Another attempt at a chapter story, folks. I honestly disagreed with the ending of PMMM, but this is from a guy that played Tales of Symphonia. Plenty of conflicting morals, which I absolutely love when writing a story.

Anyways, shutting up. Let's get to it.

To Save a Life

From the time it began, she wanted it all to end.

Overhead, the night sky was fragmented by the flickering street lights, clinging to life through sheer willpower, desperately trying to keep the warm glow alive. The railway station, though normally closed at night to deter trespassers, offered no enforcement of these rules. Though notorious for gang activity and the occasional train screeching by on its never ending stop, the place was a ghost town during the twilight hours, barren to all forms of life.

Yet she still found herself here anyways.

Sitting on a seat near the railway ticket check-in, Sayaka Miki felt the final trace of tears slip from her weary eyes. Glancing at the blackened form of her Soul Gem, she laughed to herself; a quaint, yet humorless laugh meant only to pierce the tension in the cool night air. Her gem swirled with dark energy, all of her misery and grief locked and contained within the device that was her prison. The once bright blue interior now glowed a deep navy, colored black by the amount of grief stored within. Several visible cracks were steadily spreading across the clear surface, the tidal wave of grief and sorrow threatening to break the dam that was it's housing and be known, to her, to her friends, and to the world. And yet, for some reason, Sayaka couldn't bring herself to care.

"Because all I am is a husk..."

She remembered that day she made the contract. She remembered her pledge to be an ally of justice, to fight against the forces of evil. Her wish at that time seemed so meaningful, so worth it...

"Is that what you want?"

Kyubey stared at the soon-to-be Puella Magi with the same gaze as always, his tail swishing innocently about. Atop the roof of the hospital, the sun was just beginning to set, casting an orange hue along the city skyline, coating the two inhabitants in the evening glow.

Locking eyes with the Incubator, Sayaka nodded. "It's...it's possible, right? To fix his-"

"Oh, definitely. Don't worry, your wish is a good one." Kyubey said. "Just confirm the wish, and it will be granted. So long as you understand what you're getting into."

"I do." Sayaka said without hesitation. Kyubey merely nodded.

"Then let's get started."

With a great flash of light, the Incubator's will manifested itself upon Sayaka's human form. The metaphysical energies pushed Sayaka into the air; the creation of her Soul Gem, her fighting power, was a painful process at best.

For what reason it was, Sayaka didn't care. All she wanted was to save the man she loved.

That's what mattered, right?

Hitting the ground with a dull *thwack*, the girl immediately braced for the inevitable pain in her neck and lower spine, the impact landing her flat on her back. However, all she felt was a dull impact, her head feeling like it landed on slightly stiff cotton.

Kyubey stood above her, looking into her eyes with the same monotonous stare as always. Leaping off his perch, he moved over to sit next to Sayaka's head.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah...I think so." Sayaka slowly tested out her limbs, moving each one gingerly to assure that they were in working order.

When she got to her hands, she noticed with a surprising realization at the Soul Gem that now resided in her hand. It's outer casing, embalmed in a golden shine, contained a bright glowing sea of sky blue, matching Sayaka's hair and eyes perfectly. "Awesome..."

Slowly sat up on her elbows, Sayaka tucked her soul gem away in a pocket on her school skirt, careful not to crush it in any way, and focused her full attention on Kyubey.

"So, I guess that makes me a Magical girl now?"

Kyubey nodded. "Yes, it does."

Sayaka, after those words, leaped to her feet, fist-pumping the sky with an excited air about her. "Yeah! Let's get out there and make a difference!

Kyubey, emotionless to the entire ordeal, merely nodded.

The words of confidence that left her lips, all those weeks ago, felt like hollow echoes to Sayaka now. She never expected gratitude for her work, she never wanted Kyouske to know why his hand healed. Just the fact that it did...that was enough. Wasn't it?

But she knew Kyouske didn't love her...She knew he was probably with Hitomi now, talking about the smallest of things, enjoying each others' company, the occasional make out session.

Sayaka shook her head, a few stray tears being flung from her eyelashes. Hitomi gave her a fair chance, and she never took it.

But did she need it? After Kyouske hurt her, tore her heart apart, and never bothered to let her know that he was being released from the hospital...

"Who would love a zombie like me?"

Sayaka sighed once again, feeling tears well up in her eyes once more. Kyubey's admission as to the purpose of the soul gems was a betrayal she still hadn't gotten over. Laughing bitterly once again, she resisted the urge to throw the gem as hard as she could into the starry night. "What would it matter? Zombies don't' have emotions anyways-"

"Hey."

Wheeling about, Sayaka instantly came face to face with a stick of Pocky. Reeling back a bit, she noticed the Pocky was attached to a hand, which was attached to a female in a lime green hoodie and cut off jeans.

"What do you want, Kyouko? I'm not in the mood to fight you right now." Sayaka's voice was monotonous and icy, making Kyouko wince slightly. Maintaining her calm demeanor, she retracted the offering of food and plopped down beside Sayaka, pulling out a pocket-size brand of potato chips from seemingly nowhere.

