496/Speak Low If You Speak Mahou

Speak Low If You Speak Mahou
Date of Scene:	24 September 2023
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Homura gets a visit from two mascots at once: Kyubey and Gretchen. Each of them has something important to tell her, but they both use guarded words. One battle has been won, seemingly by sheer luck, yet there are many more on the horizon.
Cast of Characters:	Homura Akemi, 6, Madoka Kaname

---

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura Akemi is at what is the closest thing as home to her; her dorm room at Radiant Heart Academy. She has a single dorm, something she's able to maintain through a medical exemption, and as such has made some... intriguing remodels. The entire space of the main room is white. So white it's actually hard to tell where the walls meet the ceiling and floor. It gives an impression of the space being much larger than it is. Short, comfortably cushioned backless couches are spread about the room, centered on a short round table in the center that has a digital display set into it. A partial ring of curved blue couches circle it, while green rectangular couches surround it in a partial starburst pattern. For such a small space it has seating for a large number of people. Overhead is a bizarre arrangement of clockwork and mechanics, and a pendulum shaped something like a quadruple headed scythe swings back and forth like that of a grandfather clock.

    The digital display on the table is dwarfed by the one on the outer wall. If there was a window there before it's now covered up, as an entire wall of the room is now a single giant screen, it's white glow matching the white floor perfectly. A large number of windows float inside it, not with any traditionally recognizable operating system but rather still images of various youma and witches Homura has fought. Some windows have sketches rather than direct images, with arrows pointing to various features, while others have long lists of attributes and speculation on the creation and formation of various youma. The plant Youma that attacked the beach, the giant vulture that fought alongside Riventon at the mall, and what looks to be grainy security footage of a Perfect Bit emerging from a smashed aquarium enclosure.

    Homura herself is wearing her Radiant Heart uniform, standing at the small table that works as the control center for her computer setup. With a few taps and gestures most of the images slide neatly to the left hand of the wall screen, and several new ones pop up. The veteran Puella Magi turns to look at these, crossing her arms. There are a few images of Tokyo from overhead, one of which is indisputably the data Kyouka Inai handed out which Kiseru stole from Obsidian about the Midnight Tokyo project. Some are satellite images both during the day and at night, while one shows the underlying geography of the area without any of the man made structures.

    One final image is of what is close to that, but different and very old, seeming to be made of some kind of time worn and yellowed parchment. Nearly unreadable lettering is shown in various places, and neatly drawn, erratic lines cover the space. Someone could easily mistake it for a watershed map of streams and rivers, except these lines don't follow geography, either directly or in height. They also all seem to merge upon Tokyo itself, rather than flowing out to another location. To anyone with magical knowledge, it could easily be map of the areas leylines-- or at least a map of where they had been whenever it was recorded.

    She stands frowning while staring at the data, keeping her arms crossed over her chest. She does pause, however, when a black cat hops down from one of the couches and starts to swirl about her feet, crouching down to scritch the top of it's head and then stroke down along it's back, "What is it, Amy? You've already had your dinner."

Kyubey (6) has posed:
    Amy's not the only four-legged creature here, now. Shaking his head - with his associated long 'ears' flopping around - as he comes out from behind one of those large couches, where nobody currently in the room could see the other side of, is a white creature, with red eyes, a teardrop-shaped red mark on his back. A long, flowing tail trails the creature as it jumps up to perch on the side of the couch. Perching there like a cat sitting, tail flowing left and right behind it as it looks at Homura, those red eyes fixed, unmoving, facial expression unreadable.

    "Well, congratulations, Homura Akemi." Kyubey says. "Despite my best efforts, it's seems you have achieved what I have deduced to be your primary goal - I can no longer form a contract with Madoka Kaname."

    Kyubey looks up at the images, the ones displayed on the strange floating boxes. "It doesn't appear that you're done, though. Secondary objectives, each of these?" he asks. "You do understand that Entropy continues to march on even now, in its own ways, too?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    What enters Homrua's dorm is something that both is and is not the gateway to a Labyrinth. For lack of a better term, it seems to have a similar structure and shape as the kinds of spaces that Homura regularly enters, but it's made out of a different kind of magical material. It's distinct and strange, possibly enough to get the attention of a veteran. For a Witch or Familiar to dare to enter Homura's lair would require it to be either bold, suicidal, or both.

    There's another point distinction about this Labyrinth. It is incredibly small. About the size of a cupboard. Small enough that a middle school girl could theoretically reach in and grab the being inside of it, and the owner of this pocket dimension is also... well... tiny.

    The barrier of the Labyrinth fades, and what's left in its place is a tiny masked fairy-like person. Little enough to fit within a hand. Her long hair is gathered to the sides in pink pigtails that seem to be a bit darker than they should, as if the shadows are deeper than what would visually make sense. She's sitting within the bottom half of a black, cracked egg covered by some white lines. She's facing Homura directly, and though it's hard to tell where her eyes are pointed from behind the strange circular mask it wears, it wouldn't be hard to guess that she was focusing on the time traveling Puella.

