Manka Niisen (yeah,I'm using her broken-up name here;Joubutsu won't be her name yet) was just like any normal girl in the land of taiko.
Despite being in the niisen bloodline,Manka seemed to lack the mystic powers running in her family. In fact,Manka didn't like to fight.She would rather stay in the niisens mansion and play her flute.

Boy,she sure likes playing her flute.She spent most of her time either pouring over her music books or practicing on her playing skills.Her siblings often remarked that her music sounds rather chilling, and this has puzzled her. After all,Manka was always in a good mood when she played her music.

Everything went well over the years,with Manka spending her days hanging out with her siblings or playing her flute.

Until that day…

For some reason,Manka got hit by a mysterious disease.It started with a high fever and splitting headaches,and worsened day by day,soon Manka could feel strong pains in her insides,which no painkillers could lessen.
Her parents called for the best doctors in the region,but they were unable to diagnose the disease,much less cure it.The niisens tried using their powers,but in no avail.Feeling hopeless,all they could do is to make Manka stay in bed and hope for the best.

Now Manka laid on her bed,searing pain tying knots with her insides.She tried drinking water to ease the pain,but it seemed to only make it worse.The combined effects of pain and fever must have been messing with her mind,she thought,as she saw an odd creature perched on the windowsill.

The creature looked like a small white cat,with a large fox-like tail and a pair of arm-like appendages attached to his ears.These appendages had pink tips,with a ring of red dots around it.Two golden rings hovered near the base.The oddest thing about him was his expression;he had red unblinking eyes and he always had this small smile on his face,never changing expression.That expression creeped Manka out and his staring made her uneasy,but strangely enough Manka felt like she could trust this creature.

"I see you're having trouble with this illness,right?"

"Huh?" Manka jumped a little,wincing as she felt a pang of pain.Did it just speak?Yet his mouth never moved…

"No need to look so surprised,it's just telepathy.Back to business.From what I'm seeing here,you're suffering from a brand-new illness,which can be very deadly.And so far there's no cure yet."

"Wait,how…how did you know about my illness?And why are you telling me all this?"

"Ah yes,I'll tell you why now.If I hadn't interfered now,you may be killed by the disease right now or at least after an hour or two.Fortunately,I have a way to fix that."

"What do you mean?"

"Simple,my name is Kyubey,and I have the power to cure your disease.I only ask one simple thing in return:Be a puella magi and help me fight for the good of the universe.That's not much to ask for,isn't it?"

Manka blinked in confusion at Kyubey.Puella magi?For the good of the universe?And is he really able to cure her?While her thoughts were still in turmoil,the pain in her organs suddenly became much more intense,almost overriding her senses.This is too much…

"I can cure you!Just make a wish!"

Maybe he's right,he can help me…

"I wish…to live…"

"Very well,wish granted."

"Very well,wish granted"

Once Kyubey said those very words,Manka's pain suddenly vanished without a trace.She felt her head,no fever,no headache.She was cured!"The pain!It's gone!I'm healthy again!",Manka squealed in happiness,then swept Kyubey up to give him a hug.

Kyubey allowed Manka to hug him for a moment,then he wriggled out and landed on Manka's bed.Sitting in a Sphinx-like position,Kyubey spoke again,with Manka listening eagerly,

"Now that I have cured you,that means you have accepted to be a Puella Magi.The work of a Puella Magi is simple:To fight and defeat witches."

Witches?She had never heard of anything like that..."What's a witch?",Manka wondered.

"A witch is a kind of creature that feeds on negative emotions.Although they stay in their barriers,they can use familars to do their bidding."

"They sound pretty strong…I'm afraid I cannot defeat them…after all,I'm not really the type to fight…"

"No need to worry about that,Manka,"Kyubey said reassuringly,"I can sense the potential in you.Open your left hand."

Manka did so,revealing a small egg-shaped gem nestling on her palm.It glowed in a mixture of orange and red,the same shade as the saffron robes monks wear.It has a golden metal base,shaped like a lotus.

Manka fingered the gem,"Kyubey,what's this?It looks pretty…"

"That's a soul gem,it gives you the power to defeat witches.You transform into a puella magi with it."

