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Homura awoke with a gasp. Immediately she could tell that something wasn't right. Whilst the bright light and the white wall were familiar to her, the weird computer along with the weird looking doctor looking over her where not.
"Ah, Master Candidate 48, it's good that you're awake. The Director would have been furious if a candidate suffered from severe injuries or even died, due to janitor not putting up a wet floor sign," the weird doctor said.
Homura's mind tried to process what she had just heard, but she couldn't make sense of anything that the man said.
"Master Candidate? Where am I?" she muttered.
Instantly, the man stiffened when he heard her. "Ah...the Director is not going to be happy about this...Just what do you not remember, exactly?"
Homura eyed him warily. "I don't remember where I am, or how I got here."
The man frowned. "That's...not as bad, it can be easily rectified. First, you're in your room in the Chaldea Security organization's base, and—"
"What's the Chaldea Security organization?" she asked.
"Ah...I suppose I should have explained that. The Chaldea Security organization is an organization whose main goal is the preservation of Humanity."
The preservation of Humanity? That sounds like...quite a lofty goal. One far more often used by the likes of Mikuni to harm Madoka.
Nevertheless, Homura didn't show any negative thoughts to the Doctor. "May I ask how?"
"Hmm?" hummed the Doctor back.
"May I ask how this organization goes about preserving Humanity?"
"Well, first I think I should start mentioning that this will be our first official case. But we have prepared for this quite throughly. What we basically do is travel to various points to the past and correct errors in the past. But don't worry, majority of the work will be handled by Team-A, you will just be there in case of an emergency with them."
"You time travel?" asked Homura a bit shocked at how casually the Doctor was admitting it.
"Oh, no, no, real time travel is not something anyone can just do. You'd need to be a True Magician to accomplish something like that.
"What Chaldea does is far more complicated, but I'll try to simplify it for you we basically project an avatar of the Master Candidate into the errors in the past with the consciousness of the Candidate. From there all the work that Chaldea does is to make sure to reinforce the existence of the Candidate, so that World doesn't relegate to it a phanatsmal existence and thus exclude it from Humanity."
Homura didn't understand most of what the Doctor said, but she nodded along as if she did.
"I see...by the way, can I know your name?"
The Doctor shifted around. "Oh yeah, you can cal mel Doctor Romani, or just Romani for short."
Suddenly there was an announcement over the system. "Doctor Romani, would you mind coming to the Command Room, there are a few candidates from Team-B who are struggling with the coffins. I expect you to be her in 5 minutes."
"Ah..." groaned the Doctor. "I could not get there in that time frame from here. Well I suppose I could try. Bye Homura, I should be back in around 15 minutes."
He then left the room, presumably to run to where the meeting would be held. At that point Homura felt something poking her in the leg.
She reluctantly took of her cover and saw and letter underneath it. Homura carefully opened it and she started to read from it.
Dear Akemi Homura,
It is with great reluctance that I am thrusting you into this situation, I know that you will likely hate me for a moment until you learn the reason for why you're here.
Unfortunately, a direct talk between us could not be had for me to explain everything, therefore, I implore you to go along with this charade for the time being, and to not talk about being what you are to anyone until it's safe to do so.
Otherwise, if they are to learn about it, Kaname Madoka's life will be in grave danger. I wish you the best luck in the Grand Order, Akemi Homura.
Yours sincerely,
Kishur Zelretch Schweinorg,
Wizard-Marshall of the Mage's Association
p.s. Please keep this letter somewhere safe to show at a later date.
p.p.s. Another thing, the only way for you to get back to Kaname Madoka would be completing the Grand Order. After that I promise that you'll be able to go back to your quest to save her.
Before she can even process what was written in the letter, she heard and felt a loud explosion. Homura quickly sprung up from the bed and looked around.
Thankfully the explosion didn't seem to originate anywhere near where she was, so that was a plus.
However, she still needed to worry about what thic could mean. Obviously, the letter implied that a they were behind something that will go down, whether that they were multiple people working together or just single person was irrelevant at the moment.
She then made the decision to go in the direction from where the explosion happened. She also transformed into her Magical Girl clothes, and retrieved a gun from her shield, for the sooner she dealt with whatever this mess is the sooner she could get back to saving Madoka.
So, Homura rushed down the corridor intending to quickly put and end to this all. The further she ventured the more grim it got.
Hundres of bodies were shrewn around, most dead, several missing body parts or in such a terrible that it would have been difficult to even determine whether they were humans.
Homura had long grown desensitized to seeing dead bodies, nevertheless, even this was a bit too much for her, so she looked away and focused on her objectives.
She entered what appeared to be the main room and spotted a pink haired girl...a pink haired buried under the ruble.
Despite her better judgement, Homura quickly walked up to the girl. When she did that she saw the girl's eyes light up in all to familiar color. The same as Homura's.
"Senpai..." the girl muttered as she stared at her in the eyes. Homura had no idea why this clearly older girl was referring to her as Senpai, but she attributed it to blood loss.
Homura tried to look to see if she could get the girl our from the ruble, but that appeared to be nigh impossible.
And just as Homura was about to say something to the girl, a voice rang out.
Warning all observation staff. CHALDEAS' state has changed.
It was very obviously the voice of the automated system, nevertheless the girl on the ground had a miserable look on her face as she heard it.
"Senpai...I...don't want to die alone...can you stay here...?" the girl muttered out once again slowly.
Homura, in spite of wanting to leave, quickly relented to the pink haired girl. "If that's your last wish."
Now rewriting SHEBA's near-future prediction data.
ERROR! ERROR!
The machine once again spoke some technical gibberish which Homura didn't understand, but she, nevertheless, was on the edge.
Unable to detect the existence of mankind 100 years in the near-future on Earth.
Unable to confirm human survivors.
Unable to guarantee mankind's future.
What the hell? What does that mean? Is Humanity dead? Is Madoka dead then?
"CHALDEAS…has turned bright red…" muttered the pink haired girl.
Central Area, sealed. 180 seconds till internal containment procedure.
"Damn it!" shouted Homura in frustration. She was now trapped here. With the practically dead pink haired girl by her feet just because she didn't want to leave the pink haired girl to die alone...a pink haired girl to die alone...
Baseline for Master Candidate vitals could not be established. Rayshigt requirements not met.
"Senpai...can you...hold my hand...?" requested the pink haired girl.
Homura had no reason to not fulfill a last wish like this, so she kneeled down and held the girl's hand.
Searching for qualifying Master Candidates...searching...searching...searching
Found.
It it is not referring to me is it? Someone tell me that it's not!
Resetting contact with Master Candidate number 48.
The way the pink haired girl's eyes flew wad enough to confirm the theory of Homura's that the machine was talking about her.
Unsummon Program, start.
Spiritron Conversion, start.
Alright...this is it. thought Homura, mentally preparing for whatever was about to happen.
Rayshift in 3...2...1
All procedures cleared.
Beginning the First Order.
All around was fire and destruction, wherever she was it was even more destroyed than Mitakihara usually was after a Walpurgisnacht fight.
At least Mitakihara most of the time still had buildings standing, whereas here there was nothing that wasn't ruins.
"Fou!" chipped out her reluctant companion.
Homura glanced down at the white creature warily, its look reminded her of the Incubator a bit, but she was also wary about what she sensed from it. Whatever this creature it was far stronger than anything Homura had ever encountered prior, othen perhaps Madoka's Witch.
Nevertheless, it seemed to have taken a liking to her after he examined her just after she ended up here. Honestly, she had no idea what it even was, but she was quite sure that it was far more intelligent than it let on.
However, despite his power and intelligence, he didn't seem to be helping her against the weird familiars of this labyrinth. Thankfully, the bone like familiars were easy enough for Homura to deal with them, that being she still would have appreciated the help.
There was also something else that Homura didn't fully understand, the weird tattoo on the back of her hand. She had no idea how that got there, but she felt some sort of magic behind it, so she stayed away from touching it too much, in case it was dangerous to do so.
Just then, she heard a couple of the Familiars get close to her from behind, she prepared to quickly destroy them, but before she could do just that, someone slammed into them, crushing them into ground and destroying them.
