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 8:

The next day, Jeremy left early again towards Mami's apartment.

This time, it wasn't because he didn't know what time to meet up; after the last mishap, they all agreed on a time to meet up, so he knew when everyone was supposed to show up.

It wasn't because he wanted to visit Mami, either, even though he knew she wouldn't mind. If anything, she had invited him to come as early as he liked.

It was because he wanted to talk to Homura after having missed his chance the previous day, but he had no idea how to find her.

He didn't know where she lived, nor did he have the energy to search the city using magic. His eyes were still out of commission too, so he couldn't just go looking from the highest point in the city.

Essentially, the only detection abilities he could reliably use combined was short enough that he would have to wander throughout the city itself and hope he would practically bump into her. But that was clearly a waste of time and had a high chance of him missing her.

So instead, he headed over to Mami's apartment. It was the one place he knew everyone, including Homura, would eventually show up.

He would just have to ambush her before she arrived. At least by staying in one area, he could expand his detection range with devices he placed around the perimeter.

It was going to be a bit of a wait.

"Homura-san!" Jeremy called out.

He didn't have to wait that long, but then again, his sense of time was always off anyway so maybe it really was a long wait. It didn't really matter though, since he was successful in his attempt to catch Homura before she met with anyone else.

Although, the fact that he wasn't affected by her time stop abilities also made it quite helpful for that matter.

In any case, Homura merely looked at him for a moment upon him calling his name before walking over.

"Is there something you need?" She asked curtly.

"I've been meaning to talk to you since yesterday," Jeremy started, but he was interrupted.

"If you did, you could've just visited my place, you know," Homura said, looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"But I don't know where you live," Jeremy said helplessly.

A brief moment of silence lapsed as Homura stared at him incredulously, before she released the breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"Well, I guess that's fine," she shrugged. "We have a meeting to get to, so I'll give you my address later. But what is it that you wanted to talk to me about? Is this about me and Miki Sayaka?" she asked, immediately changing the subject. "Don't worry. I was merely trying something out."

"Trying something out?" Jeremy asked, tilting his head in confusion as he gestured for her to explain. It was true that he wanted to talk to her about that topic, so it saved some time that she brought it up.

"Miki Sayaka is fated to become a Witch if she becomes a magical girl," Homura started. "No matter what else happens, that is a constant. This timeline was no different. However, what changed was you. You were an anomaly. Something that had never appeared before. You did the impossible and brought Sayaka back from being a Witch. Even Tomoe Mami hasn't fallen into despair despite everything that has been revealed. So, I started wondering what other changes would appear: How much has Sayaka changed? How much will continue to change? Who else could be saved through your actions? There was a lot I've been considering lately."

"So, you decided to antagonize Sayaka-san to see how she would react." Jeremy tried to clarify.

"It's not like I tried to antagonize her," Homura muttered. "I was careful with the placing of my explosives. She would've been fine, but she still complained anyway. Although, I guess that was to be expected. I guess her hating me will always be a constant too."

Jeremy blinked. "Wait a minute," he said slowly. "Were you, by any chance, actually hoping that she would—"

"Don't even bother finishing that line," Homura snapped immediately as she turned away to leave. "If that's all you have to say, then let's go. It wouldn't do to keep everyone waiting, would it?"

Jeremy could only blankly face her direction as Homura disappeared into Mami's apartment without letting him say anything else. With a helpless shrug, he threw his arms into the air and shook his head, before following her in after.

After a small bit of discussion, tea, and cake, they all ended up searching the entire prefecture looking for a Witch to fight that day.

Madoka, trying her new role of watching over the battlefield, could only spend most of the time panicking and trying to caution everyone of each and every attack that came. While unfortunate, but perhaps expected of someone who was new to this all, it only served to give just about everyone a bit of a headache by the end of the day thanks to her confused instructions.

"Don't worry," Jeremy said, placing a hand on a downcast Madoka's head and patting it gently. "It's your first time; you'll get used to it with time. It's not an easy job."

Madoka only nodded mutely in defeat, eyes downcast. Everyone else had long gone their ways for the day, but here Jeremy was, consulting yet another pubescent girl. Sometimes Jeremy wondered what happened to his life lately to cause all this to happen.

He would probably have to bring this up to everyone tomorrow.

"Is this really the best way for me to help everyone right now?" Madoka asked. "Can't you teach me whatever magic it is that you do?"

Jeremy frowned. "The main problem with that is the time frame. There's simply no time to half-heartedly teach you magic; it's probably going to backfire on you instead. If anything, you magical girls getting all your power in a single moment is an exception—yet I'm pretty sure everyone here doesn't want you to become a magical girl now at this point, right?"

