The Maid and Her Princess

VIII. Weeping Souls

"Well, onto the next mess," Madoka clapped the dirt off her hands.

Audrey detached herself off of her and looked around. With their shared vision, Madoka could see dirt mixed with fat and hot raindrops falling in the cooling night in two different directions. She frowned and moved to wipe Her Messiness's face, but the princess dodged her hand.

"Seems like the Scam Giver took its barrier with it," Audrey remarked.

"Scam Giver...?" Madoka pondered the new nickname Her Highness gave it. "Don't be so ungrateful. What if it attacked us?"

Audrey kicked a rock down the crater walls. The sky was getting darker now, making her realize that they have spent the whole day in this one place. Madoka was not sure if they did the right thing, but they were alive and they even had a couple of mysterious artifacts now packed away in their storage talisman. Secretly, she hoped that the princess would quickly forget about it. She was lucky that it deposited into the portal without any complications.

"Yeah," Audrey finally said. "It could have been worse. After all, it survived your super mega bomb. We've fought enough things for now. I'll take a small little square for now. Hmph!"

Madoka groaned. The strange nicknames the princess gave things were a headache to keep track of, as usual. She remained quiet anyways. After all, the view of the plains was ahead of them.

Behind them was a different story. A legacy of destruction, carved into the earth as far as the eye can see. The distant silhouette of the Capital of Rustaze was clearer now. The distant buildings seemed to be built directly into the mountain, but she guessed they will both see what Ceghinortan and its God King has in store for them when they get there.

"Shall we wait for the Guild people to lead us?" Madoka asked.

"I don't see a reason to hurry," Audrey stretched. Her clothes were dirty and tattered. Through their Shared Vision, Madoka saw that she herself was not in any better condition. The torches of the presumably bewildered Adventurers were bobbing closer to them. "They'll probably sit around for a night before heading out tomorrow anyways."

The two of them sighed at the same time. Madoka felt like she wanted a rest, yet, she was afraid of another monster like the Gift Giver to stand between them and that mysterious Capital City. Furthermore, she still was not sure of how much patience Audrey had left inside of her. She could sense trouble about to brew from that dangerous and mischievous glint in her furrowed brows. If she was bored, she would get into trouble. Even if the fields all around them were nothing but broken up now.

"Yo," Drezgor greeted Madoka with a grin. It took a realize he was greeting her. She wondered why he greeted her first, but she turned to Audrey. The princess was looking away! "Quite a freak show you two managed to pull."

"You should be thanking her," Madoka growled instinctively.

She tried to lower her glare to something other than ice. Whatever was on it made Drezgor pause for a moment. Then he laughed and then bowed deeply to the two.

"Ceghinort's blood, you're damn right we owe you one," Drezgor clapped. "We're alive and it's all thanks to House Dalion."

The others surrounding him cheered, though Madoka got the feeling none of them knew exactly what was happening. They were all disheveled, presumably from being thrown around in the air, but in one piece. Audrey scoffed, though she looked secretly pleased with the praise.

Kind gods, their gratitude must be going straight to her head!

"Hmph! I did it because she told me to," Audrey pointed to Madoka.

"Audrey!" Madoka whined. Drezgor howled with laughter once again.

"It is as you say. Ceghinort was right to entrust you two to the task," he clapped Madoka on the shoulder. "Now that the Gift Giver has accepted you two, I suspect our God King will be having some very good words with House Dalion."

At the mention of its name, Madoka realized that they must have known what was lying under the earth the whole time. She also noticed that despite the Acting Guild Master's apparent nonchalance, his silver scales were trembling and shifting rapidly. Eraziror looked that way when they faced off against Lady Fate. Another figure approached them, bearing an all too familiar exasperated look on his face. Guild Master Luxgor huffed next to Sir Drezgor, looking like he was about to explode.

"What exactly was that barrier magic? And since when did you two learn how to fly?" He exclaimed incredulously. "That was far beyond Knotting magic. What God has blessed you two? Just how much are you hiding from us?"

