IV.

  「To all Unregistered Bio-lifeforms onboard: Pnaumen Superstructure is destabilizing. Collapse looms into Calamitous Levels. Damage has been detected. 33.3334% M-Particles accepted. More are required. More are required. Please deactivate the infected Obelisk or risk total connection severence between Nexus Gates. Contamination Breach now detected in South Sector Columns A5 through G9.

  Holy One, please make your way to the Observation Bay and reinitiate Link Restoration.」

  That annoying voice interrupted the moment of closeness between the girls, but Audrey’s confused expression made it seem like she did not understand it. Madoka drew away, cocking her head at the princess. How could she not understand it? Not that she herself knew what the heavenly voice was on about.

  “There goes that strange alarm again,” Audrey mused. “Remember when that spooky magic voice in the Hall of the Frost Queen talked to us? And the god of the Nexus Gate that we ran into during that Summer, last year? And also that Hesonoo robot’s announcement. We’re in some kind of the same situation experience, I guess. I heard it in English, yeah.”

  “I heard it in…” Madoka forgot already. It most likely was in Commoner, was it not? Last year seemed so long ago… “I think it’s calling me, the Holy One.”

  “I hear bits of Royal and Noble,” Audrey mused. “I don’t quite understand it fully.”

  “Not English?”

  “No,” Audrey admitted. “Those Humans spoke in a different language than English as well, but before you passed out…”

  She trailed off. Madoka thought hard for a moment about what language she could have possibly spoken if not English. If that Link Restoration was anything like the one in the Leyline, then could it be that language the annoying Crystal’s spirit spoke in? She had no idea humans had different languages like the people in her world. That must be it. The words spoken by Ella were more elegant than English anyways.

  “Sixth Form,” Madoka mused. Audrey gave her an incredulous work. She clasped her hands earnestly. “I swear! The language is called Sixth Form.”

  “Wh— Please don’t cry!” Audrey’s eyes started to turn red. “I’m just super confused! Sixth Form sounds a lot different than English to me, but, how do you know it? You actually kind of know a lot of things that I don’t—“ She suddenly grabbed Madoka’s wrists in a way that eased her heart. “Please teach me what the alarm said, sensei! Just like that time in the mountain!”

  Madoka was stunned for a moment, but realized perhaps she was overthinking, replacing Her Highness’s confusion for suspicion. Why was she feeling this way? Of the people she should trust the most, Audrey was the one who saved her time and time again. Thinking of this, she decided to repay the princess with honesty and repeat the strange voice’s alarm in Noble since some of Sixth Form could not be translated properly. How or when she learned the language or where it even came from was a mystery for another time, Madoka supposed. She included the humans were speaking about the Uracksheegal crash landing and avoided the overwhelming feeling of guilt from seeing Audrey’s face contorting in further confusion as she revealed more and more. After awhile, she breathed an exasperated breath though Madoka could sense something else. Was she impressed? Why? None of the alarm’s content seemed like it was anything to admire.

  “You’re such a polyglot,” Audrey concluded after all of that silent contemplation of hers. “You’re a glot of polies!”

  “Audrey,” Madoka became annoyed with her. The alarm blared its sirens over her again, indicating that the spread of whatever infection the Uracksheegal was suffering from was getting worse. “I have no idea what you’re talking about or what a poly whatever is, but it seems like if we delay any longer something bad will happen to the surface.”

  “I think I understand,” Audrey mused. “I just don’t get why we’re suddenly tasked with stopping a piece of a giant dead dragon from crashing into the planet all of a sudden. Can a god be any less demanding?”

  Audrey began to walk while chattering, but took Madoka’s hand without hesitation.

  “I think the M-Particles are particularly interesting,” she began. “They might be responsible for the way we can use magic. I saw another hologram depicting one. They were almost like… proteins. The C-terminus on them, however, was like bitten off at the end of each sequence. But wait, there’s more! The proteins behaved as if nothing was missing… Could those missing bits be apart of something else we can’t see? I wish I brought my notebook along. Dammit!”

