A/N: I'm alive lol. Not sure how long til the next chapter. Have fun!

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ACHTUNDSECHZIG

TIMELINE X + N + 1

Homura woke before everyone else on Thursday morning. She lay still and let her eyes wander her surroundings, sleepily processing that she was on the floor of Madoka's bedroom. It felt very similar to waking in Karin and Yuzu's room. The girls had bedded down on blankets when Mr. Kaname gently reminded them they had school in the morning. It had been very much like the slumber parties in earlier, more innocent timelines. Quieter without Sayaka and Kyōko, but... happy.

When she shifted and turned her head to see her friends, Homura couldn't resist a smile. Madoka and Mami were still asleep, peaceful faces framed by their loose hair. The braids they had playfully made the night before were largely unraveled, separated strands curling around their shoulders. Homura deliberately lay silent and seared the soothing image and feeling into her mental treasure trove of Good Memories until Mr. Kaname knocked on the door to wake them.

Getting ready for the day wasn't as loud and hectic as in the Kurosaki household— except for Mrs. Kaname's screams upon waking. Homura was momentarily caught by surprise by the realization that Madoka derived as much glee in waking her mother as Isshin took in waking Ichigo. It broke her brain; that was something she wasn't sure she wanted to think about, so she didn't. Instead, she checked her text messages, read about the incident at the church in Kazamino, and mused on the previous day's performance as she brushed her hair.

They had all done well sticking to the backstory as set out in the notebook Hitsugaya had brought her the day she found him on her doorstep. She thought. No one had voiced any doubt, at least. Homura was surprised that acting like she had known them all for years had come as naturally as it did— especially when she had known them for less than one full timeline.

Mami seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself cooking breakfast with Mr. Kaname. It made Homura think of Yuzu. Once coffee had brought Mrs. Kaname out of her semi-coma, she entertained them with some stories of crushing her enemies at work, mentioning each by biting insult rather than name. Homura thought maybe Karin could be similar to Junko when she grew up.

No. If. If Karin grew up.

Or maybe when, after all?

Homura wondered when she had reverted to thinking she could possibly save everyone beyond just Madoka.

The morning was so domestic and soothing that Homura worked overtime focusing strongly on everything she could. She wanted to remember this if things went badly and she had to jump back again. Mami and Madoka giggling from either side of Tatsuya's high chair as they played with him and his food would be a particularly good memory to hold onto.

The walk to school was hurried yet relaxed. Meeting up with Sayaka, Hitsugaya, and Shizuki was pleasant. Classes went smoothly and there was actual laughter at lunch. Homura was again surprised by how Mami and Shizuki seemed to click. There was a brief downturn when Sayaka spoke about Kamijō getting frustrated with the slowing of progress with his hand, but Homura and Hitsugaya successfully redirected the gloom by pointing out that slow progress was still progress and the lack of regression was promising, then telling stories about Homura and "Mr. Hitsugaya's" progress through treatment. Homura was impressed— Hitsugaya had obviously studied the alleged illnesses in detail and spoke of them easily.

Still, Homura made a note to consult with Urahara about Kamijō. Maybe it was time for another boost to his hand. Urahara was so busy that the shadow from the brim of his hat no longer completely hid the dark circles under his eyes, so maybe Mr. Tsukabishi could spare some time to go over things with her. Or maybe Hitsugaya knew some healing? Whatever. That could come later.

The rest of the school day passed quickly and uneventfully. They trooped over to the cafe and knocked out their homework over snacks and banter. Homura was stunned when she actually felt a momentary pang of regret when Shizuki left. That had never happened before. Shizuki had always been something of an annoyance. Even the train ride and walk to High Spirits was pleasant. Then they turned into the courtyard and saw Urahara standing in the front door, face grim. Everyone immediately sobered.

"What happened?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"I think something in the news is actually a dead magical girl," his "uncle" replied bluntly. Urahara turned to go in and beckoned them to follow.

Time for the next scene of their play.

They settled in the back sitting room. Urahara opened a cabinet and revealed a TV screen Homura had no idea was there. He showed them news reports about the discovery of the girl in Kazamino and the disappearance of her friend.

