"All right, all right. I'm on it." [Sayaka chuckled and patted Charlotte' pink head, then handed the dog witch' grief seed to Mami] [Mami nodded and took the grief seed to the music box she had brought out] "here we are." [she gently placed it in and activated the magic. Soon the dog witche, now the size of a puppy , hopped out with a happy bark.] "Yay! New sister!"
[the dog witch happily yipped and licked all of them] " friends! I have friends!" "What is your name, sister?" "Uhrman! my name is Uhrman! woof!" [Sayaka had an idea then] "well uhrman pochi, I think Hitomi would like would like to be your friend and care for you." "Friend! Woof woof!" [Sayaka carried Uhrman over to Hitmomi in her bed and put her on the pillow. Uhrman sniffed hitmoi and licked her cheek]
[Hitomi quieted down as soon as the little Puppy Witch snuggled at her.]
...Doggie...There you are...
[The Mini Witch made happy noises, and snuggled closer to her.]
Uhrman has so many friends now, woof!
[Eight came up to the bed, then, and looked at both of them.]
...Hmmm. I'm not sure you should let her stick to your friend for more then five minutes or so at a time, though, Miki Sayaka. The little one still is a Witch of sorts, after all, while your friend over there is just a normal human girl for the moment.
[Sayaka groaned, then.]
- Oh, right.
[And then, she paused.]
...Can the Mini Witches even Kiss people at all, though? I've never seen them do that, as far as I could tell...
- But you don't wanna actually experiment on that friend of yours over there, right?
[Sayaka made a face at that.]
...Of course not!
[And so Sayaka waited five more minutes, and then took the Puppy Witch away from Hitomi, patting her head.]
- There, there. I'll let you play with her later, OK?
[Well, there was the little matter of having to explain to Hitomi about Magical Girls and Witches if she ever wanted Mini Uhrman to be able to play with her while Hitomi was awake, but Sayaka would cross that bridge when she came to it, she decided.]
[And then, Sayaka took the Puppy Witch down to the other room, to play with the other Mini Witches, while Eight went to talk to Kyosuke.]
...OK, since it seems that you're actually going to try to be a Magical Girl's support staff, Kamijo Kyosuke - I thought you should get some additional equipment.
[Eight said with a smile - And then, he gave Kyosuke something that looked like a small crystal on a mobile phone strap.]
This is a magical energy detector - It shines when it detects magic!
[Kyosuke gingerly picked up the strap, and then pointed the crystal at one of the Mini-Witches nearby. A dark purple flicker with a gold lining wavered through the crystal.]
[And so they both went back to the old house, and sat next to the old fireplace. Mami put the picture book on her lap, and slowly started to read it, while Nagisa leaned against her. Mami slowly read the picture book aloud, while Nagisa snuggled against her sleepily.]
And then, the red eyed creature laughed and laughed.
"Silly, silly Rillanne - I thought you had figured it out already! But now, it is time for the play to end, and the curtain to fall - "
"For it is the fate of all Magical Girls to turn into Witches, unless they die first!"
[and then the fair queen of the purple kingdom and foster mother of the fallen magical girls has made the contract, her wish being to continue taking in lost magcal girls under her wing even in darkess. And she let herself fall, laughing , becoming the new queen of the witches... ...and in the revolution, the blade fell upon Rillianne's neck, who in realirty was Allen, as the real Rillian let out a scream....]
[and a cold feeling of horror seeped through Mami at Kyubey's worlds...
[it seemed time had slowed down and aa huge weight on her heart upon this revelation. She just looked down at her soul gem, which was starting to speckle black, with a hollow look on her face] "...It all makes sense now..." [she says softly] " Magical girls growing depressed as their gems darken. then they disappear... Hanako's disapperance... grief seeds resemble soul gems" "If magical girls, girls are the first stage of developtment, then it makes sense, by the tales, that their next stage are called witches" [Kyubey stated, hopping upon Mami's lap] "Kyubey...." [her eyes were laden with tears]"you didn't tell us..." "Because you never asked about it. It's a natural process. Upon the full saturation of dark contamination, the soul, and in some cases the body as well, undergoes a mutation and the magical girl becomes a witch." "how can you do this to us...." more darkness upon her gem] "It is necesary for the collection of energy my kind needs." "I see...." [suddenly her ribbons lashed out and started strangling kyubey]
[The Kyubey didn't even try to avoid Mami's ribbons as they twined around him. Nagisa sighed, then - Oh, yes, here came two other Kyubey's, identical smiles on their faces. They hadn't even waited until the first Kyubey's body had been torn into tiny little pieces, it seemed...]
.....Or that's what happens normally, anyway. In you two's cases, we tried something a bit different, so...
[The two new Kyubeys chuckled, talking in unison.]
[The dark energies started to coil through Mami's Soul Gem, then, light and dark intermingling. Nagisa nodded as Mami's Soul Gem itself started to change shape, instead of just cracking outright.]
- So you tampered with our Soul Gems as well?
[And then, she sighed again, her eyes starting to glow red.]
...Why in the world did you think that was a good idea, anyway?
[The two Kyubey's giggled, then.]
- We have no idea, actually!
[And then, they snickered.]
......You know what, Momoe Nagisa? Once upon a time, we never, ever would have run any experiments like this one - I mean, why should we, when we already know that we get more energies when a Magical Girl's Soul Gem cracks and she goes Witch the usual way?
[The Kyubeys chuckled, then.]
- But who the hell cares anymore, we're probably going to be "retired" sooner rather then later anyway, ha ha ha...
