Chapter 9 - Act V

A Blissful Year, Act 5

Hall of the Frost Queen

I.

She got used to a lot of things this Winter and Fall.

She got used to people losing their homes.

She even got used to people losing their lives.

Crying is useless, the red haired girl thinks to herself.

We are useless, Madoka punches a tree down.

When the soft hands wrap around her,

she turns to see her friend's worried eyes.

And then she cannot stop the flow of tears once again.

~~

Victory was hollow.

The two faded from exuberance to silence quickly. They got to work without a word. Madoka pushed the bear in the storage portal and the two vacated the battlefield quickly. She must have lost track of time thinking of the fight with the bear. On how she was so weak that even the princess was in danger. Madoka caught a rodent with her bare hand to test whether living animals could be stored in the storage. To both of the girls' surprise, Madoka's hand phased right through the hexagonal portal with the squirming rodent still in her grip.

The next morning, Madoka followed Audrey quietly. She appeared to know where she was going. But Madoka did not and could not help but ponder if Audrey did not as well. Secretly, or perhaps obviously, Madoka felt like she was going mad. She knew she was in way too far over her head by promising the princess to serve her forever. It was a difficult task to do each new day. The journey was an onslaught of being burdened and trying not to be a burden. It was an endless balancing act on a scale of noble and slave.

Yet the two silently walked onwards, from a rugged mountain path to another.

Madoka found herself holding the former princess's hand as they traversed the snow covered mountain paths. She would lead Audrey and would go where she pointed. An eternal staircase of snow and cold awaited her on this path. There was not much of a path, really, for the two girls' boots crunched into the snow leaving prints under threadbare boughs of trees scorned by the weather. The sky is grey, gauzed with foglight and the fairy-like powdery tendrils of ice that resembled tinsel. Madoka heard the thoughts of hidden creatures that night was descending like her heart felt looking at the cliffsides below.

She could no longer feel her feet in her boots, no longer could see the smoke rising from the fallen palace, not even the hints of green hillsides. Only trees, snow and the uncaring night sky kept the two company. Audrey stopped walking, her hand slipping from Madoka's. She turned. She was doubled over, her arm now covering her eyes.

"El- Audrey?" Madoka rushed to Audrey's side.

"I-I can't do this!" Audrey screamed. Her eyes were searing their anguish up at the clouds above. Then she slammed her head against the ground. A gash of crimson splotched the snow, like red bird feed scattered across a silken blanket. Madoka restrained her from hitting her head against the ground, so the former princess wailed in Madoka's arms instead. "I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't! Madoka, I..."

Madoka held onto her friend's head, ripping off a part of her sleeve and wrapping it around the former princess's fresh head wound. The wind's blistering chill clawed itself on Madoka's exposed skin, but she promised Elise, no, Audrey her heart will remain the same. Of all her own sufferings and failures falling like a glacier shattering and crumbling into fine ice, the screaming princess in her arms' own sorrow were avalanches tumbling into a frozen sea dwarfing Madoka's personal issues.

Her mind must be slipping because she was alternating between both of the former princess's names.

That is why she must hold onto the princess for dear life, Madoka concluded in her mind as Audrey slammed her head into Madoka's shoulder again. She embraced Audrey tightly while she screamed until her voice grew hoarse.

"I... can't... do... this..."

Audrey whispered into the night. Madoka's exposed arm must be purple by now, but she vowed to remain her friend's faithful servant with or without her arm. Ah, Madoka thought to herself as her vision faded. There was starlight above them still.

"I must look pathetic, don't I?" Audrey mumbled to herself. Madoka must have blacked out but she pretended to be asleep still. "I used two more charges on you already... Down to four left. My spells aren't getting any better and I no longer have any visions of the future. What good am I ti anyone, huh?"

"I-I'm sorry for not keeping you safe. Or talking much," Madoka grunted as she sat up. It was day before the sunrise. Or evening when the moons were leaving. Madoka did not care. Audrey was surprised that she was awake. "I was blaming you for my own shortcomings in my foolish thoughts and I didn't know—"

"It's okay, Madoka," Audrey said firmly. "I just... had a bit of a mental block back there. You know, I say 'I hate this world' but I really don't mean it. I have all these big expectations of myself, magic is real, and I have potential! Or so I thought. I dropped the ball in a real battle."

She looked at the fire bitterly.

"You kept me alive," Madoka said. "That's good enough."

"I wish I could say I will make it worth your time," Audrey sighed. "But I feel like I'm a fake. A lie, leading you to nothing but trouble."

"Stop wallowing, then," Madoka scoffed, halting her princess's words. Audrey squeaked. She took the princess's hands and stared at those beautiful eyes. "I am your servant, remember? You have been leading me all this time."

Audrey was about to complain in her usual self but she sat back and sighed.

"But I wish my spells were more effective," Audrey sighed. "My patented all-powerful bubblebeam was worthless!"

"I vowed," Madoka said, ignoring her strange words. "To protect you no matter what."

Madoka released her hand and traced Audrey's stomach with her hands down to her waist.

"M-Madoka!?" Audrey stammered, glancing nervously at her maid. "W-What are you—?"

"Do it," Madoka looked down at the storage talisman.

"H-Hai," Audrey's core flickered and the storage portal opened. In a flash, Madoka stood up and took an object out of the portal. A knife. "W-What are you going to do with that?"

With one hand on the knife and one on her last braid, Madoka heard the swish of the blade behind her and felt the weight of her hair loosen. Red strands of hair fluttered in the wind and Madoka tossed the braid in the flames. Her former princess gawked at her as she sat back down.

"I could kiss you right now," Audrey said dangerously, stealing glances at Madoka's new hairstyle. "Y-You're... hot! Why did you? What did you-!"

The sight of Audrey's beautiful eyes glittering with the streak of stars in the cold sky above made Madoka's heart pound, but she did not do or say anything more. She took a risk but she was nervous still. The princess's hair and Madoka's matched now. Wind pushed her hair aside easily but Audrey's smile prevailed through snow and ice. Madoka felt her cheeks go red but she was satisfied. If she liked her without the braids, she guessed it was fine.

"I will be fine whenever I am with you," Audrey vowed.

"And I with you, Audrey," Madoka scoffed, folding her arms and looking away. "I did it because the braid got weighty on one side and not for your appro—"

"Don't ruin the mood!" Audrey said with a sigh. "Gahhhh, I can't even with your new look. I'm going to bed!"

With that, Audrey dove into the tent and spoke not a word after that.

Spirits were higher in the morning. Madoka thanked the kind gods for that. Despite how annoying Audrey could be, she hated the silence and awkwardness the last days brought and preferred her friend's rambling. Even if Madoka herself did not have much to offer in the passing conversations. Audrey was chattering a lot about the bear as they hiked.

"You got a wild look," Audrey said in the morning. Madoka chuckled because she thinks the same everytime she sees her friend's hair. "You roar like a cheetah and can smash through that damn beast's legs like nothing! I don't wanna know what it was infected with but yeah. Nothing says anything about diseases and parasites in my books."

"What is a cheetah?" Madoka was embarrassed for some reason so she did not want to actually know. "Please, your spells could also cut the parasite."

"They're not really spells, but more of me manipulating the particle— Anyways, they're not complex enough!" Audrey sighed. "I just feel useless."

"You can use three elements," Madoka reminded her. "That's more than most people."

"Nevermind that!" Audrey said, rubbing the bandage on her forehead. "The truth is, I don't know if you know that you are very powerful. I can't even keep up, you know? All I got is like three spells and Cherish-style dodges. How awful is a character build like that?"

Madoka was about to argue some more but rumbling was heard above their heads. An aerial attack? Audrey scanned the cloud activity for anything suspicious.

"What's wrong?" Madoka doubted her axe can solve this new problem.

"Storm's a-brewing," Audrey remarked. "We gotta move quickly."

Another loud rumble occured. Was it another bear? Something loud was approaching them but Madoka did not sense any thoughts. Audrey took off towards a ridge. Madoka learned the source of the rumbling as she chased after Audrey. Large chunks of snow began falling from the mountainsides above. The snow was much further up but Madoka would not be fooled by the distance.

"We've got to get on the other side of that ridge," Audrey said. "Signs of an avalanches are obviously no good."

And so they marched quickly. Madoka could see snow falling off other mountainsides across from where they stood. So this is a "mountain range," Madoka swatted snowflakes out of her face. It was quickly turning nightmarish and visibility was getting lower. Audrey stuck her hand behind her for Madoka.

"Take it, take it!" Audrey reached out. Madoka grabbed it. The two felt along the ridgeway until an opening showed itself. "A cave?"

Madoka felt like they were quite over their heads at this point. Which should they choose, a dark cave or a storm with uncaring snow layers sweeping everything aside?

"Let's get inside," Madoka shouted over the rush. She still had a determined calmness to her voice and that was all Audrey needed. She was her servant and she will try to endure for her friend's sake.

And with a push, the two found themselves snowed in a dark hollow.

II.

"We're pretty high up already. Although..." Audrey sighed, tapping the snow that caved them in. It was hard as ice and their breath fogged it like glass. "This guy..."

