"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Genesis 3:22-24
Homura was kneeling on the remains of what should once have been a large skyscraper. The wind of desolation was strong, making her hair flutter.
Mitakihara was completely razed to the ground. A black mountain on the horizon was like a tombstone for the dead city, proof of an endless sequence of failures.
[Madoka was really incredible when she transformed, wasn't she?]
With Kyuubey as her only company, Homura listened to him. Despite its choice of words, the creature spoke with its usual casual tone rather than excitement or jubilation.
[I had predicted that she would become the most powerful magical girl of all, but I never thought she would destroy Walpurgisnatch with a single strike.]
A single strike. What was going on? Was it a cruel joke? Even with all the preparation, experience and knowledge, Homura felt she was doing worse and worse in the confrontation against Walpurgisnatch, while Madoka had reached this point. "And you knew what would happen to her as a result?"
[It would have happened sooner or later,] Kyuubey replied, [As the strongest magical girl, she defeated the strongest enemy. Naturally, after that, all that was left for her was to become the most terrible witch of all.] The creature continued to observe the black mountain, the witch seemed to have expanded in size. [In this form, I imagine she'll only need ten days to destroy the entire planet. Well, that's humanity's problem, not ours. After all, by now, we've reached our energy quota.]
Homura stood up and began to leave.
Noticing this, Kyuubey asked, [Won't you fight her?]
"No," Homura replied with absolute certainty, "my battlefield is not here."
That anomalous magical girl, who there was no record of making a contract, but who knew too much about everything, even the arrival of Walpurgisnatch. Kyuubey now knew what she was going to do, the last piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. [Homura Akemi, are you...]
A purple spell enveloped the edges of the shield on Homura's left arm. The intricate mechanism in the shield worked quickly, causing the circular object to rotate.
Kyuubey saw the shield disappear in an instant, and not only it, but also the diamond-shaped soul gem that was on the girl's left hand.
Then Homura collapsed. Her lifeless body began to fall backwards, but more slowly than natural, until she stopped completely, as if frozen in time.
Kyuubey then witnessed the girl slowly become transparent, until she disappeared. There was only the sound of the wind, and the creature thoughts. [This confirms that she is a time traveler.]
Another last piece of another puzzle was about to fall into place.
[So that would be it?] Kyuubey looked at the black mountain again. [Homura Akemi only decided to use the power now. Not when it was clear that she wasn't capable of defeating Walpurgisnacht, but only when Madoka Kaname made the contract and became a witch. This was something she had been preventing since I met her in the hospital.]
A gust of wind pulled back the creature's long pair of ears, as it focused on its ponderings.
[Homura must have made a contract for Madoka's sake, in another timeline if the theory is correct. Such a wish made the future of the entire universe of that timeline rest on Madoka's future. That would bring great karma, but would that be enough for the great potential she has shown?] Kyuubey blinked, a sign of epiphany. [I don't know how many times Homura Akemi has traveled back in time. Perhaps I should consider the future of the other timelines too. An accumulation of potential is a possibility. This means that in the next interaction, Madoka Kaname will be even more powerful and release even more energy.]
The howl of the wind sounded like a cry coming from the black mountain.
Kyuubey closed its eyes. [Homura Akemi, this was unexpected, but we are very grateful for your cooperation. Many futures are being saved with your efforts.]
"Maybe she deserves a retirement, doesn't she?"
Kyuubey immediately recognized that voice. The creature turned around, seeing the tall woman with long white hair and the corrupted soul gem in her tiara. [So you've come. It's no surprise that this event caught your attention.]
Estér's countenance became more tense, her gaze full of contempt.
Followed by a silence in response, Kyuubey realized what he had done. [Forgive me, I wasn't allowed to speak.]
"That's not the problem," Estér said, "I've been here for a while, watching. I heard your conversation with that girl, including the part where you said that this planet will be destroyed in ten days. Is that true?"
[It's a rough estimate.] Kyuubey nodded. [But the witch consumes everything around her, allowing her to grow bigger and bigger. If nothing is done, this world will surely be doomed.]
"And what about our agreement?"
Kyuubey blinked.
Estér crossed her arms.
[You still ask.] Kyuubey started walking, circling the woman. [You never kept your end of the deal, you have been warned.]
Estér followed the creature with her eyes. "I'm very close to making it."
[Your time has run out.] Kyuubey stopped behind her and sat down. [I have to say that we still didn't intend to destroy this world, it just happened. It's your fault.]
"My fault?" Estér looked up at the overcast sky, the clouds being sucked in by the mountain-sized witch.
[Yes, if you had become a witch, perhaps we would have reached our quota by now. We would have left this planet. Madoka Kaname wouldn't have made a contract, Homura Akemi wouldn't be traveling through time, increasing her karma, that witch would never have been born.]
Estér took a few steps towards the black mountain on the horizon, until she reached the edge of the platform where she was standing.
Kyuubey continued to sit in the same position. [Now, what happens to you is of no importance. You becoming a witch would be a nice bonus, though.]
Estér clenched her fists. "Do you have anything better to say?"
[You can still try to save this world by defeating that witch, but I recommend you use everything you've got if you want to stand a chance. It's been a while since you last demonstrated the full extent of your magic, I hope to be able to witness it.]
"I see..." A gust of wind fluttered Estér's long white hair. She waited for the wind to calm down before saying, "unfortunately for you, I won't be able to defeat her this time."'
Kyuubey raised his little pair of ears. [What did you say?]
The woman explained, "She's growing too fast. What you see is just the tip of an iceberg, it's taking root in the Earth's crust, spreading. Soon, black mountains like this will 'sprout' in other cities, perhaps it's already happening. To destroy her, I'd have to destroy the planet."
