ask since as you know, I too lost conscious after the event. From what I know, however..."
"Miki Sayaka," Homura cut in. "That night, you turned into a Witch. There's no mistake about it. Magical Girls who have given into despair turn into Witches."
Sayaka froze at Homura's outrageous declaration. "N-No way. You're lying, right? That has to be a lie. If I turned into a Witch, then how am I here now?"
A quick glance around the room told her otherwise, though. The way the other girls didn't meet her eyes as they looked away, their crestfallen expression as Homura gave her that ridiculous explanation, the way none of them tried to deny it...
She couldn't believe it. No way. It had to be a lie.
Only Jeremy didn't change his facial expression, but then again, he was as still as a statue this entire conversation as usual, so there was no point seeing if he would have a reaction or not.
"It's the truth, Sayaka," Kyuubey said mercilessly. "Since this country calls women who are still growing up 'girls', for girls who on the way of becoming Witches, it's only logical to call them Magical Girls."
"Hey! Do you guys really have to be so blunt?" Kyoko shouted at them with a clenched fist, for once ignoring the snack in her hand.
"It's the truth, there's no denying that," Kyuubey replied with resignation. "Why do you humans always reject the truth when it is not to your liking? It's something that I'll never understand."
"B-but, if that's true," Sayaka stuttered. "How am I still here?"
"For that, you have Jeremy to thank for," Homura replied. "He did what was previously thought impossible and restored you, but it was with much sacrifice as I'm sure you've already noticed by now."
"Akemi Homura," Jeremy quickly said before anyone could say anything else. "While it is true that I sacrificed much, could you not be so hard on her? Certainly, I made a lot of sacrifices, but I made them willingly and none of them are unrecoverable. It's just a matter of time now before I'll be back to normal."
"Wait, wait, wait," Kyoko called out mid-bite, interrupting them. "That doesn't explain the man with white hair at the scene."
"A man with white hair...?" Mami repeated. "Jeremy, do you know who that is?"
Jeremy sighed, although it seemed a bit forced. "It's probably the reason why I'm in this city. If he's the same person I'm thinking of, then he is my enemy. Now that I think about it, for someone like him it wouldn't be impossible to accelerate the process of becoming a Witch." Upon saying that, he emptied his cup yet again. "Actually, I'm a bit surprised he didn't show up to kill me after I helped Sayaka, but then again knowing him… well, I guess it's fine either way."
Okay, seriously, just how many cups of tea did he drink already? Mami had to refill the teapot itself numerous times already by now, even if it didn't take very long.
"That was probably because of me," Homura said. "While you were saving Miki Sayaka, he showed up, but he decided not to enter because I was there and he thought it would be annoying to fight me."
"I see. Interesting. I didn't think he would back down so easily, but I do agree that fighting you would be annoying." Jeremy replied. "But something else is bothering me at the moment. Kyuubey, you knew that Magical Girls would become the very Witches that they fight. Why is it that you're turning girls into Magical Girls?"
"Don't misunderstand. It's not like we hold a grudge against humanity or anything," Kyuubey said. "It is all for the sake of this universe we all live in. Jeremy, do you know what the word 'entropy' means?"
"Of course I do," Jeremy replied. "Simply put, it's the idea of how all chemical and physical processes in the universe have a natural tendency to become more disordered over time. Well, it's a little bit more complicated than that, but what about it?"
That wasn't simple at all! Sayaka retorted mentally.
"The energy of this universe is slowly diminishing," Kyuubey said. "So we were looking for energy that wasn't bound by thermodynamics."
"Wait, wait, wait. The energy of this universe is slowly diminishing?" Jeremy spoke up. "Are you kidding me? What happened to the law of conservation of energy? Energy can not be created nor destroyed. Energy does not just diminish; it simply becomes converted into a less useful form. However, I believe that what you are probably referring to is the heat death of the universe, correct?"
"Ah, yes, that is correct," Kyuubey replied. "Excuse me for putting it simply. I was afraid that some may not understand."
