Puella Magi Systema Fractus, or A Practical Guide To Fixing Everything (PMAS/APGTE)

Your name is Sabrina, just Sabrina, and yesterday was one hell of a day. You don't mean that in the 'exiting' way, no, you mean that the last day felt like it lasted months, mainly due to a frustrating and unproductive conversation with one of the most unpleasant magical girls you've ever met.

But that's behind you, now. Sayaka doesn't have Rionna's power, the shades have been released as per their request, and Sayaka doesn't know about the witchbomb. It's not the best possible scenario, but you can't say you're unhappy with it.

You've just finished eating breakfast with Mami, and you've started the daily walk to school when you're rudely interrupted.

"Sabrina!" cries a telepathic voice, one you recognize as Kirika Kure. "Get over here, quick! Oriko's freaking out, and- ah fuck, no, Oriko, you like that teacup, fuck fuck fuck-"

You look up, eyes wide. "Did you-"

"I heard it," says Mami. You blink, and Homura's standing in front of you, hand on your shoulder, the world turned grey. "I assume we should head to the Kure residence as quickly as possible?" she says. You nod, and the usual proceedings follow; Mami's ribbons, grief jet, that old song and dance, and within a minutes you're landing on one of Oriko's rose bushes, a dwindling species.

You step out, collapsing the jet once Homura and Mami are on solid ground, and stop in front of the door.

"I don't think there's anyone else in there," you say. "But we should be careful anyway. If Oriko's freaking out, she may end up hurting one of us by accident."

Homura exhales sharply through her nose at the last word, coming close to a laugh, taking a pistol out of her shield and pointing it at the door. "After you," she says.

You push the door open, ready to form a wall of grief in front of your soul gem if an orb comes shooting towards you, but no threat appears. The house is silent, unmoving, and you relax slightly. Moving further inside, you come to the living room to find Oriko and Kirika on one of the couches. Kirika has her arms around Oriko, which would be adorable if not for how violently it seems Oriko was struggling. Kirika is struggling to hold Oriko's arms to her side, though the free arm scratching at her own face is a good indicator of why. You step over shards of ceramic, moving closer and closer to the scene unfolding.

"Kirika wasn't kidding," you say, staring at Oriko's face. "She's really freaking out."

"You two restrain Oriko," says Homura. "I'll stay back, in case it's a trap."

You don't think it is, personally, but her suggestion is a sound one so you nod your head. Once Homura's near the back of the room, pistol at the ready, and Mami's ribbons are ready to restrain Oriko you nod once more and watch the world turn once more.

"Oriko, calm down, Sabrina will- Sabrina!" Kirika turns towards you, face brightening, which has the unfortunate effect of loosening her grip on her flailing girlfriend.

But Oriko doesn't take the chance to break free. She doesn't do anything, in fact.

Her screaming stops, her flailing ceases, and her breathing begins to slow.

"O-Oriko?" says Kirika, turning back to her girlfriend. "Is- is it over? What was that?"

"It- I… just give me a minute, please," Oriko says, hands rising to clutch at her head.

Kirika complies, hugging Oriko and staying silent. You sit down on the couch opposite theirs, Mami right next to you, and Homura sits down on your other side. She keeps her pistol out, though she has the tact to not point it at your hosts.

Now that Oriko's calmed down you have some time to think, and you have come to the conclusion that something's wrong, here. Oriko freaking out, then suddenly calming down the second you arrive? It doesn't make much sense, and you can only hope that Oriko will have some answers.

Homura shoots you a questioning glance, which you can only assume is her wondering if you're as confused as she is, and you shrug your shoulders. You don't think this is a trap; Oriko has no reason to betray you, for one, and without her magic she wouldn't be able to hurt the three of you, much less escape and stay hidden.

After a minute or two, Oriko lifts her head and finally speaks up.

"Sabrina, miss Tomoe, miss Akemi, thank you all for arriving so quickly," she says. "I am sure you have many questions, and while I cannot explain everything, I will do my best to make clear what I know." She shuffles, straightening her posture and rolling her shoulders. "In exactly two hours, a barrier entrance will appear Sabrina and Miss Tomoe's apartment. It does not seem to contain a witch, and if you enter it you will not return for some time; to be more precise, no matter who goes in or what happens inside, you will always exit the barrier minutes before whatever great threat descends upon Mitakihara city, be it Walpurgisnacht, the Soujus, or anything else."

Well, that sounds ominous.

"How do you know this?" asks Homura. "I assume it was related to your episode earlier?"

"It was," says Oriko. "I saw… possible futures, as I do with my future-sight, but only parts of it; I saw you entering and exiting the barrier, and brief excerpts of conversation between us afterward." She pauses, rubbing her forehead. "In some scenarios, I go with you into the barrier. As I can only see you debriefing me on events inside the barrier, I have no idea what happens in those scenarios other than the knowledge of how many of us survive the journey."

Once again, not the most hopeful note. You glance over at Homura, who's staring at them with narrowed eyes.

"The bits that I see after your group returns are incomplete," continues Oriko. "I only see glimpses, responses to an unheard question, statements without context, but one thing remains the same. Across all scenarios, you always tell me that, given the chance to start over, you would choose to enter the barrier. No matter how many of your group are dead, you always want to go back. I do not see you explain why, only state that the opportunity must be taken."

"No matter how many are dead?" quotes Homura. "How likely is it that some of us die?"

