Chapter 1: Replacement

Waves of currents rushed through the mind of the bewildered knight. Just a little while ago, she had been sitting on the bench in the train station, rambling mindlessly at the redhead that had come to greet her. And now…she glanced around at her surroundings, half expecting to see fish swimming around in her bubble-filled, watery upside-down vision. When did she end up like this?

"Sayaka!"

A voice called out to her, but from where she couldn't tell. Hey, as far as the blue-haired knight could tell, voices shouldn't have been able to carry down this deep down; wherever she was. Responding to her name, Sayaka twirled in the deep blue space, creating bubbles until she was upright again. What had happened after she'd shed that final tear? Flashes of memories with Kyousuke and Hitomi together made her feel a sense of nausea. She still couldn't believe it, even now…her two close people, betraying her without a second thought. No, she corrected, it wasn't their fault. It was because she hadn't been honest with herself.

"Sayaka!"

That voice again. It rang a bell to her, although she couldn't tell why. The pitch sounded familiar, but Sayaka couldn't recognize where exactly it came from because it sounded too concerned, too desperate to come from the person who normally had that high a pitch. That person had always been brash, harsh, no room for compassion. Now she could hear that same voice screaming her name as if their life depended on it.

Taking a glance around, she slowly began to ascend through the murky ocean. It had only just occurred to her now that the air was pungent with the sound of an orchestra playing. How had she not noticed that before? It seemed as if it was trying to drag her back down. So there was something at the surface, after all! With newfound determination, she reached to pull out a sword, until she realized that she no longer seemed to have her Soul Gem. Well, that wasn't going to be very helpful, she thought. And how was she planning on getting back to the surface by fighting sound waves? As surreal as her life had been up to this point, that would've just been unreal.

So what could she do? Sayaka was at a loss. The waves of the water coincided with the waves of the orchestra, working together to drag her further and further back into the abyss. "…Don't want to go…" She whispered softly, realizing there was no helping her now. "I don't want to go…I want to live…"

As if an answer to her plea, a bright red light penetrated the ocean the blue knight was trapped in, until she felt herself engulfed in a fiery warmth that she'd never felt before. It seemed so soft…yet so strong at the same time. It seemed to envelope her entire body with this warmth. What was it that had given her such comfort? As she glanced skyward, she appeared to be closing into a blinding tunnel of light, out of the darkness from wherever that despair in her Soul Gem had led her. At last she was freed from that watery prison! She braced herself as she closed in on its center, delivering her back into the reality that she knew.

"Kyouko-chan!" A pink-haired girl ran through the ever-dissolving barriers that had protected her from the dangers of the battlefield just prior. The fiery-haired girl she just addressed had slumped onto the ground in exhaustion, after what seemed like a while of taking the torturous wheels the pink-haired girl witnessed. Immediate concern rushing to her thoughts, the girl knelt down to try to help Kyouko. However, she was still aware that she was currently in the open, vulnerable to her friend's attacks. She still couldn't believe that Sayaka-chan had turned into that monster!

What happened when she looked up at the monster took the pink-haired girl by surprise. Oktavia, the witch monster they had been facing prior, had been engulfed by a bright, white light that overwhelmed the entirety of the barrier. In fact, the girl realized, the barrier seemed to be getting erased by this white light, and the witch…seemed to be changing form! Was it working? Did they really save Sayaka-chan like she and Kyouko-chan hoped? She quickly shielded her eyes as the white pierced through everything in its path.

It disappeared as quickly and as surprisingly as it came. Only the pink-haired girl, the unconscious red-head, and a silhouetted figure were left in its wake. Slowly she opened up her pink eyes and glanced around nervously, beholding the sudden disappearance of Sayaka-chan's barrier.

The figure moaned and groaned, startling the pink-haired girl and causing her to hold the unconscious red-head closer to her. It was in that moment that her heart sank. Maybe it was just because she could feel her own pulse beating rapidly, but she couldn't feel a pulse in the older girl at all! "Kyouko…chan?" Her eyes widened, and she quickly checked her pulse again.

As she did so, the figure sat up from the ground, revealing itself as Miki Sayaka, As if she'd just awoken from a long slumber, she let out a big yawn. "Hey, Madoka-huh?" She took this chance to look around herself, and see that she was definitely not at the train station. Exactly where had she gone in her blanked-out state? And who called her back?

