The sun ducked behind the gray clouds again. So far, the only two things Madoka could hear was Audrey's strange magic talisman humming in the wind and their steps crunching ancient snow. She shuddered as the sky darkened. The girl's small form stopped for a moment as she lifted the talisman up to her ear.

Madoka immediately moved to cover her with her cloak. She did not need it, but Audrey had rejected her insistence with a silent shrug and a raised hand. That familiar gesture made her instantly obey. Royal habits trumped… whatever this was between them.

Friends? Madoka had trouble understanding such a concept even though she had mulled over it repeatedly in her head during the Spring of Colors. She had felt differently over Her Highness for a long time, but she did not know if it was purely friendship. She did not even dare to get close to the other maids. Since Audrey stopped, she stopped. Since she refused the cloak, the maid stood tall against the wind silently while the princess carried her on with her quiet vigil.

Ever since they escaped the Palace, she knew some changes occurred within her. Firstly, she was not as pathetic as she was back when she trained in the Estate. Destroying a massive bear was only the beginning, even if she needed healing afterwards. Secondly, she did not feel cold or the need to eat. Her skin showed no signs of frostbite, as if she was not apart of those worldly affairs at all. Her energy did not feel worn down even at night, but she always could fall asleep easily. She did not let these things get to her. The burns and scars that etched her skin reminded her that she died once.

And lastly, she was feeling empty. It was not her stomach. It was her heart or whatever was revived when the princess saved her. This dreaded existence worried her for a moment, nearly making her brain break. What if she was not Madoka anymore? Who would take care of Elise if she was not herself anymore? What was she thinking?

A strand of red hair whipped her eye. She turned, but the princess was still standing there communing with the glowing talisman with her eyes closed. The girl's face did not have the look of despair she would get before collapsing and wanting to… Well, she did not seem like she was going to try to leave her all alone here again.

She turned before the princess could see her watching her. Audrey mentioned that she was from another world. The strange concept made her worry, but she knew it was not worth getting a headache over. What did cause her mind to spin was the fact that she came here after she died in her old world. What if she herself was not the original Madoka that died when the Prince stabbed her, would she not remember anything at all before she arrived here? Was she a new Madoka? She still could remember things before she died in the Palace, so that could not be true, right? With that thought, she felt a little bit more secure.

Then, the wheels of her brain started to heat up again.

Madoka shifted on her weight again as the world around her became white with snow. They were so high up here on whatever mountainside this one was. She had lost track of where she was a few hundred trails ago. She could not even see Fiara's fields anymore. The roots that took them over, the burning countryside, and battlefields seemed like lost worlds of their own compared to how far they have traveled now. What would happen if she died again? Would she be reincarnated back in that strange place before it got destroyed again?

The one with the bright and big blue world floating above it, filling the sky with a deep and mysterious cerulean light. Would she see that beautiful angel again? That woman's terrified face haunted her dreams sometimes, but what truly scared her was the finality of dying again. Moreover, other than the fact that it was painful, she was afraid of dying with this emptiness.

"There," Audrey's voice cut her out of her winding thoughts. A small shadow stood out in the fog a short hike's distance away. Madoka blinked. How did she make that appear? "It's a tower. Beats a cave or hard ground to hide in for the night, right? Come on."

"As you command, Your Highness," Madoka said absentmindedly. Then she shook her head. "A-Apologies."

"Huh?" Audrey looked at her as if Madoka was a ghost. "What brought that sudden politeness on?"

"I—" Madoka stammered. Then she shrugged helplessly. "I don't actually know."

"Old habits die hard, huh? Well, whatever," the former princess chirped. "Let's rock and roll."

"H-Hai."

Despite the noisy implication of whatever rock and roll was according to the princess, they drifted back into silence. Audrey walked, so Madoka walked. She breathed, her breath floating up to the night to catch starlight in its fog. Madoka breathed, her puffs of breath probably not shining as bright. If the princess stopped to catch snowflakes in her palms, then Madoka would stop and watch. Soon, her boots found solid stone. In front of them was the remains of a tower. Its purpose probably remained the same— it was simply a place to stay temporarily, probably to keep watch until its visitors could leave again.

