The Maid and Her Princess

PvE Event! (part 2)

II.

Drezgor nearly jumped when the pair arrived with the adventurers gathered at the gate. This time, another detachment of soldiers had arrived to guide them along the path. Even though the dark clouds of Cel'Row were moving much faster than they were, she still could hear them. They were "somethings," seemingly stretching endlessly across the entire sky, bumping into each other and creating Abyssal amounts of noises all along the way. Coarse hairs dangled along their underbellies, with strange tentacle-like appendages propelling them through the air as if they were swimming. To her continued befuddlement, the tentacles were not the reason they could fly. Strange, ambiguous gas blasted out underneath them from their orifices, presumably keeping the irate creatures afloat.

Madoka's brain finally caught a glimpse of their chubby bodies which were quite bulbous and had a hole with rows of teeth that looked like horns which blew air out forcefully. Worse yet, she could smell them and unfortunately, their droppings. They scattered to the ground like nasty hailstones in the air released from a slingshot. It like they were a bursting dam, muddy chunks and bloated logs crashing down a river as they worked each other into a frenzy. Her neck craned as she observed their retreat. They looked like a frantic stampede taking place upon invisible clouds. Still, instead of addressing them directly, the Acting Guild Leader nodded at them and led the adventurers and soldiers onward. He could not escape Madoka, however, so she quickly caught up to him to give the warning anyways.

"Sir," Madoka greeted him, ignoring his obvious discomfort. "The Cel'Row are fleeing from something hunting it."

Drezgor nodded, but a grin slowly formed on his lips as he glanced back at her.

"So, House Dalion," he teased. "Will you be the one to stop that threat? Or will another adventurer party claim it for themselves?"

"I-" Madoka was about to protest, but she groaned and fell back to Audrey after Drezgor strode off. Well, she tried, but his arrogance seemed to be too great to heed her warnings. Was he bitter because she defeated his fellow party companion? That Blue Hair... She sighed as she recalled the charred state her Crystal left her in, still smoking and brittle. If she made it out of Petal 3 alive, then she could go get another Diamond tag. The sound of metal thrumming with energy clanged its way into her ears. The princess's hands were manipulating the Knotting Strands. Her free hand still could not interact with those golden chains, but the other Godtouched one managed to straighten them out briefly. The result was a small shaking needle the length of her finger, but it was rusty and incomplete. The humming stopped as if it was the needle's last breath, then it crumbled to dust.

"Audrey?" Madoka watched her with a cautious interest, maintaining a practiced distance born from her fireballs and Wind Blades. Audrey's focused frown was replaced with disappointment as the remains of her experiment slipped between her hands. It was clear that she was attempting to create a metal rod, but she was still curious.

"There's... particles in the air all around us," Audrey murmured. They quickly fell behind the adventurers and took their time as she continued forming more needles. "You can see how the Knotting magic thingies travel in zig zags all over the place, right?"

Her eyes followed the magic as if they were leaves traveling along the wind's whims. A strand drew near them, before launching skyward in an erratic pattern. Madoka was used to it, but it never occurred to her that these free strands were actually traveling along the surface of things like manas.

"Do you mean you can change the manas into...?" Madoka quieted her voice. The march of armored boots from the soldiers and their fellow adventurer's loud cheering conversations masked the secret she accidentally spilled, but still it helped to be cautious. Audrey shook her head.