Chapter 16 - Clashing Swords

The bullet bounced off another white barrier Oriko had summoned to protect her face. Immediately afterward in retaliation, one of her spheres fired a golden beam which blasted Homura's gun out of her hand.

That was fine though, as the sound of a clattering metallic object drew Oriko's attention downward to see a smoke grenade. Homura had tossed it when she fired the first bullet.

Smoke started to pour out of the canister and within a few moments the entire inner dome was consumed by it. However thanks to the glowing string of magic connecting the two of them, Oriko would always know Homura's approximate position and vice versa.

"Oracle Ray."

All her spheres fired at once through the smoke. Unfortunately they didn't seem to hit the target as not a moment later did bullets began to fire at her in rapid succession.

The bullets struck Oriko's barrier. If this was all Homura could do against her then she was honestly very disappointed. She watched the string of magic moved around the smoke, and could sense Homura getting closer toward her.

"Oracle Sword."

Oriko summoned her weapon and prepared herself to stare down the barrel of a gun. However instead she witnessed a thin black object being swung at her. Oriko reacted by bringing up her sword to block and was surprised when she felt magic from the very thing that attempted to strike at her.

As she far as she knew, all of Homura Akemi's weapons were ordinary human inventions.

The smoke began to clear, and Oriko realised her sword was blade locked with a black and blue katana that Homura was wielding. Oriko could feel an intense force pressing against her. It wasn't just Homura's physical strength, but magical power coming from the opposing blade as well.

Oriko began to push back harder to keep the other sword locked with her own.

"Now this is a genuine surprise. Where did you obtain a weapon like that?"

As she spoke, two spheres started to float behind Homura. Each one charging up to blast her in the back like last time.

However unlike last time, Homura kept her senses up and could detect the magic gathering behind herself. In an instant, she pulled her sword back, turned her body around, and shot down the two spheres with a pistol before facing the white Mahou Shoujo once more.

Oriko backed off while keeping her sword up as she realised something. She had assumed that Homura Akemi was holding the the sword in both hands due to the amount of force Oriko felt when they clashed weapons, but it seemed like she was wrong.

The dark haired girl had been using a single hand to wield the katana, while keeping a gun in the other the whole time.

So cheap tricks won't win this one... that's good...

"This sword..." Homura started, as she pointed the blade toward her enemy and began to answer Oriko's earlier question. "It was a gift. One that I will defeat you with."

Oriko narrowed her senses into focusing on the black katana with a blue edge. She soon realised that the magic it was radiating, wasn't Homura's magic. It was...

Her eyes widened before darting toward Sayaka Miki just outside the dome barrier.

Before Oriko could properly process the information, her premonition senses warned her of an incoming attack. She shifted her body to the side as a bullet flew past her. Before Homura could adjust her aim and take another shot, Oriko closed the distance between them at high speed and knocked the gun out of Homura's hand with a swing of her blade.

Homura responded with a diagonal slash but Oriko was already moving her blade to block the attack.

The two swords collided once more, creating a miniature shock wave between them. They both stayed in place, pushing their weapons against the other.

Homura grasped the handle of her sword with the second hand to help herself hold the position. She could tell now that trying to fight Oriko Mikuni at range was simply not an effective option. It was manageable during their first battle, Homura did end up victorious after all. But now with the new techniques Oriko had in her skill set, she could counter almost every weapon Homura possessed.

All except the blade in her hands, the one Sayaka had made stronger through magic. In a way, it was thanks to her that Homura even stood a chance right now.

Even now, she's helping me...

The two girls broke off and jumped back to create distance. Oriko summoned more spheres in front of herself and prepared to fire rays of magic. Homura pulled out a submachine gun and started spraying bullets at them. Luckily she had managed to destroy all the spheres before they could shoot.

While it seemed like Homura couldn't use her guns to directly defeat Oriko Mikuni, at least they still had a use to prevent ranged attacks against herself.

She placed the machine gun back into the pocket space within her shield and held the katana in front of herself with both hands once more. Homura and Oriko readied their themselves for the next clash.

Each Mahou Shoujo came to understand that using projectile attacks would at best, leave them at a stalemate. So, there was really only one way to continue.

At the exact same time, both girls charged forward and swung their blades. The swords slashed at the other, creating sparks as the girls ended up in the position the other was moments ago. Not wasting any time, both Mahou Shoujo turned around and immediately attacked with another swing.

That was when the exchange of blows really began. The footwork of the two of them started moving faster and their sword strikes hitting harder. It didn't take long for Oriko to become accustomed to Homura's new sword. A sword that seemed to emanate the magic of Sayaka Miki.