"I cannot give you any percentage," says Oriko. "But usually, you all survive. Sabrina and Homura Akemi survive almost all scenarios, with only four or five instances of either of you dying."

That's good, but… You clench Mami's hand, intertwining your fingers. Her name wasn't included there, something that bothers you tremendously.

"What about the others?" you say. "Mami, Sayaka, anyone else. What are their chances of survival?"

"It varies, from middling to high," says Oriko, shaking her head. "Though there does appear to be a pattern; when your group is made up of five people, the chances of survival increase greatly for everyone involved."

When there's five of you? What?

"But, that doesn't make sense, does it?" says Mami. "Five is the optimal number?" Seeing Oriko nod, she continues. "If it was about safety in numbers, then it would increase after five, but it doesn't…" She trails off, deep in thought, and you can't help but join her. Why would five people be the optimal number? Was it just probability, that the more people you brought the more likely it was that someone would die? But no, Oriko said it increased for everyone, suggesting that it was the likelihood of a person surviving, not just the result of someone dying and affecting the overall data.

"There are some exceptions to this rule," says Oriko. "Looking over it, the data seems to suggest that Madoka Kaname, Kyoko Sakura, and Yuma Chitose all mess with what constitutes this 'group'. Madoka Kaname can function as a member of the group, becoming the fifth member if there are four others, but not affecting the outcome if there are any other number of members. Likewise, Kyoko Sakura and Yuma Chitose together can function as either one member or two, depending on how many others there are."

This only raises further questions! If this group isn't literal, more metaphorical, than how can it affect your chances of survival?

"So," says Homura. "You're saying that, if Sabrina, Mami Tomoe, Sayaka Miki, Kyoko Sakura and I were to go into the barrier, the rate of survival would be the same as if we brought Yuma Chitose and Madoka Kaname with us, or if we replaced Kyoko and Sayaka with the two of them? This situation makes no sense…"

Her eyes dart around the room, looking for clues, and you're once again hit by how suspicious this is; Oriko's telling you to go into some not-witch's barrier, returning (according to her) mere minutes before Walpurgisnacht, possibly losing your friends. And future-you is apparently very insistent that you go, for reasons Oriko can't explain.

You don't think that Oriko wants to hurt you, far from it, but you'll admit that this is far too convoluted to be normal. It's rather likely that this is simply how the situation is, and that Oriko is just trying to relay the information the best she can, but from the perspective of someone who doesn't trust her?

Well, you can see why someone might just brush this off as a trap.

"I don't trust this," says Homura. "How did you get this vision, if your magic is not functioning? Why can you only see some things? And most importantly, why would we go?"

That is the question of the day, isn't it? Why would you enter the barrier? Maybe something comes out of it if you don't go in? But then why do you stay for so long? You doubt that you're inside for the exact amount of time before the next big threat hits in every single scenario, so some time dilation might be at play; if so, what's to say you experience more than a few hours in there? Actually, what's to say you're not there for months?

But that still doesn't answer why you decide to go in every time, and why you're so convinced that going in was worth it.

But if the barrier can have such time dilation, maybe it's more than just a barrier.

Maybe it's more like a portal. If it was and you end up transported to some other world, that would be an obvious reason for why you should go; you can and will save everyone in this world even if you're gone for a few weeks, but you can't help anyone from wherever you may end up if you stay here. This is your only chance to help an entire world, one facing problems unknown.

Hell, this opportunity may actually be a gift from Madokami, if she exists. It would explain quite a lot.

Looking at it from that perspective, things start to make a little more sense.

But still, there are many questions on your mind; who do you bring, what do you do with all the girls who arrive in Mitakihara while you're gone, how do you convince the others to go, etcetera.

What do you do?


[ ] Ask Oriko more questions.
--[ ] Write in what to ask.

[ ] Convince the others to go with you.

[ ] Put out ideas for who should come.

[ ] Call (insert here). They should be here for this.

[ ] Arrange for your absence.

[ ] Write-In

Heya, Lord Chungus here. Welcome to Puella Magi Systema Fractus, my second quest and my first crossover quest. You will play as Sabrina, on a quest (heh) to help the world that she will soon be thrown into. No dice will be used for this quest, so don't worry about nat-1-ing your way into failure. In terms of tone, I'll be trying to emulate PMAS itself, as well as the series this is being crossed over which, and that brings me to my next point.

You will know what world you find yourself in once you get there, not before, so min-maxing your team comp is not required or recommended. My reason for allowing you to choose who comes with, and even having others come with you, is twofold; Sabrina is a character heavily defined by her relationships, and I love writing interactions and relationships between characters more than simple conflict resolution by overwhelming force of arms. You will not just be choosing your squad, but also your cast for the duration of this quest, so choose wisely.

And of course, how could I write a PMAS thingymajig without mentioning no one's favorite magical girl Rionna, and more specifically what happened afterward as far as this story is concerned. This quest's take is that Sabrina talks with a shade in Mitakihara, who explains that it and the other shades want to be let go, as they have nothing tying them to their old lives and no reason to continue suffering, especially at the expense of fine people like her and Sayaka. Sayaka remains un-witchbombed and does not have Rionna's power. Hopefully, that wraps up the Rionna Problem, may she never enter our thoughts again. Now, time to forget she exists.

This probably won't update a lot, once or maybe twice a week, so that's a thing.

Now let me leave you with one last warning; in this brave new world, you will not be as comparatively powerful as you are in the PMMM-verse, though that is to be expected from the lack of soul gems. Do have caution. Take Care, my friends.