Homura whirled around to see the same pink haired girl from before, but now in a different outfit and with a large shield which she used to crush the familiars into the ground. And while Homura could not see her Soul Gem there was only one logical conclusion that she could draw, namely that the pink haired girl was a Magical Girl.
Not the weirdest Magical Girl outfit that I have seen, thought Homura to herself after she observed the girl.
"Senpai!" exclaimed the girl in relief. "I am glad that you're okay."
So far, she appeared to be friendly, and thus, Homura would not try to make any moves against her. "Yes, I am fine. What about you, though? Last time I saw you were pretty injured."
The pink haired girl shook her head. "I fully healed up now, Senpai."
While Homura would have accepted her calling Homura, Senpai while nearly dying, now that she was not, it was all the more weirder to hear someone older calling her that. "Why are you calling me Senpai..." she trailed off as she realized she didn't know the pink haired girl's name.
Luckily, the girl looked to have recognized that Homura was searching for her name, so she quickly responded, "Mash Kyrielight, Senpai. As for why I am calling you that, it's because you are my Senpai when it comes to being a human."
What?
"Fou," suddenly the small creature called out the as it hopped over to Mash.
"Fou," said the girl, Mash, in relief as she scooped up the weird creature. "I am glad that you're okay."
Since she appeared to know this creature, Homura asked. "What is he, by the way?"
Mash blinked at her, looking to be taken aback by the sudden question. "Fou is a privileged life form allowed to roam Chaldea as he wishes."
That doesn't explain anything...
"Do you happen to know where we are?" asked Homura, ignoring what she said abilities the creature for now.
Mash hummed. "We appear to be in the Singularity, Senpai."
As Homura was about to ask what a Singularity was, they heard a loud scream coming from a few meters away.
"Director..." muttered Mash, her eyes snapping towards where the scream came from.
Then the girl quickly scooped Homura up in a bridal carry and jumped there before Homura could even react.
Once they landing, Homura got out of the carry and saw a white haired woman being surrounded by the weird familiars. She was blasting away at them with Magic shots (something which is incredibly wasteful), but it seemed like she was getting overwhelmed by the numbers.
Mash quickly went on the offensive and eliminated every single familiar with surprising speed.
"Mash!" exclaimed the so called Director. "You have become a Demi Servant?!" The Director was in clear shock as she stared at Mash, she was in so much she didn't notice Homura until around a full minute.
"You...you're Master Candidate 48, the one who had an accident as soon as they arrived in Chaldea, aren't you?" she questioned.
"I am," said Homura playing along for with this charade as the letter told her to, "I am Akemi Homura, nice to meet you, Director..."
"Since you weren't there for the introduction I'll also introduce myself. I am Olga Marie Animusphere the Director of the Chaldea Security organization," she answered somewhat haughtily.
Animu—what? I'll just call her Marie.
"I suppose you will have to do for now Master Candidate 48, but couldn't I at least get someone else here as well? Just when I need someone competent, I get a Master Candidate who had not completed the mandatory introduction. Fine, I will have to work with you, now all we have to do is find the ley line, and—"
"Director," said Mash, interrupting whatever she was about to say. "The ley line is underneath your feet."
The Director flushed red embarrassment. "Of course I knew that, I was just testing you! Just lay down your shield on the ground now, Mash, we will use that as an anchor to get in contact with Chaidea."
Mash did so, and a hologram of Doctor Romani appeared. "Mash, Homura, it's good to see that you're alright. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that we will be able to maintain this connection and—"
Director moved to the front to talk to the Doctor, pushing both of them out of the way. "Romani! Who put you in charge?! Don't tell me that no one else with a higher rank is around?"
"Director! You're alive!" the Doctor exclaimed in both relief and fear before he calmed down. "I am the highest ranking person, everyone else is likely dead and buried under the ruble."
Director Marie's face fell, and she looked like she was about to cry. "Then...Lev...Lev is..."
Romani nodded seriously. "Yes, Lev is likely dead as well."
This Lev must have been someone very close to her, Homura thought to herself as she watched Director Marie's expression harden.
"What about the other staff and Master Candidates?" she asked.
Romani grimaced. "Only around twenty staff are alive. We have managed to recover some people in critical condition, but so far things aren't looking good for them. As for the Master Candidates...well most of the are stuck in critical conditions too, and it is unlikely that we are treat them at the moment."
"Don't waste time, Romani, cryopreserve them now!"
"Of course, the coffins have that capability, but Director..." he muttered slowly, "cryo preserving someone without their consent is a crime international law..."
"I know," she replied, "I will deal with consequences later. But I don't want their deaths on my conscience."
Homura's opinion of Director Marie improved significantly after she had heard what the Director had just said.
"I'll get to it Director," said Romani as he typed away on his keyboard. "By the way, what's the current strategy in order to deal with this Singularity?"
Director Marie sighed aloud. "We'll try our hand at summoning a Servant. While historically that hadn't been the most successful, it's still our best chance to solve this Singularity as Mash doesn't seem to
"What do you mean, Director..." he trailed off as he took a closer look at Mash. "Mash! What are you wearing?! I would never have let you get something like that!"
Director Marie raised an eyebrow. "Mash had successfully become a Demi Servant, Romani. This is what she will look like now when channeling the Servant's powers."
"Right," replied Romani as his hologram started to glitch out. "I don't...maintain...connection...longer."
He then completely disappeared.
"Summoning?" asked Homura, finally preaching this subject as she looked at the Director.
"Yes, we will try to summon a Servant," replied Director Marie.
"And what are these Servants?"
The Director whirled around to look her in the eyes. "Don't tell me that you're one of the 10 public applicant who know nothing about Magecraft!?"
As this was probably her best chance to blend in, Homura nodded. Director Marie groaned, palming het head in clead displeasure.
"Servants are basically Heroes from history summoned into a container they were used for the Holy Grail War," explained Mash, in what was likely a simplified way for her.
Homura nodded to absentmindedly. She could not quite fathom what Mash had just said. I mean Heroes from the past? And we're are planning on summoning them?
"I think understand. How are we going to do this 'summoning'? and what are these?" she asked, showing the the tattoo like thing on the back of her hand.
Director Marie looked a bit irritated at how Mash explained it. "Those marks on your hand, they are Command Seals with them you are able to command your Servant to do anything, or boost their strength. That will have to do for now. We can do more in depth explanation in the future. We will have to rely on the FATE system, which has not been the most reliable in the past, but it's our only choice. Alright, Candidate 48, you will be performing the summonin ritual, here are the instructions," she said handing her a piece of paper from one of he pockets.
Homura read the paper and started the weird summoning chant. And instantly she could feel the magic behind it. Whatever this incantation it definitely had real power.
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended by three great words of power...Come forth, Guardian of the Scales!" yelled out Homura as finished the incantation, the summoning circle around her lit up in a bright white light.
And from the bright summoning circle emerged...two young looking girls. One had short orange hair, whilst the other had long green hair styled in twin tails. Both of them looked like they were just a bit older than Homura, herself, was.
"We have answered your summoning, and..." the orange haired girl trailed off as the green haired one scowled.
The orange haired girl turned to her companion and grabbed her hands. "C'mon Chika-chan, we should do the introduction together."
The green haired girl, Chika-chan, sighed aloud. "Fine..."
"We have answered your summoning, and we are HibiChika/Azumi No Isora," they said at the same time finishing it off differently.
Chika-chan glared at her friend, whilst the orange haired girl only grinned.
Thr Director, meanwhile, was staring at the two Servants with confusion on her face. "Two Servants in one container?! Just how? Well...I guess it can make sense with some Heroic Spirits it would make sense. Still...Just what are you two?"
The two Servants stared at Director Marie. "Master, who is this?" asked Chikagi.
It took Homura a few seconds to realize that the green haired girl was talking to her. "She's my boss."
Chika-chan nodded along to that.
Meanwhile, the short orange haired girl turned to look at Mash and the Director before she looked at me. Then she nudged her best friend. "I am Hibino Hibiki, and this is Katsuragi Chikagi. It's nice to meet you all."
