Puella Magi Akane Magica (A Madoka Magica Fanfiction)

Prologue: Contract

"Are you ready, Akane?"

"I'm ready." My soft voice echoed out into the darkness of the cold, empty room and dissolved against its ragged stone walls. I was more than ready-I was excited.

"Then, Tsukino Akane, what wish do you desire so desperately that you would trade your soul to have it?"

A drop of sweat slid down the side of my face as my body shook with both terror and fierce excitement, my pale skin cold but feeling like it could burn with the utter pressure of the moment.

The stagnant, frozen air seemed to ripple with power as my mouth opened to speak those fateful words.

"I..." Kyubey sat unmoving, gazing into my soul with that same unblinking, unfeeling stare that I'd seen hundreds of times before. "I wish for freedom."

A small, panicked breath quickly escaped my lips as my mind processed what I'd just done. It was over. That year of resisting the Incubator's silent persuasion when he visited... it was pointless, now. He'd won. I was about to become a magical girl.

I felt my mouth widen into a small, triumphant smile. It was over. No more struggle, pain, or self-hate. It was over, and I could never go back. It was done. Done!

"I wonder..." Kyubey's haunting voice rang through my mind, and I cringed out of habit. "How large your soul gem will be, Tsukino Akane. You, who has spent a life drowned in misfortune..."

Agony. Blinding, fiery agony for a split second, and I knew what was happening but still my mind blanked and I let out a scream.

For a few seconds after the flash of pain faded, I thought of nothing and I did nothing, and then for a few seconds after that faded, only one thought passed through my mind. Freedom.

"Stand, Akane." It was only now that I realized that I'd fallen to the ground from the pain. Shakily, I made it to my feet, and my eyes slowly came into focus on a glowing light that swirled with crimson and violet before settling into an egg-shaped crystal of the same colours, encased in a thin, elaborate frame of gold.

My soul gem.

My soul itself, actually.

I reached out one fragile, pale hand, drenched in cold sweat, and grasped the crystal. It was... warm. It fit into the palm of my hand, but if I held it as tightly as I could, I could only barely connect my thumb and middle finger around it.

"That concentration of magic power is as strong as I had expected, if not stronger," Kyubey said, tipping his head to one side. "I shall return to you at a later time, Akane. Enjoy your freedom."

The Incubator was gone before I could even blink.

At long last, I was free.