"Erhem," Audrey suddenly spoke up. There was not any hesitation in her voice, making it clear that she was not intending on elaborating. "House Dalion reserves all rights to their patents! You should be thanking us, no questions!"

Patents? Madoka wondered what the princess was talking about when she felt Luxgor's gaze fall upon her. She glared back. If Audrey was not willing to speak on how they saved them, then neither was she.

"Y-You're right," Luxgor went pale. Then he bowed deeply to both of the girls. Madoka instantly moved to stop him, but Audrey stopped her by smacking her bum. She squeaked and glared at the princess. The Guild Master, missing all of the quiet drama, raised his head and addressed them again. "We are deeply in your debt. I'm sure you two need your rest, but we'll have to wait for the scouts to find a suitable place to set up camp. Come with us. And— We will be speaking on your newfound power soon."

Madoka gulped and turned to Audrey, who seemed to be beat red for some reason and lost in her own world. It seemed she had to make the decision for House Dalion. Under Luxgor's gaze, she shrugged. After all, it did not matter for her.

He glanced at them before joining Drezgor up ahead. Madoka dragged Audrey along with her. The land ahead was flattened, making it easy to traverse. The princess was quiet and her deep eyes were full of stars. The Sovos people murmured amongst themselves, but House Dalion trailed behind.

Madoka remained content in the silence. Compared to the last couple of days, she welcomed it. She would not speak unless Audrey spoke, and no one was bothering them. The dark night stretched onward, striped by glowing Knotting strands and patches of bright stars. No sign of the Uracksheegal and no voices. She knew that she had to cherish this moment— the times were bound to fall into chaos soon.

Right as she was lost in her quietude, Audrey stopped. Madoka stopped with her, giving her a puzzled look. Her different colored pupils were tracing something in the air. The maid's breath hitched, suspended in a feeling that she had somehow ruined the peaceful walk by thinking of chaos.

"Madoka," Audrey's voice was tired and a bit hoarse from disuse, but her eyes were now alight with awe. "Do you see them?"

Madoka was about to break the silence with her own voice, but then she saw them. Glowing orbs. Her eyes widened on their own as they floated upward from behind Audrey. The dotted the sky, casting rainbow rays of dust over the land. She has seen these things before back in the mountain. These amorphous blobs were... Spirits?

Madoka gasped.

"Do you see the spirits too?" Madoka asked. Her voice cracked as she whispered. "They are beautiful."

Audrey made a murmuring noise, but remained in a trance as she watched the spectacle. It was haunting and a strange sense of melancholy settled on her skin as she tilted her neck upward some more. There were more spirits than her eyes could drink in all at once. There were hundreds of thousands of them, like the ground was raining upside down; they showered the sky with glittering prismatic sparks. Some drifted leisurely upward, others raced like shooting stars. None of them seemed to be interested in her but it was clear that they all were joining the heavens. A heartbreaking pang pushed upward from her chest to her throat.

Were these the spirit of the dead? Madoka gulped, trying to swallow the sadness. If they were the deceased, then surely the two of them were responsible for a lot of them, right? As more neon lights streaked before her, something warm splotched on her hand.

A tear? She was crying? Madoka quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeves. She recalled that Audrey could not see these creatures back in the Hall of the Frost Queen. Perhaps it was for the better.

"I see," Audrey spoke quietly. Madoka felt cold hands sneak themselves into her grasp. The princess's hands were trembling. A bad feeling crept up her back. "I see tiny balls of light, being guided into a huge ring of black manas in the sky, like a giant mouth."

That unsettled Madoka deeply. The heartbreakingly bright and beautiful sight now became mixed with an ominous darkness. Does she see things like that all of the time...?

"It's swallowing the lights," Audrey murmured. She suddenly buried her head in Madoka's chest, who did not pull away. She heard the princess say darker things. "It's not the Uracksheegal. I'm certain... It's the Void..."