Director Marie looked really confused by their names. "I can't say that I have heard of you two before...What about you, Mash? Candidate 48?"
Mash shook her head. "I don't know anything about them either, Director."
Director Marie's gaze turned to Homura, with hope that she might know something about the summoned Servants.
"I don't know most of those names from history either, Director," Homura replied. "However, I do know one of the names they said when they were summoned: Azumi No Isora."
"And who is that?" asked the Director.
Before Homura could get to explaining, Hibiki started jumping up and down excitedly. "Oh, oh, oh, can I? Can I explain?"
Homu reluctantly nodded a yes to the excited girl. "So, Chika-chan and I were chosen as the container for the sea god Auzmi no Isora. That means we're basically a god, isn't that cool?"
Director Marie stared at them with disbelief before she shook her head. "That is...I suppose the best explanation I'll get out of you...In an case why the two of you, and not just one?"
Hibiki shrugged in response whilst Chikagi grunted. "That's because Hibiki would have been far too reckless if she had just come by herself, therefore, I tagged along to make sure that didn't happen."
Director Marie looked at them with shock. "That's...not how that is supposed to work, and—nevermind we'll deal with this all later. Now what class are you two?"
"Alter Ego," responded Hibiki cheerfully.
"What?" asked Director Marie back. "That's not a standard class, at least Shielder is understandable, but what does Alter Ego even mean in this case?"
Both of the Servants shrugged in response. Director Marie looked like she was about to break her hand with how tightly she was holding them together.
She then sighed aloud. "We will deal with that later as well. For now, we'll just clean up this Singularity and then return to Chaldea."
As a result, they decided to explore the area until they come across someone who can perhaps help them.
And so, they stumbled across what looked like garden with multiple stone statues of people.
"I don't like this," said Hibiki as she stared at the lifelike statues of people, and Homura agreed with her on this, the statues had something to them made them seem like they were actual people.
"Let's leave," Homura muttered as she started to walk away.
However, at point she heard footsteps approaching them. And it seemed like Hibiki and Chikagi also heard it as they both turned to see a long purple haired woman approach them.
"Leaving so soon?" she asked mockingly. "But you would have have just made the perfect statue to my garden, especially you!" she said pointing at Homura. "So young. So fresh."
In response Homura took a step back in disgust. While Director Marie exclaimed in the back, "You're a Servant!"
The woman gave them a crazer look. "Indeed, I am Lancer, and you will be made into statues for my garden!"
"Medusa," muttered Chikagi as she realized just who they were dealing with. "You're Medusa."
"That's also correct. Now which of you will be made into a statue first?" she asked herself as she looked between them.
Then she settled on Hibiki. "You will do," she stated and then launched herself at the red head.
Thankfully, Hibiki was able to dodge the attack, but the woman, Medus, wasn't letting up, and she she kept attacking her, so Mash and Chikagi joined in the fight to help her.
They were nor faring well at all, with them having had no team work prior. They were getting distracted by the others in the fight, especially between Mash and the two Servants.
Homura went to stop time as the enemy woman with the scythe got closer to Mash. She shot at the insane woman and got Mash quickly out of the way. When time resumed the enemy Servant quickly blocked all the bullets and went back on the offensive again.
"This isn't going well," muttered Director Marie as she saw them struggle against the Servant. And while Hibiki and Chikagi were not struggling as badly, they were still not able to land many hits.
However, just then someone laughed behind jovially. "I'm that case, let me help you."
Then some sort of flaming giant wooden creature almost hit Medusa with the woman barely able to dodge it.
"Caster!" shouted the enemy Servant in anger as she dodged the creature. "Why are you interfering?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" replied the man snarkly, Homura turned around to see man in a blue cloak, and a hood, holding a staff. "I'd rather side with them than with you lot."
Seeing as the Servant was distracted, Homura decided to use that Noble Phantasm thing. Attack her with your Noble Phantasm, then sent out the command telepathically to Hibiki and Chikagi.
In instant, Homura could feel something change. A very large amount of magical energy started to gather around some sort of pearl that they were holding. And tori gates started to appear; with each passing gate the strength behind the pearl seemed to increase.
"Tidal Jewels that Unlock the Sea Boundary!" they yelled unleashing the massive amount of energy onto Medusa.
Medusa whirled around trying to dodge the attack; however, as she attempted to do just that, the giant from before engulfed in its flames.
She let out a loud shriek and soon after nothing more was heard from her. Meanwhile the person she named Caster grinned at them. "That went well."
"Who are you?" Homura asked as she prepared to go on the defensive against him.
He pointed a thumb to his chest. "The name's Cú Chulainn, Caster Class Servant, and the the last uncorrupted servant in this Holy Grail War…well aside from you gorgeous ladies." He gave Mash, Chikagi, and Hibiki each a wink, but nobody seemed to be taken by his act.
Hibiki looked at hin for a second before she shot a glare at him. "You can't have Chika-chan! She is mine!" she yelled as she wrapped her arms around the twin tailed girl much to the green haired girl's embarrassment.
He chuckled at that. "Of course, I respect relationships. I am not like Medb." The his gaze turned to Homura before he muttered, "Too young." And then he looked at Director Marie. "What about you beautiful?"
Her only response was glare directed at him. "Oh...getting shot down by three beautiful ladies. Man I today's just not my day, is it?"
"Whta do you want from us?" asked Homura, interrupting the irritating man.
"What I want is to finally be done with this Holy Grail War. I want to defeat Saber." He then pointed at Homura. "You're the Master here, aren't you? Well even though you're a little too young, I would like to forge a contract with you."
He then looked her in the eyes before he muttered in a low voice that Homura was barely able to make out, "You're awfully to have such a look in your eyes..."
"What does this contract of yours entail?" she asked not focusing on what he had just said.
Cú went back to grinning. "It's simple, you help me defeat Saber, and I'll help you achieve your goals."
"Is Saber the one possessing the Holy Grail?" asked Director Marie. As Cú nodded on confirmation, Director Marie sighed. "In that case, we'll accept this alliance."
"That's great and all, but I was not talking to you, I was referring to the Master here," he said pointing at Homura.
Homura glanced at the Director before she looked back at Cú. "I'll accept this contract."
He then held out his hand for a handshake and prompted her to take it. "Come on, we should make this official."
Homura warily took his hand and shook it, noting the strength behind his grip.
"Follow me," he told them, "I could tell that you're tired, and I just happen a place still somewhat standing where you can rest."
At first Homura wanted to decline this; however, she was indeed feeling quite tired from everything that had happened today and the others were looking somewhat tired, so she reluctantly started to follow him to what looked like what once was a school.
And Cú was indeed right, this appeared to be one of the few buildings still standing even if it had clearly seen better days.
Nevertheless, they were able to make it work for now. They each settled into a room made a bed with the materials in the former school and Cú put some runes around the area of the school, they looked quite different from the Witches Runes and Homura wad somewhat relieved about that.
Then she entered her room, used a Grief Seed on her Soul Gem to absorb all the accumulated corruption, and tried to get some sleep on the makeshift bed, she wanted this day behind her, so that can get back to Madoka as quickly as possible.
She was back where she had made her wish, except this time they had successfully managed to defeat Walpurgisnacht. However, even that was not the happy end that Homura envisioned for them. No, for only her and Madoka were still alive and that was only barely. They each had no more Grief Seeds, and their Soul Gems were almost fully corrupted, this was the end for both of them, in the end their fate looked to have been set from the very beginning.
Then Madoka reaches out to her and pressed a Grief Seed to her Soul Gem much to Homura's shock. "Madoka..." she muttered slowly.
"Homura-chan...I don't want to turn into a monster..." cried Madoka as the rain assaulted both of them. "Please...go back...don't let this be our fate..."
Homura could feel anguish from her heart as she looked at Madoka in the eyes. "I...promise Madoka!"
Then she looked at Madoka's Soul Gem. The girl in question only another, "Please..." and Homura quickly got out a gun and shot the Soul Gem. Instantly, Madoka went limp.