    She eventually turns towards Kyubey. There's a slight smugness when she states, "It's true. All of Madoka Kaname's potential went to me." Spinning to face the Puella Magi, she adds, "I think she may have said something like that to you already, Homura Akemi-san."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    As Kyubey appears Amy's head turns towards the alien body. Homura scoops the cat up in her arms and continues petting her, turning to face Kyubey herself. "Rhetorical questions from you? I wouldn't think you'd need conformation for something as trivially obvious as continuing to keep someone safe even after a primary threat is averted." A short handwave towards the Midnight Tokyo project, "A threat to an entire city, or the entire world, is clearly a threat to everyone within. Keeping Madoka Kaname out of your clutches was only the most important of my objectives. You give yourself too much credit if you think you're the only danger to a girl's life in this city, Incubator."

    She hardly even addresses his mention of entropy aside from addressing him by his actual job title, rather than the cutesy version of it he usually hands out. It's the first time she's used the word since her last reset. She idly pets Amy on the head again, gazing at the cat for a moment before looking at Kyubey again. For a moment she considers attempting to teach the cat the Kill command, but then thinks about how sad that might make Madoka if it actually worked.

    Her eyes flick over to the side as she senses strange, witchlike magic. Luckily she's veteran enough to feel the differences as much as the similairities. When the Guardian Character pops out she blinks in obvious surprise, studying it for a few moments before replying. "She did. She showed me an egg, as well." She glances at the lower half of shell Gretchen is in, saying everything she needs to by the gesture.

    Then to Kyubey she adds, "I'd think you'd be just as interested in these. There won't be energy left for you to stave off Entropy with if all the people are killed by the Dusk Zone or it's horrors," as she speaks images of some kind of city sized abomination emerging from the Dusk Zone appears, only to disappear with a flick of her wrist, "monsters from the sun, or hideous clown gods. If there are no adolescent girls then there are no Puella Magi, and no new Witches."

Kyubey (6) has posed:
    "If you have absorbed all of Madoka Kaname's magical potential, you are a powerful - and dangerous - creature indeed." Kyubey says. He doesn't sound angry, or concerned, but then again, he never really does. Emotions themselves are looked down upon in whatever passes for Kyubey's society - for Incubators. "You are both like a witch and yet not. Worthy of study." he says. "Perhaps we have overlooked the Guardian Character phenomena. However, none of my information indicates your creation has prevailed over Entropy, as a Wish from a new Puella Magi does." he continues.

    His eyes move up to all of the images on the screens. "Until recently we had no real reason to concern ourselves with any of these outcomes, since Madoka Kaname's energy would have been enough to give us time to find a more long-term solution, even if her Witch cleansed the surface of this world of all life. Now, without that... yes, many of these things are more problematic." he admits. He leans his head down and scratches behind his ear with a hind leg. "The energy cost to bring sentient beings from elsewhere to here - even if others could Wish and prevail over entropy - makes that an untenable solution to offset the gaping wound in the universe this planet is." he says, perhaps sharing unknown things, or just confirming them. "And the problem is simply too immediate to assume we'll come up with a solution before it becomes dire. So... in the immediate term, the survival of humanity is needed once again." Humanity itself - not any particular human.

    "To offset the continued increase in universal entropy from the unique situation at this location, we will need humans of this world to continue forming contracts." he notes. "And to fight against these threats to humanity will we need a continuing supply of magical girls." he says, stretching out and then laying down, his head raised and looking at Homura. "Do you intend to continue to interfere with the formation of contracts by other humans, Homura Akemi? Now that you have prevented Madoka Kaname from forming a contract?" he asks. "I wish to know to what depths your emotions threaten the universe. Assuming you will tell me."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Her second egg appeared already?" muses Gretchen. It's hard to tell, but her tone of voice is something like... joy? "That's a good sign. We had something of a rough start, no thanks to Kyubey here."

    She stays quiet as Homura addresses Kyubey, and her egg turns towards the screen. Is she thoughtfully studying it? It's hard to read her. The X-Chara seems almost too-casual about the news, pulling out a single chocolate chip from somewhere within her egg and starting to nibble as she looks ot over. Nothing about the name "Incubator" or other terms being thrown around seem to faze her, though when she lifts her mask to eat her tiny little mouth is frowning.

    Only when she's done eating her chocolate chip does she speak again, and there's a wounded bitterness in her voice. "Was Kaname-san just a battery to you, Kyubey? Was that all this was?"

    After a quiet moment, she pulls off her mask, showing her face to be very much like Madoka's. It's not quite the same. The hair's the wrong shade of pink, but the bone structure is a dead ringer. She frowns down at Kyubey from atop her egg. "I am Madoka Kaname's potential, Incubator. To put a finer point on it, I am the potential that you saw in her. The potential to become a Witch. I wouldn't expect such magical symbolism alone to have much effect on Entropy."

    That is not exactly the whole truth, but it's pretty close to it. It's as much truth as Gretchen is willing to share in current company.

