Memories of a Broken Timeline

Discovery

As Doctor Strange's astral form soared across the world, Homura was walking to school, lost in thought. She didn't know what to think. Doctor Strange was an anomaly, someone who has never happened before. What did he really want? Few truly just want to help with no ulterior motives; Madoka stood out as the only one in all her travels. How could she work with such a lack of information? What if she messed up this opportunity and the chance never came again? If he was her only chance and she blew it... Homura shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She just had to push through.

Madoka and Sayaka rushed past, pursuing a crying Hitomi. Her eyes widened in horror as she caught a glimpse of a very familiar pink and white tail wrapped around Madoka's neck. Kyubey. The Incubator was here. It was too late to prevent Madoka from finding out. All that was left was the slight chance she could stave off Madoka's contract until after Walpurgisnacht had come and gone. She turned her eyes up towards a tower nearby.

Mami Tomoe sat on the top of a building, legs kicking over the edge as she watched from above. Homura had long ago figured out how to shut herself off from Kyubey's telepathy, yet she could still imagine what they were talking about. Madoka and Sayaka were likely marveling over the whole thing while Mami reassured them that no one could see Kyubey and that she could handle Homura. She almost snorted. She'd fought both against and alongside Mami enough that she knew everything about the girl's fighting style. She threw her hair over her shoulder and turned away.

When she finally slid into her seat in the classroom, Saotome-sensei was already gearing up another rant about how much she loved her boyfriend, or perhaps it was time for the men are worthless tirade; Homura honestly didn't care. She'd heard it all before, and she'd barely bothered the first time around. She turned around to see Sayaka glaring at her. By now, Kyubey was likewise watching her, perched on the edge of Madoka's desk, beady red eyes meeting hers. Its deceptive smile remained as unwavering as ever. Saotome-sensei sighed deeply and picked up her chalk.

"Alright, class. It's time to begin." Homura closed her eyes. She just had to pretend to pay attention, maintain the illusion that she hadn't heard this all thousands of times before. She had to convince them she was actually a transfer student who'd lost a lot of time in school and was struggling to keep up. She pulled out a piece of paper, prepared to take notes. At that point, she could copy them easily from memory. She stared blankly at the board as her hand flew over her paper and her mind wandered.

"Akemi-san!" a voice shouted. She blinked and looked behind up. Behind her was her classmate Keiko, a tall girl whose brown curls brushed the edge of her back. Homura had vague memories of a timeline where she'd been a magical girl, but it had only happened once in all her travels and was unlikely to happen again. "Akemi-san, do you want to get tea after school today?" She shook her head.

"I have errands to do today. I'm sorry," she said instinctively, as she rose to her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder. Keiko sighed, bowed, and turned away. Homura turned and walked out of the classroom and through the halls, watching the other children laugh, talk, and eat. Her feet habitually carried her up the stairs, to the roof of the school. She stood at the top of the stairway.

She closed her eyes and listened. Madoka and Sayaka were talking about their wishes would be. Sayaka was clearly frustrated by the fact she got a wish when there were far more deserving people, people who needed it more. Homura sighed softly; things usually ended badly for Sayaka, but really, at heart, she was a good kid. Most of the time, her wish was, in fact, to help someone else: usually the boy Kyousuke, who would never love her. Several times, it was Hitomi, who, in a few unusual timelines, had almost been killed by a witch.

Madoka was bemoaning that she didn't know that her wish could be. Her wish was variable, she'd wished for a variety of things, seemingly with no rhyme or reason; sometimes she also wanted to heal someone, other times she wished for power, either for her own benefit, or to be able to protect someone. This was a good sign, they hadn't made their wishes yet. She emerged onto the roof, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Homura caught a glimpse of something yellow across the street. Mami Tomoe was watching them, gun calmly trained on Homura's head. She nodded to her and shifted to face Madoka and Sayaka. Kyubey sat on a bench, tail trailing over the edge. Sayaka glared at her.

"What do you want?" she spat. Homura stepped forward slowly.

"Don't do this. Whatever you do, do not fall for its false promises. Do not make a contract with that monster."

"He's not a monster!" Madoka protested. Homura blinked. The Incubator had conned her into believing that it was worthy of being treated as sentient, as anything more than a destructive machine, turning dreams into disaster. She spun to leave. "Wait." Homura turned back to face her. "What did you wish for?" She just closed her eyes and walked away.

She could hear the girls talking behind her. As she descended, a strange apparition took form before her. She instinctively reached for her soul gem, prepared to defend herself. Only after a few tense moments did she realize that she was looking at Doctor Strange, albeit some translucent, probably intangible version of him. She lowered her hand tentatively.

"Miss Akemi," he said, "I've done some research. It appears there is no way to break a contract once made." Homura's face fell.

"She's already met Kyubey. We have to prevent her from making a contract."

"When? How do you know?"

"It's here. It's up there." She pointed to the roof. A look of realization flashed across his face.

"I knew I felt something off about this school," he sighed as he disappeared. Moments later, he returned. "Well, it's definitely there. I saw it. Problem is, I think it can sense

me as well." She tensed. He'd just revealed himself to the enemy. Even if she knew everything Kyubey could do, she'd prefer he didn't know what she had at her disposal. The bell rang downstairs.

"I have to go," she said. He disappeared and she climbed down the stairs, Sayaka and Madoka coming after her. She sat down and returned to pretending to take notes. Her hand moved independent of her mind. Her consciousness wandered into her soul gem and her body entered complete autopilot, moving without her attention. Her mind floated in the void of her soul, surrounded by fragmented memories in the glowing purple fog. Images floated around her: Madoka throwing her arms around her, Sayaka standing over Hitomi's dying body speaking to the incubator leering across from her, Walpurgisnacht looming over Mami under a gray sky, Kyoko disappearing into Sayaka's labyrinth. She resumed control of her body as the bell rang out. Time flowed strangely inside her soul gem. She rose to her feet and turned to leave.