Homura awoke with a gasp, and the first things she noticed was her surroundings. It took her a few seconds to remember the events that leads her here, but when she did, she noticed something else as well. That she was crying, she had that nightmare again, and her Soul Gem was quite murky, she reached into her shield and used up the Grief Seed that she used yesterday, fully.
She then exited the room and was greeted by Chikagi doing some...dishes? Did she get them from the school?
Juts then, she realized how late she woke up, as she saw that others have already eaten. Both breakfast and lunch.
"Master," she said as soon as she spotted Homura walking out of the room, "you're awake. Here Hibiki made some breakfast for you...well breakfast and Lunch, but you slept through both of them..."
She handed Homura a plate of what looked like scrambled eggs. However, Homura also noticed something else in Chikagi's eyes. Concern for Homura.
"Is there something, Katsuragi Chikagi?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
Chikagi looked to the side then back at her before she sighed loudly. "I suppose it would be better for me to explain this...I saw what happened to that Madoka person that you obviously cared deeply about."
"How did you saw that?" she snarled in anger.
Chikagi replied to her in a calm voice, "I think it's called the dream cycle. A Master and Servant get to experience some parts of each other's life, at least that's how the Director explained it. I apologize if it was something sensitive to you."
Even though Homura was still feeling angry at Katsuragi Chikagi, she nevertheless, let herself relax a bit. "So, Hibino Hibiki also likely knows this?"
Chikagi nodded her head. "She does, in fact, she was quite concerned for you after she had that vision."
There was an awkward silence which followed the answer. Neither knew what to say to the other person in the room.
"This Madoka girl was someone really special to you, Master, wasn't she?" asked Chikagi breaking the silence as she went to prepare dishes for Hibiki to make.
Homura felt her heart twist at that. She didn't want to talk about Madoka right now, but she saw no way out, so she replied, "She is."
If Chikagi noticed the tense change, she didn't show it as she nodded to that. "I am glad about that. You must have loved this Madoka as much as I love Hibiki."
Homura felt her face flush red a bit. "Of course, she's my best friend, just like how Hibiki is your best friend."
"Right," said Chikagi with a small blush, "we should probably check on them, though, they have been gone for a long time now."
With that Homura agreed, so they left the school building and found Hibiki with Director Marie standing on the side of what looked like some sort of training between Caster and Mash.
"What exactly is going on here?" Homura asked Hibiki.
Hibiki's face lit up. "Oh, Master, Chika-chan. Caster is trying make Mash awaken the use of her Noble Phantasam, so far the results have been..."
"Less than satisfactory," finished Director Marie.
Hibiki laughed a bit nervously. "I was actually going to say that Mash had noticeably improved, but..."
She trailed off and Homura took to finish off what she would have most likely said, "She still can't use her Noble Phantasm."
Hibiki slowly nodded, whilst Chikagi scowled at her. "Hibiki, you don't be so kind to her, if she can't use her Noble Phantasm then she simply can't. That's that."
"C'mon, Chika-chan, that was really mean to Mash, who's trying her best," said Hibiki as she laid a hand on Chikagi's shoulder.
Homura paid them no mind and walked up to Mash. Caster raised an eyebrow at what she was doing, but nevertheless allowed her to do it.
Don't interfere, she sent an order to Hibiki and Chikagi. Both of the Servants sent worried looks at her, but it seemed like they would head this order of hers.
"Mash," she called out to the pink haired girl.
In response, Mash straightened up and whirled around to face Homura. "Senpai...why are you...?"
"Not important, Mash, just focus on Caster," she said to Mash. Then she looked at Caster in the eyes and motioned for him to attack them.
"Heh, you got guts lass," shouted Caster with a grin on his face. "Come, Wicker Man!"
The Shielder stiffened as the giant wooden beast emerged from the ground. "Senpai run! I can't protect you!"
Homura shook her head. "No. I am putting my life in your hands. If this can't force out your Noble Phantasm, then nothing else will."
The flaming wooden giant was getting closer and closer every second, meanwhile, Mash was fidgeting, awaiting the inevitable.
However, as she glanced behind to Homura, her expression changed into a determined one. Then she gritted her teeth and slammed her shield down just as the wooden giant was few meters away from them.
In an instant, some magical structure appeared around them, the Wicker Man slammed against it with all its might, but nothing seemed to be able to damage it.
And after a few more seconds of attacking it. Caster called the Wicker Man off. "Well that went well," said Caster with a grin, "you seem to know my methods well, Master."
"Let's just say that I know this method well," she replied to him with a deadpan look.
"That was incredible, Mash," said Director Marie as she rushed to them. "We can now utilize your Noble Phantasm."
Mash shifted slightly. "I...still don't the name of my Noble Phantasm, Director...I just felt like I needed to protect Senpai, and it appeared."
Director Marie shook her head. "That won't do, you will need a name for it. Hmmm...how about Lord Chaldeas?"
Mash hesitated for a second before she nodded. "I...like it, Director." Homura also nodded in agreement with the name.
Caster them walked up to them, his staff held in his left hand and with a grin on his face. "Well I think we should call this it for today, tomorrow we should be more than ready to defeat Saber and Archer."
Director Marie and Homura shared a look before both of them nodded in agreement.
"Great," called out Hibiki, "I'll go prepare food for you all then. And I think Mash deserves something special for the work she did today."
Instantly, Mash's face started to turn red and she stuttered out. "N-no that won't be necessary at all, Hibiki-san!"
However, the red head seemed really determined to make this happen so she asked Homura, Master can you convince her that it is, in fact, fully necessary?!
Homura sighed aloud at the request, but nevertheless, complied with it. "Mash, you have put a lot of effort in today, so it's right for you to get a gift."
The pink haired looked she was still about to argue against it, but after moment she acquiesced.
And so, they made their way back into the destroyed school, and in there Hibiki got to cooking up the food they had, which she finished quite quickly. She had also prepared some sort of desert for Mash. And during this time Doctor Romani was able to contact them again for a brief moment.
Since Homura was feeling quite tired she went to sleep in her room after she was done with eating and after Mash finished her desert; however, just as she was about to go to bed she heard a knock coming from her door. She went to open and on the other side stood Hibiki.
"Master, can I talk to you?" asked Hibiki as she entered Homura's makeshift room.
Homura didn't like talking either of her summoned Servants, they reminded her a bit of herself in Chikagi's case, and Madoka in Hibiki's case.
Perhaps because of how close as friends they were. But Hibiki was clearly anxious about something, so Homura agreed reluctantly.
The door behind her closed and Hibiki was the first to speak up, "Right, Master, I want you to know that if you need someone to talk about Madoka, then I will always be there for you."
Homura raised her eyebrows. "Really? Well, thank you for the offer, Hibino Hibiki, but there is simply no need."
"Really?" she asked. "Because I saw in that dream that you had to end her suffering..."
"No. I can still save Madoka....that dream was just something that might happen."
The red head didn't seem to be totally convinced, but she nodded along nonetheless. "Okay, then can I help you save her?"
"How exactly would you help me?"
Hibiki froze as it appeared to be quite obvious to Homura that the red head hadn't thought about this at all. "Eh...I'll think of a way, I promise Master."
Homura looked at her in her earnest eyes before she sighed aloud. "I appreciate your enthusiasm to help me; however, as I said before, it's not necessary."
Hibiki pouted at that. "Fine. But if you are to change your mind at anytime, I will always be there for you, Master."
"Of course," replied Homura as she nodded. Then Hibiki left the room, and Homura got out a Grief Seed from her stockpile.
Her supply of them were running quite low with only two more in her Shield, so she hoped that this situation would be over soon.
The next morning came quickly. Homura ate breakfast that Hibiki made for them, and so did Director Marie and Mash.
Hibiki and Chikagi refused to eat, stating that as Servants they required no food. Homura also wanted to say at that that she also didn't need to eat; however, she held back for a few reason.
The first one was that she still needed to keep this act up, so revealing something like that would have been quite suspicious. The second was that if only Servants needn't food, then it would her more suspicious. The third and final reason was that it would have been simply a waste of both food and magic if she didn't eat.
