NOTE: As of this posting, some changes have been made to chapter 4. Mostly to Marethil's characterization. The events are the same, but I have tweaked the dialogue to try and give him more of a personality, this will be important later, but not in this chapter. Just a heads up.

This is partially why the story got delayed, I wanted to have that change over and done with before I published this, so that I could alert you all of it. I am thinking about putting the old versions of the chapter into a chapter of their own so you can have that for comparison. What do you think about that?


Soundtrack: Puella Magi Madoka Magica OST - Desiderium

Kyoko's family had rarely ever had money enough for new clothes. And when they had, Kyoko herself had been too young to come along to help pick things out. With that amount of experience in the fine art of clothes selection, she'd carefully evaluated the store that would have the correct type of clothing for her and Yuma as well as weighing the pricing options carefully so as to get the most bang for her buck.

Which is to say, she'd taken a few turns down several hallways at random, rode up an escalator, rode down another one for the heck of it, and then ridden another time because Yuma had thought it was fun. And then, with that razor wit, she'd picked the closest clothing store and shuffled into it to start spending Oriko's money.

This wasn't to say she was being completely wasteful. After all, she did have some sense that when you were homeless that the clothes you wore needed to last.

"No Yuma!" she said firmly as she tugged the clothes out of the younger girl's hands and tossed it back on the shelf.

Yuma tried to get her lips to quiver as she sniffed, "why not Onee-chan! I like that one!"

"It's a Halloween costume at best and a deathtrap at worst," Kyoko deadpanned at her as she glanced at the cat costume Yuma had been trying to put on. "You can't run 10 feet without tripping over that tail thing Besides, you'd draw attention if you wore that everywhere. And trust me, when you're a street urchin, attention's the last thing you want."

Instead, she began selecting out clothes that she knew were either durable, warm, comfortable to wear over and over, or preferably all three. She sent Yuma in to a changing room to try some of the clothes on and leaned against a wall. She glanced around the store, looking for any clothes that she might want to get for herself. Then she froze.

Outside of the store on the far side of the hallway, Mami and Sayaka and the three other girls who seemed vaguely familiar were standing. They were quite clearly staring at her, the pink-haired girl even pointed at Kyoko directly as though asking a question. Mami nodded and seemed to gulp as she stared. For a tiny moment in time, her and Kyoko's gazes met. But a moment later, Kyoko tore her eyes away with a snort and continued looking around the store, at her nails, at anything other than Ms Perfectly Poised Pompous Princess Girl. That she was refusing to look at Sayaka as well was completely coincidental. Utter and complete coincidence.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the group talking. Weird, where was that fake Kyubey thing, or whatever it was? Ah well, Oriko had asked her to try and make some inroads, but as far as Kyoko was concerned, she wasn't moving from this spot. If they wanted to talk with her, they were gonna have to come to her. No way was she falling down on her knees and begging Mami to be her disciple again. Lord knows they both saw how that wound up the last time.
"Yes" she almost heard a voice speaking inside of her "it ended with you smashing the trust and affection of the one person left that you could call family."

Kyoko grit her teeth and stared resolutely at the floor.

"Excuse me" came a voice. It was not Mami's, nor was it Sayaka's.

Kyoko looked up to see that the girl with the incredible black hair had entered the store and walked right up to her. Well, Kyoko had to give her props for directness as well as nerve. Still, didn't mean she was gonna make it easy for the girl.

"Yeah?" she sneered at Homura (that had been her name, right? Oriko had taken down their names and Kyoko was pretty sure that this one was called Homura), "waddya want."

Homura was looking at Kyoko with calculating eyes. The kind of expression one gives someone when they're evaluating whether or not you're worth the trouble or the effort.

Finally, Homura seemed to decide that Kyoko was worth it.

"I can tell that you are a Magical Girl."

Kyoko smirked sardonically, "wow, right to the point. Appreciate it. Much quicker than Mrs drill hair out there. What's she want out of me?"

"What you were doing here to start with" Homura asked in a measured tone. "Magical Girls normally don't trespass into each other's territory."

Kyoko eyed Homura pointedly with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. The girl seemed to get the implied question and responded, "we have an alliance."

"Oh, you another stray she picked up?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Homura said in a blank tone. Kyoko had to admit it, her poker face was good. Still, she should probably get to the part that Oriko had recommended.

"Heard a rumor that some giant Witch was coming. WalkDogandCat or something like that. My territory's over in Kazamino. I figured it might be worth it to do some reconnaissance, make sure I'm gonna be safe from the big Witch."

Homura seemed to consider this, glancing back and forth between her group and Kyoko. She looked like she was about to speak when suddenly Kyoko heard Yuma's voice.

"How do I look Onee-Chan?"

Kyoko turned around. Normally, the clothes would've looked rather nice on Yuma, of that Kyoko was sure. However, the fact that Yuma had put her shirt on backwards did not make it very fetching. Kyoko also suspected, from what seemed to be mischievous glint in Yuma's expression, that the clothing mismatch was far from accidental.

"Ya look fine you little gremlin," she said sarcastically. Yuma just smiled. Kyoko however, realized that Homura, as well as the rest of the group that had been left outside of the store was staring at Yuma.

"Get back in that changing room and put all the stuff in a bag" she told Yuma in a soft and serious voice, "and don't come out till I say so."

Seeming to realize that the situation was important, Yuma nodded and did as she was told. Kyoko turned back to Homura to see her eyes tracking Yuma. Something about that made Kyoko annoyed.

"Hey!" she snapped her fingers, drawing Homura's attention back onto her. "You got a reason to be talking to me or you just trying to pass the time of day? You got something to say, something to offer, spit it out!"

Homura tilted her head slightly, as though thinking about what she was about to say. Then she spoke.

"Kasamino will likely face at least partial destruction if Walpurgisnacht is not stopped" Homura said simply.

