Chapter 165 - Will You Hold Me Forever?
It was irritating just how right Kyubey had been. Mami stared intensely at the invisible web of magical energies she was currently carefully prodding at under the alien's telepathic instruction. This would have been a stressful enough task even if she were not suspended upside down above said web by a pair of ribbons that served as the only thing preventing her from falling into it and being cursed to a horrible death or worse. Her best bet at reuniting with Homura at this point had been to follow their original planned path towards the target marker. This was, of course, not a straight line but a convoluted mess of directions through the Emerald City that at the present moment required her to travel through a hallway pointed straight down for the third time.
It wasn't as though Mami was unused to moving through unnatural environments. Witch Barriers were almost never straightforward. She wasn't usually on a time limit, though. Even if X had encouraged a more cautious approach, every second that Madoka wasn't rescued felt like a little failure.
"Now feed a small burst of magic into the area to your left while triggering the trap from the right. It'll cause the whole network to cannibalize itself. Drop down exactly when I say to so you can slip past the failsafe." Kyubey's voice in her head was as cheerful as always. The spot of familiarity should have been comforting. Distractions aside, Kyubey's instructions were correct. The web of magic flashed into view for a moment, twisted lines of darkness so black that they looked like little lines torn out of space lined with a malignant green glow. A tiny golden spark of Mami's magic brushed against one of the lines just as she let herself drop down through them, and the web erupted. The enchantment was like a nest of snakes thrashing out of control, trying to swallow each other whole. In the space of a heartbeat, Mami fell down through the web as it collapsed around her. She landed feet-first on the ground below, followed shortly by Kyubey's paws soundlessly striking the ground.
Mami shuddered as she heard the last bits of the enchantment fade, shrieking like they were in pain. For all she knew, it was possible they were. Mami considered herself one of the most experienced enchanters in Japan. It was a point of pride how skilled she'd become, a sign that her time and efforts were worth something. But even so, she could barely begin to decipher the traps that filled the Emerald City. Part of it was most likely a matter of the medium. The magic of X's world wasn't the same as her own, and X had made a point of Abnormalities having strange abilities that couldn't be logically explained. But Mami had a feeling that even if the traps had been made with the type of magic she knew, she wouldn't have had much more success. Kyubey, though, could understand it perfectly.
"Your destination is just up ahead."
Mami blinked. Had she really come so close already? And Homura was still nowhere in sight. She had been expecting to run into her long before she reached the Court. With her powers Homura should have been faster than Mami. Could something have happened to her?
"Kyubey, do you know where Homura is?" Mami asked. She had wanted to avoid relying on the Incubator's help any more than she already was. It just felt wrong to trust someone who had betrayed her so thoroughly. Homura's safety was more important, though. Mami hadn't come all this way to save one friend only to lose another.
"Since she's not a Magical Girl, tracking Akemi Homura is more difficult than finding you was." Kyubey answered. Mami narrowed her eyes. Not too long ago, she would have just accepted their words.
"That's not an answer."
"There are many locations in the Emerald City that still can't be observed. Akemi Homura must be in one of them. Besides, looking for her has been deemed a waste of time."
"A waste of time?" Mami's voice was dangerously low. Kyubey stared up at her, face remaining in their perpetual playful grin.
"I don't mean to imply that her assistance would be unhelpful. Having observed her powers, she would definitely be a great help! But since the Adult Who Tells Lies clearly knows that too, we don't expect to be able to reach her easily."
Mami's anger drained away, replaced by an equally cold fear. "What are you implying?" she asked, even if the answer seemed clear.
"The temporal anomaly created within the Emerald City wouldn't have been easy to create. The Abnormality's clearly put a lot of effort into keeping Akemi Homura's abilities from being used. But based on what we've seen in the Emerald City so far, they have a much better method of keeping her out of play available that they will almost certainly make use of."
The answer struck Mami like a knife sinking into her chest. "Madoka. It's going to use Madoka against her."
"It's easy to see that Akemi Homura's motivation and emotional stability have become entirely dependent on Kaname Madoka at this point. It's a perfectly logical assumption that this would be exploited. Besides, The Adult Who Tells Lies does seem to enjoy that sort of thing." Kyubey said, their voice never losing its characteristic cheer.
"We have to do something! Can you really not contact her?" Mami said frantically.
"I can't. Even if I could, it's very unlikely that you would be able to reach her quickly, or at all if efforts are being made to keep her isolated."