"They're being cagey about specifics and the media isn't whipped into enough of a furor to encourage leaks," Urahara said afterward. "But we hacked into the police department's systems and—"

"Waaait wait wait wait wait wait," Sayaka interrupted. "You hacked the cops?!"

"Yes," Urahara said nonchalantly. He paused thoughtfully, then amended, "Well, technically it was Tessai this time, but you get the idea."

"You're hackers?!" Sayaka demanded.

"Why would you do that?" Mami asked warily.

"Because authorities certainly would not consult us to examine the scene for signs of spiritual— ah, magical— disturbances," Urahara said matter-of-factly. "We don't change or destroy anything. We just look when we've heard a news item that seems like it could be related to the things we investigate. It helps us determine a pattern."

"Hackers?!" Sayaka repeated, eyes wide. No one answered.

Homura idly wondered where hacking fell on Sayaka's scale of justice— or if it got a special pass for coolness. It could go either way with her.

Mami's doubtful expression tightened into grudging acceptance and she gave Urahara a slow nod.

"Anyway," Urahara continued, "we viewed the crime scene and postmortem photos. Michaels was beaten and slashed quite extensively. What struck me as potentially relevant is that some of the wounds look like claw or blade marks, but her clothes weren't torn."

"You think perhaps she and her friend were magical girls, the friend died in a labyrinth, and Michaels got out but died of her wounds," Homura summarized.

Lied. Whatever.

Urahara nodded sharply. "It would make sense if her normal clothes replaced her costume. If that was the case, we have no idea whether the Witch was actually defeated," he said. "I think you should patrol nearby to see if you can find one."

Actually the one Michaels had turned into. Whatever.

Mami shifted uneasily and said, "That isn't my territory."

"Oh?" Urahara said with mild surprise. "Are you on good terms with the magical girl who works there?"

"No," Mami said with a brief, pained grimace. "We had a falling out awhile back."

"Kyōko Sakura, correct?" Homura said coolly. When Mami looked up at her in surprise, she added, "I know of her by reputation. She... does not play well with others. Right?"

Mami closed her eyes and sighed. "She used to. But not since her family died when her wish went wrong. Her entire attitude towards being a magical girl changed. She's very bitter and... cynical, I guess. Selfish."

Madoka and Sayaka gulped and looked nervous. Mami had just confirmed what Homura told them.

Homura tapped her fingers on the table and frowned skeptically. "I have been patrolling western Kazamino," she said. "I have yet to run into any magical girls." Which was very odd, now that she thought about it.

"What?" Mami blurted, eyes wide. "But... she's so territorial!"

After a moment of silence, Homura said, "That is what I had heard, as well. But I have not seen her."

Why hadn't Kyōko attacked her yet? Homura had been so busy that she hadn't given more than a passing thought to being glad she didn't have to juggle Kyōko's aggression on top of everything else. There were timelines where she never showed up, but they were uncommon. Well, wait; timelines in which Mami survived had become rare as time passed, and Mami's death was often what prompted Kyōko to move into Mitakihara if Homura herself didn't go poke her with a stick first, so maybe it worked out.

Still.

An uncomfortable silence stretched for a long minute. Then Urahara said, "Before you go, I have something else I'd like to ask you, Miss Tomoe."

"What would that be, Mr. Urahara?" she hedged as she picked up her teacup and watched him over its rim.

"Can you tell me anything about the Pleiades Saints?" Urahara asked. "A summary out loud now, and maybe write more down later?"

Mami frowned. "Is this about the Asunaro barrier Hitsugaya told me about?" she asked.

"Yes," Urahara said curtly. "If it makes people forget the Incubator, we may have to convince their team to believe us about it. The more we know about them, the better we can present our case and get them to help us figure out the barrier." He tipped his head so the brim of his hat cast deeper shadows on his face and lowly added, "If that barrier was to be deployed against us..." He trailed off ominously and let them imagine worst-case scenarios.