Madoka didn't say anything to that, merely continuing to look down at her feet. However, that lack of answer to his question made Jeremy narrow his eyes by reflex.

It was suspicious. Even without his sight, even without knowing Madoka all that much, the few times that he had watched or interacted with her gave him the impression that despite her low self-confidence, she was a kind and gentle person. Or rather, because she lacked confidence in herself, felt that she was the type of person who would place others before herself.

And if she was truly that kind of girl, then that meant that despite all the disadvantages of becoming a magical girl, she wouldn't mind if it meant helping others, even at the cost at herself. He had come to this conclusion just a day ago, but this time he had to make sure that problems wouldn't arise from this if it was true.

"Hey," Jeremy lowered his voice to convey seriousness. "You're not actually thinking about becoming a magical girl still, are you?"

Again, no answer. But perhaps no answer told him more than anything she could have said.

"Kaname Madoka, look at me," Jeremy took off the cloth wrapped around his eyes as he partially squatted, lowering himself so that they would be at roughly the same height. When she didn't respond, he reached out and grabbed her shoulders, at which she finally looked up away from the ground to his face.

Although he still couldn't see, this would be enough. It was more important that Madoka could see his eyes instead, which meant she was finally paying attention to him.

"Kaname Madoka. I won't stop you if you want to be a magical girl, even after everything you've learned," Jeremy said solemnly. "Of course, we all would prefer it if you didn't, because the consequences are just too large. However, the choice ultimately lies with you. I just want you to promise me one thing."

"Promise...?" Madoka asked hesitatingly, fidgeting in Jeremy's grasp.

"If you ever decide to be a magical girl," Jeremy continued to face her unblinkingly. "Promise me that you will never make a wish for me or for my enemy."

Madoka blinked at the strange request.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"While I'm not adverse to accepting assistance from others," Jeremy explained, "My problems with Adonis is something I have to take responsibility for. That's why, I have to be the one who ultimately deals with him. I don't want some wish granting thing to end it prematurely. That's why," he continued. "Kaname Madoka, I will never forgive you if you make a wish for me."

Madoka could only nod dumbly at the sudden harshness, staring at his unblinking yet unseeing eyes, unsure of what's going on.

"Madoka, I'm serious," he said. "I don't care if you decide to make a wish for anyone else, but I will never forgive you if you wish for me."

"Okay, I get it," Madoka finally said. "Well, I don't really get it, but I don't want you to hate me. So if it ever comes to that, I promise that I won't wish for you or your enemy. But why are you talking like I will be making a wish and become a magical girl? I thought you would be convincing me not to become one in the first place."

"To be honest," Jeremy admitted, "Based on what I know about your personality and the current events going on right now, I don't think I could convince you not to become a magical girl. You're the type that cares for everyone, right? You'd make a wish just to help others even if at the cost of yourself. That's why, said that as a precaution in the case that you do make a wish instead. Of course, I'd prefer it that you don't become a magical girl; no one will end up happy if you do. Not me, not Akemi Homura, and certainly none of your friends."

"I… I see," Madoka replied with a small nod, before looking down at the ground again.

Jeremy let out a sigh, finally letting go of her shoulders as he stood up. "Well, thanks for listening to my request anyway. Now, to return back to our original conversation…"

For the rest of the trip home, Jeremy ended up trying to explain why there wasn't enough time for him to teach her magic.

While it was true that one week wasn't enough time for him to properly teach her anything, what was left unsaid throughout was how he still hadn't even fully recovered enough himself to be showing others magic.

In the end, Jeremy could only find himself frowning at that fact.

The next day, they met up yet again to work on their teamwork. This time, Jeremy told Madoka to trust in her friends' ability and experience in fighting and only give out warnings for attacks that they probably would be unaware of.

However, Madoka's own lack of experience didn't help her recognize what kind of attacks the girls would and wouldn't be able to take note of. Fortunately, with her interjecting less, the girls were certainly able to concentrate more on the battle at hand.

While the witch wasn't any harder than usual, having Jeremy and Madoka act as bait they had to protect for 20 minutes made the battle significantly harder than it should be. Jeremy felt it was a good thing however, as it forced the girls to get used to working together even more than ever.

"Good work today," Jeremy said politely after it was over, including the purification of their soul gems. "While there's still a lot to be improved, it was certainly better than yesterday. We should all think about how our overall performance can be improved."

The girls all nodded as one in response, although they all held different expressions while doing so. Determined, blank, amused, sad, and happy… what's with these girls, Jeremy thought. They're all expressing something so different. This complete lack of any sign of unity was not promising.

