2. Audrey, the Level 2 Mage

Silence fell like a knife between them. Neither said a word until the light from the sun came through the window and embedded into the floorboards with effulgent mockery, as if the world was taunting them. They had no choice but to continue in the light with the weight of knowing that their dreams will be there for them in Tomorrow's night. Outside, the familiar thrum of earth turning into metal rang. On the walls where the ballistae were, men were shoveling dirt and constructing bolts for defense. Her attention was pulled downward. Audrey's hands hooked into claws, scraping against the wood as she struggled to get back up. Madoka broke out of her stupor and instinctively held her up.

The jolt of Knotting magic between them seemed to spark their ragged states fully awake and Audrey decided to finally break the silence.

"Madoka, we should go—" She suddenly turned towards the door but froze again and fell into a dazed state. Her eyes were darting all over the place. Madoka realized that she was seeing Knotting strands course through the air and along the ground for the first time, in addition to the manas she normally saw. It must be hard to see.

"Audrey?" Madoka steadied her.

The princess suddenly extended her golden hand and Madoka felt a surge of heat rush through the air like a vacuum. She knew that she was absorbing the Knotting strands into her body. As the rebellious golden strings swirled like a whirlpool into Her Highness's fist, she could not help but worry over the sudden changes. Just how much has changed last night? She felt neglectful, since they have been apart for what seemed like ages. Even when they were together, they were certainly not able to fully breathe. Would they ever get a small break where it is just the two of them? The final shattering noise of Knotting magic being compacted, compressed and completely absorbed left the room empty of magic. Not a trace of it existed. Something stirred within Madoka's chest. Audrey's gaze landed on the maid's clasped hand over the Crystal.

"You feel that too?" She asked in a whisper. "You and I, we're connected somehow. More than ever. Come."

Madoka did not know where the girl wanted her to go, but it was almost like Audrey could read her mind. She wanted nothing but to be alone with Her Highness for today. At least, until the dreams came and separated them once again. The girl led her by her unaffected hand, her short blonde hair bobbed as they strode past the quiet Innkeeper and a party of adventurers. She ignored their unnerved looks, silently following her. Cobblestone streets soon turned to dirt and they were in the woods again. Only some wild creatures scattered from their presence with terrified thoughts of escape. Madoka could not blame the fleeing animals. Despite the chaos of the last few days, she indeed felt vastly better physically and magically than ever before.

Audrey paused, not facing Madoka.

"I tried to shrug it off, you know? The creeping thoughts that, yeah, I am an imposter in another's body," she leaned against a trunk, golden hand exuding strength and a mystical air around it. To Madoka's surprised, the tree's bark began to shape into metal underneath her palm. "When I got reborn, I didn't think that the universe was telling me, 'do it better.' No, I thought of her. Who I replaced. Or whose life I stole."

Audrey was talking about the original Elise. The princess before. Fiara's Heart of Snow. Madoka wanted to interrupt her. She wanted to reassure her that she was not to blame for taking Elise's life. She wanted to keep the girl from spiraling into the dirt like she did on those mountains of the Hall of Royals. Yet even so, the doubts were insidious, hiding in the corners of her heart and body all the same while waiting for opportunities to strike. Audrey's voice and cold atmosphere remained steady without a single ripple of her guilt stirring the rivers of her heart.

"I used to think about her a long time ago, back when I first woke up in this world," she sighed. "Who was Elise? Did she have dreams here? Was she happy once living in the Palace? Did she switch places with me? I felt guilty. So, so very guilty. I couldn't come up with a proper plan for those prophecies. Too busy spiraling into a melancholic guilt and doubting if everything was even real or not. My world, it had nothing like this one, but it was dark in its own way. I didn't know where my guilty conscience was coming from, but it made me sick to my stomach. Then I met you. You were scared of me just as much as I was afraid of you."

"Meeting you was quite a fright, Audrey," Madoka stammered, feeling flustered. That memory of their very first encounter was buried deep within her, but she soon could recall the strange incident that would change her life forever like it was yesterday. Audrey chuckled, making Madoka look down and kick at some twigs nervously. "I was still a Lower Maid back then."

