To make people actually remember, here's it once for posterity: Minako is nonbinary and uses they/them. This message will be pinned so you people stop getting it wrong and pissing me off. If you get it wrong in the future I'm going to be much less nice, considering you have to scroll past it just to read the quest.
Uh Aura, I remember seeing Moid say in the discord that reading the Incubators mindscape would cause Minako to go crazy. Do you want to put that theory to the test?
Uh Aura, I remember seeing Moid say in the discord that reading the Incubators mindscape would cause Minako to go crazy. Do you want to put that theory to the test?
Uh Aura, I remember seeing Moid say in the discord that reading the Incubators mindscape would cause Minako to go crazy. Do you want to put that theory to the test?
Say what now? I'm not on the Discord, and I don't recall any mention of that in the thread. Seems like pretty crucial information if true?
Changing my vote to be on the safe side. This surely won't be the last time we see ◕‿‿◕, and Mina can always try scanning it when they're more experienced. An inexperienced empath isn't likely to get much usable information out of such an alien mind anyway.
That quote is a bit different than what you originally said, but still suggests to me that at the very least, we should wait until Minako is more emotionally stable and more experienced with their powers before scanning QB. The Incubators aren't going anywhere—there will be other, less reckless opportunities to try this.
Warning: Part 1 of Famous Prophets contains themes of mental illness, depression, and an emotionally abusive relationship, as well as the description of why someone with good intentions can become abusive.
This is a story of a breakup, and all that entails.
Reader discretion is advised.
It had been two days since Madoka broke up with her after eight years of dating. And Homura still stared at her door.
The apartment was eerily quiet and she hated it. She hated it so goddamn much. She didn't even leave. She just waited. Madoka was going to be back any second now. She'd done this before. She'd left before. It was going to be fine. They'd had fights. They'd had bad fights. This was going to be fine.
It'd be a few more days before Madoka came back. Homura knew it.
She sat on a bare wooden floor with dust collecting on her things. Her couch was black and plain. She was still naked; she hadn't gotten dressed since Madoka left. She'd done this before. She didn't need to get dressed. She didn't need food. She was fine.
Her stomach growled. She ignored it. She had ignored it before.
The floor was littered with trash. There were pieces of wrappers everywhere. Homura didn't know how they got there; she hadn't eaten. Maybe she tried to eat and gave up. She didn't remember. She didn't care. Who cared. It was fine. She was fine. It'd be fine.
Madoka just needed to come back.
Madoka just needed to see the damage she'd done to her.
Madoka just needed to see what Homura was like. How pathetic she was like this.
Madoka just needed to come back.
She'd come back.
She'd be back.
[=]
It had been a week since Madoka broke up with her. Homura was starving.
On the fifth day she relented and took a shower. Madoka hadn't ever left this long. Where could she be? She was obviously still in Mitakihara; she wouldn't just up and leave forever. She was mad. She was upset with Homura.
Of course she was. Homura was nothing without Madoka. Homura knew she was nothing without her.
Her hand twitched. She was still naked on the floor. Her soul gem was purple but it had a fleck of black floating around the bottom.
"Madoka," she muttered. It was the first word she'd said in a week. The last time she'd spoken was right before Madoka turned heel and left.
She didn't remember what the argument was about. She didn't think it was anything big. Madoka should be back. She'd be back. She wouldn't leave over...whatever it was. Would she?
Would she?
She wouldn't.
[=]
She did.
It had been two weeks. And Homura was forced to pay rent. It was no trouble; she had enough money saved to pay for rent for five more years. But even Homura was getting bored of standing around. Madoka wasn't one to stay away this long.
She checked her phone to see if she had replied to any of her texts.
Madoka hadn't.
Maybe that would change with another fifteen texts.
[=]
It had been fifteen days. Madoka blocked her.
Homura probably should have seen this coming. She was such a stupid bitch she should have seen that fucking coming.
Her hand hovered over her left arm. Part of her wanted to claw through the flesh and rip her arm off and tear and tear and tear and tear until there was nothing less
And another just...
Her hand flickered and her shield emerged on her arm.
[=]
It had been twenty days. Homura took a shower again. She still didn't get dressed. The apartment was getting filthy.
She threw another grief seed against the ground. She couldn't give up now. Madoka was going to come back. She had to. If she didn't she'd go back. She could go back.
She could get a perfect Madoka.
She could get the right Madoka.
This wasn't the right Madoka. This Madoka was imperfect.