"What's the plan, Cú?" she asked after she finished eating the last thing on her plate. It was quite a delicious breakfast, probably the best she ate in a long time.
The Caster in the group grinned at her. "It's pretty simple. I fight and kill Archer, who is constantly guarding Saber, by myself, during this you all go and confront and exhaust Saber, and then I'll come in and kill them when they are exhausted."
With narrowed eyes Homura asked, "And what can you tell us about Saber? Do you, perchance, know her identity?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. The sword is quite distinct, Excalibur."
Director Marie gasped. "Are you saying that Saber is King Arthur himself?"
"Yes," he replied with a grin. "It is King Arthur who is guarding the Holy Grail which you need in that cavern beneath where that temple stood prior."
Homura nodded. "We'll follow your plan then, but how certain of your chances against Archer?"
He smirked. "I could kick that guy's ass in my sleep if I were a Lancer, but even in this class it will be child's work to take care of him."
"Alright, then we'll trust you, Cú."
So they started to make their way to the cavern; however, they quickly encountered issues, namely that someone was raining arrows down on them presumably Archer.
Cú groaned a bit. "He just doesn't know when to quit..." he then began to inscribe some rune on rocks from the ground. "You five go. I'll keep him distracted."
Homura nodded and motioned for them to move. Mash scooped her up in a carry while Hibili did the same with Director Marie and they, along with Chikagi, started to race to the cavern.
They could still see a few arrows being shot at them; however, the frequency of the shots decreased severely and they soon arrived at the cavern.
After a few minutes they arrived at the back of the cavern where Homura was feeling a la4ge amount of Magic coming from somewhere, and on a ridge high up at the end of the cavern stood Saber. Except something wasn't quite right...
Since when is King Arthur a woman? thought Homura exacerbation as she stared at the woman.
"I see...you're the stargazer from Chaldea," she slowly muttered as she looked down on them.
Director Marie stiffened. "How...how do you know that?"
Instead of answering her, Saber's attention went to Mash, in particularly her shield. "That shield..." she muttered, staring intently at it.
"I shall test that shield of yours, knight of the shield," Saber muttered as she got her sword ready and before Homura could even blink she appeared infront of them.
Luckily, Mash was able to react just fast enough to block the slash from Saber aimed at Homura.
Saber backed off, looking a bit pleased with Mash. "Well done knight of the shield. You should focus on defending those you care about. As long as your heart holds there will be nothing I could do to them."
Why does it feel like she is trying to teach her, rather than fight her? wondered Homura to herself as Saber went back to attacking.
With gritted teeth Mash was able to defend against the onslaught. Homura quickly looked at Hibiki and Chikagi and motioned for them to interfere as well.
"Tidal Jewels that Unlock the Sea Boundary!" they shouted, unleashing the Noble Phantasm on Saber from the side.
Saber quickly turned towards them with a sneer, and her sword started to glow. "Excalibur Morgan!" she shouted and and purple energy blast emerged from her sword.
The two blasts met in the middle, the showckwave nearly sending Homura flying back. The two blasts looked to be really even, in fact, they were so even that eventually both fizzled out at around the same time.
However, Saber didn't appear to be exhausted at all, instead they seemed like they could throw down a hundred more Excalibur blasts.
"I must congratulate you two," she said looking at Hibiki and Chikagi. "Not many are capable of standing up to Excalibur in its full might. However, this is the end for you two."
She the launched at Chikagi in such a speed the girl in question was barely able yo dodge. Homura quickly froze time and thankfully she did that quickly enough, for Saber was about to swing down het sword on Chikagi in such a way that Homura doubted the twin tailed girl would have been able to dodge.
As a result, Homura quickly dashed at Chikagi and got her put of the way and away from Saber before she resumed time again.
"Chika-chan!" cried out Hibiki on terror as Saber swung down her sword onto where Chikagi previously was.
Both of them stared at where Chikagi was in disbelief and shock, then their gaze found the green haired girl being held in a bridal carry in Homura's arms.
"Chika-chan!" cried out Hibiki in relief. As Saber stared Homura in the eyes.
"You have quite a unique power, Last Master of Chaldea," she muttered as her eyes sharpened. "However, that will not be enough to overcome me."
She appeared in blink of an eye infront of them again and swung down her sword, but this time it blocked by Mash's shield.
With a critical gaze at Mash, Saber took a step back. "I'll test next how well you can defend them against Excalibur."
Her sword pulsed in response and Homura felt large amount of Magic gather there. "Excalibur Morgan!" shouted Saber as she unleashed the blast at them.
Homura went to stop time; however, before she could do just that, Mahs stepped up. "Lord Chaldeas!"
The same defensive structure appeared infront of them again, this it eas standing to the full brunt of Saber's attack.
Mash gritted her teeth as took a step back. She looked like she was going to collapse from the intensity of the attack.
"Candidate 48! Use your Command Seals!" yelled the Director.
Homura nodded her head and said, "Mash, defend us against this attack!"
Mash nodded as what looked like bricks started to form in the structure that shield created, and after a few more seconds the attack subsided.
And then a familiar voice yelled, "Wicker Man!" The same flaming giant wooden creature emerged once again and Saber could not react fast enough, and was thus engulfed by its flames.
"Sorry for the delay, that bastard put up a lot more resistance," Cú remaked as the Wicker Man dissappeared and the dust settled.
To their shock Saber was still alive, though not standing anymore, and she was clearly quite injured by Cú attack.
"It seems like resolve simply wasn't enough. Of course—as long as I stand by lonesome, the end result will always be the same. Well done, knight of the shield, Stargazers from Chaldea and Child of Light you have bested me, this is my loss."
"Hold on," Cú said, the first of them to speak up. He took a step forward, his face flashing with anger. "Were you just testing us this whole time, Saber?!" he demanded. In response, Saber gave a short laugh.
"You insult me, Child of Light," she responded, lifting her head to look at the Caster with a glare. "I had every intention of killing you all," she continued. She then let the smile return to her face. "So I am quite glad that I could not."
That was not a response Homura expected from their foe, so she was on guard for whatever Saber planned to do next.
The sword woman's yellow eyes slowly met Homura's purple ones, she offered her a small smile, then she turned to address them all. "Remain prepared, Chaldea. Your journey has only just begun. The Grand Order...will start soon..." as she spoke her voice got weaker and she started to dissappear into motes of light.
"...batle concluded, Senpai," said Mash after a few seconds of staring where Saber formerly was.
"Grand Order?" muttered a clearly confused and agitated Director Marie. "How could she know about that?"
"Well, I am just as lost as you are," said Caster with a small grin. Then he looked down on his body as it, too, started to disappear. "Looks like I am fading away as well."
As he said that, Homura's eyes flew to him. "Can we do anything to help?"
He shrugged in response. "Nah, this is normal. Just try and make sure I'm a Lancer when you summon me next time, alright?"
With having said that, Caster completely vanished, just like how Saber did.
It felt oddly quiet now that he was no here. Meanwhile Director Marie still looked like she was pondering what Saber had just told them, then she turned to look at the four of them. "You've four performed...admirably. You should be proud," she told them.
Mash gave her an appreciateve look. "Thank you very much, Director," she replied.
"We'll continue to meet your expectations and exceed them, Director," Hibiki added cheerfully. Homura and Chikagi nodded to that.
Director Marie allowed herself to look back at the two, the confident smile of a leader back on her face. "I look forward to you two doing just that." she stated. She then turned and began walking towards the Grail. "All we need to do now is retrieve our prize, and the Singularity will begin to close."
There was suddenly loud claps coming from the other side of the cavern. "Well done, Olga Marie, Mash, Master Candidate 48, and two Heroic Spirits. But I am afraid that I'll be taking that."
"Lev?" shouted Director Marie in relief as she turned to look where the voice came from. On the other side stood a man who looked like he was in desperate need for a haircut.
"Wait, Lev's there?!" Doctor Roman chimed in, his hologram reappearing. "How is that possible? Did he Rayshift too?!" he demanded, but no one could provide an answer at the moment.
"Oh thank goodness you're here, Lev!" Director Marie cried. "This whole thing has been a mess! We've been fighting tooth and nail just to make it this far! But now that you're here, everything's going to be alright, right?"
