Chapter 45 - Way Down Under The Ground
You begin to formulate a plan. You have several methods of healing at your disposal, though how effective they'll be at removing the parasitic Familiar isn't something you can be sure of just yet. You'll need time and security to begin testing, both scarcities in such a hostile environment as this one. There's already been one ambush so far, and once the Familiar is gone you'll have an unprotected civilian in the Barrier to protect.
"Homura, Mami, I need you to set up a perimeter around this area. There might be more Familiars in the area, and I can't afford to be interrupted now. Madoka, please place the man flat on that scaffold over there. Sayaka, I'll need your help."
Mami and Homura both head off, Mami giving a small "Of course," while Homura simply leaves without a word. The black-haired girl remains at ground level while Mami leads up to the rooftops of the ruins. You'd sort of been hoping they'd work together, give them some time to talk, but that was definitely too much to ask for. This'll do for now.
Madoka carefully lowers the cocooned man down onto the scaffold you indicated to, hands shaking all the while. He trembles and strains against the bonds, but can't free himself. You can hear the Crude squirming inside, its frustration pumping and flowing to try and pull more strength from its unwilling host. The man lets out a scream that trails off into a low growl, and Madoka jumps back in fright just as she sets the man down. Sayaka summons her sword, but unable to strike the Familiar without killing its victim as well she can do nothing but stand and watch, a pained grimace stretching across her face.
"You said there was something I can do, right X?"
"The Familiar isn't controlling this person remotely; it's actually in the body," you deliver clinically. "It's possible that you can enhance your healing Magic enough to force it out. If not, there are more risky options still available."
Sayaka dismisses her sword and takes an unsteady step towards the man, reaching out but recoiling as he thrashes in his restraints. Madoka looks on in fear and anticipation as Sayaka clasps her hands over the still-writhing man's chest and begins to glow with blue light. The scent of seawater fills the air, drowning out the overwhelming smell of oil and death that permeated the Barrier only moments earlier. Sayaka's costume swirls and churns until she is wrapped entirely in flowing currents and rushing wakes, the tides of Magic congealing around both her and the Familiar's victim. All three of you stand with bated breath for one, then two, then three seconds before the man's thrashing becomes even more violent. Sayaka immediately dismisses her Magic, stepping back with wide eyes. The man on the scaffold hacks and coughs, spitting up black ooze that rolls off of Mami's ribbons. With one final, horrible retch the Crude is forced up out of his throat. It's an ugly, misshapen thing, a lump of congealed oil that vaguely resembles a fetus. The Familiar snarls and leaps away from its old victim towards Madoka, who cries out and does her best to shield herself with her arms. The action is unnecessary, as you and Sayaka each drawn your blades and cleave the Crude into pieces in midair. It falls into the dirt and disintegrates with one final growl.
Sayaka slowly dismisses her sword, a fierce determination still burning in her eyes.
"We can't let this Witch survive."
The steel in her voice surprised you, but only for a moment. This is no longer a game to her. Sayaka has seen the horrors of the life she leapt into now, had them threaten somebody she cares about. And she will not stand for it.
"I'll attend to anyone you find here once the Witch has been defeated. Until then, just keep going!" Kyubey chimes in. You nearly forgot the little rat was there, keeping an eye on you.
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Progress into the Barrier's depths is slow. There had been a few more packs of Crudes waiting in ambush along the way, but Mami was able to trap most of them without much difficulty. The other types of Familiars, the Petrols, were more combat focused but were insufficient compared to your group. The first swarm had descended while you and Sayaka were tending to some of the trapped people, only to be reduced to ashes by a claymore mine suddenly appearing in the middle of their pack. The few stragglers had been similarly blown apart by a few well-placed rifle shots.
The real challenge was resources. All four of Pinks's soldiers were occupied carrying the bodies of the Witch's victims, lest they be reinfected if left alone. Madoka had tentatively offered to carry one, but aside from the fact that she was still just a thirteen-year old it would be wrong to make an innocent serve in the place of a willing soldier. Homura had shut the proposal down immediately, and to your surprise Sayaka had actually agreed with her. The bluenette had been darker since the encounter with the first Familiar, a grim glare frozen on her face as she continued her work.