[Nagisa took out her Soul Gem again, and looked at it, Pyotr chittering besides her. Oh, so it hadn't been all in her head, her Soul Gem really looked different now.]
- Huh. So you get less energies when we just slowly go Witch like this, with our Soul Gems changing shape instead of cracking?
[The Kyubeys nodded, giggling.]
...Oh, yes - You two are probably going to turn into especially powerful and intelligent Witches, judging from our previous experiments, we'd say! I mean, the Witches who still have a "soul" stuck inside them tend to be more powerful anyway, but in your cases, you'll have all those extra "light" energies that you can still utelize up to a point, so...
"So why did you do this exactly to our soul gems?" [Nagisa cried, longing to destory another one of the kyubeys] "Simply put, curiosity." [kyubey replied] You magical girls are valuable tools for us and sources of information. And once in a while, we do have some theories and hypothesis we want to try out, some experiements. We just happened to choose you two as some of the subject, to see what would happen if some amounts of witch energy were inscribed directly onto the soul gem. The results were varied and interesting." "So. that is all we ever were to you, Kyubey.. you never were my friend...." [Mami sighed sadly, then suddenly had a cold expression on her face ]"Well then. If that is what it is.Please go away. I never want to see you again. I want you to stay away from me and especially my dearl little sister." [with that, her ribbbons picked up the kyubeys and tossed them out the window] "Good bye, Kyubey.]
[The Kyubeys chorused, and turned to leave - And that was when one of them turned back.]
- You know what, Tomoe Mami? I really liked it when you scratched my head and fed me and hugged me and talked to me.
[And then, the other one turned back, too.]
...It's really annoying, you know - Some of you Magical Girls just seem to have this odd power to make us feel all kinds of things! And the more we interact with you, the crazier and crazier we get...
[Mami stared at them for a long moment.]
- Just go away, you idiot - living robot things.
[She said with a sigh, and locked the windows with her ribbons. Her Soul Gem was changing and changing, even as she watched...]
[the pressure in her chest tightened as the darkness swirled around her, and she could hear that voice whispering in her mind. her own voice. Her witch voice... Nagisa came over and took her hands, darkness swirling around her as well as she looked up with her now multicolored eyes. Her soul gem was changing as well, forming into a grief seed with her candy and bubble symbol] "Onee - chan..." "Oh Nagisa... I'm so sorry..." [she hugged her tightly] "But I think...things will be ok now...." "Yes onee chan... we can let go...." "Yes...let go... and start our new lives..." [there was a sharp, maddening pain as the final note of the transformation hit. and then, everything felt clear. of course there was a hollow feeling inside of them, and a sense of deep misery lingering about. But they were new beings now. Their old names no longer mattered. They knew who they were now. witches, named Candleoro and Charlotte. Candleoro slowly sat back up and opened her now red eyes, smiling calmly] "Well now. Shall we prepare for the tea party?"
[Charlotte said, clapping her hands - But then, she paused.]
- No, but wait - There was something I was planning to do when we became free at last, back when I was Nagisa...
[Pyotr scampered over to her, then, and handed her a letter.]
...Oh, right. I was planning to send our friends a letter saying we decided to go on a trip to Okinawa and Hokkaido, to make us feel better! It'll be better that way because they wouldn't look for us here then, Nagisa thought, though I'm not quite sure why anymore...
- Both Okinawa and Hokkaido? Ha ha ha - We would have had to go from one end of Japan to the other if we actually were trying to do that!
[Candeloro giggled - And then, she wrapped one of her ribbons around the letter, and sent it off.]
...It might be good if I sent something like that too, what was that human, my laywer, too, I suppose?
[Candeloro said, and plucked a piece of writing paper off the desk with her magic.]
- I'll just tell him that we're decided to take a trip all around Japan, and that he's supposed to keep on taking care of my estate for the time being. That should work, right? And maybe I'll just add a light suggestion that he just do as I say, and not worry too much about it for now...
[She used her magic to make the words appear on the paper in Mami's handwriting, and then sent it off too, wrapped in a magic ribbon.]
......Aand now, that's done.
[Candeloro said, turning away - And then, she clapped her hands, as their combined Witch Barrier started to go up in earnest.]
[ mwanwhile, back in mitikihara, Kyouko and Sayaka continued on with their magical girl witch hunting duties. It actually was easier as a team, and they were becoming good friends. Still, something in sayaka was starting to feel off. She felt she was losing stamina more often, despite her advanced healing abilities, and her soul gem seemed to be getting worn at a quicker rate now. And there kept on being witch attacks and keeping her form having any free time and time to focus on normal life, no she shouldn't care about that, her heoric duty and stopping evil witches was what was important. But it kind of felt, Kyousuke was avoiding her, and Hitomi seemed to be pressing close to him... ]
[Sayaka rubbed her eyes, and then blinked as Kyoko popped up on the other side of her window. Oh, well, it was really nice that her family had more money now, and it wasn't like she regretted making her Wish and becoming a Magical Girl and all, especially since she'd managed to maximise the benifits with that big wish list, but...]
...Hi, Kyoko? What is it?
[Well, Kyoko did look happy and relaxed for a change,after all.]
...Hey, Sayaka! Did you know Nagisa-chan sent me a letter? Well, not just me, since she addressed it to all of us, but whatever
- She did? Why?
[Sayaka asked, and then she started to grin as she read the letter.]
So Nagisa-chan and Mami-san are actually taking a real vacation? Ha ha ha, I never would have thought Mami-san would unwind that much!
