TAGGED BY @historiavn (Thank you so much for my first tagged game, Callie! <3)
TAGGING @dichotomouskey ; @nosenipped ; @seaprofound ; @dangaer ; @islesheir ; @mayoinomori ; @starrycrown ; @boombambaby ; @wornlilac ; @inblazes ; @pcterpan ; @pomniegranate ; @beelieves ; @grewlove ; @heartbinders ; @keepmovinjunior ; @littlebadger ; @luposcainus ; @riiese ; @valorxdrive ; @verreprincesse ; @bornofthedawn ; @sirenea ; @naivds ; @deathdanse ; @wintersovereign ; @umbravorago and anyone else who sees this on their dash. Say that I tagged you since I want to see your results!
In the beginning, the newly created earth is without form and completely empty. Darkness blankets the surface of the planet until light is summoned into existence, instantly pronounced as good. The light, now called day, is separated from the darkness, which is now called night. The dance of day and night continues to be an endless cycle as the sun and the moon continue to fight for the right to rule the sky.
In the beginning, Homura Akemi woke up from her now shattered dream. The world around her is dark and cold and devoid of life. She lies neatly upon a cool marble surface, mimicking a corpse in her final resting place. Dull, slightly wilted flowers surround her motionless body. The Isolation Field, the place where the Incubators created just for her body, is now destroyed.
The countless red eyes that once closely examined their isolated experiment are gone, but it matters not to the experiment. They never, not even once, shown any sign of remorse, or any other emotion, for anything they have done in the past. She awakens, though she still looks more like the deceased body than some dreaming shell of a person. No longer trapped within the depths of her dreamy labyrinth, she opens the eyes she was never meant to open again. First, there is darkness and emptiness until a dazzling light chooses to rain down upon her.
A goddess draped in white reaches out to her with a piercing gentleness, but Homura is finished with waiting— No, she will not be taken away with the Law of Cycles to go to somewhere beyond the earthly soil— Homura gripped her destiny with a calm viciousness until she found herself ripping the radiant goddess apart. Everyone can scream for her to stop, but she is finished with backing down. She will tear divinity apart until she finds what she wants. The Incubators were always getting in the way, weren't they? Always wanting to seal as many contracts as they can, claiming they only want preserve the universe from entropy.
No one can stop her now, can they? Oh, they can try. She welcomes the challenge simply because she knows there will always be an enemy in her way. Blood will always drip upon her soul, so why choose to dream of anything else? She might as well as embrace the broken reflection, not avoid it by draping a shroud over it for the rest of her life.
As she rewrote the universe, the ascended being began to experiment with her power. Trial and error is common, she knows from experience. Mistakes are bound to happen. No one, not her years of repeating the same time, can prepare her for what happens next. The new stage of her soul gem, all of this unfamiliar magic and sensations, begins to overwhelm her. One such mistake did happen when she got thrown back into the past, far deeper than she has ever gone before—
She landed back in Europe during the Hundred Years' War, in fact.
Homura always did have bad luck, but throwing herself that far into the past has to be her pièce de résistance—
This is where she meets Corbeau.
Though they were (supposedly) never meant to meet, Homura crosses paths with the sworn enemy of the heroic Jeanne d'Arc. Though she had yet to meet the French hero, none of that crossed her mind. All she truly cared moments before her discovery was catching that troublesome salamander, the same creature that clung to her soul. At the time, Homura did not know what to make of the creature. None of the soldiers understood why Corbeau chose to bring the suspicious stranger closer, but the seasoned fighter fed all of them a easy-sounding cover-up story.
Homura, in all honesty, wasn't sure if she could trust the masked stranger. She knew she refused to trust any of the men outside the tent, that's for sure. Corbeau, however, at least understood part of her perspective. They both, after all, traded their souls for a wish. Homura knew she couldn't trust all the people the Incubators found.
Fighting over grief seeds and territories were common, at least back in her original time. Desperate and all alone, she took a risky bet in assuming that Europe in the Late Middle Ages had to be a lot better than her home. The Late Middle Ages, she imagined, were full of witches and man-made wickedness. Lots of despair to go around when the bubonic plague existed.
She couldn't tell if Corbeau was her rescuer or a potential kidnapper, maybe even a weird blend of both, but...
Corbeau still offered her shelter and water and, more importantly, answers.
❝ It's quite pleasant to see you again, Corbeau. ❞ Homura's voice rings out, pleasant and perhaps a bit too calm. She wasn't sure where to place Corbeau exactly, but... She decided to choose a quiet library in the depths of a museum, hoping the soothing environment wouldn't be too much of a cultural shock. Homura's time in Europe was... not her best of times, so Homura wants to try to make Corbeau have a much more easier time. She chose to wear her uniform, the very same outfit that Corbeau met her in.