This was not how Homura expected the Director to react with her previous actions, nevertheless, there was something that Homura did not like about that man.
It seemed like Hibiki also didn't like him, as she stepped between the Director and Lev. The man in question threw her an arrogant dismissive look.
"What are you doing, Alter Ego?" questioned Director Marie as she tried to get past her.
"He's not as he appears. He's very dangerous and not a human," replied Hibiki in full seriousness, something which Homura had never seen before.
Lev Lainur let out a loud laugh. "You're a quite clever Heroic Spirit, aren't you? And quite a smart one as well. Protecting that woman from the one who tried to kill her."
"Lev Lainur!" Romani's voice shouted, the hologram watching the proceedings with a shocked and furious expression. "Are you saying you were the one who made that explosion?!"
"Ugh, and of course there's you, Romani." Lev Lainur responded, looking over to the hologram. "Worthless slacker. You just couldn't do your job and come to the Command Room when asked, could you? Yes, you imbecile, it was I."
"Why?" choked out Director Marie. "Why did you do this Lev?"
He laughed at her. "Because I hate humans. I hate every single thing about you, every single actions that you take in your miserable lives!"
"What are you, if you're claiming to be not a human?" asked Homura as she glared at the man.
He only laughed in response. "You need not concern yourself with that, when there's something far more crucial to you. Namely that Director of yours!"
His gaze then turned to Director Marie. "Olga Marie Animusphere have you not realized it yet?"
"What are you talking about?" she cried out.
Olga Marie Animusphere...you are dead!"
Director Marie froze in place as she slowly muttered out, "What? What...what do you mean?"
"It's simple, your body no longer exists, it was destroyed by the bomb. You never had any proficiency for Rayshifting, why did you think you suddenly acquired it? You're dead Olga Marie! Only your consciousness is here."
"No! That can't be! Romani, surely you have found my body by now?!"
The hologram of Romani shifted a bit. "I am afraid that he's likely right, Director. We were not able to find any traces of your body in the Command Room. I tried contacting the Clock Tower to maybe bring someone in quickly to make a puppet body for you, but so far we were not able to connect with them."
"You will not be able to get any call out. Romani, for the entire human race is dead. Humanity has been incinerated, there's nothing left of them on the planet's surface!"
Humanity has...has been incinerated? Does that...does that mean that Madoka is dead? No that can't be the case! He's lying! He could not have destroyed all of Humanity!
"Who are you? How did you do that?!" Homura asked as she got ready for a confrontation with the 'man'.
"I am Lev Lainur Flauros, I have been sent into the year 2016 in order to make sure the human race has been successfully disposssed," he said with a smirk on his face.
"Why?" asked Hibiki as she glared at Lev Lainur Flauros. "Why did you do this?"
"Humanity failed not because of an evolutionary dead end, nor because of wars with other races, but because of its sheer meaninglessness and because of your own incompetence—you have lost the grace of our King!" ranted the man, Lev Lainur Flauros with a laugh. "That's the only reason I needed, but enough about that. It's time for you to meet your end Olga Marie Animusphere."
As he said that the giant replica of earth that Homura remembered calling CHALDEAS appeared behind Lev Lainur Flauros. He lifted his hand and sent Hibiki flying backwards, then Director Marie started levitating towards it.
"No...! No, you can't—!" she shouted, to which Lev Lainur Flauros could only laugh again.
"Why, isn't this what you wanted as well?!" he asked mockingly. "You wanted to go back to Chaldea, didn't you?! Well, now you can! With CHLADEAS right here, you'll always be part of Chaldea! You'll only be in eternal torture as it dissolves you on a molecular level, crushing you into nothing with all the force of a black hole! You will experience infinite death until the end of time!"
Homura's eyes widened at what Lev Lainur had just said.
"No! No! I don't want to die!" yelled Marie as she was dragged towards CHALDEAS.
Homura looked down on her shield and she quickly acted without thinking much; she froze time and rushed to where Director Marie was floating, and put her inside her shield.
In truth, she didn't fully know how this would work, but she was willing to gamble on it, if Director Marie got to survive and even if she didn't, it would be far better than whatever fate Lev Lainur Flauros had for her.
Then she shot at Lev Lainur Flauros, even if she knew that it would most likely not do much.
When she resumed time, Lainur coughed up a bit of blood and stared at where Director Marie was. The silence was consuming, no one knew what to say for the moment, that was till Lev's eyes wandered down to them.
"Now, where could you have put the good Director, I wonder..." he muttered out in a low voice.
"Well we don't have her, maybe you misplaced her somewhere?" asked Hibiki with a small grin, she looked like she was feeling reasured that the Director was not in CHALDEAS, even if she herself was also not aware how Director Marie was saved.
Lainur's eyes slowly slid over to Hibiki as he analyzed her more throughly than before, then all of a sudden he took a step back...almost in fear. "The Holy Scripture Triten...?"
Hibiki stiffened at that. Homura, didn't fully understand what Lainur was saying, but if he thought that it was Hibiki that did it, it was all the better for her.
He quickly continued, "It doesn't matter, even if you saved her. Humanity still has been incinerated, there's nothing that you can do. So, I suggest that you use the last remaining amount of time you will have in Chaldea wisely, and not waste it on trying to undo the work of our King."
With that said, the man disappeared, and the cavern began to shake with rocks falling down around them.
"Doctor Romani, transport us out now!" shouted Homura as rock started to fall down and the cavern started to shake.
"I am trying to do that! Just...we have to wait a couple of seconds more!" he yelled as he typed away, shouting orders to others.
There was quite a lot of noise coming from their connection while the cavern collapsed around us till a bright light enveloped them.
Homura awoke with a groan. Everything was too bright around her and she could barely make out anything.
"Senpai! You're awake!" shouted a familiar voice in relief as Homura tried to stand up.
She also heard other voices speaking next to Mash in excitement, then Homura felt someone hugging her tight.
"Master! We're so worried about you! You were in a coma for a close to three weeks, we feared that you would never wake up," cried the red head girl, Hibiki into her shoulder as she hugged Homura even tighter.
"Speak for yourself," muttered another familiar voice snarkly; it was the voice of Chikagi. "I was sure that Master would be fine."
"Are you sure about, Katsuragi-san? I distinctively remember you constantly checking in on Senpai everyday?" wondered Mash aloud.
At that point Homura's eyes adjusted to the light and she could make out Chikagi's blushing face.
"Well, you're mistaken in that!" she grumled at Mash with humph and turned away.
It felt weird to have people worry so much about her other than Madoka, so she tried to push Hibiki off her. However, the girl I'm question, held right to her.
"Can you let me go?" she asked as she struggled against her Severant's strength.
The red head reluctantly did, and when Homura saw the state of her Soul Gem, she nearly had a heart attack. It was almost fully black.
She quickly retrieved her second to last Grief Seed from her shield and used it on her Soul Gem. The corruption quickly seeped into the Grief Seed, using it up completely and making her Soul Gem bright again.
Hibiki sent an inquisitive look at what she did, her gaze switching between looking at the Grief Seed and Homura's Soul Gem, but she didn't communicate anything.
"Senpai," said Mash, "there's someone who would like to meet you. I get if you currently don't have the energy to go, but I thought that I should inform you."
"No, it's fine," answered Homura, shaking her head. "I'd rather get it over with."
Mash nodded in response and started to lead Homura to wherever this meeting with this unknown person would be held. They went down the now mostly cleaned up corridor till they Mash entered a door.
"Ah, Akemi Homura, it's good to see that you're awake," said a very beautiful woman in her early thirties sitting in a chair.
The woman dressed like she stumbled out of the 15th century. It was probably one of the weirdest outfit Homura had seen in her life, if she hadn't counted some Magical Girl ones. She also had some weird arm accessory on her left arm and was holding what appeared to be a staff.
"Now can you tell us how you saved Director Marie? I have managed to prepare a body for her should you have her spirit, but in case you don't, I can re-use it for something else."
"I...I put her in my shield," answered Homura. "I am not sure if she fine there, though. Now can you tell me who you are?"