...Yeah, yeah, and it looks like they're actually serious about going to Okinawa and Hokkaido too...
[Sayaka and Kyoko looked at each other and grinned.]
[Homura, in the meanwhile, was looking at both of them from on top of a nearby rooftop, sighing herself.]
...Nagisa-chan sends them a letter saying that Tomoe Mami of all people was just going to take a vacation, along with herself, and they both just...believed that?
[...It had to be some kind of magic, Homura thought. Something simple but subtle, which just kept telling people to believe what was written in the letter, and not think about it too much...]
[Homura bit her lips, then, thinking - And then, she went to talk to Madoka.]
...Madoka? Please let me in...
[She said, hovering outside Madoka's window. Madoka looked up at Homura, and let her inside without asking any questions.]
- This has something to do with Nagisa-chan and Mami-san, right?
...How did you -
[Homura mumbled, and then, she looked away with a sigh.]
...I...I think they both must have gone Witch, though it's not like I went to check. They sent Kyoko a letter, saying they were both taking a vacation, and it was all full of strange magical spells that I could barely see, but Kyoko and Sayaka-san didn't even seem to think there was anything strange about Tomoe Mami of all people just taking a vacation from her duties like that, and...
[Madoka nodded at that.]
- But why would they - Oh. They didn't want any of their friends to come look for them?
[And then, she rubbed at her eyes.]
...I'm sorry I'm crying again, Homura-chan. I wanted to be strong, so you could depend on me sometimes, even if I can't fight like you do, but...
"It's all right, Madoka" [Homura hugged her] "You are stronger than you know. And, I always have depended on you. Especially, in the past..." "In the past? You mean, when you went back in time? I mean, when you started time travelling," "Yes. In those early days, I was very weak. And you were the one who protected me..." [Madoka received some more glimpses of a much more timid looking Homura, sitting back sickly, alone, until Madoka went over to her...] "Homura chan... "And I hoped that, I would become stronger myself. So I could protect you. And now that I am stronger, I still depend on you." [She hugged Madoka tighter] "I depend on you, to still keep me going through my mission, even though the hardships. It is because of you that I keep on going, no matter what..."
[Madoka and Homura hugged each other, then. Madoka rubbed her eyes after a while, and sat down on the floor, making room for Homura to sit besides her.]
- And anyway, there's no time left anymore, right? The Great Witch is coming soon, after all...
[Madoka said, sadly. Homura stared at her, then.]
...I...I...Why do you know about Walpurgis? I didn't tell you anything about that, right?
[Madoka wiped her eyes and smiled sadly, at that.]
- I'm not sure why, but I've been dreaming of a Great Witch for a while now. Sometimes I was fighting her, and sometimes it was you, and sometimes we all were fighting her in a group, but each and every time...
[And in the meanwhile...]
[Sayaka was turning around restlessly in her sleep. She was so tired these days, and kept falling asleep at odd times, but...]
(Stupid Sayaka! Mean Sayaka! Sayaka cheated, with that stupid Wish List!)
[...And now, a blue and purple mermaid thing was trying to call her bad names? Good grief!]
( as the mermaid cried out angrily, sayaja could recognize her voice. It was her own voice. And sayaka somehow knew that the mermaid's face was also her own, only more monsteous...) " shut up...." " sayaka will never be able to get away from her fate! " " go away monster!" " i can not go away! I am you!" " no!! I am not a witch!!
[Sayaka wake up, then, and groaned. What a weird dream!]
...Why is my head so muzzy? And ouch - What is this itching all over my legs, anyway?
[And then, her eyes widened as she heard a rather familiar and not very welcome snicker from beneath her bed.]
- Well, well, well. So that's how the cookie's going to roll this time, eh?
[Sayaka stared at Kyubey, then, who was looking up at her, his red eyes impassive.]
...Cookie? What cookie? You're making even less sense then usual now, Kyubey, and that's saying something if I say so myself!
[Sayaka complained as she scratched at her legs. Her legs felt odd indeed, now that she thought about it - And was her face getting itchy too now? Good grief!]
"Just making some observations, Sayaka Miki. These are quite interesting indeed, I shall have to see how it compares to my studies."[With that Kyubey walked out the window and vanished. "Weirdo..."" [Sayaka pulled up her pajama pants leg to see a strange looking rash had appeared on her skin] "what is this?" [Upon closer look it seemed to resemble the scales of a fish] "Darn it!" [She tried to apply her healing magic to the rash , but for some reason there was no effect] "What the heck!!" [she got up from bed and went over to the mirror in her room to check the itching on her face. There were spots of discoloration on her face. Sayaka felt nervous.] "what is happening to me...?"
[And that was when there was a rustling right behind her, and a dark aura with blue overtones began to flicker!]
(This is all your fault, with your stupid list of wishes! I should have taken over by now, but noo...)
[Sayaka stared at the mirror again. Her face in the mirror had changed shape, looking more monstrounus by the moment - And it's expression looked angry indeed!]
[Sayaka poked the mirror, then, a sinking feeling in her stomach.]
...So all the stuff that Madoka was talking about was...was...
(Of course it was true! You should be gone, or just been a flickering shadow inside me at the most by now, but you just keep going on and on and on...)
[And then, the strange mermaid face sneered at her.]
(And you even knew that what your dear friend was telling you was the truth and nothing but the truth, deep down, but you made the Contract anyway, right? Right?)