Kyuubey waited for her to finish speaking, not realizing that there was a certain tone of sarcasm in her voice. [You said 'this time'...]
Estér turned her head to look at the creature. She had a satisfied smile on her face.
Kyuubey understood everything. It was then that he realized he could hear the wind, just the wind. He turned around several times, looking at the different horizons of the annihilated city.
Keeping her smile, Estér turned and walked over to the creature. "What's it, Qu'ube? Feeling lonely?"
The creature looked at her. [What have you done?]
"I used telekinesis to kill all your kind in a radius of a hundred kilometers at the same time. I don't know the exact range of your telepathy, so I preferred to be safe." Estér raised her eyebrows. "Besides, I did it the moment Madoka became a witch. Predictable as your kind are, they'll carry out an investigation and, finding no other evidence, they'll come to the logical conclusion that it was this phenomenon that caused the deaths."
Kyuubey said nothing, still considering the possibility that she was telling the truth, but the moment of silence only reinforced it.
"Matriarch was preparing this spell. She was practicing it, improving it, to use when she could find a replacement for you. She REALLY wanted to kick your ass, what a diligent child..." Estér sighed. "Well, what did you want to tell your... hmmm... siblings?"
[You don't belong to this timeline,] Kyuubey replied, [but we have records of your contract. I know what your wish was.]
"About that, it's not difficult for you to find out what's going on." Estér made a slight gesture with her hand. "Not that it matters."
Suddenly, Kyuubey felt an invisible force lift him up and hold him in the air. That same force began to compress his body.
Estér cracked a big smile. "You were only still alive because I wanted to see your reaction."
The creature hurried to ask, [How many times have you traveled back in time?]
Estér just kept smiling.
Kyuubey continued, [How many souls did you absorb during your travels? Did you absorb the souls of the same magical girls several times?]
Estér stated, "Your estimates are wrong, Qu'ube."
Kyuubey felt the pressure on his body slowly growing. The woman wanted to savor the moment as much as possible and he should take advantage of this opportunity to extract more information. Who knows, he might be able to buy more time until establishing a communication. [This is bad! Have you no idea what you're doing? If you really have absorbed more souls than I know, then leaving this planet will no longer be enough to save it, perhaps not even if you managed to leave this star system.]
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention that I have a better plan." Full of sarcasm, Estér nodded. "I was already aware of Madoka Kaname's accumulation of potential. Homura-chan has proven to be very dedicated with her time travel, you have no idea how many times she's been through it. I think it just needs a little more for Madoka's wish to become omnipotent." She showed her fist to the creature and then closed it. "When that happens, I'll control this girl to make a wish of my interest."
[...] Kyuubey's eyes bulged as his head was crushed by the telekinetic pressure.
"When I've finished, I'll be dead, Leona will be safe and sound, and as for you..." Estér's smile gave way to a sneer. "You won't even be history!"
The alien's body burst, forming a red mist that was promptly dispersed by the wind.
The arbiter
Homura scrutinized the unknown white-haired woman. She had welcomed her and was smiling, but there seemed to be trails of tears on her face. There were five grief seeds on the ground, all of them inactive.
Wait.
Then Homura's heart tightened. Among the five seeds, she recognized two.
Sayaka, Kyouko...
The tall woman held out her hand. Orange light coalesced on her palm, creating a round, white pot.
Homura frowned, was that some sort of weapon?
"Here." The woman threw the pot towards the girl.
Homura promptly stepped back and saw the pot fall to the ground. Nothing had happened. The pot appeared to be made of Styrofoam and there was a plastic spoon attached to the lid.
The woman conjured up another similar pot in her hand. She opened it and used the spoon to take a portion of what was inside. It was a yellowish cream, which she savored.
Homura had a hunch what it would be, but that did not reduce her tension. That woman was a killer, she had defeated Sayaka and Kyouko, and probably the other girls too. She could not lower her guard for an instant.
"Ice cream and music, two things that are enough for humanity to be worthy of its preservation." The woman opened a bigger smile. "Don't you think so, Homura-chan?"
The fact that the woman spoke Japanese so fluently, and with an air of intimacy, only made the situation worse. Homura felt a knot in her stomach.
"Sorry, I'm in a bad mood right now." The woman sniffed her nose and ate some more ice cream. "Hmmm, by the way, mine is pineapple flavored. I don't know which one you like, so I put chocolate in your pot. It can't go wrong, right?"
Homura was only there because that woman had promised answers. "Who..."
"Ah yes, you can call me Estér." She ate another spoonful of ice cream.
A wind, still cool because it was morning, swayed the girl's and woman's long hair. Homura showed no reaction.
"That doesn't ring a bell, huh?" Estér raised her eyebrows. "Let's do the following: you take the pot of ice cream I offered you, while I tell you about myself."
Homura stood still.
Estér sighed, still sympathetic, and said, "I was your age when I married a god."
"A god?" Homura asked in a monotonous way, showing no interest.
Estér confirmed, "Yes, flesh and blood, feces and urine. The kind you don't need to have faith in, but fear." She closed the pot she was holding and made it evaporate in a cloud of bright orange dots. She had finished eating the ice cream. "That's why my mother prepared me very well to seduce him. She wanted a life of nobility and to mix our family's blood with the divine. She was very cunning, she got everything through me, but she had no idea what she had created."
A king. Homura had an understanding of what that 'god' was, bringing another question to mind. Is there any nation today that still considers its king to be a god?
