"We did not become Puella Magi to be remembered. We only sought an answer to our prayers. We only sought peace."
—Michi Hideyoshi, "Chapter 18"
Magia, Pacem, Bellum Terrarum
, written by Elias Pedro, is a backstory fanfic of Puella Magi Madoka Magica that explores the story of Walpurgisnacht, the Dreadnaught Witch or Dreadnaughthexe that wreaked havoc on Mitakihara during the Madoka Magica anime multiple times. In this story, Walpurgisnacht was a Puella Magi who came from the Second World War and lived through the horrors of the Pacific Campaign. We follow the story of Walpurgisnacht through the eyes of Homura Akemi who demanded that Kyuubey show her the events that led to the birth of the Dreadnaughthexe. Homura ends up learning more than she bargained for.
The story has a sequel that takes place a year after the events of Episode 12 of the Anime. The sequel incorporates elements from Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion.
Note that there are multiple spoilers ahead.
Magia, Pacem, Bellum Terrarum contains the following tropes:
- Action Dad: Nicanor de la Cruz fights to protect his daughter Ligaya, until he is killed helping her escape the Bataan Death March.
- Aloof Ally: Michi Hideyoshi protected Audrey and Ligaya from afar until the incident in Sangley Point, Cavite
- Band of Brothers: Or in this case, Band of Sisters - or Sisters-in-Magic. Audrey, Ligaya, Michi and Serafina.
- Big Damn Heroes: Many examples throughout the fic
- Michi arrives just in time to save Audrey from the Sunka Witch in Mariveles
- Audrey, Ligaya and Serafina save Michi from the Incognitas in the barrier of the Fisherwoman Witch in Cavite
- Michi and Lorelei save Serafina from the Incognitas in Tokyo, Japan
- Bombers on the Screen: Audrey Burnham literally worked with maps during the Battle of Bataan, marking enemy and allied positions while working the radios.
- Bound and Gagged: In The Battle of Cavite, Michi was caught up in numerous magical ropes and chains from the Incognitas.
- Homura's scene in Episode 3 of the anime is also portrayed here.
- Break the Badass: Upon learning that the full truth of the Taint of the Dreadnaught, Michi loses her will to fight against Lorelei's Dreadnaught.
- Caught in a Snare: The six Aspirants in Cavite and the magi of the Philippine Expedition
- Cherry Blossoms: Cherry blossoms have multiple significant meanings in this story:
- Michi Hideyoshi's ultimate move involves summoned cherry blossom petals that strike like a flurry of daggers
- The story starts with Homura looking out to a dead cherry blossom tree and ends with Homura visiting that same tree that had blossomed to life again.
- The cherry blossom tree that Homura looks out to is the grave marker for the remains of Michi Hideyoshi
- That same tree is dead because Michi's Soul Gem was finally breaking and Walpurgisnacht was about to manifest.
- Colossus Climb: Michi does this to defeat the Statue Witch in Chapter 2
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Elise de Lamarliere where she manages to easily rout Serafina and Michi AT THE SAME TIME.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Elise de Lamarliere when her strength fails her from time to time during the battle with Michi and Serafina
- Dare to Be Badass: Michi, Audrey and Ligaya where Audrey and Ligaya convince Michi to fight against Lorelei's Dreadnaught.
- The Day of Reckoning: Walpurgisnacht's arrival to Mitakihara.
- You can also consider the fall of Salvae as one.
- Death Course: Every Witch Barrier pretty much counts, especially the barrier of Serafina's Grand Witch - it's a multi-tiered maze of death that kills over a hundred Puella Magi.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Michi and the rest of the cast are constantly faced with dire challenges, but there is catharsis in the end of it all.
- Exotic Weapon Supremacy: Michi and Elise both carry the most exotic weapons - the naginata and greatsword respectively. They are also two of the most badass characters in the fic.
- "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: Used many times throughout the fic. The most prominent examples are
- The Zealots of Elise before being killed by Michi and Serafina
- Elise when Michi deals a fatal blow on her, though she does pass on her mission of stopping the cycle to Michi.
- Final Battle: At the end of Chapter 18 the Goddess Madoka, Michi, Audrey, Ligaya, Lorelei, Serafina and Elise fight against the meteor of darkness - aka. Gretchen
- Fling a Light into the Future: Michi does this when she delays the manifestation of Walpurgisnacht by more than a hundred years to give time for the world to prepare to fight the Dreadnaughthexe.
- Friend to All Children: Lorelei Sankt. Most of the Puella Magi are fifteen or younger, and Lorelei does her best to befriend them all.
- In Chapter 3 of the sequel, Lorelei's place in heaven is an orphanage, and the orphans inspired her to make Salvae, Terrae Magicae
- Gaining the Will to Kill: Elise de Lamarliere
- Gunpoint Banter: Michi, Elise and Serafina they have a conversation while sizing each other out in their battle in Chapter 13
- Heroic BSoD: Michi in Chapter 16
- Hitchiker Heroes: Audrey, Michi, Ligaya and Serafina.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Ligaya de la Cruz trying to figure out how to use her magic at all.
