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Puella Magica Somniabunt Sanguinis [PMMM/Bloodborne]

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[X] Plan 1 - Key to the TARDIS

In terms of what magic to teach Homura, I think a good option would be something like arcane lasers. Currently, Homura has no weaponry capable of doing more than scratch damage to Walpurgis. With high-powered beams of eldritch star-matter she might actually be able to get through WPN's magical barriers, while simultaneously maintaining good range.

There is another possibility, in that Homura may be able to manifest her own special magics due to her connections to time.
New goal: make Homu into an actual Great One of Time.
AKA plan Make Homucifer a Thing in This Universe.
(tbh ruby would probably consider the homuverse an improvement)
 
A thought on tracking Kyubey.

Ruby compared Madoka to the sun, basically unable to look head on, but you can see her actions in the world around her. I got the impression Ruby could find Madoka from anywhere in the city or maybe even the world, as easily as looking up the sky to spot the sun.

Kyubey's been described as a void.

So...can Ruby spot Kyubey from greater distances, like noticing a shadow in Madoka's presence? Because that would be a really handy way to keep track of Kyubey and know whenever he shows up. The fact that it relies on Madoka power overwhelming means he's pretty much never going to not be vulnerable to it.
 
HymnOfRagnarok said:
A thought on tracking Kyubey.

Ruby compared Madoka to the sun, basically unable to look head on, but you can see her actions in the world around her. I got the impression Ruby could find Madoka from anywhere in the city or maybe even the world, as easily as looking up the sky to spot the sun.

Kyubey's been described as a void.

So...can Ruby spot Kyubey from greater distances, like noticing a shadow in Madoka's presence? Because that would be a really handy way to keep track of Kyubey and know whenever he shows up. The fact that it relies on Madoka power overwhelming means he's pretty much never going to not be vulnerable to it.
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One QM brownie point to you, for working out how Ruby noticed Kyuubey sneaking up on the house at a not inconsiderable range, when she had to have direct line of sight before to recognise it.

Final update of the prologue is in progress, but enough planning has bled out of it that I've also got the first Homu-lude taking shape at the same time. It's 4 AM for me now, so I'm going to go to sleep and pick up after I drag myself out of bed and administer my morning caffine IV drip.

Anything people would like to see Homu focus on? This isn't a formal vote by any means, just an interest check for any particular scenes you had in mind.
 
Its not quite related to your question, but will there be any Mado-ludes? I would like to see what Madoka makes of the bizarre actions of Ruby.
 
Origami Clock said:
One QM brownie point to you, for working out how Ruby noticed Kyuubey sneaking up on the house at a not inconsiderable range, when she had to have direct line of sight before to recognise it.
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Oh. Well, on one hand no really expanded capabilities. On the other hand, now we know the mechanics for how Kyubey detection works!

Bunnycat is gonna be having some bad days.

Homura is...actually probably still metaphorically pinching herself, as things have clearly gone wrong, but they've gone wrong in such a way that things keep getting better for Homura.

She's probably waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nice things don't happen to her.

Final update of the prologue is in progress, but enough planning has bled out of it that I've also got the first Homu-lude taking shape at the same time. It's 4 AM for me now, so I'm going to go to sleep and pick up after I drag myself out of bed and administer my morning caffine IV drip.

Anything people would like to see Homu focus on? This isn't a formal vote by any means, just an interest check for any particular scenes you had in mind.
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Hmm. Well Ruby is the obvious choice but at the same time such an interlude is almost...kinda self-congratulatory? On one hand, yeah Homura needs to chew on the Ruby issue, on the other hand, Homura probably still has tons of stuff to do.

Actually, maybe you can kill two birds with one stone. Homura giving Ruby an abbreviated tour of the city and the highlights of its people, what Homura needs or would like Ruby to do, and Ruby volunteering things she can do along the way? Good chance to volunteer the magic teaching as well.

Kinda like a working lunch as they get to know each other better, while being productive. Helps inform the readers of the current situation and their capabilities as well, plus inform us of what Homura considers pressing or important at this time. Ruby seems like she'll be following Homura's lead, so clear direction will probably prevent misunderstandings and mistakes.
 
