Chapter 15 - Act IX

An Adventurous Year, Act 9

A Lost God's Grotto

I.

Droplets of cold water splotched Madoka's hair and shoulders as they stepped carefully into the grotto. The bobbing sphere of light produced by Audrey's magic floated like a spirit ahead of her. The path before them seemed like it waited on them for a long time. Their footsteps were solid and their echoes continued as they headed deeper within.

She looked to her side and could see her reflection in the peaceful waters. Her heart stopped its pounding several steps in and all that remained was the annoying patter of dew on her skin. Outside, cold daylight filtered from the entrance.

"A kind god is waiting for us in here, right?" Madoka pierced the uncomfortable silence.

Audrey's magical torch spell flickered as she stopped for a moment.

"Think so," Audrey kicked a rock in the lake. "But I don't feel that strange feeling I usually get when I approach a god. You know, that feeling where your skin crawls and you feel all tingly?"

"I know that too well."

"Oh, thank god, I thought I was the only one who felt that."

"Everyone feels that way, Audrey."

The two drifted into silence. Madoka recalled Audrey said that this grotto was not that deep but they have been walking for quite a distance now. She glanced over her shoulder and realized that the grotto's entrance was still the same distance away when they started.

"Audrey," Madoka tugged her shoulder and pointed back. She was spooked by the revelation. "We are going nowhere."

"Huh?" Audrey's blue eyes looked back. Her eyes widened. "Okay, now that's trippy. Spacial anomalies was not what I had in mind today... Let's, uh, see if we can get out of here first. Okay?"

"Okay," Madoka took her hand. The princess jumped at her touch but the two began their journey back out of the grotto. Their uneven and nervous steps echoed through the cavern. The echoes matched the loud heartbeat inside her chest. What if they were stuck in here forever? Madoka soon found herself gazing upwards at the salt powdered trees and lake. The two jumped for joy from their elated relief. It felt like no time passed since they entered but Madoka's desire to go back inside diminished. "The sun has not moved at all..."

"Wow," Audrey released the time spell into a bubble. It was the spell she used in the Inn. The green mana light stuck in a spot within a bubble and apparently confirmed that Madoka was correct. How did she know that was accurate? "It seems if we were to go inside there, time outside freezes."

"F-Freezes?"

"Stops moving forward," Audrey started to walk back inside. "Meaning, we have all the time in the world to figure it out!"

"Ugh," Madoka grumbled. Audrey gripped her hand again and gave her a pleading look. How could she say no to that face?

"We'll be fine," Audrey rose a finger. "I'll give up if the answers to this puzzle I'm thinking of fail me."

"Y-You're not going to blow up the cave, are you?"

"N-No, Madoka," Audrey sighed. "But that does sound like a great idea."

"Audrey Elise Dalion," Madoka remained stern in her stance of blowing things up.

"It's a joke!" A raindrop splashed on Audrey's nose. She wrinkled her face at the touch and looked at the clouds above. "Raining and not snowing, huh. Well, let's get inside."

Madoka followed her in the grotto once more. Audrey's fire spell came to life and the rain outside seemed to freeze in motion. The maid did not want to think too hard on it. She willingly entered a potentially dangerous situation once again.

"Okay," Audrey's finger began to glow. "Yah, yeet!"

"W-Wait!"

The princess's spell released and fired a small sparkling light further into the cave. The light illuminated the grotto's walls before revealing nothing but the back of the cave. The lake that pooled inside beneath them seemed to also have an end. Madoka realized that the grotto was small like Audrey said but they could not reach the back of the cave despite their journey taking hours before.

"Time is funky," Audrey muttered as they walked on. "We have to walk a bit before I can test something out. I know, we can talk about theories! Local time has ceased and even is starting to mess with space itself. Wait, that doesn't make any sense..."

"Theories?" Madoka wondered what a theory was.

"There's a lot of them on the concept of time. Most of them are about how it doesn't exist as we know it. There's one that I heard about which made me feel weird. We're constantly in a static situation even if the sun rises and set. Like we're fated to do the things we were already planning to do—"

"Okay, Audrey," Madoka interrupted her. "You're hurting my head."

"There's another theory! Time is contradictory and relative only to us. L-Look, I'm not stalling! I know something though: There's five dimensions to the universe as a whole," Audrey went on. "Time and space are merely two of them, but they don't coincide with how our consciousness and brains operate. I'm, uh, totally not sure what time is either other than right now, I feel that you're annoyed by me."

"You are wrong," Madoka scoffed. "I'm annoyed with you all the time."

"C-Come on, man," Audrey sighed but shifted her attention to the lakeside. "I wonder if there is a God of Time and a God of Space. Heh, that sounds silly since I was a former athiest. Gods kind of just forced themselves into my life. I wouldn't know. Anyways, I think we made it to where I want to be."

"Where?" Madoka wondered aloud. They have gone exactly nowhere since they've entered the grotto again. "We're walking in place, right?"

"Not exactly. It might seem like the Devs left this bug in the system, but we've actually walked about a couple football fields in," Audrey stopped. "We just had to be the correct distance to render the object in!"

"Object? Render?" Madoka's tongue twisted over the words. She had not noticed it before but an odd presence crept upon her skin.

"You got a cute accent, you know that? Or maybe I'm suffering some kind of cryptophasia," Audrey peered at the lake. "I'm just joking, don't yeet me into the lake! The presence that called me here seems to be detached from reality. Man, we should have asked Saze for some swimwear."

"S-Swimwear?" Madoka realized what the girl meant. "I-I don't know how to swim!"

"Well, that's a problem, I think," Audrey paused. Was the girl finally considering Madoka for once? "You would look so hot in a bikini!"

"I don't know what a bikini is, Audrey, but for some reason the way you're looking at me makes me not want to know," Madoka wanted to slap her forehead. Audrey was licking her lips. Of course she was thinking of her body instead of her safety!

"I'm joking!" Audrey fished out her storage talisman from her bag and manifested the portal. "We'll check the depth of this thing and if it's too deep we'll pack it up and head home. How's that sound?"

Madoka desired to leave badly so she agreed to whatever Audrey had in mind. The girl pulled a spear out of the portal and plunged it into the lake's water. The spear landed on solid ground about ankle deep. When she moved it further its staff sank deeper.

"Waist high, huh," Audrey tucked the spear back into the portal. "For you, at least. For me, ah, it's a different story."

She looked up to Madoka and shifted pensively. Her eyes glinted from the magic residue particles. The maid rolled her eyes and then her pants.

"Get on," she ordered and knelt down to give her a piggyback ride. Water or not, she will assist her princess whenever possible. Audrey's hands and legs gripped around Madoka but she was quite light. The maid would not admit that her body's magical warmth felt good pressed against her back.

Tentatively, she stepped forth into the water. Coldness wrapped her ankles like thin fingers but Audrey kept her warm. Underneath her feet, solid and flat ground kept her steps on a smooth slope down. The princess's magic light could not pierce its murkiness, but Madoka felt like she was walking on stone.

Onward, towards the center of this impossible underground lake. Madoka let her mind wander. Perhaps the slime was guarding this place? She looked outside the grotto briefly towards the crater as more sinister thoughts invaded her mind. Maybe Audrey led her here in the first place? That dark implication made her gasp and realized she definitely knew all along.

"Madoka?" Audrey asked. "No creatures in the water, right? Turn back if you—"

"Just what are you, Audrey?" Madoka was waist deep in the water. She waded effortlessly but the threat of suddenly dropping deeper made her worried. "You knew this was here the whole time, didn't you?"

Audrey was quiet and only the magic light bobbing weightlessly above her finger revealed her presence. So Madoka stopped. Her curiosity and demand for answers would not allow her to move.

"You go on about things no one has even heard of before, cast magic unlike anything the mages in the palace have seen, somehow figure out how to destroy monsters with knowledge no one in this world knows," Madoka pressed. "I don't even understand what I am not supposed to understand. Time? What about it? Why are we here, Audrey? How did you know we were supposed to be here?"

"Well," Audrey finally broke the silence. Her voice was flimsy and Madoka was sure her excuses would match how weak her voice was. "Truth to be told, Ceghinort told me he'd be here. Like the other gods. The other stuff, Madoka, I was just trying to be interesting while we walk. I'm sorry. I won't talk about theories and nerdy stuff anymore."

"T-That's not what I'm telling you to do," Madoka breathed. The water rippled around her as she hefted the princess up in her grip. "I'm asking how you know about those things? Do people of your age from your... old life... know of those things as well?"

