-o-

"Survival, right?" Audrey kicked ice off the cliffside. They traveled for so long that her voice felt like a wondrous break to Madoka. She hated the silence. "I mentioned it before, but I know all these things as a means to cope with survival. I studied hard in my infested room, in order to ensure I'd at least have something going for me when I escaped the house. So much for that."

She did not hide the bitterness in her tone. Madoka sighed, and continued putting up the tent. Audrey chuckled.

"Funnily enough," she had a light in her eyes, as if she was sifting for gold in her memories. "I remember my neighbor. He was an elderly man, highly religious. I ain't one to care for gods, or ones who give books to their followers and play absentee father, but I would listen to what he says. He was nice. Took care of an orange cat."

"Cat?" Madoka sat on a rock. The twin moons arrived quickly, she noticed. She knew what a cat was.

"Yeah, tiny furry predators of my world," Audrey explained. She spread her legs out in a stretch, her boots scraping snow up and revealing rough dirt. "They were cute little guys, but the old man took care of his well. That orange ball was fat. He only let me pet him once. I remember he said he was not living well, that he was going to the Lord for his cancer and something about the Rapture..."

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Madoka flinched as the girl snapped, and sparks of flames gathered on the firewood they chopped up some time before. She hated fire, but simply averted her gaze from the magic. It was evident that Audrey truly missed being alive in her old world, despite everything she has spoken about it. Madoka could not fathom having memories of a past life but she urged the princess to continue by tapping her boot with her own foot.

"He asked me to take care of his cat when all the Christian people get sucked up and sent to heaven. It’s a… thing that they believe in," Audrey breathed in, but it turned to a whimper. She struggled to keep her voice steady as she continued. "Now, I wasn't going to argue with a 90 year old man about religion, but I wanted to ask him why God couldn't just beam up the cat with him too? Why would a God leave some of their creation behind, even the innocent ones? Perhaps cats could be evil after all."

"I feel the same way, sort of," she went on. "Like I'm leaving innocent people to die here in Fiara. If we are still in Fiara. Mountain borders are still kind of sketchy on the map. Some of my subjects, well if I were to rule that damn place, were in prison. I’ve seen a cell or two in my life here, experienced more pain than one should know in one of then. Should they be left behind? I…”

She grew silent and Madoka contemplated her princess's words, as mysterious as they were. Reminiscing of their time at the palace caused the images of her princess in that cell to resurface and made her upset, so she sat with her hand in Audrey’s. The maid could not offer words of support or advice, since she was bound to serve her no matter what. What could the two of them do to save Fiara, anyways? If she thought about it more, she would be consumed by guilt. She changed her thoughts to her desire of meeting that supposedly cute cat, and to yell at the kind God of Audrey's world.