    "I'm sure there will be others who seek wishes, and maybe even those who find value in them. There's no way to really stop that."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "That's right. These are all problems you'd otherwise be happy to let build to destruction, aren't they? If there's a problem so great only Madoka's potential can solve it, they're doing their work for you." It's something she already knew very well, but being reminded of it doesn't hurt. When he notes that Gretchen is like a witch, but not, Homura's purple eyes turn to study the tiny floating Chara a bit more. A closer look does remind her of something, but she doesn't speak it aloud.

    After all, she's been doing her best to hide the nature of her magic from Kyubey as well as other magical girls and boys. She's entirely refrained from actually firing while in timestop, aside from that one time she did her best to protect Firefly from familiars. And as far as she knows as single datapoint isn't enough for Kyubey to work on, if he was even focused on her. It was a rather busy fight. It's for that same reason she interrupted the neural networked AI in her computer from showing pictures of the Clown God and Metallia destroying the planet; images like that shouldn't exist for possible future events.

    As for whether she continues to interfere? Homura gives Kyubey a very simple answer with implications that are anything but, "I will do whatever it takes to keep Madoka Kaname alive. Anything." It's... not actually true. She wouldn't go around murdering people that make her job more difficult, for one. Still, the look in her eyes is hard and full of emotion that Kyubey would likely find entirely irrational. "If your Contracts endangered her, then you'd find yourself my enemy." She relents a little and notes, "As it is the mere existence of Witches is too late to do anything about, and any thoughts I have about newly contracted Puella Magi reducing the pool of girls with potential for other kinds of magic are entirely theoretical, ambiguous, and innactionable."

    To Gretchen's first comment she gives a nod, "She's keeping it on her in a box and was looking for help about what to do about it. Kyouka Inai-sensei and I suggested she find Tadase Hotori." Homura isn't sure whether those names mean anything at all to Gretchen or not, but she says them in case they do.

    "Her potential to become a Witch? Would that actually be a Dream of Madoka's?" She shakes her head; her knowledge of how Guardian Characters work is rather limited but that doesn't seem right at all. Then again the staggering amount of potential inside Madoka never really made sense to her. It's not like she was that powerful at the start. Maybe if Amy was secretly the avatar of the Ancient Egyptian god Bastet and Madoka's wish had brought her back to life and divinity-- she shakes her head, her mind is clearly going on tangents.

    Thinking of Amy though makes her remmeber the cat in her arms, and she notices that Amy is reaching a out towards Gretchen, pawing at the air. Not with claws extended like she wants to attack, merely reaching. "Hmm? Do you want to say hi, Amy?"

Kyubey (6) has posed:
    "Madoka Kaname is an exceptional human, but she is still a human." Kyubey says bluntly. "The most impactful thing she could have done for the universe was buy us time, such an extrodinarily long time - during which we would surely be able to ascertain a solution to this Entropy problem. As a magical girl she is just one of many - perhaps she will rise to the top with others, but perhaps not. Her unique potential squandered. Lost, in fact, if my understanding about just what you are is accurate. An entity that acts on its own, unbeholden to the person who's energy created it. But I suppose you have some connection, and would cease to be if she did." Kyubey theorizes.

    "They are problems that would have been irrelevant if Madoka Kaname contracts. When she became a witch they all cease to be problems anyways." he says, without elaborating. "Now they are problems anew. There are... so many problems." Kyubey says, looking at the screen. "Contracting Madoka Kaname was a much more straightforward endeavor with less room for error. Now we find ourselves... the human expression is akin to 'walking a tightrope'?" he says. "Now, my contracts are more likely to keep Madoka Kaname alive. As she is a human, and the removal of humanity is unacceptable now." he says.

    "I was wondering if you would see that in some ways, this puts us on the same side of things - or if your irrational emotions cause you to feel too strongly against me and I would have to calculate that."

    "Not even all of the concerns are on this screen, either." Kyubey says, turning to Homura. "Did you know Riventon of Obsidian holds a grief seed, now?" he asks, staring at Homura. Perhaps he is trying to impress upon her how bad that is. Perhaps he is trying to see if she reacts differently than she should based on what he believes she knows. "The Witches are increasing, and the humans with their plans are also moving forward. Now we are entering a much more chaotic phase. Chaos is bad for me. Each bit of the world interacts with each other bit, making prediction nearly impossible. Each system interconnects and if we fail one it all falls apart."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Tadase Hotori?" repeats Gretchen. "Yes, I suppose he's as good a teacher as any."

    Have Gretchen and Tadase even met in this timeline? Well, no, of course not. Not directly. Yet Gretchen doubts that anyone here could connect those particular dots. It's only after she speaks that she considers whether or not she has been too arrogant.

    Gretchen hears Homura's question, and almost snorts. "Well, no. Of course Madoka wouldn't want to become a Witch. Especially not with her level of power. Yet the metaphysics of how Chara work and how we look is unclear even to us. If I were theorize, and I do emphasize that this is only a theory, I would say that my status as an X-Chara has... distorted the image Madoka's dream. Most X-Chara look like dark shadowy things, yet no one really dreams of being a tiny tantruming monster."

    After she speaks, she reconsiders her words. "Well, maybe that one with the baby Chara does."