"N-No," Audrey stammered. She was panicking at Madoka's interrogation, but why? Madoka could not fathom any of it and was ready to give it up. "Every God I meet has told me of the things I used to be. I... I try to fight those things off. How could I be anything except me? I didn't make it in my past life. I was killed by my stepfather. I had nothing but books and an insane amount of loneliness built inside."

"I was simply a void, trying to fill it with anything to distract me from my family," Audrey rested her head on Madoka's back. "Every time I meet a God here, I ask it if I am in a videogame or some simulation and if it was the reason I have come here. I can't help but feel terrible for Elise. She should be living here instead of me!"

"B-But," Madoka felt bitter. "She is you."

Audrey did not say anything. Instead, her magic light came to life again. It glowed a soft yellow, like a light bug's abdomen buzzing in the night. Her foot was the reason the girl stopped talking, for Madoka stepped on something uneven that sank beneath her foot into the murky lake's floor.

Something rumbled before them in the waters and the chaos nearly knocked Madoka off her balance. In her wobbly vision, she saw a large ornate pillar rise from the ground. The structure fully emerged and revealed to them a stairway and platform beneath it. A white glow flashed from the pillar. Madoka nearly let go of Audrey but she looked away from how bright the spectacle was. She looked as soon as the glow faded. A gateway?

Its white and gold trimmed doors stood ominously before the girls. Audrey tugged her sleeve, so Madoka placed her on the steps so the girl would not get wet. The princess took a step before turning back to face the unmoving maid.

"I don't care if we do things like this Audrey," Madoka crossed her arms. "Just be honest with me!"

A tear slid down Audrey's cheek as the waters pushed away from the structure. Madoka was steadfast in her stance in the uneven waves. She also meant what she requested from Audrey with all her ignorant heart.

"I want you to trust me, for once," Madoka sighed. "I am your servant—"

A tear landed on her elbow. She knew it was not the vapor from the misty waters of the lakes this time. Madoka wiped her eyes and stifled the disbelief within her. She did not even know why she was crying!

"Okay," Audrey nodded, wiping her own tears off.

Madoka knew those tears, that look of frustration and anguish.

It was the look of many hopeless days spent longing for answers; the look from many winter nights she's spent staring at the vast heavens above for anything meaningful in her existence.

The princess had the same defeated look that marred the red haired girl's own face. A single drumbeat that closed a revelation: The truth was nowhere close to being revealed no matter how many more beats she struck upon.

Audrey looked as if she had asked herself Madoka's questions over and over again for a painful moment. She wished she did not ask Audrey for anything. That was how full of anguish her princess looked. The unfair and cruelty of a silent universe's single demand: To be or be silenced forever by not being. Madoka saw her sit down on the wet marble stairs so she waded over and sat beside her.

"I feel guilty, you know?" Audrey's warmth dried the steps around her. "I won't ask you to understand or tell you that you can't understand. Elise died when I showed up. It's the only thing I know for sure about myself. They spoke of an illness she suffered before I came along. It's when they started calling me a witch because I was supposed to be dead. All that ran through my head were sick visions and guilt. How much of a witch and a murderer I was! I had thought maybe what if this is hell for all the things my stepfather blamed me for? Why am I in this world with you? I don't deserve you."

Audrey chuckled bitterly. Madoka realized that was the day she came to clean her chambers. She was so young back then. So afraid. The princess must have felt the same way.

"I'll tell you the next time I sense a God. I swear. They don't always reveal themselves immediately but I'll do my best. Again, I don't know everything about the truth of why I'm here, Madoka. I hate being here. I don't want to be in the place of another. I want to know how I ended up being reincarnated here. Why I started in a broken country that I'll have to face head on one day. That's what I'm trying to find out myself, Madoka," Audrey smiled weakly. "Who Elise was, if she is me, or if I'm her... I know it's hard to process. I feel like I'm the reason she died or got forced out. I'm scared she's swapped places with me and has to face my stepfather. We can turn each other's heads inside out over the questions here in this little grotto. I think that's what that God wants. But I have a feeling that through this door we can find out a bit more."

Madoka glanced at the doorway and then back to Audrey.

"Fine," she nodded and extended her hand.

"I promise if you want to find out more about yourself I will help you," Audrey declared. Madoka helped her up when she took her hand. "Even if that means setting you free. Now, the game's in a buggy state right now. We got to hurry it up."

Right, Madoka thought. Even beneath the sad and beautiful face of hers, Audrey always kept a fierce and unexplainable determination flame within her. Of ancient nobles and powerful Royals she spoke of in the Estate's library, Audrey was the truest Royal of them all.

"Let's go," she nodded.

II.

The ornate door stood like an assistant waiting on them. It was not dangerous, for Madoka knew the feeling of dread that true predators gave outside. She has felt the cold unwelcome feeling of living outdoors in the winter and nothing about the door gave her that feeling. Its gold trim framed the edges and its handles felt like they were custom-fit for her hands. Audrey inspected the other side of the door and found nothing but the lake.

The platform itself was reminiscent of the altars they had been to before, but modified to the taste of its god. Water dripped from the ceiling and Madoka could still see the raindrops frozen in place outside of the grotto. The spires were smoothed at the tips and small gold rings adorned their circumferences like belts. Of that golem in the Conqueror's belly and the large ringed gate flashing out of this world, Madoka put the grotto and its gateway third in the list of strangest things she's seen.

She gulped as she inspected the door once more. She felt guilty from the conversation they had. Madoka realized she was not being fully truthful herself to Audrey. She was the hypocrite who never spoke of things about the afterlife. Pelé, the strange bird she's ran into and probably a lot more things she has failed to reveal to the princess. Did it matter?

A hand squeezed hers and an expectant look closed in on her eyes. Right, Madoka pulled out of her thoughts. There was a truth lying beyond the door. She was not sure if she would like it but her hand twisted the handle. Her arm rattled as she did, taking her by surprise. It was shaking violently apart!

An intricate cyan pentagram pattern of light expanded outward from beneath the door. A magic attack? She was not prepared to fight against such attacks. The waters reflected the beautiful and dangerous pentagram attack but began to stir violently. Its range covered the entire lake!

"Madoka?" Audrey questioned her. How was she supposed to know this would happen? The waters in the grotto's lake began to churn rapidly into a whirlpool. Madoka's hand remained on the door's handle as water sprayed her. They were sinking and Madoka did not know how to swim. She groaned. Not because she would drown in waist high water but because she was soaking now.

"This is ALL your fault," Madoka cursed but she doubted Audrey could hear her over the violent whirlpool. She shoved her body into the door and it caved in with her. Her face ate soft grass. Her body followed.

She rolled over and sputtered out lake water feeling for Audrey at the same time. Again, nothing but the meadows brushed across her hands. Madoka could barely hold onto any of her senses from the overwhelming guilt that flooded her. Her arms felt like weathervanes in the wind as she was flung in the odd door's dizzying storm.

Yet here was quiet and peaceful. She noticed the door she tumbled through was gone. There was no longer the lichen and moss covered cavern. Here was different — the sky was smudged blue speckled with stardust, the air was perfumed by sweet and pleasant flowers, and the wind singing its music in Madoka's chest. The breeze gently reordered the chaotic notes within her heart.

When her breathing evened out through her anxiety, she realized she was all alone on the other side of the door.

Did she let go of Audrey during all that commotion? As if the mere thought summoned her, the distant yelling of a familiar voice came from above her. A light body landed on her and blonde hair whipped her face. Madoka's chest felt constricted.

"Waah!" Audrey's muffled voice came from her chest. The girl was soaking wet but warm to the touch. More mumbling came from the princess but Madoka could not understand her.

"Audrey?" Madoka blew the strands of her hair off her face.

Blue eyes peered at her from the peaks of her chest. For a moment, things were serene. Madoka was content with their reunion in the middle of this strange and beautiful landscape. Audrey was warm and small. The maid found it difficult to keep herself from her soft curiosity. A flash of mischievousness suddenly lit up in her eyes and Madoka braced herself for trouble.

"Boobies!" Audrey buried her face back into Madoka's breasts. The maid flailed as the princess squished her tongue between them. Audrey's voice was muffled in between her persistence and Madoka's skin. "I... love.. your..."

"Audrey!" Madoka gripped somewhere on the girl's body. Luckily she was not pinned down and Audrey was light. "You are such a..."

She tore the girl off of herself and threw her back as hard as she could. Audrey screamed as she sailed through the air under the splotched clouds. Madoka sat up and tied her cloak tighter. She noticed the princess landed squarely on her back quite a distance from her. The yelp of pain coming from the girl only made Madoka proud of her throw.