Kyoko tilted her own head in turn, raising her eyebrows.

"It that powerful? How do you figure that?"

"My sources are my own" Homura said simply, "but you would do well to trust me when I say that this is not simply a problem you can ignore."

Of course, Kyoko had already had a distorted dream herself about Homura herself fighting Walpurgisnacht, and had been told that Oriko had had visions of the Kyubey thing fighting it as well, so it wasn't like she was actually too skeptical that the Witch existed. Still, she had to put some sort of front up.

"Yeah," Kyoko said with a small snort, "taking aside whether I believe you or not, what's in it for me if I fight this Witch?"

"The fact that Kasamino along with Mitakihara will likely be leveled if you ignore it" the tone was blunt.

Kyoko 'considered' the news.

Homura looked like she was thinking deeply about something. She was silent for a whole minute before she spoke up again.

"Given the circumstances . . . and given the fact that you are here . . . perhaps it would be in our best interests to join forces against Walpurgisnacht."

Kyoko pursed her lips. Her eyes narrowed. Something felt . . . off about this. Things were going . . . to-plan. Well . . . she wasn't sure but, this offer of joining up almost felt too . . . predictable. Maybe Oriko had had a vision or something, but she'd never mentioned it. It wasn't really anything she could pin down, but something about this whole thing felt a little . . . forced, to her.

Still, may as well play it out to the end.

"Yeah. What's in it for me? What if I don't really feel like putting up with Mami or her new students?"

"I should think the fact that you are likely to die from the Witch in question if we don't join forces should be motivation enough."

It was said bluntly enough that Kyoko did not dismiss it out of hand.

"I can also arrange to have your Soul Gem regularly cleaned for free as well as pay you for your services" Homura said simply.

Kyoko almost did a double take. That . . . was an insanely good offer. Even if she hadn't been shanghaied into some sort of spy mission she would've been sorely tempted by such an deal. It would let her build up her own buffer of Grief Seeds for one thing. Add to that some actual physical money and . . . well.

"Mami's willing to part with that many Grief Seeds?" she asked incredulously, a part of her considering the offer too good to be true.

Homura shook her head, "my colleagues and I have an alternate method for draining the darkness out of Soul Gems. But as far as money goes, I would pay you out of pocket."

Kyoko considered it. She'd have to get a good look at the "alternate method" before she had anything to do with it. But, well, it wasn't like she was going to refuse a chance to get some closer info on these people who had been appearing to her in dreams. Still, she didn't particularly want to just waltz right on up to Mami like nothing had ever happened. Ms. Sensei-san probably would start lecturing her about the stains on her clothes or something stupid like that.

"Supposing I did-" Kyoko began, but she cut herself off as she noticed something.

Homura's face had blanched. She looked to the side as though she were hearing something horrible. Kyoko was confused, until she looked out at the group and realized that they were all doing the exact same thing, only leading to Kyoko getting more confused. She saw Mami and Sayaka turn and stare at her for a second, seeming to be fighting with themselves over something. But then they and the rest of the group (sans Homura) turned and rushed off back the way they'd come, practically running.

Kyoko turned to look back at Homura who it seemed, was trying to get her breathing under control.

"What was all . . . that about?"

Homura took a moment to respond, "nothing you need concern yourself with. You were naming terms I assume?"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow, trying to decide how to proceed. Then she shook her head to clear it of the feeling of confusion.

"Right, so supposing I did decide to help. I want a cash payment every week, and since you've got yourself some sort of "drain-black-stuff" good luck charm, I want that whenever I need it."

Homura nodded in agreement. Kyoko smirked.

"And I don't want to see Ms. Blondie any more than I gotta! No long tearful discussions or obligatory group chats. She wants to send a message, bring it in through you. Got it!"

Homura nodded in understanding.

"Awfully, generous of you" Kyoko noted sardonically. "So what's it that you're wanting out of me?"

"Advice mostly as well as your support in defeating Walpurgisnacht" Homura remarked. "As you do not wish to interact with Mrs. Tomoe, then I would advise you to stick around Kasamino for the time being. I shall bring you up to speed on how to keep your Soul Gem clear later as well as drop off the first payment."

"Again, awfully generous," Kyoko said with a snort.

"I am hiring you to fight a Witch that has made a habit of demolishing all in its path" Homura said with a faint, nigh undetectable sarcasm. "Given the situation, I will want a return on my investment, so I shall pay you half of the money we agree to in installments, and the rest of the half in full after Walpurgisnacht is defeated. Is this acceptable?"

Ah, so there was the safety net. Kyoko had thought for a moment that this Homura girl was being way too trusting. But as Kyoko would be getting part of the payments over time and the rest in after the job was done, that made sense as far as keeping her around.

"Sure," Kyoko said with a roll of her eyes, "s'not like I got anything better to do."

Homura glanced very pointedly at the changing room that Yuma was sitting in. Kyoko felt her eyes harden.
"You know, most 'employers' in our line of work know better than to pry into their 'clients' personal lives" she grated out.

Homura appraised Kyoko for a moment, then nodded and held out her hand. Kyoko eyed it carefully before reaching out and shaking it.

"We're agreed then."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

With that, Homura turned and began striding away.

"I have other business to attend at the moment" her voice came telepathically to Kyoko. "I shall find you in the next few days to bring the first payment and get you up to speed on the situation."

"Make sure it's just you!" Kyoko said firmly. Then she added as an afterthought, "and call me before you come to find me. I don't want you to suddenly show up behind my back like some creepy ghost. I get enough of that fighting Witches!"

Homura nodded and then she walked off. Kyoko stood still for a minute or so, then sighed deeply.

Well, what do you know, Oriko's slap-dash plan had worked. She had a working contract with the group and now could probably learn even more about them.

Something did still bother Kyoko a bit. It almost seemed a bit . . . too convenient. But that might just be her natural paranoia getting the best of her. She shook her head and went to go get Yuma.