She withdrew Ares from her bag. There was something peculiar about it. Its eye was shaking and strained. It was if it was searching for something. More oddly and strangely like Ares, a white glow surrounded the statuette's form. Has this been guiding her the whole time?

"It's glowing?"

"Yeah," Audrey said. "It hasn't stopped glowing and shaking for a couple of hours now. Which means... we're probably coming up on something."

Audrey shivered. Madoka only had light armor on under her cloak but she felt the flames burning within her. Still, Madoka moved to take her cloak off and offered it to her friend. When she did, she realized the scar above her heart still ruined her skin. Audrey made a noise in protest.

"N-No need. S-Sorry for worrying you," she mustered, pulling a layer out from her portal. She was all bundled up like a babe. Madoka wanted to hold her but kept that to herself. "How are you not cold with only those garbs on? Damn, the fighter job class is overpowered..."

Madoka shrugged.

"So I take it we stay here for the night?" Madoka stretched. They've been walking for awhile since the bloody hills. Audrey looked further in the crevice.

"I guess," She said. "You don't hear any spooky things in here, do you?"

Madoka shook her head and it was decided. There was a deeper cave further within. The crevice was icy and ancient with no signs of anything entering it recently. Audrey could slip in easily but Madoka got stuck going first. Audrey started giggling.

"Step-sis?" Audrey asked in a strange joking manner at Madoka's compromised position. "What are you doing, step-sis?"

Madoka was too preoccupied with her current predicament to worry about the meaning behind the joke.

"A-Audrey!" Madoka whined. "D-Don't look! Or help me!"

Why must she be too big? Madoka never felt so embarrassed about herself. Her frame was not like the younger noble ladies who were lithe and graceful. Her frame was earned by training and strength. When she thinks about herself, she finds the person staring back at her in the mirror as someone she is proud of and ashamed of at the same time.

With this body alone, Madoka has weathered those awful nights with nobles, shook both rain and sand off, trained with a brutal Lord and a militant Head Maid. She was not like the plump and rich noble women, she was powerful and tempered by the forge of life.

So why in this moment with her friend's laughter did she feel like this way? She would rather be a shell from the sense of shame. Her silence was noticed by Audrey. She could not see Audrey's face but at the moment Madoka did not want to.

"S-Sorry," Audrey said. "I'll help you through. Might be a bit uncomfortable, though."

"Whatever," Madoka grumbled, swallowing her insecurities. There were more dangerous things to worry about. "Get me through or help me out."

"Okay! Three! Two! One!"

"W-Wait, Audrey!" Madoka hesitated after what she saw but it was too late.

At the final count, Madoka felt the full force of Audrey's arms on her bum. The maid squeezed through and slid further down the hollow's ice laden incline. She screamed as she careened down into darkness.

"Madoka!" Audrey's concerned voice echoed above her. The volume grew quieter and drowned out as she slid.

Ice shards sprayed Madoka's face as she descended rapidly. Perhaps she should have told Audrey to pull her from the crack above instead of pushing her in. She tried to dig her hands into the ice to stop her fall but to no avail. The pain was meaningless to her but she realized she was fast approaching the edge of the slope. A small gap above a pitch black depth was between her and a solid wall made of ice.

If Madoka could groan she would. Feeling the free fall curl her stomach before crashing into the wall, she guarded her head and braced for impact.

"Shit," was all that she could muster.

She was waiting for the pain to fracture her body but it did not come. What was going on? Madoka watched the wall break on her and she tumbled through. She skipped off hard rocks like a skipping stone across a lake and ricocheted off another wall.

Still, she did not know if she was flying too fast and the pain simply has not caught up yet. So she lay there out of breath.

"Madoka!" Audrey's voice carried from somewhere above her. "Whoa, whoa!"

She heard the skidding of boots scrape somewhere close by. Madoka was waiting for death or something bad to fall upon her but the familiar white glow illuminated the floor beneath her. This time, even her clothes were fine. She inspected herself and she was alive!

"Thank you, Ares," Madoka prayed. Audrey tumbled near her, landing on her butt. "Thanks, Audrey."

"Ow," she felt her back. Madoka sprang up immediately and checked on the former princess. In her hand was the shimmering, shivering talisman of the kind god Ares.

"Princess? Are you hurt?" Madoka felt her friend.

"It's Audrey," Audrey protested, but acquiesced from Madoka's worried look. She smiled with a radiance that beamed enough to warm the entire cave up. "I'm fine, you workaholic maid. Thank god I managed to buff you in time and you didn't fall down there. I'm not so sure that I wanted to find out the terminal velocity of a human on this world yet... Madoka?"

Madoka hugged Audrey. She can say anything she wants about Madoka.

"You saved me again," Madoka whispered into Audrey's ears.

"Awww don't act like this, Madoka," Audrey pouted. "I don't know what to do when you're like this! I had a lot of restraint back then when you were stuck!"

Madoka did not let go and embraced her tighter.

"M-Mercy, uncle! Uncle!" Audrey slapped Madoka's back. "Can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry," Madoka finally let go of her.

The two laughed for a moment before realizing that they were stuck in the cave together.

"Welp," Audrey said, wiping off herself from all the ice. Madoka swatted her hands away when she attempted to clean off Madoka. "Suit yourself then."

She brushed herself off. Light only came from Madoka's aura. The girls inspected their gear. The talismans somehow survived and since Madoka had the protection of Ares her own weapons did not harm her as she tumbled head first through the ice wall. Audrey looked at the wall that Madoka crashed in before pulling a torch from the storage portal.

With a snap of a finger, Audrey cast her strange fire magic on it. Madoka considered herself lucky with how many miracles Audrey was capable of creating. Madoka was still scared of the fires, however, flinching as Audrey raised the torch to see the wall.

"This seems man-made," Audrey traced the ice-encased wall. "The stone doesn't match the cave. Perhaps if I..."

"What are you trying to do?" Madoka looked at the dark walls. Only the fire's light reflected off the icy surface. Audrey placed her hand on the ice. "Careful!"

Madoka was now painfully aware of what the cold could do to flesh. She was not a smart girl by any means, but it was capable of freezing her own arm off. However, she also knew that Audrey was not an ordinary person. Slowly, the ice around her hand melted away.

"Back away," Audrey leapt back with surprising agility. Madoka followed. All of a sudden, the ice covering the stone broke and collapsed in sheets as the melted area from Audrey's hand spread.

"So you have been practicing your Cherish movements," Madoka commented on her movements. A loud cracking noise reverberated throughout the cave as the last sheet of ice shattered on the ground. Audrey suddenly became bashful.

"So what if I have been?" She said with a sigh. "Got to keep up with you somehow."

Madoka could say the same in regard to Audrey's abilities and cleverness. Despite her tantrums awhile ago, she realized she might feel jealous of not being able to wield magic. She would never admit it. The wall caught her attention when all the excess ice slid off and joined the slushy puddle below.

"This is..." Audrey stared at the wall. " A mural? Fresco? Maybe those mean the same thing. Anyways, wow!"

The artwork was unlike anything of the Palace, Madoka observed.

"Do you have any idea what we're looking at, Audrey?" Madoka stared at it.

Strange symbols surrounded the mural which consisted of many strange drawings. Audrey contemplated at the sight.

"It appears to be a drawing of an old battle of some kind," she guessed. "The small figures look like they're fighting off a strange being. I'm not sure what the big ring above them all means. And these symbols..."

"They're not like the ones on the ruins," Madoka said. She guessed, really. "Perhaps the big ring is the sun?"

Audrey furrowed her brow as she thought more on the matter and surrendered by shrugging.

"I'm not really a history nerd or an archeologist, so I don't know," Audrey stepped in the puddle to approach the symbols below the mural. The symbols surrounded the whole drawing, but Audrey and Madoka could only reach the bottom row with their hands. "These letters..."

"D-Don't tell me you can read them," Madoka gasped, taking her hand off the symbols.

"No, I can't. Wait why is that scary to you?" Audrey looked at Madoka defensively. "I don't know anything about the world besides the books from the Estate. And!"

She said, raising her voice before Madoka could speak.

"Your English is getting better," Audrey smirked. Madoka realized that she was speaking Commoner, English and Noble interchangeably. She clicked her tongue. She will be more careful when she speaks. "Well, I'll tell you what I think about these symbols. I wish I spoke more with the Japanese exchange students at my old school. That way I could have a better shot at reading these words. But I'm not sure even if they're actually hiragana or kanji. Aaaand I lost you."

Madoka realized she asked for way more than she bargained for. Part of her was afraid of Audrey bringing something up that her mind could never understand. She would feel as sick as she did when she realized Audrey was telling the truth that she was not from this world. How could anyone believe in what she is saying besides Madoka?

As these questions swam inside Madoka's mind and got caught on snags in her thoughts' river, Audrey perked up.

"There!" she pointed. "An opening in the wall! Let's do some cave diving, huh?"

"B-Be careful," Madoka cautioned, but she followed her to the crack in the wall. Audrey was staring through the passage with awe. "It could be another slope."

"No," Audrey said excitedly. "It's a cavern. Should have enough room to finally do it."