"Ah, before you all go," Jeremy continued, scratching his cheek, shaking that thought out of his head. "There's something I've been noticing lately that I just wanted to mention. Lately, I feel that you've all been coming to me for advice; surely, I'm not the only one you girls asking, right?"

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked, a lollipop sticking out of the side of her mouth. Jeremy sighed. Of course she would be the one to ask, she was probably the only one who hadn't approached him yet.

"I mean pretty much what I said. Lately, it feels like you all have been coming to me for advice on various topics," he elaborated. "Well, I don't mind if you want to come to me for advice, but I think it's best to talk to various people, you know?"

"Even if you say that," Homura muttered, looking away disinterestedly. "It's not like there's anyone else that we know other than the people here that knows about the existence of magic, or how to fight Witches."

"That's right," Mami agreed with a few short nods of her head. "I wouldn't know anyone else to ask for advice on such things."

Jeremy sighed, bringing a hand up to his forehead. "It doesn't matter if others don't know about magic. Just change the story up a little or pretend it's all hypothetical; the point is to get advice from different people you can trust. Everyone has their own life experiences, and by asking someone different you can get the viewpoint of someone else. That's why I think it's good to listen to a lot of different people."

"Well, I guess that makes some sense," Mami said. "But what should we do if we get conflicting advice?"

"Conflicting or not, you should be thinking about all the advice that you get to begin with," Jeremy replied. "Then make your own decision based on everything you know, even if it means following no one's advice in the end. But surely you all have someone else you can talk to? Friends, your parents, teachers, I don't know. Well, anyway, go home and think about it."

With quiet and perhaps thoughtful nods, the girls one by one turned and left to go home. All except one, that is.

"Is there something you need, Sakura Kyoko?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, I did want to talk to you," the girl in question said with a mischievous grin, taking out her lollipop as she did so, holding it off to the side of her face. "But first, call me Kyoko."

Jeremy blinked. "What's this about all of a sudden?"

"Didn't you say you would stop referring to us all by our full names just the other day?" She grinned. "Then, you better start doing so."

"…Alright, then, Kyoko. What did you need?" He blandly responded without so much a sigh.

"Eeh? That's it?" Kyoko asked with surprised. She seemed kind of disappointed. "Thought you would be more embarrassed to refer to me that way. You even did it without an honorific!"

"Even if you say that, I'm a foreigner that was born in the States. While I do understand the importance of honorifics, I'm also used to referring to people by their first names, or whatever name they want to be referred to as, with or without honorifics, so… while I do understand the implications of it, I won't get embarrassed over something so simple."

"Is that so?" Kyoko murmured. "I didn't know that. Well, it's fine. I like it like this. Just keep leaving the honorific out." She said with a grin.

Jeremy paused. Well, while he had mentioned being a foreigner at some point before, he supposed Kyoko hadn't been around when he did.

"In any case," Jeremy continued, not letting his thoughts show on his face. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you for advice," Kyoko said, the biggest shit-eating grin he had ever noticed from her plastered on her face. It was so obvious that even without his sight, he could tell.

"…Are you making fun of me?" Jeremy asked after a short pause. If he could see, he would've given her an exasperated stare.

"Heh heh, maaaybe," Kyoko giggled, before sticking out her tongue at him. Jeremy groaned internally. She was definitely making fun of him, especially after that short talk he just gave.

It didn't take long for her to stop, however.

"Well, to be serious, I wanted to thank you, so come with me for a bit." Kyoko said, turning away to leave and popping the lollipop back in her mouth.

"Thank me? For what?" Jeremy asked as he followed her. "Did I do something worth it for you to thank me for?"

Jeremy couldn't remember doing anything specific for the girl. They had only bantered like once or twice, right?

"For saving Sayaka, of course," Kyoko said. "After all, she's… well, she's my friend. Anyway, have this."

Kyoko grabbed his hand and placed something into his hand. She was probably being considerate considering he still couldn't see, but he felt it wasn't really necessary.

"What's this?" he asked, feeling it with his fingers. It felt like some kind of candy or granola bar under the wrapper. Probably a candy bar, judging by the feel. He could use his magic to read the wrapper, but he decided against it. It was better to save up where he could while he was still recovering.

"Can't you see? It's a candy bar." Kyoko said, leaning back as she tilted her head to look back at him. "What, you don't want it?"

"Nah, it's not that I don't want it," Jeremy said, rubbing the bar between his fingers slightly as he continued getting a feel for it. "It's just that I can't see, remember? It'd be faster if you just told me what it was so that I wouldn't have to figure it out on my own. Or did you forget that I still can't see?"