  Madoka would complain about her weird ramblings, but Her Highness’s voice kept her calm in this “Hall of the Frost Queen” situation. She had not even noticed how cold it was until some of the circuitry underneath the exposed metal plates they walked over became frosty under the influence of Audrey’s presence. Knotting magic began to intertwine with the thought-shards trailing along the ground underneath their boots and soon the girl was leading her. Could she sense those thoughts or perhaps the manas she saw lead her in the same direction as the trail? Madoka did not necessarily understand what each color of the shards meant, only their crystal-like shapes. Perhaps, the more brilliant and blue they are, the more powerful the individual’s memories or plans were. She had no time to worry about that, because one of the thought shards revealed Eena running away from it.

  She had to hurry, but she also had to rely on the Princess’s ability to see things.

  “Eena’s in trouble,” Madoka breathed. Audrey halted at the sound of Eena’s name. The air was becoming thicker and heavier; the change in the atmosphere indicating that those corrupted roots and shadow creatures could be nearby.

  “Is… Eena special to you?” Audrey asked Madoka. The truth is, Eena saved her, but the more she thought about it the more she doubted herself. If that Noble did not save her would her heart be troubled over her loss? It is only natural that as a living being that belongs to this world would want to take responsible for an innocent person under threat from a strange enemy that did not belong here, would it not? Madoka nodded, feeling inexplicably guilty. “I… see…”

  She clicked her tongue, but held her head high up and looked ahead. The trail of thoughts were narrow, but the hallway’s lights were flickering and blending into the darkness of night. As they walked, faint starlight and the twin moons began to filter from above. The space station must have broken off in segments, explaining the sudden wide opening ahead. A mix of metal, unnatural and evil foreboding covered the floor. Madoka ducked under an exposed branch, only to realize that those branches were the silhouettes of dead body limbs jutting and reaching out in one final moment before being consumed by the roots. As they escaped through the tangle of roots, Madoka had her guard up. If those shadows woke up again and went after them, she scanned around. The trail of thought shards nudged her sight towards another building.

  “We’re looking for a… statue, I believe. The holograms I came across inside this massive maze displayed statues. Those obelisks had strange manas floating around them and are sculpted into some kind of god.”

  “The Child of Knotting Stars,” Madoka explained. “I came across one when I woke up in this place.”

  “You what?” Audrey stopped again. “That explains a bit more, I suppose. Whatever Link Restoration you talked about might’ve been started by you. Or interrupted by you.”

  “M-Me?” Madoka pointed at herself. “It spoke to me, said something about authorization and the cleansing of the heart.”

  “Yeah, the Holy One is definitely you,” Audrey crossed her arms and scoffed. “No fair.”

  “What do you mean, no fair?” She sighed.

  “And the heart…” She coughed lightly, ignoring the question. “Well, it hasn’t really been going lately but that loud thumping noise definitely sounded like a heartbeat, didn’t it?”

  The Holy One… What did the Knotting kind god mean by calling her that? Audrey continued in the direction of the thought-shards to the building. Madoka stepped on the side parallel to the trail, avoiding contact with them. Unfortunately, her foot bumped into one and she heard the disturbed crystal shatter.

  The beautiful princess glanced longingly at Madoka, the sunset casting a long shadow over the two of them. Her face was full of the compassionate earth and body composed of the beauteous trees, soothing and saddening to see. Was she suffering? Madoka could identify something in the goddess’s purple eyes… was it loneliness? The woman rose her gnarled arm and held an open palm out for Madoka.

  I see you. Come closer child. Don’t you want to see Tomorrow?

  “No,” Madoka responded immediately, withdrawing her own hand to her chest and gasping. The vision faded instantly as she breathed heavily. Audrey looked at her with concerned, then at the floor where Madoka was looking.

  “Seems like the concentration of those weird manas is greater ahead of us,” she stated, her voice getting more tense. “I suppose those thought-thingies are showing up where I’m looking and they’re messing with you.”