The entrance was a shattered hole in the brick wall, battered by time and the weather. Madoka prayed to the kind gods that this place would not bury themselves.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Audrey shrugged. Madoka whined silently in her head. Why play with Fate like that? "It's stood up for, like, thousands of years. It can last a night with us in it. Probably."

"Probably?" Madoka muttered, watching the wind pick up a loose stone and toss it over the side like a warning.

Still, the princess entered fearlessly, so Madoka followed reluctantly.

The musty scent of stone and dust assaulted her nose, but she dared not sweep the place for an irrational fear that displacing a single feather's worth of weight would somehow disrupt the entire structure's balance and have it topple all over them. The stairs leading to the top of this place were smashed to pieces, preventing access to the top of the tower. In a way, she was thankful she did not have to worry about Audrey daring to climb to the turret. With how small she was, she would probably get blown out of the window.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Yet, they were now huddled in a cold tower on a mountain. They might as well be in the clouds, she mused. The mountain fog seeped through cracks in the wall with faint white fingers, but did not seem to disturb the place so Madoka really could not refute Audrey's claim on how safe this place is.

"The history of the Halls was something I read about back in the day, but they were talking about how it's so dangerous to climb and blah, blah, blah," Audrey sighed. "The statue was telling me that this place was a castle."

"This tower…? Or are you saying a fort is nearby?"

Audrey sat on the remains of a wooden structure, kicking off her boots and dumping snow out of them.

"That's what I asked it, too," she shrugged. "Turns out, this whole mountain is a castle."

"This whole…" Madoka shivered. She was not sure that was from the revelation or the cold.

"A castle on the back of a dead dragon' skeleton's spine," the former princess sighed. "Whoever wrote this book is insane, wouldn't you think?"

A book? Madoka could not read, so she did not understand. However, it seemed that Audrey had no intention on stopping her rambling. Since she was not going to, she would just have to humor her until she ran out of things to say and got tired.

"I used to think that speaking to gods was utter nonsense. I thought— How could someone pass their own flaws and self-inflicted problems to something else as an excuse so easily? Like, how are you going to tell the universe it's being unfair?"

"The kind gods always speak the truth," Madoka recalled the clerics in the Palace say. She even thought so herself, but she could never hear them herself.

"You remember when we first heard one of those gods? Back in the summer, right?" Audrey leaned on the dirty box before the maid could stop her.

Madoka remembered the utter helplessness when she heard that god speak to her. The sensation that sent her shivers down her spine, almost like it was trying to wriggle itself free from her mortal coil. The fact that something in this castle of a mountain was also calling for her made that feeling even worse. Rather than making Her Highness nervous, she nodded instead of venting her thoughts. Audrey cast a glance out at the blinding white snow, seemingly not noticing the storm brewing in the maid's head.

"The kind god knew who you were… before I did. It said, 'Finally we meet, Audrey.'"

Audrey looked at her with an expression of conflicting emotions. Guilt, pain, and a strange stubbornness etched her cheeks. The maid almost questioned herself, feeling a little bit nervous for upsetting her. Then she seemed to let go of whatever Madoka said that bothered her.

"It's funny. When that god spoke to me, I didn't even try to refute its existence at first. I knew I heard it. I knew you heard it too. I thought of that saying. It goes something like… 'To speak to a god is faith, but if the god speaks to you— That's how you know your brain is busted.' Tell me, Madoka. Am I crazy? What's with that look?"

Madoka snorted. She could not help it. The princess did have an astonishing lack of self-awareness sometimes. Then she switched the subject as shards of a wooden box shifted beneath them like rodents from the wind. Audrey stomped in one, but the piece crumbled to dust. It was time for Madoka to ramble, too. Maybe.

