Chapter Text
Homura found herself staring into Mitakihara Park's fountain, though she didn't see it.
She was looking through it as she rested on a bench, as if it held the answers she so desperately needed.
Who was Artemis? Was she really from another world? Why did she think Homura was her daughter?
…
Was she really a Goddess?
Homura didn't know. She certainly didn't feel like one. Even now, after all this time, the glimpse she'd had of Madoka's power had been unforgivable, undeniably divine.
But Artemis? She hadn't felt like anything. Maybe because she'd only appeared in a mirage or something.
Homura thought Madoka's presence would've been translated to a larger extent than Artemis', if there was even anything to translate from the girl.
The black-haired girl readjusted her bag in her lap, and felt Mami's ribbon tug at her wrist as she moved, attracting the blonde girl's gaze from her place next to Homura.
The three girls were tied together in this fashion. Their hope was that if Mami's ribbons could transmit magical effects like Homura's time stop (though the other two girls didn't know of such a thing existing), then it might serve them well in accompanying Homura wherever Artemis was trying to bring her.
Not that they were willing to give Homura an inch though, even with that safeguard in place.
"So, do you actually have a mom, Homura?" Kyouko asked from Homura's other side, throwing an arm around the girl's shoulders as she did.
"Kyouko!" Mami interjected. "You shouldn't ask about such sensitive subjects!"
"What? I think it's an important question! If we can just tell that crazy kid that Homura's already got a mother-"
"I do not." Homura interrupted the pair before they could get going. "I was abandoned at an orphanage just a few days after my birth, I was told. No one ever came forward with information, be it my mother or my father, or any other relative."
Mami's hands came up to her chest at that. "I see… I'm sorry to hear that, Akemi-san."
"It's fine. I don't particularly care."
Kyouko leaned forward to look at the both of them, humming. "Is that so…" She sighed, before leaning back once more, throwing her arms behind her head. "Well, whatever. Ain't no way that kid's your mom anyway, right?"
Unless she really was a Goddess, of course…
Kyouko choked. "Are you being for real, Homu? That's just nonsense!"
Homura blinked. "I apologize. It seemed I was simply thinking out loud."
"Still, you can't really be considering that to be an option, can you, Akemi-san?" Mami asked, concern lacing her voice.
Homura bit her lip in frustration. She didn't appreciate the tone Mami took whenever Madoka entered the conversation. "I think disregarding options when we have so little information is foolish. Let us consider even what seems impossible, and try to prepare for everything."
Kyouko hummed again, pulling out a tender bar from the pocket of her hoodie. "If you say so…" She mumbled through her food, making Mami grimace.
But before another word could be said, the wind picked up, making all three girls tense suddenly. They waited for it to pass, but it didn't.
In fact, it only grew in strength.
Homura's hands came up to tighten the ribbons holding back her hair, and stood up as Kyouko hurried to shove her snack down her maw before it was too late.
Homura's heart seemed to beat harder and harder as the wind picked up more and more speed around them, hair and clothes following its path.
Homura's mouth was dry. She might be taken away in the following seconds, away from the Wraiths, from Mitakihara. from Madoka. She opened her mouth, trying to tell her fellow Magical Girls that there was still time to stop, to stay here, to abandon her, but she found her words failing her as Mami's hand found her own, grasping onto it tightly.
Barely half-a-second later, Kyouko gripped onto Homura's free hand, before grabbing Mami's as well, leaving the trio standing in a triangle, blind to the trees dancing in the fierce wind around them.
Mami smiled at Homura, and immediately, the black-haired girl found herself calming. "Let's see what awaits us." The blonde said, making Kyouko smirk.
"I'm more interested in the who, to be honest." She said, before turning towards Homura, her serious eyes out of place in her laughing face. "You better not let go, got it?"
Homura forced her shameful blush to stay off her face, and only tightened her grip in response.
The wind grew stronger still, howling as it went through the trees with such force that branches were ripped out.
And in the eye of the storm, in the time it took for the wind to come to a dead stop, three girls vanished from Mitakihara Park.
In the time it took to blink, Homura was shivering.
They'd apparently traded Mitakihara's pleasant spring for snow and biting cold.
"Holy shiiit!" Kyouko hissed, letting go of Homura's hand to rub at her bare legs. Mami too seemed to be feeling the cold, though she didn't seem to react as dramatically as Kyouko did, instead turning her attention towards their surroundings.
