The Maid and Her Princess

VII. Pnaumic Scripture

The strange cube looked like a massive chunk of ice, only if it was the size of a fortress or an entire hill. It looked like it had no intention on melting. The translucent blue surface shimmered like the sea, glowing against the darkening sky. After flying around it several times, Madoka still had no idea what it was. It was not cold to the touch, but felt rough like a stone. Audrey, strangely out of character, swatted her hand away from it and warned her to be careful.

Was she not the one supposed to be telling the princess to not touch troublesome things? Why was it the other way around now?

Madoka shook her head, then backed up to Audrey. The two hovered in front it, staring up and down its bumpy surface dumbly. There was an opening wide enough for them to stand shoulder to shoulder in its surface.

"It kinda looks like a big ice cube," Audrey remarked. "Seems... familiar somehow."

"Familiar?"

"Mm," Audrey suddenly descended towards the tunnel before Madoka could stop her.

"What happened to being careful?"

The girl stuck her tongue out in response, then landed. She said that phrase to Her Highness so many times, yet Madoka followed after her, grumbling. She walked inside the large groove and felt cramped, like a tight hallway or inside a small cave. It felt like they were in one of the Hall of the Frost Queen's ice caves, with crystalline azure rocks surrounding her everywhere she looked. The dampness on its rough surface was only from the mist of the rain, pleasant to the touch. The mysterious cube remained unbothered by her hand. Audrey was also inspecting it, her form distorted in the reflection. Madoka knew she also did not know what this thing was. If only that monster left her instructions on what to do with it.

Her Highness did not know what this thing was either. It was just a simple giant blue box. Based off of her reactions to the Gift Giver, Madoka knew she did not hear or understand what it sent to her mind. Even Madoka could not tell what language it used, nor did she know how she understood its words. What she did learn was, that the monster was not hostile nor did it speak in Sixth Form.

"Feels like we're in a mirror maze," Audrey muttered from somewhere ahead. Madoka snapped out of it, realizing she trailed behind while the princess was exploring.

"Don't get lost," Madoka warned.

Audrey's face emerged from around a corner and shot her a defiant look, then disappeared. The groove had an entrance that led deeper inside the strange structure. Madoka had no choice but to follow her in. As the mist from the rain made the surface slick, she suddenly realized she had no idea what a mirror maze was.

The tunnel she followed Audrey in was cramped and quiet. She could see distorted daylight reflecting in from another connected tunnel, yet the layout of this cube sprawled with no discernible patterns nor hint of a coherent design. It was fitting for the likes of the Gift Giver. It was made of odd architecture and no explanation.

"Doesn't seem like anyone's home," Audrey's voice echoed. "You hear any thoughts?"

"No," Madoka confirmed. She guessed that the Gift Giver and their battle with the Guardian must have eradicated anything capable of making thoughts here. She suddenly pulled strands of Knotting magic to her eye, letting her see what Audrey was seeing ahead of her. So far, only a glinting cool blue tunnel lit up by gray daylight was visible. They were quite far into this strange gift. "Do you think those Sovos people survived?"

"Them?" Audrey paused mid step. Madoka nearly bumped into her. "Do you... Care if they survive or not?"

The question made Madoka pause. She had thought over her life in the past few months, but caribg about others besides Audrey had already stopped her from thinking about others. The sorry state of this land moved her, but she did not know if she felt anything other than a little bit of guilt for causing a mess. Some of the solemn looks the survivors gave her when she passed by them meant nothing to her.

Still, her mind went back to her princess's home. What would the people of Fiara think of her if the two of them caused this much damage? Madoka shook her head. Perhaps she was overthinking it all. Audrey must have sensed her hesitation to answer, so she pointed to a fork in the cube's pathways.

"There's a path deeper down into the middle," Audrey could not hide the glint of excitement in her tone. Madoka frowned. "Should we go down there?"

"You tell me," Madoka sighed. The princess was not going to listen to her anyways.

"We've seen these cubes before, haven't we?" Audrey insisted. Madoka followed, trying to remember all the cube-like objects she has encountered before. Then, a memory hit her.

"Yes, I remember. I used my... Knotting magic on those boxes when we were on the Uracksheegal. To clear roots. And—" Madoka paused. The sudden flash of Ella, that human captain she encountered, and the look on her face frozen in terror before disappearing from the world itself haunted her mind. That was because she restored the Link on there, was it not? "I used them to open up the Uracksheegal to free those people in the Processing Bay."

"Hmm. I could have sworn I've seen them earlier too, while we were up in the mountains," Audrey stood in thought.

Madoka could not go back in her memories that far. They have gone through so much that the little details have escaped her. Yet, she did not know if she had truly given anything up. What did she have to give besides the princess herself? The swirling thoughts made her chuckle for some unknown reason.

"Heh," Madoka murmured.

"Hm?"

The path before them suddenly dipped into a slope. A boot skidded on the rocky surface and Madoka instinctively caught the girl from slipping.

"Careful, Audrey," Madoka's mere amusement turned to a scolding. She was more embarrassed that she was caught chuckling than actually upset. "I was just thinking that maybe we've really... lost it."

