The Maid and Her Princess

Don't Hold Back! (part 3)

III.

Madoka glanced skyward briefly, catching the familiar glowing light beaming to the top of the Uracksheegal's stomach. How odd it must be to have a body this size that entire Forest of Shadows with its own sky and atmosphere inside its stomach, she mused. That creature's voice still echoed grimly in her head as she crashed through yet another greedy root, urging her to go on. How has this Witch, Gechick, become this way? She supposed she will find out soon. Her arms were not tired in the slightest; she was swinging mechanically now at anything daring to cross her path. All this effortless swinging and meaningless destruction brought her no joy at all, since none of the destroyed roots made her feel like she was exhuming the tortured bodies' souls out of the fragments of their gnarled prisons. It was only now that the revelation dawned on her: She was not simply skittering in this hellish forest like prey in a nightmare when she could control her body; she was the nightmare itself.

The opening was in the clear and with it came the rushing Knotting strands, now more vibrant to Madoka's eyes than usual. She had not noticed the changes to her vision since she woke up practically on the run, but after she came into contact with the last one and left that dream's vision her connection with the golden magic seemed to be stronger. Even Audrey's Golden Hand seemed like it was drawing more strands to her on its own. Now the time seemed ripe to use the magic. The roots were coming in waves of tangled and fleshy masses, towering above her. It was almost like the Witch,— wherever she was in this stupid beast,— was trying desperately to block her path. The ground around her got darker as Madoka slid to a stop at the rising shadow that had now completely surrounded her. She felt calm inside the eye of the storm's corruption, and despite the rising tide; she stuck Magnolia into her portal. The final statue was behind this mess and who knows where it would thrust her when she got to it. Best to keep her axe safe and sound. This mere black blob was not worthy of her weapon. Moreover, the golden bolts danced along their jagged surfaces, unaffected and unafraid to shine against the undulating murkiness about to crash into her with their combined, yet meager light.

"Do you not wish to be free of this darkness, Witch?" Madoka asked softly, but she was scanning for those peculiar stone cubes buried within the tangled black mass. "You might be collecting all those eyes, but,—" There! She grabbed a fistful of rebellious Knotting magic spidering up into the sky, igniting their magic into a brilliant and defiant light against the wall; anticipation arcing around inside her heart as the magic swelled. "—You are blind to all the suffering you've caused!"

With that, she threw her hand out as if she was hurling a spear and the Knotting magic responded in kind, following her swinging motion and surging straight towards her target. The javelin pierced the cube's stony surface and the exploding ball of lightning filled the odd patterns etched into its surface. The black tide was stopped in its tracks as if Time itself froze in the collision of brilliant sparks, then the cubes reacted and recited their song to her in a multitude of disembodied and mechanical voices.

HEAR YE, HEAR YE
TODAY THE HOLY ONE RETURNS TO US
OUR CHORUS WITNESSES THEE
THE SYSTEM RESONATES LIKE THUNDER
HEAVEN TO EARTH, HEAVEN TO EARTH
THY TRUE FORM AWAITS THEE
AS WE HAVE SUNG OUR LONGING FOR THEE

Enough of that, Madoka ignored their singing and simply barged through the dissolving wall of roots and broken limbs like a raging beast. She ignored the pain that jolted her body from the curtain of unraveling Knotting strands and finally found what she had been chasing after. The odd statue, an elongated bulbous sphere, with hundreds of limbs outstretched at different angles seemed to be calling for her just like the other statues had before. Through the strange cube's Chorus singing, the chaotic, crackling noise from shattering corruption and her own beating heart— she still could hear the whispers beckoning to her. Her foot nearly tripped on an incline that suddenly opened as the Shadow Forest's grounds growled and the Uracksheegal's heartbeat thundered again. White hot pain shot through it and then traveled all the way through her leg. Something pierced through her ankle! She could not help but scream in pain, but the sharpness woke her up completely. Damn it all, she gritted her teeth. With a final burst of strength, she leapt towards its open arms and nearly scolded it aloud as her pounce led her straight to its oddly shaped body. The pain can wait. You better put me in a good dream this time, or I won't forgive you!