*?.12th of April 2011.? , The Other Side*

Kyouko yanked out of her sleep, almost like she just experienced a terrible, terrible nightmare. A strange dream, in some way crazier than a reality of Magical Girls and Witches’ Labyrinths. A dream about a blue fire and foxes with wings, a dream in which she died.

“Ka-ka-ka-ka!”

She tried to turn around, scrambling up on her feet, ready to defend herself only to realize that her spear was gone, it didn’t appear in her hand and she was back in her civilian clothing, her Magical Girl form gone and when she extended her arm to initiate the transformation a ring just slipped away from her reach almost as it was pulled by the invisible force. Without thinking, she tried to catch it, but it slipped away from her reach and she stumbled, falling down on the ground trying.

She looked up, and only now she really start to perceive her surroundings. She was in the cage, albeit a relatively large one, with makeshift bedding on the floor otherwise bare. And just outside a cage stood the insult to the laws of nature - a huge, twisted version of a fox with wings, looking at her with blazing blue eyes. It opened its mouth, and Kyouko expected everything to end in a gust of flame.

Someone shouted.

Kyouko opened her eyes. A monster was still there, disappointment in its gleaming blue eyes, but it did nothing. The redhead looked around. She was in the cage and said cage sat in the middle of a cavernously large hall, with the arching ceiling and large windows, reminding her an interior of her father’s church, albeit larger and more twisted - its nave gave her an oppressive feeling, almost as if its angles were going to collapse on her, delicate tapestries and carvings seem to twist and move of their own, and outside a menacing storm raged. To add to the strangeness of the situation, the room was filled with pipes, canisters, and tubings where menacing decoration didn’t reach, tables overflowing with vials, alembics, bottles, and lutes lined the walls, completing the image of mad alchemist’s workshop.

A monster fox barked and a runaway Gem, still carried out by invisible force, made a loop around the cage, outside Kyouko’s reach. She tried to shake the steel bars of her prison, but it held tight.

“Magical Girl”, someone said, a melodic, female voice, and Kyouko once again looked in the direction from where it came from. A person floated into the view. A girl, in a flowing green dress. A girl with …

Kyouko froze. A girl with yellow, snake-like eyes with slit pupils, a smile filled with sharp teeth, pointy ears, and curved horns, a face with minor traces of serpentine scales framed with sickly yellow long hair that almost moved on its own. She hovered in the mid-air, swirling tentacles poking out from under her skirt where legs would normally be. Stranger - perhaps a monster - raised her hand, made a gesture and Kyouko’s Soul Gem flew towards the green one’s hand.

“Magical Girl?”, a monstrous one repeated, with a question in its voice, almost like she was tasting the word on her tongue.

Was she a Magical Girl, or a Witch?

“A Witch, you are a Witch.”, Kyouko barked out and tried to struggle against her prison once more, but to no avail.

“What makes you think you aren’t a Witch yourself?”, a monster girl answered, much to Kyouko’s surprise, in a sweet, almost creepy voice, “Don't people in your world believe that Witches made a deal with the devil in exchange for their magical powers?”

The Witch was toying with the Soul Gem still carried by an invisible force, smiling a toothy smile. Kyouko was left dumbfounded for a while, if not by the oppressive feel of the strange building, or her imprisonment, or by the sheer absurdity of the situation she found herself in - and the normally brash girl didn’t find any words for a reply. After all, Witches didn’t hold a conversation as far as Magical Girl knew.

“And say, how did you get this little thing?” Witch calmly continued her monologue, referring to the Gem she poked with a claw-like nail, “Didn’t you make a pact for it? Pact with some … little … devil, perhaps? Doesn’t this make you a Witch instead?”

It was too much for Kyouko. It reminded her of something she didn’t want to even think about anymore.

“I am not a Witch!” She screamed, trying to struggle against the prison, but the bars didn’t budge no matter how much she shook them, knocked them, and kicked them. Then a jolt of electricity went through her when she touched the metal, and her legs failed her, she collapsed on the ground. An ugly fox from hell still guarding her cell made a barking sound, almost like it was laughing, and spread the wings no fox is supposed to have.

"So you did make a deal for your powers. I was born with them.", the creature grinned victoriously, "Which makes you more of a Witch than I am."

