Seeing Red [PMMM x LoR]

Proceed as normal, kill the Witch

Yuki discards the idea of diplomacy for the moment. There will be other opportunities. The risk today is small, but still significant in its potential consequences.

With her decision made, she focusses on their approach; the Witch's barrier does not appear in mere moments, though. Reaching it still takes a bit.

While they speedwalk in the direction Kyoko gives, Sayaka slowly makes her way forward. Yuki pays no mind to the blunette at first, presuming that she aims for Mami. But she rather catches up with the ones leading them.

"Say, Yuma," she starts, prompting a curious look from the younger girl. "You said you're a healer, right? What sorts of things can you heal?"

"Everything," Yuma answers, simply and sagely all in one. "That's what I asked Kyubey for. I can heal anything."

"Whoa, really?"

"Yup."

Yuma nods her head for emphasis, even as she strolls after Kyoko. "Why do you ask, miss Miki?"

"Just curious," Sayaka lies, and so obviously that not even the grade schoolers are fooled. She lets herself fall back in a more contemplative mood. Madoka, Yuki notes, looks like she has an idea what this is about. The pinkette's expression is sympathetic.

After that, they move quietly beyond a course correction from Nagisa. She picks up the trace from a side alley, which they all follow until they reach an abandoned warehouse; there is no one in sight.

"What's this?" a soft voice whispers in Yuki's ear. "Who are you people, and why are you here? Go away, I don't like crowds."

Is every Witch she encounters a hermit?

Yuki shakes off the thought, noting how nobody else seems to have heard those words. With previous events taken into account, she can guess that nobody else would understand them anyway. Perhaps Witches communicate in a way humans can not pick up on, but Yuki's translation spell can. But then the magical girls should be able to notice something.

"Over there," Homura says softly, pointing toward an empty parking lot. Her buckler shimmers in the slowly fading sunlight, the soul gem on the back of her hand glowing bright purple. Everyone else follows her indication, then Nagisa and Mami both nod. Light shines as everyone else transforms, their clothes replaced with firm cloth and accessories.

While Junko takes an inquisitive look around to take in everyone's outfits, the magical girls form up. Kyoko takes the front, Mami and Nagisa the back, Yuki stands between. Yuma darts to stand in the middle of the mundane group, with Homura taking up the rear.

"Wait, so many?" the Witch asks, confounded. "No good, very bad. Um, um, what do I do? Hey, you over there, you're like me! Why're you helping them? They're enemies!"

Yuki considers acknowledging the Witch, seeing how she already addresses her. But she discards that idea as well; violence is today's answer, so the question becomes moot.

"Can you hear me? Hello?

After that, there is only an unhappy noise and nothing. Kyoko steps ahead and slices through the air with her spear, which reveals an oval-shaped portal. Nothing else happens, though Yuki feels a soft pressure on her head. She frowns, but ignores it in the end.

"I see."

Kyoko hops into the barrier, with Yuki following right after. They are both tense, but nothing happens at first. They stand in a corridor not unlike a common building, though it seems warped in places. The flutter of wings can be heard in the distance, accompanied by noise not unlike static.

Everything else is quiet, even when the whole group of them entered. Madoka crowds a little closer to her mother, who looks around with a soft whistle.

"I'm starting to see what you mean about this being weird," Junko muses. "I can barely make sense of what I'm seeing."

"Don't look too closely," Kyoko advises. "Witches have a habit of getting under your skin. Most of 'em don't fight fair, they'll make you vulnerable in some form, then go for the kill while you're off your game."

Mami nods along while Nagisa looks around in wonder. Yuma seems no less intrigued. Sayaka is tense, if quiet for once. The half-dark hides them somewhat, only the rainbow gleam of the various Soul Gems spends a decent amount of light.

"Is this like that familiar you fought in the dark, miss Mami?" Madoka asks. Her voice is soft, as if to not disturb whatever may lurk ahead. "We couldn't see much in there, either."