"Oh," Audrey broke out into a laughing fit. Her melodious voice echoed through the tunnel. It was genuine and bright, with a hint of relief. "Definitely. We've lost the plot a long time ago, Madoka. No one will believe us what we've gone through so far."

"Yeah," Madoka sighed. Whatever a plot was, she was sure they never had one to begin with.

"Still, I'm just glad we're together in it," Audrey fell into a serious tone again. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Madoka bit her tongue to avoid deflecting Her Highness's gratitude. Instead, she simply nodded even though the girl could not see her. They were more than together now.

"I wouldn't know what to do without you either," Madoka gave the words right back to Audrey. Then she stopped, noticing a shift in the tunnel's atmosphere. "Something's ahead."

"Hm?"

"Scoot out the way," Madoka barged her way around Audrey, who stood confused.

"Wah!" Audrey whined, but both of them knew she was not harmed.

The icy blue surface was no longer allowing translucent daylight to filter through from the outside. Instead, a deep red glow was reflecting further below and Madoka knew they were getting closer to the source. Remembering she had her own thoughts in her head, she focused her mind on a simple command.

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Anyone there?

There has not been any thoughts around her and the Gift Giver had disappeared. Madoka figured that if the cube they were in was its Gift to them, then they would be safe. There would not be any trouble in sending her thoughts out, right? She waited a moment, but silence remained. A finger poked her back, but immediately withdrew itself. That was when she realized her entire backside was tense enough to feel like a solid wall.

"Anything?" Audrey pressed.

"We can continue," Madoka finally stated, though her voice was low. She did not have any weapons she preferred in the storage talisman, but she still had a lot of magical energy bouncing within her chest.

It did not take long for them to find the source of the light. Right around a corner, the tunnel opened up into a small chamber. A small red sphere the size of her hand levitated in the center of the room, radiating a low hum and a lonely light. This had to be the center of this big block of blue rock, right? Madoka was about to step forward into the room when Audrey's hand tugged her.

"Remember Rule #1 of dungeon exploring," Audrey hissed conspiratorially. "Never blindly walk into an open room. Go off to the side."

"H-Hai," Madoka sighed, but furtively stepped to the right of the room. After a single step and having nothing bad happen, she simply strode right up to the orb anyways and ignored Audrey's complaints. A singular curiosity overtook her and her arm was drawing straight to it, like a moth to a flame.

"Don't touch it...!"

Too late. The world went silent around her and dark. Her eyes flitted about wildly searching for an exit. A light. But nothing appeared. She even spun her body around in the darkness like a lost child fearing for her life, but only shadows blotted her vision. Her mind became blank, feeling like it was forced to become open. As if someone wiped away the dust off of a neglected table with a hand, she felt cleansed of any distractions. Someone, or something, was speaking to her.

The voice was too far at first, but her eyes began to see something else. A faint red light began to form in straight lines in her vision. Then they became sharper, straightening and molding into shapes. Letters. Glowing scars in a black night. Her mind was suddenly etched by an invisible hand and understanding bloomed within her. Was it the orb that gave her this ability to read?

Was reading Commoner or Noble like this? Madoka shuddered at the thought and all desire towards learning how to read vanished. As that thought occurred, the red letters also vanished and she was plunged into darkness again. The "invisible hand" wiped her mind clean again, as if to pull her back to the lesson. It was not aggressive, nor was it rebuking her. Somehow, Madoka knew that. Whatever this Gift was— it was communicating with her. It gave her the symbols once again and her mind read them again.

Time.
Space.
Shrink.
Transform.

They were words, yes, Madoka realized. The letters translated, danced before her, and gave birth to meaning in her mind. Yet, she had no idea what they meant. The darkness was fading, being replaced by a following phrase.

「Pnaumic Scriptures Readable. Holy One, make your command. 」

"Madoka?" Audrey's frantic voice came from somewhere in front of her.

Madoka opened her eyes to see Her Highness's panicked face slowly coming into view. She was being shaken and her head was spinning. She instinctively clutched her head and the hands that were shaking her held her still. Learning how to read was terrible!

"You're back!" Audrey threw herself around her.

They were still in the small chamber in the heart of this cube and the orb was still in her hand, giving off a faint glow. Madoka instinctively let it go as if it was a live fuzzy bug. Instead of falling to the floor and rolling away to be kicked, it simply floated a little ways ago. Audrey was not paying attention to it, instead her worry was making her body shake. For some reason, Madoka also did not feel hurried at all, so she clutched the princess and tried to comfort her.

"How long was I out?" She asked into Her Worriedness's shoulder instead.

"You were out for a few moments, but you— You fell the moment you touched the spooky orb," Audrey cried out. "Madoka, please don't do that to me without warning!"

Guilt settled on her skin like sweat. She really should not have worried Audrey like that, especially right after saying she would not know what to do without her. Madoka held her tighter.

"I—Forgive me," Madoka breathed. "Something pulled me to it. My hand and body moved before I realized what I was doing."

Audrey pulled away from her, inspecting her all over. Then she glared at the sphere behind her as if it was a snake. How did she know exactly where it was? Madoka felt her eye. She was so distraught over worrying Her Highness that she did not notice that familiar tingling sensation surging inside her pupil. She immediately started bowing again.

