Reaching Forward | Madoka Magica

Last Name

Labyrinths are strange. They're full of completely random, abnormal things. Also, nothing really seemed to be solid. Objects kind of swayed, giving me the illusion that this was a dream. I sure wish it was. 

I guess I was a little too immersed in my thoughts, because my vision was suddenly blocked by an insane looking figure. It was round, and completely blank....except for the mustache.

A scream tears through my throat and I jump back about ten feet, my heart pounding in my chest about fifty miles per hour. My scythe weapon felt heavy in my hands, and I stumble.

"What the freak was that!?" I yell, confused, though there was no one around to hear me. Shaking it off, I continue to walk down the path of confusion.

The air was becoming more dank, ominous, as I continue farther down the path. Like how it felt when I sensed the labyrinth. 

Suddenly, I feel the urge to stop. I'm afraid to look up, for fear of what I will encounter. But, I do it anyways. 

The sight I saw was absolutely indescribable. It was a tall, misshapen figure, with lots of insane and randomly placed colors and shapes. It didn't speak to me. And I didn't speak to it.

I was frozen. Is this what Kyubey called a witch? 

Suddenly, the witch lunges at me and I jump back. My scythe falls back slightly, and I clutch it tighter. The metal burning into my skin.

I can't kill it.... 

Even though this witch wasn't human, I just couldn't even think of hurting another creature. I've never harmed another living being in my entire life, and wasn't about to start now.

But she was coming closer...

With each attack she made, I felt that familiar jolt of instinct. I just had to somehow kill her, but I didn't want to. It would be horrible, knowing that you've hurt another being.

She lunged at me again, and somehow, I dodged it with instincts I didn't know I had. Kicking her face while back flipping, she recoils, but advances once more.

I groan, and feel a sharp pain shoot up my left leg as she hits me with her firey touch. How could something so seemingly soft, hurt so much?

I fall back, holding the lightly bleeding limb. It felt so...painful. Sometimes, just knowing that you're wounded, makes things much worse than they really are.

Without warning, a stream of jet black hair blocks my way. Metallic sounds emit from the figure's steel shielded weapons, which hit the witch and caused her to back away.

"Akemi....San?"

I couldn't believe it. It was Akemi. Akemi Horuma, from the hospital. What was she doing here? How could she have found me again? I thought that the strange visit in the hospital, would be the only time I ever would see her!

Deftly, she fights the witch almost effortlessly. Her hair flew behind her in a midnight stream, her facial expression unwavering. Hard-set. Determined.

But that didn't last long. The witch hits her in the face, and she flies backward, a small stream of blood making its way down her cheek. It almost looked like a tear....

Fury at the prospect that someone on my side for once, may get hurt, is what motivated my next attack. 

Raising the shimmering scythe in the air, I bring it across the witch's middle. She stumbles back, then, to my horror, falls completely apart. In a huge burst of white light, the witch is automatically obliterated.

I thought nothing would be left behind, after that insane gesture. But...there was a small, whimpering shape. Laying in the middle of it.

Unable to just stand and watch, I run over to the shape and discover that it was a little girl. Her two pigtails reminded me of Hotaru, my sister. Tears streamed from her large brown eyes, but she was smiling. 

A weak, tiny smile. But a smile all the same.

"A-are you alright?" I ask gingerly, setting an uncertain hand on her shoulder. She nods, a small, adorable nod.

"You saved me," she whispers. "You saved me from my own self. Thank you. I don't....I don't have to be a monster anymore."

She tries to sit up, but ends up falling. I grab her and gently pull her head into my lap. Her tears dot my armor, making soft sounds as they land.

Akemi has recovered from her hit, and was staring at us. Her eyes were glazed over, and she didn't seem to be in reality at the moment. I turn back to the girl.

"You're going to be alright," I soothe, or at least try to. Honestly, I didn't know what would happen. She looked so weak....

"I know," she chokes, more tears wetting her already damp cheeks. "I know I'll be alright. I....I'm not drowning anymore." She looks at me, and her smile grows slightly larger. "I'm flying."

And with that, her entire body goes limp. Her face goes pale, and eyes go dull. Her head feels heavier in my lap, and drops to the side. Her smile still planted on her tiny lips.

I feel a dull, aching sadness in my chest. Though I didn't know this girl, I just witnessed a death. A death of a child. Something told me that the witch, and the girl, were somehow connected. But how, I wasn't sure. And I honestly didn't care right now.

Akemi makes her way over to me, still cold and distance. Yet...something was different about her aura. She was...sentimental, at the moment. She actually seemed like she had a heart.

"There's no doubt about it," she states, staring into my eyes with her violet gaze. "I know now, that you are definitely who I was looking for."

"What?"

I honestly couldn't be more confused. Looking for me? Why?

"There's no doubt that I can no longer call you 'Mogami'," she continues. "Or else I'd have your last name wrong."

"Mogami is my last name." I was only stating the facts. Stating facts, and being confused.

"No," Akemi disagrees. "No, it's not. Kaname."