"Oh." Mami frowned in thought. "Well, I met Michiru Kazusa back in November. I saved her from a Witch. She later told me she contracted that same afternoon. Her wish was... sweet," Mami said sadly.

"What was it?" Urahara asked.

"Well, her grandmother was dying," Mami answered. "She was at the point that she was semi-conscious and had days left without life support. Miss Kazusa told me she knew her grandma wouldn't want life support but Miss Kazusa didn't want her grandma to spend the rest of her life... like that, so she wished that her grandma could be her normal self until her lifespan ran out so they could have time together before she passed. Miss Kazusa said it was wonderful and her grandmother passed peacefully."

Hitsugaya and Urahara blinked their surprise. "That's... actually pretty mature," Hitsugaya said.

Mami nodded. "I thought so, too. Anyway, shortly after that, she saved six girls from another Witch. They had all been Kissed and were about to commit mass suicide. Miss Kazusa said they all immediately became friends and contracted to be with her."

"That sounds impulsive," Hitsugaya said with a frown.

"Miss Kazusa said their wishes were interesting," Mami said with a shrug. "The only one she told me about was the one who asked for a literary agent who would appreciate her talent to notice her writing and treat it with respect. Something about her having written a story and a shady agent just stealing it and putting someone else's name on it."

"That also sounds fairly wise," Urahara said with interest. "Self-restraint. She could have asked to be a famous author, but she went for something more complex and specific that had minimum space for going sour and didn't decrease the effort she must put into her goal. Do you know which girl it was?"

Mami looked at the ceiling and thought. "I think she said Uniko— no, Umika. No last name."

Urahara looked fascinated in a way that told Homura he knew something about that name. "Hmmm. I'll have to do some poking around for an author with that name. Unless she uses a pseudonym...? Hmm. Did you meet her?"

"No."

"Too bad. Do you know any of the others?"

"I once met Niko and Satomi when I chased a Witch a bit past our border," Mami said. "I didn't get their last names. They showed up with Miss Kazusa as I was picking up the Grief Seed. Miss Kazusa introduced us. They were nice. Niko was... funny. In a kinda sarcastic way."

Urahara nodded and scribbled on a notepad, then asked, "Were they in costume? Do you know anything else about them?"

"I'll have to think back on what we talked about," Mami answered. "But yes, they were in costume. Niko wore a teal costume that looked like a paratrooper uniform, but with a skirt— she even had a parachute backpack. She had a... what is the old-fashioned hat pilots used to wear?"

"Aviator's cap?" Urahara suggested.

"Yes," Mami said with a confident nod. "And goggles pushed up on her head."

"What color was her hair? And how old do you think she was?"

"Really pale blond, in pigtails. And... around my age, I suppose."

"Got it." Scribble scribble scribble. "And the other girl?"

"Satomi. She was older," Mami said. "Maybe sixteen or seventeen? Really sweet. Very... huggy. She has brown hair. I think. Her costume had a long, poofy lavender skirt with ruffles on the hem." She closed her eyes and thought. "She had... black cat ears in her hair. Like a headband, I mean. Oh! Her boots— the toes of her boots were shaped like cat paws. I remember telling her they were cute." Mami opened her eyes and asked, "Is that okay?"

"Excellent. Thank you," Urahara said as he scribbled more. He paused and took a deep breath. "Well. I think you should patrol near that church. Stick together. Try to make nice with that other girl— Sakura something?"

"Kyōko Sakura," Mami said softly.

"Yes, that's right," Urahara said, nodding to himself. "I think you should wait until dark to patrol. Less chance of the authorities seeing you if they're still investigating the area around the church. They're not releasing it to the media, but they have crime scene photos of a blood trail on the sidewalks. Stick to the rooftops."

Homura and Hitsugaya nodded firmly. Mami said, "I would like to do my usual patrol until then, if possible."

"I have no objections," Homura said with a casual shrug. There were still several Witches she had yet to encounter in this timeline. Maybe they could take one out.