❝ I do apologize for not bringing your sisters with you, but— I wasn't sure if I could trust them, if I'm being honest. Fear not, they are safe. ❞ As someone without any siblings to call hers, Homura realizes her phrasing might be a problem. She tries to sound reassuring, though she doesn't know how effective she is until she tries.
She wanted to address the missing sisters as quick as possible, not wanting to potentially cause a potential fight to break out. It would be horribly awful for the poor books to get hurt.
❝ I'm sure you must be very confused, judging by your staring... ❞
Homura is risking a lot with her gamble with fate, but she is more than prepared to control the situation if a confused Corbeau decides to attack her to gain the upper hand. The self-proclaimed devil knows the chances of her gaining any allies is slim, so she has decided to enlist the help of witches. It's why she brought Corbeau to her time, after all. It's entirely selfish of her, she knows that, but what is the harm? Well, it isn't a complete selfish seed... Homura also brought her back because she did desire to repay Corbeau for her act of kindness.
❝ I have an important question for you, so please refrain from yelling at me for just a moment. We're in a library, after all. Now... Do you remember me? ❞
she doesn't know how long she's been wandering, lost & alone, but either way, barbara can feel the soot flaring up again. it burns, it burns, & it burns. eventually, she has to stop walking, curling up & convulsing under a tree as the soot flows from her lips like a waterfall. the more she coughs, the more it aches, but it just keeps on going. soon enough, she hears footsteps approaching from far away, & she looks up at the incoming stranger from where she's curled up under the tree.
" get away. get away from barbara ! " barbara croaks out, in a hoarse voice that lacks the intended bite. " don't come any closer ! " wisps of soot emanate from her form as she shudders, trying so hard to not scream in pain again. " please ..... "
( @deathdanse )
Some cities had an unsavory underbelly where peddlers made their living on the unusual. Peel away the bright lights and slink underneath the surface; there were always those willing to do business in more “niche” economies. Tokyo was no exception.
And marketplaces such as the demon markets always held a sway over Yasuhiro; whether it be novelties, a temptation for the taboo, he could always find something his wandering eyes would covet. It wasn’t just trinkets he could purchase, but if he so chose, there were services he could search for--and he could offer his own predictions as well.
Were there any governing bodies to presided over these markets? Perhaps. While these places were treated as a neutral ground with an unspoken truce to guide their transactions, Yasuhiro knew well enough that there were places he should stay away from.
Caution was the better part of valor when passing through the more dangerous areas. Were he to drop his guard, any piece of him could wind up on someone’s inventory.
The risk was high, but the rewards were all the sweeter when he could walk away with a blood-covered marble which could lead him to an exit. Always helpful for a quick escape.
Yasuhiro walked in a slow pace, keeping his eyes peeled for whatever would strike his fancy. He kept watch of himself, but also took note of others who made their way through the markets. Bustling and noisy all the time, that’s what it was was no matter where we went. As such, Yasuhiro felt it safe to relax somewhat, especially since this part of the demon market was familiar territory. This was the Shashi District, known for some of the more luxurious goods that the more “common” folk could afford.
What constituted “common”? He couldn’t tell when he could chew the fat with an oni artisan who sold polished skulls of her finer hunts, or barter with a fox who sold mysterious healing leaves.
Right now, one stall caught his eye. A jeweler by trade, if Yasuhiro could wager. He paused his walk to absorb the sight of necklaces, rings and other baubles. Charms, possibly? He could always use more of them to hide away. Poison rings were always nice, but next to them were a more bewitching product.
For all he knew, it was a Faberge egg attached to a long pin. An intricate sigil on two sides had been inscribed on it, and it stood up with no regard for physics.
Yasuhiro quickly called over the shopkeeper, some young willowy man wearing a monocle.
“Hey there,” he called, “I was lookin’ at this. What is it n’ how much macca?”
“Can you even afford such a thing, human? Is your purse bigger than your head?” It sneered, tilting its head in a curious fashion.
“I’m here, ain’t I? Don’t be so rude.” Yasuhiro answered, showing off a toothy grin,”You never know, I just might surprise you!”
Time magic has always been her specialty ever since she made her wish on that stormy day. She spun and spun with time, refusing to accept the fate that they were dealt. Other souls with time-based magic may have different rules, but her sand found within her shield restricts her from meddling too far into time. She can only go back a month with her shield. She will lose this shield once a new wish gives her something new in the form of a real weapon, but totally new magic. Eventually, the Isolation Field is created to allow her to become the first experimented witch.
