Magia: A New Hope

by Pentalithia

A Madoka / Magia Record fan suddenly wakes up in the world of magical girls, as a side character. Features Ashley Taylor. Note: In case it's not obvious, you should expect massive spoilers here for nearly everything in the franchise.

61. Walpurgis the Sixth

Note: In case you're reading as this updates and don't have notifications enabled, there were two chapters posted this week. Please be sure to read chapter 60 before this one.

---

Finally, the penultimate day of April arrives. I return to Mitakihara with all the Asunaro girls, then wait around in the train station for our additional allies to arrive from Hohzuki and Kamihama, while the others go to claim the hotel rooms. The Hohzuki girls arrive first, Honoka waving while Hinata glares at me and Suzune remains expressionless. I'm not quite sure whether that's Matsuri or Kagari glaring, but… I'm guessing the latter. Lagging behind are Chisato and Arisa.

"So everyone decided to come, huh?"

"Yeah, at first they said we can't leave Hohzuki undefended if the worst happens, but then at the last minute they changed their minds," Honoka says. "So as you can see… here they are."

"That's not really how it went," Arisa retorts. "It was Chisato saying we should stay behind. I wanted to pound this witch regardless!"

"Sure, sure," Chisato says. "So we're here because of your meat for brains, in the end."

"Oy!" Arisa complains. "Just cause I failed a test or two, it doesn't mean I'm stupid!"

I shoot the two of them a glance, then decide to just let them bicker and turn back to Honoka.

"So anyway, I assume you've got a place to stay?" I ask.

"Miss Mikuni generously offered to let us stay in her guest room," Honoka says.

"And you've gotten the tune-up from Mitama and figured out how to connect?"

Honoka nods. "It's amazing that such a power exists," she says. "I wish you'd told me about it earlier… although, I was fighting solo for most of that time, so I guess it wouldn't've made as much of a difference."

"And the Hinata twins… have you practiced combining your powers?" I ask. "I mean like, if you both transform at the same time."

"Well, at first, onee-chan refused to help at all," Matsuri says. "But eventually I managed to coax her into trying a combined attack… it's really weird to have her power and mine active at the same time, but there are some very interesting things we can do like that."

Then her face turns into a pout.

"Ugh, why do I have to fight the worst witch in history? I'd rather stay home and stay safe! It's not fair!"

"Anyway, we'll see you later," Honoka says.

"You know the way to Oriko's place?" I ask.

"I've got the address and the maps app," Honoka says. "I'll be fine."

The five of them leave the station, and I continue waiting for Karin to arrive. Eventually she shows up, together with an annoyed-looking girl with long lime-green hair – Alina Gray. Karin waves at me, but Alina seems more interested in looking around the station.

"Ashley-chan, this is Alina Gray, my sempai in the art club," Karin says. "Alina-sempai… are you listening? This is Ashley Taylor."

Alina shoots me a look.

"So you're the one," she says. "You're the one Miss Karin insists on chattering about all the time… I was expecting someone… more grand."

She says "grand" in English even though the rest of her speech is Japanese.

"I don't chatter about you that much," Karin mutters. "I only really mentioned you a few times…"

"Why'd you even come, anyway?" I ask.

"What a stupid question," Alina retorts. "This Walpurgisnacht is the ultimate witch, is she not? Of course I must see her with my own eyes. Surely she must be more glorious than any other witch."

Again she sprinkles random English into her sentence, like "ultimate" and "glorious".

"Right… I should've known it would be something like that…"

Karin chuckles. "D-don't mind her, Ashley-chan," she says. "Alina-sempai is usually like this, but she's really a kind person at heart!"

"Well… do you need me to show you around or anything?" I ask.

"There's no need," Alina says. "I know exactly where the hotel is."

"Um, I'd like to see the city though," Karin protests.

"Well, I suppose it can't hurt," Alina shrugs. "Maybe there'll be something to inspire me… although I doubt anything could top the delicious eccentricity of a witch."

This time the English word is "delicious".

"What about the flute sisters?" I ask. "I heard they'd be coming too… should we wait for them?"

Karin tilts her head.

"Uhh… what do you mean, flute sisters?" she asks.

"Sorry, um… Amane Tsukasa?"

"Oh… yeah, I'm not sure," Karin says. "Tsukasa-chan did say she'd come, but she didn't give a time."

So I end up showing Karin and Alina some of the sights of Mitakihara. Karin seems pretty interested, but Alina just looks bored the entire time. Eventually she suddenly senses a witch and runs off, forcing the two of us to chase after her. Fortunately, we're not in the city centre, so I don't have to worry about running into Homura in the labyrinth… and Alina ends up finishing the witch off without any help from Karin and me, laughing creepily the whole time.

"D-don't worry," Karin says as Alina scoops up the grief seed. "She really is a kind person at heart… she just gets a little crazy in a labyrinth…"

"Yeah… I can see that," I say.

"Good grief," Alina says in English. Then she switches back to Japanese. "This is boring… let's just hurry and get to the hotel already."

For reasons known only to her, she also substitutes the English word for "hotel" into an otherwise perfect Japanese sentence. This despite using the Japanese word the last time she mentioned it.

"Okay!" Karin says.

We all power down, and I accompany them to the hotel.

"So… you remember we'll be meeting at Miss Mikuni's house tomorrow morning, right?" I say.

Karin nods. "I'll be there… I'll drag Alina-sempai with me if I have to."

"Do you know if anyone else will be coming?" I ask. "Like I said, I did hear from Mitama that there'd be at least two others… but are there more than that?"

"I know Tsukasa-chan is coming, and I think she said she'd bring her sister," Karin says. "And Momoko-sempai was considering it, but she never actually got back to me on it, so I'm not sure if she'll come. That's everyone I spoke to personally. I've never actually met Tsukasa-chan's sister, so I'm sort of looking forward to it a bit. I didn't tell Riko-chan about this, because you're right, she's too young to be putting her life on the line like that… especially when it's not even her home city at stake."

"Alright," I say. "I realize it was short notice, so it's great you convinced even a few people to come. Thanks. It should greatly increase the chances of victory."

The flute sisters may not be all that strong, but they do have a powerful stun effect. And if Momoko is going to be there, her morale-boosting magic should help a lot.

"I bet those two are already in the hotel room by now," Karin says. "So why don't you come up and meet them?"

"Uhh, sure," I say. "But… you're sharing a hotel room? That's sort of surprising…"

"Well, it was my suggestion, and Tsukasa-chan agreed with it," Karin says. "Alina-sempai thought it was silly, but most people don't have the kind of money she does…"

After she and Alina claim their room cards from the front desk, we head upstairs to find the room and enter. Like Karin predicted, there's someone there already, two identical girls with chestnut brown hair. I can't even tell them apart, as they both have their hair down and about the same length, preventing me from identifying Tsukasa by her signature twintails.

"Oh, Karin-chan!" one of them says, turning to wave.

"Good morning, Miss Karin," the other says.

Well, that pretty much decides it. The first is Tsukasa and the second is Tsukuyo.

"This is Ashley Taylor," Karin says. "And this is Alina Gray."

"So you're Miss Ashley!" Tsukasa says. "I've heard quite a lot about you from Karin-chan and Riko-chan… it's nice to finally meet you! I'm Amane Tsukasa."

Her twin sister nods. "It is my pleasure as well," she says. "I am Akatsuki Tsukuyo."

I blink. "Huh? You're twins but you have a different surname?"

I don't even remember that from the game. As far as I can recall, she was always referred to as Amane Tsukuyo.

"We were separated at birth when our parents divorced," Tsukuyo explains. "Akatsuki is my mother's surname. Although… it would make me happy if you thought of me as Amane Tsukuyo… but it is not my legal name."

"Well… either way, it's nice to meet you, Miss Tsukasa and Miss Tsukuyo," I say. "Somehow I think I'm not going to have much trouble telling you apart, even though you look exactly the same… it's obvious which is which as soon as you open your mouth."

"That's kinda mean…" Tsukasa says.

"Ah! I didn't mean anything bad by it! I just mean you both have distinctive ways of talking… I don't mean to imply that one way is better than the other… sorry if that came out wrong."

"Well, I guess," Tsukasa says. "Apology accepted… but it's a bit of a sore point because we once got into a fight over it, so… yeah."

"Indeed, for some time it seemed as though we would never speak again," Tsukuyo says. "But things worked out in the end, didn't they?"

Tsukasa nods. "They sure did!"

"So did either of you ask anyone else to join us?" I ask.

"I mentioned it to Kanagi-sempai," Tsukasa says. "But apparently she has to work, so she couldn't make it."

"The only other magical girl I know well is Azusa-sempai, who has tragically gone missing," Tsukuyo says. "So I did not mention it to anyone."

I'd forgotten that the twins even had those connections. Izumi Kanagi, known as the 'boss of the east', is one of the veterans of Kamihama, second only to Yachiyo herself. As for Azusa Mifuyu, I already know her disappearance is because she turned into a witch.

I let Ashley bubble to the top a bit as they get into small talk, as I'm not as good at that sort of thing. Strangely, Karin doesn't seem to notice the change… maybe Ashley's making a bit of effort to emulate how I normally am or something? I don't really know. In any case, I eventually leave the hotel room and find some lunch for myself, then head for the room I'll be sharing with Hijiri, Yuuri, and Airi.

