"Kyoko, Kyoko! What's that thing on the floor?" said Yuma, tugging on Kyoko's jacket sleeve.

The red-head gave Yuma an uninterested stare, saying, "What is it now? It's late already and I'm sleepy." The two girls were walking along the dimly-lit streets, heading back home after Mami's dinner party. She yawned, stretching her long arms behind her like a cat. Yuma pulled at the hem of her jacket again, trying to get her attention.

"See, Kyoko! On the floor behind you, there's a glowing black cube!" urged the young girl, skipping in front of Kyoko to stop her. Annoyed, Kyoko tried to get around her, but Yuma persisted. "Yuma will not let you pass unless you check out the black thing!"

Shooting Yuma an irritated glance, Kyoko finally relented and bent down to pick up the object which the little girl was so interested in. "Huh, it'll probably just be a piece of rubbish that some fool threw away," she muttered to herself while straightening up. Turning it around in her fingers, she examined it closely. Despite the fact that it was emitting a faint white glow, it looked about as normal as any cube could possibly be.

Yuma pressed her head next to Kyoko's arm, standing on tip-toe to see the cube. "Oooh... It's pretty, Kyoko! Can I hold it?"

"Pretty?" said Kyoko with a disgusted face. "It's just a normal black cube. They probably stuck a bulb in it or something. Looks no different from a piece of dark chocolate... Here." She handed over the object and Yuma clutched at it, observing its pulsing white light. Her green eyes lit up with joy.

"Kyoko, why do I feel happy holding this thing?" said Yuma, smiling widely at the older girl. The black cube continued to glow dimly in her small palms, but as Kyoko looked at it, the glow slowly intensified, and Yuma's ring began to hum softly. The green inlaid gem trembled in its socket as Yuma smiled even wider, giggling. "Yuma thinks she has had this feeling before, but can't remember when."

Kyoko hastily grabbed the cube from Yuma's hands, stuffing it into her pocket. Her heart was racing and she realised that she had broken into cold sweat.

"What the hell was that feeling?" she whispered to herself, her hand still in her pocket.

"Kyoko?" said the little girl, puzzled. "Are you okay? Why did you take away the cube from Yuma?"

She stared at Yuma blankly, her mind filled with sudden thoughts. All around her, the sounds of city night-life penetrated into her head, but she was too distracted by her own painful memories that were pounding themselves into her brain.

My ring... It can glow and turn into... a red, egg-like object?

What is this... a spear?

What's this long dress I'm wearing?

Blood everywhere... Sayaka has turned into a monster... So much blood...

Homura has wings...raven wings... She's all black and white...

What are these tall white creatures with no faces?

Kyu...bey? Incubator?

Homura Akemi... Madoka Kaname... What's going on?!

A short yell burst forth from Kyoko's throat before she could stop herself. It was all coming back to her in short, sporadic images - the Witch at the apartment; the people escaping from the building, thinking it was a hurricane; Mami and the others getting separated from she and Yuma; a black, winged figure that looked strangely like Homura Akemi.

Groaning, she pressed her hands to the sides of her head. Yuma, who was shocked by Kyoko's sudden outburst, quickly held onto Kyoko's arm, saying, "Kyoko, Yuma is sorry for making you pick up the cube! Just throw it away, if not, Kyoko will be in pain!"

Kyoko gave her young charge a wan smile, patting her head tenderly. "I'm fine, Yuma. Don't you worry over me. As for the cube, I think I'll be keeping it for now." She fingered the hard object in her pocket, looking into the distance. "Sayaka, Madoka and Mami might want to see it."

She took Yuma's small hand in hers and led her off back home. There will be a lot of questions drifting about in her mind tonight.

***

The classroom was abuzz with students talking and laughing, exchanging stories and gossiping about the latest news. Luna and Estella were together at a corner, looking sleepy and upset and deliberately distancing themselves from the others.

"Huh, look at those Queens. They think they're too great to mix with us, I guess," said Sayaka to Madoka, nodding towards the silent twins.

Madoka frowned. "Sayaka-chan, that's not a very nice thing to say. They look tired and worried. I wonder if something bad happened to them yesterday..." She then looked over at Homura, who was chatting with Hitomi. "Even Homura-chan seems down. She lacks her usual confident air..."

"Sheesh. You're too kind, Madoka," said Sayaka lightly. Her blue eyes roved towards the door, then at the empty seat next to her, sighing. "That Kyoko...skipping school again today."

Madoka, who was sitting behind Sayaka, rubbed her hands together nervously. "Do you think she's okay, Sayaka-chan? I mean, she and Yuma-chan just left Mami-san's dinner party yesterday without so much as a notice."