Manka gave it a few tosses.This gem houses the power she needs?But it feels so light…

"Careful with that,the gem is delicate.You should protect it as if it is your life and soul."

Manka quickly caught the gem,giving Kyubey a sheepish grin,"Sorry…"

"That's understandable,just be careful later o-"

"What the-why is my gem flashing?"

And sure it was.Instead of the usual subtle glow,the gem was flashing fiercly and more brightly.Kyubey perked up,"It just detected a witch's barrier",he hopped onto the windowsill,"Follow me!"

"Through the window?!"

"Through the window.Just follow!"

Kyubey leapt out from the window,with Manka following suit.She expected to break a few bones,but she landed easily without any injury."Wow,did I just…?"

"Being a puella magi grants you more aglility.No time to marvel,let's go!"

Following Kyubey,Manka weaved through crowds,going past the main streets and into a dark alley.As they ventured deeper into the alley,Manka could see runes scrawled on the walls.Although it was springtime,the place felt unnaturally cold.

Manka shivered,"Where are we?"

"We're nearing the boundaries of the witch's barrier.Now let's see if I can find the entrance…ah,here we are."

Kyubey stopped by the dead end of the alley,where a portal glowed,colours weaving within it.Manka's eyes widened,"Is this the entrance?"

"That's right.Ready for your first witch hunt?"

"Ready!"

Swallowing her fears,Manka followed Kyubey,stepping cautiously into the portal.

Once they entered the portal,their surroundings changed drastically.The dark alley was gone,replaced by a dense,dark jungle.Swaths of spider webs hung from the tall trees,which were covered in runes.

"Are we in the barrier?"Manka looked around,her fear returning. Kyubey nodded,"Yes we are,and…"He eyed the portal," another puella magi should be here by now…"

"Kyubey!Sorry to keep ya waiting!"

Another figure appeared from the portal,and waved at Kyubey.He was wearing a light set of blue-black armor,and he held a halberd with his right hand,which was protected with a gauntlet.A blue-green,trianglar gem was set on it.
That must be his soul gem,Manka thought.

"Glad to see you,Delta.Never thought you'll go witch-hunting this far from your land"

"Yeah…we're running out of witches back there.No choice,"he motioned at Manka,"And this is…?"

"Manka,the newest recruit.Care to show her the ropes?"

"Gladly.Nice to meet you,Manka.Just call me Delta,"Hoisting his halberd on his shoulders,Delta briefly shook Manka's hand,"Alright,time for work.Follow me closely,and don't panic!"

Manka nodded,then followed Delta as he made his way through the dense jungle.Distorted,screeching spiders dropped from the webs left and right,trying to claw at the two.Delta gritted his teeth and swung his weapon,cutting down the swarms of spiders.

After what seemed like hours of running through undergrowth,Kyubey called out,"The witch is up ahead,get ready!"

Delta stopped in his tracks and held his halberd tightly.In front of him was an overgrown spider,looking like as if it was made of rusty metal.Manka stared in horror,is that the witch?

"I'll deal with the witch this time,you help me fend off the familars,OK?"Wait what familars?Is he talking about the spiders they saw previously?"But how?"

"Just transform!Hold out your soul gem and let it do the rest!"

Manka held out her gem and closed her eyes,feeling energy wash over her.When the feeling was gone,she opened her eyes and found herself in a different outfit.She was wearing a set of orange robes,and a long hooded cloak fastened in place with her soul gem.In her hand was a staff tipped with an orange crystal.

"Split up!" Delta dashed forward towards the giant spider,while Manka turned at the smaller familars.She whacked the spiders with her staff as quickly as she can,but there were too many of them!"Kyubey!Help!"

"Focus,Manka!You can use magic!"
Manka focused,holding her staff out.Suddenly,a blast of energy shot out from the staff,taking out several spiders at once."I did it!" Feeling pumped,Manka fired more blasts at the swarm,stopping their advance.

Meanwhile,Delta has landed blow after blow on the witch,causing the spider to reel back,severly injured."Now it's time!" Delta started to glow blue-green,then he suddenly phased out,teleporting above the spider.Then he brought his halberd down with incredible speed,right onto the witch's head.The witch gave a loud screech,then fell down dead.

As the witch and her barrier dissipated,Delta picked up a small black object,the only object left behind.He tossed it to Manka,"Here,take this.Touch your soul gem with it."