"Naee waah," Audrey sat up. "That hurt, Madoka!"

"Next time," Madoka darkened her voice. "I'll throw you even further."

The princess gulped.

"You are a Royal, Audrey," Madoka began to unleash her new attack: A lecture. "Know your place. My body is yours but it's unbecoming of you! You need to control and save yourself for..."

She stopped after seeing the princess's face.

It was not that Madoka hated the girl's attention to her. There was something inside of her that refused to budge. A block in the heart that stopped her from being free. She was a slave after all. There were all kinds of chains far too tightened that she could untangle. There were too many obstacles she could not cross. Was she worthy of Audrey? Why would she be when the princess could have anyone she wants?

"I'm sorry," Audrey finally broke the silence. There was sorrow tinged in her words. The red haired girl had heard that tone in the rejected suitors from the palace. The wails and heartbreak entwined from young noble women after the Prince rejected them. Fiara allowed multiple women to be together but only for men's courts, Madoka recalled. How could Audrey have any desire for a servant like her? She has never heard of anything like that in Fiara.

Madoka wanted to apologize, or deflect, like a shield but to protect Audrey from herself. A vague declaration that she should postpone her love until she finds someone far better than the maid. The promise that there was definitely an individual worthy of Audrey although that only stirred selfishness within her heart. She hoped there was such a person but she also wanted to be that person.

She wanted to stand in the princess's court alone but that could never happen. Madoka wanted to ask why would the princess have love for only her again but they have had one hard conversation today. That is, she mused. If today is still the same day they fought the slime monster.

There was a source of light like a sun- an orange glow tangled within the trees and clouds. Whether it was actually the sun or not, its light was fading. Madoka turned her focus to where they actually were.

"You're strong, Audrey," Madoka admitted. "I already threw you as hard as I could and you survived."

"Well, I've survived worse than that," Audrey sighed. That statement worried the maid. "Now, we have to survive wherever this is. Grass and pine needles, rocks and dirt. Nothin' 'bout this place makes sense. They look almost like, no, they can't be..."

"What's wrong, Audrey?"

"T-This place," Audrey went pale as her blue eyes took in all her surroundings. She seemed to recognize where she was. "It can't be!"

The girl took off into the forest. Madoka did not realize there was a forest to begin with inside this realm. She recounted how this came to be. They were in a grotto in a forest's lake, in a strange place that led straight into another forest. She groaned. All this has happened because they needed to gather herbs.

"Audrey, don't leave me!" Madoka ran after her. The forest grew darker, as whatever sunlight shown through slowly faded away. Glimpses of blonde hair fluttered through thin branches as she chased Audrey. She pushed through them and realized the girl stopped before an opening. Soon, night settled on her skin. A streak of stars smeared across the sky in a curve as if an unseeable giant carried a silvery bone across his shoulder.

"What is this doing here?" Audrey's voice quivered into a high whisper. Her eyes were fixated upon something.

Madoka's eyes adjusted. She saw a rock resting in the center of the clearing.

"A... Rock?"

"This is where I ran away from my home when things got bad. There was the little rusted..." Audrey turned and pointed. Madoka saw a strange, rusted sloped structure resting at the edge of the opening. Another worn down structure stood tall nearby. It had chain links connected to a strange chair. Madoka decided it would not be fit to rest upon.

Audrey instead sat down on the rock so Madoka silently sat with her back against Audrey's. She looked up at the night sky and was surprised to see a single waxy moon. It was gold instead of silver like the twin moons.

"W-Wait," Madoka gasped at the realization that they were in Audrey's old world. The air was fresh and she could not hear any thoughts. "We're in your world?"

"Could be," Audrey slumped back on Madoka. She was not heavy enough to move the maid. "It might be memetic and a cognito hazard all over again. Or just magic bringing up my memories. But I don't care anymore."

I do, Madoka wanted to say but she was still wrapped up in her confused feelings for the princess.

"I like places with a little mystery, you know? Haunted houses, abandoned parks like these..." Audrey's voice was wavering. "Used to go here all the time because I felt like I could escape. Beyond the woods is where I lived. You might not feel like it but we're in the middle of the suburbs of a metropolis."

"My momma used to go here, screaming at me the whole time," she continued. Madoka did not hear any thoughts around. This place was surprisingly peaceful despite being abandoned. "She used to not scream at me but oh well."

"The Queen," Madoka mused aloud.

"Father must have been broken," Audrey sighed. "Can't imagine what it's like to lose a loved one like that. They must have had goals, desires to run the country, a vision. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Again."

"Audrey," Madoka was about to protest.

"I'm sorry Madoka," Audrey rested her head on her back. "I'm putting way too much pressure on you. Can't get you out of my mind and my feelings are just getting stronger. I can't resist myself around you sometimes. You reminded me that if if I can't stop myself from you I'd be no better than that fat noble."

"T-That's not what I—" Madoka's heart bloomed at the princess's deep consideration. "I would never compare you to that."

"But it's the truth!" Audrey sighed. "I-I'll wait for you! As long as it takes, okay?"

"Why, though?" The red hair girl got up. She stood in front of the princess and folded her arms. "You deserve a lot more than me or maybe I don't have a lot to give to you. How could I meet your standards?"

"M-My standards?" Audrey gasped. Madoka shrunk. Did she offend her somehow? "What do you know of my standards? Why are you deciding who I want?"

"I—"

"It's you, Madoka," Audrey suddenly blurted. She looked like she wanted to stop herself but could not. "We've gone through hell and back! You, literally, have gone through hell and back. How can anyone compare to you? Who could enter my courts and match you?"

Audrey calmed down when she realized she was yelling. Madoka turned her back and wanted to melt from the embarrassment. She knew the princess loved her all along. She was not blind. She was a hypocrite. Or she felt like one. What a troublesome thing this girl was!

"You remember what I said on that balcony during our time at the Estate, right?" Audrey's voice whispered. Madoka did not. Those blissful times seemed like a lifetime ago. "Well, I don't like men at all. Not one bit. Madoka, I'm..."

She chuckled.

"Orientations, what would they matter in these days and age? I am only interested in women, Madoka. You. Heh, I feel like I'm coming out to my momma all over again. She screamed curses at me and I ran away to... here."

"C-Courts," Madoka stammered. She could barely hear herself over her pounding heart. The princess truly wanted her. She would rather clean a thousand hallways of the Palace than try to sort this mess out.

"I want you to someday realize how much you mean to me," Audrey sighed. It was a relieved sigh, like she finally lifted a weight heavier than the slime's core. "I want you to someday realize just how important you should be to yourself. I wanna help you find that out, too!"

It was dark out but Madoka's body could not feel anything other than small. Audrey snapped out of it.

"Shit," Audrey gasped. Madoka went on high alert at her sudden change of demeanor. "We're in the middle of a dungeon! Look at what you've made me do! I confessed to you and everything... Gah!"

Madoka caught a glimpse of her bright red face before she buried her head in her own arms.

"Let's get out of here, Audrey," Madoka finally broke the silence. "Wherever we are."

"Yeah," Audrey still hid her reddened face but stood on the rock. "Whatever this lost god has in store for us better be good."

She hopped off the rock and headed towards the edge of the clearing. Madoka was quick to follow, unsure of this new territory. For some reason, she felt at ease here. There was no threats that she could hear. It was just her thoughts, fluttering feelings and the sinking feeling that things between them were going to be much different.

Even as they walked, Madoka felt too nervous and giddy to speak with the girl. What was this feeling? Should she be allowed to have it? To capture its light and socket it into a necklace, she pondered. To take it wherever she went and watch it walk confidently towards a full blooming future. This was beyond her fear. Or it was where her fear placed her.

Like seeing color for the first time.

"Where are we headed?" Madoka asked.

"There's going to be a row of houses ahead," Audrey walked along. The little trail was plain but beautiful. Madoka looked behind her at the dimming forest they have left. This place was quiet. Too quiet, Madoka gripped her swords under her cloak nervously.

"Careful," Madoka cautioned. Her feet stepped on a hard surface. A narrow street divided by oddly lit lamp posts lay before her bordered by a wall of strange tall structures. She has never seem such architecture. The buildings were uniform with little changes, stretching infinitely to her left and right. They were neat and tidy although they unnerved her. "So these are houses?"

"Yeah," Audrey made a motion with her hands. Nothing happened. Madoka gasped. "Huh? My magic... It's not working?"

"This is bad, isn't it?" Madoka guessed.

Audrey tried again with the same motion. Once again, her magic did not seem to work. She felt fine but she was sure whatever magic she had would not help her in the slightest.