"Whatever." Jeremy replied. "Please, continue."
And then the two of them fell into a rapid discussion that quickly lost Sayaka and the other girls, from the looks of it.
As the conversation between Jeremy and Kyuubey dragged on, Sayaka ended up silently thinking about what happened that night.
From what she just learned, she had fallen into despair and turned into a Witch.
Jeremy then rescued her, turning her back to a Magical Girl, a feat that was considered impossible.
In fact, they had never considered doing that before because they hadn't know all the Witches they fought used to be Puella Magi like themselves.
The thought sickened her. She had become a Magical Girl to become a hero of justice, but at what cost? The enemies she fought used to be girls like herself, the normal people that she fought to protect weren't even worth saving, Kyousuke had been taken by her best friend Hitomi, and the one true hero of justice was injured as a result of saving someone like her.
A zombie like her, who didn't even deserve to be saved, to be loved.
And yet he went ahead and saved her anyway.
Why?
It wasn't long before the conversation between Jeremy and Kyuubey degenerated.
"You know what?" Jeremy said, barely shaking his head with a sigh. "Just, just stop. There are so many holes in your theories and logic that it just becomes preposterous, and your proposal for solving this problem is ridiculous. While some parts are certainly attractive, such as the energy that can be acquired from emotion, the method of which you harness them is completely absurd. Not only is it not all that efficient in my opinion, it's downright inhumane. I can't agree to this."
"What would you suggest, then, Jeremy?" Kyuubey asked.
"I suggest getting all your facts straight first before even asking that question," Jeremy replied. "In any case, I don't really want to deal with your fallacies at the moment, so please leave."
"But—"
"Leave, Kyuubey," Jeremy quietly interrupted. "I'm sorry, but I don't wish to speak with you any longer today, not at the moment. You'll have to excuse me, but you do have to remember that I'm still recovering at the moment, so I'm not feeling well. We can continue this discussion another time."
A chorus of agreement from the other girls caused Kyuubey to pause for a second.
"My goodness, it seems like I really am not wanted here," Kyuubey said. "I guess I'll have to talk to you at another time, Jeremy."
A couple moments of silence followed that exchange where no one dared to say anything after Kyuubey disappeared.
Jeremy sighed. Talking with Kyuubey... was quite the interesting experience.
He recalled his thought process weeks ago, when he found the idea of having any wish granted in exchange for becoming a Magical Girl to be extremely suspicious.
Now that he knew the entire reasoning behind it, his intuition was right. There really was a big catch behind it all, and without a doubt Kyuubey was the one who benefited.
It's not like he hated Kyuubey, though. While Kyuubey's methods were so bad to the point that they were something he could never agree to, he couldn't deny that Kyuubey had good intentions.
But that didn't mention how Kyuubey's reasoning was quite flawed at times, which was rather strange for something that acted purely on logic. Did Kyuubey really tell the whole truth? Or was it simply sorely lacking in knowledge yet acted upon it anyway?
Well, there were a number of reasons he could think up on the spot as to why that was, but there was no way to reach a conclusion based on the lack of information he had on Kyuubey.
"Good riddance. That thing is finally gone," Kyoko grumbled, interrupting his thoughts. "It was about time it realized that it wasn't welcome here."
The animosity emanating from all the girls made sense as they all nodded in agreement, considering that they all now knew the truth about being Magical Girls.
Suddenly, Madoka spoke up.
"Um, Jeremy...san?" Madoka asked hesitantly, interrupting his thoughts. "Earlier you said something about your enemy turning Sayaka into a Witch? Why is he able to do something like that?"
Jeremy sighed. "I guess you girls have the right to know. But first, you have to understand how Magical Girls turn into Witches in the first place."
"I already know," Homura said. "When our Soul Gems gets tainted and turns black, we become Grief Seeds and turn into Witches. That is the unavoidable fate of all who become Puella Magi... at least, until you came along."