"I dreamed of you, got sick, then I dreamed about you some more. I— I'm sure you thought yourself a lot of times... Why you? Why would you out of all of the maids be chosen by me, someone of my Status? I wish I had the answers. I wish I kept track of those dreams."

Audrey turned, but smiled to herself bitterly. Her eyes were more striking than the shimmering golden hand of hers, making Madoka distracted momentarily. How was she supposed to clean that? It seemed like metal, like those decorative swords in the Palace or on Lady Fate's quarters in the Guild. Madoka pulled her head back to the present. She did question herself a lot and will continue to do so, but there were even more important people than her that did not make it out of Fiara. Additionally, there were plenty of Upper Maids who did not escape that Palace or caught the princess's attention. In short, a kind gods' will like the God of Tomorrow or by sheer luck, Madoka was standing here by Audrey's side today and she could only repay kindness her by giving her service and devotion.

"I found why I felt so guilty. I kept thinking, what if she and I didn't switch places upon each others' deaths, would she save you? Would she even know you existed? You should be serving her, not me. You should have left back when you could have when we lived in the North Estate. You deserve a better Master and perhaps, serve the true princess. Not me. That's what I thought."

"Audrey, I…" Madoka placed a hand on the girl's shoulders. The sudden contact made the princess jump, but relax. Faint golden sparks danced across her hand to Audrey's body like a silent unobstructed fire across a bridge. The flames in her heart had a direction to burn towards, stoking her resolve. They crossed the bridge and now forward was the only way. "It was you who I met, not her. I served you, from back then all the way to now, and onward. Audrey. Not Elise."

Audrey's face seemed to relax after hearing her declaration, but she rose her a shiny finger.

"Dreams or not, someone's rigged the game and forcing us to play," she sighed. The way the sunlight pierced through the boughs and shined upon her made her stance more commanding to Madoka's simple mind, so she stood rapt with attention. "I know that we'll probably have more of those dreams in the future, so you'll have a chance to speak directly with Elise. That is, if you can control yourself in them to begin with. I still don't know what that goddess is trying to tell me, but I'm starting to get bothered by her. There's only one woman of my dreams, and that's you. There's no chance she could ever sneakily replace you! Hmph!"

The declaration and Audrey's determined face interrupted the heavy atmosphere so suddenly that it made Madoka burst out in giggles. Then, her giggles turned into a fit of laughter. She was laughing at all of the things they went through. Laughing at the fact that despite all the feelings that she fell into, she was feeling relieved that the person she worried and fussed over all of the time was still mostly thinking of her. Laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. She could not stop herself from this embarrassment, pounding her chest to suppress it but only until she fell into a coughing fit was she able to stop herself.

"What's so funny, buster?" Audrey frowned, but her ears and cheeks were turning slightly pink. "I'm being all serious and everything. And you're laughing."

"Forgive me," Madoka wheezed and doubled over, propping herself by resting her hands on her knees. There were a hundred reasons to not laugh, but hearing the princess draw that conclusion out of all of them was refreshingly simple. Audrey crossed her arms. "I'm just… happy to be here. With you."

"Well, let me tell you, woman of my dreams," she playfully scolded. "I happen to have a lot of things I need to show off to you. Specifically, my magic! Hiyah!"

At the mention of magic, Madoka instinctively took a step back when she noticed the air became significantly colder. Audrey closed her eyes, a hum started as a whisper from somewhere around her. Then when it became a loud growl, she shivered. The alien magical feeling surged around her like an uncomfortable cloak. Instead of a bright white light with impossibly incandescent spheres circling around multiple bands surrounding her heart, a single dark ring glowed within. It was the color of night, shimmering with a violet black glower that warred against the daylight. Then, her feet suddenly lifted off the ground. Unlike her time in the Leyline, Madoka noticed that she had full control over her magic.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Audrey boasted. Unfortunately for Madoka, she indeed found that the magic exuding from Her Highness was cool, both in a literal and visual sense. She did not want to admit anything, so she remained silent and scoffed. "Madoka, come on. I look cool, right?"