"It ain't good, I tell you what," Audrey muttered. "Come to think of it, there wasn't a trace of manas floating in the air. Maybe we truly are in a simulated version of my old world. T-Take care of me as we head to a little place I know of."

"This place is like a maze," Madoka complained. "How do you know where you're going?"

"Well," Audrey shyed from looking at Madoka's face. "I'm going home."

"H-Home?" Madoka asked. This was getting stranger by the minute. She stopped to recollect herself.

"Madoka?"

"S-Sorry," Madoka breathed in. Why was it so hard to breathe all of a sudden? "I just feel lightheaded. I don't belong here, don't I?"

Audrey looked concerned but helped the maid up.

"My house is close by," she pointed at a house. It looked no different then the other ones but Madoka believed her. A street made of black concrete divided the girls from the rows of imposing houses. Odd structures made of metals rested in front of several of them. Were they beasts similar to those in the afterlife? Did they guard the houses?

Were they dead? Madoka shuddered at the thought of approaching one. Perhaps they were sleeping? Audrey strode on without fear of the metal beasts. They approached one resting on their side of the road. The maid moved to stop her princess, unsure of what would happen if they wake one up. Audrey smirked and put her hand on the beast's curve.

"These are called cars," she explained, tracing a metal line jutting out of its side. Madoka saw her reflection in its... ear? "That's a rear view mirror. People sit in these and drive them."

"They... go inside there?"

She stood behind her princess. She was still unsure of what they could do. Its sides were windows and she could see a chair inside. Audrey was close to her. She suddenly did not want to go further.

"Yeah," Audrey pulled away from Madoka. Her cheeks were still bright red as she shifted shyly. Was she going to be this shy all the time from now on? Madoka found it to be cute but worried it would affect their battle effectiveness. "Now it looks like we're casing this car so we should probably leave it alone. Dunno if this dungeon will simulate people. House is up ahead."

"What is it like?" Madoka strayed away from the car. Audrey laughed.

"Awful," Audrey began to step on the tarred road. The road split the neighborhood and the forest like a black river. "Heh, it's got its issues. You know? You can see its the same as all the other houses here but its interior is going to make you upset. What, being a maid and all that. It's gross in there. Like a dirty secret but hidden under a rich and perfect facade. People put up an image of themselves all the time but that's not the real them inside."

"We all have things to say and keep to ourselves, Audrey," Madoka shuffled behind her. Audrey stopped as they traveled up a small incline and to a porch. The paths were all uniform and the grass did not seem like it was real. This must be her house as Audrey stopped before the doorway. Madoka did not know why but she steeled herself for the horrors behind it. She grabbed Audrey's hand.

"Huh?" Audrey turned.

"Before we go," Madoka started. "Is this something you want me to see? Are you alright with me seeing your past?"

There was a long pause. Audrey looked at a peculiar object on the door.

"Yeah," Audrey finally resolved herself. "Looking good is the easy part. Especially for you. Heh. It's what's underneath it all that is the tough part. Really, it's truly all that matters. Making sure that maybe, one day, finding those things that are good inside is what will keep me going. The memories and things to cherish the most. Now, I sound like an old lady. Whatever."

You matter, Madoka thought. Yet she did not say it. Her feelings were too frazzled and fractured from the overwhelming sense of wrongness she felt here.

"Ready?" Audrey turned to her briefly.

"Yes," she left it at that.

III.

The air was hard to breathe. Despite her head feeling light, Madoka stood behind her princess.

Audrey looked to the odd object on the side next to the door. A padlock? The maid would smash the door down but the idea of desecrating her princess's holy birthplace appalled her. The padlock suddenly chirped and flashed red when Audrey tapped it.

"I doubt it will verify my fingerprint," Audrey contemplated in a quiet voice. "But if my magic doesn't work here... Maybe..."

"I can smash the door down?" Madoka offered. Audrey looked at her with a slight disbelief.

"N-No, it's not that. He could be in there," Audrey stopped her but her face paled. Madoka's feelings darkened. She meant her other father. The one that killed her. "I— I didn't see his truck in the driveway. And the garage is full of his mess so there's no way its parked inside... But if he's somehow here... in this odd dungeon..."

"I could smash him to pieces too!" Madoka's hand gripped her sword tightly. She would destroy anyone who caused her harm. Especially the one who murdered her princess.

"I think he wouldn't recognize me," Audrey eased Madoka by placing a hand on hers. "Now that I look different and all. O-On second thought, m-maybe we shouldn't go in here."

"I'm with you," Madoka affirmed her. "This time you're not alone."

Audrey looked at her and then she silently prepared herself. Madoka watched her check the padlock again before she pressed several odd buttons on it in a pattern. It emitted high pitched sounds at each press when a clunk from the door itself startled the maid. There was no telling what she just unlocked.

Audrey nodded and opened the door. Madoka hesitated - she wanted to go in first just in case hostile entities were waiting for her but the princess was not fazed. Immediately the air changed again as a musty scent invaded her nostril. The smell of rotten paper wrapped Madoka's face before she saw the true horror behind the slowly opening door.

There were stacks of brown moldy paper piling up ceiling high. A narrow hall bordered by squalid scrolls and dust caked floors from only the kind gods knew greeted her. Madoka retched from the abominable sight. Something dark scuttled quickly across the floor into a black bag, startling her. There were multiple black bags squashed together in the corners of the room, teeming with those creatures. She did not hear its thoughts? She immediately drew her sword and prepared for anything inside this wretched place.

"Are you alright?" Audrey asked her.

"Y-You!" Madoka struggled to breathe. Her vision blurred as the oppressive waste assaulted her eyes. "This is absolute blasphemy! I don't know what world this is but even I—"

"Heh, I told you it'd be gross in here," Audrey chuckled mirthlessly. "Even through this place's grossness and without magic I can smell that god. I can't actually smell, but still!"

She shifted nervously. There was no part of the floor that was clean. The princess was known to be a little careless and cause troubles but this was downright disturbing to Madoka. She understood why she was that way now. Pity wallowed up inside of her and then wrath roiled. How dare these false parents of hers make her live in these squalid conditions?

Audrey strode in without hesitation. The maid was surprised but she recalled being shoved into the sewage canal of the palace. She was reminded once again that the standards she has placed on the girl were wrong. The princess had no qualms about getting her hands dirty if it meant to survive. So Madoka gulped and stepped inside with her.

"Home, sweet home, huh," Audrey tried casting more magic but remembered she could not. "It's just what I feared, this place has gotten worse since it's been abandoned. Or Ceghinort's magic could not support humans."

The room was darkened as Audrey shut the door. The horror set upon Madoka's skin like slick mist. She was trapped inside a disgusting rotting house. She gasped for air only to swallow more of the smog.

"It's a fitting place, you think?" Audrey peered a hazy direction down the hallway. Madoka's eyes stung as they tried to adjust. "For shitty people to live in. And I... I'm the most terrible one of them all."

"D-Don't say that," Madoka was about to protest but she was startled when Audrey suddenly clapped.

"Let there be light!" She giggled. How could she be relaxed in these conditions? Madoka was amazed since a dim light began to fill the room and suddenly she wished it did not. The place was more dire than she could compare to anything. She has seen less decrepit environments in the mountains. "I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at ya, Madoka. I'm sorry you have to see this. Even if I warned you.

"It's okay, Audrey," Madoka sighed. "But what are we searching for?"

"Any leads out of here," Audrey checked around a heap of blackened sludge. "I wanted to get my phone from upstairs and figured somewhere familiar would bring us a clue but... nope. Ain't a lick of anything that makes sense here."

Madoka sent the kind gods prayers for help even if they could not reach this forsaken place. The walls were faint and glowed pale gold like jaundice. Its gaunt, reeking architecture was infected by mold and neglect but Madoka forced herself to scan around the place. This truly was a temple of rot. This could not be where Audrey has been.

"Was it always this bad?" She pondered aloud. Audrey looked ashamed of herself. Madoka panicked as she tried to reassure her princess. "Y-You didn't cause this or ask for any of this! Forgive me, I shouldn't have asked."

"No," Audrey sighed. "My momma, she used to always be kind before my dad died. She was my best friend, even. When I was 10 I remember we used to go out a lot. Everything was clean until..."

She opened the entrance door only to stop. An oppressive dread gushed inside of Madoka as she saw what Audrey saw. The doorway suddenly led to a dead end, blocked by towers of garbage and other things she did not want to know about. Madoka drew her sword. This was certainly a magical attack. While she had little experience in fighting she hoped to be ready and not be caught off guard.