". Shut up!!!" ( oktavia summoned her sword and slashed at the mirror , shattering it. She could hear the monstrous mermaid version of herself singing in mourning and madness as the shards fell around her...
Later kyouko climbed in through the window , and found sayaka writing pages upon pages of music sheets. She looked rather haggard and still wearing her pajamas) " sayaka? Hey, ya sleepin in today?" She picked up a music sheet.
[Kyouko frowned in worry] "fish scales... what are you talking about! what about witches!" [Sayaka looked away, unsure of telling Kyouko the truth] "It's nothing..." [Kyouko sighed, and sparked up her illusion magic to hide the scaly andd discolored patches] "there you go." "Oh right, you can do that. Tahnk you..." "Mm-hm. Now, enough sulking around. Why dont we go out for soome fun together? there's a new ramen place I wanna check out, and it's next to a nice onsen!" "Ok." [Sayaka tried to put on a smile for Kyouko and got up
...Say, Kyoko? What if I said I knew something, but I - I really didn't think it was a good idea to talk about it with you, even if I really, really wanted to?
[Kyoko stared at her, then, and rubbed at her eyes, sighing.]
- Does this have anything to do with a Mega-Witch which keeps ending up destroying the Earth by any chance? Because I've been dreaming about that for weeks, to be honest.
[Sayaka stared at her, then.]
...A Mega-Witch who...
[No, wait a minute, waait a minute. That wasn't what she had been thinking about at all, but on the other hand...]
- You mean - You've been dreaming about that, too!?!?
[Kyouko nodded quietly] "Yeah. I think all of the veteran magical girls have sensed it by now. Walpurgisnacht, queen of the witches. Heck, Mami even sensed her last year, back when we were still partners. She told me about her, and magical girl reports about her that go way back. she shows up like every number of decades, and it's bad. Somehow, we have the feeling, she is going to show up sometime soon. we don't know exactly when and where though..." "maybe that explains the dream.." [sayaka held her head as she heard her other self titter in her mind] (Our queen is coming...)
" huh? What?" ( kyouko blinked in confusion. Sayaka seemed to snap out of her trance and poked kyouko back) " so the! The ramn shap and spa!" " yeah! Its right over there." " lets go!" ( sayaka dragged her along, pushing down her worry)
...Whooo - Tomato ramen with tonkotsu soup? That's a first for me, I must admit...
[Kyoko said with a grin, and ordered the tomato ramen with all the works including an soft boiled egg and extra pork and vegetables, and a small bowl of rice. Sayaka raised her eyebrows at that, but in the end, ordered the exact same thing, just half sized. It wasn't like she had to worry about gaining too much weight any more, after all, she thought with a small sigh.]
- Huh - It's really ramen-y, even with all the tomatos. Fancy that!
[Kyoko said with a smile as she tasted the soup - And then, she started to devor her food with gusto. Sayaka smiled, eating her own food - And then, she blinked as somebody with an oddly familiar voice came into the shop.]
- Rin! Come on and sit, OK? The ramen isn't going to run away or anything, I promise!
[Oh, yes, those golden-haired people were familiar indeed...]
[Huh, yeah. those twins were at the concert. they were friends of that miku hatsune pop star, who went missing during the witch attack at the concert. Though the media has calmed down a bit since her disappearence, there were still rumors and theories going around in the tabloids. What garbage. Kyouko hoped Sayaka wouldn't have to deal with any of that if she ever made it big in music...]
"I know it's not, Len!" [rin stuck out her lip as she plopped onto the stool. Len chuckled. yes, Rin seemed to be back to normal and have completely seemed to forgetten about that 'possesion' she was under. Though they both still missed Miku and wondered how she disappeared. Rin saw the blue haired girl and waved, recognizing her from the music session at the hospital. Though she suddenly looked rather literally fishy... huh? butve bee her imagination
[Len tilted his head, wondering what his sister was staring at - And then, he blinked himself as he saw something that was very odd indeed.]
[...The blue haired girl was a mermaid, now?]
[And then, he blinked again, as she seemed to turn back to normal. Well, that was quite strange even according to his newly revised strangess-o-meter, he did have to admit.]
[But on the other hand, if Magical Girls and Witches existed...]
[And in the meanwhile...]
[Rin was staring at the table, softly mumbling to herself.]
...So she's coming, eh? Well, yeah, I do know you wanted to spend as much time as you could with Len and Mama, Other Me, but -
[And then, she sighed.]
- Time's up, I'm afraid...
[Aand that was when Rin and Len's tomato ramen arrived! Rin smiled at Len, took up her chopsticks.]
...It looks so good! Let's eat, Len!
[Len smiled wanely at her for a moment. For a moment, he'd thought that - ]
[But no, this seemed to be just normal Rin, eating her noodles with gusto...]
( kyouko blinked, looking around for the magical girl who said that. Well, the voice sounded like rin kagamine over there, but she didn't see a magical girl ring or fingernail mark on her. Hm.... oh well. Kyouko merrily ate up the noodles and even ordered thirds. Sayaka tried to keep up the positive ebergy.) " ready to go to the hot prings now?" " all right, lets go now." ( they glanced on last time at the twins and headed to the baths)
[Kyoko and Sayaka changed in the Woman's Locker Rooms, washed themselves, and then began to look around the Woman's Baths.]
...Oh, look, this one's a real onsen, with the warm water coming out right out of the ground!
[Kyoko said with a grin.]
It's supposed to be good for the skin, it says...
[Sayaka sighed a bit, and rubbed her legs. They looked normal because of the illusion Kyoko had put on them, but Sayaka herself could clearly feel the scales.]
