The Maid and Her Princess

In Between Gentleness (part 1)

I.

Madoka thrashed in her nightmare like a drowning woman. When that did not stop her twisting stomach, she flailed her arms uselessly. Her body felt like she was being plunged endlessly into an abyss. Her throat was gagged by bile. Any small opening within was immediately filled with drowning. She wanted to scream for the only one she could think of.

But the heavy weight pressed against her stomach again, like a boot to her gut. Like a stone tied to her ankle. She sunk deeper into despair. A flash of green slammed against her terrified eyes, which she realized were wide open, but the blinding sensation was gone in an instant. A sliver of consciousness seized her. The stinging sensation felt like her cheeks were being ripped to shreds.

Like the day she was nearly eaten by that World Bear. Like the day she was falling into the mountain dragon's portal. Like when... Her heart jumped to her mouth and she knew she puked it out. The taste was like blood gurgling in her throat. Like when the Prince stabbed her.

In the moment she woke, she saw herself in the princess's Shared Vision. Terror struck her. Madoka was white as snow, lying motionless on a bed, unable to tell Audrey that she loved her. The brief connection vanished and the darkness came back to her with its claws out. She knew she was sick, but she could not recall the last time she has ever been sick. If this was her first time, then she hoped she never would get sick again. What kind of goddess, if whoever thought she was that, gets sick?

The spinning in her head suddenly slowed to a stop. But Madoka did not have time to worry about that. Something was emerging in the darkness that covered her eyes. A blurry face? A small white light was hovering before her. It was a tiny, pure crystal no larger than her finger. She had to consciously remember she could lift her arm. It felt weightless and beyond her control, as if it was completely detached and floating away from her body. Will this crystal cure her? The moment she touched it, she felt her world begin to rapidly spin her body back into a whirlpool.

The air became thick, invading her nostrils with something murky. Something heat and muggy, like muddy fingers digging in them. Every inch of her skin felt slick, like she was bathed in sticky, gooey sauce. The tangy taste of something metallic and grimy filled her mouth. A torrential wave of pain wrangled her neck, tightening. The world around her felt much more real now, and Madoka realized that she was lying in a pool of mysterious liquid. The taste brought horror, penetrating her tongue and forcing itself down her throat.

Blood.

She spat it out, but more flooded in and splashed all over her. She tried to lift herself again, only to realize that she was caked in mud and... Her vision barely outlined the shapes piled up in front of her. The ground beneath quaked, sending a tidal wave of gooey chunks to splash all over her. Madoka was tossed aside in the current of blood, only to resurface with stinging eyes. The sensation made her gag, but also wiped her to witness the horror she was lying in.

Bodies. Piled up high like bloated haystacks. Most seemed like they were torn apart, still decaying and contributing to the current of blood generously out of whatever grisly remains that could leak. Pieces of flesh and bone rolled down each haystack, splashing in the lake. Madoka tried to scream, but a mouthful of the horrid liquid pushed down her throat and gagged her.

"Mother," something cried out from behind the shapes, its voice a bellowing volcano.

The blood river she was half submerged in boiled, but Madoka was too weak to even move. A great shadow towered over the piles of bodies further ahead, something she could not recognize or even understand. It did not seem to notice her as she managed to sit up on all fours.