Your team had gone through two Grief Seeds just from Sayaka's healing by the time you reached the center of this layer of the Barrier. While you would have preferred to keep them for testing, or at the very least to cleanse them for reuse, you couldn't do anything to hint at your experiments with Kyubey watching. The expended seeds are tossed into a cavity that opens in his back, either a portal or an extradimensional space. It doesn't show on your face, but you're frustrated by the lost opportunity.
Your thoughts are interrupted by an enormous horde of Petrols descending on the group as you approach a towering building sitting at the center of this layer. Contrasting the incomplete and run-down structures surrounding it, this building is pristine and decorated, covered in gold filigree and surrounded by a garden of brass statues of skeletons. Sound of a Star flashes into existence around you, Mami and Homura each to one side draw their weapons. At your back, Sayaka draws her sword and takes a defensive position in front of Madoka and activates her Magic.
It's hardly a fight.
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After blasting your way through a reinforced steel door, your group descends into the Barrier's second layer. In sharp contrast to the first, the manor's decorated halls positively drip with wealth and decadence. Paintings depicting macabre imagery adorn the walls, sculptures that resemble bone fill the halls, and you even stumble onto a dining hall with each plate piled with precious jewels.
The most disturbing encounter is the pool.
After maybe ten minutes of wandering deeper and deeper, you push open a door to a roof occupied solely by a massive pit in the center. Filling the pit are perhaps hundreds, maybe even thousands of Crudes squirming and wriggling and growling. Madoka clutches her hands over her mouth in horror, Mami's expression turns a shade darker, and you can practically feel the heat from Sayaka's glare even as it's not aimed at you. Wordlessly, Homura reaches to her shield and
-click-
some sort of explosive appears above the pit before dropping down into the mass. The familiars unleash a deluge of cries, as if knowing what's about to happen, but they cannot escape. A tiny beep cuts through the howls before the entire pit is turned to a smoking crater.
In the silence that follows, Sayaka's footsteps echo through the cold, empty hall. She stalks towards Homura, frustration boiling.
"How can you be so calm about this? Why are you still just staring like that?"
Sayaka the raven-haired girl by the shoulders, hands shaking all the while.
"You saw what they did to people! How can you not feel anything when you see this? Why do you just keep going?"
"Sayaka, she-" "Sayaka, that's not-"
You and Mami both reach out to Sayaka, only for Homura to cut you off. Her voice is as still and impassive as even, but you know better. You can feel the sadness, the shame that tinge her words as she answers her old friend.
"Do you understand what it means to be a Magical Girl now, Miki Sayaka? This will not be the last or most horrible thing you will see in this life. When that day comes, you will only falter if you let your emotions consume you."
"Argh, whatever!" Sayaka pushes Homura away and then stomps further down into the Barrier, past the still-smoldering crater left by the explosion. You start to follow her, but as you turn you catch Mami giving Homura a pitying look before heading off after as well.
Your descend further down into the depths of the Barrier, leaving the gruesome scene behind you.
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Standing ahead of the others, you push open a towering brass door. The gate is intricately carved, depicting images of death and ruin that you pay no attention to. This is the end of the line. The door opens with a grinding screech, and you lay eyes on the Witch that commands this Barrier.
In a massive hall that rivals even some of the lower departments of your old facility, Persephone rests on a throne of bones made from corroded steel and rusted iron. The Fossil Witch is a dripping, oily silhouette wrapped around a muddy red skeleton with mismatched parts. The only human thing is the skull, the front caved in leaving the bottom of the jaw hanging loosely open. The rest are taken from animals, claws and wings connected all in the same gloomy, blood-like hue. Adorning her body are all manner of jewelry, necklaces and bracelets and sashes all layered thick enough be be like armor. Atop her head is a crown of shining platinum, several empty spaces meant to be filled by gems clearly visible across its brilliant surface.