"Yuma was nice and quiet, right onee-chan?" the girl asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, you did good kiddo," Kyoko said in a distracted manner. She felt her cheeks go a bit red as the green-haired girl hugged her for her compliment. She quickly bought the clothes she had picked out and got out of the mall, not wanting to meet Mami or Sayaka or any of the others again.

"So are we going to keep spying on your friend Onee-Chan" Yuma asked as they walked down a street, Kyoko's eyes scanning the buildings for a likely place to sleep.

"She's not my friend," Kyoko said distractedly, "and yeah, we are."

"Maybe we'll be able to make new friends with the other girls" Yuma said quietly.

"Not likely" Kyoko said with a snort, "and like I said, we aren't friends to begin with."

"Maybe, once we find out what's wrong, we can introduce you're old friends to our new friends and we can all be friends!"

Kyoko turned to look at Yuma in annoyance. "How many times do I have to say that we aren't frie-"

Then she noticed the oh so innocent look that Yuma had on her face, and realized that Yuma knew exactly what she was saying. Kyoko's suspicions were confirmed as Yuma broke down giggling a moment later.

"Smarta-" Kyoko managed to stopped herself before she swore and put a hand over her eyes, "you're gettin too smart for your own good, you know that right?"

Yuma just giggled some more and pointed at a hotel far ahead of them that rose up above the other buildings.

"Can we stay there tonight Onee-Chan!" she asked excitedly.

Fighting down a chuckle for some odd reason, Kyoko nodded, "sure, fine."

Yuma cheered and set off down the sidewalk towards the building. Kyoko followed at a more sedate pace.

"Heh" she thought as she smirked, "kid's starting to get devious. I wonder . . ."

Her smirk vanished as she tried to stop herself. But she could not stop the thoughts that went through her head.

"Would Momo have ever been like that?" Kyoko stared resolutely at the sidewalk in front of her as she contemplated the question.

"Nah" she thought after a moment. "Nah, Yuma would've been the one to get them two into trouble and I woulda had to pull their butts outta the fire. Momo was too nice to make fun of anyone. At least she was then. Could never keep a secret from me either."

Though, it wasn't as though Kyoko had ever dug deeply for any secrets her sister might've had. Or had it been that Momo rarely ever had any secrets at all? She'd been young like Yuma and much more cheerful. Thought, Kyoko did find it a bit odd that she was reminiscing on something like Yuma and Momo being sisters, something that never could happen because . . . As well as the fact that Yuma was just some tagalong that Kyoko was putting up with for the moment.

"Yeah, I mean it's not like she's some sort of replacement for Momo. I don't see her like that. Besides, I'm not that desperate anyways" Kyoko thought vehemently to herself. "She's just some stray that I'm showing how to survive so I don't have to come across her body in an alleyway or something." There was a sick feeling in Kyoko's gut as she thought the final bit, but she repressed it.

Then she felt a hand grab hers and looked up to see Yuma taking one of her hands.

"C'mon Onee-Chan!" she said impatiently, "stop being so slow!"

Try as she might, Kyoko couldn't stop the small smile that came to her face at Yuma's words. Nor did she stop the girl from tugging her along the street towards the hotel that would be their illicit rest for the night.

End Music


Mami had been near paralyzed when she'd been looking into the clothing store at Kyoko. Sayaka had been a little better, but still hadn't seemed to know what to do. Nagisa and Madoka had been more concerned for each girl respectively. Only Homura seemed to have the presence of mind about her to do something. She had seemed to glance around the group and, seeing as no one was being too eager to enter the store, had done so herself.

The rest of them had watched with some apprehension as the two had talked. Mami had put a hand to her mouth as she had stared, almost without blinking. Once she even felt a bit dizzy, Kyoko was here. The girl she'd thought of several times these past few weeks, as well she should with all that had been revealed to her. She had thought a few times of going to Kyoko with the information that Key and Homura had revealed to her about Soul Gems and Witches. But every time she'd thought about that, she hadn't been able to forget their last meeting.

No.

Their last fight.

And now, Kyoko was just a few feet away, talking to Homura and Mami couldn't do much more than sway on the spot while staring at them both.

Sayaka wasn't in near as bad a shape as Mami, but it was still surreal. She had established the day before the that Kyoko did exist, via her trip to the old church. But it was another thing entirely to see her in the flesh. She'd been tempted to go in to talk to her, but something had held her back. Perhaps it was that she didn't really know what she'd say to Kyoko.
"Hi, you probably don't know me but I've been having dreams about you" wasn't really something she ever thought she'd say to someone.

"Heh, didn't I ask Madoka if we were turning into Anime characters or not? Sayaka hadn't been able to stop a smirk at that thought.

Still, she'd been grateful for Madoka's presence, as the girl had put a comforting hand on her shoulder and held her steady (out of the corner of her eye, she'd seen Nagisa take Mami's hand).

One thing that both Mami and Sayaka were wondering was who the little green-haired girl was. She'd never appeared, either in person or in dreams to either of them and Mami especially was having trouble squaring the Kyoko who'd left her because Mami wasn't being ruthless enough with someone who'd willingly take in and look after a small child.

"Then again, she had loved Momo with all her heart," Mami though as her stomach clenched a little painfully. She remembered the young girl who'd looked up to Kyoko (and to a lesser extent, Mami). She remembered how nice it had felt to have something of a younger sister in Momo, much like she now did with Nagisa. And she also remembered how much it had killed her inside when she'd found Kyoko alone outside the burning ruins of her family's church.

It was after Homura and Kyoko had been talking for a bit when it had happened. First their was an instantaneous feeling of fear and then pain and suddenly, screaming. The four of them looked in the same direction as they each heard yells and screams of pain in their heads. Screams that could only come from one person. A moment of confusion later, they all realized that Key must not have followed them, for he was nowhere in sight.

