The Maid and Her Princess

In Between Gentleness (part 4)

IV.

The door budged uselessly against Madoka's palm. The top of its frame bulged as the pounding hit it at different angles, but ultimately was too weak to barge through. She judged whoever was on the other side was definitely not strong, but magic could be not be ruled out of the equation. Audrey's gasp of surprise made her look back.

"So?" Madoka asked. "What should we do?"

"Did— did you just stop a magic door? With your hands?"

"Seems like it." Madoka shrugged.

She did not move at all. Even as the force on the other side grew more frantic, it still stood no chance against her. They would need Audrey's permission to come through, but it appeared that she was confused over something. The girl looked surprised over her nonchalance, but that look morphed into horrow when she saw the axe Madoka was holding with her free hand. Muffled grunts and hissing came from the other side, escaping through the cracks of the so-called "magical door."

"Should we face whatever is trying to escape?"

Audrey's eyes began to glow green and the atmosphere around them plummeted into frost. Even the rain droplets began to freeze into specks of ice. The change replaced the alien feeling, signaling as a silent agreement to let the being through. Madoka felt reassured and also a little disappointed in herself.

Of course, she thought. If the interloper on the other side was a mage, then surely Audrey's magic and her dark Core would surely blow them away. She nodded, and then stepped aside. The door launched open, then an odd blur of robes and a head of purple stuck out of it. The rest of the stranger spilled out onto the altar unceremoniously, letting out a groan.

"Arudite?" Audrey blurted.

Arudite gasped."Quickly! My magic is..."

Before Madoka could even scoff, the white stone beneath where she fell was slowly turning red. The researcher was injured! Audrey looked at her with pleading eyes and she fell into a sigh. This Secret Garden business was getting more and more dangerous, but she could not find it in herself to be merciless to someone the princess likes. So, she stuck her hand out and allowed Audrey to pull her Substance talisman out of it. Why did she not have that on her person to begin with?

The princess quickly stuck her hand in the portal and immediately breathed into the talisman. Arudite's wounds were a lot worse than Madoka previously thought. Her right arm was a gnarled stump, as if a beast tore it off. Perhaps, something on the other side did. An unsettling feeling crawled upon her skin like a sticky film.

The sight of green webs twisting, growing, and illuminating the researcher's ripped, blood-soaked sleeve. And just like that, a new arm shot out from her stump in an explosive growth. The arm was still glowing with green magic, but was instantly stained with blood and dirty.

Substance magic was truly miraculous, Madoka thought. The webs tangling around Lady Arudite's body were not in their usual pattern. She noticed that the more Audrey's breath changed, the more the green strands became manipulated. Was the princess testing things with her magic once more? The purple haired researcher's face twisted into a grimace as one of the Substance strands stabbed inside her new arm's wrist. That was definitely a test.

She suddenly felt a pang of guilt for being jealous and stopping her from getting through the door. Madoka had forgotten how ruthless Audrey could be. Or rather, she felt guilty for not feeling bad at all for the researcher. As soon as the viridescent tentacles dimmed and vanished into nothingness, Arudite's own breathing stabilized.

She panted, bending over with her palms on her knees. Then she flailed her new arm in amazement like she saw a new land for the first time. "House Dalion. Saved me once again."