"No, I don't think my presence here doesn't change that fate. Sayaka still became a Witch, even if I brought her back afterwards... and I don't think I could do something like that again even if I wanted to. At least, not any time soon. Regardless, what's really important is just how your Soul Gems get tainted," Jeremy said.
"Isn't that just because using Puella Magic taints them?" Mami asked.
"One might think that, but I'm not so sure," Jeremy replied. "One of my theories is that the brightness of your Soul Gem could also resembles your emotional and mental state. Being constantly thrown into combat and exposed to beings of despair does nothing to stabilize your emotional and mental state; it does the opposite, and thus your Soul Gem becomes darker after each battle. Of course, using Puella magic may be also be a direct cause as well, but that's not something I can confirm by myself, since I'm not a Puella Magi like you girls are."
"...I see," Homura replied. "But what does that have to do with that enemy of yours?"
,
"My enemy is one who's power is related to chaotic energy, or chaos itself. Your Soul Gems show the state of your emotions, and emotions, being chaotic in nature, is something born from chaos. It is not difficult for him to corrupt people and cause them to go insane; the fact that your soul has been crystallized into that Soul Gem only makes for an easier target. Is it no wonder that he can accelerate the process of which a Magical Girl becomes a Witch?"
Homura was rendered speechless, shell-shocked at Jeremy's words.
The enemy that Jeremy had to fight with sounded almost like the perfect counter to Magical Girls... if the that enemy didn't mind getting killed by the Witch that spawned afterwards. But after seeing Jeremy's power in battle, she realized that such a person would have no trouble staying alive after turning a Magical Girl into a Witch.
By this point, she didn't want to become enemies of either of them, but she had already made her alliance with Jeremy.
Thus, the scales weren't changed at all. Her chances of saving Madoka ended up to be exactly the same as when Jeremy and his enemy wasn't here before, if not lower.
Homura sighed. Even with a powerful ally, he would end up unable to help them, just like in the last timeline.
Suddenly, a thought struck her. "But what about the first time he attacked us?" She asked vaguely, not wanting to go into details while everyone else was here. "I wasn't corrupted then."
"Did something like that happen?" Mami asked. "I'm pretty sure I would have noticed something like that happening in this town..."
"Yes, it happened, Tomoe Mami," Jeremy replied. "And Akemi Homura, you weren't corrupted because I redirected the attack towards myself, and thus all the chaotic energy that was originally intended to corrupt you was sent into me instead. Then, with your help, we managed to escape. It was rather close, though."
"But how did you know to do that? Surely you didn't know about Magical Girl like us turning into Witches at the time," Mami asked.
"I didn't know. I just thought he was trying to corrupt you, something he often does to turn the tides even further in his favor, so I tried to avoid that."
"But why would you redirect the attack towards yourself? Wouldn't you end up being the one corrupted, then?" Madoka asked.
"His attack had already struck Akemi Homura. By that point, my movements had already been severely limited, and the fastest way for me to remove that corruption was to redirect it from Akemi Homura to myself. Essentially, I turned Akemi Homura into a conduit for the energy instead of a vessel, so it didn't build up in her. Purification was not a good option for me, especially considering my weakened state at the time—I'm much better at redirecting energy than something like purification to begin with. And yes, doing something like that would lead to me being corrupted if I did nothing about it. However, since I've fought him many times before, I already have some experience taking his attacks; thus, I could delay the effects it had on me, and reorder myself later." Jeremy replied. At that point, Jeremy paused for a moment, as if what just said didn't make sense to him. But he eventually continued on as if it was nothing. "That's why, by giving Akemi Homura time to act, we had enough time to escape. More importantly, though... Akemi Homura, have you told them yet?"
"Told them what?" Homura asked, looking at him. There was only one thing that came to her mind, but she wanted to confirm it anyway.
"The reason why you asked me to team up with you, of course. Now is a good a time as any other, with all of us gathered here."
So they were on the same page. Still, for some reason she felt that she had to give some sort of resistance. "But—"
"Hey, hey," Kyoko interrupted. "I don't like this. What are you two talking about? Hiding something from the rest of us again?"