"You mean..." Madoka's own excitement matched Audrey's. "We can do it in there?"

A nod and a grin was her answer.

The mural of the battle would have to sit here forever, she supposed for she did not hesitate to go. Madoka made sure she would not get stuck in this narrow hole in the wall and squeezed through. Audrey slipped between easily. Sure enough this cavern was large enough to do it in, man-made or not. Audrey manifested the storage portal and waited for Madoka to finally pull one of the bear's massive legs out. Perfect size for chopping and cooking.

"Wind blade!"

Some time later, the two were having bear meat in an icy cavern. Audrey commented on how clean the meat was. Madoka recalled when she pushed the bear into the portal. Strangely, the dark tentacles sprouting from the beast sluiced off of its skin — leaving an unusually large but simple bear behind. Chunks of it were missing from those things. The "parasite," as Audrey called the tentacles, dissolved into a black viscous substance. It seemed to weaken the bear and its ability to use magic which luckily allowed Madoka to survive the black lightning.

It seemed that Audrey did not know a thing about bears. She thought its lightning control was tied to an organ in its body but only could guess. That was odd to Madoka since she usually was knowledgeable about most things. She spent an unusual amount of time searching for the core that allowed it to use lightning, which of course never existed in the first place.

The bear was using magic, obviously. Even Madoka knew that. She knew that from talking with the Palace mages. Audrey even gawked as Madoka drug the bear by the head effortlessly and pushed it into the storage portal. It was easier to do when the bear was missing the parasite and was not actively trying to kill her. Madoka decided to leave the specifics of cooking to Audrey and keep eating while she rambled. By the end, nothing but a bone from the bear's leg remained. Madoka wondered a few things about it.

"What's shakin' bacon?" Audrey asked. She still ate properly, Madoka noticed. Like a true Royal. "You've been staring at the bear bones for awhile. Hehe."

"I was just thinking that its fur could make a nice coat," Madoka mused, ignoring the princess's odd joke.

"Oh," Audrey pondered for a moment. "Well, when we get going we can see what we can do with it."

"Where are we going?" Madoka asked. Audrey grabbed the strange talisman from her bag. Ares.

"This guy won't — okay, okay!" Audrey seemed to be conversing with it. The glowing talisman seemed to be giving her an earful. "Deeper within these ruins."

"Ruins?"

Audrey's core flared and she used a new fire spell Madoka's never seen before to the roof. It was a gathering of sparks that launched up to the roof. Madoka saw the rest of the cavern as the flare illuminated the walls.

They seemed to be in the ruins of an ancient Palace. Madoka gasped in awe at the magnificent albeit half-destroyed and sprawling archways above their head. This place must have had so many places to clean!

"Yeah," Audrey said, ignoring the view. "Didn't mention this, but this mountain range is known as the Hall of Royals. This particular mountain we're in, as this annoying artifact tells me, is known as the Hall of the Frost Queen. It wants me to return it to the nexus ga- I mean the altar located somewhere deeper within. Apparently, it can't just tell me what gifts it will give me in exchange. So visiting the ruins it is!"

"Y-You mean," Madoka stammered. "Like the ruins we visited during last summer?"

"Yeah!"

"I-" Madoka was not sure about running into another god. She did not even understand the last one they ran in.

"Come on," Audrey leaned back, stretching her legs back and forth on the ice, making a cone. "We're a lot tougher now and besides, Ares has chosen to help you a lot you know. We will have to give the kind God a 'thank you' when we meet it, yeah?"

Madoka considered it. Then she nodded. Her stomach was full and she needed exercise anyways. After they packed everything back into the storage portal, the two moved along the walls while they searched for a way out of the cavern.

"That talisman," Madoka wondered aloud. "It is not like the green magic that healer used. How does it work?"

"Beats me!" Audrey said. Madoka groaned at how immediate her reply was. She was using the Divine Treasure, somehow, without a second thought on how she was accomplishing that end. "I'm sure you are racking your brain over how I'm so nonchalant over this thingy, but I have decided my brain will pop if I think about it for too long. All I know is that these talismans are overpowered, YOU'RE overpowered and the item box really make me confused on how the Devs let it pass through QA. That's a little, uh, role playing game joke there but yeah. Your guess is as good as mine."

Madoka felt the ancient stone of a wall buried in snow and weather. This place seemed to have not been disturbed in ages. This place felt holy to her, like a forbidden place to a slave like her. Well, she probably was not a slave anymore. She was whoever and whatever Audrey asked her to be.

"Here," Audrey said further up ahead holding up her hand against a barrier of ice. Her hand glowed orange as the heat emanated from it. Like the sound of glass shattering, the ice gave way. The two watched as the shards of crystal ice slid down into the depths.

Madoka heard them clatter on stone below.

"Well, Madoka," Audrey said. "It's dungeon explorin' time, yee haw!"

Her sudden enthusiasm and strange words did not instill confidence in Madoka. She silently regretted her commitment towards being whoever Audrey wanted her to be.

"Tomorrow," Madoka said with a yawn.

"Nae waaaah, Madoka! Don't blueball me like this!"

It was too late, Madoka had slunked off and began to assume a loafing position. Audrey folded her arms and watched her maid with disbelief. Madoka simply yawned again and suddenly felt a blanket hit her face.

She smiled and knew she had won her way to a good night's sleep.

III.

Madoka stirred awake feeling warmer than usual. There was someone's familiar frame cuddled up next to her. She thought the princess would be more uncomfortable sleeping on the ground. Audrey remained undisturbed, even though they must have been wandering around for weeks without a soul in sight. She must have gotten used to it. The poor girl has been through it all, Madoka thought idly to herself. Something caught her eyes.

Glowing fairy-like lights floated above her. Spirits? Little orbs of greens, reds, yellows and blues swirled above almost playfully. Beautiful, Madoka took in the sight of the spirits quietly. They bobbed in the air and paid her no mind; their forms bulbous with small strands of tentacles underneath their bodies. They seemed to push off of thin air towards a greater light. Above Madoka and the spirits, daylight made the icy cavern's roof a translucent cerulean and lit up the ruin's dome like structure. Madoka blinked and the spirits were gone.

Although this section of the ancient room seemed torn down by time itself, the ice that kept it all together showed no signs of letting it go. Daylight meant that the storm outside finally ceased. Madoka looked towards the slopes they slipped down from beyond the cracked mural and found them to be too high up. There was no chance of getting out of here, Madoka thought.

Audrey squirmed for a second and stretched. At least she did not freeze to death. Last night's embers still remained quietly in the firepit Audrey made.

"Kyaaaah," Audrey muttered. "I want sour gummy worms. And a damn bed. Especially some of those. Wha—"

Sour... worms? Madoka cringed at the thought of those being eaten.

"I can eat wherever I want!" Audrey sighed. "I studied, give me the worms... Why bring him into the picture?"

Audrey gasped and jerked awake. Then she shivered.

"Good morning, Audrey," Madoka offered. Audrey's hair was frazzled and the look on her face was one Madoka has seen many times even in the Northern Estate.

"Still here in this god awful world," Audrey sighed. Disappointment marred her pretty face. "Good morning, Madoka."

"We got work to do," Madoka sat up and stretched. "Mainly—"

"Hai, hai," Audrey waved her off but then she rolled over. "My body is stiff as hell. Give me a minute, would you?"

"How are you stiff?" Madoka sighed. "You sound like an old woman."

"S-So what if I do?" Audrey pouted. "It's not normal to camp out for weeks, you know."

"We're not normal people, Audrey."

"Well, you're not normal that's for sure," Audrey stretched and got up but stiffened from her leg growing numb. "Who wakes up so early?"

"It's day already," Madoka helped Audrey stay upright. "We have workouts to do before we go!"

"Naee waaah!"

A few minutes later, Madoka was ready to go. Audrey surprised Madoka by being compliant. She had always listened to Madoka, eventually one way or another and yet she would obey despite all her complaining. As she observed Audrey's movements and her body she noticed how toned and graceful she was. Every movement was exactly like her own. Not a single wasted motion and a quiet persistence underneath it all.

This was why Audrey was extraordinary to Madoka.

"Eh? Got some good things to say to me?" Audrey said flirtatiously. Madoka rolled her eyes.

"It's just that you've been carrying yourself well in these exercises," Madoka scoffed and crossed her arms. "As expected of you."

"Aww, don't be like that," Audrey whined, throwing her cloak on. "We have a ways to go. Though I doubt much is living inside these ruins, we should be careful of slipping."

"Right."

Madoka steeled herself as they found themselves in front of the hole they could get through. There was nothing but cave air howling above and the scraping of ice beneath their boots. Audrey gave a nod to Madoka. Here goes, Madoka thought to herself and she stepped through.

The way was a slope but her steps could balance as she traversed down. Audrey followed behind her and the two slowly made their way until Madoka felt flat stone beneath her feet. She gasped as she emerged from the hole.

She stood on an icy path that bridged over an abyss so deep she could not see the bottom. The path led her to the view of an ancient palace towering above her. The architecture was beautiful and alien while covered by mountains and ice. Countless statues of a goddess all watched out solemnly from the palace's many balusters. Perhaps they remember the past of their former glory, Madoka thought.