DragonGodxxx said:
Its not quite related to your question, but will there be any Mado-ludes? I would like to see what Madoka makes of the bizarre actions of Ruby.
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It's a tossup at the moment on whether the first chapter concludes with a Mado-lude or a Mami-lude. Depends on what choices you make/what goes horribly wrong in the next chapter.
 
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Child of Blood - pt. 10
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    • You are beginning to suspect that you can't simply solve this problem by eating lots of white puffballs.

    Not that it wouldn't be fun, guilt-free and a great way to pass the time, since even Homura, who's power had almost lead you to have an unfortunate accident just by thinking too hard about it, had not been able to find an end to them.

    For a very brief moment, you make yourself giggle internally as you imagined an infinite number of vermin falling into you to be devoured, in much the same way that someone without your advantages might fantasise about swimming in a sea of chocolate.

    Then you remember Her hard, glassy eyes when she first met you, all softness sapped from them by the demands of a war that seemed without end. Your daydream about an infinite number of vermin was no longer quite as appealing as it had been.

    "I-If that's true…then how can we be sure that one of them doesn't get through?"

    "Keep watch. Always. With two of us, and your clones, it shouldn't be too hard."

    "I…I can't make too many of them, Homura. Bad things happen if I do…even worse than what happened with your s-shield."

    She slumps a little, the news deflating some of the hope that she had thought she had finally found. You lean against her, the closest you could really come to a hug without toppling the both of you onto the lawn below.

    "Sorry…if I could make an army of me to protect her, I would. She would be worth it…but I could be worse than the vermin, if I did that…"

    Her eyes go flinty, an almost instinctive reaction to the revelation of a new threat to her precious unborn sun.

    "How much worse?"

    "The only other Great One who tried to do that…he scares Great Ones…"

    You shiver as you recall the terrible rage that swept across the great pale face of your Papa, the shrieking as Uncle Spider squirmed his way out through impossible angles to devour you in your crib. Uncle Spider could find a way into anywhere, and where there was one of him, soon enough there would be an infestation, like leeches swarming a bleeding swimmer.

    "Uncle Spider tried to eat me when I was a baby…because he thought it would be funny. So please, when I say I shouldn't, please trust me."

    Homura is quiet for a little after that, her eyes distant and thoughtful, widened just a little at the revelation that the adorable snuggle-fiend leaning against her could very well become some sort of insane horror.

    Well, being strictly technical about it, by the standards of humans, you might be considered a little unhinged, and at your most inhuman, more than a little disconcerting in appearance. Then again, what did humans know? They thought two limbs was a perfectly sufficient number for hugging, and it was self-evident how utterly wrong that was.

    "Alright…you know I'd have to stop you, if that ever happened."

    "If that ever happened, I'd want you to."

    The pair of you lapsed into quiet again, the sombre turn your conversation making it a lot easier to let fade into companionable silence. The sun was overhead, and briefly, you could bask in the warmth of the light dappling through the surrounding cocoon of leaves.

    She gives you a warning poke with an elbow, and reaches for her shield while you avert your senses. When you look back, she has a glossy cylinder in her hand that she unscrews to unleash a puff of fragrant steam. She has two cups of the same shiny red material hanging off her fingers by their handles, and She passes one to you.

    "Tea?"

    You nod, the tendrils in your tongue shivering at the thought of more delicious moisture. She pours for both of you, and after warning you to look away again, deposits the flask back to wherever it came from.

    You lap gently at the hot fluid, thoughts spinning themselves gently through your head as you watch for any sign of the void that signified the vermin was attempting a second attempt.

    "I-I could try showing you my type of magic, if you want?"

    "What could you teach?"

    "There's a few things that wouldn't be that hard. If I gave you a focus, you could probably learn how to make tendrils of your own, though they wouldn't last long. You don't have the right Eyes yet for the fancier things though, but I suppose I could lend you one."

    "Right Eyes?"

    "They're too…what's the word…ah, empty. Once we get you nice and filled up with Insight, you might be better than me at some things."

    "You…don't have to actually put things in me, do you?"

    You try very hard not to blush at that mental image. You fail. Badly. It was your Mama giving you the Talk about what to do when you find a nice boy to pollinate you all over again, except somehow worse for the accidental nature of it.

    "Nononono, it just means how much you're used to looking at how things really are, rather than how they look. Like the vermin. They might look all snuggly and cute…"

    "I get it."