"This is bad," Audrey shut the door. "Ceghinort's magic is closing in on us. This trial sucks, you know!"

She yelled at nothing in particular so naturally nothing responded. Audrey began to get frantic as she knocked over piles of trash.

"D-Don't touch any of that gross stuff," Madoka pleaded.

"We gotta get out of here," Audrey mumbled. Madoka could tell the situation was worsening her friend's conditions so she pulled Audrey back. "Wha—"

"When I threw you off of me—"

"Don't remind me of that."

"I felt weaker. Normally it's easier to handle you."

"That's not good," Audrey mused but then she paused. "Wait, why do I feel like you're making fun of me?"

"I can't hear the thoughts of those things," Madoka gestured to the strange bags.

"Cockroaches," Audrey addressed those small creatures. "Ain't as big as the ones in our world, but resilient all the same. You don't have your abilities either. That means there's some sort of suppression mechanic in this dungeon. This is real bad."

Madoka wanted to know what a dungeon was. Perhaps she was talking about those videogames but the maid had no idea what those were. She rose her sword for a strike at a nearby tower of trash.

"I may not have those borrowed divine treasures," Madoka determined and her tone grew fierce. "But I won't let you suffer here any longer!"

Trash piles or not, she hated this place and she bet Audrey did too. She will have to ask for forgiveness for destroying it later. It was true she felt weaker in this odd place and it was also true she missed her old life at the Palace, but she still had her training and determination!

She swung at the pile of garbage with all her might. Madoka's blade caught resistance but the towers toppled over eventually. Messes shall be defeated regardless of how disgusting they are!

Madoka kept swinging until her strikes cleaved the towers in two. Satisfied at the destruction she caused, she slashed the slick juice off of her blade as the stacked papers gave away in a neatly split half. The opening revealed a cellar just below and dimly lit damp steps led between debris. Madoka rolled her sleeves up and shoved the crammed stacks aside. She did her best to ignore the gross and soaked textures of the strange scrolls. She turned to Audrey and nodded.

"R-Right, then," Audrey took the lead and marched down the stairs. "I forgot Uncle Leopride turned you into a beast."

"I want to scream," Madoka muttered. "This is an awful goddamn place!"

"Yeah, I'm never going to live it down now that you've seen this part of my old life."

"How could they be so cruel to you? Why must you suffer through this?!"

"Honestly?" Audrey pulled the door's handle, but stopped before she opened it. "This has never been here. This cellar must be apart of the dungeon's anomalous effects. Let's be careful, yeah?"

"If you're certain about that I shall go first!"

"No, Madoka," Audrey started to open the door. Cold and fresh air pushed through the widening gap. "It's all my fault you are here. Let me go first."

"B-But!"

Before the maid could stop her princess, the door was opened. A large cavern was awaiting them. Its opening glowed with the blues of a somber morning light. Unsure of anything lived within this place, the two crept quietly inside. Madoka drew her swords and readied for anything as Audrey shut the door. When it closed, reality flashed for a moment and the air shimmered. The maid had to blink but the door suddenly vanished.

She growled and remained on guard. This was certainly a dangerous magic attack.

"Well, yeah," Audrey sighed. "That was a thing. Sorry you had to see me like that. And all of that dump."

"H-How could you live in this world? If it even is a world at all... This place is disgusting! I can hardly breathe in its..."

"Now you know how I feel," Audrey chuckled. "It's not all bad. This world was peaceful compared to yours. Or ours. Can't help but feel I drew the unlucky straw though."

"When I recall myself back here, my pock-marked, asymmetrical, ugly and sleep-deprived face, the lenses on my glasses cracked from being punched by my step-dad— Yeah. Maybe it wasn't so good after all. I don't miss here at all. It was fun and rainbows for my classmates. They got to do drugs, makeout, drink and experience love for the first time while my parents stacked up newspapers. World's ending! They said. They forgot about themselves! About me! And there I was locked away to study and rot. I got to sleep on a dirty mattress wondering how bad it is to breathe in cockroach stench. It's all my fault you had to see this all!"

She started to cry and laugh at the same time. Madoka heard that love again. It was just too difficult to be only angry on her behalf. Even if this place was an illusion brought on by Ceghinort, it was cruel of the kind god to make her relive her past. More sniffing and gasps of agony echoed from the girl. Right, there was only one thing to do in this situation, Madoka determined.

"I'm here, this time," Madoka hugged Audrey tightly. "For all time, Audrey."

For awhile, the crying continued before she calmed her princess down.

"No longer will these memories be only yours to carry, to hate," Madoka whispered into her ear. "It's time for us to learn to love ourselves, right? You told me that. To cry, because we made it through it all. We have to help each other."

"Mm," Audrey still crumpled into Madoka's shoulder.

"Now," Madoka straightened Audrey out, patting her clothes off the best she could and tidying her hacked hair. "We will make it through here with a smile afterwards, yes?"

"Yeah," Audrey finally broke her snivel. "Wherever the hell we are now."

The two looked around the gigantic cavern. There were no altars or ruins but the rocky walls seemed translucent and crystalline. Madoka guessed this was not usually apart of those houses by the look of wonder on Audrey's tear-stained face.

"C-Can you let go of me?" Audrey asked. Madoka realized she was still holding her princess. "We'll need to take a look around."

"F-Forgive me," Madoka found it difficult to let her go, but finally released her. "W-Wait, Audrey. You're warm!"

"Huh?" Audrey checked herself. She was beautiful, Madoka was momentarily stunned at the sight of her. Even through this nightmare, the princess shown like a beacon of hope for her. How could she be the one for her? No, Madoka shook out of it. Those feelings have persisted quietly like a river under ice. She would have to follow her own standards and not force her partner to match them. "Yoi're right!"

Her magic core burst into dazzling light.

"Thank god," she looked at her chest. "That whole, not having magic thing kind of sucked, not going to lie."

"It's good to see you in good health," Madoka sighed. "Please don't blow up this cave."

"What is this bit? This some kind of inside joke of yours?" Audrey closed her eyes and the core faded. "I have decided to not get caught up in my anger and embarrassment. Yeah!"

She released a sphere of light across the cavern which startled Madoka. She backed away while following the light as it arced to the other side of the cavern. Another box similar to Audrey's palace sat beneath where the light landed. She nodded to the maid and the two proceeded to it.

Audrey looked at the box.

"It's kind of like my house's keypad," She absentmindedly tapped its surface. "I'm not going to lie, I dunno what these symbols are. Also I can barely see any manas in this place. So."

"Audrey, don't," Madoka tried to stop her but the girl pressed more buttons on it. A rumbling came from the cavern walls and small pebbles and droplets of water pelted them. The dark shadow of a large being shifted in the translucent caverns. An odd voice disrupted her ears through the noise. It was quiet yet she heard it as clear as a whisper in an open starry night.

「‎היכנסו לחוקים 」

The great shadow behind the walls stopped moving after the voice spoke. Madoka hoped it was not alive, or at least not anything like the Conqueror. She turned to Audrey but the girl's puzzled look did not inspire confidence in the maid. Audrey noticed Madoka's look and she blushed.

"I-I don't speak that language," Audrey protested.

"Of course," Madoka groaned.

"Look," Audrey moved a palm over the padlock as she examined it. "I might not speak its language, but I can at least infer that it's probably mad at us for typing the wrong password..."

"You," Madoka corrected her princess. "It's mad at you."

"Details, details," Audrey smacked the object again. Madoka braced herself for the great shadow to move again but luckily nothing happened. The maid sighed. She felt a bit of her strength return but whatever suppression mechanic Audrey was rambling about probably remained a threat within here. A different colored light floated above her head.

"More of this?" Madoka looked up at the light. It was a spirit swimming in the air. She noticed a gathering rested in the corner of the room.

"I'm sorry I'm useless here," Audrey started but trailed off. She noticed Madoka was not paying attention to her. "Wha, do you see something I don't?"

"Yes," Madoka simply followed the spirit to the pile. She avoided the lightning trails behind it as it moved. Audrey was questioning her but Madoka walked silently. She could not help but feel like something was watching them. Was it the shadow? Her boot collided with something and it echoed a hollow chatter. Bones! Madoka eyed them. They were charred.

"What do you see? More of those chains?" Audrey pressed for an explanation. Madoka was lucky Audrey was smart enough to know to avoid what she avoided.

"Strands," Madoka muttered as she ducked under a jagged lightning strand. The golden strands fizzled in the air before they shimmered and burst with electricity. After they crackled, the strands dissipated out of existence.