“I am not a Witch, Magical Girls fight the Witches.” Kyouko growled, “I am not …”

“I apologize for the cage.”, the monster girl said, interrupting Kyouko’s outburst, and floated closer to the cage. Then she continued. “I know, I know, it is rude to handle you like that … very rude, I am truly sorry, but we couldn’t be certain how you would react and it seemed like a good idea, especially after we found out you should be kept a certain distance from your transformation trinket.”

Kyouko tried to charge her jailer, a cage being there or not, but the monster just waved her clawed hand, and the Magical Girl was once more grounded with another electrical shock, this time not even emitting from the metal bars of her prison.

“Who the hell are you?” Magical Girl replied angrily, panting. It was starting to be too much for her, as Witches usually didn’t talk to you, Magical Girls didn’t come with tentacles and pet beasts.

“Oh, yes, forgive my manners, I should have introduced myself first.”, monstrosity said with a graceful, foreign-styled bow, still smiling: “I am Sarka, Dark General to Lord Zarak. My Lord wants to make you a better offer.”

“What? I don’t know who he is.” Kyouko spat out. She still struggled to understand what was really going on and the overall ridiculousness of the situation only made her anger and frustration worse.

“My Lord wishes to make you a better offer, to buy out your contract so to say.”, Sarka explained calmly, with a smile on her face. “Did you really think that your little patrons are the only ones who can grant you powers?”

The Magical Girl said nothing. Of course, it was possible that there were more furry little creeps than just the one she met, she just never really thought of it before. And it made her even more upset than before.

However, before she could say something, or think of it some more, somewhere behind her a door opened, a door she didn’t notice before. She heard the hissing and clicking of some unseen mechanism, an unmistakable screeching in the hinges, and a loud thud as some cogs and pawls set in their place. A shift in the air brought in the smell of burning and sulfur, along with other more unidentifiable scents that made her gag.

On the far side of the long chamber, there was indeed a gate, drowning in a haze of fog slowly spreading inside. A figure stepped outside the fog, one she already saw, but wished she didn’t.

A centaur-like body, the lower half body of the lizard, an upper half one of the girl, a menace altogether, one that attacked her back in the abandoned church, tall and threatening as before. The Magical Girl remembered stabbing her into the human-like chest. However, the pristine tabard monstrosity wore looked like it never happened.

It was flanked by more of those winged foxes. Kyouko shuddered as she remembered the pain she felt when the lizard-centaur threw her against the wall. A new monstrosity bellowed something in the language Magical Girl cannot place, and Kyouko wondered whether there could be two Witches in the same Labyrinth. Assuming all of this was a Witch’s Labyrinth in the first place, it certainly had no shortage of monsters.

“Could you please speak in the language our honorable guest here can understand?” Behind her, Sarka remarked in a pleasant, albeit a little bit snarky tone.

The answer was grumbling in the alien tongue, yet obviously, an intelligent one. A tentacled one floated into the view.

“Allow me to introduce my esteemed colleague.” She said, “This is Eliska, my colleague, and sister in arms.”

Kyouko however had none of it and she once again tried to break down the cage that held her, but to no avail.

“You!”, the redhead roared, “You nearly killed me.”

“And we healed you. And I did a very good job if I can say so.” Sarka interjected in a pleasant voice, “Doesn’t it make us better than so-called Witches in your world? I am sure we can…”

Another monstrosity, one referred to as Eliska, interrupted her.

“We don’t have time for this.” She said, a feminine voice, albeit with strong exasperation clearly noticeable, “Lord Zarak is coming to speak with the girl. She should be presentable.”

“Very well.” Sarka sighed and waved her hand nonchalantly, and a cage around Kyouko began to shake. A metal squeaked in protest, but gave up to the unseen exertion, and shot towards the ceiling, and at the same time, something expelled the Magical Girl out of her prison and towards the floor. Kyouko instinctively covered her face, but the expected impact never came, and when she lowered her hands she found herself hovering just above the floor. She tried to fight against the unseen power but to no avail. Cage behind her and crashed down with a loud thud.

“What the …” Magical girl swore, “Bitch!”

A centaur-like one however didn’t take this behavior kindly and quickly grabbed the struggling Magical Girl by the neck, lifting Kyouko up just like she did back then in the ruined church. It hurt worse than it was back then, with monster’s clawed fingers dug into redhead’s flesh, and struggle felt much more futile even against the seeming weightlessness preventing her from hitting the floor.

