Chapter Text
Prolog im Himmel
202X
Madoka ran through the spiral checkered corridor, eventually prying open the exit door and stepping out onto a dead tree, overlooking the desolate city. Looking up, she saw a large puppet-like monster looming over the destruction, no doubt the perpetrator. A mysterious black-haired girl leapt into the air, intent on fighting back.
One day, the light of love
Though it may seem far away
Will shine again in your eyes
(Transcend and rise above)
But there’s only one dream
And it’s been ripped at the seam
This world will end in ruin
(And I’ll lose all I love)
Stifle all your doubt
Let your heart cry out
I will help you swallow your hesitation
So trust me
‘Cause you yearn with grief
Though your heart may bleed
Will we fade away from this world
With no hope to hold onto?
“This is horrible!” Madoka cried.
An angelic figure appeared at Madoka’s side. Its dress, white as snow, fluttered somehow gracefully in the harsh winds, and the image of a sun obscured its face.
“It can’t be helped,” it said. “One person can’t handle this alone. She knew that, and came here anyway.”
I remember you from a dream I thought was truth
You, bright with magic, and I, blinded by my youth
All I wish is for your hand to hold, you see
Only your smile kills the dark in me
“No!” protested Madoka. “This isn’t right! It’s too much for her!”
The angel sighed, bowing its head. “If she gives up, it’s over. However…” She turned to face Madoka, “you have the power to change this destiny.”
Madoka’s eyes widened. “I can change it?”
“All this tragedy, all this destruction, you can change it, if you so desire. The power to do so lies within you.”
“Even someone like me can do something to help?” Madoka pleaded. “Can I really change how this ends?”
With these hands, I’ve tried to hold what I cannot seize
I’m like a rose thrown into a violent breeze
All my strength blown away, with my heart I will stay
Praying for light, guiding my wish with all my might
The angel smiled. “Of course you can! All you have to do is make a Contract with me, and become a Magical Girl…”
A beeping sound set off in the distance. Madoka sat up groggily as she shut off her alarm. “It was just a dream…” she sighed.
Madoka sighed as she bid her father and little brother good morning at the table for breakfast.
“Hey, what's got you all down this morning?” Madoka's mother asked.
Madoka waved it off. “Oh, it's nothing. I just had a really weird dream last night.”
“Really? What happened in it?”
“It was really crazy. There was a giant puppet thing and the whole town was destroyed and this girl was fighting in the sky! And then there was this angel lady who said I should become a Magical Girl!”
Madoka's mother chuckled. “That sounds like a fantasy a kid your age would dream up. Once you become an adult, you'll wish real life was as simple as that.”
Madoka giggled sheepishly. That dream felt so real. Could she really have imagined it?
“So, what's been going on at school lately?” Her father asked. “Did Hitomi get another love letter?”
“Yeah. It's the second one this month.”
“Well, if a boy can't tell you how he feels face-to-face, he's not worth the effort.” Madoka’s mother chuckled.
Madoka nodded. “Oh! Speaking of, Ms. Saotome will be with her new boyfriend for three months now, after today! She can hardly talk about anything else during homeroom.”
Her mother smiled. “That's good. By the way, how are you liking the ribbons?”
Madoka twirled her hair around her finger. “I don't know. Aren't they a bit flashy?”
“There's no such thing as too flashy, hun. In fact, your secret admirers are gonna get all wobbly in the knees.”
Madoka laughed. “I don't have any secret admirers.”
“But you should dress and act like you do. That's the secret to true beauty.” Madoka’s mother looked up at the clock. “I really need to get going. You’ll be late if you don’t hurry up too, Madoka.”
“Uh, r-right.”
The family said their goodbyes as Madoka shoved a piece of jelly toast in her mouth, tossing the crust to the birds as she ran out the door. Two of her friends, Hitomi and Sayaka, were standing in wait at the end of the street. “Morning, guys!”
“Morning, Madoka!” Sayaka paused when something caught her eye. “Wow, what cute ribbons!”
“You think so?” Madoka blushed. “They're not too flashy?”
“Too flashy?!” asked Sayaka, appalled. “Girl, your hair is pink.”
Madoka giggled. “Got me there.”
Hitomi smiled at the girl. “I think they look lovely.”
"Oh yeah! My mom had some advice for you, Hitomi," said Madoka. “She said if a boy can't say he likes you in person, then he's not worth your time.”
“That's so like your mom, Madoka,” Sayaka giggled.
Madoka sighed. “Still, I wish someone would send me a love letter someday~ It'd at least be nice to get one.”
Sayaka pulled a devious smirk. “So you wanna be a plastic like Hitomi here, huh? Is that what the ribbons are for?”
Madoka snapped back to reality in total shock. “Wha? Plastic? No, m-my mom picked these out–”
She was cut off by Sayaka tackling her into a hug, tickling her mercilessly. “So your mom's been giving you trade secrets, now? Well, I'm not gonna let that happen! You're mine, Madoka! Mine, mine, mine!”
