Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Sayaka Miki's Time-Reversal Epic - A blue light calls forth the darkness.

Ribbons crawl across the floor. Mami had wrapped Kyouko's body in ribbons, winding them tight. Over her shoulders. Around her stomach. Down to her knees. Kyouko was burning in phantom flames. She couldn't even stand on her own. "Falling back. Secure the exit." Mami pulled the ribbon. Kyouko's body slid across the floor. Concrete dust swirled. Sayaka stood before them both. She spread her arms wide. Ten sabers. Floating in the air. The shadow closed in. From the walls. From the ceiling. From the cracks in the floor. Those black stains stretched out, forming countless tendrils. Their target—Kyouko, dragged by Mami. "Like hell I'll let you!" Sayaka launched every saber at once. Zan. Zan. Zan. Sharp blades pierced the shadow tendrils one after another—but they all passed straight through. The blades sank into the factory walls, struck steel beams, scattered sparks. Nothing more. Sayaka's back teeth ground together. No effect. She knew it. It had been like this the whole time. "Sayaka-san, it's useless! This way!" Mami's voice. Sayaka turned. Mami was dragging Kyouko with one hand while firing her musket in rapid succession with the other. Bullets passed through the shadow. Only the walls shattered. Sweat beaded on Mami's forehead. A thin voice escaped Kyouko's lips. "...I'm sorry, Father... I... I'm..." Inside the hallucination, Kyouko was still in the burning church. In reality, Kyouko lay wrapped in ribbons, her face a mess of tears. The small body of a fourteen-year-old girl. Despair was trying to devour her. The shadow swelled. As if responding to Kyouko's crying, it expanded until it covered half the abandoned factory. More tendrils. Ten. Twenty. All of them aimed at Kyouko. —No. Not all. Sayaka's left arm throbbed. She looked down. Her blue Soul Gem pulsed, clouded. Darker than before. Black like spilled ink swirled at the bottom of the jewel. One tendril turned toward Sayaka. (My... corruption?) Sayaka's breath caught. The shadow wasn't just targeting Kyouko. It was after magical girl despair—the corruption of Soul Gems themselves. The shadow had swelled when Kyouko collapsed in tears. The tendrils had turned toward Sayaka when she trembled with rage. The shadow fed on despair to maintain its form. Inside Sayaka's head, memories from her past life burst open. Underwater. Dark. Cold. The bottom of an empty sea. Losing herself. Everything human melting away. No one understood. Not Kyousuke. Not even Madoka. Everything felt meaningless—and she just... sank. That moment she almost became a witch. "...Hahh." Sayaka's breathing grew shallow. Her chest hurt. Her heart clenched tight, like it was being crushed. Stop it. Don't remember. That—never again— But. Sayaka clenched her teeth. She bit through the inside of her lip. The taste of blood spread through her mouth. "—Senpai!!" Mami turned. "Take care of Kyouko!!" Sayaka ran the moment she shouted. She stood alone, facing the shadow head-on. She heard Mami's scream-like voice. But she didn't stop. She raised her left hand. Her Soul Gem glowed blue. —Let it all out. The despair of her past life. The terror of almost becoming a witch. The loneliness of being understood by no one. The regret of never telling Kyousuke the truth. The pain of Madoka looking at her with doubt. All of it. Everything. It overflowed. Black haze poured from her Soul Gem. Dense despair, visible to the eye. Sayaka's fingertips, her arms, her shoulders—all stained by her own corruption. Cold. Like being plunged into ice water. Her body heat drained away. "...Ugh, aaaahh...!" A voice Sayaka didn't recognize came from her own mouth. It hurts. Agony. Alone. I want to disappear. No one—no one— (—No.) Sayaka lifted her head. The shadow turned toward her all at once. Every tendril that had been aimed at Kyouko now rushed toward Sayaka's Soul Gem. It came to feed. Came to devour her despair. The shadow enveloped Sayaka. Her vision went black. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see anything. She only felt the despair inside her being sucked into the shadow through her Gem. (Swallow it. Swallow it all.) Sayaka smiled in the darkness. (But—I—) She reached out her hand. Blue light gathered at her fingertips. (I still want to protect.) "UAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" For just an instant, her Soul Gem blazed blue. A clear will, within the despair. She swung her arm through. —Shunk. Impact. Her saber pierced the shadow's core. The darkness flinched. For the first time, its form wavered. Its outline blurred, distorted—and locked in place. The shadow trembled, as if in agony. For the first time, it had a "physical