"I'm sorry, Audrey," Madoka pleaded, falling into another bout of guilt. Then she was crying.

"Wha—" Audrey turned her attention back to the blubbering maid. "It's not your fault, okay, okay! L-Let's just collect ourselves for a moment."

Collecting themselves took another few moments, and concluded after Madoka hiccupped. The sheer embarrassment sucked all the sadness out of her. Despite Audrey's giggling and the overall awkward tension between the two, she felt a little better. As long as Her Highness was no longer worried over her state. The girl stood up, kicking her legs out.

"Gah, you had me on my knees worried for a long time, Madoka," Audrey whined, though the playfulness returned in her voice. It nearly made her forget where they were. "Scared me."

"Well," Madoka shot back as she wiped her own cloak off. It was damp from who knows what at this point, but she knew Her Highness's tears were the most recent addition to its stains. "Now you know what it's like to manage you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Audrey snapped. "Hey, what do you mean by that? You're just going to touch the evil rock again?"

Madoka plucked the "evil rock" from the air, feeling its warmth vibrate within her hand. It rested in her palm like it belong there. Its texture was smooth to the touch and feathery, like a bird roosting right in her hand. Audrey peered at it, reaching a hand towards it. Madoka instinctively lifted it higher in the air out of reach. Worry gripped her heart, but then she reluctantly let the princess reach towards it again. It was only fair.

"You sure?" She questioned Audrey. The girl was going to take it anyways, but Madoka had to make her feel certain.

"Yeah," Audrey raised a shaky hand towards it again. "Here goes nothing! Hnng!"

As soon as she made the strange noise, her hand snatched the orb. Madoka stood at the ready, prepared to catch Audrey if she fell into the darkness like she did before. A few moments passed and nothing happened.

"Bah!" Audrey shoved the rock back into Madoka's palm. "I was expecting a spooky trip, or something to knock me out but nothing! What's so special about an evil rock anyways!"

Is she... Jealous that nothing bad happened to her? Madoka frowned, then realization dawned on her. It only occurred to her now that she did not even describe what she went through when she first touched it.

"When I felt it," Madoka finally spoke quietly. "I fell into a dark room. Then strange symbols revealed themselves to me. And—"

"And...?" Audrey asked. Excitement clouded both her eyes and tone, more than apprehension. "What'd they say?"

"It asked me to make a command," Madoka quieted down. She was certain; the red orb was still requesting her to make a command. "And it gave me four options. I think."

"A command, huh?" Audrey looked at the rock. "It's probably a remote that controls... something."

"Audrey," Madoka had finally voiced the question that has been on her mind since she first read those symbols. Her voice cracked when she finally gave into her fear of reading. "T-Tell me, learning to read doesn't force me into darkness to read red symbols."

"Heh!" Audrey gave a dark chuckle. The glint in her eyes was unmistakeable. She wanted payback in the most princess-way possible. "Are you saying you want to learn how to read?"

"No!" Madoka immediately declined. "The commands were... Time. Space. Shrink. Transform."

As soon as she spoke the words, the entire room began to shake violently. A strange symbol beneath them began to glow beneath them. A quick glance revealed to Madoka that it was labeling itself as a teleportation spell. Audrey grabbed her.

"What did you do? What did you say just now?"

The portal flared with heat and Madoka's vision became filled with white light. The searing blindness scratched her for a moment before her body landed on dirt with a thud. A smaller body then toppled over her afterwards.

"Ach!" Audrey shook her head. Dirt flung from her wild strands of hair. The teleportation circle spat them at the top of the crater's lip.

Madoka barely had time to react before a brilliant bright blue light burst from behind her. The cube was moving! Audrey also whirled around. A flash of red light pierced through its surface from the center, originating from that room where the red orb was. Soon, it sliced the cube into equally sized quarters. Its tranquil blue surface instantly shattered. Metallic clicking shifted as the entire structure began to move and reconfigure itself. The light was shrinking and after Madoka's eyes adjusted to the brightness, she realized that the cube itself was also getting smaller.

The quarters were folding into themselves, shifting and rotating into smaller chunks of themselves as the cube began to transform. As it was continuing its strange process, the Gift began to get closer to the maid and her princess until it was a palm sized box, just like the red orb that was inside of it. No— Madoka realized that the orb was in her own grip.

The shifting stopped. Then, the strange box unceremoniously fell to the ground right at Madoka's frayed boot with a light thump. Audrey sprang to her feet and snatched the familiar, but now much smaller, cube up off the ground.

"Huh," Audrey remarked. "Those strange commands you said shrank the whole thing. That red orb must control this blue square, but— why? Man, I want the giant dead robot back! This trade was the worst trade deal of all time!"

Madoka squatted down on a rock, her face a mask of sheer resignation. There were a lot of things she could say to appease Audrey, but she offered nothing. The night sky was beginning to color the grey clouds with violets and stars. Forget all the past things they have gone through, she snatched the cube from her ranting princess and hurled it into the storage portal along with the orb. This whole day had been a headache.