1486/Time To Talk

Time To Talk
Date of Scene:	04 May 2024
Location:	Gretchen's Labyrinth
Synopsis:	After failing to stop the Mirage Zone from going up, Amy and Madoka have a conversation about timelines, video games and the realities of being a magical girl.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Amanda Faust

---

Madoka Kaname has posed:
(Note: This Scene takes place directly after 1485)

    Hope Witch is in her Labyrinth, and today she has a special guest. Amy Faust is here with her, and both of them are inside what could only be described as an infinite plushie store. It looks long abandoned, with its only denizens being an occasional Familiar floating around. There are rows after rows of aisles and bins, with no clear rhyme or reason behind their arrangement. The lighting here is dim, yet everything seems perfectly visible. There are no walls here, but there are concrete(?) columns separating the roof from the floor. This is, of course, only the first area of the Labyrinth. There are deeper places to go, but of all the realms in Madoka's domain this one is likely the safest. Nothing can go wrong around plushies.

    Space here is a little odd. Amy might have enough science and math lore to recognize that it's not... actually limited to three dimensions.

    "So... yeah," admits Hope Witch, continuing a topic from earlier. "There are other timelines, or at least there used to be. I don't know if they still exist. I just know, in a lot of them, I became a Puella Magi, and sometimes I lived long enough to become a Witch. So... what you see around you... is sorta based on my personal experience."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> I honestly don't know what Baast, Suzanne or the others are feeling right now.

    Amy nods. "Of co--"

> I do have some awareness of other timelines.

    "Wait, WHAT?!"

    She just stares at Madoka, open-mouthed, as the pinkette keeps talking. Listening in shock and awe.

    When Madoka finishes, she takes a moment to try to... what does she even say... what? And here Amy thought her story was a bit weird and nuts.

    "...How is this pos--THAT'S why you have a Witch chara!" She points.

    "...How is this... other timelines? How? Did you... wait, if you became a Witch in them, how'd you travel back? Even if it was mental time travel... is that a power your Witch has, then? To... to jump back in time, mentally, to avoid being defeated? But sometimes it goes too far and comes back to before you're a Witch? And this time... it jumped back to before you even became a Puella Magi?!"

    The redhead furrows her brow and holds a curled finger to her chin. "But... you didn't warn us... although, I guess aside from Sayaka, we all already became Puella Magi by the time we'd met you. Or maybe you jumped back too late to stop her... I don't know that I'd want to have not done this, though... Still, you could have told us the truth even after we were Puella M--"

    Amy gasps. "You tried to tell us, didn't you? And it went badly and everyone ended up Witches anyway. Damn. What a rough spot to be in."

    She looks up at Madoka. "H-how... How many? How long have you been doing this for?"

    Images of nixie tubes and a MADO SCIENTISTO run through Amy's head. She's seen Steins;Gate. Poor Okabe really went through hell trying to save Mayushi. Poor Madoka, having to go through that... Yeah, she's Amy's comrade, she's tough, but... a tiny part of Amy's brain says a 13-year-old really shouldn't have to go through all this. None of them should. Amy frowns at that thought. Wait, one of the wishes that was undone was... Oh shit, whatserface, the shrine maiden was totally trans, huh. That suddenly hits even closer to home. Yeah, Amy's glad she's not in a timeline where she didn't become a magical girl... but at what cost?

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Amy has a ton of questions. Questions that Madoka doesn't really have answers for. She's... a bit overwhelmed. She holds up both of her hands and says, "W-wait a minute. It's not quite like that. I don't have time travel powers myself. This isn't something I'm doing."

    Madoka glances away for a moment. She picks up a plushie and holds it in her hands for a moment. It's a bear that looks stitched together like Frankenstein's monster. "You're right about one thing. There have been those who knew the Witch secret and tried to share it, tried to warn others. First they weren't believed, and then when they were... some tried to kill other Puella Magi. I didn't actually know that at first."

    Madoka has to think back to how this all started. There was a dream, which she would later recognize as memories from another timeline, but that wasn't really enough to tell her everything.