Hitomi cleared her throat. Chuckling sheepishly, Sayaka let go of the rosette and the three continued on their way to school.
“The correct way to fry an egg! Sunny side up or down?” The teacher shouted, waving her pointer around. “Come on, Nakazawa, we don’t have all day!”
“C-can’t you fry it either way, though?...” the boy stammered.
“Precisely! It can be fried either way! Therefore, it goes without saying that you should never judge a woman’s beauty by the way she fries her eggs! So remember, girls, don’t associate with men who refuse to eat eggs you’ve cooked sunny side down!”
Madoka sighed. “Guess it didn’t work out after all.”
“And boys, don’t you grow up to be men who complain about how the darn eggs are cooked, understand?” The teacher sighed and cleared her throat. “Well, now that that's out of the way, let's all give a big warm welcome to our new classmate! Come on in, Miss Akemi, don't be shy~”
A mysterious black-haired girl walked into the room. Everyone in class began to whisper about her.
“Wow, she's so pretty…” Sayaka sighed.
Madoka gasped. It was the girls from her dream!
The girl wrote her name in hiragana on the board and turned to face the class. “I’m Homura Akemi. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Miss Akemi has been in the hospital for a while due to a heart condition.” Ms. Saotome explained. “Since she's been out of a classroom enviornment for so long, she might need some help readjusting, so let's all help her out, okay?”
Homura turned to look in Madoka's direction, glaring directly at her.
Students began to gather around Homura, bombarding her with questions. “So, what school did you go to before coming to this one?”
“I went to a private Catholic school in Tokyo.”
“Were you in any clubs? How about sports, were you on a team?”
“I don't really have time for that sort of thing.”
“Your hair is so gorgeous! What kind of shampoo do you use?”
“Nothing special, really. I used to have it in braids all the time, but it was a pain.” She glanced down at her watch. “Oh, look at the time. I’m sorry, but I need to go to the nurse’s office for my medicine. Madoka Kaname.”
Madoka turned at her name being called to find the new girl walking towards her almost menacingly.
“You are the nurse’s aide for this class, correct? Would you please come with me to the nurse’s office??”
Madoka blinked. “Huh? O-oh, right. Sorry…”
When the two left the classroom, Madoka was met with a strange and ironic circumstance: Homura was the one leading her to the nurse’s office. “M-Miss Akemi…”
“Call me Homura,” said the girl.
“Oh! That's a cool first name!” Madoka's shy disposition faded in an instant. “It's written with the character for flame, like you flare up passionately or something!”
“You don't think it's unusual?”
“No, not at all.”
“Then, would you mind if I went ahead and called you Madoka?”
Madoka giggled. “Well, I guess since we are classmates now.”
Homura stopped in the middle of the hall and turned to face Madoka. “Well then, Madoka Kaname, do you treasure the life you currently live? And do you consider your family and your friends to be precious?”
Madoka stammered. “W-well, I… I mean, of course I do! My family, and my friends. I love them all very much!”
“Do you mean that?”
“Of course!” Madoka defended. “Why would I lie about that?!”
“Good. Then you wouldn't try changing the life you have, or the kind of person that you are. Otherwise, you will lose everything you love. So don't change, Madoka. Stay as you are, forever…”
“She said WHAT?!”
Madoka sighed. “I know. It doesn't make any sense, does it?”
“And there I was, thinking she was this awesome girl, and turns out, she's a total psycho!” Sayaka groaned. “I hope she doesn't think this is cool or something. That's so chuuni, it makes me sick!” She let her head fall on the table for emphasis.
“This has to be a misunderstanding,” said Hitomi. “Are you certain you haven't met Miss Akemi somewhere before?”
Madoka thought about it for a moment. “Well, you’re gonna think I’m crazy, but… it’s like we met in a dream, or something.”
Sayaka burst out laughing. “Really?! That sounds like something straight outta Sailor Moon! Hey, what if it is something like that? Y’know, like, you met each other in a past life and fate has reached across time and space to bring you back together again~!”
Madoka blushed in embarrassment. “Come on, guys! This is seriously bugging me!”
“If you want my opinion,” Hitomi began. “It's entirely possible you've met Miss Akemi somewhere before. You may not remember it actively, but your subconscious certainly took note of it, and simply brought up the image of her in your dream.” She looked down at her watch. “Oh my, is it that late already? I'm sorry, but I have to get going.”
“What is it this time?” Sayaka asked with a hint of sarcasm. “Piano, classical dance?”
“Tea ceremony lessons today. My mother still wants me doing all this stuff even with exams coming up.”
“Makes me glad I don’t come from old money.” Sayaka sighed. “Hey, Madoka, wanna stop by the music store on the way home?”
Madoka nodded. “Something for Kyosuke again?”
Sayaka blushed, chuckling nervously.
Her footsteps pounded against the concrete floor. Purple magical arrows came flying at her, sticking into her dress and causing it to tear as she continued to run away. She felt something bump into her from behind, but didn’t bother turning to see what it was, lest her pursuer finally catch her.