She was a flawed human being. Her Madoka wasn't imperfect.
She missed her.
She missed the way she hugged her. The way she kissed her. The way she fucked her.
She missed Madoka. She missed her.
She couldn't stop herself from vomiting on the floor.
Homura cleaned it up. She couldn't leave that for Madoka when she finally returned.
[=]
It had been thirty-six days since Madoka broke up with her. She finally left the apartment. She couldn't stay in there. She could feel her soul blackening with every second she spent alone. Madoka still needed her. She couldn't leave this yet.
She had known this imperfect Madoka longer than she had any other. She knew her wants, her needs, her loves, her...
Her hangups. Her belief that she could do things on her own. The fact that she was taking after Junko in probably the worst possible way.
She sipped her coffee. She was dressed how she tended to before the breakup; half-rimmed glasses, black hair straight in a bob, leggings under a purple skirt, a striped shirt and a simple, tasteful scarf around her neck.
She almost looked like she had her shit together.
Really, it was just her abusing her magic and making sure nobody could see that she was badly starving herself. No need for anyone to question her.
She sipped her coffee again. She preferred her drink black. Bitter, hot. She sipped it some more.
For a second she thought that maybe Madoka breaking things off was for the best.
Her hand involuntarily crushed the paper cup in her hand and spilled steaming hot coffee all over her t-shirt and her glasses and her shoes.
She swore under her breath. She transformed twice in the middle of the cafe; nobody was going to care in a few minutes and it would inconvenience the incubators. Then she left.
She needed to find out where Madoka was.
But as she looked, she realized to her horror that Madoka wasn't anywhere. Madoka needed protection but Homura couldn't find her at her usual haunts. She couldn't find Madoka at her old workplace, at the school she would pass by, at Tatsuya's school, anywhere.
The mall was devoid of her pink hair. No charm, no joy. Nothing there. Nary a sign of Madoka Kaname. Her eyes flicked around, looking for her. Madoka needed Homura. Why didn't she know that.
She had needed her for eight years. Right?
Madoka needed her. There's no way she could survive out there in this cruel city without her.
[=]
It was now 41 days since Madoka broke up with her. Homura found Madoka.
She was walking home from work and she looked...
Happy.
Madoka was fine. Madoka was worse than fine; she was walking with a confidence that Homura had never seen. That Madoka kept her pace up as she talked to her high school friend; Hiromi? Haruko? She didn't remember her name. She didn't care to.
But Madoka was still spending more time with her. Homura was above them, atop a building beside a series of wires. She wanted Madoka to look up. She wanted Madoka, that selfish, selfish bitch, to look up and see how much she hurt. To see how much it felt like Homura's heart was gonna tear itself out of her chest, how it was going to smash her ribcage and tear her organs and rip her to shreds.
Homura's face felt wet. It must've started raining. Madoka wasn't running inside, though.
Then Homura realized that her nose was running.
Then she collapsed to her knees.
Homura didn't move from that spot for an hour. And as she buried her face in her hands and curled into a ball, she failed to notice a magi approaching from behind with the light thump of feet on rooftop. Nor did she notice the sound of feet tapping.
She did notice the voice, though.
"Hey, Homu."
Homura whipped her head back to see Kyouko standing there with a cigarette in her mouth and her hair cut short; she had an undercut and by god she could not look more like a turbodyke if she tried. Her denim jacket fluttered in the wind over a rainbow tanktop as she pushed her hands into her pockets and propped her foot up.
"What do you want," Homura hissed at her. "I'm...I'm trying to protect-"
"You're not protectin' much of anything. Really it kinda looked like stalking to me."
Homura opened her mouth to retort. Then the words stopped in her throat. She bit her tongue and swore again.
"You said you were fine when we tried mind-speaking."
"I was."
"Yeah, sure, I don't fuckin' buy that." Kyouko leaned against the wall. "Not anymore. Now let's be honest, Akemi. What were you doing up here? Were you just casually checking up on your ex? Were you gonna stalk her?"
"I just wanted to check on her. For her protection. She's-"
"In a city dense with friendly magi, with the biggest grief seed on the planet, if not the universe. Madoka isn't hurting for protection."
"But I don't just mean from magi! I mean from...from everyone else! What if she gets shot or robbed or-!"
"Madoka's a big girl." Kyouko glanced down. "She can handle herself. But what about you?" She kept her hands in her pockets as she walked closer. "Are you okay."
Homura bit her lip. "I am."