"Heh heh, maybe I did forget," Kyoko said with another laugh, sticking out her tongue yet again. "Well, maybe you can treat it as a surprise and find out for yourself what it is."

Jeremy gave her a flat look. "You're definitely making fun of me." Especially considering how she had given him the supposed candy bar in the first place.

Kyoko just laughed merrily in response, turning back around to face forward once again.

Jeremy sighed, before he tore open the wrapper and bit into the bar, chewing and rolling the piece he had bitten around in his mouth. With just the littlest bit of magic, he confirmed that in the end, it really was just a normal candy bar. Good, but nothing in particular to write home about; but Kyoko seemed to be quite happy that he even ate it all.

When Kyoko finally stopped, Jeremy found themselves in front of a rather large but worn-down building, with the front door already kicked down and the interior littered with dust and debris.

"A church, huh?" Jeremy asked, taking it all in with his few working senses. "And an abandoned one at that. Why are we here?"

"To be honest, I kind of did want a bit of advice, sort of." Kyoko muttered. "When I heard that everyone else was coming to you for one thing or another, I decided that I might as well tell you some things, too. And this would be the best place to talk for me. Well, it wasn't a lie that I also wanted to thank you for Sayaka, though."

"I see." Jeremy simply nodded. If Kyoko brought him here for a reason, then she would probably explain enough for him to understand why he was at this place.

Without hesitation, Kyoko walked in, trampling over any debris that stood in her way. Jeremy himself carefully made his way through the wreckage as the two of them made their way towards the center.

Even if he couldn't see, he was able to determine the general layout of the place. It really reminded him of a cathedral that he felt that he may have seen before but couldn't remember the name of.

"Want something to eat?" She said in a rather uncharacteristically serious manner. "It's kind of a long story, so we might as well get settled in."

"I think I'll wait," Jeremy said, chuckling. "It's not like you can eat yourself while telling me a long story, can you?"

"Oh? Kyoko asked, raising an eyebrow as another smirk appeared on her face. "Wanna try me?"

"I'd rather not, since it'll slow down the story telling." Jeremy laughed. She sure liked her food, so in that case… "Tell you what, I'll treat you to a meal somewhere after this. Not somewhere too expensive though, my funds aren't exactly unlimited after all."

"Deal." Kyoko immediately agreed, still grinning. But her smile quickly disappeared once she began telling her story.

"You know, this place was my dad's church," she began.

And so, she began telling a story about her father. A priest who was honest and kind to a fault, and because of that, believed that the current era needed a new religion so that the people could be saved.

Jeremy didn't disagree. He couldn't disagree. The advancement of science in the pursuit of truth and knowledge had always been undermining people's beliefs in religion. That was an undeniable fact. The advancement of science was not a bad thing, yet without religion, people become forced to face the harshness of reality—and, as much as he didn't want to admit it, most people were generally weaker and not as smart as they think themselves to be, always needing to rely on something to function as a part of a society. More often than not, most people didn't even want to think about things they thought were "too complicated".

The thing was, regardless of whether religion was true or not, it was something that would represent the pinnacle of society's moral values. It was what kept people civil. It was what allowed society to function the way it did—because even if society today wasn't wholly dependent on it now, it was definitely one of the founding pillars of that made society what it was today.

Yet, by undermining religion, this all disappears. People are forced to face the harshness of life, are forced to build themselves back up and build a new moral system. Yet, unlike the gods and deities in religion that people could look up to, people themselves are imperfect. There is nobody in the world who has never made a mistake. Is it even possible, then, for imperfect people to create a perfect moral system that can withstand both scrutiny and the harsh realities of life? Jeremy didn't think so. Most people would probably go insane even trying.

And thus, without something to support them through the harsh realities of live, most people could not be saved. Instead, many simply try to look away from the facts and run from reality instead, some even going as far as to delude themselves.

And that was why he wasn't surprised when Kyoko began talking about how her father began preaching about things that weren't in the scripture. If the old religion were being undermined by truth and knowledge, then indeed, a new religion, something that could keep up with the current times, could be considered a solution, which also seemed to be the solution Kyoko's father arrived at.

However, that solution had its problems. After all, there was no way the church itself would accept different teachings from their own. And just as he expected, her father ended up getting excommunicated by the church. And if the church, with all the influence that it could have, denied him, who would come listen to him preach? According to Kyoko's tale, no one would.

Kyoko herself couldn't accept this result. She naively believed that her father had done nothing wrong.

And thus, she made her wish. A wish that people would come listen to her father preach.

Yet, Jeremy thought to himself, that wish in itself was already a huge mistake.

It was a story that could only spiral downward from there.