Manka did so,and saw the black specks in her soul gem dissapear,the gem returning to its usual luster,"What just happened?"

"That's a grief seed,something a defeated witch leaves behind.You purify your soul gem with it."

Manka pocked her soul gem,and Kyubey trotted towards her,"Well done,everyone.Manka,that wasn't too tough,was it?"

"No,that was easy."

And so Manka lived a double life.By day,she stayed with the niisens as before,then she met up with Delta and Kyubey at night to go witch-hunting.
At first she only fought familars,but eventually Manka was good enough to start taking on witches.This is easy,I can handle this,she thought.

Too bad things weren't as easy as it seems…

---------------------------------------------------------------

This witch is definitely the toughest they have fought so far,Manka remarked as she and Delta faced the witch,a hulking behemoth with sharp teeth and sharper claws.They have tried striking countless blows at the beast,but it shrugged them off as if they were mere scratches.

Delta gripped his halberd tightly,"Change of plan,we're exhausting ourselves this way.Let's make this quick." He phased out,reappearing in front of the beast.As the witch lunged at him,he dashed out of the way and struck the witch on the leg.The beast roared in pain,but the halberd strike  barely made a dent.Manka frantically fired blasts at the beast,but it also shrugged the wounds off.

Delta continued to attack the witch,darting all over the place as he tried to dodge the beast's claws and teeth.This was easy at first,but eventually Delta found the move more and more tiring.

Finally,fatigue chose this time to strike.Delta stopped glowing,and he stopped,exhausted,to catch his breath.

Big mistake.

Seeing its opportunity,the witch swiped one huge paw,slamming Delta against the ground.His soul gem,broken from the impact,shattered into pieces.Manka froze.This couldn't be happening…

The witch bit into Delta's ear,than raised it off the ground.

"No...don't...."

The witch swung its head sideways fiercely,shaking the lifeless body like a ragdoll.

"Stop…stop it…"

With one fluid motion,the witch sent the corpse flying,which rebounded off a pillar and flopped onto the ground.The beast then slowly stepped towards Manka…

Manka turned and ran,tears streaming from her eyes,trying to find a way out from the barrier.Must find a way out,out from all of this…fast.

Unfortunately,the beast,despite injured,was still faster.It bowled over Manka,pinning her firmly down.Claws slashed against her,one of them slashing right over her right eye.Manka felt a burning pain erupt from her eye,as if a red-hot poker was pressed on it.The right side of her vision went black;her eye was torn beyond repair.The witch raised its claws,ready to take out the other eye…

"NO!!"

Ignoring the pain and mustering all her strength,Manka shoved her staff straight up,ramming it through the witch's throat.Unable to roar,it could only stagger in pain,then it collapsed,gargling through its torn throat.

The barrier faded out,leaving behind Manka,Kyubey and the witch's grief seed.Still shaken,Manka picked up the seed and purified her soul gem with trembling hands.

"What's wrong?"Kyubey sounds concerned,but his face still had the same small smile.

"Kyubey..."

"Yes?"

"I've had enough.This is far too hard for me.I thought this would be an easy task,yet…"
Manka tried to fight back her tears,which stung her wounds,"Delta died DIED fighting that witch right there,and I would have suffered from the same fate!I was lucky not to die,but my eye…!"

She sighed,"I'm quitting."Kyubey perked up,but said nothing.
"I don't want to be a puella magi anymore.This is far too much for me.I want to be normal,to be back with my family…"

Kyubey finally spoke,"Sorry,Manka…I cannot allow you to do that."

"What?!"

"It's impossible to do so.Once you agree to become a puella magi,there is no turning back."

"You said it's going to be easy work!"

"Now now,you can't blame me for this.My only role is to form the contract and grant your wish,you're the one who chose this path,I'm afraid."

"You--!"

"I've got to go now,there's still more things to prepare.From now on,you'll have to work without another puella magi helping you.Good luck."

Kyubey padded off,leaving Manka seething with rage."He tricked me into this!And now I cannot turn back!",angry thoughts filled her head.
Finally she made up her mind.She will continue to fight witches,to hone her skills.When she is strong enough,she will take her revenge and kill that smiling bastard.