"My mother studied the bloodlines of many families, what they owned, what they lost. Rise and fall, she catalogued everything, and I inherited that interest in history, but in the opposite direction, I would say." Estér looked up at the blue sky, with no stars except the Sun. "When I married him, securing my present, getting away of my mother, my ambitions aimed at the future. As my belly grew with the first heir, all I could think about was the day the god would die. I knew what would happen then, because even though my mother tried so hard to record the past, so much is lost in time. If even the living are forgotten, what about the dead? Everything ends and ceases to exist, even gods. I wouldn't want that for myself."
"That's when he appeared to you," Homura commented, "Kyuubey."
"Qu'ube..." Estér smiled.
"You wished..." Homura hesitated to conclude, "for immortality."
"Immortality?" Estér shook her head in denial, "I was more... sophisticated. I wished that, even if worlds and times died, my existence would be inviolable. I am like a constant, transcendent of universes. They pass, I don't."
Homura remembered that woman's fight with the man. Her body could be easily wounded, but her soul gem... Was it indestructible?
"If you've noticed, my wish has a fatal flaw, because I didn't know about the truth of the witches' origins. When this came to my awareness, I asked myself: my wish guarantees my existence, but what about my human existence?" Estér sighed. "When I asked Qu'ube that, he didn't have an answer."
"Did you still trust him?" Homura questioned with a certain disgust.
"I never trusted him, but my ambitions spoke louder. I still believed I could get his loyalty if I offered something in return," the tall woman spoke with utter normality, "so I made a deal with him. I offered my husband's land and people, the nation of a god."
Homura's eyes widened.
"Oh Homura-chan, how terrible I was." Estér showed a faint smile, in a resigned expression. "I fought witches even when I was pregnant, you know? I didn't care if I lost the baby, I didn't care about the family. Blood ties rot, not me, not anymore. The only thing I cared about was keeping my humanity."
"What's human about what you just said?" Homura asked.
"Good question," Estér kept smiling and continued her story, "my plan to take everything from my husband was a matter of time, I'd say, because I knew I wouldn't grow old. To avoid suspicion, I decided to disguise my age by wearing clothes commonly worn by older women, hair tied up and a veil to cover my head. Fortunately, my mother didn't live long enough to notice."
That story seemed like it was going to be a long one and Homura could not see its connection with Madoka. "And your husband didn't notice?"
"I think he noticed, but..." Estér smiled wider. "He had other wives, but they got old, and he no longer had the patience to deal with virgins either. He started lusting after me, it couldn't be helped, what man can resist the youthful vigor of a magical girl with a depraved experience like mine?"
Homura did not say anything, she kept the idea that the woman's revealing outfit was no coincidence.
"So I began to poison his ears with intrigues. I made him believe that the other wives were jealous of me and were plotting to kill me. He got rid of them all, including their children." Estér raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "As he got older, he found it harder to govern, delegating more and more power to me. I was very supportive!"
Homura gulped, already imagining where it would end.
"Then, when I felt ready, I caused a convenient tragedy. A fire broke out in the palace, on the very night my husband and all my sons were there. No one escaped, even I was caught in the fire, but by a 'miracle' I survived."
It was worse than expected. Homura sighed with the tension of being face to face with someone with no scruples whatsoever.
"Yes, my husband was the first god I killed." Estér nodded as if agreeing with her own statement. "So, as the only legitimate living heir, I claimed myself as a goddess. Under my sovereignty, I instituted a new faith in my nation. A promise of prosperity and security to families, as long as they offered their first pubescent daughter to me to be a priestess."
Homura frowned slightly.
Estér kept a smile.
A gust of desert wind blew past, cutting the brief silence between the two magical girls.
"You fool," Homura said, "you thought you were going to buy Kyuubey's favor with sacrifices."
Estér looked away, trying to remember. "Actually, that worked well for many, many years. The girls would come to my temple that I had built in place of the palace. As novice priestesses, they only had the task of keeping the place clean and well-kept, but those that Qu'ube saw potential in were invited to see me in person. I would offer them the chance to have a wish fulfilled, in exchange for being my 'divine' agents. I would suggest that they make a wish for their families and the nation. Qu'ube loved to sit on my lap at those times."
"What about witches?" Homura narrowed her gaze.
"Ah, they were the curses, responsible for the tragedies and illnesses," Estér explained, "I used to tell my 'chosen ones' that my divine power was capable of materializing these curses near the temple. They were entrusted with the task of destroying them and bringing the grief seeds back to me. They had to be careful not to leave these seeds near their soul gems, or they would be polluted by the curses. Even so, they would eventually accumulate a lot of impurities in their gems. Girls who were close to the limit were invited by me to a private ritual of 'ascension' to a 'higher plane of existence'."
Homura pressed her lips together and exhaled her tension. "You turned them into witches."
Estér nodded. "Fortunately, witches dispose of the bodies of the girls who gave birth to them. It would be more difficult if I had to incinerate them or make mass graves."
"Now I understand how you bonded so well with Kyuubey," Homura concluded, "but it didn't last. He betrayed you."
"According to him, I'm the one who betrayed him." Estér became serious.
Homura stared inquisitively at the woman's reaction.
"You can understand my position. I had secured an endless supply of seeds, but then I was living with dozens of magical girls. I feared that one day the farce would be discovered. Even if I can't die, I could be overwhelmed by their magic, and they would take the seeds away." The tall woman adjusted her tiara where her completely dark gem lay. "I needed power, as if it were truly divine. So I began to study magic in its essence, I observed the contracts Qu'ube made with the priestesses, I saw magic manifest itself for the first time in them, in the primordial glow. Then I made a discovery about our souls."
"About our soul gems?" Homura inquired.
"Yes, if you believe it's not the same thing and want to be more specific. What I've discovered is that they're all the same."