The pink-haired girl, Madoka, looked up at her blue-haired friend and let out a loud gasp. "S-Sayaka-chan…!" Her eyes welled up with tears as she set the red-head down and ran to her friend. "You're alive! You came back to us!"

"Uh, sure?" Sayaka blinked, looking at the sorry state her childhood friend was in. "…Hey, Madoka? I'm sorry for hurting you before…back then."

Madoka shook her head and attempted a smile, but wells of sadness cracked at the surface. "N-No, it's okay, Sayaka-chan…" She glanced over her shoulder, at which time Sayaka noticed her friend's shoulders were trembling. "H-Hey…are you okay? Did you wake me up, Madoka?" The pink-haired girl looked up at her friend in bewilderment.

"…I…I tried calling to you…I-I'm glad to see that we could actually call you back, but…" Her voice trailed off and her eyes grew downcast.

"Madoka…? What happened?" Sayaka questioned, before she noticed a river of red behind them. She gently stepped past Madoka toward the source of the red river and gasped. Turned out it wasn't a river at all! Long strands of red hair lay helplessly against the ground and on the body of who Sayaka had registered as her enemy. "…Kyouko? What's Kyouko doing sleeping in a place like-" She paused at the sight of her gaping wounds. "…Madoka."

"Y-Yes, Sayaka-chan?" Madoka stepped closer to her friend.

"…What happened here? What are we all doing here, and why is Kyouko bleeding up a storm when she normally doesn't even get a dent?" Sayaka reached down to touch the unconscious female, but flinched back at her touch. "S-She's cold!" She cried out in alarm, looking around for her soul gem. Where was- she spotted the shape of a Soul Gem tucked underneath one of Kyouko's pools of hair and reached over to pick it up. Why was she unconscious, if her Soul Gem was right next to her? Then she felt the color drain from her face as she got a better look at it. "This…it's BLANK! The Soul Gem's…EMPTY!"

"Ehh?!" Madoka quickly rushed over, feeling the same terror she'd felt when they first discovered that Magical Girls were nothing but empty shells. "Oh, NO! What happened?!" From where she was standing back before, crying out desperately for Sayaka to respond to them, nothing seemed strange on Kyouko's side. But she had been concerned by the sudden dissolving of those four layers of barriers Kyouko had laid out in front of Madoka for defense. Maybe if they talked to Kyuubey about it, he'd know something about…

"A-Anyway, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka put her thoughts to the side as she went to her friend. "H-How is your Soul Gem?" Sayaka reached over and pulled hers out. "Much better than Kyouko's, I know that-"

Her words were caught in her throat as she caught sight of the gleaming red glow emanating from HER Soul Gem. "What…the…?!" She held it up to get a better look at the gem, eyes widening in shock and disbelief. "Madoka! We need to see Kyuubey…NOW!" Her friend nodded and quickly reached over to try and pick up the lifeless red-head by their feet. "No, Madoka. I'll take care of her. You go on ahead and find Kyuubey."

"Okay. S-Should I let Homura-chan know about this?" Madoka asked, still overwhelmed by the terrifying implications this event gave to them. Sure, Kyouko-chan managed to save Sayaka-chan from cursing others as a witch…but did she give herself up in exchange? She started to run the opposite direction from where she and Kyouko had entered into.

"Madoka." A calm voice called her out of her thoughts as she halted to a stop. "…You're okay." It sounded like a statement, but Madoka couldn't help but think it had a hint of confusion and a bit of…relief? "Homura-chan…!" Madoka turned towards the taller female and ran over to her. "Please, you have to help Kyouko-chan! Something strange has happened!"

"Strange?" The raven-haired girl looked past Madoka towards the area she had always known Oktavia's barrier to be. Usually, Sakura Kyouko would have been in this area, either blown to smithereens, sliced by Oktavia's sword, or unwillingly victorious. What Homura hadn't expected was seeing Miki Sayaka of all people lifting up the red-haired magical girl's unconscious form. This meant that Miki Sayaka was alive and well. "How…?" She quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but did nothing else other than follow Madoka to where she was going.

"Sakura Kyouko is unconscious, you say." A white-furred creature made itself at home on the wrinkled blanket of the bed Kyouko had been using to keep Miki Sayaka's corpse from rotting. Sayaka blinked, looking at the slowly dissipating form of what was once her. "It's not just that," Sayaka replied as she reached in and pulled her Soul Gem out of her school uniform pocket. Glancing back at her corpse, she could see it looked like the form of the hardware switched into this body she now had. The body that Madoka hastily had explained was a witch just a little while ago. "But first…Kyuubey, you tricked us! You never told us that we turned into witches! Is this some kind of…" She shook her head, looking back at the gleaming Soul Gem. As she saw it earlier, it still seemed to burn like an ember, instead of that cerulean sea color she was used to her soul being.