Oriko was indeed curious about the weapon Homura Akemi was wielding against her, but she decided to leave those thoughts for another time.

They continued to clash blades, but neither one could truly gain the upper hand for very long. Sometimes Homura could have the advantage, but in a split second the tide of battle would turn in Oriko's favour.

To think that anyone could push Homura's sword skills to the limit like this. Skills that Sayaka had taught her so long ago.

However, this stalemate couldn't continue forever. Homura could already feel the exhaustion creeping up on her. It was possible Oriko was feeling the same, but Homura didn't want to leave it up to chance. After one more clash, she purposely jumped back and pulled out an object from her shield.

She pulled the pin off the object using her teeth and threw it down on the floor and let it bounced toward Oriko. It was a grenade, not a fragmentation one as she had run out of those, but a stun grenade.

Oriko realised exactly what it was, and knew she simply couldn't throw up a protective barrier against something like this. It wasn't designed to protect against something that assaulted the senses. So, if Oriko was going to be hit by it, she might as well make sure she wasn't the only one.

In the blink of an eye, Oriko reached down to the string of magic connecting herself to Homura, and pulled on it as hard as she could. This resulted in Homura tripping over and unable to get away from the grenade she had thrown.

It went off, creating a high intensity blinding light, something which Oriko would've used her arms to help block out but her hands were occupied covering her ears in a near fruitless attempt to suppress the overwhelming noise that the grenade set off.

The sheer volume of sound was almost paralysing. She now understood first hand why the military used something like this to stun their targets. It was so loud that even the girls outside the barrier felt like they had to cover their own ears as well.

Homura was fairing only slightly better than Oriko, if only for the fact that she had accidentally set off grenades like this near herself sometimes in the past.

Definitely not highlights of her journey.

Deep within Oriko, she started feeling a certain kind of magic start to activate in response to the assault on her senses.

Damnit not now...

Oriko Mikuni found herself staring at a rather large figure. She was unable to get a good look at it however since not a moment later did a sword swing right through it from behind. The figure disintegrated and as it disappeared, Oriko could see Homura Akemi standing there. She was holding a sword, the same one that the girl revealed to Oriko during their battle.

The future seer looked around herself. It was night and she was in a city, but it didn't look like any area of Mitakihara she knew. Was it another city entirely? Or perhaps it was Mitakihara but in a place she didn't recognise.

She had to leave those thoughts for later, as Oriko noticed that Homura was staring up to the sky. She looked up too but didn't see anything particular off about anything above.

That is until she noticed a single black feather in the light of the moon.

When Oriko returned her gaze to Homura, she realised that the dark haired girl now had her eyes closed. It seemed like she was trying to focus on something within herself.

She didn't have to wait to find out what it was, as large angelic white wings started to form on Homura's back.

Oriko could hardly believe the sight. She had never seen Homura Akemi possess that ability before. Before she could think on it any more, Homura flapped her wings and shot up into the sky.

Oriko's mind returned to the present day. The blinding light was gone. Her auditory senses still damaged but recovering. It took a few more seconds but she was finally feeling ready to get back into the fight. She created the Oracle Sword in her hands, raising the blade in front of herself as Homura also recovered and did the same with her own blade.

Both Mahou Shoujo took in heavy breaths, neither girl initiating another attack for the time being. If there was any time to rest from the prolonged fight it would be now. Oriko took that time to dwell on the vision she had seen.

The vision was unfortunately quite short so there was little to think about. The one big take away was definitely the wings Homura somehow had. As far as Oriko knew, there was no way for the time traveler to create wings like that.

So would that mean she would gain that power in the future?

As Oriko's thoughts dwelled on the vision, Homura was trying to formulate a way to end this battle. Through out this whole fight, neither combatant managed to get in a single clean definitive strike against the other.

And Homura had the sinking feeling that due to the exhaustion in both of them, the first one to get that clean strike would be victor.

She knew she could try her guns again, but that likely only lead to Oriko responding with that annoying "Oracle Ray" technique.

Damnit, what should I do?

"You know Homura Akemi, you are actually rather weak."

Well, it seemed like Homura wouldn't have more time to think since Oriko had just opened her mouth to insult her. Homura wanted to just dismiss her out of hand, assuming that the white Mahou Shoujo was just trying to mess with her.

However, she couldn't help but be a little curious about where this would go.

"Alright I'll bite, what exactly do you mean?"

If nothing else, keeping a conversation going would at least give her more time to regain her strength. Of course that would apply to Oriko too but Homura was willing to make that trade.