"Chelsea Flanders."

Just before I reach the hotel, I hear that name and spin to look at the speaker. It's Mary. After missing her for three whole timelines, or more if you count the ones I don't even remember, suddenly she's made another appearance. Why? Why now? What changed this time?

"Mary, did you want something from me?" I say in English. "I haven't heard from you in quite awhile."

"Is that so?" Mary says. "You have changed, too. Your soul has evolved to the next stage. You have made peace with the original owner of that body, have you?"

Huh? She sounds different from before. More… composed, perhaps?

"I'm not entirely sure if you can call it peace, but we have an understanding," I say. "But… how much do you actually remember?"

"It's not memory," Mary says. "It's… how can I put this… it's… instinct? I don't remember meeting the girl with two names and a composite soul, yet that meeting is nonetheless engraved into my soul. I don't remember giving you a boost to keep your soul stable, yet that action is nonetheless engraved into my soul. The phenomenon is colloquially known as 'deja vu'… yet it is nothing so simple as a memory crossing timelines. It's… a convergence of karma that transcends time itself. Most don't fully understand it, and they do not seem to experience it at all… but my power is knowing, so I can tell. Chelsea Flanders… Ashley Taylor… the two of you have been through much, and even though I do not remember the first three times and could not quote back most of what was said during those meetings, I know this is the fourth time we have met."

I'm assuming that emphasized "they" refers to the incubators. She's weirdly conscious about not naming them. I wonder why? Does it… attract their attention or something? Or is she just paranoid?

"So… why do you sound so different from the first time?" I ask. "You seemed downright deranged before."

"You too would sound deranged if you were forced to wander the earth for two thousand years, forever separated from the one you loved," Mary says.

"The one you loved… was he Jesus?"

"That is what you people call him now, but it's a corruption of his true name," Mary says.

"So it's true, then… but why have you shown up now, after missing hundreds of timelines?"

"Because… I found them," Mary says.

"Found who?"

Mary digs into a pocket and takes out a soul gem with a gleaming aquamarine sheen and not a trace of impurities.

"Chalciuhtlicue, she of the jade skirt, who is said to control all the waters of the world," she says.

With her other hand, she digs into another pocket and produces a different soul gem, this one a deep forest green, again without a trace of impurities.

"And Nanabuluku, the mother of Africa, priestess of the sun and moon, she who is said to control the jungle and bring ruin to those who desecrate it."

She smiles.

"It was only thanks to time being constantly turned back that I could find them in such a short time. It was the deja vu that alerted me each time I started to search a place I had already checked."

I blink.

"But… wait… if those are them… where are their bodies?"

Mary nods, her smile fading. "Indeed… you see the problem. Where are their bodies? I searched all across Earth, yet found only the soul gems. Where could the bodies be? Have they been lost to the passage of time? Or… were they hidden somewhere else, somewhere I didn't look? I'm sure Scheherazade must know, but she's even harder to find and cannot be relied upon."

Interesting. This is the first time I've heard someone say something negative about Scheherazade.

"You mentioned something about the moon," I say. "I suppose you didn't actually think to look there…?"

Mary blinks. "That is true… but… why would their bodies be on the moon?"

I shrug. "I have no idea… it's just… if you've searched all of Earth, then wouldn't off of Earth be the next place to look? I guess there's also deep underground, maybe… and there's no guarantee their bodies still exist, anyway…"

"Hmm," Mary says. "You may be right… it cannot hurt to search the moon. Thank you, Chelsea Flanders."

"Before you go… why do you want to find those two so badly?" I ask. "I realize they may be able to defeat Walpurgisnacht, but… somehow, I get the feeling that there's another reason."

"I seek death," Mary says flatly. "My soul orb is invulnerable, and my body heals from even the most grievous of wounds… even if I am burnt to ashes, I will return to life like the phoenix. Most poisons and drugs do not even affect me. The techniques of Livia Medeiros have no effect on my orb. Even Walpurgis cannot permanently harm me. When the nuke was dropped on Hiroshima, I was right in the centre of it. I once tried throwing myself into a lake of lava, but all I got out of it was a few years of torturous pain as I slowly clawed my way free. I have not yet tried throwing myself directly into the sun, but I am almost certain it would spit my orb right back out, and I would be whole again in no time."

Although all that almost sounds like bragging, she says it not with pride, but with resentment. It's clear that, to her, her body that refuses to die no matter what is not a blessing but a curse.

"How, then, can I die?" she continues bitterly. "How can I finally join my beloved in Heaven? That thought has tortured me for hundreds of years. Why am I the only one who must live on whether I want to or not? I may well be the only person on this Earth who wants to die with all my heart, and I am the only person on this Earth who cannot die no matter how hard I try. It's not fair. I want to change this somehow."

"And… how exactly would those two help you change it?" I ask.

"They are the most ancient of the Ancients," Mary says. "Even I do not know how old Nanabuluku is. She could be tens of thousands of years old. Maybe she's even the first magical girl. Chalciuhtlicue is much younger in comparison, but even she could possibly be older than Abraham. If they have lived for such an immense period of time, then surely they must know something. Surely there must be a clue somewhere that could help me figure out how to die."

"I think it would be far too much of a coincidence for Nanabuluku to be the first magical girl," I say. "But regardless… you've made your point. If during my journey I come across anything that might give an insight into how you can end your life… then I'll let you know. I don't suppose you have a smartphone?"

Mary shrugs.

"Nope, never cared for those things," she says. "I tried one for awhile, but I couldn't take it. I don't even remember where I left it… but my power is knowing. If you need to summon me, all you need do is chant my true, full name three times over. Miryam Migdal, Miryam Migdal, Miryam Migdal. I may not respond immediately, but I will know you called for me."

And even as she explains that, she starts to teleport away, as if being rubbed out of existence by a gigantic eraser. She leaves me just staring at the spot she occupied for a few seconds.

Come to think of it… Mary's whole desire to die reminds me of one of the crossover characters from the Magia Record game. I wonder if Oshino Shinobu even exists in this world…? Yeah, surely there's no way, right? But… on the off chance I'm wrong… if she does exist… I wonder if she could be of help in Mary's quest for death…

---

The next morning, everyone gathers in Oriko's house, using a much larger living room that I'd never seen before, one furnished with a large number of couches. Her house is basically a small mansion though, and she's the only person who lives there, so I guess it's not too surprising that there are a large number of unused rooms. In fact, parts of the house seem to be falling into disrepair, too.

I look around to see who's here. From Asunaro, we have Yuuri, Airi, Hijiri, Remi, Moe, and Kazumi. From Hohzuki, we have Suzune, Chisato, Arisa, Matsuri, and Honoka. From Kamihama, we have Karin, Alina, Tsukuyo, and Tsukasa. And from Mitakihara, we have Mari, Koharu, Oriko, Kirika, Komaki, and Koito.

I remember Oriko telling me that Koito had made a contract in this timeline, so it's not too startling for me to see her there with a ring on her finger, but I wonder why she did? Certainly it can't be the same reason or the same wish as last time, since her sister and Oriko are both still alive.

Once everyone is settled in, Oriko stands up to make a speech.

"We're gathered here simply to ensure that everyone is on the same page," she says. "Our purpose is to defeat the witch Walpurgisnacht, once and for all. Allow me to extend my thanks to all of you, especially those who have come from neighbouring cities, for coming here today with that goal in mind. Some of you may have only just met me, but my name is Mikuni Oriko, and my power is to see the future. I have seen many versions of the future where all or most of us die, but I have also seen many versions where we prevail and defeat the witch. Because of that, I ask you to allow me to take command of this operation."

She waits a bit to see if there are any objections. No-one voices any complaints, though Alina looks a little put out by the idea.

"This is also a time to say farewell to two of the people here," Oriko continues. "Miss Ashley Taylor and Miss Hijiri Kanna will be leaving us to travel back in time. If you have anything you wish to say to them, be sure to say it before the battle begins."

Her statement creates a bit of a stir, and Karin and Honoka in particular start complaining about how I never said anything about that, but eventually everything quiets down, and Oriko finishes off her speech.

"Now, I will give more detailed orders once we get onto the battlefield," she says. "However, let me give a general outline of the role everyone should play. Miss Gray, your primary role is to draw the witch into a labyrinth, in order to prevent her from throwing buildings at us. This is a very important role, because I'm sure none of us wish to be crushed beneath mountains of masonry. Those of you with healing magic – Miss Shiina Moe, Miss Asuka, and Miss Hinata – should focus primarily on keeping everyone alive. Miss Anri, try to keep the familiars focused on you and you alone, so that others can attack without worry, but don't use that power on the witch herself, as her flame blasts would likely be too much even for you to take multiple times in succession. Miss Amane, Miss Akatsuki, Miss Masuyo, try to restrict the witch's movements whenever you get a chance. Miss Subaru, you and I will join forces as the primary artillery. Miss Amano, Miss Kohaku, Miss Shion, I ask you to serve as backup artillery. Everyone else is to focus on destroying the familiars. To be clear, that means Miss Narumi, Miss Kanami, Miss Misono, Miss Shiina Remi, Kirika, and the Asako sisters. Are there any questions?"