Their meeting broke up soon after. They escorted Madoka and Sayaka home before taking to the rooftops of Mitakihara. By mutual agreement, they started in Nagisa's neighborhood. Finding nothing, they briefly perched on a billboard across from the little girl's apartment. The curtains were open; Yoruichi was laying on the window sill, tail lazily swishing about. There was movement behind her and Homura could sense Nagisa was within. The feline shinigami couldn't give much of a sign that she sensed them, but she looked out the window at a passing car and yawned widely.

Nothing happening here. I got this, Homura and Hitsugaya interpreted.

The rest of the Mitakihara patrol was uneventful. After stopping at High Spirits for dinner, they set out for Kazamino. The church at the center of their agreed upon search pattern was indeed cordoned off by police and surrounded by a candlelight vigil. A couple Homura presumed were the dead girl's parents were giving a tearful, gut-wrenching speech to the crowd and a couple news crews. The missing girl's parents were next, pleading with the community through the cameras. The trio watched in grim silence for a few minutes, unable to hear the words but understanding by sight alone.

Homura wondered if the others were also thinking it wasn't fair that girls who actually had people who cared enough to mourn them had been convinced to contract and throw their lives away.

Eventually, Hitsugaya brushed the girls' shoulders and murmured that they should move on. Their rooftop search was more subdued than their earlier patrol, but also uneventful.

Homura didn't like it one bit.

§ x § x §

Sayaka puttered around her home the rest of the evening, doing anything to distract herself from worrying about her friends. She cooked a more complicated dinner than usual, ate because she wasn't in the mood to have her schedule orbit around her parents' today, and set the rest aside for whenever her parents would come home, then read manga while upside down on the couch until she heard the door rattle and open. After nine at night. Feeling petty, she didn't move from her position, instead swinging her feet above the back of the couch as a taunt while she re-read one of Sailor Mars' battles and imagined herself fighting at the fiery girl's side.

"What have I told you about sitting on the couch like that?" her father asked sternly.

"That it's unladylike," Sayaka droned as she flipped a page. "I really don't care when I'm at home. There's no one here to see me ninety-five percent of the time, anyway. Dinner's in the oven."

"Young lady—"

"Thought I wasn't ladylike," Sayaka interrupted blandly. She wasn't really sure why she was goading her parents. It felt satisfying, but she'd probably regret it later.

"Don't speak to your father like that," her mother said evenly. Obviously pissed, but restrained. At least her mom was attentive and emotionally intelligent enough to realize escalating would only make it worse. Especially after the night before.

"Sayaka Miki, if you don't snap out of that attitude of yours, I'll ground you from doing anything but school," her father threatened, oblivious to making things worse— as usual.

They had already gone off the rails, so Sayaka lightly said, "And you'll be around to enforce that when, now?"

"You—!"

"Minoru!" her mother snapped.

Dad made a frustrated sound and stomped off down the hall with a, "You handle her, Kotone!"

Mom sighed harshly. "Don't you dare behave like this at the symphony tomorrow."

Sayaka actually sat up and looked her mother with a frown. "I told you I'm not going until Kyōsuke can play again."

"You're going whenever I say you go!" her father yelled from down the hall.

Sayaka rolled her eyes as her mother huffed and pressed finely-manicured fingertips to her temples. "Your father has been invited to an outing with an artist the label is trying to sign once her contract at her current label comes up for renewal. She's bringing her daughter, who's your age. That's the entire reason your father was invited— no one else has a kid in the right age range. This could be a major opportunity for advancement. You are going and you will display proper manners and be friendly with that girl."

Opportunity for advancement. Of course. Keeping up appearances only went so far without more money to back it up.

"Is she being forced to go, too?" Sayaka asked snidely.

Mom closed her eyes and appeared to pray for patience. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Even if she is, it's your job to make her happy she came anyway."

"I wasn't aware I was your employee," Sayaka said archly.

"What has gotten into you lately?!" Mom finally snapped. "Is it those new kids?!"

"What," Sayaka said blankly.

"The older kids. The ones you stayed out late with. Especially the girls," her mother said heatedly. "The blonde's a sweetheart but you need to realize that you aren't like them."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"They don't have parents to answer to. You do. Y—"

Sayaka sprung up from the couch, eyes wide with outrage. "How dare you!"