body." "—Senpai, now!!" Sayaka's scream. At the edge of the factory, Mami—who had been securing Kyouko—rose to her feet. In Mami's hands, ribbons wove together. Hundreds of strands of yellow light. Thousands. Layering—forming a massive cannon barrel. Three times Mami's height. Four times. More. A cannon so huge it reached the factory ceiling. Mami's amber eyes were wet with tears. "—Tiro Finale." She pulled the trigger. —DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!! Pale blue light painted the entire factory white. A roar. She heard nothing. Only light ruled the world. The shadow's core exploded. It couldn't escape. It had been locked in place. The darkness was torn apart. Reduced to dust. Scattered into mist. No death cry. It simply vanished. The shockwave blasted Sayaka backward. Her body slammed against the wall. Agony shot through her back. Her transformation broke. She fell to the floor in her school uniform. "—Sayaka-san!!" Mami rushed over, her face pale with alarm. Sayaka looked at her left hand. Her Soul Gem—was black. Just barely short of the limit. The entire jewel was clouded, as if ink had been poured through it. Only a tiny blue light remained at the center, still refusing to die. Mami pulled the last Grief Seed from her pouch. With trembling hands, she brought it close to Sayaka's Gem. The corruption was drawn out. Black haze flowed into the Grief Seed. Little by little. Bit by bit. Sayaka's Gem regained its blue color. But. In Mami's hand, the Grief Seed was already almost completely black. Maybe one more use. Right at its limit. Even at the bottom of Sayaka's purified Gem, a faint murkiness remained. "...Thank goodness." Mami collapsed to the floor. Tears dripped onto her uniform skirt. Sayaka leaned back against the wall, steadying her ragged breath. In the corner of the abandoned factory. The hallucination surrounding Kyouko slowly faded. The flames vanished. Her father's voice grew distant. Her sister's figure. Her mother's figure. All of it. Kyouko was utterly exhausted. She lay collapsed on the floor, unable to move. Her consciousness still hazy. Something supported her body. Warm. Yellow ribbons slipped under Kyouko's back and knees, gently cradling her. Golden hair entered her vision. Amber eyes softened with kindness. "...It's alright." Mami silently brushed aside Kyouko's disheveled crimson hair. Kyouko looked at that face. (...Warm.) Something burst deep inside her head. The burning church. That night. Her father's back as he tried to protect her. His body covering hers amid the hot wind and smoke. That same warmth was here now. Tears spilled from Kyouko's eyes. Not hatred. Not anger. A different emotion. One she hadn't felt in so, so long. Relief. At being protected. Kyouko made no sound. She just trembled in Mami's arms like a child, crying quietly. Mami said nothing. She just stroked Kyouko's hair one more time. Footsteps from the factory entrance. Madoka came running in. "Sayaka-chan!!" Her pink twin-tails were disheveled. She must have been waiting outside the whole time. Her face was pale. Madoka looked at Sayaka, battered and worn, and her face crumpled like she was about to cry. She opened her mouth to say something. Closed it. Opened it again—and in the end, said nothing. She just crouched down beside Sayaka. A small hand gripped Sayaka's. Sayaka gripped it back. She couldn't tell whose hand was trembling anymore. Madoka peered into Sayaka's face. Her pink eyes wavered. Like she wanted to ask something. But the words wouldn't come. Sayaka hid her left wrist with her right hand. She tucked the freshly purified Soul Gem under her sleeve. So Madoka wouldn't see the faint murkiness still lingering at its bottom. "...It's okay now." Sayaka forced a smile. Madoka remained silent. In that silence, the crack of doubt between them closed—just a little. But—Sayaka had added one more thing to the list of things she couldn't tell Madoka. That her Soul Gem had been on the verge of breaking. That the Grief Seed was almost completely spent. Sayaka gripped Madoka's hand back, and whispered only in her heart. (Sorry, Madoka.) The air in the abandoned factory felt just a little lighter than before. Light streamed through the broken windows in the ceiling. The battle was over. But. On Sayaka's wrist, the corruption the Grief Seed couldn't erase pulsed quietly. The shadow was gone. But the memories of despair that Sayaka had opened up from within herself would never return. They remained rooted deep, deep inside her Soul Gem.

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Episode 6

Name: Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Sayaka Miki's Time-Reversal Epic
Author: Novelia

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