And almost as if they had been waiting for this moment, voices rose from all around them. Girl voices.
They were whispering excitedly to one another as they stared at the new arrivals, surrounding them and a large bonfire that Kyouko hurriedly approached, pulling the two other girls with her as she did, since the trio was still tied together by Mami's ribbons.
Kyouko sighed as she warmed herself up by the fire, apparently still not having noticed their audience.
"Kyouko. Stop playing around, and ignore the cold. We've got company." Homura said seriously, scanning the crowd.
All the girls surrounding them seemed to be dressed similarly, all in silver, same as the tents that laid behind them. They were also all of a similar age, ranging from maybe ten at the youngest to 16 or 17.
Magical Girl age, Homura couldn't help but think.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, where's the crazy chick?" Kyouko said, though Homura could see her goosebumps disappearing as she disconnected her Soul Gem from her bodily sensations.
"'The crazy chick'? Are you referring to me, girl?" A voice sounded, making Homura spin on her heel.
A young girl approached the trio, flanked by another, older girl who seemed to be scanning them, searching for something, but what, Homura couldn't know.
For a moment, she made eye contact with Artemis' aide, and the girl seemed to pale for but a moment, before looking away.
Hm.
Kyouko, of course, didn't know how to keep her mouth shut. "Look, she recognized herself. That's a step in the right direction, right?"
Homura heard more than one person gasping at that, though only a choking sound caught her attention.
So there was a boy here somewhere in the end.
Kyouko's words made Artemis' eye twitch, and Homura stepped in before the redhead got them shot full of arrows, as more than one girl had picked up a bow in anger.
"I think that's enough, Kyouko. We are here for answers, not for a fight."
Kyouko tsk'd at that. "Speak for yourself." She said, looking away, but nonetheless shoved her hands back in the pockets of her hoodie, no longer picking a fight.
Homura swallowed a sigh at that, before turning back towards Artemis, who returned her visual inspection.
Now that she could see more than just her face, the girl seemed less childish than previously thought. She was still a small child, but Homura could see corded muscles in her exposed arms and legs.
But more than that, it was her presence that was now apparent. She didn't walk like a child, nor even like an adult.
She walked with absolute confidence, as if the earth would rise to meet her feet should she step into a ravine, as if the moon shone but to illuminate her path, as if her every step was helping her gain on an unseen prey.
And all the girls that supposedly followed her seemed to believe such as well. They were all staring at her from the moment she spoke up, and there was worship and love in their eyes, devotion only reserved for saviors and saints.
But even more than that, there was a sudden tension in the air, like the wind had stilled, waiting to see what would happen next. The forest surrounding them had fallen silent, and even the snow had stopped falling.
Homura licked her dry lips. She was beginning to worry her thoughts hadn't been too far from the mark.
Artemis looked away from the sulking Kyouko, and instead smiled at Homura. "Welcome, Clara, to my camp." The auburn-haired girl said, and as if waiting for that cue, applause came from all around them.
Homura flinched as girls stomped their feet, clapped their hands, hollered, and even whistled all around them, making the three girls huddle closer together, but more than that.
'It means flame, so it's like you're supposed to flare up passionately!'
"That isn't my name." Homura's voice cut through the cheers of the camp, like an arrow splitting the air.
More than one confused voice rose after Homura's declaration, but Artemis only smiled. "It is. It is the name your mother and I gave you at your birth. I understand that you haven't known of it until today, but trust that it is your birth name."
Homura's mouth twitched. "Maybe it was my name in some time long past, but it is no longer so. My name is Homura Akemi. I would appreciate you using it should you address me." Homura said, her voice as cold as the snow surrounding the two groups.
Artemis' frown furrowed for a moment, before she shook her head dismissively. "We'll revisit the matter."
Homura bit her lip. There was nothing to revisit in her opinion, but so be it.
"More importantly, who are those two? I only planned to bring my daughter to my side. I apologize if you were caught up in my work." Artemis said, somewhat sincerely, though Homura found herself hard-pressed to actually believe her apology, for some reason.
Mami simply waved it away, a polite smile appearing on her face as if sculpted there. "You don't need to apologize at all, Miss Artemis! After all, saying we were 'caught up in it' would hardly be the truth."