Tossing her hands into the air, Sayaka imitated Kyoko by sticking a red pen in her mouth to pass off as a Pocky stick. "You guys are such worry-heads. Of course I'm alright! Tchah! I'm just too lazy to attend school 'cause I haven't finished my homework because you refused to let me copy yours and now I'm pouting and you can't do anything about it, so there!" She finished the sentence in a single breath, her face contorted into an I'm-out-of-air-save-me look.

"Oh, Sayaka-chan, you're such a clown!" giggled Madoka, wiping away tears of mirth and feeling cheered up at once.

Sayaka smirked and tossed her blue hair dramatically, saying, "Hah! I, Sayaka Miki, am the ultimate clown of the century! Therefore, I order you to stop worrying about everything and everyone and start laughing!"

Before Madoka could react, Sayaka had spat out the pen and pounced on her, tickling her gleefully. "Laugh, Madoka, laugh! Hahahahaha!"

Their joyful gambol was halted abruptly when Miss Saotome entered the classroom. A furious look was etched on her normally soft features, making her look like the devil incarnate. The students hastily scrambled back to their seats, getting out their books and stationery while giving a hasty bow and greeting. The annoyed teacher slammed her books onto the table and whipped out her cane, pointing it directly at Nakazawa's face, ignoring her students' morning greeting.

"Should a pen cap stay on the pen-head when writing, or should it be taken off completely and put to one side? What do you think, Nakazawa-kun!"

The poor boy stood up, pining over his unfortunate fate as the teacher's prime subject of de-stressing and answering befuddledly,"Err...You can do it either way, right?"

"Exactly!" screamed Miss Saotome, snapping her cane in half to drive the point home. There was an obvious flinch in every single student present.

"Here we go again..." groaned Sayaka, slamming her forehead into the table. "I bet this is the millionth time she got dumped."

"Sayaka-chan!" exclaimed Madoka, trying to suppress a giggle. "You're exaggerating! Heehee!"

Miss Saotome waved her broken cane in the air, shrieking angrily, "Guys shouldn't judge girls by the way they put their pen caps away when writing! And boys, please don't become men who are so picky about their female partner's behaviour, have I got you all clear?!"

A low 'yes' sounded throughout the class. Miss Saotome beamed, feeling much more better. She seemed to be an expert in mood swings. "Okay then, class. Time for studies. Take out your textbooks and open them to page 136..."

Sayaka moaned. She should have stayed at home, seeing as Kyoko wasn't here. 'I'm so gonna get you for leaving me alone, Kyoko. Just you wait after school is over!' she thought to herself, picking up her textbook grudgingly. 'Just you wait...'

***

Mami stifled a yawn, trying to concentrate on the textbook words in front of her. Thankfully, there were only ten more minutes before school was over. She glanced at her watch, willing the time to go by faster. Unknowingly, her head nodded forward once, twice, thrice, and her eyelids shut lightly, sending her into the world of dreams.

000

Screaming...lots of screaming... People running around in the corridors, screaming, "Hurricane, get out fast!"

Madoka had been left behind. The black flies were going to get at her...

She was running with Nagisa, holding onto a fire extinguisher. Hopefully, she wasn't too late.

Sayaka rammed into the door, allowing them to enter the room. Madoka was sitting alone at the shattered window, a holy aura surrounding her.

"My dear Puella Magi, how could I have forgotten about you?" she said, extending her arms to them. Mami knelt down in front of her, stunned. Sayaka and Nagisa clutched at each other, stuttering, "M-M-Madokami?"

Madoka smiled. "Yes, it is I, Madoka Kaname, bringer of the Law of Cycles. Homura-chan is trying to keep me from remembering my true self, but with your help, I can now go back to where I belong."

"Wait," said Mami in bewilderment, "Can you explain from the very beginning?"

Nagisa touched Mami's shoulder, saying, "Do you remember that we were all once Puella Magi?" Mami nodded uncertainly. It was all still very fuzzy to her, but her memories were slowly coming back.

"Good," said Madoka as she began to explain to Mami. "Homura-chan had split my Goddess part from my human part, keeping the Goddess part of me at bay with her amnesia-inducing abilities. She turned into a Demon and re-created the universe with her own laws - one where I would remain as a human..." Madoka sighed, her gold eyes looking sad. "She is trying to prevent me from reverting to my state of higher being. She thinks that I would not know of all this information, but being a Goddess, really, nothing can be kept a secret from me, not even about how I got dethroned... However, she did this without ever thinking about the consequences of taking away a part of the Law of Cycles... Witches and Wraiths have grown in abundance, and I could not do anything about it... Now that Sayaka-chan and Nagisa-chan, my secretaries, have also remembered, I believe it's time we confront Homura-chan and end this pain and suffering."