The older girl offers a contemplative hum at that. "It is possible," she allows. "Although this Witch's familiar seemed fairly different from the other one. I never ran into two that are so similar to each other when their servants are so different. This seems more like a run-down building than total darkness, too. What does the rest think?"

"Can't say yet," Kyoko answers with a faint shrug. "What we know is that the familiars might like fighting in the dark. Anyone got a light?"

Yuki wordlessly answers by casting mage lights. Five viridians orbs float up from her hands, arranging themselves in a star-shape around their group. They shine bright enough to light up several dozen metres in all available directions, including the walls of the hallway.

"Cool, thanks."

Kyoko throws a grin over her shoulder, to which Yuki answers with a thumbs up. The younger girls and Madoka make awed noises at the lightshow, though Sayaka and Mami squint warily. Homura remains completely unreadable.

Looking around in the brighter area, Junko nods slowly.

"It does look pretty run-down to me. Do Witch barriers have a theme they adhere to?"

"Generally," Mami confirms. "Although you can not always infer it as easily as looking at the surroundings. This may mean any number of things."

"It's fairly straightforward in most cases, though," Yuki adds. A number of gazes flit her way, though her own eyes are still scanning their surroundings. "Witches have things they like and dislike. They form their barriers and familiars to conform to them."

"So like people?" Junko asks back, which makes the older magical girls all react in some form or other. She shrugs at their bewildered looks.

"What? Yuki isn't shy that she's not human, either. I'm just wondering if there's a way to get along with those Witches, too."

"Potentially," Yuki allows, to several sharp looks. "But do keep in mind that I'm a major outlier. Most Abnormalities are far less reasonable, each set in their own nature. If the same is true for Witches, then there may be a few of them who are reasonable. But even the most benign Abnormality is dangerous in one form or other. The same is likely true of Witches."

"Could you give us an example?" Homura inquires as they keep moving.

Yuki mulls over that for a minute. Not that anything happens inside, they just wander through abandoned corridors.

"Lobotomy Corporation used to classify Abnormalities by their lethality. I'm not too familiar with all of them, but I recall a few."

"Among the most benign, if one can call them that, is the Fairy Festival. The Abnormality consists of several dozen minor fairies and their queen," she explains, holding both hands up at about one width apart. "They're about this tall, fly, and care for whomever works on them. They mend wounds as well. If that person came in contact with another Abnormality while the fairies are still with them, however, the fairies eat them."

She hears several surprised gasps, but does not care to look who uttered them.

"Even their benign actions are simply tending to their food," she finishes. "But they are harmless once their 'rules' are known and adhered to."

Silence follows. Yuki does not mind it much, though the absence of any threats is starting to get on her nerves. The corridors hardly change, as if they keep repeating over and over.

"What about you then?" Sayaka asks, warily most of all. "If there's rules to these things, what are yours?"

Yuki shrugs, then glances over her shoulder to meet the blunette's gaze. "Don't make me mad."

"Or what?"

Nobody answers Sayaka's question. It is self-explanatory to Yuki.

Kyoko chuckles, though.

"Well, at least getting you mad is pretty hard. Doesn't sound like much trouble."

"Don't jinx it," Junko jokes, earning some giggles from Yuma and Nagisa. Her own smile vanishes fairly quick afterward, though.

"So you mean that we can't expect a peaceful resolution?"

"Correct. They seem less hostile to me because they think me one of their own, but humans and especially magical girls cause adverse reactions."

"Noted."

"Alright then."

Moments after the Witch's words reach Yuki's ears, a screen in the wall flickers to life. Kyoko leaps back with her weapon drawn, then squints. Everyone else stops, too. Nothing happens, they just see the inside of a room; brighter and far more well maintained than their surroundings.

The point of view moves around a little, then approaches a mirror. Sayaka is revealed within, causing a surprised call from the girl herself.

