Renascence: A Homura Quest

The ice cream is soon exhausted, but the five of you sit there for a while longer, enjoying the conversation and company. You are not entirely certain if it's a good use of your time, strictly speaking, but you do know that times like these, with all of your friends together and happy, are a precious, precious thing. You have gone through many timelines where you never once had an experience like this, and you know to cherish it.

All good things must pass eventually, however, and eventually it's Madoka who speaks up, "I, ah…" She yawns, "...I think I might be about ready to go home. This was fun, but I'm really tired."

Kyouko, who's been looking bored for a while, stretches, "Yeah, I was gonna say something soon if you didn't. Sitting around this long isn't really my style. Had fun, though. Maybe do it again sometime?"

Mami nods, smiling in her usual, gentle way, "Yes, that sounds like a good idea. It's more fun, with a team. Maybe next time, we could all party up. It seems like there are some very good human players."

You all nod your agreement, save Sayaka, who rolls her eyes at the choice of words, "We're human players too, you know?"

There is a moment of silence, before Madoka gently pats her on the shoulder, "We know, Sayaka-chan, but...most of us aren't exactly normal, either."

Sayaka sighs, but leaves it be for the moment, "Well, regardless of that, I'd be up for another game some time, too; my fifteen seconds of combat seemed fun. Maybe next time, I'll get to actually play for a while."

With it clear that you're all interested in doing this, or something similar, again, you begin standing and saying your goodbyes.

"So, Ribbons, what're you getting up to after this?"

She doesn't seem curious; rather, she seems to be hoping for a particular answer--perhaps "nothing." You ponder this for a few moments.

'It's Saturday, March 19th. Nothing especially important happens today, that I can--' Your thoughts grind to a halt, as you remember the bizarre vision you had before, of the girl named Maria. She had allowed you to speak with Kyouko again, before. It could have just been a hallucination, of course, except...you tend to hallucinate things occuring in the world around you, not have sudden visions of other places altogether. You also don't construct memories in that way.

'She said to go to the docks on Saturday. It can't hurt much, to go have a look around.'

Turning your focus back to Kyouko, you answer, "I heard about something interesting near the docks. It's probably nothing, but I'm going to have a look around."

She hums at that, "The docks, huh, I guess…" She trails off, eyes darting in Mami's direction, "...I'll leave you to it, then. Hope you find what you're looking for, Ribbons!"

Mami waves, "Thanks for inviting us, Homura-san! We'll see you later!"

With that, they depart, leaving you with Sayaka and Madoka.

Your blue-haired friend looks back and and forth between the two of you, "...um...I'll…go with...uh…"

Madoka speaks up, smiling, "Don't worry about it, Sayaka-can. I'm just going home, but Homura-chan's probably heading into something dangerous again. You should go with her."

Sayaka bites her lip, still looking conflicted, "But, Homura's a Puella Magus, and you're not yet--she can handle whatever it is, probably. You, though…"

You nod your agreement, "Sayaka's right. You'll be in danger if you go alone--aside from Witches, which hopefully won't be an issue, you're also at risk from humans. You don't have a ride back, after all."

She smiles weakly, hands rising in front of her, palms up, "Thanks for worrying about me, Homura-chan, but I can take care of myself. You don't need to--"

You trade looks with Sayaka, exchanging nods. Sayaka cuts Madoka off, "Nope! I'm walking you home. Homura can call me if she needs help."

You...actually can't, now that you think about it. You don't remark on it, but Sayaka sees your expression, then reaches into her pocket and pulls something out, handing it to you.

It's the box containing the phone you bought at the electronics store.

She looks a bit sheepish, "You left it lying in your room. Meant to hand it to you before we left, but I kinda forgot. Still try to remember it--it's important to be able to get in touch, you know?"

You nod, "I'll make sure I don't forget again. See you soon, Sayaka, Madoka."

With that, you depart the ice cream shop, and begin hurrying north, to the docks.

The Mitakihara docks are as grandiose as the city itself; serving as the primary means of import and export for the city, they also have played host to massive barges delivering great statues and building pieces, ornate cruise liners, and tremendous battleships (although most of those make landfall further to the east, at the U.S. Military Base).

What truly sets Mitakihara's docks apart from those of other cities, however, is that a large section of them was long ago set aside as a Maritime Museum. They have almost a dozen Museum Ships, both civilian and military, that they work hard to maintain and display. These ships are one of Mitakihara's many tourist attractions, and a significant source of income for the city (although maintenance costs are apparently a long-standing concern).

As tourist attractions, though, you find it unlikely that you will find anything of note there--no, you head to the unused portions of the docks, expecting to find something and someone hidden amongst the incoming crates and barrels, or perhaps to spot some fantastical ship making landfall. You do not find any such things, though, and eventually resort to checking the Maritime Museum.

You find what you expect. There are eleven ships, nearly filling the twelve available slots. Five are military vessels. The other six are historical civilian vessels. As the plaques explain, these ships were all sunken, neglected, or otherwise ruined before being brought to the Mitakihara Docks, where they were repaired and put in place as Museum Ships.

You find yourself smiling, as you step on board Maya. She was recovered several years ago, and brought here for repair--admittedly, much of the original ship was replaced for the sake of those repairs, but the ability to salvage her at all was an impressive feat of modern technology.

Of course, no one besides you had ever seen Maya return to the battlefield, but the two of you had fought together many times over the years. She was a good ship, and took well to enchantment, just as the other vessels from the Museum did. You would have to remember to pick her up before the battle with Walpurgisnacht--she would either be saved from ruin, or die nobly in battle for the sake of Mitakihara.

You think she would be happy to go down that way, if she were able to feel.

As you walk the familiar halls, though, you spot something distinctly out of place--a single, shining, golden butterfly.

You are quick to realize the implication, and approach it. It flies towards you, only to slip by. You follow, and it leads you swiftly out of Maya, back onto the docks.

From there, it leads you west, away from the docks themselves and down onto Mitakihara's beaches. You follow swiftly, ignoring the shouts and objections of the bystanders you have to push your way past.

Eventually, it reaches the western edge of the beach, where soft sands give way to a hard wall of stone, only to soar inland a short ways, before vanishing into the cliff face.

You approach the point where it disappeared, and find a small opening--a cave. You doubt an adult could fit into this, but you can do so with ease, and you can always breaks use magic to break free if you become stuck.

You slip inside, and find the butterfly waiting for you. It flies slowly now, leading you deeper and deeper inside.

Eventually, the path widens, and you find yourself it surprisingly well lit. Looking up, you find that lights have been anchored to the ceiling--battery powered, but a simple light bulb can be kept on for months with a battery of reasonable size.

You follow the lights, and the butterfly, deeper inside. The path splits many times--sometimes, the alternate paths are lit, but not always. The butterfly always shows you the correct path, though, and soon you find yourself walking towards what appears to be a large, open cavern.

You step through the door, and find your suspicions proven right. The cavern you find yourself in is tremendous--so much so, that you struggle to grasp the scale, at first.

That is, until you identify the massive object near the far right wall.

There is a battleship in here. It's run aground, but you can see that there is a massive region of water just passed it--there must be an underwater entrance to the cavern. You're not sure how that could explain the presence of anything besides a submarine, however.

The butterfly flies straight to the ship, unsurprisingly, and you follow. As it reaches it, however, it slowly fades out of existence. A hallucination, perhaps, but more likely just something conjured up.

Now that you are closer, and have a moment to think, you realize that this ship is familiar. Anyone from Japan would recognize this ship, after all.

Yamato.