    You give her a proud, beaming smile, which she replies with an almost invisible upward twitch to the corner of her lips. It fills you with a lovely warm feeling of satisfaction.

    "…Could you show me how to make clones? I…I'm going to have to spend most of the day at school, making sure It doesn't go anywhere near them then, but…"

    You can't fail to feel a little smug as she acknowledges the inherent superiority of having a few more bodies to walk around it, if only because they meant that you could give exponentially more hugs than you could than if you only had one adorable body to wander around in.

    "Erm…I could, I think, buuut…"

    "What?"

    "I can only do it because I'm me. You'd…need to be more like me for that…more Eyes, more…planty. It could work, but you wouldn't be all you anymore."

    It was a testament to Her devotion to Her mission that She did not immediately reject it. Thematic similarities were alright, even expected if you were related to other Great Ones, but…becoming like another one…it wasn't something you would have done unless you had no choice.

    "Not now then, but later…could you show me how you'd do it…just in case."

    You lean your head on her shoulder for a moment, mouth positioned just close enough to her ear that she could hear as you breathed a quiet confession to her.

    "You're very brave, Homura. I don't know anyone else that would be willing to do that for someone else."

    She goes still and quiet, and for a moment, you thought you'd done something very wrong, but it only lasts a moment, and for a moment, she allows herself to lean on you, a silent, warm thanks where words would not come.

    "I should probably warn you, some Magical Girls listen to K-the Incubator. He's very good at making them do what he wants. I can't risk not trying to stop him…but, you could be in much more danger than I am from him. If he learns about you, and tells others…"

    A vision flashes across your vision, the raven-pecked carcass that was Grandpa looking down from a blood-red moon, singing songs of bloodlust and madness, as he urged on Hunters with whispers in their blood to seek out and slay every trace of the Great Ones that lingered on the world.

    "I'd be hunted."

    "Yes, and one of the strongest Magical Girls in this city thinks that It is her only friend."

    You are torn between a need to vomit from the sheer repulsiveness of that mental image and weep with pity for that poor manipulated child.

    "We can tell her right, show her just what her 'friend' really is, right?"

    "Remember what I said about Witches?"

    Your sap turns to ice within you. Only something that felt nothing could construct a trap of that monstrosity. You resolve inwardly that you were going to save this person, even if it was only to spite It.

    Just how you were going to do it, when you had to be on your best behaviour at all times to keep a Hunt being called for you, was something you were going to have to work out.

    "Does she go to this school as well? If they're all clustered together, then I could show them I'm really cute and theydon'tneedtocutmeintolittlebitsand-"

    You were overthinking again, only this time, it was being the subject of a Hunt. You knew the story of Papa's Hunt off by heart, and how he had brought down things that made you look like the child you were with nothing more than persistence and lots and lots of weaponry.

    Homura poked your shoulder, reminding you that you were not being Hunted like a Beast through the streets by a bloodthirsty mob of cute girls in frilly dresses.

    "Yes, she does. It would be hard to organise though. You just…appeared, and you need all sorts of paperwork just so the school knows you exist to let you in."

    You ponder, the beginnings of a cunning plan in your mind.

    "I can be really sneaky when I want to…all I need is for them to think I'm cute and friendly and not a horrible Beast that needs to be chopped into little pieces. If…if you talk to them then I find you, then they don't really need to know who I am because I'm your friend, so I can talk to them and show them I'm really cute and nice and things."

    "I-I could try. Some of them don't get on with me though."

    "How could they not like you? You're clever and dedicated and forgiving and you have really nice hair and are comfy to snuggle, so what's there not to like?"

    She just looks at you with her now familiar expression of 'Ruby is being confusing again'. She opens her mouth to reply, then closes it again, and returns to sipping her way efficiently through her cup of tea.

    She seems to have accepted that some things just aren't worth arguing over.
     
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    • Axel Fones said:
    God damn, I need more adorable eldritch abominations in my life.
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    Thank you. I tried to get across pretty much unanimous support that continuing to prioritise Homura and making her a little less Murderface-y had in this thread, and I like to think I succeeded. I'm going out in a bit for a society meeting arguing about anarchism, but if you're very lucky, I'll be back early enough to finish the Homulude today (can't burn quite as much midnight oil, since I've got a lecture at 9 AM tomorrow.)
     