    "Honestly, when I first became aware of magic in this timeline, I had no idea about other worlds. However, I was still connected to them somehow, and Gretchen inherited that connection from me when she was hatched, and unlike me she actually knew what that connection meant. So... she knew, but she also didn't want to tell too much because... well, it would have made things worse."

    Madoka clears her throat before mentioning, "Also... my Witch's name... is Kriemhild Gretchen. So... that's where Gretchen-chan gets her name from."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's thoughts have kind of run away with her. She refocuses as Madoka's calling to wait a minute and explaining she doesn't time travel, herself.

    Amy gives Madoka a curious look and focuses on her words again.

    Some knew the Witch secret and tried to warn Puella Magi and it went poorly. Amy nods. Wincing at the thought they turned to killing eachother. "Is that even possible? To kill us in a way that won't result in a Witch? As a last resort when it's about to happen I mean, not..."

    Kriemhild Gretchen.

    Amy dehenshins and looks at the inside of her ring as she stands up. "Why are the Witch names different from what's written inside of our rings?"

    She blinks. "So, through her, you know about, and kinda remember other timelines..." Something vaguely worries her there. "Have you seen... all of our... Witches? Wait, was I in other timelines?"

    Amy bows apologetically. "I'm sorry if I was weird or creepy in any of them. I'm kinda goin' through a lot, but..." She stands up again, "Nothing compared to having these memories and this weighing on you."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka considers for a moment how to respond to Amy's questions. She's asking some deep things. Dangerous truths, but ones that Amy should frankly be informed about. "I mean... I think I remember mentioning something like this before..." She thinks it over for a moment, then says, "Wait, no... I didn't tell you that. What I told you before was that you'd die if your Soul Gem got corrupted. That was a half-truth, but it was one I believed at the time because I didn't know what I do now."

    After a pause, she says, "... but if your Soul Gem breaks, you'll die. You wont become a Witch. I assume you just pass on like a normal person, but I don't know that for sure. I remember dying in most of those timelines, but I don't remember any afterlife."

    Has she seen everyone else's Witches? Madoka shrugs. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Obviously we've both seen Saya-chan's. I've seen a few others, but a Witch in one timeline isn't going to be a carbon copy of a Witch in another. Different worlds mean different experiences, and that shapes what kind of Witch you turn into."

    "Though... if I ever saw yours, I don't think I ever recognized it... and honestly, even if you were weird, there's nothing to apologize for. Nothing your Witch does would really be your fault."

    After a beat, she adds, "... I actually don't think you're that weird as a Puella Magi either. You have a habit of going off on tangents and you can be a little hard to keep track of sometimes, but that's not a big deal in of itself."

    Hope Witch sits down on the ground and sighs. "Sorry it's just... I don't really open up about this much. As much as Gretchen and I might argue sometimes, the truth is that she saved my life just by existing, but... it's all gotta even out in the end. I can stay alive, but... I can't really shake the feeling that there's going to be a cost for that."

    She gives a sideways glance to Amy before adding, "I guess that's where I am. I have over a hundred different timelines worth of horror to deal with, each starting from the middle of last summer to... however long it takes for something bad to happen. I also have to worry about what will happen next, and since my memories are all jumbled together in a mess I can't really predict anything with real certainty."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Die, no afterlife. Amy nods. "I never expected one. Though I guess reincarnation is real, unless it only works for senshi. Small comfort. Another me without my memories is another person. Identity death is still death."

    Peoples' Witches change based on their experiences? Huh. Amy cocks her head to one side. That's neat to know, and impossible to know any other way, but unfortunately kind of useless in any practical way.

    What her Witch did? "That's not what I meant." Although, gods, would her Witch be weird? She briefly pictures winds of change sweeping through the city, and shivers. It wouldn't be pretty. Except aesthetically. But then, Witches never are.

    Not that weird? She rights her head and smiles a bit. "Thanks. I grew up-- the first time, I was always the weird outsider. So it still means a lot, to hear that."