But they could hear him screaming, the sound rising to a pitch before lowering to moans, and somehow, whether in was in instinct or if he was in so much pain that he didn't think to filter it out, they could hear him telepathically.

There was an instant of hesitation as they glanced back and forth between Kyoko and the direction that the screaming was coming from. Then as Key screamed yet again, they turned and ran off in the direction of the screams. Somehow, they could tell where it was coming from. Maybe Key was instinctively calling for help or something, but they brushed past people who look askance at their running and eventually thundered out a side door and into an alleyway.

They ran along it until they came upon Key. He was mostly whole but he was laying on the ground and was shuddering.

"What happened" Mami asked in a frightened tone as she got down on her knees. The other three followed suit.

There were a few cuts on Key, but they were shallow and not near enough to have caused the screams on their own.

"Key, what's wrong?" Nagisa asked, her voice sounded scared as she stared at the small creature. Key twitched.

They watched, frozen in place as Key slowly put his feet beneath him. With a slow, almost surreal manner, he pushed himself up, the splotches of red in his fur standing out against the stark white. He looked up at the girls with wide eyes.

Then he seemed to convulse, bend over, and with a sudden movement he vomited.

The girls all took an instinctive step backwards as a black tarry substance came expelling out of Key's mouth. Nagisa's hands flew to her mouth as she recalled the time just a few days ago when she'd seen Key doing something similar. But that had been because he'd had to get rid of food. What had brought this on?!

Key was starting to retch again, but this time he seemed to be trying to hold it in. It was disturbing in a way to watch him try and fight his own body as he shuddered and shook. It was almost reminiscent of some sort of fit or seizure. At times it almost seemed like bits of his skin bulged, but it happened so quickly that none of them could be sure they'd seen it.

Nagisa had had enough, she moved forward, stepping gingerly around the large pile of black goo and knelt down next to Key. She reached out and placed a hand on Key's back. He was icy cold to the the touch much to her shock.

"It's alright Key, we're here" she tried to sound consoling but didn't think she'd quite eliminated the fear out of her own voice.

Key did seem to react to her touch. His shuddering didn't stop, but it did seem to ease slightly. Nagisa started to pet him, running her hand along his back and he let out a soft sigh. Seeing that it appeared to be working, and not caring much about the gunk splattered on him, Nagisa gathered Key up and pulled him in close like she'd done the last time he'd thrown up. She ignored how cold he was as she tried to hum, trying to think of a comforting tune, or just any theme at all to distract Key from himself.

The other girls suddenly were moving as well, all clustering around and reaching out hands to pet Key. He seemed to take the heat of their hands in and they could feel him starting to warm slightly.

After awhile, they felt his shudders begin to stop, though his eyes were still tight shut.

"What . . . what happened Key?" Madoka asked in a nervous voice.

Key didn't answer but seemed to cling to Nagisa.

"Key, what happened?" Mami repeated the question.

There was a moments silence, and then.

"Iwasjustryingtohelpher" it was so soft that they almost missed it.

"What?" Sayaka asked confusedly.

"Iwasjust . . .I was . . . just trying to help her" Key's voice was hesitant and tremulous, as though it was costing him something to speak.

"Help who?" Mami asked, looking around. She seemed to be scanning for anyone who might be watching while trying to see if she could sense someone. Her eyes fell on the puddle of black liquid that Key had thrown up and a curious look came over her face. She seemed to be considering something as she put a hand to her chin.

"Is . . Homura here?" Key asked faintly.

They glanced around, realizing for the first time that Homura didn't seem to have followed them out.

"She's . . ." Madoka trailed off. No one could seem to come up with anything to say.

Key felt something well up inside of him and after a moment, he was blinking away at wetness in his eyes.

Why was he crying? Why did it bother him so much? It shouldn't!

They heard footsteps behind them and they turned to see Homura walking up, looking confused by the situation in front of her.

"What . . . what happ-" she began, but Sayaka interrupted her.

"Where were you? Didn't you hear Key yelling?!""

Homura blinked, regarding Sayaka with a blank look, then she turned back to Key who blinked wet eyes up at her. The look seemed to make Homura a bit uncomfortable, so after a few moments, she turned to look at Mami.

"I was talking to Sakura-San when I heard Key calling. I could not leave without it seeming extremely suspicious."

Mami was looking a bit pale, but as she opened her mouth to say something they all heard Key hiccup, the sort you get after you'd been crying for awhile. Looking back at Key and the three girls clustered around him, Mami seemed to sigh.

"Madoka, Sayaka, could you please take Nagisa and Key back to my apartment, there's something I need to check out here first. Could all three of you look after Key until I get back, I shouldn't be long.

The three girls glanced at each other, then at Key who hiccuped again. The three of them nodded and stood up, beginning to walk away. Key looked at Homura the whole time he was being carried off, who pointedly avoided his eyes. Before they turned a corner, they thought they heard Nagisa mention to the two others that Key was starting to feel cold again.

Mami turned to look at Homura who had turned to look at the corner that the 4 had left around.

"What . . ." Mami's throat was suddenly very dry. She swallowed, and then managed to speak.

"Wh-what did Kyoko say?"

Homura turned to look at Mami with that blank expression she normally wore.

"She was evasive" Homura said after a moment, "as well as being rather rude."

Despite herself, Mami could not stop a singular laugh that came out of her at that description.

"I inquired as to what she was doing in your territory" Homura summed up dispassionately. "She stated that she'd heard rumors of Walpurgisnacht's return and was trying to investigate their truth."

Mami looked at the ground, trying to take the information in. Something occurred to her however and she looked up again.

"Why did you go talk to her? Have you met her before?" as far as Mami knew, Homura didn't know Kyoko, and Mami had never told the girls about her. It was rather suspicious, unless. . . .

Homura stared with that infuriatingly blank expression that made it so hard to read her before responding.

