Puella Magi Tempus Relicus

[UnendingEmpire]

The scene before the two was something of despair. This place was once Mitakihara, but now...Yukari had to know. That was why, turning to Kyubey who stood next to her, she asked "The media was wrong, wasn't it? This place reeks of a Witch, but what the hell could have done this, Kyubey?"


"What happened here, Yukari?" Hopping off his perch of a ruined street light, Kyubey answered "Walpurgis Night, the second strongest of all known witches, appeared once more and was subdued by four Puella Magi."

"Walpurgis, huh? And it took four of them? So then, what's this you mean by 'second most powerful' exactly?"

"Always so inquisitive..." Always looking for the answer. If Kyubey could feel emotions, there would be a good chance that he'd be pretty irritated by that. "Great numbers of Puella Magi are needed to safely combat witches such as Walpurgis Night. And we Incubators record the strength of witches. Walpurgis Night is the only one to ever have come close to the strength of The Mother..."

"The Mother? Sounds pretty big. Looks like I finally found my way out of this whole Puella Magi business." Something like that would mean Yukari could die fighting it, and not become overwhelmed with the despair Kyubey wanted her to feel. She refused to go along with what the Incubators were doing; she'd figured it out not long after becoming a Puella Magi the hard way.

"Really, now? Well, Walpurgisnight's destruction produced the largest spike of energy in recorded history. The Mother felt her child's cry, and she's now awake."

"At the same time, I'm glad to know that I finally have my despair-free exit, but kinda nervous if that thing's Mother is showing up. Although, I need to ask. This whole entropy and thermodynamics thing; why not just have your mentally ill take up the contracts?" It would mean keeping Incubators and Witches out of humanity's hair. If Yukari could make a second contract, it would be that the energy of the universe recycled itself; Puella Magi would no longer need to be made, and therefore, Witches would come to an end eventually.

"Perhaps, but you won't be the only one to make an exit when The Mother awakens. And I'll say what I said all those years ago. Your kind are far easier to manipulate. After all, if it wasn't for my kind, you never would have left your caves..." Like always, Kyubey's eyes did not even blink. The only real motion one could see on him was the waving of his fluffy tail back and forth.

"You explained that already. But think of this; for every Puella Magi that dies fighting a Witch, that's one more source of entropy-countering energy that never served its purpose." But like always, Kyubey was right. Killing him did nothing; Yukari had done that plenty of times in the decade she'd been a Puella Magi. She hated the conclusion she was coming to. "Humans and Incubators need each other, and killing you obviously does nothing at all, so for the time being...I should probably focus more on hunting Witches than you, shouldn't I?" That meant he'd be free to make more contracts as he pleased. Which, to Yukari, sucked.

[InsanitiesJack]

School. School school school. Such an odd creature - get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, school school school. I have to wonder - is this truly how the life of a Magical Girl begins? Witches are born, Magical Girls are created to destroy them, it all generates energy to stave off the destruction of the universe. That's how Kyubei described it - sure, Magical Girls can get hurt and die, but it's all for the greater good.

I have to wonder at his reasoning. The Greater Good, huh? Perhaps my wish was selfish. Or perhaps the entire thing is selfish - Self-Preservation, the law that governs all life. I stare down at the desk beneath me - I know, now, that if I wanted to I could crush it to pieces. I could tear it apart with my bare hands.

I look at my classmates; I could do the same to them. I give a small chuckle - such a morbid thought, and yet it is unavoidable. I can't help but contemplate exactly how much power I have now - how much power I've been given. 'With Great Power comes Great Responsibility' - that from that Spider Man series. From what the internet says, the entire Marvel - or was it DC? - universe is sixteen different shades of fucked up.

I am asked a question. I happily chirp the answer - 364 - and rediect my attention to my math book. So much math, so many numbers, and yet the universe is governed by so many more. Countless Counts, so many numbers it's numberless.

Oh look, PE. I dislike changing in front of people - who wouldn't, I wonder, before thinking of the internet and realizing that I'm being narrow-minded yet again. I briefly realize - this is my first school day as a Magical Girl. In fact, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet since I became one.