The massive complex seemed to stretch deep into the abyss as well with its towers like white javelins. Now, ice crystals flanked their sides and dwarfed those once beautiful and marble towers. Gears were frozen in place fated to never operate again. Madoka could see the shadow of a great mechanism threaded in and out of the ice like a stony needlepoint. Runes dotted all along the gears' edges.

It reminded Madoka of that strange world she was in temporarily when she died, though it lacked the colors.

"Whoa," Audrey's eyes gleamed at the whole view. "This must be the Frost Queen's lair, huh."

"Who is the Frost Queen?" Madoka asked. "Is she a kind goddess?"

"Not sure, Ares said she ruled over the 'ones who came before,'" Audrey said. "Probably like an ancient civilization who used to live before humans showed up and ruined everything."

"Humans?" Madoka asked. She did not know what that meant in English.

"Father. Brother. Other people like you and me," Audrey said as the two traversed the bridge towards the gate. "These were people who lived here before us. They were not like us, but they are no longer here with us. Be that some luck from evolution, natural disaster, magic shenanigans, or even a, urk, god intervention, they died out and us boring humans survived. Aaaand I lost you."

Madoka's mind could not keep up with Audrey's ramblings. She was too smart for Madoka. Instead, she thought of the design of the gate. It seemed like it was made for giants.

"Why have a gate this big?" Madoka muttered. She moved closer to the gate, in awe of the structure. There were more runes on them that matched the mural. Audrey was inspecting the fences of the bridge.

"Imagine if this place wasn't covered in ice," Audrey mused, reaching out and tracing a line runes on one of the posts. To her surprise they started glowing orange. "Ain't a freckle of anything not covered in ice and snow."

"D-Don't touch anything—" Madoka was interrupted by the ground shaking. The bridge suddenly became illuminated by runes. They filled the cavern with an orange glow on both sides of the bridge, eventually connecting at the very top of the gate's doors.

"Uh," Audrey started to say. "I think I should not have done that."

"You think?" Madoka instinctively held her axe from underneath her cloak. The cloak hid her arms quite well and made concealing weapons easy. She was ready for anything. Hopefully. As the rumbling subsided an otherworldly voice thundered above them in Noble.

「Greetings, unidentified lifeforms - Present credentials for entry access. Otherwise you shall not enter this holy place.」

"Huh," Audrey said, pulling out the Ares talisman. "What do you mean, you can't open it! Nani!?"

Madoka stood there, somewhat amused at Audrey's bickering. It was nice watching it happen to someone other than her although she could not hear the kind god's responses. Evidently, it made Audrey wave her free hand in exasperation.

"Screw it," Audrey said, before holding the talisman high above her head and yelling a weird phrase. "Open sesame! Yeet!"

A beautiful rainbow colored ray of light filtered itself in the room from the highest point of the gate before falling upon Audrey peacefully. Like a drink spilled, the strange light made Madoka's skin feel soaked and sent tingles up and down her arms. How much of this place was like a kind god, forgotten and frozen in time waiting for an ear or eye to remember it?

"What is happening?" Audrey asked like Madoka knew. She tucked the talisman away and backed away slowly. "Auroras in this place..."

「Access granted. Welcome, servants of the Holy One. We have been waiting for you for a long time.」

"Servants?" Audrey spat incredulously. "Yeah right. I'm not a—"

Madoka's knees buckled as the ground suddenly trembled. Through her shaking visions the gate's runes began to glow green. Madoka stumbled back and held onto Audrey as the deafening sound from ancient ice cracking pierced the air. Enormous glowing runes floated in the foggy depths below them, revealing the turning of gears the size of the gate itself.

Audrey mouthed something but realized she could not hear herself so she pointed. Beyond the calamitous ice crumbling, Madoka could see the gate was opening. A gale of freezing cave wind sliced through the air from the entrance, stinging Madoka's face as it passed through them. She felt like she was going to black out from the vibration. Eventually the noise collapsed into a stillness although her ears popped.

"Woo! We lived!" Audrey exclaimed after all the chaos had died down. There was a heap of snow, crumbled stone and ice collapsed at the gate but they were wide open. "Ares is upset with me but, hey, we are making progress. Madoka?"

"I-I'm fine," Madoka's legs wobbled as she recovered her bearings. She felt the chill pressed against her cheeks like sharp fingernails. They were covered in powder snow and shards. "It's only going to get colder, right?"

"Yeah," Audrey said, looking at how wet their clothes were. "I'm not sure how bad it's going to get but Ares tells me to keep going."

She opened her bag and yelled at the glowing talisman inside.

"I HOPE THIS IS WORTH IT!"

She flinched when the glow intensified from the bag. Madoka was too worried to scold Audrey for disrespecting the kind god. She decided to send them her meager prayers for aid and warmth anyways.

"Okay then!" Audrey whined. "It's time to see what this dungeon has in store for us, Madoka. Hopefully something warm."

As the two climbed up to view what was next, Madoka's heart raced at the sight.

Instead of a grand room like the Fiara Palace, the gates led to an open platform with a lot of wreckage and more ice on it. A massive chasm greeted them beyond from where they stood. The two peered down from the balcony into the moaning darkness. More of those rainbow auroras swirled beneath, reflecting off the dark walls. They could not illuminate the pitch black state of this ancient palace, Madoka observed. Treacherous ice formations jutted out from the side leading deeper into the abyss.

"I don't think there's anything warm waiting for us here," she said, kicking a chunk of ice down into the pit.

"Wow," Audrey said at the sight. "Sure makes you miss home, huh. Well, not all the fire and demonic roots, I guess."

"Well, what does Ares say about this?"

"Deeper," Audrey said flatly. Her mana core flared to life. She made a circular motion with her arm as swirls of flame began to manifest. "Yaaawwww YEET!"

As she screamed that odd word, the flames combined and launched into a sphere. Both said nothing as they watched the flaming sphere descend all the way down into deep eternity. The light from it grew dim rapidly then into nothing.

"Yeah! We go down there," Audrey said. "Somehow. Probably over there down those icy rocks."

Her eyes glowed beautifully, almost turquoise and sparkling in shades of blues after casting her fireball. Madoka shook her head and began to step on one of the cliff sides to the icy rocks.

"Wait," Audrey stopped her. "There is something odd about this banister. Well, it's not really a banister but more like a broken pile of wood. But there's something about this thing. Help me would ya?"

Madoka folded her arms as she inspected the wreckage and chuckled watching Audrey struggle to scrape the ice off the peculiar wooden structure.

"Screw it!" Audrey sighed. "Wind blade!"

What formed in her hands was not her typical spell but instead a sphere of violent wind. Madoka had to jump out of the way of razor sharp gusts and ice. The wind expanded outward, cutting through the frozen block and splinters of wood.

"How the hell did I— Nevermind," Audrey said. "Are you going to help me uncover this or not?"

"No," Madoka said. Audrey looked at her, exasperated. Madoka let out a small giggle at her face before stifling it. Apparently, the giggle calmed Audrey down and she began to clear the wreckage.

"I guess this is what I get for not helping you when you got stuck," she sighed. A while later, Madoka saw something glint in the wreckage.

"A sword's pommel?" Madoka asked as she felt it. It was ornate and gleaming despite how old it must have been. The two looked at it.

"No, it's a lever!"

Audrey pulled on it. Once again, somewhere in the cavern echoed a voice.

「Access granted. Warning: System Integrity Critical. Unstable Lift Mechanisms: Advise not to operate or ride on main lift. Lift status: Calamitous.」

"Why does that voice sound way ahead of our time?" Audrey sighed as she attempted to pull the lever again. "Do you hear any animal thoughts?"

"No," Madoka said. She could not help but peer down below. "How does the voice know Noble?"

"Noble?" Audrey made a confused face. "It's speaking in English for me."

Madoka stared at Audrey in confusion. The look was returned on Audrey's face.

"That's hella trippy," Audrey remarked. She cleared her throat to snap Madoka out of her confused state. "Nevermind that! Look!"

More ice from the walls of this massive chasm began to break open, revealing rows of rotating lifts. Madoka gasped at the sight. She has never seen such technology before. Each lift seemed to have a maximum distance in their descent, stopping perilously before returning its path back up from where it came. It seemed that they would be the ticket down. She heard a gasp from Audrey.

"Wow! Are those the lifts?" Audrey said excitedly. "It's a whole ass videogame platforming section!"

Madoka rolled her eyes. Of course, the princess would be excited over such a dangerous activity.

"Now, now. I know what you're thinking," Audrey said, barely able to hide her enthusiasm. "But it's seriously the way we gotta go."

"Slowly," Madoka said nervously. "L-Let's go slowly."

If there ever was a time Madoka thought she was in too far over her head it was now. They moved to the closest lift to them. Madoka was nervous. Audrey, however, was excited.

"After you," Madoka told her.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Audrey leapt onto the lift. "Come on!"

"Heights?" Madoka scoffed. "Anyone would fear the darkness below them!"