"No, I had not met Sakura-San before today. However, I supposed from the rest of your reactions that you did know her from somewhere. As the rest of you seemed unable to act, I took it upon myself to handle the situation."

It made sense, but it did make Mami realize something, why had Madoka and Sayaka reacted like she had? They didn't, or at least, shouldn't know Kyoko.

She mentioned this to Homura, whose eyebrows contracted. She seemed to be debating something before she finally came to a decision.

"The two of them did mention that they had been having dreams of a strange nature yesterday. Perhaps . . . this is related?"

Mami nodded, it was a lead if nothing else. She tried to contemplate the concept for a moment before a memory of hers seemed to jump to the forefront of her mind. Weeks ago, the same day she'd met her in fact, Mami had had a dream of Homura fighting Walpurgisnacht! Who else could that Witch have been?

Mami's eyes widened as she looked at Homura, who seemed to blink in confusion as she looked back. A part of Mami really wanted to bring the issue up immediately, to lay it all out. But . . . . but it would take too long. She needed to see to other things at the moment, Key to name one. She also felt very tired. Best to wrap up this conversation.

"So . . . what did you arrange with Kyoko?"

Homura repeated the terms she and Kyoko had hashed out. It hurt to hear that Kyoko did not want to spend time with her. It really did and Mami felt her spirit wilt. Some part of her had hoped . . . well . . . some part of her had hoped that Kyoko had come back to be her friend again.

Perhaps, if Mami could inform her of the truth about Kyubey and the Witches, then maybe . . .

"If there is nothing else" Homura was speaking again in a brusque manner, "then I will go obtain some supplies for our fight against Walpurgisnacht."

Perhaps if Mami had been feeling better herself then she would've insisted that Homura come back to the apartment with her. Perhaps she would've tried to accomplish the original intention of the whole thing, to get to know Homura better. Perhaps she would've tried to get Homura to show a bit more empathy to Key as he obviously wanted her to. But she just felt drained, would it really matter if she waited a day? So, even though a part of her seemed to warn that she would regret this later, she didn't stop Homura as she twisted her buckler and vanished in an instant. Mami sighed once more, as she leaned against the alley wall. Would the stress ever stop?

She was forced to chuckle to herself. Had they ever stopped before she knew the truth? And so, should she really expect them to stop now that she had bigger and more complicated opponents to work against.

But still, so many times when they'd seemed to find some sort of equilibrium, something had come along to disrupt it. She had made friends with Madoka and Sayaka, then Key, Homura, and even Nagisa had come in and shown her the highly disturbing truth. After that had settled and they'd been planning for Walpurgisnacht's arrival to the city, then the whole business with the monster and Ryoko had reared its head and now they were stuck trying to deal with that. And on top of all of that, now Kyoko had suddenly appeared and someone had attacked Key while he was alone. And even beyond that, the tensions in the group between Homura and the rest and her worries at how stressed Key seemed to get whenever he discussed himself or drained a Grief Seed.

As she turned to go herself, her eyes turned to the small puddle of black ooze that Key had vomited. Strangely, it seemed smaller than before. A sudden idea blossomed in Mami's mind. It was a longshot but . . . well maybe it could be a project to work on. If it worked, then it would help immensely.


Soundtrack: Saya No Uta OST - Seek

Ryoko sighed as she rubbed her eyes as she glanced out at the star strewn sky. It had been slow going. Dr. Ogai had luckily stored all his notes with pen and paper, but he had gone the extra mile and encrypted them. She'd had to spend a lot of time just figuring out how to read it. It hadn't been easy. Each line on the pertinent notebook had been written in understandable words, but each individual line seemed to be part of a different paragraph or even page without any regards to the preceding one. It wasn't able to be read like a normal book, and Ryoko had had to run through several encryption attempts before she found the right one. As it turned out, each line simply continued on to the corresponding line on the next page instead of moving to the line below it.

One she had figured that out, she had first taken pictures of each page as a safeguard, and then she had begun the work of actually reading out what was written. The picture it painted was both interesting, and at the same time, rather disturbing.

Journal Entry #1

I am beginning this Journal to chronicle the events of what may be the greatest find in my career. For background, I have long been frustrated with modern Science and Medicine's stagnation. All that humanity is concerned with now is in keeping the human form healthy now instead of pushing the boundaries and guiding us to the next step in human evolution. Anyone who voices such opinions loudly are shouted down by bleeding-heart cowards who seem to think that their comfort and moral scruples outweigh the glory we might gain by upgrading humanity to new heights.

I had my private residence in the countryside constructed with all features needed to pursue my own projects in this area, including a large freezer for whatever specimens I needed, living quarters and, perhaps most importantly, a hidden laboratory at the bottom of a faux-Well.

I had just settled down in the house for a weekend of my own company and projects when I heard something crashing through the woods outside (my residence is rather isolated and near a forest that stretches vast distances over several properties of rolling hills and small mountains.)

Wondering if perhaps some large animal was incoming, I got the small handgun I'd procured and went out to investigate. It was to my utter shock that a creature unlike anything I had ever seen before was dragging itself out of the woods. This was no simple mutation or undiscovered species, this creature was obviously of a kind and make not of this earth, or even of this reality and nature.

I say this because of several reasons, one of which being its form. It was comprised of what seemed to be pulsating blobs of meat with multiple mouths and countless large tentacles sprouting off of it. It was shuddering and as soon as I had caught sight of it, it had flopped over and grew nearly still.

I was near speechless with confusion (and I confess, some small amount of fear, the creature had a 'feel' about it that only heightened the sense of it being beyond mortal ken), but I quickly ascertained that it was unconscious, or at least its equivalent thereof. I would have had to have been a complete idiot to pass up such an opportunity and specimen for study that was near gift-wrapped into my hands. So, I managed to drag it down through the hidden backdoor of my lab and put it in a containment unit. I cannot wait to begin this project and look forward to the breakthroughs such an endeavor guarantees. Finally, I shall be perhaps the first human to be able to study a creature beyond humanity and begin to ascend beyond the limits of my own species.

