The Maid and Her Princess

The moment she stomped on it, she regretted it. The shattered thought-shard brought a vision to Madoka's mind:

I had always thought the Gaushinant Tree on my home Mountain was the most beautiful of all. Its branches stretched out like majestic pink wings, towering over me and blocking out the sky. It was said to only grow on the peaks of Mountains, like where we live. When I was little, I thought to myself: This tree is so beautiful and strong. How could I, a simple villager, grow to such heights?

I thought of my father, whose arms were half as thick as one of the Gaushinant Tree's smallest branches, hammering metal and sawing its fallen twig into strips to tie on an ornate pattern to a hilt. A sword, he said as he cut a log of Gaushinant wood in perfect halves with a mighty strength I could only envy. Its pink blade was for a Noble, who paid and rode off to somewhere else more important than our little Mountain Village. My mother hummed, while I sat stunned by the glittering metal. It became a glaring orange, roaring in the fires, and in my heart— it was a challenge.

He smiled and patted my head. He was amused at my awe, but to me, the weapon shattered my world. It cut through the beautiful pink tree. Even the wind from its slash caused the leaves to flutter free in the air like a swarm of beautiful pink butterflies

The Noble who ordered the blade never came around to pick it up, so my Father left it on display. He guffawed when I attempted to pull it out of the stone he formed around it with his magic. Those golden strands were shining like the stars above, but the Gaushinant's leaves were still more beautiful.

When the soldiers came, they laughed as I practiced swinging a stick beneath the tree. But that only propelled me to strike faster. Harder. They were coming by my Father's shop more often these days, picking up more weapons. War, he explained. It was a new concept to me. Fighting off our enemies to protect our Mountains. It was noble, just like the Tree. Yet, even as many soldiers came and went, that pink blade never was claimed.

By my tenth Summer, I managed to wiggle it from the stone. I was amazed by myself. I was not as tall as the neighbor's boy, but I knew even the son of the great Ustelan could not move the blade.

By my eleventh Summer, I could hold a blade by myself and none of the kids could stand against me. When the captain noticed me, he no longer laughed with the other soldiers. Instead, he taught me the only enemy I should fear was the pride in my head. He beat me so badly I rested under the Tree for a month before I could stand again.

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My Mother was worried, but she smiled when she saw me stand under the tree. A ray of light glowed through the leaf. Its dazzling glow was cloaked in pink warmth, shining right on her face and making her scales shimmer. I told her, I will grow to be a woman she shall be proud of. She told me I already was. I told her I want to grow Gaushinant trees on every Mountain, wrapping every path in pink leaves.

By my twelfth Summer, they came. Not like they usually did, but in a wave of fire. Arrows struck our Mountain, the houses burned. The smoke pillars and screams rose taller than the Gaushinant Tree. When I saw who arrived, my heart fell. It was wrapped in dark roots, swallowing the grassy plains I played on. The tendrils ate the night sky I trained under. The ropes strangled the neighbors I had sworn to outshine. I realized then, a mere sword could not stop what was coming. I saw Him. He strung my neighbors to the tree branches by the neck, my Mother, my Father, all the ones who dared stand against His Orders.

When He came for me, he did so out of sheer hatred and mockery. The Ustalan boy was taken away, yet his Noble parents shared the same fate as my own. I had to stop him, but I was afraid. I was not yet strong enough. Seeing the Gaushinant Tree set ablaze and my parent's lives burning under its branches— How could I possibly be great? His voice coiled around my neck like a venomous snake, demonic yet calm. In control, yet belying a rage against me for a sin I did not know I committed.

"Join or die," He demanded. "Be hung from the Tree like the rest of them."

I despaired in pure agony, yet the smoke stopped me from crying. I was sure I was the only one left alive of Ustelan Mountain. But He knew where I was. I was yet to even reach the lowest branch and my Father was so strong. I could not even reach him, but he was hanging from the tree. How was I supposed to be able to stand against this darkness?

The Noble pointed his sword at me, a blade so dark it did not reflect the flames. In the blazing fire, I saw it. The pink hilt of that blade I tried to pull out during so many peaceful Summers, lying on its side like a dying man. But it was not yet extinguished. I was no fool. Joining Him would be a fate worse than being hung and finding my parents in the River Goêt.

I barely dodged His malevolent lunge, rolling and stumbling to the fallen sword. The hilt was familiar to my hands. After all, I have fought against it under the burning tree for so many years. I screamed. The blade freed from its stone prison. He laughed. Mocked me.

"You are foolish, girl," He chuckled, flourishing his black blade and ready to lunge again. I stood there, breathing in and standing in the same stance that Captain taught me. The sword was heavy, but I held it with all my might. "I, the true Esmerald, shall set you free from yourself and your suffering."

I screamed, but before I could even lunge a sharp pain pierced my heart. I could only watch the pink hilt of the very sword I had tried to overcome fall from my grasp gently like the Gaushinant Tree's soft leaves— my eyes slowly succumbing to complete darkness.