"Yeah." Kyouko piped up, making Homura tense. "You think we were just gonna let you take our friend away like that?"
Artemis gave the two girls flanking Homura an inspecting look, prompting Mami to continue speaking. "I am Mami Tomoe, and that is Kyouko Sakura."
She bowed politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Artemis' look allowed a smile to pierce through once more. "You already know me, I believe, but for the sake of politeness, let me reintroduce myself.
I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, the Moon, Archery, and the leader of the Hunters." She said, and for a moment, Homura's breath was stolen.
The moon pierced through the thick layer of clouds to shine down on Artemis as she spoke, giving her skin a supernatural silver shine that seemed to sparkle lightly under the bonfire's dancing flames, and previously unheard wolves howled in unison around them, creating a haunting chorus.
In a single moment, Homura's doubts were wiped clean. There was no denying the holiness of this moment.
"Shit." Kyouko said, scratching at her chest. "So, uh, is it too late to apologize for calling you crazy?"
There was a pull to Artemis' lips. "No, it isn't."
Kyouko scuffed the snow with her boot, both hands still shoved deep inside her hoodie. "Uh, sorry, then, I guess."
Mami groaned, a hand coming up to cover her eyes. "Kyouko, please ."
But before she could go on, Artemis spoke up. "I'll forgive my daughter's friend, this time. But do watch your mouth in the future, Kyouko Sakura. Other Gods won't be a fraction as merciful as I, myself, am right now. And that is only in virtue of your relationship with my daughter."
Artemis' smile disappeared as she spoke, a thunderous glare taking its place, and making Homura step to the side, between it and its victim.
"So, you really are a Goddess." Homura said, forcing the words past her frozen lips. "Does that mean that this is really…" But it was futile. The words wouldn't form. As if speaking them would make them real.
"Another world? Yes, it is indeed." Artemis confirmed, and Homura felt her legs go weak.
But she forced herself to stay standing. Not all was lost. She still had Madoka's feather after all.
Words were still failing her, so she simply nodded, and Mami took that as a signal for her to step in once more.
"So, you are the Goddess Artemis, then? And you say Homura is your daughter?" Mami said, her face still a placid mask of politeness that Homura could see through without effort, but that Artemis either couldn't notice or didn't care to call out.
"Yes she is."
Mami hummed under her breath, and her smile widened a tad, making Homura frown, but before she could try and intervene, the blonde continued speaking.
"So how did your daughter find herself in a whole other world, mere days after her birth?" Mami asked, her voice like a knife trying to gut Artemis right here and now, in front of all her followers, all the while using her polite words and elegant demeanour like a screen to hide the act behind.
Homura grimaced as the atmosphere grew infinitely colder all of a sudden. She wished Mami could play nice with people she didn't like, but she hardly had a leg to stand on in that domain herself.
Artemis' smile had disappeared, replaced by a thin hard line. All emotion had melted off her face, but the expressionlessness of her face only accentuated the almost tangible waves of anger rolling off her at the unsaid accusation.
On the other hand, the girl accompanying Artemis' face had morphed into an all-too-visible rictus of rage. "What are you insinuating?" She said, her voice almost freezing the very air around them with its coldness.
Mami's smile was certainly frozen in place, not an iota of warmth shining behind it. "My apologies, I didn't intend to insinuate anything. I'll be clearer. I think you have a lot of nerve to abandon your daughter like that, only to call her back when it arranges you." The blonde said, her smile still fixedly staring at the Goddess.
The older girl took a step forward. "Watch your tongue, girl, lest I take care of ripping it out of your disrespectful mouth!"
Kyouko returned the move, moving forward herself. "Just you fucking try it, bitch." She bit out.
More than one of the girls surrounding them were murmuring discontendly as well, making Homura grimace. Things were escalating quickly it seemed.
Homura cleared her throat, making more than one pair of eyes turn towards her. "How about we move this discussion somewhere private. I think I have a lot of questions to ask." Homura said, giving a pointed look at all the girls that surrounded them.
The tall girl followed her gaze and grimaced, before looking to her Goddess. "My lady?"
Artemis was staring at Homura again, an indecipherable look in her eyes. Homura found herself returning the stare for a few moments, before the Goddess nodded. "Very well. If you have questions, then I shall endeavour to answer them. Though we should make haste. Dawn is fast approaching."