"I'm not hiding anything." Homura impulsively replied with a small sigh, glaring at her. She immediately regretted her response, but it was a bit late now. "I'll even tell everyone right now. You've all heard about Walpurgisnacht, right?"
Mami blinked. Walpurgisnacht? Wasn't that just a baseless rumor for Magical Girls?
"Walpurgisnacht? What's that?" Madoka asked.
"It's a colossal, super-dreadful Witch that shows up in Magical Girl rumors," Kyoko said, leaning back as she took a bite from another apple that she had brought with her. "That's probably an exaggeration, though. A colossal Witch like that wouldn't even be a challenge if we all teamed up. Or are you actually admitting that you're so weak as to need our help?"
"Yes, it wouldn't be a challenge," Homura said, "...for Walpurgisnacht, that is. I don't think any of you truly understand how powerful Walpurgisnacht actually is."
"And what, are you actually saying that you know how powerful Walpurgisnacht is?" Kyoko taunted. "I'm pretty sure that if you fought such a thing that was that powerful, the rest of us would know. It's not like you could hide a colossal Witch like that so easily."
"Okay, enough." Jeremy spoke. "Let's not waste time arguing. This is a serious matter; Walpurgisnacht is as dangerous as Akemi Homura is making it out to be, and the two of us know for sure that it will be appearing soon here in Mitakihara town. Can we all come to an agreement as soon as possible instead of fighting amongst ourselves? And yes, Akemi Homura and I have fought Walpurgisnacht before. It's power is beyond what any of you could probably imagine, but I doubt it is impossible to defeat. So I ask all of you; can we set aside our differences for this battle? It would be easier if we all worked together."
"Well, I wouldn't mind," Mami found herself saying suddenly. "I mean, I trust Jeremy enough to believe him. Let's work together, Akemi Homura."
Akemi Homura only harrumphed in response as she looked away.
To be honest, Mami still hadn't fully given up on Akemi Homura, even though she constantly kept telling herself that they could never get along.
So, she was actually grateful towards Jeremy for giving her another chance. Maybe she could understand Akemi Homura a little better now that they had to work together now, and maybe even become friends.
She knew that kind of thinking was naïve, but...
With Jeremy around, you could never really know. After all, that gentleman has already done a lot for them, far more than even what Kyuubey could expect.
"Well, I guess I'm in too," Kyoko said. "It seems interesting, fighting along you guys against Walpurgisnacht. I still don't think it'll be all that hard with all of us, though."
All Kyoko got was a glare of disapproval from Akemi Homura with her statement.
That only left Miki Sayaka to join them, though. Mami looked at the girl, who was clearly conflicted about what to do.
"How about it, Miki-san?" She asked, prompting the girl. "Will you help us too?"
"I... I want to, but I can't bring myself to trust her," Miki-san said, pointing at Akemi Homura. "How can I accept being on the same team as her?"
"Miki Sayaka, I'm not asking you to trust Akemi Homura," Jeremy said. "Each of us can have our own reasons for fighting. Why don't you help us for justice? Walpurgisnacht will bring a lot of destruction to Mitakihara Town with just its appearance; wouldn't you say it's a worthy cause to protect the city from Walpurgisnacht?"
"I... I don't even know, anymore," Miki-san replied, looking down at her feet. "Are the people in this town really worth saving? What am I fighting to protect?"
Mami paused after hearing that. How did Miki-san get that idea in her head? She had been the most adamant off them all about being a hero of justice, and now this? Just how much into despair had she fallen into?
"Hey, Sayaka!" Kyoko shouted. "Didn't you that say you'll make your dream come true? Becoming a hero of justice, that is?"
"Hahaha," Miki-san laughed dryly. "Weren't you the one who told me to do otherwise? Why are you telling me this now?"
"That...! That was..." Kyoko trailed off, muttering as she finished her sentence, "...That was because you were supposed to make the dream I couldn't fulfill come true."