Mom plowed on. "Young ladies can't run around all hours having random sleepovers in the middle of the school week! Their parents are probably spinning in their graves for shame!"

"How dare you?!" Sayaka repeated, her vision nearly whiting out from her fury as the blood rushed in her ears like the sea. The pages of her manga crunched in her fists as she mentally contrasted her mom with how Madoka's mom had treated Homura and Mami. "You know nothing about what they go through! If they need support at midnight on a Wednesday, I'm going to be there for them! Being— being sad doesn't wait for— for weekends, or business hours, or whatever! I'm going to help them with whatever they need whenever they need it!"

"Stop putting your friends before your family!"

"Why?!" Sayaka yelled, throwing her arms wide. "You don't!"

Mom reared back as though slapped.

"Do you even have friends? Or just coworkers to impress?!"

"That's— how dare—! We care about you!"

Sayaka's anger swelled and crested like an unstoppable wave. "Even when you're not at work, you're working or want to be alone! You don't want me to make noise or bother you! You just have me run errands for you! You barely talk to me at dinner! You only know my friends' names because you worked with— for— their parents!"

"That's not true!"

"Oh yeah? What's the name of the transfer student girl?" Sayaka demanded.

Mom stared blankly, lips opening and closing like a fish wearing lipstick.

"Come on, Mom. I told you this, like, at least a few dozen times over the last three weeks." Sayaka raised her brows mockingly. "What's my nickname for her? Why do I call her that?"

"I— you—"

"I thought so," Sayaka muttered. She whirled on her heel and flipped her hair away from her face. "I'll be in my room if you need a temp worker."

She very deliberately pictured and emulated Homura's mannerisms when furious as she forced herself to proudly stride down the hall without stomping. Sayaka passed her father with her head held high. After giving her father a cool stare, she entered her room and fought to not slam the door. Once it was closed, she sagged back against it and slid to the floor with tears in her eyes. Her thoughts were a jumble of nonsense now that the confrontation was past. All she could do was cry and bite her lip to not make noise as she lifted her free hand to scrub at her face.

Sayaka went very still and pulled her arm back. It took a minute to figure out the strange feeling, but she soon noticed a fine mist was soaking into her pajamas as though someone had spritzed the cloth with a spray bottle of water. She pushed her bangs out of her face to see better and found her hair a bit damp. The manga made the wrong sound when she dropped it, so she looked at it. Water was beaded on its cover and the pages were wet.

What the hell?

§ x § x §

Homura parted with the others at High Spirits to go to her own home for the night— really, she still hadn't adjusted to being around people so often and needed a break. A package on her doorstep contained another shipment of cookies from Yuzu; her friend had noted Homura's mention of marzipan cookies during their last sleepover and gone hunting for the ingredients to make them, bless her. Homura hadn't eaten any since her parents died. She nibbled on some and read the kidō and healing theory texts she had been given until she fell asleep, wondering how long it would take Mr. Tsukabishi to identify the two Pleiades Saints Mami had described. She wanted more tutoring in healing but all her teacher options were occupied with other things.

Even though Sayaka started out oddly subdued, Friday's school day passed so normally that Homura didn't know what to do with herself. This made three days in a row of almost feeling like a Typical Middle School Student— not even an outcast!— and it was becoming bizarre. She liked it, but was wary of allowing herself to get used to it.

After their now-usual stop at the cafe, Homura led Mami and Hitsugaya on the usual patrol then back into Kazamino. They were in the far southern corner where Kazamino, Mitakihara, and Shinchi shared a strange three-way border when they finally got a lead and found a labyrinth in a park dense with trees. Specifically, it was in the center of a playing field surrounded by brush, all in the shadow cast by a tall building between it and bright moonlight. The portal's sigil was a red sunburst.

The Shadow Witch. Great. At least their trio had the perfect skill set to take her on: ranged attacks all the way.

Homura and Mami transformed. Hitsugaya called Urahara with his phone in one hand while creating his ice sword with the other. Just as he returned the phone to his pocket and they were getting ready to hop in, they were interrupted by Hitsugaya's phone shrilling. He answered it on speaker.

