Seeing the confused girl that looks similar to her, Madoka was reminded of her ideals and experiences more—her ideals, struggles, and resolution. The time when she decided to sacrifice herself for the sake of the many. The time when she found her ideals.
When she connected with her other "self", she found out more about her. She found out the two month's worth of memories of the nine-hundred-plus Madokas, each in their timeline. She made many hard decisions that only she can bear. Killing Mami when she went crazy, letting go of Sayaka, bidding goodbye to her family...
It is safe to say that she had "walked" through what Homura experienced—the hell that she went into to save her. Fortunately, every memory told her that... her ideals are not wrong. Her decisions were not wrong. It is the circumstances that pushed her to those endings. If she is asked to sacrifice her existence for the sake of countless Magical Girls out there, she would do so.
Still, she will inevitably feel sad when she gets separated from her loved ones. To that, she is grateful to Shiro, Romani, and Touka who helped her reach an "impossible ending". It is something that everyone considered a "fairy tale" yet they managed to reach it, just as how one would reach the Ever-distant utopia.
"I can see that you are a good person. You want to protect everyone from harm, for everyone to reach their happy endings. However... this is not the right way."
Madoka looked at the pink-haired Magical Girl and said with determination. When she looked at Mamika, she saw parts of her past. The Madoka is so gullible and naive, the one who sought to help everyone from their troubles. While her simplistic ideal is great, the times forced her to change it. Each time she helps someone, she has to give up something in return.
Her senpai.
When the crazed Mami is about to kill Homura in a certain world line, Madoka shattered Mami's Soul Gem herself, thus stopping her. She saved Homura's life in exchange for Mami's.
Her best friend.
When she saw Sayaka turn into a Witch and die, she could not do anything. She could not use her wish to revive her since she decided to help Homura by not turning into one. In the end, everything turned into nothing as she sacrificed her life once more to purge Walpurgisnacht.
That one person who suffered the most.
When she wanted to end Homura's suffering, she chose to sacrifice herself to reach the "ending". This hurt Homura—the sole person who traveled through time countless times to save her—to a point that she could never imagine. After all, the one that she worked hard to save had to disappear to resolve everything once and for all. It meant that her determination, hard work, and innumerable sufferings are nothing but for naught.
"Things weren't supposed to be like this... There should not be... such destruction... whenever I fight for the good!" Mamika shouted. "I... did not mean to hurt others..! I only want the worlds who suffer to be saved by the power in this world!"
"..!"
Hearing this, Madoka recalled the time when she was fooled by Kyuubey. This moment reminded her of that, stirring the dark memories inside her.
"You are being used. Things cannot be simple, more so when a world's happiness is at stake." Madoka shook her head. She pointed out the damage that she caused and said, "Justice that is enforced by taking others' happiness will not work."
Homura's way of forcefully not involving her did not work. It is the same as how Mamika is enforcing hers, thus Madoka wanted to prevent this girl from walking down that path.
"Can... Can you listen to what I will say?" Mamika asked.
"I will. But for now, we should—"
Boom-!
Madoka is cut short by a short explosion happening in the ground. It seems that there is something that came crashing down mid-air.
Clang-!
Clang-!
As the dust settled, two figures were revealed. One of them is a blonde knight who wields a lance and rides on a pegasus. Another is a "knight" who wore full-black attire. Her eyes are covered by a black visor riddled with red lines, just like her black body armor. Her skin is paler than usual together with her pale blonde hair. She wields a sword covered in invisible air, making it so that its specific dimensions remained unknown.
'She...'
*****
"My magic does not affect her. Magic Resistance..." Meteora mumbled.
She looked at the mess that the ongoing fight is making. The two knights are silently throwing each other at different buildings, causing craters everywhere. Luckily, there are no casualties as of the moment. Only, their exposure is something that Meteora wants to avoid the most.
"I will deal with them."
Suddenly, Kal'tsit rushed towards the battle site. She ordered Mon3tr to intercept first while she readied her specialties.
Clang-!
Clang-!
Mon3tr appeared between the two of them, clashing with their weapons at the same time. A shock was generated through their sheer power of them, causing another meter-deep crater in the cemented sidewalk. With its two other arms, Mon3tr swung its blades at the knights, prompting them to disengage.
Swooosh-!
A blue vial flew out from Kal'tsit's potion gun. It went in the lance knight's direction before splattering into her chest armor.
"What is—..."