As she floated above Madoka, she extended her hands outwards. That Knotting Magic cloaked hand of hers instantly became replaced inside a pale blue aura and her other hand became encased in a green glow. Wind and something else…? Before Madoka's attempt at being aloof could even show, she leaped back just in time as the area around Audrey became chaotic. To her horror, the trees around them suddenly snapped with a great burst of sound as they began to become uprooted and float into the air. It was not just the trees, even large boulders and roots began to float upward under the mercy of the princess's violet Core. A silent upheaval settled as everything besides Madoka and the ground became suspended in the air after the storm, reminding her of the odd gravitational effects of the Leyline. Except this time, it was all the Princess's fault.

"The God of Tomorrows, that Six Armed Goddess, and all of those other gods ruling over the people of this world… All of them say I'm a monster and meant only to destroy the world," Audrey said with closed eyes. Unlike what she presumed, the princess did not seem to be using a vast amount of effort to use this magic. Her tone was chilling yet full of determination. The floating debris began to crack apart as Audrey spoke with conviction. "I don't give a damn about what they have to say. I'll destroy a whole country if you ask me to."

"Audrey, you're terrifying me," Madoka groaned. Even the tree she backed into began to succumb to Audrey's magic, its roots becoming torn and sounding like burning paper. She regretted underestimating the true depths of what a level up meant in terms of the girl's power when measured. Immediately, all of the trees and debris began to slowly drift back to the ground as if they were mere feathers. Not even a single stone made a noise as it landed. The princess merely jumped from the air, as if from a ledge, and landed on the ground nonchalantly with a shrug. Her Core vanished.

"Sorry, Madoka, I was just trying to show off. Point is, I can do a lot more than just Wind magic now," Audrey sighed, but looked at Madoka with a determined face. "I know that you probably hear this from me all the time, but I want you— I mean, I want you to be happy, but... If you find out you love someone else other than me… I don't know what I'd do but if that's what it—"

"Audrey," Madoka started, but Audrey insisted with an almost desperate plea.

"I know I'm jealous, I know I'm not good with my words and emotions, I hide things because the truth is, I'm scared you'll leave me, and I think you should leave me, but I don't want you to!" Audrey's rapid confessions nearly overwhelmed the maid. Her bright blue eyes returned from the magical haze that cloaked them, like the sunny clear sky through a rainy fog. "You don't like it when I'm with Arudite just like I don't like you with Lady Eena, but I promise you, my eyes are only for you. I was a mess when I started here in this world, a mess while I'm with you, and honestly, I had no plans back then. Even now…"

Audrey turned away.

"I don't have any leads on the Red Strings or what happened in Fiara. But I want to face those mysteries with you. I won't ever leave you."

"I… I know that, Audrey," Madoka whispered softly, then she added a fateful promise and wrapped a cloak from the portal around the princess after noticing she was shivering. The action made the girl jump, but this was the service that she would fulfill for as long as she could. One that she has held since she was ordered to follow what His Majesty, Audrey's Father, commanded her. "I will always be with you. I don't think that the universe would tell you to do it better, I think— I think it wants you to live for yourself this time. No terrible excuses for parents. No one between us. No… Humans."

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Madoka shuddered. Audrey turned to face her. It was apparent that she was also finally looking at Madoka the same way she did yesterday. The maid felt awkward, but kept her gaze steady instead of down at the floor. The area around them was quite messy from all of the clutter she managed to uproot. Then Audrey laughed.

"The way you said humans, heh," she giggled. "Some of them are okay. Cough, cough!"

She said cough with some sort of an insinuation attached to her urgency, but Madoka simply wondered why since Audrey was not sick. Eventually, she realized that the princess meant that she was a good human. Yes, the Dream Audrey was indeed a good human although she was not sure on how to make contact with her. Madoka knew that she must find a way, even if the person wearing Audrey's skin was actually the true Elise Fiara or a figment of her imagination. The dreams she had been having lately were simply too unpredictable to draw any real conclusions. The ones in her Tomorrows will probably be the same.

"It's true, though," Audrey pretended to be hurt. "I don't think that I was ever good enough when I was a human. I—"

"That's what they said to you," Madoka scoffed. "Before they crushed your neck before you could even prove them wrong."

"You're right," Audrey finally admitted.

It seemed as if she was accepting her bold words. That, in turn, only spurred Madoka on to think differently. Perhaps, the idea of being herself could still yet be fulfilling in her pursuit to serve Her Highness. She has been at this predicament many times before and naturally would continue to revisit this conundrum, but only this time she wondered to herself if it was not a bad thing?