"Hey, that's my room!"

Her mirror image grins sheepishly, holding up a plastic microphone. Then she raises it to the mirror.

"Hiya, everyone! Did ya miss me? It's Sayaka!"

Her pitch changed somewhat, and the real Sayaka lets out a mortified noise. "Wait, stop that!"

But the screen does not listen. It keeps showing how Sayaka starts singing badly to her mirror, acting as if she had a live audience. Everyone else is taken aback for a moment, though Madoka and Mami cringe in sympathy with the blunette. Sayaka dashes forward to hammer her hands against the screen, which resists all attempts to break it.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" she calls.

Kyoko raises her spear to smash the screen, but Yuki waves her off. The redhead reluctantly lowers her weapon again, but her curious look remains unanswered. Truthfully, Yuki takes a vindictive pleasure in seeing Sayaka reduced to a flustered, stammering mess. Her face could rival a tomato by the time the screen mercifully shuts itself off.

Sayaka utters a soft keening noise and hides her face, muttering under her breath. Nagisa rubs her back comfortingly.

"What was that, exactly?" Junko asks for everyone.

Homura steps a little closer with a frown. "From this, we learn that the Witch can access our memories," she says. "Like Kyoko Sakura said earlier, this is a tactic to soften us up."

"I said that, but why'd the Witch go for her?" Kyoko answers with a motion for Sayaka. "It's not like she tried to grab her through the screen or anything. I mean, any of us is a bigger threat. And I'm pretty sure most of us have more ammo lying around in our heads. So why?"

"It might be that magical girls are more resistant," Yuki offers. "Let's keep going."

"We need to kill her as quickly as possible," Homura posits. There is a sudden urgency to her that takes the others off-guard.

"How do you mean?" Mami asks curiously. "Is there something you wish to hide from us quite badly?"

Homura stares back at her, silent so long that the blonde becomes faintly uncomfortable. Then her eyes narrow.

"If she can humiliate us with embarassing memories, then she can also torment us with our past. Do you want to take that risk?"

Mami's expression freezes, then firms up. She offers a solemn nod, glancing around their group. "I see your point now," she agrees. "Let's get to it. Which may, miss Momoe?"

"Go away, damn it! I'll just keep doing it! Your memories are preserved in amber, and I'm going to dig them out!"

Her words remain unheeded. Yuki has to wonder by now: can the Witch also read their minds and knows Yuki hears her, or is she just babbling at nothing?

They pick up the pace right after, rushing through corridor after corridor. Lightbulbs flicker on and off at times, signifying some sort of progress. The hallways slowly grow wider and higher.

The sound of an impact from the next corner stops them like an actual wall. Kyoko pauses and peers around, then keeps going.

All they find there is a screen barring the entire hallway.

"Very funny," Kyoko snarks, then pulls back to slice it in two.

Only to stop dead in her tracks when it flickers to life. Vivid, red and orange flames lick at the background. A burning building, a burning room. In the middle lie a woman with dark hair and a little girl with a bob in the same crimson as Kyoko's. Both are draped on top of each other, their bodies littered with stab wounds. Red blood pools underneath, as much as it stains them.

And over them stands a man in a dark robe, a cross dangling on a necklace. It glints in the firelight, the man's eyes almost glowing with fervour. He holds a bloody knife.

"You did this," the memory says, almost whispers, and Kyoko recoils as if struck. "All you. Consorting with the devil, you did. Miyu and Momo did nothing wrong, they'll go to heaven now. But you and I, we're not going there."

A gunshot cracks loudly, then the golden bullet punches through the screen. The memory pauses as if surprised by this development.

Mami's shot is followed by Nagisa blowing her horn; a stream of bubbles flows past Yuki and Kyoko, obliterating the entire screen in an explosion that shakes the area.

When the dust settles, the path is free again. Nagisa bears a grim look.

"I don't like this Witch," she mutters.

