[X] Plan: OH NO MADOKA
"Hey, Spooky, ya might wanna get yer ass down here pronto." You were just about to scan your rail pass at the terminal when Kyouko's voice interrupts you. You weren't planning on going very far; just to the main station so you could collect some things from home. But when Kyouko says "Pinkie's got it, and she's looking like she's in a real bad state." You feel your heart stop, and your rail pass slips out of your hands.
Not a moment later, before you even have a chance to respond, you hear Kyouko's voice again, saying "Ya might wanna hurry, Spooky. Now there's some fucking killer weed sprouting from the grass. Get yer ass over here to the park, would ya?"
"Stay where you are." You don't even bother picking up your rail pass, because it's quicker just to hop the terminal gate and run along the tracks yourself. "I'm on my way. Keep Madoka and Sayaka safe until I get there. Don't hesitate to call in Rider if you need backup before I can get there."
"You got it, Spooky. One burning bush, coming right the fuck up."
You take off running, completely ignoring the cries of "Hey, stop!" coming from a railway employee as you leap over the terminal gate. You're not stopping for anything, not when it's Madoka's life on the line. Even if she's not your girlfriend, you've come too far to leave her alone at a time like this. "Archer, I've got bad news," you are forced to relay. "Madoka's infected, and she and Sayaka are being attacked by… Plants, I think, in the park. Kyouko's with them, but I'm coming to reinforce her. Meet me at the park and be prepared for the worst."
"Ah, shit, here we go again," is Archer's reply. "You know, you girls really need to stop getting into trouble like this." You don't laugh. This is no time for Archer's wry sense of humour to rear its head. "I'll meet you at the park. If you haven't already, have Kyouko contact Rider and request backup, and have Oriko redirect Lancer to the park as well. I have a feeling that we'll need her expertise."
You don't even bother responding to Archer as you change frequencies, mentally shouting at the top of your psychic lungs "Oriko! I need Lancer in the park right away! Madoka's-"
"I'm already aware, Akemi-san," Oriko replies. "I had Lancer move to the park as soon as I saw signs of trouble." You need to remember to thank Oriko for all she's done at some point before this is over. "But goodness, I can't believe that Kaname-san was... I thought she'd have been safe, at the very elast. She's got so much power inside her that-"
"She's still one of Mitakihara's leylines. If Sidonia is going after the city's leylines, intentionally or otherwise, then Madoka would be at risk regardless of how powerful she is." This isn't the first time Sidonia has tried going after Madoka, either; it's the second. No, maybe it's actually the third. "But she's the one we cannot let Sidonia take over. No matter what."
"Of course, Akemi-san. Lancer assures me that she'll be meeting with Archer any moment now."
By the time you arrive at the park, you're out of breath. Or, you would be, were you a normal human. The magic pumping through your spiritual veins keeps you going in spite of the toll running halfway across the city without stopping has taken on your body. "Madoka!" you call out as you clear the last hurdle and come within sight of your target. "Madoka!"
You don't see any of the 'killer weed' Kyouko referenced in her earlier call to you, only a burned and frozen patch of nothing where there used to be grass, along with a rather proud-of-herself-looking Lancer standing over the formerly-grassy patch in full battle attire, spear drawn, and runes of ice and fire floating at her side. You can rest easy knowing there's one fewer thing in the world to threaten Madoka; or you would, were it not for the far more dangerous thing threatening her. "Madoka… What happened to you?"
Madoka turns to face you, and- Oh good lord what happened to her? You recoil in horror as you see the smoky black veins crawling up the side of her face, cupping her cheek from behind as a single, pale golden eye on the verge of tears stares back at you. The tan jacket of her school unfirom has been removed, tossed onto the park bench beside her, and Madoka's shirt is unbuttoned about halfway down, giving you a front-row seat to the sight of those same smoky black veins creeping down her shoulder and clustering like a grasping hand just over her heart.
You are not going to focus on the cute, pink-and-cream coloured bra she's wearing. That's not what you came here to do.
"Homura-chan… I'm sorry…"
"You didn't do anything wrong, Madoka," you say. You hold your hand out, hesitating; you want to reach out to Madoka, to touch her, hold her, let her know that everything is going to be fine. But you don't know that. But you hold back, wanting to be respectful of the fact that you and she aren't currently dating, and you don't want to be presumptuous about how much affection you can afford to show her. "This isn't your fault. It's hers. She's the one poisoning this city."
Sidonia has gone after Madoka before. Her familiars have tried to approach Madoka's house twice now. Her wanton poisoning of the city's water supply through the Grief pouring out of Walpurgisnacht's Grief seed is the reason Madoka's younger brother is in the hospital. But now, Sidonia's actions have directly caused harm to Madoka.
If her actions weren't unforgiveable before, they've since crossed that point.
"Thank you for keeping Madoka safe until I could get here," you nod, giving your thanks to both Kyouko and Lancer, before turning your attention to the more pressing matter of actually fixing this. "All right, now that I'm here…" You say, though what you're looking at is pretty self-evident. "Archer, Lancer, what are we thinking?"
"We should immediately begin by isolating Kaname Madoka from any possibility of further influence," Lancer says. "We have seen in the past before that Sidonia is easily able to wrest control of higher magical entitites once sufficient levels of Grief are present in their systems. We should immediately isolate Kaname Madoka from any possibility of that happening. I have a rune which can help with this."