"There must be something I can do!" Mami paced back and forth in the dimly-lit hall. "I am not just going to leave one of my friends on their own."
"Well, you should probably hurry, then!" Kyubey said, running ahead of Mami. "If you can end the temporal disruption, Homura will be able to use her powers freely again."
Right. She couldn't lose focus. If Mami just stuck to X's plan, everything would be fine. Homura would be able to use her time stop, they would rescue Madoka, and then once she was safe they would defeat the Adult Who Tells Lies together. Everything would still work out.
"Then we should hurry." Mami agreed. "You said the destination was just up ahead?"
"That's right. There aren't any more enemies around here, so you only have the traps to deal with." Kyubey confirmed. No enemies nearby… Mami didn't have the time to dwell on why that was, but it didn't feel like a relief. Rather, the reminder that it was just her and Kyubey made the halls of the Emerald City feel longer and darker.
None of that mattered now, though. Mami was a Magical Girl. Even if everything else had changed, even if that didn't mean exactly what she had believed it did, the ideals she had held to still mattered. She could still save people in danger. She could still confront the evils of the world. Only now, she wasn't doing it alone.
And she couldn't let her new family down.
—————————
With Kyubey's soft footsteps the only noise accompanying the clacking of Mami's feet against the cold stone floor, the two stepped into the Wizard's court. The room was enormous, built for things far larger than humans. Mami and Kyubey had entered through one of many oversized passages leading into the circular lower level. The area was massive and empty, its polished black floor reflecting the brilliant green crystal that made up the rows and rows of stands rising up around it. Statues in the shapes of humans filled the stands, posed in equal parts agony and supplication. Two entrances to the left, sitting above the largest of the passages into the court's floor, was a throne. It looked like it had grown directly out of the emeralds encrusting the gallery. Every surface was carved down to an impossibly flat angle, then engraved with twisting and curling patterns that felt repulsive to look at in the same way an open wound did. Thankfully, it was empty. If the Abnormality who ruled the Emerald City had been there, in the seat of her power, with Mami alone….
Well, X had planned to ensure that wouldn't happen.
"Now we just need to find the marker. Kyubey, can you locate it?" Mami said. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could help Homura.
"It should be simple." With that, the Incubator scampered away and leapt up into the gallery. Mami stood alone in the court's floor. She clenched her fists, repressing anxious tremors. Waiting again when she was supposed to be taking action. At least it was almost over. Once every group reached their marker, they could rescue Madoka. Then they'd defeat The Adult Who Tells Lies and everyone would finally be safe.
A chill ran through her at the thought of confronting the towering Abnormality. Mami didn't lack confidence in her abilities. The years she had survived as a Magical Girl were proof enough of her talent. But every time they came face to face with an Abnormality, she struggled to find anything to do. The first Abnormality they faced, Blue Star, had left her helpless while X defeated it herself. When they had fought Nothing There, she had barely managed to slow it down and then fallen for an obvious trick and needed Kyoko to save her. And when the Adult Who Tells Lies came after Madoka, Mami hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. Staring at the empty throne, Mami wasn't sure if she would be able to do her part next time.
The sound of footsteps shocked Mami from her thoughts. A rifle was in her hands even before her head had snapped towards the newcomer. A Magical Girl with messy purple hair under a wide-brimmed red hat and an impish grin walked into the court. Her hands were raised in a gesture of surrender.
"Hey, we don't need to go there, alright? I'm not here to pick a fight." the girl said. Her voice sounded teasing, not at all concerned with the gun pointed at her.
"Very well." Mami answered, not lowering her rifle. "Surrender, and we'll be able to talk more once this is all over."
The Magical Girl gave only a deadpan smirk in return. "Wow, that sounds great, but I don't think I wanna do that. No, I'm try'n ta tell you that you're gettin' played."
"'Played'? I'm not sure what you mean." Mami said. Kyubey was still searching for the marker. She couldn't let this girl interfere when Homura and Madoka both could depend on it.
"I mean about that Abnormality, y'know? It's trickin' you into doing what it wants."
"And why would you give that away? You are one of the Abnormality's servants, aren't you?"
"Alright, two things!" The girl lowered her hands from her pose of surrender to instead proudly raise a single finger into the air. "First! I'm not workin' with that Wizard 'cuz I like 'em. It's just a temporary alliance. I'm gonna split as soon as everything's wrapped up around here. Second!" She raised another finger. "That's not the Abnormality I was talkin' about. I meant to one ordering you around."
