the first arrow

[onhigh]

Characters: Madoka Kaname and YOU!
Setting: Room 3-03, Floor Five, Cafeteria and Floor Twenty-Five.
Format: Starting with action, but I'll match you.
Summary: Madoka arrives in the tower and finds herself less alone than expected.
Warnings: Some angsty stuff and possible spoilers for the end of Madoka Magica in the comments.

[Room 3-03]

[Madoka wakes up, instinctively rolling over to reach for a stuffed animal that isn't there. The lack of a cuddly toy to hold forces her to wake up somewhat.

This isn't right. When was the last time she slept? Was she even supposed to be able to do that anymore? She's wide awake in seconds, shaking off her grogginess as she sits up. As she looks around the strange room, seeing the bodies laying in the beds around her, she clears her throat and tries to speak.]

Hello...?

[Floor Five]

[It doesn't take long for Madoka to start looking for the familiar, and a tech-advanced level with the promise of information is close enough to catch her attention. When she peers into a viewing station, her shaking shoulders are enough to give away her quiet sobs if you didn't hear them.]

There's no way--! Is this... Is this my fault? Homura-chan...

[Even through the tears, she can't pull herself away from the scene. Those tears might start damaging the machine, at this rate.]

[Cafeteria]

[Where there's food, there's hope, right? At least, eating tends to be comforting. Too bad the only thing Madoka's allowed to have right now is the oatmeal. For her first meal here, this isn't exactly a great start.]

Eh... Not as good as Papa's, but at least it's something!

[She makes a face as she eats, but she forces herself to keep going. No point in being snobbish about free food. She hums to herself thoughtfully.]

I wonder if I could make something better myself...

[Floor Twenty-Five]

[After leaving the fifth floor and journeying higher through the tower, Madoka finds the meadow. It's the perfect place to wind-down after what has become a confusing and kind of stressful day. This is probably the closest she's been to her normal routine all day, in a quiet place by herself.

It's a peaceful scene, and she gives a wave and a smile to anyone passing by. She looks a bit lonely, and anyone who passes her by may find themselves being chatted at.]

Oh, hello! Um, it's a nice day, isn't it? A-at least, I wasn't expecting such a nice place outside when I came here, were you?

[Her attempts are a little awkward, to say the least.]

Comments

floor 25

[fuhgeddaboudit]

[Holy shit you're talking to a girl made completely of metal.]

Heheheh~ This is my favorite floor. S' awfully nice, doncha think?

[onhigh]

[WHOA METAL GIRL? That's interesting. Madoka is too polite to mention it directly, though it does surprise her a bit.]

Mm, it is! It's been a long time since I've been to a place like this. Do you come here a lot?

[fuhgeddaboudit]

I like flowers, so yeah. I'm here kinda often.

My name's Labrys, by th' way. What's yours?

Floor 5

[mephistofeels]

[This can't be- but Kyuubey would recognize that pink hairdo anywhere. Ze has never been good with these things, but...

Well, after what Madoka did...?]

It couldn't have been because of that. It just couldn't.

[onhigh]

But--!

[She turns to face Kyuubey, though she doesn't recognize zir at first. She starts at the unfamiliar face, but she's too upset to really think about why a voice she knows is coming from a face she doesn't.]

But they're all gone... And I'm still here. I'm the one that changed things, so--!

[She's still crying, but she tries to wipe at her eyes and pull herself together. Every magical girl and every human is gone? There's no way that could happen without a momentous kind of change.]

[mephistofeels]

Madoka's wish didn't leave any room for the system to interpret it badly. It can't have gone wrong.

[Ze pauses to think for a moment.]

Maybe there's another way to look at it. Your wish might have destroyed the old system and the old world and created a new one in its place. ...though it seems that the wreckage of what was is still in existence. I didn't think that was possible, but then, that kind of wish hasn't been made before.

Room 3-03

[sweetest_nightmare]

[A small girl answers Madoka's plea from across the room.]

Hiiiiiiiiiiii.

[onhigh]

[She jumps a bit in surprise, but she's focused when she looks at Road. This is no time for panicking.]

Um, I'm sorry to bother you, but... where are we?

[sweetest_nightmare]

Ya know, I'm not sure. I just woke up here a little while ago.

[timenoob]

[ Nonono why is she-- ]

Kaname-san!

[ Before Homura can stop herself, her legs have carried her into the room, her arms wrapping themselves round her friend's torso from behind. She clings on for dear life. ]

I-- why are you-- I mean, I was so--

[ All of a sudden, something wet drops onto her right hand; it's only then that she realizes that Kaname-san is crying. ]

N-No... it's okay, Kaname-san! W-We'll find a way back!

[ totally misunderstanding here because what are AUs ]

[onhigh]

Eh?

[Madoka freezes when she feels a pair of arms reach around her. She's surprised enough that the tears slow to a near-stop, while she's trying to turn around and see who it is behind her. She shifts and tries to see over her shoulder, though the arms are preventing her from stretching enough to see anything.]

Um, excuse me, but, ah... who is this?

Floor 25

[idolizer]

I would say so. If someone didn't point it out to me, I wouldn't have never noticed it.

[ Aww, she finds the awkwardness rather cute. It's nice to talk with soft-spoken people in such a place, and Sayaka sure doesn't mind that. ]

I would say this is my most favourite floor so far!

[onhigh]

Eh-heh, well, it's nice enough to be a favorite! I bet lots of people come here often, right?

[She smiles, a little less awkward now that someone is welcoming her conversation.]

I think it might be mine, too.

cafeteria

[prayed]

Anyone could do better than that.