- I don't think that part will work for what I have, but we can take a dip anyway, I suppose!
" stop thonking about it, and just relax!" ( kyouko scolded and got into the water, her lean, athletic body revealed. Sayaka sank inti the water, sighing. It did feel quite comfortable. Maybe she could enjoy herself.... she leaned onti kyouko's shoulder as she relaxed
The continuation of Path 1
Re: The continuation of Path 1
Re: The continuation of Path 1
[Mami nodded and took the grief seed to the music box she had brought out] "here we are." [she gently placed it in and activated the magic. Soon the dog witche, now the size of a puppy , hopped out with a happy bark.]
"Yay! New sister!"
Re: The continuation of Path 1
...Ohhhh - So that's how it works!
[Charlotte, in the meanwhile, was giggling.]
(Welcome, New Sister!)
[And then, she giggled, and snuggled the Puppy Witch back.]
(...Still so so shy, but you'll have lots of friends now, I promise!)
[Aand that was when Hitomi (who was in the room next to the room they were all talking in) started to groan, and toss and turn around in her sleep!]
.........Doggie? .......No...Pleae don't cry, Doggie...
Re: The continuation of Path 1
"What is your name, sister?"
"Uhrman! my name is Uhrman! woof!"
[Sayaka had an idea then] "well uhrman pochi, I think Hitomi would like would like to be your friend and care for you."
"Friend! Woof woof!"
[Sayaka carried Uhrman over to Hitmomi in her bed and put her on the pillow. Uhrman sniffed hitmoi and licked her cheek]
Re: The continuation of Path 1
...Doggie...There you are...
[The Mini Witch made happy noises, and snuggled closer to her.]
Uhrman has so many friends now, woof!
[Eight came up to the bed, then, and looked at both of them.]
...Hmmm. I'm not sure you should let her stick to your friend for more then five minutes or so at a time, though, Miki Sayaka. The little one still is a Witch of sorts, after all, while your friend over there is just a normal human girl for the moment.
[Sayaka groaned, then.]
- Oh, right.
[And then, she paused.]
...Can the Mini Witches even Kiss people at all, though? I've never seen them do that, as far as I could tell...
Re: The continuation of Path 1 2/2
...That is a very interesting question, actually!
[Eight mused, while Seven snickered.]
- But you don't wanna actually experiment on that friend of yours over there, right?
[Sayaka made a face at that.]
...Of course not!
[And so Sayaka waited five more minutes, and then took the Puppy Witch away from Hitomi, patting her head.]
- There, there. I'll let you play with her later, OK?
[Well, there was the little matter of having to explain to Hitomi about Magical Girls and Witches if she ever wanted Mini Uhrman to be able to play with her while Hitomi was awake, but Sayaka would cross that bridge when she came to it, she decided.]
[And then, Sayaka took the Puppy Witch down to the other room, to play with the other Mini Witches, while Eight went to talk to Kyosuke.]
...OK, since it seems that you're actually going to try to be a Magical Girl's support staff, Kamijo Kyosuke - I thought you should get some additional equipment.
[Eight said with a smile - And then, he gave Kyosuke something that looked like a small crystal on a mobile phone strap.]
This is a magical energy detector - It shines when it detects magic!
[Kyosuke gingerly picked up the strap, and then pointed the crystal at one of the Mini-Witches nearby. A dark purple flicker with a gold lining wavered through the crystal.]
...Huh. Well, that's neat, indeed...
The continuation of Path 2
Re: The continuation of Path 2 1/2
[Mami smiled as she watched Nagisa pray, and then she went and patted her on the head.]
...Nagisa-chan...
- Well, if the Mikos were our Senpais, they deserve our prayers at least, I think.
[Mami nodded, and patted her head.]
...So this thing we want to talk about...It's really important, right?
[Nagisa sighed, and nodded at that, while Pyotr chittered in her pocket.]
- I'm afraid so, yeah. But we still - we still have time to read the picture book, I think...
Re: The continuation of Path 2 2/2
And then, the red eyed creature laughed and laughed.
"Silly, silly Rillanne - I thought you had figured it out already! But now, it is time for the play to end, and the curtain to fall - "
"For it is the fate of all Magical Girls to turn into Witches, unless they die first!"
Re: The continuation of Path 2 2/2
...and in the revolution, the blade fell upon Rillianne's neck, who in realirty was Allen, as the real Rillian let out a scream....]
[and a cold feeling of horror seeped through Mami at Kyubey's worlds...
Re: The continuation of Path 2
...You can never resist a chance to gloat, can you, Incubator?
[Kyubey shrugged at her, snickering.]
- Gloat? I have no idea what that means - Or I used to have no idea anyway, ha ha ha -
[And that was when Mami stood up, slowly, her eyes hooded.]
- Kyubey? Is it true? That is fate of Magical Girls is to turn into Witches?
[And then, she turned toward Nagisa.]
...That was what you were trying to tell me, wasn't it, Nagisa-chan?
[Nagisa looked at Mami, then, and sighed a bit, as Pyotr came over and sat on her lap, chittering.]
- Yeah, Mami-Nee. That was what I was trying to tell you, because if I hadn't...
[And then, she nodded toward Kyubey, giving him a pointed look.]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
"If magical girls, girls are the first stage of developtment, then it makes sense, by the tales, that their next stage are called witches" [Kyubey stated, hopping upon Mami's lap]
"Kyubey...." [her eyes were laden with tears]"you didn't tell us..."
