The Maid and Her Princess

System Expulsion (Shadow Forest 5/5)

V.

"Madoka," Audrey's urgent voice pushed through her vision. The bright light began to dissipate; now the scene before Madoka was replaced with the same miserable darkness and oppressive atmosphere. Somehow things felt calmer without those dreadful humans around, but she reluctantly opened her eyes fully. When the princess realized she was awake, her eyes softened. "You really gotta stop passing out, Madoka. You're worrying me sick I tell you!"

"I have been doing that a lot lately," Madoka chuckled, propping herself up and taking a look at the Princess. Nothing seemed wrong with her. The cold aura the girl exuded made Eena, who was silently watching the exchange between them, shiver. When the Noble caught Madoka's glance, she looked away. Were the colors of her skin changing to red? "Those humans..."

"Snapped out of existence," Audrey sighed. After scanning the girl for a moment, Madoka noticed that faint traces of guilt rested underneath her eyes. Did she feel bad for harming those creatures since she used to be one? "I guess the Statue of that god destroyed them before, well, I could. Saves me the trouble... and my feelings."

Written from Tomorrows, Madoka mused. The princess scoffed, trailing at the end of her opinion on the matter. As a Royal, she probably was used to servants and people beneath her dying all the time. Humans could have easily provoked memories from her past life, but it did not seem like it should affect Audrey whether or not if they died, right? Madoka could not be certain.

"What now?" She asked, wiping herself up as she stood up. Audrey hesitated and did not speak for a long while, but Madoka noticed that the area was slowly becoming brighter.

The Obelisk was indeed tall, stretching further up into the "sky." It seemed that this beast was so large that clouds somehow formed inside of it. She was not an expert in the ways of the heavens, even less so now, so she did not bother looking for an explanation. Madoka could make out metallic spires jutting out through the clouds after squinting hard at it, suggesting that there was a roof above them.

The pumping and swishing noises from those M-Particle fluids continued to flow steadily into the Obelisk. Light from below them suddenly distracted her from the statue. While Madoka and Audrey were on some kind of natural rocky bridge connected to the Obelisk, she learned that there was a bowl shaped incline lying just underneath them. It was actually like the pool of light she found upon arriving here, but now she could see it clearly. The bowl was a window of sorts, revealing the top of a grey overcast sky stretching infinitely; at least the wet and gloomy blanket blocked the surface from their drama up here, wherever here was. She looked at Audrey expectantly, but worried if she was busy daydreaming instead of hearing what Her Highness had to say. The girl sat there, waiting patiently for Madoka to come to her senses. She was always so unpredictable, even now in this dangerous place.

"I'm, ah, just as lost as you are," Audrey sighed. "I want to say we should get outta here first since being in a giant-dead dragon-slash-space-station isn't all the hype they said it would be."

Madoka scoffed. Whoever they were to Audrey were most definitely wrong and fixin' for a beating, she thought. Another thought gripped her. She was getting more and more accustomed to the princess's strange phrases to the point where their meaning extended beyond the implications in her tone. She had to come to terms that whatever that Link did to her, was beneficial in reaching better communications with Audrey.

"The space station stayed, for some reason. It would be worth exploring a bit now that those pesky humans aren't around to shoot us. Though, I'm not really reliable in all things Sky-related," Audrey alternated between a guilty look and a sheepish smile. "They also left their guns!"

That information unsettled Madoka much more deeply than any of the other excuses. Instinctively, she felt the storage talisman hanging from her Adventurer Tag's necklace. Images of those deadly laser guns flashed within her mind, seizing her with a slight terror and an immense guilt. Four of those laser rifles were currently resting inside of the storage portal, taunting her and ready to be used. Audrey perked up again and waved dismissively at the talisman.