Matsuri raises a hand.

"Should I really be focusing on healing?" she asks. "Onee-chan's power would probably be very useful…"

Oriko nods. "Your first priority is healing. As long as everyone is in good condition, and I have not given you another order, you may attack as you see fit. One final note – anyone attacking the witch directly should target not her main body but instead the gears from which she is suspended, as those gears are her weak point."

Then she sits down, and Hijiri stands up.

"There's one last thing before we get going," she says. "Thanks to a certain old woman with a huge stash of grief seeds, I've got enough here for everyone to have two… that's excluding me and Ashley-chan. So, please, stay where you are until I've handed them all out!"

She goes around the room, handing out two grief seeds to everyone other than me, with Matsuri getting four since her sister is with her, and then the gathering starts to break up. Oriko raises her voice once more.

"Remember! We gather at eighteen hundred hours and fifteen minutes! The location is wherever Walpurgisnacht is – you won't be able to miss it. I shall see you all then!"

That's the time I gave her for them to show up, which gives Homura a chance to attempt to defeat it first, fail, and potentially even go back in time.

---

I stand on top of a building with Hijiri and Remi, watching as Walpurgisnacht approaches. We've chosen this particular building because we can see Homura from here, and I've asked Remi to come along because her time stop will be useful to have when confronting Homura.

The dark-haired girl walks calmly through the ranks of the festival familiars, then stops to gaze up at the witch for a moment before transforming. I can't hear her words since I'm not following her with clairvoyance, but suddenly, a swarm of rockets appears out of nowhere, all aiming for the witch. They fly true, some of them striking the body while others strike the gears, but the damage appears to be minimal. The pattern repeats multiple times, Homura finding a good vantage point, summoning a swarm of artillery fire, and then vanishing as the witch is bombarded by it.

Then she pulls out an entire oil tanker and rides it onto one of the bridges over the water, somehow getting it to climb the bridge's superstructure rather than driving along the road below. As it reaches the peak and continues upwards, Homura vanishes, and moments later, the tanker strikes the witch's body in a huge explosion… but even that barely does any damage. A few small-to-medium cracks on the gears, at most.

As Homura lands in the river, something suddenly appears beneath her, another trio of artillery weapons that she just pulled out of her shield, but on a much grander scale than the previous ones, something like a surface-to-air missile for bringing down aircraft. A moment later, without transition, all three weapons have fired a massive rocket, and they're zooming towards Walpurgisnacht. The impact sends the witch flying, slamming it into a nearby abandoned factory on the far side of the river, but despite that, it still doesn't seem like it's taken more than just token damage.

Still, Homura has managed to at least ground it, and seconds later, the factory itself explodes in a spectacular display. It may not be a nuke, but the scale is almost as huge. Homura stands on the riverbank across from the factory, watching as the smoke slowly clears… but it's no good. A pair of shadowy familiars appear, sending her flying, and then Walpurgisnacht itself rises up from the smoke and flames of the explosion, like a demon exiting the safety of hell. Homura has managed to damage it a little, but she's already pulled out all the stops… there's no way she can beat it at this rate.

Throughout the whole battle, I'm keeping an eye on Madoka with my clairvoyance. It takes awhile, but eventually she runs out of the evacuation shelter, using the toilet as an excuse, and gazes out at the pouring rain outside. Kyuubey appears next to her, but she doesn't even spare it a glance. However, after a minute or two, she speaks.

"Homura-chan said she can win by herself… is that true?"

"Even if I were to say no, would you believe me? Right now, words are meaningless. You should just watch and see how things end up. Just how far can Akemi Homura go against Walpurgisnacht?"

Madoka turns to look at the incubator.

"Why does she fight and risk everything?"

"Because she is still pursuing hope."

Madoka gasps a little, but the incubator continues.

"When she is forced to, she will also give up on this time axis, and continue fighting alone. No matter how many times, she refuses to quit, thereby repeating this meaningless and endless cycle. To her, stopping is equivalent to giving up. Once she realizes that anything she does is meaningless, when she realizes that she cannot change your fate no matter what she does, then Akemi Homura will fall into despair and become a grief seed. She understands that very well. Therefore, the choice is not up to her at all. Regardless of whether or not she can win, her only option is to fight."

"So you're saying… as long as she still believes there's hope, she can't be saved?"

"Right. Just like all the magical girls of the past. You saw it too, Madoka."

Madoka clutches her head and starts to cry a little.

"But… but…"

She trails off for a little while. Then she wipes her tears and turns to walk down a nearby flight of stairs leading outside… but her mother shows up and grabs her by the hand, startling her.

"Where are you going?" Mrs Kaname asks.

"Mama… I'm going to go save a friend."

"Leave it to the firefighters. Outsiders shouldn't interfere."

Madoka turns her head to defiantly face her mother.

"I have to go!"

Mrs Kaname slaps her on the cheek, and the girl twists and brings a hand up to the reddened skin.

"Your life does not only belong to you!" Mrs Kaname shouts. "Doing these kinds of reckless things will—"

"I know!" Madoka interrupts.

She turns to fully face her mother, meeting her eyes.

"I understand it well," she says. "I love Mama and Papa too. I know how much you care about me. I know I can't just throw myself away. But this is different! Because everyone is different, everyone must be protected in different ways! That's why I definitely have to go to where she is!"

Silence reigns for several seconds.

"Can't you at least tell me the reason?" Mrs Kaname asks.

Madoka shakes her head.

"Then bring me along with you," Mrs Kaname says.

Madoka shakes her head again.

"No way, Mama should stay with Papa and Tatsuya," she says. "Don't… don't let them worry."

Her mother gazes sternly at her, still not convinced.

"Mama… didn't you tell me that you raised me to be a good kid?" she asks. "Not to tell lies or do bad things… can you still trust me now, like you did before? Can you still believe that what I'm doing is right?"

Mrs Kaname starts to reach out with her hand, then pulls back. A few seconds later, she speaks.

"You're definitely not doing something stupid?" she asks. "Or being deceived by someone?"

Madoka doesn't respond, but perhaps something on her face finally convinced her mother, for she suddenly gives Madoka a push on the shoulder, causing her to twist and descend one step. Madoka half turns and smiles at her for a moment.

"Thank you, Mama."

"Good luck, Madoka."

Then she descends the stairs and heads out into the pouring rain, running towards the witch, still visible high in the sky, looking for Homura. By this time, Homura has already used up all of her artillery and is just cutting down the black, shadowy familiars as Walpurgisnacht slowly but surely inches in the direction of the evacuation shelter. The witch throws entire buildings at her, gigantic chunks of skyscrapers, forcing her to put all her effort into dodging. Even the building we were standing on gets torn up, forcing me to summon Teddy Mk II so we can continue to watch from above, at a safe distance to ensure the witch doesn't notice us.

Eventually, one of the buildings hits Homura – a glancing blow, to be sure, so not as serious as her death in the previous timeline, but a glancing blow from at least a hundred thousand tons of steel and concrete still packs quite a hefty punch. Needless to say, she's not in good shape by the time the dust clears, one of her legs trapped under some debris, blood streaming from a forehead wound, her soul gem nearing its limit.

"Why!?" she shouts, just barely audible over the sound of the wind and rain. "Why can't I defeat it, no matter how many times I try!?"

She reaches for her shield, perhaps intending to turn back time, but then she hesitates. I open a second vision on her to check on her shield, wondering if I need to get in there now and jam it with my sword, but it looks like the sand timer is not quite empty yet. I'm not quite sure if she would've been able to turn it back anyway, but since she didn't even try, I suppose I'll never know. I do know she can't turn it back weeks early, but I'm not confident that she's unable to turn it back a few minutes early.

"But Madoka's burden will increase every time I go back," she mutters, audible only through my power. "In the end, my actions…"

She sighs and lays back, starting to cry a little as her soul gem slowly grows even darker. But that's when Madoka shows up, gripping the soul gem hand in both of her own. I shut off the now-redundant second vision as Madoka smiles at her. Well, technically they're both redundant for vision since I can see them clearly with my actual eyes, but the magic does allow me to hear what they're saying from this distance.

"It's okay," Madoka says. "It's okay, Homura-chan."

"Madoka…"

Madoka turns to face the witch, and Kyuubey pops up from somewhere amongst the rubble. Homura blinks at it.

"M-madoka, could it be…?"

Madoka turns to face her once more.

"Homura-chan, I'm sorry," she says with a smile. "I want to become a magical girl."

"Madoka… no! You can't! How can this…"

"I finally understood," Madoka says. "I finally found a wish I really want fulfilled. That's why I want to use this life."

"Stop! If you do that… if you do that… I… what have I…"

Madoka moves even closer to Homura and nuzzles up to her a little, embracing her as best she can.

"Sorry… I'm really sorry," Madoka says. "All this time, I've always been protected by Homura-chan. That's the only reason I'm still here today. I'm really sorry, but this is the answer I've been looking for. So, please believe in me. I definitely won't waste all of Homura-chan's effort."

Then she stands up and turns to Kyuubey.

"You've gathered the karmic destiny of countless timelines," it says. "If you manifest all of that, you can probably fulfill any wish you want."

"Really?"