She breaks free from the bittersweet dream, waking up in her. She should become one with the Law of Cycles to close the chapter of her long, long fight. But she had other plans when she decided to ruin everything because of her desire. Her poor soul is submerged until it becomes something brand new. The universe is at her fingertips to rewrite. With wild magic coursing through her wicked veins, she remembers overflowing with the burning urge to ruin the Incubator race for their attempt to control everything as if they were god—
Then a dizzying darkness claws at her until she is swallowed up. She awakes not in the hospital nor anywhere in Mitakihara City. No, she founds herself lying on a forest floor. Stars in the sky greet her, but the moon is not there to light her surroundings. She hears the trickling of a quiet stream nearby as only crickets chirp all around her. It doesn't take her long to realize that she is in a forest, but what confused her is how dark the forest is.
Homura slowly rises to her feet, but wobbles back to the ground with an intense nausea. At first, she thinks it might be due to whatever the Incubators have done to her in the Isolation Field. They stabbed her gem over and over until it should've shattered if they removed the thick nails, but they didn't remove their sharp tools. No, they only monitored the gruesome-looking soul. This motion-sickness that she feels isn't connected to their tampering. No, it matched the feeling she got whenever she woke up in the hospital room time after time—
Wait—
That's it. I... I must've traveled back in time. She thinks to herself, staring at the sky past all the trees as realization chills her body. She could never forget the feeling of going back in time, but what disturbed her is the surroundings. She knew her pattern like the back of her hand, but this is something she has never experienced before. Where am I?
Her new surroundings were no help at all, though she has wasted a couple of minutes looking around in growing panic. Nothing seemed to help since she couldn't see any source of civilization anywhere, especially in the dark. She looks up at the sky to study the stars, noting the endless shimmering stars. Light pollution washes away the majestic canvas of stars, did it not? Yet the sky is bejeweled with so many of them. She stares upward, panic making her question all that she knew—
Move. She had to move now. With no map to guide her, Homura searches for the ring form of her soul gem upon her left hand... But she finds nothing at all. More panic grips her until she finally notices an odd, rather warm sensation upon her ear. She touches her ear to reveal that she is wearing an earring on only one ear—
Further examination allows her to discover that her diamond-shaped gemstone is dangling from an odd earring of some sorts, though her ears are not pierced. She traces the pattern with her hand until she realizes that this new development is shaped like a small salamander with strange engravings upon its torso region. Stroking the body so much ends up bringing the object to life, much to her surprise. It falls from her ear, but still gracefully lands on the dirty ground. The moving salamander radiates a soft purple light. It looks up at her with its gemstone eyes, swaying its tail and her diamond gemstone ever so slowly.
I've never seen a moving soul gem look like this before... No, it can't be a soul gem at all. I don't know what to call it, but I guess this still all mine. Homura ponders while staring down at it, relieved that its glow is bright enough to act as a light source. Still fresh from her ascension, all the lost ravenette can do is hope to find another magical girl before her bad luck gets worse. Hearing her heart's desire, the salamander begins to confidently walk off.
❝ H-hey— Wait for me! ❞ Homura calls out to the sentient salamander in a huff, not expecting it to just leave her like that. Luckily for her weary body, the salamander is briskly walking without a care in the world. Like a lost traveler following a will-o'-the-wisp, the Devil begins to follow her the carefree thing. It doesn't look familiar to her except for the signature diamond gemstone hanging off of its long tail, but it feels right to follow it.
Either way, Homura is not prepared. Only having her school uniform to wear in this awful climate is not fun, but it could be worse. It’s a good thing she can rely on the magic she did know to make this journey easier. Her irresistible Dark Orb will lead its unsuspecting owner straight to Corbeau, perhaps some battling soldiers as well. Whether they are soldiers from England or France is anyone's guess.
There's a few words that come to mind when Corbeau looks at Homura. Including but not limited too; Amalgam, Abomination, Anomaly. Though she would never say these things out loud. Feels too obvious to state out loud, she's probably aware of what she looks like.
There's another thought as she looks at Homura: If she were to torture this girl, what part of her would cry for mercy first?
As curious as she is to that question, she won't needlessly torture someone unless required too, so Homura is safe-- for now, anyways.
"Why are you being so gentle with me?" Corbeau ( @deathdanse) to Madokami?
"... Because you hard a hard life too, y'know?"
The avatar of the Law of the Cycle smiled at Corbeau, extending her hand. "You, Saint Jeanne, and everyone else... suffered a lot in that era, even more than most magical girls. And I think..."
"... You deserve the same kindness as every other magical girl, if not even moreso, I think."
The girl almost certainly thought nothing of Chopper's attempt at heroics, though when the child threatened him, he gasped softly. "I don't know what you're getting at, but you need to run! That thing in the center of this weird maze is trying to kill us!" He warned sternly, rushing forward to attack the witch all on his own. He delivered a powerful punch that could shatter boulders to the monster, only to be knocked away by a tendril, smashing his back against a strange brick wall in the labyrinth. "Agh!" With that hit, Chopper's body transformed back to its original, toddler-sized form as it fell limp against the ground.