"A-Ah," Audrey glanced nervously at the bones. "I assume these guys also couldn't see the strands. Yeesh."

"Be careful and move how I move," Madoka ordered.

"Yessir," Audrey saluted and used a strange gesture. Sir? Madoka wanted to question her. Yet the girl ducked as Madoka ducked. She moved forward when Madoka moved forward. It was an odd experience to lead her friend but the maid avoided the lightning strands since both of their magic and powers were weakened.

The cluster of spirits congregated over a glowing sphere wrapped in gold chains and scattered when she approached it. The lightning bolts streaked to the strange object. Madoka sighed.

"What's wrong?" Audrey kept her head low. "What do you see?"

"I see a ball wrapped in those golden chains," Madoka knew it sounded odd but the sphere rested before her. She did not wish to know how to harness her own magic. That was the last thing she desired but any guidance on how the magic worked would help her at this point. "Magic is just..."

"Awesome! I know, right?" Audrey chirped. "The unknowns, the terrifyingly amazing power that can be wielded, all of the confounding mechanics of a magic system is so fun!"

"I was going to say it was annoying!" Madoka grumbled and braced her for a shocking union with the ball as she grabbed it.

She gasped as the golden chains wrapped around her arms. They felt tingly, like the lightning was asking her where to move. Madoka focused on the pain given to her. Audrey was concerned and uttering something but Madoka's hearing was blocked by the chains. The pain would mean something if she could figure out its odd requests.

"Gah!" She struggled, letting go of the ball. She could not lift it. The lightning bolts danced around her as she moved her arms. The red haired girl looked at the peculiar bolts. They were not lightning like the thunderstorms of her world. They were strands shaped like chains. "What do those damn golden strands want?"

"Maybe they need to connect to the ball?" Audrey guessed. She was sitting down fiddling with her healing talisman and watching the maid. Madoka turned to her and gave her an exasperated look.

"And how would I do that when they don't obey me?" Madoka looked at the streaks of golden bolts. There were much more in great lengths reaching within the wall where the great shadow rested behind it.

"Search your feelings, young one," Audrey sat cross legged on the ground in a meditation pose. She coughed and cleared her throat. "Let the strands guide you."

"Guide me?" Madoka wondered if the princess's silly accents were truly necessary. She knew not what this device was, after all. A bolt danced beside her, seemingly wanting to stretch further. "Feelings?"

She closed her eyes and felt the sharp heat of the golden strands jolt by both her sides. How did she feel? Amidst the chaos of their battles, the grossness of the palace of rot they came from, the quiet yet pulse-pounding confession of love she's recieved Madoka realized she wanted to do one thing with Audrey after all.

"Madoka?" Audrey asked. Madoka heard the talismans clink together as the girl rocked around in her boredom. She paid her no mind.

The strands were cutting short of their wishes, so Madoka rose her hands in the way of their short pathways. She wanted to dance with Audrey! She felt the exciting jolt of a mana strand so she spun and guided it to herself. She wanted to hold her princess close. Her other hand caught another bolt and she stopped her spin and wrapped herself with her arms. The yellow jagged bolts intensified in Madoka's pose, matching her graceful dance. She could see the mana strands wrapped around her arms and reached each other.

"Beautiful," Audrey whispered through the bolt's electrified buzzing. "You're glowing and clad in golden light!"

Madoka did nothing but continued her Fiara dance. Spin and let go of your arms but never your partner's hand, she recalled the next steps of the dance. Her toes rose up and stepped to her memory's beat. She did another twirl and another! Each step connected more yellow cords along her skin. Eventually her body felt like it was going to explode from the heated golden chains that wrapped around her like a heavenly dress.

It's finished, Madoka thought to herself. She did a twirl and reached for the buzzing sphere. As she did, all of her emotions released as the golden strands followed her moves all the way to the ball. At least she thought they were her emotions and movements that manipulated the strands. Frustrated at her lack of knowledge, Madoka completed her dance's final step and leaned on the golden sphere.

All at once, the electrified chains wrapped around her copied her exact intricate movements and connected with the sphere. Madoka watched Audrey's eyes lit up in awe, reflecting the beautiful and gleaming chains back at her. It was evident the girl could see the strands now.

No matter, this auric sphere shall reveal the way. The ball's chains loosened and became undone just enough for Madoka to see inside through its gilded surface. Another smaller energetic sphere rested in the center. She braced for the shock and grabbed it. Humming noises emitted from the great shadow and a peculiar yet threatening high pitched beeping came from the energy sphere in her hand.

"T-That's definitely going to explode," Audrey's eyes widened. She could see the bomb in her hand! The maid could not move her legs and felt each lightning strand chase down her legs to the ground.

"It's burning my hand!" Madoka cried out, juggling the gold sphere. "What should I do with it!"

"Uh," Audrey looked around frantically and finally pointed at the wall with the shadow inside of it. "Throw it at the wall!"

At the command, Madoka hurled the charged electric core at the shadow's wall. At once, the chains wrapped around her legs shattered and released their hold on her. She could move again! Audrey tugged her robe and got low on the ground so she joined her. She swatted bones out of the way and watched as the small sphere bounced off the griund and rolled towards her target. The beeping grew even more rapid as its light intensified before ceasing abruptly.

Then it exploded.

The violent noise and energy released shook the cavern. Madoka could see the erratic strands streaking across the surfaces of shattered debris. They had to move further away. Rocks fell on her and were not a problem but the maid knew if one fell on Audrey it could kill her. She pulled the girl close to her body and sheltered the princess as the cave became illuminated by the intense explosion. She had no time for its flames and lightning were catching up to her.

She swore to herself and dove further, taking the screaming girl under her robes with her. Soon, the commotion stopped. Audrey's frazzled but beautiful wild hair stuck out from under her vision. Her body was soft beneath hers.

"As m-much as I love you squishin' me," Audrey breathed from under her. "C-Can't breathe!"

"O-Oh, sorry," Madoka reluctantly got off her soft princess. Things were serene for a moment before the princess suddenly shrieked. "What is it?"

"H-How the hell did you create a magic grenade?" Audrey beamed in both a terrified and curious tone. "Now I know how it feels when I blow stuff up... Tch!"

Madoka was not focused on what Audrey was complaining about. Instead, she was fixated on what the explosion uncovered. Audrey ceased her chatter and followed Madoka's gaze. A massive metallic disk stretched. Many petal-like folds filled its center, gathering to an odd sapphire colored sphere in the center. It looked like an eye. This thing must have been watching them the whole time.

"S-Sorry for ruining your walls," She muttered to herself. A deep, bassy hum bariolaged throughout the cavern and caused the ground to quake and walls to shake. The sapphire glinted and shot out a beam at them. It was too fast! The beam strangely, and perhaps miraculously, did not harm them. Audrey cowered behind Madoka, who remained unmoved by it. Instead, it past over her head down to her feet and left checkered illuminated blue strands over her skin. She felt like she was caught in a net. Madoka pulled at them on her skin and only gripped her flesh.

After the beam passed through her, it vanished. Madoka realized she has already seen this magic before. It was in the afterlife, she recalled it was the same magic Ella and her angel used on her. A loud voice suddenly declared something in a language she has never heard before.

「‎מלאכים זוהו」

IV.

The Eye hummed a horrible tone before her. Its metal scales shifted like waves along a hidden wall it seemed to be attached to. Perhaps it was the wall itself, Madoka watched it nervously and readied herself for a magic attack. There was no such way to survive an attack from this thing, she thought. Her ears began to hurt as it uttered more of the same unknown language in dark tones before she began to pick and understand words out of it.

「Angels have been identified. Identified. Identified.」

"Angels?" Madoka asked it but she was unsure if it could hear her over the noise it made. She gripped her sword's hilt though she doubt she could pierce its tough metal scales. "Are you Ceghinort?"

"It kind of looks like the labyrinth entrance from the forest," Audrey moved to look at the strange being. She froze as a roaring whir emanated from its rapidly shuddering scales. Audrey squeaked and retreated back behind Madoka.

"It looks like trouble," Madoka growled. It spoke again in Noble.

「Greetings, Angelic Entity. I am the AI Servitor Hesonoo. You are advised to leave this sacred place.」

"How?" Audrey asked it. Golden mana strands gathered within reach at the corners of Madoka's eyes. She was not sure what she would do with those. "We've been trying to get outta here for awhile, Mr. Robot."

AI Servitor Hesonoo's eye focused on Audrey and then it emitted an ominous roar. Madoka covered her ears but advanced ahead of Audrey. Her world went white. No, she blinked. They were standing in a pure expanse of white. The only thing that was not white in that room was machine itself and them.