Mami's finger tightened around the trigger of her rifle. "I don't believe you understand what you're implying. X hasn't deceived me."
"Are ya sure about that?" the Magical Girl asked, smile full of teeth. Any attempt at sympathy was thoroughly overshadowed by the glimmer in her eyes. Her voice retained a saccharine sweetness as she spoke. "It's been pokin' around in your brain at least once. How d'you know it didn't screw with you while it was in there? No way could I ever trust someone who could do that!"
Mami's grip on her rifle held steady, though her finger eases on the trigger. "While I understand the concern regarding X's nature and her abilities, I can assure you that her intentions are pure. She would have no reason to reveal her abilities to us if she truly held ill intent, and has always made an effort to be honest and transparent." If anything, nobody worried more about what X was capable of than she did. It had been Mami and her sisters and friends who had assured mom that she was not a danger to them, that they weren't scared of her just because she was an Abnormality.
"Wow, you sure are loyal to that thing!" the Magical Girl replied, still with a mockingly sweet tone. Mami's frown deepened. It felt like an eternity ago that she had stared down Akemi Homura, condemning her out of ignorance when they could have been allies from the start. Would it be a mistake to do the same now, just because of the other girl's mocking tone?
"Of course I am."
"How loyal are you, though? What would you do if it asked you? Would ya kill somebody if that Abnormality said you should?" Anticipation filled the Magical Girl's words, eagerness for an entertaining answer to her cheerfully morbid questions. Mami barely stopped herself from recoiling.
"X would never ask something like that of me!" she said sharply, her grip on her rifle tightening once again. It seemed likely this girl really was only here to antagonize her.
"Oh? Are you sure?" the girl teased, drawing out her words like she was savoring them. "They've got you working with the Incubator's don't they? And some other sketchy people too. But I guess you know it's all fine." The gleam in her eyes flashed dangerously as she smiled. "After all, it loves you, doesn't it? Said it and everything. Told you all the stuff you wanted to hear, and only-"
Mami didn't let the girl finish. Her finger closed on the trigger, and with that single shot the fight was over. The other Magical Girl moved to summon her weapon too slowly, being bound in ribbons before she could begin to defend herself. She looked more disappointed than anything else, hardly caring that she had been caught. Perhaps the girl really hadn't believed all the things that The Adult Who Tells Lies had told her about X.
"Awww, but things were gettin' fun!"
Mami remained focused on the enemy Magical Girl, not taking her eyes off her bound opponent for a moment, and didn't respond. There was no point in engaging with someone like that. Silence once again filled the court, only broken by the Magical Girl occasionally shifting in her restraints.
"I've found the marker. I've also made some observations regarding the other functions of the Court." Kyubey announced after a short quiet, hopping up onto one of the statues in the gallery to make their location known. Still keeping her eyes focused on the other Magical Girl, Mami knelt and tied a knot into one of the linked ribbons at her ankle. Three other knots already sat beside it, noting three other markers that had already been found. Mami let out a sigh of relief. The first step of the plan was complete.
A flash of gold brought a larger gun, somewhere between an oversized pistol and a canon, into view in Mami's hands. She took careful aim at the statue where Kyubey stood, then paused. This was normally when she'd yell out the name of her attack. It was a signature of Magical Girl shows, one that Mami had adopted for her own style of fighting. Even if it felt silly at first, it was another way to be more like a "real" Magical Girl. Knowing what Magical Girls really were, everything Kyubey had kept hidden, some of the warmth that had come with that declaration was lacking now. Could Mami even still be that same person with everything that had happened?
In that moment, she made her decision.
"Tiro Finale!"
A beam of brilliant light pierced the dark of the Wizard's court, reducing the statues in the gallery to rubble. Mami had known for a long time that being a Magical Girl was different than media made it appear. Last time, she had learned it on her own, each of her students and friends leaving her one after the other. This time, she wouldn't face the future alone. Maybe she wouldn't be a perfect Magical Girl any longer, but she could still be a loving daughter, a caring older sister, and a good friend. That was worth aspiring to as well.
The first part of the plan was complete. It was up to Homura now to find her way back to everyone.
———————————————
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Schadenfreude's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
CENSORED's Sapling - Observation Level EXPUNGED/REDACTED