Before he could say anything, Tessai's voice boomed, "Momoe's bracelet signal disappeared. I think she entered a labyrinth."

Mami gasped and moved to jump west, but Homura grabbed her shoulder and said, "I will see to Nagisa. You two take this Witch before she moves. We cannot afford to waste time finding her again."

"But—!"

"Tomoe, she's right," Hitsugaya interrupted. He looked at Homura with the grim calm of an officer as Mami shrugged Homura's hand off her. "If it's not an easy one, focus on protecting Momoe and stalling. We'll take care of this one and back you up as soon as we can." He stepped to stand directly in front of her and reached forward to clasp her shoulder as though encouraging her. "Be careful."

Out of Mami's line of sight, his eyes flew from Homura's to her shield and back again with his eyebrows raised. Homura stopped time.

"What am I walking into?" Hitsugaya demanded as soon as the world lost its color. He stood utterly still. Good. He knew that he needed to be in the same position when time resumed so Mami wouldn't notice.

"The Shadow Witch," Homura said coolly. "The labyrinth is pitch black at the bottom. As you climb, it will get lighter, but you will remain in shadow. Familiars are large hands that run around on their fingertips and can fire bolts of magic, plus some snakelike things that rise out of the floor. When you get to the top, you will be on the shoulder of a statue with its arm extended, holding a monstrance that looks like the door sigil. The Witch is a shadow figure kneeling in prayer. When you get too close, sharp tree branches will shoot out of her back."

"Tree branches?" Hitsugaya said skeptically.

"Enormous ones. They will become an entire tree at high speed. It is best to have one person distract with ranged attacks to the back while someone else sneaks around to attack the Witch from the front."

Hitsugaya sighed deeply. "Fun."

"Mami is excellent in this labyrinth, by the way. She is sometimes capable of taking out the Witch from behind with an overpowered Tiro Finale."

"Good." Hitsugaya tilted his head slightly. "Any idea what Momoe got herself into?"

Homura pursed her lips. "I know of a few options. Things have been so different that it is hard to say."

"Joy. Go ahead and drop the stop." When she did, he took a step back, lifted his phone, and barked, "Tessai. Coordinates?"

Homura listened, nodded, and rushed westward. As soon as Mami and Hitsugaya's magic disappeared into the labyrinth, she activated her sand timer and leapt through time to reach Nagisa.

Furious. She wasn't sure who she was furious at yet and the why was still nebulous, but furious all the same.

§ x § x §

Yoruichi did her damnedest to yowl, snarl, claw, and attack her way into getting Nagisa to turn around and exit the labyrinth. She was knocked away when the kid transformed; then the magical girl's horn tooted and Yoruichi was suddenly dodging bubbles.

"Stay still, Yo-yo!" Nagisa complained. "I'm trying to protect you! Get in a bubble!"

Yoruichi voiced her opinion of that with all the rage her cat body could express.

Nagisa pouted, huffed, and started running deeper into the labyrinth. Without even looking around.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuuuck. Damn kids who needed to prove themselves!

She had trailed the little girl through the apartment complex and toward the dumpsters, feigning interest in the items destined for the trash. Yoruichi noticed the heat haze over the nearby flower planter a moment before it flared to life into a hexagonal labyrinth sigil that looked like crossed sewing needles behind a long yellow flower Yoruichi felt like she should recognize, surrounded by faux stitches; there was something curved and striped extending from the sides, but Yoruichi couldn't figure out what they were in the moments she had to see them. Nagisa had gasped in fear, then stiffened her spine and headed straight for it. Yoruichi had jumped and set her claws in the kid's dress, but the magical girl went inside anyway.

