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ZWEI
TIMELINE X + N
Homura had a warped relationship with the flow of time. It played tricks on her sometimes in ways the less-rational part of her mind considered revenge for her manipulations. Morosely perched upon the train, Homura ceded all control and let time do with her what it would. She passively drifted along with time as the train charged through it, watching the constellations appear and shift as the wind and wheels roared in her ears. Many stops barely registered to her. Homura finally blinked back to reality when a regular stop stretched on unusually long and the sound of men arguing drifted up to her.
Glad for something new to focus on, Homura climbed to her feet and stealthily hopped along the cars until she reached the engine, where the arguing was loudest.
"You're not listening. I'm telling you, the computer is saying we're scheduled to be here until midnight, but that's obviously wrong."
"Obviously. Are you sure you tried to override it?"
"Yes! I told you five times already! The system shut down the train and won't let me re-start it!"
"Maybe you should let me try. It's been a long shift, eh?"
"Are you saying you think I'm too tired to know what I'm doing?!"
"Not exactly—"
"I could do this in my sleep! But something is wrong with the scheduling program! You should be able to see it on the station terminal, too!"
A deep sigh. "Right, right. Let me look at it."
The men withdrew into the train, their bickering growing muffled as they went deeper into the engine.
Homura cocked her head curiously. After a moment, she shrugged and reached up to push her hair away from her face.
Her Soul Gem ring was glowing.
Adrenaline flooded her body. She sharply surveyed the train station, then slowly spun and swept her bejeweled hand around her like a compass needle. The Soul Gem glowed the brightest when she faced the train station proper. The magical girl frowned and gracefully descended from the train car. She flitted from corner to corner like a phantom thief, largely concealed by the purples and blacks of her costume. The glowing Soul Gem led Homura to the main electronic schedule display board. Her eyes narrowed. There: a momentary flicker. Homura brandished her Soul Gem, prompting the appearance of an orange sigil shaped like a pumpkin with a clock face overlapping stylized butterfly wings. Homura scowled and passed through the portal.
The labyrinth was new to her, though it reminded her of the initial appearance of the Mermaid Witch's labyrinth when she had first transformed. There were haphazard train tracks and tunnels zigzagging about. Industrial wreckage littered every horizontal surface that did not host rails. A multitude of clocks adorned every vertical surface, causing an echoing cacophony of asynchronous ticking. This nightmare world didn't have the heavy sense of presence that a true labyrinth held, so it likely only housed a Familiar. No matter; Homura could stand to vent by shooting up an inconsequential enemy. She drew a gun and used her Soul Gem to choose the best train track to follow.
As she wove through the maze of tracks and tunnels, the sound of battle drew her attention and gradually grew louder. So another magical girl had beaten her to the punch. Homura paused, considered leaving, and decided to continue for lack of anything else to do. Soon, she emerged into what appeared to be a large subway station studded with clocks, the floor covered in scattered wreckage and pumpkins of varying sizes. The familiar was plainly visible on a far platform. It was a scarecrow the size of a man with a gigantic turnip for a head. It was dressed as a train conductor. A whistle was jammed into the turnip where a mouth would be on a human face. The whole thing topped off its surreality with a pair of glimmering fairy wings on its back. A shrill burst of sound from its whistle knocked back not one but two magical girls, one clothed in red and the other in yellow.
Homura would have preferred to find magical girls wearing different colors. Like green. Or perhaps brown. Red, yellow, blue, and pink were heavy colors for her. Especially pink. Thank everything neither of them wore pink. She could handle red and yellow, in comparison.
The two girls recovered admirably, vaulting in different directions. They executed what appeared to be a practiced move: The yellow-clad girl lashed out and ensnared the Familiar's legs with a golden whip and yanked. When the Familiar fell, the red-clad girl rushed in and slashed it with a katana. The fairy scarecrow shattered like glass and the labyrinth began to waver out of existence.
The girl in yellow threw her hands up and cheered happily. The girl in red grinned and high-fived her partner, then noticed Homura standing against the far wall of the deserted train station terminal. Homura had to give the girl credit— she snapped into seriousness and took a defensive pose in the blink of an eye. Her partner instantly went on alert, too, despite apparent confusion.
Homura stood passively as the red-clad girl with dark hair and eyes stared at her suspiciously. After a moment, Homura made a show of putting her gun in her shield, spread her arms slightly, palms forward, and neutrally called out, "I do not intend to attack you. I apologize for the intrusion. I was traveling and did not realize the situation was under control."
The yellow-clad girl relaxed. Her red-clad companion lowered her blade but remained wary. Homura took a moment to glance around the empty train station. The previously glitched electronic schedule board declared the time to be 9:17 PM. The next train wasn't scheduled to appear until 10 PM. That explained the lack of people. Homura returned her gaze to the new magical girls. The girl in red opened her mouth to speak but stopped and glanced to the side when loud steps echoed along the tile hall, accompanied by male voices.