    Gretchen looks down at Amy as the kitty paws in her direction. The X-Chara, for once, gives the kitten a warm smile. Her broken black eggshell levitates closer to Homura, and at this distance the Puella might be able to make out an ornate pattern that is just barely visible. There's the lacey pattern that Madoka's other egg had, but there's a gold bit that almost looks like the bottom half of a Soul Gem in egg form.

    A strange coincidence, surely.

    Gretchen's smile is replaced with a frown as Kyubey speaks. She turns towards him and says, "Squandered? Lost? Rude. Just because you don't get to use it." The tiny X-Chara crosses her arms and looks away from him. "It's probably true that, without the sacrifice of Madoka's very soul, she may not achieve the same heights of power as her theoretical Witch would. However, as long as I exist, the power born from that potential isn't lost. I'm not the same kind of thing as a Wish, where you use it once and then that's it. Chara magic is more... malleable."

    The thought of Riventon owning a Grief Seed makes her twitch for a moment, until she reconsiders and rolls her eyes. Obsidian was always going to get their hands on Grief Seeds sooner or later. It's not that it's a non-issue. It's more like an unfixable one, in the long term.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "I'm surprised you have so much trust in Madoka Kaname's abilities, right after saying she's only a human. You do realize that against threats like these," she waves a hand towards the screen, "that the chances are still very high she would die? What would you do if Madoka Kaname wished for something simple that only required a fraction of her potential, only for the entirety of Tokyo to be consumed by the Dusk Zone? Puella Magi are resilient, but I have my doubts about how long a Soul Gem would survive doused entirely in an unending sea of Dark Energy while all the things within smelled blood in the water and rampaged."

    She looks towards Kyubey and half glares at him, "I'd think you'd be above such gambling, Kyubey, to encourage threats to the entire world and your entire system on the hope one Puella Magi would become a Witch before dying." Kyubey would know just as well as she does that it only takes a single unlucky hit to destroy a Soul Gem. It's uncommon, but not entirely unheard of.

    Then she lets the emotion, or at least the expression of it, fade away to nearly nothing. "It's funny you say that. I was hoping you'd realize it was now important with me, as well. As despicable as I consider your methods I recognize there are few allies I can be willing to overlook with what's at stake. Even working together the odds are against us, and if Madoka Kaname is to be a magical girl without becoming a Puella Magi I have no choice but to go all out in making this world one where it's possible for her to be safe and happy in."

    At the mention of Riventon having a Grief Seed Homura shakes her head and sighs, "No. No good will come of that, either. I wouldn't be surprised that's where the one Inai-sensei traded for ended up. A trade for a trade; I have little doubt Obsidian's most prodigious pet scientist would have much worth trading for, and an interest in Grief Seeds." She ignores the note of Witches increasing. That one's almost insulting; Kyubey can blame himself if things are getting desperate enough for even more girls making Wishes and becoming Puella Magi too weak to sustain themselves. Possibly more familiars are getting loose and not getting cleaned up, but that's still goes back to Kyubey in the end.

    When Gretchen moves closer Homura does as well. Close enough that Amy's paw could reach the Chara and rest it briefly on the ornate egg. "I haven't interacted much with X-Chara in the past. The Chara Bearers seem capable enough of mitigating whatever threat they pose." She studies Gretchen for a moment, "Though with you, I'm not sure that's the case at all." Deciding to be honest she notes, "Madoka asked me to tell her right away if I saw you. Should I? If you really are the embodiment of most of the power she held within her, you might be better informed on the subject than I am." Because of course Homura knows Madoka still needs protecting from information. It's not like she was going to just up and tell Madoka Gretchen claimed to be the embodyment of her Witch, and oh by the way Witches are actually fallen Puella Magi.

    She regards the Guardian Character with more interest, "If you really do have that power, your assistance might be crucial. I'm led to believe," Homura can speak in half truths of omission too, Kyubey, "that Madoka's Witch would have been powerful enough to scour the entire planet clean. Not that that's a singular distinction, but even Walpurgisnacht would pale in comparison to her power."

    Like clockwork the wall screen changes, and various historical references to the named Witch appears upon it. There's... a lot. Obviously Homura had done an incredible amount of research on the Super Witch.

Kyubey (6) has posed:
    Kyubey stares at Homura, now. "It was a better chance than trying to stop all of these at once, in any case. You must understand that the numbers were run. Many times." he states. "If you didn't like the odds of relying on Madoka Kaname's wish, you would like the current odds less." Kyubey notes. "I'm not choosing to speak to you because teenage human girls with unhealthy attachments to other teenage human girls are known among my people for being reliable partners. I am here because the odds are poor enough, and the chaos is high enough, I think it can do more good than harm. I don't gamble. I take the best route available to me. The fact that I am here should indicate to you how limited those routes have become."

    Kyubey's unblinking stare turns to Gretchen. "Her potential may exist, but as far as combating Entropy it is lost. Lost to the continued functioning of the universe then." he says. "But now we all find ourselves sharing problems instead. I suspect you, also, would not survive the culmination of most of these problems." he says. "And as you well know, Walpurgisnacht is still approaching, as well."