"Why don't you think about it Homura Akemi? Do you really have any power? Or at least, any power that's actually yours?"

"Any power... that's mine?"

"You never noticed? All those guns and military equipment you have, that isn't your power at all. Even the sword you now hold, it isn't even yours. You fight only with borrowed strength from others, and never with your own."

This was not something Homura expected her opponent to go on about. Where was this going?

"So what? I can't change what my abilities are. I understood very early on my own limitations, and that I needed to use power that wasn't mine to achieve my goal."

"But you haven't achieved it, right?"

Homura didn't respond as she felt her breath being caught in her throat before letting out a small grumble. It was a hard pill to swallow, but Oriko Mikuni did have a point.

Even after all this time, she hadn't defeated Walpurgisnacht. Years have gone by, and not once had she come close to ending her journey.

Still, as long as Homura could still move forward then she resolved to never give in to despair and keep holding onto hope.

"Again, so what? I'll keep trying. I won't ever stop, and nothing you say will convince me otherwise."

"Indeed." Oriko summoned more spheres to her side. Homura was about to reach for another gun, but stopped when she noticed the spheres begin to orbit the white magical sword.

Her eyes widened as she watched the spheres begin to be absorbed into the blade. She could sense the weapon become even more dense with magic. So much so that it looked like the sword was becoming even more unstable, with small wisps of magic coming off the weapon.

Oriko pointed the blade directly at Homura. "If you believe yourself to be strong, then defeat me. Prove that you do in fact have your own strength."

Homura took in a deep breath and focused her mind as she got ready to attack. The intention from Oriko was clear, this battle would end with the next attack. The sword looked so unstable from absorbing all those spheres it seemed like it could only handle one more strike anyway.

Homura!

Sayaka's mental voice made itself loud and clear in Homura's mind.

What is it?

You're... you're not weak.

Huh?

You're strong. I know you are, if you weren't then I wouldn't be here right now. It doesn't matter if you need to borrow power from others, because I'm always willing to lend you mine.

In that moment, Homura felt magic surge from within the sword she was holding. The blade itself started to become surrounded by a blue aura as Homura felt that it was Sayaka's magic that seemed to be powering up the sword.

Sayaka, what are you doing?

Will explain later. Just, use it to finish this fight. I know you can do it.

Sayaka cut off their connection and Homura was left staring at the blade that was now covered in the magic of her friend. She didn't have long to think on it, and so was forced to accept the situation as it was.

Oriko also stared at the sword with great interest as she too felt the magic of Sayaka Miki coming from it. She couldn't help but wonder how the sword worked, but also knew that she was unlikely to find anytime soon.

The two girls started channeling magic right under their own feet. They both gripped the handle of their respective weapon's harder and after taking in another breath... they attacked.

The magic underneath the feet of each Mahou Shoujo suddenly propelled them both toward each other at an extremely fast speed. In a single moment, they reached the centre of the dome barrier and swung their blades at each other.

Both girls passed one another and each ended up on the other side of the arena. At first it was unclear if anyone had even scored a clean hit at all, that was until Oriko fell down on one knee and was clutching a large slash wound on her side as her sword dissolved.

Homura turned back around to face Oriko when she realised she had made it out of that one unscathed. The magic of Sayaka Miki covering the black and blue sword faded away, leaving the blade back to its original state.

The white Mahou Shoujo did not face Homura as she was currently focused on apply pressure to her wound but still managed to speak up.

"I... concede defeat."

That was it. The battle was officially over and Homura Akemi was the victor.

The barrier of magic surrounding them faded away along with the string of magic connecting the two Mahou Shoujo. Kirika rushed to Oriko's side as Sayaka ran to Homura's.

Madoka, Mami and Kyoko all stood in place as they all shared similar thoughts. Just who was Homura Akemi?

The girl had her own secrets, that much was clear. But from the way Oriko spoke, it seemed like Homura had far more going on with her than any of them originally thought.

Madoka in particular was becoming even more curious about the friendship between Homura and Sayaka. The more she thought about it, the more unbelievable the idea was that Sayaka had some secret childhood friend for years and she had never said anything about it.

She could only hope that one day, the truth would be revealed to her.

Oriko stood up once she felt somewhat recovered and assured Kirika that she was going to be fine. It would take some time but her Soul Gem would heal the wound. The girl looked down at her hand she remembered how Homura had been able to dodge her attack while also being able to score a clean slash against her.

Perhaps... the strength of Homura Akemi was not the power she inherently possessed, but the way she wielded the power of others.