    A cost for Madoka's life? Amy stretches her arms, hands together, over her head. "A cost for avoiding an undefeatable Witch? Seems pretty straightforward. You don't get a Wish, and the stars will go out sooner."

    She stares at that last comment. "A hundred?! ...Yeah, no wonder it's hard to talk about."

    Red eyes stare off into space, or what passes for it, across the Labyrinth. "Since stuff I thought was fiction turned out to be real, I've been watching for bad things. From stories I spent way too much time absorbing, that no one else would've. But stories don't always predict reality. It's not really the same, but I guess it's like a tiny shard of it, right?"

    She stretches again, and then drops her hands by her sides. "Although, 'dude who defeats magical girls and then turns into them' I did not see coming. Not this way, anyway. Thought someone would need a crazy magic artifact. If that's even a right guess about what he's doing."

    She slumps a bit. "Geeze, the world got crazy..." Her eyes refocus on Madoka. "So... what connects all these timelines, anyway? Are a hundred and change all there are? Why? If not, why those specific ones?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I mean... there might still be an afterlife," admits Madoka. "I might have seen it but still not remember it. Like, if we all got reincarnated, most of us wouldn't remember our past lives to any meaningful degree. Not to the degree that Sailor Moon does. So there could just be some memory erasure that happens, or it could be that there's simply nothing to see, and I wouldn't be able to tell you if there was a meaningful difference."

    Madoka tilts her head as Amy describes her past experiences. "That sounds rough, and pretty lonely. I guess I wouldn't really know what that's like. I've always had at least a few people around who'd be nice to me."

    The cost of Madoka's life... "True. I don't get to make a Wish. If ever I work some miracle, I have to earn it a different way. Though... at least one person will likely die because of me, unless I can find a way to prevent it, and even if I do it might make something else worse."

    "With magic, though, I wouldn't be surprised if it followed tropes sometimes. Just... also remember that writers will try to subvert expectations, and magic may be the same."

    Scratching the back of her head, she considers what Phantom just showed them. "Honestly, I hadn't really seen that coming either. I think I remember someone merging with a youma before, but that's different."

    Why these specific timelines? That's a hard question to really answer. It's one of the things that Madoka can actually, honestly say she doesn't know about. "I'm suspect that there are more timelines than that, but I have no idea how I'd prove that. Sorry... I guess that's not a very good answer. As for what connects them... well... me, probably, but... actually that doesn't make a lot of sense either. I don't know if these timelines were spawned by someone time traveling, or if they just always existed and someone merged with a past version of themselves or... something? Only thing I'm fairly confident of is that some of those other timelines might not exist anymore. Maybe none of them do. I can't really verify that because it's not like I can travel to them."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Afterlife experiences... "Lethe clenses souls of their memories, I suppose. The Senshi must cheat somehow." Amy furrows her brow. "No, something happened. Their memories were returned to them by... the Silver Crystal. It was powerful. Completely recharged and overcharged my Soul Gem for a bit. ...I didn't recover any past life memories, though."

    As to their differemt life experiences, she shrugs.

    Someone will die? Her expression hardens. "We're Heroes. We're trying our best, but we're not perfect. We might... get some people killed. Just by what we're involved in. As long as we try our best and don't dismiss such loss blithely... We're doing our best."

    "I guess that's true. Magic might run on human expectations sometimes, but who can say? I just really hope the stuff I've seen humans come up with doesn't-- Well, one way or another, we'll see."

    Time. Man. Amy nods. "Makes sense. I guess we should keep an eye out for other signs of time manipulation. And, yeah. Other timelines are... it's weird to know about them, but for us, this is all there is. Or at least timelines that branch after this point. Do you ever... remember new ones? Or just... the ones you remember, when you started remembering them, that's all of them?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka nods at the comment about Lethe, then tilts her head at the mention of the Silver Crystal being involved. "That would make a lot more sense. Magic seems to be able to break even those rules, I guess. At least sometimes. I wonder what would happen if someone Wished to remember all of their past lives."