    When Homura talks about Obsidian, about Riventon, Kyubey stares at her quietly for a little bit. He says nothing for a while. "In any case. It appears what is done is done, and holding a grudge is an illogical action. With your original goal achieved I do not see that we are in contention anymore. You require the existence of Madoka Kaname to continue and I require the existence of humanity to continue, of which Madoka Kaname remains a member." While his tone doesn't change, nor does his body language, something there tells Homura and Gretchen that he is not as grudge-free as he is trying to appear. Perhaps they can feel a limited form of emotion. The opposite of smugness. He turns to Gretchen. "If you can choose to apply that potential power, I hope it can be applied to mitigate some of these threats. Your existence is a variable I am currently unable to add to my calculations."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen continues listening to and making faces at the conversation between Homura and Kyubey. Being what she is, the tiny fairy would love to talk up Madoka's power, but who is she going to brag to? Right now, Madoka doesn't even have a proper henshin, and when she does it likely won't be anything special. Not if she uses any Chara other than Gretchen herself.

    The X-chara smiles at the statement that Homura intends to make a world where Madoka Kaname can be happy, but only for a moment.

    As Amy touches the side of Gretchen's half-egg, nothing particularly bad happens. Something like this should be seething in darkness, yet it seems as if this X-Chara is exceptional for whatever reason. The tiny fairy leans forward to pet the top of Amy's hand, and enjoys the feeling of soft fur for a moment as Homura addresses her.

    "I have no intention of hiding my location from her. Just because I can't hang around her right now, that doesn't mean I want her to fret unnecessarily. Although..." Those tiny pink eyes look directly into Homura's purple, "... I would still continue to be careful what you share with my Chara Bearer, if I were you. There's no possibility of her Witching of course, but if she loses faith in her dreams then I may vanish completely. I wouldn't be an X-Chara if there wasn't already a danger of that happening."

    Her egg inches closer, and she reaches out to give Amy a teeny tiny hug. "That said, Chara are meant to be with their Bearers. I'm not that powerful without her. Typically X-Chara are like youma, welding darkness for power. Yet, without the influence of actual Witch magic, it's against my nature to wield despair as a weapon, and most forms of darkness would not answer me even if I called upon them."

    What she doesn't say out loud is that Madoka Kaname's Witch would try to wipe out all despair from the world. She's not sure if Homura would catch that detail, but saying too much in front of Kyubey is a risk.

    She nuzzles against the soft kitty fluff for a moment before withdrawing back to her egg with a smile. Putting her mask back on, she adds, "That said I'm not completely useless. I can provide some support, but I'm not so strong that I would want to hunt Witches on my own. If you want access to my power, you'll have to help Madoka grow as a person. It's not merely a matter of resilience. She already has that. It's more... a matter of maturity."

    Considering Kyubey's words, as well as his tone, she's pretty sure that she's picking up on the first bit of emotion that he's ever displayed. Certain types of humans who lack feelings tend to still feel things such as frustration or excitement. "My only goal is Madoka's personal growth and the achievement of her dreams. Naturally, that means survival. Considering her nature, it also means addressing these threats. It's not something that I can simply do without a Bearer, however."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "Relying on Madoka Kaname's wish was never an option for you. You just didn't know it yet," Homura replies in a cold rather than smug tone. "Things would have been easier if you were capable of listening to me on that point. Now that the point is moot, you're right. We're better off cooperating than fighting each other." After considering for a moment Homura shifts Amy in her arms and produces a pair of spent Grief Seeds from her pocket, tossing them in a clean arc towards Kyubey. "After all, I'm a Puella Magi even if Madoka isn't. I'm as reliant upon and beholden to your system as much as any other."

    More half-truths, but giving Kyubey the impression she considers herself forced to be a part of what he's doing might slow any thoughts he might have of considering her more of a threat than an asset.

    "I intend to," Homura replies to the X-Chara about being careful about oversharing information with Madoka. Amy meanwhile nuzzles Gretchen with her cheek when she's given a hug.

    Help Madoka mature as a person? Homura frowns, just slightly, "It's true that she can be naive, but I've learned that more often than not hoping for a brighter future ends up working in the long run, if you have the willpower to struggle through the difficulties that entails. Being naive is a fast way for a Puella Magi to get killed, true, but she's not a Puella Magi. I think I see your point, though. It's one thing to know someone has the ability to persevere despite adversity, but it's a different thing for them to actually do it and inform their decisions based on it."

    Someone older than Homura might comment on the continual cycle of children making the same mistakes as their parents despite being warned, right up until they experience the results for themselves.

    "Naturally you can count on me to look out for Madoka. Unfortunately it isn't simply a matter of hunting down and destroying every Witch." She'd know; that's something she'd actually tried before. "If you have the ability to track Witches more easily than I can, that might be mutually beneficial." Homura is actually pretty sure there's more to Gretchen's goals and a lot more to her potential powers, even without Madoka around, than she's letting on. She's also pretty sure it's because Kyubey is literally right there.

