*Morning, Thursday, 17th of March 2011, Pools of Souls, Other Side.*

Sayaka woke up to the jolt of electricity flowing through her body.

She was floating naked in the strange translucent liquid she briefly mistook for water, fully submerged under the surface shimmering with distant lights, yet somehow feeling strangely peaceful here without any pressure to act, to break free or gasp for air. She could feel her breath vibrating through this strange fluid as this strange, rhythmic hum, echoing through the space, further calming her down in a situation that would already send a human to panic with the sensation of panic, with the sensation of drowning.

But Sayaka wasn’t drowning. She wasn’t even a human, not anymore, she recalled as her lazing mind slowly regained its focus. Who cared what would a human do, she mused, and for the while, it all felt strangely natural to her.

She felt warm and pleasant, almost like she was wrapped in a comfortable flowing blanket that caressed her skin and scales alike. For the brief moment, she didn’t know how she got there, and why, but then her memories returned to her in one continuous stream of images, almost like she watched a hundred movies simultaneously on fast-forward, all-blurred through the sheer overload of information it provided yet still, somehow, providing her with clear visions she can recall with perfect clarity.

Sayaka didn’t have the time to ponder on a complete paradox where something could be clear and blurred at the same time, as her mind focused on her last moment, on the fight she had with Homura, her many injuries she suffered along with the fatal shot to the head that sent her soul back to this pool deep within Dragon’s realm where she lived again.

An experience too strange, too alien for the human, was suddenly secondary. Anger overtook her, charging her body with the magical lighting that made the not-water around her shimmer, then boil, sweeping the surroundings with the physics-defying arcs of blue lighting.

Releasing her emotions through the outburst of magical powers calmed her down, offering her the tranquility the pool provided, and she briefly embraced it. The surrounding liquid slowly gained more water-like properties, sending a subconscious signal that it was her time to go.

She closed her eyes and, after letting herself be carried by the pool, then launched herself forward with the lashes of her snake tail, making joyful loops in what now behaved as the normal water before emerging up to the surface.

Sayaka found herself in the spacious room, more like the small swimming pool than the warm spring baths, with looming arches overhead so unlikely for Japan, yet so typical of Zarak’s domain. Behind the large gothic windows lining the walls, a perpetual storm raged, welcoming her home. The home that wasn’t her home, and at the same time, it was.

She slithered out of the pool on the ramp of polished marble, for the first time realizing her body was changed once more.

Even though much of her body was still recognizably human, her legs were now completely gone now, with the lower body resembling a rather large snake, armored with the plated, blue-ish scales that reached up to her armpit at her sides even if the front part of the body was still decently young female looking. Similarly, her hands were also covered with scales, with fingers tipped with sharp claws.

Strangely enough, Sayaka didn’t feel any displeasure from the change done to her, her new physique felt entirely natural even if her past, human self, would clearly protest against it, as acceptance of her new form slowly crept into her mind. The absence of worry worries her most.

She absentmindedly scanned the room and found the mirror set on the wall. It was as if the architect of this place expected someone emerging from the now bubbling pools to inspect their transformed selves. She moved towards it, snake-like movement feeling almost distressingly natural.

Sayaka stared into the mirror, wiggling her hips, more like the swaying movement of the dancing cobra, while she carefully traced the traces of scales on her neck. Where her past self grew depressed by her fate as the Magical Girl, her present self, the Diva, lamented the absence of wings, and it was almost creepy how her treacherous mind complimented her good looks. Three days ago, looks of which would have been terrifying for her past self, monstrous, unacceptable, she was felt comfortable with. With a hint of identity crisis encroaching on her, now she wasn’t entirely certain what she should think anymore.

“Mistressss?” Voice brought her back to reality.

She looked behind her, a snake-like person, almost similar to her new self, just with less obvious human parts, four arms, a reptilian head. It offered her a towel, which she silently accepted, unfazed by the new monster, as newfound senses filled her with the sense of kinship.

“Should we prepare you for a bath?” The monster asked. It spoke clearly, the voice slightly feminine, albeit accompanied by the hissing sound.

Sayaka looked back in the pool, it wasn’t really water, but some unidentifiable substance bubbling and simmering with magical power, becoming once again thick more like the surface of the swap on sight now when was no one inside, almost like pool expected to form a new body out from the mysterious substance.

“No, thank you.” She waved the creature away and gathered the power within herself to wash out the remnants of strange liquid from her scales. Water formed and disappeared, malleable by her will. She wrapped herself in the towel.

“Yes, mistress.” The servant replied, with a polite bow, unalarmed by the display of magical power. It made Sayaka wonder how far she went, away from what would be normal for the mundane girl she once was, away from the life she will never return to.