"The train conductors," Homura announced. She stared the wary girl in the eye and released her power, allowing her school uniform to replace her magical girl costume. After a beat, the other two girls followed suit, each wearing matching school uniforms. They were still staring at each other when the two uniformed men who Homura had overheard arguing turned a corner and crossed the far end of the room. The three girls silently watched the two men bicker about glitches and technical support. One stopped suddenly as his mobile device beeped.
"Oh, now it works?"
"Eh? The reset went through or something?"
"Damned if I know. System says it's ready to go now. What the hell is with this town, Hatori? Something goes wrong with my train whenever I come through here. It's like the place is jinxed."
"Well, weird things do happen in Karakura. You get used to it. Just get back on your train and get on with your life. No big deal."
"Tch. Easy to say when you're not the one who's going to get chewed out for being late."
"Then get back on your train and go before you run later. God, you're such a—"
The girls watched the men separate and stood silently until they heard the muffled sounds of the train pulling out of the station. The brunette who had worn the yellow costume started slightly and turned to Homura.
"Oh! Was that your train?"
Homura turned to the girl. She found the brunette looking concerned while her black-haired companion's face had settled into deadpan boredom. After a moment, Homura realized the girl expected an answer. "I suppose."
"Tch." The dark-haired girl tossed her ponytail and stretched her arms. "You suppose that was your train?"
The brunette pouted. "Karin!"
"Yeah, yeah, Yuzu." Karin waved a hand dismissively before locking both hands behind her head, elbows up in the air. With bland skepticism, she drawled, "So you're traveling and don't mind missing your train? Where are you going?"
Homura stared, then carelessly answered, "Nowhere in particular."
Karin raised her brows dubiously and drew breath to speak. The brunette beat her to it, glaring her into silence as she tried to enforce politeness. Yuzu turned to look at Homura and earnestly said, "I understand if you want to keep that secret. We've only met one other magical girl and—" she faltered— "I can understand if you don't want us to be able to follow you. But you look kind of lost and tired, so if you tell us where you want to go, we can help you. We don't want any more territory than we have. Karakura is enough for us."
Homura frowned. "I appreciate your offer, but I really do not have any destination in mind."
Yuzu looked confused. Karin raised a brow. "So, what? You hopped on a train to see where it'd take you?"
"I suppose."
Karin's eye twitched. Yuzu frowned and stepped closer to Homura. She cocked her head and asked, "Why would you do that?"
Homura's first inclination was to remain silent. To pull her mysterious disappearing act and run away. But there wasn't another train to hop on and she didn't know where she was. And, as Yuzu had observed, she was tired. So tired. And those concerned brown eyes... they were the wrong color, but the expression reminded her of Mado—
"My friends were killed by a Witch today," Homura blurted.
This was why she was so quiet these days. As soon as she spoke the words, made the whole situation real, the grief overwhelmed her careful mental barriers. Tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffed. She fought it. Tried to stifle a sob. Trembled with the force of it.
Karin and Yuzu's eyes widened as their faces paled.
Homura clenched her fists so tightly her nails bit into her palms. "They went to fight it without me. When I got there— when I got there—" The thing that had been Sayaka had killed her best friend, Madoka had been a macabre rag doll, and Kyōko had initiated self-immolation. And here she had thought she had hardened her heart against the miserable fates of everyone but Madoka. She had been fooling herself. Still, though Sayaka's fall and Kyōko's sacrifice hurt, Madoka's umpteenth death was agony. Tears ran down her face and she sobbed once. Homura pressed her hands over her mouth and bent toward the ground to hide her face. She heard a few quick footsteps then found herself wrapped in a warm embrace.
"I'm so sorry," Yuzu's voice wobbled. Homura could feel the other girl's wet cheek press against her ear. A girl she had just met was crying for her. "That's horrible. That must— that must— you must feel—Oh, I'm so sorry."
The two girls held one another and cried for a few minutes while Karin hovered nearby, awkward and concerned. The crying girls were oblivious to a security guard whose patrol took him near them. He eyed the girls then raised a brow at Karin in search of an explanation.
"Uh, our... friend, ah, got some bad news. Um, a death. So we're..." Karin shrugged and looked at her sister and the stranger helplessly. Homura appreciated the cover-up.
The security guard's face went solemn. "Ah." He glanced at the schedule board clock. "If you'd prefer privacy, you might want to find a more out-of-the-way place. The last of the commuter trains from up north will be showing up soon."
"Oh, uh, thank you, sir." Karin sketched a quick bow and bit her lip. After the guard moved on, she stepped forward and gently took both girls by their shoulders. "Come on, let's go somewhere else."
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WITCH DATA
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Minion: Jakob, whose duty is to keep everything on schedule.
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.