The Maid and Her Princess

IV. In Circles

"Madoka!" Audrey huffed her way towards the two. Madoka frowned. She was kicking up dirt and staining the hem of her cloak.

"Don't rush," Madoka scolded her. The princess skidded to a stop and shyly walked towards her. She would have been fooled by Audrey's innocent act, had she not seen that troublesome look on her face. Eraziror snorted.

"For killing a Country threat, she still listens to you," he muttered. "What was that name she called you? A work... Holic?"

"It's a habit," Madoka muttered, ignoring his remarks. Light footsteps approached them.

"Hey," Audrey seemed out of breath from running. Why? "How'd you slip out of that meeting so easily? Sir Drezgor kept yappin' on and on. I seriously couldn't keep track of all the stuff he was saying. Were you planning on me to go deaf when you escaped? Nae waaah! He told us we're moving soon. But the rest of it was so boring and... He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Madoka groaned as a low growl snorted behind Audrey. She turned around to face him nervously. The tall man made of silver scales glared at her, but there was not even a look of guilt on her face. Drezgor seemed used to her antics now or was simply terrified of her and chose to address Madoka instead.

"We're leaving for Ceghinortan soon," he said, blankly. Audrey dove behind Madoka before he could glare at her. "Please prepare yourselves."

Another streak of golden light flashed across the sky like a comet, hovering above them. A stranger, but it was not Luxgor. Madoka instinctively shielded Audrey with her body, but the Princess had already summoned a barrier around them. A curse escaped her lips in a low growl. She did not feel any killing intent, but she made a mental note to be ready for flying opponents. Drezgor seemed to anticipate the stranger's arrival, standing in a respectful manner as they descended.

"That's Lady Fate," Madoka spoke low so only Audrey could hear her.

The Princess did not lower the barrier as the Guild Master came into view, but she silently observed them. Madoka could not tell what look she had on her face. Calculation? Anger? Blame? The Knotting magic wrapped into wings behind her back only illuminated the Adventurer Guild's official green uniform and the Diamond tag dangling around her neck. Lady Fate glanced at them again and flew off somewhere without another word.

"Hey, so, uh, can I leave now?"

A voice came from behind them. A tapping sound rattled with it, making Madoka turn around. Eraziror was tapping the barrier, seemingly unharmed by Audrey's magical energy. His palms rapping on its surface sounded like a shield getting struck repeatedly. Somehow he got stuck in the bubble with them.

"Lady Fate, huh," Audrey mused. "Doesn't seem friendly. Probably 'cuz her town got blown up to smithereens, but... How do I know her? How do we know her?"

"We've met her, once," Madoka sighed. "Before all of this. She promoted us to Silver rank."

"Oh, so that's why," Audrey mumbled. "You don't think we could get demoted because of all the damage we couldn't stop, right?"

"Does it matter?"

"Girls?" Eraziror stood there helplessly. It seemed that Audrey's magic magnetized his gauntlet completely to its surface, preventing him from moving.

"True, I guess," Audrey's eyes flickered to the Silver tag around her neck. Three tiny notches glinted, reflecting the bright blue sky above them. The barrier lifted and the clatter of a man tumbling to the floor distracted her. "Oh, sorry Mister Eraziror."

"I should mention something," Madoka thought of Blue Hair. They defeated her when they were leaving the Petal of the Goblin King and Cel'Row field. That woman and Lady Fate seemed close. The Guild Master was probably angry at them over that. When Audrey gave her a questioning look, she shook her head. "Never mind."

The Princess probably had no idea who Blue Hair was. Madoka could not remember her name, either. As the memories before their battle in the Uracksheegal came to her, she wondered if anyone she knew from Gladeban survived. Kanys, Shadow, the big man in that rusted set of Armor, the scholar Aarudite and her Cherish servant, and that Noble woman. Eena, she felt her chest tighten after images of her face flashed in her mind. She hoped she survived out of all the people she met.

"Let's go, let's go!" Eraziror got up and jogged ahead of them. "House Dalion, let's go!"

He shut up instantly when he saw the maid's dark glare and awkwardly shuffled away. Madoka looked at Audrey, who nodded. The princess's silent confirmation that they were going to follow this disheveled band of survivors to the Capital made her worry, but she still followed after her. She decided she should not ask Eraziror about Kanys, since he seemed to be in a terrible mood after overlooking the decimated countryside.

The tents were packed and the crowd was being guided by soldiers. The two of them, House Dalion, trailed behind everyone else, of course. Everything was quiet. Madoka sniffed the air. Nothing out of the ordinary, only wet earth and smoke drifting from the fires of last night. A thrumming noise surged beside her. Audrey's hand was glowing gold. Knotting strands raced along her wrist in straight lines, ordered by her magic into rigidity. The earth beneath her boots transformed into solid metallic stairs. She was lost in her own world, ignoring Madoka's stare.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Instead of scolding, she stood by and watched the princess work on her magic quietly. The strands themselves did not dance wildly like when she channeled them back then. Madoka marveled as she watched the girl's mind and hand working together, guiding the golden strands effortlessly with small and precise movements. She felt a pang of desire bubble in her chest, then blushed after she looked at Her Highness's concentrated face.

The way the jolts reflected in her eyes and the misty particles from who knows where looked like captured shooting starlight. Bolts clamped down onto the stairs she made, causing a low hum to echo out in the wind. She recognized the architecture Audrey was creating— it was the same cold stairs she had seen in the Human labs in the Uracksheegal above.

When the princess finally noticed Madoka's stare high above from the twelfth stair she made, she looked away in embarrassment. The reflective metal started to crumble back into dull earth beneath her, Audrey realized she was starting to fall and flailed her arms.

