[h2]Saber - Castle Tepes[/h2]

"There's been a period of two days between each attack prior to this," explained the Queen, glancing towards the rather eager being that seemed to have ties to the boy. "However, they've probably gotten impatient with failure and may be using a more powerful force under a shorter period of time. So everyone should be ready, but not [i]too[/i] ready. After all, you might end up sleeping over here or they attack could happen in five minutes!"

The latter was, of course, unlikely, and Saber guessed it was 'hyperbole'. For the moment, the important thing was to ensure that they had a plan. The King of Knights paused for a moment, weighing her options. She had military experience, naturally, and therefore believed she could be of some assistance beyond simply defending the castle and the Eye of the Serpent. She stepped forward, gesturing to herself as she did.

"If I have permission, and the consent of my fellow operatives," she began, "I will contribute in organizing the castle's defenses. This would mean having access to the defenses already in place as well, Queen Tepes."

The vampire cocked her head to one side for a moment, then gave a fang-exposing smile. "If your allies like you enough to give you the job, why not?"

Saber turned to face her remaining allies. Gintoki, too, would be asked when he was located.

[h2]Outside Castle Tepes[/h2]

"..."

The maid dabbed one eye, sniffling. Really...? It was all okay...

Anette took a deep breath before speaking.

"S-so... e-everything is really okay?" she asked weakly, quivering. The wrong answer seemed like it would most likely cause the sitched girl to explode into tears again. Perhaps literally this time, though she seemed adamant before that her stitches would hold her together perfectly earlier. Still, it was likely the best idea to try and keep her calm and not falling to pieces over the issue. She seemed the emotional type, regardless. The incredibly emotional type.

Meanwhile, Shirley was repeatedly attempting to speak and failing. It seemed she needed further prompting.

[h2]Castle Tepes Kitchen[/h2]

The maids were really quite baffled. But... these people did not seem to be Shadow Eternity, at least, and even if they were not exactly what they'd expected from the 'you-em-em-ay', they did not seem to have any intention to attack. After some further hesitation, the wolf-eared maid decided to simply continue her line of questioning.

"Are... any of you here to defend the Eye, at least? Appearing so suddenly like that and everything..."

[h2]Kirisame Marisa[/h2]

"Eh? Well of course you're not a [i]pet[/i]," said Marisa, flashing a quick grin towards the pocketed Othinus. Nah, she wouldn't consider any person a pet. That was kinda weird. Still, for the moment, the tiny girl was 'hers' in terms of being someone she was going to dress up for sure and there was no-way anyone was going to stop her. "It's kinda like... you have a really cute friend, right? And you wanna see her in cute clothes, right? That sorta thing!"

When she noticed the blue-haired nun's complaints about the treatment of the various artifacts that had shot violently from Marisa's storage hat, she waved her hand dismissively. "They're tools, right? Just tools. Any magician knows how to use a tool. Especially a witch like me!"

.. To be honest, she'd forgotten she had those in her hat. But hey, tools were tools, right? However, it was right about then that the recovering Touma made his way out of the pile of storage.

"... Eh? You're not gonna explain? Jeez, fine fine," Marisa sighed, and reached into her pocket. Well, the one that was free of tiny girls. The one that had something... special inside. Marisa's grin widened as she drew it out, and a light glow emanated from the hexagonal object she raised up and trained on him. The best way to test a defense was to throw an attack at it, right? And why not try a strong one? Not her [i]strongest[/i] of course, but...

"I guess I'll just have to make my own theories! Love Sign!" cried the blonde witch gleefully, as magical energy crackled from the core of the Mini-Hakkero. It swelled and built, and the brilliant multicolored magic circle spread out from the center, shimmering like a rainbow. It was a bit of a signature technique, adapted from the original user's technique and made oh so much flashier and more wonderful.

"[i]MASTAAAAA...[/i]

The light in the center flared dramatically, growing and swelling in brilliance.

"[i]SUPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKU![/i]"

And then it erupted outwards, a blazing beam of magical energy tearing towards the boy with an enormous crack. Granted, it wasn't tuned to lethality, by default any spell card was ultimately nonlethal if you weren't a fairy. Sure, Marisa could make it kill, but why would she right now? She just wanted to see if he could block it.

[h2]Dlanor A. Knox - The Museum World[/h2]

Dlanor's expression shifted to what could almost be called disappointment for only a moment, before she lowered the Red Key. Blood dripped from her gaping chest wound as she approached, still leaving a trail on the ground beneath her. The time it would take to heal would be an irritant, but it would not be that much longer.

"... Detain HER," she said, simply, raising the Red Key to point towards the woman once more. It was to ensure she would not try anything unusual.

[h2]The School[/h2]

The girl sighed, then shook her head.

"I'm not intending to be a bodyguard. You certainly don't seem to need it, for one," she said. Certainly, there was no denying that she had been misunderstood. It was not so surprising given the nature of the universe the man seemed to come from. Judging by his appearance, it was likely he did not trust easily. Those injuries conveyed that much.

"I wish to, if I can, help the both of you return to your home worlds, so-..."

She trailed off as a what appeared to be a helicopter descended in front of them, drowning out her voice.

"... What"