Touchdown

It was like she blinked. One moment, she was in the starscape with the young lady goddess, and the next, she was standing in a green field. Or, rather, towards the edge of the field. Directly in front of her was a massive, sprawling mass of grey. It wasn't stone, it was more as if the dirt was drained of its color. There were plants in the grey area, but not growing from the ground. Instead, they were dead on the ground, but not decomposing. There was no life present, not even the life needed to break down the dead material.

Despite all of this, Annie knew this was the way forward. In the distance, in the exact direction she was facing, was a massive castle. It sprawled over the horizon, looking more like a mountain range than a building from this distance. Even as disoriented as she felt from the sudden shift in scenery, Annie remembered what her job was; to become a maid for the Demon King and change the world. So, she stepped forward, leaving the scenery of the green field behind her and walking towards the castle in the distance.

The first step onto the grey soil felt immediately different. The earth sunk beneath her feet... Was it still appropriate to call it earth? She lifted her foot and saw the footprint she left, deeply carved within the flesh of the ground. It wasn't as if there were none other like it around, but there were no footprints around at all. These lands were not traveled. Annie felt misgivings, but set her foot back down and continued forward. She couldn't give up that quickly.

The ground dragged her down, threatening to pull Annie down if she didn't continue to walk. The air was stale, as if not touched by anything for decades. It reminded her of the sterilized air of the hospital, but there wasn't any life at all here. The weight of the scenery weighed on her shoulders, almost a physical sensation, but she continued forward.

The weather began to turn. It didn't change above Annie, and she could see as much. Rather, it was different in front of her. The further she walked, the more densely the clouds gathered. She could see the rain pouring down a few kilometers ahead of her. The terrain was sure to be rougher down the line. Oh well, nothing for it. It was times like this that Annie wished she had a buggy. She had bought one for little Tennison, but he had never done much with it. He would still get it from the inheritance, but... Well, the past was the past. She couldn't exactly ask him for it now, could she? She chuckled at the thought. This would be quite the adventure to tell them about. Maybe one day....

The dirt turned to mud, and the mud turned to sludge. With nothing to absorb the water falling from the incessant storm, the ground felt more like a river than flatlands. In the distance, thunder roared. This wouldn't be a safe passage, not by a longshot. There wasn't anything more likely for the lightning to strike than herself. She wasn't sure what she would do, but she continued forward anyways. Thoughts of the kind faces she left behind fueled her- though she found she didn't need a lot of fuel to run. Just walking through this with a young body once again was quite refreshing, even if it was a miserable trudge.

"H-Help...."

The voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper, but Annie would never miss such a cry. Her head spun as she tried to find the source of the sound.

"Help me...."

A girl's voice, not dissimilar to her daughter's. It was to her left. Annie stopped her trek forward and started walking towards it.
"Hello?" she called, "Who's there?"

The voice stopped for a moment before calling out once more, much louder now.
"Please... Help me, I-I... I can't breathe!..."

Annie spotted a figure lying nearby, almost completely concealed by a water puddle pooling around them. She rushed over, grabbing the figure by the shoulders and lifting them to sit up above the water line.

"Hey, it's alright, I'm here for you dear," Annie said on autopilot as she tried to estimate the figure's condition.

It was a young woman with hair tied into pigtails that went to her hips. Her body was filthy with mud, she clearly had been here a few minutes before Annie arrived. She wasn't breathing evenly, her chest shaking with each rasping breath. She was wearing a maid's uniform, bringing several questions to Annie's mind, but those were quickly swept aside as she noticed the red stains that even the mud couldn't hide.

This girl was badly injured. Annie didn't have a way to call for help, nor did she have any way to patch the wound. This wasn't the place to try and figure some normal solution out, so Annie had to put all her eggs in one basket. She closed her eyes, focusing on the spot in her chest that was tugged on when she was summoned. It has to be her core. If it drew on her "essence", that had to mean that sharing it would heal somebody, right? It was now or never, no time to double check.

When Annie managed to find her Core, it was like she uncorked a bottle held upside-down. Whatever was within her Core started to flood out, racing through her body. It felt like pure energy, the sore muscles all being eased as it flowed through her body. Unable to control where it was going, Annie hugged the girl against her, trying to make it as easy as possible for this energy to flow between them. She felt a heavy drain on her body as the energy began to rush into the girl's wounds, and quickly stopped the flow out of her Core. The residual energy gradually found places to rest, rushing around until it all settled down.

"There, that feel any better?" Annie asked, not quite believing her luck but not questioning it.

"I-I... Yes, but-"

"Ah, no buts!" Annie said, "Let's get you someplace safe before you say anything else, alright? It's not too far to dry land."

Annie was lying through her teeth, but the girl didn't need to know that. Right now, the girl needed something to believe in, and Annie was going to be that for her. She turned around and hoisted her up, just like she did with Madeline when she was little, and started to walk away from her destination. Annie let her youth power her, each step taking so much strain but her body holding up beautifully under the pressure. It was a thrill being able to do this again. She felt the girl's breathing slowly steady against her back as she walked.
And walked.
And walked.
Until finally, they stepped out of the rain.