"You're not gonna turn back-"
"NO!" Homura near-screamed at her. "N-No I wouldn't...I-I couldn't! There's n-no guarantee I could beat Walpurgis again I-I don't-!" She breathed in. She was turning into the child again. Into that helpless, useless, feckless creature that made a stupid wish. "No. No, I wouldn't."
"Are you sure." It's not a question.
Homura stared at Kyouko.
She left after a minute.
[=]
It had been 53 days since Madoka broke up with Homura. And she had a lot to think about. She was currently sitting across from Kyouko in the middle of some poor, decrepit hole-in-the-wall restaurant. The other woman had a delicious-looking platter of chicken and rice and steamed veggies in front of her.
Homura just had a rice bowl and some soy sauce. She supposed it was a step up from starving herself naked on an apartment floor.
Homura leaned her face on her hand. She stared out to the side.
Her eyes flickered back to Kyouko's meal. Neither of them had actually touched their food.
Kyouko leaned on her hands. "So. Are you gonna stick around? You've told me you hated this town."
"I do," Homura says. "I hate this city. I hate every building. I hate everything in it. I hate the smells. I hate how much it makes me think..." She trailed off despite herself.
It's been almost two months. She shouldn't be this much of a wreck.
"Yeah. Yeah, I getcha." Kyouko leans back. "But it'd be right for you. You can't stay here. It's not good for you, and it wasn't good for Madoka, either."
Homura almost wanted to punch Kyouko in the face for mentioning her name. But then she realized it wasn't right. Kyouko was...right. It was right.
Their relationship wasn't good for either of them, was it.
She was like a fucking parasite.
She latched onto Madoka's beauty and wondered why it looked ugly up close.
She was horrible to her.
She was horrible.
She is horrible.
She's-
Kyouko tapped her shoulder. "I ain't one to play therapist. That's Akane's job." She frowned. "But uhh...you alright?"
Homura looked outside for a good few seconds. Her hair was starting to grow out a little. Maybe a little bit longer than it used to be; it was down to the small of her back now.
"I think I'll go to Chile."
"Huh? Chile? Why there?"
"Because it's far away. Hell, maybe I can go to Easter Island if I want." Homura smiled. It was thin and tiny, barely even a smile, really, but it was more than Kyouko had seen in a while.
The other woman exposed a fang with a sly smirk. "You could really use that, couldn't you?"
"I believe I could, yes."
[=]
Homura had left Mitakihara in the following weeks. And as far as the magi of Mitakihara were concerned, she had vanished off the face of the earth.
And maybe it was better like that. Homura would argue that it was better that way.
And Madoka would, too.
But perhaps Madoka wasn't as okay with it as she thought she would be.
Well, then. Homura's admitted to herself that the relationship was toxic, and is trying to better herself. Seeing that in the present, she and Madoka are kinda-seeing each other again knowing what went wrong last time (wonder who the other people involved are?), maybe things are finally looking up for these two-
Well this goes a long way for explaining why Kyouko was the one to mention Homura as an option (if not a pleasant one to horribly bad one). There is still a relationship there despite Homura - well the update says it best.
Just in case it's unclear, "how do I delete someone else's post¹" is a sort of running joke indicating a person's deep dissatisfaction with the content of, say for instance, a heartrending soulcrushing update that makes you feel like nothing will ever be okay again. It does not indicate an actual intent to get the post removed.
¹To completely dissect the joke, it presents a variation on "how do I delete my own post", which is a common request; by changing the subject of the attempt to somebody else's post the request becomes unreasonable while appearing superficially similar, thus producing a humorous dissonance. Further, the innocent tone implies the asker has not understood this. (You may laugh now.)
'No. fuck off. The only reason I haven't batted you into next week is 'cause my girlfriend's cuddling me.'
The creature flicks its tail again. 'Ah. Well that is a shame, then. Perhaps then we can reconv-'
'No. Fuck off forever.'
The creature simply stands right in its place. The next time you blink, it's gone, like it hadn't broken into your girlfriend's house. You keep your eyes locked on the carpet. It remains somewhat depressed for a moment before slowly fluffing itself back out. You instead just roll your head against your girlfriend's and try to get some sleep.
You're gonna be witch hunting again. This time, it'll be with your mama.
[=]
Her name is Mami Tomoe. She has spent three nights in Kasamino of 2031 and now stares across the gap. Next to her is a magical girl who twists a silver, twenty-sided thing before she shatters it with a flick of her wrist.