"So, Kaname Madoka. In exchange for your soul, what do you wish for?"

As Madoka takes a deep breath, I speak out loud.

"Now!"

"I wish—" Madoka begins.

But then her voice is cut off as time slides to a stop. Remi takes both of our hands, and I manoeuvre Teddy Mk II to be directly above the duo, after which the three of us jump off and land near Homura and Madoka. We get Hijiri to an effective hiding place, and then Remi releases her hand, excluding her from the time stop – this had been agreed on ahead of time, as the duration is apparently reduced when affecting more people. Next, we walk over to Homura and Madoka, and I pull out my sword and slice Kyuubey in two. I think it notices me for the tiniest fraction of a second before it dies, but since time is stopped, that shouldn't matter.

"How long can you keep time stopped?" I ask.

"With the three of you affected… probably about ten minutes of subjective time," Remi says. "Although I haven't put that to the test yet."

I nod.

"Alright… could you take the end of the ribbon?"

Remi nods, and I hand her one end of a new ribbon just like the one I've always used to piggyback on Homura's time travel. As she steps back and takes a seat on the pile of rubble Hijiri is hiding behind, I put my sword away, extend the other end of the ribbon towards Homura to coil around her free leg, and, still gripping the ribbon in the middle, grab Madoka's hand.

"—that every… huh!?"

Madoka gasps at the sight of a suddenly-eviscerated Kyuubey, and I shoot her a glare.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Kaname Madoka!?"

"Eh? W-what? Who're you? Where'd you come from?" Madoka asks. "W-what's going on…?"

She looks around at the rain, frozen in place.

"Is… is time… stopped? Did… did Homura-chan…?"

"I said, what the hell is wrong with you, Kaname Madoka!?" I repeat. "Why the hell would you sacrifice yourself for something like that!? Do you have no sense of self at all? Is your life so worthless that you think no-one would notice if you're gone? What the hell are you thinking!?"

Madoka takes a step back, blinking at me.

"I… I… p-p-please stop shouting… I have… I have no idea… what you're even talking about!" she says. "All I wanted to do was to get rid of witches! What's so wrong about that?"

"Ugh… you really haven't thought it through, have you, Kaname Madoka?" I say. "What does it even mean to get rid of all the witches, past, present, and future?"

Madoka gasps. "H-how did you know…?"

"Well, you told me what you intended to wish for last time," I say. "You also asked Miss Akemi to warn you not to make that wish."

She blinks. "H-huh? Have you…" She glances at Homura. "… been going back in time with Homura-chan?"

"Not by my choice," Homura mutters. "But apparently."

"Indeed I have," I say. "But as Miss Akemi says, I didn't ask her. I just snuck up and grabbed hold of her leg at the moment she went back. So… tell me. Do you even understand what it means to get rid of every witch across the whole of history?"

Madoka shakes her head.

"I mean, I have… a general idea… I think? But… I can't say I understand it completely…"

"Yeah… I thought not," I say. "You would cease to exist as a person. You would become nothing but a being whose duty is to erase witches before they are born. No-one would remember you. No-one would even know you exist. You would become nothing more than a concept, the Law of Cycles. A goddess who can't do anything but destroy witches for all of time."

Homura gasps. "N-no… that's… I couldn't stand that!"

"Your wish is even greater than Miss Akemi's tampering with time," I say. "It would rewrite all of history. You'd be trampling upon all the struggles of magical girls that brought us this far. For all your rhetoric a moment ago about wasting Miss Akemi's effort thus far, that wish throws her limited progress in the trash, tramples on it, and burns it to ashes. And to what end? What did you think the world would be like without witches? It's not like you can rewrite the laws of physics, after all… only the events of history. The physical laws and forces that lead to the creation of witches would still exist in that world. Did you think everything would automatically be sunny and happily ever after if witches just didn't exist?"

"W-well… if there are no witches… then magical girls won't have to fight anymore, right?"

"So naïve! Why would magical girls even exist then?"

"W-well… it would also be fine if they didn't exist…"

"If magical girls didn't exist, we would be out in the middle of the ocean right now," I snap. "If magical girls didn't exist, it's very possible your entire family never would've been born. Witches like Walpurgisnacht may be global disasters, but their existence has also pushed humanity forward in some ways. I'm sure Kyuubey told you we'd still be living in caves without magical girls, and while I would say that's definitely an exaggeration, a world without them would still be unrecognizable to us."

Madoka blinks. "Huh? Wait, what? Back to the first thing you said… why would we be in the middle of the ocean?"

"Because this island was created by the wish of a magical girl."

"That… are… are you serious!?" Madoka gasps.

"I'm serious! But it's not like erasing witches implies erasing magical girls in the end. After all, even without witches, the incubators would still seek a source of energy. They would still discover that the energy of human emotions defies the second law of thermodynamics. No… magical girls would still exist, and they would still have to fight. There are other monsters in this world besides witches… but you never actually encounter them, because the witches keep them from appearing at all… they basically eat them before they become a danger."

"Huh… b-but wait… if that's the case…"

I give her some time to work through her train of thought.

"…eh? If… if the witches eat those monsters… but then I erase the witches… then… magical girls will still have to fight… huh? If that's the case… what exactly does the wish even change…? I guess it's still an improvement over now, because at least they wouldn't curse people, but… that's not quite the world I was imagining…"

"My point exactly!" I say. "You really haven't thought this through! And there's even worse. I've said this once, but it bears repeating with more detail. You wouldn't be rewriting the laws of physics, just providing a new Law of Cycles that erases witches before they're born. But all the physical laws that lead to witches would still exist – there's just an extra law that interferes in the process. However, you've dramatically underestimated the incubators. That 'extra law' is actually you, yourself, automatically showing up at the moment a soul gem is about to transform and sucking up that grief. If the incubators ever realized the true nature of that Law of Cycles, they'd find a way to interfere with it… a way to isolate magical girls so you can't reach them, so they'd turn into witches once more. If they can erect such a barrier at all, what's to stop them encasing the entire planet in it? So to sum it up… your solution is not only short-sighted, it also can't last forever."

"H-how do you even know all of this?" Madoka asks. "There's so much detail to your description, and all your points fit together so well. It… it almost sounds like… like you've been to such a world."

"Now's not the time to explain that," I say. "If you're still interested, I'll talk about it once Walpurgisnacht is defeated. But think about it… what was your true intention? What was the real reason you wanted to erase witches?"

Madoka considers the question for a few moments, then nods resolutely.

"Everyone who has fought witches, and all the magical girls who believed in hope… I didn't want them to suffer," Madoka says fiercely. "I wish magical girls could continue to smile. I want to change the rules that prevent that from happening, to break them, smash them into pieces. If someone tells me it's a mistake to have hope, I will tell them they are wrong, every single time! No matter how many times they say it… I will reject it every single time!"

I nod.

"That's good," I say. "I'm sure you could get a great wish out of that sentiment… but this isn't it. To give up your humanity and become hope itself… it's too selfless. Kaname Madoka… you need to learn to be more selfish."

Madoka blinks. "Huh? But isn't selfishness a bad thing? It's good to be selfless… isn't it?"

"No, it's not!" I shout. "If you're only selfless all the time, then there's no point! Listen, Kaname Madoka, there are people who care about you! Your life doesn't only belong to you!"

Her eyes widen a little as I quote her mother's earlier words back to her, but I don't give her a chance to respond as I forge onwards.

"Akemi Homura, your mother, your father, Tatsuya, Miki Sayaka, Shizuka Hitomi, Ms Saotome, Tomoe Mami, Sakura Kyouko, Kamijou Kyousuke, and surely more besides. How do you think they'll feel if you disappear?"

"Well, some of them are already dead," Madoka points out.

"That's beside the point," I say. "Some of them aren't, and most of the ones that are would've been brought back to life by that grand wish. My point is that you need to be more selfish. Learn a lesson from Honda Tohru's story and stop thinking about other people for a few minutes."

Madoka blinks. "W-who is Honda Tohru?" she asks.

"Ah, sorry, I guess you don't watch that much anime," I say. "It's the main character of an old show from around 2020. Which by the way you should watch. It's only three seasons. Its traveller and demon allegory in particular fits you waaay too well. Anyway! Forget about other people. Pretend for a moment that the only thing that matters in the universe is yourself. What do you want, Kaname Madoka? What is your desire?"

Madoka falls silent, casting her eyes down for a moment, but then she looks up and meets my eyes.

"I… I don't know if I really get it, but… I'll try to figure it out," she says.

I nod. "Once you've figured that out… then you can check in with everyone else and see if your desires are hurting other people, or figure out a way to satisfy your desires without hurting anyone. Once you've taken yourself into account, then you can start to be more selfless. But you must put yourself first in the end. I'm not saying it's wrong to be selfless, but it's bad for your mental health. You should do it in moderation."

"I… I agree with Miss Taylor on one point," Homura speaks up. "If you were gone… I wouldn't be able to bear it! Even if you turned into hope itself… I'd still search for a way to bring you back!"