Madoka felt a shiver down her spine. Someone was approaching them. She realized she did not have any weapons, but with blinding speed, she drew her Crystal out of her hand in the form of a white glowing axe and growled at the offending stranger who dared approached them.

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"Whoa," the stranger raised his hands up in surrender. The deadly axe's light illuminated his terrified face. Eraziror. The white axe dissolved into particles and Madoka held her hips as she gave him a scolding.

"Haven't you learned any manners? Don't sneak up on people late at night!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, Miss Madoka!" Eraziror apologized with a mock bow. The smirk on his face was not missed by Madoka, but she simply scoffed.

A snort came from Audrey, who still latched onto her chest and apparently was unbothered by the interruption. Madoka shoved her off and a direct glare made the girl's squeak evaporate. She aimed it back at the Sovos Adventurer. He recoiled as if he was struck. "Well? Out with it!"

"Oh, right, we're making camp up ahead," he sighed. "Master Luxgor sent me to be the sacrifice, eh. Some joke. He could have gotten me killed walking into... your business. Ha! Hey, you two haven't seen Weeping Souls, I take it?"

"Weeping Souls?" Madoka asked.

It made sense, in a twisted sense. Pnaumen, this world, was alive in its own way beyond her comprehension. After all, what she and the Guardian had done to it would make anyone cry. Eraziror nodded, looking up at the dazzling lights.

"Yeah. They're racing up to the Celestial to chase the River," he said. "When we— and by we— I mean the Adventurers, seek that in death, we might be reborn afterwards. Some stay down here. People say that they stick around to guide the others towards places or things. But it's all a mystery."

"A mystery," Madoka repeated him. The three stood under the floating lights. It seemed that they were being guided to a certain spot in the sky. She presumed that was where the Void was absorbing them, never to be seen again, but she could not see the black manas. "What do you think about them, Eraziror?"

"Me?" He pointed to himself. He seemed surprised that Madoka would ask a question on her own. Even Audrey glanced over, though she did not say a word to him. Less and less lights were filtering upward now. "I used to be naive like them. Thinking I could fly around as a glowing ball, but you know what? My adventure here, isn't over yet. As long as I'm alive, I'll find a fairy and fly in the Celestial myself. I'll crush them. I'll find them. I'll... Be able to glow just like you two."

He leaned in and whispered directly to Madoka's annoyed face before she could remind him that he stinks.

"Especially you, Hero," he laughed to himself, but waved to them and headed off to the direction of the Sovos' camp before she could scold him again.

"There isn't much glow to us, isn't there?" Madoka mused aloud. The light show seemed to be over. The night sky had returned, splotched with its usual violet and black star-speckled tapestry stretched as far as the eye could see. A few remnant orbs bobbed in the sky. Audrey scoffed, but she fixed her with a questioning look.

"You don't know?" Audrey shrugged helplessly. "You glow bright like the sun. I've been saying that forever. He isn't wrong about you, Madoka. But that guy Eraziror, he hasn't heard of the phrase, 'flying to close to the sun gets ya burned.'—" She glanced at Madoka's puzzled expression, and her face turned a shade of shy pink. Why does she get flustered when she looks at her for extended periods of time? "— It's because the sun is hot. Really hot. Too hot to get near. Because of all the nuclear fusion and all that."

Madoka sighed.

"Yet we could not stop all of this destruction from happening, could we?" She swept an arm across the horizon. Nothing but shattered plains and carved scars in the earth remained before her. The night could not hide their shameful mess. Even that Gift Giver caused more trouble, and they could not stop that either from nearly killing more Adventurers. "Ceghinort was too arrogant. Sending us to pick up the pieces of his mess. And those lights, those Weeping Souls, are going to really look for him in that so-called River Goêt, aren't they?"

She snorted as they walked. They decided to camp out at the very edge of the gathered survivors. Few torches bobbed in the night, but they were away from prying ears. Hopefully.