The woman nodded her head, sneaking a glance at the shield in question, then she replied, "You can call me da Vinci. I am a Servant that Chaldea summoned prior to the First Order and I am also Chaldea's chief technician."
"Da Vinci...like Leonardo da Vinci?" Homura asked in shock. Wait, actually now that I am looking closer at her, something about her look seems really familiar...
"Yes, and in case you're wondering why I am looking like this...well let's just say that when I was summoned, I modeled myself a new body based on my most famous work."
The Mona Lisa...so that's where I was familiar with her appearance, thought Homura as she suddenly where she knew that look.
"But enough about me..." trailed off da Vinci as she indicated for Homura to follow her. "We need to see to Director Olga. The longer she is without her body the worse our chances are."
Homura nodded and went to follow her, the other people also moved to do the same; however, da Vinci shook her head. "It would be better if there was only one Spirit in the room. And while with Mash it is doubtful whether she would influence it, I'd rather not test it."
The three girls nodded, and stayed behind ad Homura started to follow da Vinci again until they reached a room, da Vinci motioned for her to enter and put a listening in her hand.
Reluctantly, Homura put the device on her head and entered the room. It a very sterile looking room with barely anything in it...other than the weird replica body of Director Marie. Homura could immediately tell that there was nothing in the body, and it felt seeing something that was supposed to be human with nothing there; it almost felt like she was staring at the body of a Magical Girl who had lost their Soul Gem.
"I have timkered with the FATE system while you were out, so you should just release her when I say, okay?"
"Understood," replied Homura with a nod at da Vinci. The woman then started to type away at her computer, the room started to glow in a bright shade of blue.
"Now release the Spirit," commanded da Vinci. Homura reached into her shield and and got the spirit out.
Instantly the room turned into a shade of red as everything started to blare. Homura, herself, let out a gasp as she felt like she being torn in half and fused with something else.
However, just as quickly as the sensation appeared it disappeared just as quickly.
"And we're done with your part. I'll do everything else, for now you can go an lie down to rest on your room. But before that, Romani wanted to have a talk with you tomorrow."
With a exhausted gaze, Homura looked at da Vinci and nodded. Them she proceeded to go into into her room and promptly passed out on the bed.
The next day arrived very quickly, and she was glad to see Director Marie up when she entered the Command Room.
"Candidate 48," the Director muttered slowly as she watched her enter. "I suppose that I should thank you for saving me. I could not imagine what it would have been like to be in CHALDEAS."
Homura only nodded to that, not quite sure how she should react. She then turned to the others in the room. Only Director Marie, Doctor Romani, da Vinci, Mash, her Servants and that weird creature, Fou, were present for this talk.
It seemed this was going to be a private talk about what they had just learnt. Director Marie cleared her throat. "We will begin this talk with confirming what Lev had told us in the cavern. To the best of our knowledge, Humanity is dead. We are the last survivors."
Homura's heart began to ache about her not being able to protect again. However, she quickly pushed that away. She could not afford to spiral away when Madoka could still be saved. "Lev Lainur Flauros said that we could try to undo this, didn't he?"
Director Marie grimaced. "He did..."
At that Homura responded, "In which case, I'll try to undo this whole thing."
"Good," muttered the Director as she relaxed a bit. "It's good that you haven't given in to depression at hearing the confirmation to what had Lev said. But there's something else that need be discussed, namely about you, Akemi Homura."
The girl in question, stood straight up. This was the first time the Director had addressed her with her real name, most of the time it was either Master Candidate 48 or just Candidate 48. Whatever the Director was about to talk about, Homura was not looking forward to it.
The Director glanced at da Vinci and motioned for her to talk.
"Would you mind telling us how exactly you were able to gain access into Chaldea?" asked da Vinci.
Homura raised her eyebrows. "Wasn't I whitin the system of yours? Doctor Romani informed that I was selected as a candidate."
The Mona Lisa lookalike shook her head. "Oh far from it. You were inserted into it haphazardly, almost like someone wanted that to he discovered. In fact, under normal circumstances it would have been quite easy to uncover it. So, I ask again what was your purpose here? Did you perhaps come here to steal technology, or was it to spy on us?"
"Senpai wouldn't do that!" yelled Mash in Homura's defense. "And—"
Homura raised her hand, cutting Mash off. "While I appreciate you defending me, Mash, there is no need, because everything she said up to a certain point is true. While, I had not plans to do any of those things, I was also not someone who signed up to join Chaldea."
Mash's eyes widened at that, whilst Hibiki and Chikagi's expressions hardened.
"I was kidnapped here against my will," continued Homura, "all I received about this situation came in the form of this letter that I found when I woke up here."
She got the letter out of her pocket and laid it down on the table. Doctor Romani's eyes widened when he saw and who the sender was while da Vinci was gaping as she silently read it.
"Are you implying that you were...you were sent here by Lord Zelretch?" asked a shocked Marie. "Do you think we're idiots—"
"Director," da Vinci interrupted her. "I think it would be best to let her try to prove her claims, rather than going straight to accusing her.
"First, what is this secret of yours that the letter references?
Homura straightened up. Whilst there was plenty of things she could do to get out of revealing what she is, ultimately all had the same problem, namely that if this first singularity was any indicator, then she'd need to use her Magical Girl abilities, plus there was also the fact that she barely had anymore Grief Seeds at the moment.
"It's complicated to answer...but I am a Magical Girl..." she then detransformed into her school uniform.
Marie blinked at what she said in confusion. She was likely not aware what the term Magical Girl even meant, so it was expected of her too look puzzled by what she said.
What was not expected was that Romani was now staring at her in awe. "A real Magical Girl? Like Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura?"
Why do you know those anime?
"Yes...but the life of is far less glamours than in anime."
"Why?" asked Chikagi.
Homura turned to her and raised her eyebrows.
"Why is it less glamorous? Doesn't anime usually depict it as a pretty carefree thing all things consider?" the twin tailed girl asked.
The Magical Girl took a deep breath. "When we make a contract to become Magical Girls—"
"How do you make these contracts?" interrupted da Vinci.
Homura cast an irritated look at her. "A creature by the name of Kyubey comes up to Girls who have the potential to Magical Girls and offers them a wish."
"Any wish?" asked Director Marie with her eyebrows raised in doubt.
"Yes, any wish, in return all it asks of us is to forever wage a struggle against 'Witches'."
"Witches..." muttered the Director. "What are they?"
"They are monsters that dwell within their own dimensions called labyrinths and lure humans to themselves to consume them. Many suicides in the world are caused by Witches," answered Homura.
"And how strong are these 'Witches' exactly?" asked Romani
"The average life expectancy of a Magical Girl is a month," replied Homura as she turned to face Romani.
The Doctor winced at that. "Only a month...that's..."
"Short, yes, I know."
"But, Senpai, you don't seem to be someone who's new to this," protested Mash.
"That's because I am not. While the average life expectancy is low, those that make it past the one month, are far more likely to survive Witches after that point. I am one of those Magical Girls, we're usually called Veterans."
Mash nodded along silently, while da Vinci and Director Marie exchanged a look.
"Elaborate on the dimensions part. What exactly did you mean by that?" ordered Director Marie.
Homura sighed aloud. "I am not sure how you want me to, but I suppose I could expand on a few things. These dimensions are more like pocket dimensions that are overlayed on the real world. Inside the Witch's rules are reality."
"So, these labyrinth are basically Reality Marbles..." murmured Director Marie.
"That appears to be the case," replied da Vinci with a soft sigh. "Can you tell us more about this contract. What happens when you make one? What other consequences are there?"
"When we make a contract, Kyubey reaches into out bodies and rips out our Soul, then it turns them into this," she said showing them her Soul Gem in the ring form. "This is a Soul Gem, it is where the Souls of the Magical Girl resides."
Romani had a horrified look on his face as Homura explained what happens to the Magical Girls. Meanwhile, da Vinci and Director Marie appeared to be also in shock; however, they were noticeably better at managing their emotions.