Journal Entry #2

The creature has awakened. I admit I wondered if it would attempt to violently escape, and if my containment unit would be able to hold it in that event. But thus far it has been quite docile. I've begun taking readings, measurements, and recording observations of the creature. It retains the "other-worldliness" that most would be uncomfortable with (I find myself sometimes being forced to look away, I can only assume that this is a leftover of human caution that I must strive against).

The creature has been, as said before, docile. In fact it's been most accommodating. Whenever I needed it to move and or do something, it picked up on my gestures extraordinarily quickly and followed them. I gave it several samples to try and get a feel for it's eating habits (or indeed, if it even needed to eat) and it consumed the raw slab of meat. Must make more observations on that front for more specific types of meat. Also must take a sabbatical, this research takes priority.

Journal Entry #5

I introduced several live rodents to the creature. The results were fascinating. It appeared to consume several with some of its mouths, but the others were . . . perhaps the best word would be infected. The rats slowly but surely were transformed into smaller copies of the subject itself, (though they expired soon afterwards, perhaps it needs time to adjust to our reality?)

Journal Entry #10

I've come to a startling realization, the creature is likely sapient! I had observed it imitating me several times over the past few days, but just today it started making noises that grew more and more articulate. Eventually I realized that it was trying to learn how to speak. Out of curiosity, I tried to coach it and it responded positively. I've managed to find some grammar books but, for lack of on-hand material, I also had to make do with some fiction stories that came with this house when I purchased it. It is currently paging through these. Hopefully this will open up a new avenue of communication and by extension, new avenues of learning whatever otherworldly wisdom this creature no doubt has to impart.

Journal Entry #18

The creature can now speak in nearly complete sentences. I feel excitement growing in me as we converse more and more. It has requested more books to read and I have provided it with many more books to expand its understanding of human language.

I cannot wait to see what will be revealed next.

Journal Entry #29

Something strange has happened. One that I cannot say I ever suspected would happen. The creature asked me as we began to speak again where the "other books" were. I was confused about its meaning, but then it managed to clarify that it wanted more of the fiction books. I am . . . I don't know how I feel. I questioned it as to why and it seemed reticent, or perhaps it didn't know how to put its feelings into words. The best it could get (admittedly it's still having trouble with putting abstract concepts into words) was "I like stuff from other books." I am confident that this will pass as it's starting to understand the finer points of language including puns (at times I have to groan at the things it says, though it seems to understand that this is part and parcel of "bad puns").

It is interesting how it rarely displays much initiative, all efforts in this projects have been on my end. It seems to largely lack ego, even with its ability and wish to absorb information like a sponge. Perhaps it is not a naturally occurring creature from its own reality but is in fact a drone of some sort sent to explore our reality.

End Music

Soundtrack: Saya No Uta OST – Song of Saya

Set to loop.

Journal Entry #40

More astonishing developments. I've been testing the creature largely on mathematics and other such things and it's excelled at it, casually making several breakthroughs that have eluded modern Mathematicians for decades. She seems, when put to it, to have the capacity for learning far outstripping human intellect

However, today, she made a request to change the subject of our research. She wishes to switch over to social studies and reproduction. I am still surprised by how curious she seems to be of the human race. I would suspect that she had some master plan to destroy us if her questions were not so scattershot and about were more dangerous things (for example, she is obsessed with romance novels and films as well as the customs humans have for holidays across the world, I wound up buying and sharing fast food chicken with her over Christmas).

I share a mix of my usual excitement and perhaps another strange feeling. If I had to guess, I think it would be disappointment. I've asked her many many times to share what her life was like before I found her, to share the wonders of the wider universe and reality with me. She's either been unwilling to talk about it, or doesn't remember herself. I doubt the latter of the two explanation because she does some sort of equivalent of "clamming up" if I press too hard. The most I got out of her was that she suddenly found herself in a forest on one of the neighboring properties and took off running (well, she doesn't have feet, but doing her equivalent) until she collapsed in front of my house. She's not discussed why she was doing so or even if she remembers why.

Said property has several residents and is vast, relatively speaking. One of the few such properties, a person could get easily lost in it. There appear to have been several strange incidents in the past there, though I doubt the subject had anything to do with it, perhaps another like it? The property was also recently home to some sort of mining operation (with the owner giving permission for it) that suddenly ceased. The company apparently pulled out immediately, not even bothering to remove most of their equipment, the official story being that there was nothing of value discovered. Perhaps I should investigate it later.

I have a theory though. The subject clearly has the ability to rework biological matter in its own image. When it did so, it made the rodents I gave it into creatures alike to itself. This, combined with her obvious intelligence and growing knowledge leads me to think that her method of reproduction might be parasitic. Perhaps her kind reproduces by 'hijacking' the species in the universes or world it stumbles into and turning them into itself. This would explain its propensity for learning as an aid to its reproductive mission. Though, if this were the case, why hasn't she been more insistent on me letting her go, or even trying to get out? Looking back over what she's done, I can't think of anything that could be construed as an attempt to manipulate me to let her go free. She exhibits the biological signs of being able to at least attempt overtaking humanity, but she hasn't made any actual efforts to do so. She hasn't acted like a universal conqueror, or even simple animal at all.

But there's something else, something that I can't quite put my finger on that is causing me immense frustration. I need to think on it, figure it out. Why do I feel so happy with, and at the same time, disappointed with, this project?

As a side note, but one that probably works its way into my feelings, I'm sure if anyone else ever read this, they'd have noticed that I've suddenly ascribed a proper pronoun to the subject. I do so because, when queried about it, the subject started referring to itself as a "she." I was a bit taken aback, but the subject clarified that it was actually the accurate pronoun as she's capable of reproduction, creating children and all other such things. She simply hadn't understood enough of human language before to accurately refer to herself as such.

