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?

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]

[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?

[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.]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

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

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

[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.

[onhigh]

[An introduction! She hasn't said her own name to someone else in so long. This exciting.]

My name is Madoka. Madoka Kaname! It's really nice to meet you, Labrys-chan.

[She smiles widely.]

[onhigh]

You... know about my wish?

[She blinks in shock, the tears starting to slow as the sadness is pushed aside by this new information. The only people who know about that in such detail are Homura and Kyuubey. But this person didn't look like either if them.

Well, that's not quite true. If Madoka had imagined what Kyubey would look like as a human, this wouldn't have been far off from her idea. It's not impossible that the Incubators had a skill to change their appearance that Madoka didn't know about.]

Is that you, Kyuubey?

[fuhgeddaboudit]

It's real nice t' meetcha too, Madoka. You just get here recently? I ain't seen ya around before, I don't think.

[mephistofeels]

Yes, though it doesn't look like you're the Madoka from my world. The girls from my world knew I was able to do this, you see.

[Ze's smiling now. It's an odd thing, but it's there just the same.]

Still, you made the same wish, and that's what matters. Right? To destroy every witch before they are born. Every witch from every world, from the past and the future, with your own hands - that was it, right?

Room 3-03

[sweetest_nightmare]

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

Hiiiiiiiiiiii.

[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 ]

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, I guess so! I woke up here today. What about you, Labrys-chan?

[onhigh]

Your world?

[This is strange, but it's not an unwelcome change to see Kyuubey give a real smile. Madoka smiles back, hesitantly.]

Mm-hm, that's right. My wish... It came true, and there will never another witch again!

[She glances back at the machine, though the view of her world is gone now, and the feeling of all those deaths with it.]

But maybe... I messed up somewhere.

[mephistofeels]

I refuse to believe that it got messed up along the way.

[Ze shakes zir head.]

As for what I meant by that...hmm. You know what parallel universes are, right? Basically I'm from a world that's a lot like your own, it exists just as yours does, but the two worlds aren't exactly the same.

[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.

[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?

[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]

A parallel universe? So, you're not the Kyubey I know at all.

[But it's still one that heard and granted her wish, which means the differences between them might only be skin-deep.]

So, maybe that world I saw... That could be a different one, too, right?

[Maybe the Madoka of that world made a different wish. Maybe things didn't work out for her.]

[onhigh]

You, too?

[She almost breathes a sigh of relief. At least she's not alone in this.]

Then we're in the same situation, right? Even if we don't know what it is...

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]

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?