"Because you never asked about it. It's a natural process. Upon the full saturation of dark contamination, the soul, and in some cases the body as well, undergoes a mutation and the magical girl becomes a witch."
"how can you do this to us...." more darkness upon her gem]
"It is necesary for the collection of energy my kind needs."
"I see...." [suddenly her ribbons lashed out and started strangling kyubey]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
.....Or that's what happens normally, anyway. In you two's cases, we tried something a bit different, so...
[The two new Kyubeys chuckled, talking in unison.]
[The dark energies started to coil through Mami's Soul Gem, then, light and dark intermingling. Nagisa nodded as Mami's Soul Gem itself started to change shape, instead of just cracking outright.]
- So you tampered with our Soul Gems as well?
[And then, she sighed again, her eyes starting to glow red.]
...Why in the world did you think that was a good idea, anyway?
[The two Kyubey's giggled, then.]
- We have no idea, actually!
[And then, they snickered.]
......You know what, Momoe Nagisa? Once upon a time, we never, ever would have run any experiments like this one - I mean, why should we, when we already know that we get more energies when a Magical Girl's Soul Gem cracks and she goes Witch the usual way?
[The Kyubeys chuckled, then.]
- But who the hell cares anymore, we're probably going to be "retired" sooner rather then later anyway, ha ha ha...
[Nagisa took out her Soul Gem again, and looked at it, Pyotr chittering besides her. Oh, so it hadn't been all in her head, her Soul Gem really looked different now.]
- Huh. So you get less energies when we just slowly go Witch like this, with our Soul Gems changing shape instead of cracking?
[The Kyubeys nodded, giggling.]
...Oh, yes - You two are probably going to turn into especially powerful and intelligent Witches, judging from our previous experiments, we'd say! I mean, the Witches who still have a "soul" stuck inside them tend to be more powerful anyway, but in your cases, you'll have all those extra "light" energies that you can still utelize up to a point, so...
Re: The continuation of Path 2
"Simply put, curiosity." [kyubey replied] You magical girls are valuable tools for us and sources of information. And once in a while, we do have some theories and hypothesis we want to try out, some experiements. We just happened to choose you two as some of the subject, to see what would happen if some amounts of witch energy were inscribed directly onto the soul gem. The results were varied and interesting."
"So. that is all we ever were to you, Kyubey.. you never were my friend...." [Mami sighed sadly, then suddenly had a cold expression on her face ]"Well then. If that is what it is.Please go away. I never want to see you again. I want you to stay away from me and especially my dearl little sister." [with that, her ribbbons picked up the kyubeys and tossed them out the window] "Good bye, Kyubey.]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[The Kyubeys chorused, and turned to leave - And that was when one of them turned back.]
- You know what, Tomoe Mami? I really liked it when you scratched my head and fed me and hugged me and talked to me.
[And then, the other one turned back, too.]
...It's really annoying, you know - Some of you Magical Girls just seem to have this odd power to make us feel all kinds of things! And the more we interact with you, the crazier and crazier we get...
[Mami stared at them for a long moment.]
- Just go away, you idiot - living robot things.
[She said with a sigh, and locked the windows with her ribbons. Her Soul Gem was changing and changing, even as she watched...]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
Nagisa came over and took her hands, darkness swirling around her as well as she looked up with her now multicolored eyes. Her soul gem was changing as well, forming into a grief seed with her candy and bubble symbol] "Onee - chan..."
"Oh Nagisa... I'm so sorry..." [she hugged her tightly] "But I think...things will be ok now...."
"Yes onee chan... we can let go...."
"Yes...let go... and start our new lives..." [there was a sharp, maddening pain as the final note of the transformation hit. and then, everything felt clear. of course there was a hollow feeling inside of them, and a sense of deep misery lingering about. But they were new beings now. Their old names no longer mattered. They knew who they were now. witches, named Candleoro and Charlotte.
Candleoro slowly sat back up and opened her now red eyes, smiling calmly] "Well now. Shall we prepare for the tea party?"
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[Charlotte said, clapping her hands - But then, she paused.]
- No, but wait - There was something I was planning to do when we became free at last, back when I was Nagisa...
[Pyotr scampered over to her, then, and handed her a letter.]
...Oh, right. I was planning to send our friends a letter saying we decided to go on a trip to Okinawa and Hokkaido, to make us feel better! It'll be better that way because they wouldn't look for us here then, Nagisa thought, though I'm not quite sure why anymore...
- Both Okinawa and Hokkaido? Ha ha ha - We would have had to go from one end of Japan to the other if we actually were trying to do that!
[Candeloro giggled - And then, she wrapped one of her ribbons around the letter, and sent it off.]
...It might be good if I sent something like that too, what was that human, my laywer, too, I suppose?
[Candeloro said, and plucked a piece of writing paper off the desk with her magic.]
- I'll just tell him that we're decided to take a trip all around Japan, and that he's supposed to keep on taking care of my estate for the time being. That should work, right? And maybe I'll just add a light suggestion that he just do as I say, and not worry too much about it for now...
[She used her magic to make the words appear on the paper in Mami's handwriting, and then sent it off too, wrapped in a magic ribbon.]
......Aand now, that's done.
[Candeloro said, turning away - And then, she clapped her hands, as their combined Witch Barrier started to go up in earnest.]
- So now, let us get the tea and cakes!
Re: The continuation of Path 2
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[Sayaka rubbed her eyes, and then blinked as Kyoko popped up on the other side of her window. Oh, well, it was really nice that her family had more money now, and it wasn't like she regretted making her Wish and becoming a Magical Girl and all, especially since she'd managed to maximise the benifits with that big wish list, but...]