    So far there's been a lot of talk of working together, but little action on it, so Homura decides to actually initiate herself before Kyubey gets the idea he's just wasting time and energy being here, "Tell me, then. What's the greatest threat, or first threat you see that we should work against together?" She looks at Kyubey so it's clear who she's asking. "Walprugisnacht is a grave threat but even if her approach looms closer I haven't seen any of the usual portents of her arrival. The weather in the Pacific is clear for the moment, and there haven't been any recent mentions of devastating freak tornadoes on the West Coast of North America either."

Kyubey (6) has posed:
    Kyubey considers it all. First, though, he catches all of the grief seeds in the strange container within his back. Then he sits again. It's a long pause, an awkward pause in fact, before he speaks. It does give Gretchen more time to snuggle against Amy, though. After a little bit he does speak. "You call it my system. As though I had a hand in creating it." Kyubey replies. "No moreso than Entropy itself. I use the tools available to me." he explains without explaining.

    "The greatest threat... or at least the most dangerous as a mix of imminency and threat - is the project that is known to its creators as Midnight Tokyo, which I believe you were already appraised of. You had a lot of threats on screen but some of what you had there seemed to pertain to it?" he said. "It grows manifestly closer. It's more of a threat to Tokyo than humanity - though that could change - but with the way magic is drawn to Tokyo from across the Earth, the project's success could draw magic from the world called the Dusk Zone to here too - mass migrations of Dusk Zone entities are not an ideal situation for the existence of life." he notes. "Walpurgisnacht seems to be farther away than my calculations would have expected by now. Not out of the bounds of possibility but a low probability one."

    "I did not expect much in the way of proximate assistance from the witch-Chara, admittedly. But if you know more than you should it would be beneficial to all of us if you did not share it." he says, his red eyes fixed on Gretchen for a bit. He starts to get up. "There are limits to what I can do, as well. As evidence of our partnership, I will tell you something that you do not strictly need to know, Homura Akemi. And... Gretchen. There are limits to what I am allowed to do, information I can share, help I can provide. In order for me to grant wishes and make Contracts, I too must abide by certain rules that I did not choose. Otherwise, I could give you more aid in the goals we seek to mutually accomplish. But like any rules, there are loopholes and ways around some of them." he says.

    "That's why I could inform you about Riventon's possession of a Grief Seed, for example." he adds. "If Midnight Tokyo can be derailed, other things can follow." he states. "But as for now - I have to return to my patrols. Somewhere in Tokyo tonight, a girl yearns for something badly enough to become another Puella, and that has to be my primary focus, now." A little bit more biterness there, maybe? Perhaps he was looking to put that behind him. He steps back behind a couch - without waiting for much in the way of further responses beyond quick ones - and is gone again. On the positive end that leaves Homura and Gretchen free to talk, if they choose to.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Hm. No, I actually think I'm not making myself clear," says Gretchen to Homura, shaking her head. "You still consider Madoka the way you would other mortal girls her age. Her level of maturity is fine by that standard, maybe even above average. I'd even say her empathy and bravery are why she'd make a good magical girl. However... for a goddess? It's not enough. The stronger you are, the more responsibility you bear, and there aren't too many on this planet who understand the realities of divinity. Even among those who do, not all kami are the same."

    Gretchen has to consider how exactly to phrase this. She is dealing with things that humans might not even have words for. It's like trying to explain the vastness of space in a meaningful way. Go too far out of scope and the human mind just blanks out. "She believes that humility is a luxury that she can afford. She is wrong. She clings to this because she wants to be a good person, and while I can't fault her for that I also know she'll discard such naive ideas of goodness in a second. You can't trust in something like that."

    Gretchen is showing the difference between a Chara and their Bearer. It's hard to imagine Madoka saying something so direct, or even thinking about it in such bitter terms. "Madoka will eventually have to choose between doing what she thinks is 'nice' and doing what she thinks is 'right'. I'm fairly confident that I know how that will go. It's just a matter of how much it will hurt her when she does. She needs to be prepared for the moment when she needs to do something incomprehensible, and that means she's being held to a higher standard than most."

    She starts munching on another chocolate chip as big as her tiny hands as Kyubey and Homura talk about threats. Walpurgisnacht causes her to peek over at the screen with interest. Not shock. Interest. She munches while considering this information with a familiar tiling of the head.

    She watches Kyubey leave, and waits until she's sure he's gone before turning her full attention to Homura.

    She takes off her mask again, and her smile is... knowing, and with a mischievous spark to it.

    "What I said to Kyubey wasn't strictly false, but it wasn't the full truth. It most certainly wasn't the most interesting part."

    Gretchen's egg floats around Homura, turning slowly so that the X-Chara stays facing the Puella.

    "I remember what Madoka remembers. Including the things she's forgotten. I remember as far back as the time you two first met."

    She takes a big bite of chocolate chip, chews, then swallows, before adding, "The very first time."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "Midnight Tokyo. At least I was focused on the right problem for now." The fact that Walpurgisnacht seems far off is at least helpful. A direct comment like that isn't going to be a lie from Kyubey either. When he mentions abiding by rules he didn't choose she looks slightly amused and flips her hair, "That's right, you are, aren't you? And one of those rules is that you must grant a proper Wish a candidate's potential allows even if you'd stop it if you could. I'm surprised that didn't factor more into your 'calculations'." It's not a very helpful set of comments given she's apparently trying to work with Kyubey more again.