    No but seriously can I get some recommendations on fics with adorable eldritch abominations or anything similar? This fic blindsided me a bit and now I want more while waiting between updates.
     
    On the one hand, it's an unfathomable alien from beyond space and time. On the other hand it's adorable and huggy and telling her she's ten kinds of awesome in the same tone of voice one uses to say the sky is blue.

    Homura must be so confused.
     
    Well...that was a pleasant surprise. Certainly didn't expect this update to break all my previous records in less than 7 hours. Homulude is almost done, but I need to get to bed, so I'll try to have it up around lunchtime tomorrow.

    First update of chapter 1 should be sometime this weekend (going to see the london philharmonic then BR2049 the day after so I'm a bit busy.) Ruby gets to walk Homu to her first day at school in that one, and (finally) Ruby will begin to be introduced to the main cast.
     
    So this isn't exactly an Omake, but rather a separate thing that just happens to be heavily inspired by this quest. Still, I really like this quest, so I might as well show some support by sharing the thing that it's inspired.
    Mami watched in terror as the darkness ate Kyubey. It happened so suddenly and so randomly, there was nothing she could do. One second she was having nice, normal conversation with Kyubey. The next, she was screaming as a tendril of shadow, almost snake-like, lashed out, split into a piranha's maw and swallowed Kyubey whole. Then the tendril sneaked back into the dark corner, leaving Mami shaken and confused.

    But the dark shadows weren't done yet. A larger shape began to spread from the corner, slowly this time. It lifted itself up from the ground, a freestanding shadow, not really there, flat and misty. But then the shadows thickened and grew darker, gaining depth and weight, becoming real. At first it was amorphous but slowly before Mami's terrified eyes it took a recognizable shape.

    A human shape.

    Arms took shape, legs and a head as well. At first, the shadows seemed to be heading towards a female form. Mami could recognize the shape of breasts and hips, the curves of an hourglass figure. There were even twirls of hair like her own on either side of the head. But then it changed directions. Shoulders broadened, pectorals flattened, muscles replaced soft curves. At the same, color seeped into the creation and clothing began to form over the naked form.

    As the construction finally ceased, what looked like a human teenager was left. A dangerously handsome human teenager, with windswept black hair, an angelic face and a tight, black, silken shirt that clung to whipcord muscle.

    The man-shaped thing opened its eyes, saw Mami and it's expression shifted to one of worship and wonder.

    "Are you a princess?"

    Mami could only flounder through a response as she tried and failed to understand what was happening. "Wha-what?"

    "I apologize for speaking out of turn." The thing's voice was deep and soft, whispered like a breeze on a moonless night. It was unnatural and should have been unnerving but it had just this hint of a cultured accent that soothed and calmed. "But you must see. I see you, so small, so delicate, yet so strong because of it. Nobility and grace, justice and dreams. Kindness. Hope. You are so beautiful, my Lady."

    Mami's head was reeling. Everything was all happening to fast and there didn't seem to be any reason or rhyme to the events unfolding. The shadows that just ate Kyubey now looked like a beautiful young man and were calling her beautiful. A princess. It almost sounded like a confession of love. It was…

    Mami shook her head. The… thing had eaten Kyubey. No matter how pretty it looked now, she couldn't forget that it was a monster. "What are you?" She demanded.

    The thing frowned. It had been so eloquent earlier but now it struggled for the words. "I am… I was… I was once an empty thing but then I fell. There are cracks in the world and I fell through, to the nothing outside. It was dark and I was lost. The nothingness drowned me and in turn I feasted upon it. I was empty and the emptiness filled me, infused with shadow until shadow I became. And so I am, found my way to the real once more. To where there was something, everything. I am Shadow and Empty and Nothing and Hunger."

    "Why?" Mami yelled, tears in her eyes. "Why are you here? Are you just going to eat me too?"

    The thing's eyes widened in pure horror, before falling down, looking at Mami's hand instead of meeting her eyes. "No! No, I would never! I am shadow and you are so bright. To take even the smallest mote of light, it would burn me until there was nothing left. I can stand in the light because it is the light that gives the shadows their shape but to eat it? No, all I can eat is as like; shadows, that which doesn't exist. It is why I hunger: I am empty and all I can fill myself with is nothing."