Maybe I should show off? We're running, today, which means that I could show up everyone in the school - easily. But no, that'll attract attention. Just as well - popularity, and all the horrible things that come with it, isn't something I want to have to deal with.

Still, as we run, I maintain a fast pace - I'm third place, jogging, and even near the end, when everyone else is exhausted or uses what remains of their energy to sprint the rest of the way, I'm as fine as ever. Feels a little refreshing, actually - this is hardly the first time I've ever run, but it is the first time I haven't hated it. I suppose this is one of the perks to being Mahou Shoujo.

Oh, is the day over already? I suppose so. Now where shall I go? Perhaps I'll find an abandoned courtyard - find some place to test my abilities. It wouldn't be the first time I arrived late home, and from now on I'm sure I'll be arriving even later than usual.

Take the train, hold onto the little hooks - what are those called, anyway? - try not to let any perverts grab me. I doubt it'll happen - after all, that kind of stuff only ever happens in hentai and fiction, right? - but I can never be too careful, and frankly, my sense of romanticism isn't tuned in the direction of high-schoolers and fifty-year old men. Unless they're siblings - or one is actually a supernatural beast.

I giggle, slightly, at the thought - I'm a Mahou Shoujo, wouldn't I count as part of the supernatural? Heehee, maybe I just need to become friends with Kyon - poor man needs to get away from that nutjob Haruhi. Then we can all enjoy the supernatural together - me, Kyon, Nagato, maybe Mikuru? Oh! Oh! I know! Wait, what did I know? I can't remember. I'm at my stop anyway; walk, walk, walk, one foot in front of the other, always make sure that you retain your balance, and, oh yeah, tighten the scarf because it's cold.

Now, where's a good place - Ah! An abandoned warehouse! It'll be a convenient place to train AND I may get the beat the shit out of some hooligans! Win-Win!

Step, step, step; the air is old, musty, the walls dillapidated and covered in shit - graffitti, dirt, actual shit - I don't see any hooligans, though/ I do see a door to another area, but as I go through, I see nothing - oh well. I suppose I'll find some ways to make this place more appropriate later - perhaps some kind of training mat?

"Activate!"

My voice echoes through the room, my mind having found no other words that would seem appropriate without being corny and stupid. Almost immediately, I find myself in a rather cute-looking outfit, though I do note that it's rather skimpy as well - perhaps I should've gone with something more conservative? Ah, no matter.

"Swords, swords, swords! Hill of Swords, Gate of Babylon, Macross Sword Massacre! Muahahaha!!"

Within moments, the swords have pierced the wall a dozen times over, and I grin madly at the sight - before wincing as I realize just how many damn holes there are in the wall. Oh well, suppose I'll just to knock that down later - at least it leads into another room instead of the outside.

But, I suppose all good things must come to an end - I need to find a Witch, right? Now how do I - oh, yes, just bunch up these muscles here, jump against that wall right there, and-!

I'm on the roof! Awesome! Now if only I could get over the paranoid fear that I'm about to fall off. No, seriously, I look at the ground from up here and I feel like I'll go splat if I stand even a meter from the damn ledge.

Huh. Maybe this wasn't such a smart idea.

[Psyker Landshark]

Explosions and flames dotted the labyrinth as two figures battled in its center. One, a blonde haired girl in a black dress, wielding a jagged scythe. The other, a Lovecraftian horror, complete with tentacles. The Witch lashed out at the Puella Magi, but the girl simply leapt up and dodged, conjuring up blue fire and shooting it at the eldritch abomination, which screamed in pain as the fireballs impacted.

"Hurry up and die!" Arisu Sasaki gave a bloodthirsty, vicious grin before she went at the Witch in a balls-out, full-on charge. Surrounding herself in more blue flames, she didn't even bother using her scythe as her flaming body tore a hole straight through her foe, killing it.

The moment the Witch died, reality asserted itself once more as the labyrinth disappeared, a Grief Seed appearing as Arisu touched down on the rooftop of the office building. The Puella Magi snatched the dark bauble out of the air and dismissed her outfit, rendering her dressed in her street clothes once more. Stuffing the Grief Seed in a spare pocket of her jeans, the blonde grinned.