「Hostile Entity: Code Abaddon detected. System will begin Exorcism and Purification. Repent. Repent. Repent. Repent.」

The word "repent" echoed throughout this white void. The AI Servitor Hesonoo's sapphire eye turned bloody red, as seven of its large scales opened up and revealed strange tubes with red lights at their tips. Each one of them steadily aimed themselves at Audrey.

"What did you do to it?" Madoka groaned. How could she upset something clearly much more powerful than the both of them?

「Repent. Repent. Repent. Repent.」

"Why do you expect me to know?!" Audrey stood still as a statue as the red beams of light illuminated her skin. "B-But we gotta think of something quick! I think it's gonna shoot me!"

"What do I do?" Madoka nearly choked from the rising desperation. She was nervous about those strange lights. This strange being clearly intended to wipe her princess out. She would not allow it! The maid stood in front of the lights so they painted her skin instead.

"Stop!" Madoka screamed defiantly at it. The lights intensified and warmed her skin up.

「Angelic Entity, please remove yourself from Exorcism and Purification's trajectory. Repent. Repent. Repent. Repent.」

"Madoka, you don't have to fight it!" Audrey screamed over it. "I don't know what it's telling you but—"

"Shut it!" Madoka growled. Think, Madoka, think! She looked around her frantically. The projections were getting worse.

「Dear Angelic Entity: Protective measures are advised to be utilized. Repent. Repent. Repent. Repent. System will begin purging in 10. 9. 8...」

A glint of celestial strands appeared before Madoka. Just how was she supposed to dance now with those dangerous devices aimed at the both of them? She will be obliterated if she even thinks of doing the first Fiara dance step!

Seven seconds remaining.

Madoka recalled the motions the Brown Hair guild lady made to fix the maid and her princesss' guild tags. If she grabbed the strands and copied Brown Hair's movements would that stop a magical spell? Let alone, all seven of those tube's attacks?

Five seconds remaining.

Madoka grit her teeth and made her decision. She quickly moved her balled fists, one reached skyward into the white abyss above them and the other pointed to her feet. The maid prepared for a shock as she moved her arms in a clockwise rotation, grabbing each of the Knotting strands and completing the circle.

She had no choice but to try and copy Brown Hair's movements when she casted that spell although she hoped for a shield of some kind. Audrey did not interrupt her this time. Yes! The light illuminating her skin instead did not penetrate the strands. Madoka watched as the golden chains became woven within the world itself and formed a large enough barrier to take cover from Hesonoo's attack. She prayed to the kind gods this tower would be enough.

「May your profane ashes spread across the stars and force you to reflect upon your regret eternally.」

The wall of white before them instantly turned to an ominous red. Hesonoo machine emitted a low demonic sound and all at once the beams of light blasted into lasers similar to what Audrey cast from the wand. Pure white hot beams of heat instantly struck Madoka's shield. She was rooted in place from her own magic but at least the barrier was holding up long enough for her to catch glimpses of more strands nearby.

"What should we do, Madoka?" Audrey screamed over the chaotic noise from the lasers and Hesonoo's repeated chanting.

"I-I don't ask you to do this often," Madoka's legs were becoming numb. The strands were giving way and taking over her body! If Audrey could buy time with her magic she could weave more of those strands together and patch the golden shield up like one of her torn uniforms. "But please explode that thing! I can't hold this thing up forever!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Audrey's core flared to life. Despite her legs quaking from the crackling energy gathering around her, Madoka felt faint from asking Audrey to cast her magic. "I only have one charge, though. There's hardly any magic in here."

"One is better than nothing," Madoka grumbled but the energy was too loud for her to hear her own voice.

"Take this!" Audrey launched a small blue orb over the commotion. Madoka was unimpressed but quickly realized that it was the same spell she used on the dragon. Her core flickered away but a magic explosion followed soon after.

Soon four of the tubes seemed to stop working. Hesonoo did not relent and instead four metal limbs with massive claws extended out of the smoke and were headed straight to her. Madoka roared and released her hold on the shield in order to escape the attacks with her princess.

There was enough of a clearing from the deactivated lasers for Madoka to dive to. She swallowed her desperation and prepared her Knotting motions again. Work, dammit, Madoka grabbed the floating cords. The cords did not budge! Horror struck her as she tried to pull the strands the same way as the others. Did she run out of magic? Madoka wondered.

"It's preparing to take another swing at us," Audrey yelled. Madoka caught a glimpse of its eye through the smoke and explosions. The red lights started to target the two girls again.

"Can you cast magic again?" Madoka pushed smoke out of her face. "We need to destroy that eye."

"Hmm," Audrey's beautiful eyes narrowed. They reflected the chaos soon to come. "I have an idea!"

Madoka was not prepared for whatever miracle or catastrophe the princess was about to cause so she focused on her movements instead. If the strands did not work by sheer movement alone were feelings also apart of the magic? How could she divine true feelings through the chaos and panic welling inside of her? It was too late.

The red lasers dotted her skin.

"Containment magic: Wrecking Ball!" Audrey's yell traversed over the humming. Her skin was dotted with red lasers as well. Madoka lept out of the way and sent her prayers to anything. Above her glowed a familiar hexagonal portal. A great spherical shadow began to tumble out of it. The slime's core! Madoka gasped as it collapsed in front of her.

「Repent.」

Madoka decided to forget about her problems with the strands. She leaned against the slime's hardened core when she sensed the deadly magic attack launch her way. Please, be safe Audrey! Her thoughts begged and her growl muted beneath the laser's roar.

"Shove it! Push it! Bop it!" Audrey commanded. The sphere was heavy but Madoka could sense the strands were still taunting her. "Now go, go, go, go!

"Work, you stupid magical chains!" Madoka screamed as she grabbed at one mana strand and grasped another. She formed a lasso and wrapped the sphere. The currents of chain lightning electrified her but it was now or never. She pictures throwing Audrey off of her and did the same motion with the slime's core.

"What the—" Audrey's voice carried behind her but the girl recovered quickly from the ridiculous sight and blasted the core with a wind spell.

Madoka's world jerked as her lightning chains released her. The slime core was launched into a direct path towards Hesonoo's red eye. It crashed through its defenses and metallic limbs. She lept and pulled the captain's great sword from the princess's portal and followed the ball.

Bits and pieces of the AI Servitor's body began to explode into flames as they fell from its main frame but Madoka was agile enough to push through the smoke. Audrey's concerned voice echoed behind her but she wanted to silence the noise as fast as possible. The heavy slime core tumbled straight into the machine's eye and its scales flapped rapidly. Madoka peeled her eyes off of the shuttering movements to keep from getting disoriented. The Eye was amidst the wreckage caused by the core.

Now! Madoka closed the gap between her and the eye. She drove the greatsword into its side and light thrummed through its shattered cracks. Her arms felt numb from the vibrations so she had to let go of it. Strands of Knotting magic rushed within the Eye and something within it caught her attention. A crystal? Madoka ignored the wails and hums of the malfunctioning AI Servitor Hesonoo and ripped the crystal out of it.

For a moment, she beheld its shining beauty. The golden crystal gleamed back at her and hovered in her palm gracefully. Time seemed to slow as the crystal suddenly tilted on its side. Madoka watched in horror as its sharpened point directed itself at her chest. It was aimed right at her chest! She grabbed it and desperately tried to keep it but the force was unlike any she has faced so far.

No, no, no! Madoka's strength waned as the crystal wrested free from her grasp. She panicked and expected pain when she watched it stabbed straight into her. Instead, her heart began to glow through her robes. There was not enough time to process it, she frantically looked around. Or so she thought. She was in a translucent auric barrier. Nothing seemed to be able to penetrate through it.

Was this the work of the strange crystal? Regardless, she enjoyed the blissful moment of silence that the aura gave her. The barrier itself was perfectly pristine but upon closer look she noticed the fiery ruins outside of it. She had no doubt that she was covered in pieces of the fallen machine itself. She suddenly came to her senses. Audrey was out there somewhere and she was buried underneath rubble!

Her heart did not stop shining with that object's peculiar celestial glow. Madoka inspected herself and even peeked beneath her robe. The view of her burnt and scarred chest gazed back at her. Her skin was illuminated by the magical crystal. More strands were above her head but all she could see was rubble.

She could not stand up so she capmed her nerves. Those strands usually led her hands to something. Her heart, her eyes widened as she traced the golden chains. The chains were leading her hand straight to her heart. Unlike Audrey's cold blue and yet ethereal core, Madoka's heart burst with a fiery glow from the crystal's Knotting magic. In a way, she felt restrained by the chains.