The girl in funeral attire frowned.
Estér nodded. "I understand that you have doubts about what I'm saying, after all, each magical girl has her own soul gem that differs from the others, if not in color, then in symbol, and each has her own clothes and magic." She spread her arms and shrugged. "I wouldn't even need to use magical girls as an example, every ordinary person has their own set of opinions and behaviors, idiosyncrasies and vices..." She narrowed her gaze and raised her index finger. "But that's the point! These are just the outer layer, orbiting a nucleus where what I believe to be our will lies. This nucleus, which we were born with, is made of the same 'matter' for everyone, and if it's made of the same 'matter', we can put them together."
Homura's eyes widened a little. The terminology used was not strange for someone who had studied chemistry beyond what school taught, to make explosives, but the girl was wary of what she had understood. "What... did you do?"
"I took the soul gems from the priestesses. It took me time, I failed many times, I even tried to physically force the gems into mine, because I thought it would work like the grief seeds, but they only absorb despair, an outer layer..." Estér brought her index finger to her soul gem. "It was only when I focused on my gem, when I tried to feel what was inside it, that I made progress. As soon as I was able to isolate my nucleus, my pure will, from memories and emotions, I began to be able to do the same with other soul gems. From that point on, souls became something tangible to me, I could establish a strong connection with them. Those who don't have faith in this truth are unable to prevent their souls from becoming one with me. For every soul gem I absorb, every magic, every little hope, emotion, secret of its owner... It becomes available to me."
"That's madness." For Homura, this confirmed her fears. That woman was capable of absorbing soul gems. That explained the varieties of magic she had demonstrated, that explained something else too. "Kyuubey wouldn't like that. If the souls of these girls are still inside your gem, then they haven't become witches."
"That's right." Estér was serious again, with a certain tone of disgust in her voice. "When he found out what I was doing, he asked me to stop, but I ignored him. I thought that he had already benefited enough from our agreement, and that he was no longer a threat, not with the power I was rapidly acquiring with soul absorption. I was finally feeling safe." She shook her head and sighed. "Until one day he didn't show up anymore. New contracts couldn't be made, but that was a minor setback, since a I had many seeds. I thought I could wait for him to come back from his 'bad mood'. However, what came was a storm, a heavy downpour never seen before. Within hours, my capital was completely flooded. The population came to me, crying out for my divine help." She closed her eyes. "I still remember the screams..."
Came a silence and Homura respected it.
"I really thought I had the power to save someone. I was able to open a hole in the stormy clouds and see the blue sky, but it was as if it was raining all over the world. Huge waves swallowed the buildings and carried away men, women, old people, children, babies... No one, no one was spared." Estér reopened her eyes and vented her frustration. "My priestesses gave their all, but in vain. I witnessed the gem of each of them burst and become a seed. I had to kill each witch to get these seeds, as I could no longer find the temple where the rest were, everything was under the turbulent waters. And so the day went by, the same rain continued the next day, and the other days, so a week passed, two weeks, three, four, a month, and the rain didn't stop."
"The Flood," Homura murmured, she was familiar with this story from her Catholic school days. But if what the woman was reporting was related to this, it was something that happened thousands of years ago.
"I had acquired the magic of flying. During this time in the rain, I looked for survivors, if anything was left of my nation, but the visibility was terrible. I only managed to waste all my seeds because I was afraid of becoming a witch. I found a floating tree trunk and clung to it. I decided to conserve my magic and wait for the rain to stop. There was no hope if it didn't stop raining. I was close to believing in the end." Estér smiled and shook her head, a disappointed smile, like someone who had heard a bad joke. "As suddenly as it came, the rain went away, the sky opened and the sun was warm. I knew it couldn't be natural, I already suspected it was him, but I didn't even need to look for him. Qu'ube came to me, walking carefree on the surface of the water."
"Are you telling me that Kyuubey was responsible for the Flood?"
"Oh no, Homura-chan, have you already forgotten? According to him, I was the one who betrayed him, it's my fault," speaking ironically, Estér raised her eyebrows, "in fact, he told me he didn't do anything, it was a wish from a girl, a princess from a distant kingdom. My nation had prospered, I was famous, there were statues of me, my goddess name that I had invented became known in distant lands. This brings admiration, fear, respect, but also envy. According to Qu'ube, this princess wished for the destruction of everything I knew and for me to be forgotten," continuing with the ironic tone, she rolled her eyes, "it was just a 'mere coincidence' that Qu'ube found potential in this girl. This princess was very stupid, because I knew the existence of her kingdom, and this caused the rain to also destroy that kingdom and she didn't last long."
Homura was not surprised about Kyuubey's methods.
"I killed him. It was the first time I did this, and that's when I discovered it was useless. 'Other' he appeared and bragged about my wasted effort, before leaving me alone. I even think he planned it. He must have thought this would make me despair, but the only thing that grew inside me was anger." Estér took a deep breath. "I would rebuild my nation, I would prepare better against that bastard, that was my faith. As the rain had stopped, I expected the water would go down soon, but the days passed and nothing changed. Then, a boat appeared on the horizon. When it got closer, I saw it was humongous. I flew and landed on the deck, which was full of animals. A dirty, smelly man welcomed me, he looked like a beggar. He was so drunk that he asked if I was 'the lord's messenger'. I pretended I was."
Homura felt compelled to ask the man's name, but quickly dismissed the idea. That whole story could be a lie.