...Hi, Kyoko? What is it?
[Well, Kyoko did look happy and relaxed for a change,after all.]
...Hey, Sayaka! Did you know Nagisa-chan sent me a letter? Well, not just me, since she addressed it to all of us, but whatever
- She did? Why?
[Sayaka asked, and then she started to grin as she read the letter.]
So Nagisa-chan and Mami-san are actually taking a real vacation? Ha ha ha, I never would have thought Mami-san would unwind that much!
...Yeah, yeah, and it looks like they're actually serious about going to Okinawa and Hokkaido too...
[Sayaka and Kyoko looked at each other and grinned.]
[Homura, in the meanwhile, was looking at both of them from on top of a nearby rooftop, sighing herself.]
...Nagisa-chan sends them a letter saying that Tomoe Mami of all people was just going to take a vacation, along with herself, and they both just...believed that?
[...It had to be some kind of magic, Homura thought. Something simple but subtle, which just kept telling people to believe what was written in the letter, and not think about it too much...]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
...Madoka? Please let me in...
[She said, hovering outside Madoka's window. Madoka looked up at Homura, and let her inside without asking any questions.]
- This has something to do with Nagisa-chan and Mami-san, right?
...How did you -
[Homura mumbled, and then, she looked away with a sigh.]
...I...I think they both must have gone Witch, though it's not like I went to check. They sent Kyoko a letter, saying they were both taking a vacation, and it was all full of strange magical spells that I could barely see, but Kyoko and Sayaka-san didn't even seem to think there was anything strange about Tomoe Mami of all people just taking a vacation from her duties like that, and...
[Madoka nodded at that.]
- But why would they - Oh. They didn't want any of their friends to come look for them?
[And then, she rubbed at her eyes.]
...I'm sorry I'm crying again, Homura-chan. I wanted to be strong, so you could depend on me sometimes, even if I can't fight like you do, but...
Re: The continuation of Path 2
"In the past? You mean, when you went back in time? I mean, when you started time travelling,"
"Yes. In those early days, I was very weak. And you were the one who protected me..."
[Madoka received some more glimpses of a much more timid looking Homura, sitting back sickly, alone, until Madoka went over to her...] "Homura chan...
"And I hoped that, I would become stronger myself. So I could protect you. And now that I am stronger, I still depend on you." [She hugged Madoka tighter] "I depend on you, to still keep me going through my mission, even though the hardships. It is because of you that I keep on going, no matter what..."
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[Madoka and Homura hugged each other, then. Madoka rubbed her eyes after a while, and sat down on the floor, making room for Homura to sit besides her.]
- And anyway, there's no time left anymore, right? The Great Witch is coming soon, after all...
[Madoka said, sadly. Homura stared at her, then.]
...I...I...Why do you know about Walpurgis? I didn't tell you anything about that, right?
[Madoka wiped her eyes and smiled sadly, at that.]
- I'm not sure why, but I've been dreaming of a Great Witch for a while now. Sometimes I was fighting her, and sometimes it was you, and sometimes we all were fighting her in a group, but each and every time...
[And in the meanwhile...]
[Sayaka was turning around restlessly in her sleep. She was so tired these days, and kept falling asleep at odd times, but...]
(Stupid Sayaka! Mean Sayaka! Sayaka cheated, with that stupid Wish List!)
[...And now, a blue and purple mermaid thing was trying to call her bad names? Good grief!]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
" shut up...."
" sayaka will never be able to get away from her fate! "
" go away monster!"
" i can not go away! I am you!"
" no!! I am not a witch!!
Re: The continuation of Path 2
...Why is my head so muzzy? And ouch - What is this itching all over my legs, anyway?
[And then, her eyes widened as she heard a rather familiar and not very welcome snicker from beneath her bed.]
- Well, well, well. So that's how the cookie's going to roll this time, eh?
[Sayaka stared at Kyubey, then, who was looking up at her, his red eyes impassive.]
...Cookie? What cookie? You're making even less sense then usual now, Kyubey, and that's saying something if I say so myself!
[Sayaka complained as she scratched at her legs. Her legs felt odd indeed, now that she thought about it - And was her face getting itchy too now? Good grief!]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
"Weirdo..."" [Sayaka pulled up her pajama pants leg to see a strange looking rash had appeared on her skin] "what is this?" [Upon closer look it seemed to resemble the scales of a fish] "Darn it!" [She tried to apply her healing magic to the rash , but for some reason there was no effect] "What the heck!!" [she got up from bed and went over to the mirror in her room to check the itching on her face. There were spots of discoloration on her face. Sayaka felt nervous.] "what is happening to me...?"
Re: The continuation of Path 2
(This is all your fault, with your stupid list of wishes! I should have taken over by now, but noo...)
[Sayaka stared at the mirror again. Her face in the mirror had changed shape, looking more monstrounus by the moment - And it's expression looked angry indeed!]
[Sayaka poked the mirror, then, a sinking feeling in her stomach.]
...So all the stuff that Madoka was talking about was...was...
(Of course it was true! You should be gone, or just been a flickering shadow inside me at the most by now, but you just keep going on and on and on...)
[And then, the strange mermaid face sneered at her.]
(And you even knew that what your dear friend was telling you was the truth and nothing but the truth, deep down, but you made the Contract anyway, right? Right?)