[Kyoko nods her head to the oatmeal in front of Madoka before pulling up a seat across from her. She has at least a dozen nutrition bars with her. They're as tasteless as the oatmeal, but food is food, so she'll eat them anyway. The oatmeal means that this girl is new...and a different Madoka than the one Kyoko met in the tower. It's a little disorientating, but she'll take it.]

Yo.

[onhigh]

Kyoko-chan!

[Madoka visibly perks up at the sight of her, putting her spoon down. She's nearly finished, and eating and talking isn't something Madoka is in the habit of doing.]

It's been... [She cuts herself off from saying "a long time". If Kyoko doesn't know about what happened, Madoka isn't going to ruin that.]

It's been a while. Have you been here long?

Floor Five

[lightofhumanity]

[chaos had been walking up from the cafeteria, having just finished trying some of the nutrition bars when he felt a powerful presence in the next floor. It wasn't as powerful as Wilhelm, but it was rather strong. Curious, he wandered into the next floor and saw that the source came from a girl with pink hair that was looking into the viewfinders..but not exactly her. Her body had nothing attached to it-no consciousness that he could sense. Her consciousness and powers came from a small part of her body. Perhaps a ring or something held her consciousness there. That was horrible..and when he saw her shaking shoulders and heard her words..he couldn't just leave her there.

Powerful entity or not, he couldn't leave people alone when they were in trouble, especially someone who had endured something like that. He would comfort a Testament if they were troubled, so he wasn't going to ignore this girl. So, he walked over to her and put a hand on her back. Using some of his power, he tried to get her to warm up. It wasn't strong enough to make her burst into flames, but strong enough to make her warm up. He hoped that it would work on a person like her..and that it would help calm her down.]

None of this is your fault. Please, do not despair and do not blame yourself. If you are worried about your world, it is probably just fine. The Administrators lied about my universe being destroyed..so they are probably lying about yours as well.

[chaos is open for a shoulder or a hug if you need it, Madoka.]

[onhigh]

[The warmth startles her, just enough to shake her out of the teary stupor she was falling into. Though she hasn't stopped crying, she looks away from the viewfinder to face chaos, rubbing at her face with one hand.]

But I can't... I can't feel them anymore. How could that be a lie?

[She can't sense all the little lights that make up the Soul Gems of magical girls the world over. She desperately wants it to be a lie, but she doesn't see how it can be.]

[Cafeteria]

[starofpleiades]

[Poking out the kitchen, Kazumi spots what to her is a familiar face. Scruffy black cat on her head and a plate of waffles in one hand, she waves with her free hand as she walks on over]

Ah, Madoka!

[Stranger bearing gifts approaching, what do?]

[onhigh]

["What do?" Sit up straight and look around for whoever said her name, of course. It would be rude and likely a bad idea, considering how few people are supposed to know her, to ignore it.

When she sees Kazumi, she offers a shy smile, not sure how to respond.]

Um, hello. Is there something wrong?

cafeteria oh this'll be a trainwreck

[heartfeltfancy]

[ Doop doop just walking by with Amy perched on her shoulder like usual when

Wait.

What?

Oh my God.

Was this...? Was this real? It sure looked like her. Looked exactly like her, minus the bad electrical scarring on her face and arm.

She'd heard about copies in the Tower, about being pulled from different universes, and...she was just a clone of the real Madoka Kaname. Was this the original?

She wants to approach. She wants to say something. But every muscle in her body has frozen in place, leaving her standing there with wide, horrified eyes. ]

oh it really will be. it's a bad day to be a meduka.

[onhigh]

[Most people would be able to ignore the steps they could hear behind them suddenly stopping, but Madoka is on high alert today for anything familiar. She turns to see who's behind her and--.

She freezes, the same as the other Madoka had. They had the same face, if you ignored the scars. Madoka wondered how this girl had gotten them, but that thought takes a backseat for now.

Luckily, she's already had the parallel world talk from Kyuubey, but this is far from what she was expecting. She steels herself and takes a breath.

It takes her a moment to gather herself enough to actually speak, and what she manages is flustered and full of stutters.]

Um, e-excuse me... You are...?

Floor 25

[semipotence]

[Jade looks over when Madoka addresses her, her ears perking up a bit.] Oh, hi!

Yeah, I wasn't expecting there to be a place like this in the Tower either. I like it, though! It's nice to come here and just relax sometimes.

[onhigh]

[Whoa, animal ears? That's unexpected... And really cute.]

Mm, it's a peaceful kind of place, isn't it?

[She smiles.]

I guess after all the bad news they give us, people need a place like this.

Floor 5

[rewindingly]

[ Homura's "tower hobby", if you can call it that, is to patrol the tower. Of her own free will. Making sure no one gets stuck on a bad floor or tricked by one of these miserable tricks. Tricks like Madoka is facing right now.

She's hesitant. The other Madoka and her had gotten into something of a fight recently. Something that left Homura second guessing herself, especially her ability to protect Madoka. And since she thinks this girl is the other Madoka, Homura is almost afraid to go to her. Is she even capable of comforting someone time has torn her away from?

But after a few seconds watching Madoka's sobbing, she just can't take it. She can't watch Madoka cry. Not here. Not in this room, especially. So she walks over and, hesitant again for a moment, puts a hand on Madoka's shoulder. ]

Come on. Let's get out of here, Madoka.

[onhigh]

[Madoka jumps a bit, startled by another hand on her shoulder. When she turns, there are no scars visible at all. Her tears flow freely, but they've begun to slow as she stares at the other girl.

It's been a long time for her, but there's no mistake. There are two Homura-chans here. One like how she must have begun life as a magical girl, now that Madoka thinks on it, and this one, who she knows better, who has clearly been through a lot since then.

There's something like hope and shock in her voice when she whispers:]

...Homura-chan?

[Finally, someone familiar. Something to show that she didn't fail with her wish, at least not entirely. And it's such a good friend, at that.]