Kyoko had gone on to naively believe that while her father could preach in the light, she could become the shadow that defeated the evil witches in the darkness, and together they could save the world. But as always, it was never that simple, for her father had somehow found out the truth.

At that point, the fate of her father was obvious to Jeremy. With his beliefs crumbling down and his faith trampled on, he fell into despair, proclaimed his own daughter as a witch, and eventually committed suicide with his family, leaving only Kyoko behind.

Indeed, it was just the tale of another man trying to create a new religion—a new moral system—and losing so much of his sanity in the process that he was driven to suicide.

"Hilarious, isn't it?" Kyoko said with self-deprecating laugh. "Because I made a wish without really knowing what he really wanted, I ended up destroying my entire family."

Jeremy could only frown in response. Rather than hilarious, it was just one of a million similar stories out there that ended in tragedy due to the poor choices that many made. However, what surprised Jeremy was that she actually understood that her wish was part of the problem. That, because she didn't truly understand her father, her thoughtless wish had caused such a tragedy.

"That's when I swore to myself that I'd never use magic for others again," Kyoko finished. "I'd use my powers only for myself. But… you, you're different. For the world to stay in balance, helping others should result in something bad. Yet, with you around, nothing too bad seems to have happened yet. You nearly sacrificed yourself to save Sayaka—and even now, you have lost your sight, and yet you don't seem to regret it, and have even said that it was temporary. You're completely different from me. That's why…that's why I don't understand."

Kyoko trailed off as she hesitated, as if not sure what else to say. In her hesitation, she instead took out a box of snacks and tore into it.

"It's simple." Jeremy decided to interject as the girl started chewing. "It's not actually all that different. I didn't save Sayaka for Sayaka's or anyone else's sake, I saved her because I wanted to. Thus, there's no contradiction with your beliefs."

Kyoko blinked in confusion. But before she could say anything, Jeremy continued.

"But well, I suppose that's not quite what you wanted to hear," Jeremy said with a nod. "Judging by both your story and your actions, you're a surprisingly kind person who's willing to do things for others, huh?"

The irony of girl who wants to help others yet had sworn to only ever use magic for herself. In a sense, it was because of this contradiction that Kyoko might be feeling lost, or perhaps frustrated.

"If anything," Jeremy continued, "I'm more surprised you're already aware of the results of making such a wish. Why did you want my advice again?"

"Didn't I just tell you?" Kyoko asked, tilting her head. "You're completely different from me. Sure, I know my wish made things worse, but how would you have done things if you were me? How would you have prevented all this… all this misery from happening? That's what I want to know."

Jeremy hummed in response, nodding his head a few times as he thought about it. "Well, to begin with… there were a lot of problems, so it's not like everything was your fault, either," He started. "Your father wasn't entirely wrong for example, but he wasn't entirely right either. So, I might've started trying to convince him otherwise, but given that he probably wouldn't listen to his child, that probably wouldn't work. In that case, the wish that you made—as you said, it was because you made a wish without knowing what your father truly wanted that everything had happened. I guess it could be said that not enough thought was put into it? I'm sure you had the best of intentions at the time, so I also wouldn't blame you for that."

"But what kind of wish would you have made?" Kyoko persistently asked.

"To be honest?" Jeremy said, turning to face her. "The current me would've been highly suspicious of it all to begin with, so I might've not made a wish to begin with."

What Jeremy left unsaid was that he was also much older and more experienced than Kyoko was. If he had been asked the same thing while he was still a naïve, innocent child… he had no idea what he would have ended up doing. Children were especially vulnerable at being caught in traps like these, being young and inexperienced as they are, and Jeremy was no exception.

"Going back to your story, I believe that one of the main problems isn't that you made a wish for your father," Jeremy noted, crossing his arms and tilting his head in thought. "Instead, the problem was that you didn't understand what your father truly wanted. It wasn't the fact that you had used magic for others, but rather, the method you chose was bad despite having good intentions. There's really no reason to swear to yourself not to use magic for others, just as there's no reason that using magic for others can't be used for self-satisfaction."

"What do you mean my method was bad?" Kyoko asked, narrowing her eyes. "Are you claiming that you know what my father truly wanted even more than I, his actual daughter, did?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Jeremy said, raising his hands defensively. "But… I do believe that I understand him a bit. After all, it was as you told me. While your father was an honest and kind person, he was also a priest that held fast to his beliefs… was your family perhaps of the Angelican communion?"

Kyoko stared at him. "How did you…"

"It was a guess. Well, an educated one, based off the church's design," Jeremy said, shrugging. "I grew up in a Christian family myself. Not Angelican, but we all generally follow the same scripture, even if our interpretations are a bit different."