Why does this bother me so?

Journal Entry #57

I think I've realized what has happened to make me so disappointed. She is acting more human. I know that sounds odd to be upset over but I have spent my life thinking of the methods by which I or others might transcend humanity. Might reach past the dogmatic creeds, old-fashioned ideas, and impairing emotions that have been holding us back as a species for so long. I had thought that this creature, as otherworldly and eldritch as she clearly was, would help me rise above those things, that she would pave the way forward and help me find the way to upgrade mankind, or at least myself.

But she hasn't. Instead of the great wisdom and intelligence I expected that would help me put away childish things, she's instead latched onto more and more "human" traits the more intelligent she's become (or at least, the more we've been able to understand one another). She's been interested in romance, called me "father" a few times, and loved to read, and not just academic knowledge, but banal and time-wasting fictional novels that I only gave to her on a lark to begin with.

I've ruined her.

At at least, that's what it feels like. Have I ruined her, or is she simply starting to give different results than I wanted? If Saya has developed this way, does it mean that I was wrong to consider humanity and the old dogma's and ideas I so despised as unnatural and wasteful things? If Saya, who is no doubt of a different ken and creature than anything else in our reality, can come to these things not just easily, but eagerly, does that mean I was wrong about my conceptions of how humanity should throw these things away?

It disturbs me to think so, to think that I could've been wrong, but I am forced to the idea nonetheless. I have not fully accepted it yet and must conduct further research, but where before I would've dismissed it out of hand, I cannot anymore.

Journal Entry #65

She has started drawing. It's childlike in a way. Messy and chaotic, and in some cases, disturbing. But she's taken to it with a will. When I came in today, she had started hanging the pictures up on the wall and some of them were of myself and her. I was hugging her in those pictures and I felt strangely, a bit warm.

New things to catalog I suppose. This experiment has gone so differently than how I thought it would. Instead of the new avenues I thought would open up, I have been forced to revisit old ones I thought closed. The Subject has acted more like a child than an eldritch creature, and has seemed to latch onto me as a father figure. I cannot deny some strange fondness for how happy she seems every time I come to see her. Though, should I allow myself to get so close to her? Am I losing sight of the things that drove me originally? I wanted to transcend humanity, to move beyond what I viewed as idiotic artificial limits. But in all my efforts, I've only succeeded in gaining, and perhaps encouraging a specimen that grows more and more human, not less.

I am torn in two.

Journal Entry #70

She seemed somewhat sad today. I was moved more and more by curiosity as the mood continued and finally asked her why. After some prodding, she finally confessed that she had been reading a book and had realized that she had never received a birthday present from a friend.

I was stunned for a full minute before having to excuse myself to think. It seems like such a trivial and stupid thing to be upset about. And yet . . .

I never received a present from a friend either. Granted, for the most part I neither wanted nor needed friends growing up, but still. I wonder, is this empathy? I have related to so few throughout my life and certainly no one without great intelligence themselves. Even those have been mostly academic in our shared sense of understanding. But this?

Why do I feel such pity for her? She can't be let go into the normal . . . human world, they would never understand her. But at the same time, I think I can understand that wish. The wish of belonging, it was something I rarely thought of, but I did chastise myself at times when I was younger for wanting to belong more. The only friend I ever truly had growing up was my mother's cat, because it would never look down on me for things I had no control over.

She is lonely and I'm all she has. Why does that make my heart hurt so much?

Journal Entry #71

It's her birthday today, or at least, the anniversary of the day I found her. I felt some obligation to give her something and, after ruminating on all the developments of the past year I came up with something. My mother's cat was my sole and beloved friend throughout my childhood. When I was young I decided that if I were ever blessed with children that I would give the name of that creature to my daughter. It has been so long since I thought on that pledge, I think I had categorized it into old things that I needed to put away for the sake of growing up.

But today, I got a cake and gave it to the specimen, along with more drawing material. She was delighted, more happy than I'd ever seen her before to have a "surprise party" as well as a present. Then I told her that, as the other present for her "birthday" I would give her a name. I told her the name and she was quiet for a moment. Before saying quietly "thank you Daddy, I love it."

Happy Birthday Saya.

Let this be the name of your soul. You have earned it.

Journal Entry #81

Saya was acting strangely today. Distracted. When I finally asked her about it, she was reticent but said she felt unsettled, as though there was something dangerous about. I could tell that there was more to it than that but she wasn't willing to talk more. So I reassured her that there were no dangerous animals around, nor would any human ever be a danger to her.

She tried to act confidently, but I've grown good at telling her mood. She's still nervous. Something that makes her nervous, in all her otherworldly glory . . . that is something I don't want to consider.

Journal Entry #85

Saya is becoming more and more unsettled. She constantly is talking about how she has a feeling that something is wandering around that's a danger. She doesn't elaborate on it much but the idea that something that could drive her to such a terror is not a pleasant thought. Still, I am not altogether convinced that this isn't some manifestation of her new "humanness" than anything else. I've not seen or heard of anything in the past few days, so I am doubtful.

Journal Entry #87

This is getting out of hand, even I'm getting jumpy. I even went and got a small shotgun for my own peace of mind, but it did little good. Saya only seems calm when I am there. We aren't actually getting much work done but more just talking and comforting each other.

Journal Entry #88

So much happeneD. WhEre to start. I waS outside late last night when I feLt as Though I was being Watched. I looked around but couldn't find anythinG. ThE feeling Wouldn't go away though. EveN Writing is HArd to do. Saya is nearly hystericAl with fear, sHe is Begging me to let her out and run. Went TO sLeEp and foUnd the WalLs covered with Symbols. Saya said I dRew them. SaId I waSNt me aNd it ScArEd her! I don't remembEr dOing that! NeeD to gEt Rid of Them. They make my heaD hurT.