“What…” she asked after a short moment of silence, then paused, reconsidering the question again, “Did we get the Witch?”

“I don’t know, mistress.” The snake-like servant answered.

“But what about Mami?” Sayaka said.

“Mistress? Who is Mami?” She could feel the monster's confusion, even if the reptilian’s face couldn’t show any emotions.

Sayaka took a deep breath and answered, “Magical Girl, blonde hair...”

“I don’t know, mistress. Was she one of your sisters in arms captured?” Her servant offered.

If Mami was brought here, to Zarak’s realm, Sayaka thought, the Witch that was originally supposed to kill her had no way of reaching her here. It calmed her a little bit, but it also brought up a lot of conflicting emotions when she realized what it would mean for the Magical Girl. A notion that had nothing to do with Mami, and everything to do with Sayaka, the fate of the Magical Girl she sought to escape, and the reasons she had for doing so. It brought up thoughts about the boy. Kyousuke, a boy who was the motive behind her tragedy …

“Sayaka!” Hitomi’s voice brought her back to reality. Her friend rushed into the room and hugged her, wrapping both her arms and wings around her affectionately.

“I thought I lost you.” Her friend said quietly, “You were dead. I couldn’t heal you. No one could heal you, too much damage… I…”

“It’s alright.” Sayaka tried to calm her friend down.

“Lord Zarak said you will reform in the Pools.” Hitomi continued, “I am glad it worked.”

Sayaka didn’t have a response to that. She had once called her being the Magical Girl as being a zombie, making her resurrection quite ironic.

“I feel… weakened… though.” Sayaka said, “And hungry.”

“It is expected, Mistress.” The serpentine servant answered, “There will be food prepared, or there is a special cocktail for the occasion where Divas needs to regain her strength quickly.”

“Oh, I didn’t ask for food! I didn’t know how this place works.” Hitomi quipped.

“We are expected to host the recovering Divas, it is our job.” The serpentine servant answered calmly and gestured towards the ornate door “If you will, Mistresses.”

They moved out into the hallway of the large building, not as cavernous as Zarak’s Palace was, but still not lacking its grandiose designs with majestic arches, and enchanted tapestries, staffed with the same serpentine servants as one that welcomed the girl upon her awakening in the magical pool. It was a world where humans didn’t belong, but neither of the girls was one, not anymore, and the fact of how quickly they could distance themselves from what they once were was scary in hindsight.

“Hitomi, is Mami alright?” She asked while they walked - and slithered - the corridor

“Kyouko took her through the portal before I went looking for you,” Hitomi replied. Hearing this from one of her friends dispelled her worries. This meant Mami wouldn’t die as she wouldn’t be in the time and place that spelled her doom in the past. And had Sayaka warned her past self, along with Madoka, so they wouldn’t wander into the dangerous situations now, they knew how deadly they could be.

“And Madoka?” She asked.

“She should be fine.” A winged diva confirmed, paused, and immediately added: “After I fixed you…”

“...fixed your past-self I mean. This time travel part makes everything confusing, I swear.” She corrected herself and continued: “I told them to run and took your body back here. I didn’t know it wasn’t needed for you to recover!”

Sayaka found it worrying.

“She is fine!” Hitomi said, sensing the concerning gaze, and quickly added: “I am certain that Lord Zarak can find her with that magical mirror of his, and we should leave this to older Divas.”

“We didn’t do a good job protecting her,” Sayaka whispered.

“See, but it is different. This time she knows about Witches, and will not put herself in danger.” Hitomi argued.

Sayaka wasn’t exactly pleased with the answer. She felt that more could’ve been done, even though at the same time she, as a Magical Girl, ran towards danger, and Madoka didn’t have to.

A memory of Homura, on the other hand, made her more alarmed and she felt the sudden surge of magical power within her, along with a crackling of energy dancing on her skin and scales.

“She will be fine, don’t worry.” Hiromi’s words brought her to reality again.

Sayaka tried to push away her feelings and shake off energies gathering in her hands.

They finally arrived at the room, probably meant for dining, heavily decorated, complete with a large table and chairs, but also piles of cushions almost perfectly fitting for someone who didn’t have an entirely humanoid lower body. Just as Sayaka, who rested herself on the pile, positioned her long, serpentine body in a comfortable way, only to be overtaken by guilt for what she became. But suddenly, she also felt a need for she should be rewarded for the sacrifice she made as a human, and as the Magical Girl, and it seemed it was the time.

Her friend sat at the table and tried to properly rest her wings against the backrest of the chair.