"You're a Christian too?" Kyoko asked, shocked. "Despite using magic and all that?"

"I said I grew up in a Christian family," Jeremy corrected. "More importantly, I do have some understanding of how people that truly believe in their religion think. I thought it would've been obvious to you with what I'm wearing?"

Kyoko gave him another look. She was familiar with the white long coat thing he was wearing, with the front left open to reveal a dark colored eastern-styled tunic of some sort—both of which held in place by some sort of mix of wide cloth and leather belts thing that also held pouches for him to store things in. And under all that, perhaps some sort of linen pants? It was hard to tell, as it was also tucked into leather knee high boots, leaving the pants not very visible under his upper garments.

It might not have been the best of fashion, but it was something he always wore whenever he was out fighting with magic—hence she had always seen it whenever they were out fighting. However, she didn't quite see what it had to do with the current conversation.

"I don't get it," She finally admitted as he continued to stand there, waiting for her answer. "What does that have to do with what we're talking about?"

Jeremy sighed. "Well, I suppose it wasn't very obvious at a first glance. Let me change it up a bit."

Saying so, he removed the belts and closed up the white long coat thing. After that was done, he threw one of the cloth belts over his shoulders—

No.

She quickly realized what it was that he was really wearing.

"Vestment… using a white cassock with a clerical stole?"

The words came out slowly, almost as if in disbelief. While there was no white cassock in the Angelican faith specifically, even she knew that it was generally only the high clergy of the Catholic church could wear white.

"Just who are you exactly?" Kyoko asked in bewilderment. "A pope? But you also use magic…?"

"Ha ha," Jeremy laughed in self-derision. "I know I look like this now, but I'm really not anyone of importance. I did not earn my way to high positions of any particular religion, nor did I steal these. It originally belonged to a good friend of mine, who was indeed a pope. He gave it to me before he died, and now here I am."

Saying so, he took off the stole and opened up the front of cassock once more before putting all the belts back on, returning back to his usual look.

"Still…" Kyoko stammered, at a loss of words. "Just how did you become such good friends with a pope that he would give you his vestments after he died?"

"It was a bit of a special case," Jeremy said, his mouth twisted in some sort of mix between a grin and a frown. "He was similar to your father in that he was also somewhat of a heretic that had slightly different beliefs then the church's. That's part of why I ended up being able to keep these as a keepsake, so even now I've decided to keep wearing it as a memory. Well, I did heavily modify it, so it does double as personal protection."

"Then…wait, you're wearing that just as a keepsake?" Kyoko asked. "You don't fear retribution for wearing holy clothes? Or do you not believe that God exists despite wearing such things?"

Jeremy tiled his head. "I still think it's possible for a god to exist," he admitted. "I don't see why not. What I wear and how I wear it doesn't really change anything. But why are you asking? I would think you have decided not to believe either after everything that has happened."

"I…" Kyoko hesitated. "I still believe. Even now I still pray to God, despite having sold my soul to become a magical girl. Is it strange? Am I weird?"

"I don't think it's strange at all," he said. He opened his mouth to say something but paused as he tilted his head to think about something for a moment. "Actually, this topic is perfect for your situation."

"It is?" She asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Let me explain and maybe you'll get it. But first, didn't I just say that I also think it's possible for a god to exist? And I'm in the same side of the world you are, knowing about and even using magic and all that. To be honest, I find people who reject the existence of god just because its existence cannot be proven to also be wrong.

"To begin with, atheists are always saying that the onus to prove the existence of god lies with believers—that is, that the believers have the burden to show proof. In a way, they're right, but they're also forgetting that if an atheist claims that god does not exist, then the onus to prove nonexistence of god lies with the atheist. But just as an atheist most likely will not be able to believe any "proof" a believer will present that god exists, it is just as likely that the atheist will not be able to provide any real "proof" that god does not exists that is acceptable to the believer.

"In other words, the existence nor the nonexistence of god cannot be proven. An atheist then might say that he has no reason to believe that a god could exist just because neither can be proven. But even that is a fallacy. Just because you can't prove it doesn't exist, also doesn't mean that it cannot exist. If I went back into the past and told someone in the medieval ages about the existence of the platypus, which by the way was first discovered by Europeans in 1798, no one would believe me. They have no reason to believe it exists, which is exactly the same line of reasoning the atheist in my example used. Yet, you and I both know it exists, and today it's universally accepted as truth.