  “There’s a kind goddess somewhere in this beast’s stomach,” Madoka pressed onward. The entrance of the building they entered had a clinical and cold white light illuminate its insides, with massive gashes torn all along its walls and ground from the merging and invading black roots. Limbs were reaching out of the cracks, giving the room more eeriness than Audrey’s cold Aura. “I don’t know why, but that goddess Gechick has been calling to me…”

  “Gechik? Isn’t that the GM’s goddess?” Audrey asked. Lady Fate! Madoka suddenly remembered why the name Gechick was so familiar. The princess noticed a sign nearby a crushed doorway, but there was still enough room to look at it. Madoka squinted at it and realized she could actually read it. Glowing Knotting strands snaked along the walls and traveled further down ths hallway. Every magical thing in this place was undeniably pointing her to get to that Obelisk.

  “Processing…” Madoka looked at the familiar symbols in awe, but remembered the facility that Kane mentioned about the eyes. “They killed many of our kinds for their eyes in here.”

  Audrey peaked inside, but quickly withdrew her gaze.

  “D-Don’t look in there,” she warned, giving Madoka a sense of déjà vu.

  “Even I could have told you that,” she groaned. “Don’t touch anything either, Audrey Elise Dalion.”

  “Eep,” Audrey gulped from the mention of her full yet unofficial name. “Still, that confirms the eyeball and M-particle correlation. Though, I suspect that spinal fluid and other such body sticky stuff contains M-particles as well.”

  “Does those M… things heal the Uracksheegal?” Madoka wondered. “Is that not a good thing?”

  “Well, I have another theory,” Audrey’s voice became serious with a slight mocking tone. “These fluids help cleanse the heart of this whole system, Uracksheegal or dead dragon, right? It’s obviously being directed by something living in it, right. You heard it in your head when you got nabbed up into here, right? Now, whose voice do you think you were hearing the whole time?”

  “That… Is just a theory, right?”

  “A game theory!”

  Unease fell upon Madoka with goosebumps despite whatever she was implying, or maybe she just got a little shiver from Audrey’s Aura. The voice of the Witch… Could it truly be Gechick? The girl paced in front of a wall that was mostly destroyed by the roots. The once pristine and white wall was covered with bloody scabs and purple wounds, with loose misshapened bodies hanging out like wet clothes rebelling against the lights above.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “Everything here is dipped in darkness and corruption, melded together with a Space Station that underwent some kind of terrible catastrophe on the other side,” She murmured. “Wouldn’t that mean the pilot would also get corrupted? The kind goddess is probably in a horrible state, requiring outside help to fix itself. Get the serious maid to clean the mess, call her Holy One and abduct her away from me in her gross ship. Or else it crash lands on the surfaces and destroys everyone. No pressure!”

  Madoka put a hand on Audrey’s shoulder, which was tensing up. For a moment, she almost caught something flicker in the girl’s chest. Was that her Magic Core? She understood that if Audrey got angry, truly down to the center of her soul, that magical power would surge out of her core uncontrollably.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Madoka stated resolutely, attempting to calm Her Angriness down. “We have to stop it.”

  Audrey sighed helplessly, though Madoka’s maid mind could not process why the princess would want to be burdened with the task Gechick gave her.

  “Had I known that you’re the Holy One or whatever and that voice was just a stupid goddess throwing more work on you on top of taking care of me awhile ago,” Audrey grew bitter and incredulous. “I would have done a handstand and taken a dump!”

  “T-That’s highly vulgar, Your Highness!”

  “See?” Audrey bent closer to look at a strange limb. “I’d rather—“

  “Audrey!”

  The limb suddenly split off into a hand and seized her by the neck. Without even realizing it, Madoka had already pulled her Crystal out into the form of an axe, lopping the hand from the limb swiftly. The limb squirmed away and before she could thank the kind gods the hall suddenly became plunged into darkness. A red light suddenly illuminated the shadows, revealing that the limbs in the wall were all coming to life. A dark voice, chuckling to itself, called over the rising screams of those shadow beasts.

  “Unknown lifeforms in Processing Bay 01, detection in a spike in dark M-Particle Containment Field. Be advised. I hope you know what you’re doing… Holy One.”

  “What an evil sounding laugh!” Audrey sputtered from a lack of air, studying the limb for a moment. That heavenly voice was the same one that spoke to Kane, but the princess could not understand it. Her eyes widened as she reached some kind of revelation, but Madoka grabbed her arm. “Hey!”