"Hey, what's an adventure without a little platforming?" Audrey teased. She was too nonchalant about this situation. "Come on— Waah!"

The lift began to lower and Madoka watched her descend into the dark.

"Audrey?" Madoka called out for her. A small ring of magic glowed in the depths meters below her, illuminating Audrey and the lift she stood on. Another lift passed by her, but sunk further into the pit. "Kind gods, here we go."

A lift moved up, but Audrey was already on another platform. Madoka tentatively stepped on to catch up with the princess. She was a devil in disguise, Madoka swore. She could see the ancient palace's architecture sprawl out beneath her, the broken bridges and lifts jutting out like the fingers of skeletons. Her stomach leapt as the lift began its descent.

For you, Audrey, Madoka thought, determined and casting the lurching feeling in her gut aside. I'll go even further into the darkest depths for you!

IV.

The lift wobbled as it descended. Madoka gulped. It appeared to be made out of stone and her boots gripped the material well enough. She touched the railing at the front, only for it to crumble and fall into the depths. Madoka sent her prayers to the kind gods that Audrey was safe below.

Below, huh?

As she descended, something glowing caught her eyes under the ice wall. They were the spirits. Why could she see them? The lift beneath her jumped as it came to a stop, startling her. Madoka gasped as panic flooded her. She could not be careless or distracted or else one tiny moment could spell her death.

Another lift rose next to hers, beckoning her. It seemed rickety but Madoka steeled herself and tapped on it with her foot. The lift's integrity kept up with her pressure so she stepped completely on it. Simple enough. However, the lift did not move. Across the massive gap a large rune glowed red. She heard the lift beside her start ascending and there was another coming from below her.

Audrey's head popped from the view as it revealed itself.

"Fancy seeing you here," Audrey giggled. "Come here often?"

She looked at the rune. Madoka stepped on the lift next to Audrey. Snow and ice was pushed by her feet to the corners so they could stand safely.

"Well if videogame logic applies here, red means bad," Audrey mused. The ring around her heart seemed to glow a lot sharper. "Too bad I dunno what that symbol means. Or how to make it change."

The lift began to descend again. Madoka's vision was adjusting to the dark, so Audrey's magic circle hurt her eyes.

"What's with the magic?" Madoka asked.

"You see that, right?" Audrey pointed at a darker object jutting out across from them. She focused her eyes and let loose a sharp breath. Two Wind Blades launched themselves at the object. Ice cracked and the spell's light rested upon the dark object. It was similar to the lever Audrey pulled above. The large red rune no longer glowed and faded out of existence. As it did, the lifts began their operation again.

Madoka could no longer see the platform from where they came from. The two have traversed without many difficulties but she knew they could not be complacent. They were nowhere near the top and only the kind god that inhabited this holy space knew how far below was.

"For a videogame jump puzzle," Audrey's breath fogged the air. Madoka's ears felt weird and Audrey explained how it was pressure in the atmosphere changing. Whatever that meant. "This is sure taking awhile, huh?"

"Well, slowly and safely is better," Madoka cautioned. The lifts were seemingly getting smaller. "T-This hardly makes due for a good and tidy work environment."

"Where'd that come from?" Audrey asked, furrowing her brow. "You're not thinking of work again, right?"

"You're wrong, Audrey Elise," Madoka said with a sigh. "I am always thinking of working."

"Even now, huh?" Audrey's tone greyed out into a sigh. "This place is... Ancient. Not my most profound thing, obviously so is a lot of things, but the root of all of this seems more than whatever fantasy novel BS our palaces and kings in Fiara come from."

She ducked between stone-split ice.

"Yeah, so?" Madoka said as the lift continued its winding descent. Audrey was contemplating it all.

She hadn't noticed it at first, but the lift was traveling diagonally down before moving straight again. Like a simple sword strike form or a pen drawing a letter, the lift traveled a predetermined pathway aided by the attached gears churning with the wind. The rusted frame of this lift's railing rattled as it rocked along, merely a twig in the river of gears and ice.

"In my world, there are not any kings and queens," Audrey mused. "Merely a different form of government, but still—"

The lift suddenly clunked and crashed into something beneath it. The shadow of Audrey's frame warped as she nearly careened off the edge.

"Audrey!" Madoka screamed. Audrey's hand caught the floorboard, making the lift shake and tilt from the sudden weight shift. Madoka caught the other.

"Madoka!" Audrey screamed as well. True fear twisted her face, as well as the sheen of frost now twisting her hand off the lift like a spectre. There was nothing but Madoka's arm and a rattling platform keeping Audrey from falling into hell itself. The chaotic clamor made it difficult to hold on but Madoka saw Audrey became focused on survival.

"Hang on," Madoka pleaded, struggling to pull her up. Audrey dangled. She tried to reach up with her free hand but her eyes were scanning the white sheets around her as well. "I'll get you up I swear!"

Audrey's core flared to life as she sent a Wind Blade at a spot in the wall. A horrible crunch and scraping pierced the air as the lift began to tear from the gears, throwing Madoka off her balance. Audrey screamed as she dangled. Madoka's grip and arm were fine, but the lift gave in.

"Swing me over there, quickly, quickly!"

Madoka had no choice but to take the risk. She used the momentum of the lift cracking apart to throw Audrey towards where her Wind Blade struck. Audrey screamed as she flew through the air and snow, with the sound of glass shattering. Madoka caught a glimpse of her in the many reflections of broken ice as she crashed through.

She was not granted relief, however. Her body fell as the lift gave in. Only the chaotic equilibrium in her stomach matched her heart's shaking desperation. I must grab onto something! Madoka thought as she flailed her arms out to catch anything.

"What a shitty work place!" She screamed in her descent. Though it was about half a second of falling, her stomach lurched like it was a horrible eternity. Her grip connected with the exposed gear. As she dangled between abyss, Madoka realized she would have to make the risky leap into the cave Audrey made.

As the lift threatened to give way with a groan of metal twisting, Madoka swung her legs back and forth before launching herself to the small indent. For a mere moment, Madoka's thoughts and body were free falling in the air. She hoped Audrey was down there. She also wished Audrey was strong enough to catch her.

That was a moment ago and by now Madoka realized she was not going to make a landing in the crevice. She flailed as she reached for the ledge. Before she could latch on Madoka realized she was too short. The abyss was waiting for her.

"Madoka!" Audrey caught the maid's hands. Madoka's body slammed against the ice wall, but pulled herself up quickly. She was saved once again. She would sigh but the two tumbled further into the small cavern they made. "Not this shit again...!"

Audrey's yell was amplified and swallowed in an echo as they bumped off of rocks and ice. Both were padded well by their clothes and Madoka was used to rolling rapidly downhill now. They will survive this fall, Madoka decided. She drew her knife as they tumbled and stabbed into the ice.

Her arm snapped into one place as she scooped the princess's slide into her free grip. The ice offered little resistance to her blade, but eventually grew thick enough to stop their fall into the abyss at the end of their tunnel. Madoka flopped down, landing on her feet as a certain panicking former princess dangled within her grip off the edge. The blade fell into the pit never to be seen again.

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead," Audrey's eyes were closed shut. "Am I dead?"

"No," Madoka said simply. She pulled Audrey up and sat her by her side. Madoka pushed the snow off her friend's face and pat her clothes down. Things were gentle between them for a minute before Madoka angrily put her hands on Audrey's shoulders. "But this is the worst idea you've ever had! You have my heart leaping out from the worry in my chest!"

"Aaaah I'm sorry," Audrey whined as Madoka shook her. "Sorry! Sorry!"

"Honestly, what will I do with you?" Madoka let go of her and sighed.

When she opened her eyes she noticed light pouring from the tunnel Audrey broke into. She did not realize that she squeezed her eyes shut. The distant clanking of metal echoed somewhere from below. Even harsher noises rang out through hidden hollows.

"That must mean we are close to the bottom of this hell hole," Audrey mused. The two instinctively followed down the tunnel. The spirits were gathering at the light trail's source. Audrey did not pay them any mind or perhaps there was a small chance she could not see the spirits floating in the light stream.

"Do you see the spirits?" Madoka asked, looking up at the strange, bulbous creatures. They bobbed as they swished through the air.

"Spirits?" Audrey asked. The tone of her voice suggested that she did not. "I see blue specks of mana, if that's what you mean."

"No, nevermind," Madoka said, watching several gather at the ceiling every few meters ahead of them. It was like they were guiding her. But where were they going? Were they servants of Ares?

A distant humming sound was heard scraping below them. It sounded like disjointed music to Madoka but Audrey winced from the jarring notes.

"Gah, that noise hurts my head," Audrey said. "Wait, something's up ahead."

Madoka saw where the spirits were guiding her.

"This is...!" Audrey went over to the source of the noise.

Three sets of pipes and tubes jutted out of the ice. Each had a strange crystal chunk mechanism hovering between each tube, pairing with tubes above them that went into the ceiling. Underneath the crystal, red and blue lightning shot out from the tube and connected to the crystals. Each time it did caused a painful noise. Madoka's nose picked up a dangerous smell. Perhaps the spirits were leading them to a trap?