"If we cannot prove whether or not god truly exists, all we're left is to decide what we want to believe using our own reasoning. And if that's the case, would you believe? Even if things like magic exists, or things that some religions think are blasphemous exists—it doesn't mean that god does not exist. The platypus exists, after all. If anything, religions are often interpreted and run by other humans just like us, which means even they can make mistakes. Thus, even if a believer makes a mistake or does something against what they believe, it doesn't mean that god cannot exist—it just means the believer is human. Whether or not the religion they believe in is true or not is actually irrelevant to whether or not god actually exists.

"Thus, whether or not we decide to believe in god… it all really boils down to faith." Jeremy concluded.

"Faith?" Kyoko echoed.

"Yes, faith. Do you know what faith is?"

"To believe in God, the Son, the Holy spirit. As revealed in the scripture, the Holy Bible." Kyoko immediately replied.

"Well, that's the fundamental beliefs accepted by all of Christianity, anyway" Jeremy nodded. "But the word 'faith' itself is used in many different and not always consistent meanings. For example, an atheist would define 'faith' as a blind sort of faith—that is, to believe something true without adequate evidence. Then there's faithfulness, where you are loyal to an idea, person, or God. It's not necessary believe in this case—you could be making a commitment to someone, but you could also believe in a friend or family to act in a certain way. There's more, yet despite all these different definitions, none of them are exactly wrong, either. An atheist will think that a believer's faith is blind, whereas the believer who agrees with the fundamental beliefs of their religion will find logical reason with their beliefs and thus is not blind. But, I think it's very interesting for even the atheist's definition, blind faith, to still hold merit even to us who don't deny the existence of god,"

"I… I see," Kyoko finally managed to say something. She hadn't expected Jeremy to suddenly get into this long speech about faith and religion. Was he always this passionate about this subject? "But where are you going with all this?"

"Give me a moment, and you'll see," Jeremy answered. "Now, to continue… Did you know, that power can be gained from faith?"

"Huh?" Kyoko could only stare blankly at him, mouth wide open and the food she was eating forgetten.

"Even a sect of magic draws power from faith; it is often called holy magic, but in truth all it really runs on is sheer faith. The more strongly one believes in something, the stronger the magic gets. You don't even have to believe in a god; all you need is to believe in something regardless of the facts. Isn't this exactly like the blind faith that atheist define faith as? What's particularly even more interesting is when blind faith is also what gets people through tough situations, magic or not. There's plenty of stories of people struggling through a crisis, yet against all odds they make out out because of their sheer determination. Isn't such a determination also a blind faith, when all evidence points to the impossibility of surviving?"

"I uh… I don't really get it." With how much information the guy was spewing out, there was only so much that she could take in at once.

"Well, it's fine," he shrugged. "I didn't quite give a clear example there too, but maybe I have gotten a bit too sidetracked. Let's get back more on topic. So hey, Kyoko," he asked. "Why do you think your father got so mad when he discovered the truth?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kyoko replied. "It's because I made a wish for him, but he never wanted it."

"Well, sure," Jeremy acknowledged. "But why didn't he want it?"

"…Because he felt betrayed, I guess?" Kyoko started. "His own daughter sold her soul to a monster after all, and everything I did went against his teachings. He definitely hated me by the end."

"Well, I guess it's a possibility," Jeremy nodded. "But can you prove it?"

"Prove…? Isn't it obvious with his actions? He called me, his own daughter, a witch, and then escaped reality with his entire family except me, and left me behind. I doubt he even considers me his daughter anymore."

"You may be right, but that's also just your own interpretation. It's impossible to truly know what he was thinking, especially now that he's already dead. Do you see where I am going? Because it's impossible to know, all we're left is to believe based on our own reasoning."

"Even if you say that, there's really no other reason for him to act the way he did!" Kyoko protested. "And as his daughter, I would know best!"

Jeremy stood there in silence for a full minute as Kyoko glared at the guy. Eventually, however, he finally spoke up.

"Personally, I think after finding out the truth, your father said those words without meaning to merely out of anger," he said. "And later, he broke down after being overwhelmed by everything—grief, guilt, even more. But before that, he definitely treated you all well, didn't he?"

"Well, of course he did…But isn't that because he didn't know at first what I did?" Kyoko argued.

"So what? I'm pretty sure he treated you well even before you made that wish of yours." Jeremy countered. "You said it yourself: he was an extremely kind and honest person. There's no way someone like that would hate their daughter. He might have become a broken man after everything had happened, but before that, I'm sure he definitely loved you."

Kyoko couldn't say anything to that, and instead lowered her head and stared at the food in her hands instead, still all without taking a bite.

"Hey, Kyoko," Jeremy continued. "Probably, the reason your father got so mad, was because of your lack of faith. It's not you that he hated, though, but rather two things: His frustration for realizing that the faith he had so strongly believed in hadn't been the cause for people gathering to listen to his sermons, and perhaps most importantly, his frustration at having been unable to guide you through his faith, causing him to lose his tempter and ultimately, his sanity. Because, after all, you were most definitely his precious daughter."