  “We have to get out of here,” she immediately burst into full speed. If Audrey learned how to kill these shadow beasts, she will certainly utilize it. For now, the glowing Crystal in her hand took the form of an axe and she was going to use it!

  “Run.”

  There! That was the calm voice that whispered to her from before! Madoka heard Audrey running behind her as she followed the trail glowing amidst the chaos of flickering blood red lights and darkness. Gechick, is that you? As usual, the goddess did not respond. Blobs of darkness began to fall from the ceiling right in front of them. Shifting and gurgling noises came from behind them. Madoka gritted her teeth, unsure if her Crystal’s magic could take all of them out.

  “Aw, hell no!” Audrey’s eyes glowed green again and Madoka ducked, not even needing to hear her command to get down. A blade of wind blew the blobs into the wall with a splat, but it did not kill them. Madoka peeked at her as she inspected her glowing hand. “Of course my magic didn’t work. I’ll figure something out! Well, we gotta move!”

  “Right,” Madoka realized that the trail led them straight to an opening blocked off by thorny roots. Simple enough for her, she figured. The axe’s ethereal glow became wrapped in an agitated and coruscating arc, lighting up the hall. The shadows began to wither away in the light’s presence which was a surprise to Madoka, but a welcome one. She brought the Crystal down with a thunderous crash, effortlessly cleaving both shadow and roots into pieces. Amidst the shattered debris, thousands of thought-shards like fireflies and sparks sprinkled upon Madoka’s skin, instantly plunging visions into her head.

  The castle was conjured up by Her Highness’s powerful magic. Bodies and bodies piled against barricades, impaled by its defenses and her own Witch powers. Soldiers that swore loyalty to her were wearing thin and the Prince’s armies surrounded it. Yet in this impending and decisive victory, all he felt was sorrow.

  “Why, dearest, must you force me away?”

  The decree from the Queen declared:

  None shall enter the cursed one’s quarters. Begone, Prince, begone, be beguiled by that Witch no longer. The Princess sits at the window, hardening her heart. Not over the loss of her soldiers, the constant assassination attempts sent from her Mother the Queen, and not even the rituals Her Majesty devised to steal her power. Not that she ever loved him, not the rocks from his catapults that attempt to dampen her magical barrier, but she hardened her resolve. What she was going to do next was going to end this nightmare for all. Begone, Brother, begone, this power shall not be yours. No matter how long your schemes stretch, no matter what your unholy voices tell you.

  “Sister, my Princess, my soon-to-be, why do you push me away so?”

  The shattering of wood brought Madoka back and the view of a towering stone spire pierced the night sky. She shook her head and continued her path. Not even the black roots could blot the Obelisk. A golden glow hummed reached her ears and caught her attention. Her eyes rested on the object. A tube? That yellow glow around the end of the massive tube seemed to indicate that it plugged into something, despite being as large as a wash barrel. This thing has to be important, right? She wrapped an arm around the object, felt it could loosen up out of the soil, then resplutely tore it out the ground to bring it with her to the Obelisk. Audrey released another wave of wind magic at a group of shadows and finally noticed Madoka.

  “What are you—“

  The sounds of those horrible laser rifles went off in the distance, accompanied with the heated fury of a red beam being unleashed in the sky. How large was the Uracksheegal, that even the laser did not seem to reach the ceiling of this beast? Those humans were certainly having a difficult time against whoever was guarding the Obelisk, but she knew time was limited. The tube gave a metallic groan as the meager resistance of the ground gave way to Madoka’s arms, bringing a nasty sloshing noise of something flowing within its slimy surface. Gaining a vantage point, she saw a familiar figure hiding amidst a formation of metal pillars conjured by Knotting magic.

  “Eena!” Madoka noticed the attackers and they started calling out her position on the hill above. No time! Madoka hurled the large tube leaped

  「Holy One, detecting heavy anthropogenic disruption of energy in two of the M-Particle electro-housing ports.

  Reconnect the last two M-Particle conversion inputs to reinitiate Link Restoration.

  Ionosphere’s resonation is at 33.3334%.」

  “The intruders brought the containment breach with them!” One of the soldiers cried out. “Breach!”