“If you show that disrespect to Lord Zarak, I am going to kill you.”, one called Eliska snarled and let the Magical Girl go, only for something else to pick her up almost as if she was a helpless ragdoll at the mercy of invisible hands gently, yet forcefully, arranging her to a more suitable position. Kyouko was absolutely furious but attempted to restrain her next outburst as it seemed futile at the moment and she had enough experience to know that rage isn’t always the best guide for her actions.

“Let’s do it in a more civilized manner. I am certain our dear Magical Girl here can be reasonable, there is no need for violence.”, Sarka suggested in an almost creepy tone of voice, moving her hand and fingers almost as if she was leading a marionette. It made Kyouko fly, and she hated every bit of it.

“I am Kyouko.”, she said, bored or annoyed at being called that Magical Girl.

“Hello and well met.”, Sarka replied cheerfully, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kyouko. But now, we have a meeting to attend. If you will?”

She gestured towards the exit. Magical Girl gritted her teeth but stayed silent.

Eliska just growled, and so did her fox monsters, as they left the building towards whatever horrors awaited outside - Kyouko followed them, carried as a helpless puppet on unseen strings.

*

A fog slowly cleared. The exterior was in some way even worse than the interior. It didn’t have this surreal feel of the Witch’s Labyrinth, none of those colors and dancing shapes of the concertina book where figures tried to crush everything that wandered into it.

It was different, yet it radiated wrongness just the same. In a way, it reminded Mitakihara Kyouko was familiar with a clearing in front of her father’s church, lined by trees. But it was where the resemblance stopped, it was a dark, twisted reflection of the familiar scenery, almost like a mad, depressed artist repainting it as a reflection of the forgotten nightmare. Trees and greenery were clearly alive, lush, green even, yet at the same time twisted, aberrant, a freak, and among its leaves birds moved. Not birds, Kyouko corrected itself, leathery wings and long necks, staring at Magical Girl with red eyes almost as annoyed by the unexpected visitor.

Above their heads, flashes of lightning illuminating the heavens, casting a game of light and shadow upon the ground, where patches of fog wandered the land. Not-ravens gloated, almost like they wanted to scream furiously at the lone Magical Girl that she doesn’t belong here.

“Isn’t our realm impressive? I should give you a tour someday.” Sarka quipped, still floating a few steps behind Kyouko, tentacles twirling.

Kyouko shuddered silently at the monster’s offer and stared into the distance silently, refusing to carry on with the conversion. There was a city on the horizon, twisted into an endless industrial nightmare of steel and concrete drowning in a permanent haze of fog, with smokestacks belching fire and smog towards the steel skies while tall spires married the permanent thunderstorm in flashes of relentless energy. Kyouko was certain more monsters were out there.

And then, all of the sudden, everything went silent, as clouds parted and an ominous, enormous winged shadow descended from the skies, and a strong gust of winds created by swept the area from still lingering fog as the gargantuan creature landed in front of them. A monster to rule all monsters, shrouded in the dark miasma. Reptilian body, with long tail and neck, carried on four mighty legs with sharp talons. Colossal wings grew from its shoulders and ended at the middle of its back, curved, with skin and eerie bone structure making the most of the wing, with sharp hooks growing from the end of each bone. And the head, with three sets of horns, and two sets of blazing crimson eyes set in the thorny skull. Sarka and Eliska lowered their gaze, and the dragon set its eyes on Magical Girl still floating in the air carried by an invisible force. She tried to look defiant.

“My name is Azhdaja Zarak.”, the Dragon’s voice boomed, “Welcome to my realm.”

Suddenly, a force holding Kyouko in the air disappeared and she fell to the ground face down, as the puppet with its string cut.

“I wish we could meet under better circumstances, I admit I imagined it to be grander in scale. How vain of me.” the Dragon - Zarak - mused, his voice firm and authoritative. “But what is done, I will not punish my followers for having the initiative and enthusiasm to bring you in ahead of time.”

Kyouko couldn’t care less about Zarak’s speech and scrambled to get back on her feet immediately, noticing that her ring - her Soul Gem - lies in front of her, alone and seemingly unnoticed. She made a mental note where it was, biding her time, and looked up to meet the Dragon’s gaze. It looked back, tilting its monstrous head, almost like he was contemplating something.