Mami shook her head vigorously. "Wait...You're a Goddess, Akemi-san's a Demon, Momoe-san and Miki-san are your helpers...What about me?"

"Mami-san, you're always you," replied Madoka with an angelic smile.

Mami blinked, surprised. But before she could ask more questions, a winged figure landed on the windowsill, bleeding and bruised in many places. Her yellow eyes widened in fright.

"Homura Akemi..."

000

"Tomoe-san, read the last passage... Tomoe-san? Tomoe-san!" rapped out the teacher, slamming his palm onto the table-top. Mami woke up with a jolt, going, "Huh? Wha-!", accompanied by some suppressed giggles from her classmates. She blushed fiercely as her teacher reprimanded her none too gently. "Tomoe-san, no day-dreaming in class. Now, read the last passage. If I catch you napping again, it's off to the headmaster's office you go."

Red-faced, Mami read out the passage, and as she finished it, the school bell rang. She breathed out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to endure her classmates' teasing. Everyone put away their textbooks and stood, bowing a thanks to their teacher as he walked out huffily.

What was that dream? thought Mami to herself, packing her books and pencil case into her satchel. It seemed too real to be just a dream. I hope I'm not hallucinating for lack of sleep... I must tell Miki-san, Sakura-san and Kaname-san about this dream later when I meet them.

***

Kirika pinched the ears of her voodoo doll, humming a song to herself in an attempt to block out yesterday night's events. An involuntary shudder ran up her spine as she recalled Homura's devilish grin.

'If you ever need a quick death to end your suffering, I'm always here to help.'

She shuddered again. Grabbing her satchel, she began to walk downstairs to Luna and Estella's classroom. She wanted to see someone, talk to someone, have some human contact, so that she would feel better. Taking the steps two at a time, Kirika reached the classroom just in time to catch the twins. They were rubbing at their eyes sleepily when they noticed their senior standing at the doorway, staring behind them.

Luna yawned before saying, "Oh, Kirika-senpai, sorry we didn't notice you earlier. You could've..." Her words trailed off when she realised that Kirika wasn't listening to her. Looking in the direction of Kirika's gaze, the twins gasped noticeably at the figure of Homura Akemi standing cross-armed behind them. She cocked her head to one side, dull eyes glimmering with faint maliciousness.

"Estella and Luna Queen, Kirika Kure, how pleasant it is to be able to talk to you again," she said. "I shall not tarry with useless speeches. Listen to me now - get away from Madoka Kaname, or I would have to take drastic measures..."

"Akemi-san," said Estella, gritting her teeth, "Do not expect us to listen to your weird commands after what happened yesterday night. We will not obey the likes of you!"

Homura tutted. "Mind your language, you inferior transfer student." The Australian girl baulked, speechless.

"Cat got your tongue, Queen-san?" taunted Homura, lifting up Estella's chin and enjoying the look of alarm on her face. Luna smacked away Homura's hand at once, shouting, "Get your dirty hands off'n my sister and go disturb the crows or something!"

The purple eyes of Homura Akemi gleamed in merriment. "Crows? Why would I want to disturb crows when I've got humans to play with? Anyways, back to the point." Her face returned to its normal saturnine expression as she said in a dead-serious voice, "Do not go near Madoka Kaname, or I will personally ensure that you will not survive our next encounter. That is all." Without further delay, she stalked out of the class between the dumbstruck trio, flipping her long, lustrous hair in their faces.

***

Oriko had just returned home from school that day. She whipped out her cell phone and dialled Kirika's number, listening to the beeping tone impatiently.

"Oriko! You wouldn't believe what that Homura Akemi said to us in school today!" screeched Kirika's voice down the receiver. Oriko recoiled immediately, making a screwed-up face.

"Don't shout into the phone, Kirika, it's deafening," said Oriko curtly, walking about in her father's rose garden. "I called just to make sure you were okay, but it seems that you're not... Want to come over to my house and discuss about last night's events properly? Bring along the twins with you if possible."

"Sure, sounds more like an order than an offer, though," shot back Kirika cheekily. Oriko wanted to say something pert in response, but Kirika had already cut the line.

"That girl..."

***

The first thing that Sayaka did when they met up with Kyoko and Yuma that night was to give her a kick in the backside. Kyoko, who did not suspect anything at all, fell down flat and stubbed her nose, yelling.