So that's what she must do, Madoka thought. The magic is not about her feelings — they were about setting herself free from them!

She reached out and plunged her hand straight into where her heart was. Madoka yelped at the jolting resistance and was not so sure about how she was digging inside her body but she would leave the magic theories to her annoying friend. Right now, that friend is in trouble!

Her hands grabbed the crystal that stabbed her and let the strands gather around in her fist. Then she pulled. Lightning pulsed in her fist instead of a heart or blood like she thought her hand would scoop out. She could hear the shattering of chains from her pounding heart and she cursed. Let them all be damned to hell — she was leaving this place alive with Audrey!

The crystal transformed into a golden axe as more arc strands appeared to flow in the translucent barrier. She had Hesonoo to thank for this strange magic. So she swung upward with all of her might, using her legs for extra power as she stood up. The sound of glass smashed in her ears when Madoka opened her eyes to see if she successfully destroyed the barrier.

"What is this?" She screamed. She was standing in mid air! Below her was a vast expanse of strange buildings that stretched to the horizon like a twisted row of spines. The city was devastated somehow, filled with huge craters eating away at its strange architecture like grave plots waiting for the bodies to be placed inside of them. What was she witnessing?

Her fists felt resistance a moment later and fresh air entered her nostrils. A pebble bounced on her glowing hand. She was free and alive! She paused for a moment. That was an awful vision but the axe in her hand transformed back into the crystal. Madoka gulped as the crystal pointed directly at her chest again but she knew it could not be helped.

Immediately, the jagged point aimed at her and the rock rushed back into her heart. Madoka gasped from the force but she felt no pain. She definitely would not get used to that alien feeling anytime soon. The illumination from her chest stopped and she found herself in darkness.

"Madoka?" Audrey's call came from somewhere. "Madoka, where are you?"

"H-Here," Madoka coughed out dust and she propped herself up. She groaned as a sharp pain ricocheted through her ankle. The rocks collapsed on top of her foot when she smashed the barrier. She heard hurried steps rush to her. "Help me, my foot is..."

"I got you," Audrey started her Substance magic. The more terms of magic Madoka learned the more her head hurt. She felt her wounded foot reseal itself and reform. The Substance helix filaments tangled around her leg and gave her strength to move again. "What was that cool light? You flashed like an angel! And you like, totally smashed that robot's eyeball. He was all, like, whirrrrr and beeeep baaaap and suddenly he shut down!"

"Calm down," Madoka pushed off more rubble and rose to face her princess. She still hated this place, even if the room was dark with an ominous purple glow filling it from behind her. Ever since the crystal entered her body the yellow mana strands still gathered around her heart. She inspected Audrey but it was evident that the blushing girl could not see them. "I can do this now."

"Wha—" Audrey screamed as Madoka let the strands guide her hands straight into the chains around her heart. The princess's eyes became full of excitement as Madoka ripped the crystal out of her chest. "Whoa! That's metal as hell!"

She did not know why but she thought of a mirror. Perhaps she did not want to face the mysterious void behind her but she nevertheless wanted to see it. The crystal pulsed with light and transformed into a hand mirror. For a moment, Madoka was a radiant angel in the reflection.

"That will come in handy," Audrey snickered. "Get it? Handy? Eh, nevermind."

Madoka groaned but stopped when she noticed the massive black hole glowing with an evil power in the mirror's reflection. She gasped and dropped the crystal. It merely floated in midair before stabbing back inside her chest. Audrey examined the maid as the golden light faded away to a lantern's brightness.

"We're matching!" Audrey ignited her own core. Two rings and multiple stars orbited along their luminescent cyan bands.

"Nevermind that," Madoka's chest stopped glowing. she turned to face the wreckage caused by the machine. "It's dead, right?"

"Y-Yeah," Audrey glanced around nervously. "When you stabbed the eye all the lights went out and we got moved to wherever we are now. Don't look at that directly for too long! I nearly pissed myself when I did!"

"What is it?" Madoka gazed at the swirling structure. It was both close and far away, dwarfing the maid as she stared upward at its horizon. It was like she was face to face with the heavens despite the distance between them. The massive dark hole in its center warped all the stars around it. It beckoned her to come closer to it but she resisted its call.Her stomach felt weakened so she faced Audrey.

"It's the abyss," Audrey peered at it. "When I cultivate mana this is the Greater Soul I see. Don't look at me like that! I haven't done anything with it. Quite frankly, I'm over all of this."

Madoka nodded in agreement but took a look back at the abyss. It was not evil. It was peaceful and even her glowing Knotting magic did not pollute the view. Swirls of the heavenly stars and planets sprinkled themselves all around its pitch black center. A soothing breeze pet her face from somewhere but she took a moment of rest before the massive black star.

She could feel wind wipe across her face and felt more clearheaded since she entered the grotto. It was like all of the kind gods' hands swept the cloudy smog out of the way and all that was left was the heavens and her. Plum night and a deepened sense of peace soothed her skin.

"You wanna get out of here?" Audrey's voice was soft beside her. Madoka did not realize she sat down. The lantern bright crystal inside of her faded. She pointed before Madoka could speak. The maid looked towards the princess's finger and saw a portal. Its purple appearance looked like a butterfly if Madoka squinted hard enough and its magical strands feathered around gently to the dark ground beneath it. The maid nodded and took Audrey's hand.

She has had enough of this place but she still gulped as they stepped in the portal.

Madoka's vision was blinded by the separating light. Once in darkness and now in a dimly lit cavern. Her boots splashed in water but otherwise stepped on solid ground. She was surprised since this was the first time they have gone through a portal without crashing to the ground.

"Home, sweet home," Audrey's eyes beheld the unseen manas in the air. Madoka liked to think that perhaps the princess had a new appreciation for the world they live in. "That was crazy, Madoka! Wouldn't you agree?"

"T-To think that monster had your wand magic," Madoka agreed. Audrey looked defensive.

"Hey! That was advanced technology," Audrey started. "Not magic! It was like a superheated laser! It primed a target by adding an intense ray of energy to the material! A superweapon!"

"Is there a difference between your laser and it?" Madoka was puzzled by the girl's odd comparison. The two waded onto the grotto's floor. "Both were red beams of lights."

"Totally different!"

"Uh huh," Madoka sighed. She failed to see how they were but she found herself moving towards the exit. Audrey was rambling about the key difference of their energy but Madoka interrupted her. "We never found Ceghinort in there, right?"

"— I merely imagined particles in a loop! Huh?" The princess stopped and hit her forehead. "Oh yeah. We didn't. God, why did I think going in here was a good idea? I confessed to you, I showed you my nasty past... Hey, could you forget all of that?"

"I... I don't think I want to," Madoka turned and faced her princess. The cave's entrance shielded them from the rain but Madoka remembered they were a lot further away from the entrance than what it appeared. "My faith in you has been with me for so long, but I... I just could not understand it. I had just been going through the motions and now I have a little more reasons to believe in you."

Audrey looked like she was going to cry but something felt wrong, her skin was crawling as goosebumps stampeded their way up her spine. An ambush?

"I d-don't mean to startle you," came an eerie voice behind her. She turned to face a skeleton standing before her. Madoka, of course, screamed and punched the skeleton squarely in the skull. The skeleton crumpled into a pile of bones as the head sailed off into the waters.

"What the hell is that!?" Madoka shrieked at the pile of animated bones.

"I dunno!" Audrey prepared her core magic. Madoka was to unnerved to move. "Wait. It's a zombie?"

The bone pile reanimated as the skeleton rebuilt itself. Both girls watched it in horror as the skull rolled back to the skeleton's body through the murky water. Madoka noticed its uniform looked familiar but was too stunned to speak.

The skeleton's bones clacked together as it picked its head up and stood before them.

"T-That was mighty uncharitable of you to knock my head off, Narm," the skeleton popped his head back and twisted it until its body seemed to be fixed.

"W-Who or what are you?" Madoka asked the living skeleton.

The skeleton placed its hands on its pelvis bone and let out a boisterous laugh. It stood in a tall and triumphant pose but looked odd as its features did not move along with its voice. The girls stood on guard as they watched it.

"Who am I?" the skeleton laughed but finally faced the maid and her princess. It flexed its arms but its muscles were nonexistent. "You Narm who stand before me, hear me!"

He stood tall before the girls' unenthusiastic silence and made a declaration.

"I am the mighty, all powerful God of Adventuring, Ceghinort!"