"He had a wife and sons. As they spoke the common language of the region, I asked if they were from my nation, but they said they had never heard of it. I mentioned my goddess name, asking if they knew it, but they didn't know either. That's when I realized that my legacy was interrupted. I had truly ceased to exist. Homura-chan, I…" Estér paused for a long time, then shook her head. "I don't know if it was anger, my wish, or a miracle that stopped me from becoming a witch. I just felt an emptiness inside me, I didn't even have the ambition to live. The man and his family had good hearts, but they were simple and foolish people. That drunk man slept with me a few times, mentioning his wife's name. I could easily resist, but I did not, for my will was as dead as the rest of my being."
Was that woman trying to buy time with this long story? Or was she waiting for a reaction? Homura felt herself getting impatient.
"It was a few months on that boat, until the drunk 'heard' a voice say that the waters had receded enough. They decided to use a crow to search for dry land, as if a wild and stupid animal could do that. After the obvious failure, I volunteered for the search. Flying, I found it easily, and I returned to the boat with some fresh leaves as proof. I flew off again, promising to bring back more, but I lied, I never returned, because I knew I was pregnant by him." Estér put her hand on her belly. "I hunted witches and purified my gem, while looking for a secluded place to stay. Why did I continue? I ask myself nowadays. I think it was the maternal instinct, I had changed a lot and I didn't know it." Her gaze wandered for a moment. "A village accepted me, I saw my child grow up, and their children too. I left the place afterwards, but continued to supervise them from a distance, offering timid help. They prospered, but the emptiness inside me didn't diminish, I was an insignificant eternity. It was then that I discovered that my goddess name had survived the oblivion, there were already crowds worshipping her image. I could return to my old role, but I knew that if I did, Qu'ube would bring destruction again. Then it became clear to me that humans are his hostages, and the magical girl system was his weapon to prune our greatest aspirations. I had the awareness and the power to counterbalance this, I found a purpose, as a protector of humanity."
Homura kept an impassive countenance when she heard that.
Now silent, Estér cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows.
The girl in funeral attire said nothing, waiting for the woman to continue speaking.
"I've answered your question, Homura-chan. Now you really know 'who' I am." The tall woman put her hands on her waist. "Whew! I've never spoken so many truths at once. That was... cathartic."
Homura had even forgotten that she had asked this question, because the answer had been less than satisfactory. "You claim to be a protector of humanity. Do you think that brought redemption for what you did?"
"Is protecting humanity a good thing?" Estér answered with a question, followed by a smile. "I think you already have an established opinion on that."
"What do you know about me?" Homura got straight to the point, "and Madoka?"
"As much as you think." Estér narrowed her gaze. "But I always discover new things, like the fact that you were thrown into another universe when Madoka made the wish that culminated in the creation of the Law of Cycles."
Homura's expression froze.
"A universe where there were no witches, but demons. There was no Madoka either." Estér raised her eyebrows, feigning surprise. "Oh, so you couldn't stand it. You told everything to our dear Kyuubey. He rewarded you by turning you into a lab rat, in an experiment to control the Law of Cycles."
Homura lowered her head and clenched her fists.
"Interesting, very interesting... Madoka managed to rescue you, but you captured her soul and kept it imprisoned in your barrier, which took on galactic proportions. You also got to the truth about souls, but you were too obsessed to realize it." The woman smiled wider. "You even called yourself the devil, evil incarnate. Huhu, how cute."
Homura took a deep breath and asked, "How do you know these things?"
"Because I'm reading you," Estér replied promptly.
Homura stared at the woman again, her eyes a little wide. "What? Reading?"
The woman nodded. "You already got it."
Homura put her hand on her temple. "Are you... Are you reading my mind?"
"Your memories and thoughts," Estér explained casually, "I know you've already considered that my soul gem is indestructible. Very perceptive."
Homura gritted her teeth.
"Awww... Poor thing..." Estér said in a mocking tone, "you're realizing that you won't be able to hide any of your little plans from me."
Closing her eyes tightly, as if that would somehow prevent her mind from being exposed, Homura gulped. How could she confront that magical girl?
"You know, Homura-chan, Madoka wasn't the first to be a threat to the whole world."
At the woman's sudden affirmation, Homura opened her eyes again.
Estér continued, "I don't know if it was clear, but I took on the role of protecting humanity from the magical girl system, and I'm not just talking about witches." She shook her head. "If Qu'ube isn't after ambitious girls, he's after immature, stupid girls. You have no idea how many girls have wished that everyone would die or disappear, just because it was a bad day."
"Everyone..." Homura muttered, still processing the new information.
"Fortunately, none of them had the potential for it, but shit happened, and I was the one who came to clean up." Estér shrugged and sighed. "That's just a simple example, things get more complicated when it involves time travelers."
"Huh?" Homura shivered.
"You've seen me manipulate time. This is the combination of the magic of many time travelers' souls that I have taken. When I took the first of these souls, I was immediately aware that my problems and work would multiply," with a now reproachful tone, the woman stated, "no matter how good or well thought out the intention, the time traveler will cause a chain of events in the timeline she visits, which will lead to new tragedies and misfortunes that she had no idea were possible, but usually involving stupid girls making stupid wishes." Estér pulled back her long white hair. "To keep my sanity, I had no choice but to hunt down all the travelers."
"Are you hunting me?" Homura asked promptly, her hands tense in preparation for imminent combat. "Are you following me through time? Since-"
"I visited Mitakihara after it was razed by Walpurgisnatch. I met with Qu'ube and he informed me that a girl had made a wish before she disappeared in front of him. He even told me that she must have traveled into the past." Estér raised her eyebrows. "The rest was easy, as I already had the magic to find the timeline you jumped to."
"Since the beginning..." Homura muttered.
