Suzume stared blankly ahead of her, where a Puella magi lay. Her hands shook as she held onto a stick, her eyes filled with tears. She didn't want to do this, she wanted to go home-

"Suzume." Homura said sternly as she pressed on the girl's soul gem. Suzume let our a scream. "You aren't disobeying me, are you?" The orange haired magi shook her head feebly, shaking I'm pain. Homura smiled and let her up. "Good."

Suzume turned to the soul gem with a heavy heart and pressed the girl's soul gem, a horrid scream of pain as she thrashed. Her pleas fell of deaf ears. 'I have to do this, I have to. For Yuuki, for...' She hesitated while she pressed harder, cracking the girl's soul gem and pulling away.

"Good...." Homura purred at the display of loyalty and grabbed the limp body with a grin. "How loose, I wonder if Madoka is like this when she's sleeping?" The sentiment made Suzume's stomach churn. She knew this woman was crazy, but making her own lover a limp rag doll?

Yes, Homura had wiped Madoka's memory and made her, in basic terms, a zombie. She would smile and walk and do basic functions, but her gem was dull with Homura's curse. The thought of the selfless goddess being made less than that made Suzume bite back bile. She had made one desperate decision, and it cost her her life.

"If you will allow, I want to be alone." Suzuki fought to keep her voice level and void of emotion, but she could hear the wavering of her words. With a disgruntled sigh, Homura waved Suzume off.

Suzume went to her own tent and sunk to the ground, her hand over her mouth as she sobbed. This was horrible, and she's had to sit back and watch it. Every time she had to do that, she could only imagine her friend's faces instead of the people she was condemning to insanity. Haruka, Rio, Camilla, Lapis...

Sakina. The thought struck her like lightening and she looked at Her gem with alarm. No, she couldn't... she couldn't betray Homura. Doing that would be a fate worse than death.

A life of killing her friends while she watched from behind the glass, screaming and crying for her to stop, for her hands to stop. She couldn't bear to see the looks of horror or betrayal in their eyes if that happened.

Her heart hammered in her chest, slamming against her rib cage and probably two times faster than it was supposed to be. No, she couldn't die. She has to live, she-

Calm.

Calm down.

Don't panic.

You're okay.

She's alive.

She's safe.

You're alive.

But was she safe? It wasn't outright horror that she experienced, it was dread. She would never be safe here, not until her friends were all dead.

"I see you have quite the problem." The voice was serene and gentle, a warm light spreading through Suzume. It was calm, fierce, yet careful. She could imagine the voice wrapping around her like a blanket, like it knew how fragile she was.

It took much effort to not look up at the speaker, Suzume knew if she looked up she was done. Homura would declare her a traitor and she'd be forced out of her own soul.

"Look at me, nothing will come of sheer stubbornness." The voice, feminine and sweet, soothed her as finger tips brought her chin up.

The girl was quite short, 5' at most. Her brilliant eyes seemed to be coated with glitter as the gentle green looked down sympathetically at the broken girl. Her skin was pale, sickly, but the girl didn't seem to care. It seems like she had been kept for months. Her long, uneven, silky platinum hair was tied loosely and carelessly in a ponytail behind her.

The strangest thing was that her gem was murky. Suzume was funky aware that it wasn't normal, that it was dangerous, but the girl didn't seem to sustain any damage. Suzume's lips twitched into a frown, stroking the young girl's cheek. "I... I know you... but.... I can't remember from where..." Her voice shook, staring dumbly at the unknown girl.

"I'm not really here, you've gone for so long. I'm proud, how far you've come. I watch over everyone whose wishes were selfish, for their gems typically do not hold a lot of power." The green eyes studied Suzume's gem like it was a science project. "But you're an anomaly. Your wish was selfish and weak, but it's grown stronger over time; I've taken a special interest, I must admit."

"What do you mean you're not really here? I can see you!" Suzume countered as she got one foot up but fell. Her hands shook as she felt her legs. The muscles were tense and trembling, which Suzume suspected was her anxiety's fault.