"Do you remember anything. No," she paused. Why were memories so important to her all of a sudden? Audrey sat there, waiting for her to process her question fully. That was something the girl was special for. Nobles would never allow her to speak, let alone think for herself. Despite the rambling, despite the tough times, the princess always had a space for silence reserved for her. Well, sometimes. In serious moments like these, definitely. "Do you have any of Elise's memories?"

"Huh?" Audrey seemed taken aback by her question. Then she paused, deep in thought. "I— I don't, actually. The most I can recall about the old Elise's memories are visions of red crystals. Like rubies, gems, you know those shiny stones found everywhere in the Palace… And a blurry face. I don't know whose, but I think it's probably my old face back when I was… Myself. I prayed to a god, or gods, or anything for a long time. Lots of sleepless nights. No matter how hard I tried to get Elise back here, her memories and her soul wouldn't return. Then you fill the rest of my dreams."

"Audrey…" Madoka murmured at that last part. She brought that on herself, so she could not scold Her Highness.

"Why do you ask that?"

"I was just thinking," Madoka's head had already started to spin because she was using it too much. "Of what would happen if I died again—"

"Madoka, don't say that," Audrey stammered. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I still remember everything before I died," Madoka continued. "So am I me? Would someone else take my place if I die again?"

"I think, you have experience already. But we all do," Audrey raised a finger and let out a small, glowing bubble of magic. The light was enough to reveal her concentrated face. Madoka tilted her head. "In a way, we all get reborn."

"Everyone reincarnates?"

"I'm— Not so sure how to put it," Audrey lay back, resting the back of her head on a pillow she summoned through the portal. She dropped one beside her, so Madoka sat down. "You dream, right? You, as a consciousness, rest in deep sleep without dreaming at first, but then you dream about being another person. When you wake up and become a consciousness again, the dream dissolves and you might not even remember what was happening in the dream. But you know you did. And that you'll do it all over again the next time you fall asleep. Bah. Dreams, dreams, dreams."

"Dying didn't feel like a dream," Madoka murmured, though that was a lie. She supposed whoever takes her place if she died is going to have a real tough job on their hands dealing with this girl and her strange words. Audrey looked at her with a guilty expression.

"Well, I'm not an expert on reincarnation. I didn't even posit having a soul back on Earth. Those, uh, ontological variables— Scientism was my way to go before I became… a fallen princess in another world, heh. Interactionism or epiphenomenalism in general, I slept through most of my philosophy classes. But what I do know, is that I'm not so special. Especially here, I'm not unique. So maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't."

"Does that mean I won't reincarnate if I die?"

"Madoka," Audrey yawned. "I don't know."

Finally, she admitted it. Madoka smiled softly to herself though she was not so sure why. The rambling would eventually turn to snoring soon.

"What do you want to be if you do reincarnate?" Audrey asked. Madoka's head was stuck on the dying part of that word. It never occurred to her that she could choose to be something after coming back to life.

"I— I'd still be me," she said after some thought. Empty, still probably a servant, but still her. "Maybe I'd look different, but I'd try to find you again."

"Mmm," Audrey murmured. Madoka caught the satisfied smile on her face before she rolled over. She had said the right thing to Her Highness. "I'd like that."

"What about you?" Madoka stretched and rested on the hard stone floor. She wondered if the princess would reincarnate into a more beautiful woman that would seek her out, too. That thought made her feel a bit warm inside.

"Again? Come to think of it, I didn't even have an evil, jealous stepmother or anything in this anime. She'd curse me or something for sure," Audrey sighed. A new mother to the princess would definitely have her hands full. "Next time I reincarnate— I want to be a goose and peck at all the maids and Nobles trying to make me do stuff. Hint, hint. You especially."

A goose? Madoka was left speechless. She was rather fond of those fluffy creatures, but they were not pretty at all. They were left alone in the Palace's gardens during the Spring due to their volatile temper. Does that mean she would not seek her out in another life? She would just be a… goose?

"Yeah, I'd honk at everyone! Nibble at their feet and hands! It'd be so fun!" Audrey carried on with her plans of being a nuisance, but Madoka was drifting off to sleep. Her head was full of strange thoughts and images of geese that night.

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