However, Mami was sure that it was still loud enough for everyone present to have heard it, and after hearing such a thing, no one apparently had anything to say in response.
"What happened anyway, Miki-san?" Mami finally asked.
"I...I was..." Miki-san started, clearly troubled.
"If she doesn't want to talk about it, it's fine," Jeremy cut in. "Miki Sayaka, if you don't want to fight to protect this town, at least fight to protect your friends, and the people you care about. You can do that, right?"
"It's not that I don't want to talk about it," Sayaka protested, "But I... my memories... Everything's all so jumbled up I'm just not sure why I suddenly feel this way."
"I see," Jeremy replied. "Then, do you at least remembered what I told you back then? When I interrupted the fight between you and Kyoko Sakura over there. Do you remember that at least? What did I say?"
"...You asked if I wanted to be a hero of justice," Miki-san said slowly. "What about it?"
"I didn't just ask. I warned you that it would be likely you would 'fail again and again, possibly to fall into despair and die miserably in the process instead.' Despite my warning, don't you remember your response?" asked Jeremy.
Mami suddenly realized that his line of questioning was actually leading Miki-san on. She didn't think it was a bad thing, though; she knew Jeremy was a gentleman, and thus he wouldn't do anything harmful to her.
Right?
"...I said I that I would become an ally of justice anyway," Miki-san whispered slowly, as the true meaning behind his questioning slowly dawned on her.
"Yes, you did. You said that it wasn't something you wanted, but something you would make come true. And while you have already failed a few times, here you are, still standing before us," Jeremy said. "Don't tell me that your resolve back then was nothing but a fake."
"I—!" Miki-san started with a quick outburst, but stopped herself. Even Mami could tell that she had realized that he was right, as blunt as he was being.
Wasn't Jeremy normally not this blunt? Or was she projecting what she thought Jeremy was like onto him?
"Look, you don't have to decide now," the young man said gently. "Everyone has their moments when they doubt themselves, so take the time to think about it carefully. As for helping us fight Walpurgisnacht, you don't have to decide today, okay? We still have some time before then…Let's say, tomorrow. Let's all meet up here again tomorrow, shall we?"
"O-okay..." Miki-san stammered, staring at the ground.
"And, Miki Sayaka?" Jeremy called out. "Please remember that you are not alone. No matter how difficult the path you decide to take, you still have many friends here willing to help and support you."
"Yeah, that's right!" Kyoko jumped in. "Don't go off doing everything by yourself, you're still too inexperienced!"
Mami smiled to herself at Kyoko's comment. It was just like Kyoko to not be completely honest with herself.
But more importantly, she too was here to support her friends, and Miki-san was definitely included.
"Miki-san," Mami gently said, as she reached over to carefully lift Sayaka's face so that she could look into Sayaka's eyes, "What Jeremy-san said is right. We're all friends here, so please rely on us more. I'll help you as much as I can, and I'm sure the rest of us here will as well."
"Except for the transfer student," Miki-san grumbled.
"That's more like the Miki-san I know," Mami said lightly.
"Anyway," Homura interrupted. "There seems to be nothing left to discuss, so I will be on my way."
"Yes, yes, get out of here," Miki-san grumbled.
"Yes, I think we've all had enough for the day," Jeremy quickly shot in before anyone else could say anything in response. "Perhaps it would be best for us to return home and think over all that was said today."
The girls looked at Jeremy in surprise. "You haven't recovered yet, have you? Why are you leaving already?" Mami asked; a question that clearly everyone also wanted to ask. "I don't mind us all meeting here tomorrow, but can't you stay here a little while longer today?"
"Didn't I already say before? 'I can function normally without my sight, so there's no problem at all.'" Jeremy repeated.
"Yes, but even so..." Mami trailed off.
"At least let me walk you home!" Miki-san shouted. Then she realized what she just said, and quickly tried to explain herself. "B-besides, I still haven't gotten the chance to thank you yet for what happened earlier."