"And therein lies another problem with that wish," I say. "I already said this earlier but… you said you won't waste Miss Akemi's effort, and yet, by becoming hope itself, you would've trampled on everything she's done to get this far… and also everything I've done to get this far. There's some truth in what Kyuubey said in the previous timeline – your goal and Miss Akemi's goal are fundamentally incompatible. But you know… you're human. Miss Akemi is human… okay, she argues that magical girls aren't human, and there's some logic to that, but it's close enough. My point is, humans can compromise. If you sit down and talk it out, I'm sure you can come to a solution that can satisfy both of you. But if you were to trample on Miss Akemi's effort with that wish you were about to make… well, do you really think Miss Akemi would just accept it and go on with her life? I can tell you with certainty that she would not. If she found the slightest hint of a way to take you back from the heavens, to drag you down from your new role as a goddess of hope… I know she would take that opportunity. And if that happened… you might become mortal enemies in a battle between goddess and devil… a tragedy of cosmic proportions. Do you want to see that end come to pass, Kaname Madoka?"

"N-no… I wouldn't want to be Homura-chan's enemy," Madoka says. "That… that would be awful…"

"So what I'm trying to say is… try again. Be more selfish. You were somewhat on the right track with that wish, but you need to think of something that doesn't trample on other people's efforts and feelings, something that doesn't sacrifice yourself. And also… something that doesn't rewrite history."

I pass her part of the length of ribbon.

"Here… hold onto this for a minute," I say. "If you let go, you'll be excluded from the time stop."

Once she's gripping it, I release her hand and spin on Homura, stepping towards her while sliding my hand along the ribbon's length.

"And you, Akemi Homura!" I shout. "What the hell is wrong with you!? This is all your fault! You're the one who backed Kaname Madoka into a corner like this!"

I kneel in front of her, pressing a grief cube to the soul gem on the back of her left hand and drawing out all the impurities. It's my last one – I used one up over the last few days and split the rest between Karin and Honoka as a sort of apology for not telling them they'd never see me again. Homura stares at it for a moment, but I don't give her a chance to ask about the strange shape.

"Your narrow-minded focus on saving Miss Kaname and only Miss Kaname… your insistence on eliminating anything you perceived to be an obstacle… your refusal to negotiate… what the hell, Akemi Homura!? Are you the hero in this story, or are you the villain? Did you really think that saving Kaname Madoka at the expense of all her friends would be a satisfactory conclusion!? Don't you realize that you're hurting Kaname Madoka as much as… no, maybe even more than you're hurting yourself!?"

"Th-that's—"

But I don't let her interrupt.

"Did you ever, even once, stop to consider in detail why you kept failing? No… you just blindly forged on over and over, trying to deviate from the script as little as possible, right? It's no wonder it's taken you more than ten years of subjective time to get absolutely nowhere! You haven't even been seriously trying this whole time!"

"Th-that's not true!" Homura angrily protests. "I tried all sorts of things! Sometimes things even went a lot better than this time! I… I didn't just do the same thing every time! Of course that wouldn't work! I'm not so stupid as to believe I could get a different outcome by repeating the same thing!"

"But you never even considered that repeating the same thing won't always give the same outcome," I retort. "You never even accounted for trans-timeline effects, did you? It only came to your attention very recently that Kaname Madoka's magical potential increases with every rerun… but that's far from the only cross-timeline influence."

I turn to Kaname Madoka.

"For example… your dreams of Akemi Homura on… was it March sixteenth, or maybe the seventeenth?" I say. "That's not just a dream. It's the ghost of a memory from a previous timeline."

"H-how did you know about that dream?" Madoka gasps.

"W-wait… you dreamed about me?" Homura gasps.

"Not even communicating with the person you were trying to save certainly couldn't've helped either," I retort. "And I offered to help you, twice. Maybe even more than that, in other timelines that I don't even remember. You refused, and for what reason exactly? Because you're so arrogant that you think you know everything? Because it's your responsibility and no-one else's to fix what you perceive as your mistakes? Dammit, Akemi Homura, you need to be less selfish!"

"B-but you were just telling Madoka to be more selfish…" Homura says.

"Yes, well, that's quite a dilemma," I say. "On the one hand, we have a selfless girl with self-confidence issues. On the other, a selfish girl who does everything out of her feelings for the other girl. It's no wonder you've never managed to communicate properly. You've been facing in opposite directions almost right from the very beginning."

Madoka ventures a few steps forward towards the two of us.

"Um… Homura-chan… listen," she says. "I do want to save Sayaka-chan, and Miss Mami, and Kyouko-chan… but I want to save you as well, Homura-chan. This… um… you said her name was Miss Taylor?"

"Ashley Taylor, yes," I say. "I prefer to be called Ashley."

"Miss Ashley seems like she has some ideas, so… I think we should at least hear her out."

"And I have people I want to save as well," I say. "People you may not have even heard of. Itsumi Inui… Elise Pierrot… Claire Branch… the Hayashi sisters… Naomi Noriko… even Momoe Nagisa…"

Homura blinks. "I only know about half of those…"

"Oh, you actually know Momoe Nagisa very well," I say. "You've defeated her in witch form countless times. She's the witch who usually kills Tomoe Mami. And you've met Naomi Noriko at least once in witch form. She's the one that kisses Shizuka Hitomi."

Homura blinks. "Huh? Are you saying… they're both new witches? They were born after March sixteenth?"

"Exactly. On the eighteenth, to be precise. You never even thought of that, did you? When something went wrong, when events changed unexpectedly, you never took the time to try and figure out why."

Homura falls silent for awhile, her face conflicted as she ponders what I've said. Finally she speaks up in a resigned tone.

"Alright, fine," she says. "Since Madoka asked me to, and since you do seem to know some things I don't, I'll hear you out, Miss Ashley… and once you've said what you have to say… then I'll make my decision on whether I can accept your help."

"Maybe there are even more magical girls we could save!" Madoka suggests eagerly.

"Well… it's possible," I say. "Every so often a magical girl becomes a witch very soon after she makes a contract… Momoe Nagisa was like that. It's possible that one or more of the witches you encountered was also like that. However… I'm quite certain that there are no established magical girls that turned into a witch, other than Itsumi Inui and Naomi Noriko. You never encountered the witch of Itsumi Inui, because she was defeated almost as soon as she was born."

"But still, you're saying there are at least three magical girls I didn't even know who could be saved!" Madoka says. "Um… if time were turned back again, that is."

"I listed seven, but basically, yes," I say. "Honestly, there's a ton of stuff to say, and I doubt we can say it all before Miss Remi's time stop wears off."

As I name her, Madoka and Homura both glance at Remi, who's watching the entire exchange in silence and with great interest.

"I'd prefer to have a long chat after school on March sixteenth – or even during school, because who cares if I miss a day that I've experienced five times over already – but there are a few things I'd like to say before time is turned back, so I'll focus on those. First, obviously it's her choice, but I think Kaname Madoka should come back in time with us."

"I already tried that!" Homura says. "It went even worse than usual! You should remember that timeline, right?"

I shake my head.

"No, it went worse than usual because Kyuubey travelled back in time with you that time," I say. "Letting Miss Kaname remember this run should be very beneficial to you. For starters, it means you actually have a pre-existing relationship with her, which is a complete game-changer for your plans. It means she knows about as much of the truth as you do and won't be so quick to contract, so you don't need to worry about trying to prevent her from meeting Kyuubey. And not needing to keep Kyuubey away from her also benefits you in many other ways."

"Um… when you put it that way," Madoka says. "It sounds like there's some parts of the truth that neither Homura-chan nor I know?"

"Yes, like the monsters I was talking about earlier, the ones that would replace witches if you'd erased them."

"Also… if I go back in time… who'll save the city from that thing in this timeline?" Madoka asks.

"Well, I have no idea if the 'city in this timeline' is actually a thing that will continue to exist after we turn back time," I say. "However… you don't need to worry. I've brought together twenty magical girls from four different cities, who will fight Walpurgisnacht under the command of Miss Mikuni Oriko. I don't know for sure if they can win, but I think they stand a pretty good chance. At least half of them are magical girls who Miss Akemi has never even heard of."

"F-four different cities…?" Homura gasps. "And… Oriko's actually being helpful again!?"

"Yeah, because I've made friends in Kamihama, Asunaro, and Hohzuki since I arrived in Japan over three months ago," I say. "So that enabled me to call in a few favours. And Oriko is actually a very reasonable person with goals that even overlap yours. If you'd tried making contact with her early on in the next timeline after we first met, you might've been able to work together and make some real progress."

"So you already thought that far ahead," Madoka says. "In that case… I'd be happy to join you when you go back in time."

"But… I don't think Madoka can handle the repeated pain," Homura says. "I could see it hurt her a lot more in the last timeline…"

"I think you're underestimating Miss Kaname," I say. "However, she also doesn't have to endure it repeatedly. Even if the next try isn't the last, all you need to do is shift the loop window forward by a minute or two. Then Miss Kaname will forever remember this attempt, but if she dies or chooses not to come back again, she will only remember this one attempt. In fact, a shifted loop window must be the reason I still remember the first time Oriko decided to assassinate her."

"I think… I think I'd prefer that," Madoka says. "Even if I could handle seeing Sayaka-chan and Miss Mami die over and over again… I wouldn't want to see it. But at the same time… I feel that the memories I've made with Homura-chan this time around are precious, and I don't want to lose them. That said… if one run goes a lot better but for whatever reason we decide to redo it anyway, then I might go back again."