“Stay out of my way.”
“Stop it!”
~~“Help me!”~~
A voice echoed in Madoka's mind as she was listening to a sample song. She removed the headphones to try and listen for the voice, and when nothing happened, she put them back on.
~~“Madoka! Help me!”~~
There it was again. Madoka looked down at the headphones. Maybe she could only hear it when her ears were covered. She placed a hand over her ear.
~~“Please... Help me!”~~
Madoka ran off, covering her ears to follow the voice to a part of the building that was still under construction. As she entered, she found a girl about her age, with long pink hair and an opulent white dress, lying face down on the ground, wounded. Madoka rushed to help the girl to her feet. “Hello? W-was it you that was calling to me just now?” She stopped. This girl also had a sun-shaped mask. It couldn’t be, first Homura, and now she’d met the angel from her dream, too?!
“Help... me…”
Madoka turned her attention to the sound of footsteps headed towards them. Speak of the devil, standing before her was Homura, clad in the same black and purple dress she wore in Madoka’s dream as well, with a white cat sat on her shoulder. “Get away from her…”
“But… she- she’s really hurt…”
The cat jumped down from Homura’s shoulder and ran to Madoka, taking a defensive stance in front of her and the other girl. “I told you to leave her alone! Why are you trying to hurt her?”
“You know why, Kyubey. We can’t let this happen.”
As Homura stalked towards her prey, a stream of foam blasted between them. Madoka turned in the direction of the blast, noticing that Sayaka had followed her, the latter wielding a fire extinguisher to create a cover for their escape. “Over here, Madoka!”
Taking the mysterious girl’s hand, Madoka ran after Sayaka. The white cat turned to look back at Homura before deciding to follow them.
“What was with her costume?” said Sayaka as they ran. “And who’s that? Were they LARPing or something?”
“She was calling out to me for help.” Madoka answered. She flinched as the white cat jumped onto her head.
Just then, the area around them began to change into something under the effects of lysergic acid. The exit was no longer there. Bizarre creatures surrounded the girls, ready to attack. They chanted strange nothings in their direction.
Du mußt verstehn!
Aus Eins mach' Zehn,
Und Zwey laß gehn,
Und Drey mach' gleich,
So bist du reich.
Verlier' die Vier!
Aus Fünf und Sechs,
So sagt die Hex',
Mach' Sieben und Acht,
So ist's vollbracht:
Und Neun ist Eins,
Und Zehn ist keins.
Das ist das Hexen-Einmal-Eins!
As the girls cowered into each other, beams of light shot through the creatures. “That was close, wasn't it?” came a voice from behind them. “But don't worry, you're safe now.”
A girl with blonde twin drills and golden eyes approached them. “Thank goodness, you rescued Gretchen for me. You see, she's a very dear friend of mine and I was so worried.”
“She was calling out to me for help.” Madoka replied. “I could hear her voice inside my head.”
“I see.” The girl looked them over. “I can tell by your uniforms that you go to Mitakihara Middle School. Are you 8th-graders?”
Sayaka looked at her with a confused expression. “Do we know you?”
The girl giggled. “Oh, that's right. I forgot to introduce myself, but that's going to have to wait a bit longer.” She threw what looked like a faberge egg up into the air. “Please excuse me, I have to wrap this up first.”
She stomped her feet, yellow ribbons wrapping around her legs and turning into tall socks and combat boots. Her skirt gained a few frills and turned yellow with a brown trim at the bottom. More ribbons wrapped around her body, forming the top of the new outfit. Another ribbon formed her hat, a rose bursting from it and turning into a white fluffy decoration. Finally, the egg landed softly in her hair, attaching to one of her flower-shaped hairpins. She summoned a wall of muskets to destroy more of the creatures, and the area returned to normal.
“Looks like the Witch managed to escape.” The girl turned to Homura, who had caught up to them. “If you wanna take care of it, you'd better get going.”
“But I still have work to do here.”
“I’m sure you do,” she continued, “But I’m trying to say that I’m willing to overlook this.”
With a sigh, Homura shook her head and walked away.
Gretchen sat up after being fully healed by the light around the blonde girl’s hands. There was a smile to her eyes, though her mouth was covered by her mask. “Thank you, Mami! You're a lifesaver!”
Mami smiled, gesturing to Madoka and Sayaka. “These two are the ones you should be thanking. I was just passing by.”
“Yes. Thank you both very much, Madoka Kaname! And Sayaka Miki!”
Sayaka was taken aback. “Hey, how do you know our names?”
The white cat jumped down from Madoka’s head and took a seat on the angel’s lap. “It’s wonderful to meet you. My name is Kyubey! Gretchen and I came here because we have a favor to ask of you both.” He said with a swish of his tail.
“Yes,” Gretchen brought her hands to her chest, closing her eyes with a bright smile. “I'd like you to make Contracts with me, and become Magical Girls!”