Homura caught a glimpse of it. "…!?" Such an event had never happened before. She wasn't even sure what it was she was looking at. If it weren't for Miki Sayaka's crescent soul design being on the Soul Gem, she would swear that the blue-haired girl was holding Sakura Kyouko's Soul Gem. Instead, she noticed, Madoka was now holding what looked like an empty Soul Gem that held the intricate design of Sakura Kyouko's soul.

"I see." Kyuubey said, looking at the ruby Soul Gem being held in his sight. "It appears, although the chances of that happening are next to none; that Sakura Kyouko has passed on her soul energy to you. How she actually managed such a thing is what is surprising. Yet based on the evidence we see here, she had to have, as you, Miki Sayaka, are now alive and well, and she is dead, with an empty Soul Gem. The only way the Soul Gem could be empty is if she managed to transfer her soul into another object, leaving her own body lifeless." He closed his eyes. "Not that it would surprise me. She was a master illusionist, at one point. Still, to think that she would manage to outsmart the system…" He opened his eyes again and looked up at Sayaka, who was completely at a loss for words. "As of now, you and Sakura Kyouko share the same body. However, as it is not made to read her soul energy, only your consciousness will show. You can now access Sakura Kyouko's powers, but she cannot access yours." He concluded with a smile.

"W-Wha…that…Kyouko of all people…" Sayaka looked back down at the Soul Gem, then over to Kyouko's corpse which was laid on the floor, as the old Miki Sayaka hadn't completely disappeared. "I can't believe she…" Why did she do such a thing? Now it was Sayaka that had to live on, stealing the soul energy of the last person she had ever expected to even lend her a helping hand. Well, it was true that Kyouko seemed to be getting ever softer as Sayaka descended further into despair, but…

"That's it, then." Kyuubey flopped onto his side in comfort. "You will fight the witches in her stead." This of course meant that there would still be two magical girls to take on Walpurgisnacht, giving the off-chance that Kaname Madoka may not need to contract, which would mean that her immense potential would not be converted into energy for the universe. Oh, well. There was still time, and Miki Sayaka was still rather reckless.

"I suppose I will have to make do, then." Homura said with a sigh. "Miki Sayaka, I understand that you and I have never been on greatest terms…"

"You tried to kill me!" Sayaka yelled.

"But we must let bygones be bygones. Originally, Sakura Kyouko had agreed to team up with me against Walpurgisnacht, a colossal witch that does not need a barrier. This witch will be the downfall of Mitakihara, and if left alone, the world. However, Sakura Kyouko has traded her life for yours. Therefore, I have lost my ally." She pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation before she continued. "You now possess the abilities that Sakura Kyouko once had. I need your assistance in taking down Walpurgisnacht if we are going to survive this."

"Wait- I need to work with you?!" Sayaka cried, looking back down at the lifeless female who, until recently, had been more of a monster than that transfer student. "…If it's for the sake of the people of Mitakihara…I guess I'll agree to work with you."

"In that case, we have no time to waste. Head back home and get some rest. It won't be much time for preparation, but we will discuss the details of the battle early tomorrow. Right now, you need to inform your parents that you are still alive." Homura sighed, holding her head. Despite her calm demeanor, she wasn't sure how to take this current outcome at all. On the one hand, Sakura Kyouko had managed to save Miki Sayaka instead of dying alongside her, and so she still had at least one other magical girl to fight against the colossal witch. But on the other hand…she looked back at Sayaka. Miki Sayaka was inexperienced as it was, but now she had more power that she didn't know how to control, and there wasn't nearly enough time for her to learn. She bit her lip in frustration.

"R-Right…" Sayaka nodded to Madoka. "Let's go, Madoka. Your parents have gotta be worried, too." The two of them headed toward the hotel door, but Sayaka took one last look at the corpse lying on the carpet. She seemed so peaceful lying there; Sayaka almost couldn't believe that she was dead. The only thing that might've given any notion of death was the gaping wound in her side and the cold temperature she gave off. 'Sorry…maybe I should've listened to your stories a little bit more…I mean, you had it rough, too.' She sighed and closed her eyes, heading out the door and out of the hotel.