The thing explodes out before stopping midway through, and she raises a single, flickering grief seed. Right across from her, Lady Rin watches with rapt attention, her wings folded against her back.
Mami notes that the wings themselves don't fold like a bird's. Rather, they shimmer into place. The eye-plates still flicker around, still peer all around Rin as they watch from every conceivable place. The rest of the "feathers" flicker. Mami quickly realizes that Rin doesn't really have "wings," per se, rather a massive number of metallic plates.
And then one of the eyes notices Mami staring. Then the others do, too. Rin raises her head. "Apologies, Mami, but I am far, far too old for you."
Mami's back goes straight. "W-what n-no that wasn't what I was staring at-!"
Rin chuckles to herself before she leans back forward. "I understand the need for knowledge, but some secrets are best left covered."
She moves herself just enough to keep the shimmering wings in front of Mami's vision. But just inside of the wings there is a tiny sliver. Mami is able to watch as Rin takes three grief seeds, each of them near-bursting with grief, and ports them away. The wind howls and her wings shudder and shake as there is a pop, and a tiny sliver of matter turns to a vacuum. The twenty-sided shape collapses, and the magical girl in front of Rin gives the woman a gigantic smile.
"Did I do well?" she asks.
"You did wonderfully, Nono." Rin pats the younger girl, younger even than Mami, on the head. Nono smiles, a gap in her teeth as she jumps away and towards a nearby staircase.
Mami walks forward. "I apologize, Lady Rin but,were you...?"
"I was doing what the Incubators deem fit. Their methods are monstrous, but they do in fact desire to protect the universe, no?"
Mami scowls. "The Incubators...the Incubators are monstrous. I know what they do."
"Do you, now? They have their reasons. Everyone has their reasons." Lady Rin presses her finger to her lips. "I do understand your...grievances with them."
"'Grievances?!' They murdered my-!" Mami stumbles over the words. Her tongue twists in her mouth. She wonders if it's Rin's power, Rin's beautiful presence doing this.
To her horror, no. It isn't. It's just her.
She swallows. "Friend. They murdered my friend."
"The Kyouko of your world made a very human mistake." Lady Rin circles Mami. "It is not her fault. Nor is it the fault of the Incubators. Their system is passionless. It does not care. It has no wants and needs. Unchanging and rigid in form. It operates as it does, it works as it does, in unyielding service for the universe. Oh, the scope of its work seems too large to you. It's too large for any of us. But that's just the nature of things."
Mami stares at Lady Rin. "I...I don't understand?"
"Well, let me put it this way, Mami Tomoe." She presses her fingers into Mami's head, a thumb against her forehead and her index finger against her soul gem. The halo over Lady Rin's head shimmers and flickers as the two gems over her head spin and spin and spin and spin.
Mami's world explodes into stars, and all she sees are Lady Rin's two shimmering silver eyes as her world descends into the cosmos. The Milky Way shimmers into being from her eyes and erupts into a great galactic map before it, too, turns to a speck among an infinite number of stars.
"Energy is Chaos. The Universe seeks to spend energy, to bring energy to a less active state. However, energy is impossible to lose. The Universe dictates that energy cannot be destroyed; rather, it must change. It must transform to a different state. A fire turns to useless ash, but the energy stored in the fuel isn't lost. It's converted to heat, to light, to smoke and ash.
"But that fire cannot return. It's been lost forever; the fuel cannot be un-burnt. This is the idea behind entropy, behind the second law of thermodynamics. It is what Incubator says will eventually turn our universe cold and ashen. The universe expands. The particles are unable to interact, and as they grow further apart their energy becomes less and less useful. Life as we know it ceases to be, because we need useful energy. We cannot survive off of random energy.
"The Universe needs balance. The Universe needs turmoil. Molecules clash with one another. Ideologies clash. People clash. It needs our energy. Why else would the Incubators show interest in us?"
"I-I..." Mami swallows. "I-I don't understand."
"I don't expect you to." She cups Mami's chin, and the stars dissolve around them both until Lady Rin's smile is the center of the universe. "I simply offer an explanation. It is up to you to interpret it, young Mami."
Mami swallows again. "L-Lady Rin."
The illustrious, powerful Lady Rin finally lets go of the girl. She takes a step backwards. "Now, Mami Tomoe, I believe there may be another witch to hunt. Please bring me that grief seed. We will discuss the assault plans tomorrow."
