towerofanimus | oo2 | But those days are gone forever

Characters: Mami Tomoe and anyone who wants to see a suffering girl (aka YOU)!
Setting: Backdated to the 17th, the day after her network post. Floor Forty-eight in the morning, Floor Six in the afternoon and various monster-infested areas at night
Format: Action, but I'll match!
Summary: Mami snaps. In a Network post, she finds out about what Soul Gems and Grief Seeds really do, and the fate of all magical girls. Oh, and that conversation with Lancer didn't help at all.
Warnings: TL;DR because meguca feels. Violence, suffering, the usual! Also spoilers for anyone who hasn't watched Madoka Magica.

Graveyard
[ To anyone who knows Mami Tomoe, they would find the air around her to be warm and inviting. Not today, however. Today was different - very different in fact.

One could see that Mami was leaning on one of the gravestones. Besides the leaning, her posture was stiff and the air around her was depressing overall. Like she just found out something awful. Well, that's actually not far from the truth.

Her ring transforms into her Soul Gem and she stares at him. The emotionless look turned into a more horrifying one. The fate of Magical Girls was to grow into witches. The very thing she hunted. She was killing people like her.

She didn't want to cry. Didn't want to regret. So her eyes cast downwards and her expression changed to a tired one. ]

Forest
"Did you find anything else out? Anything.... Jyuubey failed to tell you?"

"Yes. The truth about Puella Magi. About Soul Gems."

I should have guessed this. To think it took me ten years to figure this out.

[ Mami was out hunting.

Not for food or anything like that, but she needed to calm herself. If she didn't, she would lash out at people. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't want to hurt any of her friends, even if it could save them.

Lifting her musket, the magical girl aimed at an unsuspecting deer. There was silence as she concentrated on her target, wanting to think of nothing but shooting it down. She was a master at this, not even needing to venture too far from the staircase to spot her target. ]

"That we grow up to be witches."

[ The trigger was pulled, and after a few shots the deer withered in pain before passing on. She dropped the gun and suddenly began to cry. It was hard to determine what she was crying about, but she couldn't stop.

This feeling was bothering her. ]

Various floors
[ Mami's movements were slow, so she didn't make it back to the dorms in time. The ambush of Monsters was great, but she was a veteran at this. She was bloodied after killing them, something she still wasn't used to. After all, witches didn't shed blood. Even if they were once people.

People like her.

She seems to be in a daze and certainly not scared to raise her gun once she hears footsteps. She wasn't sure what was this feeling was, but her finger was placed on the trigger. ]

It's dangerous here. I advise leaving.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Lancer stops his approach and holds out his hands in a calming manner.]

I don't want to continue our argument from yesterday, believe me. We never got around to talking about what was wrong with you. Tell me. Let me...help. Isn't that what you wanted from me?

[Is he still looking for something exciting? Yes, but at the same time, that part of him that had been screaming at the end of their conversation yesterday is still screaming today and he wants to know why.]

[ For a moment, she believes him. She moves away from the gravestone towards the knight, but suddenly stops in her tracks. Did he really want to help her out? Was he finally coming to his senses? ]

... I found out my true fate. The fate I would face if I didn't die. I... I would turn into a witch, the same beings I've been hunting this entire time.. My body is nothing more than a shell.

I was destined to grow up and turn into a witch... This is the fate of all Magical Girls...

[Lancer is quiet for several moments. That...was nothing like what he expected to hear from her.]

Are you certain that is a fate you cannot escape? Weren't you the one basically telling me not long ago that things are only lost if you give up on them? Have you so quickly given up on yourself?

Tell me you are not truly that foolish...

It is the fate of myself and anyone like me. Witches are our adult form. You can't escape growing up. [ Unless you die, of course. Like Mami. ]

I... I have not given up. [ She wasn't sure if she was lying or not, but she couldn't give up. ] It's funny how someone who as already given up is calling me foolish.

[A bit of anger flashes in his eyes in response to her words, but for the moment, he pushes it back.]

I suppose that it's fortunate that you don't have to worry about growing up here, do you? If you haven't changed in all this time, you probably aren't going to. No becoming a witch for you.

So stop foolishly wasting your energy worrying so much. There are more important things you could be worrying about.

It's not just about me. There are others like me, others who aren't dead. When they go back, they'll never grow up into adults. Instead... They'll grow up to be them, and I... I can't save them...

Do you know how it feels? To feel so useless? I don't want them to end up like that!

[Did he know what it felt like to be useless? How did she think he ended up like this?]

Of course, I know what it's like to feel useless! We're all still here. That means I failed helping everyone go home! I've done nothing in the thousand years I've been here. Nothing at all!

[He paces a few steps away from her before turning back and saying gently.]

I guess the good part of me failing is you are still here and not back on your world if that is the fate that awaits you all.

....

[ She's silent, watching him. She's not really sure what to say to this. He always pushed her away when she tried to figure out what was wrong with him. She felt hurt, knowing that she could have done more to help him. Yet, he did nothing to help her either. ]

Lancer-san...

[Lancer tsks softly to himself. This isn't suppose to be about him. It's suppose to be about her. He shoves his own emotions back into that place where he always locks them away in his mind and then continues.]

You are not the only one who isn't changing here, right? The others are staying the same as well?

[He doesn't wait for her answer. He knows it. He's watched them stay the same for over a thousand years.]

Then focus on finding a way to fix things before you go back home. If you can't help them there. Help them here.

oo2 | But those days are gone forever

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