"Hah! That's what you get for not coming to school and making us all worried sick!" she said, sticking out her tongue out at a very offended Kyoko. Mami and Yuma gasped, hurrying over to the red-head who was rubbing her rear end painfully. "I'm so gonna pay you back for that one, Sayaka Miki. I didn't go to school because I felt all weird... and because I haven't finished my homework," she grumbled as she allowed herself to be pulled up.

"Hah! I knew it!" crowed Sayaka triumphantly as Kyoko glared at her.

Madoka seated herself on the floor of Mami's living area, enquiring, "So, what is this weird thing that you wanted us to see, Kyoko-chan?"

Still rubbing her hips, she limped over to Madoka and handed her a small black cube about the size of small prune. It glowed softly - pretty yet ill-omened. Mami, Nagisa and Sayaka crowded around Madoka to get a glimpse of the mystery object, and Sayaka let out a long whistle. "Whew, that thing sure looks familiar. Can't quite wrap my mind around it though, sorry."

Mami took the cube from Madoka's hand, feeling its gentle pulse. Her silver ring hummed in resonance, and the yellow inset gemstone began to glow. Kyoko jumped up like a scalded cat and ran to her side, all the pain in her backside forgotten as she grabbed the black object from Mami and stuffed it into her pocket again. The blonde was stunned. "Why did you do that, Sakura-san? I was beginning to feel some sort of feeling, like... like the one you'd get after killing a Witch or Wraith and using its Grief Seed or Cube to purify our Soul Gems..."

The assembled girls went silent. The words 'Witch', 'Wraith', 'Soul Gem', 'Grief Seed' and 'Grief Cube' began to pop up from some deeply-embedded memory reservoir, bringing back images of scenes that were much better off forgotten; of deaths better off unwitnessed.

"Mami-san, I think something's going on here," said Sayaka, scratching her head. "Something very fishy and smelly..."

Nagisa raised her hand into the air, agreeing. "I think someone's tampering with our memory!"

Mami gazed at her ring again, wondering whether to tell her friends about her dream in school. Taking a deep breath, she decided that such an important thing must not be kept a secret. "Guys, I have something to tell you."

***

All five girls listened intently to Mami's dream description, and when she was finished, Madoka gulped. "I'm a G-G-Goddess? T-that can't be true!"

Sayaka and Nagisa latched themselves onto Madoka, with Sayaka almost screaming, "It's true! You're Madokami, the Bringer of the Laws of Cycles! Homura Akemi, the Demon, has wiped out your memories for who knows what reasons. Nagisa and I are your personal secretaries, we were supposed to remind you of your true identity should you ever forget, but it seems that Homura has foreseen that and interfered with our memories as well..."

Madoka continued to gape like a goldfish. "I don't understand... Why? Why would Homura-chan do such a thing?"

"Because she's the Demon who disrupted the Law of Cycles just to get your Goddess part away from your human part!" said Sayaka, clearly upset. "What other motive does that witch need to dethrone you?"

Tears began to well up in Madoka's eyes, which were now flickering between the colours pink and gold. "But...Homura-chan...Why?" Her eyes finally turned a complete gold colour, and her hair grew longer and longer. Her clothes were slowly glittering and forming into a long white dress, with large, white wings extending behind her back.

Mami, Kyoko and Yuma were sitting dumbly, observing the whole mystifying incident unfolding before them. Their minds were clicking furiously, piecing together all the shards of their broken-up memory as well as their brain-power allowed them to.

Puella Magi... Law of the Cycles... Witches and Wraiths... That was the way the world had worked before Homura had taken it all away...

The door opened quietly, its usual protesting squeak and creak absent. No one noticed the black, winged figure as she came in the room like a shadow from the netherworld.

"Forget it all."

The six girls collapsed into a heap, knocked unconscious by just three simple words. Homura walked to Madoka's side, picking her up as easily as she would to a bag of cotton. She whispered in her ear, smiling crookedly. "Forget everything you've discussed this night..." The wings and dress shimmered off of Madoka, replaced with her usual outfit. She opened Mami's window, spreading her wings apart and jumping off the sill with Madoka cradled against her chest; eyes closed; her petite face a peaceful visage.

"I won't allow you to turn back into the Goddess...Not after everything I've done..."

Together, the duo flew off into the dark night, blending into the low hanging clouds and disappearing from sight.

"...I will keep you with me forever..."

Sorry, I said I would update soon, but even though its my holiday, I'm so busy!! ;-; And the busy-ness somehow took away my creativity.... Sorry, this is such a long, boring chapter!! XC But I'll make it up to you guys with the next one (That's because a new Puella Magi is appearing in Chapter 11 XD)

~SaitheVivana