"Ahh, that felt good." She muttered under her breath as she headed out of the office building. "Nothing like a dead Witch to start the morning off. That one wasn't really fun, though." She mused, disappointed that such an intimidating-looking Witch had been so easy to dispatch. "I'm gonna need a challenge soon. Something to actually test my strength. Getting sick of fighting these weaklings. There's nothing I can actually use my full power on in this city."

And she so desperately wanted to use this strength of hers. What good was power if you had nothing to unleash it against? Only by combat and blood could she increase her own power, and prove herself as a superior being. Otherwise, she'd be the mundane, weak, spineless bitch she was until three years ago. No, Arisu swore. She'd never be weak and helpless again. If no one would aid her, she'd carve her own path through life. And if that path to power ended atop a mountain of dead Witches or otherwise, then so be it.

[Noel]

Sun shone lightly through the clouds and the small area of the city was almost eerily quiet. Nora sat atop the ledge of a tall building, lazily watching an alleyway far below. The short brim of her had shadowed her pale face. The area below was brightly lit but held a distinctly foreboding aura. For a normal person the small area would simply give off a strong feeling of danger. It was a fairly common feeling to have in alleyways where many people knew crimes took place. However to a Puella Magi the feeling would be quite different and have a very obvious meaning. A witch was growing down below.

Nora had been scoping out the area for several days now. Every night she would watch with mild disgust as a growing familiar lured unsuspecting people to the site of its would be barrier. Once there the familiar would devour its new batch of victims with practiced brutality before vanishing for the night once more. It was an unpleasant thing to watch night after night but those who would follow the familiar had sealed their own fate with such weakness. It was simply a type of natural selection, she thought. Familiars feed on humans and become witches, Puella Magi feed on witches and prolong their lives.

However nothing ever happened during the day. A person would occasionally walk through the alleyway and make a quick exit after realizing how truly foreboding the place was. The day shift made for an incredibly boring stakeout and Nora found herself frequently nodding off. But she saw it as a necessary evil. Her soul gem was starting to darken and she would need to take down a witch soon. Letting this familiar grow into a witch would be far easier then hunting one down, and be far easier to kill as a newborn. She wasen't about to risk leaving and having another Puella magi show up and cut down the familiar she had been cultivating'. If everything went as planned the familiar should graduate into a full fledged witch tonight and be ready to be finally taken down. The thought that she would be battling the witch she had been waiting for tonight lessened the boredom of waiting a bit, though she was more looking forward to being able to leave the rooftop then actually dealing with the witch.

“Who'd have thought this life would be so boring...” She said to herself with a faint sigh, falling onto her back with arms outstretched, eyes cast up at the sky. Her eyes slowly drifted closed, falling into a half sleep as she waited for night to come.

[ERode]

“Kawashita yakusoku wasurenai yo me wo toji tashikameru oshiyoseta yami furiharatte susumu yo~!”

After singing the opening lines of the song, synchronizing her childish voice with the much more mature tone of the original singers, Izumi promptly shut up as a complex combination of steps started to zip up across the screen. Sparing just one look the neon clock in the loud, but cheerful arcade, the young girl turned, smiled at the small crowd that was watching her play, and got to work. Her steps became the piano beats of the instrumental. Her scattered sweat became twinkling jewels. Her eyes flickered with merriment. Her hips swayed and twisted, adding style to the dance. The machine kept on spewing out praise. She could feel the surprise and admiration of the people behind her. And finally, with one last step, she stomped down and raised one slim arm, pointing upwards as if reaching for the stars. There wasn’t any applause that came with the performance, but she was fine with it. After all, she was only 11. Plenty young enough to not be super popular.

Stepping off the machine as her results came in as an A++, Izumi clicked her tongue lightly, before running off to buy a popsicle to eat. As far as her teacher was concerned, she was sick with a bad case of the flu, so she was perfectly safe. And she had already learned the school material during her summer break, so all it meant was that she could be regarded well in the eyes of Karasawa-sensei, and not actually have to try in school! Grinning and thanking the cashier in the arcade, Izumi eyed one of the giant-sized plushies hanging from the display case, regretting slightly that she didn’t take the tokens she won from that DRR machine, before wiping all worries away as she unwrapped the pink treat. Slowly licking the length of the strawberry-flavored popsicle, Izumi proceeded to stick the whole thing into her mouth as she walked out the arcade into brilliant natural sunlight. Rolling her tongue around it as it began to melt inside her mouth, the girl finally bit down right at the base. Then, she pulled out the wooden piece, tossed it in a nearby trash can, and crushed the popsicle between her molars, careful not to spill any of it out of her mouth. And with a shiver of excitement and a childish dread for the brain-freeze that was sure to follow, Izumi swallowed.