"A doorway, huh?" Audrey was on the other side of the strange mechanism in front of a gate. She turned and inspected a crystal. Red lightning would strike each crystal one at a time.

"Get away from it," Madoka pulled Audrey away just as a red lightning bolt struck one. An evil black smoke floated around the crystal. It took awhile for the smoke to dissipate.

"Madoka?" Audrey asked wide eyed. "What do you see?"

Madoka had not noticed that her eyes could see both the spirits and gas. There was something wrong in this part of the mountain. The pair of girls watched the lightning strike the crystals but kept their distance.

"I see black smoke everytime the crystals are hit," Madoka told her. Audrey contemplated for a moment.

"Damn, this place truly is futuristic," Audrey mused as the lightning struck again. "How can you see electric gas? Nevermind, we're going to have to figure out how to activate each of these circuits."

"Circuits?"

"Yeah, right now, the system has lost power because the lightning from the pipes is not traveling through these noisy crystals. You can see things that I don't, Madoka. See if you can spot any peculiarities."

"Right," Madoka focused on the spirits instead of whatever Audrey's explanation was. No thoughts came from them. They quietly bobbed at certain places in this small opening. A few gathered next to her on what appeared to be a golden and glowing chain. "I see a yellow... chain?"

"Huh," Audrey looked at where Madoka was staring at but it was evident that she could not see the chains.

Madoka instinctively reached for the chain. Was it just an illusion? Did her mind play tricks on her because she was cold? The chain sparkled and Madoka felt the electric jolt her hand as she did.

"Ah," Madoka shook her hand. Strangely, the electric jolt did not hurt her. It just felt odd. Audrey clutched her head. "What's wrong?"

"It's this... noise, I think," Audrey stared at the crystals. Madoka saw that the blue lightning did not create gas but the red lightning did. Madoka screamed internally. She hated thinking! "It's a frequency thing. I'm a delicate and quiet maiden, you see. Noises like this bother me!"

"Huh? You? Quiet?" Madoka scoffed. Audrey feigned being hurt by her statement.

"Come on, man," Audrey sighed. "I feel like my ears are going to fall off. Let's figure out this puzzle and see if the door will open. Haven't these ancient people ever thought about a keypad? Damn noise!"

Madoka focused. She needed to figure out how this puzzle worked or Audrey's condition will worsen. The chains seemed to connect to somewhere so Madoka looked at another gathering of spirits. They seemed to be attracted to various parts of this "circuit," as Audrey called it. Madoka made a circular path with her arms as she reached for the chains once more. As she touched the chains she felt the stinging sensation again.

"Gah!" Madoka gasped and tossed the chain back. The energy left remained in a traceable streak in the cold air. Strangely enough, its light traveled in the same motion Madoka made when she stretched the chain out.

"Well, okay then," Audrey observed the golden energy of the chain pulsed in light. "Can you tell me what you did?"

Madoka told her she can see a golden chain and when she pulled it the light copied her motions.

"Hmm," Audrey said in deep thought. "These chains might link directly to the crystals. Try the only one that isn't releasing poisonous gas. You're gonna have to be a human jumper cable, I guess."

"But I can't reach it," Madoka said. Audrey did something reckless and touched the blue crystal. She reached for Madoka's hand. "Audrey?!"

"Grab the chain and bring it to my hand, quickly before it does something!"

In a linear motion, Madoka grabbed the chain and brought it over to Audrey and grabbed her hand. After the shock ended, the chain's energy moved in the same path she made with her motion. Audrey yelped and let go of the crystal.

"Yowch," Audrey squeaked, although she sounded more surprised than pained. Madoka could see the chain's energy course through Audrey's arms and connect to the crystal.

"That... worked?" Madoka gawked at the trail of lightning now changing the crystal's color. They began to hum harmonically.

"Well, you remember our impromptu and unwanted anatomy classes with all those dead soldiers, us humans are made out of mostly water which lightning.." Audrey became soothed and distracted by the noise. "Sounds beautiful. Like a song, huh."

The chimes of the crystals being struck by lightning became different colors as new bolts began to flow upwards into the tubes above. Blue light began to travel in hidden ice covered panels above their heads to the doorways. Madoka looked at her hand and thought of Audrey's for a moment. This puzzle was acceptable, she decided in her mind as the door opened with a clunk.

The two peered through the door and found a narrow hallway space. More of those circuits, as Audrey called them, snaked around the walls and floor. Madoka stepped over the lights furtively while Audrey simply stomped on each lighted panel. Nothing happened, but Madoka still gave her a look.

"This is looking crazier by the minute," Madoka muttered. The hallway opened up into a large room where there were more crystals floating. More noise began to whir into a chaotic cacophony. Maybe it was Madoka's superior senses or health but it did not seem to affect her. Audrey on the other hand, clutched her head again.

"Gah," she spat. "More of this?"

A voice called from above them somewhere higher in the abyss, but it was not the same voice that spoke at the gates.

「Unknown bio-lifeforms detected in energy conservation bay. Greetings. All systems are currently disconnected. Request repair on each Pnaunem Node in order to stabilize CO, N₂O and H2S containment breaches. Unknown lifeforms, I sincerely hope you know what your doing.」

"We don't!" Audrey complained. The voice remained silent.

"What are you?" Madoka asked the voice but it remained silent. So she instead turned to Audrey. "I'll try to find more of those chains to link with the crystals."

「Proceed to the terminal in the center of current level. It will guide you. Failure to complete this task will result in system expungement.」

She did not know what any of that meant, but she saw a peculiar structure with an odd screen made out of glass. It rested on a platform before them in the center of the room.

"Terminal? Chains?" Audrey said incredulously. "What is happening right now?"

Madoka stood before the strange terminal and suddenly runes filled the circular platform she stood on. It simply made her shiver. Audrey looked at the screen and then stepped on the platform for a closer look. Immediately, the runes faded and the screen did not react.

"Wow," Audrey mused as she stepped off. "So what are these... chains?"

"You can't see them?" Madoka asked. Chains were gathered in the corners of each room. Peculiar symbols rested above the chains and crystals. The lightning crystals flared to life, beginning their disruptive chorus. "So this is what seeing mana must feel like."

"Not this again!" Audrey held her hand. "Guide me, sensei. You can see what we need to do."

She waited for Madoka's instructions. Madoka felt odd. She has never been one to lead although she cast that feeling aside. Madoka guessed she should match the chains to the matching runes. She had folded many a royal blanket, matched hundreds of window blinding curtains, and prepared thousands of colorful clothing. She could match four simple runes together even if she would get zapped touching those golden chains. The electric was nothing compared to that bear's magic.

The screen revealed many spirits hovering near the chains. It was peculiar how only Madoka could see them. When she peered away from the screen both the spirits and chains disappeared. Madoka just had to remember she would get to hold Audrey's hands if she gets the chains right.

"Got it," Madoka said after scanning. She headed towards her first room in a corner towards the spot where the chains were. "They're unseeable, but I remember just the spot."

Madoka felt around the spot and her skin tingled when the magic strings came into contact with her fingers. She could not see the golden strands at first. To Madoka's surprise, the energy burst with light from the corner.

"Quickly!" Madoka told Audrey to get near a crystal. With a pulling motion, the golden strands manifested and linked up with Audrey as Madoka grabbed her hand.

"Ach!" Audrey said as the strands linked to her and fixed the crystal she grabbed.

"Two more to go," Madoka mused, still holding Audrey's hand. They carried through the area with Madoka locating hidden chains and linking with Audrey. The room was becoming mixed with beautiful chimes from the crystals. Haunting melodies and lightning, huh? Madoka thought. She cared not for music. Those were for Nobles.

"D-Don't you think you're enjoying zapping me a little bit too much?" Audrey asked. The golden chains were wrapped around both hers and Madoka's arms but apparently Audrey could not see them.

"Forgive me," Madoka apologized and squeezed her hand before letting it go. "This must be painful for you."

"Feels like the living tattoo I have," Audrey sighed as they approached the last group of crystals. The bulbous spirits floated away from it.

"Do you think they are made out of magic?" Audrey commented, jumping as the current of energy coursed through her. The final node completed the mountain melody.

Madoka shrugged.

"Maybe its an ancient form of magic! Maybe you can cast magic, Madoka!"

"I-I sincerely hope not," Madoka gasped. "If it's anything like this."

"What do you mean, you hope not? Magic is cool!" Audrey exclaimed. "I have been experimenting with different spells as you might have noticed and I'm totally cool!"

"Totally..." Madoka sighed.

"One day you'll be as cool as me, hmph!" Audrey shook her head and spoke in an exaggerated tone.

「Gas containment levels stabilized. All systems are preserved. Activating barrier mode. Unknown bio-signatures, the exit to the research station is located in the southern exit. Lift is fully operational. You have my gratitude. Give the Holy One my regards.」

A clunk was heard nearby, Madoka assumed it was a door. She hoped no more puzzles awaited them beyond it.

"Mission completed!" Audrey jumped for joy. "Let's go! If only we got loot or something for it. Tsk! Hey, narrator guy, give us some loot!"