    "Fine, though. You can't use your ability to appear anywhere you wish and simply tell us all the information we need to solve the issue, I understand." She doesn't say anything further when he turns to leave. It's not like she actually likes that he's going to go rip the soul out of some poor girl who likely doesn't have enough information to wish for something worthy of the price.

    As for Gretchen? It strikes Homura that there really is something to the idea that Guardian Characters are aspects of their Chara Bearers with stronger personalities. After all, who other than Madoka Kaname could hold Madoka Kaname up to such ridiculous, impossible standards? She almost says exactly as much to the tiny person(?), but decides doing so when they've only just met might sour their new relationship more than would be wise.

    Instead she turns it into a joke, "A goddess? Are you sure you're her Guardian Character and not mine? I wasn't aware anyone else considered her to be that far above the normal mass of humanity and magical girls."

    Hopefully a joke that's as self deprecating as it is pointed at Gretchen will go over better than other potential sarcastic thoughts.

    "Madoka Kaname will choose what's 'right' every single time, no matter the personal cost. She'll do it before she's even had time to think about it and what those consequences might be. Her instinct towards self-sacrifice is part of what makes it so incredibly difficult to keep her alive." Somehow she manages to keep any bitterness out of her own tone; probably because Madoka is already safe from the kind of instant decision that could doom her soul. "Unless you're talking about maturing to a more nuanced approach, I don't think you have anything to worry about there."

    When Gretchen reveals more Homura's eyes widen a little in surprise, then return to normal. There are a few ways what Gretchen is saying could be taken, so to confirm it she asks. "So you remember me before I took off my glasses?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Is Gretchen holding Madoka up to a too high standard? Well, maybe. There's a difference between 'ridiculously high' and 'too high', however. The original wish that spawned Gretchen was a desire to be her best, and Madoka's best is... really high up there. Being corrupted and distorted into an X-Chara can only change so much of that.

    "She has more supporters than you might realize," explains Gretchen, matter of factly, "Though... you remain uncontested at the top of that pile. If I didn't know how you felt, I honestly wouldn't be here right now."

    Gretchen listens to Homura defend Madoka's nature, and in their own way they are both preaching to the choir. She remembers full well leaving Mami's corpse behind to go face Walpurgisnacht alone, and she remembers all the other sacrifices that Madoka has made with no hesitation.

    "All of that is true of course, but... part of what I was trying to say had to be... filtered because of Kyubey. You keep your secrets for a reason, and I wanted to respect that. Especially since... yes... I do remember your glasses. In fact, on some subconscious level, I suspect there's some part of Madoka that also recalls. When I hatched, another one of Madoka's X-Chara was hatched along with me, and that other Chara had braids."

    With a smirk, Gretchen gives Homura a sideways glance. "I wonder if that means she admires you on some level? I suspect that X-Chara got purified. That might be the egg you saw the other day."

    Then her smile fades, and she sinks slightly back into her egg. "The real reason I look like this is because of her ties to past timelines. Madoka can handle more than she's often given credit for, but the experience of being a Witch is beyond horrible. I don't know if she can fully understand me without those memories, which means that one day she'll have to remember the horrors she's gone through."

    Gretchen gives Homura another sideways glance. "I wonder how that will affect your relationship with her."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "I wouldn't be suggesting people turn to her for support if I didn't realize she had supporters. Everyone she helps will remember her and look after her in turn. How could I do anything other than recognize that fact?" That's Homura's own 'origin story', after all. "If Madoka puts her mind to it she could end up leading groups of girls Mami Tomoe could only dream of. In a world with so many magical girls that all have their own issues and problems to deal with, just how big of a following could a girl that wants nothing more than to help everyone around her gain? You say she has the potential to become a Goddess? Amassing the hopes and dreams of so many girls could be one path to the kind of power you speak of."

    She almost laughs bitterly, looking towards the couch Kyubey slipped away behind. "It's ironic. With the power to actually grant wishes, if Kyubey was actually capable of empathy he might realize that's the better solution to his problem. Maybe he hasn't seen the power of magical girls becoming far greater than the sum of it's parts when combined enough times before to realize it, though." Not that Homura has seen it get that far herself; if she had she would likely still be in that timeline.

    "So you realize what my mission really is then and why even now it isn't over." She steps over towards the central table and taps a button. The wallscreen changes again, now actually showing images from a dozen or so apocalypses, all coming to the fruition of their creators. One of them is Kriemhild Gretchen and a giant wall of silence coming to wipe out All Things... but only one of them. One crisis averted, how many others to go? All of them different, the tiny butterfly wing flaps of one action or another changing timelines so as to be almost entirely distinct, with a frighteningly small amount of overlap.