She immediately clutched her head and felt like pulling on her twin tails really hard, but determination persevered and soon the rest of her body cooled down. In the warm temperatures, such a feeling could be akin to bliss, and Izumi finally sighed in contentment. Then a different kind of happiness shone in her emerald eyes, and the young girl smiled in a different way. She could feel something that had been there for a long, long time~!

"Ara ara, the Puella Magi here must be really lazy~!"

At least it meant a chance to help Kyubey~!

With a certain, isolated destination in mind, and a compass of a Soul Gem, Izumi produced a key from her pocket and unlocked the hot pink bicycle that was chained near a bunch of large, black mountain bikes, before setting off on an adventure.

[Fish Of Oblivion]

"I'm gonna need a challenge soon. Something to actually test my strength. Getting sick of fighting these weaklings. There's nothing I can actually use my full power on in this city."

"You're sick of it? Boredom is a terrible thing, Arisu," A strange, somewhat cutesy voice chimed in as the arrogant Puella Magi walked out of the office building, from a small cluster of plants to one side of the entrance.

From said cluster of plants, there was a similarly strange, cutesy noise as a white creature, similar in appearance to both a rabbit and a small cat, made a leap down from the pot with a perfect landing, before following after the girl at a speed so relaxed and smooth that gave the impression that this creature had all the time in the world to do so (And in a manner of speaking, it actually did).

"What happened in Mitakihara is causing more Witches to spring up in the surrounding area. So many Witches in the same area means that they'll mostly be weak ones, ones that can't feed frequently enough because of each-other to become stronger."

Of course, it was stating the obvious. It was a basic fact of natural life, regardless of whether it was mundane or fantastical, terrestrial or extra-terrestrial, that a higher amount of predators in one area than the norm meant that the individual predators would be weaker than the norm. Without practice, skills would go rusty, and without sustenance, creatures would weaken and die. Barring the last of those, Witches were no exception.

However, whilst this was perhaps an obvious fact to state, Kyubey knew that the re-iterating of this information to the Puella Magi would serve it's own purpose, and an important purpose at that.

[UnendingEmpire]

"I'd best get to work," Yukari told herself, clutching a Grief Seed tightly in her hand. This Grief Seed was her friend's; the one from an entire decade ago. The only reason it lasted this long was because if one saw how highly she valued this Grief Seed, they'd probably call her way out of her mind. She didn't absorb the taint from it to avoid bringing the Witch back, and actually took on the despair that built up over time inside it to keep it in this state. It meant she had to fight harder to avoid becoming a Witch herself, but she was fine with that.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright," Midori said happily, making her second bona fide Puella Magi transformation ever. The first one was yesterday when she made that contract and she'd been healthy as a horse ever since. Good things came from contracts, as well as being able to help others by destroying Witches. Holding out her Soul Gem, Midori kept a watchful eye peeled; they could be anywhere. Turn the corner, and...

This was no Witch, but the very creature who came to her yesterday! What a surprising coincidence, to run into Kyubey during her very first Witch hunt. As well as what looked like another Puella Magi! Yep, Midori's luck was always good like this. "Kyubey!" Running up to Kyubey and this Puella Magi, the green-haired girl asked "What's got you out here? Witches?"

[Psyker Landshark]

"You're sick of it? Boredom is a terrible thing, Arisu,"

Turning around, the blonde Puella Magi raised an eyebrow. Why was Kyubey here? Arisu hadn't seen the little furball in over a year, and that was just to collect her used-up Grief Seeds. And that reminded her; she did have some completely black baubles to give. Starting to dig around in her pockets, she paused for a second upon Kyubey's next words.