Mami nods. She nods enthusiastically. "Y-yes I will, Lady Rin."
[=]
Your name is Kyouko, and you are now standing on top of a radio tower. Your feet are on top of a metal bar, your right hand wrapped around the central pole. You're resisting the urge to pop another smoke between your lips, so instead you make do with old faithful. You stuff a taiyaki into your mouth. You and Sayaka are still learning how to make these better, with a bit of help from Mina.
But this one's probably one of your best yet. It looks almost perfectly like a fish without any of the weird fringe crust on the sides; not too much batter, not too little.
You chew. A few crumbs fall from the radio tower and you wince. It's a little dry; you think you underfilled it.
"Aw, fuckgh." You sigh. Still, the batter's nice and soft, so it's not that big a loss. Another bite and then your eyes widen as red bean paste spews out the back end of the Taiyaki and towards the city streets below.
You roll your eyes and then just stuff the rest of it in your mouth.
Yeah, you still haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. There's a reason you usually just buy them. You turn your gaze towards the school. It's impossible to miss it when it's so close to the Walpurgisnacht seed. You look down and sure enough there's your kid, jumping across the streets and through nearby buildings.
They're right next to a similarly-sized green speck. They stop on a nearby water tower. Takane gives them a light peck on the cheek before they give her a full-blown kiss on the mouth. It goes on for a few good seconds before they break apart. Takane heads towards her home, while Minako heads towards you.
They hit the support wire on the radio tower, their feet sliding against the rail before they finally get a grip. They run right up, feet rattling the entire platform as they reach the top. Finally they come to a stop, feet grinding against the wire before they leap.
They soar right over your head, whip a hand out, and let the momentum spin them around the antennae before they finally let go and drop next to you.
You snort. "Fucking ten points! Good job Mina, you did that with style!"
They bow. "Thank you, thank you!"
You clap at their showmanship before you sigh and turn out to the city. "So...ready to fight ourselves a witch?"
They grimace.
Yeah, that's what you thought. "Okay, for real. Try not to read it this time."
"Yeah, I won't, mama. Just kinda forgot not to last time." They scratch the back of their head. "Just kinda wanted to see if I could."
"Yeah, well, until we get a better handle on your empath powers, your mom and I think you oughta hold off." You click your tongue. "The other thing is that I'm kinda wondering why we're getting so many witches now. Your mom noticed that they were picking up over the past few weeks."
"Think it's about Kasamino?" Minako asks.
"Fuck, I hope not." You look over the bay to the city in the north. It's easy to from this high up. "Really, if that's the case then Lady Rin's an even bigger bitch than I thought."
Minako swallows. "Is...wait, do some magi-"
"Yeah. Yeah, they do." You answer before they can finish. "Mina, your mom and I have seen some shit."
They open their mouth, clearly curious. Then they freeze before they bite their lip and look away.
Yeah, they got an idea of how bad the Six were. So you're gonna elaborate a little.
"They called themselves the 'Tokyo Six'. They rounded up magi that didn't fall in line, destroyed their bodies, and pumped their souls full of grief before obliterating the resulting witch. They were monstrous. Easily some of the worst people your mom and I have had to fight."
Minako's quiet. They don't say anything for a time. It's several seconds of long, painful silence as they look up at you. "Did you...you had to kill them."
You stare ahead. You don't dare to look your child in the eye. "Yeah. Yeah, we did," you say. "Some magi are...awful. Witches are usually scarce. When they're not it's either a deliberate act or you are in a really, really awful city. Mitakihara used to be the latter." You look over your shoulder.
Minako's batting at the ground with their boot, kicking around on the metal railing like it's the most interesting thing ever. They take in a deep breath.
"You wanted to understand."
"I did," Minako mutters.
[] Talk to the kid. (Write-in what to say) (DIFFICULTY WILL VARY ON WHAT YOU SAY)
QB: "Truly humans are insane. They blame us for not providing them with information when they themselves haven't requested it. Then they refuse to listen us when we try to provide them with information without their request."
But just inside of the wings there is a tiny sliver. Mami is able to watch as Rin takes three grief seeds, each of them near-bursting with grief, and ports them away. The wind howls and her wings shudder and shake as there is a pop, and a tiny sliver of matter turns to a vacuum. The twenty-sided shape collapses
Crazy theory time:
This tiny sliver of matter? It's d20.
That's why the Glow is so successful. They have a dice manipulator on their side who ensures their every action will succeed.