Mami opens with a mass of ribbons that binds the Fossil Witch entirely before she has even left her throne, then with great effort drags out a towering silver cannon. Her voice is cold and harsh as she gives a cry of "Tiro Finale!", hoping to end the fight in an instant. Unfortunately, it won't be so easy. Persephone melts into the oily coat that surrounds her, which slips between Mami's bindings and slithers towards the blonde girl. Exhausted from the attack, Mami can only glare at the approaching Witch before it reforms directly in front of her, clawed hands larger than her body open and outstretched. Your rifle shatters the grasping hand before it can take advantage of Mami's vulnerability, the wound leaving the Fossil Witch to once again dissolve into a puddle.
Persephone cackles as she slithers away, seemingly unaffected by the gunfire striking her body. Another lunge is interrupted, this time by you partying the Fossil Witch's massive claw. Once again she dissolves before you can finish the job, retreating back to her end of the throne room. The oily sludge is starting to build up, each wound the Witch sustains leaving gouts of black ichor spilled across the floor like blood.
"This is getting nowhere. We need to pin it down!" you command. Homura nods, and
-click-
a ring of mines suddenly appears enclosing the Fossil Witch. A whip-like spinal column emerges from the trapped pool to prod at the offending object, only to be engulfed in flames when it detonates. Persephone's screams reverberate through the throne room as the flames spread up the limb and towards her main body. Before the fire can consume the Witch in its entirety, the blazing limb is torn off and tossed towards you with a horrible cracking noise. A wave of your hand sends a beam of the Star's glow ripping through the discarded tendril, twisting and warping it until it shatters into scorched fragments that scatter uselessly onto the ground.
In the moment you spend on defense, Persephone has emerged from her coat and dug her hands into the floor of her throne room. The metal screeches and wails as it is torn apart, and she tears chunks from the floor to fling towards you and the children. Mami blows each piece apart with pinpoint accuracy, an array of rifles assembled around her firing in perfect synch. The throne room is now split in two, its pristine floor divided by a line of uncovered stone and rent steel.
Free of the encircling mines, the Fossil Witch's sludge begins to spread and fill the room. New limbs, flailing claws and stabbing spines, rise from the growing ocean. Unfortunately for the Witch, its efforts are in vain. Homura withdraws a small container from her shield and tosses it into the growing pool of oil. The object is broken open by one of Persephone's hands, but it does nothing to prevent the erupting flame from reaching the Witch. In an instant its whole body catches alight, and the Witch's body emerges from the sea of tar arched back in a silent scream. A barrage of gunfire leaves what remains of the bright red skull covered by a web of cracks, and a thrown sword of starlight shatters the Witch once and for all.
It's over.
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In the end, the Grief Seed goes to Sayaka. She's reluctant to accept, citing a lack of participation in the final fight, but you and Mami remind her that she was the one to get the Familiars out of their hosts safely. You all elect to leave the large collection of people on the hospital roof, since they'll wake up soon and have access to medical attention if they need it.
"I will alert you again if I encounter another Witch that requires your assistance. You may do the same." Homura announces before turning to leave. She seems surprised to hear a response.
"I am glad to have shared this hunt with you. Good evening, Miss Akemi," Mami says in parting as Homura turns to leave. The three of you watch her walk away, and once the girl is out of sight Madoka speaks. She was quiet most of the way through the Barrier, but even if it's unsteady her voice has a certain conviction to it.
"Homura… is a good person, isn't she? Maybe she can be cold, but all these people wouldn't have been saved without her. That can't be wrong." Nobody says anything, but Mami gives a slight nod, her usual poise having mostly returned. After a pause, Sayaka breaks the silence.
"I- We just saved these people, didn't we? Like real heroes."
Parting Words
[] Encourage Sayaka
[] Be more pessimistic
[] Leave it to the kids to talk about these things
[] Write-in
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Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 0/3
I do wish there were more unconventional Witches in Canon, the only one I can think of is H.N. Elly and that's probably my favorite non-character Witch.