"I do not know, it has been years since I myself have had a true identity. My body died long ago, and my gem has kept me alive. Where it is, I also do not know. I've been wondering around for decades, but I have not found a suitable host." The stranger stared blankly off into the distance. "But I feel like I'm forgetting something important. Something that I should remember but it's just out of my reach. A warm smile with laughter, but I cannot remember from who."

Suzume could feel the memory gnawing at her brain, but seeing this young girl so hurt and confused made her upset. What would be so important that you forget about it and live for decades? Why was her gem dull? If she lost her body, how was she speaking to Suzume right now?

"Are you possessing someone right now?" She asked the stranger. The young girl blinked and then turned to Suzume, a small smile on her face.

"You have much to learn, that's why I'm here. Your gem has suffered greatly, in ways no words can describe." The stranger flinched and her hand went to her own soul gem, an I pleased frown taunting her face. She cupped Suzume's soul gem and the dull gem of the stranger brightened.

Suzume yelped as it felt electricity go through her. Her transformation triggered but now streaks of green ran through her orange outfit. A green, pale glass rose seemed strange. Suzume gripped it, but it did not break. She pulled her hand away from the new bow and frowned, feeling out her new transformation.

It only took Suzume to notice a gentle hum as her body pulsed with energy. Her eyes looked around frantically, but she found nothing. Curious, she decided to hum the same tune. "Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember..."

Another voice answered her, the one she had just heard. "Things my heart, used to know, once upon a December..."

She went rigid. Once Upon A December. The girl had stated she was looking for a host, but for her to know that song, she must've been born before and died before.

The song shifted, this time in a language she didn't understand. It felt primordial, ancient. Suzume stepped to the right, and a chime followed. She stepped to the left, a ring followed. Who, or rather what, was this stranger?

"It's time to sleep, you're safe with me." Suzume felt her eyelids grow heavy as she drifted backwards into the embrace of a girl. "You've kept her safe, it is only right I free you. Keep her with you, and you will be under my protection."

Suzune caught a glimpse of a disheveled mess of a woman. Dressed in robes, completely black eyes, almost matching her pitch black hair, which curled and waved down to her waist, and Carmel covered skin. "You've brought her back... and I cannot thank you enough. I release you."

Suzume let out a sigh as she fell asleep, a warmth running through her blood that she hadn't felt since before she was under Homura's curse.

Peace.

"Someone holds me safe and warm.... horses prance through a silver storm..." Her eyes closed, and Suzume fell into a dream.

A young beautiful girl with platinum hair with a girl with amber eyes and Carmel skin, laughing as they drunkenly danced to 'And She Will Be Loved'. It seemed happy, but as it went on, the Carmel skinned girl faded and the platinum haired girl grew more and more unkempt.

Both danced until the Carmel skinned woman turned into a murky green soul gem, and the platinum girl staring straight ahead. After all, her mind was blank. It grew fuzzy for Suzume, her following the girl aimlessly while the girl searched for the thing that would fill the hole in her heart, but Suzume knew it would never be filled. Not until the woman with the carmel skin was back.

To Suzume, the worst part was hearing the girl's thoughts.

"Who am I? Where did you go?" After a minute. "What am I supposed to be doing here, what's missing? Purpose? It's so dark... but that's okay. I'll wake up and remember soon."

"Remember who?"

"I... I don't know.... it's all fuzzy...." The girl fell to her knees. "X.... X..... that letter has to mean something. It has to, why is that... the only thing I..."

"Remember? There.... isn't anything to remember, is there? It was all just a Dream, I woke up."

"Or did I not wake up?"

"I never woke up.."

"X.... help me.... I don't know what.... I need to do... why am I here?"

"I... understand. Just keep moving and hope for something to come along."

But it never came. Suzume could feel the hopelessness as the platinum haired girl as she kept searching, but without any memories to guide her, it became a hopeless case. She gave up, spent a decade staring at a wall until her body withered to bones.

"I'll never be found. What's a girl without a memory? A purpose? What am I supposed to know? To remember? What happened in that dream? Why am I here? Will I never find a way out? Can I hope anymore?"

No one answered.

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