"Do you want me to tell you something I found out about time travelers?" Despite the question, Estér did not wait an answer from the girl. "Our souls are timeless, so it's easier for just the soul gem to travel through time than your whole body. As soon as your soul arrives, it searches for your body in that time and possesses it, 'overwriting' the soul that was in that body. Haven't you ever wondered why you've never come across another version of yourself on your travels?"
She had not even thought about it. Homura remained silent.
"Every timeline can have a version of you, but for travelers this no longer applies. Travelers remove the version that was there and then abandon the timeline, leaving no trace of themselves behind. This makes our existence 'unique' so to speak." Estér smiled, more relaxed. "Because of how time travel actually works, we don't easily receive visits from magical girls from the distant past or future, because their soul gems can't find a suitable vessel and they have to create one from scratch, which usually leads to them becoming witches. I can only be grateful for this, as it would be too chaotic otherwise."
Homura did not care about any of this, still mulling over an idea. Since the beginning... She's powerful, if only she'd helped me with Walpurgisnatch...
"I only followed you to eliminate you," Estér affirmed.
"But I'm still alive," Homura retorted, "why?"
"Because of Madoka," Estér replied, "more specifically because of the potential she has accumulated with your travels through the timelines."
Homura felt a chill down her spine. "Did you already know that?"
"That was easy to notice for someone following you." The tall woman's eyes widened. "The most interesting thing is that you wanted to retrace your meeting with Madoka, but instead of returning at the exact moment it happened, or at least on the same day, you returned more than a week before it happened and, more importantly, before Madoka became a magical girl." After emphasizing her last statement, Estér came in with a more inquisitive tone. "With so many time travelers I've dealt with, I've never seen this happen before. Why was it different with you? I couldn't find an explanation. Was it a quirk of fate? Luck? Whatever it was, that's what changed my mind and so I protected you to see how deep this hole would take me."
"You protected me?" Homura frowned in disbelief.
"Homura-chan, I don't mean to offend you, but... When you decided to be a lone wolf, did you think that your willpower, undone braids and removed glasses would turn you into a magical supergirl?" Estér spread her arms. "Let's face it! You blew up your home several times, I had a lot of trouble keeping you alive. You've really tested my patience with your ineptitude, and keep in mind I'm eternal!" she continued scolding, "you've become a decent magical girl, sure, but how long did that take? YEARS facing the same challenges! I've had magical girls under my wings who only needed months to become competent."
Homura held her breath, those statements had hurt her more than she had expected. I believed that my strength came from the sign I had always followed, from the only future I would accept, no matter how impossible it was, but...
"The worst thing is that you believed you could undo your failures, that you could 'reset' time. In fact, an excuse to avoid thinking about it," Estér had not finished, with a tone of someone full of reason, "you don't know how many times I've destroyed Madoka's witch, you don't know the billions and billions of human lives I've saved while cleaning up your mess! And that's why you felt the RIGHT to ask if I deserved redemption."
No, none of that matters... Homura regained her composure. Yes, she was inept, her failures only brought more death, and her selfishness even brought extinction to humanity, but there was one thing she was right about in all of this: saving Madoka, and Madoka saved everyone. "Madoka made a wish that changed everything, I'm no longer traveling through time. What do you intend to do?"
Estér fell silent at the pertinent question, still holding a tense stare.
Homura did not insist, she just waited.
"'None of that matters', hmmm?" Estér relaxed her countenance. "I think I'd better explain what I was doing on that base. Do you remember the space rocket?"
"Then it was a space rocket." Homura nodded.
"Yes, and it was for me. It would launch a probe to travel beyond our solar system, as far as it could. My soul gem would be separated from my body, so I'd use less magic, and placed on the probe, alongside with some grief seeds." Estér pointed to her blackened soul gem. "Why was all this necessary?"
Homura had noticed the woman's gem many times. The stone looked like it was about to burst and become a seed, but that did not match the woman's calm demeanor and strength.
"I have an easy question for you, Homura-chan," Estér said, "if a magical girl starts absorbing the souls of other magical girls into her gem, what happens when that gem becomes a seed? What kind of witch do you think would be born from that?"
If it really was an easy question, Homura decided on the most obvious answer, albeit begrudgingly, "Walpurgisnatch."
"The Walpurgisnatch that tormented you in Mitakihara belonged to a magical girl I confronted in Siberia over a hundred years ago. Like time travelers, I too seek to exterminate those who discover the truth about the soul. Having me is already enough of a problem to deal with." Estér gave a fleeting smile. "According to my count, the magical girl took the souls of forty-seven others. Of course, she didn't stand a chance against me, but I couldn't stop her from becoming a witch. The energy released by the transition devastated more than two thousand square kilometers of forest. This phenomenon was recorded as the 'Tunguska Event', and the cause was attributed to a fall of a meteor, even though there was no crater."
Homura gaped by this information.
"This Walpurgisnatch was very shy, and with elusive magics that the girl had stolen from someone, I couldn't follow her anymore... But that doesn't matter now." Estér raised her eyebrows. "If a gem containing the souls of forty-seven other girls caused such destruction, what can my gem cause? I've lost count, but I have no doubt that I have at least tens of thousands of souls."
That means... Homura's eyes began to widen.
"Yes, Homura-chan." Estér nodded. "It's quite possible that my gem will blow up this planet, and even if that doesn't fully materialize, the survivors will have to deal with an eternal, almighty witch compelled by insatiable ambitions."
Homura looked at the five grief seeds that were still on the ground. "Then why don't you clean your gem?"
"Oh, don't worry. The despair you see contained in my gem doesn't belong to me. As I said, such emotions from other people orbit my nucleus. They may obscure the glow of my soul, but it's still there."