The voice above them said nothing as they approached the doorway. Beyond the door was a massive structure with more gears. Glowing spirits were hovering over their heads but Audrey could not see them. Why can I see them? Madoka wondered. Perhaps they were spirits of animals.

Madoka tentatively stepped on the structure and ensured it was safe for Audrey. Green runes surrounded their feet as the gears began to turn. All of this has been foreign to Madoka and she hoped it would all be over soon. Suddenly the gears stopped and sent a force reverberating underneath the lift. Madoka's stomach swam as a humming noise started and she felt the machine lowering with them on top of it.

"I guess we're going down into the depths again," Audrey remarked. The lift was glowing a comfortable green color. "I guess green equals good, in a videogame sense. Ah, nevermind."

"How long have we been at this?" Madoka asked.

"Who knows?" Audrey said. "This has been a helluva adventure so far, right?"

Madoka grabbed Audrey's hand. She squeaked when she did and turned to her maid with a bashful look on her face.

"This place is stupid," Madoka scoffed.

"Awh nae wah!" Audrey whined. "Just relax! We only almost died several times getting here!"

Madoka felt the cold air blasting her. There was light below! The lift gradually lowered under the wall of ice until an opening revealed where they were. Strangely, the lift continued its steady descent despite not being connected to anything. A magical rune below seemed to guide it towards the ground.

Above them, Madoka could see the palace's bridge where their adventure here began. It looked tiny now as a testament of their long journey. The bridge itself was surrounded by thousands of those wondrous spirits like stars in the night. The distance reminded her of how far she has come. They have conquered everything so far and Madoka vowed to free herself from this abyss. Audrey tugged her hand and pointed beneath them with a gasp.

Something indescribable came into view.

"Look! T-The altar of Ares!" Audrey whispered. It was not the altar ruins that startled both of them. Madoka felt faint, for buried underneath it in the timeless glaciers was a shadow of an enormous maw. Several evil eyes were staring at them from beneath the ice. The spirits floated away out of view from its eldritch glory.

V.

The lift descended straight into hell, Madoka was convinced. Specifically, the hell belonged to the fathomless being encased in an infinite glacier. Its eyes did not move and if she were to stare at them for too long she felt like she would lose herself within them and her soul would be snatched. Both girls hesitated to step on the ice that kept a thin barrier up between the eldritch and their own two feet.

"What do we do?" Audrey mouthed to Madoka. The two observed the ominous being for a moment before noticing the altar. It was similar to the one in the forest. The odd and symmetrical pillars jutted infinitely into the glacier and even pierced the creature's... Madoka did not even know how to describe what it pierced.

It hurt to look at any of it, like a stake being driven through her eye slowly as she observed it. From the distance of the lift, the creature seemed like it was many colors of paint smeared across a flat canvas and depending on the angle it went from blurry to blindingly sharp. If she moved her head and kept her gaze, the shape would warp her perspective inside out. Her vision went black, feeling Audrey's fingers lay across her eyes.

"Stop looking at it," Audrey warned. Madoka remembered the mutilated servants and soldiers in the King's throne room so she heeded the former princess's command. "It's got some kind of cognito-hazard on it. And, yes, that word's meaning is just as unpleasant as it sounds before you ask."

"It's... indescribable," Madoka gasped as the darkness calmed her down. She did not realize she must have been going blue by holding her breath in a horrified suspension. A being so dangerous it could kill with its presence, Madoka had trouble processing that feeling.

"We have no choice but to walk, don't we?" Audrey said. "Please be frozen, please STAY frozen. I know objects appear closer in the ice than where they actually are. Or was that a mirror? Anyways..."

Madoka said nothing but followed Audrey's lead and set one foot on the glacier. She was not sure what would happen but she suddenly wished she was back up on the bridge. It was not like an extra bit of weight upon the ice would wake the creature below them up, right? She gulped as she forced her other foot to move.

"Come on," Audrey spoke. A glow burst from her bag. Ares was speaking to her. "Don't you know what is underneath your precious altar? Why does walking have to be so scary?"

The creature remained still beneath their feet. Madoka still could not bring herself to look. The altar was close. The alien aura from its ruins marched across her skin with a clammy and crawling wind.

"Do you think the thing beneath us is the Frost Queen?" Audrey asked. Was she asking the talisman or me? Madoka wondered.

"Maybe this is the thing that ate the Frost Queen," she mused, staring at the ceiling as they walked. Above her, the spires of the Frost Queen's palace looked like upside down castles. Some were frozen midway in their descent. She sensed that Audrey gave her a dirty look.

"Come on, that's dark even for you, Madoka."

"Just looking at it makes my skin want to crawl off my body," Madoka complained. Their steps crunched against the ice.

"Just a little more, Madoka," Audrey encouraged her maid by squeezing her hand. "Then I can return this library book— I mean talisman to the altar."

"I'd like to ask Ares how its altar ended up here in the first place," Madoka sighed. Her neck began to feel cramped so she forced herself to look ahead at the altar. Between an alien feeling and a soul-rending frozen god, she sighed.

"It's not like you to be so vocal," Audrey commented. "Let's get through this. I know you can—"

「I have been waiting to see you for a long time, Madoka.」

A voice called out to Madoka and the world transformed before her very eyes. She froze in sheer horror. Did Audrey hear that? Audrey turned to look at her, who cowered suddenly at the onslaught of visions. She jerked upward as if something's large hand plucked her into the sky.

When Madoka's world straightened out, she realized she was stranded on a blackened pit. It was the creature's eye! The ice rumbled as its pupil rolled, making a sickening sound of squishing liquid and flesh coiling on itself. Eventually, the eye centered itself directly under and the ice began to crack from its rapid twitching.

"Audrey!" Madoka reached up. It was too late! The ice shattered and her stomach dropped and she plunged into the eye's abyss. She flailed and screamed in the pitch black void before latching onto something murky. Madoka sputtered and coughed up black bile, groping about blindly for a way to stand.

She could not see anything although she preferred it that way. Did she really fall into the creature's eye?

All Madoka could do now is groan. She has escaped storms, dealt with an annoying companion who she loved dearly, descended from the scariest heights, electrocuted herself and even defeated a deadly bear only to get lost within an impossible realm. Only the kind gods knew where she was.

Her eyes adjusted and she found herself ragged. Her boots were standing on ice. What a surprise, Madoka grumbled. As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was no longer in a chasm. Something made a clicking noise near her. Instinctively, she drew her axe. The murkiness her boots sank in dissipated and she compassed her head ahead of her for any signs of Audrey. There were none.

Golden sparks started to pour from above her catching a glint of what was ahead. Madoka noted that it has been a long time since she has been alone. Not since her time at the palace during the Fall. The golden sparks reminded her of those chains above so she reached for them. Her hand swished through the glowing speckles.

Another click could be heard and a panel of light burst into life nearby, hurting Madoka's eyes. A chorus of clicks followed and the massive room she found herself was blindingly white and sharp blues, droplets of ice hanging from a metallic ceiling. Her eyes stung from the amount of light pouring in.

Madoka gasped.

A towering monument bore its presence over her with a chained alien sculpture standing upon it. Large, black tubes wrapped around its many limbs and stretched infinitely into the darkness above the light. She paused. Darkness above the lights? The glowing panels' illumination could only stretch so far above her head. However, what was more disruptive to her was the condition of this vast room.

It was so messy from being neglected for so long! Had there not been a giant sculpture of a kind god standing above her, Madoka would have began her cleaning duties immediately. She swept nearby debris and ice in a neat pile with her axe nervously.

Now what?

Curiosity drove her to feel the smooth platform that the statue rested on and a large stairway allowed her to approach the statue. She could not even reach the top of its boot. She squinted upward from beneath it. It had four arms and a feminine face covered by a wicked helmet, adorned with what appeared to be many weapons or tools. A halo floated above her head. Wait, Madoka paused in her head. She has seen a halo before above another entity. Another loud clunk reverberated through the chambers, nearly forcing Madoka to her feet.

"Urk," was all Madoka could muster. What was that phrase Audrey used? Curiosity killed the cat? Madoka regretted getting near the statue. She just wanted to dust it off!

The massive helmet's visor lifted, revealing a cavity inside as the sculpture looked down at Madoka. Was that a person? It was a woman, who looked asleep and sat on a throne within the sculpture's head. It marked the strangest thing Madoka has ever seen in her life. She realized the sculpture's head tilted further, causing the woman to plummet. Was this a test by the kind god?

Madoka had to time this just right or else she would have a bloody mess on her hands. She swooped to the left and caught the woman with ease. The woman's weight was light, most likely because of her malnourished state and being here for who knows how long. The woman's features were strange, slanted and beautiful, with her ears pointed like... Madoka gasped.

"C...Z... something," She muttered to herself. Whether this woman was dead or not, she looked a lot like the woman from her visions in the afterlife. Madoka peeled back her memories of the event. "Ella?"

The woman was frozen over and most likely dead, Madoka fussed as she lay the girl on the ground. What would Audrey do in this situation? Freak out over safety regulations or whatever? Overtime? Cracking and popping noises came from below her. The ice was slowly breaking and freeing the woman. Madoka watched in anticipation. She put her axe away but had her hand on it at the ready.