"He's a necromancer, I believe I said that before, but," Audrey said that strange word as she drove a stake in the ground for the tent. For some reason, that term made her feel uneasy. "A necromancer or someone who can control the dead and use them as proxies. The Sovos and Death have a strange relationship, don't they? I think we'll be seeing a bit more about it in his city."

"Ceghinortan," Madoka mused. "Not very creative, isn't he?"

The tent was set up and both of them squeezed in. Audrey still snuggled up closer to her and she did not pull away. She only had to not look into those big, deep eyes of her to remain calm. Is it her or is the tent larger? When did she get a bigger one?

"Right? I thought it'd be like, Rustazetan or something," she blew a stray strand of hair out of her face. Madoka resisted the urge to stop and fuss over her. "Why is the country named Rustaze? And why is the guy who runs the place goes by Ceghinort?"

"Ceghinort is arrogant," she repeated herself. "He would name things after himself
To think that all the lights out there here are going to fade away to nothingness..."

She trailed off. Madoka watched the remaining floating orbs gather in clusters then separating as they rose higher into the clouds above. Like desperate hands being held tightly and being pulled apart as force of time or nature moving fast and uncaring. Whether she saw them in the Hall of the Frost Queen or not, the thought that they were really living beings made her feel helpless. Perhaps if she was free and confident that Her Highness was safe— she would go out and help more people who need it.

As to when that time would be was anyone's guess. Helping others would be a burden of its own, would it not? After all, that would mean more responsibility for what happens to them afterwards. Madoka's head hurt just thinking about it. Eraziror calling her a hero was certainly not right to her. To her, a hero was someone that stood for the people without hesitation. Like those prophecies she had heard from Clerics and whispers in the Palace. Madoka had too many things to look after which all pointed to one singular person. She glanced at her, feeling her cheeks flush again. Audrey did not seem to notice, raising a hand to her chin in thought.

If only that could be her hand.

"I have several theories, or a few guesses, on why Ceghinort seems so whatever over his people dying," Audrey murmured. "It might be... Toxic, or volatile, and he might be listening onto us— but you brought it up first. Ceghinort's arrogance isn't exactly because he thinks he's above us. It is because he is above us. The other theory is that he is that giant Void in space eating those Souls up and once again, he's above us. Maybe he's just a bigger animal, treating his people like food."

Ceghinort is a Void? An animal? Madoka was lost once again. Only the princess can say such troublesome things and not make sense. She knew neither sounded like good descriptions of the kind god. She also hoped Ceghinort was not listening to them speak such daring things about him. Not even the maids in the Palace would dare speak ill of King Fiara this way, yet here they were gossiping. She closed the tent's flaps and shut the world out in a vain attempt to hide her growing sense of shame.

"Above us," Madoka sighed, snapping out of her fantasies. At least, the ability to share their eyesight was only limited to vision and not thoughts. It was true. A being that people like her call a God King was bound to think quite highly of themselves. Instead of lapsing into a daydream or a migraine, she listened to what Audrey had to say, trying to glean what information she could keep in relation to her own situation. The princess, sensing Madoka's lingering attention, continued and drew even closer to her. She was soft in her arms, so the maid held her.

"It might be stated that the reason why Ceghinort's initial indifference to the death of his people the same, or, the loss of Adventurers, is because he doesn't view Time the same way we do. He lives far beyond what you or I can understand right now. He mentioned the River Goêt and rebirth, right? It's a long cycle for us, but for him? It could just be a blink of an eye. Therefore, it might not be fitting into an Epicurean philosophy, where he exists but doesn't care. Rather, he believes that he knows better than us about death, or doesn't see its finality the same way as we do. For instance, the skeleton proxies he used to speak with us and those strange Death Rituals that let the Sovos people speak with their dead."

Maybe Madoka bit off way more than she could possibly chew.

