Safely Crash Landing

"Heh, you enjoying yourself?" Lilin called to her surprise passenger.

"H-Hell no!!!" Annie shouted in reply, clinging to Lilin's arms for dear life.

"Good!" Lilin shouted back, "Get used to that! Life here is gonna kick your ass if you're anything short of perfect!"

Annie's eyes were watering too much to see anything, so she shut them tight. Lilin, on the other hand, had long since adjusted to this. She focused for a moment, opening her Core just the slightest bit to create a barrier over her eyes. She saw the castle rapidly approaching and adjusted her angle to soar upwards. She grinned at the feeling of the air rushing past her and the challenge that upwards flight posed after the initial jump, relishing in Annie's screaming all the while.

Cresting over the massive walls, the air was noticeably thinner. Lilin decided to land here, nearly crashing into one of the on-duty guards as she slammed her feet into the ground. She skidded further than she expected, Annie's weight making her lurch forward instead of dragging her back like she thought. She managed to stay atop the wall, quickly catching the guard before he fell as well. She heard Annie shouting something instead of just screaming nonsense.

"-MARY AND JOSEPH!" Annie said.

Huh, she only caught the tail end of that one, and it's still gibberish. Mary was the name of somebody who used to work here, but she was so quiet. Lilin didn't actually know what happened to that maid, now that she thought about it. Maybe she just disappeared before anything significant happened with her.

"Good Lord- WAH!" Annie shouted as she backed away from the ledge in a panic.

Lilin let out a bark of laughter, grabbing the collar of her dress to lift her to her feet. "See this? All of it? You're gonna be taking care of it with me. If you mess any of it up?"

Lilin suddenly lifts Annie off her feet and dangles her off the edge.
"Let's just say... You'll take a long walk on a short bridge."

"A-Alright, I understand, I understand!" Annie shouted, "Just don't drop me!"

Lilin grinned as she pulled Annie back onto the wall. "Good good," she said, "now hold on tight!"

Like a bullet, Lilin shot off of the wall, diving down like a hawk as she heard Annie screaming again. Now that she had the chance to consider it a bit more, she actually loved picking up new recruits. This was an amazing way to burn a little bit of time! Once again, she slammed into the ground and skidded forward, feeling how she sunk into the ground from the force. This time, Annie managed to catch herself on her feet as well, though she fell over when she hit a rock with her heel.

"Now, are you ready to get started?" Lilin said, letting go of Annie's arm to let her fall. "Your first assignment will be just inside."

Annie coughed as she fell. She was glad to be on solid ground, but she didn't appreciate the ground hitting her so hard. As she got up, she saw that the ground here was just as grey as it was in the Deathlands. It wasn't storming here, at least.

"A-alright, sure... Just don't fly me to it, alright?"

"Oh, quit your whining, I'm not allowed to fly inside anyways."

Annie was grateful that they were walking again, her legs wobbling underneath her as she staggered after Lilin. The castle was impressive from afar, but it might be even more impressive up close. As she looked up, she saw the beautiful stone brickwork. It looked invincible, dark grey stones lined up with no gaps to be seen. The front entrance to the castle dominated the scene, reaching to the top of her vision even as she looked almost straight up. It was a massive, open display taunting what few enemies might challenge the Demon King. The walls were impossibly smooth, looking almost like concrete rather than stone work. It was as if it was carved by a knife and polished to perfection. Even back on Earth, Annie didn't think something of this scale could be so perfect.

Stepping into the main entrance, she was surprised to hear her footsteps click against marble. She looked down and saw the pure-white stone, shining as bright as a well-kept countertop. How could it be this clean right next to a fully open entrance? She looked around and saw that there wasn't a single blemish or smudge on anything within sight. The windows were crystal clear, the stairs completely free from any scuffs. It didn't even feel like there was any dust in the air.

"It's... Perfectly clean," she remarked as she continued to take in her surroundings.

"Exactly, greenie," Lilin said, "And it's your job to keep it that way."

Annie nodded slowly, thinking that that made enough sense. She looked around, trying to scout any closets that might hide cleaning supplies within. Seeing none, she turned to Lilin.
"What do I use to clean?"

A massive grin broke out on Lilin's face as she folded her arms and turned away. "First test, worm. Show me what you can do without any supplies."

This was gonna be good. She could tell Annie wasn't good with magic from their fight. Without anything to use, she'd be as good as dead. She couldn't help but pat herself on the back, this plan was practically airtight. She already had one fault for the scuffed ground of their landing, and this would be another when she couldn't clean the entrance. She'd just... Happen to leave out the lack of supplies provided in her report. She turned back to see what Annie was doing, smiling as she saw-

Annie using her dress to polish a vase?

"Why the hell did you have a dress under your dress?!" she shouted.

"Ah, you mean this slip?" Annie asked, a bit of her usual smugness returning. "Well, it's only modest, dear."

"And why are you using a filthy dress covered in mud to clean the pottery?!" Lilin retorted.

"It was not covered in mud," Annie replied calmly, "it was cleaned by the rain and your flying."

Lilin stamped her foot before marching over, shoving Annie to the side to look. She gasped when she saw that the pot wasn't actually any worse from the polishing. No oily smudges, no streaks, it... Looked even cleaner than before.

"Well... Ugh, fine, whatever. You pass. Follow me, I'll show you to the actual cleaning supplies. But first, you need to put on a uniform."