"The next thing is your general approach, Akemi Homura," I say. "I think telling the truth is essential to your mission. You need to get people to believe that you're from the future. Of course… you also need to conceal this fact from Kyuubey for as long as possible."

"But they never believe me," Homura says. "I tried it, several times, in all sorts of different ways. Then eventually I gave up…"

"Yeah, of course they wouldn't believe you," I say. "You've been going about it all the wrong way. Miss Kaname… if Miki Sayaka suddenly came to school and told you she'd come back in time… would you believe her?"

"U-um… probably not immediately," Madoka says. "At first I'd think she was just joking around. But… yes, if she was insistent about it, I think I would come to believe her."

"Now, suppose a random girl in a café walked up to you and said she'd come back in time… would you believe her?"

"Um… I wouldn't," Madoka says. "Maybe she could convince me eventually, but… I'd be very skeptical."

"There's your problem, Miss Akemi," I say. "You're in the second scenario. They don't know you… they don't trust you. What you need to do is make Miss Tomoe trust you."

"That's not going to be easy," Homura retorts. "She's never trusted me before…"

"That's not true," I say. "What about the very first time you went back in time? She trusted you well enough that time, didn't she? She wouldn't've spent so much time helping you figure out how to use your power if she didn't trust you."

"Th-that's true…" Homura admits.

"Do you understand what was different between that time and all the others?"

"No…"

"What's the first thing you've usually done after going back in time?" I ask. "Not minor things like healing your eyes or whatever… the first important thing."

"I would go kill Kyuubey before it could talk to Madoka," Homura says.

"Right… so it shouldn't really be a surprise if Kyuubey were to tell Miss Tomoe about a magical girl in black who seems deranged," I say. "Miss Tomoe considers Kyuubey to be a friend, so you can be sure she'd buy its story hook, line, and sinker. And on top of that, you were usually attacking Kyuubey when Miss Tomoe first met you… it's no wonder she was distrustful of you. You gave her tons of reasons to distrust you, and no reasons to trust you. You had the advantage of starting from a blank slate, but you utterly squandered that advantage every single time."

"So what am I supposed to do!?" Homura shouts. "How am I supposed to get through to her!?"

"Well, I have a very simple suggestion," I say. "Don't go killing any incubators. You don't even need to if Miss Kaname remembers – I'm sure she wouldn't just make a contract on a whim like she did the first few times, not now that she knows the truth. Just show up on Miss Tomoe's doorstep, let her know that you have reason to believe Walpurgisnacht will soon arrive, and offer to help her to defeat the witch when she arrives."

Homura blinks at me. "That… that's all? Isn't that… too simple?"

"Is that why you never thought of it before?" I ask. "Because it was too simple? Isn't simple best, though?"

"I… I guess you're right?" Homura says hesitantly.

"The best outcome would be if she offers to let you stay with her in her guest room," I say. "If you live under the same roof with her, you'll just naturally grow close over time. Then at some point, perhaps a week or two in, you can reveal that you came from the future. I think there's a good chance she'll believe you at that point. Of course, revealing the truth about witches is a different story… she's not mentally ready to handle that truth yet."

"I think that would be wonderful!" Madoka says eagerly. "I always thought it was so sad that Miss Mami and Homura-chan couldn't get along… but if you were to live together, I'm sure it would go really well!"

"Well… she might not make that offer," I say. "But she is lonely, so I think the chance exists. Now… the last thing I wanted to talk about before we think about turning back time is… your promise to Miss Kaname."

Madoka blinks. "I think Homura-chan mentioned that before… but I don't remember any promise…"

I nod.

"The promise wasn't made to you, after all," I say. "Miss Akemi made that promise to a Miss Kaname who was on the verge of turning into a witch… a Miss Kaname desperate enough to avoid that fate that she would even ask Miss Akemi to destroy her soul gem."

"I… I can hardly imagine it…" Madoka says.

"Yeah, you're not even a magical girl at this point," I say. "That Miss Kaname was already a fairly skilled magical girl… she'd made her contract way back in March. It wasn't one of the times when you made a contract in the last week before Walpurgisnacht arrived, or even right as Walpurgisnacht was ravaging the city. You and her… you may have the same name, and the same face, and all the same memories before March of this year… but do you think it's fair to call you the same person?"

Madoka tilts her head. "Th-that's a difficult question," she says. "I think… in some sense we'd have to be the same person, but… you know, I don't think I could confidently declare that she and I are the same person. Even if we have the same name, and the same face… even though we share most of our life experiences… we've gone through different experiences in the past month or so, and they've been major, life-changing experiences."

"W-what are you saying?" Homura asks. "What… what are you even getting at?"

"I'm saying you made a promise to a person who no longer exists," I say. "The promise is meaningless. But… I doubt that would be enough to convince you to give up on it."

"Of course not!" Homura says. "It's that promise that has kept me going all this time!"

"Then let's talk about the promise itself," I say. "Do you remember the exact words?"

"No… it's been so long," Homura says.

"Fortunately, for me, it's only been about four and a half months since you made that promise," I say. "So I do remember pretty close to the exact words. I suppose there are a few upsides to the mysterious thing that happened to me so many times that blocked me out of the time travel. Miss Kaname's words were… 'There's something only Homura-chan can achieve. You can go back in time, right, Homura-chan? You can change history and prevent such a sad ending, can't you? Can you save me before I get deceived by Kyuubey?'"

"That… that sounds right," Homura says. "Were you… actually there when she said that?"

"Yes, I was watching from behind a pile of rubble," I say. "I used the ribbon you destroyed at the beginning of this loop as a connecting line to link me to you so that when you turned back time, I too would be brought along. Much like the ribbon I'm using now to link the three of us into Miss Remi's time stop."

"So that's how you did it…"

"Um… Homura-chan… was that really the promise?" Madoka asks.

"Yes… that was the promise," Homura says. "I promised to save you, no matter what!"

"But, Homura-chan… you've already fulfilled that promise!" Madoka says.

Homura blinks at her. "H-huh? But… you were just about to make a contract anyway! It can't be fulfilled if you become a magical girl!"

Madoka shakes her head.

"That's not true, Homura-chan," she says. "You promised to save me before Kyuubey deceives me. But… I know the truth now. I know what would happen if I become a magical girl. If I know, and I decide to become a magical girl anyway… then it means I wasn't deceived. If I go back in time with you now… Homura-chan… your promise has been fulfilled. You can relax, Homura-chan… please, focus on making sure I stay alive, and let me make my own decisions about whether or not I want to become a magical girl."

"B-but… if you become a magical girl… you'll just turn into a witch!" Homura protests.

Madoka shakes her head.

"I won't turn into a witch," she says. "I already know how magical girls can turn into witches. If I become a magical girl, I would never let my soul gem get dark. I would never allow myself to become a witch. Even if all hope seemed lost… if my soul gem lost all its lustre… even then, I wouldn't become a witch, because it's when all hope seems lost that you must hope more than ever."

"But there's no way you can avoid the witch transformation just by hoping!" Homura protests.

"Actually… I've seen it happen," I say. "At least for a short time, as long as you don't despair, or use magic, or move around too much… even if your soul gem seems like it has no more than a single pinprick of brightness… it seems that you won't become a witch. Holding onto hope is the single most important key to avoiding the witch transformation. You'll still need a grief seed if you don't want to commit suicide though, because a tiny amount of magic is required just to sustain your body, but… you can hold out for a little while, at least."

I pause, tilting my head as I remember the solution a certain fanfic proposed for dealing with girls who are about to reach their limit. That was a post-goddess setting, but the same principal should work here.

"The other thing you could do if that happens is to separate your soul gem from your body. If your soul gem moves out of range of your body, it won't need to maintain your body any longer, and it'll last longer, perhaps even forever… though I wouldn't count on the forever part. Still, the best thing you can do if you're out of grief seeds and a girl in front of you desperately needs one is… grab her soul gem and run like hell. It could save her life."

"I haven't decided whether I'll become a magical girl if I go back in time, but it's my decision to make, Homura-chan," Madoka says firmly. "Please… don't use your promise to another me as an excuse to deny me that decision."

"Miss Kaname pretty much said what I was intending to say, and probably more eloquently than I could have," I say. "You've already saved her from Kyuubey's deception… if she still wants to become a magical girl knowing that, you should be supporting her, not stopping her. Besides… if she doesn't become a magical girl, then you will inevitably be separated one day, but if she does become a magical girl… then, you face the potential of eternity together."

Homura blinks. "Eternity…?"

"Because there are only two ways that I know of for a magical girl to die," I say. "Either the soul gem is shattered, or she turns into a witch."

"No… I've seen magical girls die of other causes," Homura says.

"Are you certain?" I ask. "Are you certain their soul gem remained intact? As I understand it, a grievous wound to the body may lead a magical girl who doesn't understand the truth of the soul gem to believe that they are dead, causing the soul gem to shatter of its own accord."

Homura frowns a little. "Um… I'm not sure," she admits. "I never looked that closely…"

"And there's one other reason it's better to let her contract," I say. "Even if you get through the time loop with Miss Kaname safe and Walpurgisnacht defeated, you'll just be fighting an endless war against the incubators who want her to contract at all costs."

