Foresight (Puella Magi Hunger Games Sequel)

Chapter 21

"Who are you?" Emiria demanded, eyeing the black-haired girl suspiciously. The girl's purple eyes flashed.

"Walpurgisnacht is coming," she informed Emiria coolly. "If you have any sense, you'll help me round up the other magical girls so we can protect the city." Emiria gave a shrug.

"Why should I care? I can defend myself," she replied. "If this witch is as dangerous as you claim, then you can go and find all the other magical girls." The other girl's eyes burned brightly, with an intense colour. Whether it was out of anger, Emiria didn't know. All she knew was that she was not going to be ordered around by some girl she didn't know.

"Fine!" The girl snapped, stepping back the way she came from. "Don't look at me for help when you need it." With a flick of her hair, she left, spinning on her heel.

"This isn't Kriemhild Gretchen," Oriko frowned. "The whole world was in ruins, but this witch..." As she thought about it, ghostly laughter echoed into the air.

Every magical girl in the city looked up, each of them knew that this was no ordinary witch. Homura frowned. Walpurgisnacht was here.

Ayame stared at a figure coming forward from the distance. Trumpeting sounded, like that of an elephant.

Three, two, one. A witch sprang out of the air, rising above her and Kana.

"There she is," Ayame gasped. "We have to fight her." She ignored the grief in her soul gem, forcing herself to transform. She didn't look at her soul gem after, summoning her flintlocks.

"Let's go!" She called to Kana, running forward, closer to the multiple-coloured figure in the sky in the distance. Kana transformed as well, in a flash of magic. Her battle axe appeared, and she grabbed it, following Ayame, as they ran towards the witch.

"What is that?" Yuuki stared up at the giant witch in the sky, "Is that a witch?" Miku looked up as well.

"It looks like it," she replied, getting to her feet. "And that means we have to fight it." Taking a deep breath, she held out her soul gem, vaguely aware of the fact that she didn't have much magic left. She could sense Yuuki transforming as well, as her own outfit and weapon appeared.

Both magical girls stared up at the witch in the sky, their weapons gripped tightly.

"You take the right, I'll take the left," Yuuki told Miku, as she ran off, leaving Miku to run in the other direction.

Miku ran towards the witch, aiming slightly to the left.

The witch cackled, as little purple figures popped out of the air around her. They began to fire their own little shots of purple, which Miku ducked, slashing them apart with her sword. They disappeared, and Miku kept going, her eyes fixed on the figure in the distance.

Yuuki leapt up, slashing through the air at the giggling purple figures which threatened to shoot her. They disappeared into a number of purple blobs, before vanishing.

"I hope you're not thinking of fighting as well," Jyuubey remarked, sitting beside the white-haired girl. "That would be destroying the point of our whole mission." Rena gave a small smile.

"If you think I'm interested in fighting a witch with all these weaklings, you should probably think again." The magical girl still wore her white dress, her feet bare. One might wonder what kind of quaint person she was, wearing so little in such wild weather.

Shots fired through the air, peppering the sky with little bright dots. A dark figure could be seen behind them, flying through the air to attack Walpurgisnacht.

"I wonder how long they can last," Jyuubey remarked. "They are all at their limit. It's a surprise they're even trying to fight."

THUMP!

One of Walpurgisncht's minions caught Ayame by surprise, firing at her back. Ayame was knocked forward by the blast, and the other minions took the chance to attack. They moved in on Ayame, their mouths opening with laughter, as they began firing at the magical girl.

Wincing, Ayame summoned a rifle, firing at the figures weakly. A few bullets hit, and the minions vanished. There were still more though. They only laughed harder as their blasts began hitting Ayame.

Ayame could feel her body getting battered and bruised, cuts beginning to form, until she eventually lay back, closing her eyes, waiting for the pain to end.

The shots stopped though, and Ayame opened her eyes, seeing a familiar person.

"Kana," she whispered. Kana's face was worried, as she reached a hand to pull Ayame into a sip.

"Can you still fight?" She asked. "You don't have to." Ayame shook her head fiercely.

"I have to fight," she told the brown haired girl. "It's my duty as a magical girl." To prove she could still fight, she got to her feet, but swayed immediately. Ayame dared to look at her soul gem, and she wished she didn't. The green soul gem glistened with grief, grief writhing throughout it. Small specks of green shone through, but even they were dull, tinged with grey.

"I can fight," Ayame protested, before Kana could say anything. "I just-" She felt her magic fading away, her outfit disappearing, to be replaced by her normal clothes. Finally, Ayame couldn't bear it anymore. She let herself sink down to the ground, too weak from grief.

She let it all fade to darkness, as she faded from the world.

"Ayame?" Kana looked at the green magical girl in concern. "Are you-" Ayame gave one last sigh as she lay there, and something happened to her soul gem. Darkness exploded out if it, as the soul gem itself changed. It lengthened and thinned, to eventually turn into something she recognised.

A grief seed.