"Look, I'm having trouble adjusting to my own magic," Audrey's Core reappeared. It no longer flared to life, entering this world with a flash of brilliance. Instead, its darkness crept in like a cold shadow as if it was always there, waiting to be called upon. "As long as I don't touch your chest, maybe last night's disaster won't repeat itself— Madoka!"

Madoka suddenly grabbed Audrey's Golden Hand and pressed it over her heart where the Crystal Core lay beneath. If they were to have that trouble again, she might as well feed the whole thing back to the Crystal and maybe she could get her normal hand back in the process. Instead, the metallic sheen of the Golden Hand simply reflected light into her eyes as it lay against her. Audrey bit her lip in sheer apprehension, but nothing happened. The Crystal and Madoka's Knotting Strands welled up inside of her remained as still as a calm lake. Audrey wriggled her hand free, paused again, then without warning a surge of Knotting Magic manifested and gathered around in her palm. Then Madoka felt her palm firmly place itself back onto her chest. Besides the initial jolt from the magic strands dashing up and down her cloak, the result was the same: Nothing happened.

"No take backsies, I guess," Audrey murmured. "And— I had no idea how bad you had it this whole time. These golden streaks of lightning are simply the worst! Clogging up my vision!"

"Tell me about it," Madoka muttered, sitting on an exposed root nearby to catch her breath. This much talking and thinking took a lot out of her. Even as she rested, the strands were zigzagging and zipping along the surfaces of the trees into the air. Now, they were also not afraid of Audrey and she could tell the girl was quite disturbed by them. "But it was you who showed me that meditation trick."

"Well, I lied about you having a chance to get away from me. You gave me this hand somehow," Audrey scoffed, then she clasped her hands and bowed her head to her. One glowed and the other was calm. "So you gotta take responsibility for me!"

"Okay, okay! D-Don't bow to me," Madoka agreed readily and immediately straightened the girl's lowered posture. Under her expecting gaze, she recalled what she learned about Knotting magic to her. Truthfully, she never expected to teach anyone about magic, let alone the self-proclaimed level 2 Mage that is Her Highness. "There's four Ways of Knotting Magic. LIke the Schools of Domineering. One has to do with changing the body, one with changing sound, another with changing material and the last one strengthening weapons."

Madoka carefully chose to not mention that Eena was the one who taught her these matters while Audrey stood there in deep thought. She lifted her golden hand and focused her eyes. The strands running up and down along her wrist erratically instantly straightened into parallel pulsating beams of light. Her entire arm glowed as it transformed, bringing a warm vibrating thrum. Once the magic settled, the girl's arm had become a reflective metallic limb.

"Huh," Audrey inspected the altered arm curiously. To Madoka's surprise, she could move her arm and hand naturally as if it was flesh. Then, without warning, she swung it down upon the fallen thick exposed root and smashed it to bits with one savage strike. "Hiyah!"

"A-Audrey!" Madoka shook off leaves and shards of shattered bark off her head. Audrey closed her eyes and freed the strands from her arm, returning it back to its strange golden form. "I-Is your golden hand okay?"

"I didn't feel a thing, wow," Audrey breathed. "Also, Golden Hand sounds cool! I shall dub this newest character development as such. I am not entirely sure I got the full lockdown on Knotting magic, but I can turn a bit of dirt into metal and shiny gems or turn my whole right arm into a metal limb. Though, it kind of clashes with my whole glass cannon build, you know? A defensive ability like this is bound to help anyways, I guess."

"I— I don't know what you mean by that," Madoka dusted Her Impulsiveness off, but she knew her power increased a lot. Golden Hand was just the name she was labeling it inside her head, but it was official now. "But it seems like you already have the hang of Knotting magic."

"I know you don't normally feel comfortable when I talk about the Abyss, but," Audrey's eyes were a deep indigo, pulling her into them. She was channeling magic, but nothing around her changed. Yet. "Back in the Leyline, when I stared into it that time I got imprisoned by that God of Tomorrow force field. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't see anything. That's when I heard it telling me I was a monster and the usual yada yada. When I asked it if I'd ever get to see you again, that's when something else spoke to me. Well, it didn't speak to me, it reached out to me and— Now my Core is like this."