Re: The continuation of Path 2
Later kyouko climbed in through the window , and found sayaka writing pages upon pages of music sheets. She looked rather haggard and still wearing her pajamas) " sayaka? Hey, ya sleepin in today?" She picked up a music sheet.
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[Sayaka said sadly, and then showed Kyoko her legs.]
[Kyoko looked at her, and poked at her legs, gingerly.]
- Huh? What are those things on your legs?
[Sayaka sighed, then.]
...This is what happens when you included stuff in your Wish that stops you from going Witch normally, it seems...
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[Sayaka looked away, unsure of telling Kyouko the truth] "It's nothing..."
[Kyouko sighed, and sparked up her illusion magic to hide the scaly andd discolored patches] "there you go."
"Oh right, you can do that. Tahnk you..."
"Mm-hm. Now, enough sulking around. Why dont we go out for soome fun together? there's a new ramen place I wanna check out, and it's next to a nice onsen!"
"Ok." [Sayaka tried to put on a smile for Kyouko and got up
Re: The continuation of Path 2
...Say, Kyoko? What if I said I knew something, but I - I really didn't think it was a good idea to talk about it with you, even if I really, really wanted to?
[Kyoko stared at her, then, and rubbed at her eyes, sighing.]
- Does this have anything to do with a Mega-Witch which keeps ending up destroying the Earth by any chance? Because I've been dreaming about that for weeks, to be honest.
[Sayaka stared at her, then.]
...A Mega-Witch who...
[No, wait a minute, waait a minute. That wasn't what she had been thinking about at all, but on the other hand...]
- You mean - You've been dreaming about that, too!?!?
Re: The continuation of Path 2
"maybe that explains the dream.." [sayaka held her head as she heard her other self titter in her mind] (Our queen is coming...)
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[Sayaka mumbled, then, repeating the words in her mind.]
- What?
[Kyoko said, and put her hand to Sayaka's forehead.]
...Well, if the Mega-Witch is coming anyway - Maybe it wouldn't matter, either way...
...Are you OK, Sayaka?
[Sayaka got red in the face, then.]
- K - Kyokooo! Stop iiiiitttt!
Re: The continuation of Path 2
Sayaka seemed to snap out of her trance and poked kyouko back) " so the! The ramn shap and spa!"
" yeah! Its right over there."
" lets go!" ( sayaka dragged her along, pushing down her worry)
Re: The continuation of Path 2
...Whooo - Tomato ramen with tonkotsu soup? That's a first for me, I must admit...
[Kyoko said with a grin, and ordered the tomato ramen with all the works including an soft boiled egg and extra pork and vegetables, and a small bowl of rice. Sayaka raised her eyebrows at that, but in the end, ordered the exact same thing, just half sized. It wasn't like she had to worry about gaining too much weight any more, after all, she thought with a small sigh.]
- Huh - It's really ramen-y, even with all the tomatos. Fancy that!
[Kyoko said with a smile as she tasted the soup - And then, she started to devor her food with gusto. Sayaka smiled, eating her own food - And then, she blinked as somebody with an oddly familiar voice came into the shop.]
- Rin! Come on and sit, OK? The ramen isn't going to run away or anything, I promise!
[Oh, yes, those golden-haired people were familiar indeed...]
Re: The continuation of Path 2
"I know it's not, Len!" [rin stuck out her lip as she plopped onto the stool. Len chuckled. yes, Rin seemed to be back to normal and have completely seemed to forgetten about that 'possesion' she was under. Though they both still missed Miku and wondered how she disappeared. Rin saw the blue haired girl and waved, recognizing her from the music session at the hospital. Though she suddenly looked rather literally fishy... huh? butve bee her imagination
Re: The continuation of Path 2
[...The blue haired girl was a mermaid, now?]
[And then, he blinked again, as she seemed to turn back to normal. Well, that was quite strange even according to his newly revised strangess-o-meter, he did have to admit.]
[But on the other hand, if Magical Girls and Witches existed...]
[And in the meanwhile...]
[Rin was staring at the table, softly mumbling to herself.]
...So she's coming, eh? Well, yeah, I do know you wanted to spend as much time as you could with Len and Mama, Other Me, but -
[And then, she sighed.]
- Time's up, I'm afraid...
[Aand that was when Rin and Len's tomato ramen arrived! Rin smiled at Len, took up her chopsticks.]
...It looks so good! Let's eat, Len!
[Len smiled wanely at her for a moment. For a moment, he'd thought that - ]
[But no, this seemed to be just normal Rin, eating her noodles with gusto...]
Re: The continuation of Path 2 2/2
[Sayaka and Kyoko both raised their eyebrows, as a somewhat familiar voice sounded inside their heads.]
(Hey, the two of you! Let's talk about the big scary Mega-Witch situation later, OK?)
Re: The continuation of Path 2 2/2
" ready to go to the hot prings now?"
" all right, lets go now." ( they glanced on last time at the twins and headed to the baths)
Re: The continuation of Path 2
...Oh, look, this one's a real onsen, with the warm water coming out right out of the ground!
[Kyoko said with a grin.]
It's supposed to be good for the skin, it says...
[Sayaka sighed a bit, and rubbed her legs. They looked normal because of the illusion Kyoko had put on them, but Sayaka herself could clearly feel the scales.]
- I don't think that part will work for what I have, but we can take a dip anyway, I suppose!
Re: The continuation of Path 2
Sayaka sank inti the water, sighing. It did feel quite comfortable. Maybe she could enjoy herself.... she leaned onti kyouko's shoulder as she relaxed