    After today's loss, the thought of getting someone killed... it makes her stomach sick to think of it. Sometimes having experienced something can harden you against it, make similar situations less likely to affect you, but other times it can make you more vulnerable. "As long as there are enough of us to win the war. We've already seen one example of what will happen if we don't. Sunbreaker seemed almost like a friend in the timewarp, but now she's right back to being our enemy, stealing energy to do who knows what."

    Does Madoka ever remember new ones? At first she shrugs. Then she thinks about it a bit further. "I think... I would notice eventually if that happened. If a new timeline opened up, the other me would dream about the me in this timeline, and then we'd become aware of each other. As long as the me in this timeline lived long enough to see that happen. If it did, I'd probably try to find a way to warn her."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Sunbreaker, an enemy again. Amy hangs her head. "Yeah. I... I really preferred having her as a friend. I guess it's just easier, but... she was always the easiest to talk to, of our enemies. Better-behaved than most of them, too. I hope it's not weak of me to wish we could've just stayed friends..."

    "It's dreams that connect you? Huh..."

    Amy considers. "I guess it's a weird thing to say, right? 'Look for signs of time manipulation.' But it's like. Have you ever played a videogame where you can save and load? Imagine how peculiar your behavior looks to the NPCs. You get through the dungeon perfectly the first time. You know the boss's secret weakness without having fought it before, and anyone who fought it and didn't know dies. If we see people behaving like that... it might be a sign."

    Amy takes a breath. "Sometimes it's more blatant. Remember, when we fought Walpurgisnacht's familiar, and I was delivered a package with a grief seed, so that Sayaka would hold onto hers? Or was it so I'd give her another I had? I forget. Anyway, then all that stuff happened, and Sayaka needed it. If she hadn't..." Amy blinks. "Well, shit. Now I know what was being avoided. Somebody probably Witched there. Good thing I didn't question it and make whoever was influencing things have to do an extra loop."

    Amy thinks. "There was... something about Homura, too. At that TV event that was a trap for mahou shoujo. I forget what she said, but... I just remember there being a sign. Although, you had Gretchen then, so... maybe you told her something was going to happen then..." She furrows her brow in concentration as she tries to remember.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's face goes a little blank as Amy starts describing signs of time manipulation. All of that is... pretty spot on actually. Then her lip curls into a half smile at the mention of Homura. As much as she'd like to see her girlfriend more often, the truth is that no amount of time is going to erase the proof of Homura's dedication from Madoka's mind.

    "I guess you probably could identify things that way. Thing is though, I don't really think it's as convenient as saving and loading. In a video game, you can set your savepoint wherever you want. When it comes to my dreams and my connections to other worlds... screwing up has generally meant losing the entire timeline. If that person could travel back whenever they wanted to, then I'd probably have memories of like... 1,000 different battles with Walpurgisnacht."

    The mention of Katarina's prophecy actually gets some gears turning in her head, and when Madoka comes to a conclusion she blurts out an answer.

    "There must be several. One person probably isn't doing all of that. There's probably several people influencing time that we just don't know about. That would explain why each timeline looks so different."

    Madoka raises a hand as if she's trying to use a touch screen. "Um... so for example, let's say we have our primary original timeline." She traces a horizontal line in the air, and a glowing green light follows her finger. It persists, like an image painted in the air. "Then, someone travels back in time, in order to change something that they don't like." She makes a dot on the primary timeline, then draws another timeline underneath it. The dot hops from one timeline to the next. "So, now this person should know what to do, right? Except, what if, in this new timeline, someone makes a Wish that changes the past?"

    A third timeline appears, and the dot actually ends up in it. "From the perspective of our time traveling dot, she never actually saw the second timeline she meant to travel to, but instead ends up in this third timeline where things are different for seemingly no reason."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Right, yeah. Saving and loading... well, actually, there used to be this thing called 'save points'. You could only save and load in certain places. But, even then. Even in the days before SRAM or battery back-up, you could reset the game and start again after Game Over. So I guess the analogy still holds."

    She watches the diagram with interest.

    Amy nods. "That makes sense. Would explain why everything hasn't gone perfectly someone's way. I guess multiple people manipulating time mess eachother up."