Instantly, she started to feel dizzy. She almost lost grip of her lance, and only when her trusted mount woke her up from her daze did she react. With her status debilitation, she is not up for a fight. Thus, she decisively chose to flee while looking at the other black knight with a disproving gaze.
As if she did not care, the black knight turned her gaze towards Kal'tsit.
"Why did you interfere?"
"It is the right thing to do." Kal'tsit replied. "It is not your world. A fight of such magnitude will kill people."
"...I do not care. A duel between two knights is a sacred thing. No one can interfere between it."
The black knight held her invisible blade in a middle stance. To her—the knight who fell into the darkness—protecting what was left of her original belief is of utmost importance. She might have "fallen" into the pits of hell, but this does not mean that her fundamental beliefs are altered.
"I see." Kal'tsit replied briefly as she recalled Mon3tr behind her back. Its four blades surrounded her, readying for the knight's incoming blow at any angle.
Clang-!
BAM-!
A second later, Kal'tsit was sent flying partially together with Mon3tr. Albeit, she managed to land her feet on the ground with ease. She looked at the damages that Mon3tr sustained, in which a visible crack in two of its right blades is the most visible.
In this world that rejected anything supernatural—with stronger suppression than Emiya Shirou's world—everyone found it difficult to fully exert their prowess. Even with her [Great Sage] predicting the attack's trajectory, she was forced to utilize the said attack to offset any damages. Her opponent's strength and reaction speed surpassed hers in their base form. It would be different if she could utilize her reinforcement techniques, but they are her trump cards for future fights. Though it might only be barely sufficient to face the black knight head-on.
After all, the person that she is facing is—
'As expected of her.'
—the corrupted King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon.
*****
A/N: Surprise, surprise! We have another Artoria in this arc! It is now confirmed that some modifications are added in the canon story. I left a small hint on this outcome somewhere out there.
Anyways, here's the fact of the day!
Fact #99: In the development of Fate/stay night, there are some things that are changed. One such thing is Shirou's and Saber's gender being swapped. They were supposed to be a female and a male, respectively. But then, it was changed in the end. This is also how Fate/prototype came into being. It was the drafts and ideas that Nasu had in the past, which is further adopted by its author. Also, there's a Mashu prototype, Tachie, in the original F/sn draft.
Seeing the confused girl that looks similar to her, Madoka was reminded of her ideals and experiences more—her ideals, struggles, and resolution. The time when she decided to sacrifice herself for the sake of the many. The time when she found her ideals.
When she connected with her other "self", she found out more about her. She found out the two month's worth of memories of the nine-hundred-plus Madokas, each in their timeline. She made many hard decisions that only she can bear. Killing Mami when she went crazy, letting go of Sayaka, bidding goodbye to her family...
It is safe to say that she had "walked" through what Homura experienced—the hell that she went into to save her. Fortunately, every memory told her that... her ideals are not wrong. Her decisions were not wrong. It is the circumstances that pushed her to those endings. If she is asked to sacrifice her existence for the sake of countless Magical Girls out there, she would do so.
Still, she will inevitably feel sad when she gets separated from her loved ones. To that, she is grateful to Shiro, Romani, and Touka who helped her reach an "impossible ending". It is something that everyone considered a "fairy tale" yet they managed to reach it, just as how one would reach the Ever-distant utopia.
"I can see that you are a good person. You want to protect everyone from harm, for everyone to reach their happy endings. However... this is not the right way."
Madoka looked at the pink-haired Magical Girl and said with determination. When she looked at Mamika, she saw parts of her past. The Madoka is so gullible and naive, the one who sought to help everyone from their troubles. While her simplistic ideal is great, the times forced her to change it. Each time she helps someone, she has to give up something in return.
Her senpai.
When the crazed Mami is about to kill Homura in a certain world line, Madoka shattered Mami's Soul Gem herself, thus stopping her. She saved Homura's life in exchange for Mami's.
Her best friend.
When she saw Sayaka turn into a Witch and die, she could not do anything. She could not use her wish to revive her since she decided to help Homura by not turning into one. In the end, everything turned into nothing as she sacrificed her life once more to purge Walpurgisnacht.
That one person who suffered the most.
When she wanted to end Homura's suffering, she chose to sacrifice herself to reach the "ending". This hurt Homura—the sole person who traveled through time countless times to save her—to a point that she could never imagine. After all, the one that she worked hard to save had to disappear to resolve everything once and for all. It meant that her determination, hard work, and innumerable sufferings are nothing but for naught.