    "Then why…." Mami hiccupped, not comforted by it's explanations. "Then why did you eat Kyubey? Why?!"

    The thing frowned in confusion before it came to a realization. "That… It was empty. Everyone has some light in them. You shine so bright but I can see them, the others all around. They each have their own light. But it was empty and I was hungry and I could not truly think, only feed."

    The thing, already on its knees, began to beg. "I apologize, Bright Princess. I apologize a thousand times over and a thousand more. Please believe me. I would never do anything to harm you. If I had known, if only I had been able to think, I never would have taken it from you. I will do anything to earn your forgiveness. I will serve you for all time, if only you will bless me with your presence."

    Mami knew that she couldn't trust the thing. It had taken Kyubey from her. She had experienced betrayal before. And yet looking at it, as it pleaded with her, almost bursting into tears at the thought of displeasing her, all her instincts said that it was genuine. That it was more honest than anyone she had met before.

    Slowly, shakily, Mami nodded.

    The look of relief on its face could match a man dying of thirst in a desert finally finding a well. "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you! You shall be my Bright Princess and I?"

    "I will be your Knight in Blackest Armor."
     
    Origami Clock said:
    "Uncle Spider tried to eat me when I was a baby…because he thought it would be funny. So please, when I say I shouldn't, please trust me."

    Homura is quiet for a little after that, her eyes distant and thoughtful, widened just a little at the revelation that the adorable snuggle-fiend leaning against her could very well become some sort of insane horror.
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    Also the bit about her Uncle trying to eat her.

    Seriously, literal baby-eater uncle, that's a new one even for Homura.

    Of course, even Homura hasn't realized Ruby was conscious for this. She hears, was a baby, and thinks Ruby wasn't self-aware yet.

    Homura: Wait. You remember your Uncle trying to eat you?
    Ruby: Well...yeah? It's not the sort of thing you forget.
    Homura: You said you were a baby.
    Ruby: I'm not sure where you're going with this.



    "Alright…you know I'd have to stop you, if that ever happened."

    "If that ever happened, I'd want you to."
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    If there's a way for Ruby to endear herself to Homura more, I'm convinced it required different choices at chargen. Ruby is easy mode socializing for Homura, completely aligned with Homura's goals, has a core of iron willpower, and a cheery attitude aimed towards making Homura's life better.

    Ruby is legitimately the best thing to happen to Homura since Madoka.

    Literally the only way I can see this pulling at Homura's heartstrings harder is if Ruby went dog instead of plant, and Homura was an Old Yeller fan.

    "They're too…what's the word…ah, empty. Once we get you nice and filled up with Insight, you might be better than me at some things."
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    Honestly, Homura getting Ruby's perception may be one of the worst parts of learning Bloodborne magic considering how incandescent Madoka is.

    ...Also in a crueler Quest, it would turn out Homura is not immune to the mindbreakage of her own shield, and gaining the ability to comprehend it breaks the Homu.

    "I can be really sneaky when I want to…all I need is for them to think I'm cute and friendly and not a horrible Beast that needs to be chopped into little pieces. If…if you talk to them then I find you, then they don't really need to know who I am because I'm your friend, so I can talk to them and show them I'm really cute and nice and things."
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    Oh huh, we're actually doing this?

    Okay then. Here's a game plan.

    Be Sayaka.

    Like, tackle Homura outta nowhere hello, full blown cute mode, giving all appearances that like Madoka and Sayaka, Homura and Ruby are long-time best friends. I'd say don't tell Homura ahead of time for maximum authenticity, but that might results in us getting shot, so play it safe.

    Because Sayaka ain't gonna like Homura, almost certain. She can like Ruby though, especially if Ruby is introduced as the nice, personable friend in the duo of Homura and Ruby. The one who can ride herd on Homura and keep her in check, make her act more like a normal human being.

    Obviously Homura is calling all of the shots, but if Ruby can show a chink in Homura's armor to the Moemura beneath, that might help convince Sayaka that Homura isn't all bad. You just need to be the right kind of person to get her to open up. If we're very lucky, Sayaka starts coming to Ruby for Homu-to-English Japanese translations.

    Plus, if Ruby can get along with Sayaka, then that's less time Sayaka spends suspicious of Homura (and there's a lot of damn reasons to be suspicious of Homura), and more time being distracted by Ruby. Anything that has Homura shoot herself in the foot less is good.