- Audrey too had terrible accuracy and very little control over her magic, making her rely on conventional weapons often.
- Hope Springs Eternal: In Chapter 18 Michi and company failed to stop the cycle, but they delayed the manifestation of Walpurgisnacht to the year 2088
- I Did What I Had to Do: Elise, then Michi, then Madoka
- Involuntary Group Split: Two notable examples of this,
- The Philippine Expedition when they had to tackle the maze of death of Serafina's Grand Witch.
- Audrey, Michi and Ligaya when they were separated in the miasma in the barrier of Lorelei Sankt's Dreadnaughthexe
- Ignorance Is Bliss: Homura envied Mami's ignorance about the truth about Witches.
- Also, Audrey, Ligaya and Serafina lived happy lives in the arms of Salvae, under the care of Elise who they would challenge later on.
- I Will Wait for You: Homura Akemi, Michi Hideyoshi, Elise de Lamarliere.
- It Gets Easier: Elise de Lamarliere which is why she maintains the ruthless Incognitas to do her bidding
- and Michi to an extent
- Line in the Sand: when Michi and company try to get the Aspirants of the Manila Branch to rebel against Elise.
- subverted since most of the Aspirants choose not to rebel
- Neck Lift: Lorelei Sankt when she grabs the wounded Serafina, furiously demanding answers from her
- Manipulative Bastard: Kyuubey of course, but far beyond anything anyone expected. It turns out that the main Kyuubey seen in both the main series and these stories (going by Ichibey later on) has been "corrupted" by emotion all along and he planned Walpurgisnacht, Goddess Madoka and Devil Homura just so he could destroy the rest of his race. He didn't plan for Michi's wish at the end however, but decides to go along with it because it's a much more efficient and sustainable way to collect energy.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: Audrey Burnham, because America. Subverted towards the end.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Audrey, Michi and Ligaya where they all lay dying at the banks of the Pasig River.
- Multinational Team: Our three main protagonists are multinational. Michi is Japanese. Audrey is American and Ligaya is Filipina.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Trading your soul for a wish is a pretty big deal. They often come back to haunt the characters.
- Elise's wish to save Lorelei Sankt turns backfires terribly and causes her to sacrifice the girls of Salvae just to keep herself and Lorelei alive.
- Obstacle Exposition: Audrey, Michi, Ligaya and Serafina along with the rest of the Padre Faura magi where they make plans on how to assault the Manila Branch of Salvae
- Magical Girls: The majority of the characters are Puella Magi - magical girls.
- "Open!" Says Me: Audrey Burnham, when she blasts open the doors of the Edificio Gumamela with a barrage of 105mm howitzer shells
- Outside Ride: a few noticeable examples featuring Ligaya's summoned warplanes,
- In the Rice Doll Witch's barrier in Chapter 8, Ligaya finally figures out how to summon planes and saves everyone from freefall. They hang onto the planes and do a counterattack on the Witch afterwards.
- In Chapter 16 Audrey, Ligaya and Michi ride atop a B-17G Flying Fortress to get to their destination. The Chess Witches and Grand Witches manage to clamber onto some of the planes as well, but they rip the planes apart one by one.
- Le Parkour: Audrey, Michi and Ligaya in Chapter 16 when they try to get to the spiral staircase while running away from the rampaging Witches chasing them
- Pit Trap: The Sungka Witch's barrier.
- Plummet Perspective: The Sungka Witch's barrier, the Rice Doll Witch's barrier and Lorelei Sankt's Dreadnaughthexe's field
- Punched Across the Room: Audrey Burnham when she was blown away by Serafina's Grand Witch
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Ligaya de la Cruz's Peacemaker
- Storming the Castle: Michi and company assault the Edificio Gumamela
- Sword and Gun: commonly done by characters with melee weapons. Nearly everyone carries a conventional firearm at some point in time.
- Take My Hand!: Audrey and Michi in the barrier of the Sungka Witch.
- These Hands Have Killed: Michi and Elise
- Michi's hands are actually bloodied after killing Elise.
- My God, What Have I Done!?: Michi when she came to after murdering everyone in her village in Hokkaido and after she realizes that killing Elise killed everyone bound to her as well..
- Lorelei Sankt qualifies as well when the truth of Soul Gem binding is revealed to her, meaning that everyone in the entire organization of Salvae that she created would die when she died and would become a Witch when she became a Witch.
- Strike Me Down: There are two fine examples of this:
- Serafina when she is about to turn into a Witch.
- Michi when she finally manifests into Walpurgisnacht and faces off against Homura
- We Used to Be Friends: Many examples exist here:
- Mami and Homura, most prominently
- Lorelei and Serafina, Michi, Audrey and Ligaya
- You Didn't Ask: Kyuubey, nuff said.