"But then, why did he leave me behind?" Kyoko asked. "Why commit suicide with his entire family but me?"

"He could have seen it as his own punishment," Jeremy replied. "After all, you were the one he failed to guide through his faith. Furthermore, people often yell things they don't truly mean in the heat of the moment. Perhaps all this time he had regretted calling you a witch, which combined with everything else, eventually broke him. Alternatively, he didn't want you to go to hell. Even a sinner can be redeemed—to begin with, everyone considered is a sinner in Christianity. He may have been a broken man, but even the insane can use logic, as broken as it may be. What I'm getting at here is that there are a multitude of reasons for your father acting the way he did, and it's impossible for us to prove which one is right. In that case, what will you believe? Just like we have the choice whether or not to believe in god, what will you do?"

"I…" Kyoko trailed off. She didn't know. All this time, she had thought her father had hated her, but with all these new options… She really didn't know.

Of course, she wanted to believe that her father didn't truly hate her. But it wasn't so easy to suddenly believe so, and it was also true that neither of them could deny the possibility that her father did hate her.

"Well, it's not something you need to change your mind about right now," Jeremy said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "But I do want you to think about it on your own time. There's no meaning if you don't reason it out for yourself. And maybe, if you decide to truly believe that your father may not have hated you…Perhaps life will be a little brighter for you. Remember how you originally asked how everything seemed to turn out well when I was involved? I haven't really been doing anything different in the sense that I've just been doing what I want to do, just like you. Yet, because of the difference in our perspectives, our actions differ—you help yourself for your own sake, while I helped others for my own sake," He concluded, before grinning awkwardly and amending what he had just said. "Well, it's also true that I try to consider as many things as possible before helping others, but that's just part of my experience coming into play. Either way, we're bound to make mistakes, but if you can hold your head up high and learn from our mistakes while accepting the consequences…I think you'll be fine."

Kyoko mutely nodded at his words. It was pretty clear that he had given her way too much to think about today, so it was probably fine to stop for today.

"Now then," Jeremy continued. "If that's all for today, shall we go?"

"Go where?" Kyoko asked, lifting her head as she looked at him curiously.

"Didn't I promise? After our talk today, I was going to treat you to a meal," Jeremy chuckled. "Or do you not want it anymore now that you have a lot to think about?"

"I do!" Kyoko immediately shot to her feet, all signs of previous uncertainty gone. "Let's go!"

And for the rest of the evening, Kyoko ate like never before.

Jeremy's wallet slightly regretted it, but it was totally worth it in the end.

A/N: Man, how long has it been? At least a year? More, probably... Can't believe I took so long to get this out.

Admittedly, this chapter was extremely difficult to write and went through numerous revisions. I mean, the topic of religion, faith, and etc is a rather controversial topic in itself. There was a lot I wanted to talk about but at the same time I had to make sure everything was relevant and didn't drag on the story for too long, yet half of this chapter ended up being the conversation between Kyoko and Jeremy. Or perhaps should I say, lecture? I actually don't think I got Jeremy to talk about everything I did want to talk about... but oh well, it's fine. Jeremy isn't me, and if the conversation doesn't go that way, then it doesn't. Irrelevant things should just stay out because that would ruin the story.

In any case, partially because I was lazy but also partially because of the difficulty of the topic, I ended up slacking really hard on writing this chapter. It has nothing to do with the current state of affairs (like covid19 ), as it hadn't really impacted my ability to live a normal life.

Speaking of which, idk how many people are reading this, but I hope this getting a random update will at least brighten up someone's day for a moment (even though I did write it in such a way that it'll probably get people thinking about their life instead...) because the current state of affairs around the world certainly isn't all fun and games.

In any case, with how long this got, things didn't go as planned at all (referring to how this was the last chapter before the confrontation against Adonis and Walpurgisnacht). I didn't want this chapter to go on for too long, and with the Kyoko theme this was a good place to stop, so I'm gonna have to slip in one more partial chapter before the confrontation.

Anyway, please leave a comment or review or something, I have no idea what people think of the recent updates or what I can do to improve.

Thanks, and cya in the next update.

P.S. the next update hopefully won't take too long since it's not as difficult as the topics in this chapter... inb4 famous last words
P.S.S. Being as lazy as I am, i didn't really proofread this as usual like the last few chapters... oh well. Maybe I'll get back to this eventually. I did make some minor proofreading edits to the previous chapters, actually, but it's not really worth going back to reread them if you've already read them, I think.