A few moments of silence as they all waited for Jeremy's response.
Eventually though, he sighed and gave in. "Alright, you can walk with me for a while. I have a feeling that you want to talk to me about something, anyways. Alone."
It was a line that cut off other attempts to accompany him as well, if they were going to try, thought Mami. Or rather, why did such a thought appear, anyway?
With mixed feelings, she saw everyone else out the door, wondering why she was feeling the way she was. It was only after she had closed the front door, when they were all long gone, that she realized why. Clearly, she was unhappy because it was lonely here, and thus she didn't want them all to leave.
And thus, Mami spent the rest of the day wondering what she could do to have them all keep her company a little longer next time.
Surely, they wouldn't mind next time, right?
A/N: What is this, an update for a story nobody reads after this many years? Yes, I'm not dead, but it's not like people read this anyway... Zheiro has had higher priority too.
Jokes aside, I actually had this chapter mostly done all those years ago, but I don't like publishing unless I'm at least an additional chapter ahead. Just in case I need to go back and make changes to have things flow better, prevent plotholes, that sort of stuff.
Well the next chapter isn't even halfway done anyway so rip
Anyway, this was also a pretty hard chapter for me to write. Definitely not my favorite chapter. No matter how often I looked at it, I felt like something was off, and it might be because of all the characters being in the same scene. It's hard to write a scene with this many people, especially when they're all somewhat at odds with each other. People start interrupting each other, start arguing, and probably me adding in as many POV changes as I did didn't make it any better. If you haven't figured it out by now, a line break indicates POV change. Or scene break. Or both. If you actually needed me to say this though, then I fail as a writer.
On the content itself, this chapter was mostly a reactionary chapter after Jeremy saved Sayaka. If you thought Jeremy got off a bit too easy, well, if you've been reading Jeremy's also been known to lie before. So you can think on that. Not saying he is a compulsive lier, however.
Also, when Jeremy sacrifices something, it's usually restorable (but how long it takes to be restored is something else). Jeremy knows what he's doing. He doesn't really use the type of magic where the strength of the magic is based on what you're willing to sacrifice. Although, this is probably also the first time he's sacrificed this much. To begin with, when Jeremy was saving Sayaka, what he needed wasn't a magic that would let him achieve a miracle, but rather the time and energy required to achieve his goal at the moment.
Yes, I skipped the scene where they discover that their soul gems is where their souls are, no longer in their body, and Mami was there this time. Mami made a short flashback (but not really) to that scene, but idk if I did that ok or not.
For the girl's interactions with each other, I have no idea if I did it well. I already mentioned having diffiulty writing Homura's character, and now nearly every character was in this scene, Homura included. It's also been a while since I've seen PMMM so I'm going to need to review everything again if I'm to continue working on this.
For Jeremy and Kyuubey's talk, there were a number of discussions online about how Kyuubey's methods didn't make sense. Since Jeremy is apparently more of an intellectual type (at least, he tries to be), there's no reason he can't come to similar reasoning as well. I didn't go into too much detail for the sake of storytelling, but you can google it if you'd like. I don't quite remember it myself, since this was all stuff I looked up years back. Do remember I also wrote this chapter years back, and the most I ever did recently was review the chapter once again before finally publishing it today.
That, and write the AN. I don't actually write the AN until right before I publish it. That's probably why it sounds like I ramble a lot in here.
Next chapter, is again, Sayaka's chapter. Yes, again. With a bit of Jeremy, but it's Sayaka's chapter. But this time, it's not saving Sayaka's life, but attempting to save Sayaka. What? There's no difference? What does Sayaka need saving from again at this point?
Jeremy would protest that he didn't save anyone, but this time around there's no way around it, Jeremy. You definitely saved Sayaka in the previous chapter by bringing her back from her witch form. You denied it with Mami, but you can't do it this time around, can you? *cackles like a witch*
Being Jeremy is suffering, even in the author's notes, apparently.
But anyway, find out what I mean next chapter, whenever I manage to get around to finishing it.