Regardless, the loss on her end was clear. She turned her gaze back toward Homura Akemi and the two made eye contact.

"I have lost and as agreed, I will no longer attempt to take the life of you and Madoka Kaname."

Sayaka felt great relief upon hearing those words. She had a good feeling that Oriko wouldn't turn back on the agreement but it was still nice to hear her say it. Homura meanwhile, kept her gaze focused on Oriko. Her face betraying no emotion.

"Why? Why do any of this at all? Explain yourself Oriko Mikuni."

The white Mahou Shoujo was left with a choice. She could inform Homura Akemi of the unknown threat that was coming, but doing that could well have unforeseen consequences. As of right now she barely had any concrete information to go on, and so she didn't feel comfortable with revealing the future just yet.

Still, Oriko figured she could answer Homura's question to some degree.

"Is it not obvious? I wanted to test your strength. If you proved yourself to be strong... then perhaps the path I walked wasn't the right one. With this defeat you have given me, that is now clearly the case."

"Then, what will you do now?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure..."

Oriko looked up at the sky, almost expecting to see something but witnessed nothing out of the ordinary. She recalled the new vision she had during the battle, particularly of the wings that the future Homura Akemi possessed.

It was only a gut feeling, but Oriko felt that the dark haired girl had something significant awaiting in her future. Something more than just obtaining a new magical ability.

What Oriko did know for sure, was that she had a lot of things to contemplate.

"I believe I shall take my leave. I do not believe this is the last we will see of each other, so until next time, Homura Akemi.

Oriko began to walk away back into the school with Kirika right behind. Madoka and her friends moved out of the way to let the girls pass. As Oriko walked in front of Madoka, she shifted her head to make eye contact with the pink haired girl.

It was the first time that either of them directly met the other. Madoka wanted to say something, anything at all... but no words came. Oriko continued to walk past her and began to go down the stairs.

Madoka also hoped that one day she would come to understand Oriko Mikuni, and why she once wanted her and Homura dead. It was a strange thing, to have your own life be targeted for death, and yet upon finally meeting the person who wanted you dead, it seemed like it had already become an insignificant concern.

Oriko on the other hand, was simply wondering what kind of future awaited Madoka Kaname. The girl who had the potential to be the strongest Mahou Shoujo, and the most terrifying Witch.

Madoka Kaname... what does the future have in store for you?

Homura sat down on a bench once she confirmed that Oriko was gone from the area. She dissolved her transformation as the girl just wanted to take a break from, well everything. The first thing Homura was going to do when she got home was take a long bath and rest.

The entire ordeal with Oriko Mikuni had been draining, both physically and mentally.

Still, at least she had won. And as long as Oriko kept her end of the agreement, Madoka was safe from at least one threat.

Afterward a quick rest, Homura informed the group that she would be going back home. The girl made it clear that she was immensely tired. She could tell everyone except Sayaka had questions, but it seemed like her friends would refrain from asking for the time being.

A gesture that Homura appreciated. Perhaps another, she would be ready to reveal the truth to everyone.

Sayaka thought the night sky looked rather beautiful to look at. She stood a top a skyscraper and watched the stars as she waited for a certain someone to show up.

"Well, you're here early."

She heard Homura's voice from behind as she chuckled. The two of them had agreed to meet up here a top this specific sky scraper, the purpose was that Homura still needed an explanation about the what the sword did during the battle against Oriko Mikuni.

Homura transformed on the spot and pulled out the now magical katana from her shield as Sayaka turned around to face her.

"Alright, you're going to explain what in the world happened back there."

"Well, it seemed like my Witch added something a little extra to the sword. You see that hair clip?"

Sayaka pointed to the small object connected to the chain as Homura nodded.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well it's actually more than just a decoration. It's a magic container. Or at least that's what Oktavia calls it. Think of it like a battery filled with magic."

"And you didn't mention this before because..."

Sayaka raised her hands in mock surrender. "Hey, she didn't even tell me about it until during your battle."

"Alright fine- wait a minute you're conversing with your Witch naturally?"

"Pretty much, it's like a mental communication between Mahou Shoujo, except it's with a Witch inside me..."

Homura dropped the topic as she sensed Sayaka's uncomfortable feelings and held the sword high so she could look at the little hair clip at eye level. The entire sword emanated magic, but now that she focused her senses, she realised that a lot of it was concentrated from within the musical note shaped object.

"Back to the previous topic, you say that this is some kind of magic container?"