    "Have you ever played Undertale?" Amy cocks her head to one side. "I reccomend it, if you're at all good at videogames. Maybe even if you're not that good. Even if it came out--" She frowns. "I suppose that must seem ancient to you." Madoka would've been... like 5. The redhead slumps her shoulders a bit. "But it's still good."

    Amy sighs and holds a hand to her head. "Gods. I knew time stuff was going on. From those two times, if nothing else. But I forgot because so much else happened. Man, if I'd been watching this anime, I'd have been yelling at the screen... Ha." She smiles wryly. "I finally understand. When you're actually in it, you can't act perfectly. Although I guess I don't want to act perfectly logically anyway. Have you heard me argue with Tsukino-san?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    As Amy describes save points, Madoka gives her a confused look. She's played older games like Zelda and Pokemon, but those don't really rely upon Save Points in the way that Amy's describing. Undertale might be a bit old, but... "Undertale still gets talked about. That and Deltarune. It's weird to think that Megalovania is almost as old as I am, especially when you consider that it kinda predates Undertale. I have to admit though I haven't actually played it. I've seen snippets of people trying to beat Sans and it just makes my eyes spin trying to keep track of it all."

    Madoka shrugs and says, "Who knows? Maybe I should try more video games. People are telling me that I don't relax enough. Honestly most video games are ancient to me. Pong started back in the 70s. It's like... three times as old as I am... Well, I say that. I guess it depends on how you count all the various timeline experiences I have. I think in total it's about 10 years. I guess we're both kinda older than we look in a way."

    Tilting her head to the side and placing a finger on her chin, she wonders out loud. "I feel like I have? I feel like I've seen that happen before, but I can't remember when. I know she can be pretty headstrong. Not that I really blame her. You probably have to be that way a little bit if you want to lead a squad of magical girls around."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Megalovania? "I actually read Homestuck. Didn't play the Halloween Hack. I've got a theory that Megalovania isn't Sans's boss theme. It's your boss theme. Or, the Player's. Since you're only fighting Sans if you're an absolute monster who killed everyone else. That means you're the final boss, and Sans is doing everything he can to stop you. Even 'get dunked on' is a plea to frustrate you into resetting and maybe go for the good ending, instead. So's refusing to take his turn so you have to just sit and wait. A last chance to stop before-- well."

    "The whole game isn't that hard. Fighting Sans is supposed to be ridiculous. It's your punishment for being a cruel and uncaring monster. Same as the tedium of making sure you kill every. Last. One. Of the underground's denizens. Playing the game like a normal person is not nearly so hard."

    "Megalovania is a song that always accompanies people doing very bad things... just because they want to. But countless players missed that point, and decided to become those people. A little worrying, now that I know magic is real."

    Pong. Amy :| "Spacewar was older than that, I think. I was never very good at it, gravity always threw me off. But then, I was playing it on Dad's old 386 in the basement, when I was as old as you were when Undertale came out. Maybe I'd do better now, with more gaming experience."

    Amy smiles. "This has been really neat. Talking about videogames and... freaking time travel, here in your... magical nowhere land. It can't have been easy, not talking about this stuff much before, if at all."

    "...Made me feel a lot better, after I was getting all sad over our fates. But I guess fate is even less written in stone than I thought! ...Did it help, to talk about it?" She holds out her arms to offer a hug.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka listens curiously as Amy explains Megalovania. There's actually a lot of complexity to it that she hadn't been aware of before. Maybe art does have some depth to it. "Huh. So in that way, you're kind of trying to end the world." She laughs a little sheepishly. "I guess it's weird for me to worry about a boss to be hard when I'm fighting things a lot more scary on a regular basis. Maybe I'll try it out sometime."

    On the subject of genocide route, Madoka's expression also gets a little... guilty? "I mean, it's funny in a way. As a player, you know those NPCs don't really matter, but like... if you treat people like they don't matter, that makes you a monster. It's almost like... seeing how a sociopath thinks. Honestly I feel a little weird leaving my Familiars to die so often. I tell myself that they aren't real, and that I can just bring them back whenever I want, but still..."