"I don't like you, either. You're doing this to yourself."

Kyoko stands rooted in place for the moment. She does not react, even when Yuma comes up to take her hand. None of the older girls says anything, though Sayaka needs a firm headshake from Mami to get the memo.

With nothing else happening, Junko's steps sound loudly in the quiet. She slowly passes Mami, then Yuki, until she reaches Kyoko. Her expression is unreadable until that point, at which it turns into a gentle smile. She carefully squeezes Kyoko's shoulder, heedless of the sharp look that earns her.

"I don't want your pity," the redhead spits, causing a soft huff from Junko.

"It's natural to feel that way in the moment, isn't it?" she answers gently. "Nobody likes seeing someone's worst moments aired against their will, especially not one's own. Nobody's going to give you trouble for it. Nobody's going to ask questions you don't want to answer. But there's at least one person here you can confide in, if you want to do that later. You're not alone."

A shudder goes through Kyoko, even as she squints up at Junko. Then she casts an almost challenging look at the group around them... only to deflate once her gaze meets Mami's. The blonde magical girl seems just as conflicted as Kyoko herself, though neither looks away.

Yuki can not tell what unspoken words pass between them, but it seems to reassure Kyoko somewhat. Maybe Yuma's presence by her side helps as well.

"I'll keep it in mind," she says eventually, shrugging off Junko's hand.

"Shall we switch positions?" Yuki asks her next. The circumstances of Kyoko's becoming an orphan are new, though the result remains the same.

"What's that supposed to mean," the other magical girl snaps, taking a step to loom over Yuki. "If you think that's enough to get me out of the game, then you're damn wrong!"

The fact she gets this upset over a simple question says otherwise. Yuki tilts her head ever so faintly.

"We now learned that magical girls aren't immune to the Witch's powers. As much as you want to pretend you aren't affected, even I can tell that you are. And if it keeps happening, then this will compound until you make a fatal mistake. Let me take the vanguard until we find her, there's nothing in my head she can upset me with."

Kyoko's expression cycles from annoyance to contemplation, and ultimately to acceptance. She nods and steps back to take Yuki's position, while Yuki takes hers.

They slowly get moving again, this time with Yuki in front. Kyoko can feel the anxious and pitiful looks stabbing her back, but not a single person tries to talk about what they saw; just like Junko promised. She gradually calms down.

In front, Yuki waits patiently for the Witch's first attempt to get at her.

"Funny, how you act the font of knowledge when you don't even know yourself."

She almost snorts in response to the taunt. The pressure on her mind is back, this time strong enough to qualify as a light headache. She can almost feel the foreign influence rooting around in there, yet is powerless to stop it. At the same time, Yuki truly does not care. She holds herself to a higher standard, even if this risks some of her secrets being revealed.

Soon enough, they pass screens set into the walls again. Each one lights up as they reach it, showing moments of Yuki's past. The inside of containment units, interacting with Lobotomy Corporation's agents, even the occasional suppression of other Abnormalities. Seeing the harrowing forms and things they do to their victims causes distress among the rest, but Yuki pays it little mind.

After several minutes of this, they reach a door that Yuki kicks off its hinges. It drops with a loud rattle, revealing something like a bedroom inside. The bed looks unused, though a large computer station is set up on a desk. Were it not for the warped colours and lack of other furniture, one could compare it to any bedroom outside.

The group looks around the empty space. Traces of the Witch are stronger here, though Mami and Kyoko confirm this is not her lair.

"Maybe's its her bedroom?" Nagisa offers thoughtfully, one finger on her lip. "Do Witches even sleep?"

Just then, Sayaka claps her open palm with the underside of her fist. Understanding flashes across her features.

"I get it now," she exclaims, "this Witch is a NEET!"

She earns several exasperated looks for the outburst, ducking her head in embarassment. Then she motions for the room around them.

"Just look! We haven't seen so much as a window in here, there's screens everywhere, and now there's a giant computer setup. It fits!"