After the last battle,Manka rested for a week or so to get used to life with only one eye.She then returned to her witch-fighting role,acting like she had no grudge against Kyubey.Luckily,the white rat did not notice anything different,except that Manka was fighting much more aggresively,and often actively looked for witches to battle.
Kyubey was pleased,as he thought he finally can see Manka working hard to help him achieve his goals.However,he did not know that Manka had different plans…

Manka used to believe what Kyubey said about saving the universe,but her optimism soon faded out,turning into the weariness of a battle-hardened fighter.To her,witch-hunting has become a routine,merely a way to train her skills and to prevent her soul gem from getting tainted.

Meanwhile,Manka has also uncovered many horrifying details about being a puella magi,details Kyubey never revealed to her.Details such as what a soul gem really was,how witches drove people into suicide,things like that.She figured that Kyubey was deliberately hiding the truth from her,and that he shouldn't be trusted in the first place.

The same experience also took its toll on Manka's emotions.As she has seen far too much despair around her,Manka has slowly become indifferent,almost cold,towards things happening around her.Was she only trying to escape?To ignore?She didn't know,nor did she cared.To her,emotions were only a hinderance,affecting her road to her goal:To kill Kyubey and quit being a puella magi.
Every time she finished off a witch,Kyubey was always there,to congratulate her and to tell her about the next witch's information.Manka longed to kill Kyubey right away,but a part of her held her back from doing so,

"Not yet,"it said,"You're not ready."

--------------------------
Finally,she was ready.

Manka sat on a small ledge near a crumbling city wall,the usual site where she and Kyubey meet at.She was already in her puella magi outfit,and she kept her staff ready as she waited for the target to appear.

"You're quite early today,Manka,"Kyubey trotted up and hopped onto the ledge,"It may not be a good idea to work this hard though.After all,it's almost time for the arrival of Shimed-"

WHAM!

Pointing her staff at Kyubey,Manka fired a large blast of energy at him.He was thrown back against the wall behind him,with a sickening crack as his backbone broke from the hit.Kyubey fell onto the ground,dead.

Manka almost jumped with joy.She finally killed him!

…Or did she?

From the shadows on top of the wall glowed a pair of red,unblinking eyes…a pair of very familar eyes.It then revealed itself as…another Kyubey?!

The new Kyubey jumped down from his perch,and started to eat his own corpse,chewing and swallowing until nothing was left.Manka gasped in horror,"How did…but you were just…!"

"Ah yes,I haven't told you yet," Kyubey calmly gulped down the last bit of his remains,"You see,I cannot be killed.Once you kill me,another Kyubey will simply take my place."

No!This is impossible!Manka sent Kyubey flying again with a burst of magic,yet another Kyubey took its place.She tried again and again,but the bastard kept showing up…

"See what I mean?I have many reserves."

Manka ignored him,continuing to fire more blasts at any Kyubey copies showing up.

"Stop it,Manka.You'll fully corrupt your soul gem if you continue doing that."

That also fell into deaf ears.Panicking,Manka kept up her barriage of attacks.She figured that there's a limited amount of Kyubey copies,and she will mow down every single one of them.
What she didn't notice was her soul gem being tainted by specks of black.

WHAM!

"I told you it won't work,why won't you listen?"

"Shut up!"

WHAM!

What used to be black specks,turned into black splotches…

WHAM!

 "That's enough,Manka."

"I said shut up!"

WHAM!

Black smoke…

WHAM!

A murky,black fog…

WHAM!

"Hey,I think you should check your gem,it's turning b-"

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Pitch black.

Manka collapsed,lying face down with her eyes blanked out in grey.Her soul gem hovered above her head and disintergrated,turning into a grief seed.
A great surge of energy exploded from the seed,and out poured numerous runes,all spelling out numbers.No…a murderous mantra.

Trois Sept Cinq Six Quatre…

3 7 5 6 4…

Minna goroshi…

Kill everyone…

Flashes of the newborn witch's barrier appeared,revealing chains,blood,an incinerator,hell's fire,the omnious,mournful sound of a flute…

Finally,more runes poured out,giving the witch her name:

Joubutsu Niisen.

Observing the whole ordeal from a safe distance away,Kyubey gave a genuine smile.

Just as planned.