The Maid and Her Princess [On Hiatus]

The Great Rescue (The Great Level Up! 5/5)

V.

The metal shards and air cleared out of the way as she surged upward off the shipping container. The larger rocks simply bounced out of her way instead of piercing her barrier. She roared again.

"I'm in a hurry, so get out of my way!"

"The helm of the ship draws near.
Get up there and your friend shall be free."

Madoka nodded out of habit, though there was no one in sight to nod to. Just a talking annoying crystal in her head, she thought to it sharply. The artifact did not respond. The ship's main deck stretched above her like a tower, with the helm jutting out like a guard room. More debris crushed into her shield and she was worried that her wings and shield would not last long enough for her to reach it.

The hulking beast of a ship groaned again, with more of its structure collapsing from the strange force of the storm. Madoka's own arms felt like someone was squeezing them the whole time and the feeling grew worse as the vessel bent apart. The black clouds parted as more metal plates and containers above began to fall upon her, clanging against each other as they descended.

Through the chaos, Madoka could hear the crystal speak to her: "Go. I am with you."

Her wings beat furiously in front of her, keeping up the shield as she flew headfirst into the disjointed wall of clashing metal. She flinched, but the air around her hissed and crackled as the shield began to disintegrate any metal object that got in her way. She panicked for a split second, but the melted shards turned to sparks and her core violently sucked the Knotting Strands into her. This was like her meditations, she realized, but only more painful. Must she continue her arm movements even in this chaos?

Madoka caught a glimpse of the glowing purple sphere above her and decided that was the answer. More containers blocked the view of it, but she knew what to do.

"Out the way!" She guided the Strands up her arms and held them up like the first thing in her mind came up with: A broom.

What came out in front of her was much larger than a regular broom. The shining silhouette of magic shimmered a golden defiance against the black light of the void. It required her to hold it above her head and its handle was as large as a tree trunk, but she did not care. She had a mess to clean, after all. The sparks emitted a crackling noise before and solidified into a massive beam that rivaled the size of the ship itself, complete with a neat bundle of golden bristles at the end. She swore one final time then swung with all her might against the heaviness in the air. Instead of getting pushed aside by the massive broom she now wielded, the containers dissolved into even more showers of golden magic when she swept with all her might. The new sparks looped back into her and blasted new jolts of energy into her core. Madoka could not retain that broom's massive size, so the spell was released back into her heart. She refrained from scratching her chest and instead focused upward. All that was left before her was the ship's helm.

With each beating of her Knotting Wings, more metal pulled off the ship's deck like skin from a Commoner's tuber and the crystal absorbed the sparks. With a broom like that, she could smash this entire beast apart in the Princess's name. The normal static pecking her backside vanished and her flight became wobbled. Her magic was running out! She perched on a broken beam of a crane and prepared her meditation when something shattered above her. A thousand shimmering shards of glass were raining down upon her and the crane started to slip beneath her feet. Cracking pierced her ears and the ship was descending as if it was sliding down a hill. Still, the translucent golden aura of the crystal's barrier appeared as she prepared herself.

"I am with you.
Hurry!
The ship is sinking into the great void.
Your friend will follow it too.
Reach the top."