"Things weren't supposed to be like this... There should not be... such destruction... whenever I fight for the good!" Mamika shouted. "I... did not mean to hurt others..! I only want the worlds who suffer to be saved by the power in this world!"
"..!"
Hearing this, Madoka recalled the time when she was fooled by Kyuubey. This moment reminded her of that, stirring the dark memories inside her.
"You are being used. Things cannot be simple, more so when a world's happiness is at stake." Madoka shook her head. She pointed out the damage that she caused and said, "Justice that is enforced by taking others' happiness will not work."
Homura's way of forcefully not involving her did not work. It is the same as how Mamika is enforcing hers, thus Madoka wanted to prevent this girl from walking down that path.
"Can... Can you listen to what I will say?" Mamika asked.
"I will. But for now, we should—"
Boom-!
Madoka is cut short by a short explosion happening in the ground. It seems that there is something that came crashing down mid-air.
Clang-!
Clang-!
As the dust settled, two figures were revealed. One of them is a blonde knight who wields a lance and rides on a pegasus. Another is a "knight" who wore full-black attire. Her eyes are covered by a black visor riddled with red lines, just like her black body armor. Her skin is paler than usual together with her pale blonde hair. She wields a sword covered in invisible air, making it so that its specific dimensions remained unknown.
'She...'
*****
"My magic does not affect her. Magic Resistance..." Meteora mumbled.
She looked at the mess that the ongoing fight is making. The two knights are silently throwing each other at different buildings, causing craters everywhere. Luckily, there are no casualties as of the moment. Only, their exposure is something that Meteora wants to avoid the most.
"I will deal with them."
Suddenly, Kal'tsit rushed towards the battle site. She ordered Mon3tr to intercept first while she readied her specialties.
Clang-!
Clang-!
Mon3tr appeared between the two of them, clashing with their weapons at the same time. A shock was generated through their sheer power of them, causing another meter-deep crater in the cemented sidewalk. With its two other arms, Mon3tr swung its blades at the knights, prompting them to disengage.
Swooosh-!
A blue vial flew out from Kal'tsit's potion gun. It went in the lance knight's direction before splattering into her chest armor.
"What is—..."
Instantly, she started to feel dizzy. She almost lost grip of her lance, and only when her trusted mount woke her up from her daze did she react. With her status debilitation, she is not up for a fight. Thus, she decisively chose to flee while looking at the other black knight with a disproving gaze.
As if she did not care, the black knight turned her gaze towards Kal'tsit.
"Why did you interfere?"
"It is the right thing to do." Kal'tsit replied. "It is not your world. A fight of such magnitude will kill people."
"...I do not care. A duel between two knights is a sacred thing. No one can interfere between it."
The black knight held her invisible blade in a middle stance. To her—the knight who fell into the darkness—protecting what was left of her original belief is of utmost importance. She might have "fallen" into the pits of hell, but this does not mean that her fundamental beliefs are altered.
"I see." Kal'tsit replied briefly as she recalled Mon3tr behind her back. Its four blades surrounded her, readying for the knight's incoming blow at any angle.
Clang-!
BAM-!
A second later, Kal'tsit was sent flying partially together with Mon3tr. Albeit, she managed to land her feet on the ground with ease. She looked at the damages that Mon3tr sustained, in which a visible crack in two of its right blades is the most visible.
In this world that rejected anything supernatural—with stronger suppression than Emiya Shirou's world—everyone found it difficult to fully exert their prowess. Even with her [Great Sage] predicting the attack's trajectory, she was forced to utilize the said attack to offset any damages. Her opponent's strength and reaction speed surpassed hers in their base form. It would be different if she could utilize her reinforcement techniques, but they are her trump cards for future fights. Though it might only be barely sufficient to face the black knight head-on.
After all, the person that she is facing is—
'As expected of her.'
—the corrupted King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon.
*****
A/N: Surprise, surprise! We have another Artoria in this arc! It is now confirmed that some modifications are added in the canon story. I left a small hint on this outcome somewhere out there.
Anyways, here's the fact of the day!
Fact #99: In the development of Fate/stay night, there are some things that are changed. One such thing is Shirou's and Saber's gender being swapped. They were supposed to be a female and a male, respectively. But then, it was changed in the end. This is also how Fate/prototype came into being. It was the drafts and ideas that Nasu had in the past, which is further adopted by its author. Also, there's a Mashu prototype, Tachie, in the original F/sn draft.