The woman's exposed eye cracked open and stared at Madoka, who gasped. More ice fell off, leaving a frail and skinny woman lying in a puddle. She was unsure what to do, until the woman sputtered and coughed out water. How was this woman alive?

"You..." the woman spoke to her in Noble after some more coughing. Madoka instinctively wiped her face down without hesitation. Something in her wanted to protect the woman at all costs. "You're the...! Nevermind, I have been waiting for you! For a long time!"

The woman's voice was youthful despite her ancient history. Silver hair draped like soaked curtains down her shoulders and fangs showed when she smiled. Madoka paused as the woman shook her hands with a frozen grip of her own. She was certain that she probably got swallowed whole by the monster and she was dead again.

"The Holy One has spoken so much about you, Child of the Stars," she said. Her eyes were reptilian. On second glance, this person was definitely not human at all. Madoka resigned herself.

"Is the Holy One you speak of named Ares?" Madoka stammered. Feelings of loneliness churned within her, like the gears and mechanisms in the great palace miles above her. What would Audrey do in this situation?

"Huh?" The woman bowed her head. "My apologies! I am being rude. I should have introduced myself but I couldn't help myself! I am the Dragon Pelé. Once upon a time, I was known as the Frost Queen."

"The F-Frost Queen? D-Dragon?" Madoka backed away slowly and bowed as sincerely as she could. "Forgive me, Your Majesty."

Pelé burst into laughter but then broke into a coughing fit. Madoka moved to clean the ground but the strange woman waved her off.

"You have arrived way past the end of an Empire," Pelé said with a sigh. A sharpened look furrowed her brow at Madoka. "Just as you have witnessed the end of your own kingdom, no? No need for formailities."

"You remind me of the Princess," Madoka grumbled, though she relaxed into using the Commoner's tongue. Pelé stumbled a bit so Madoka tore her cloak off and lay it on the ground for her to sit down. The Queen scoffed but chose to sit down eventually. "You and her would get along."

"And you would have loved this palace. It was a gift from the Holy One," Pelé laughed. "Plenty of places to clean. I can tell your dedication by the maid's dress beneath your armor."

"T-That's none of your concern!" Madoka folded her arms and looked away. Pelé laughed. More ice melted off of her and color returned to her skin, like flowers in the spring.

"What were we talking about again?" Pelé began. "Long ago, this world was invaded by a strange and war-like being. Your kind cannot say his name, only loose translations of his name have been spoken. He has allowed Ares to be an acceptable moniker. His invaders built a gate from another world and he sent his champion out. It was named Conqueror."

"Is t-that the horrible monster frozen below the palace?"

"You catch on quick! Ares sent his champion out to destroy this world, but!" Pelé rapped a fist against the sculpture. "Me and her make a good team, no? Now, my power has long since faded. I am hardly able to keep up with this form."

"Hai," Madoka said, not quite understanding how a statue could help her against a monster that is capable killing others by simply being looked at. "How did I get here?"

And how do I get out of here? Madoka thought, but did not ask the question.

"You see," Pelé already sensed Madoka's desire to leave. She merely pointed upward. Madoka's eyes followed up her scaly arm and ended past her pointed finger. The bizarre and stretching creature's eye twitched far above the abyss and this room's lights. "We are inside the belly of the beast. Right now, your friend is trying to wake you up."

"Am I... dead?" Madoka stumbled over that question.

"No, you are not dead," Pelé sighed. "We just needed to have a small chat, you see. Don't pout!"

That command only made Madoka pout on purpose.

"The gods are watching you, Child of the Stars," Pelé said. Madoka did not know if that was a threat or a good thing. "Ares wishes to speak with you but your eyes have yet not opened to the Celestials."

"Didn't you defeat him already?" Madoka interrupted.

"Er—" Pelé stopped halfway through her sentence. "I defeated his physical form here. However, gods cannot be killed so easily. After I drove him off, he made me his new Conqueror. Now that I met you, Madoka, I wish to give you a gift before I let you go."

"I am a servant," Madoka protested. "I do not deserve gifts."

"He told me you'd say that..." Pelé laughed again and suddenly grabbed Madoka's left shoulder. Madoka seized up as she felt the woman's cold and clammy hand.

Madoka's shoulder began to swell with light beneath her surprisingly strong grip. A burning sensation gathered underneath the Queen's hand and made Madoka's heartbeat pound as a crunching noise stormed within her mind. Pain burned her. Pelé's hand eventually stopped glowing and fell to her lap. After the pain subsided, Madoka was clutching her shoulder. A part of her cloak was burned all the way down to her bare shoulder. Something glowed on it but Pelé collapsed, distracting Madoka.

"Y-Your Majesty!" Madoka leaned over the deteriorating Frost Queen.

"This will help you reach the Celestial," Pelé's voice was a whisper now. "Ares has called for you to be his new Conqueror. Go forth with this gift."

A red rune was burned onto Madoka's shoulder. She suddenly recalled Audrey's warning about red runes. She knew not what a videogame was but if it was bad, then this rune must mean...

"W-Wait," Madoka cried. Pelé was dissolving into golden sparks. "You haven't even said what it does!"

"That's for you to find out, Child of the Stars," Pelé smirked. Madoka sighed. The giant statue began to move an arm on its own, startling Madoka.

She drew her axe and prepared herself for the worst. It's a golem? Madoka growled at it. The statue moved its arm and aimed its hand at Madoka. Before Madoka could say anything, her conscience was pulled upwards like she was a puppet on a string.

Not this again...! Madoka groaned and found herself struggling to get up on her feet again. She felt a familiar rough texture of wood on her sides. She was in a box? A familiar voice

"What do you MEAN those small lifts aren't actually lifts? You mean to say the main lift has been broken for centuries and those were just gears and guides? What the hell?"

Madoka shifted and stuck her head over the box she was in. Audrey was sitting on the altar, yelling at someone or something. That perfectly circular and pure white platform had red glowing runes surrounding Audrey. Like the one back in the forest. She heard a low hum from those runes.

Suddenly, Madoka panicked as she realized the monster still was below her but after a glance she noticed she could look at the horror in the deep without being troubled. Though, it still was disgusting to look at. So that vision was not a dream, Madoka thought. She took solace in the fact that it was truly dead.

"Madoka!" Audrey sprang up. The runes and humming. "It worked! My box method worked!"

"What happened?" Madoka asked. Audrey's skin was glistening. "And why are you glowing?"

"Why are YOU glowing?" Audrey pointed back. Madoka realized that her shoulder still tingled from Pelé's gift. Madoka shrugged.

"I got a gift from Ares," Madoka said, covering her shoulder. Audrey touched it and Madoka yelped. "Y-Your hand is hot!"

"Huh? Oh, right," Audrey said excitedly. "I leveled up! I'm one step closer to you, Madoka!"

Audrey took a spare cloak out for Madoka to cover her bare shoulder with.

"Leveled... up?" Her tongue tripped over those English words.

"It's a joke, but it just means my magic..." Audrey's magic core burst forth in a brilliant and fiery light. Her eyes lit up as she saw two bands orbiting Audrey's heart instead of the usual one. "You're not the only one receiving gifts from the gods, Madoka."

Audrey lifted a finger and she could see a small luminescent blue orb gather at her finger tip. "Watch this! This is our ticket out of here! Yeet!"

Audrey whirled around and launched the blue orb with Wind magic. Madoka's eyes could barely track it. The projectile split into a salvo of even smaller blue fireballs crashing towards the cave wall. Audrey turned to Madoka.

"On second thought—" Audrey was cut off by her own spell. The blue fireballs exploded into a spectacular light and plumes of smoke billowed in the aftermath of the spell. Madoka had to look away as specks of debris and gusts of winds smacked her clothing.

Has this girl learned a thing about prudence?!

"I looked away," Audrey said in a funny accent. "Because cool guys don't look at explosions. Eep!"

"Audrey..." Madoka started but daylight trickled in and as the smoke settled something on the horizon caught her eyes.

"I know, I know!" Audrey complained. "My fire magic is way too powerful! When Ares taught me how to take from the univer- I mean cultivate it all clicked! Okay? Madoka?"

Madoka was staring out of the giant hole Audrey made with that explosion.

"Do you see that?" Madoka pointed at it. Audrey gasped. The two ran to the edge of the crater, leaving the ruins of the palace and horrible monster behind to get a better look.

Above the mountain peaks and the valley was a massive ring made out of a material that looked like alabaster. A pure white ring, clad in the arcane energies bigger than any mountain, Madoka realized that this was the gate Pelé spoke about. It floated peacefully, blotting out the sky and reflecting the sun in some spots. She could not even see the top of the enormous ring.

"What in the fu—" Audrey could not complete her sentence as the sky twisted in colors neither of the girls seen before. The space around the ring warped and suddenly it disappeared leaving nothing but a pure blue sky and sunlight behind.

"Okay then," Madoka said standing at the edge of the crater Audrey made. Audrey gawked as she tried to process what she just saw. A slope followed into an easy terrain for hiking on. "Where to next?"