> Bring Tira back out of Novella.
You suppose you have one obvious course of action, at least. If she's going to be along for this ride — which she will be, seeing as she has no real choice in the matter anymore — you should probably get Tira out here and explain both your and her circumstances to her.
A wise choice, probably. Tira is relatively levelheaded, so she wouldn't freak out too easily. Besides, might as well just get it over with. And though Ashy and Charlie are okay friends, something tells me that Sayaka needs a different kind of companion.
"I… assume that was telepathy, but I thought you claimed you could only use that if you…"
<Yeah, well Kyubey can kiss my hardcover bottom.> 
"There… does not appear to be a floor…"
Well, that makes sense. The floor looks exactly the same as everything else, making it seem as if there is no floor. Even when the Canvas is blank, it is subject to optical illusions.
Tira's mouth falls open as you shift the appearance of the Canvas to that of an open-air temple in the center of a valley, surrounded on all sides by steep, sloping hills covered in various bizarre-looking flora. The pillars of the temple are engraved with glowing symbols of no obvious origin, which seem to emit a quiet but constant hum into the surrounding air, and the ambient buzz of insects can be heard coming from the many nearby plants.
Tira must be very jealous. Ashy has exactly the power she wanted, right?
Why do your illusions suddenly seem to have sound now? You don't get it.
I've been wondering that, myself. I'm fairly sure I know the mechanics of the sound, but not the reason for its sudden manifestation.
There's a short pause, before Tira suddenly breaks out into stunned, disbelieving laughter. It soon turns increasingly joyous, and a smile wide enough to make her cheeks hurt stretches across the girl's face, as if she was just told the most fantastic news of her life.
Ashy made her curse sound awesome by successfully downplaying the "I OWN YOUR SOUL NOW" problem. Her experience with Sayaka probably taught her a lot about what to say and how to say it. Tira's desire to live freely without relying on hunting witches certainly doesn't hurt, though.
"I heard it all just fine." Sayaka says flatly.
Huh. Really? You weren't directing any of that at her intentionally. You guess your telepathy must just automatically go out to both of them then? Strange…
That's because you're talking to yourself, silly!
"I-" Tira starts, before pausing and looking up at you. "-forgive me, what was your name again?"
<Ashtaroth.>
"...right. I will try to keep that in mind if I am going to be here for the foreseeable future." Tira says.
Everyone except Tira will get Ashy's name wrong. I just know it.
"I did not always suspect, but there was… a rumor…"
<-wait, rumors?> you interrupt. <What rumors?>
"Just the one, really." Tira replies. "It was circulating around my school for some time. I was not certain it was even about magical girls at first, but the details seemed to match up too well to be entirely coincidental. I could not put a great deal of faith in simple gossip of course, but…"
She raises her head and looks up at you again, her gaze roaming around the various parts of your body. "…it seems that it was quite correct."
How curious. Who spread this rumor?
<What did this rumor say, exactly?> you ask.
Tira doesn't seem entirely sure why you're asking, but answers all the same. "I am afraid I cannot remember the exact wording, but from what I recall, the rumor obliquely referred to how a small creature may one day appear to you, and offer you your heart's desire. It went on however to say that this was a trick, and that anyone who accepted the offer would soon find themselves drowning in despair, until the darkness of their soul was… 'unleashed', I believe was how it was phrased."
Wait, something's missing...
Much better.
Yes, I know it's not that kind of rumor.
"Can we at least go somewhere with a phone then?!"
"I have a cell phone in my normal clothes..." Tira says slowly, her dizziness abating with the return of the floor.
I clearly remember mentioning this idea upthread. Was that my invention or a prediction?
"Um… hello?"
"Madoka! It's-"
"You've reached the phone number of Madoka Kaname. I'm sorry I can't talk to you right now, but if you leave a quick message, I promise I'll call you back as soon as I can!"
"Oh come on, pick up Madoka!"
Sayaka hangs up and redials, but only ends up back at the voicemail message again. Becoming increasingly tense, she tries another number, and gets a very similar recording from Hitomi.
"Why is no one answering?!" Sayaka almost screams.
My guess is that the barrier is blocking the signal?
"Madoka, it's me!" Sayaka exclaims as soon as the tone goes off. "I don't know why you can't pick up your phone right now, but listen! Whatever you do, stay away from the transfer student, and DO NOT make a contract! Kyubey lied about- about everything! I'm still alive, but things have somehow gotten even worse, and we're in a completely different city now, and- arrrrrgh, there's too much for me to explain over a voicemail message! Just, call me back at this number, okay?!"
If that message gets through, Homura will be very angry and maybe also confused. It has the benefit of discouraging a contract, but may make it harder for Homura to properly protect Madoka.
As she does, you notice that the time display currently reads a half-hour past noon, and do a mental double take.
Ah, she finally noticed. Good thing the phone's clock is synced to the actual time, because it's a good clue and I'm pretty sure phone clocks actually work that way.
"Something's wrong." Sayaka says before you can think too much about it, anxiously pacing in a small circle. "I'm still not feeling anything with my… knight sense, or whatever you're calling it, but could you hurry up with your 'planning' so we can get back to Mitakihara?"
"I can tell that nobody is in danger, therefore something is wrong." I get
the idea, but the way it's used is weird.
<I'm sorry Sayaka, but my life cannot literally revolve around yours, especially when by doing so it's entirely possible I won't have a life to live for much longer.>
See, this is the part of the curse I was talking about. Their lives aren't their own anymore, not to mention that Ashy is physically incapable of being several functional humans in normal society at a time.