"Not here to fight ya, kid." Kyouko said between mouthfuls of chips. "Just wanted to talk to ya for a bit."

"Why?" Sayaka's facial expression hadn't changed once since the initial conversation. "There are better things to do than worry about me."

Downing a third chip, Kyouko turned to the girl beside her, a slight expression of worry on her face. "Hey, what's up with you? There are people around you trying to help, and you're not exactly making their lives any easier."

Sayaka simply laughed, nonchalant as ever. "Don't go there, Kyouko. They can't do anything to save me. You should know that."

"That isn't an excuse to push them away! There are people that care about you, Sayaka, that want to help! You're not doing them any favors!"

"Help?" Sayaka's maintained her emotionless monotone, impervious to the growing fury of the girl beside her. "How can they help when they don't understand what I've been through? They try to know what I'm feeling, they try to know what I've been through. But in the end, they can't. It's pointless."

"Exactly, Sayaka!"

Despite the tense conditions, Sayaka had a look of confusion on her face. Kyouko saw it immediately, and continued.

"We don't understand! But we want to understand so that we can help you! You're talking to the most selfish bitch in this city, and even I want to help you!"

Sayaka laughed bitterly. "That makes one, and I'm doubtful to believe you."

"What about Madoka, then?"

Sayaka froze.

"Madoka, remember?" Kyouko pressed on, unrelenting in her assault. "The girl that came with you on your patrols, just so you wouldn't feel lonely? The girl that cared, even as you tore her heart, and your friendship apart, piece by fucking piece?"

Kyouko wasn't smart in academic standards, but she had seen enough despair in her life to know that mentioning Madoka made something in Sayaka crack slightly. The light clenching of her fists and the gentle trembling of her shoulders were clear giveaways to her. Taking a slight risk, she continued on her tirade.

"I heard the stories, Sayaka. I've talked to Madoka, held her as she cried because of you, and you have the gall to blame her for your actions!" Kyouko was seething with fury at this point. Pausing to take a calming breath, she continued, her voice slightly softer.

"All she wanted to do was help you, Sayaka. To hold you, make you feel better. And what did you do? You threw her away like yesterday's trash."

"Why were you with her?" Sayaka looked at Kyouko with wide eyes, her voice having a defensive edge to it.

"Hmm, I'm not sure Sayaka. It couldn't be because you mentally tortured at the bus stop or anything. It may have been the whole ignoring her while you're out killing yourself ordeal, but I'm honestly not sure" Kyouko replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "She's worried sick, and that's how you repay her?"

"I...I..." Sayaka was visibly breaking down at this point. Kyouku lowered her voice once again.

"Is that really how you treat your friends, Sayaka?"

Sayaka was crumbling, tears streaming down her face at a steady pace. Her encounter with Madoka still rang in her head, the pink-haired girl's sobs still echoing around like screams in a cavern, wracking her with guilt at every turn. "Madoka, why did I yell at you like that? You didn't deserve it...you didn't deserve it at all..."

Still, Kyouko did not let up. Though her voice was much softer at this point, Kyouko knew she had to maintain a firm control of the situation.

"But even after all that shit you did to Madoka, you want to know something, Sayaka? She still cares. She's probably out there, wondering just where the hell we are, trying to find you and talk to you so that you return to your old self, be that ally of justice she knows you are!" Kyouko leveled her eyes with Sayaka's, locking and holding her gaze. "She still cares. We all do. I know that she doesn't care that you're a zombie, or an inhuman bitch or whatever! You're still you, Sayaka, to her!

"Don't you see that?"

Sayaka imagined Madoka, tears streaming down her face, screaming her name as she ignored the strange looks of the people around her, desperately running and trying to find her...

A fresh wave of tears came forth, and Sayaka broke down full force, sobbing into her clasped hands.

"Why can't I do anything right?"

The city was lifeless, but she still had a purpose.

Madoka dashed through the streets, ignoring the startled reaction of nighttime partygoers as she continued her run westward. Her school bag was the least of her worries at the moment; leaving it at the school unattended was probably the worst idea possible, but right now Madoka had more pressing concerns.

She needed to find Sayaka.

Her initial walk to Sayaka's apartment had been what started the whole fiasco. After hearing from the front desk that she had not return home the previous night, Madoka had gone into a frenzy, dashing from one place to the next, desperately trying to find the one person she wanted to see most.

Without pausing, Madoka dashed into a nearby record store, the very one that she and Sayaka had spent so many hours combing through isles of music for that one perfect CD for Kyouske. On more than one occasion, when Sayaka was down, Madoka had found her here, listening to anything from Classical to heavy Samba in an attempt to calm herself down.

Startled patrons whipped their heads around as a pink-haired girl barged in, whirled around the store in a mad run, and just as quickly ran back into the night. None had the chance to say a word as the whole ordeal commenced, and most simply shrugged it off once the initial shock wore off.

'She's not there either. I'm running out of places to check!'

Sayaka's words still rang in her ears from the previous night at the bus stop. The malice, the emotionless monotone that sounded so unlike the girl Madoka knew for the past seven years still echoed in her head, clawing at her sanity and pushing her to tears with every thought. Madoka broke down several times during the whole ordeal, only to be called weak, powerless, and useless.