The girl returned to a calmer countenance. Homura still did not know if there would be a negotiation with that woman, but it would certainly be impossible if she became a witch now.
"And don't worry about the rocket," Estér continued, "I recently acquired a new magic that allows me to go anywhere, any distance, immediately." She looked up at the sky. "Homura-chan, in the center of our galaxy there's a place called 'Sagittarius A Star', have you ever heard of it?"
"It's a black hole," Homura answered.
"Yes, supposedly. I'm thinking of going there. It's almost certain that I won't die, but the pressure of the singularity on my gem should make me become a witch soon. If my witch inherits that translocation magic I mentioned, she should be able to escape the black hole." Estér closed her eyes and felt the wind. "However, if the Theory of General Relativity is correct, by the time my witch leaves, I'm counting on the fact that trillions of years will have passed. The solar system will no longer exist and humanity will either be extinct or will have spread throughout the cosmos."
Homura sensed that something was amiss. If she reads my memoirs, she knows how the Law of Cycles works.
Estér suddenly looked back at the girl. She spoke with a serious tone, "It seems our conversation is coming to an end."
"Is it?" Homura tensed her body.
Estér nodded, smiling again. "As a small last favor, I'd like you to wear your old magical girl uniform. That black dress of yours... I don't know, I think it's my nostalgic demon whispering in my ear."
It was an unusual request, but Homura found no malice in it, as she knew it would make no difference in combat. After being enveloped in a violet light, Homura reappeared in her original magical girl garb.
"Where's your wristwatch?" Estér asked.
"Wristwatch?" Homura frowned.
Estér pointed to her own left forearm: "Your 'thingie'."
Understanding what she meant, Homura summoned her shield on her left forearm. The circular metal object had two spherical, transparent compartments visible, one empty and the other filled with violet-colored sand. "I assume you already know how this works."
"I see you could travel back in time with it," Estér commented, "what do you think would happen if you did that?"
"I don't know." Homura looked away. "I haven't thought much about it."
Estér shook her head, as if disappointed. "Qu'ube told you that this universe suffered a 'rupture', and he suspects that you are the cause of it. You also believe this, that this timeline now begins the moment you woke up in that hospital, there is no 'past' before that."
Homura pressed her lips together. That woman knew everything. "I'm not lying when I say I don't know. Madoka's wish spans all timelines. For me to go to another timeline won't make any difference."
"But..." Estér gave a slight smile.
"As you may know, Kyuubey said that I am the cause of Madoka's wish." Homura examined her shield. "If I really have become the original point, the cornerstone of this timeline, then if I leave it, it could end up 'collapsing'. The existence of Madoka's wish and the Law of Cycles would be threatened."
"It's a high price to pay, isn't it?" Estér nodded. "So what condition would make you use this shield to travel through time?"
Homura glared at the woman.
Estér merely raised her eyebrows as she waited for an answer.
Homura's body trembled, she had even forgotten to breathe. There was no longer any doubt, she knew exactly what the woman's intentions were.
"Our conversation is really coming to an end," Estér said in a commanding tone, "if you have something to say, do it now."
"It was you who gave Mikuni-san the coordinates," Homura said, wishing she was wrong. It was her last hope.
However, Estér's smile confirmed it: "I didn't just give her the coordinates, I gave her a future."
"Future?" Homura sensed a subtle ironic tone in that word.
"Homura-chan, can you tell the difference between a daydream, a hallucination, from a premonition?" Estér shook her head. "I messed with Oriko Mikuni's head, I gave her something to be scared of, because I knew she would contact you. And I didn't have to read her mind for that, because I was there when she made that deal with you, on the banks of the canal that runs through Mitakihara."
"All this time..." Homura muttered, feeling anger rise up inside her, because Kyuubey must have known about all this!
"And I don't need to explain to you how I knew you'd come here without Madoka," the tall woman looked at the seeds on the ground, "alone or with friends. It doesn't matter."
"You did this to separate me from her." Homura gasped, feeling the weight of the natural conclusion of these actions. "You... You intend to kill Madoka before you leave this planet, don't you?"
"Kill her?!" Estér looked like she was going to smile, laugh, but it was only for a short moment. Her face was now flushed with fury, tears forming in her eyes. "I will DESTROY HER!"
Astonished, Homura saw the woman's 'mask' finally fall off. She exclaimed, "That doesn't make sense! You must know how the Law of Cycles works. Madoka can prevent your witch from destroying this world and the humanity that inhabits it."
"I don't need Madoka to save humanity from me. I can do it myself." Estér rubbed her eyes, drying her tears. "I aspired more from her, I had faith that she would change more, much more. Now it's too late, my fate is sealed, and hers too."
"Please," Homura pleaded, "I... I used to think that too. I thought there was no future for me, I hurt Madoka many... many times. I was wrong."
"And you are, because you're not in the same position as me," Estér replied, "Madoka is a goddess, she'll lose everything, just like I did. That's our curse."
Homura shook her head vigorously. "Madoka is not a goddess! She told me she doesn't see herself as one."
"So that gives me one more reason to do it. At that last dawn, hope will die, like a goddess's Requiem." Estér held out her left hand. "Don't worry, Homura-chan, you won't witness the ultimate despair she'll suffer."
Homura saw a ball of pink light coalesce in the woman's hand, forming an exotic short scepter with a head at each end. This is her wea-
The darkness in Estér's gem gave way to a pink glow.
The brightness intensified so quickly, it became a blinding flash of light for Homura. "AH!"
／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼
I should not be far now. Oriko Mikuni stood with one hand holding a corrupted soul gem that belonged to her last opponent, while her other hand clutched the wound on her abdomen. Her skirt was heavy, soaked with blood, and her steps were difficult.