  “Stop that girl from repairing the Link! You four, take up defensive positions and intercept the hostile entities!” A cold and commanding voice shouted over the chaos. CZA-6’s.

  Madoka winced as the fiery heat of a glowing red beam whizzed over her as she descended, instantly disintegrating a shadow beast falling clumsily after her. The unnatural gurgling and gutteral noises were replaced by the smell of ashes and hissing. The tube smashed into the ground like a comet, blocking her from the laser fire temporarily. Her boots squished something beneath her. A red puddle of human blood. Madoka felt disgusted after noticing the slop of bodies littering the ground. These were prizes from the Noble woman, were they not?

  “Eena, I’m here!” Madoka called out towards the metal spike formation.

  “Madoka!” Eena pointed at a human aiming his rifle at them. Madoka whirled around, noticing one of the soldiers aiming his rifle at her. Shit! Suddenly, a green Wind blade sliced the man’s arms off from the side, sending the rifle into the air.

  “Audrey!”

  The silly princess stood triumphantly, but she did not notice the group of shadowy figures chasing after her. Madoka caught the weapon and dodged the red branches of flesh flung towards her from the wind magic, recalling the memory that Ceghinort gave her. She was certain on how to use the weapon. Within a quick glance and steady aim, she pulled the trigger four times. Four melting shadows.

  “I’ll play defense!” Audrey shouted. “They’re busy without us, though.”

  Madoka noticed that most of the humans were tied up shooting at the large horde of monster silhouettes charging out of the Processing base they came from. Good, she turned to Eena, but not without noticing a glance of brief hostility coming from Audrey. Why was she angry at the Noble woman? A stray laser beam struck the Obelisk looming above them, which made her remember the mission. Instead of harming the Obelisk and its intricate carvings, it simply left an orange mark of sparks and black burns.

  “Come, help me connect these pillars into the God’s statue,” Eena’s voice was controlled and commanding, instead of the soft voice she normally had. Madoka obeyed, observing that there were three ports of whatever that heavenly voice described at the base of the Obelisk. A flash of green covered the statue and revealed the empty state of two of them, followed by an ominous rush of wind. Madoka knew whatever horrible magic Audrey was using certainly did the trick in distracting them. She also knew that the tubes connected inside those. She nodded at Eena and slung the rifle over her shoulder, who was standing by another similar tube. Together, she lifted that one with the Noble and slammed it into the port.

  Almost immediately, a heavy and deep thumping and a loud roar of energy blasted over the entire sky. The two connected tubes began to glow white, revealing the M-Particles pooled inside begin to pump inside the statue. Madoka was momentarily mesmerized at the glowing liquid flowing like a icy and sparkling river.

  「Holy One, M-Particle electro-housing port Middle has been successfully repaired.

  Ionosphere’s resonation is at 66.6667%.」

  “Stop right there,” a voice commanded.

  Just before Madoka lifted the last tube immense pain ripped into her shoulder once again, followed by a pair of boots. Shit! The white liquid inside the tube reflected the crimson glow of Madoka’s rune on her shoulder activating once more. The battle was still going on between those humans and shadows, yet someone dares attack her in the middle of it? She turned, her face darker than even the Uracksheegal’s abyss, staring face to face with Ella. To her horror, the commander had somehow successfully captured Audrey and now had a smaller gun aimed at her head.

  Audrey said nothing, but it was evident that the rage and concentration of magic was slowly threatening to burst and destroy Ella outright. Madoka controlled the wrath welling up inside of her from that cursed rune and crossed her arms. Ella, on the other hand, seemed shaky and nervous.

  “You… Didn’t aim to kill me so talk!” Madoka spoke through the pain.

  “Don’t fix that,” there was pleading in the commander’s voice as she tried to order Madoka to stand down. “We… are Humans.”

  “I can understand everything you say,” Madoka laughed. Eena shifted behind her at some point, but for some reason the close proximity between her and Madoka made Audrey’s killing intent intensify. The Aura nearly made her flinch like the old days.