All by her best friend.

But still, even as Sayaka fled from her, even as Kyouko approached her that night to ask about Sayaka, to comfort and hold her through the night, swearing revenge...Madoka couldn't hate Sayaka. She was still Sayaka, her best friend, her confidant.

And that would never change.

Rounding another corner, Madoka took a deep breath, and continued running.

Kyouko gently caressed the shoulder of the still-crying girl, gently hushing her in a fashion very unlike that which the spear-wielder was used to. "Hey now, you're okay. We can still help ya. Fix you up so you're as good as new."

"No...I'm sorry, Kyouko, but I don't think you can."

Kyouko stared at Sayaka as if she'd grown a tail. "What do you mean?" Kyouko kept her voice low and gentle, trying to calm the distraught girl.

Sayaka let out a chuckle between sobs, still lacking some mirth, but still laced with sorrow. Without another word, she unclasped her hands, reveling the shattered and cracked Soul Gem to the girl beside her.

Kyouko let out a gasp at the damage, both physical and spiritual, present within the gem. The murky blue was mostly shrouded in black haze, slowly overtaking the color with grief.

"You were right." Sayaka choked back more of her tears. "I should have accepted your help. I shouldn't have hurt you, or Madoka like that, at all..."

"It's not too late!" Kyouko desperately reached out towards Sayaka. "We can still purify it, we ca-"

Sayaka simply shook her head, and Kyouko went silent.

"The balance of good and evil...will always be zero." Sayaka laughed once again. "What good will purifying my Soul Gem do, anyways? I still made mistakes, I still..." She paused, choking back more tears. "I still hurt you, and Madoka. I can't live with my regrets, I can't live to atone for my sins...

"Don't you see, Kyouko? I have no place in this world..."

As she spoke, a lone tear crept its way down to the base of Sayaka's chin, losing its traction. Slowly, it peeled away from the rest and began a slow fall down towards the ground.

"Kyouko..." Sayaka looked to the girl next to her, blue eyes flashing for an instant. "If you see Madoka again, tell her I'm sorry."

"Sayaka, wait!" Kyouko began to lunge for the girl, trying to nab her soul gem. If she could find a grief seed somewhere in the vicinity...

The lone tear, falling a short distance, gently impacted the surface of the Soul Gem, flowing all around it. As it moved, the last of the blue began to fade, and nothing but black took it's place.

Sayaka looked up to Kyouko, her eyes flashing a brilliant blue, almost unnaturally intense. Choking back a sob, she locked her eyes with Kyouko's. For a moment, she thought the old Sayaka had finally returned, just for a moment...

"I'm...I'm such a fool..."

Kyouko was blown back as a torrential wind overtook the station, sending papers, coffee cups, and dirt flying in every direction. Slowly, the layers of Sayaka's Soul Gem peeled away, gold plating and sky blue linings dissolving to reveal the skeleton of the device, a barren, black shell of her once-bright Soul Gem.

As the Grief Seed began its transformation, random images and distorted wavelengths flowed around the two, memories of the past, the despair of the present, and the grief at the lack of a future manifesting its physical form around the seed. Headless violinists slowly began forming amongst the chaos, lining up into the invisible seats of a massive orchestra, slowly beginning the concerto that would last all eternity.

Succumbing to the overpressure of the cyclone, Kyouku was blasted away from the vicinity, carried along the wind like a paper cup, tumbling through the air uncontrollably until her back impacted a nearby steel beam.

Using the beam as a tentative form of traction, she flipped herself over and grabbed it with her hands. Although the wind still attempted to carry her body away, her grip on the railing prevented such an event from happening.

Using the last of her vocal energy, Kyouku screamed one word.

"SAYAKA!"

Sayaka slowly sank to the floor, her soul overtaken by the newly formed Grief seed. The seed pulsed a dark black, driving the mental images further outwards, overtaking physical objects and transforming them into hideous monstrosities; familiars began forming and roaming around, sniffing at the air and seemingly rejoicing at their newfound life.

Slowly, from the ground, a massive behemoth began to rise, a contorted face surrounded by an unholy crown rising from the very depths of the earth. A massive red bowtie, wrapped around what could only be described as a neck, supported the metallic suit of armor, the organic metal conforming to the body of the monstrosity. Behind it, a billowing, blue cape, looking like that of a six-year-old's drawing, sprung forth and began flapping in the torrential wind. The last of the body: a mermaid's tail, lifted from the ground, completing the transformation of the twenty-story high witch.

In the center of the suit of armor, a single Grief seed, black as the starry nights beyond, lay fixated to the chestplate, feeding on the despair around the immediate vicinity. Swirling with dark energy, it manifested its hellish imagery around the physical world, transforming the train station into hell's orchestra.

The creature, pleased with its reawakening, began swaying back and forth in time with the music, the never-ending orchestra designed for it, and only it.

It never noticed the light speckles of blue, swimming about within the Grief Seed.

And as Oktavia von Seckendroff, the Mermaid Witch, swayed back and forth, lost in it's melodic trance, the corpse of Sayaka Miki lay still on the cold tile floor.

Chapter End.