The Maid and Her Princess

There's Still Life Here (part 1)

I.

The light blinded Madoka and the rush of wind tossed her hair in wild directions. It took a while for her to ascertain where she was, those strange visions quickly fading in her mind besides a few visions of the heavens like a pleasant yet vague dream. The bright daylight, endless blue sky above her, an ancient forest covered mountainside below, and the tall monastic Truth Guild building standing in front of her meant one thing: She was back in the Capitol like nothing had transpired before.

More specifically, she was at the entrance of that horrible Secret Garden. Additionally, the she could see skinny path leading back to the silent alleyway bordered by houses made of mud bricks and golden wood. Beneath it, she realized there were massive pillars supporting the ancient neighboring City borders, and green vines intertwined with the natural formations traveled along down into the foggy depths of the ravine below.

Everything here was a harmonious vision of natural and manmade beauty. Wrapping around both the segregated Truth Guild and the mountain were massive pillars. It was like a colonnade of vines and carved stone propped this whole place up. She was not sure she missed such a beautiful sight when they first arrived here, or that the Secret Garden had changed upon her return. Now she only had one last missing factor. Where was that princess of hers?

She waited for a moment and the answer came to her. The air beside her shimmered, making her step back. That must be Her Highness. A faint light began to manifest out of the center of the distortion, then it took the shape of person. Madoka waited for the commotion to cease, readying herself to catching her. The light let out a small hum, then Audrey appeared, stumbling straight into her arms.

Madoka did not even move an inch. Instead, she took advantage of the princess's disoriented state and held her close to her chest. Wind blew Her Highness's scent into Madoka's nose, and she felt no resistance nor struggle from her captured girl. That is right, she and Audrey finally were out of that dark and horrible place.

She did not let go until the shadow of the Truth Guild's massive telescope covered them. Time was moving in this place, and they were wasting it. Audrey shook out of it, but she still looked a little dazed.

"Audrey?" Madoka finally broke the silence.

"We're back here," she murmured. "In this horrible world again."

"We're here," she confirmed. "Now where to?"

Audrey peeled away from her. Madoka wondered why a look of pure shock struck her face, but pressed back with an expectant gaze. The princess balled her fist and smacked her chest, but the maid did not budge and was absolutely unmoved by the useless pounding. Slowly, the fist stopped and its owner looked up at her with an aggrieved face.

"Nae waaaah," Audrey moaned. "How can you be so heartless?"

Madoka contemplated her tantrum for a split second, then simply steered the flailing girl towards the path. She did not want to be near this place any longer than she needed to be. Before she crossed into the alleyway, Audrey glanced back at that strange structure embedded into the mountain across the gigantic, cloud covered valley. The Holy Spear Gulzos, Madoka recalled the name. How truly enormous was the kind god Ceghinort's true form must be— in order to hurl such a massive weapon.

"I've been thinking," Audrey said.

They have been walking under the sun, but time in this place had frozen. Madoka walked quietly, not necessarily sure if she wanted to hear her thoughts or not. To process them, to even breach an understanding of what the princess was saying— it was indeed an endeavor that she could not easy undertake. But she knew Audrey would speak.

"Entanglement, the likes, the shared history between a particle—" Audrey shook her head. "Sorry. I shouldn't go off into a nerdy tangent."

"You can say what you want to say," Madoka said. Then she silently added, because I can't stop you from doing so anyways. Thinking, after all, was for Her Highness, not her.