JoUrnal eNtry NOomBUreihgt9

i sAW iT! WAs OwTSiDe aND Saw iT! IT jUsT stAREd aT mE bEFore vAnIsiNg. Saya COUldnt hAndLe iT aND brOK DoR doUN... Ran AwaE. HopE ShES saFe. . . ..

jUraL EnY 9023G43^34

sOO ScARred … wAS aN IdiOt. . . SoRRY, SO SORRY. SaYA, StaY SAFE. ToO ScarED tO MovE.

SorRIE 'm soOo SuriE mY fALt ForGiv mE

.

.

.

.

.

I'm so sorry.

And that was it. The last few entries had been a scrawling mess and had barely been legible, even apart from the many spelling errors. But reading them had given Ryoko a fresh desire to get out of that place and back to the city. She wasn't sure if the creature near the end had been real. Perhaps Dr. Ogai hadn't realized that Saya had been having a detrimental effect on his sanity and the end entries had been where he had finally snapped. To be sure, he probably wasn't fully sane to begin. He had, after all, been extremely excited to begin his project and had found Saya compelling rather than repugnant.

But then again, taken at face value, it did certainly add a new dimension to the monster if the entries could be trusted. Ryoko shook her head with some frustration as she gathered up her notes and walked out to her car. This was like when a Witch killed someone. Because the general populace wasn't to know about Witches and such things, Kyubey regularly made sure that knowledge of it never filtered too far. She could only assume that she herself been left alone for the fact that she had the potential to be a magical girl and she'd generally be considered insane for trying to tell anyone about the truth. But anyway, the true cause of death for people killed by Witches or Familiar's was usually put to a conveniently unverifiable cause, or just left as a mystery forever. In some ways, Ryoko felt like Policemen's jobs weren't to solve crimes but to find explanations for them. Then again, considering the force they were up against, it's not like they could be blamed for that.

She got into the driver's seat and drove away, her mind starting to plan for a confrontation. She had all the information that they were likely going to get on Saya, and she felt it was time to deal with the problem. At least there would be one less potentially dangerous monster to worry about in the next few days.

End Music


The creature watched as the human got into its transportation and drove away. It had considered stalking this one too, but it could sense that the human would not stay long enough for the full experience, and besides, it already had others to play games with. Once they were used up, perhaps it would go find this new one, after all, when creatures wanted to know about it, it was only too happy to find them. It would have to find where the lowly one had gotten to. It had sensed that it had once resided for some time in the underground building, but it had run as the game had started. Only the other human had been left and it was now dead.

Soon, it would find the lowly one and punish it for leaving on its own. But first, it had others to play with. It was fortuitous that the doorway had found that power source. It could now come here at its whim, and perhaps it would bring through more soon.

Though, it would have to be careful, or the Devourer might take action against them.


Author's note: And as usual, that took way longer than it should've. Sorry bout that.

Anyway, I hope those journal entries at the end were satisfying, we are definitely starting to move into the endgame with Saya's story. I doubt very much that the vast majority of you can see where it's going. Hopefully that's a good thing.

Mailbag time:

SolarxBlack

Oh sweet! You're back!

Indeed, and I am back once more. Sincerely though, thank you for the warm welcome.

loligang

it would be cool if he turned human at some point

Probably not, but who knows.

evtrax

I love the FNAF reference

Thanks, I always wonder how my video game references/crossovers will be received.

clodkilloex

This is certainly off to a good start. The introduction of Key gives this story sort of a fresh feel, because most stories only use the original cast and it kinda gets repetitive. Keep up the good work

Huh Saya being here does not surprise me in the least

Thank you, I hope you wound up enjoying the rest of the story!

Ghost Man

Food is definitely Kyouko's weakness and strength.

...Madoka Madoka...what choices will you make this time?

Dang...I forgot Kyouko can EAT!
...she noticed them. Good or bad I wonder.

Oh crud. The drone is going straight into a trap -_-

Okay so now we have new potential allies. Yay!

Indeed it is.

It is probably foremost in Homura's mind the choices of Madoka . . . whether it should be or not.

Yeah, the situation is in flux, as usual, who knows how it will turn out.

QuantumPE

I am currently pondering what Oriko would have done if Kirika would have given a full out love confession when Oriko asked after leaving that labyrinth. I also can wait to see how Homura deals with the whole situation. Speaking of situations, Kyoko and Sayaka may be meeting pretty soon.

It likely would've been very awkward. I am trying to explore their relationship in a way that calls some question on how Kirika feels because of her wish. She definitely loves Oriko, but her wish has scrambled her feelings to some extent. At that point, I think Oriko would've probably felt even worse. She's under a lot of stress and Kirika likely would have just continued the trend of obsession that Oriko has noted.

armadas

This is my first time Reviewing so hello!
I really have been enjoying this fic and all the complex elements that have gone into making it up. I can't tell if there are allusions to possible ships or not but either way I will be content with what you have created and will continue to create.
This has become one of my favorite Madoka fics and I can't see what you do with it in the future.
Have a great day/night!

Edit to previous review:
Omg **can't wait
A little word really can change the context lol

Welcome!

Indeed this story has gotten more and more complicated as it's gone on. Not just for you guys, but for me as well (first ideas I had for it were nowhere near what I am writing at now.) As of now, this is not really a story about romance. Madoka never really has been about that, in my opinion. I'll admit it's probably baited it somewhat, but to me the important love of the story wasn't mean to be romantic. It was about caring for each other in a very deep way, enough to sacrifice yourself, but not romance. I can only really think of one possible romantic partnership I might put in to this story, and it's probably not going to be one any of you expect right now. But it's something that may end up on the cutting room floor, and overall isn't as important as other things.

Thank you for your enjoyment of the story, I hope you enjoy the rest!

Mernom

The part where key is speaking with the 'hobo' was not updated to the 3 girls version.

Thanks for the heads up! Think that got fixed with the edits I made to the fourth chapter.