Now Yoruichi found herself in a waxen tunnel with honey oozing down the walls. Buzzing echoed from a distance. Great. She chased Nagisa through the tunnels, noting the delicate clusters of Venus fly traps and vines tucked into the joinder of wall and floor. Yoruichi soon had Nagisa in sight and decided to not distract the girl while she fought the first wave of Familiars, which were hornet-like beings nearly half Nagisa's size. Their bodies were yellow with stubby black legs; each appeared to have been skewered by a pin, with the pinheads as their heads and the sharp end as stingers. Their antennae and wings looked like narrow green leaves. Yoruichi dodged around them, acting like a pissed off cat while keeping one eye on Nagisa, ready to blow her cover and save the girl if necessary, but was surprised that the kid was managing fairly well.

Then she sensed Akemi's angry reiatsu from back at their starting point and Nagisa took off running, apparently trying to get deeper before the older magical girl could haul her out of the fight altogether. Yoruichi followed her again, playing cat and mouse until Akemi could catch up to them.

§ x § x §

Mami frowned at the labyrinth, hazy gray shapes shifting in the light filtering through the frosted glass panels of the many overlapping, colorless rose window frames that surrounded them. It had the intrinsically big feel characteristic of cathedrals. She glanced down at herself and found that despite the apparent diffused light she was in such deeply black shadow that only the faint glow of her magic gave her form any definition. Glancing at Hitsugaya, she noted it was the same for him— he glowed with the blue-white light of his magic, his ice shining past the shadows he had been engulfed in. They looked at each other— well, Mami thought they did— then looked up. And up, and up, and up. Sloping, softly glowing white paths decorated with artfully swirling white briar patches trailed upward, interspersed with grand white marble staircases that floated in the air unsupported. The rose window walls, if they could be called such, were constantly drifting and rotating in different directions, forms twisting like tree branches and adding to the uneasy atmosphere. Upon closer scrutiny, the upward path seemed to wind around a large, curved structure. Far, far up, there was a horizontal extension that ended with a red glow, the only independent color Mami had seen in this monochrome world. She cast her senses about as she felt Hitsugaya doing something similar with his own magic.

"The Witch is above us," Mami declared.

"Yeah," Hitsugaya agreed.

Though it was difficult to look up for too long due to a bright white light shining from the distant apex of the labyrinth, Mami could see vague movement along the path above. Dark shapes shifted as though on patrol. It was a long path that would take a while to fight their way through. Frustrating— Mami wanted to get to Nagisa now. "Back to back seems to work for us," Mami said after a moment of thought. "Let's go up the path carefully and cover each other's backs whenever there's a swarm."

"Try to keep moving, though. We need to catch up to Akemi."

"Mm. I'll take left, you take right."

"Let's go."

They ascended at a quick walk, weapons at the ready. The lowest levels had them carefully picking their way across uneven ground and tripping on steps before Mami sighed and flared her magic to make light at the same time Hitsugaya huffed and smacked the ground with the tip of his sword to send a glowing trail of ice ahead of them. They looked at each other in surprise and Mami found herself actually laughing in a labyrinth. Hitsugaya gave her a brief, tight grin and faced forward, all business in an instant. They moved more confidently once they reached the parts of the path that faintly glowed. It was far too peaceful for Mami's liking; fortunately, Hitsugaya was a quiet enough partner that she heard the brambles rustle slightly in the moment before they were beset by snakelike shadows. They guarded one another and lashed out, quickly defeating the Familiars. After a pause to listen, they proceeded without having to speak to one another.

The labyrinth soon became much brighter, a glaring white that made Mami's eyes hurt. That whiteness made it much easier to see their shadowy enemies by contrast, though; she and Hitsugaya cut a swath through the beast-headed snakes almost as easily as grass.

"Above!" Hitsugaya barked.

Mami startled— stupid not to look above, stupid!— and conjured a floral kaleidoscope shield over their heads. She heard multiple somethings slam into it as she picked off some more snakes. When she was able to look up, she saw several large, spider-like shapes scrabbling around. A glance found Hitsugaya squinting up at them thoughtfully.

"Whatever they are, if they came from above once, they'll probably do it again."

"I agree," Mami said evenly. "From here on, I'll keep an umbrella over us."

Hitsugaya snorted amusement then said, "Drop this one so we can see what they are and get rid of them."