  “We’re just searching for a way home. If you fix that, all of our efforts will be lost! We’ll be—” Ella explained frantically. “We mean no—“

  “Is that why you kidnapped our people and ripped out their eyes?” Madoka roared, nearly abandoning her control. “I’ve seen the bodies in the Processing Bay, you humans do not deserve life.”

  The tube cracked from Madoka’s grip and she did not even notice she was leaning against it from the wound on her shoulder. Audrey nodded at her, indicating that she was ready to go.

  “Heal me,” Madoka instructed Audrey. The Crystal in her heart was manifesting before her in the form of guided sparks and soon a cloud of stardust gathered in front of her, ready to be manipulated by her hands. Ella immediately noticed the change in the atmosphere and rose her gun to shoot, but she underestimated Audrey. Her Highness was ironically shorter than Madoka, but still slightly taller than Ella. She easily broke out of her grip from years of escaping the maid’s own wrangling, delivering a swift and decisive kick to the human’s knee. The crack of bones and satisfying crumpling of the commander landing on the ground sang to Madoka’s ears, but the soothing touch of Substance magic kept her from lunging at Ella. Right as Audrey dove towards Madoka, the crystal formed a brilliant dome of golden light to protect them. She felt a force shove its way between her and Eena purposely.

  The princess was jealous the whole time? Madoka nearly groaned after hearing a soft scoff of disapproval aimed at Eena from behind her. Ella crawled closer to the dome reaching for a gun, but despair fell on her face as she noticed Audrey waving it around.

  “W-Why?” the fallen commander begged.

  “We met before,” Madoka knelt down before her. The rune’s effect was soothed from Audrey’s healing, otherwise she would have smashed the commander’s head into a powdery crater. “Right before your world sank into a black hole. Remember?”

  To her surprise, CZA-6 did not seem to remember it all based on the lack of recognition on her face. As expected, this Ella seemed to be from a different world than the one she saw in the afterlife. Therefore… She had only one choice left to follow: Repair the Obelisk. Desperation returned when Madoka stood up and picked the tube up effortlessly. The M-Particles sloshed inside the tube’s confines, but the shifting forces within it did not even budge the maid. Not even the screams of dying soldiers and the gargling shadow beasts deterred her.

  “N-No, don’t!”

  “It’s okay,” Madoka gently said to her. “It will all be over soon.”

  With that, she slammed the plug inside the port with a satisfying force.

  “You… How could… you…?”

  「Holy One, M-Particle electro-housing port East has been successfully repaired.

  Ionosphere’s resonation is at 100%.

  Link Restoration has been initiated.

  All unauthorized non-Pnaumen entities onboard shall be expunged from all of Tomorrows.」

  All of Tomorrows? Madoka noticed that Ella and even the roots were beginning to violently vanish all around her, like pages being torn from a book. That look of despair the commander gave her before she disappeared completely made Madoka shake her head. She was afraid that was going to haunt her for awhile after this. Madoka fumed, but then the mesmerizing light show from the excited M-Particles played before Madoka’s eyes and everything went white. Another vision stuck her mind, presumably from the chaos that ensued from her repairing the link.

  The curse was traveling up the Princess’s arms, threatening to take her Voice and connection to Sing with Nature. The End is Near. O, what shall you choose, Princess? The greedy prince and his lust for her strength and body? Or your Mother and her desire for your Holy Image and Power? All you wished in this world was to be free. The dagger shall fall upon the Prince’s heart upon reuniting, then all of his power shall be given to the Queen. Once the deed is done, guilt shall strike the murderer and she shall die of heartbreak.

  You who hide in your castle under the false golden Holy glow are a Witch!

  The princess stared up at the sky, her belly still had her child. Please, she prayed to the stars, have mercy upon my baby. If this curse shall take me, then I will perform the original sin. Under the backdrop of war and daylight roaring outside the princess’s window, a blood red core flared to life as she pulled out a long Red String from her chest. Now that the horrid thing was in her hand, she sliced it with the dagger and screamed one final prayer.

  “Take the prince, take me, but have mercy upon my child! Let her be free, let her be free.”

  Shadows began to creep from the corners of her tower, then the land below became consumed by the darkness. No longer shall war and lust touch this place — only despair and loss until She returns.