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None of this feels real, and, Kyoko thinks, it can’t be. It’s not real. It’s not happening. It’s just a bad dream.
The person she’d give up everything for isn’t lying dead on the ground, her body twisted at an unnatural angle, a permanent grin etched on her face. Numbly, she stumbles towards her and kneels down by her side. “SAYAKA!” Was that her screaming? Of course it is, dumbass, nobody else here knows her. Do they even care that someone’s dead? She cradles the lifeless girl in her arms, holding her tight to her chest and burying her face in her sky-blue hair.
She looks up to see a cat-like creature perched on a bench, watching the two of them with that same, vapid, creepy smile on his face. “What happened to her?” she whispers through her tears. Then, with her voice rising in anger, “WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO SAYAKA?!”
“That’s not her name anymore, you know,” says Kyubey cheerfully. “It’s Oktavia now.”
Kyoko pauses. “What . . . do you mean?”
“She’s a witch now, and what you’re holding is just her empty vessel. The real Miki Sayaka is in a labyrinth back at the train station. Soon, she’ll start attacking civilians, and other magical girls will have to kill her.”
Another pause, and then a bitter laugh that sounds something like a choked sob. “How? How could she become a witch? We’re magical girls, we – we fight witches. And her body is right here – no, no, she’s not a witch. That’s impossible. This is all some sort of sick joke, isn’t it?!”
Kyubey hums sweetly, his fluffy tail curled around his front paws. “Why do you think there aren’t any adult magical girls?”
“. . . What?”
“A witch is the final stage of life of a magical girl – when a magical girl is overrun by despair and her Soul Gem turns dark, it becomes a Grief Seed and she becomes a witch. Think of it as, say, a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.”
“So this was your game all along, wasn’t it?” whispers Kyoko, her voice dangerously low. She stands up, holding what used to be Sayaka (dont be ridiculous its still sayaka its still her its still her its still her) in her arms bridal style. “You manipulate us into becoming magical girls, when in the end, we’ll only become witches. You knew what would happen to us! You knew it would be worse than dying! And you fucking LIED TO US!”
“I didn’t lie to you, Sakura Kyoko. I just didn’t tell you! There’s a difference, you know.”
“You murdered Sayaka.” There are tears streaming down her face, red and blotchy. She glares at the alien creature, trying not to look at the girl in her arms, her opened eyes empty and glassy and undeniably dead. “I loved her and you’re the reason she’s dead. Homura was right to hate you.”
“But she’s not dead, though! She’s still alive out there, just as a witch.”
Kyoko’s red eyes, which were dull with grief, suddenly light up. “So if she’s alive, there has to be a way to save her.”