"She's not entirely wrong," Yuki agrees reluctantly, surprising no one more than Sayaka. "This Witch appears quite antisocial."

"Hello Pot, this is Kettle," the Witch grouses, her voice somehow sounding within Yuki's head. The pressure on her mind grew a little more, though it stopped getting worse by now.

Nagisa eventually picks up the trail, noting that it seems to become stronger. They are getting closer to their target. And as if in response to that, more screens are thrown into their path. They show the Library this time, primarily scenes of receptions on Tiphereth's floor. Nobody comments, but the general curiousity about what the girls see is palpable.

The scenes grow shorter and shorter as they ignore or smash the screens, depending on whether they are in the way. Then they switch to moments of Roland's presence. Seeing his face has no influence on Yuki, which the Witch seems to notice as well. Their world-shaking battle with him leaves her equally cold; the blurs of motion and sprays of blood are too fast for the others to properly see, anyway.

As the hallways continues to widen, Kyoko jogs up to stick next to Yuki.

"I think it's just up ahead," she explains, weapon at the ready. "Let's switch again. I'm good now."

She had the better part of an hour to recover, so Yuki believes her. But at the same time, she has this inkling that there is at least one more trap waiting for them.

"Let's keep it this way until we reach the lair," she offers.

Kyoko agrees reluctantly, but she does agree. So Yuki remains in front, ready for anything. Or so she believes.

She is the first to spot the hallway's roof give way for a cavernous amphitheatre; the walls are indistinct and countless familiars flutter around. They move in pairs, each one carrying a screen like the ones they already saw. Even more of the same span the walls, replaying various scenes from domestic to violent.

Just as she steps over the threshold however, one such pair of familiars dumps a screen right in front of her. They immediately flutter away, keeping their distance with the rest of the swarm. Which means, to Yuki, that the Witch purposefully called them all back.

Even as she thinks, the wall shifts forward. The threshold moves, and Yuki suddenly stands five metres deep into the corridor again.

Looking back, she finds her group where they were before, equally befuddled.

"The hallway grows longer," Kyoko judges after a moment.

Yuki looks back at the swarm of familiars. They hide on the far side of the room, as far away from them as possible.

While those behind theorise whether this Witch is trying to make her lair run away from them, Yuki steps back into the room. The screen almost barring the entrance flickers to life, and this time it gives her pause.

The forests are immediately familiar, as are the people. They are not exactly human, though humanoid with various extra features. They all lived in harmony with each other and the animals under her guidance.

Yuki squints at the peaceful scene, mallet rising to smash the screen. But she is still taken aback when it is replaced by the forest on fire a moment later. Houses burn and a litany of monsters tears the peaceful people apart.

She stares blankly at the devastation. If the Witch thinks that confronting her with her own failure is enough to make Yuki stop, then she is sorely mistaken. Yuki knows her failings, and she has come to terms with them.

And then the point of view shifts to a solitary figure overseeing the carnage. Her skin faintly tinged blue, bloodshot eyes with countless pupils sewn into her otherwise simple robe. She is unmistakable, even with everything higher than her knobbly nose covered by her hood.

Yuki's gaze zeroes in on her in an instant. The pressure on her mind spikes as the screen magnifies the Hermit of the Azure Forest. She smiles, pleased by the carnage.

"All is as it should be," her faint rasp sounds, echoing far too loud in Yuki's ears. Someone speaks behind her, but the noise of her own heartbeat drowns out everything except the Hermit's voice. The mage lights she sustained flicker and fade, leaving those behind her in twilight.

"Don't you agree, my friend?"

Something within Yuki snaps. Her entire form flickers, distorting for just a moment. The angry hiss of acid tears is followed by her blindfold falling. Magic alone keeps the scraps clinging to her head, crimson eyes alight.

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twJV1AaeBeM[/URL]

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[] Keep a hold of yourself
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