Puella Magi Makayla Magica

Interlude: Puer Magica

A blonde-haired boy wearing a large, dark blue overcoat with golden stars embroiled in gold on the coat, connected by gold lines. Underneath the coat is a black body suit. He is also wearing grey pants and black dress shoes. His belt buckle has a blue gemstone in the shape of an eight-pointed star and encased in gold. Standing before him is a towering humanoid figure that emanates fire. It looks like its body is charred. Despite this, it stands calmly before the magical boy as if telling him to turn back. The magical boy only smirks at such a warning and summons a gold short sword in his right hand. As he steps forward, a rainstorm of fireballs falls on top of his head. He uses his sword and slices each fireball before they reach him, only for the magical boy to suddenly be swiped back, sending him sliding across the hot coals that make up the ground.

As the magical boy recovers himself, he sees the witch charging at him on its hands and feet. The magical boy is a little freaked out but stands his ground anyway, his left foot in front of the other, holding his short sword above his shoulder, waiting for a stab. As the witch gets closer, the magical boy stabs the witch in the head, but it dodges. It doesn't realise until the magical boy's blade slices into its head that it was only a feint. The witches' screams sound like the howling winds of a bushfire as it stands up straight, clutching its head. The magical boy uses this opportunity to close the distance and starts climbing onto the witch, using a golden sword in each hand to climb its body. He finally reaches the neck and, in one swing, cuts its head off. The witch falls to the ground, and the world begins to disintegrate back into reality. The magical boy wipes the sweat off his brow before picking up the grief seed.

"Josh?" A voice asks. The magical boy turns around. Standing atop a small wall behind him, he sees a face he hasn't seen in weeks.

"Emily? Where have you been?" Josh asks.

"What are you doing?" Emily ignores Josh's question. Josh looks down at his outfit and looks up at Emily.

"I only wanted to try to help."

"But... how? How is this possible?" Josh shrugs.

"Kyubey told me magical boys are rare, but-"

"Rare? Magical boys are practically non-existent!" Emily interrupts. Josh's jaw opens and closes, trying to find some words, any words, but none come. Emily sighs and pulls out her phone. Josh watches as she taps away before bringing the phone up to her hair.

"Uh... Hi, C-Charlotte, i-it's me. Uh... ok, I'm sorry. Ah, I'm sorry. Well, I have a friend... they're in an unusual... situation. Yes, I would like to bring them to Magius, but... I don't know how Magius will react. Umm... it's a..." Emily begins to mumble into the phone. "Ok, t-thank you." Emily hangs the call-up and puts her phone back into her pocket before turning to Josh.

"Who was that?" Josh asks.

"Don't worry, you'll meet her later." Emily jumps off the wall and grabs Josh's hand as she guides him. "This way, follow me." Charlotte leads Josh through the busy streets of Sydney until they come to a very quiet, deserted street filled with dilapidated buildings. There's one that stands out with a small black banner hanging on one side of the door. Josh can't really see the symbol, but it looks to him like a gold trophy cup, but the handles are wings. The two walk inside the building only for Josh to be overwhelmed by the sight of hundreds, no thousands of books. Before Josh can ask any questions, a girl a couple of years older than him with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a white, feathery cloak approaches him.

"Hello, my name is Charlotte." She says with a warm smile. She sticks her hand out to Josh.

"Josh." He nods before grasping Charlotte's hand and giving it a slight shake.

"I've never seen a magical boy before. I didn't think one was possible." Charlotte says.

"It's because Kyubey didn't tell us everything." Another girl walks up to the trio. Her hair is short and pink, and she's wearing a grey cloak. "Welcome, Josh. My name is Ava. A grey feather of the Wings of the Magius." She smiles at Josh before reaching her hand out. Once again, Josh grasps her hand and gives it a slight shake. Josh opens his mouth to speak, but Ava puts a finger up in front of his face. "I know you have questions. We have questions as well, but that's not for you to be concerned about. We will answer your questions if you come with me." Ava gestures for Josh to follow her.