The Maid and Her Princess [On Hiatus]

Mountain's Melody (HotFQ 4)

IV.

The lift wobbled as it descended. Madoka gulped. It appeared to be made out of stone and her boots gripped the material well enough. She touched the railing at the front, only for it to crumble and fall into the depths. Madoka sent her prayers to the kind gods that Audrey was safe below.

Below, huh?

As she descended, something glowing caught her eyes under the ice wall. They were the spirits. Why could she see them? The lift beneath her jumped as it came to a stop, startling her. Madoka gasped as panic flooded her. She could not be careless or distracted or else one tiny moment could spell her death.

Another lift rose next to hers, beckoning her. It seemed rickety but Madoka steeled herself and tapped on it with her foot. The lift's integrity kept up with her pressure so she stepped completely on it. Simple enough. However, the lift did not move. Across the massive gap a large rune glowed red. She heard the lift beside her start ascending and there was another coming from below her.

Audrey's head popped from the view as it revealed itself.

"Fancy seeing you here," Audrey giggled. "Come here often?"

She looked at the rune. Madoka stepped on the lift next to Audrey. Snow and ice was pushed by her feet to the corners so they could stand safely.

"Well if videogame logic applies here, red means bad," Audrey mused. The ring around her heart seemed to glow a lot sharper. "Too bad I dunno what that symbol means. Or how to make it change."

The lift began to descend again. Madoka's vision was adjusting to the dark, so Audrey's magic circle hurt her eyes.

"What's with the magic?" Madoka asked.

"You see that, right?" Audrey pointed at a darker object jutting out across from them. She focused her eyes and let loose a sharp breath. Two Wind Blades launched themselves at the object. Ice cracked and the spell's light rested upon the dark object. It was similar to the lever Audrey pulled above. The large red rune no longer glowed and faded out of existence. As it did, the lifts began their operation again.

Madoka could no longer see the platform from where they came from. The two have traversed without many difficulties but she knew they could not be complacent. They were nowhere near the top and only the kind god that inhabited this holy space knew how far below was.

"For a videogame jump puzzle," Audrey's breath fogged the air. Madoka's ears felt weird and Audrey explained how it was pressure in the atmosphere changing. Whatever that meant. "This is sure taking awhile, huh?"

"Well, slowly and safely is better," Madoka cautioned. The lifts were seemingly getting smaller. "T-This hardly makes due for a good and tidy work environment."

"Where'd that come from?" Audrey asked, furrowing her brow. "You're not thinking of work again, right?"

"You're wrong, Audrey Elise," Madoka said with a sigh. "I am always thinking of working."

"Even now, huh?" Audrey's tone greyed out into a sigh. "This place is... Ancient. Not my most profound thing, obviously so is a lot of things, but the root of all of this seems more than whatever fantasy novel BS our palaces and kings in Fiara come from."

She ducked between stone-split ice.

"Yeah, so?" Madoka said as the lift continued its winding descent. Audrey was contemplating it all.

She hadn't noticed it at first, but the lift was traveling diagonally down before moving straight again. Like a simple sword strike form or a pen drawing a letter, the lift traveled a predetermined pathway aided by the attached gears churning with the wind. The rusted frame of this lift's railing rattled as it rocked along, merely a twig in the river of gears and ice.