The walk was silent. Fiara gave them nothing to talk about, so only their footsteps did the noise-making. Roots purified themselves as Madoka strode on by, like rodents scurrying away in fear. She chuckled to herself. The reality of being a so-called Hero always made her feel self-conscious, or like an imposter, or something like an observer seeing something far greater being assigned to her. Still, Hesonoo glowed in her heart with that familiar golden jewel and the roots still melted away. Audrey halted, then smiled at Madoka, and continued like it was nothing.
Her heart froze for a moment, but Madoka decided she'd attend to the princess's offensive tactics later on when they were not revisiting terrible pasts. The roots began to become scarce and suddenly her boots landed on solid ground. Stone? She casually scraped the dirt away with her boots. Symbols and typical Fiara motifs danced along their delicately carved concrete. How interesting. This street appeared to be for Royalty only.
"Wait, Royalty?" Madoka said aloud, though her mood was still quite absentminded. Boots ahead of her scooted to a stop and she was immediately reminded on how deathly silent this entire country has been. Lifeless.
"Yeah," Audrey confirmed.
The girl's eyes were directed at the symbols. She could read it, but Madoka could not. Written words were easy for her to remember now, but since she did not know these it was highly possible that it was also the name of someone important. They continued through the destroyed street, but she stopped just before an entrance in a crushed wall. Madoka cocked her head at her.
"Do you know my name in Royal?" Audrey asked. The question was rhetorical— of course she did not. She paused, obviously deeply in contemplation. "It's... Setsura. Bare snow, heh. Princess of Snow, or whatever. Come."
That tone of Audrey's was enough to keep Madoka's mind from reeling. Why now, did she just casually tell her that her true name was Setsura? Yet the command, the fact that it was in Royal, and every foreboding feeling that caused her to feel like the snow was whipping her skin were all completely unmistakable. A second attack on her heart, Madoka secretly fumed. She would definitely counter later. This was not the time right now, she followed her even though she felt troubled. Princess Elise has come home and these ruins were not the same as the ones covered in roots.
As she ducked under the hole in the wall, a sudden tingling feeling heated the snow right off her skin. A sparkling sight nearly caught her off guard. Did she enter a Secret Garden and not realize it? Where did this all come from? Before Madoka was a massive and radiant crystalline structure, jutting skyward and yet it was emanating a soothing aura. Madoka had felt this aura before, but never so full like this. She knew immediately what this place was. It was her... !
Audrey strode on towards the structure and stood right underneath its glory. Everything was still quiet and not even their breath or steps could harm the atmosphere. From outside of the crystal's brilliance rested the destroyed Kingdom, even though it was quite hard to look away.
"Here lies Setsura, the Heart of Snow," Audrey mused, reading a glowing magical stone etched in front of the massive crystal. Madoka realized it was almost as large as the Palace itself. "Heh."
She turned around and looked sheepishly at a dumbstruck Madoka.
"It's my grave, Madoka," Audrey sighed. "The people — they never forgot about me."
She nearly flinched when Madoka wiped a tear off her cheek. Audrey did not even notice that she was crying. Setsura... What a beautiful and odd name to her. It was her treasure for now, probably the only happy thing she would ever take from this terrible country.