"You're...you are saying that this 'Kyubey' is a demon that took your Soul in exchange for a Wish?" he asked after a moment of silence.
Homura scoffed at that. "A demon would be much easier to deal with. No, Kyubey is an alien hive mind, not a demon."
"An extra terrestrial lifeform...?" muttered Director Marie in a worried tone.
"Doctor Romani, could this be the cause for why Senpai was unconscious for so long?" asked Mash.
The Doctor in question sighed. "It could certainly be the case." He sent a look at both Director Marie and da Vinci, the two of them nodded in return. "We'll need to address that in future, for now I think we should be finished unless, someone has another question."
"I do have one," said da Vinci. "Is there anything else?" asked da Vinci holding her right hand to her chin, she appeared to be deep in thoughts about what Homura explained. "I have a feeling that's not the only thing it keeps a secret from the Magical Girls."
Homura hesitated for a moment, but she had already agreed on revealing everything, and it wasn't like there was anything bad that could happen to them with this revelation, unlike with Magical Girls. The worst thing could only really happen to her.
"Indeed, there's one other thing that Kyubey leaves out. Namely when the Soul Gem gets full with grief, then the Magical Girl will become into the monster that she had hunted up to that point. The Magical Girl will transform into a Witch."
"So...you will..." muttered Mash in shock as she stared at her.
"Yes, one day I'll, too, turn into a Witch once my Soul Gems fills fully with corruption. It's the destiny of all Magical Girls."
Homura expected various reactions from the assembled people. Mainly shock, terror, and perhaps even hate. And while those emotions (minus hate) did appear, there was also another emotion that Homura was not expecting at all.
Worry. Everyone looked like they were worried about her. It was not an emotion that Homura ever expected from people. Even Director Marie, who Homura expected to very detached, looked really concerned about her.
"Master!" cried out Hibiki, she was the first one to speak up after what Homura had told them. The red head hugged Homura close, with the Magical Girl stiffening at the embrace, not expecting it at all. "That's terrible! Is there truly nothing that could be done?! I don't want you to die!"
She's really just like her, just like Mado—No I cannot think about Madoka right now!
Homura tried to shaked the red head off her; however, she was holding her super tightly, and her strength as a Servant far eclipsed Homura's own, even as a Magical Girl.
Chikagi seemed to have taken a pity on Homura, so she said to Hibiki, "Alright, Hibiki I think that's enough."
"But, but..." muttered Hibiki with tears forming in her eyes, "Master is going to die..."
Chikagi scoffed. "Are you really just going to give up like that? Come on Hibiki, Master needs us at the moment! I am sure that we will be able to do something about that grief!"
Hibiki eyes cleared up, then she smiled at Chikagi. "You're right, Chika-chan! Master needs me to be there for her, and so I will!"
The red head then proceeded to embrace Chikagi in a hug much to the girl's embarrassment and annoyance. Nevertheless, the green haired girl didn't try to push her away, instead she seemed to actually like the hug.
They are such a good friends...I...I wish that Madoka and I can get that close after I am done with this mess and save her.
"Can you give me one of those Grief Seeds to examine?" asked da Vinci suddenly.
As Homura's inquisitive look she elaborated. "I may be able to develop something that could help get rid of that corruption in the Soul Gem."
"Could you really develop something like that?" Homura's disbelief was quite evident on her tone. She could not think—no believe that it could be this easy to get out the corruption from her Soul Gem.
"Well, I am not known as the Universal Genius for nothing. While this could be quite hard, I am sure that I could develop a Mystic Code that does the job."
With some reluctance, Homura, handed her one of the used Grief Seed. While she would have liked to hand over one that was clean, she still, ultimately, had to worry about herself as well.
Nevertheless, she wasn't just going to not mention that part, so she said to da Vinci. "Be careful about it. It's pretty corrupted and in a few days is bound to hatch into a Witch."
Da Vinci hummed. "I see. Now let's get to my next question. What exactly can you do with these 'Magical Girls' powers?"
That was not something Homura wanted to reveal either. However, it would probably be better to do that in case she needs to use her abilities in the future. "I can stop time with my shield. Anyone I touch will also be able to move in frozen time."
Director Marie gawked at what she said. "...you...can...you can utilize a part of the Kaleidoscope?"
"I don't know what that is," replied Homura.
Director Marie stared at her in shock before she shook her head angrily. "Just show it to me."
Homura transformed back into her Magical Girl fit, and she instructed everyone to hold hands. Then she froze time.
"Woah..." muttered Hibiki as she watched the the world come to a standstill. "What happens if I am to drop something, Master?"
"It will get frozen as soon as you let go of the object," was the reply to Hibiki's question.
Da Vinci hummed to herself. "Let's test that." She then proceeded to get out a small hammer from her outfit and dropped it.
It froze in place as soon as da Vinci was no longer touching it.
"Oh my god! This is so cool, right Chika-chan?" squealed Hibiki, whilst nudging her partner as she inspected the frozen hammer in the air.
"Stop calling me that! And well it's...certainly interesting," replied Chikagi, trying to act cool infront of Hibiki, but Homura could tell that the twin tailed girl was also quite interested in her time stopping abilities.
Homura waited for a few more seconds before she grabbed the hammer and allowed time to flow again. "Keeping that up causes my Soul Gem to corrupt at a faster rate, so I'd rather not keep it for longer."
Da Vinci nodded and took back the hammer. "I see," she said, then she turned to Romani. "This might be the anomalous readings we were getting from the Singularity, at first we thought it was just some white noise, it was our first time exploring a Singularity like that, but this could also explain it."
Director Marie glanced at both of them. "We'll see to that later as well." She then turned to look at Homura. "Now, do you have any questions of your own?"
"One, actually," replied Homura, "can you tell me who exactly this Zelretch person is? While your reactions indicated that he is a...powerful and important person, I still have no idea who he is, nor what him being this Wizard-Marshall entails."
Director Marie sighed loudly. "I suppose I can explain given that he directly interfered with you. Lord Zelretch is one of the Leaders of the Mage's Association, but that is not all, he is also one of the only known True Magicians to exist."
"And a True Magic is...?" Homura prompted her to explain.
"It's mystery of a completely different kind to Magecraft, it brings about results which can never be achieved by civilization of our era. For example, do you think that the current civilization could create matter out of nothing?"
Homura shook her head in response. "Of course not, that would violate the law of conservation of energy in a closed system."
Director Marie looked somewhat impressed by what she said. "Correct, due to that law, it is unlikely that creating something out of nothing will ever be possible, thus it will remain in the realm of True Magic. And that's what True Magic really is and will forever be: Miracles that can bring the impossible to reality."
The black haired girl slowly nodded to it. "I understand...and what exactly can this Zelretch person do?"
"Lord Zelretch is the master of the Second True Magic, the Kaleidoscope otherwise known as the Operation of Parallel Worlds."
Homura froze as soon as the words 'Operation of Parallel Worlds' left the Director's mouth.
If this Zelretch can do something like that...why didn't he personally try to sort this mess out? Why did he chose me?
However, she didn't have much time to dwell on this, as
"There's also something more that we need to discuss, namely the interaction between Rayshifting and this Soul Gem of yours," said Romani.
At Homura's quizzical look, Romani continued, "The Rayshifting program was not designed for such cases with your Soul being outside your body. Therefore, we will have to make some adjustments to it, which will require quite a bit of time."
"In any case," muttered the Director, "we should go rest after this talk. I'll inform you tomorrow personally on what our future plans are."
As she was quite tired from everything, Homura nodded, and prepared to go into her room, lie down and think about everything she had just learnt.
"Senpai," called out Mash as Homura went to leave. The Magical Girl turned to look at her. "Would you like to play with us a few games? We have that we could use to pass time until Chaldea is repaired."
Homura hesitated; however, Hibiki quickly nudged her on the side. "C'mon Master, it beats spending time alone in your room."
While that was something Homura agreed with, she still wanted to be alone to process everything that had just happened to her. However, Hibiki started to drag her along, and she reluctantly let Hibiki do that.
I hope that...that this will be over soon, so that I can go back to Madoka...I already miss her so much...I even miss Mitakihara...