"Something other than the God of Tomorrows?" Madoka was once again pulled back to that moment. The incredible magic she used from the Crystal and the streaks of dangerous magic burning against her as she soared against the wind flashed in her mind. All of that to retrieve her princess. Many kind gods had their Eyes on them both and none of them seemed as good as Gechick. Audrey nodded, the black light dancing infinitely in her chest and illuminating her fair skin. The buzzing energy emanating from it puffed up her hair, making her look disheveled.

"Yeah, it was more older than the God of Tomorrows, I think it was the Creator of this universe— Pnaumen itself," Audrey was rattling off odd words again, but from what Madoka understood she seemed to have met one of the first kind gods. The princess cleared her throat. "A-Anyways, that basically means I have a lot more manas to play around with rather than just Wind magic. Now I can do this!"

Before Madoka could caution Audrey, a sudden loud crackling noise nearly broke her ears and caused her to dive to the ground. A flash of light blinded her temporarily, then the princess's body lit up and exploded with energy, then vanished before Madoka's eyes. All that was left was a smoldering crater sizzling the dirt.

"Audrey!" Madoka screamed, crawling over to the small hole. Her hair raised towards the sky and it felt like fingernails were lightly brushing the back of her neck. Energy was coursing behind her, making even the air feel like tiny pebbles pelting her skin. When she turned, a swarm of black particles gathered at a spot behind her. An attack? No… Madoka narrowed her eyes with a sinking feeling of realization.

The black dots slowly gathered into a shape of a particularly recognizable figure, before Audrey appeared and scattered them. She looked much more haggard and even her appearance seemed fragile. The atmosphere recovered from the distortion with more crackling noises and the Princess's cold Aura replaced the humid air.

"Audrey!" Madoka immediately closed in upon the girl. She looked dazed, but physically she seemed fine. "Audrey?"

"Whoa," Audrey barely breathed, looking quite bewildered. It was almost like she forgot everything that happened at the moment. "Note to self, never do that again."

"Even I could have told you that!" Madoka scolded her. Audrey flinched, raising her hands up in fear. Genuine fear…? "What. Did. You. Do?"

"I," Audrey glanced at her Golden Hand, but her pupils held the shock of a lack of recognition. Memory loss? "I teleported."

"Well, no more of that, Audrey Elise Dalion," Madoka growled. Instead of being rebellious or making general Audrey noises, she felt the girl lean against her body for support. She suddenly recalled what she said when they met on the Uracksheegal. She destroyed her body and rebuilt it somewhere else. It did not take a talentless woman like her to understand how difficult and extremely dangerous that task was. "Do you need help on walking?"

"I— I'm fine," Audrey's step betrayed her and she would have tripped had Madoka not caught her in time. The girl's body was trembling all over. It seemed that her journey from the small crater of ashes to where she stood now definitely shook her to her very core, despite the apparent short distance of the teleport. No, her palm felt the rapid beating of Her Foolishness's heart colliding with her ribs. This was not adrenaline or exhaustion, Madoka realized. It was pure terror. "I will definitely try to not use that."

Audrey breathed heavily and leaned fully against Madoka for support as they walked. Sunlight streamed through the cracks of a shattered tree, casting an oddly peaceful glow on the unusually quiet princess. Her original lively form was subdued and Madoka realized she actually had to assist her in walking. She made it clear that she had enough of the magic-talk today and was escorting her back to town directly.

"Wait," Audrey suddenly said. Despite the initial and inexplicable fear etched on her face, she managed to keep her voice clear as her boots dug into the ground. Madoka could not help but assume that an alarming amount of things could go wrong with destroying a body and rebuilding it. If it was her in charge of teleportation, she would not even get her own face rebuilt properly. "You haven't told me what you were up to yesterday. And— there's something else I'm curious about."

Without warning, Madoka felt the heat of the Golden Hand hover above her chest. Something vibrated softly on her neck and then a familiar hexagonal portal flickered underneath Audrey's reach. She immediately recognized the dark metallic shape pulling out of the portal.

"Audrey, I'm not sure you should use that weapon," Madoka stammered. Audrey inspected the laser rifle, lifting it in her arms in a precise manner. Perhaps she did that in her old life?