    If Ruby can convince Sayaka that she's good people, and by association Homura may not be all bad people, that'll go a long way against keeping Kyubey from poisoning the well of goodwill.



    Also, to deal with Mami, we may need to earmark a clone that just...goes around with Mami and keeps her from being lonely.

    Be a bit annoying, but keeping Mami from going spare is probably worth a clone, and Ruby's already determined to fix the Mami situation.
     
    HymnOfRagnarok said:
    Like, tackle Homura outta nowhere hello, full blown cute mode, giving all appearances that like Madoka and Sayaka, Homura and Ruby are long-time best friends. I'd say don't tell Homura ahead of time for maximum authenticity, but that might results in us getting shot, so play it safe.

    Because Sayaka ain't gonna like Homura, almost certain. She can like Ruby though, especially if Ruby is introduced as the nice, personable friend in the duo of Homura and Ruby. The one who can ride herd on Homura and keep her in check, make her act more like a normal human being.

    Obviously Homura is calling all of the shots, but if Ruby can show a chink in Homura's armor to the Moemura beneath, that might help convince Sayaka that Homura isn't all bad. You just need to be the right kind of person to get her to open up. If we're very lucky, Sayaka starts coming to Ruby for Homu-to-English Japanese translations.

    Plus, if Ruby can get along with Sayaka, then that's less time Sayaka spends suspicious of Homura (and there's a lot of damn reasons to be suspicious of Homura), and more time being distracted by Ruby. Anything that has Homura shoot herself in the foot less is good.

    If Ruby can convince Sayaka that she's good people, and by association Homura may not be all bad people, that'll go a long way against keeping Kyubey from poisoning the well of goodwill.
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    I don't think Sayaka will be that difficult to deal with. She hated Homura in the show because Homura was nothing but confrontational every time they met. Just keep their interactions at least neutral, and Sayaka will probably think of Homura as Ruby's icy friend(who may or may not have a soft heart in there somewhere), or if she becomes meguca, as an effective, if detached, ally. Allying ourselves with Mami will also help our case.

    Something that I think needs to be told at some point is a modified version of how Homura and Ruby met. It'd do wonders for softening peoples' impressions of Homu.
    "We were both kinda having a bad moment, so I got up, went over to her bed, and gave her a big hug! And we've been close friends ever since."
    Though saying that she and Homura are friends would require Ruby to get over her "I'm not worthy!" thing.


    Random-ish thought as I was writing this; we're going to have to get Ruby a last name, if she doesn't have one already. Actually, does she have any of the paperwork required to be a citizen in the modern era? I think she should have something; she did have documents about a car accident justifying her presence in the hospital, after all.
     
    Interlude: A Choice [Homura - Retconned]
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    • Nothing made sense.

    That was the conclusion you had reached, after spending five minutes staring through a bedroom window at a young girl, though not the one you'd expect to be doing this to.

    For tonight, for some reason, you had trusted Ruby...that frustrating, hyperactive, hug-addicted ball of enigmas, to watch over Madoka for a night.

    You had watched her from a rooftop vantage for half an hour before you went off on your own task for tonight, the compromise you had made with your almost instinctive paranoia.

    To your great relief, besides somehow unfolding that sword of hers into a compound bow and stapling a few Incubator bodies to the lawn, she had done nothing unexpected, nothing that might squash the fragile flicker of trust that you had for her.

    Another thing that didn't make sense, that. Something about her...perhaps the fact that she seemed to have no emotional walls between her and the world...it made her...

    Reliable wasn't the word. In your experience, the wildly over-affectionate were those burying the deepest dysfunction.

    A momentary vision of curled golden hair flickers through your mind at that thought, and you discard it. It was something that you could not afford to care about. Had not for longer than you wanted to recall.

    If you had learned anything at all since you made your wish, is that you can't save everyone.

    You can't save anyone.

    You close your eyes and focus on the sound of your own breathing, determinedly thinking of nothing at all until you could trust your mind to stop yearning for its own destruction.

    Sometimes, Magic was more trouble than it was worth.

    On that thought, you flex your hand, and with the momentary sensation of running your hand through fine sand, you pluck from your shield a flower-head that Ruby had given you before you left her.

