Ultimately, the group had decided on one of the spare rooms in the staff dorms to perform their work in. It was a tight for such a small room; seven people, and three of them now lay on the bed clustered together. Sayaka was in the center, with Kyoko and Madoka on either side. Their soul gems had all been removed and placed together, touching one another on the nightstand where Valtir sat, preparing his spell. Mami had taken residence in another chair on the other side of the bed, while Nagisa had settled on the floor next to her, kneeling over the side of the bed. Lastly, Brelyna stood impassively just outside the door, curious to see how this would unfold.
"A warning; this spell was designed for normal people," Valtir told them, "I'm… not exactly sure how it will react with your phylacteries. I've never attempted to tether multiple soul gems together before. I don't think anyone has, in fact."
"I'm sure you can do it," Madoka said, flashing him a smile, "We know it's possible both on our end and yours."
"Please, be careful." Mami told both her and Kyoko. Worry was etched on her face; she didn't say anything, but the thought of losing more people, especially after just getting them back, terrified her, "I mean it."
Kyoko gave the blonde a confident thumbs up, "Don't worry. We got this, right Madoka?" The pinkette gave another reassuring smile and Kyoko turned back to Mami, "We'll grab Sayaka and be back in time for dinner."
"… I'll hold you to that," Mami half-joked, trying her best to remain upbeat.
"We'll be back, I promise," Madoka told her.
Valtir looked at the girls on the bed, "Are you ready?"
Madoka took a deep, steadying breath as she mentally prepared herself. Despite what she'd said, this was still an unknown; she didn't know how Tamrielic magic was going to interact with their souls, and she wasn't in control here anymore. Steeling herself, she nodded, "Do it."
Valtir began to work his magic over the three soul gems on the table. They began to glow in their respective colors, and then…
And then Madoka and Kyoko weren't there anymore.
The feeling was disorienting and dizzying, and far, far rougher than entering Homura's mindscape had been. For Madoka, that had been like slipping into a good night's sleep; she'd gone in, and woken up as her mortal self in a dream. Here it was more like that jolt you'd sometimes feel just before falling asleep that made you feel like you were falling, except here it was ongoing and coming from multiple directions.
But soon enough the feeling subsided, and as Madoka opened her eyes… her heart fell.
All around, she was surrounded by the ruins of Mitakihara; ruined buildings, debris that used to be roads and signs, a yellow-gray overcast sky granting a gentle rain, and she herself stood in several centimeters of murky, filthy water. It looked like a bomb had gone off. A lot of bombs.
She knew exactly what this was.
"… Oh, I have missed you," Kyoko said to her weapon, garbed in her magical girl outfit as she twirled her spear around effortlessly in her hand. She began changing its length, "Shorter, longer. Shorter, longer. To hell with Tamriel magic. Bunch of overcomplicated bullshit."
"Kyoko," Madoka chastised in amusement, repressing a giggle. She was also in her magical girl form, with her bow at her side.
The redhead gave Madoka a cheeky grin, "Heh," her expression dropped, "… So where are we? Homura's fantasy world was way nicer than this. Don't tell me this is Sayaka's."
Madoka shook her head, "No, it's not. I know this place, and it's not one of Sayaka's."
Kyoko looked at her in concern, "What do you mean? Where are we?" She saw the other girl's expression become troubled, hesitant, "… Madoka?"
She looked at Kyoko, "… These are Homura's memories."
The redhead almost laughed as she idly twirled her spear again, "Of what?" then she realized exactly what Madoka was saying, remembering what few things Nagisa had told her back on Solstheim, "… Wait. You don't mean… this is from the prior universe, isn't it?"
Madoka nodded in dismay, "This is where everything ended… and where it all began," she looked up at the ruined skyline that had graced a few too many of her own nightmares, "… Walpurgisnacht."
The room was nearly silent. Mami sat quietly, focused on the three sleeping girls in front of her. Valtir remained focused on his work, almost in a trance himself. Nagisa fidgeted on the floor, worried yet bored as only a nine year old could be. Brelyna was outside, steering people away from the room.
Mami hated this. She hated just sitting here not being able to do anything. She'd let Kyoko and Madoka go, of course. They had better claim on Sayaka than she, how could she deny them the chance to rescue their friend? But Sayaka and Kyoko had both been her students. As much as she had failed them, they were her responsibility. And after everything that had happened, Madoka as well, despite not knowing her for very long.
And there wasn't anything she could do.
Nagisa's attention meanwhile was diverted when she looked where the Arch-Mage was, and saw a human cat person talking to her. Her eyes went wide as saucers at her first glimpse of a real-life khajiit. With a small gasp she found herself getting up.
Mami grabbed her by the back of her robes before she got very far, intending to nip a very embarrassing and potentially rude situation in the bud, "No."
"But—"
"You're not petting him."
"I wasn't going to—" Nagisa halted when Mami gave her a look, "… Okay, maybe a little," Mami's look continued, "I'll… sit back down now." Nagisa made the correct choice and returned to the floor, but continued to steal glimpses of the cat man until he left, leaving a slightly bemused Brelyna behind.
"Is the only reason you came back to the College to annoy me, J'zargo?" the Arch-Mage called after the cat person, though her tone was less biting and more of one old friend giving another shit.
J'zargo seemed to almost smile as he walked away towards the stairwell, giving off a self-confident swagger, "Perhaps, among other reasons. J'zargo has many reasons for what he does."
Brelyna rolled her eyes before glancing back at Mami and Nagisa as they hastily turned their attention back to the bed once they'd been caught eavesdropping. She gave a short laugh, "Don't mind him, that's just J'zargo, Master in the Destruction school and ever-present pain in my ass."
The conversation, such as it had been, died for a moment before Brelyna's eyes darted to the trio of soul gems, "… Say, where did you get your soul gems anyway? They're clearly artificial."
A tense beat shifted between the two girls as they looked at each other and then back at the Arch-Mage. Mami replied, "… A race known as the Incubators. I don't suppose you've had any run-ins with them." when Brelyna shook her head, Mami continued, "They would grant one wish, and in return they pulled your soul out of your body."
"It was part of a method of reversing entropy," Nagisa said, "The Incubators were trying to extend the life of our universe."
"… And where did these Incubators come from?"
Nagisa frowned at the question, "… Honestly? We don't really know. They were just always kind of there, their civilization just appeared. Madoka assumed they were just something the universe came up with to regulate itself, like the wraiths."
"Wraiths?" asked Brelyna.
"Monsters that we fought," Mami said, "They fed off human emotion."
"Hmm," the Arch-Mage mused, disappointed they hadn't had more information. She relented though; no use getting blood from a stone. And at any rate, the girls' attention was drifting back to their friends.