She understood that Ceghinort probably viewed his people the same way one would look at an insect, yet had to care for it anyways. She also knew that she did not know anything at all and could only blandly make blind judgments. Even now, she felt a little silly thinking she could even dare to entertain having a conversation with Audrey. It was the same with Ceghinort. Speaking with the kind god before she reached the Gladeban Mines felt like he was commanding her. He said so as much when she asked why he was asking her. His words echoed in her head. Strangely, most of the gods said the same variation of their desires for her.

I want you to be happy with who you are. She could here his stupid skeleton say. For Ceghinort, his commission felt like he could not do it himself. Yet, a mess could be cleaned by a worthy Adventurer. Perhaps, that is the reason why she viewed the whole lot and its Guild as utterly hopeless. They did not know that they were just being used, or perhaps, that is what they wanted all along. If that was the happiness Ceghinort wanted for his people, then, it was indeed arrogant.

"... Take us, for example. One who literally shouldn't be here and the other— ahem, you— who on the verge of leaving Time itself. I've been thinking. Maybe that's why they call you the Holy One, while being outright hostile to me."

"They?"

Audrey narrowed her eyes. One blue, vast and deep. The other purple, cold and somehow focused.

"You ever notice that whenever we run into spooky voices or gods they don't like me? Yet they call you the Holy One and are all like, 'oh, you should ditch your princess," and 'oh, Audrey is so evil!' Bah!"

The way she put it seized Madoka's heart for a second, but her relaxed tone kept her from fully covering her mouth. The God of Tomorrows, the AI Servitor Heesonoo, the Uracksheegal itself— all of those voices did label her as something called Code: Abaddon. Could it be that Audrey knew what that name was? Even the princess knew that the kind gods treated her differently, wishing for her to make her destiny with a hidden blade beneath their words. And... Herself. Madoka treated Audrey the best out of all of them. She decided not to mention the terrible nickname and nodded helplessly, unable follow Audrey's lead.

"We probably don't know how this all truly means yet, but, I know we're separated from the people in a way like Ceghinort is. Maybe not as far gone, but the word, 'Holy,' means consecrated or dedicated to godly stuff. Set apart from the world."

"Well, I don't feel very holy," Madoka murmured. Audrey snorted. She backed up defensively. "It's true!"

"And I love you anyways! Eheh," Audrey realized what she blurted, but the damage was done. Madoka felt her cheeks feel warm, so she scoffed. "Maybe you're not the god of anything yet because of what Mom said. We still haven't gotten all the Links restored yet. Such a vague quest line! Ugh. Not even a hint on where to go or how many Links are in the world."

Madoka gave a hmph, crossed her arms and still looked away. A finger poked her shoulder. She could feel Audrey's mischievous gaze crawl up her back. How does she have the energy to be annoying, yet say such profound and confounding things?

"If you ever raise your level high enough and become a goddess, what would you be the kind goddess of? Do you even want to be a goddess at all?"

The questions struck her mind like a lightning bolt. Madoka had no idea where to begin with a question like that. Audrey poked her head out from under her arm. There was a certain mischievous glint in her eyes, tinged with something else.

"Well, you can tell me later, Miss Madoka," she teased and giggled. "Maybe you're the Goddess of Manners, right?"

"You...!" Madoka felt her face light up with heat. She had to think of all the terrible trouble they went through this day just to keep from hurling Her Annoyingness out of the tent. Instead, she rolled over. "Miss Madoka, huh?"

The princess surprised her by simply holding the maid from behind, cuddling closer and closer as she pulled the warm blanket above them. Then Madoka heard her murmur something that made her cheeks flare up even more, though it was barely a whisper.

"Mrs. Madoka," the princess suddenly yawned.

Madoka was not sure what she meant, but the intimacy in Audrey's tone made her heart race. How could she do such things to her? She dared not roll over and face her princess, and resigned herself to staying awake thinking about everything Her Highness had said to her.

In the middle of her sleep, she felt something soft and wet meet her mouth, then it quickly withdrew itself.