What's In A Name (Madoka Kaname)

What's In A Name (Madoka Kaname)
Date of Cutscene:	"{{{Date of Scene}}}" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Location:	Kaname Household
Synopsis:	Madoka receives a midnight visit from Gretchen, and asks her some pointed questions about a name she's heard recently: Kriemhild Gretchen.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname

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[Note: This happens on the night of Scene 765]

Storm clouds crossed the sky from horizon to horizon. A parade of brightly colored animals passed by, neon pink and green, like a circus parade.

I need to wake up.

A curtain rose. A countdown started. The Stage Witch had come, and several mahou were there to meet her.

She's here. I need to talk to her. I need to wake up.

Several buildings broke in half and rose into the sky.

"I get it already!" shouted Madoka as she woke. Well, she intended to shout. It came out more like a soft whine. Considering that two out of her three Chara were still sleeping in their dollhouse nearby, that was probably for the best.

The third Chara was fully awake and hovering over her bed in the dark. Madoka recognized Gretchen from her long spindly dress and disproportionate amount of hair for her small body. Gretchen's voice betrayed her annoyance. "I'm not doing this for fun and games, you know. These are important memories, and you wont be able to fight effectively without them." The dark fairy was focused on nothing other than the inevitable conflict.

"I have something important that I want to ask you about, Gretchen-chan," explained Madoka as she sat up and pushed a plushie aside. "I spoke to one of the Puella Meisters today. She passed me a note with the words 'Kriemhild Gretchen' on it. I wanted to know if that meant anything to you."

There was a pause. Madoka thought she could see Gretchen fidgeting nervously. "You don't need to worry about Kriemhild Gretchen. She can't exist in this timeline." She flew around in circles, almost as if she was pacing. "Where did you even hear that name? Where did they hear it?"

The Chara Bearer answered as directly as she could, unlike her Chara. "Bach-san seemed kinda like an oracle or something. There were several names, but... only Kriemhild Gretchen really stood out..."

Even in the low light of midnight, even with the X-Chara wearing her ghastly mask, Madoka could see Gretchen's fretting and worrying. It was obvious in the tiny fairy's body language, the way she nervously looked around the room, and the way her hand moved towards the mouth of her mask. "Even if she was looking at the future, that still wouldn't make any sense! What were some of the other names?"

"I don't remember all of them, but one of them was something like Samhain?" Madoka started to feel bad for putting Gretchen on the spot, but the more she dodged the more important this felt.

"Those sound like Witch names to me," finally responded Gretchen, with clear reluctance. "Patricia, Gertrud, Lorelei, Anna, Lina... all of those are the names of Witches we've seen before, either in this timeline or in others. I don't know anything about Samhain, but Kriemhild Gretchen is a Witch who has already been taken care of. She died before she was born. Forget about her!"

Madoka wondered. If the Witch was irrelevant, then why was fairy so nervous? "Why... do you have the name Gretchen in particular?"

The X-Chara shook her tiny head. "I didn't choose this name any more than you chose the name Hope Blossom." The dark fairy hesitated. "Here's what I can tell you. Kriemhild means 'battle mask', and Gretchen means 'pearl'. The Pearl is a precious gem that is formed through time and hardship. It's associated with wisdom and experience."

The Chara Bearer smiled for a brief moment. "Pearl. That's cute." The smile faded from something adoring to something wry. "I can't help but notice..." Madoka reached up to trace the edge of Gretchen's circular mask with her fingertip. "... that you have a battle mask of your own."

"What about it?" shot back Gretchen. "I've said too much as it is. I happen to share a name with a Witch who can't exist, and that's all there is to know."

Madoka's expression fell further, from disapproval to almost hurt. "I don't believe you. Why do you feel the need to hide things from me? What could be more horrible than what you've already shown me? Not only my own end... but my family's... my friends... Is there something more scary than that you aren't telling me?"

That... stunned Gretchen in a completely different way. "Oh... oh I've given you the wrong impression. First off, there are fates much worse than death. Secondly, Madoka-chan, I'm not sparing you out of some misconstrued idea that you're too weak or frail to handle the truth." Clearly such words did little to comfort the Bearer, but the dark fairy went on. "Look. I've seen you at your best, at your finest hours. I remember them as if they were through my own eyes. No one who truly knows you would see you as weak, but you aren't the only one to consider here. If you knew the full truth, then you'd have to lie as much as I do. You'd hate that."

Madoka wanted to trust her X-Chara, but it was hard to think she wasn't just being fed empty platitudes. No, there's something worse here. What's so terrible that Madoka would feel a need to hide it? "Even in those dreams, I was just doing what I had to. What I should. I'm no better than anyone else."

Gretchen turned away from Madoka. "Better is subjective, but I will say this: Many others would've fallen into bitterness and resentment if they went through even half of what you have. You remain kind and sweet no matter how horrible this world gets." The tiny dark fairy looked over her shoulder at Madoka. "It's that quality that makes you a paragon, a goddess, and an ideal magical girl. If you don't believe me, go ask Homura-chan what she thinks of you."

Madoka looked down at the covers of her bed. Nothing about the dreams Gretchen showed her felt particularly out of character, but at the same time it didn't feel all that special. The tiny dark fairy summoned a bright magic circle in front of her. The entrance to her Labyrinth. "It's time for me to go. I need to scout out for more Witches, and you need to go to bed."

"You should talk to the Puella Meisters," suggested Madoka, her voice getting more quiet. "They're hunting Walpurgisnacht, too. One of them even had a picture."

"A picture?" Gretchen couldn't hardly believe it. After a pause, she supposed that made sense. "That group is unusual. I haven't seen them in any previous timeline. If they know what we're up against already, then maybe it's fate... but I never know how other Puella Magi would react to seeing me. They might mistake me for a real Witch." After a moment, she starts floating into her Labyrinth. "We'll speak again."

Madoka watched as Gretchen left, and rolled back over to try and sleep again. This time, there were no nightmares.