    "All of these we have to prevent, and more. You've seen me find every powerful Magical Girl I know and storm Obsidian Tower. You've seen me face down and help destroy the darkness hiding behind the Dark Kingdom that has all the 'ite's in quiet terror of it's awakening despite not realizing its true nature, only to lose to an even greater threat later on. I wonder what Kyubey would have said if I told him Walpurgisnacht was the least of my many worries, now that I know the key to success is building a network of allies I can rely upon."

    Despite this diatribe she grows somber as Gretchen does. "A Witch. That's a terror I haven't yet faced. I've even died and been revived by Kyubey's contract and Madoka's potential but in all my time I don't know what it's like. To have your soul transmuted into something terrible." She looks up suddenly, and looks towards Gretchen. Her eyes narrow but it's with sudden realization and intensity of thought rather than suspicion directed at the X-Chara, "But you... you know what that's like, don't you? You have that memory. And yet... you're sane. Stable. I don't know about the nature of Guardian Characters... but this suggests it's possible for a mind to withstand falling into true despair, return and go on despite it. Could that be true..?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Amassing hopes and dreams? Gretchen considers it for a moment, pursing her tiny lips. "There are many forms that a divine Madoka could take. That might be one of them. The fact that she doesn't have a clear image like that in her mind is one of the things blocking me from going back to her. Even if I got purified, it wouldn't matter if the underlying problems within her weren't addressed. Honestly, with things as they are, if I didn't contain so much of her power I likely never would have been born. Not until she figured out what it was that she wanted, at any rate."

    She has a soft, sad smile before she adds, "I'm glad that you've decided to rely on others more. I know you don't get to hear this very much, but you've really come a long way... but yes. I know who you really are, and what you really want. That's why I came to you. I know you care about Madoka, and our goals are... compatible. We both, in our own way, want her to be happy."

    Gretchen looks over to the screen as many different apocalypses show up. Again, there's no shock. Just a bit of sadness, and a careful study of whatever notes Homura has made. "There's been so much. I remember these things, the assault, Metallia... They don't even shock me anymore. Though... there's still one major difference between you and me. To you I imagine that this is one string of continuity. For me, this is a collection of disjointed, mutually exclusive memories. Paradoxical in nature and often impossible to understand. It will take time to sort that out."

    Gretchen rises up out of her egg, revealing her long black ribbony dress. As it spreads out, it takes a very similar shape to Madoka's Witch. "I don't know if running around with a creepy horror movie mask really qualifies me as 'sane'. Let's go with... nonviolent, for now. It's true that I'm not a slave to that despair, but it should be noted: becoming a Witch involves more than just being depressed. Kyubey's Contract magic changes you on a fundamental level. If you hear your friends call out to you, it doesn't really affect you, and that's assuming you even hear them at all. I'm not sure that a Witch's magic, or the emotions that guide them, are really in her control anymore."

    Gretchen considers that quietly for a moment, scratching her chin while hovering in the air. After a silent moment, she decides to move on to something else. Clasping her hands behind her back, she turns to Homura. "Anyways... I actually came here to make a request of you. I don't... really have a place to stay right now. In theory I should be staying with Madoka, but I can't really stand her negative self-talk right now. Even if she keeps quiet, her thoughts will bother me. I can help you in Witch hunts and facing other youma. I can communicate with you telepathically, and let you see magic in ways that you might not otherwise be able to. I can read Witch runes, but... that's a bit less useful most of the time. I also can summon tiny familiars, but... well, all of that is just a miniature version of what Madoka could do with my power. I think between the two of us, your attack power is greater."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "I didn't have a choice," Homura responds with a small shake of her head, closing her eyes. "You might not have seen all the ways I've attempted to destroy Walpurgisnacht alone. That Witch is unreasonably powerful. Even when throwing skyscrapers around it's not her attack power that stops me, it's her ability to shrug off anything I throw at her without seeming to take any damage at all." She shakes her head, "This way is better even if I could, though. There's always a bigger enemy. I thought my long battle was over the first time I saw Walpurgisnacht fall. It turns out that was only the first and most obvious of my hurdles."

    She frowns a little at the note of disjointed memories, "I see. That would be difficult. I could try to help you sort it out, if you wanted. My own memory can be hazy, but I have kept notes." After saying the word 'notes' she makes a gesture with her hand towards the wall screen, and a large number of pieces of paper appear on the screen, followed by typed out reports. "I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a jumbled mess for me as well. It might be good for you and Madoka both if we can find a way to manage or mitigate the confusion. If you did lend her your power in a moment of need it would be bad timing if she suddenly regained those memories herself and was stunned into inaction by it all"

    "Despair is more than depression. I've felt its pull, its cold hand dragging dragging me into the inescapable pit of weariness and self loathing. There have been times where I've only been able shake it off by focusing on duty and purpose. I can't imagine what it would feel like to have those feelings subsume me to the core, to the soul." She does her best not to think of it even as she speaks the words. Guarding against those kinds of thoughts are an important part of staying stable.

    "Oh? A request?" She listens patiently and then nods. "I might normally have some reservations, but Amy seems to have taken a liking to you. If you're a part of Madoka, I can't see how I could refuse you. If you can help in other ways I'd appreciate it. It isn't entirely necessary, but I wouldn't turn it down."