"What happened in Mitakihara is causing more Witches to spring up in the surrounding area. So many Witches in the same area means that they'll mostly be weak ones, ones that can't feed frequently enough because of each-other to become stronger."

"Eh?" Arisu asked while pulling out a handful of completely tainted Grief Seeds, and threw them at the Incubator's feet. "That city that just got totaled? You're telling me that a Witch did all that?" She snorted, running a hand through her hair. "The Puella Magi there must have sucked, then." And then, a thought occured to her.

"Oi, furball." She addressed Kyubey, with a slight frown. "I remember that redhead bitch with the spear was headed to Mitakihara after we fought over a Witch last time. She dead too?"

A moment later, Arisu looked to the side as some green-haired girl came running up, who seemed to know Kyubey. Another Puella Magi? Wonderful, competition.

"If you're looking for the Witch, don't bother." Arisu smirked, gesturing to the ring on her finger. "I just took care of it."

[Fish Of Oblivion]

"Yes, it was a Witch that was responsible for what happened there. Although it was no ordinary Witch, and the skill of the Puella Magi didn't matter much in the end" The Incubator, Kyubey, replied to Arisu's skeptical enquiry as she dropped a cluster of used Grief Seeds at Kyubey's feet, as the white creature finally caught up with her.

Arisu hadn't reacted exactly how Kyubey had expected her to react, but her given reaction was still within the spectrum of the reactions he had expected to receive.

If he was capable of feeling such an emotion, he would have been surprised that the Puella Magi hadn't heard about Walpurgis Night's involvement in what had happened a few months ago. Mitakihara wasn't far from here, and stories regarding Walpurgis Night, or of any Witch of similar power, tended to spread quickly.

Then again, it seemed as if Arisu wasn't entirely in touch with what was going on these days, with how she had isolated herself a little from the larger Puella Magi 'community' with her actions in Kyoto. Kyubey hadn't seen the girl in a year, only dropping in now out of what could be described as 'boredom' and because he was 'scouting' the area after what had happened those few months ago, so he could be wrong.

In any case, the Incubator quickly dropped his train of thought in order to turn his attention upon the Grief Seeds dropped by Arisu, quickly scooping them up with his tail and suspending them over the red 'O' on his back as the Puella Magi began again with the talking:

"Oi, furball." Arisu started towards him, with a slight frown,"I remember that redhead bitch with the spear was headed to Mitakihara after we fought over a Witch last time. She dead too?"

"Kyoko Sakura? She was one of the first to die," Kyubey replied, as he dropped the first Grief Seed, the structure on his back opening to take it in, "Wasn't even a challenge for it."

With that said and the first Grief Seed down the hatch, Kyubey prepared to drop the second one in...

Only for his 'lunch' to be interrupted by a green flash of energy.

"Oh hey, Midori!" Kyubey said quickly, addressing his newest recruit in a pleasant manner, as per the norm with 'uninitiated' Puella Magi, "Great timing!"

Being careful not to drop the Grief Seeds held carefully in his tail, Kyubey began to walk over towards Midori, walking slowly as he always did.

"Not here for witches, Arisu here has that handled. I'm just here to collect her Grief Seeds and pass some important information on, but if you're here, why don't you introduce yourself?"

[Marshmellow]

It was a school day, but that didn't matter too much to Karen. Nobody would notice she was skipping classes; that was just one of the perks of the job. Rather than listening to lectures and doing worksheets like she should have been, she was instead out and about--she'd decided she was in need of a grief seed soon, as her soul gem was starting to become uncomfortably dim. Right now she was playing a game of hot and cold with it, looking for witches that she knew would be around here.

This place looked promising. An empty construction site. It was basically abandoned, for no obvious reason, but anyone who was anyone knew exactly why. An aura of despair consumed the place, causing most humans to unconsciously avoid the place, and attracting certain other folks like herself like flies.

Somewhere around here, for sure, there was a witch.

She just needed to find the gate to the labyrinth! Where could it be! Soul gems were so irritatingly inexact with these things. Finding the general area was no problem, but to really hone in on a witch took careful observation. One must perceive everything, keep an eye on their surroundings, examine everything to determine exactly

"Aa!" She barely managed to jump out of the way as a girl on a pink bicycle flew past her.