"Good," you say to Lancer. "Do that. Archer, what's the status of Avalon? It's worked before when we used it on mom, would it work for Madoka?"
"It should," Archer says. "But it's also something that concerns me." Archer squats down on the nearby bench, tossing Madoka's uniform jacket to her so she can cover up before saying to you "This makes the third attempt Sidonia's made to nab Madoka. If we stick Avalon inside of her, it'll work, but until we do something about all this Grief – Grief that has apparently dug in so deep it's started infecting the city's leylines – we'll need to keep Avalon inside of Madoka permanently, to make sure this doesn't happen again. But then we'll have to put extra guards around her at all times, because if we're unsuccessful the fourth time Sidonia tries something, she'll end up with one of the most powerful conceptual weapons ever created in her possession. She's already got more than enough pieces to her puzzle as it is; I don't need to be handing something that powerful over to her and making things even worse for us."
"So then we don't let her get her hands on Madoka or Avalon," you say. "I'll guard her, if I have to."
Silently, Sayaka offers you a thumbs-up, while Madoka gives you all too bright of a smile for someone who felt the need to break up with you. Could your heart actually stand being Madoka's constant guard, knowing that every waking moment you'd be reminded of what you had lost?
"Let's slow down and take this one step a time, first," Archer says. "Lancer, how's that rune coming?"
Working diligently behind Madoka, Lancer nods her head. "I have applied the Nauthiz rune in three places on Kaname Madoka's body," Lancer says. "Over her heart, on the side of her shoulder, and at the back of her neck. It should hold."
"Good," Archer says. "Madoka, do you remember that lesson I gave you last week, about how to control the flow of mana within your body? Focus on doing that right now. It'll help you to stave off any possibility of Sidonia using that Grief to dig her claws into you. See if you can also use it to provide additional power to the runes Lancer placed on you."
"O... Okay." Madoka's voice wavers as she speaks. "I'll try…"
While Madoka concentrates on moving her magic around to ward off Sidonia's influence, Archer goes to work with Avalon. One quick insertion of the glittering, gold-and-blue masterpiece, and the wispy black fingers gripping Madoka's face and heart recede. Her eye returns to its usual pink, and for a moment, you can feel your heart repairing itself.
Even if it's just for a few moments longer, Madoka is safe.
But saving Madoka doesn't mean the problem has gone away. There's still the point Archer raised. As long as Mitakihara's leylines are corrupted, Madoka will continue to be at risk, and will need to have Avalon inside of her continuously to stave off a relapse of what's happened today. But without constant guard-posting and surveillance, keeping Avalon inside of Madoka just puts Avalon at risk of being taken by Sidonia.
But you've got someone working on a way to clean up the city's Grief problem, don't you?
"Matou Sakura!"
The time for propriety is gone. Your girlfriend is at risk, and you aren't happy about it. You use the master key to unlock the door to the upstairs apartment and barge in. "Matou Sakura, I need a status report on that thing you're working on!
The pink-haired Rider servant of Matou Sakura, Medusa, glares at you as you push your way into the upstairs apartment. She sets her book down, and approaches you, cutting you off from any further advance. "Get out of my way," you say. "I need to speak with your master."
"I can hear that," Medusa says, sounding unenthused. "In fact, I think there might be some lost souls in the deepest recesses of Hades' domain who could hear you." When you try to sidestep her, Medusa steps with you, blocking your path again before saying "What has you so upset, that you've discarded all notions of sacred hospitality and come barging in here unannounced?"
"I need to speak to your master," you say. "She's working on something for me, and I… I need her to be finished with it. Immediately." You try to slip past Medusa again, but she's faster than you. "Please, I need to speak with her. It's important. It's about…"You stumble over the words. "It's about Madoka…"
Medusa is motionless, and continues to stare you down until "Let her in, Rider!" you hear Tohsaka-san calling out from down the hall. "Seriously, you do not want to get in Akemi's way when it comes down to her girlfriend."
It isn't her master, but Medusa acquiesces to Tohsaka-san's request, and steps aside for you at last. "My master should be in her room," Medusa says. "I would say to be careful and not disturb her, but I believe it is too late for that. Please, proceed."
Proceed you do, heading down the hall, knocking on Matou Sakura's door, and- "I'm sorry about Rider," Matou Sakura says, welcoming you into the room as she opens the door for you. "If she was refusing to let you through, it's only… No, I'm sorry, there isn't any excuse I can give for her actions that would satisfy you."
"I need a progress report," you say, wasting no time to specify on what you want your report. "How far along are you?"
"Well, if you'll remember the last time we spoke, I said that I had two different possible ideas I was considering," Matou Sakura says. You nod your head, and let her continue. "After giving it some thought, I decided that the second option, though it would probably take longer for me to complete, is overall the safer bet. It's sturdier, being more resistant to becoming corrupted, and therefore less likely to hand another asset off to Sidonia."
Matou Sakura bites her lips, adding "The downside, however, is that it's taking time, and judging by what I heard you yelling to Rider, that's… Not something we have a lot of, is it?"
You shake your head. "It's Madoka," you say. "She…" You don't know how much Archer has told Matou Sakura, and you can't remember if she knows. She's become vulnerable. We're doing the best we can, but…" You implore Matou Sakura, "Please, hurry."
"I'm doing the best I can as well, Akemi-san."
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