02. audio.

[embodies]

Do you think...

[ her hands are covered in blood. It had been easy. So terribly, terribly easy - they'd been so weak, just as he'd said. It was a mercy, just as he'd said.

Yet as she'd left the cavern, she'd seen the animals starting to come towards town. Even if they were... monsters, even if it had been quick, she'd taken something away from them.

Madoka swallows hard and rolls the soul gem between her bloody hands. ]

Do you think that it's worth it. To... to do what he says.

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[embodies]

It's mine. [ So resolute. ] I'm sure that this one is mine... But I don't know how...

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[glowsferatu]

Wouldn't that mean you lack one in...whatever original position souls typically inhabit?

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[embodies]

No, I haven't made a contract. So my soul is still here. [ She touches her... heart. Because where the hell else is a soul going to be. ] Every time I tried to make a contract, Homura made sure that I didn't have to... But... [ But she's not here. ] This is empty.

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[glowsferatu]

Then the question, I suppose, is why that exists to begin with.

[ it's a standard paradox, as these matters go, but kanaya's never been fond of paradoxes. time can be a clusterfuck without even trying. but...time. ]

Perhaps it was prodigaled. From a doomed offshoot. [ the dream bubbles don't reach here, kanaya's sleep has been emptier than it's ever been since she was brought here. but there could be a way, if they could bring tavros' ghost. ]

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[embodies]

... Maybe.

[ All of those Homura's fighting for her sake... fighting to make sure that this little gem never came into being. She feels her eyes welling up again. ]

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[glowsferatu]

[ she thinks about that, "homura made sure that i didn't have to," and wonders if that isn't the problem. ]

What's important is...though it may be yours, it wasn't brought into being from you. Not this time. [ she puts her hands on madoka's, closing the other girl's over the gem. ] You didn't fail her.

[ not in this way, at least. but kanaya's sure there wasn't any way she could have kept her from becoming that monster, either. at least, she doesn't think there was. ]

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[embodies]

[ But in so many other universes, she did.

Even when she didn't, she left Homura to fight alone. So many dreams, so many paths, so many endings. ]

I need to... fight. I need to fight...

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[glowsferatu]

[ kanaya frowns at that. she'd really prefer that madoka didn't fight, but if it's the only way she'll overcome this feeling, then there's only one way kanaya can allow it. ]

Very well. But we'll have to prepare you first. If you're to fight, we'll need to ensure that you know how.

And, more than that, I won't have you fighting without me in your company to help.

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[embodies]

[ As long as she can do something, she'll be happy. Anything. No one else should die for her sake. She takes in a deep breath. ]

Okay. [ Smiling weakly. ] I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for you.

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[glowsferatu]

Madoka, you've never been any kind of trouble for me. Whatever I put myself through for you, I do by my own choice.

[ even if it's not strictly true, kanaya certainly believes it is. ]