The Maid and Her Princess [On Hiatus]

Winter of Becoming (Winter 1)

I. Route to Nowhere

For awhile, the two girls sat silently in the tent until the weather became clear. They have hardly made any progress anywhere. They went further away from the roads when the roots pulsed through the valley floor and even further from the corpse of the war torn kingdom. Madoka could not bring herself to ask what they were going to do next. Elise, or Audrey as she was now known, snapped a tree branch over a circular formation of rocks. She rubbed the two halves together vigorously over leaves and other sticks, eventually creating a spark for a campfire. No magic was used, just simple resourcefulness.

Audrey threw more wood she gathered into the fire, whose flames danced excitedly over its new addition. Madoka regarded the former princess's work in a strange fascination. Despite what she said, Madoka found it odd watching her friend do manual labor. She has been serving Audrey for years after all. The fire's sparks contrasted in her eyes, like sparkling rubies on a fine blue velvet cloth.

"If you keep looking at me like that," Audrey finally broke the silence. "You might make me act up."

"S-Sorry, Your- Er, Elise- No, Audrey," Madoka fumbled over her words as she got flustered. She did not know what that phrase meant but it did not sound good.

"It's okay, Madoka," Audrey giggled. "I'm teasing you. Ah, it's good that I remember those days at Girl Scouts. Never thought I could last a day or two outside, huh?"

"Only two days?" Madoka asked. She was impressed but Audrey poked her.

"Hey, that hurts," she feigned being offended. "I can do things now, I think."

"You think?"

"Yeah!" Audrey cheered. Madoka had to refrain herself from calling her Elise almost every hour, but her friend truly seemed like she was more relaxed than before. "Some wilderness skills, a little bit of camping and cooking."

"Mm," Madoka looked away back at the darting flames.

The two settled back into a calm silence. She looked back at the smoke rising from where the Palace sat. It was not just the capital city that was being burned down, but battle seemed to spread across the whole valley. There was a lot of things that happened but despite all the chaos, they made it out alive. Madoka still kept her guard up. Even though they were further from the kingdom's capital, they still had to be careful. Audrey got her bag out.

"It's ain't much but it's honest work. It's also probably a federal crime to have these," Audrey glanced at the Divine Treasures inside the bag next to her feet. "But I can't be charged if there's no feds to chase me!"

She laughed awkwardly. Madoka crawled over to it and peered inside. Maybe it was time to organize it. To her surprise, Audrey let her take one out and look at it. She probably did not mind since Madoka did not have any magic powers within her. The statue was one Madoka recognized. It was the Six Armed Goddess from her old book.

"She's not much of a talker," Audrey remarked as Madoka held it up. "Said she was only drawn to you."

"Drawn to me?"

Audrey folded her arms and scoffed.

"Apparently, that Goddess brought you back to life will heal you fully only three more times. Bah! If it were me, I would heal you as many times all the time. Wheat is the staff of life, you know? Hmph!"

"Why would she do that for me?" Madoka wondered. Is Audrey really jealous of a kind god?

"No pressure. Just don't die more than three times, easy right?" Audrey's lips moved to say something about the question but then she paused and raised her shoulders in a shrug. "It's because you're special. I could try talking to her again, but she is not a sociable one. Some goddess of life and fields, eh? She probably is busy planting or something."