“Now to your service...” He said, in a hushed tone that felt that much more sinister.

The Dragon stretched out his long neck towards Kyouko to look at her closer. He had a long, thorny skull, nose pointy with two small angular nostrils, with a line of bone structures and crystal outgrows running down his jawlines. He could easily swallow Kyouko whole.

“I want to make you an offer.” Zarak said, revealing the jaw filled with sharp teeth as he spoke “To release you from your contract. No more Witches, no more phylacteries, a power tied directly to your body, good health, and long life. And all of that for the price of your service, nothing more, nothing less.“

The Dragon paused. Kyouko watched how black miasma seeps out of Dragon’s body, how energy dances around crystal outgrown on his body, and into four eyes studying her carefully. She avoided meeting his gaze, it was unnatural as it was unsettling, and gave her goosebumps.

“And of course, food and lodging are on me too. Did your former patrons provide you with that, or did they just release you into the world to fend for yourself, fighting a doomed fight against yourself?” Zarak asked in an ambiguous tone almost like he knew the answer.

The Magical Girl did not reply, thinking how a seemingly benevolent offer ruined her life, and the life of her relatives, and took a deep breath. There was a moment of silence. Kyouko looked at the Dragon, then at the Soul Gem lying down on the ground, then back at the Dragon. He grinned, showing a collection of sharp pointy teeth, but said nothing, probably expecting the answer.

Kyouko dived for the Gem, grabbing it, an energy of the transformation surged through her and her spear materialized halfway as she swung the weapon towards the monster in hope of ending this nightmare in a single blow.

And at that moment everything stopped.

For a short moment, it was just her, a living statue that was frozen in time, every breath, every motion, all stretched into unbearable eternity, helpless and powerless, with a mind racing against the action that is never going to finish. And the Dragon, gazing at her, seemingly amused by the futility of the action.

And then, when Soul Gem slowly took its place on her chest, some unseen, yet powerful force tore it away from her. The agony was unbearable, it wasn’t merely a pain, an injury that might easily heal with time, it was as something tore away a part of her with a cruel disregard of her struggle. In the next split second which may also be forever, a Soul Gem shoots away from her reach and flows away towards the horizon behind the Dragon. And then everything went dark, almost like someone shut down the lights with a turn of the switch.

When Kyouko regained her consciousness once more, she was laying down on the cold ground, looking up at the unnaturally stormy skies. Soul Gem was back in the palm of her hand. She knew it may happen, she witnessed it first hand when Sayaka’s gem was separated from her, but she never expected it would occur in such absurd circumstances as these.

“Interesting objects, those phylacteries, those Soul Gems, how easily they can be turned into a critical weakness.” she heard the Dragon musing, “Makes one wonder if it wasn’t an intentional flaw engineered carefully into the design where your actual survival may not be that much of a factor. Almost like it was meant to serve the purpose they didn’t bother to explain.”

Kyouko slowly gathered herself from the ground, feeling helpless and losing the will to fight. Monsters glared at her, and Zarak the Dragon continued his monologue while a permanent storm raging above cast him in a sinister light.

“Did they tell you about this weakness? Did they tell you that you will turn into another aberration you call a Witch the moment the energy within the Gem reaches a certain threshold of corruption? A Witch your friends will be forced to fight before they turn into aberration themselves for the cycle to continue forever? Was your wish even worth the suffering?” he said.

“No, they didn’t tell me that.” Kyouko wanted to say, but she didn’t find the strength in herself to argue anymore. Especially not with monsters that defy everything she had known. She still stood up though, looked at Zarak first and then over her shoulder. His monstrous followers were glaring daggers at her but didn’t dare to interrupt their superior.

The Dragon rose up on his back legs, spreading his wings and making gestures with his front limbs. Hands, perhaps, he had five digits each ending with a sharp onyx talon - they burst with blue energy and a tear in the space appeared in front of tired Magical Girl, a whirling portal sizzling with arcane energies.

“I sense we didn't start this at the best term, so I give you a choice. You can either take my offer right here, right now, to get back at your former patrons.” he suggested, “Or you can take a portal back home, for the time being.”

Kyouko closed her eyes, thinking. She sensed the monster shifting position, probably to glare at her from a shorter distance. She didn’t care. The world was stopping to make sense - or perhaps it was just her, going insane.

“So what do you choose, Magical Girl?”