"Not for me," Audrey held it up and took aim at a distant pile of rocks. "I saw you use it in the Uracksheegal, but nothing besides the trigger makes sense. No safety, no cartridges or anything. So it's for you— Oh, what am I saying, I'm going to do it!"

Before Madoka could cover her ears or get away, Audrey simply pulled the trigger. Instead of the expected and horrid crimson beam of energy, a tiny click was heard and a warning beeped at her. Madoka recalled the weapon's various beeping noises from the memory Ceghinort gave her, indicating that she was not authorized to fire the weapon. That kind god had mentioned that it was the Princess's memory, did he not? Could it be from Elise's memories from the other side…? Audrey also mentioned a war in the Leyline as well. So why could she not use it? Thinking of that, she also realized how foolish she felt. That strange unease brought on by allowing those adventurers to keep the weapon was seemingly unwarranted, but it was out of her hands now. It was empty and would not allow them to use it either. The cold metal suddenly found itself in her hands.

"You try it!" Audrey excitedly said, raising her hands in an odd gesture. Finger guns. The same gesture she used to shoot water beams at her. Madoka groaned, but took aim. The sight hologram immediately beeped in a confirmation on its display— she was indeed mysteriously authorized to use the weapon. Audrey put her Golden Hand to her chin in thought. "Where will you shoot? Hang on, I know."

Jagged Knotting strands surged from a snap from Audrey, making Madoka feel jealous. She too, appeared to have her own Way of Knotting Magic. Or perhaps, a Royal with Knotting Magic simply outshined any competitor as it should be. Even unruly and naught magic strings obeyed her. Metal thrummed as it materialilzed from thin air. Unlike Madoka's way of transforming thought-shards or dirt into metal, Audrey's Golden Hand seemingly used to air to create a disk. Then, she tossed it into the sky. Madoka immediately knew what to do. She took aim and pulled the trigger. The harsh buzzing sound came as the beam of red light tore through the wind, vaporizing the metal disk like a snake swallowing prey whole. Madoka did not like using the human weapon, so she tucked it away.

"Perfect shot," Audrey muttered. "Are you a machine? A terminator, perhaps? Enough about the future stuff power creeping this world, what about the forge stuff? Did you get an upgrade?"

"Yeah," Madoka pulled Magnolia out of the portal with one hand. Audrey gawked at it, obviously sensing the power emanating from it. Could she see the Aura coating its mighty blade? "I did."

"Purple," she marveled, confirming that she did indeed. Madoka thought about how she changed after what happened last night. Knotting magic coursed through Her Highness as if it was always there as natural as the ground. She simply shrugged and dumped the axe to the floor. It sank unceremoniously while Audrey gawked. With one look Madoka knew exactly what the girl was intending to do, but did not stop her. "Hngg!"

As expected, the weapon did not budge from even her Golden Hand's grip.

"What the hell?" Audrey staggered back as if the axe slapped her. "What did you make this thing out of?"

"Cherish Starmetal," Madoka replied nonchalantly. The pride that bloomed within her was unexpected and gave her a boost of strength, so she lifted it up and placed it back into the portal. "The same metal that my first axe had been forged with. Its name is Magnolia."

"Magnolia, huh?" Audrey looked at the axe as if it was a live beast. Then she sighed and tried to pat an errant strand of hair down to no avail. "I miss Lord Leopride and Lord Zeron."

"Lord Zeron…" Madoka mused. That was Audrey's trainer and advisor. She barely knew the man herself, but she could imagine the impact he had on Her Highness.

"I can't believe it," Audrey muttered. "I spent all the time trying to impress me with magic, yet you beat me by having a big axe. Strength builds are simply unfair."

Madoka smiled knowingly to herself. She could only be amused by the simple truth that she would never really understand Her Highness's strange jokes on whatever a build meant. If there was a punchline, she would never get it. The forest eventually evened out into a trail, then grew into a path past a few Stone Proclamations blocking off one of the magic craters Audrey made. The ballistae loomed over the trees like perched dragons when they got back to Gladeban. It was noon when they arrived to the inn, where there were two familiar individuals awaiting their return. Lady Arudite and her servant, Ilalune, stood there at the entrance each wearing an expression of their own: One of barely hidden intrigue and the other sheer disdain, both of which made Madoka groan.

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