The spider-like black shapes turned out to be disembodied hands taller than they were mincing around in pairs on their fingertips. As agreed, Mami took the hands on their left with her guns while Hitsugaya launched ice at the ones on their right. It was a simple enough battle; soon, they got moving and kept a steady pace as they plowed through Familiars. They relentlessly pressed upward along uneven white ground and intricate white tile and elegant white marble steps, slashing and shooting through them as they rushed past, jumping out from between pairs that tried to clap closed on them, and dodged around energy attacks launched at them by pointing and mimicking a gun. Sometimes new hands would fall from above and try to swat them like flies, but they would bounce harmlessly off Mami's shield-umbrella and be unable to recover before the pair of fighters was gone.

The briar patches on the main path got larger and wilder as they climbed. Halfway up, they began to see the white briars develop into actual trees. As they ascended, the path and central structure became shadowed once more. By the time Mami and Hitsugaya reached the top, they were pitch black. A final staircase rose along the central structure and led them to a sloping platform that stuck out as the structure continued upward. When Mami stepped forward and looked up, it became obvious that they had climbed an enormous statue of a crowned woman, its head still towering above them. In context, she realized they were standing on the statue's extended arm. At the far end, the arm ended in a fist holding up a massive red monstrance. A shadowy figure knelt as though in prayer at the juncture of hand and wrist. It looked like a girl with hair made of loose vines and fused legs that transitioned into widespread roots, hands clasped reverently before her bowed head. The Witch was completely black. Beyond the monstrance, a stationary rose window emanated harsh white light.

"Looks too easy," Hitsugaya muttered.

"Hmmmm. Let's see what happens," Mami said as she conjured a huge coil of ribbon and turned it into a cannon-sized blunderbuss pistol. Best to go for quick overkill when they needed to hurry and get to Nagisa. "Tiro Finale!"

The floral cannonball blasted forward. A tree burst from the Witch's back, but not quickly enough to be of any use. The projectile shattered the contorting wood and obliterated the Witch. The light and darkness of the labyrinth wobbled out of existence and left them standing in the park, looking across at the Grief Seed as it drifted to the ground.

"Huh," Hitsugaya said after a moment. "That was both impressive and anticlimactic."

Mami laughed, then dodged as her instincts screamed of danger. She heard the screech of metal against Hitsugaya's ice sword. A glance over her shoulder made her heart freeze.

"So it is you!" Kyōko Sakura roared in hatred.

§ x § x §

Less than two kilometers away, Sayaka sat in a chair at the symphony determined to be as sullen as possible. Something made her twitch warily, but she couldn't figure out what. She was disinterestedly applauding a flute solo when she felt something that made her tense and think, Hitsugaya-Mami-fire?!

"Bathroom," Sayaka muttered to her mother as she staggered out of her seat and hurried for the exit.

Sayaka charged past the bathroom as quickly as she could without running, cut across the empty lobby, and almost tripped down the fancy marble stairs as she felt Hitsugaya's magic blare a kind of alarm some dark corner of her mind translated to DANGER HELP HURRY and a hot magic vibrating with rage.

There probably wasn't much Sayaka could do, but maybe she'd be able to help somehow. She needed to be helpful. So she hopped in place to take off her fancy shoes and sprinted toward the magic as though lured by siren song.

§ x § x §

Madoka dropped her toothbrush with a gasp and looked at the eastern wall of the bathroom for a long moment. Her mouth worked voicelessly until she screeched, "Papa! Mama! Something's wrong!"

Kisuke glanced up from his research as alarms shrieked through High Spirits.

Homura, Nagisa, and Yoruichi were oblivious in their labyrinth.

"Tocco del Male!"

The red eyes of Incubator terminals watched every site.

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

WITCH DATA

?

?

Minion: Berthold, whose duty is to swarm intruders.

ELSA MARIA, the Witch of shadow with a self-righteous nature. She continually prays for all of creation and drags all life equally into her shadow without breaking her posture. One hoping to defeat her must know the blackest anguish.

Minion: Sebastian, whose duty is to blindly believe.

Minion: Julia, whose duty is to compel prayer.

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.