"…Something is wrong," Valtir said quietly. Mami and Nagisa's attentions were instantly diverted to Sayaka's gem. An unearthly inkly blackness seemed to be almost spilling out of the gem.
… No, not spilling out of. It was spiraling up the magical tethers connecting it to the other gems. Valtir was doing his best to halt the spread, but this kind of magic was entirely unknown to him.
"What's happening?" Mami exclaimed with fear as she bolted to her feet in alarm.
"I… I'm not sure," the wizard grunted, "The corruption in Sayaka's gem is becoming volatile, it's threatening to corrupt the other gems. It's… almost like it's alive." He sounded surprised.
Mami's eyes widened in fear, "… Pull them out!"
"If I do that now, they might all be rendered comatose!" Valtir replied, more harshly than he'd intended.
Mami rounded the bed, placing herself over the wizard's shoulder, "Then send me in!" she demanded, all but slamming her own soul gem onto the table next to the others.
The wizard shook his head, "I told you, I can't guarantee your safety—"
"I know what you said," Mami replied, her expression having shifted to stony professional coldness, "Can you guarantee their safety right now?"
Valtir paused, "… No," he admitted.
"Then send. Me. In."
"Mami—" Nagisa said, standing up.
"No," Mami told her, "You will stay here."
"But—"
"That's an order," the blonde said with finality, her facade cracking. Nagisa stopped arguing and slowly slumped to the floor in defeat, a despondent look on her face.
"I'm not sending you in," Valtir told Mami. He was clearly straining, "Doing so could make the situation worse!"
"I can help them!" Mami exclaimed, nearly screaming.
"No, you CAN'T!" Valtir replied with equal force, daring to take his eyes off the gems to look her in the eyes, "Only they can. Sometimes the only thing you can do is trust them. If you can't trust your students, then how can they ever measure up?"
Mami was taken aback. She'd never mentioned her relation to the others, "I—how did you—"
Valtir returned to his work, "Child, I am over a thousand years old. I know. I've seen it countless times. How you carry yourself, how you interact with them. I also know what it's like to send others off, not knowing if they'll come back. All you can do is have faith in them."
"… I can't lose them again," Mami said quietly, her conviction and fire gone. She gripped her soul gem still on the table tightly, "… They're all I have." She wasn't going to break here. She wasn't. Mami clamped down on her emotions, but very soon they began to bubble up anyway.
Nagisa eyed Mami—the person who had stood against Homura and her ideal world because she thought it was "wrong". Nagisa had sided with Homura simply because she wanted a second chance at life; she liked living with Mami and hanging out with everyone. She liked going to school and playing games and running around the city and going out to eat. She liked being loved and appreciated and just being alive. But Mami had been content with her going back to the Law of Cycles, back to her slumber. Because it was how things were supposed to be.
Nagisa was a child, she knew that. She knew older people knew more than her. She knew Mami knew better than she did. Even as a former secretary for the Law of Cycles, even ascended, she still knew this. And here Mami was begging and pleading for the others to return to her, when she'd been so willing to let Nagisa leave.
Of course, that was to be expected. Mami had never known her before Homura's paradise. It only made sense. She was expendable, unneeded. In the way. It was a familiar feeling.
Nagisa silently curled up into a ball at the implied rejection.
The three magical girls stared up at the abomination hovering impassively before them. The wind had picked up as the temperature had dropped to near-arctic standards, and the miasma in the air was almost like a storm unto itself—enough that it was giving Madoka very uncomfortable flashbacks.
"… I'm gonna go on and assume this wasn't part of Homura's plan." Kyoko said with worry.
Sayaka wheezed as she leaned up against her pile of debris—she hadn't much enjoyed being their meal the first time around either, "I hope somebody has a plan," she clutched her chest as if in pain.
"… Sayaka?" Kyoko asked, looking back in concern as it looked like the girl was having a heart attack.
"I… I'm not feeling so good…" Sayaka grunted, doubling over.
Kyoko turned to Madoka as she tended to their friend, "We have to get out of here now! I—" she looked back at the wraith as it began to draw closer to them. Oktavia attempted to approach, but the icy winds began to sheer at her, ripping into her armor like it wasn't even there before the witch was forced to back off, now clearly injured, "… I don't think we can win against that with just the three of us," she grabbed Sayaka by the shoulder, "You need to break the barrier!"
Sayaka's gaze shifted between Kyoko and the abomination in terror, "I… we can't! If I break the barrier the wraith escapes into the real world!"
Kyoko grimaced; the implications hitting her. The College would be vaporized almost instantly. They'd all probably be killed, "… Damn…"
Madoka's eyes darted as she thought quickly, "… No," she said, "Kyoko's right." The other two girls looked at her like she was crazy.
"Madoka, you can't be—" Sayaka didn't get to finish her sentence as she was struck with another agonizing bout of pain. She fell into the freezing water on all fours, doing everything she could to keep breathing as the world spun around aimlessly around her.
"Sayaka!" Kyoko shouted in panic as she knelt down beside her. Sayaka said nothing; she couldn't say anything, she was too busy trying to stay alive.
"Kyoko," Madoka said urgently, "Has your soul gem darkened at all since we got to Tamriel?"
The redhead blinked, thinking back. No… no it hadn't. She had definitely found that odd—even though their soul magic was sealed away, negative emotions and regular wear and tear still should have had an impact. "… No," she said curiously.
"Neither has Mami's or mine," Madoka said, "And Sayaka's was slowly getting better before this."
Kyoko knew where Madoka was going with this, "…You think if we drop the barrier, Sayaka's gem will purify."
Madoka nodded, "Something about Tamriel doesn't like curses and easily replenishes magic."
"… Tamriel?" Sayaka managed to croak out in pain, "What—"
The abomination was almost upon them. Kyoko put up a protective barrier as the winds began to beat down.
"I'll explain later—" Madoka said, her voice somehow becoming even more urgent as she dropped to her knees in front of Sayaka, "Do you trust me?"
Sayaka looked at her, "… More than anything."
Madoka looked her directly in the eyes, "Then drop the barrier."
"But—"
"Please."
Sayaka gave a deep but extremely ragged sigh, now relying entirely on Kyoko and Madoka to keep herself even remotely upright as their magic began to flow into her. Above, Oktavia ascended beyond the miasma storm towards the sky.
… the wraith followed. Beams of light, less like lasers and more like giant energy cannons, erupted from its associated polygons which the mermaid barely evaded. Her armor and scales were torn away by the gale as her skin began to freeze over, but still she flew. Giant versions of Madoka's bow and Kyoko's spear appeared in each hand and as she continued to fly up, she notched the spear into the bow like an arrow and a deep blue version of Madoka's sigil appeared. Then as Sayaka clutched Madoka and Kyoko's hands tightly, holding on for dear life as she trusted in them and braced herself, Oktavia let the spear fly as the wraith closed in, almost upon the witch.
The spear punched through the sky, through the barrier, and brilliant blinding light engulfed everything.