"Whoa! Catch me!"

Madoka groaned, but played along and soon the princess's light body was in her arms. A pair of blue and purple eyes glinted in her view, glowing back at her with those sparkling constellations in each of her different colored pupils. Her chest rose, hitched, then relaxed. You belong here, she thought to the girl. The last strands of magic under Audrey's control shattered like shards of crystals dipped in the sunlight. Before she knew it, the girl had leaned upward and pecked her on the cheek before instantly turning away. She did not have to switch visions to see how scarlet Her Shyness's face had gotten.

Before Madoka could truly feel giddy about her princess's kiss, someone cleared their throat nearby. Audrey immediately slipped out of her arms to her feet. Before she could separate herself from her out of embarrassment, Madoka yanked her back to her side. A strange possessiveness overcame her and the Princess could only stand with her in front of the familiar Adventurer who interrupted them.

"Uh, House Dalion—" Eraziror was cut off by Madoka's glare. All his snarky remarks were lodged in his throat, so he cleared it again. "We're going to scout ahead while the township get some rest. You're, uh, welcome to join."

He quickly left after observing the pair. Audrey stood there in a daze, while Madoka seemed unbothered. She was completely content to remain silent with the princess's little kiss on her cheek.

They apparently have been traveling along silently without noticing the day had vanished. The twin moons' lights reigned over the Petal, indifferent to the earth's struggle. Audrey's magic still hummed in Madoka's ears. When she remembered what Eraziror said to them, she realized she had not heard any thoughts from any monsters or animals ever since they stepped out of the portal.

Every wild beast here was truly gone.

"So what do you want to do?" Madoka asked.

"You— Er, what? What did you just say again?"

"Eh?" Madoka heard what she said, but chose to repeat her question. "What do you want to do? After we meet Ceghinort, I mean."

"Madoka," Audrey sighed. "You know me, but, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. As long as I'm with you, I'm content—" she looked off towards a gathering of soldiers lighting torches. "— Look, Mom told us that our time here isn't going to last long until we find more of those Links for you. She knows us too well, but, I'm starting to think given what you are and what I am... Gechick doesn't perceive Time the same way."

"Meaning?" Madoka was not satisfied with the princess's vagueness.

"We probably have a lot more Time on this planet than like a day or two, right?" Audrey placed her hands behind her head in a relaxed manner. "We'll go where the winds take us. Or maybe the Adventurer God will actually tell us something more than what his skelly-belly avatars can."

"Skell... Bell..." Madoka muttered.

Torches bobbed between rows of tents ahead of them. Madoka had not seen many Adventurers since they arrived, feeling like this place's vacant atmosphere was like the time she left the North Estate in that silent carriage. Even the Guild Masters did not call for them. They were left alone. An empty, foreboding feeling lumped with the inevitable tow of a strange prophecy she was not sure she believed in at the time. Even now, she still did not know if she believed in the prophecies and rumors. The thoughts clung to her throat, unable to swallow. So she grabbed Audrey's hand for security.

"I don't know what we're supposed to do either," Madoka admitted. Since she usually was the one steering the girl around, she felt like she had to explain why she asked the Princess what they should do. "But I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something."

"Like?" Audrey clasped her other smooth hand over Madoka's.

"Anything," Madoka breathed. "I— I don't know why I'm like this. What?"

"It's because you're a work-a-holic, duh," Audrey squeezed her hand.

There was that word again. It implied that she was always trying to clean things, Madoka recalled. But what was there to clean? This entire mess left from their battle? Have they not prevented enough of the Guardian's mess from happening? Must they attend to the fields until the land becomes green again? Surely not, right? Standing here, under the night sky, Madoka felt utterly useless about the situation.

"I feel the same way, sometimes," Audrey gave a shrug. "I get in my head all the time, I sometimes worry that if I'm not—" Her skin turned red again under the moonlight. "Ah, nevermind."

"Say it," Madoka groaned, but she could not suppress the sudden anticipation of what the princess might say about her.

"We can talk all night in circles about what the future will have for us, but I-I think," Audrey began to stammer. "It'd all be kind of pointless if I'm not needed by you. Or if you no longer need me. A person's purpose, I heard, comes from not their own lives but other's lives, don't they? I— I don't wanna change the world, live forever or stop you from getting stronger and becoming a goddess or whatever. I just want you near me when it happens. I gues what I'm sying is that... I know we're kind of at a loss of what to do right now. But it'd be much worse if you didn't make it out the Uracksheegal with me."

Madoka listened to the Princess speak her thoughts. Somehow, her own doubts felt like they were sorted out. If Audrey herself had those similar concerns, then perhaps, facing them together would not be so bad. Or at least at the magnitude of what was shaking her own heart. But for a powerful woman who had magic to be trapped in the Uracksheegal again?

The sky was starry, tinted with the misty auroras of the Celestial. There was not a trace of the Witch's thoughts or any strange shadowy monsters moving up there. Audrey's words reminded her that she definitely would not allow Madoka to be left alone. She was right that she was spinning in circles over her doubts. And she felt the same towards the princess.

"Nonsense," Madoka muttered. "I'd tear that place apart again just to get you back. Though, our time up there feels like a bad dream now."

"Madoka," Audrey started to draw closer to Madoka. "Well, we got upgraded somehow through all of it. Right? Like our cool matching eyes and your laser beams that I'm definitely not jealous of and your..."

With that, Madoka yawned. They did not go out to investigate ahead of the camp with the soldiers after all. Nor did she have any dreams besides fantasies of kissing Audrey again and again.