“Hitomi, I want to speak with Kyousuke, to tell him how I feel... felt... I don’t know.” Sayaka said, hesitantly, worrying about Hitomi’s reaction a few days ago, they were rivals of sorts in this matter of feeling.

“Of course. Do it. We can go visit him and you tell him everything...” Hitomi’s reaction was different from what Sayaka imagined it would be, as there was none of that love rivalry in her behavior at all, “...assuming we can leave as we didn’t fare well last time. Oh, and don’t tell Lord Zarak I lost his magical ring.”

“You have no problem with me proposing to Kyousuke? I thought you wanted to propose to him.” Sayaka asked, confused.

“I did…” Hitomi looked away. It seemed she was nervous, at least briefly, before she took a deep breath and spat out: “I always did everything because I felt it was proper. My parents wanted me to be a proper lady. I wanted to give you a chance because it seemed proper. I wanted to propose to Kyousuke because he seemed a proper partner, appropriate for me, my parents would approve of!. It was everything that was expected of me.”

Sayaka absentmindedly took the goblet offered to her by one of the servants and gulped its content almost like she wash away her confusion at the situation presented to her, and the infusion of the energy provided distracted her momentarily from the words of her friend, allowing Hitomi to continue her speech.

“Now there is another me, the other Hitomi who will be the proper one.” She declared, “I am a new Hitomi who will do the right thing!”

It brought Sayaka’s thoughts back to the realization that their old selves were indeed gone and forgotten. They even had a second version of themselves, living their mundane lives when they themselves dwelled here, in the world beyond. They were abominations that defined nature; she thought briefly, but she didn’t feel she was being one and she couldn’t find the flaw in how she looked. She did, and then she didn’t, a paradoxical reaction that haunted her thoughts for the while only to be forgotten a moment later.

“I’ll support you. We can go there and you tell him how you feel.” Hitomi declared when Sayaka didn’t answer. It was strange how much everything changed since they had a similar conversation back in the school cafeteria - they had been different people back then.

She stared quietly at Hitomi, who was giving her order to the serpentine servant. It was hard to think about herself as a monster where she was in a place that accepted her the way she was, freed from the fate of the Magical Girl and gifted with the promise of an indeterminately long life. More than that, she was no longer forced to fight her friend over the boy she liked. She sensed things were turning better for her.

Sayaka shook her head and reached for another energizing cocktail. She needed to regain strength; she reminded herself, especially after she failed so spectacularly when it came to warning Madoka, and fighting off Homura that attacked them without warning, and more importantly, without provocations.

“I am not sure…” she said, but never finished her sentences as doors flew open and Kyouko stormed into the room. Two servants slithered out of the way, giving space to a newly arrived Diva.

“Mistress.” They bowed, but the redhead barely acknowledged them.

“Sayaka!” Kyouko exclaimed, “I just heard you died…”

Then she paused, realizing the changes Sayaka underwent, and immediately changed the topic by question to: “What the hell happened to you?”

Two other girls looked at each other, and then at the redhead, almost confused.

“Nothing happened to me.” Sayaka scowled. Despite the events of the past two days, Sayaka didn’t necessarily come to terms with Kyouko’s brash attitude. She just pushed it aside for the moment.

“Do you realize that you have a snake’s body instead of your legs? Huge, scaly snake!” Redhead argued.

The now half-snake Diva started to feel irritated. The tip of her tail shook as one of the rattlesnakes tried to calm herself from not bursting out in the pointless argument with Kyouko, especially for something as meaningless as this.

“You have scales too.” She said. Between Kyouko’s lizard-like legs, her clawed arms, tail, or wings, at least half of her body was covered with scales, so that argument hardly made sense for the other Diva now.

“What about we have breakfast?” Hitomi cut in, trying to defuse the brewing argument, before asking. “Did you take care of Mami?”

Kyouko seated herself at the table and tried to, just as Hitomi, rest her wings in some comfortable position.

“Mami is being difficult, just like you,” Kyouko growled, glancing at Sayaka. This angered the blue-haired Diva, but with a little internal struggle to try to avoid the pointless fight, she chose to remain silent.

“Mistresses. We can serve you breakfast.” Announced a returned servant, and as expected, Kyouko waved her in, as she didn’t lose any of her appetites. Sayaka, on the other hand, did and rose up from her position in the cushioned nest.

“I am not done with you.” Kyouko tried to protest even though she probably wanted to demolish the food put in front of her first.

“But I am with you.” Sayaka cut her off before turning to the snake-like servants.

“Are there clothes I can pick from, please?” She asked.

“Of course, mistress.” It hissed, albeit she can feel it was in a respectful manner.

“Then lead on, please,” Sayaka said.

She needed to look good to visit Kyousuke.