"Eh? Oh… I suppose you do have a point," Homura says. "I didn't really think about what would come next… but even so, I don't want her to contract."

"By the way, this is speculation, but last time, Miss Kaname wished to make sure you live. It's possible that that wish is still with you. If so, you might have gained quite some newfound resilience."

Homura blinks. "That… so that was the phrasing of her wish last time? Still, it seems a bit of a stretch that it would be interpreted that way…"

"Yeah, I'm not sure, it's just a thought I had. Anyway, my point is… having her become a magical girl may actually be better for you."

"I still don't like it," Homura says. "Madoka has a good family… she shouldn't need to enter this life."

"But there's no denying it would give me a purpose," Madoka says eagerly. "I've always wanted to find something I was good at… and being a magical girl… I thought, maybe that was it. And even if magical girls one day turn into witches… they still save a lot of people before that happens. Turning into a witch doesn't erase their achievements, right?"

"Spoken just like a Tokime," I say.

"What does the Tokime clan have to do with this?" Madoka asks.

"You just echoed the feelings of the Tokime diviners," I say. "The magical girls of the Tokime clan used to say something very similar to what you said just now."

"Huh. So there were magical girls in the Tokime clan?"

"Still are, in fact," I say. "But let's stay on topic."

Madoka nods. "So… Homura-chan… why don't you make a new promise with me?" she suggests. "If I go back in time, and I remember this past month even if you go back again, then you've fulfilled your original promise to save me before I'm deceived. Why not make a new promise?"

"A new… promise?" Homura blinks. "I don't know…"

"Homura-chan… promise me… promise me that you'll find a way to defeat Walpurgisnacht without anybody dying," Madoka says. "I'd like to see a world where Walpurgisnacht is no more, where I can be together with you and Sayaka-chan and Kyouko-chan and Miss Mami and Hitomi-chan."

Homura nods slowly. "I… I think that might be a bit too much, but… I can try," she says.

"Anyway… after all this talk, Akemi Homura, what are your thoughts on the matter?" I ask. "Will you cooperate with me?"

"I've tried everything I could think of to find a route where Madoka survives," Homura says. "It seems like this timeline could be the one, thanks to Miss Ashley gathering magical girls from across the prefecture, but…"

"No, that's no good!" Madoka says. "Like I just said, I don't want to live in a world without Sayaka-chan! Without Miss Mami!"

"…but… staying in this timeline would hurt Madoka, and I hate to see her in pain," Homura admits. "So… I'm willing to give your suggestions a shot at least once."

I nod. "However, I'll be stepping into relatively unknown territory from this point onwards," I say. "There's one major change I plan to make in the next timeline that will throw off nearly every prediction. Naturally, I'll still strive for a happy ending in the next loop, but I think it's more likely to take at least one more reset to get it right. Could I get your cooperation for at least that long?"

Homura hesitates a moment before nodding. "Fine… I understand what you mean. I am nervous about making a major change, but I will see what you have in mind."

"We're already connected by this ribbon, but let's get closer together," I say. "It would be a disaster if Kyuubey managed to hitch a ride a second time. It may be a good idea for all of us to face in different directions, just to make sure it can't sneak aboard."

I lift the rubble off of Homura's foot with my telekinesis, and with a bit of help from the two of us, she gets to her feet.

"By the way… I have one last thing to say," I say. "Kaname Madoka… I probably gave you a terrible first impression, right? Coming out of nowhere and screaming at you like that… so I'd like to apologize, to both of you. I got a bit worked up because things weren't going as I'd hoped they would. And furthermore, I'd like to apologize extra to Miss Akemi. If I'd shown myself before you took off the glasses… or even just after you took off the glasses… perhaps we could've worked together sooner."

"It's true," Homura admits. "Back then… I might've been more willing to listen to you."

"Yeah… so I know I called the two of you foolish and stuff, but it's on me too. I did some pretty foolish things myself. I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Miss Ashley," Madoka says. "At least we've finally come together, right?"

If it had been anyone other than Madoka, I doubt I would've been able to convince them of anything with this method… but Madoka's forgiving nature worked to my advantage here.

I nod. "Yeah… oh, and I should tell you where I live, Miss Kaname."

"Please, just call me Madoka," Madoka says.

"Ahh… alright. In that case, perhaps you should be a bit less stiff with me too, Madoka."

"I'd like that… Ashley-chan!"

"Um… fine, if you really want, you can call me Miss Homura," Homura mutters.

"Okay, then I will, thank you," I say.

I tell them the address of the Hayashi house, then turn to Remi.

"Miss Remi, you can let time resume now."

"Alright," Remi says. "That was pretty entertaining, to tell the truth… but I'll head off to join the assault team now. You won't need me for anything else, right?

"No, I can take things from here," I reply.

And just like that, she's gone and the rain pounds down on our heads once more. Rather than releasing her time stop, she must've just let go of the ribbon. After a couple of seconds, Kyuubey shows up.

"Why did you do that, Ashley Taylor?" it asks. "I was just about to grant an incredible wish."

"Um… I've changed my mind," Madoka says quickly. "I need to think my wish over a bit more, so… please leave me alone for now."

"Is that so?" Kyuubey says. "That's unfortunate… but don't hesitate to call for me once you've decided."

It consumes the remnants of the drone I killed, then disappears. Good… it doesn't seem to be suspicious of our plans.

"By the way… will you properly introduce me to Miss Remi later, too?" Madoka asks. "It's amazing that she can stop time too… is she also a time traveller?"

"Ah… well, probably eventually," I say. "And no, she's not a time traveller. She can't go back under her own power, and she hasn't gone back with Miss Homura either. However, she can communicate with herself in the next timeline, so she remembers a few key details from previous runs… only things relevant to her hometown though, I believe."

"Huh… I'm looking forward to meeting her, then," Madoka says.

I pull out my phone and check the time.

«Kanna-chi, just double-checking, but what's the current time?»

«It's ten after six,» she replies.

That's the same as what my phone says, so I guess the time spent in stopped time didn't desynchronize it… either that or it resynchronized as soon as time resumed.

«And you're all set to return with the three of us, correct?»

«Yes, if she were to go back in time right now, I would be taken along,» she says. «But why keep me secret now that you've revealed yourself?»

«Call me paranoid,» I say. «But after the way she behaved in the last two timelines… I want the extra insurance. She does know you exist, mind you, but no more than that. She surely has no idea that you're joining us even now.»

«Well, if you say so.»

The phone now says eleven after six.

"So, by my reckoning, we need to wait three more minutes before we can go back," I say. "But if you want to wait a couple of extra minutes, we could watch the opening moves of the upcoming fight against Walpurgisnacht."

"I'd like that," Madoka says. "Is that okay, Homura-chan?"

Homura nods.

"As you seem to have realized, I can't go back before the sand timer empties, but once it's empty, I can go back whenever I want," she says. "However, once it's empty I can no longer stop time, so I think I haven't been more than a minute or two off before."

The minutes slide by in silence as Walpurgisnacht very slowly passes overhead, heading in the direction of the evacuation shelter. She doesn't bother to attack us, since we're not attacking her. However, she doesn't get very far before magical girls start to appear from amidst the rubble, a few at a time. The Amane sisters hop up onto a chunk of rubble, gazing up at the massive witch above them.

"This is incredible," Tsukuyo's voice carries on the wind, barely audible. "I have never before seen a witch of such size, much less one outside of a labyrinth… can we really beat this creature?"

"We have to, onee-san!" Tsukasa says confidently. "There's no other option!"

Karin hops up behind them.

"Don't worry! There are a lot of us here! I'm sure we'll be fine!"

The Asako sisters appear from behind a pile of rubble.

"Ain't this one crazy witch," Komaki says. "I can't believe we're even doing this."

"Onee-chan, stop that," Koito protests. "We need to be optimistic, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Komaki grumbles.

The Shiina sisters step out next to them.

"This will be the battle of a lifetime, that's for sure," Remi says.

"At least I get to fight by your side, onee-san," Moe says. "I just wish Fumiko-chan could also be here with us…"

Suzune, Matsuri, and Honoka hop up onto a chunk of rubble opposite the Amane sisters.

"I can feel the pressure even from down here," Honoka says.

"Y-yeah," Matsuri says. "It's incredible…"

Then her face contorts in annoyance.

"I still don't see why you had to bring me along," Kagari grumbles.

Suzune just gazes wordlessly up at the witch.

Yuuri and Airi step around the side of the rubble that those three are standing on, and Kazumi appears just behind them.

"Well… with my boost, I feel like we can win this," Kazumi says. "But it's probably going to be tough, even then…"

"I'll keep you safe, Yuuri-chan," Airi says. "And everyone else too, of course."

"Of course," Yuuri says.

Chisato and Arisa step out from behind the rubble the flute sisters are perching on.

"Let's give this witch a good beating!" Arisa says, smacking her fist into her palm repeatedly.

"You're awfully fired up about this," Chisato says. "You do realize we could die, right?"

"Stop that!" Arisa complains. "You're going to jinx it!"

Mari steps up behind the Asako sisters.

"Man, I never thought I'd get to face down Walpurgisnacht itself," she says. "I just wish you could've been here with me, Noriko-chan…"

Koharu hops up on the rubble beside the Amane sisters.

