Puella Magi Yūko Magica

A Drastic Change

魔法少女ゆっこ❤マギカ

As for my wish...it shall destroy this world as we know it.

With every time jump, there were always the same expectations. For one, the smell of disinfectant always lingered in the air. Each tine Hōmura would wake up staring at the powder blue ceiling of the hospital, and a sense of dread would overwhelm her, along with that distasteful odor. Hōmura frowned and sat up slowly, assessing her options. There was nothing she could do other than try not to fail this time. She hadn't even triggered her powers in this loop, so it really didn't make any sense.

8,103. Hōmura herself didn't know it, but that was how many times she'd repeated her meeting with Madoka. 243,090 days, all for nothing. Her Soul Gem should have hatched into a Witch by now! But no, she wouldn't let Kyūbey taunt her anymore.

Her hands automatically went to her side, where the Soul Gem always sat when she travelled back.

...Nothing.

'What the-,' Her head snapped around in a panic. It always was there! How could it have disappeared? It had literally been a part of her for so long that she felt helpless without the accursed thing.

Now how was she to fix her eyes this time around? More importantly: How far could it have gotten? In one timeline this had happened to Hōmura only once. Before she became contracted, Sayaka had stolen the Soul Gem away in a fit of jealousy, only to realize the truth about them, and go into a meltdown. The only reason Hōmura returned to her body was because of Madoka's kind efforts, and even then, it was a miracle.

Gritting her teeth, the girl snatched her spectacles from the nightstand near her bedside. Hōmura jumped out of bed, her braids swaying, and stalked to the bathroom as usual. For a few moments she stared at herself in the mirror, inspecting what she saw.

No wonder she never wore these stupid glasses anymore. All she could see was the image of moe weakness that had failed to protect Madoka for so long. Her fist smashed against the reflection, spraying shards of glass everywhere. Hōmura slumped forwards and chocked out a quiet sob, leaning against the sink. A few drops of blood dripped to the floor, but Hōmura couldn't even feel the pain from her hand right now. She gripped the porcelain and simply waited until she felt calm enough to stand upright.

This wasn't the answer; hurting herself wouldn't help.

"What are you doing, Akemi-san?"

This wasn't expected either. Who was that? She turned around to see a very stern old woman holding a clipboard. When Hōmura didn't answer, the woman, Nurse Austero, frowned severely and came to examine the girl.

For the first time in a long while, Hōmura didn't know what to do. She froze. A veteran like her, and she froze.

"Destroying property, hurting yourself," said the nurse, shaking her head and picking up the girl's hand. "Next time I might tell the doctor, Miss Akemi." Out of the back pocket of her scrubs, she extracted a long, thin black rod. "I'll let you off with a warning this time."

She placed the tip of the rod over Hōmura's hand and muttered something unintelligible. A few golden sparks bathed the injury in light and her hand immediately came back to normal. Hōmura's eyes widened in surprise.

'This is-!'

"It's the least I could do for a fellow Magistra Magi, now isn't it?" said the nurse, giving the girl a wink and pocketing the item.

It was the day she was being discharged after all...

Later that week...

Curiosity after Curiosity. The same uniform, the same school, but everything was just so different. Her knapsack was filled with a set of totally different materials than the previous loops.

There were textbooks, yes, but in addition to math, science, and literature, there were odd titles such as: Alchemy and Arithrimancy, A Beginner's Guide to Potions, and even Goethe's Faust.

Very odd saying the least.

She was going to the same school, she had to remember that, and there, she hoped to see Madoka. Since her discharge, she made it a point to study her new "materials" and figure out what exactly happened when Madoka made that wish. She had a feeling that it changed quite a few fundamental laws of nature, but other than that, it all was baffling. Hopefully on her first day of school, all that would change, and she could catch up on any other points she was missing out on.

Faust reborn, I shall defy this Fate.