"Yeah, Oktavia said that I ended up putting a lot of my own magic into it, and that I can activate it to power the sword at any time."

Just as Sayaka finished her sentence, the hair clip replica glowed blue and the sword was covered in her magic once more. It quickly faded away as Homura was left stunned by the sight.

"That's... Sayaka you've created something incredible here."

Sayaka blushed a little in response to the praise. "Hehe, thanks. Oh, and my Witch also said it might be possible for you to fill the container with your magic as well."

"Wait, what? How is that possible?"

Homura tilted her head to look her friend as she noticed Sayaka becoming nervous for some reason.

"It's... well, according to her it would only work if our magic was... compatible with one another."

That was certainly a new concept to Homura. She didn't know magic from different Mahou Shoujo could potentially be compatible with others. Even after all this time, there was still much about magic Homura didn't understand. A Witch that was recently born seemed to know more than she did.

"Only one to find out of we are compatible right? So how would I go about filling this with my own magic?"

Sayaka took a very long, deep breath and steeled her nerves. She then took hold of Homura's free hand and forced the girl to grab around the hair clip. Sayaka tried her hardest to suppress the embarrassment building within her.

"Okay so just... channel the magic from your body directly into the container. You'll apparently know if it worked or not."

Homura closed her eyes and tried to do exactly that. She could feel Sayaka's own magic within the hair clip, and began to try sending her own magic within it as well.

It started off fairly well. The container seemed to react like a beacon toward Homura's own magic, and started taking it in.

The hair clip started to glow purple as Homura's magical energy really started being absorbed into it. Homura could feel her own stamina begin to drain ever so slightly during the process. Several moments went by until Homura opened her eyes again as she felt that she had sent enough magic into the object.

Sayaka let go of her friend's hand when Homura stopped and started forcing her heartbeat to slow down.

"Well, why don't you try calling upon your magic?"

Homura nodded and pointed the blade in front of herself as Sayaka started backing off to the side. The dark haired girl narrowed her eyes, staring intensely at the bladed part of the sword and began to summon the magic she had channeled into the hair clip replica.

The blade was suddenly engulfed in Homura's magic in a shape of what looked like flames.

She immediately dissolved the magic and was left trying to take in the implications of this. Sayaka had not only given her a strong sword, but it could also be made even more powerful by using her own magic.

As much as she hated to admit it, but Oriko Mikuni had hit a sore spot earlier in the day. For a long time Homura accepted the reality of her situation. Her magic couldn't be used offensively in a direct manner. It sucked but that was the reality of it and whatever frustrations she had about it ended up being buried deep inside Homura. Seemingly to never surface.

And then Oriko Mikuni just had to bring the topic up, and those previous frustrations started coming back.

Then comes along Sayaka Miki, the metaphorical knight in shining armour, who just essentially gives her a solution to the problem.

Really, her friend was just a real package of constant surprises.

"Sayaka... how can I repay you for this?"

"Repay me?"

Homura started giving Sayaka a warm smile. One that certainly made Sayaka's heart skip a beat at the sight.

"Surely you didn't think I wouldn't feel indebted to you right? You've helped me far too much for me to allow this to continue lopsidedly."

"Hey, you saved my life right? You saved me, if anything I'm the one who's in debt towards you."

Homura sheathed the sword once again as she let out a small giggle. "And you've also saved my life, while also doing more. So I ask you again, how can I repay you for this?"

Sayaka stopped herself from reflexively responding as she realised that Homura was very much determined not to back down from this. The blue haired girl started thinking about what she could ask from Homura, until one thing came to mind.

She held a hand up to the middle of her chest, clutching it as her heart began to race once more.

"Okay... I know this might sound weird, but there's something I have to tell you. Not right now, but sometime in the future. I don't know when, but when I need to tell you it, just promise me you'll listen to what I have to say."

Homura's expression suddenly changed to one more serious as she could sense that this was something personal for her friend.

"Sayaka? What is this about?"

The girl shook her head, and forced herself to turn around and completely look away. She wasn't ready to tell Homura just yet. It was too soon.

"I can't say, not yet. Just please, promise me that when I'm ready, you'll hear me out, okay?"

A few seconds went by as Homura stared at the back of Sayaka's head. Her subconscious almost felt like it knew what this was about, but consciously Homura couldn't tell. It was just a slight feeling. Well whatever it was, it was clearly important for Sayaka. That was enough for Homura to agree.

"Very well. I don't know what this is about, but when the time comes, I promise I'll listen to what you have to say."

Homura could hear Sayaka let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Thank you."

Next Time: The Fog That Thickens