    It was white, with streaks of pink and red worming their way though the petals like veins beneath pale skin. It was like no flower you had ever seen before.

    You suspected it was like no flower that had ever been seen on this earth. It was a rose and an orchid and many others that she couldn't even name, brought together into a single spiralling blossom. It seemed to squirm beneath your gaze, as if it was still alive, or more animal than plant.

    She had said that all that you would need to do was push your magic into it, and the flower would do the rest of the work, transforming it into an echo of her own power.

    It was something that you intended to test before the night was over. Not now though. Now, you were straining every sense you had, trying to see what Ruby saw in the green-haired girl currently getting ready for bed on the other side of the glass.

    She had said it was subtle, like her magic was almost made for going undetected. Presuming that the over-affectionate houseplant was correct, Hitomi seemed to be tailor-made to keep the Incubators from interfering with her mission, as she was sure they did once they realised who the cause of their inability to manipulate Madoka into forfeiting her soul.

    It was convenient. As convenient as this reset seemingly breaking reality to give you a devoted minor deity as a minion.

    You didn't like it. Now if only you knew what it was that you didn't like. Ruby herself was...tolerable, even if she seemed as clingy as a puppy at times.

    Not that you could really blame her, by all appearances, whatever happened during the reset snatched her out of whatever inter-dimensional plant monsters used as a bed and dumped her next to you.

    You knew that you hadn't broken the world, not yet, at least. Time still worked, up was still up and the sky was still blue. And yet...

    What would happen if this loop failed?

    What happened if you was the one who ended dropping through realities next time?

    What if this was your last chance?

    You knew that your thoughts were being bent towards the morbid and the terrifying, but as any Magical Girl of experience knew, knowing what was happening to you was no help at all.

    It just meant that the jaws of the trap you had put unknowingly put yourself in were finally snapping shut.

    That was one thing that Ruby was good for, you suppose. It had been...a long time, since you had someone as relentlessly cheerful as her in your life.

    It had been...was it Sayaka that loop? Determined to ensure her limited time was spent burning as bright as she could, or was that the one where Kyoko had adopted that tiny runaway...Yuma, that had been her name.

    The faces bleed together, after long enough. You try to remember the smiles, though, even if you can't remember what face wore them.

    It was that, or be left with only the screams.

    You were procrastinating, you knew. It was one of the few vices you could still afford. You had forever to waste, after all; the only thing there was never enough time for was things that mattered.

    You had a decision to make, after all. If Hitomi was as useful as Ruby had told you...

    You were going to have to decide whether to do something more than a little monstrous.

    You knew what Ruby would say if she knew. Perhaps that was one of the only things you could do that would drive her from you, if she knew.

    If she knew.

    What was one more life, if it could end this miserable cycle once and for all?

    She only needed to last for a few months, after all. Enough to stand on Walpurgisnacht.

    You had done it before, with every girl she knew with more than a flicker of potential and enough stability to keep it together until the end.

    You had been worse than Mami, and you had seen the expression that had swept across Ruby's face when she mentioned that particular can of snakes.

    Do you do it, or do you trust that Ruby would be strong enough? You could think of worse thi-people to have on your side, however perplexing she might be.

    What was it that drove you, now that you and time had both been worn so terribly thin?

    Hope or Desperation?

    You feel the faintest suggestion of Magic from her, oily and barely there, just as Ruby described.

    There was no more time for prevarication.

    Time to make a choice.
    Non-canon, because I shouldn't need to drag Hitomi into this to make 'being Homura is Suffering' poigniant. For the new version, go to the next threadmark named Eternity is Over.
     
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    • TotalTemplar03 said:
    Random-ish thought as I was writing this; we're going to have to get Ruby a last name, if she doesn't have one already. Actually, does she have any of the paperwork required to be a citizen in the modern era? I think she should have something; she did have documents about a car accident justifying her presence in the hospital, after all.
    Click to expand...
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    Ruby was checked in with the Japanese version of Jane Doe, and since she seemed to be exhibiting no real signs she needed treatment, the hospital admin didn't really pay any real attention to her, certainly not when they had a post transplant Homura to deal with.
     
    Oh nu. Don't do it Homura! We can just make her a Hunter! ...What do you mean she wouldn't survive having thorny plant veins replace hers? Doesn't everyone have veins?

    You people are all strange.
     
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