A/N: The idea to use selective bolding instead of runes is something inspired by The Magic Catgirl's Like No Other. I think it's a brilliant idea.
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EINS
TIMELINE X + N
Homura stood on a catwalk in a building under construction across from Mitakihara's central train station. A haunting maritime symphony still echoed in her head; ghostly violinists danced across her eyes. She stared numbly at the wall where the entrance to the Mermaid Witch's labyrinth had just melted away in the dying sunlight. The sharp ping of the Witch's Grief Seed bouncing on the catwalk dispelled the final strains of the ominous melody. After a moment, Homura bent and picked it up.
Too late again. Always too late. Or wrong. Or both, this time.
She had not expected this timeline's Kyōko to care enough about Sayaka to want to save her. Had not expected this Kyōko to have enough idealism to even consider the possibility. Had definitely not expected Kyōko to drag Madoka with her on her fool's errand. Was absolutely shocked to enter the haunted, inverted concert hall only to witness Kyōko launching a suicide attack at the Mermaid Witch, in whose armored hand Homura had mere moments to see Madoka's crushed, bloodied body. Homura had only begun to comprehend the magnitude of her failure when the labyrinth crumbled around her, awash in ruby light.
None of this had happened in other timelines, so what had she missed this time? Her manipulation of time didn't allow for her to be everywhere at once, so she had no idea what Kyōko and Sayaka had gotten up to. Most frustrating was the fact that she would be unable to find out— after all, everyone she could ask was dead.
This time Homura had managed to let everyone else die ten entire days before Walpurgisnacht's descent. Homura looked down at the shield attached to her left wrist and the purple glint of the Soul Gem on her hand. She had ten entire days' worth of sand left in her shield's sand timer. Ten entire days before the sand timer could reverse and send her back to the beginning. She had ten entire days to wander around Mitakihara and reflect on her failure and plan for the next timeline while the city taunted her with memories of what once was.
Unbearable.
That would be unbearable.
While there were multiple timelines in which Mami, Kyōko, and Sayaka didn't survive until the end, never before had she approached Walpurgisnacht with Madoka already dead. Fresh grief and ten days to reflect on her failure... no. She would despair. The futility of facing Walpurgisnacht in this timeline would drag her down and turn her into a Witch before she could save Madoka in the next timeline. Homura couldn't allow that to happen.
With halting steps, Homura turned from the wall and wandered back across the catwalk. Plodded down the stairs instead of hopping down. Aimlessly left the construction site and roamed the train switchyard. Blankly stared at the sky as a commuter train roared past her and disheveled her hair in the last of the twilight.
Generally, Homura disapproved of whims. Impulsiveness had proven too deadly for her to do much without forethought. But the rising need to get away from Mitakihara consumed her. She couldn't bear to see Madoka's empty desk at school. Couldn't bear the inevitable media furor that would arise when Madoka was reported missing, Mami's disappearance was finally noticed, and Sayaka's corpse was discovered wherever Kyōko had stashed it. Couldn't bear the cheerfully accusatory faces of her friends staring out at her from missing persons posters. Couldn't bear that there would be no posters for Kyōko, as there was no one left to miss her. So, on reflection, it wasn't terribly surprising that Homura lifted her shield, stopped time, staggered her way to the passing train, and jumped onto its roof. She flopped down on the cold metal and automatically secured herself with magic. Time resumed with a click. Scenery rushed by in a blur before Homura's dull eyes.
She didn't particularly care where the train took her as long as it wasn't Mitakihara.
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WITCH DATA
OKTAVIA VON SECKENDORFF
The Mermaid Witch. It is in her nature to fall in love. Looking for the feeling that moved her so long ago, she moves with the entire concert hall. Her fortune only turns under the weight of memories and no longer moves toward the future. Nothing will reach her any longer. She will come to know nothing more. She simply allows no one to disturb her minions' playing.
Minion: Holger, whose duty is to perform. Several of them form a hollow orchestra that continually plays music for the Witch. People who listen to their music for long enough will lose their soul. This orchestra only exists for its Witch; to her, the orchestra is everything.
This chapter was replaced with an edited version on November 1, 2019. Reviews with timestamps before that date refer to a slightly different version of the chapter.