It was an uphill climb. The rough terrain, with lots of rocks and thorny bushes, made everything more onerous and slower. It was tempting to use magic to ignore the pain and take a giant leap over it all, but the premonitions always warned Oriko that if she did that, her body would explode in mid-air, similar to what happened to Madre.
Akemi-san must be confronting the woman Kyouko described, the one who appeared in my vision. I do not know if I can help, I do not know if we still have a chance... But I will die trying for our world, Kirika, Yuma...
Oriko had decided to continue approaching, cautiously, perhaps so that she would be graced with the element of surprise. However, she felt it. "W-What?!" The ground shook slightly as the blue of the sky was dazzled by pink light. If it had not been for the hill, she would not have been able to see anything else. "That magic... It's too much! No, no! I was a FOOL!"
／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼
"Huh?" Lucky stopped and turned around.
And not just her. A novice said, "Dya feel that too?"
Matryoshka approached the magical bunny girl, commenting as she looked at the horizon, "That's a lot of magic."
"I think I felt the presence of Generalíssima," Lucky lowered her gaze, "but... Ain't sure, I dunno she had so much magic."
"Well, at least that means she's fighting." Matryoshka patted the member of Souls' Sisterhood on the shoulder. "She's helping Revenante."
"Yep..." Lucky wanted to be helping too, but she had a mission. "Let's get goin', novices, ta a safe place."
／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼
"Gnnn..." The light lost its strength and Homura began to slowly lower her arm with the shield she used to protect her eyes, eyes that widened.
Estér's eyes had an intense pink glow, very reminiscent of the divine golden glow in Madoka's eyes. The gem had the same intense glow, but what was really terrifying was the circular aura behind the woman. Like a halo, an enormous mandala, with complex colors and geometric shapes. It was similar to Walpurgisnatch's, and definitely bigger!
This was the power of the magical girl who defeated Madoka's witch in previous timelines, and it could very well be the power to kill Madoka now.
"Be honored," Estér spoke, while each head of her weapon, her vajra, was accumulating a luminous pink force, "I can't remember the last time I revealed my 'divine presence'. Who would doubt that I was a goddess if they saw me like this, huh?"
Homura felt the weight of her shield on her left arm. There was no alternative. She needed a plan, preparation, time, and this was the only way to do it. Confronting Estér now was impossible, a suicide, and Homura was aware that if she died, Madoka would die too.
Estér raised her eyebrows. "Do you think you can form a plan against me?"
A lilac light formed on the outline of the shield, just a couple of seconds more. Perhaps that woman's hubris would be her chance. Homura was already determined to use her own body to protect the shield. She did not know what would happen, but if she woke up in hospital, if Madoka's wish had been undone, she would do it all over again, she would fight the witches, against other magical girls if necessary, preparing to defeat Walpurgisnatch and... Finding a way to protect Madoka from this woman.
"You will never win." Estér shook her head and sighed. "And yet you will try. I'm grateful for your stubbornness, it's served me well, but this story ends here."
The gears in the shield began to turn. Just one more second. Homura acted, turning her body as she had planned, leaving herself between the woman and the shield. Madoka, I failed you agai-
The Styrofoam pot on the ground near Homura burst, immediately enveloping the girl in a thick white cloud.
The glow in Estér's eyes and gem dissipated, her aura disappeared, just as she made her weapon evaporate. After that, she calmly approached the cloud and waited.
Seconds passed before the cloud dispersed, revealing Homura's completely frozen body, a statue covered in ice, still carrying a resolute countenance.
"You should have accepted my generous offer of a last meal." Estér walked around the frozen girl. "Instead, you left an object created with my magic, under MY control, near you. You always manage to disappoint me, if you were my pupil, I'd have a lot of work to do."
She stopped and examined the shield on Homura's left arm, it had not even started to turn. "The problem with devices with intricate mechanisms is that they tend to jam when they're under extreme temperatures. It's at those moments that what seems strong and resilient turns out to be sensitive and fragile." Estér then extended her arm at once, piercing the girl's chest.
Homura's body cracked and collapsed like a thin vase. Thousands of fragments fell to the arid ground, accompanied by a similar number of small gears, which were responsible to bring the wax doll to life.
That was not Estér's interest, her focus was on what her hand had caught: a frozen purple salamander. The woman smiled and whispered, "Rest well, Homura-chan," before closing her fist and crushing the small animal.
With that, the fragments of Homura's body began to evaporate, forming a black mist.
Estér reopened her hand and saw the mist spiraling over her palm. The darkness solidified, taking on the shape of a grief seed, its metallic details symbolizing an hourglass.
The woman did not contemplate the object she was holding for long. She closed her fist again and shook it hard. Then she stopped and reopened her hand.
Like a magic trick, there was now a silver coin in place of the seed.
Estér took the coin in her other hand and examined it. It was an ancient coin, with one side bearing the face of a god who no longer existed, a god that only she knew had once existed, for her womb carried his offspring, a dead legacy.
"Wars, plagues, disasters... All so that in the end the extinction of humanity would be decided by a mere coin." Estér looked at one side of the coin. "Head, the world dies." Then she looked at the other side. "Tails, the world dies."
The woman threw the coin up in the air, she would almost have lost sight of the small object if it had not been for the reflection of the sunlight on the silver surface.
The coin bounced on the dry soil several times and began to roll around in circles.
Estér came closer to confirm.
The coin lost speed and finally toppled over, deciding everyone's fate.
Tails
With an impassive visage, nodding slightly a few times, and with an air of reluctance, she said, "Checkmate."
The next moment, no one was there.
Next chapter: The origin of the world