"I can't believe I'm even doing this," Koharu says. "I could've just stayed at home, but… Miss Mikuni was strangely persuasive…"

Then Oriko and Kirika leap in and land just in front of the Asako and Shiina sisters.

"Is everyone here?" Oriko calls.

"And, it's time!"

Alina comes flying in from somewhere with a shout, landing directly between Oriko and Kirika.

"You are late, Miss Gray," Oriko says.

"I, Alina the Great, am never late!" Alina replies. "It is you who are early! Now watch and learn as I show you how this is done!"

For some reason, she mixes a few English words into her Japanese, in particular 'late' and 'early'.

She holds up her hands, a green cube appearing between them. It expands back to cover all the waiting magical girls, then upwards to encompass Walpurgisnacht herself. The whole process takes no more than three seconds, after which the witch is gone, vanished entirely from the sky, and all those magical girls have disappeared along with it, as well as the carnival-themed familiars that have been quietly marching along this whole time. Only a flowery portal remains to leave any hint that they were ever there. The rain rapidly thins out and comes to a stop, allowing the sun to shine through.

"D-don't tell me they've already beaten it!?" Madoka gasps.

I shake my head.

"No… the battle has only just begun," I say. "That slightly crazy-sounding girl who showed up at the end there… her name is Alina Gray, and her magic power is the ability to create labyrinths. She's just drawn Walpurgisnacht and all those magical girls into a labyrinth of her own making… but that's not enough to guarantee that they'll win. Still, at least it cuts Walpurgisnacht off from her source of projectiles, so they shouldn't have to worry about getting buildings thrown at them…"

I pause for a moment to check on Hijiri.

«You're still there, right Kanna-chi?»

«Yeah, I'm still connected to you three,» she says. «I didn't get sucked into the labyrinth, if that's what you were worrying about.»

"It's even possible that Walpurgisnacht may manage to break back out of the labyrinth," I say. "She is a crazy powerful witch, after all."

"Even so… that's incredible," Madoka says. "As long as they fight in a labyrinth, people won't get hurt, right?

I nod.

"Well… Alina's pretty eccentric, so I'd say I really lucked out getting her help on this," I say. "She's probably going to be our enemy next time, unfortunately. But she's also not alone in having that power… for example, Naomi Noriko can also create labyrinths. Anyway… Miss Homura, let's go back… and after you've connected with Miss Tomoe, I'd like to invite you over to my place for a long chat."

Homura nods.

"I will be there," she says. "I said I would listen, at least, so I will listen."

With that, she spins the shield, and time is turned back.

ACT I: END

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Note: The reader poll posted with chapter 43 is now closed. I'm just waiting on a response to clarify one ambiguous vote, so if you voted, please check your private messages.

With the end of Act 1, the steady weekly update schedule is coming to an end. I'll post the chapters as they become available, which may be once a week, or may be less frequently, and perhaps not always on weekends. The interlude will be next, followed by the initial chapters of Act 2 (which are already written), and then we'll start following Iroha's adventures.

One reader correctly anticipated in a review that this fanfic will eventually introduce more factions than those featuring in Magia Record Arc 2. In fact, I've been trying to decide on a name for Ashley's eventual faction. I'm not opening a poll to decide the name, but I'd be interested in seeing what others think the faction should be called. Chances are I'll end up using something different from what anyone might suggest, but such suggestions may still influence or inspire me.

I'll post the actual results of the reader poll along with the interlude.

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Review Responses

Here I'm going to respond to a few specific reviews from over the runtime of Act 1. I'm focusing only on reviews that talk about story elements (excluding suggestions about how the plot should go), so apologies if I don't mention your review (and thanks for commenting regardless). I'm not going to quote the text of the reviews themselves, but if it seems confusing, you can check the reviews page and find them.

3-13 Sniper (chapter 38, Nov 17, 2021): Yes, that dialogue is a cipher of sorts. I wrote a little program to encipher it so that it's consistent (which is also why I revised the first occurrence when I posted the second, because it had become inconsistent). I'm not going to give any hints on how it works, but if no-one works it out by the time Arc 4 comes to a close, perhaps I'll consider posting the cipher. (We'll be seeing more of it in Arc 2, as well.)

KadinaruDess (chapter 40, Nov 28, 2021): My interpretation is that Homucifer's immense power came not from her unique transformation but from the fact that she was able to steal power from Madokami. As a result, even though Mary Magdalene has undergone the same transformation, she's not significantly more powerful than any of the other Ancients.

You also made a point about making the difficulty level harder through Ashley's more expansive goals, but my opinion is that the difficulty only depends on why Homura is travelling back in time. As long as she only cares about Madoka, it won't converge karmic destiny on anyone else.

KadinaruDess (chapter 43, Dec 11, 2021): I believe this already came up in chapter 60, but basically, Mitama has no knowledge of Ashley's memories because her first visit to the Coordinator was after the time loop began. Furthermore, as was also touched on in the same chapter, some of the events of Magia Record Arc 2 make her wary of letting Mitama work on her soul gem. So, I'm afraid that scenario you describe won't come to pass… although I agree it would be interesting, it's just not the story I plan to tell.

Farsight21 (chapter 42, Dec 15, 2021): I have no plans to create a magical girl who can warp space, but there already is one in Magia Record – Hozumi Shizuku. You can expect to see her eventually.

narwastu13 (chapter 46, Dec 21, 2021): Unfortunately, I think that wish you describe would require an immense karmic destiny, so probably only Madoka would be able to do it… and there are other reasons to avoid such an expansive witch, as Ashley's hellbent on preventing a Madokami scenario.

Guest review (chapter 51, Dec 31, 2021): Certainly doppels are not a perfect solution. As the Magia Record anime shows, they can in fact be dangerous (to the user) in their own right. But I'm not sure if this story will get that far. Perhaps if there's an Act 5… but I don't currently have any ideas of what would be contained in it. Of course, that's quite awhile away, so it could happen.

Wernnon (chapter 53, Jan 10, 2022): You make a point that Ashley hasn't been doing much in the way of training. She has managed to increase her powers in a few ways (discovering Teddy Mk II has true flight, discovering the Teddy Drone laser, and inventing a whole new second ultimate attack), but these have all been organic upgrades gained from her day-to-day battle (and perhaps to a lesser degree from the few tune-ups she got). I suppose she's just too occupied with her own goals at the moment to set aside much time for training.

Leviathan1914 (chapter 55, Feb 3, 2022): Thank you for your suggestion, but I have no plans to separate Chelsea from Ashley in any sense. The doppel she unleashes (they unleash?) will simply be Zipzap.

Farsight21 (chapter 59, Feb 27, 2022): You are correct that Madokami plays a major role in the Magia Record game's setting, despite not belonging to the same universe. Next time we see Walpurgisnacht, you'll see how that plays out in this version of the setting.

KadinaruDess (chapter 59, Feb 27, 2022): I want to note that Madoka had not yet gotten the magic-efficiency buffs at the end of the previous timeline – rather, she planned to get them just after Homura went back in time. She managed to survive because she "connected" with Homura and shared the burden with her (similar to the actual Homura's Revenge spin-off manga that that run was based on, though obviously "connect" is not a thing in the source material). Still, most of what you said is true, and has even somewhat played out a second time in this timeline.

Guest review (chapter 60, Mar 3, 2020): Well, it's not like I was trying to hide it, but it seems you anticipated some of what this chapter is about.

Leviathan1914 (chapter 59, Mar 4, 2022): You might've already noticed, but you made such a good point here that I actually integrated it into Ashley's dialogue (monologue?) in this chapter.

Also, two commenters have suggested that I should cross-post this on Archive of Our Own. I don't currently have any plans to do this, because posting in two places is a lot more effort. Furthermore, AO3 is apparently unable to import stories from FanFiction, which is an additional barrier. However, I may consider cross-posting it once the story is complete or if it becomes importable… though it could be awhile before that happens.

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Magical Girl Corner

Whenever a new magical girl is introduced, I'll include a brief profile of her here. Some details may be redacted, or contain minor spoilers. You have been warned! The numeric ranking values are on a scale of 1 to 10.

Alina Gray

Age: 16
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Green
Origins: Sakae Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green paint brush
Soul Gem: Green kite-shaped gem at her throat
Element: Forest
Weapon: Rubik's cube
Powers: Labyrinth creation, barriers, dimensional pocket, laser beams
Wish: "I want an atelier where no-one can bother me."

Speed: 5
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 10
Initial Power Usability: 8
Learned Powers: 4

Akatsuki Tsukuyo
暁月夜

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Maroon
Hair Colour: Brown
Origins: Mizuna Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Two purple beamed eighth notes
Soul Gem: Circular red gem on her chest
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Bamboo flute
Powers: Sound wave manipulation
Wish: "We don't want to hate each other."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 6
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 2

Amane Tsukasa
天音月咲

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Maroon
Hair Colour: Brown
Origins: Kosho Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Two purple beamed eighth notes
Soul Gem: Circular red gem on her chest
Element: Light
Weapon: Bamboo flute
Powers: Sound wave manipulation
Wish: "We don't want to hate each other."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 9
Offensive Power: 7
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 2