    Spacewar? There are games older than Pong? No, that makes sense. Of course there would be like... a progression.

    "Sometimes talking about it is as hard as not. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd even open up like this without the Silver Millenium stuff. I guess it's just... I never really thought people would be able to understand it, but life isn't ever as easy as it looks from the outside. I got into this magical business because I looked up to people like Sailor Moon. Now she's a friend that I've gotten into semi-fights with, and who let us borrow clothes..."

    Did it help? "Kinda, yeah. I probably would've explained earlier, but Endymion spotted us and well... that conversation got cut off. It's just not something I can really explain to someone who doesn't know about Witches already." With a smile, she accepts the offer for hugs, and holds Amy for a moment when she pulls back she says, "We're almost back to the campus. I should... probably go soon. Have you been to the Shed yet?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    How a sociopath thinks? Leaving your familiars to die? "And yet. We were never so callous to the echoes in the past. Even when they were bigots who treated us so awfully."

    Amanda turns her head to look away and holds a hand to the side of her head. "Although I did think about making some bad decisions. Experiences of youth I never got to have, in a world of no consequences. Where no one would really be hurt. It was creepily like an Elder Scrolls game. Guess that's right down to the mods--"

    She shakes her head, red hair swaying back and forth. "But I was scared what it might make of me. Plus, what an awkward secret that'd be to carry. I guess I have enough of those already."

    "Yeah. It's wild. I always wanted to be a hero and help people. Didn't think Magical Girl was on the table. Then I actually fought alongside Sailor V my first day, and things got weirder from there." She smiles. "You really have all been kinder to me than the children of my time. Perhaps this transformation has corrected another unfairness beyond my body. Perhaps I was born in the wrong time."

    Yeah, Amy remembers a conversation about Witches getting cut off. She just nods. "Yeah."

    Hugs are nice. They'll never get old. Or maybe they will, but if they do, it will just mean Amy's finally had enough of them.

    Almost back to School. Amy's in her school uniform, now. With the skirt. She's been opting for it over the pants most of the time for awhile now. "I have, yeah. ...Sometime, we should do science experiments in here. We could probably learn a lot of... or at least some useful things about Witch's Labyrinths from this one, right?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I guess that's true," admits Madoka. "But honestly, even that felt a little different. Even if they were echoes, being too mean would feel to me like desecrating a grave. Or maybe... a memorial."

    Madoka raises an eyebrow. She's not judging, because again no one would be hurt, but it's not really something she thought of. "Do I want to ask? I guess a little bit of mischief in a world like that wouldn't be that hard to understand, but one should be careful exploring their psyche."

    Madoka giggles as the kindness of mahou in general is pointed out. "I think, maybe, it's just in our nature. If we were too inclined to be mean, we might be working for Obsidian instead."

    Science experiments? Maybe. "Honestly, you might learn more about X-Chara than you would about Witches if you start poking at the edges around here, but you can still do a lot in here. Sometimes I use some of the deeper rooms for training. Especially when it comes to some of the scarier Witches I remember from other timelines."

    Madoka stands up tall, and then the Labyrinth fades away around them, leaving them on the RHM campus. "Some other time though, maybe. I'm a bit tired for today. Don't worry about the Eclipse Zone. We'll get it someday."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Like desecrating a grave... Amy nods. "That too."

    Amy looks away awkwardly. "Uhhhhh. I'm not sure. I guess that's especially true when there's a Witch inside us somewhere... I hope you all get to do a healthy amount of exploring when you're older."

    "Even Hinoiri has some trouble being mean. But I suppose that's true. She mentioned Beryl tortured her... I would not fare well if I'd somehow ended up forced to work with them."

    Experiments here of limited but nonzero usefulness, and not now. She nods at both points.

    And then the Labyrinth fades away. "Been awhile since I've seen that..." She nods. "Yeah. It's not the end of the world. We'll beat it!" She gives a thumbs-up, and walks back towards the dorms. Yeah, she could use a break right now too.